The Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Please ignore the dates in the photos... i set it wrongly.. -.-



























































































































































Olympic Mascots

Brain Injury May Occur Within One Millisecond After Head Hits Car Windshield

Sagittal view of compressive pressure in head model (glass at right); pressure highest at impact of Coup site. Pressure scale -- red: 30 atmospheres, blue: 1 atmosphere. (Image courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories)

Research by a Sandia National Laboratories engineer and a University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center neurologist shows that brain injury may occur within one millisecond after a human head is thrust into a windshield as a result of a car accident.

This happens prior to any overall motion of the head following impact with the windshield and is a new concept to consider for doctors interested in traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Paul Taylor of Sandia's Multiscale Computational Materials Methods Department and Corey Ford, neurologist at UNM's Department of Neurology and MIND Imaging Center, made the discovery after modeling early-time wave interactions in the human head following impact with a windshield, one scenario leading to the onset of TBI.

Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory.

TBI is associated with loss of functional capability of the brain to perform cognitive and memory tasks, process information, and perform a variety of motor and coordination functions. More than five million people in the U.S. live with disabilities associated with TBI.

"In the past not a lot of attention was paid to modeling early-time events during TBI," Taylor says. "People would - for example - be in a car accident where they hit their head on a windshield, feel rattled, go to an emergency room, and then be released. We were interested in why people with head injuries of similar severity often have very different outcomes in memory function or returning to work."

More notice has been given to TBI in recent years because of the large number of U.S. soldiers returning home from Iraq with head injuries caused by blast waves from discharged improvised explosive devices.

Taylor says that modeling brain injury is a far more humane way to study scenarios leading to TBI than the traditional trial-and-error approach using laboratory animals.

The two researchers started by importing a digitally processed, computed tomography (CT) scan of a healthy female head into the Sandia-developed shock physics computer code, CTH. The CT scan was digitally processed to segment all soft tissue and bone into three distinct materials - skull, brain, and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF).

Computer models were then constructed representing the skull, brain, CSF, and windshield glass. The simulations were run on Sandia's Thunderbird parallel architecture computer using 64 processors for each simulation.

"The results of our simulations demonstrate the complexities of the wave interactions that occur among the skull, brain, and CSF as the result of the frontal impact with the glass windshield," Taylor says.

The modeling represents what would happen to an unrestrained person hitting the windshield of an automobile in a 34 mph head-on collision with a stationary barrier.

In discussions between Taylor and Ford, it became apparent that different types of cell damage might occur depending on the type of stress to which the cells are exposed. "Isotropic stress," commonly called pressure stress, imposes density changes that can damage a cell's internal structure. "Shearing stress" acts as a tearing mechanism that damages the cell wall and membranes, giving rise to apoptosis, or cell death. Both are likely at play in most incidents leading to TBI.

Each type of stress is displayed on two different views of the brain - the sagittal view - where the brain is cut between the left and right hemispheres - and an axial view in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the body just above the eyes and ears.

"Through our modeling we were able to predict early-time stress focusing within the brain during an impact event. However, we have yet to identify what specific levels of stress will lead to TBI," Taylor says.

"This is the focus of our future research effort. Furthermore, our current models simulate the brain as homogeneous. We want to create a higher-resolution simulation capability that better represents the various portions of the brain to provide detailed specificity of our results."

Such capabilities may allow Taylor and Ford to have a better understanding of how the early-time stress contributes to TBI and aid in the design of better protection devices such as headgear for sports and military personnel.

Triumph In The Skies 《 衝上雲霄 》

wahh.. 2003 drama series now than i started watching wor... lolx -.- they look so cool in their uniform.. =x i didn't manage to find same triangel doll that zoey's having.. sianz... if anyone knows where to buy it.. please tell mi k... thanks =p

Triumph In The Skies is a 2003 drama series produced by the Hong Kong TV network TVB. The show revolved around the theme of aviation, following the lives and loves of the pilots, staff, and flight attendants of the fictional Solar Airways, as well as the workers of Chek Lap Kok airport. It is somewhat similar to the now-cancelled NBC series LAX.

The show was partially sponsored by Cathay Pacific on which Solar Airways was based and sparked a temporary interest in aviation amongst Hong Kong's residents. It also sparked an interest in a small doll called Triangel, which was featured early on in the series.

External photography took place on location in Japan, Italy and Australia, with the sequences shot in Australia being memorable for its depiction of flight training.

Cast

• Francis Ng
• Flora Chan
• Joe Ma
• Michelle Ye
• Myolie Wu
• Ron Ng
• Sammul Chan
• Bosco Wong
• Kenneth Ma
• Louisa So
• Jerry Lamb
• Shek Sau

Plot Summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Samuel (Francis Ng) and Vincent (Joe Ma) are good friends since young. They are both striving to become the first Chinese captain for Solar Airways. Vincent's attitude towards romance is epitomized by his nickname 'playboy', but Samuel is determined to pursue true love. They meet a stewardess, Isabelle (Flora Chan), and both fall in love with her.

Samuel's mum left his dad years ago, only to find out that she is pregnant with Issac (Ron Ng). And since then she had been telling Isaac that she is his sister, not his mom. Years later, Samuel's mom goes back to his father, and Isaac, thinking that their mom is his sister, keep thinking he is very big. At first, not even Samuel know that Isaac is his brother. Then his parents decide to tell Samuel the truth. But Isaac still don't know. Zoe met Samuel on the aeroplane when she was suspected of having arithmetics, and was very nervous as there was a storm outside plus the plane wasn't stable. So the air stewardess asked Samuel to go out and assure Zoe that he would land the plane safely. From then on, Zoe had a crush on him. To get closer to him, she even applied for a job at the airport. And also because she was impressed by the air stewardess's calmness during that time.

Donald (Sammul Chan), Zita (Michelle Ye), Chris (Bosco Wong)are assigned to be trained in Australia as pilots. Can these 3 energetic youngsters fulfill their dreams? Isaac and Vincent already fulfiled their dreams of becoming a pilot even before Donald and all started applying for the job.

Possible Sequel

Rumors have suggested that a sequel will be made in 2006. However, the date has appeared to have been pushed back due to, apparently, continuing negotiation with a major airline to provide support.

Also, rumors have suggested that in the sequel, all characters except Issac (played by Ron Ng) will be replaced.