bE hAPPy :)

3D printed teeth to keep your mouth free of bacteria

Lost a tooth? Soon your dentist could print you another – and it’ll help keep your mouth clean, too.

Getting fitted for a false tooth or other dental treatment tends to involve a mouthful of foul-tasting gunk and plaster casts. But now dentists are moving to high-tech digital scanning and 3D printing. That switch opens the door to more advanced materials that could improve your oral hygiene.

Andreas Herrmann of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and his colleagues have developed an antimicrobial plastic, allowing them to 3D print teeth that also kill bacteria. It’s an important issue, say the team, because bacterial damage to existing implants costs patients millions of dollars in the US alone.

The team embedded antimicrobial quaternary ammonium salts inside existing dental resin polymers. The salts are positively charged and so disrupt the negatively charged bacterial membranes, causing them to burst and die. “The material can kill bacteria on contact, but on the other hand it’s not harmful to human cells,” says Hermann.

Then they put this mix in a 3D printer, hardened it with ultraviolet light and printed out a range of dental objects such as replacement teeth and orthodontic braces. To test its antimicrobial properties, they coated samples of the material in mix of saliva and Streptococcus mutans, the bacterium that causes tooth decay. They found the material killed over 99 per cent of the bacteria, compared to less than 1 per cent for a control sample without the added salts.

Further tests will have to be done before the material can be rolled out to patients, as the team only left the samples in the saliva and bacteria mix for six days. “For clinical used we need to extend this, and investigate the compatibility with toothpaste,” says Herrmann.

They also need to confirm the plastic is strong enough to use as a tooth, but he thinks it shouldn’t take too long. “It’s a medical product with a foreseeable application in the near future, much less time than developing a new drug.

-- From New Scientist.

Online Courses

Importance of Online Certificate Courses

There are a number of providers of online courses who put together university course materials in form of videos, texts, lectures and interactive classrooms. These courses are free and open for anyone interested. Such courses have revolutionized learning and millions of students are benefitting from them.

These online courses are appropriate for students from low income places who cannot otherwise afford specialized courses from top notch world universities can benefit from the free courses online. Furthermore, these courses are also good for those who are already doing a job but do not have the time to attend college. These courses are also taken up by students pursuing other fields or by housewives who wish to increase their skill levels.

Free Online Courses With Certificates

While there are a number of free online courses’ platforms, some of the best ones which offer certificates are listed below:

HarvardX

Harvard University in collaboration with edX offers a range of free online courses to students in a variety of subjects. The courses can be taken up by students and upon their completion they receive a verified certificate for a small fee. Right from Science to arts to Humanities, this platform offers courses in many streams. You can take the course at your pace; there is no pressure to complete it in a set amount of time. The classroom is open 24X7 and thus you can address your issues whenever you want. Once done, you receive a verified certificate. You can have a look at some of their top free courses here.

Yale Online

The famous Yale University has taken up dedicated online learning initiatives by launching Yale Online. It constitutes of learning resources made available to students wanting to learn online. Under the online education, there are both, for credit as well as free online courses. Some of the free courses do not offer certification while others do. Go through the free courses to identify which courses offer a certification and which don’t.

Alisona

They offer standard-based certified courses in a range of subjects. These courses are free of charge and they all provide high quality resources to finish the courses. Firstly you identify the courses you want to study by going through their list of courses and get enrolled. Once you commence the course, you will get all the relevant information and resources to study the course after which assessment will be carried out. Once you have completed the course, you can either download a certificate or in case of something official, you can request for a certificate.

Open2Study

On this web portal students will get a chance to explore a number of courses ranging in many subjects. Firstly, you must make an account or sign up using Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account. There are a total of 49 courses which are available for pursuing free of cost. Once you have chosen the course you want to pursue, you will be intimidated regarding its commencement. You can follow it and do the assessments as instructed. Every course here is divided into 4 modules, each to be studied in a course of a week. Every module is further divided into 10 topics and at the end of every topic; students have to give a multiple-choice question paper which will test their understanding of the topic. At the end of every module, assessment will be carried out. Once the course finishes, students can download the certificate of achievement.

Coursera

This platform provides access to free online courses developed by top notch universities across the globe. There are hundreds of courses to choose from, all developed by leading universities. The courses have no eligibility criteria and are open to all for free. There are video lectures quizzes and peer assessments so that students get a thorough understanding of the course. After finishing the course students can go for option Verified Certificate.

Udacity

Udacity is another famous online platform that offers certificate courses to students for free.  The courses are developed by industry giants and thus the course material is relevant to the current trends. Students will come across courses developed by stalwarts such as Google, Facebook and at&t etc. The one thing that sets the Udacity courses apart from others is that not only are the courses developed by leading educational institutes but inputs are also given by industry experts. After successfully completing the final course project, students will have live exit interview and based on that students receive an official Udacity verified certificate.

Future Learn

They offer a diverse selection of courses developed by leading universities from across the globe. The courses are available online and can be accessed from any place. Students will have to first go through the courses provided by the platform and choose the one that they wish to study. Once enrolled, the courses are divided into weeks and they contain a number of activities which must be finished within that week. Students are provided with necessary resources such as audio, video, articles and quizzes. All these resources have margins at the side wherein you can comment about your doubts or ask the professor for their guidance. Once students finish it, it can be marked complete to move to the next topic. Regularly students are also given a discussion topic so that they can interact amongst themselves virtually and come up with new ideas. Assignments are also given for most courses to judge whether the students have understood the concept. At the end of the course students can purchase Statement of Participation. In some courses and invigilated exam can also given based on which students receive Statement of Attainment.

NPTEL

National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) is an initiative by IIT and IISc wherein online courses and certification is provided to students. The courses are free for all and the certification at the end of the course is provided for a nominal fee, after successfully passing the certification exam. This project is funded by the Government of India and is a very reputed one. Students must register first and then choose the course of their choice of which further details will be given only after logging in.

OpenLearn

This platform provides a high number of educational resources for students across the globe. The courses vary in length and the type. The Badged Open Courses provide a free badge to students upon successful completion of the course, as a testimonial that the student had taken up the course and has completed in successfully. Students will also be able to download a Statement of Participation upon course completion.

Saylor

This is a non-profit, fully online academy which offers a wide range of courses for students to choose from. Students are at the liberty to start the course at any time and work through it in their own pace. Once the course has been completed, students earn certificates that prove that they have successfully completed the course. Furthermore, in some courses, students can even earn college credits which can be transferred to the accredited college partners.

Read more: Free Online Courses With Certificates Blog Scholarships for International Students 2014

Genaces- Creative Writing

Left my college with a PhD in hand,
Here I come, before the world I stand.
In my lab I was working with virus critters,
There came a knock at the door and a shout,"Letters!".
The letter stated a very high urgency,
Oh Lord! This was definitely an emergency!

People were dying,
This unknown virus thriving.
My pals were all dead,
Left the responsibility on my head.
What would I do, 
To get a break-through?

Hundreds of tests and not a wink of sleep,
This fight was certainly a mountain steep.
An antibody here, A vaccine there,
Nothing worked, I could just sit and stare.
Looking at Pasteur for some inspiration,
Like a bolt it struck me ,"A SOLUTION!".

I ran like I  never had  before,
This was the only trick I had in store.
Quick as lighting, I let my magic work,
Determined, I wouldn't let those critters lurk.
The virus in the tube dies!
A trickle of happy tears leaves my eyes.

I save the world, it all paid off,
"The virus has my name now", I scoff.
The Earth was again the same & I gained my fame,
'Cuz I killed a virus which has my name !! :)
---------
By Pankti Rana. (S.Y.BSc- 2015-16)
2nd prize winner for Creative Writing in Genaces.

Electric life forms of Bacteria.

Unlike any other life on Earth, these extraordinary bacteria use energy in its purest form – they eat and breathe electrons – and they are everywhere.

To know more about this strange phenomenon in detail do visit :

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25894-meet-the-electric-life-forms-that-live-on-pure-energy/

Have a long nice look at this jaw dropping video about this phenomenon!   :o

Fungi All In !

How well do you know your fungi ? Watch this quick but highly interesting video which takes us from basics to the complex working of Fungi . Have fun :)

Cryptococcus neoformans

BASIC CHARACTERISTICS: C. neoformans grows as a yeast (unicellular) and replicates by budding. It makes hyphae during mating, and eventually creates basidiospores at the end of the hyphae before producing spores. 
INFECTION : Infection with C. neoformans is termed cryptococosis. Most infections with C. neoformans occur in the lungs. However, fungal meningitis and encephalitis, especially as a secondary infection for AIDS patients, are often caused by C. neoformans, making it a particularly dangerous fungus. Infections with this fungus are rare in those with fully functioning immune systems. So, C. neoformans is sometimes referred to as an opportunistic fungus. Cryptococcus neoformanswas the first intracellular pathogen for which the non-lytic escape process termed vomocytosis was observed.

An Interesting Indoor Microbe: Serratia marcescens

Name:  Serratia marcescens

Location: commonly found in showers, toilets, tiles etc.  Fairly ubiquitous in damp environments.

Description: rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacteria.  Often seen as a pink and slimy film on surfaces. Produces large amounts of red pigment.

Health concerns:  Relatively low health risk, but does cause nosocomial infections in hospitals.  Can also cause corneal infections by virtue of becoming established in contact lens cases.  The organism is extremely resistant to soaps and detergents, and in fact most hospital infections occur via contaminated cleaning solutions.

Cool facts:  The production of red pigment by Serratia is thought to be responsible for the miraculous bleeding of damp statues in the Middle Ages.  In the 1950’s the U.S. military released balloons containing (supposedly harmless) Serratia marcescens over San Francisco in order to simulate a bio-weapons attack. A number of people subsequently acquired serious infections and one patient died.  This organisms also can destroy saltwater corals.

Thin Layer Chromatography.

Thin Layer Chromatogrphy for lipids.
Observed here in this picture are 5 different clearly seperated lipids from coconut oil.
Photo credits : Amaan Khan (SYBSc)