Technology :: Researchers use nanoparticles to speed up or slow down angiogenesis

Researchers at the University of Southampton in the U.K. have devised a means for using nanoparticles to cause angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels) to speed up or slow down. In their paper published in ACS Nano, the researchers describe how they coated gold nanoparticles with peptides to allow for altering the speed at which new blood vessels develop in specific locations in the body.



The development of new blood vessels is critical while wounds are healing. It's also important in helping people recover from accidents or who have tissue damaged by disease. Speeding up angiogenesis can help to speed up recovery times. Sometimes however, angiogenesis can progress incorrectly resulting in the growth of tumors. In these instances, doctors would like to slow or stop the angiogenesis process. In this new effort, the research team has found a new way to accomplish both goals with one new treatment option.



The new technique revolves around the use of nanoparticles—very small objects generally not found in nature. In this case, the particles created were made of gold. Because nanoparticles can so easily move around inside the body, the thinking was that nanoparticles could be used to deliver drugs to specific areas of the body where they are needed. In this case, the drugs were peptides that have been shown to speed up angiogenesis when appropriate and to slow the process when tumors have developed. The ability to deliver the drug only to areas where they are needed reduces side-effects.



In order for angiogenesis to occur, endothelial cells must be activated by the presence of certain molecules engaging with receptor cells. Over time, researchers have developed various drugs to either stimulate or repress angiogenesis by activating the receptor cells or block them. Such drugs have only been useful for a short duration, however, and most often come with unwanted side effects. In this new effort, the team used nanoparticles to carry and deliver such drugs only to the parts of the body that needed them. They found they could target specific receptor cells that allow for focusing on different diseases. Specifically, they developed three types of peptides for delivery via nanoparticles: those that bind and promote cascade growth of blood vessels, those that block receptors cells from receiving signals, and those that serve as a control and do nothing. They report that they were successful in delivering all three types to target areas and that doing so caused the expected changes in angiogenesis rates.

Explore further: Cholesterol sets off chaotic blood vessel growth

More information: Manipulation of in Vitro Angiogenesis Using Peptide-Coated Gold Nanoparticles, Dorota Bartczak, Otto L. Muskens, Tilman Sanchez-Elsner, Antonios G. Kanaras, and Timothy M. Millar, ACS Nano Article ASAP. pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn402111z



Abstract
We demonstrate the deliberate activation or inhibition of invitro angiogenesis using functional peptide coated gold nanoparticles. The peptides, anchored to oligo-ethylene glycol capped gold nanospheres, were designed to selectively interact with cell receptors responsible for activation or inhibition of angiogenesis. The functional particles are shown to influence significantly the extent and morphology of vascular structures, without causing toxicity. Mechanistic studies show that the nanoparticles have the ability to alter the balance between naturally secreted pro- and anti-angiogenic factors, under various biological conditions. Nanoparticle-induced control over angiogenesis opens up new directions in targeted drug delivery and therapy.

Technology :: The Future of Hotels: How technology can move us forward

Amadeus interviewed Anton Hell about how technology can help hotels drive their business objectives better. Hospitality technology expert Anton Hell has a thorough understanding of the hospitality industry having spent more than 20 years of his career in the hospitality and travel sector. Born and raised in Austria, he has lived and travelled extensively in Europe, America and Asia and held executive positions with major international hotel companies and cruise operators such as Marriott, Penta and Cunard Line.

Given his extensive background in the industry, he carries within him a passion to develop new business solutions that result in more efficient and cost-contained hotel operations. For him, technology exists to serve a greater purpose in fulfilling business objectives. Currently, he is the Managing Director of Berlin-based hit-CONSULT GmbH. The company aims to help its clients to strengthen their competitive edge in the industry by optimising processes in the areas of operations, controlling as well as marketing and distribution.

What are the key drivers that make hotel companies consider adopting new technologies?

The first key driver is reducing complexity within our technology. A full service hotel operation has easily three or four operational systems for specific functions, i.e. Property Management System (PMS), Sales and Marketing, Catering, Point of Sale (POS), with mostly proprietary interface technologies connecting them. Since these on-property systems generate both vital business intelligence data as well as customer relationship relevant information, they in turn are connected to above-property systems (Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, Business intelligence tools, finance, etc.). 

The questions that hotel companies need to answer are: how can we reduce complexity, how can we increase system availability and how do we obtain business relevant data to market and run our hotels effectively? The concepts of cloud computing is a great way of putting critical systems “above property”, hence eliminating proprietary interfaces and increasing data security. Another important initiative that is developed by European Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) - an organisation aiming at standardising interface specifications and thus simplifying system to system integration.

Another key driver is the rapid evolution and change of the distribution landscape. Can our existing technology infrastructure and operational processes easily adapt to both emerging distribution channel and/or changed customer shopping behaviors? Among other things, the market penetration of internet-enabled mobile devices will have a huge impact on how we distribute, how we engage with our guest and how we enhance guest service.

Last but not the least, product differentiation. I believe that a well-defined and understood target customer group(s) (who are our guests), a product definition serving key needs of the target group (what is important to our guests) along with a defined business strategy and objectives (how are we going to deliver it and measure our success) are key to success. We see this happening as more and more hotel companies create sub brands to that effect. In that respect, CRM will continue to play an important role to help hoteliers better understand their customer needs and to effectively engage with their customers in pre-stay, during their stay and post-stay.

Since changing technology is also a means to achieve strategic business objectives, how should hotel companies get prepared for that?

Systems and technology alone do not solve issues, they provide a framework to support vital business processes. Thus technology needs to be adapted to your business needs and not vice versa.

I believe that first of all companies should clearly define their business objectives with regards to new technology or change of systems. Based on our experience, implementing a new technology usually affects various departments, if not the entire company. We very often see that individual key players within the organisation have different understanding/opinion of what exactly the objectives are and what these new technologies should enable.

Secondly, make sure all key players support the agreed objectives and understand their individual responsibilities.

Thirdly, establish and agree on a realistic cost/benefit and return-on-investment (ROI) calculations. Going through the process ensures that the new technology and its functionality are tailored around your business needs, that systems are not under- or over-engineered, and that technology positively contributes to your business success.

Finally, measure and monitor your success. Based on the business objectives and the ROI, derive appropriate key performance indicators (KPI’s), and monitor them regularly. This allows hoteliers to adjust implementation strategies if the KPI’s show underperformance and/or to determine early in the process when to abandon the project.

How can hotel companies bridge the gap between technology, operations and controlling?

When we help customer, we always first go back to the fundamental questions: Who is the customer, what are his needs, and why is he buying my product/service? Once these questions are answered, operational requirements are clear, as well as what kind of technology is required to best support the operation, and what financial and operational controls must be implemented.

Focusing on the customer greatly benefits the company in making sure that they do not over-engineer certain processes and that the key processes that are important to the customer are optimally supported by technology.

How can hotel companies define new business and IT processes, and align them with their organisation’s overall business goals?

Again, I believe customer focus is crucial when answering most of these questions. How does my customer buy the product? How does he experience it? How do I make him return? These questions should be at the center of every technology re-engineering process or any IT project to stay focused on the real value of what any new technology should deliver.

What key industry trends will be the most impactful for the next 3 years?

The whole mobile computing trend will continue to have a major impact on distribution channels, more precisely on how customers shop and buy travel products, and will consequently change customer booking behavior. Most of our customers see 80%+ of all bookings made from a mobile device being made on the day of arrival. Time window of booking will shorten. For example, there will be instances when larger companies will abandon global contracting and will give more freedom of booking back to individual travelers as long as they stay in a certain price range. This is a key change of how the industry will distribute and this will impact technology greatly in terms of how product information and prices are presented.

Providing solid and good internet connectivity in every property will be a MUST. The role of in-room entertainment will diminish and may even go away eventually since people will bring in their own entertainment with them.

The whole energy theme will become an issue in itself too. Energy and energy saving technology will come increasingly into play. Within the next three years, management companies will start adding energy saving-related requirements into their management contracts because of operational cost concerns. Before, it was not as an issue but now it will be.

CRM is going to be more and more prominent especially for products that do not necessarily compete over price like niche products. More and more hotels will refocus their distribution strategies, defining better their customer segmentation and how to take care of them, for example by setting up smart loyalty strategies. Adoption of CRM systems is still in its infancy in the hotel industry simply because of system complexity. It will require superior guest recognition improvements to meet the needs of hoteliers in their guest strategies.

Pressure to consolidate will increase. Focusing on brand and brand value will also be a major trend.

NEWS :: International Hotel Technology Forum 2014

1-3 April 2014, Spain

Welcome to the Eleventh International Hotel Technology Forum (IHTF) 2014, the leading face- to-face event for the hotel technology industry. All delegates will be offered the exclusive opportunity to engage in pre-arranged, private business meetings with selected organisations of their choice. All IHTF registrants will be individually matched according to their business needs and immediate and future priorities. A Meetings Manager will be specifically assigned to co-ordinate this. 2014: the exclusive IHTF meetings model will now run in parallel to a fully comprehensive conference programme, featuring presentations on the latest strategic thinking, business model evaluation and technological advances such as CRM, PMS and RMS, TV & Audio, which in turn will enhance their competitiveness and profitability in the marketplace.

Technology :: Teens and Technology 2013

Smartphone adoption among American teens has increased substantially and mobile access to the internet is pervasive. One in four teens are “cell-mostly” internet users, who say they mostly go online using their phone and not using some other device such as a desktop or laptop computer.

These are among the new findings from a nationally representative Pew Research Center survey that explored technology use among 802 youth ages 12-17 and their parents. Key findings include:

• 78% of teens now have a cell phone, and almost half (47%) of them own smartphones. That translates into 37% of all teens who have smartphones, up from just 23% in 2011.
• 23% of teens have a tablet computer, a level comparable to the general adult population.
• 95% of teens use the internet.
• 93% of teens have a computer or have access to one at home. Seven in ten (71%) teens with home computer access say the laptop or desktop they use most often is one they share with other family members.

“The nature of teens’ internet use has transformed dramatically — from stationary connections tied to shared desktops in the home to always-on connections that move with them throughout the day,” said Mary Madden, Senior Researcher for the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project and co-author of the report. “In many ways, teens represent the leading edge of mobile connectivity, and the patterns of their technology use often signal future changes in the adult population.”

About the Survey

These findings are based on a nationally representative phone survey of 802 parents and their 802 teens ages 12-17. It was conducted between July 26 and September 30, 2012. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish and on landline and cell phones. The margin of error for the full sample is ± 4.5 percentage points. This report is the second in a series of reports issued in collaboration with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard. The first release, “Teens, Parents and Online Privacy,” was published in November 2012 and is available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Teens-and-Privacy.aspx.