In 1987, American inventor Chuck Hull built the first successful 3D printer, a robot that could extrude material in layers, slowly turning a digital blueprint file into a physical object. Over the next 30 years, Hull and other engineers __(6)__ the concept, and today 3D printing has become one of the core technologies of modern design and manufacturing. It’s ideal for creating one or a few copies of a complex shape, such as a product prototype.

Custom-built, complex shapes are also common in biology, leading many biomedical researchers to ask whether it’s possible to print working tissues and organs. Beginning with __(7)__ inkjet printers in the early 2000s, bioprinting pioneers have since moved on to 3D printing, __(8)__ increasingly complex living structures. At the same time, cell biologists have refined techniques for creating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).

By combining these two technologies, future physicians might bioprint replacement tissues and organs from a patient’s own cells—eliminating the need to find donors and the risk of __(9)__ rejection. Researchers still have to solve some tricky problems to get bioprinting into the clinic, especially for complex organ replacement, but a series of recent developments and the availability of relatively cheap, user-friendly bioprinters has made the technique more accessible than ever.

Hearts are a natural choice for bioprinting proof-of-concept experiments. They have fewer cell types than some other complex organs, and provide clear visual evidence of whether the cells are functioning properly, as __(10)__ spontaneously start beating when they’ve formed working tissue.

Using their __(11)__ printing approach, the investigators built complex sections of __(12)__ heart tissue, seeded with iPSCs that were stimulated to form cardiac cells. It worked. “They go from basically a(n) __(13)__ beating, where each individual organoid is beating at a different rate; and as they fuse together, they start to beat together, they __(14)__, and then the whole tissue is contracting at the same time,” says Jennifer Lewis, professor of engineering and applied sciences at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

While the result is impressive, Lewis cautions that it’s still several steps removed from building a functional heart. One problem is that the __(15)__ remain immature, with contractions that are much weaker than those of an adult heart. Making a working heart will require more postprocessing to increase the tissue’s strength, and more advances in stem cell biology to improve the cells’ maturation. It will also entail printing a full organ, something Lewis is reluctant to do at this point. “We purposely didn’t even go anywhere near to a construct that looked like a heart,” says Lewis, adding that she didn’t want to create false hope with images of a complete but nonfunctional organ.

 (Excerpted from: https://www.science.org/content/article/prints-pieces)

     As social media websites grow, concepts of privacy seem to be changing. Images and information that would never before have been public are now available at a keystroke. For some people, the free-floating information is harmless.    (16)    Recruiters now regularly perform Internet searches on job candidates. Cyber stalking has become a real and dangerous problem. While it used to be relatively easy to turn over a new leaf by moving, now the Internet can prevent anyone from really starting over.

     In these cases, there is the opinion of erasing one’s web presence.    (17)    The website www.suicidemachine.org offers a simple process that will eliminate your accounts from four social media sites.

     Those sites are just the beginning. If you’ve ever written a blog, created a photo account, signed onto a mailing list, gotten a cell phone, or done another thousand things that end up on the web, you’ll still be searchable.    (18)    Social aggregator sites like pipl.com and spoken.com list addresses and phone number, as well as other information. This information can be deleted by specific request. Search engine will often remove you from the results if asked.

     However, information can linger in hidden places only to emerge late.    (19)    Reputation.com and removeyourname.com are two companies that specialize in improving online reputations. Often, this means removing as much information as possible and then burying bad information that can’t be removed with new, or good information.     (20)    Perhaps the hardest part about cleaning yourself off the web, however, is staying off it. So much of life is conducted online now; we may never be able to be completely private again.

      Much of today’s business is conducted across international borders, and while the majority of the global business community might share the use of English as a common language, the nuances and expectations of business communication might differ greatly from culture to culture. A lack of understanding of the cultural norms and practices of our business acquaintances can result in unfair judgements, misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication. Here are two basic areas of differences in the business etiquette around the world that could help stand you in good stead when you next find yourself working with someone from a different culture.

      A famous Russian proverb states that ‘a smile without reason is a sign of idiocy’ and a so-called ‘smile of respect’ is seen as insincere and often regarded with suspicion in Russia. Yet in countries like the United States, Australia and Britain, smiling is often interpreted as a sign of openness, friendship and respect, and is frequently used to break the ice. In a piece of research done on smiles across cultures, the researchers found that smiling individuals were considered more intelligent than non-smiling people in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, China and Malaysia. However, in countries like Russia, Japan, South Korea and Iran, pictures of smiling faces were rated as less intelligent than the non-smiling ones. Meanwhile, in countries like India, Argentina and the Maldives, smiling was associated with dishonesty.

      An American or British person might be looking their client in the eye to show that they are paying full attention to what is being said, but if that client is from Japan or Korea, they might find the direct eye contact awkward or even disrespectful. In parts of South America and Africa, prolonged eye contact could also be seen as challenging authority. In the Middle East, eye contact across genders is considered inappropriate, although eye contact within a gender could signify honesty and truthfulness.

      Having an increased awareness of the possible differences in expectations and behavior can help us avoid cases of miscommunication, but it is vital that we also remember that cultural stereotypes can be detrimental to building good business relationships. Although national cultures could play a part in shaping the way we behave and think, we are also largely influenced by the region we come from, the communities we associate with, our age and gender, our corporate culture and our individual experiences of the world. The knowledge of the potential differences should therefore be something we keep at the back of our minds, rather than something that we use to pigeonhole the individuals of an entire nation.