PASTIC::News Letter

Executive Editor

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Akram Shaikh

Director General, PASTIC

Managing Editor

Dr. Syed Aftab Hussain Shah

Composer

Shazia Parveen

ECHNOLOGY

OUNDUP

Technology Information Services Section (TIS)

Pakistan Scientific & Technological Information Centre

PASTIC

Sep-Oct, 2021

Vol.13 No 5

A NEWS BULLETIN

Tech News Headlines

Tech & Trade Offers

Phone: 051-9248103-4, 9248128
Fax: 051-9248113
Email: tis.pastic@gmail.com
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PASTIC National Centre
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Editorial Board

UST licenses a GIS-based land management system to GIS

Plus Total Solutions Pvt Ltd

NUST Innovation & Commercialization (I&C) Dte signed a
licensing agreement with Silverback Pvt. Ltd

New research finds that children who eat more fruit and
vegetables have better mental health

Engineers grow pancreatic 'organoids' that mimic the real thing

Research Finally Reveals Ancient Universal Equation for the
Shape of an Egg

Cat Bacteria Treats Mouse Skin Infection, May Help You and
Your Pets As Well

Chang'e-5 samples reveal key age of moon rocks

'Neuroprosthesis' restores words to man with paralysis

Forthcoming Tech Events

International Conference on Science, Engineering & Technology
(ICSET)

International Conference on Medical & Health Science (ICMHS)

International Conference on Marine Science and Aquaculture

(ICMSA)

International Congress on Cell Science and Molecular Biology

(IC-CSMB)

E-commerce Berlin Expo,

Women in IT Awards UK

Wearable Technology Show

Data Center World

RENTAR FUEL

CATALYSTS and MAX-R

100 ACTIVE

REFRIGERANT AGENT

Technology Roundup

NUST licenses a GIS-based land management system to GIS Plus Total

Solutions Pvt Ltd

UST Innovation & Commercialisation (I&C) Dte marks another milestone on October 1, 2021, as a GIS-

based land management system has been licensed to a NUST spinoff, GIS Plus Total Solutions Pvt Ltd.
The proposed platform offers an automated society management system based on Geographical Information

Systems (GIS), which promises increased efficiency and peace of mind for both managers and the customers.
This technology is key in the development of new housing societies and can also be integrated with existing
ones to offer residents a better experience with this advanced property management system.

https://nust.edu.pk/news/nust-licenses-a-gis-based-land-management-system-to-gis-plus-total-solutions-
pvt-ltd/

NUST Innovation & Commercialization (I&C) Dte signed a licensing

agreement with Silverback Pvt. Ltd.

Continuing on its trajectory of impactful research and innovation, NUST Innovation & Commercialization
(I&C) Dte signed a licensing agreement with Silverback Pvt. Ltd. Pro-rector Research Innovation &
Commercialisation NUST, Dr Rizwan Riaz, signed the agreement with Silverback Pvt. Ltd. for two IPRs of a
state-of-the-art virtual IoT learning and development platform.

Users may access physical IoT hardware while remotely programming, and debugging their projecT College

of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (CEME).
Universities will be able to use this solution's virtual access features to conduct IoT lab courses and to test
their IoT-based research remotely at a low cost.

https://nust.edu.pk/news/nust-innovation-commercialization-ic-dte-signed-a-licensing-agreement-with-
silverback-pvt-ltd/

Technology Roundup

New research finds that children who eat more fruit and veg have better

mental health

The study is the first to investigate the association between fruit and vegetable intakes, breakfast
and lunch choices, and mental wellbeing in UK school children. The research team studied data
from almost 9,000 children in 50 schools. They found that the types of breakfast and lunch eaten
by both primary and secondary school pupils were significantly associated with wellbeing.

Credit: © ricka_kinamoto / stock.adobe.com

It shows how eating more fruit and vegetables is linked with better wellbeing among secondary
school pupils in particular. And children who consumed five or more portions of fruit and
vegetables a day had the highest scores for mental wellbeing.
The study was led by UEA Health and Social Care Partners in collaboration with Norfolk County
Council.
The research team say that public health strategies and school policies should be developed to
ensure that good quality nutrition is available to all children before and during school to optimise
mental wellbeing and empower children to fulfil their full potential.
Lead researcher Prof Ailsa Welch, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "We know that
poor mental wellbeing is a major issue for young people and is likely to have long-term negative
consequences.”The pressures of social media and modern school culture have been touted as
potential reasons for a rising prevalence of low mental wellbeing in children and young people.
"Another interesting thing that we found was that nutrition had as much or more of an impact on
wellbeing as factors such as witnessing regular arguing or violence at home. Prof Welch said: "As
a potentially modifiable factor at an individual and societal level, nutrition represents an
important public health target for strategies to address childhood mental wellbeing.”Public health
strategies and school policies should be developed to ensure that good quality nutrition is
available to all children both before and during school in order to optimise mental wellbeing and
empower children to fulfil their full potential

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210928075004.htm

Technology Roundup

ENGINEERS GROW PANCREATIC 'ORGANOIDS' THAT MIMIC THE

REAL THING

MIT engineers, in collaboration with scientists at Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, have developed a
new way to grow tiny replicas of the pancreas, using either healthy or cancerous pancreatic cells. Their new
models could help researchers develop and test potential drugs for pancreatic cancer, which is currently one of
the most difficult types of cancer to treat.

Using a specialized gel that mimics the extracellular environment surrounding the pancreas, the researchers
were able to grow pancreatic "organoids," allowing them to study the important interactions between pancreatic
tumors and their environment. Unlike some of the gels now used to grow tissue, the new MIT gel is completely
synthetic, easy to assemble and can be produced with a consistent composition every time.
"The issue of reproducibility is a major one," says Linda Griffith, the School of Engineering Professor of
Teaching Innovation and a professor of biological engineering and mechanical engineering. "The research
community has been looking for ways to do more methodical cultures of these kinds of organoids, and especially
to control the microenvironment."
The researchers have also shown that their new gel can be used to grow other types of tissue, including intestinal
and endometrial tissue.
Traditionally, labs have used commercially available tissue-derived gel to grow organoids in a lab dish.
However, as the most widely used commercial gel is a complex mixture of proteins, proteoglycans, and growth
factors derived from a tumor grown in mice, it is variable from lot to lot and has undesirable components present,
Griffith says. It also doesn't always allow for growth of multiple types of cells. About 10 years ago, Griffith's lab
started to work on designing a synthetic gel that could be used to grow epithelial cells, which form the sheets that
line most organs, along with other supportive cells.
The newly developed gel is based on polyethylene glycol (PEG), a polymer that is often used for medical
applications because it doesn't interact with living cells. By studying the biochemical and biophysical properties
of the extracellular matrix, which surrounds organs in the body, the researchers were able to identify features
they could incorporate into the PEG gel to help cells grow in it. One key feature is the presence of molecules
called peptide ligands, which interact with cell surface proteins called integrins. The researchers also showed
that they can use their gel to grow organoids from pancreatic cancer cells from patients.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210913135619.htm

Illustration of pancreas in human body (stock image).

Credit: © magicmine / stock.adobe.com

Technology Roundup

RESEARCH FINALLY REVEALS ANCIENT UNIVERSAL EQUATION

FOR THE SHAPE OF AN EGG

Researchers from the University of Kent, the Research Institute for Environment Treatment and Vita-Market Ltd
have discovered a universal mathematical formula that can describe any bird's egg existing in nature, a feat which
has been unsuccessful until now.

Researchers from the University of Kent, the Research Institute for Environment Treatment and Vita-Market Ltd.
have discovered the universal mathematical formula that can describe any bird's egg existing in nature, a feat which
has been unsuccessful until now.

Egg-shape has long attracted the attention of mathematicians, engineers, and biologists from an analytical point of
view. The shape has been highly regarded for its evolution as large enough to incubate an embryo, small enough to
exit the body in the most efficient way, not roll away once laid, is structurally sound enough to bear weight and be the
beginning of life for 10,500 species that have survived since the dinosaurs. The egg has been called the “perfect
shape.”

Analysis of all egg shapes used four geometric figures: sphere, ellipsoid, ovoid, and pyriform (conical), with a
mathematical formula for the pyriform yet to be derived.

To rectify this, researchers introduced an additional function into the ovoid formula, developing a mathematical
model to fit a completely novel geometric shape characterized as the last stage in the evolution of the sphere-
ellipsoid, which it is applicable to any egg geometry.

This new universal mathematical formula for egg shape is based on four parameters: egg length, maximum breadth,
shift of the vertical axis, and the diameter at one quarter of the egg length.

This long sought-for universal formula is a significant step in understanding not only the egg shape itself, but also
how and why it evolved, thus making widespread biological and technological applications possible.

https://www.labmanager.com/news/research-finally-reveals-ancient-universal-equation-for-the-shape-of-an-egg-26618

Technology Roundup

CAT BACTERIA TREATS MOUSE SKIN INFECTION, MAY HELP YOU

AND YOUR PETS AS WELL

searchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine used bacteria found on healthy cats to
successfully treat a skin infection on mice. These bacteria may serve as the basis for new therapeutics against
severe skin infections in humans, dogs and cats.

To identify candidates for a new bacteriotherapy against skin infection, researchers first screened various
bacteria from dogs and cats and co-cultured them with S. pseudintermedius in liquid and agar antimicrobial
assays.

The study was led by Richard L. Gallo, MD, PhD, Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of
Dermatology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, whose team specializes in using bacteria and their products
to treat illnesses — an approach known as “bacteriotherapy.”

Skin is colonized by hundreds of bacterial species that play important roles in skin health, immunity and fighting
infection. All species need to maintain a diverse balance of healthy skin bacteria to fight potential pathogens.
“Our health absolutely depends on these 'good' bacteria,” said Gallo. “They rely on our healthy skin to live, and
in return some of them protect us from 'bad' bacteria. But if we get sick, 'bad' bacteria can take advantage of our
weakened defenses and cause infection.”

This is the case with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP), a bacterium commonly
found on domesticated animals that becomes infectious when the animals are sick or injured.
To address this, researchers first screened a library of bacteria that normally live on dogs and cats and grew them
in the presence of MRSP. From this, they identified a strain of cat bacteria called Staphylococcus felis (S. felis)
that was especially good at inhibiting MRSP growth. They found that this special strain of S. felis naturally
produces multiple antibiotics that kill MRSP by disrupting its cell wall and increasing the production of toxic
free radicals. “The potency of this species is extreme,” said Gallo. “It is strongly capable of killing pathogens, in
part because it attacks them from many sides — a strategy known as 'polypharmacy.' This makes it particularly
attractive as a therapeutic.”

https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/cat-bacteria-treats-mouse-skin-infection-may-help-you-and-your-pets

Technology Roundup

CHANG'E-5 SAMPLES REVEAL KEY AGE OF MOON ROCKS

lunar probe launched by the Chinese space agency recently brought back the first fresh samples of

rock and debris from the moon in more than 40 years. Now an international team of scientists --
including an expert from Washington University in St. Louis -- has determined the age of these
moon rocks at close to 1.97 billion years old.

It is the perfect sample to close a 2-billion-year gap," said Brad Jolliff, the Scott Rudolph Professor
of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences and director of the university's McDonnell
Center for the Space Sciences. Jolliff is a U.S.-based co-author of an analysis of the new moon
rocks led by the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, published Oct. 7 in the journal Science.

The age determination is among the first scientific results reported from the successful Chang'e-5
mission, which was designed to collect and return to Earth rocks from some of the youngest
volcanic surfaces on the moon.

"Of course, 'young' is relative," Jolliff said. "All of the volcanic rocks collected by Apollo were
older than 3 billion years. And all of the young impact craters whose ages have been determined
from the analysis of samples are younger than 1 billion years. So the Chang'e-5 samples fill a
critical gap."

The gap that Jolliff cites is important not only for studying the moon, but also for studying other
rocky planets in the solar system.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211007145754.htm

Moon (stock image). Credit: © Simon van Hemert / stock.adobe.com

Technology Roundup

Neuroprosthesis' restores words to man with paralysis

Researchers at UC San Francisco have successfully developed a “speech neuroprosthesis” that has enabled a man with
severe paralysis to communicate in sentences, translating signals from his brain to the vocal tract directly into words that
appear as text on a screen

The achievement, which was developed in collaboration with the first participant of a clinical research trial,
builds on more than a decade of effort by UCSF neurosurgeon Edward Chang, MD, to develop a technology
that allows people with paralysis to communicate even if they are unable to speak on their own.

“To our knowledge, this is the first successful demonstration of direct decoding of full words from the brain
activity of someone who is paralyzed and cannot speak,” said Chang, the Joan and Sanford Weill Chair of
Neurological Surgery at UCSF, Jeanne Robertson Distinguished Professor, and senior author on the study. “It
shows strong promise to restore communication by tapping into the brain's natural speech machinery.” Each
year, thousands of people lose the ability to speak due to stroke, accident, or disease. With further development,
the approach described in this study could one day enable these people to fully communicate.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/neuroprosthesis-restores-words-to-man-with-paralysis

Researchers have developed new technology to help people with paralysis.

Image: Noah Berger

Technology Roundup

Pakistan

International Conference on Science, Engineering & Technology (ICSET)

28-29 January, 2022
Islamabad

https://10times.com/icset-pakistan

International Conference on Medical & Health Science (ICMHS)

28-29 January, 2022, Islamabad

https://10times.com/icmhs-pakistan

International Conference on Marine Science and Aquaculture (ICMSA)

1 -2 December, 2021
Karachi

http://universal-conference.com/Conference/23473/ICMSA/

International Congress on Cell Science and Molecular Biology (IC-CSMB)

1 -2 December, 2021
Peshawar

http://worldresearchsociety.com/Conference/30904/IC-CSMB/

International

E-commerce Berlin Expo,

69th February, 2022
Luckenwalder Str. 4-6, 10963 Berlin, Germany

https://ecommerceberlin.com/?utm_source=information_age_calendar&utm_medium=calendar&utm
_campaign=information_age_calendar&utm_id=information_age_calendar

Women in IT Awards UK

28th February, 2022
86-90 Park Lane, London, W1K 7TN, United Kingdom

https://www.bonhillevents.com/EN/WITAwardsUK2022?utm_source=IA&utm_medium=we
bpage&utm_campaign=WITAwardsUK2022

Wearable Technology Show

17-18th March, 2022
52 Upper St, London N1 0QH, United Kingdom

https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/home

Data

Center

World

28th-31st March, 2022
500 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78701, United States

https://www.datacenterworld.com/

Forthcoming Tech Events

Tech & Trade Offers

About PASTIC

PASTIC serves as a gateway for
Scientific & Technological
Information for R&D by catering
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T e c h n o l o g y I n f o r m a t i o n
Section works exclusively for
support and promotion of
technological information on
trade and industry in the
country. “Technology Roundup”
is a news bulletin that provides
latest and innovative technology
news, forthcoming events, etc. It
a l s o p r o m o t e s p r o d u c t s ,
technologies and services
globally in sectors such as Agro-
Industry, Bio-Technology,
Building Material, Business,
Chemicals, Electronics, Energy,
Fisheries, Food Processing,
Machinery, Packaging, Mining
Pharmaceuticals and Textiles.

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Technology Roundup

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