Flexible Electronics

Electronic devices that become soft on command can be extremely useful for medical implants that would be able to wrap around different types of body tissues. Surgeons would be able to position the implant while it’s still stiff to let it gently wrap around the target tissue as it becomes soft. Researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Tokyo have created mechanically flexible organic transistors able to do just that.

The investigators used shape-changing memory polymers that respond to the environment around them, staying tough initially at room temperature and becoming softer when warmed up to body temperature. The wiring within was made of a flexible foil that conforms to the shape of the device itself. Though they used an organic semiconductor, the scientitsts applied techniques normally meant for silicon-based electronics to build the device, to keep the complexity and cost down. The team tested the technology in the laboratory, successfully wrapping the device around a 2.25 mm wide rod and implanting it into rats without a loss of electrical properties. In the animal model, the device morphed to the shape of the tissues it found itself pushed around by, demonstrating the real world potential of the technology.

New Implanted Devices May Reshape Medicine

These biologically adaptive, flexible transistors might one day help doctors learn more about what is happening inside the body, and stimulate the body for treatments.

The research, available online and in an upcoming print issue of Advanced Materials, is one of the first demonstrations of transistors that can change shape and maintain their electronic properties after they are implanted in the body, said Jonathan Reeder BS’12, a graduate student inmaterials science and engineering and lead author of the work.

“Scientists and physicians have been trying to put electronics in the body for a while now, but one of the problems is that the stiffness of common electronics is not compatible with biological tissue,” he said. “You need the device to be stiff at room temperature so the surgeon can implant the device, but soft and flexible enough to wrap around 3-D objects so the body can behave exactly as it would without the device. By putting electronics on shape-changing and softening polymers, we can do just that.”

Here’s a video demonstrating the new adaptable flexible electronic technology:

Microsoft slashes Xbox price

Microsoft Corp will take $100 off the price of its Xbox One gaming console and let users view popular entertainment apps such as Netflix and ESPN without a $60-plus "Live" subscription, hoping to spur sales against rival devices like Sony's Playstation 4 and Amazon's Fire TV.

The moves mark another reversal for the software giant on the Xbox One, which is lagging Sony's PS4 in sales and faces competition from existing consoles, streaming boxes such as Apple TV and Amazon's new $99 gaming-and-entertainment device.

Microsoft has backtracked several times in marketing its gaming console. It dropped a requirement that Xbox One users maintain a constant Internet connection before the console went on sale. And it decided to allow support for used games after an outpouring of outrage from gamers last year.

This week, the company said it will now sell the Xbox One for $399, or $499 with a "Kinect" motion sensor, starting June 9. Executives had previously talked about the Kinect, which tracks hand and body movements, as integral to the device's experience.

That's going to appeal to our fans on Xbox 360 who have been excited to try Xbox One but, because of affordability options, haven't had the opportunity," Yusuf Mehdi, Xbox vice president for strategy and marketing, said in an interview. "So we think that's going to grow the market."

As with Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Wii U consoles, Xbox One and Xbox 360 users will not be charged by Microsoft to run entertainment apps starting June.

Previously, only those who subscribed to its Xbox LIVE game and entertainment streaming service, which starts at $60 a year, could stream content from popular apps such as Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go.

Sales of the Xbox one console have lagged Sony's PS4 since their holiday launches. Microsoft Corp said last month it has sold over 5 million Xbox One video game consoles as of April 17.

The console went on sale on November 22 in 13 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, a week before Sony's PS4 which sold more than 7 million units as of April 6.

You sit. We all sit. We have to. Our schools demand it. Our jobs demand it. Every day we spend way too much time sitting down, slouched forward in a chair. And although it may seem harmless, even comfortable, it’s making us weak.

Think about your daily routine. You sit in class for about eight hours, probably occasionally resting your head on one of your hands. Then you have an hour or two of practice and/or workouts before heading home to sit at a computer and do your homework. Finally, you finish up the day on the couch watching your favorite show.

Even if you are an athlets, the majority of your day is spent sitting or in a forward hunched position. “Sitting in a chair doing computer work or texting on a phone causes poor postural adaptations,” says Mike Reinold, a world-renowned physical therapist. “You won’t be able to use your body to its full potential because you’ll have lost some mobility and stability.

But sitting is often unavoidable, so the only thing you can do is to fight it. “We need to reverse the poor posture so your body doesn’t adapt to that position,” Reinold advises. “The key is to regularly perform exercises that combat the postures that you put yourself in throughout the day.”

Fortunately, it’s easy to do if you commit to performing the following routine every morning. It only takes 10 minutes. “If you’re taking 20 minutes to do this, then you’re trying too hard,” he adds.

Foam Roll

Benefits: Relieves tight muscles and adhesions that can build up from intense training or limited movement.

How to: Slowly roll over the following muscle groups, focusing on tender areas. 

• Glutes x 20 seconds each side
• Calves x 20 seconds each side
• IT Band x 20 seconds each side
• Quads x 20 seconds each side
• Groin and Hamstrings x 20 seconds
• Back x 20 seconds

Lacrosse Ball Roll

Benefits: Same as foam rolling, but hits areas you can’t get to with a roller.

How to: Slowly roll over the following muscle groups, focusing on tender areas.

• Bottom of foot x 20 seconds each side
• Back of shoulder x 20 seconds each side
• Chest x 20 seconds each side

Foam Roll Thoracic Extensions

Benefits: Relieves a hunched posture with forward rounded shoulders by increasing thoracic spine extension.

How To:

• Lie with the middle of your back on a foam roller, hands across your chest, knees bent and feet on the ground.
• Arch your back, hinging at the vertebrae under the foam roller. Straighten your back. Repeat for the specified number of reps.
• Roll slightly up your spine to the next vertebrae and repeat.
• Continue until you reach your upper back.

Foam Roll Thoracic Rotations

Benefits: Improves thoracic spine rotation to ensure that your back is loose in all of its intended ranges of motion.

How To:

• Lie with the middle of your back on a foam roller, knees bent and feet on the ground. Extend your arms straight in front of your face with your hands together.
• Rotate your hands slightly to your right, as if moving to the one-o’clock position on a clock. Repeat for the specified number of reps.
• Roll slightly up your spine to the next vertebrae and repeat.
• Continue until you reach your upper back, and repeat by moving your hands to the left.

Sets/Reps: 1x5-10 each side

Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch

Benefits: Your hip flexors tighten from sitting, which causes your pelvis to tilt forward (i.e.,anterior pelvic tilt). This eases tension in those muscles.

How to:

• Kneel on your right leg with your left foot on the ground and knee at a 90-degree angle. Place your hands on your hips.
• Drive your right hip forward. Hold for one count and release.

Sets/Reps: 1x10 each leg

Ankle Dorsiflexion Stretches

Benefits: Improve ankle mobility, which is critical for maximizing your power when running and jumping. Also alleviates a common issue that causes Squat form breakdowns.

How to:

• Stand facing a wall in a staggered stance with your right toes an inch away from the wall and your left foot 2 feet behind your right. Place your hands on the wall for support.
• Drive your right knee forward until it touches the wall to stretch your calf.
• Straighten your leg and repeat. 

Sets/Reps: 1x10 each leg

Hip Extension Bridge

Benefits: Engages your glutes and alleviates tight hip flexors.

How to:

• Lie on your back with your feet together and flat on the ground, and your knees hip-width apart.
• Drive your hips up to the ceiling to form a straight line between your knees and shoulders. Hold for one count.
• Lower your hips to the ground.

Sets/Reps: 1x10

Prone Press

Benefits: Again, relieves a tight back (do you get the sense that this is an issue?) and improves extension.

How to:

• Lie on your stomach with your hands on the ground next to your shoulders.
• Straighten your arm to drive your up and arch your back. Keep your shoulders back.
• Lower to the ground and repeat.

Sets/Reps: 1x10

Shoulder W

Benefits: Activates and strengthens the muscles that act on your shoulder blades, which often can become weak and dormant from hunching forward.

How to:

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart with your elbows to your sides.
• Hold a resistance band with your hands shoulder-width apart and bend your elbows to a 90-degree angle.
• Keeping your shoulders back, rotate your arms to your sides to lengthen the resistance band and form a ‘W’ with your upper body.
• Return to the start, in control, and repeat.

Sets/Reps: 1x10