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TUESDAY, SEPT. 4, 2018 | IN THIS ISSUE
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A technical drawing of the range-shifting device created by Corridor researchers, taken from their patent application.
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A group of Corridor researchers has been granted a utility patent for a new "range-shifting" device that promises to improve the potential of proton-based radiosurgery for certain types of brain cancer.
The device, which resembles a domed helmet, is designed for use in stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), a specialized form of radiation therapy that focuses small radiation beams on precise areas of the brain thought to contain diseased tissue. While this form of treatment is effective, most medical proton systems struggle to treat legions shallower than four centimeters - a depth where many brain legions occur, the researchers note in their patent.
The accessory created by Dongxu Wang, a clinical associate professor of radiation oncology at the UI Carver College of Medicine, Daniel Hyer, an associate professor of radiation oncology, and Blake Dirksen, a medical physicist at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, essentially adds a four-centimeter layer of tissue-equivalent material directly over the patient's head, allowing medical proton systems to more effectively treat shallow brain legions.
It can also reduce beam "scatter," which happens when the beam is located too far from the patient. When that happens, the patient receives the radiation and its side effects without the focused benefits of the protons' energy.
"The helmet brings the range-shifting [component] to the patient's side, which will make it scatter less," Mr. Wang explained in an interview. "That will lead to a more healthy brain, since proton therapy is like any other kind of radiation therapy and can adversely affect healthy tissue."
This patent, US 10,035,025, follows one received by Mr. Wang and Mr. Hyer, along with three other team members, in October 2017 for a device capable of reducing unwanted radiation in normal tissues in patients undergoing proton therapy. That effort was assisted by a $586,726 grant award from the National Institutes of Health in fiscal year 2018.
The team is currently working with the UI Research Foundation to market the invention to medical vendors, who might license the technology. But for the meantime, Mr. Wang said he and his co-inventors are focused on continuing to improve radiosurgery treatments, and hopefully saving lives in the process.
"
W
e're excited that this can really bring proton therapy to its full potential," he said. "This will benefit a lot more patients who have a tumor in the brain or head
and
neck area, because we can increase the radiation dose to the tumor and reduce the possible side effects of radiation therapy using protons."
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 STEM Award Teacher nominations due Oct. 9
The Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council, in partnership with Kemin Industries, has launched the fifth year of its IOWA STEM Teacher Award with a call for nominations.
The award recognizes one full-time, licensed PreK-12 teacher from each of the six STEM regions across the state for their passion in motivating their students to develop a lasting interest in STEM, both in and out of the classroom. The six teachers selected will each receive an award of $1,500, with an additional $1,500 for their classroom.
"We are thrilled to be recognizing the outstanding work and great efforts of Iowa's STEM teachers for a fifth year," Chris Nelson, president and CEO of Kemin Industries, said in a statement. "Educators who instill an interest and engage students in STEM are so important. They open the next generation's eyes to all the opportunities and potential careers that exist within STEM fields. At Kemin, STEM drives our work daily, and we're excited to see teachers developing Iowans who are eager to work in these areas."
Anyone can nominate a teacher via stemaward.fluidreview.com through the deadline of Oct. 9, 2018. Once nominated, teachers will fill out an application to be assessed by a panel of judges who will select the six award recipients. Honorees will be announced in January 2019.
Established in July 2011, the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council is a public-private partnership of educators, companies and Iowa students and families addressing policies and programs designed to improve Iowa's educational system focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Kemin Industries is a privately-held, family-owned global ingredient manufacturer headquartered in Des Moines.
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UI Art Building to house new innovation center
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David Hensley
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A UI building where Grant Wood created much of his world-famous art soon will become a place where University of Iowa students and faculty can collaborate and innovate to solve big problems facing the world.
The UI announced last week it will ask the state's Board of Regents at its September meeting for permission to convert the former Art Building into an innovation center that crosses disciplinary boundaries and brings people together to experiment, learn and build.
"The Art Building will once again become a space for inspiration and collaboration," David Hensley, executive director of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (JPEC), said in a statement. "By bringing together inventors, creators and leaders from a variety of backgrounds and skills, we will significantly enhance the university's ability to support the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs."
Innovation centers are becoming increasingly common on university campuses, with Iowa State University set to open its own innovation center next year. The idea is to create an environment that gathers collaborators from both on and off campus to bring groundbreaking research and scholarship to the rest of the world through new businesses and social entrepreneurship.
Most often, innovation centers are gleaming, futuristic-looking new construction. But UI planners say the repurposed Depression-era Art Building is a perfect place to encourage innovation and creativity, because the building itself is the result of those skills.
Opened in 1936, the building was originally conceived as an arts colony that would bring to life the Iowa Idea, a then-revolutionary concept that brought the teaching of art history and art creation under a single roof.
Programming for the innovation center still is under development. It is being coordinated by Mr. Hensley and Sarah Gardial, dean of the Tippie College of Business.
"We will meet with deans, faculty members and many other campus partners in the coming months to gather their ideas," Ms. Gardial said in a release. "We want to ensure the innovation center is a welcoming place for potential innovators and entrepreneurs from all across campus, students and faculty in every college and department, and from around the state of Iowa."
Look for more on this story in the Sept. 10 edition of the CBJ.
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Gerald Beranek, shown in the BeraTek Industries production facility in 2016. CREDIT BILL ADAMS
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A dozen employees do it all at four-year-old manufacturing startup BeraTek Industries, recently named the Corridor's Coolest Place to Work among small companies.
To founder and CEO Gerald Beranek, the company's fortunes are riding on each one.
"Everybody here ... they have a stake in what we become, and hopefully they know we appreciate it," the 33-year-old engineer and inventor said. "What I try to do is make the culture fun, so they are glad to come to work, and if they make a mistake, nothing terrible is going to happen."
Employee input is encouraged, he said, and he more often than not follows through on the new ideas employees put forward. When Independence Day fell in the middle of the week this year, some employees suggested shutting down on Friday to make a longer weekend. BeraTek, in turn, decided to create a floating holiday they can use to take a long weekend when needed.
The company designs, produces and markets injection-molded plastic products under its own Storage Theory and VuSee brands, and also prototypes, manufactures and ships products for inventors and companies to sell under their own name.
Whenever the company produces a new product under one of its lines, employees are invited to take one for their home. Recent products include a new set of nesting combination measuring cups and spoons that make cooking more convenient and reduce storage space needs, and a storage solution for Greek yogurt cups that adheres to the bottom of refrigerator shelving.
BeraTek hosts cookouts for its employees about once a month during the warmer months and potlucks indoors during the colder months. Office Manager Susan Hohbein organizes birthday celebrations for employees, along with other events.
"It's like a family atmosphere here," Ms. Hohbein said. "We're such a small company, everybody knows everybody."
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Kent Corp. opens innovation center at ISU Research Park
Kent Corporation, a Muscatine-based producer of nutrition products for people and animals, has opened a new innovation center at the Iowa State University Research Park, the company announced this week.
The new facility will "apply cutting-edge research to our focus in agriculture, food, feed and biosciences," chairman and CEO Gage Kent said in a press release. It also represents an expansion of the company's partnership with ISU, following an $8 million commitment to the university's new Grain Science and Feed Mill facility in September 2017.
The new innovation center will allow Kent Corp. to offer a multi-semester internship program for most majors at ISU, according to the company, and will support the company's Enterprise Innovation group, launched in 2017 with a focus on identifying long-term growth areas.
Jeff Underwood, vice president of enterprise innovation, will manage the new Kent Innovation Center, the company said in a press release. Mr. Underwood received a bachelor's degree from ISU, and is a member of the Cultivation Corridor AgriTech Accelerator Board and an advisor to the ISU Startup Factory.
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From around the web:
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Corridor Stocks
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NAME
|
SYM |
PRICE |
CHG |
%CHG |
| AEGON |
AEG |
6.01 |
0.06 |
1.01% |
| Alliant Energy |
LNT |
43.1 |
0.26 |
0.61% |
| Deere & Company |
DE |
141.69 |
-2.11 |
-1.47% |
| Dow Jones |
^DJI |
25,952.48 |
-12.34 |
-0.05% |
| General Mills |
GIS |
45.92 |
-0.09 |
-0.20% |
| GoDaddy Inc. |
GDDY |
81.72 |
0.26 |
0.32% |
| Great Western Bank |
GWB |
43.52 |
-0.02 |
-0.05% |
| Heartland Express |
HTLD |
20.41 |
-0.04 |
-0.20% |
| KemPharm |
KMPH |
4.90 |
-0.3 |
-5.77% |
| Marsh & McLennan |
MMC |
84.78 |
0.15 |
0.18% |
| MidWestOne |
MOFG |
33.75 |
0.21 |
0.63% |
| Pearson |
PSO |
11.69 |
-0.14 |
-1.14% |
| Pepsico |
PEP |
111.00 |
-1.01 |
-0.90% |
| Principal Financial |
PFG |
55.71 |
0.52 |
0.94% |
| QCR Holdings |
QCRH |
43.55 |
0.05 |
0.11% |
| Rockwell Collins |
COL |
136.06 |
0.11 |
0.08% |
| S&P 500 |
^GSPC |
2,896.72 |
-4.80 |
-0.17% |
| Tanger Factory |
SKT |
23.44 |
-0.62 |
-2.58% |
| Procter & Gamble |
PG |
82.70 |
-0.25 |
-0.30% |
| United Fire Group |
UFCS |
49.71 |
0.18 |
0.36% |
| U.S. Bank |
USB |
54.25 |
0.14 |
0.26% |
| Wells Fargo |
WFC |
58.81 |
0.33 |
0.56% |
| West Bank |
WTBA |
24.10 |
-0.05 |
-0.21% |
| Whirlpool |
WHR |
123.97 |
-1.01 |
-0.81% |
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Short-Term Event Planner
Sept. 4
Ribbon Cutting: Central State Bank
, by Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, 4 p.m., 805 22nd Ave., Coralville. Help celebrate the opening of Central State Bank's new branch. Free.
Sept. 5
Cyber Security Breakfast
, by Corridor Business Journal, 7:30-9:30 a.m., Coralville Marriott, 300 E. Ninth St., Coralville. This year's edition will cover the latest in cybersecurity trends and threats, managing incident response, cybersecurity insurance, risk assessment and more. Tickets: $55. To register, contact Ashley Levitt at
[email protected]
or (319) 665-6397, ext. 311.
1 Million Cups, by 1MC, 9-10 a.m., Geonetric, 415 12th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids and MERGE, 136 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. Join for community connections, startup pitches and free coffee. The September theme for Cedar Rapids' meeting is the city of Marion. Free. For more information, visit
facebook.com/1MCICR.
Siren Wednesday
, by ImpactCR, 5-7 p.m., Parlor City, 1125 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids. Siren Wednesdays are after-work networking socials for young professionals, held at Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance-member bars and restaurants. Free.
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Headlines from CBS2/FOX 28
These news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28
Walking outside their homes for the first time after the sun came up, neighbors all across the northwest side of Cedar Rapids woke up Tuesday morning to destruction. For people like Brad Klinger, who lives on 39th Street Drive with his wife and kindergarten-aged son, it was hard to find words. "Just seeing what's gone on around the rest of the street," Mr. Klinger said. "It's crazy." Up and down the street, homeowners were surveying the damage. Like it did with so many others, the storm snapped the Klingers' tree, breaking a power pole and shattering the windows of his neighbor's car. "The power suddenly cut out, and all I could hear was just the wind whipping around the house for about 30 seconds," Mr. Klinger said. "It was just a deafening sound." Tuesday morning, another deafening sound rang out across the neighborhoods, as dozens of trees were picked up via crane and tossed into shredders. People on Hillside Drive also mentioned how quickly the storm came. Dave Miller caught the high winds picking up on his security video, snapping his tree, which fell onto his back porch. Though the storm left plenty of property destruction in its path, it spared the people who live there, who - though overwhelmed - are safe.
Gov. Reynolds has issued disaster proclamations for two counties after flooding and severe weather hit eastern Iowa over the weekend.
The proclamation applies to Bremer and Iowa counties in response to the Sept. 2 storms.
The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level or a maximum annual income of $41,560 for a family of three. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.
Applications for the grants can be found on the Iowa Department of Human Services
website
.
T
hese news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28
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CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Terry Swails' Weather First Forecast
An incredible stretch of active weather continues tonight with showers and storms moving through the area. Eastern Iowa is getting a break in the rain this morning. However, another round of widespread heavy rain is anticipated tonight into Wednesday. Given the multiple rounds of showers and storms through the week, heavy rain has fallen and has agitated many area rivers and streams. Widespread totals of 3-5" or more of rain has already fallen and more rain continues Tuesday night into the weekend. River forecasts will continue to fluctuate given locally heavy rainfall so forecasts will need to be monitored. Flash flooding will be possible, especially if storms repeat themselves over and over again.
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