Monthly Archives: March 2015

Madeira Islands Open Canceled Because of Bad Weather

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Organizers canceled the Madeira Islands Open because of continuing bad weather on Sunday.

In a statement on the European Tour website, chief operating officer Keith Waters said "we are already in discussions with the club and the sponsors to reschedule the event for another week" later this season.

Heavy winds and rain sweeping the Portuguese island for the previous three days did not let up, leaving the Clube de Golf Santo da Serra flooded.

Organizers had already reduced the tournament to 36 holes on Saturday in an effort to salvage the European Tour event.

The field was only able to complete the first round on Saturday, with Denmark's Joachim B. Hansen leading by one stroke.

This is the second straight year weather has disrupted the tournament.

Last year, heavy fog during the first three days forced organizers to reduce it to 36 holes.

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Madeira Islands Open Canceled Because of Bad Weather

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama visits Cambodia, promotes girls’ education – Video

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U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama visits Cambodia, promotes girls #39; education
U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama met Cambodian female students in the northern city of Siem Reap on Saturday. Michelle Obama, along with Bun Rany, wife of Cambodia #39;s Prime Minister, visited...

By: New China TV

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U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama visits Cambodia, promotes girls' education - Video

Hampton Roads officials celebrate five years of health care legislation

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HAMPTON Monday marks five years since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly called the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, was signed into law.

The legislation has provided low-cost medical coverage to thousands of Virginians, and millions of Americans. It's meant to lower the cost of health care, while increasing the number of people covered by insurance.

Gaylene Kanoyton, president of the Hampton-based Celebrate Healthcare advocacy group, held a party Sunday at Peninsula Soul Food Restaurant, which opened Friday at the former Captain George's Seafood location on Mercury Boulevard, to acknowledge the anniversary and one of the act's "champions" Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News.

"Health care is a right, it's not a privilege," Kanoyton said.

Her organization held 35 events last year, and 25 this year to help people enroll in the government-subsidized health care program, she said. Almost 385,000 Virginians, and 11.7 million people nationwide, enrolled in private health insurance through the act's marketplace, healthcare.gov.

"It is important to remind ourselves of what was going on when we were considering the legislation," Scott said. "Before, the cost of health care were going through the roof. The federal budget was out of whack primarily because of health care expenses. ... Women were paying more for insurance than men. If you had a pre-existing condition, if you could get insurance at all, you were paying a lot more than everyone else."

Plus policy holders had to pay a little bit more to cover those who got medical care but can't afford to pay for it.

Then came the Affordable Care Act, he said.

"It's affordable," Scott said. "Everybody pays the same price. Women don't pay more than men. People with pre-existing conditions don't pay more."

He said the 10-year projected cost of Medicare and Medicaid plus the cost of the act's implementation and its tax credits is lower than the projected cost of Medicare and Medicaid alone during the same period prior to the passage of the ACA.

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Hampton Roads officials celebrate five years of health care legislation

New potential for personalized treatments in bowel cancer

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Scientists have found that genetic changes in bowel tumours are linked to the way the body's immune system responds to the cancer, according to research published today (Monday) in the journal Oncoimmunology*.

For the first time, Cancer Research UK researchers at the University of Birmingham have found that certain genetic flaws in bowel cancer are more likely to trigger an immune response at the site of tumours, meaning that treatments to boost this immune response further could potentially be helpful for these patients.

Finding out what's happening in a cancer patient's immune system can be difficult and takes time. These findings suggest that genetic profiles of patients' tumours could be used as an easy and fast way of diagnosing whether they are suitable for immunotherapy treatments, and if so which ones.

Cancer Research UK's FOCUS4** trial is already using the genetics of bowel cancer to offer patients stratified medicine and this study suggests that we could further expand this work to include immunotherapies.

Gary Middleton, Professor of Medical Oncology at the School of Cancer Sciences at the University of Birmingham, said: "The field of immunotherapy is gaining lots of momentum and this study shows a new finding for bowel cancer. We are already using genetic profiling for stratified medicine in bowel cancer in the FOCUS4 trial. But this research indicates that we could marry immunotherapy with the work we are already doing to personalise treatment even more."

Researchers used The Cancer Genomic Atlas, a large database, to study this relationship. From this research, scientists can now start looking at what causes a weak immune response and in the future, could target drugs to switch off the immune suppression associated with certain genetic mutations.

Nell Barrie, senior science communication manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "This study shows a strong association between certain genetic profiles and immune responses, but we don't yet fully understand this link. Further research to investigate the fundamentals behind different immune responses could open new doors in drug development."

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For media enquiries contact Stephanie in the Cancer Research UK press office on 020 3469 5314 or, out of hours, on 07050 264 059.

Disclaimer: 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.

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New potential for personalized treatments in bowel cancer

Are Genetically Modified Foods Safe to Eat? (Science of Genetic Engineering) – Video

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Are Genetically Modified Foods Safe to Eat? (Science of Genetic Engineering)
Presented by Anastasia Bodnar PhD. In a recent Pew poll, 88% of AAAS scientists said that genetically engineered crops were safe to eat. In contrast, only 37% of non-scientists surveyed said...

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Are Genetically Modified Foods Safe to Eat? (Science of Genetic Engineering) - Video

UF student awarded Young Futurist by popular website

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President Barack Obama strolled past UF student Kiona Elliott in the White House courtyard.

It was the 2013 White House Science Fair, and she stood next to the bicycle-powered water-filtration system she and her high school team had developed.

She invited him to hop on and try it. He did, and she explained to him how his pedaling provided energy to the device.

I still cant believe that I had the opportunity to meet him, she said. Ill see him on TV, or Ill read an article about him, and it hits me really randomly that Ive met him and Ive shaken his hand. Its crazy.

For this and other accomplishments, the 20-year-old horticultural science sophomore has been named a 2015 Young Futurist by The Root, an African-American news, opinion and culture website.

The site selected 25 people around the U.S. between the ages of 16 and 22 who have shown leadership in their communities. Tafari John-King, a 2014 Young Futurist she met at the Aspen Ideas Festival, nominated Elliott.

After graduating from Northeast High School in Oakland Park, Elliott went on to found S.T.E.A.M. Academy, a UF student organization dedicated to solving global problems with science, technology, engineering, art, math and compassion.

The club chooses a different challenge to focus its projects on each year, she said. This years is world hunger and food insecurity.

Elliott said the hardest part of her work is finding balance between her academic and extracurricular responsibilities.

I tend to stretch myself too thin by getting involved with a bunch of things, she said.

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UF student awarded Young Futurist by popular website