Letterkenny and Sligo IT’s
Are to deliver a new enterprise programme
New Frontiers is a Enterprise Ireland scheme
New Frontiers is a new entrepreneur support programme designed to create sustainable knowledge and technology businesses. It is funded and coordinated by Enterprise Ireland and will be delivered locally by Letterkenny Institute of Technology and IT Sligo.
New Frontiers is perfect for anyone who has an idea or is in the process of developing a new product in the following sectors: food & consumer products, information & communication technology, engineering & electronics, medical devices, biotechnology, pharma, digital media and eligible internationally traded services.
This programme will be most beneficial to high-potential entrepreneurs with the commitment and capability required to develop and deliver sustainable businesses. In the future it is anticipated that the programme will produce a pipeline of companies eligible for Enterprise Ireland’s high-potential start-up (HPSU) supports.
According to Patsy Donaghy CoLab Manager, “The focus of the New Frontiers programme is developing people into entrepreneurs – laying the foundations and imparting the entrepreneurship skills needed to move from business concept to reality. In essence surrounding these people with the expertise and information they need to turn their idea into a viable business.”
The core element of New Frontiers is a six-month intensive programme which will focus on developing the person’s entrepreneurial abilities, equipping them with the skills they need to run, and crucially to develop, sustainable businesses. The programme will be delivered over 3 phases.
LYIT and IT Sligo is now inviting people to apply for the first phase of the programme (28 places) where their business idea and their capabilities as a potential entrepreneur will be tested. During this part-time 8 week phase the participants will benefit from workshops on the business value proposition, market research & validation, sales training and financial management. The deadline is 12 April, 2012.
After phase one is completed, participants will then be selected for the second phase (12 places) based on the viability of their business, where they will receive financial support of €15,000 from Enterprise Ireland as they focus all their efforts on developing a business during this six-month period. They will also be given office space in the Institute of Technology’s incubation centre, mentoring and access to networking opportunities with potential investors.
The New Frontiers programme is now inviting applications before the deadline of 12 April for a programme start on 4 May. To apply for the New Frontiers programme contact Patsy Donaghy at LYIT on 074 91 86703 or email Patrick.donaghey@lyit.ie
Clue to male baldness is discovered
Half of men have thinning hair by 50
A biological clue to male baldness has been discovered, raising the prospect of a treatment to stop or even reverse thinning hair.
In studies of bald men and laboratory mice, US scientists pinpointed a protein that triggers hair loss.
Drugs that target the pathway are already in development, they report in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The research could lead to a cream to treat baldness.
Most men start to go bald in middle age, with about 80% of men having some hair loss by the age of 70.
The male sex hormone testosterone plays a key role, as do genetic factors. They cause the hair follicles to shrink, eventually becoming so small that they are invisible, leading to the appearance of baldness.
Reverse balding?
Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have analysed which genes are switched on when men start to go bald.
They found levels of a key protein called prostaglandin D synthase are elevated in the cells of hair follicles located in bald patches on the scalp, but not in hairy areas.
Mice bred to have high levels of the protein went completely bald, while transplanted human hairs stopped growing when given the protein.
Prof George Cotsarelis, of the department of dermatology, who led the research, said: “Essentially we showed that prostaglandin protein was elevated in the bald scalp of men and that it inhibited hair growth. So we identified a target for treating male-pattern baldness.
“The next step would be to screen for compounds that affect this receptor and to also find out whether blocking that receptor would reverse balding or just prevent balding – a question that would take a while to figure out.”
The inhibition of hair growth is triggered when the protein binds to a receptor on the cells of hair follicles, said Prof Cotsarelis.
Several known drugs that target this pathway have already been identified, he added, including some that are in clinical trials.
The researchers say there is potential for developing a treatment that can be applied to the scalp to prevent baldness and possibly help hair regrow.
Aspirin the almost cure everything drug is it really a ‘wonder drug’
Of all the medicines to which people attach the name “wonder drug”, aspirin surely deserves it.
The news that a daily dose of aspirin can reduce the risk of certain cancers and prevent it from spreading is only the latest in a long series of discoveries showing the drug’s extraordinary potential.
Aspirin is a real wonder drug: its usefulness (as willow-bark extract, for fever and pain) was known to the ancients; it seems to have myriad benefits; and yet its mechanisms remain mysterious. When it was first synthesised, as acetylsalicylic acid, in the 1850s, it was used as to relieve the pains of “rheumatism”, but no one had any idea how it worked.
It wasn’t until the late 20th century that doctors started to give it to patients as a preventative against heart disease. Researchers started to work out a theory of heart disease that involved some sort of inflammation process and something called C-reactive protein. C-reactive protein is a marker for inflammation: raised levels of it in the blood indicate an inflammatory process. It is also known that the base-line plasma concentration of C-reactive protein predicts the risk of future heart attack and stroke. Taking aspirin reduces CRP levels, and so may also reduce the risk of future heart problems.
I have been taking a daily 75mg or “baby” aspirin for about 18 months now. (I’m 42.) I have a family history of cardiovascular disease and I decided that I might get some benefit and that this would outweigh the potential risks. I discussed it with my GP, who said: “Go ahead.” I know some readers will say I’m mad to be taking a powerful medicine every day when I can’t be sure that it’s doing me any good, and it may actually be harming me. Lots of people take supplements and vitamins, and the evidence for those is very thin indeed. I try to minimise the risks: I take it after food to try to protect the stomach lining. At least there’s evidence of aspirin’s good effect, and today that evidence got a bit more persuasive
Further studies show that:
One aspirin a day cuts cancer risk after just three years
Middle-aged people can significantly reduce their chances of being diagnosed with cancer by taking an aspirin a day for as little as three years, according to new research.
The cheap drug not only appears to stop cancers developing in the first place, but also prevents them from spreading to other parts of the body, the new work shows.
Those who start taking low dose (75mg) aspirin daily in their 60s appear to benefit just as much as those who start taking it earlier.
The studies, presented today in The Lancet, add to the argument that low-dose aspirin should be taken widely from middle-age, said the lead author, Professor Peter Rothwell, of Oxford University’s Stroke Prevention Research Unit.
His team found in one study that taking low-dose daily aspirin for between three and five years reduced the chance of being diagnosed with cancer at that time by 19 per cent. Five years or more after starting taking aspirin, the reduction rose to 30 per cent.
He said: “These data do push the argument in favour of taking daily low-dose aspirin, particularly if you have a family history of heart disease or cancer.
“We showed previously that daily aspirin substantially reduces the long-term risk of some cancers, particularly colorectal cancer and oesophageal cancer, but that these effects don’t appear until about eight to 10 years after starting treatment.
“The delay is because aspirin is preventing the very early development of cancers and there is a long delay between this early stage and the eventual clinical presentation with a cancer.
“What we have now shown is that aspirin also has short-term effects, which are manifest after only two to three years.”
The effect was just as marked in those who started taking it after they had turned 60.
The short-term effect appeared to be caused by aspirin slowing the progression of cancer. Another new study showed aspirin almost halved the chances of diagnosed cancer spreading to other organs, over 6.5 years.
Prof Rothwell said: “This is important because it is this process of spread of cancer, or ‘metastasis’, which most commonly kills people with cancer.”
After five years, the chance of having died from cancer if on aspirin was 37 per cent lower.
The findings also raised “the distinct possibility that aspirin will be effective as an additional treatment for cancer – to prevent distant spread of the disease”, he said.
Aspirin has long been hailed for its blood-thinning properties, leading some to argue that it should be prescribed to those who are at a higher risk of heart attack or stroke, even if they have never had one.
However, researchers have been increasingly worried that the benefits of reduced heart attacks and strokes are cancelled out by the raised risk of stomach bleeds, which are occasionally fatal.
But Prof Rothwell said the new research showed that aspirin had a far greater effect on reducing cancer than reducing heart attacks and strokes. Nine out of 10 deaths it prevented were “non-vascular”, according to one of the studies.
Critics of widespread aspirin use point out that it triggers stomach bleeding in some people, which can occasionally be fatal. Even advocates concede it should be used with caution in over 75s.
Prof Rothwell said their studies showed that while aspiring doubled the risk of bleeds in the first three years, after that the risk fell so there was no difference to not taking it. Aspirin also did not increase the risk of fatal bleeds, he said.
He argued it was now time for heart associations to update their guidelines on aspirin to reflect its role in fighting cancer.
Nevertheless, Prof Kausik Ray, a cardiologist at St George’s Hospital in London, urged caution.
He said: “The studies published add considerably to our understanding, but guidelines should not change on the basis of these for general populations.
“We need the results of ongoing studies which accurately record cancer incidence and document non-trivial bleeds, over extended follow-up, to determine net benefit.
“Beyond that we need at an individual level to determine who is at high absolute risk of bleeding and who is at high absolute risk of cancer to determine on a personalised level whether the treatment is suitable.”
Sligo’s Fastcom Telecom
Invests €1m in network upgrade & plans for more jobs
pictured above: Ross Palmer and Conor Toomey, co-founders of Fastcom Telecom Sligo
Sligo firm Fastcom Telecom has invested €1m in a network upgrade, following a 30pc growth in its business services division last year. The company is now planning to create five new jobs for post-graduates at its Sligo Town base.
The independently owned telecoms provider Fastcom was set up in 2004 and gained a foothold in the residential market in the northwest since then.
Co-founders Ross Palmer and Conor Toomey said this morning that the €1m upgrade will encompass investment in cloud technologies and fibre connectivity.
The duo said the expansion would initially spawn five new high-skilled post-graduate jobs in networking and software, sales and management at Fastcom’s headquarters in Sligo Town.
“The stimulus for this investment is the growth we’ve experienced in the business market in the last year,” said Palmer.
They said the company has expanded capacity to meet increasing demand from business customers and to extend the reach of its services, which include high-speed broadband, cloud connectivity via its FibreCloud range, hosted voice services, cloud software solutions and network design and build.
Fastcom now provides voice and data services to more than 3,000 business and residential customers.
Palmer and Toomey said Fastcom experienced a 30pc growth in the last year, gaining new clients, including the HSE, Donegal and Leitrim county councils, ProTek Medical and LotusWorks.
Fastcom Telecom employs 15 people in Ireland.
“We see great potential for growth in the business sector in particular, as companies move away from legacy telecoms systems and embrace the new, faster, high-performance IP network. We are well connected to Ireland’s main data centres and have excellent reach nationally,” added Palmer.
All 650 MBNA jobs in Carrick-on-Shannon are secured after the sale of a division
It is understood that about 250 jobs at the MBNA credit card division in Co Leitrim could be saved. A TOTAL of 250 jobs have been secured in Carrick-on-Shannon with the successful sale of Bank of America’s MBNA credit card division while a further 400 will continue to support the bank’s UK operations.
Bank of America’s sold part of its credit card operation in Leitrim, to Apollo and will serve the Irish market.
Jobs Minister John Bruton said Bank of America’s announcement last August that it was exiting the UK and Ireland credit card business was a major shock to the region.
“Bank of America is a massive employer and a huge contributor to the economy in Carrick-on-Shannon and the north west,” he said.
“When I travelled to Carrick shortly after the announcement I pledged that Government would do everything possible in an effort to secure these jobs.
“Since then an intensive process has taken place and I commend the IDA in particular for their work on this case.”
The minister has twice held talks with Bank of America global chief executive Brian Moynihan while on trips to the United States, most recently last month, in a bid to save the jobs.
“I believe that our role, but also the role of the Bank of America and the commitment from Bank of America to see a good outcome was important,” continued Mr Bruton.
“There was a unified belief that the best option was to protect the jobs, that that was do-able.
“That was vigorously pursued on our side and by the Bank of America. Today’s outcome is testament to that.”
Mr Bruton said there was no attempt to rush by the executives.
“Time was given so that a good buyer could be obtained that would be committed to the long-term future. That was the approach,” he added.
“Responsible investors who are having to make changes because of difficulties in their businesses, that’s the way it should be approached, and I’m very pleased with the way there has been great co-operation on this issue.”
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