New Products and Inventions

Molecule That Can Help The Heart Repair Itself

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discoverd a protein that can initiate the repair of heart cells and blood vessel growth after a heart attack.

The molecule, Thymosin beta-4, is expressed by embryos during the heart's development and encourages migration of heart cells. Scientitsts have used the molecule experimentally in mice, and it can begin to take action as early as 24 hours after injection. An examination of the capillary smooth muscle cells three days later showed a significant increase in capillary density near the site of the heart attack.

Further studies are needed to determine whether the same success will occur in larger animals.

The Recognition Microscope: Fuel for Human Acceleration

Adrian Gostick & Chester Elton “Can recognition be analyzed under a microscope?

Categorized here as a business manifesto, you might assume that recognition ROI—what we call the return on 'Carrots'—would be the first order of conversation. In other words, how purpose-based recognition can boost your bottom line, motivate employees to achieve, and create high-performance teams. And, because most readers here are searching for quick, easy to execute applications, you may even assume that a prescriptive “how-to” focus should warrant an initial discussion. Or, maybe even more to the point, scientific research should be presented to qualify the case for the most effective human performance accelerant in existence—recognition. The ROI is astounding. The application is easily trainable. And, now there’s global research proving that recognition accelerates human performance to a level beyond comparison in every culture studied—the impact has no boundaries, and the way humans respond to recognition reveals an outstanding driver of performance. All that said, the most revealing analysis under the microscope must begin within ourselves—the results of which we can all qualify, quantify, and measure.”

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Source: Change This

Innovation Is Only An Outcome!!

(These are the opening remarks I made at the first meeting of AGSM Executive Programmes Roundtable on Leadership, Creativity and Innovation) The word innovation, still in these very hard and disturbing times appears almost daily in the media. There are 360 million references to innovation on Google and on my Google Daily RSS feed I receive notice of new books and articles released daily globally on the topic. And now I get emails daily suggesting that innovation will be the saviour of the current economic times. Every job advertisement talks about the applicant having the need to be creative and innovative. It appears this thing called innovation is a common everyday occurrence. The reality is one might be able to talk about it as if it is. In practice, the reality is very different. Innovation is an outcome. Nothing more. Creativity and invention with their fellow travellers risk, experimentation and the until more recently undiscussable “f” word “failure” are the drivers of innovation.

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10 Ways to Maximize Your Google Reader Link Blog

I've been sharing articles I've read in Google Reader for the better part of two years. I don't know exactly when I started, but I'm fairly sure I'm nowhere near finished. And while I admittedly started sharing to a link blog without having a clear goal in mind, I'm finding that this massive shared items repository is becoming an incredibly versatile information hub that benefits me, the authors of articles I've shared, and the consumers, be they friends in Google Reader, or in many other locations. I believe that while Google Reader has grown in visibility, arguably becoming the most popular RSS reader on the Web, the utility of shared link blogs is less known. Here are ten ways you can maximize your Google Reader link blog - most of which I'm doing, and probably didn't anticipate when I first started sharing items into the ether.

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Innovation Management

Strategies for success and leadership In the Innovation Management Study 2008, A.T. Kearney analyzes the qualities and practices of successful innovation, and also recognizes companies that demonstrate mastery of innovation. The study expands on A.T. Kearney’s European Best Innovator Competition, including more than 250 companies worldwide, from across industries. Our study finds that the most successful innovators: Have a clear focus on a robust innovation strategy and invest three times more effort on the front end of the innovation process Open the innovation process to include parties outside the company, such as suppliers, customers, academia, etc. These findings and others suggest important issues for companies: Do you have the right strategy and supporting network?

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