Toronto, Canada – Art and science are often diametrically opposed. The stereotype of left-brain/right-brain predominance prevails – we assume a molecular biologist would no sooner pick up a paintbrush than a graphic designer would contemplate the inner workings of the human body. But, this doesn’t hold true in the world of medical illustration. And this summer, over 400 medical and scientific artists, game developers, animators and innovators will gather in Toronto, Canada, from July 25-28 to prove it.

North America’s premier conference on scientific and medical visualization, ILLUMINATE, will bring together a diverse range of professionals who harness the power of visual media to advance the life sciences. Presented by international non-profit organization, the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI), registration for the four-day event is open to anyone with a passion for the melding of science and art.

The profession of medical illustration has seen its scope explode in recent years. Says AMI PresidentJane Hurd, “we continue to evolve from our roots in hand-rendered drawing to 3D animation, interactive media, and virtual reality.”

“The range of diverse collaborations taking place today is reflected in ILLUMINATE’s speaker line-up,” says conference Chair, Stephen Mader. Headlining is world-renowned biologist Dr. EO Wilson who, withHarvard’s Dr. Gael McGill will discuss their innovative digital textbook EO Wilson’s Life on Earth which ispoised to revolutionize how we learn about science.

Other luminous speakers include: DARPA’s Dr.Richard Satava who will introduce delegates to HOLOMERs–interactive 3D representations of patient histories; and museum specialist paleo-artist Hall Train, who will focus on the integration of illustrators into scientific investigation. Unique to this conference is a huge media exhibit (as well as satellite exhibits in nearby research institutes) featuring medical illustration, animations, and interactive media.

For more information, visit: http://www.ami.org/meetings/2012/

About the AMI

Founded in 1945, the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI) strives to be a key partner in the process of scientific discovery, knowledge transfer, and innovation, and to be recognized as the premier global resource for promoting the power of visual media to advance science education, communication, research, and understanding.

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New York, U.S.A. – A recent clinical trial conducted by The Institute for Music and Brain Science at Harvard University on the positive effects of music on Parkinson’s disease has received substantial support from science activist, Jeffrey Epstein and his foundation, The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation. The study was conducted with the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

The trial evaluated the effects of ambient music on a group of Parkinson’s patients with severe to mild symptoms. Specifically, the study looked at visuomotor integration, rapid alternating movements (RAM’s) and gait. Twenty trials per category were conducted and measured in milliseconds. The music had a strong metrical rhythm and medium tempos confined to a range of 128 to 192 beats per minute.

Control test conditions of patients were either silence or asymmetrical instrumental music. The results were encouraging: in the visuomotor tests, 40% of those with mild Parkinson’s were significantly faster with ambient music. In the RAM tests, 83% of those with moderate Parkinson’s showed faster results. In the gait tests, 25% of those with moderate Parkinson’s showed faster and larger strides.

“The results are remarkable,” Jeffrey Epstein asserted. “More studies need to be done to show that music improves motor coordination. However, these studies highlight how areas in the auditory cortex are affected, providing a road map for how to duplicate the stimulus and enhance it.”

The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation is a long-standing supporter of science research at Harvard University. In 2003, it gave a $30 million grant to Harvard to establish the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, which studies evolutionary biology from a mathematical point of view.

Founded by Dr. Mark Tramo, the Institute for Music and Brain Science seeks to advance knowledge about the neurological impact of music and to combat neurological and other diseases using music as a lens into the brain and as a rehabilitator.

Dr. Tramo is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Attending Neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the recipient of numerous awards for original research on the effects of music on the brain.

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In the past, when someone said, “I graduated from Harvard,” the prestigious degree would be held on a higher level. In the future, if someone says the same statement, the reaction will be “Oh the university that stole land from farmers in Africa?”

An Oakland Institute news report, “Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa”, raises questions about the connection of various U.S. universities to European financial interests buying or leasing vast areas of African farmland. The report claims that the British hedge funds’ and foreign countries’ involvement is African farmers from their lands, making way for industrial profits.

DemocracyNow.org spoke to Anuaradha Mittal, director of Oakland Institute about this situation.

“We have heard about the role of these private hedge funds in food speculation and speculation of food prices, because they control commodities” said Mittal. “But when they start buying even the means of production — they control labor, they control large tracts of land, they control water, they dictate what is grown and how it is grown — it is the kind of vertical integration of a food system that we have never seen before.”

Foreign investors are profiting from “land grabs” that often fail to deliver the promised benefits of jobs and economic development, and can lead to environmental and social problems in some of the poorest countries in the world. The report on land acquisitions in seven African countries suggests that Harvard, Vanderbilt and many other U.S. universities with large endowment funds have invested heavily in African land in the past few years.

According to The Guardian, most of the money is said to be channeled through London-based Emergent asset management, which runs one of Africa’s largest land acquisition funds, backed by former JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs currency dealers.

Researchers at the Oakland Institute think Emergent’s clients in the U.S. may have invested up to $500 million in some of the most fertile land, with the expectation of making 25 percent in returns. Emergent said the deals were handled responsibly.
“We are investing in African agriculture and setting up businesses and employing people. This is not land-grabbing; we want to make the land more valuable,” a spokesman said.

In Tanzania, AgriSol Energy, stipulates that the two main locations–Katumba and Mishamo—are refugee settlements holding as many as 162,000 people that will get shut down before the $700 million project begins. The refugees have been farming on this land for 40 years.

In Ethiopia, a process of “villagisation” by the government is moving tens of thousands of people from traditional lands into new centers while international companies are offering big land deals, according to The Guardian.

South Sudan has the largest land deal, where as much as 9 percent is said to have been bought in the last few years, negotiated between a Texas-based firm, Nile Trading and Development a local Sudanese co-operative run by absent chiefs.

The 49-year lease of 400,000 hectares of central Equatoria for around $25,000 allows the company to exploit all natural resources including oil and timber. The company, headed by former US Ambassador Howard Eugene Douglas, says it intends to apply for UN-backed carbon credits that could provide it with revenue of a million pounds or more a year.

“No one should believe that these investors are there to feed starving Africans, create jobs or improve food security,” said Obang Metho of Solidarity Movement for New Ethiopia. “These agreements – many of which could be in place for 99 years – do not mean progress for local people and will not lead to food in their stomachs. These deals lead only to dollars in the pockets of corrupt leaders and foreign investors.”

The report suggests that foreign companies in Africa have either bough or leased nearly 60 million hectares—an area the size of France—in the past three years.
“Most of these deals are characterized by a lack of transparency, despite the profound implications posed by the consolidation of control over global food markets and agricultural resources by financial firms,” the report said.

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