Thursday, November 13, 2008
Bone Marrow Transplant May Have Cured AIDS Patient
BERLIN — A man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, his doctors said Wednesday.
While researchers — and the doctors themselves — caution that the case might be no more than a fluke, others say it may inspire a greater interest in gene therapy to fight the disease that claims 2 million lives each year. The virus has infected 33 million people worldwide.
Dr. Gero Huetter said his 42-year-old patient, an American living in Berlin who was not identified, had been infected with the AIDS virus for more than a decade. But 20 months after undergoing a transplant of genetically selected bone marrow, he no longer shows signs of carrying the virus.
However, Dr. Andrew Badley, director of the HIV and immunology research lab at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said those tests have probably not been extensive enough.
While researchers — and the doctors themselves — caution that the case might be no more than a fluke, others say it may inspire a greater interest in gene therapy to fight the disease that claims 2 million lives each year. The virus has infected 33 million people worldwide.
Dr. Gero Huetter said his 42-year-old patient, an American living in Berlin who was not identified, had been infected with the AIDS virus for more than a decade. But 20 months after undergoing a transplant of genetically selected bone marrow, he no longer shows signs of carrying the virus.
However, Dr. Andrew Badley, director of the HIV and immunology research lab at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said those tests have probably not been extensive enough.
In the News
Police Say Children's Candy Was Replaced with Pet Food
The contents of at least two bags of M&M's were apparently removed and replaced with what is believed to be pet food.
The snack pack-sized bags — and their contents — were turned over to New Jersey police and were sent to a state testing lab.
Police said the kids were given the candy, which is manufactured by Mars Inc., while trick-or-treating in Medford, N.J.
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Woman "who runs everywhere."
There can't be many people with a smaller carbon footprint than Joan Pick - as she hasn't used any form of motorized transport since 1992. In fact since 1973 the "energy economist" has got almost everywhere by running or walking. The last time she went anywhere by a method other than on foot was when she had to get in a hearse to her mother's funeral. And the only other times in 35 years she has used motorized transport were when she was taken to hospital by ambulance and a handful of train trips to visit her sick mother before she died.
The 67-year-old, from Turnpike Link, East Croydon, admits she is known locally as "the lady who runs everywhere".
Since 1973 she has run or walked approximately 135,415 miles - the equivalent of nearly five-and-a-half times round the world.
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The contents of at least two bags of M&M's were apparently removed and replaced with what is believed to be pet food.
The snack pack-sized bags — and their contents — were turned over to New Jersey police and were sent to a state testing lab.
Police said the kids were given the candy, which is manufactured by Mars Inc., while trick-or-treating in Medford, N.J.
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Woman "who runs everywhere."
There can't be many people with a smaller carbon footprint than Joan Pick - as she hasn't used any form of motorized transport since 1992. In fact since 1973 the "energy economist" has got almost everywhere by running or walking. The last time she went anywhere by a method other than on foot was when she had to get in a hearse to her mother's funeral. And the only other times in 35 years she has used motorized transport were when she was taken to hospital by ambulance and a handful of train trips to visit her sick mother before she died.
The 67-year-old, from Turnpike Link, East Croydon, admits she is known locally as "the lady who runs everywhere".
Since 1973 she has run or walked approximately 135,415 miles - the equivalent of nearly five-and-a-half times round the world.
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There are still good people in this world
Three orphaned teenagers who are desperate to give their mother a dignified funeral has plucked at the heartstrings of kind-hearted folk across Peterborough.A flood of support has swept around the city since The Evening Telegraph revealed how the youngsters are auctioning their possessions, including their three pet dogs, to raise the money they need to bury their mother. Teenagers Troy (17), Rory (15) and Alice (14) have been told they need £2,500 to meet the costs of a funeral for their mother, Jayne McCourt, of Whittlesey, who died at the age of 51 in her sleep almost two weeks ago.
And the youngsters have been told they have just 14 days to find the money to pay for the funeral or their mother, whose body is in Peterborough District Hospital, may have to be buried in a "pauper's grave". The first offer of help was from Peterborough United Football Club manager Darren Ferguson who has offered £2,500 on behalf of the club.
Menu 'glues dog's jaws together'
A dog lost both his bark and his bite when a bizarre accident left his jaws glued together. Cymbeline, a Scottish terrier, is trained to pick up the post from the doormat and hand it over to his owner Kimberly Fisher, 41.
But the faithful pet came unstuck when a high gloss finish on a fast food menu stuck his jaws closed for more than half an hour.
Ms Fisher from Colchester, an academic researcher, said Cymbeline had been trained to collect the post without chewing it. "He hates post so I've taught him to bring it to me without damaging it and then I give him a treat."
He brought me this menu but it had stuck his jaws together."It was a big, high gloss paper menu which had turned into a paste - the gum stuck it between his teeth. "He was trying very hard to open his mouth. It was funny as well as sad."
The Roosters fast-food menu, which ironically promises "mouth-watering results" for anyone who tries their chicken, was stuck fast and eventually Ms Fisher was forced to take Cymbeline to the vet.
But the faithful pet came unstuck when a high gloss finish on a fast food menu stuck his jaws closed for more than half an hour.
Ms Fisher from Colchester, an academic researcher, said Cymbeline had been trained to collect the post without chewing it. "He hates post so I've taught him to bring it to me without damaging it and then I give him a treat."
He brought me this menu but it had stuck his jaws together."It was a big, high gloss paper menu which had turned into a paste - the gum stuck it between his teeth. "He was trying very hard to open his mouth. It was funny as well as sad."
The Roosters fast-food menu, which ironically promises "mouth-watering results" for anyone who tries their chicken, was stuck fast and eventually Ms Fisher was forced to take Cymbeline to the vet.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
"Fire Rainbow"
The image was captured on camera as it hung the sky above northern Idaho (near the Washington border) on 3 June 2006.
This is an atmospheric phenomena, a "fire rainbow." This one is not a hoax. Clouds have to be cirrus, at least 20k feet in the air, with just the right amount of ice crystals and the sun has to hit the clouds at precisely 50 degrees.Sunlight entering the crystals’ vertical side faces and leaving through their bottom facesis refracted (as through a prism) and separated into an array of visible colors. When the plate crystals in cirrus clouds are aligned optimally (i.e., with their faces parallel to the ground), the resulting display is a brilliant spectrum of colors reminiscent of a rainbow.
In the News
'Why Believe in a God?' goes on D.C. Buses
'Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake,' could be coming to a bus stop near you — just in time for the holidays.Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington, D.C., buses starting next week and running through December. The American Humanist Association unveiled the provocative $40,000 holiday ad campaign Tuesday.
In lifting lyrics from "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," the Washington-based group is wading into what has become a perennial debate over commercialism, religion in the public square and the meaning of Christmas.
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Fat Kids Found to Have Arteries of 45-Year-Olds
NEW ORLEANS — Obese children as young as 10 had the arteries of 45-year-olds and other heart abnormalities that greatly raise their risk of heart disease, say doctors who used ultrasound tests to take a peek inside.
"As the old saying goes, you're as old as your arteries are," said Dr. Geetha Raghuveer of Children's Hospital in Kansas City, who led one of the studies. "This is a wake-up call."
The studies were reported Tuesday at an American Heart Association conference.
About a third of American children are overweight and one-fifth are obese. Many parents think that "baby fat" will melt away as kids get older. But research increasingly shows that fat kids become fat adults, with higher risks for many health problems.
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Man Charged With Stealing Communion Wafers During Mass
Police in Florida say they arrested a man after he tried to steal communion wafers during a church service.
The Martin County Sheriff's Office says 33-year-old John Samuel Ricci of Canton was cornered by fellow churchgoers when he grabbed a handful of wafers from the priest during communion services Saturday.
Ricci was being held down by six or seven offended parishioners when deputies arrived at St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church in Jensen Beach. Police say two parishioners, ages 82 and 61, received minor injuries in the scuffle.
Ricci was charged with two counts of simple battery, theft and disruption of a religious assembly. He was being held Tuesday on $2,000 bond at the Martin County Jail.
Picture
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Smile! Get A Ticket, Get Your Picture Taken, Too
If you get pulled over by the police in Ormond Beach, Florida you'd better smile.
"An officer has the capability of taking a picture of the driver the vehicle and where the violation occurred," said Sgt. Jamie Gogarty of the Ormond Beach Police Department.
If a driver tried to fight an expensive ticket, police could use these pictures in court. The devices also cut down on the time it takes cops to write a ticket. The machines read drivers' licenses, instantly get driver information and a portable printer prints the tickets.
Some drivers question why police need pictures of speeders. "(I'd feel) my privacy was invaded," said Peggy Nardone. "I wouldn't feel safe. How do I know what they're going to do with that picture now?"
Ormond Beach police said the pictures gives them more evidence in court and even protects drivers whose cars might have been used without their knowledge. "If you don't have anything to hide, you shouldn't mind a picture being correlated with your identity," said Patrice Stoves. In three months, the city has only had one complaint.
The Florida Highway Patrol also started using the ticket writers this month but troopers do not take pictures so far.
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Hannah Montana and birds blamed for power outage
Authorities blamed a "Hannah Montana" balloon and some birds for causing a power outage for hours around a Miami middle school.
Miami fire officials said a helium balloon bearing the image of young "Montana" star Miley Cyrus collided with some power lines near Jose De Diego Middle School at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, scaring away a flock of birds.
Fire officials said the sudden weight shift from the fleeing birds caused the electrical lines to dislodge and fall to the ground, electrifying a nearby fence. The school ran on a backup generator while officials shut down the power grid, but dozens of residents lost power for a period of hours, the officials said.
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