Jan. 30, 2013 ? Searching for common elements in seemingly incompatible scientific theories may lead to the discovery of new ones that revolutionize our understanding of the world.
Such is the idea behind a mathematical framework Princeton University researchers developed that strips away the differences between scientific laws and theories to reveal how the ideas are compatible. In a recent report in the journal Physical Review Letters, the authors explain how the mathematical model finds common ground between the famously at-odds physics equations that govern classical and quantum mechanics.
In their paper, the researchers attempt to reconcile classical and quantum mechanics. Simply put, classical mechanics -- based on the ideas of English scientist Isaac Newton -- describes the ordered laws of motion for large objects and systems. Quantum mechanics relates more to the chaotic motion and activity of microscopic particles.
Lead author Denys Bondar, a postdoctoral research associate in Princeton's Department of Chemistry, explained that the Princeton framework -- called operational dynamic modeling -- is intended to streamline the development of novel theories, a typically painstaking process that can be for naught if the end result does not agree with experimental data. The framework unpacks and mathematically tests the basic algebra of a theory against that of observed data. If they reconcile, the newborn theory might be valid, Bondar said.
"We have a new theoretical tool that we can use to look at old problems and try to solve new problems," Bondar said. He worked with second author Renan Cabrera, a Princeton postdoctoral research associate in chemistry; senior researcher Herschel Rabitz, Princeton's Charles Phelps Smyth '16 *17 Professor of Chemistry; Robert Lompay, a physics graduate student at Uzhgorod National University in Ukraine; and Misha Ivanov, a physics professor at Imperial College London.
The Princeton model builds on theorems that Austrian physicist Paul Ehrenfest developed in the 20th century to illustrate the similarities between classical and quantum mechanics. Putting these theorems into action, Bondar and his colleagues pared the differences between these branches of physics down to a single mathematical consideration: to commute or not to commute. This Shakespearean-sounding crossroads relates to whether the result relies on the order of the experimental measurements.
If the same conclusion can be drawn regardless of how the measurements are arranged, the theory is commutative. If the result depends on a specific sequence, it is non-commutative. At this point, any novel theory can be characterized as classical or quantum, Bondar said. If the theory is commutative it is classical; if not, it has quantum elements.
"Scientists are taught from the time they are students that classical and quantum mechanics can never be reconciled," Bondar said. "But now we have one equation for classical and quantum mechanics. We can make the transition from classical to quantum mechanics in a smooth and straightforward way."
The benefit of the model, Cabrera said, is that experimental systems can be constructed more in accordance with particular mechanics as they are being developed. In addition, it can reveal if and how a novel theory relates to classical or quantum mechanics in a way that might not have been considered initially, he said.
"This model allows us to experience mathematically classical or quantum theories in a more similar way than before and find common ground only differentiated by the ability to commute or not commute," Cabrera said.
Robert Gilmore, a physics professor at Drexel University, said that the Princeton framework is a unique and well-designed initial step toward bringing classical and quantum mechanics under the same theoretical roof. Gilmore is familiar with the work, but had no role in it.
The researchers "provide the smoothest possible transition from quantum mechanics to classical mechanics," Gilmore said. "Their vision is that it is possible to formulate physical theory in such a way that both classical mechanics and quantum mechanics play by the same rules. In order to do this, they upend one of the classical early results of quantum mechanics: the Ehrenfest theorems."
Though the model is simple -- its experimental basis is the position and velocity of a single electron -- it could be matured to describe more complicated physical phenomena, Gilmore said.
"In order to deepen our understanding of quantum mechanics, this theory must be extended in several directions," he said. "This paper seems to provide one footing for a larger foundation that will be needed to build a more comprehensive theory including both classical and quantum mechanics."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Princeton University.
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Journal Reference:
Denys Bondar, Renan Cabrera, Robert Lompay, Misha Ivanov, Herschel Rabitz. Operational Dynamic Modeling Transcending Quantum and Classical Mechanics. Physical Review Letters, 2012; 109 (19) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.190403
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Zebrafish may hold the answer to repairing damaged retinas and returning eyesight to peoplePublic release date: 31-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Brian Murphy brian.murphy@ualberta.ca 780-492-6041 University of Alberta
Zebrafish eyed as answer to restoring sight of people with damaged retinas
Zebrafish, the staple of genetic research, may hold the answer to repairing damaged retinas and returning eye-sight to people.
University of Alberta researchers discovered that a zebrafish's stem cells can selectively regenerate damaged photoreceptor cells.
Lead U of A researcher Ted Allison says that for some time geneticists have known that unlike humans, stem cells in zebrafish can replace damaged cells involved in many components of eyesight. Rods and cones are the most important photoreceptors. In humans, rods provide us with night vision while cones give us a full colour look at the world during the day-time.
What was not known says Allison was whether stem cells could be instructed to only replace the cones in its retina. This could have important implications for human eyesight.
"This is the first time in an animal research model that stem cells have only repaired damaged cones," said Allison. "For people with damaged eyesight repairing the cones is most important because it would restore day-time colour vision.
The researchers say that to date almost all success in regenerating photoreceptor cells has been limited to rods not cones. Most of these previous experiments were conducted on nocturnal rodents, animals that require good night vision so they have far more rods than cones.
"This shows us that when cones die in a cone-rich retina, it is primarily cones that regenerate," said Allison. "This suggests the tissue environment provides cues to instruct stem cell how to react."
The researchers say this shows some hope for stem cell therapy that could regenerate damaged cones in people, especially in the cone-rich regions of the retina that provide daytime/colour vision.
Allison says the next step for his team is to identify the particular gene in zebrafish gene that activates repair of damaged cones.
###
The research was led by U of A Biological Sciences researcher Ted Allison. The researcher's website can be found at www.biology.ualberta.ca/Allison_Lab. The research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC). The paper was published Jan. 30 in the journal PLOS ONE.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Zebrafish may hold the answer to repairing damaged retinas and returning eyesight to peoplePublic release date: 31-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Brian Murphy brian.murphy@ualberta.ca 780-492-6041 University of Alberta
Zebrafish eyed as answer to restoring sight of people with damaged retinas
Zebrafish, the staple of genetic research, may hold the answer to repairing damaged retinas and returning eye-sight to people.
University of Alberta researchers discovered that a zebrafish's stem cells can selectively regenerate damaged photoreceptor cells.
Lead U of A researcher Ted Allison says that for some time geneticists have known that unlike humans, stem cells in zebrafish can replace damaged cells involved in many components of eyesight. Rods and cones are the most important photoreceptors. In humans, rods provide us with night vision while cones give us a full colour look at the world during the day-time.
What was not known says Allison was whether stem cells could be instructed to only replace the cones in its retina. This could have important implications for human eyesight.
"This is the first time in an animal research model that stem cells have only repaired damaged cones," said Allison. "For people with damaged eyesight repairing the cones is most important because it would restore day-time colour vision.
The researchers say that to date almost all success in regenerating photoreceptor cells has been limited to rods not cones. Most of these previous experiments were conducted on nocturnal rodents, animals that require good night vision so they have far more rods than cones.
"This shows us that when cones die in a cone-rich retina, it is primarily cones that regenerate," said Allison. "This suggests the tissue environment provides cues to instruct stem cell how to react."
The researchers say this shows some hope for stem cell therapy that could regenerate damaged cones in people, especially in the cone-rich regions of the retina that provide daytime/colour vision.
Allison says the next step for his team is to identify the particular gene in zebrafish gene that activates repair of damaged cones.
###
The research was led by U of A Biological Sciences researcher Ted Allison. The researcher's website can be found at www.biology.ualberta.ca/Allison_Lab. The research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC). The paper was published Jan. 30 in the journal PLOS ONE.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Sen. Marco Rubio listens during a news conference on a comprehensive immigration reform framework on Jan. 28 on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
Sen. Marco Rubio is having a moment. He?s a charismatic senator from a battleground state whose Cuban heritage and support for immigration reform are helping his party begin a new courtship with Hispanic voters. This much we know. But Rubio is exploiting an opportunity that goes beyond simply good timing and the right last name. He is getting the chance to be first at bat in a larger effort: the post-election audition for GOP leadership. Of all the would-be Republican stars?and the list is long and likely to grow?Rubio is getting a chance to show exactly what it looks like to move the party in a new direction.
Lots of conservatives are giving advice about how the Republican Party can evolve after the 2012 election. Paul Ryan, Bobby Jindal, Charles Krauthammer, and the National Review have all weighed in with a message of principle mixed with prudence. That?s just talk. Rubio has given his speech about party direction, too. But he's now getting a chance to demonstrate some important political skills beyond?speech-making that show whether he can actually help steer the new course, not just call for one. This is the first test of the New Year?s resolutions.
Senators?particularly freshman senators with no executive experience?don't get a lot of opportunities to show their skills in action.?In the sweepstakes to be a national Republican leader?and then possible presidential candidate?the advantage usually goes to the governors. They can take actions that show tangible results while distancing themselves from a deeply unpopular Washington. Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal are both taking this approach. Christie?s Boehner bashing and leadership in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy has helped drive the New Jersey governor?s approval ratings skyward.?
The most important political skill is midwifery. The leader who moves the Republican Party into a new era, where it is more attractive to middle-class voters, minorities, and younger voters, will need to communicate a vision as well as communicate back to the base how he is not selling out the party's core principles. In this effort, Rubio will get a crack at showing key presidential governing skills?the ability to nurse complex legislation by identifying common interests with Democrats while working with Republicans friends through a mixture of cajoling, flattery, and strong-arming.
Some might think Rubio?s moment isn?t a real test. The GOP needs to improve its image, and he?s got the background to do it. Sure, after the 2012 election, some conservative elites switched their position on immigration reforms?Sean Hannity setting the land-speed record?and that makes Rubio?s pitch easier. But maintenance of long-held truths in the face of the crowd?s push for ?progress? is among the highest of conservative attributes. And there are plenty of other influential voices and activists who think principles don't change just because the elections don?t go well. There is opposition from Erick Erickson at Red State, former House Judiciary Committee chairman Lamar Smith, and Rush Limbaugh. As Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association put it, playing off of the famous William F. Buckley line, ?On immigration, it?s time for conservatives to stand athwart Marco Rubio and yell, ?Stop!? ? And on Wednesday Sen. David Vitter told conservative radio show host Laura Ingraham that Rubio is "amazingly naive" and "nuts" for supporting the "ridiculous" bipartisan immigration reform proposal.
More broadly, there is skepticism even about the political imperative that underlies the new push. Rush Limbaugh argues that Hispanic votes can never be won because they are addicted to social welfare. Rep. Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania made a similar case recently. They have a point about the relationship of Hispanic voters to GOP philosophy. Rubio must convince that audience?and the activist viewpoint they represent?of the merits of his new approach that go beyond political expediency.
In this, Rubio?s task is a microcosm of the larger task all would-be national leaders are assigning themselves as the GOP tries to reverse the trend that has led to five popular-vote losses in the last six elections: How do you adapt without changing? That?s why Rubio?s conversation about immigration quickly morphs into his pitch for limited government.
Rubio is quick on his feet, and he'll need to be to manage two tough tasks: keeping his membership in the bipartisan ?Gang of Eight? that includes liberal Sens. Chuck Schumer and Robert Menendez while also keeping the promises he has been making on talk radio. When Sen. Barack Obama tried this during negotiations over a lobbying and ethics bill with John McCain, the effort collapsed. Whether it was because Sen. Obama couldn't buck his party leaders or because McCain simply didn't trust him, Obama was unable to pull off the same trick that Rubio is now trying.
Marco Rubio doesn?t have to succeed fully either. Or, more precisely, success for comprehensive immigration reform is not the same as success for Marco Rubio. Legislative accomplishment may burnish Rubio?s image with a broader electorate, but that?s not his only constituency. He?s building relationships with conservatives that will pay off down the road on a host of other issues. If he withdraws his support of the Senate effort as it goes forward?as Conn Carroll suggests he might?Rubio will show that new prudence doesn?t just mean caving. In the long grope for a new direction, avoiding the new wrong way may serve Rubio?s long-term political interests just fine.
President Barack Obama shakes hands after speaking about immigration at Del Sol High School, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama shakes hands after speaking about immigration at Del Sol High School, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama, left, shakes hands with his choice for Defense Secretary, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, after announcing Hagel's nomination in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez takes batting practice before Game 4 of the American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers, in Detroit. Major League Baseball says it is "extremely disappointed" about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday:
1. OBAMA VOWS TO FAST-TRACK IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL
He says he'll send his own legislation to Capitol Hill if lawmakers don't act quickly.
2. WHAT CAUSED THE BRAZIL NIGHTCLUB FIRE
The flares for the band's onstage pyrotechnic display were meant only for outdoor use. They cost $1.25 each ? while an indoor flare costs $35.
3. KERRY BREEZES TO CONFIRMATION AS SEC'Y OF STATE
Even Republicans praise him as Clinton's ideal successor.
4. CHUCK HAGEL AIMS FOR ZERO
The likely next secretary of defense supports an international movement that favors eliminating all nuclear weapons.
5. AN URGENT SUMMONS FOR SYRIAN AID
Officials plan to seek $1.5 billion from the international community to help up to 1 million refugees and twice that number of people inside the country.
6. BP CLOSES BOOK ON CRIMINAL PROBE OF GULF OIL SPILL
A judge agrees to let the company plead guilty to manslaughter charges for the deaths of 11 rig workers and pay a record $4 billion in penalties.
7. FURY IN EGYPT
Nation on the threshold of revolt against an Islamist president buries its dead as political violence intensifies.
8. EYES IN THE AFRICAN SKY
The Obama administration plans to locate a drone base in Niger to monitor al-Qaida as concerns about extremists there deepen.
9. A-ROD DENIES CLAIMS HE BOUGHT HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE
Miami newspaper alleges the three-time AL MVP used a now-defunct clinic to buy PEDs.
10. HOW TO TELL THE HARBAUGHS APART
Jim's the intense competitor. Older brother John is more engaging.
The Board of Trustees of The City University of New York today appointed Dr. Diane B. Call as President of Queensborough Community College, which has served students from Queens and the entire New York City region as a starting place to pursue their academic and career goals for more than fifty years. Chancellor Matthew Goldstein recommended Dr. Call, who has been the Interim President of Queensborough Community College since July 1, 2010. ?Prior to that Dr. Call was Queensborough?s Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. She has also served as Vice President for Finance and Administration, Assistant Dean for Instructional Support Services and in other posts in a career spanning three decades at the College and CUNY in positions that encompass virtually all major areas of administration and academics at Queensborough Community College.
In a joint statement, Board of Trustees Chairperson Benno Schmidt and Chancellor Goldstein stated: ?Dr. Diane B. Call brings to Queensborough Community College extensive academic and administrative experience, a proven commitment to students, faculty, and alumni, and an exemplary record of advancing the College?s mission of offering students a quality, affordable education.?
As Provost, Dr. Call led the Academic Affairs Division to create a student centered learning environment in collaboration with faculty and Student Affairs colleagues through curriculum and pedagogical innovations, academic enrichment activities such as undergraduate research, as well as instructional support and student service programs. Dr. Call?s partnership with Student Affairs led to the implementation of Queensborough?s innovative Freshman Academies for all full-time, first-time freshmen, and the establishment of an assessment protocol to measure the initiative?s success on student learning outcomes. Among her many other accomplishments are programs for the recruitment and retention of faculty, and a faculty development initiative for their engagement in a variety of teaching modalities, high impact activities, e-learning, academic leadership?and pedagogical research in community college teaching.
Dr. Call stated: ?Queensborough Community College proudly reflects the uniqueness of the Queens community?the most diverse county in the U.S. We distinguish ourselves from other higher education institutions with our diversity of cultures, including nearly equal populations of African-Americans, Asians, Caucasians and Latinos. My focus as president will be to encourage a strong and engaged faculty, to enhance our student-centered learning environment and to create additional community partnerships. A key objective is to provide an academic environment that strengthens students? commitment and makes it possible for them to graduate and complete their goals in a timely manner.?
Dr. Call?s initiatives at Queensborough include the Instructional Support Services Center and Learning Lab. In addition, she has led?Admissions Services; Skills Assessment Testing; Academic Advisement; the Freshman Year Program; College Discovery; and the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), an enrichment program which provides career development and support services to students planning careers in the STEM fields and the licensed professions. She also consolidated Tutorial Services and the Writing Center, substantially increasing the number of students served.
Dr. Call holds a Doctor of Education degree in College and University Administration, a master?s degree in Community College Administration and a second master?s degree in Student Personnel Administration, all from Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds a BA in English and Education from SUNY/Albany and earned a Certificate in Curriculum Development from Harvard University?s School of Education. She has been an Adjunct Professor at Long Island University, C.W. Post, Graduate School of Education; and an Adjunct Associate Professor with Queensborough Community College?s English department. Dr. Call has published and made research presentations at academic conferences on ?at risk? students. She was promoted to full professor in Queensborough?s Office of Student Personnel Services in 1994, after having acquired tenure in 1978.
Dr. Call has served as a member of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee of the College of Aeronautics (now Vaughn College); a Consultant to the U.S. Department of Education, Higher Education Programs? Division of Institutional Development; and Consultant to the New York City Public Schools on Health Occupation Vocational Programs. She served on the CUNY Welfare Advocate Council, and was a Project Participant for ?Change and the New Jersey Community College; the Faculty Perspective,? The Center for Community Colleges, Teachers College, Columbia University. She is a member of the Board of the Queens Symphony Orchestra.
Queensborough Community College, which is located on a picturesque 37-acre site in Bayside, Queens, offers a rich liberal arts and science curriculum as well as career and pre-professional courses. The College?s Freshman Academies offer every first-time, full-time student personalized academic advisement and student support services through their first two semesters, establishing an atmosphere that nurtures the growth of the individual student in a supportive environment. An integral part of all six Academies are high impact learning strategies, such as e-Portfolio and service learning, designed to further inspire and engage students with the goal of improving retention and graduation rates.
Queensborough?s recently established dual joint degree program in Nursing with Hunter College joins its other dual joint programs with CUNY senior colleges, including Biotechnology with York College, Forensic Science and Criminal Justice with John Jay College and Early Childhood Education with Queens College. Over half of the College?s faculty holds doctorates compared with 21 percent of faculty in community colleges nationwide. Comprising one of the most diverse populations of any college in the U.S., more than 15,000 students pursue associate degrees or certificate programs and another 10,000 students of all ages attend continuing education programs.
Among the campus?s prized cultural resources are the Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center, the QCC Art Gallery, and the Queensborough Performing Arts Center, created to stimulate ideas and intellectual curiosity while exposing students and the public to culture and the arts.
Virginia Tech expands sports concussion-risk studies to include hockey and baseballPublic release date: 29-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Steven Mackay 540-231-4787 Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/) is expanding its ground-breaking research of testing football helmets to reduce the number of concussions to now include hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse.
The five-year plan will see the Virginia Tech research center, headed by Stefan Duma (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/duma.php), rate helmets worn by hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse athletes in their ability to lessen the likelihood of a concussion resulting from a violent head impact.
Ratings on hockey helmets are expected in fall 2013, followed by youth football in 2015, and then baseball, softball, and lacrosse in 2016. During that time, all ratings for adult and youth football helmets will continually be updated and released to the public.
The expansion into helmeted sports other than football comes on the heels of new research that allows for better prediction of sports-related concussions resulting from linear and rotational head accelerations. These accelerations result from head impacts that cause the head to translate and twist about the neck. The new research is published this month in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (http://www.editorialmanager.com/abme/).
The new research is being funded by Virginia Tech, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (http://www.ictas.vt.edu/) at Virginia Tech.
New ratings for football helmets will include data for linear and rotational accelerations starting in 2015, said Duma, professor of biomedical engineering and department head of the Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. Serving as lead author on the research paper is Steven Rowson (http://www.cib.vt.edu/people/bios/faculty_bios/bio_rowson.html), assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech.
All head impacts result in both linear and rotational accelerations, and this publication provides the foundation for our research to address both accelerations relative to reducing the risk of concussion, said Duma. Our goal with the five-year plan is to provide manufacturers with a schedule detailing when we will release helmet ratings for each sport.
The helmet rating system is based on more than a decade of data collection by Duma and his research staff, and utilizes the STAR, or Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk, formula that assesses the ability of football helmets to reduce concussion risk. Sport-specific testing methodologies will be added to the website that lists the rated helmets prior to the initial release of each sports helmets ratings.
Using data collected from more than 63,000 head impacts during a period of 10 years, Duma and Rowson related linear and rotational head acceleration to the probability of sustaining a concussion in the form of an injury risk function.
This new analysis utilizes data measured from 62 concussions sustained by high school, college, and professional football players, said Rowson. We use these data to determine the best method to predict concussions when we test helmets in our laboratory.
In their research paper, the researchers write, With as many as 3.8 million sports-related concussions occurring annually in the United States and research suggesting possible long term neurodegenerative processes resulting from repetitive concussions, reducing the incidence of concussion in sports has become a public health priority.
Indeed, long-term, repetitive injuries that can cripple or eventually kill years after play have prompted dozens of headlines in major media outlets and several national studies, and even President Obama to recently weigh in on the subject. Dozens of former NFL players are suing the league over injuries sustained during years of play, and headlines were made this summer when former football great Alex Karras died at age 77 from various ailments, several allegedly said to be caused by years of hard hits.
In studying football-related injuries during the past decade, Duma and his research team have used on-field real-time sensors installed in the helmets of hundreds of adult and youth football players to study injuries, as well as a mechanical lab-tested 5-star rating system to track and grade commercially sold helmets.
The former can help indicate head injuries that require immediate attention while on the field of play. The latter has provided the only independent biomechanical data for consumers to make helmet purchasing decisions, Duma said.
Dumas goal is not to end the sport of football, but make it safer while still keep the same expected adrenaline rush and action for players, and viewers.
It is important to note that no helmet can prevent all concussions. The most effective strategies to reduce concussions in sports involve modifying league rules and player technique to limit exposure to head impacts, Duma said.
Beyond this, head impacts are a given in sport. Our research focuses on identifying helmets that reduce concussion risk so that athletes can make informed decisions based on independent data when purchasing equipment, which in turn, incentivizes helmet manufacturers to design helmets that better reduce head acceleration.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Virginia Tech expands sports concussion-risk studies to include hockey and baseballPublic release date: 29-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Steven Mackay 540-231-4787 Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/) is expanding its ground-breaking research of testing football helmets to reduce the number of concussions to now include hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse.
The five-year plan will see the Virginia Tech research center, headed by Stefan Duma (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/duma.php), rate helmets worn by hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse athletes in their ability to lessen the likelihood of a concussion resulting from a violent head impact.
Ratings on hockey helmets are expected in fall 2013, followed by youth football in 2015, and then baseball, softball, and lacrosse in 2016. During that time, all ratings for adult and youth football helmets will continually be updated and released to the public.
The expansion into helmeted sports other than football comes on the heels of new research that allows for better prediction of sports-related concussions resulting from linear and rotational head accelerations. These accelerations result from head impacts that cause the head to translate and twist about the neck. The new research is published this month in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (http://www.editorialmanager.com/abme/).
The new research is being funded by Virginia Tech, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (http://www.ictas.vt.edu/) at Virginia Tech.
New ratings for football helmets will include data for linear and rotational accelerations starting in 2015, said Duma, professor of biomedical engineering and department head of the Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. Serving as lead author on the research paper is Steven Rowson (http://www.cib.vt.edu/people/bios/faculty_bios/bio_rowson.html), assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech.
All head impacts result in both linear and rotational accelerations, and this publication provides the foundation for our research to address both accelerations relative to reducing the risk of concussion, said Duma. Our goal with the five-year plan is to provide manufacturers with a schedule detailing when we will release helmet ratings for each sport.
The helmet rating system is based on more than a decade of data collection by Duma and his research staff, and utilizes the STAR, or Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk, formula that assesses the ability of football helmets to reduce concussion risk. Sport-specific testing methodologies will be added to the website that lists the rated helmets prior to the initial release of each sports helmets ratings.
Using data collected from more than 63,000 head impacts during a period of 10 years, Duma and Rowson related linear and rotational head acceleration to the probability of sustaining a concussion in the form of an injury risk function.
This new analysis utilizes data measured from 62 concussions sustained by high school, college, and professional football players, said Rowson. We use these data to determine the best method to predict concussions when we test helmets in our laboratory.
In their research paper, the researchers write, With as many as 3.8 million sports-related concussions occurring annually in the United States and research suggesting possible long term neurodegenerative processes resulting from repetitive concussions, reducing the incidence of concussion in sports has become a public health priority.
Indeed, long-term, repetitive injuries that can cripple or eventually kill years after play have prompted dozens of headlines in major media outlets and several national studies, and even President Obama to recently weigh in on the subject. Dozens of former NFL players are suing the league over injuries sustained during years of play, and headlines were made this summer when former football great Alex Karras died at age 77 from various ailments, several allegedly said to be caused by years of hard hits.
In studying football-related injuries during the past decade, Duma and his research team have used on-field real-time sensors installed in the helmets of hundreds of adult and youth football players to study injuries, as well as a mechanical lab-tested 5-star rating system to track and grade commercially sold helmets.
The former can help indicate head injuries that require immediate attention while on the field of play. The latter has provided the only independent biomechanical data for consumers to make helmet purchasing decisions, Duma said.
Dumas goal is not to end the sport of football, but make it safer while still keep the same expected adrenaline rush and action for players, and viewers.
It is important to note that no helmet can prevent all concussions. The most effective strategies to reduce concussions in sports involve modifying league rules and player technique to limit exposure to head impacts, Duma said.
Beyond this, head impacts are a given in sport. Our research focuses on identifying helmets that reduce concussion risk so that athletes can make informed decisions based on independent data when purchasing equipment, which in turn, incentivizes helmet manufacturers to design helmets that better reduce head acceleration.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
A team of researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has shown that by bringing gold nanoparticles close to the dots and using a DNA template to control the distances, the intensity of a quantum dot's fluorescence can be predictably increased or decreased.* This breakthrough opens a potential path to using quantum dots as a component in better photodetectors, chemical sensors and nanoscale lasers.
Anyone who has tried to tune a radio knows that moving their hands toward or away from the antenna can improve or ruin the reception. Although the reasons are well understood, controlling this strange effect is difficult, even with hundred-year-old radio technology. Similarly, nanotechnology researchers have been frustrated trying to control the light emitted from quantum dots, which brighten or dim with the proximity of other particles.
The NIST team developed ways to accurately and precisely place different kinds of nanoparticles near each other and to measure the behavior of the resulting nanoscale constructs. Because nanoparticle-based inventions may require multiple types of particles to work together, it is crucial to have reliable methods to assemble them and to understand how they interact.
The researchers looked at two types of nanoparticles, quantum dots, which glow with fluorescent light when illuminated, and gold nanoparticles, which have long been known to enhance the intensity of light around them. The two could work together to make nanoscale sensors built using rectangles of woven DNA strands, formed using a technique called "DNA origami."
These DNA rectangles can be engineered to capture different types of nanoparticles at specific locations with a precision of about one nanometer. Tiny changes in the distance between a quantum dot and a gold nanoparticle near one another on the rectangle cause the quantum dot to glow more or less brightly as it moves away from or toward the gold. Because these small movements can be easily detected by tracking the changes in the quantum dot's brightness, they can be used to reveal, for example, the presence of a particular chemical that is selectively attached to the DNA rectangle. However, getting it to work properly is complicated, says NIST's Alex Liddle.
"A quantum dot is highly sensitive to the distance between it and the gold, as well as the size, number and arrangement of the gold particles," says Liddle, a scientist with the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology. "These factors can boost its fluorescence, mask it or change how long its glow lasts. We wanted a way to measure these effects, which had never been done before."
Liddle and his colleagues made several groups of DNA rectangles, each with a different configuration of quantum dots and gold particles in a solution. Using a laser as a spotlight, the team was able to follow the movement of individual DNA rectangles in the liquid, and also could detect changes in the fluorescent lifetime of the quantum dots when they were close to gold particles of different sizes. They also showed that they could exactly predict the lifetime of the fluorescence of the quantum dot depending on the size of the nearby gold nanoparticles.
While their tracking technique was time consuming, Liddle says that the strength of their results will enable them to engineer the dots to have a specific desired lifetime. Moreover, the success of their tracking method could lead to better measurement methods.
"Our main goals for the future," he concludes, "are to build better nanoscale sensors using this approach and to develop the metrology necessary to measure their performance."
###
*S.H. Ko, K. Du and J.A. Liddle.Quantum-dot fluorescence lifetime engineering with DNA origami constructs. Angewandte Chemie (Int. Ed.), 52: 1193?1197. doi: 10.1002/anie.201206253.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): http://www.nist.gov
Thanks to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for this article.
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Search for "North Korea" in Google Maps today, and you'll get a whole new perspective.
Citizen cartographers have helped label landmarks in that enigmatic and repressive state, which Google pushed live late Monday. Charting North Korea using its Map Maker software was a four-year process, David Marx, head of product PR for Google Asia-Pacific, tells Yahoo!. The vetting process for a nation once labeled part of an "axis of evil" isn't much different from other countries: To guard against misleading information, users have to be signed into their Google account to contribute and are reviewed by fellow mapping volunteers. "However, we do also have a small team of reviewers across the globe that may review and moderate updates in Map Maker to ensure data quality," Marx added.
"We know this map is not perfect," wrote senior product manager Jayanth Mysore in the company blog Google Lat Long. "While many people around the globe are fascinated with North Korea, these maps are especially important for the citizens of South Korea who have ancestral connections or still have family living there."
Related: Google Unveiled Detailed Map of N. Korea
Deep dives into North Korea The use of North Korean satellite maps, however, has been geared less to matters of kinship and more about its human rights abuses and nuclear armament. DPRK Digital Atlas ? based on Google Earth ? recently debuted a detailed satellite overview of North Korea. The project, based out of the U.S.-Korea Institute at John Hopkins School of Advanced International studies (SAIS), emerged as a partnership with 38 North and North Korean Economy Watch (NKEW). NKEW editor Curtis Melvin, a Ph.D. student in economics at George Mason University, released an incredibly detailed map back in 2009, documenting railroad systems, compounds? complete with water slides?belonging to that country's elite, breweries, ostrich farms, and gulags.
"Satellite imagery is one of the few ways for foreigners to comprehend North Korea?s economic and security infrastructure, because information is so restricted," SAIS research associate Jenny Town notes in an email to Yahoo!. "Through satellite imagery we can see changes not only in the North?s missile and nuclear sites, but also markets and roads and other infrastructure which help us better understand how the North is developing. It is a good thing that Google Maps has become interested in North Korea, and we hope they will continue to refine their information."
Intense satellite scrutiny For its part, 38 North has been closely monitoring satellite imagery to track the development of long-range missiles at North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station and a possible upcoming nuclear test at Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility.
Analysis of new satellite imagery from January 23, 2013 and previous images dating back a month reveal that the site appears to be at a continued state of readiness that would allow the North to move forward with a test in a few weeks or less once the leadership in Pyongyang gives the order. Snowfall and subsequent clearing operations as well as tracks in the snow reveal ongoing activity at buildings and on roadways near the possible test tunnel. A photo from January 4 identifies a group of personnel, possibly troops or security guards, in formation in the yard of the administrative area near the test tunnel entrance, perhaps to greet visiting officials or for some other more routine purpose. (Jan. 25, 38 North)
The scrutiny's especially intense these days, after the United Nations's threat of sanctions if North Korea follows through with its test. A war of words has been launched, with a China editorial warning of reduced aid, South Korea's support of the resolution, and North Korea's fury directed at its southern neighbor, warning of "merciless retaliatory blows."
Yet in the meantime, leader Kim Jong Un reportedly plans to open North Korea to foreign investment, similar to Vietnam's economic development, to turn around the impoverished nation. He has already invited German economists and lawyers to plot that direction. With all this, map-watching North Korea may become a whole new online sport.
Jan. 28, 2013 ? A team of materials scientists at Harvard University and the University of Exeter, UK, have invented a new fiber that changes color when stretched. Inspired by nature, the researchers identified and replicated the unique structural elements that create the bright iridescent blue color of a tropical plant's fruit.
The multilayered fiber, described January 28 in the journal Advanced Materials, could lend itself to the creation of smart fabrics that visibly react to heat or pressure.
"Our new fiber is based on a structure we found in nature, and through clever engineering we've taken its capabilities a step further," says lead author Mathias Kolle, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). "The plant, of course, cannot change color. By combining its structure with an elastic material, however, we've created an artificial version that passes through a full rainbow of colors as it's stretched."
Since the evolution of the first eye on Earth more than 500 million years ago, the success of many organisms has relied upon the way they interact with light and color, making them useful models for the creation of new materials. For seeds and fruit in particular, bright color is thought to have evolved to attract the agents of seed dispersal, especially birds.
The fruit of the South American tropical plant, Margaritaria nobilis, commonly called "bastard hogberry," is an intriguing example of this adaptation. The ultra-bright blue fruit, which is low in nutritious content, mimics a more fleshy and nutritious competitor. Deceived birds eat the fruit and ultimately release its seeds over a wide geographic area.
"The fruit of this bastard hogberry plant was scientifically delightful to pick," says principal investigator Peter Vukusic, Associate Professor in Natural Photonics at the University of Exeter. "The light-manipulating architecture its surface layer presents, which has evolved to serve a specific biological function, has inspired an extremely useful and interesting technological design."
Vukusic and his collaborators at Harvard studied the structural origin of the seed's vibrant color. They discovered that the upper cells in the seed's skin contain a curved, repeating pattern, which creates color through the interference of light waves. (A similar mechanism is responsible for the bright colors of soap bubbles.) The team's analysis revealed that multiple layers of cells in the seed coat are each made up of a cylindrically layered architecture with high regularity on the nano- scale.
The team replicated the key structural elements of the fruit to create flexible, stretchable and color-changing photonic fibers using an innovative roll-up mechanism perfected in the Harvard laboratories.
"For our artificial structure, we cut down the complexity of the fruit to just its key elements," explains Kolle. "We use very thin fibers and wrap a polymer bilayer around them. That gives us the refractive index contrast, the right number of layers, and the curved, cylindrical cross-section that we need to produce these vivid colors."
The researchers say that the process could be scaled up and developed to suit industrial production.
"Our fiber-rolling technique allows the use of a wide range of materials, especially elastic ones, with the color-tuning range exceeding by an order of magnitude anything that has been reported for thermally drawn fibers," says coauthor Joanna Aizenberg, Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science at Harvard SEAS, and Kolle's adviser. Aizenberg is also Director of the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard and a Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard.
The fibers' superior mechanical properties, combined with their demonstrated color brilliance and tunability, make them very versatile. For instance, the fibers can be wound to coat complex shapes. Because the fibers change color under strain, the technology could lend itself to smart sports textiles that change color in areas of muscle tension, or that sense when an object is placed under strain as a result of heat.
Additional coauthors included Alfred Lethbridge at the University of Exeter, Moritz Kreysing at Ludwig Maximilians University (Germany), and Jeremy B. Baumberg, Professor of Nanophotonics at the University of Cambridge (UK).
This research was supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and through a postdoctoral research fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The researchers also benefited from facilities at the Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems, which is part of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation. The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard also contributed to this research.
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Journal Reference:
Mathias Kolle, Alfred Lethbridge, Moritz Kreysing, Jeremy J. Baumberg, Joanna Aizenberg, Peter Vukusic. Bio-Inspired Band-Gap Tunable Elastic Optical Multilayer Fibers. Advanced Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1002/adma.201203529
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Globe University-Madison West Alumnus, Josh Westby
Building strong relationships with our graduates is important to us at Globe University-Madison West.? We love to see them succeed in their career goals and love it more when they connect with us after they?ve graduated.
Josh Westby is one alumnus who sets that tone. Graduating in September 2011 with an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Business Administration, Josh now serves as a front office supervisor at the Sheraton Madison Hotel. He also works part-time as an assistant manager for a local Milo?s restaurant.
In addition, Josh is writing a business plan for a family friend who is looking to expand his chemical compliance safety consulting firm. It?s a huge undertaking, but Josh isn?t afraid of the challenge. In fact, he welcomes it. ?My degree focused on writing business and marketing plans so it?s really exciting to be using that skill right now,? he shared.
Business Administration Program Chair Rick Mason reflected on Josh?s time at Globe University-Madison West.
?Josh is a great example of a student who is positive, hard-working and focused on the end goal,? Rick said.? ?He is an inspiration to all of our students and exemplifies the benefits of meeting challenges and staying the course.? The fact that he has been rewarded for his hard work is not a surprise and I would anticipate that there will be many more stepping stones for him in the future.?
He added, ?We are proud of his accomplishments.? Our business degree program is especially excited about his willingness to come back to campus and share his experiences with our current students.? That is invaluable to us. Great job, Josh!?
Recently, Josh visted a Business Communications class to talk to students about how important communication is in his work as a front office supervisor.
I sat down with Josh to discuss his experience at Globe University-Madison West and to gather some insight on what he did to make his education a successful one. What he shares, he hopes will help current and future students at Globe University-Madison West.
Why did you choose Globe University?
?It really fit my lifestyle and allowed me to learn in an environment of small class ?sizes, which is something I really enjoy and thrive in as opposed to large lecture halls that you often see in other schools. You have classes with 200 students and you never really get to ask questions or really work hands-on with other students very often and that was something I saw here that really helped me learn and focus. I couldn?t do the large classes; I didn?t like it.? That was a major deciding factor for me.
?In addition, the scheduling of classes was very flexible. I felt like I could pretty much choose a schedule and still work.? After meeting with my admissions representative, Chad Obright, and other staff, I just felt like it was a very comfortable and welcoming place where people actually did care about you instead of being a number like at other schools.?
What was your biggest challenge while at Globe? How did you overcome it??
?My hardest challenge what that I occasionally had to take an online class. I learn so much better when I can see and talk to people rather than writing on a message board and handing in assignments when they are due.? Being able to get that face time and interacting with people and my instructor is very important for me in how I learn. I overcame it by really connecting with the instructors of the class, I made sure to ask a lot of questions. I asked questions to campus instructors who may have taught that class before, I connected with students who took that class and I always made sure to email my instructors if I didn?t get my questions answered. I used all the people around me as resources and tapped into their knowledge on the subject to overcome that.?
What motivated you in your schooling?? ?I think a large part of it was the staff and instructors at Globe. They are always willing to help you. They push you without pushing too hard. A lot of my motivation came from the administration and faculty at Globe University.?
Josh Westby during his graduation in September 2011.
Do you have any other advice for fellow or future students at Globe University??
?Follow your dreams. Do what you want to do.? For me, I could have finished my horticulture degree at River Falls but I know I wouldn?t be as happy as I am now. Maybe I would have gotten a better job or maybe I would be making more money but that wouldn?t have made me happy. I now have a degree in what I enjoy?working with people in business?and I?m all the more happy for it. The basic piece of advice is to keep an open mind and continue to explore your options.?
Can you share any tips or advice in getting out there in the business world?
?Don?t settle for the first job you get offered. Keep an open mind and maybe even if you do start somewhere and it?s not the first position you were hoping for, if it is a company that fits you well and will fit you well in the future, use that position as a stepping stone to get to where you want to be.? With the economy where it is right now, you are not going to get to where you want to be right away with just your education, but it could be a great stepping stone to get where you want to be faster otherwise.
?Definitely use your resources to your advantage, like the instructors and staff here at Globe University [and] also the social media channels like LinkedIn to stay connected. The social media sites are a huge help in connecting with people.? Remember, while the resources are there for you now, remember that they are also there after you graduate.?
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SANTIAGO/CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has overcome a respiratory infection, but is still being treated for breathing problems after cancer surgery in Cuba last month, a government minister said on Saturday.
Official statements have sounded upbeat about the socialist president's condition in recent weeks, following rumors he was gravely ill in a hospital in Havana and might be unable to keep governing after being re-elected in October to a third term.
"(Chavez) has overcome the respiratory infection, although he still has a certain degree of respiratory insufficiency," Information Minister Ernesto Villegas told reporters in Chile, where Latin American and European leaders are meeting.
"Vice President (Nicolas) Maduro has estimated that Chavez could come back in weeks, but we haven't wanted to put a time frame on the president's recovery," Villegas added.
Earlier on Saturday, Maduro said Chavez, 58, was in his "best moment" since his operation 45 days ago.
"What we can share with you is that the commander is in his best moment that we have seen in all of these days of struggle," Maduro said in televised comments before dawn on Saturday, after returning from Cuba to meet with the president.
Chavez has not been seen in public since undergoing his fourth and most complex surgery to treat an illness that might jeopardize the future of his self-styled revolution.
He has never said exactly what type of cancer he has, only that the initial tumor found in mid-2011 was in his pelvic area and was the size of a baseball.
In contrast to Chavez's previous visits to Havana for treatment, officials have not published any evidence of his condition. In 2011, with great fanfare, they broadcast videos of him reading a newspaper, walking in a garden and chatting with his daughter.
In the absence of such proof this time, many Venezuelans are questioning the terse official bulletins that provide few details about his condition or treatment.
ECONOMIC POLICY
Maduro said earlier on Saturday that Chavez had ordered a series of economic decisions that would help boost Venezuelan exports, comments that came amid speculation the government was preparing a devaluation of the bolivar currency.
"He gave a series of orders that the economic team will share in the coming hours with the people of Venezuela, which are focused on building Venezuela's export capacity," he said.
He did not elaborate.
A Finance Ministry source who asked not to be identified said on Saturday the ministry was not planning on making any announcements right now.
Devaluation would make exports more competitive by lowering local production costs and spur domestic industries by making imports less competitive with locally produced goods.
It would also improve state finances by providing more bolivars per dollar of oil exports, following heavy spending in 2012 on homes for the poor and pensions for the elderly that helped Chavez win re-election.
But it would also push up consumer prices in a country that already has one of the highest inflation rates in the region.
A lack of dollars in recent weeks has left many businesses struggling to import the products they need. Some goods such as wheat flour and sugar have disappeared from supermarket shelves, partly because of import bottlenecks.
Business leaders insist a devaluation would help address the problem.
(Additional reporting by Antonio De La Jara and Alexandra Ulmer in Santiago, and Eyanir Chinea in Caracas; Editing by Helen Popper and Peter Cooney)
HAVANA -- The nominee for U.S. Secretary of State, Sen. John Kerry, once held up millions of dollars in funding for secretive U.S. democracy-building programs in Cuba. Defense Secretary hopeful Chuck Hagel has called the U.S. embargo against the communist-run island "nonsensical" and anachronistic.
Both men are now poised to occupy two of the most important positions in President Barack Obama's Cabinet, leading observers on both sides of the Florida Straits to say the time could be ripe for a reboot in relations between the longtime Cold War enemies ? despite major obstacles still in the way.
Kerry's confirmation hearing was held last Thursday, with Hagel's likely to begin next Thursday. In a day marked by platitudes and praise from his longtime colleagues, the Massachusetts Democrat up for top U.S. diplomat sidestepped two questions on Cuba without giving any hint of his opinion on bilateral relations.
Yet Kerry's record has showed some openness to relaxing the tough U.S. stance on Cuba.
"I think having a secretary of state and secretary of defense who understand and are willing to speak publicly that isolation is counterproductive is a very good start," said Tomas Bilbao, executive director of the nonpartisan Cuba Study Group, which advocates using engagement to spur democratic change. "I'm optimistic about the opportunity."
Carlos Alzugaray, an ex-Cuban ambassador to the European Union and the author of several studies about Cuba-US relations, said that if both men are confirmed, no Cabinet since the Carter administration would have such high-level voices in favor of rapprochement.
At the same time, the composition of Cuban-Americans in Florida is evolving, with younger voters less emotionally attached to the issue than their parents and grandparents. Exit polls showed 49 percent of Cuban-Americans in the state voted for Obama, roughly the same percentage as four years ago, an indication the group no longer plays the make-or-break role it once did in presidential politics.
The atmosphere is changing in Cuba as well.
Alzugaray noted that the island has taken many steps that would normally be welcomed by Washington such as freeing dozens of political prisoners, opening the economy to limited capitalism, hosting peace talks for war-torn Colombia and eliminating most restrictions on travel for its own citizens.
"Cuba is changing, and it is changing in the direction that the United States says Cuba must change," Alzugaray told The Associated Press in an interview in his Havana apartment.
The greatest obstacle to better ties is undoubtedly the continued imprisonment of U.S. contractor Alan Gross, who is serving a 15-year sentence for crimes against the state after he was caught setting up clandestine Internet networks as part of a U.S. Agency for International Development democracy-building program.
Havana has insisted the 63-year-old Gross will not be released unless Washington considers freeing five Cuban agents held in the United States. One is out on supervised release but was ordered to remain in the country, and the other four are still incarcerated.
Critics of engagement, including several prominent Cuban-American legislators, say none of the reforms Cuba has made brings the island closer to being a democratic state after 54 years of rule by brothers Fidel and Raul Castro.
Dissidents are still detained and harassed, they say, the Cuban news media is not free, elections are restricted to approved candidates and the Cuban parliament acts as little more than a rubber stamp for decisions made by the island's aging leaders.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Havana-born Florida Republican and staunch critic of the Castros, told the AP she was deeply concerned about both Cabinet nominees.
"I think both are bad for strengthening the U.S.-Cuba embargo," she said. "They would work for an appeasement policy. They would work to normalize relations. That is their philosophy. But they won't be able to achieve it."
Ros-Lehtinen said she hoped Kerry's likely replacement as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Cuban-American Democrat Bob Menendez of New Jersey, would block any attempt to take a softer line.
As committee chairman in 2011, Kerry held up millions of dollars in funding for the same program that Gross was involved in, out of concern that it was ill-conceived and a waste of money. He later cut a deal with Menendez to free up the money. At the hearing on Thursday, Kerry said that as secretary of state, he would support such programs worldwide, but did not mention Cuba.
Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, has termed the 50-year-old trade embargo an "outdated, unrealistic, irrelevant policy" and said the U.S. should engage with the island, just as it does with other communist countries such as Vietnam and China.
In his first term, Obama eliminated restrictions on the number of times Cuban-Americans can visit their relatives on the island, and the amount of money they can send back in remittances. He also has made it much easier for American travelers to get licenses to visit the island on cultural, educational and religious exchanges, though tourism is still barred.
Since 2009, the number of Americans traveling to Cuba has nearly doubled from 52,000 per year to 103,000 in 2012, according to statistics compiled by the firm the Havana Consulting Group. Trips by Cuban-Americans to visit their relatives rose from 335,000 to 476,000 a year during the same period. The surge puts the United States second only to Canada as the source of travelers to the island.
But just as American officials have met Cuban reforms with lukewarm indifference, Cuban leaders have dismissed Obama's overtures as window-dressing, saying he has in many ways strengthened the embargo by going after companies that do business with the island.
Cuban officials have been reluctant to talk about the Kerry and Hagel nominations for fear their words will be used by opponents. But a pro-government Web site, Cubasi, published an opinion piece Thursday detailing both men's past opposition to America's Cuba policy.
"Chuck Hagel has no problem with Cuba," wrote the author, well-known columnist Nicanor Leon Cotayo. "On the contrary, he has demonstrated common sense to do away with one of the White House's most anachronistic foreign policies."
Cotayo added that Obama has "real and legal options to maneuver and diminish tension in bilateral relations."
Others say they are not holding their breath for any change.
Alzugaray, the longtime Cuban diplomat, threw up his hands and shrugged when asked why he was not more optimistic that the stars would align for better relations this time around.
"That dog has bit me several times," he laughed. "I've often thought that now is the time, the possibilities are there, but always something has complicated things."
____
Associated Press writer Christine Armario in Miami contributed to this report.
___
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