Beware Of Computers

You all might have seen the Board outside a house saying "Beware of Dogs" but here is one more saying Beware of Computers. And its all because of the growing technology that says: Computers can decode your thoughts.!!!!

University of California researchers have decoded electrical activity in the brains temporal lobe - the seat of the auditory system - as a person listens to a normal conversation. Based on the correlation between sound and brain activity, they were able to predict the words the person heard.

Researchers have determined the location of intractable seizures in fifteen people undergoing brain surgery so that the area can be removed in a second surgery. Neurosurgeons cut a hole in the skull and placed electrodes on the brain surfaces or cortex - in this case up to 256 electrodes covering the temporal lobe - to record the activity over a period of a week to pin point the seizures. The brain activity detected by the electrodes as patients heard five-ten minutes of conversation was recorded. The data was used to reconstruct and play back the sounds the patients heard.

Two different computational models were tested to match spoken sounds to the pattern of activity in the electrodes. The patient then heard a single word, and the models were used to predict the word based on electrode readings.

This was the whole procedure that takes place in computer to decode your thoughts and so it helps a lot for patients those are not in a condition to speak......But still you must be aware of computers now, as they can do anything in this changing world.

Social media `may help treat diabetes`

Researchers are evaluating a new social media tool called Wellaho to treat patients with type I and IIdiabetes.

The clinical trial by researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine will study whether the use of social networking can improve patient-physician interactions and the patient's overall health and wellbeing.

"This trial will study how an online social network may better enable patient care," Jason Bronner said.

"With a controlled group of the patient's clinicians, friends, family and fellow patients, we will measure any changes in knowledge, attitudes and self care towards diabetes," he said.

Wellaho, developed by Sanitas Inc. in La Jolla, is an interactive online system designed to help patients manage their care outside the hospital.

The system is HIPAA compliant, compatible with provider networks, and includes telemedicine capabilities.

"Social networking provides a common way for patients with chronic disease to learn about their condition while interacting with others in similar situations," Bronner said.

"As opposed to open networks, the use of this tool allows us to ensure that the medical information they receive and share is accurate, safe and absent of advertising," he said.

The online site provides self-monitoring tools as well as evidenced-based education customized for the patient's specific condition.

Subjects will be monitored for the number of times they access the site, length of use, and number of invited participants. The site will also track measures of weight, blood pressure, and glycostated hemoglobin.

"Long-term, we hope that patients will learn behaviours that impact blood sugar, control blood pressure, improve satisfaction and potentially decrease cost of care," Bronner added.