Nanomedicine Market (Neurology, Cardiovascular, Anti-inflammatory, Anti-infective, and Oncology Applications) – Global …

WEST HARTFORD, Conn., April 17, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ --

Global Information Inc. announces the addition of a new market research report "Nanomedicine Market (Neurology, Cardiovascular, Anti-inflammatory, Anti-infective, and Oncology Applications) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share,Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019" at GIIResearch.com

This report includes market estimations for nanomedicine market for the forecast period 2013 - 2019. The market size is represented in terms of USD billion and the market estimates and forecasts are calculated, considering 2012 as the base year. Moreover, market trends and recent developments have been kept into account while forecasting market growth and revenue for the period 2013 - 2019.

The overall nanomedicine market is segmented on the basis of application and geography and the market estimations for each of these segments, in terms of USD billion, is provided in this report.

The nanomedicine market, by applications is segmented into neurological, cardiovascular, oncology, anti-inflammatory, anti-infective and other markets. The nanomedicine market is also estimated and analyzed on the basis of geographic regions such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and rest of the world.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Executive Summary Chapter 3 Global Nanomedicine Market Overview Chapter 4 Global Nanomedicine Market, by Applications Chapter 5 Global Nanomedicine Market, by Geography Chapter 6 Recommendations Chapter 7 Company Profiles List of Tables and Figures

More detailed information is available at http://www.giiresearch.com/report/tsm294638-nanomedicine-market-neurology-cardiovascular-anti.html

Media Contact: Joe Malley, Global Information, Inc., 860-674-8796, US-marketing@gii.co.jp

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

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Nanomedicine Market (Neurology, Cardiovascular, Anti-inflammatory, Anti-infective, and Oncology Applications) - Global ...

Rebel Music Author Hisham Aidi on the Relationship Between Hip-Hop and Islam

By BETH WINEGARNER

A decade or so ago, when Columbia University lecturer Hisham Aidi worked as a journalist covering youth culture in New York's Harlem and the Bronx, he discovered that Muslim kids from around the world were making pilgrimages to what Aidi calls "the Mecca of hip-hop": the Bronx, where the genre was arguably born. They would come in order to meet some of the genre's founders, including Afrika Bambaataa and DJ Kool Herc; to trace the pathways of the place where hip-hop and Islam first mingled; and to visit the grave of Malcolm X, whose Islam-inspired messages of black empowerment had found a new voice in the music.

Those pilgrimages helped give rise to Aidi's new book, "Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture." His book provides an intense tour of some of Islam's most fertile zones in America, Europe, and the Middle East -- places teeming with music, faith, ideas and, frequently, the tension between popular culture and the messages of conservative Muslim leaders. Aidi is in the Bay Area as a part of UC Berkeley's Fifth Annual Conference on Islamophobia Studies. He's featured on a panel titled "Islamophobia in Australia, Austria, Belgium, and the UK" that runs from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, April 19 at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law.

Although music isn't explicitly mentioned in the Quran, "there is a centuries-old debate of whether music is permissible in Islam," Aidi told me in an email interview earlier this month. Many factions, including literalists, Sufi scholars, and others, have weighed in. But these days, it's the conservative Salafis who are most well-known for opposing music, and even banning it outright. In other countries, such as Iran, pop music in all forms has been outlawed, Aidi says.

Meanwhile, Aidi notes that Muslims in Africa, the Middle East, and America are constantly inventing new ways to fuse Islamic ideas with genres such as jazz, punk, and heavy metal. For most Muslims, the act of making music isn't itself rebellious; the book's title instead is a reference to the album from Bob Marley, one of the patron saints of an Islamic reggae style known as Gnawa. This style is connected with a Moroccan Sufi order that is, in turn, aligned with the descendants of formerly enslaved West Africans. Gnawa aims to heal people who are possessed by the jinn -- by summoning beneficent spirits and saints. Aidi says, in Gnawa, Marley himself is included among those spirits who can heal.

"Rebel Music" also digs into the world of Muslim punk, a genre born from Michael Muhammad Knight's 2003 novel "Taqwacores." In true punk fashion, taqwacore band Kominas went after popular Sufi-rock band Junoon -- which itself had once been banned in Pakistan for "belittling the concept of the ideology of Pakistan" -- after Junoon won favor with heads of state in the Middle East and the West. Kominas penned two songs slamming Junoon, "I Want a Blowjob" and "I Want a Handjob." The musicians in Kominas ran into their own trouble with the government of Pakistan, which took issue with their anarchism and agnosticism.

The tangled alliances between popular music and Islam are no more apparent than in the world of hip-hop, whose stories are woven throughout "Rebel Music." Aldi writes that hip-hop is the music of choice among many Muslim youth across the world, for its entertainment value , as well as its ability to communicate Islamic ideas. That latter aspect is so powerful, in fact, that the U.S. State Department in 2005 began sending "hip-hop envoys" to Africa, Asia, and the Middle East in an effort to change the perception that Muslims in the U.S. are oppressed. Meanwhile, pop and hip-hop artists in the West have occasionally co-opted Islamic symbolism in their work -- Lil' Kim wearing a burka while saying "Fuck Afghanistan" or 50 Cent's song "Ghetto Qu'ran."

"The relationship between Islam and hip-hop is complex and dynamic," Aidi says. It appeals to Muslim youth, in particular, because of its many Islamic references, which in turn come from its urban-American roots. "Hip-hop disseminates African American Islam the way reggae broadcasted rastafarianism in the 1970s. So rap introduces non-Muslim youth to Islam, and Muslim youth to black history, transforming cultures and identities." To illustrate his point, Aidi has provided SF Weekly with an annotated playlist.

MC Koringa - "Dana Sensual"

This is the funk soundtrack to Brazilian telenovela Salve Jorge, which addresses relations between Brazil and Turkey and caused a mania for Turkish things in Brazil.

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Rebel Music Author Hisham Aidi on the Relationship Between Hip-Hop and Islam

Surprise: Lost stem cells naturally replaced by non-stem cells, fly research suggests

6 hours ago

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered an unexpected phenomenon in the organs that produce sperm in fruit flies: When a certain kind of stem cell is killed off experimentally, another group of non-stem cells can come out of retirement to replace them.

The discovery sheds light on the tiny "environments" that stem cells occupy in animal bodies and may help explain how stem cells in tumors replenish themselves, the researchers report in the May 8 issue of the journal Cell Reports. Damage of the kind duplicated in the laboratory occurs naturally after exposure to radiation and perhaps also after ingestion of toxic chemicals such as those used in chemotherapy.

The research group, led by Erika Matunis, Ph.D., a professor of cell biology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has been using the fruit fly as a model living system in which to study stem cells in their natural state. Most stem cell research is done on cells grown in the laboratory, but in real life, stem cells reside in tissues, where they are sequestered in tiny spaces known as niches. Adult stem cells keep dividing throughout life to make various kinds of cells, like new blood cells and germ cells.

Matunis's group studies such niches in fruit fly testes, the sperm-producing organs shaped like a coiled tube whose end houses a niche. In the niche are three kinds of cells: germ line stem cells, which divide to produce sperm; somatic cyst stem cells, which make a kind of cell that helps the sperm-producing cells out; and hub cells, which make signals that keep the other two kinds of cells going.

The hub cells are not stem cells; they have settled on their final form, incapable of dividing further or changing their functionor so everyone thought.

However, in a bid to figure out what happens when the somatic cyst stem cells are killed off, Matunis suggested that graduate student Phylis Hti figure out how to best do away with them, thinking the task would be straightforward.

Instead, she says, "it took a lot of heroic, patient combinations" of different genes working together to kill the somatic cyst cells, Matunis says.

"When we finally figured out a way to kill all of the somatic stem cells, we thought that the rest of the tissue would probably just empty out," she says. In 35 percent of testes, that's just what happened. But in the rest, the somatic stem cells grew back.

This was a surprise, Matunis says, and left a puzzle: Where were the new somatic stem cells coming from?

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Surprise: Lost stem cells naturally replaced by non-stem cells, fly research suggests

St. Petersburg Surgeon Dr. Christian Drehsen Lobbies FDA to Speed Approval of Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy

St. Petersburg, FL (PRWEB) April 17, 2014

One of the most respected plastic surgeons in America is encouraging the FDA to move forward on approval of stem-cell based therapies inspired in part by Matthew McConaughey's recent Oscar win for the film Dallas Buyers Club. In the film, McConaughey portrayed Ron Woodroof, who fought the Food and Drug Administration over his use and distribution of unapproved but effective HIV/AIDS medications. In a letter to FDA comissioner Margaret A. Hamburg dated April 14th, Dr. Christian Drehsen of St. Petersburg claims that the story echoes current FDA treatment of stem cell therapies, of which almost none are approved for use in the United States.

Drehsen cites his extensive past experience working with stem cells, and calls on the FDA to provide more rapid approval for the procedures, which he says are safe and effective.

In the period 2009-2010, before the current regulatory embargo, Drehsen performed over 20 reconstructive and cosmetic stem-cell procedures using technology from the pioneering stem cell therapy research firm Cytori. In his letter, Drehsen writes that the results of his procedures were excellent, and hes frustrated with the limitations now in place.

Japan has approved these procedures. Much of Europe has approved them. Theyre changing peoples lives every day but not in the United States, the letter reads in part.

Stem cell therapies have myriad potential uses. Drehsen says that in his own practice at the Clinique of Plastic Surgery, their promise includes greatly improved outcomes for burn victims, patients with extensive sun exposure damage, and post-operative breast reconstruction procedures. Those therapies have been pioneered with good results in Europe and Australia, respectively.

Other treatments currently proven or under trial include treatments for traumatic hamstring injury (http://ir.cytori.com/investor-relations/News/news-details/2014/Cytori-to-Initiate-US-Clinical-Trial-of-Adipose-Derived-Regenerative-Cells-in-Hamstring-Injuries/default.aspx) and chronic heart failure (http://www.cytori.com/Innovations/ClinicalTrials/CardiovascularDisease.aspx).

Though much American resistance to stem cell research has been rooted in ethical concerns about the use of embryonic stem cells, the Cytori procedure uses Adipose-Derived Regenerative Cells, or ADRCs stem cells derived from the patients own body fat and altered for re-injection using a proprietary process. Dr. Drehsen was one of a handful of doctors in the United States to use this technology for plastic surgery before the FDA blocked its usage. This makes him one of the most experienced surgeons in the U.S. in non-embryonic stem-cell enhanced facelift procedures. Drehsens website (http://cliniqueps.com) features many examples of his past successful stem-cell procedure outcomes.

The FDA serves the vital function of ensuring patient safety. But these procedures have been proven safe," Drehsen concludes. "It should be no surprise that using a patients own tissue presents fewer risks than many alternatives. Its sad that these options have continued to be blocked by bureaucracy.

Drehsen says that much of the equipment used in his stem cell procedures now sits in storage, unused.

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St. Petersburg Surgeon Dr. Christian Drehsen Lobbies FDA to Speed Approval of Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy

GMO Labeling Bill Passes Vermont Senate

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- In what could be a big win for opponents of genetically modified organisms, Vermont is one step closer to signing into law legislation that would require food companies to label products that contain GMOs in the Green Mountain State.

On Wednesday, the Vermont State Senate passed "An Act Relating to the Labeling of Food Produced with Genetic Engineering," H. 112, by a vote of 28-2. The state legislation, introduced in January 2013, proposes to provide that "food is misbranded if it is entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering and it is not labeled as genetically engineered." Sen. David Zuckerman is the bill's lead sponsor, according to the Brattleboro Reformer.

The bill will now go back to the House to approve the Senate's amendments and then to Gov. Peter Shumlin to sign into law. The act is supposed to become effective on July 1, 2016, according to Reuters.

Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are plants or animals that have been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals that cannot occur in natural crossbreeding, according to the Non-GMO Project, a non-profit organization dedication to the education of GMOs and helping consumers find alternatives and considered the main organization used by many companies to verify their non-GMO foods.

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GMO Labeling Bill Passes Vermont Senate

Novel marker discovered for stem cells derived from human umbilical cord blood

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

17-Apr-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 x2156 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, April 17, 2014The development of stem cell therapies to cure a variety of diseases depends on the ability to characterize stem cell populations based on cell surface markers. Researchers from the Finnish Red Cross have discovered a new marker that is highly expressed in a type of stem cells derived from human umbilical cord blood, which they describe in an article in BioResearch Open Access, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the BioResearch Open Access website.

Heli Suila and colleagues, Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Helsinki, Finland present evidence to show that the glycan O-GLcNAc, is present on the surface of stem cells and is part of a stem cell-specific surface signature. In the article "Extracellular O-Linked N-Acetylglucosamine Is Enriched in Stem Cells Derived from Human Umbilical Cord Blood" the authors suggest that the glycan plays a crucial role in a cell signaling pathway that regulates embryonic development.

"This work is particularly interesting as epidermal growth factor domains are found on the Notch receptors, suggesting that these novel glycans may be involved in Notch receptor signaling pathways in stem cells," says BioResearch Open Access Editor Jane Taylor, PhD, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

###

About the Journal

BioResearch Open Access is a bimonthly peer-reviewed open access journal led by Editor-in-Chief Robert Lanza, MD, Chief Scientific Officer, Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. and Editor Jane Taylor, PhD. The Journal provides a new rapid-publication forum for a broad range of scientific topics including molecular and cellular biology, tissue engineering and biomaterials, bioengineering, regenerative medicine, stem cells, gene therapy, systems biology, genetics, biochemistry, virology, microbiology, and neuroscience. All articles are published within 4 weeks of acceptance and are fully open access and posted on PubMedCentral. All journal content is available on the BioResearch Open Access website.

About the Publisher

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Novel marker discovered for stem cells derived from human umbilical cord blood

Vermont Senate passes GMO labeling bill

The Vermont Senate voted to pass a new law requiring labeling for foods that contain ingredients produced with genetic engineering or genetically modified ingredients (GMOs). If enacted, the law would be the first in the nation to require GMO labeling without any contingencies or similar legislation by adjoining states. The proposed effective date is July 1, 2016.

Although the Vermont House previously passed the bill, it will be returned for representatives to approve changes made by the Senate. Once approved, the bill will reach the governors office for signature into law.

It is estimated that 80% of all food sold in the United States is at least partially produced from genetic engineering. The bill would require labeling on all such food sold at retail in Vermont, regardless of whether the food was manufactured in Vermont.

While the bill exempts processing aids and milk from cows that have been fed GMO feed, many dairy products and other foods that incorporate milk would be affected unless they were made with organic ingredients.

The Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Academy of Sciences all have said that GMO ingredients are safe and there are no negative health effects associated with their use.

This bill would confuse consumers, raise food prices and do nothing to ensure product safety, said Ruth Saunders, IDFA vice president of policy and legislative affairs. Its too bad for the dairy industry that Vermont would require such labels on chocolate milk, yogurt and other healthy dairy products while offering an exemption to the entire alcoholic beverage sector.

The neighboring states of Connecticut and Maine already passed labeling laws, but each delayed implementation until at least four other adjoining states passed and implemented similar laws. This strategy is designed to protect them from lawsuits from companies and associations that want to safeguard consistency in food labeling and avoid a 50-state patchwork of laws. Vermont, however, has decided to go it alone and is preparing a war chest in anticipation of the lawsuits to come.

IDFA and many other trade organizations oppose individual state legislation on GMO labeling and fully support The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2014, introduced by U.S. Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC). This bill would preempt states from requiring mandatory labeling and establish a federal standard for voluntary labeling of food and beverage products made with GMOs.

IDFA believes that a federal solution on GMO labeling would bolster consumer confidence in American food by affirming FDAs overall authority for setting the nations food safety and labeling regulations, said Saunders.

IDFA is working with the Safe and Affordable Food Coalition, headed by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, on all issues related to GMO labeling.

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Vermont Senate passes GMO labeling bill

Trait by trait, plant scientists swiftly weed out bad seeds through marker-assisted breeding

When his tomato plants were just a week old, technicians manually punched a hole in each seedling to get leaf tissue that was taken to a nearby lab, converted into a chemical soup and then scanned for genetic markers linked to desired traits.

Krivanek uses the information to keep just 3percent of the seedlings and grow them until they fruit this spring, when he can evaluate fully grown plants, keep a few hundred, sow their seeds and then screen those plants.

Im improving my odds. Maybe I can introduce to market a real super-hybrid in five years, Krivanek said. A predecessor might take a whole career.

The technology called marker-assisted or molecular breeding is far removed from the better-known and more controversial field of genetic engineering, in which a plant or animal can receive genes from a different organism.

Marker-assisted breeding, by contrast, lays bare the inherent genetic potential of an individual plant to allow breeders to find the most promising seedling among thousands for further breeding. Because the plants natural genetic boundaries are not crossed, the resulting commercial hybrid is spared the regulatory gantlet and the public opposition focused on such plants as genetically modified Roundup Ready corn or soybeans, which are engineered to withstand herbicide sprays.

Marker-assisted breeding has been embraced not only by the multinational biotech companies here in Californias Central Valley but also by plant scientists in government, research universities and nongovernmental organizations fervently seeking new, overachieving crops. The goal is to sustainably feed an expanding global population while dealing with the extremes of climate change.

But critics of Big Agriculture worry about the needs of small-scale farmers and breeders. Low-tech conventional breeding judging plants by how they look and perform, not by their DNA has been the lifeblood of small seed companies and local growers, often in conjunction with breeding programs at land-grant universities. But those programs have shrunk by a third in recent years, and the remaining ones are increasingly gravitating to the trendy sphere of molecular breeding.

Organic farmers, who need crop varieties designed for specific regions and less-intensive growing methods, are not being served by the new applied science, said John Navazio, a senior scientist with the Organic Seed Alliance.

There used to be a significant winter spinach production area in southern Virginia and Delmarva, and thats completely gone, he said. The spinach-growing industry has moved to megagrowers in California and Arizona.

Progress comes sooner

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Trait by trait, plant scientists swiftly weed out bad seeds through marker-assisted breeding

West County students earn several awards at MAC Science Fair

West County Middle and High School students recently competed at the 31st annual Mineral Area College Science Fair April 4.

For the past 31 years, area schools have been invited to the college to participate in a science fair and t-shirt design competition. This competition is open to middle and high school-age students. Judging is based on creativity, scientific thought, thoroughness, skill, clarity and dramatic value. Topics include behavioral and social science, biology, chemistry, computer science, earth science, mathematics, physics and product testing.

The following West County Middle School students competed and placed in their divisions: Baily Henson and Rylee Walling, honorable mention, chemistry; Sydnee Walling and Kylie Newhouse, third place, chemistry; Maggie Hull and Mikayla Sherrill, first place, product testing; and Josh Neeley, third place, product testing.

These other middle school students also competed in the science fair: Rebekka McSpadden, Matthew Clifton, Jacob Briley, Mackenzie Kaiser, Peyton Nipper, Arizona LaMarche and Jacob Lybarger.

The following West County High School students competed and placed in their divisions: Trevor Davis and Devihn Lindsey, honorable mention, behavioral and social science; Kaysa Wilkinson and Ashley Brewer, second place, behavioral and social science; Danyelle Brewer and Hope Barnes, second place, biology; Michael Popejoy, first place, chemistry; Samantha Retzer and Katelyn Verdin, second place earth science; Paul Chandler, second place engineering; Josh McSpadden, third place, engineering; Syr Lyons-Jahn, second place, mathematics; Harley Clubb and Cody Clubb, honorable mention, physics; Hannah Skaggs and Rheannon Fritchley, third place, physics; Levi Mills, second place, physics; William Cureton, first place, physics; and Riley Hill, second place, product testing.

These other high school students also competed in the science fair: Danielle McMullin and Kayla Staten.

Also, each year students submit entries for the t-shirt competition. This year's winner was ninth-grader Josh McSpadden. His design will be used as next year's MAC Science Fair t-shirt and will be given out to all competitors at the 2015 contest.

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West County students earn several awards at MAC Science Fair

Book Released by Harriman House – Author C. Thomas Howard Ph.D., Behavioral Portfolio Management

DENVER, Colo. (PRWEB) April 17, 2014

The investment industry is on the cusp of a major shift, from Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) to Behavioral Finance, with Behavioral Portfolio Management (BPM) as the next step in this transition. A newly released book published by Harriman House Ltd and authored by C. Thomas Howard Ph.D. of AthenaInvest explains how investment professionals can harness price distortions driven by emotional crowds to create superior portfolios.

Mastering your emotions is critical to the process and insights provided by Dr. Howard and his new book, Behavioral Portfolio Management, will put you on the path to achieving this goal. Professor Howard notes: The primary conclusion of forty years of Behavioral Science research is that there are few signs of rational investment decisions among typical investors. Investors thus sabotage their own efforts in building long-horizon wealth. As a result, emotional investors leave hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars on the table during their investment lifetimes. A major goal of the book is to help investors avoid these cognitive errors and, in turn, allow investment professionals to build superior portfolios.

Howard also explores how industry practices and tools such as style grids, standard deviation, correlation, maximum drawdown and tracking error, have entrenched emotional biases into the investing landscape. The result is a plethora of underperforming, bubble-wrapped portfolios. So even if investors can master their emotions, investors and investment professionals still must challenge the emotionally-based conventional wisdom pervasive throughout the industry.

Once the transition to Behavioral Finance is made, traditional measures of MPT will fade away and be replaced with behavioral concepts that allow investors to successfully build long-term wealth. Dr. Howard provides practical guidance on ways to make this transition. Athenas Pure Valuation|Profitability portfolio is real world proof of these principles. The portfolio has been in existence for over a decade and has been widely recognized by PSN, Morningstar and Barrons as a top performing U.S. active equity portfolio.

For more information, visit http://www.AthenaInvest.com, http://www.harriman-house.com or http://www.Amazon.com. Early reviews by industry experts highlight the value of this newly published book.

Professional money managers and investment advisors alike will find Tom Howards thought-provoking exploration of the practical implications of investing in a world where emotional crowds dominate the determination of prices to be an interesting and engaging read. -Jim Peterson, Chief Investment Officer, Charles Schwab Investment Advisory, Inc.

Tom Howard masterfully bridges the gap between the insights of behavioral finance and the demands of portfolio management, and he explains behavioral data investing in a forthright and engaging style. Advisors and investors alike stand to benefit from this book. -Philip Lawton, Ph.D., CFA, Research Affiliates, LLC

About the author: C. Thomas Howard is co-founder of AthenaInvest, a Greenwood Village-based SEC Registered Investment Advisor. He led the research project that resulted in Behavioral Portfolio Management, the methodology which underlies AthenaInvests patented investment approach. Dr. Howard currently serves as CEO, Director of Research, and Chief Investment Officer at Athena. Dr. Howard is a Professor Emeritus at the Reiman School of Finance, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, where for over 30 years he taught courses and published articles in the areas of investment management and international finance. For many years he presented stock analysis seminars throughout the U.S. for the American Association of Individual Investors, a national investment education organization headquartered in Chicago. Dr. Howard holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Idaho, an MS in Management Science from Oregon State University, and a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Washington.

For review copies, media interviews, articles or comment, please contact:

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Book Released by Harriman House - Author C. Thomas Howard Ph.D., Behavioral Portfolio Management

Fan Appreciation Night Award Presentation Friday

April 17, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets The Utica Comets will host their inaugural season awards ceremony prior to Friday's game and both Tom McVie and Eric Weinrich will be in attendance to present awards named in their honor. The Tom McVie Award, given to the coach's most valuable player, and the Eric Weinrich award, given to the Comets best defenseman, are two of the nine awards that will be presented in an on-ice ceremony.

McVie has spent nearly 60 years in hockey as a player, coach and scout. He spent four memorable seasons as the head coach of the Utica Devils from 1987-1990. He was named the American Hockey League coach of the year after the 1988-89 season and won 151 games during his tenure in Utica. McVie's 329 total AHL wins rank 11th all-time in the league while he also was the head coach of the Washington Capitals, Winnipeg Jets, New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. He is currently in his 15th season as a scout with the Bruins.

Weinrich began his professional career in Utica before going on to play 17 seasons in the NHL. He won the Eddie Shore Award as the top defenseman in the AHL in 1990 while playing for the Utica Devils. He graduated to New Jersey the next season and appeared in 1,157 games in the NHL and amassed 388 points (70g, 318a) and 825 penalty minutes. He played his last NHL game in 2006 as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.

The Comets "Class Guy" award is named in honor of Dave Armstrong. He was part of three straight EHL championships with the Clinton Comets but the award is a credit to his heart and character and the overall person that he is. He is an example for Comets players and continues to be an advocate and ambassador at all levels of hockey. He will be on-hand to present his award as well.

The Bill Horton Award, which was voted on by the fans, will be given to the player with the most heart. Horton coached both the Mohawk Valley Stars and the Mohawk Valley Comets and brought and Atlantic Coast Hockey League Championship in 1982. Through his passion and perseverance he paved the way for the American Hockey League to come to Utica in 1987.

The Ian Anderson Award will be given to the most improved player on the Comets roster. Anderson was one of the most beloved Clinton Comets and was part of three Walker Cup Championships in his five seasons. He was inducted into the Utica Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. After his playing days, he spent much of his time in the Mohawk Valley hockey community and witnessed the many ups and downs. Through his hard work, he greatly improved youth hockey in the Utica area.

Awards will also be given out the Mohawk Valley Media Player of the Year, Excellence in Media Coverage as well as the Dunkin' Donuts Three Stars Award. The Utica Police Department will be presenting the Thomas M. Lindsey Foundation Award to one of the Comets players for their effort in the local community.

Friday's game is Fan Appreciation Night and the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a Darren Archibald bobblehead courtesy of New York State Tool. All fans will get a Comets team photo courtesy of Labatt Blue. Tickets are available online through uticacomets.com or by coming to the Utica Memorial Auditorium box office.

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Fan Appreciation Night Award Presentation Friday

Comets outlast Missiles in 11 innings at Millwheel

MILLEDGEVILLE It took 11 innings to find a winner in a potential regional preview matchup between Newman and Milledgeville on Wednesday at Millwheel Park.

With the score knotted up at 5, the Comet offense exploded and cranked out six runs to take home an 11-5 victory in a bitter cold wind.

Sam Miller picked up the win for the Comets, as she went all 11 innings. She gave up five runs and 14 hits, striking out 17 while allowing four walks.

She pitched a great game today, said catcher Julie Hurd of Miller. She was hitting all of her spots, which was nice for me and made my job a lot easier. She did a great job, but I think everyone picked it up all around. We all played great defense. All around, it was good.

Morgan Adolph took the loss for the Missiles, after pitching 6 1/3 innings in relief of sophomore starter Sam Schmidt.

The wind affected teams in all areas of the game, whether it was pitching, hitting or fielding. With the wind blowing out, Kayleigh Leddy was the first hitter to take advantage, as she bombed a high fly ball over the fence with a runner on to give her Missiles a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

They had to hit in the wind, we had to hit in the wind, Missiles coach Brad Grenoble said. They had to play defense in the wind, we had to play defense into the wind. It was a game of opportunities; we couldnt capitalize, and they could. We also hit a lot of line drives instead of getting balls higher up.

The Comets quickly responded, as Hurd drove in a run that sparked an RBI apiece from Jenna Stevens and Mary Alice Oswalt that staked Newman to a 3-2 lead in the third.

Milledgeville tacked on a pair of runs playing small ball one in the fourth, and one in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead.

Once again, Hurd responded for her team in the seventh. Both she and Stevens hit run-scoring doubles to restore the lead to Newman, 5-4.

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Comets outlast Missiles in 11 innings at Millwheel

Utica Heat? Comets put rumors to rest, are here to stay

Story Created: Apr 16, 2014 at 6:05 PM EDT

Story Updated: Apr 16, 2014 at 6:51 PM EDT

UPDATE: The Vancouver Canucks have issued a statement regarding their relationship with the Comets, as well as their plans for affiliation with Utica in the future:

"The Vancouver Canucks are committed to our AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets and enjoy a strong relationship with our partner club. A strong base of Utica fans have shown tremendous support throughout the season and the Canucks intend to honour our long-term partnership agreement with the Comets."

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - It was about this time last year when rumors began about the potential for Utica to become a host for a professional hockey team once again.

Initially people thought that the Calgary Flames would be moving their AHL affiliate, Abbotsford Heat, to Central New York.

However, the Vancouver Canucks ended up striking a deal, and they were the ones to bring the Comets here instead.

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Utica Heat? Comets put rumors to rest, are here to stay