Health care provides more jobs than a decade ago, report says

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Health care now accounts for a bigger share of jobs than before the recession in all major metro areas, including Baltimore, the Brookings Institution said Monday.

A report focused on health care employment shows the industry now plays a larger role in regional economies, with the number of health care jobs up nearly 23 percent to 14.5 million between the first quarter of 2003 and the first quarter of this year. During the same period, employment in other industries grew 2.1 percent, Brookings' MetroMonitor index showed.

The Baltimore-Towson metro area gained more than 86,000 total jobs since 2003, with health care jobs accounting for nearly 14 percent of that growth just over 11,900 additional jobs. The area ranked 41st out of 100 in terms of health care's impact on the recovery in jobs after the recent recession.

In the first quarter of the year, health care jobs made up 12.4 percent of the Baltimore area's jobs, up slightly from 11 percent before the recession.

Health care jobs accounted for 13 percent of the job growth in the nation's 100 largest metro areas, and now one in 10 workers nationally have health-related jobs. The areas with the biggest concentrations of health care jobs are the northeast and industrial Midwest, as well as parts of Florida with large senior populations, the report said.

lorraine.mirabella@baltsun.com

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Health care provides more jobs than a decade ago, report says

Stem-cell gene therapy for sickle-cell disease advances

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Researchers at UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research have successfully established the foundation for using hematopoietic (blood-producing) stem cells from the bone marrow of patients with sickle cell disease to treat the disease. The study was led by Dr. Donald Kohn, professor of pediatrics and of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics.

Sickle cell disease causes the body to produce red blood cells that are formed like the crescent-shaped blade of a sickle, which hinders blood flow in the blood vessels and deprives the body's organs of oxygen.

Kohn introduced an anti-sickling gene into the hematopoietic stem cells to capitalize on the self-renewing potential of stem cells and create a continual source of healthy red blood cells that do not sickle. The breakthrough gene therapy technique for sickle cell disease is scheduled to begin clinical trials by early 2014. The study was published online today ahead of press in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Kohn's gene therapy approach, which uses hematopoietic stem cells from a patient's own blood, is a revolutionary alternative to current sickle cell disease treatments as it creates a self-renewing normal blood cell by inserting a gene that has anti-sickling properties into hematopoietic stem cells. This approach also does not rely on the identification of a matched donor, thus avoiding the risk of rejection of donor cells. The anti-sickling hematopoietic stem cells are transplanted back into the patient's bone marrow and multiply the corrected cells that make red blood cells without sickling.

"The results demonstrate that our technique of lentiviral transduction is capable of efficient transfer and consistent expression of an effective anti-sickling beta-globin gene in human sickle cell disease bone marrow progenitor cells, which improved the physiologic parameters of the resulting red blood cells," Kohn said.

Kohn and colleagues found that in the laboratory the hematopoietic stem cells produced new non-sickled blood cells at a rate sufficient for significant clinical improvement for patients. The new blood cells survive longer than sickled cells, which could also improve treatment outcomes.

Sickle cell disease mostly affects people of Sub-Saharan African descent, and more than 90,000 patients in the U.S. have been diagnosed. It is caused by an inherited mutation in the beta-globin gene that makes red blood cells change from their normal shape, which is round and pliable, into a rigid, sickle-shaped cell. Normal red blood cells are able to pass easily through the tiniest blood vessels, called capillaries, carrying oxygen to organs such as the lungs, liver and kidneys. But due to their rigid structure, sickled blood cells get stuck in the capillaries.

Current treatments include transplanting patients with donor hematopoietic stem cells, which is a potential cure for sickle cell disease, but due to the serious risks of rejection, only a small number of patients have undergone this procedure and it is usually restricted to children with severe symptoms.

This study was supported in part by a Disease Team I Award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell research agency, which was created by a voter initiative in 2004. The purpose of the disease team program is to support research focused on one particular disease that leads to the filing of an investigational new drug application with the FDA within four years. The program is designed to speed translational research - research that takes scientific discoveries from the laboratory to the patient bedside. This requires new levels of collaboration between basic laboratory scientists, medical clinicians, biotechnology experts and pharmacology experts, to name a few.

Other support came from UCLA's Broad Stem Cell Research Center and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and from the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award.

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Stem-cell gene therapy for sickle-cell disease advances

UCLA Stem Cell Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease Advances Toward Clinical Trials

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Newswise Researchers at UCLAs Eli & Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Research have successfully established the foundation for using hematopoietic (blood-producing) stem cells (HSC) from the bone marrow of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) to treat the disease. The study was led by Dr. Donald Kohn, professor of pediatrics and microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics in the life sciences.

Kohn introduced an anti-sickling gene into the HSC to capitalize on the self-renewing potential of stem cells and create a continual source of healthy red blood cells that do not sickle. The breakthrough gene therapy technique for sickle cell disease is scheduled to begin clinical trials by early 2014. The study was published online ahead of press today in Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Gene Therapy Kohns gene therapy approach using HSC from patients own blood is a revolutionary alternative to current SCD treatments as it creates a self-renewing normal blood cell by inserting a gene that has anti-sickling properties into HSC. This approach also does not rely on the identification of a matched donor, thus avoiding the risk of rejection of donor cells. The anti-sickling HSC will be transplanted back into the patients bone marrow and multiplies the corrected cells that make red blood cells without sickling.

The results demonstrate that our technique of lentiviral transduction is capable of efficient transfer and consistent expression of an effective anti-sickling beta-globin gene in human SCD bone marrow progenitor cells, which improved the physiologic parameters of the resulting red blood cells. Kohn said.

Kohn and colleagues found that in the laboratory the HSC produced new non-sickled blood cells at a rate sufficient for significant clinical improvement for patients. The new blood cells survive longer than sickled cells, which could also improve treatment outcomes. The success of this technique will allow Kohn to begin clinical trials in patients with SCD by early next year.

Sickle Cell Disease Affecting more than 90,000 patients in the US, SCD mostly affects people of Sub-Saharan African descent. It is caused by an inherited mutation in the beta-globin gene that makes red blood cells change from their normal shape, which is round and pliable (like a plastic bag filled with corn oil), into a rigid sickle-shaped cell (like a corn flake). Normal red blood cells are able to pass easily through the tiniest blood vessels, called capillaries, carrying oxygen to organs such as the lungs, liver and kidneys. But due to their rigid structure, sickled blood cells get stuck in the capillaries and deprive the organs of oxygen, which causes organ dysfunction and failure.

Current treatments include transplanting patients with donor HSC, which is a potential cure for SCD, but due to the serious risks of rejection, only a small number of patients have undergone this procedure and it is usually restricted to children with severe symptoms.

CIRM Disease Team Program This study was supported in part by a Disease Team I Award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the states stem cell research agency created by voter initiative in 2004. The purpose of the disease team program is to support research focused on one particular disease that leads to the filing of an investigational new drug application with the FDA within four years. The program is designed to encourage translational research, which means to take scientific discoveries from the laboratory to the patient bedside as quickly as possible. This requires new levels of collaboration between basic laboratory scientists, medical clinicians, biotechnology experts and pharmacology experts, to name a few.

Other support came from the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award.

The stem cell center was launched in 2005 with a UCLA commitment of $20 million over five years. A $20 million gift from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation in 2007 resulted in the renaming of the center. With more than 200 members, the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research is committed to a multi-disciplinary, integrated collaboration of scientific, academic and medical disciplines for the purpose of understanding adult and human embryonic stem cells. The center supports innovation, excellence and the highest ethical standards focused on stem cell research with the intent of facilitating basic scientific inquiry directed towards future clinical applications to treat disease. The center is a collaboration of the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLAs Jonsson Cancer Center, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and the UCLA College of Letters and Science. To learn more about the center, visit our web site at http://www.stemcell.ucla.edu

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UCLA Stem Cell Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease Advances Toward Clinical Trials

James Martin dies at 79; futurist who predicted the rise of the Internet

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British futurist James Martin, who predicted the ubiquity of computers and foretold the rise of the Internet in "The Wired Society," a 1978 book that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, has died near his private island in Bermuda. He was 79.

Authorities in the British territory said Thursday that an autopsy is pending for Martin, whose body was found by a kayaker in waters near the author's home. Police have said they do not believe a crime is involved.

While on sabbatical from IBM in 1977, Martin made his first million dollars traveling the world and lecturing business executives on the coming computer revolution. He turned the concept into a business and earned a fortune from it.

In "The Wired Society" published decades before the digital age he foresaw a planet networked by personal computers and other breakthroughs that included fax machines, telecommuting, e-commerce and cable networks that functioned as electronic "highways."

Martin said he had "no crystal ball" but had looked "at the facts and at the logical steps those facts will lead to," according to a 2010 interview with Times Higher Education a London-based magazine.

Since 2005, Martin had donated more than $150 million to the University of Oxford to help establish a school for study of such 21st century problems as climate change and the future of food. The gift made him the largest single private donor in Oxford's nearly 900-year history.

The project had its roots in a lecture Martin gave in Hong Kong the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He had revised his speech to reflect the horrendous events and was astonished when the first question he fielded was about an IBM operating system. It made him realize, he later said, that he needed to shift his focus from the minutiae of technology to the bigger picture of human survival.

He wrote a book that became a manifesto for his philosophy, "The Meaning of the 21st Century: A Vital Blueprint for Ensuring Our Future," published in 2006, a year after the launch of what is known as the Oxford Martin School.

The institution "embodies Jim's concern for humanity, his creativity, his curiosity and his optimism," Ian Goldin, the school's director, told the London Daily Telegraph last week.

James Thomas Martin was born in 1933 in Ashby-de-la-Zouche, a small England town. The only child of a clerical worker and his wife, he studied physics on a scholarship at Oxford.

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James Martin dies at 79; futurist who predicted the rise of the Internet

Highlights: Human Rights Council panel: Internet freedom, security and development – Video

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Highlights: Human Rights Council panel: Internet freedom, security and development
On May 31st, just a few days before revelations around the PRISM/NSA affair became public, the Internet Society helped organize a discussion at the UN #39;s Huma...

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Highlights: Human Rights Council panel: Internet freedom, security and development - Video

Mandela, Obama’s inspiration, a trailblazer for freedom and civil rights – Video

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Mandela, Obama #39;s inspiration, a trailblazer for freedom and civil rights
Nelson Mandela is respected and loved far and wide, well beyond South Africa #39;s borders, to a degree... euronews, the most watched news channel in Europe Subs...

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Wiley Drives in Four to Lead Freedom to Win

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June 29, 2013 - Frontier League (FL) Florence Freedom Saguet,IL - Freedom right fielder Byron Wiley drove in four runs as he led the Florence Freedom to a 9-5 series opening win at GCS Ballpark over the Gateway Grizzlies on Friday night. It was the Freedom's fourth straight win and eighth in their last nine games.

Wiley gave the Freedom a 1-0 lead after his RBI single in the first. He then hit a three run homerun to left center in the third to break a 1-1 tie and give the Freedom a 4-1 lead. It was Wiley's fifth of the season, as he finished the game 2-2 with 4 RBI and drew three walks.

Jeremy Hamilton also homered for the Freedom. Hamilton hit his second of the year as it was a two run homer over the right center field wall.

The Freedom were leading 6-4 going into their ninth when Jacob Tanis added an infield RBI single, and David Harris provided a two run single.

Steve Matre(1-0) earned the win out of the Freedom bullpen pitching 1.1 innings with one strikeout.

The Freedom and Grizzlies will continue their three game series Saturday night as RHP Chuck Weaver(0-0, 1.68) will start for Florence. Gateway will have LHP Greg Downing(2-3, 6.25) on the mound. You can listen to the game starting at 7:50 pm on radio station 1320 AM and online at gospel1320.com.

Discuss this story on the Frontier League message board... Digg this story Add to Del.icio.us

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Wiley Drives in Four to Lead Freedom to Win

the happy egg co. Celebrates Freedom With Free Range Eggs Now Available at Bristol Farms and Jensens Foods

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 1, 2013) - This Fourth of July, the happy egg co. is celebrating freedom by expanding distribution of its Free Range eggs to include Bristol Farms stores and Jensens Foods locations in Southern California. The new partnership now makes Free Range eggs conveniently available and affordably priced at a total of more than 400 area grocery stores.

Free Range eggs from the happy egg co. were first made available in Southern California in October 2012. The addition of the new grocery retailers points to a growing demand from Southern Californians for food from animals that are cared for using the best standards. the happy egg co. is meeting that need by providing high quality Free Range eggs from happy hens. In fact, the company's strict standards are already going above and beyond those set by California's Prop. 2.

With animal welfare at its core, the happy egg co. is setting the gold standard for hen living conditions. the happy egg co. provides its hens, or "Girls," with daily access to four acres of pasture to roam, plenty of clean water and nutritional feed, and extra care from expert family farmers. This commitment has lead the happy egg co. to be recognized as Certified Humane Raised and Handled by Certified Humane, a third-party animal welfare certification program that covers everything from hens' living conditions to their feed, and the expertise of their caregivers.

"Southern Californians have become 'birds of a feather' with the happy egg co., taking a liking to our philosophy about Free Range eggs and animal welfare," said Rob Newell, chief marketing officer for the happy egg co. "Letting the freedom of our Girls ring has always been our no. 1 priority and with the addition of Bristol Farms, we are able to offer Southern Californians better access to the Free Range eggs they want."

Packaged in a distinctive sunshine-yellow carton, Free Range eggs from the happy egg co. add a ray of sunshine to the egg case. Big pillars inside of the carton lovingly cradle and protect the eggs, the same way a mother hen protects her chicks.

For more information about Free Range eggs from the happy egg co., or to find them in a store near you, please visit http://www.thehappyeggco.com, and cluck alongside the Girls at Facebook.com/thehappyeggcousa or @happyeggcousa.

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the happy egg co. Celebrates Freedom With Free Range Eggs Now Available at Bristol Farms and Jensens Foods