Ohio researchers have published results of a study suggesting that lightning can trigger migraines and other headaches. The scientists hope their findings will help chronic sufferers anticipate an event and start treatment right away to prevent it.
University of Cincinnati (UC) health professor and headache expert Vincent Martin, M.D., and his son, Geoffrey Martin, a UC medical student, led the study and published the results in the online journal Cephalalgia, according to Medical News Today. Cephalalgia says the study included 90 subjects, 91 percent of whom were women. The mean age of participants was 44.
Conclusions from many studies about how weather factors like humidity and barometric pressure affect the start of headaches have contradicted each other. The UC study is the first to actually link lightning to headaches.
The researchers recruited subjects from locales in Missouri and Ohio. They determined that on days when lightning struck within 25 miles of a subject's home, the individual had a 31 percent increased risk of developing a headache. For migraines, the increased risk was 28 percent.
MedlinePlus reports that around 12 percent of U.S. residents get migraines. These headaches come with severe, throbbing pain and are three times more common in females than in males. Visual disturbances, nausea, auras, and sensitivity to sound are common.
The International Headache Society considers a headache a migraine according to established criteria such as pain, number of attacks, and common visual and auditory symptoms, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Around a third of patients can predict the approach of a migraine by the appearance of an aura.
Migraine patients tend to suffer from recurring attacks linked to various triggers like food, lights, hormonal changes, and stress. However, since the pathophysiology of these headaches isn't fully understood, there is no accepted cure for migraines.
Subjects in the UC study met the International Headache Society migraine criteria. They recorded all headache activity each day for three to six months. Mathematical modeling to account for any influence of other weather factors suggested that lightning has a unique affect on headaches.
The researchers hope in future studies to investigate the precise mechanisms by which lightning or associated factors trigger headaches. However, they speculate that potential triggers include electromagnetic waves lightning emits. Lightning also causes jumps in ozone and other air pollutant levels and can cause the release of fungal spores that could trigger migraines.
I have experienced three headaches diagnosed as atypical migraines. Doctors were unable to find a trigger for any of them but suspected mold or fungus in an old building and an anesthesia reaction. While reading the UC study findings, I recalled that when I left my room for surgery, I could see lightning and hear thunder outside the hospital window. A coincidence? Maybe not, if lightning can trigger migraines and other headaches.
Vonda J. Sines has published thousands of print and online health and medical articles. She specializes in diseases and other conditions that affect the quality of life.
Virginia Tech expands sports concussion-risk studies to include hockey and baseballPublic release date: 29-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Steven Mackay 540-231-4787 Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/) is expanding its ground-breaking research of testing football helmets to reduce the number of concussions to now include hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse.
The five-year plan will see the Virginia Tech research center, headed by Stefan Duma (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/duma.php), rate helmets worn by hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse athletes in their ability to lessen the likelihood of a concussion resulting from a violent head impact.
Ratings on hockey helmets are expected in fall 2013, followed by youth football in 2015, and then baseball, softball, and lacrosse in 2016. During that time, all ratings for adult and youth football helmets will continually be updated and released to the public.
The expansion into helmeted sports other than football comes on the heels of new research that allows for better prediction of sports-related concussions resulting from linear and rotational head accelerations. These accelerations result from head impacts that cause the head to translate and twist about the neck. The new research is published this month in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (http://www.editorialmanager.com/abme/).
The new research is being funded by Virginia Tech, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (http://www.ictas.vt.edu/) at Virginia Tech.
New ratings for football helmets will include data for linear and rotational accelerations starting in 2015, said Duma, professor of biomedical engineering and department head of the Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. Serving as lead author on the research paper is Steven Rowson (http://www.cib.vt.edu/people/bios/faculty_bios/bio_rowson.html), assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech.
All head impacts result in both linear and rotational accelerations, and this publication provides the foundation for our research to address both accelerations relative to reducing the risk of concussion, said Duma. Our goal with the five-year plan is to provide manufacturers with a schedule detailing when we will release helmet ratings for each sport.
The helmet rating system is based on more than a decade of data collection by Duma and his research staff, and utilizes the STAR, or Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk, formula that assesses the ability of football helmets to reduce concussion risk. Sport-specific testing methodologies will be added to the website that lists the rated helmets prior to the initial release of each sports helmets ratings.
Using data collected from more than 63,000 head impacts during a period of 10 years, Duma and Rowson related linear and rotational head acceleration to the probability of sustaining a concussion in the form of an injury risk function.
This new analysis utilizes data measured from 62 concussions sustained by high school, college, and professional football players, said Rowson. We use these data to determine the best method to predict concussions when we test helmets in our laboratory.
In their research paper, the researchers write, With as many as 3.8 million sports-related concussions occurring annually in the United States and research suggesting possible long term neurodegenerative processes resulting from repetitive concussions, reducing the incidence of concussion in sports has become a public health priority.
Indeed, long-term, repetitive injuries that can cripple or eventually kill years after play have prompted dozens of headlines in major media outlets and several national studies, and even President Obama to recently weigh in on the subject. Dozens of former NFL players are suing the league over injuries sustained during years of play, and headlines were made this summer when former football great Alex Karras died at age 77 from various ailments, several allegedly said to be caused by years of hard hits.
In studying football-related injuries during the past decade, Duma and his research team have used on-field real-time sensors installed in the helmets of hundreds of adult and youth football players to study injuries, as well as a mechanical lab-tested 5-star rating system to track and grade commercially sold helmets.
The former can help indicate head injuries that require immediate attention while on the field of play. The latter has provided the only independent biomechanical data for consumers to make helmet purchasing decisions, Duma said.
Dumas goal is not to end the sport of football, but make it safer while still keep the same expected adrenaline rush and action for players, and viewers.
It is important to note that no helmet can prevent all concussions. The most effective strategies to reduce concussions in sports involve modifying league rules and player technique to limit exposure to head impacts, Duma said.
Beyond this, head impacts are a given in sport. Our research focuses on identifying helmets that reduce concussion risk so that athletes can make informed decisions based on independent data when purchasing equipment, which in turn, incentivizes helmet manufacturers to design helmets that better reduce head acceleration.
###
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Virginia Tech expands sports concussion-risk studies to include hockey and baseballPublic release date: 29-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Steven Mackay 540-231-4787 Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/) is expanding its ground-breaking research of testing football helmets to reduce the number of concussions to now include hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse.
The five-year plan will see the Virginia Tech research center, headed by Stefan Duma (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/duma.php), rate helmets worn by hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse athletes in their ability to lessen the likelihood of a concussion resulting from a violent head impact.
Ratings on hockey helmets are expected in fall 2013, followed by youth football in 2015, and then baseball, softball, and lacrosse in 2016. During that time, all ratings for adult and youth football helmets will continually be updated and released to the public.
The expansion into helmeted sports other than football comes on the heels of new research that allows for better prediction of sports-related concussions resulting from linear and rotational head accelerations. These accelerations result from head impacts that cause the head to translate and twist about the neck. The new research is published this month in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (http://www.editorialmanager.com/abme/).
The new research is being funded by Virginia Tech, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (http://www.ictas.vt.edu/) at Virginia Tech.
New ratings for football helmets will include data for linear and rotational accelerations starting in 2015, said Duma, professor of biomedical engineering and department head of the Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. Serving as lead author on the research paper is Steven Rowson (http://www.cib.vt.edu/people/bios/faculty_bios/bio_rowson.html), assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech.
All head impacts result in both linear and rotational accelerations, and this publication provides the foundation for our research to address both accelerations relative to reducing the risk of concussion, said Duma. Our goal with the five-year plan is to provide manufacturers with a schedule detailing when we will release helmet ratings for each sport.
The helmet rating system is based on more than a decade of data collection by Duma and his research staff, and utilizes the STAR, or Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk, formula that assesses the ability of football helmets to reduce concussion risk. Sport-specific testing methodologies will be added to the website that lists the rated helmets prior to the initial release of each sports helmets ratings.
Using data collected from more than 63,000 head impacts during a period of 10 years, Duma and Rowson related linear and rotational head acceleration to the probability of sustaining a concussion in the form of an injury risk function.
This new analysis utilizes data measured from 62 concussions sustained by high school, college, and professional football players, said Rowson. We use these data to determine the best method to predict concussions when we test helmets in our laboratory.
In their research paper, the researchers write, With as many as 3.8 million sports-related concussions occurring annually in the United States and research suggesting possible long term neurodegenerative processes resulting from repetitive concussions, reducing the incidence of concussion in sports has become a public health priority.
Indeed, long-term, repetitive injuries that can cripple or eventually kill years after play have prompted dozens of headlines in major media outlets and several national studies, and even President Obama to recently weigh in on the subject. Dozens of former NFL players are suing the league over injuries sustained during years of play, and headlines were made this summer when former football great Alex Karras died at age 77 from various ailments, several allegedly said to be caused by years of hard hits.
In studying football-related injuries during the past decade, Duma and his research team have used on-field real-time sensors installed in the helmets of hundreds of adult and youth football players to study injuries, as well as a mechanical lab-tested 5-star rating system to track and grade commercially sold helmets.
The former can help indicate head injuries that require immediate attention while on the field of play. The latter has provided the only independent biomechanical data for consumers to make helmet purchasing decisions, Duma said.
Dumas goal is not to end the sport of football, but make it safer while still keep the same expected adrenaline rush and action for players, and viewers.
It is important to note that no helmet can prevent all concussions. The most effective strategies to reduce concussions in sports involve modifying league rules and player technique to limit exposure to head impacts, Duma said.
Beyond this, head impacts are a given in sport. Our research focuses on identifying helmets that reduce concussion risk so that athletes can make informed decisions based on independent data when purchasing equipment, which in turn, incentivizes helmet manufacturers to design helmets that better reduce head acceleration.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
European Pressphoto AgencyBears await food on a farm in Fujian Province in China that is run by the pharmaceuticals maker Guizhentang. The companylegally makes tonics from bear bile.
The six bears that arrived this month at Animals Asia, an animal rescue center in China, had the grisly symptoms of inhumane ?bile milking.? Greenish bile dripped from open fistulas used to drain gall bladders; teeth were broken and rotted from gnawing on the bars of tiny cages.
Four of the bears have since had surgery to remove gall bladders damaged by years of unhygenic procedures to extract their bile, which is coveted for its purported medicinal properties. One bear?s swollen gall bladder was the size of a watermelon.
The latest batch of bears was rescued from an illegal farm by the Sichuan Forestry Department and joins 279 other bears at the center, near Chengdu in southwestern China. With luck, these bears will recover at the sanctuary. But thousands on farms, both legal and illegal, continue to suffer in wretched conditions, and countless others living in the wild across Asia are threatened by poaching and their illegal capture.
Bear bile contains a chemical called ursedeoxycholic acid, long used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat gallstones, liver problems and other ailments. There are an estimated 10,000 farmed bears in China, 3,000 in Vietnam, at least 1,000 in South Korea and others in Laos and Myanmar.
Tigers, rhinos and elephants are notoriously poached to satisfy high demand in Asia for their parts, which are falsely assumed to have medicinal properties. Experts warn that sun bears and Asiatic black bears, known colloquially as ?moon bears,? are on a similar route to endangerment, although their plight draws less media attention. ?No bears are extinct, but all Asian ones are threatened,? said Chris Shepherd, a conservation biologist and deputy regional director of the wildlife trade group Traffic who is based in Malaysia.
To address the threat, the demand for bear bile must be sharply reduced, Dr. Shepherd, a conservation biologist told hundreds of researchers at the International Conference on Bear Research and Management, an annual event held recently in New Delhi.
Reducing demand would require a multi-pronged effort, experts say. That would mean enforcing existing laws, arresting and prosecuting violators, promoting synthetic and herbal alternatives, and closing illegal farms.
Chinese celebrities like the actor Jackie Chan and the athlete Yao Ming have both spoken out against the bear bile industry to raise public awareness about poaching and the inhumane conditions typically found on farms. Bears often live for years in coffin-like cages in which they are unable to stand or turn around.
The bile is extracted through catheters inserted into the abdomen, with needles or by bringing the gall bladder to the skin?s surface, where it will leak bile if prodded.
Legal farming was conceived as a way of increasing the supply of bile to reduce the motivation for poaching wild bears, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. But there is no evidence that it has done so, it noted in a resolution passed last September, and there is concern among conservationists that it ?may be detrimental.?
The resolution also called on countries with legal bear farms to close down the illegal ones, to ensure that no wild bears are added to farms; to conduct research into bear bile substitutes (there are dozens of synthetic and herbal alternatives) and to conduct an independent peer-reviewed scientific analysis on whether farming protects wild bears.
Some groups argue that the increased supply of farmed bile has only exacerbated demand. ?Because a surplus of bear bile is being produced, bile is used in many non-medical products, like bear bile wine, shampoo, toothpaste and face masks,? Animals Asia says. Since bear farming began in China in the early 1980?s, bear bile has been aggressively promoted as a cure-all remedy for problems like hangovers, the group added.
In mainland China and Japan, domestic sales of bear bile are legal and theoretically under strict regulation as prescription products. But such sales are illegal in Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and the international trade is illegal as well.
Yet a 2011 report from Traffic indicated that bear bile products were on sale in traditional medicine outlets in 12 Asian countries and territories.
Nonprescription bear bile products like shampoo or toothpaste are illegal in China yet are readily available for purchase, conservationists say. Tourists from South Korea, a country that has decimated its own wild bear population, are major buyers in China and Vietnam even though taking bear bile products across borders is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
?Farms have drawn in bile consumers by creating a huge market ? bile is cheap,? said David Garshelis, a research scientist at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources who is co-chairman of the I.U.C.N.?s bear specialist group.
In Vietnam, a milliliter of bile might sell for $3 to $6; about 100 milliliters can be extracted from a bear each day, according to Annemarie Weegenaar, bear and director of the veterinarian team at Animals Asia?s Vietnam center.
In four years, the I.U.C.N. is to issue a report on whether bear farms threaten wild populations. Meanwhile, demand appears to be spreading further afield in Asia and is now growing in Indonesia, largely as a result of demand from the Chinese and Korean communities there, said Gabriella Fredriksson, a conservation biologist based in Sumatra. A low-level poacher can sell a gall bladder from a bear caught in a simple snare and then killed for about $10.
So far the biggest threat to bears in Indonesia is loss of habitat from forest fires and the conversion of land to palm oil plantations. But in the last few years, poaching has increased, said Dr. Fredriksson, who has been there 15 years.
She cautioned that bears in Indonesia could also become highly threatened. ?Fifty years ago, bears were doing well in Cambodia and Laos,? she said. ?Now there?s hardly any left.?
BetaBait, a service that connects startups with people to try and test early "beta" versions of web and mobile apps, is shutting down effective February 1st, 2013. The company, which first launched a year ago in December 2011, announced the closure in an email sent to users.
By Ken Y-N ( January 27, 2013 at 23:39)
? Filed under Polls, Rankings
goo Ranking took a look at as it says in the title, what self-centredness from one?s partner ruins the mood, for both men?s views on their partner and women?s views on theirs.
Demographics
Over the 7th and 8th of December 2012 1,059 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 61.4% of the sample were female, 10.8% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 24.9% in their thirties, 28.8% in their forties, 11.5% in their fifties, and 9.6% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.
I think most of the answers apply to people at the girlfriend/boyfriend stage, not married couples. I hope I don?t do any of the male acts, although numbers 14 and 18 hit a bit close to home! On the other hand, ? my wife might be reading!
Ranking results
Q1: What self-centredness behaviour by your partner ruins the mood? (Sample size=409, male)
Rank
?
Score
1
She hates my unfaithfulness, but is indifferent about her own unfaithfulness
100
2
When we argue, even if she is in the wrong she won?t apologise
96.5
3
She gets angry if presents are not expensive
83.2
4
Without considering my own situation she asks me to come round soon
77.9
5
She insists I touch base every day
70.8
6=
She gets angry if we do something different from what she thinks we should do
68.1
6=
She cancels dates at the last minute with ?I?m not in the mood
68.1
8
If I?m busy at work and slow to get in touch she asks ?Which is more important, work or me??
62.8
9
She has severe impulse shopping urges and always pleads ?Buy it for me!?
60.2
10
She always asks ?How much do you love me??
58.4
11
She tells me not to speak to other women
58.4
12
She is in the habit of being slow to reply to email, etc, but gets angry if I?m not prompt
54.0
13
If I?m not dressed up she says it?s embarrassing to be seen together
49.6
14
She is fussy about the grade of restaurant we go to on dates
46.9
15
She asks me to align my days off with hers
43.4
16
She always asks ?Am i cute??
41.6
17
She requests I phone every night and keep talking until she feels sleepy
40.7
18
She is particular about our memorial dates (eg, one month anniversary, 100 day anniversary)
39.8
19
She always requests dates every day off
37.2
20
She puts a higher priority on her girlfriends
31.0
21
She won?t settle unless we can meet on Christmas Day, Valentines Day, other big days
30.1
22
She comes out with quiz questions that I don?t really understand, like ?Do you remember what today is??
26.5
23
She insists that I see her all the way home every time
25.7
24
She gets angry if I don?t reply, Like, etc her SNS posts
23.0
25
She dumps all the food she dislikes on my plate
17.7
Q2: What self-centredness behaviour by your partner ruins the mood? (Sample size=650, female)
Rank
?
Score
1
He hates my unfaithfulness, but is indifferent about his own unfaithfulness
100
2
When we argue, even if he is in the wrong he won?t apologise
94.1
3
He is always asking for a loan
90.5
4
He tells me not to speak to other men
83.7
5
Without telling me he goes off out with another woman
76.9
6
He cancels dates at the last minute with ?I?m not in the mood
70.6
7
He insists I touch base every day
69.7
8
He always asks ?How much do you love me??
67.9
9
If I?m busy at work and slow to get in touch he asks ?Which is more important, work or me??
67.9
10
He gets angry if we do something different from what he thinks we should do
65.2
11=
Without considering my own situation he asks me to come round soon
62.4
11=
Even when I come round to visit he spends all his time playing computer games by himself
62.4
11=
He is in the habit of being slow to reply to email, etc, but gets angry if I?m not prompt
62.4
14
He leaves all the bothersome details up to me to take care of
61.1
15
He gets angry if presents are not expensive
60.6
16
He requests I phone every night and keep talking until he feels sleepy
58.8
17
He only gets in touch when he feels like it
58.4
18
He leaves planning dates up to me
57.0
19=
If I?m not dressed up he says it?s embarrassing to be seen together
50.2
19=
He insists that I praise him
50.2
21
He asks me to align my days off with his
49.3
22
He gets angry if I don?t reply, Like, etc his SNS posts
A Cub Scout pack in Maryland has decided to jettison its gay-friendly membership guidelines under threat of losing its Boy Scouts of America charter, according to a statement on the pack?s website.
Pack 442 of Cloverly, Md., had adopted a non-discrimination policy that read: ?Pack 442 WILL NOT discriminate against any individual or family based on race, religion, national origin, ability, or sexual orientation.?
But over the weekend, the pack posted a notice on its website reading: ?Due to pressure from the National Capital Area Council of BSA, Pack 442 was forced to remove its Non-Discrimination statement in order to keep our Charter (set to expire Jan 31st). This Non-Discrimination statement, previously posted here, welcomed ALL families.?
The pack?s position ran counter to the Boy Scouts? membership guidelines, which ban openly gay members or leaders.?
Activist groups stepped up their campaign to end the longstanding ban last year after California teen Ryan Andresen was denied the Eagle rank because he is gay, and following the dismissal of Jennifer Tyrrell as den leader of her son?s Tiger Cub pack in Ohio because she is a lesbian.
Theresa Phillips, committee chair of Pack 442, said her group had the same motivations.
?I think we need to start at this level,? she told NBC News on Saturday. ?We need to teach the boys ? respect for other people and their lifestyles.?
A call placed to Phillips on Monday seeking comment on the removal of the policy was not immediately returned. It was not clear if the pack would continue to accept all families under a ?don?t ask, don?t tell? approach similar to the one used by the military until it was rescinded last year.
Cub Scout pack may lose charter if it keeps gay-friendly policy
The pack?s member families approved the non-discrimination policy last August, and it was discussed in detail with district leaders and the regional council, to which the pack belongs, from August through October.
The issue appeared to be settled, but when the council ?contacted us a few weeks ago pressuring us to remove our statement, we attempted to negotiate a rewording of the statement that would represent a compromise on the matter, but ultimately NCAC leadership felt only removal of the statement would be acceptable,? the pack said on its website.
?It's clear to us that they chose this time to bring that up because they knew that we needed to recharter at the end of January,? Phillips said.
Scout Executive Les Baron, a council leader, confirmed to NBC News on Friday that the pack could lose its charter if it maintained the policy: The ?policy of the Boy Scouts are what they are and my job is to not bring into (it) my own personal feelings.?
The pack committee had been split on a way forward, which prompted a poll on whether they would keep the policy and possibly not be rechartered, or if they would remove it and return to a ?don?t ask, don?t tell? policy welcoming all families.
The poll, which ended Friday night and was conducted on the pack website, came out 53 percent in favor of reverting to ?don?t ask, don?t tell? and 47 percent backing the new policy, said Phillips, who voted in favor of explicitly including gays and lesbians. The poll had called for a two-thirds majority, she said.
The Boy Scouts reaffirmed its ban on gays and lesbians in 2012 following a two-year confidential review.
A national BSA spokesman, Deron Smith, said in an email on Friday that the private organization "has policies that all councils and local units agree to follow."
Related:? Gay teen denied Eagle Scout: 'Change is happening' over Boy Scouts anti-gay policy Eagle Scouts return badges to protest policy banning gays Boy Scouts: We're keeping policy banning gays
West Seattle resident Kristen Corning Bedford, pictured here with husband Slade and their children, will participate in Puget Sound Energy's Re-Energized by Design home makeover competition.
Information from Puget Sound Energy
Six PSE customers sharpen their competitive design skills to rumble in an energy-efficient room makeover competition
On Jan. 24 Puget Sound Energy introduced the six contestants for Re-Energized by Design, a design competition in which PSE customers will compete weekly in a series of energy efficiency room makeover challenges. Prizes include light emitting diode (LED) and compact fluorescent light (CFL) lighting from GE, and a full laundry and kitchen appliance suite by Frigidaire. The last contestant standing will win $5,000.
?The stakes are high so we know the competition will be intense,? said Dennis Rominger energy efficiency expert at PSE. ?These six contestants are ready to compete head to head. Sweat will be shed, winners will be crowned and most importantly, we will see creative ways to bring great design and energy efficiency together.?
The six contestants who will compete in Re-Energized by Design rose to the top during an intense selection process, including submitting videos or photo entries, a public vote to select 10 finalists, and final interviews. During the process, each entrant was evaluated on a variety of factors, including the originality and creativity of their entry, their understanding and enthusiasm for design and energy efficiency, and the energy savings potential of their home.
Each Re-Energized by Design contestant brings unique skills to the competition, including West Seattle resident Kristen Corning Bedford.
No challenge is too big for Kristen. She and her husband, Slade, purchased their home from hoarders, moving in with a two-year-old with another child on the way. They have spent the last two years working to make it their dream home.
Slade and Kristen grew up in the Northwest and are proud to call West Seattle home. Together they like to dream of creating things, including how to constantly fix up their home.
?A home should tell a story about the people who live there," Corning Bedford said. "I have a good eye for design and have been creating a vision for the spaces in this home for nearly two years. The work for this contest is the work I've been looking forward to since the day we moved in: bringing better light and color to the space.?
Each contestant?s efforts will be supported by a dedicated design coach who will provide style guidance and encouragement.
Re-Energized by Design contestants will participate in five room makeover projects. After each makeover challenge, local society and events photographer Duell Fisher, 425 and South Sound Magazine editor Lisa Patterson and radio personality Marty Riemer will review and score each contestant?s effort. The lowest-scoring contestant in each round will be eliminated.
Online ?webisodes? that get up close and personal with each contestant as they make their homes more beautiful and energy efficient will begin airing weekly in March, at www.ReEnergizedbyDesign.com. Until then customers can follow Re-Energize on Facebook at Facebook.com/Re-Energize for energy efficient design tips, special product promotions, and to learn more about contestants.
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian protesters scuffled with police in Cairo on Saturday and troops were deployed in Suez after nine people were shot dead in nationwide protests against President Mohamed Mursi, exposing deep rifts two years after Hosni Mubarak was ousted.
After a day of clashes on Friday, tension remained high with a court expected to rule later on Saturday in a case against suspects accused of involvement in a stadium disaster that killed 74 people. Fans have threatened violence if the court does not deliver the justice they seek.
Eight people including a policeman were shot dead in Suez, east of the capital, and another was shot and killed in Ismailia, another city on the Suez Canal, medics said, after a day when police fired tear gas at stone-throwing youths.
Another 456 people were injured across Egypt, officials said, in Friday's unrest fuelled by anger at Mursi and his Islamist allies over what the protesters see as their betrayal of the revolution that erupted on January 25, 2011.
"We want to change the president and the government. We are tired of this regime. Nothing has changed," said Mahmoud Suleiman, 22, in Cairo's Tahrir Square, near where youths were still hurling stones at police on the other side of a concrete barrier early on Saturday morning.
The protests and violence have laid bare the divide between the Islamists and their secular rivals. The schism is hindering the efforts of Mursi, elected in June, to revive an economy in crisis and reverse a plunge in Egypt's currency by enticing back investors and tourists.
Protesters accuse Mursi and his Islamist allies of hijacking Egypt's revolution that ended 30 years of Mubarak's autocratic rule. Mursi's supporters say their critics are ignoring democratic principles after elections swept Islamists to office.
"The protests will continue until we realize all the demands of the revolution - bread, freedom and social justice," Ahmed Salama, 28, a protester camped out with dozens of others in Tahrir Square, the cauldron of the 2011 revolt.
The court hearing over the Port Said stadium disaster in February last year has fuelled concerns of more unrest.
Live images were shown from inside the court shortly before the session began. Some of those attending chanted for justice and held up pictures of those killed.
The court on the outskirts on Cairo, and in the same police compound where Mubarak was tried and jailed, is due to rule on Saturday in the cases brought against 73 people, 61 of whom are charged with murder in what was Egypt's worst stadium disaster.
However, the public prosecutor has said new evidence has emerged, meaning a verdict may be postponed.
PRESIDENT URGES CALM
Alongside the 61 charged with murder, another 12 defendants, including nine police officers, are accused of helping to cause the February 1, 2012, disaster at the end of a match between Cairo's Al Ahly and al-Masri, the local side.
Expecting a verdict, hardcore Al Ahly fans, known as ultras, have protested in Cairo over the last week, obstructing the transport network. The Port Said disaster triggered days of street battles near the Interior Ministry in Cairo last year.
In a statement in response to Friday's violence, Mursi said the state would not hesitate in "pursuing the criminals and delivering them to justice". He urged Egyptians to respect the principles of the revolution by expressing views peacefully.
The president was due to meet later on Saturday with the National Defense Council, which includes senior ministers and security officials, to discuss the violence and deaths as a result of the protests.
Troops were deployed in Suez after the head of the state security police in the city asked for reinforcements. The army distributed pamphlets to residents assuring them the deployment was temporary and meant to secure the city.
"We have asked the armed forces to send reinforcements on the ground until we pass this difficult period," Adel Refaat, head of state security in Suez, told state television.
Street battles erupted in cities including Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Port Said. Arsonists attacked at least two state-owned buildings. An office used by the Muslim Brotherhood's political party was also torched.
The Brotherhood decided against mobilizing for the anniversary, wary of the scope for more conflict after December's violence, stoked by Mursi's decision to fast-track an Islamist-tinged constitution rejected by his opponents.
Inspired by the popular uprising in Tunisia, Egypt's revolution spurred further revolts across the Arab world. But the sense of common purpose that united Egyptians two years ago has given way to internal strife that already triggered bloody street battles last month.
(Additional reporting by Tom Perry, Marwa Awad, Ali Abdelatti and Omar Fahmy; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Jan. 27, 2013 ? Most patients with an inherited heart condition known as arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) don't know they have a problem until they're in their early 20s. The lack of symptoms at younger ages makes it very difficult for researchers to study how ARVD/C evolves or to develop treatments. A new stem cell-based technology created by 2012 Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D., helps solve this problem. With this technology, researchers can generate heart muscle cells from a patient's own skin cells. However, these newly made heart cells are mostly immature. That raises questions about whether or not they can be used to mimic a disease that occurs in adulthood.
In a paper published January 27 in Nature, researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and Johns Hopkins University unveil the first maturation-based "disease in a dish" model for ARVD/C. The model was created using Yamanaka's technology and a new method to mimic maturity by making the cells' metabolism more like that in adult hearts. For that reason, this model is likely more relevant to human ARVD/C than other models and therefore better suited for studying the disease and testing new treatments.
"It's tough to demonstrate that a disease-in-a-dish model is clinically relevant for an adult-onset disease. But we made a key finding here -- we can recapitulate the defects in this disease only when we induce adult-like metabolism. This is an important breakthrough considering that ARVD/C symptoms usually don't arise until young adulthood. Yet the stem cells we're working with are embryonic in nature," said Huei-Sheng Vincent Chen, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor at Sanford-Burnham and senior author of the study.
To establish this model, Chen teamed up with expert ARVD/C cardiologists Daniel Judge, M.D., Joseph Marine, M.D., and Hugh Calkins, M.D., at Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins is home to one of the largest ARVD/C patient registries in the world.
"There is currently no treatment to prevent progression of ARVD/C, a rare disorder that preferentially affects athletes. With this new model, we hope we are now on a path to develop better therapies for this life-threatening disease," said Judge, associate professor and medical director of the Center for Inherited Heart Disease at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Disease in a dish
To recreate a person's own unique ARVD/C in the lab, the team first obtained skin samples from ARVD/C patients with certain mutations believed to be involved in the disease. Next they performed Yamanaka's technique: adding a few molecules that dial back the developmental clock on these adult skin cells, producing embryonic-like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The researchers then coaxed the iPSCs into producing an unlimited supply of patient-specific heart muscle cells. These heart cells were largely embryonic in nature, but carried along the original patient's genetic mutations.
However, for nearly a year, no matter what they tried, the team couldn't get their ARVD/C heart muscle cells to show any signs of the disease. Without actual signs of adult-onset ARVD/C, these young, patient-specific heart muscle cells were no use for studying the disease or testing new therapeutic drugs.
Speeding up time
Eventually, the team experienced the big "aha!" moment they'd been looking for. They discovered that metabolic maturity is the key to inducing signs of ARVD/C, an adult disease, in their embryonic-like cells. Human fetal heart muscle cells use glucose (sugar) as their primary source of energy. In contrast, adult heart muscle cells prefer using fat for energy production. So Chen's team applied several cocktails to trigger this shift to adult metabolism in their model.
After more trial and error, they discovered that metabolic malfunction is at the core of ARVD/C disease. Moreover, Chen's team tracked down the final piece of puzzle to make patient-specific heart muscle cells behave like sick ARVD/C hearts: the abnormal over-activation of a protein called PPAR?. Scientists previously attributed ARVD/C to a problem in weakened connections between heart muscle cells, which occur only in half of the ARVD/C patients. With the newly established model, they not only replicated this adult-onset disease in a dish, but also presented new potential drug targets for treating ARVD/C.
What's next?
Chen's team was recently awarded a new grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to create additional iPSC-based ARVD/C models. With more ARVD/C models, they will determine whether or not all (or at least most) patients develop the disease via the same metabolic defects discovered in this current study.
Together with the Johns Hopkins team, Chen also hopes to conduct preclinical studies to find a new therapy for this deadly heart condition.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Changsung Kim, Johnson Wong, Jianyan Wen, Shirong Wang, Cheng Wang, Sean Spiering, Natalia G. Kan, Sonia Forcales, Pier Lorenzo Puri, Teresa C. Leone, Joseph E. Marine, Hugh Calkins, Daniel P. Kelly, Daniel P. Judge, Huei-Sheng Vincent Chen. Studying arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia with patient-specific iPSCs. Nature, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nature11799
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
This week's Ketchup includes movie development news for directors like Paul Thomas Anderson and David Fincher, sequels for The Best Man and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and the latest about the seventh Star Wars movie.
This Week's Top Story
J.J. ABRAMS' CONQUEST OF EVERY MAJOR FRANCHISE TO CONTINUE WITH STAR WARS EPISODE VII
If you saw monsters like this or this or this, and thought "hey, the director and/or producer of that movie should do Star Wars", you are probably a) alone in that sentiment and b) very happy with this week's news. J.J. Abrams has won some sort of crazy creative lottery by scoring not just the first two Star Trek reboot movies, but now, the distinction of directing Star Wars Episode VII as well. J.J. Abrams had been one of the many directors mentioned in various reports in the last few months, but most thought his Star Trek obligations would preclude him from doing Star Wars as well (and indeed, Abrams himself shot down the notion). The reaction that many probably had to the initial news earlier this week was that they were waiting for confirmation, so, well, here it is. As secretive as J.J. Abrams' work has been with his two Star Trek movies, he's expected to be even more guarded about Star Wars Episode VII. Which may even be part of why he got the job.
Fresh Developments This Week
#1 JOAQUIN PHOENIX TO REUNITE WITH THE MASTER DIRECTOR FOR INHERENT VICE
Besides The Master, the project that director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) has been working on for a few years now is an adaptation of the drug-soaked late 1960s detective novel Inherent Vice (written in 2009 by Thomas Pynchon). For a while, Robert Downey, Jr. was loosely attached (or was at least "interested"), but this week, we learned that instead, Joaquin Phoenix is now in talks to play the detective. Inherent Vice is now the film project most considered likely to be PTA's next, which will make it a back-to-back reunion with the star of The Master. In addition to directing, Paul Thomas Anderson also adapted the screenplay from Thomas Pynchon's novel. Oracle heiress Megan Ellison is financing Inherent Vice through her Annapurna Pictures production company, which also recently gave us Lawless, Killing Them Softly, Zero Dark Thirty, as well as The Master.
#2 WARNER BROS CONTINUES ITS GIANT OBSESSION WITH ROBOTECH
It's very easy to see a thorough line among Warner Bros' releases for the next few years, with "giant" as a common theme. It starts with Jack the Giant Slayer, and then continues with the giant monsters and robots of Pacific Rim, and the reboot in 2014 of that original giant monster, Godzilla. This week, the studio hired commercials director Nic Mathieu to potentially make his feature film debut on an adaptation of the classic Japanese anime series Robotech. If Robotech is eventually released as soon as 2015, this could effectively create a back and forth alternation between giant monsters in even years and giant robots in odd years (presuming... a lot, obviously). Robotech (in its various forms) is one of the most famous examples of "mech" science fiction, which basically refers to giant robots controlled by humans. And then they fight.
#3 DAVID FINCHER MAY FIND REESE WITHERSPOON'S GONE GIRL
What often happens with extremely successful directors like David Fincher is that they will have these huge lists of ambitious projects on their slates, but none of them are necessarily ready to go, for various reasons. And then, along comes a completely different movie which does have everything in position, and said famous director signs on, makes that movie his next film instead, and two years later, the world is still waiting for all those other movies we kept hearing about. That scenario may end up being what happens with David Fincher this year, as he is considering directing an adaptation of the Gillian Flynn novel Gone Girl (and not, say, directing Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea anytime this year). Gone Girl, which was adapted for the big screen by Flynn as well, is a recent bestseller about a man who is suspected of murdering his wife following her disappearance on their fifth wedding anniversary. Reese Witherspoon is producing Gone Girl, and may (or may not) also end up starring as the aforementioned missing wife.
#4 THE 60TH MOST POPULAR MOVIE OF 1999 GETS THAT SEQUEL NO ONE THOUGHT OF ASKING FOR: THE BEST MAN 2
Among the top 10 most successful movies of 1999 were several that ended up getting sequels, so natrually it's easier to list the films that didn't (including The Sixth Sense, Tarzan, Big Daddy, and Runaway Bride). You have to keep scrolling down that list for a while until you get to the #60 most popular movie of 1999, which was the African American-centric ensemble comedy The Best Man. And yet, according to an announcement made by Universal Pictures this week, that's the movie that will indeed be getting a sequel, which will be in theaters on November 15, 2013. The Best Man scored a 71% on the RT Tomatometer, and featured a cast that included Taye Diggs, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, and Harold Perrineau, Jr. Part of the big news here is that the entire cast is returning for the as-yet-untitled sequel in a Christmas-themed reunion story. It all sounds a bit like an African American version of The Big Chill (sans one of them being dead, unless that's what it would have been if one of them had chosen not to sign on for it...?).
#5 CHLOE MORETZ SAYS I WILL STAY TO IF I STAY
What superhero movies were to the mid-2000s, and remakes were to the late 2000s, so, it seems, that girl-friendly YA novel adaptations might be to the mid-early 2010s (to paraphrase Hedwig and the Angry Inch). There's a lot of them coming in 2013, and this story involves one that will probably get released in 2014, if filming does actually start this year. The YA novel in question is If I Stay by Gayle Forman, which tells the story of a 17-year-old girl who has an out-of-body experience following a car accident. A few years ago, If I Stay had both Dakota Fanning and Catherine Hardwicke attached as star and director, but as the movie gets closer to production, there's now a completely different pair attached. Now, it's Chloe Moretz who's attached to star, and R.J. Cutler of ABC's Nashville is in talks to make his narrative feature film debut. Consider this a borderline Fresh/Rotten idea which is basically Fresh based mostly on the RT Tomatometer scores for Chloe Moretz's past films (especially if you just focus on 2008 to 2011).
Rotten Ideas of the Week
#4 THE LATEST JUSTICE LEAGUE RUMOR TELLS US THE LINEUP WE PROBABLY COULD HAVE GUESSED
If you take out the Star Wars news, this was actually a pretty slow week. Rarely would we devote an entire 1/10 of this column to a rumor about which characters may or may not be appearing in Justice League. Perhaps that little tidbit alone could be why this is a borderline Rotten Idea of a story. Anyway, the rumor (which is what this is until it's confirmed) is that the core team of the first Justice League movie will consist of five superheroes, who would be pretty easy to guess just based on the idea of asking the random fan who are the five most famous DC Comics superheroes. The answer would be Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Flash, which are the five heroes in question. Indeed, if you add Aquaman and Martian Manhunter to those five, you get the "Big Seven" lineup that Grant Morrison famously used when he rebooted JLA back in 1997. Aquaman and Martian Manhunter are also the two characters named as being strong contenders to have cameo appearances in Justice League, along with Hawkman. So, basically, Justice League is starting to look like a "sausage fest," which is a little sad considering how many great female members the JLA has had over the years (Black Canary, Hawkgirl, Zatanna, Oracle, Huntress, etc). That's the other half of why this is a (borderline) Rotten Idea... way too many superheroic Y chromosomes.
#3 SONY PICTURES THROWS THE GENRE KITCHEN SINK AT US AND CALLS IT... THE KITCHEN SINK
This movie could've actually ended up as a "Fresh Development" just on the title alone, until one actually thinks about the premise, and considers the likelihood that it probably won't be as clever as it probably thinks it will be. The Kitchen Sink is the name of a young-skewing genre movie from Sony Pictures which is about a human, a vampire, and a zombie who team up to fight off an alien invasion; it's basically a mashup. Mackenzie Davis, Nicholas Braun, and Josh Fadem are in talks for the lead roles, and you'll probably find the IMDb useful in figuring out if you actually know who those people are. This writer just thinks about movies for a living all week, and yeah... I've got nothing.
#2 DWAYNE JOHNSON MAY RETURN TO FAMILY MOVIES WITH TEDDY BEAR
It's great now in 2013 that Dwayne Johnson is back to doing more action movies that are his more obvious strong suit, but it wasn't that long ago (like 12 months ago!) that Johnson was mostly just starring in kids movies. Well, that era may be revisited soon enough, as he has come aboard as producer (and possibly star) on a New Line Cinema family fantasy project tentatively called Teddy Bear. The start of the movie came from a drawing called "Sweet Halloween Dreams" by Alex Panagopoulos which showed a teddy bear standing near a sleeping child, fending off a big monster. And from that, we get the potential impetus for an entire 90+ minute movie, complete with characters, and dialogue, and more than one scene. Ah, Hollywood.
#1 CROUCHING FREDDY, HIDDEN JASON
Considering how great Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was (especially within the context of when it was released), one would think that the long-talked-about sequel couldn't possibly be considered a "Rotten Idea." Well, that's until the hypothetical "one" hears that the director of the sequel will be Ronny Yu (Freddy Vs Jason, Bride of Chucky, Formula 51), and not, say, Ang Lee. Anyway, the sequel will be an adaptation of the fourth book in the Crane-Iron Pentalogy by Wang Du Lu known in English as Silver Vase, Iron Knight. The Weinstein Company will be distributing Silver Vase, Iron Knight in the USA (and producing the production in Asia when it starts filming this coming May). Silver Vase, Iron Knight continues the story of the character of Yu Shu Lien, played in the first film by Michelle Yeoh, although it is not yet known if she will be returning for the sequel.
For more Weekly Ketchup columns by Greg Dean Schmitz, check out the WK archive, and you can contact GDS via Facebook.
A committee formed to investigate how to curb sexual violence in India following the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman has recommended education about same-sex relationships and respect for LGBT identifying people.
The Justice J S Verma Committee, lead by former Chief Justice J S Verma, published a 631 page report on Wednesday after 29 days of research and writing. The panel of three heard 80,000 suggestions and anecdotes from members of the public while carrying out their investigation.
The Committee was created after several high-profile?cases of rape against women, but broadened its scope to encompass all kinds of sexual violence, as well as the difficulty of reporting such crimes to the police.
Their decision to include recommendations to protect LGBT people was praised by activists in India and abroad.
The report declares that all sexual identities are deserving of protection:??If human rights of freedom mean anything, India cannot deny the citizens the right to be different. The state must not use oppressive and repressive labelling of despised sexuality. Thus, the right to sexual orientation is a human right guaranteed by the fundamental principles of equality.?
?We must add that transgender communities are also entitled to an affirmation of gender autonomy. Our cultural prejudices must yield to Constitutional principles of equality, empathy and respect.?
The report continues to say that LGBT identities are part of ?human reality?.
It says, ?In view of the lack of scientific understanding of the different variations of orientation, even advanced societies have had to first declassify ?homosexuality? from being a mental disorder and now it is understood as a triangular development and neurological underpinning owing to genetic reasons.?
Among a slew of recommendations the committee said that children should receive a thorough sexual education, including education about same-sex relationships.
?Sexuality can be diverse?. Children need to be able to access informed, non-prejudiced sources on sexuality. Challenging the perception of sexuality as being purely heterosexual is an ongoing agenda for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activism?. Collaborating or networking with LGBT activists is a beginning to understanding different sexuality experiences,? says the report.
The panel recommended the use of theatrical workshops and audio-visual entertainments to challenge children?s perceptions of gender and sexuality norms.
As well as declaring support for LGBT education the panel made a broad range of recommendations to curb sexual violence, including a crackdown on human trafficking, action against domestic violence and marital rape, abolition of the ?two finger? rape test, and depoliticisation of the police force.
Critics have cautioned that the Indian Government and police force may be slow to enact the recommendations, but the Committee remains optimistic.
?This is a chance for a psychological transformation of society,? said Committee member Gopal?Subramaniam.
Longtime NFL cornerback Al Harris has a new job: The Chiefs have announced that Harris is their new secondary coach.
Harris played cornerback for new Chiefs head coach Andy Reid for four years in Philadelphia, and Reid obviously thinks Harris can teach younger players some things about the position.
?Al?s playing experience over 15 years will bring a unique perspective for our players,? Reid said in a statement.
Harris was drafted by the Buccaneers in 1997 but was cut before ever playing in a regular-season game for Tampa Bay. He later played for the Eagles from 1998 to 2002, the Packers from 2003 to 2009, the Dolphins in 2010 and the Rams in 2011. He spent 2012 as a coaching intern for the Dolphins.
The Chiefs also announced that Mark DeLeone has been hired as a quality control coach and Brent Salazar has been hired as assistant strength & conditioning coach.
Everyone pays off awareness of you when you?re outfitted nicely. This could have you feeling more confident and willing to socialize. Your lifestyle can boost if you are a lot more modern. For recommendations and a certain amount of ideas on how you can remodeling your clothing collection, and your daily life, read on!
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In this Juy 3, 2012 file photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, Don McLean performs at the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. McLean has been fined $400 for driving his Chrysler too fast through a school zone in Maine and has paid the levy. He had contested the charge in September, saying school zone warning lights weren't flashing. He had requested a trial. Police said during a 40-minute proceeding in Rockland District Court on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, the warning lights were flashing. Judge Patricia Worth found McLean had been speeding in a school zone in Rockport. But she lowered what would be a $515 fine if uncontested to $400. McLean immediately paid up. McLean lives in nearby Camden, along Maine's coast. (Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Darrin Bush)
In this Juy 3, 2012 file photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, Don McLean performs at the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. McLean has been fined $400 for driving his Chrysler too fast through a school zone in Maine and has paid the levy. He had contested the charge in September, saying school zone warning lights weren't flashing. He had requested a trial. Police said during a 40-minute proceeding in Rockland District Court on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, the warning lights were flashing. Judge Patricia Worth found McLean had been speeding in a school zone in Rockport. But she lowered what would be a $515 fine if uncontested to $400. McLean immediately paid up. McLean lives in nearby Camden, along Maine's coast. (Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Darrin Bush)
ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) ? "American Pie" singer Don McLean has been fined $400 for driving his Chrysler too fast through a school zone in Maine and has paid the levy.
McLean had contested the charge in September, saying school zone warning lights weren't flashing. He had requested a trial.
Police said during a 40-minute proceeding in Rockland District Court on Thursday the warning lights were flashing.
Judge Patricia Worth found McLean had been speeding in a school zone in Rockport. But she lowered what would be a $515 fine if uncontested to $400.
McLean immediately paid up.
McLean lives in nearby Camden, along Maine's coast. He burst into popularity in 1971 with his hit "American Pie," about the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959 ? The Day the Music Died.
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BERLIN (AP) ? Germany's second-biggest bank, Commerzbank AG, says it plan to cut as many as 6,000 jobs over the next three years as it tries to reduce costs.
Commerzbank said in a statement Thursday that it expects to cut between 4,000 and 6,000 jobs by 2016. The company had some 56,000 employees in total at the end of September.
The exact number of job cuts will be determined in negotiations with employee representatives, starting in February.
Commerzbank has been on a long road to recovery since it was bailed out in 2009 by the German government, which still owns 25 percent. The job cuts stem from a program launched in November to invest in the lender's core business while also reducing personnel costs.
Independent clinical trials, including one conducted at the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine, have reported safety and efficacy for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a congenital form of blindness caused by mutations in a gene (RPE65) required for recycling vitamin A in the retina. Inherited retinal degenerative diseases were previously considered untreatable and incurable. There were early improvements in vision observed in the trials, but a key question about the long-term efficacy of gene therapy for curing the retinal degeneration in LCA has remained unanswered. Now, new research from the Scheie Eye Institute, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that gene therapy for LCA shows enduring improvement in vision but also advancing degeneration of affected retinal cells, both in LCA patients and animal models of the same condition.
LCA disease from RPE65 mutations has two-components: a biochemical blockade leading to impaired vision, and a progressive loss of the light-sensing photoreceptor cells throughout life of the affected patient. The authors of the new study explain that until now gene therapy has been optimistically assumed, but not proven, to solve both disease components at the same time.
"We all hoped that the gene injections cured both components ? re-establishing the cycle of vision and also preventing further loss of cells to the second disease component" said Artur V. Cideciyan, PhD, lead author and co-investigator of an LCA clinical trial at Penn.
Yet, when the otherwise invisible cell layers of the retina were measured by optical imaging in clinical trial participants serially over many years, the rate of cell loss was the same in treated and untreated regions. "In other words, gene therapy improved vision but did not slow or halt the progression of cell loss," commented Cideciyan.
"These unexpected observations should help to advance the current treatment by making it better and longer lasting," commented co-author Samuel G. Jacobson, MD, PhD, principal investigator of the clinical trial. "Slowing cell loss in different retinal degenerations has been a major research direction long before the current gene therapy trials. Now, the two directions must converge to ensure the longevity of the beneficial visual effects in this form of LCA."
In a continuation of the longstanding collaboration between the Scheie investigators and the Section of Ophthalmology at Penn School of Veterinary Medicine headed by co-authors Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD, and William A. Beltran, DVM, PhD, studies were performed to test whether the clinical results were also present in the canine model of this LCA at disease stages equivalent to those in human patients. "Our gene treatment in this canine model provided the groundwork for the clinical trials of patients, and now we added data to confirm the fact that retinal degeneration does continue despite improved vision" said Aguirre. "The next step is to perform the relevant experiments to ask what intervention will stop the degeneration if added to the gene therapy."
"These new findings contribute to greater clarity in understanding the natural history and complexity of the RPE65 form of LCA and provide a firm foundation for future investigations," said Joan M. O'Brien MD, professor and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Scheie Eye Institute.
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University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/
Thanks to University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for this article.
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Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
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