News 12-12-2000
Web Seminar on Internet Congestion
Packeteer, a provider of application performance infrastructure systems, recently announced a series of Web
seminars to discuss net congestion caused by Napster
and other peer-to-peer file sharing programs on college
campuses. The seminar "How to Beat Net Congestion" is
offered at no cost to attendees, and will describe the
Packeteer solution to this problem. The PacketShaper
family of tools automatically classifies hundreds of different types of traffic and gives network managers the
ability to control how much bandwidth each type of traffic
gets. This helps ensure availability and optimum
performance of mission-critical applications, while still
allowing the use of Napster and other less critical applications when desired.
To register for the seminar, offered four times
throughout December and January, visit
www.packeteer.com/wintherace/.
MIT eBusiness Awards Call for Nominations
The MIT Sloan eBusiness Awards (eBAs) honoring innovation
in eBusiness, have begun accepting nominations for their third
annual awards at www.mitawards.org/. The event is produced
entirely by MIT Sloan students as part of Sloan's
eBusiness@MIT program. A selection team of MIT students,
faculty, and selection partners narrows the field in each category
to five finalists; a winner is then selected by jury. Nominations
will be accepted online until February 5, 2001. A company may
be nominated by anyone in any category, so long as it meets the
category's predetermined criteria. Nominations are submitted via
an electronic form on the eBAs Web site.
Nominations will be accepted in a variety of categories, including
eBusiness of the Year, Global Reach, Disruptive Technology,
Rookie of the Year, Best Supporting Actor, and MIT Student
Choice.
California Public Affairs Forum: Bridging the Digital Divide
Hitachi partnered with the California Council on Science and
Technology (CCST), the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy
Research (SIEPR) and the Stanford Program in Law, Science
and Technology to bring together key experts to address the issues
that surround the digital divide debate. The Hitachi California
Public Affairs Forum, "Bridging the Digital Divide," was held
last Saturday on the Stanford University campus. Top industry,
government, and academic experts addressed the causes and
consequences of the gap between the technological "haves'' and
"have-nots'' and provided specific policy guidance to span the
technology chasm in American society.
Topics discussed included providing computers to elementary
schools, universal service, and equal access. Expert panelists
agreed that technology innovators, government regulators, communications providers, and skilled teachers have responsibilities
to bridge the divide and forums like this are critical to develop-
ing solutions. Other discussion topics included faculty under-
standing of computer software and hardware, outdated software
teaching solutions or "hardware dumping,'' and related hardships
that result when outdated equipment is donated to a school.
Policy recommendations developed from the forum will be included in CCST's Critical Path Analysis of California's
Educational System scheduled for completion in May 2001.
For more information, visit
www.ccst.ucr.edu/cpa/bdd/bddhome.html.
Tuition Increase to Fund Technology, Education Improvements
A special tuition increase for new University of Illinois students
will fund improved student services and programs, enhanced
educational technology, and expanded enrollment in high-demand
courses and disciplines. The tuition increase of $500 per year for
each of two years at the University of Illinois is expected to
provide specific benefits to the new students who pay it, and will
apply only to new students because they will be the primary bene-
ficiaries. At the Chicago campus, for instance, the additional
revenue will be used to create Internet access to libraries and
librarians, meet the demand for courses in computer engineering
and computer sciences by hiring new faculty in those programs,
and increase the number of student computer laboratories.
University of Michigan Health System to Create
Clinical Information System
The University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) and IBM
recently announced a joint initiative to develop a Web-based,
clinical information system designed to reduce medication
errors and improve its level of patient care. The enterprise-wide
infrastructure will provide electronic physician order entry of
prescriptions and other clinical procedures that can improve
clinical outcomes, with the goal of increasing patient satisfaction and supporting UMHS' ongoing work with local and
state partners to create healthy communities.
The first phase of the program, currently in progress, is to design and build a Web-based infrastructure to support medication
management. The second stage will create an enterprise-wide
clinical data repository to incorporate an advanced medical
lexicon to standardize clinical nomenclature. Future applications
may include consultation management, coordination of care and
outcomes, patient records, patient charge capture, clinical data
capture, and other documentation.
The solution will use IBM Websphere Advanced Edition,
version 3.5, IBM VisualAge for Java 3.5, and Websphere
Studio. Phased deployment is targeted for the first quarter of
2002. For more information, visit www.med.umich.edu/
MDLinx.com Launches Gastr'enterology Site
MDLinx.com, a medical specialists' network, recently announced
the launch of a news and information Web site for gastr'enterologists. GILinx.com, (www.GILinx.com), the 20th site in
MDLinx.com's planned network of 37 specialty sites, is
structured so that doctors can immediately access the specialty
areas of most interest to them. In addition to General Gastr'enterology news, the site's subspecialties include Basic
Science/Genetics, Biliary System, Colonic Polyps and Cancer,
Esophagus, Gastrointestinal Bleeding, Gastrointestinal Motility,
Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Liver, Nutrition, Pancreas, Small
and Large Intestine, and Stomach.
Using proprietary technology, GILinx.com aggregates all the
gastr'enterology news and research from the Web's medical
sources, including The American Journal of Gastr'enterology,
Gut, Gastr'enterology, The Journal of Gastr'enterology and
Hepatology, JAMA, and The New England Journal of Medicine.
GILinx.com also offers daily e-mail newsletters that deliver
specialized gastr'enterological news. All services provided on
MDLinx.com are free to users and are supported by targeted
business-to-business advertising and an e-commerce platform.
Virus Replication Results
In a project funded in part by the National Science Foundation,
researchers at Purdue and the University of Minnesota used
micro-imaging techniques, including X-ray crystallography and
cryo-electron microscopy, to determine the structure of the DNA
packaging motor in a virus called Bacteriophage phi29. Scientists
involved at the two institutions have solved the three-dimensional
structure of the central component of a biological motor that
powers the DNA packaging system in a virus, providing the first
glimpse of such a motor system. The study revealed how the
core of a tiny motor, just millionths of a millimeter in size, is
constructed and suggests how it works to pack long stretches of
the virus' genetic material into its outer shell during the process of
viral replication.
The results point to new opportunities in nanoscience, and may
provide clues as to how DNA is packaged in similar viruses--
including Herpes virus, which causes human ailments such as
Herpes simplex, chicken pox and shingles--and suggest ways
for developing drugs that prevent illnesses caused by viral
pathogens.
