Biosensors to Detect Glucose and Control Diabetes

One of the top science and technology news updates is the global issue of diabetes. Diabetes is a very serious disease and one of the major health threats to economic and health development in the world today. It does not only pose issues to the sufferer but also to health professionals. Millions of people across the world, including children suffer from diabetes. In fact, survey states that as of 2013, up to 380 million people suffer from glucose and it is expected that up to 600 million people would suffer from glucose by 2035. Since the disease is on the rise, it is necessary to develop a technology to solve the problem.

Medical technology is greatly improving and would soon enter the stage where we do not need to regularly inject insulin or use finger prick blood tests to monitor/ control diabetes. The advancement in the field of biosensors will open up a whole lot of opportunities. One of them is the efficient monitoring of the blood sugar levels with a small sensor implanted under the skin. Such devices can also release insulin when needed and also communicate the details to a smartphone connected to them.

Overview on Diabetes

You will find a lot of science and technology online articles on diabetes and its causes. Hence, it is very necessary to control diabetes. Before defining what diabetes is and what causes it, it is necessary to note that there are two types of diabetes. These include type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the beta cells that produce insulin in the pancreatic islets are destroyed. The type 2 diabetes occurs when the release of insulin is not sufficient and also as a result of the reduction in its effectiveness. Usually, type 1 diabetes occurs from childhood and it is oftentimes the most difficult form of diabetes but it the less common type. Type 2 diabetes occurs among old people but it is the more common type of diabetes.

Biosensors Role to Control Diabetes

Biosensors are novel technologies developed in order to monitor glucose level and therefore control diabetes. The sensor is implanted in the sufferer and therefore it is able to tell the level of glucose at each time. It is important to note that diabetes is actually caused by insufficient glucose level and therefore by detecting the level of glucose at each time, the problem can be solved.

One would argue that if diabetes is caused by insufficient glucose then it could have been treated if the sufferer takes glucose at every chance he has but it does not work that way. Hypoglycemia the opposite of diabetes occurs when glucose becomes excessive. Glucose intake has to be regulated because hypoglycemia which sets in when the glucose level is very high can cause brain damage and death.

The Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) to Control Diabetes

One of the novel technologies and top notch ways to control diabetes is with the use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). This is simply the implantation of biosensors into the contact lenses in order to ascertain the treatment level of glucose and the resultant data is transmitted and sent to a pump in the patient’s body. If the data sent indicates low level of insulin, the pump will then inject the amount of insulin required by the body.

However, it is argued that this technology may not really solve the problem for the both kinds of diabetes. Other technologies have been developed to deal with the problems of glucose. You can learn more from top technology online news.

Mechanics of Nano Probe for Glucose sensing and Imaging

Apple Watch, Truly Trendy

It has been a tradition among tech giants to release their own wearable devices. Surely Apple, a flagship tech giant, would not be left out. Apple Watch is obviously the gadget long waited for since the release of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus last year by the tech company. As you would expect, the watch comes with a slew of features that make it worthwhile. The gadget is designed in such a way as to make them personal to the wearer and to ensure that the users have a relationship with them. Moreover, it is strategically designed in such a way as to make them part of the users’ life much like other gadgets such as digital wallet, mini iPhone and so forth. Basically, there are three classes of Apple Watch. These include the Apple Watch – standard, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition.

-          Apple Watch Standard

Apple Watch standard is one of the brands of Apple Watch, also referred to as the standard version of Apple Watch. It has a beautiful design and built with stainless steel in order to accord it beauty and durability. Furthermore, to make the watch scratch resistant, it is protected with solid sapphire crystal which is the second most solid element on earth after diamond. Moreover, you can make choices on the kind of band you want for the watch as there are 20 variations in the types of bands available for the watch. The watch is sold at $549 - $1049 for the 38mm types and $599 - $1099 for the 42mm type.

-          ­Apple Watch Sport

This brand of Apple Watch is designed specifically for sporty youths and to help people maximize their workout and fitness exercises. In order to ensure this, the watch is built with anodized aluminum to make it lightweight. Moreover, rather than solid sapphire crystal, the screen is protected with rigid ion-X glass. This screen protection is used to further ensure that the watch is lightweight. The watch is truly stylish and a must-wear during a sport or game. The 38 mm type of the watch is sold at $349 while the 42 mm type is sold at $399.

-          Apple Watch Edition

This brand of Apple Watch is available in limited quantity. It is the most exquisite of the three and designed with luxury in mind. The watch is built with concrete stainless steel material and also 18 Karat gold bezels. The latter adds up to make the watch quite expensive. Moreover, the screen of the watch is protected by solid sapphire crystal for scratch resistance. Obviously, Apple Watch Edition is designed to be very attractive and luxurious. The watch occurs in about 6 different bands and each of these bands represents a quintessence of excellence and occurs in neat color patterns with unique tones and brilliance. These amazing features built into the Apple Watch Edition truly come with some hefty cost. The cost of the watch starts from $10,000 and of course, it is worth the cost.

CALIFORNIA OIL SPILL FROM PLAINS ALL AMERICAN PIPELINE

Oil spill has become a recurring event in California. Plains All American Pipeline has been associated with a number of oil spills since 2006. Reports show that up to 229 spills have been reported on the company. The recent oil spill which actually resulted from negligence on the part of the company was quite enormous. The report indicated the oil spill was due to failed pipeline which released up to 101,000 gallons of oil and about 21,000 gallons of the released oil reached water. The damaging effect of this oil spill was quite remarkable as it contaminated the water bodies and caused harm to aquatic life. The report stated that due to the oil spill resulted in the closure of popular campgrounds and also commercial fishing has been prohibited nearby. Up to 300 marine mammals and birds have been found dead due to the oil spill.

Delay in Getting the government notified

It took quite a long time for the firefighters and operators to confirm that the pipeline has ruptured, yet it took a longer time for the government to be notified of the incident. This is actually contrary to the state law. The state law required immediate notification of a release or a threatened release. However, the company failed to notify the government of such a release.

Moreover, the employees at Plains All American Pipeline failed to confirm the leakage until about 1:30 pm in the afternoon. Notwithstanding, the government was not notified until 3 pm in the afternoon. Such a time lag actually gave way for the propagation of the oil. Of course, the company is facing scrutiny from the regulators and law makers at Washington over the oil spill. In line with this scrutiny, the House Energy and Commerce Committee probed into the spill that took place west of Santa Barbara and hence demanded from the company for a detailed information on the maintenance of the of the line and its plans and actions on addressing the issues of corrosion. Moreover, the panel demanded from the company what it did in the hours leading to the incident and why the incident was not reported early.

Cause of the break

According to the investigations made by the body, it was reported that the actual cause of the break is corrosion. The break occurred along a badly corroded section of the pipe. The corrosion widened the section to a fraction about an inch in thickness. This gave way for the oil to gush out like hose without nozzle. The reason for the delay was reported by the company to be because the company did not confirm that the oil spill was actually from its pipeline on time. The workers rode along the pipeline to look for the source of the spill once they confirmed the leak. Moreover, the cleanup cost of this oil spill is quite high and projected to be about $92 million. Plains All American Pipeline is obviously facing lawsuit over the oil spill and of course, the government is looking into the matter to ensure that it is properly dealt with.

MYSTERY OF SIXTH SENSE- IS ITS MYTH OR TRUE?

When a woman experiences the fragrance of roses from a bunch of roses in her hand; it is a normal experience through one of the five senses, smelling. However, when a woman experiences the fragrance of sandalwood without the apparent presence of sandalwood; it is through her sixth sense.

Insecurity of Food and Hunger Issue in Ghana

Food insecurity is a prevailing issue in Ghana, however it is more prevalent in the Northern savannah region of Ghana than the southern part of the country. A lot of issues, especially policy issues can be said to give rise to this. Past governmental policies in Ghana which aimed at solving this intensified agriculture and in the end export crops were favored over smaller produces. Ghana has turned over to modern industrial approaches which will likely not address the insecurity issue as well.

What is food insecurity?

Food insecurity occurs when food is not available, accessible or sufficient in quality as quantity. It is an opposite of food security which occurs when food is available to every person in a region has access to nutritious, sufficient and safe food at all times. Food insecurity issue in the Southern Ghana is not as high as that in Northern Ghana. The southern Ghana, food insecurity is between 1 and 7 percent, however, in Northern Ghana food insecurity is as high as 10 to 30 percent.

Previous Ghanaian Era and Food insecurity

To really understand the origin of food insecurity in Ghana and the best way of solving the imminent challenge, a close look should be taken on the past era of Ghana. Food insecurity in Ghana is not a new thing as it existed in the previous era. A close look should be taken on the British colonial rule in order to understand the trends of agricultural development policies in Ghana.

The colonial masters focused on Southern Ghana and paid little attention to Northern Ghana. The emphasis on southern Ghana was on export crops and this led to immense infrastructural development in the region and hence rural-urban migration took place from Northern Ghana to Southern Ghana. As a result of governmental desires to create employment for unemployed youths, show the public how important industrialization was and so forth, a lot of policies were made in the colonial period.

In the period after industrialization, government focused on large scale agriculture through mechanized farming and also expanded the role of the ADC but the ADC strategy failed. As a further step to improve food security, Ghanaian government established the Ghana Food Distribution Corporation (GFDC) which focused on the distribution of foods and also promotes food production through pricing and marketing policies in favor of poorer households. However, GFDC also failed after some time of its establishment.

The structural adjustment period between 1983 and 1992 is a period in which the Ghanaian government attempted to prevent the economy from collapsing and hence sought the help of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The policy was focused on deregulation of both input and output markets. This resulted to the increase in the cost of most agricultural chemicals by up to 40% each year from 1986 to 1992. This truly had a great toll on domestic food production and exposed local farmers to competition from foreign producers.

Ghanaian government focused on modernizing subsistence agriculture and will obviously not address the issue of food insecurity in Northern Ghana. This is because industrial agriculture relies on costly and high-yielding seeds, artificial fertilizers and machineries which local farmers obviously do not have means to access and it is these local farmers that mostly suffer food insecurity. To solve food insecurity issue in Ghana, effective strategies should be devised to place more importance on farming experiences.