• Conte Elected Fellow of IEEE

Artificial retina may help the blind to see
Dr. Gianluca Lazzi, electrical and computer engineering

Liquidia Technologies obtains license agreement with UNC and NCSU
Joseph DeSimone, chemical engineering

Five shelter animals die in surgery
Kelli Ferris, clinical sciences

Anarchists explain views
student activism

Meetings and events today
Tom Wolfe visit

Weldon students to become cadets
ROTC

Licensing Revenues and Patent Activity, Fiscal 2003
licensing and patents

University negotiating with up to 5, developer says during briefing
Centennial Campus

North Carolina farmer launches freshwater shrimp business
Cooperative Extension

Anarchists explain views

Dec. 1, 2004
News & Observer
By JESSICA ROCHA
© Copyright 2004

CHAPEL HILL -- They crammed into a small classroom to hear what the three panelists had to say, politely raising their hands and waiting to be called upon. Toward the end, they passed out bread and apples.

These were the anarchists and other activists, progressives and curious onlookers who attended the informational discussion of anarchism, its meaning and its portrayal in the media.

About 50 people gathered in room 117 of the Hanes Art Center at UNC-Chapel Hill to listen to David Phillips, a Charlotte-based activist, Liz Seymour, a Greensboro anarchist and freelance writer, and Danyele McPherson, a Carrboro progressive media coordinator. Andrew Pearson, with the Campaign to End the Cycle of Violence, facilitated the event.

Panelists labored to explain anarchism without defining it because, as a rule, anarchists are uncomfortable with labels. A person's sense of being an individual is in itself anarchic, they say.

"Just like any social movement, it's multifaceted," McPherson said. "You can't characterize it by one event."

She said maybe the best definition of anarchism is believing in living -- or trying to live -- a nonhierarchical, nonauthoritative and noncorporate way of life.

The event fell on the fifth anniversary of protesters' successful disruption of the World Trade Organization talks in Seattle in 1999, but was organized in response to a recent, more local event.

On Nov. 5, a post-election protest culminated in the vandalism of the state's Republican Party headquarters in Raleigh. Three people had felony charges brought against them for damage estimated at more than $5,000.

At the trio's first court appearance, an acquaintance of one of the defendants reportedly attacked two television camera operators' equipment, spawning news reports that other anarchists felt were biased against them.

But it also brought about peaceful demonstrations, including a "Honk for Peace" event earlier in November at N.C. State University, and Tuesday's discussion at UNC-CH.

Though the group was trying to set the record straight, organizer and discussion leader Pearson barred television cameras. He said the panel had no objections to the media's presence, but that some attendants might have been uncomfortable with the cameras.

While panelists avoided judgment of the GOP headquarters vandals, some people in the audience questioned vandalism as a tactic. Frank Papa Jr., who owns the pet store Phydeaux in downtown Carrboro, said he believed working within the system might work better to instill lasting social change.

"I don't think protesting does a whole lot other than alienate other people," he said.

Panelists said many anarchist touted mostly peaceful actions such as "Buy Nothing Day" and working with the organization Food Not Bombs, which collects discarded food and distributes it to the homeless and hungry.

"I know a lot of anarchists, and they are very nice people," Pearson said.

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Meetings and events today

Dec. 1, 2004
Durham Herald-Sun
By staff report
© Copyright 2004

Authors & Books

MCKIMMON CENTER, Gorman Street and Western Boulevard, N.C. State campus, Raleigh. Ticket Central, 515-1100.

Tom Wolfe. Will discuss "I am Charlotte Simmons." Presented by Quail Ridge Books. 7 p.m. $5. Free with book purchase.

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Artificial retina may help the blind to see

Dec. 1, 2004
Rocky Mount Telegram
By Dorothy Y. Lewis
© Copyright 2004

Dr. Juan Orellana said he sees up to 100 patients a week who are legally blind due to age-related macular degeneration.

No one knows what causes the disease, but macular degeneration affects a part of the retina called the macula, which is responsible for central vision, said Orellana, a retina specialist at Watson Eye Associates in Rocky Mount.

Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in people 55 and older, Orellana said. Sometimes children develop the disease, too, he said.

"A patient with macular degeneration cannot see what is directly in front of them, even though they may be able to still see peripherally," Orellana said. "People with macular degeneration cannot do a number of things including recognize faces, drive, read or watch television."

Macular degeneration can present more problems for Twin Counties residents than for people living in larger cities, he said.

"I'm from New York City and there people with macular degeneration can take the bus, subway or even walk to the local Food Lion, for example," Orellana said. "In this area, for the most part, people rely on their car. With this disease you can't drive so your independence is lost because you can't use your car to get places."

There is no cure for the disease, but scientists at N.C. State University are working on an artificial retina that may help people suffering from macular degeneration see again, said researcher Dr. Gianluca Lazzi.

Researchers are still working to perfect the artificial retina, Lazzi said. If the device proves to be successful, the artificial retina probably won't be available to the general population for several years, he said.

Six people from across the nation have agreed to participate in a study to determine if the artificial retina will restore their vision, Lazzi said.

"One man participating in the study hasn't been able to see for 50 years because of macular degeneration," Lazzi said. "That man can now distinguish a plate from a cup, and he can see the largest letters on an eye chart."

The artificial retina is designed for people with intact retinas, Lazzi said.

The device will hopefully electrically stimulate a person's natural retina, he said.

"Electrodes are implanted in a patient's eye," Lazzi said. "A small video camera on a person's eyeglasses will relay visual signals to the electrodes and then to the brain. This will then stimulate images in the brain."

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Weldon students to become cadets

Nov. 30, 2004
Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald
By Jennifer Heaslip
© Copyright 2004

WELDON - Weldon High Principal David Jones walked through the school's former shop room Wednesday, stepping around cinder blocks, old desks, concrete mixers, even a piano. He opened the door that led outside and looked around at the unused greenhouse to the left and the older basketball court in front of him.

"This is the future," he said.

After Christmas break, the high school will become home to Weldon City Schools' first Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program. The shop room will be turned into an office, classroom and storage facility, the greenhouse will become an indoor shooting range, and the basketball court will be used for drill practice.

The elective class will teach communication, leadership, history, citizenship, physical fitness, marksmanship, professionalism, technology, first aid and drug abuse prevention. The class can be taken every year, and students have the opportunity to advance through the ranks as the program expands.

"We see the benefits as being citizenship, leadership, responsibility and the fact that it would bring a sense of camaraderie," Jones said. "It's a grand opportunity and I do look forward to it."

Students aren't committed to the military after graduation, he added. Instead, the program gives students options as well as focus, training and discipline. It also offers a different type of respect and discipline not offered at the school, and he encourages as many students as possible to participate.

"It's another motivator for our students," Jones said. "Their cadets graduate at a higher rate. All in all, it's a positive step for our kids."

In addition to the curriculum, the class offers students a chance to compete in drill, marksmanship and other JROTC competitions, boosting self-esteem, confidence and pride.

"I dare say it won't take long for Weldon High School to be a challenger in (competitions)," Jones said. "We want to be competitive."

He polled students, teachers and parents and found there was a lot of support for the program, he said. Staff members are behind the idea, including some who have been in the military and feel it is a strong program.

Renovations to the shop room and greenhouse will cost about $13,000, and the board of education voted last week to approve the funds. The Army will pay for half of the instructors' salaries, and the school system will pay for the other half. The Army will also pay for all supplies and equipment.

Weldon High originally requested to have JROTC taught at the school three years ago and were told the program was being put on hold. In October of this year, however, they were contacted by the Army and asked if they were still interested. Jones immediately re-applied for the program and Army officials visited the school to inspect the facilities before giving the go-ahead. The next step is to start the renovations and hire someone to be the JROTC commander. Jones said they already have someone from Fort Bragg in mind to be the second-in-command.

The advantages of the program reach beyond high school, as the program also offers students options in higher education and careers. Students will be able to learn about life in the military before making a commitment, and the program can also help a student attend college. Scholarships are awarded to graduating high school students who have done well in the JROTC program. Any student may continue with the program in college through Army ROTC, but unlike the high school program, any student who earns a scholarship must complete a period of service in the Army, and students who take the college Army ROTC advanced course are also obligated.

Eleven colleges and universities in North Carolina offer Army ROTC programs, including East Carolina University, North Carolina A&T State University, NC State, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, Wake Forest University and Elizabeth City State University.

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Liquidia Technologies obtains license agreement with UNC and NCSU

Nov. 30, 2004
Triangle Tech Journal
By staff report
© Copyright 2004

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Liquidia Technologies announced the completion of a licensing agreement with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University for a platform of fluoropolymer-based technologies. The company was founded in June of 2004 from materials originally developed in the labs of those universities.

The fluoropolymers are liquid at room temperature but cure to Teflon-like elastic solids when exposed to light. The enhanced material combines the appealing properties of silicones and glass, outperforming each individually and could lead to several new applications.

“Liquidia is poised to bring breakthroughs in materials science to a wide range of companies in the chemical, life sciences, and electronic industries”, says Joseph DeSimone, one of the co-founders of Liquidia.

“We believe that our liquid fluoropolymers provide an important solution to a whole host of problems being faced by these companies. Our materials will revolutionize and expand the multibillion dollar microfluidics industry. These same materials give rise to an unprecedented ability to mold discrete nanoscale objects, including particles useful for drug delivery and discovery and disease detection and mapping. Intricate molding on the nanoscale immediately suggests other applications including fabricating semi-conductors, fuel cells, and flat-panel displays”, says Edward Samulski, another co-founder. “This discovery is broadly applicable and scalable for cost effective commercialization.”

Liquidia is currently pursuing patent licensing opportunities, product sales tied to label licensing and co-development agreements.

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Five shelter animals die in surgery

Nov. 30, 2004
Chapel Hill News
By CHERYL JOHNSTON
© Copyright 2004

CHAPEL HILL -- Animals that end up at a shelter usually don't come with medical charts and histories. That might be one reason three kittens and two puppies have died after undergoing sterilization surgery since July 1, said Joe Pulcinella, director of the Orange County Animal Shelter.

"The animals might have been harboring disease; that is certainly possible with shelter animals," Pulcinella said. "In private practice, he [the veterinarian] knows when the animal was vaccinated, it's history. In the shelter, the animals have only been here a short time."

From July through October, 206 dogs and cats were sent to the Nicks Road Veterinary Hospital to be spayed or neutered, and 103 went to the New Hope Animal Hospital, according to the shelter's records.

None of the animals died after surgery at Nicks Road, but three kittens and two puppies died after surgery at the New Hope Animal Hospital, Pulcinella said.

"It probably isn't all one or the other. It's a combination of factors," Pulcinella said.

Soren Windram, the veterinarian at the New Hope Animal Hospital, said he recalls only two kittens and both deaths occurred days after the surgery due to upper respiratory infections. The two puppies died while still at the hospital. Windram said the puppies were thin, probably due to worms.

The animal shelter had necropsies -- animal autopsies -- performed on one of the puppies and one of the kittens, but Pulcinella said the cause of death came back as "inconclusive." Pulicinella also said all puppies are checked and treated for worms when they arrive at the shelter, but may still be quite thin if they are adopted quickly.

All of the animals were under four months of age, Pulcinella said. The shelter has a policy of spaying or neutering all cats and dogs before they are adopted.

Kelli Ferris, a veterinarian and assistant professor at North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, said veterinarian students in her program perform 3,500 sterilization surgeries a year on shelter and rescue animals, two-thirds of which are on puppies and kittens less than four months old.

Occasionally she has had a dog or cat die during surgery because it had a defective heart or some other rare complication that couldn't be identified before the surgery.

"I think that people need to remember with shelter animals that they are likely to have more infectious diseases underlying and undetected than if they had been raised in a really healthy animal all their life," Ferris said.

Marat Dubrovsky, veterinarian at the Nicks Road Veterinary Hospital, has been practicing veterinary medicine for 39 years and for the last 2 1/2 years has spayed and neutered animals for the shelter.

"It's happened with everybody," Dubrovsky said. "Even the best of hospitals lose patients. It happens."

"In my experience, almost 39 years, it's one per 1,000," Dubrovsky added.

Both veterinarians said they examine the animals before they undergo surgery, including checking for upper respiratory infection in cats. Pulcinella said the animals are also examined by veterinary techs on his staff before they are sent out.

Dubrovsky said he doesn't operate on sick animals and could recall once, maybe twice, holding off on surgery because the animal was not well enough.

"A very large number of the cats that we spay or neuter have a respiratory illness," Windram said of those coming from the shelter. But his understanding is that he is to perform the surgery anyway "because a respiratory infection takes so long to clear, it would take months to spay or neuter."

Ferris said that while it is preferable for veterinarians to operate on healthy animals, it is not uncommon for cats from animal shelters to undergo sterilization while they have a respiratory infection. In cats, the upper respiratory infection is brought on like stress, like mouth sores caused by the herpes in people, Ferris said.

"When you put all of these cats in these stressful situations, even a cat that would have been healthy for years, they are sneezing. Sometimes for kittens, it's their first infection so it's the most severe," Ferris said.

Once the animal is settled in a new home, the symptoms usually go away, Ferris added.

Since the second cat died, Windram said he has had a new understanding with the county to hold off on operating on cats with severe upper respiratory infections.

"All of the surgeries are at the discretion of the veterinarian," Pulcinella said. "If they don't feel that if it's a good candidate for surgery, they can send the animal back."

Windram said that he has performed 400 to 500 sterilization surgeries on the dogs and cats in his private practice without a single death in the year and a half that his hospital has been in Durham.

Pulcinella and assistant county manager Gwen Harvey said that the spaying and neutering with both veterinarians is being monitored and will be reviewed after six months. The county has one-year contracts with both animal hospitals.

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Licensing Revenues and Patent Activity, Fiscal 2003

Dec. 3, 2004
Chronicle of Higher Education
By staff report
© Copyright 2004

Note: Seven institutions -- Columbia, Georgetown , Rockefeller and Yale Universities; the Universities of South Dakota and Wyoming; and Loyola University Medical Center participated in the 2003 survey but asked AUTM not to list their responses individually. Their data are part of the total.

SOURCE: Association of University Technology Managers

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University negotiating with up to 5, developer says during briefing

Dec. 1, 2004
The State, SC
By C. GRANT JACKSON
© Copyright 2004

The developer of the USC research campus is negotiating with three to five companies that want to come to Columbia.

Craig Davis said at a community briefing Tuesday night that the issue with many of those companies is how quickly the university and the community can move to develop the campus.

Speed and collaboration are two essential elements in making the campus a reality, said Davis, whose company, Craig Davis Properties of Raleigh, also developed N.C. State’s research campus.

Davis would not identify the companies he is talking to but said they are in the areas of fuel cells, broadband, biomedical research, environmental health and space exploration. He said the negotiations are serious.

“We are in written documentation, back and forth,” Davis said.

Several hundred leaders from business, government and education, as well as other interested people, attended the town meeting held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

They were briefed by Davis, USC president Andrew Sorensen, immediate past president of the USC trustees Mack Whittle, USC Research Foundation president James Clark and USC vice president for research Harris Pastides.

Several of the university’s key researchers were also present, and attendees had a chance to meet and talk with them after the briefing.

The meeting was designed to garner support for the initiative. But officials released few new details about the research campus, which is expected to cover about 200 acres from the USC Horseshoe to the Congaree River.

A Dec. 15 groundbreaking is scheduled for two buildings on the Hardee’s block, bounded by Assembly, Blossom, Main and Wheat streets.

Officials are expected to unveil architectural renderings, a site plan and space plans at that event.

The public and private partners involved in the research campus — including Davis, USC and the city — hope to create a seamless urban research community that is integrated with the city. You shouldn’t be able to tell where the city ends and the campus begins, Pastides said.

The initiative will include residential, retail and commercial property, in addition to research buildings.

Sorensen says he wants to create “an empire of the mind that offers substance for the soul.” Researchers will be able to work, live and enjoy cultural and other entertainment venues within walking distance.

“Our vision, and I do mean our vision, for the research campus is that it becomes a magnet for attracting the brightest minds and most innovative companies in the world to Columbia and to South Carolina. In doing so, we can build a catalyst for improving the quality of life for all South Carolinians,” Sorensen said.

The campus is needed, Pastides said, because the university has no space to put companies that might want to come and partner with its researchers.

John Van Zee, the director of USC’s National Science Foundation fuel cell research center, said the campus would “allow industry and startup businesses to be in very close proximity to university researchers and graduate students.”

That builds on the long-range vision for the campus, which is to stimulate economic development and create jobs.

Al Quick, founder of Kryotech, one of the first startups to come out of USC, said the research campus would provide the infrastructure to allow tech companies like his to grow faster.

It formalizes something he has had on an informal basis while growing his Columbia-based computer support company, Quick said.

“We have a lot of great research going on in this state, and have had for years. It is not getting commercialized in this state. We need to translate a lot of this research work into jobs and economic development for South Carolina.”

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North Carolina farmer launches freshwater shrimp business

Nov. 30, 2004
Southeast Farm Press
By Cecil H. Yancy Jr.
© Copyright 2004

When an entrepreneur meets agriculture, things tend to get larger than life. Gene Wiseman hopes the larger-than-normal, freshwater shrimp coming from the ponds at Barbee Farms in Kenly, N.C., portends a sign of things to come.

Wiseman, an entrepeneur who has photography, storage and trailer park businesses, first saw an Illinois farmer harvesting the large, fresh-water shrimp on a television program. “I said, ‘If they can do it, why can’t we?’”

Wiseman talked his farming friends, Johnny and Doug Barbee, into giving it a go two years ago. Tobacco, soybean and hay farmers, the Barbees had already begun the process of diversifying after seeing their tobacco quota cut in half since 1997.

They traveled to Mississippi to learn the culture of fresh-water shrimp production and relied heavily on Mike Frinsko, a North Carolina State University area aquaculture agent, based in Trenton, N.C.

After a year of seeing if they could do it, Wiseman and the Barbees, got their operation certified and began selling pond-side to the public. Some 130 patrons bought all the shrimp the trio had to sell.

Frinsko and other aquaculture experts say this type of enterprise has potential for other farmers in aquaculture-friendly North Carolina, but it’s still too early to tell what it might end up being. “Marketing is the key.”

Research on fresh-water shrimp has been conducted over the past 20 years. A couple of attempts have been made at freshwater shrimp in North Carolina, but nothing like the scale that Wiseman and the Barbees are undertaking, Frinsko says.

“Everybody in this industry is looking to see whether the industry is going to take off,” Frinsko says. Much of the world’s freshwater shrimp supply comes from Southeast Asia and Central America. Freshwater shrimp ponds in the U.S. are normally one to two acre enterprises.

Freshwater shrimp are larger than the saltwater variety. Their flesh has a lobster texture and their claws look like miniature lobster pinchers. More than 130 locals showed up to buy the shrimp when he drained a pond on Oct. 2.

As the 2 million gallon pond drained in mid-October, emptying out the shrimp into a pipe that leads to a holding tank, Wiseman discussed the process.

“Water quality is the key to raising fresh-water shrimp,” Wiseman says, who spent six months researching the project.

They bought the juvenile shrimp from Mississippi, but have plans to grow their own next year.

After the ponds are filled with water and shrimp, the pH, temperature and ammonia levels become the most important production aspects. A pH between 7.0 and 9.0 is best for shrimp. Wiseman keeps the two, aquifer-fed ponds around a pH of 8.0 to 8.5.

Cottonseed meal, lime and sinkable catfish feed help keep the water pH correct. The lime creates a bloom and eliminates the possibility of aquatic weeds. The cottonseed meal at the bottom of the two-acre ponds helps to balance the pH. In addition to providing nutrition for the shrimp, the sinkable catfish feed, at a rate of 50 pounds per acre, per day, also fertilizes the pond.

The water temperature is crucial for shrimp as well. If it gets below 50 degrees Farenheit, the shrimp go dormant and eventually die. High temperatures pose problems as well.

“I feel like I’ve got a degree in water quality,” Wiseman says, as a group of customers begin to line up at a holding tank to watch as the shrimp start to come through a drain pipe.

They had two harvests this year. One in early October — the other in mid-October. For fresh-water shrimp, it’s typically a five-month season. That could pose potential challenges for growers, Frinkso says, but the Barbees seem to like to have the product in and out in a relatively short amount of time.

At the first harvest, some 70 percent of the shrimp were jumbos, amounting to 10 to 12 per pound. Some 1,700 pounds of shrimp came out of a pond at the first harvest. The goal is to harvest 1,000 pounds or more per acre.

Frinsko says that’s achievable.

“If we can exceed the 1,000 pounds per acre, so much the better,” Frinsko says. “We are fairly confident that we can exceed the $6 per pound level. That raises a lot of eyebrows.

Wiseman and the Barbees have plans to build two more ponds next year and add a hatchery and a nursery to propagate their own stock next year. The goal is to build 12 ponds, as well as an amphitheater to entertain potential customers.

Wiseman has visions of attracting tour buses off Interstate 95 and directing them to the ponds during harvest, charging them to take a hay ride to see the action .

“It’s that marketing effort that’s critical, especially to fresh seafood, and Gene is a marketing guru,” Frinsko says.

Wiseman plans to sell the shrimp to “white-table cloth restaurants” at festivals and also target ethnic markets.

“We’re excited,” says Johnny Barbee. “It’s like tobacco in that your happiest days are when you put them in and when you take them out.”

“There’s a lot of potential for this type of aquaculture business,” says Matt Parker with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “With the tobacco buyout going through, there will be a lot of people with small acreage looking for something with profit potential.

“The key,” Parker says, “is finding a market and being able to sell your product. Gene’s been selling them even before he built the ponds.”

The NCDA has two aquaculture agents. The North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension has four aquaculture agents located throughout the state.

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