Aug 25, 2008

Side-by-side configuration is incorrect

If you develop a native Windows application with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and try to run it on another machine, you might get an error message complaining about side-by-side configuration is incorrect. The application eventlog (control panel>administrative tools) will reveal that this is related to missing VC90 CRT. So this error message means that your application needs Visual C++ runtime library to function.

Retail version of Visual C++ runtime can be downloaded from Microsoft. Here is the x86 version. On the other hand, the debug version of Visual C++ runtime is not allowed to be distributed due to license issues. So, if you would like to make your application run on a machine without development environment, there are two options.

1) Build your program to statically link the runtime. To do that, in the project property page under "Configuration Properties > C/C++ > Code Generation", change run-time library from "Multi-threaded DLL (/MD)" to "Multi-threaded (/MT)".

2) Build your program to dynamically link the runtime AND install visual c++ redistributable (download link) on the target machine.

Happy coding...

Aug 24, 2008

GEMM Therapy

GEMM (Generatore Elettro Magnetico Modulato) is a state of the art therapeutic device generating specially modulated, low power (0.25 watt) radio waves.

The non-invasive GEMM Therapy is based on the breakthrough discovery of Dr Seckiner Gorgun on molecular communication. The GEMM Device can broadcast radio waves at the various electromagnetic resonance language that communicates with the target proteins in the cells who are responsible for regulating biological processes. This direct communication enables GEMM to provide significant therapeutic benefits for a wide range of diseases and medical conditions. GEMM's therapeutic waves are at the target protein's precisely calculated specific resonant frequency in order to give orders to stop, modify or reverse the malfunctioning processes. The Therapy has already been utilized in several hospitals in Turkey, Italy and Germany where medical doctors reported great success.

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Aug 15, 2008

View multiple Excel files at the same

There's a simple setting that allows excel to display multiple files next to or on top of each other (like word, pdf, etc.). This is useful especially if you have two monitors or a large monitor and would like to work on two excel files at the same time.

Here's what you need to do:

Excel 2003: Go to "Tools > Options" Select the “General” tab and place a check mark at “Ignore other Applications”.

Excel 2007: Office Button > Excel Options > Advanced Tab > General Section > "Ignore other Applications that use dynamic data exchange"

Click OK and you are done!.

Also note that there's "side by side comparison" feature of Excel.

Breakthrough Battery Life: Up to 19 Hours on a Single Charge

Dell launched new lines of Latitude and Precision laptops, some targeted specifically at "digital nomads." One of the systems boasts a whopping 19 hours of battery life. The company also announced a new dedicated chip and second OS that enables near-instant access to e-mail, calendar and Web without booting Windows.

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Aug 12, 2008

Brain-wave Test Challenges Vegetative-State Diagnosis

Tests using an EEG have shown unexpected cortical functioning in vegetative patients. Niels Birbaumer, a neurobiologist at the University of Tübingen, in Germany, used EEG recordings to study the brain activity of patients diagnosed as vegetative and found unexpected levels of cortical activity.

In one of the studies, Birbaumer and his colleagues looked for patterns in the brain’s electrical activity as patients listened to sentences being read aloud. In the experiment, patients listened to a series of seven-word sentences. Half the time the sentences were semantically logical. The other half of the sentences ended with a nonsensical word. As the patients listened to the words, the researchers listened to the electrical activity in their brains. With EEG data from 100 trials, the researchers pieced together a signature response for each patient who gave some indication of how he processed the errors he was hearing.

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Cell change 'keeps organs young'

Researchers may have found a way to halt the biological clock which slows down our bodies over the decades. A US team thinks it may have found the genetic levers to help boost a system vital to cleaning up faulty proteins within our cells.

The journal Nature Medicine reported that the livers of genetically-altered older mice worked as well as those in younger animals. They suggested it might one day help people with progressive brain diseases. Dr Ana Maria Cuervo, commented that "These results show it's possible to correct this protein 'logjam' that occurs in our cells as we get older, thereby perhaps helping us to enjoy healthier lives well into old age".

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Aug 2, 2008

Nerve cells made from elderly patient's skin cells

Skin cells from an elderly patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have been ‘reprogrammed’ to generate motor neurons, the type of nerve cells that die as the disease progresses.

It is the first time that an induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell line has been created from a patient with a genetic illness. Like embryonic stem cells, iPS cells have the potential to develop into almost any of the body’s cell types and offer new disease insights.

Researchers made the iPS cells using viral vectors to introduce four genes into skin cells taken from two elderly patients with a mild form of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). This genetic reprogramming technique was first developed in 2006 in Japan. Although results are not yet reported in the peer-reviewed literature, posters at a stem-cell meeting in June described iPS cell lines from people with Alzheimer’s disease, Down’s syndrome, muscular dystrophy, and more.

Such cell lines could be most useful for diseases that are hardest to research. For example, in ALS, because the dying neurons reside within the spinal cord, they are nearly impossible to study in living patients, says Henderson. “We now have cells in culture that are genetically the same as in those with the disease.”

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Adult stem cells help heal broken bones

Adult stem cells are specialized cells with the ability to regenerate tissue in response to damage. However, many patients lack sufficient numbers of these cells and thus cannot heal properly.

Researchers have used adult stem cells in a few cases to improve fracture healing, but further studies were needed to show that this method was truly effective and safe before it can be pursued as a new treatment.

Now scientists at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have provided the scientific foundation for future clinical trials of this approach by demonstrating in animal models that these cells can be used to repair broken bones.

"This finding is critical to patients who lack the proper healing process and to individuals prone to broken bones, such as those with osteoporosis and the rare genetic condition known as brittle bone disease," said Dr. Anna Spagnoli, associate professor of pediatrics and biomedical engineering in the UNC School of Medicine and senior author on the study.

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Alzheimer's drug 'halts' decline

UK scientists have developed a drug which may halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

Trials of the drug, known as Rember, in 321 patients showed an 81% difference in rate of mental decline compared with those not taking the treatment. Alzheimer's experts were optimistic about the results, but said larger trials were now needed.

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