School Districts Embracing Technology To Improve Education In Los Angeles

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School districts worldwide are gearing up for the launch of the new national education standards in fall 2014, including the Los Angeles Unified School District which has plans to purchase 660,000 iPads so that every student and teacher can enjoy the benefits of software designed specifically to help facilitate the learning experience. In recent years, social and mobile has began to take precedence in the way people are searching for information and staying in touch with friends, family and loved ones. People everywhere are trading in their laptops for smartphones and tablets as everything moves to the “cloud.” It’s no surprise to learn that even kids in Los Angeles are being introduced to educational software, causing the field of software engineering to be a very lucrative one for years to come.

Vice President of Web Applications Tommy Vo (photo courtesy of Tommy Vo)

As the vice president of web applications for a very fashion-forward tech company, Tommy Vo is responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of scalable web applications to support his company’s mission to provide custom solutions for brands and retailers. After earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science from UC Riverside, Vo found himself falling into the field of software engineering in which he plans to make some major contributions to society one day.

What are some of your biggest responsibilities in your current position?

“My background in computer science led me naturally to software engineering because the theories and concepts I learned are useful in designing and creating software,” says the software engineering professional. Vo feels that his education in computer science ties in very closely with what he is doing now because it gives him a deeper understanding and better insight as to what good software design should look like.

How has your education helped contribute to your overall success?

“My education has helped me become successful by giving me the knowledge necessary to tackle complicated problems. By knowing the fundamentals of computer science, efficient solutions that have the potential to be scaled up can be created,” says the South Bay resident.

What was the most memorable class you took when earning you degree?

Vo says the class he remembers the most would have to be his compiler class because it was one of the most challenging classes he had to take. “I learned a lot about how code is turn into a running computer program, which helped me understand what’s happening behind the scenes when I write code, and how that code is translated into something the machine can run on,” he says.

What are some words of wisdom you can offer others who are career focused?

Be as involved as you can be with the open source community. It’s a great way to learn from others in the form of joint collaborations. Vo recommends visiting GitHub and offer to contribute to a project. “This will give you the opportunity to work with real code and learn what it is like to collaborate with different people for a project.”

Niki Payne is a freelance writer covering all things Entertainment in Los Angeles. Her work can be found on Examiner.com.

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Study Of Dogs With Microchimerism Should Improve Understanding Of Disease In Humans

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Veterinary
Article Date: 12 Jul 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Study Of Dogs With Microchimerism Should Improve Understanding Of Disease In Humans

Some people possess a small number of cells in their bodies that are not genetically their own; this condition is known as microchimerism. It is difficult to determine potential health effects from this condition because of humans' relatively long life-spans. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that microchimerism can be found in dogs as well. Jeffrey Bryan, an associate professor of oncology at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine and director of Comparative Oncology and Epigenetics Laboratory, says this discovery will help doctors determine what diseases humans with microchimerism may be more likely to develop during their lifetimes.

"Dogs have a much shorter lifespan than humans, which allows us, as researchers, to better monitor what diseases they may develop throughout their entire lives," Bryan said. "We already have some evidence that microchimerism may increase risk of thyroid disease while lowering the risk of breast cancer in women. Finding microchimerism in dogs allows us to track this condition over a lifespan of about 10 years, as opposed to the 70 or 80 years of a human life. This will make it much easier to determine any increased risk of or protection from other diseases brought on by microchimerism."

"Our study demonstrates that male microchimerism of probable fetal origin occurs in the pet dog population," said Sandra Axiak-Bechtel, an assistant professor of oncology at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine. "Evidence exists in women that fetal microchimerism may have conflicting roles in disease formation. The pet dog represents an excellent model of many ailments in people, and the presence of fetal microchimerism in dogs will allow studies which further clarify its role in health and disease."

Microchimerism most often occurs when a mother gives birth to a child. Sometimes, cells from that child are left in the mothers' body and continue to live, despite being of a different genetic makeup than surrounding cells. Those cells can then be passed on to other children the mother may have later. Cells also can be passed on through blood transfusions as well as bone marrow and organ transplants.

In their study published in PLOS ONE, Bryan and Axiak-Bechtel, along with MU researchers Senthil Kumar, a co-investigator in this study and assistant research professor and assistant director of the Comparative Oncology and Epigenetics Laboratory, and Sara Hansen, a comparative medicine resident at MU, studied 90 golden retrievers and found that 36 percent of the dogs had microchimerism. Closer to 40 percent of female dogs that were at least eight years post-pregnancy had the condition.

Axiak-Bechtel, Bryan, and Kumar plan on continuing their research to follow the lifespans of dogs with microchimerism to determine to what diseases those dogs may be susceptible. Bryan and Kumar also received a new grant for more than $400,000 to study epigenetic biomarkers in dogs, which will ultimately enhance diagnosis and treatment of dogs with cancer.

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