| High-tech operation
EDINBURG - The robotic arms arching over Sylvia Martinez's body made the operating room look like something out of science fiction.Sitting a few feet away at a console with a three-dimensional viewfinder and hand controls, the surgeon, Dr. Robert Alleyn, was making the octopus-like machine do his bidding. When he flicked his wrist, a grasping instrument at the end of one robotic arm moved, gripping flesh in Martinez's abdomen. When Alleyn rotated his hands to create a stitch, the instruments followed suit, creating small, perfect stitches.With these robotic tools, Alleyn easily completed a Nissen fundoplication, wrapping a portion of stomach tissue around the esophagus to stop Martinez's acid reflux. Martinez, 43, will be left only with four tiny incisions - the largest the size of a dime - and a quick recovery.The four incisions are for two instruments, a small video camera, and for another surgeon to assist as needed.
Nigerian varsities need visionary leadership - Former DVC
Former Deputy Vice Chancellor of Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Prof. Bedford Fubara, has taken a critical look at the post-JAMB screening exercise undertaken by universities across the country to admit fresh students and came to the conclusion that it remains the best for the country to save the university system from total collapse. He, therefore, advised that the screening of JAMB candidates by universities before they are admitted should not be cancelled. According to him, Joint Matriculation Examinations should be considered the pre-selection mode while the screening by universities should be the final selection process to actually determine whether or not students should be admitted. Fubara who expressed his views in this encounter amidst among other issues explained that the screening had become necessary because several Nigerians today may have lost trust and confidence in the Joint Admission and Matriculation' Board (JAMB) to conduct credible examinations with which students could be admitted.
Novell, Microsoft and Heartburn
Novell is continuing to defend its technology and licensing cooperation deal with Microsoft -- so much so that it's working to slap down reports that its license to distribute Linux could be on the ropes. Bruce Lowry of Novell writes that, despite dissatisfaction of some in the Linux community toward the Novell-Microsoft cooperation, a move by the Free Software Foundation to yank its license isn't in the cards: 1. The Free Software Foundation has never threatened to try to ban Novell, or anyone else, from shipping Linux. The FSF has expressed that it doesn't much like the Novell-Microsoft agreement, and that the next version of the GPL3 may try to address some of the the issues raised by the agreement. But Richard Stallman of the FSF has publicly said there's no violation of the GPL2.
Winnowing the Web for medical news
Type "pain relief" into Google's search engine, for example, and in a fraction of a second, you'll come up with links to more than 1.6 million sites ranging from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Web page to promotions for magnet therapy and self-hypnotherapy CDs. .
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