NASA astronaut Mike Fincke talks solar eclipse – Grand Island Independent

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RAVENNA A couple hundred people poured into Ravenna High School to hear NASA astronaut Mike Fincke speak about the upcoming solar eclipse and his space experiences.

Mike was joined by his wife Renita, who is a NASA engineer who is working on figuring out how to keep astronauts healthy while in space.

The Ravenna Area Vision Fund sponsored the Finckes coming to town. Mike was selected by NASA in April 1996 and has been on several space missions. According to his bio, he was first assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station Operations Branch, serving as an International Space Station Capsule Communicator. Hes also qualified to be a co-pilot on the Russian Soyuz TM and TMA spacecraft.

Mike currently serves as branch chief for the Commercial Crew Branch for NASA. He was on Expedition 9 in 2004 and Expedition 18 in 2008. He also was on the STS-134 mission in 2011. Total, he has spend 381 days, 15 hours and 11 minutes in orbit in space.

Mike outlined how unique the solar eclipse on Monday is. The totality that youre going to see on Monday is extremely special, Mike said.

He said hes never even seen anything like it, being in an area that is in the line of complete totality.

So when you ask NASA if we can send an astronaut, we say Yes!, Mike said, crediting the eclipses uniqueness.

He said not only is the eclipse unique, but its important in learning more about the sun. The more we learn about the sun, the more we can make life better on planet Earth, he said.

He showed video of his space adventures, including the fun things astronauts do: floating around acting like Iron Man in the space station, splashing floating bubbles of water in their face, and letting their hair go wild in the zero gravity.

It can turn these 40-year-olds into kids again, Mike said.

Gina McPherson, director of the Ravenna Chamber of Commerce, was clad in a sun costume. She said having Mike and Renita in Ravenna for a big event like the eclipse was huge. The Finckes spoke on Friday to Ravenna students and rode in Saturday mornings parade.

Its one thing to have a NASA astronaut here, but to have it be apart of the eclipse stuff takes it to a whole other level, McPherson said.

She also said having Renita speak to the students was great because shes an engineer in a male-dominated field. McPherson said the students took to Renita and were inspired.

Mike said being in space made him realize how beautiful our home planet is. He said he used to think Mars was his favorite planet until he was in orbit. He got to see the city lights, the water and land from way above.

Our Earth is the most beautiful planet in the solar system, Mike said, adding that we need to take care of it and each other.

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NASA, PBS Marking 40 Years Since Voyager Spacecraft Launches – Voice of America

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CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.

Forty years after blasting off, Earth's most distant ambassadors the twin Voyager spacecraft are carrying sounds and music of our planet ever deeper into the cosmos.

Think of them as messages in bottles meant for anyone or anything out there.

Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of NASA's launch of Voyager 2, now almost 11 billion miles distant. It departed from Cape Canaveral on August 20, 1977, to explore Jupiter and Saturn.

Voyager 1 followed a few weeks later and is ahead of Voyager 2. It's humanity's farthest spacecraft at 13 billion miles away and is the world's only craft to reach interstellar space, the vast, mostly empty space between star systems. Voyager 2 is expected to cross that boundary during the next few years.

Each carries a 12-inch, gold-plated copper phonograph record (there were no CDs or MP3s in 1977) containing messages from Earth: Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, chirping crickets, a baby's cry, a kiss, wind and rain, a thunderous moon rocket launch, African pygmy songs, Solomon Island panpipes, a Peruvian wedding song and greetings in dozens of languages. There are also more than 100 electronic images on each record showing 20th-century life, traffic jams and all.

Tweets, photos

NASA is marking the anniversary of its back-to-back Voyager launches with tweets, reminiscences and still-captivating photos of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune taken by the Voyagers from 1979 through the 1980s.

Public television is also paying tribute with a documentary, The Farthest Voyager in Space, airing Wednesday on PBS at 9 p.m. EDT.

The two-hour documentary describes the tense and dramatic behind-the-scenes effort that culminated in the wildly successful missions to our solar system's outer planets and beyond. More than 20 team members are interviewed, many of them long retired. There's original TV footage throughout, including a look back at the late astronomer Carl Sagan of the 1980 PBS series Cosmos. It also includes an interview with Sagan's son, Nick, who at 6 years old provided the English message: "Hello from the children of planet Earth."

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco who joined Voyager's imaging team in 1980 puts the mission up there with man's first moon landing.

'Iconic' achievement

"I consider Voyager to be the Apollo 11 of the planetary exploration program. It has that kind of iconic stature,'' Porco, a visiting scholar at the University of California-Berkeley, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

It was Sagan who, in large part, got a record aboard each Voyager. NASA was reluctant and did not want the records eclipsing the scientific goals. Sagan finally prevailed, but he and his fellow record promoters had less than two months to rustle everything up.

The identical records were the audio version of engraved plaques designed by Sagan and others for Pioneers 10 and 11, launched in 1972 and 1973.

The 55 greetings for the Voyager Golden Records were collected at Cornell University, where Sagan taught astronomy, and the United Nations in New York. The music production fell to science writer Timothy Ferris, a friend of Sagan living then in New York.

For the musical selections, Ferris and Sagan recruited friends along with a few professional musicians. They crammed in 90 minutes of music recorded at half-speed; otherwise, the discs would have held just 45 minutes' worth of music.

How to choose from an infinite number of melodies and melodious sounds representing all of Earth?

Beethoven, Bach and Mozart were easy picks. Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven represented jazz, Blind Willie Johnson gospel blues.

Chuck Berry

For the rock 'n' roll single, the group selected Chuck Berry's 1958 hit "Johnny B. Goode." Bob Dylan was a close runner-up, and the Beatles also rated high. Elvis Presley's name came up (Presley died four days before Voyager 2's launch). In the end, Ferris thought "Johnny B. Goode'' best represented the origins and creativity of rock 'n' roll.

Ferris still believes it's "a terrific record'' and he has no "deep regrets'' about the selections. Even the rejected tunes represented "beautiful materials.''

"It's like handfuls of diamonds. If you're concerned that you didn't get the right handful or something, it's probably a neurotic problem rather than anything to do with the diamonds,'' Ferris told the AP this week.

But he noted: "If I were going to start into regrets, I suppose not having Italian opera would be on that list.''

The whole record project cost $30,000 or $35,000, to the best of Ferris' recollection.

NASA estimated the records would last 1 billion to 3 billion years or more potentially outliving human civilization.

For Ferris, it's time more than distance that makes the whole idea of finders-keepers so incomprehensible.

A billion years from now, "Voyager could be captured by an advanced civilization of beings that don't exist yet. ... It's literally imponderable what will happen to the Voyagers,'' he said.

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Monday’s Eclipse a ‘once in a lifetime’ event, NASA education specialist says – ABC NEWS 4

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How much do you actually know about the eclipse? Hundreds of people lined up Saturday to learn from a NASA education specialist at the Charleston County Library. Not only was the specialist dropping some serious knowledge, but the library was also handing out free glasses.

Eyes will be on the sky in Charleston come 2:46 on Monday, but there are also other things to keep a look out for. NASA broke that down and explained why this event is so important to scientists.

How is the moon, that's that tiny, cover up a sun that's that big? Jennifer Hudgins asked the group.

Hudgins, a NASA education specialist, broke it all down for those in attendance.

"The moon is able to cover up the sun, because it's closer to us. The sun is so much further away that they actually end up being the same size, which is how we're able to view totality of an eclipse here, Hudgins said.

She described Monday as a once in a lifetime event.

"To be here in Charleston and see totality, I can't wait. I'll be one of those looking up at the eclipse the whole time too," Hudgins said.

Glasses were handed out for safety, but Hudgins said theres more than one way to view the eclipse.

"You can even take a colander or a strainer from your kitchen and shine it on the ground, and you're going to get many eclipses all over the ground, Hudgins said.

But if you're safely looking up with the proper eye wear, take a look around.

"So Mercury is right near the sun, so we hardly ever see Mercury. So with the sun being eclipsed, Mercury will be visible. So, we are actually mapping the surface during that time, Hudgins said.

She said you'll be able to see Venus and Mars, as well as some major stars, like Regulus, Sirius and the Orion constellation.

NASA scientists will be using space-based satellites to study the sun that day as well.

"During the eclipse the corona of the sun is visible, and it's the only time that we can really study the corona. We also have some jets that are going to be flying for NASA that's going to follow the path of the eclipse and the shadow of the moon across the country. So, those satellites can study the corona longer," Hudgins said.

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NASA Admin: By the Time You’re a Junior, What You Learned as a Freshman is Obsolete – Futurism

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Fundamental Skills

As automation looms over the world of work, the changing face of labor factors more and more into decisions about which college course makes for the best investment of time and money. In a recent discussion with Futurism, Robert M. Lightfoot Jr. a graduate of the University of Alabama and the acting administrator of NASA had a few pointers for students and educators about how to navigate this increasingly bumpy terrain.

Lightfoot began by noting how quickly progress moves in todays world, and how this may leave some young people (and some educators) at a loss: By the time you are a junior in college, what you learned as a freshman is already obsolete. Of course, he notes that there are some basics you will always need, there are some fundamental skills that are required either way. If you are in a science program, you need science. If you are in a technology program, you need engineering and math. Thats just the bottom line.

But still, issues remain.

Regardless of what fundamentals you learn, by the time that you graduate college, much of the information you acquired there will no longer applyand things are only going to get worse as our research into automation and artificial intelligence continues to advance.

This said, Lightfoot maintains that higher education does teach students a lot of valuable lessons they just might not be on the syllabus (yet). Ultimately, he outlined what needs to change to prepare young people for the world, and workforce, of tomorrow.

Most college courses require students to work alongside one another sooner or later. The way Lightfoot sees it, this kind of experience plays an essential role in preparing the sort of candidates who are going to excel at an organization like NASA.

There are a couple of skills that will always be needed, says Lightfoot. Thats being able to work on a team, to work well with other people, and to understand that youre never an individual in this. I can tell you, theres not a soul in this agency that can say I did something. No. We did something.

An organization like NASA cant complete its important work without every cog in the machine working in sync. Automation and robotics are going to change the kind of job opportunitiesleft available to college graduates in the next decade and beyond, but good collaboration skills will still be valuable.

You need to learn to communicate, adds Lightfoot. Those skills are very important, and theyre something that you can always teach and will always be important. It may not be much, but in the end, having skills inhuman-centered interactions will help ensure you are employable in the world of tomorrow.

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NASA’s Parker Probe Will Explore The Sun’s Hellish Atmosphere in 2018 – Space.com

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NASA's Parker Solar Probe will fly closer to the sun than any spacecraft in history, and help scientists unlock secrets of our nearest star.

Paul Sutter is an astrophysicist at The Ohio State University and the chief scientist at COSI Science Center. Sutter leads science-themed tours around the world at AstroTouring.com.

By now, with so little time left until a total solar eclipse crosses the U.S. from coast to coast on Monday (Aug. 21), skywatchers planning to attend the event should understand that it's dangerous to look directly at the sun with the unaided eye, even if it's almost entirely covered by the moon. Seriously, don't do it.

The intense radiation emitted by the sun at multiple wavelengths, from the infrared through the ultraviolet, heats and warms our little world, but even at a distance of 93 million miles (149 million kilometers) and through our thick atmosphere, it can damage our skin and eyes. And occasionally make it possible to cook eggs on the sidewalk, if you're the adventurous sort.

So, NASA is going to send a spacecraft closer than ever before, and hope to capture useful data before the probewell, melts.

The Parker Solar Probe was named after astrophysicist Eugene Parker (and let me interrupt myself and take this opportunity to castigate NASA for missing the golden opportunity to christen it the Icarus). The mission is set to launch in the summer of 2018. The craft won't take long to start taking dips near the sun, coming within 3.7 million miles (6 million km) of the surface. That sounds like a pretty large distance, which might lead some people to think the probe isn't getting that close to the sun but the spacecraft will experience the sun's inferno at a scale 520 times greater than us here on Earth.

That mission design will continuously dip the probe in and out of the danger zone, coming seven times closer to the sun than any spacecraft before it. That puts poor Parker squarely within the sun's corona, the poorly understood wispy outer layer of our star. The hope is that this Evel Knievel-inspired plan will help us unlock the mysteries of that outer layer.

How does the corona reach temperatures exceeding 3 million degrees Fahrenheit (6 million Celsius), despite extending so far from the relatively cool surface? How do charged particles emanating from the sun get accelerated to near-light speed before spilling out into the system as a continuous solar wind? How do magnetic fields twist and tangle to transfer such tremendous energies?

We currently just have fuzzy half-answers to the above questions, and it's only by taking direct measurements as close to the furnace as possible that we can make more progress in answering them.

If you're lucky enough to see totality during the upcoming eclipse, you'll get to witness the sun's corona for yourself. And starting next year, plucky little Parker will be soon swimming in that sweltering soup, bravely collecting data before it, too, succumbs to the flames.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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2-Faced 2D Material Is A First At Rice – Photonics Online

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This image shows top (left) and side views of Janus sulfur molybdenum selenium created at Rice University. Careful control of heating allows sulfur to replace just the top plane of selenium atoms in the new two-dimensional material. Click on the image for a larger version. Image courtesy of the Lou Group

Rice materials scientists create flat sandwich of sulfur, molybdenum and selenium

Like a sandwich with wheat on the bottom and rye on the top, Rice University scientists have cooked up a tasty new twist on two-dimensional materials.

The Rice laboratory of materials scientist Jun Lou has made a semiconducting transition-metal dichalcogenide(TMD) that starts as a monolayer of molybdenum diselenide. They then strip the top layer of the lattice and replace precisely half the selenium atoms with sulfur.

The new material they call Janus sulfur molybdenum selenium (SMoSe) has a crystalline construction the researchers said can host an intrinsic electric field and that also shows promise for catalytic production of hydrogen.

The work is detailed this month in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano.

The two-faced material is technically two-dimensional, but like molybdenum diselenide it consists of three stacked layers of atoms arranged in a grid. From the top, they look like hexagonal rings a la graphene, but from any other angle, the grid is more like a nanoscale jungle gym.

Tight control of the conditions in a typical chemical vapor deposition furnace 800 degrees Celsius (1,872 degrees Fahrenheit) at atmospheric pressure allowed the sulfur to interact with only the top layer of selenium atoms and leave the bottom untouched, the researchers said. If the temperature drifts above 850, all the selenium is replaced.

Like the intercalation of many other molecules demonstrated to have the ability to diffuse into the layered materials, diffusion of gaseous sulfur molecules in between the layers of these Van der Waals crystals, as well as the space between them and the substrates, requires sufficient driving force, said Rice postdoctoral researcher Jing Zhang, co-lead author of the paper with graduate student Shuai Jia. And the driving force in our experiments is controlled by the reaction temperature.

Close examination showed the presence of sulfur gave the material a larger band gap than molybdenum diselenide, the researchers said.

This type of two-faced structure has long been predicted theoretically but very rarely realized in the 2-D research community, Lou said. The break of symmetry in the out-of-plane direction of 2-D TMDs could lead to many applications, such as a basal-plane active 2-D catalyst, robust piezoelectricity-enabled sensors and actuators at the 2-D limit.

He said preparation of the Janus material should be universal to layered materials with similar structures. It will be quite interesting to look at the properties of the Janus configuration of other 2-D materials, Lou said.

Co-authors of the paper are graduate students Weibing Chen and Zehua Jin and postdoctoral researcher Hua Guo of Rice; research scientist Iskandar Kholmanov and professor Li Shi, the Myron L. Begeman Fellow in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin; and graduate students Liang Dong and Dequan Er and Vivek Shenoy, a professor of materials science and engineering, of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics and of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Lou is a professor of materials science and nanoengineering.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Welch Foundation, the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation supported the research.

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Bio-inspired materials give boost to regenerative medicine – Medical Xpress

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August 18, 2017 In a new studyin Nature Communications, Stephanopoulos and his colleague Ronit Freeman successfully demonstrated the ability to dynamically control the environment around stem cells, to guide their behavior in new and powerful ways. Credit: Northwestern University

What if one day, we could teach our bodies to self-heal like a lizard's tail, and make severe injury or disease no more threatening than a paper cut?

Or heal tissues by coaxing cells to multiply, repair or replace damaged regions in loved ones whose lives have been ravaged by stroke, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease?

Such is the vision, promise and excitement in the burgeoning field of regenerative medicine, now a major ASU initiative to boost 21st-century medical research discoveries.

ASU Biodesign Institute researcher Nick Stephanopoulos is one of several rising stars in regenerative medicine. In 2015, Stephanopoulos, along with Alex Green and Jeremy Mills, were recruited to the Biodesign Institute's Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics (CMDB), directed by Hao Yan, a world-recognized leader in nanotechnology.

"One of the things that that attracted me most to the ASU and the Biodesign CMDB was Hao's vision to build a group of researchers that use biological molecules and design principles to make new materials that can mimic, and one day surpass, the most complex functions of biology," Stephanopoulos said.

"I have always been fascinated by using biological building blocks like proteins, peptides and DNA to construct self-assembled structures, devices and materials, and the interdisciplinary and highly collaborative team in the CMDB is the ideal place to put this vision into practice."

Yan's research center uses DNA and other basic building blocks to build their nanotechnology structuresonly at a scale 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

They've already used nanotechnology to build containers to specially deliver drugs to tissues, build robots to navigate a maze or nanowires for electronics.

To build a manufacturing industry at that tiny scale, their bricks and mortar use a colorful assortment of molecular Legos. Just combine the ingredients, and these building blocks can self-assemble in a seemingly infinite number of ways only limited by the laws of chemistry and physicsand the creative imaginations of these budding nano-architects.

Learning from nature

"The goal of the Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics is to use nature's design rules as an inspiration in advancing biomedical, energy and electronics innovation through self-assembling molecules to create intelligent materials for better component control and for synthesis into higher-order systems," said Yan, who also holds the Milton Glick Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Prior to joining ASU, Stephanopoulos trained with experts in biological nanomaterials, obtaining his doctorate with the University of California Berkeley's Matthew Francis, and completed postdoctoral studies with Samuel Stupp at Northwestern University. At Northwestern, he was part of a team that developed a new category of quilt-like, self-assembling peptide and peptide-DNA biomaterials for regenerative medicine, with an emphasis in neural tissue engineering.

"We've learned from nature many of the rules behind materials that can self-assemble. Some of the most elegant complex and adaptable examples of self-assembly are found in biological systems," Stephanopoulos said.

Because they are built from the ground-up using molecules found in nature, these materials are also biocompatible and biodegradable, opening up brand-new vistas for regenerative medicine.

Stephanopoulos' tool kit includes using proteins, peptides, lipids and nucleic acids like DNA that have a rich biological lexicon of self-assembly.

"DNA possesses great potential for the construction of self-assembled biomaterials due to its highly programmable nature; any two strands of DNA can be coaxed to assemble to make nanoscale constructs and devices with exquisite precision and complexity," Stephanopoulos said.

Proof all in the design

During his time at Northwestern, Stephanopoulos worked on a number of projects and developed proof-of-concept technologies for spinal cord injury, bone regeneration and nanomaterials to guide stem cell differentiation.

Now, more recently, in a new study in Nature Communications, Stephanopoulos and his colleague Ronit Freeman in the Stupp laboratory successfully demonstrated the ability to dynamically control the environment around stem cells, to guide their behavior in new and powerful ways.

In the new technology, materials are first chemically decorated with different strands of DNA, each with a unique code for a different signal to cells.

To activate signals within the cells, soluble molecules containing complementary DNA strands are coupled to short protein fragments, called peptides, and added to the material to create DNA double helices displaying the signal.

By adding a few drops of the DNA-peptide mixture, the material effectively gives a green light to stem cells to reproduce and generate more cells. In order to dynamically tune the signal presentation, the surface is exposed to a soluble single-stranded DNA molecule designed to "grab" the signal-containing strand of the duplex and form a new DNA double helix, displacing the old signal from the surface.

This new duplex can then be washed away, turning the signal "off." To turn the signal back on, all that is needed is to now introduce a new copy of single-stranded DNA bearing a signal that will reattach to the material's surface.

One of the findings of this work is the possibility of using the synthetic material to signal neural stem cells to proliferate, then at a specific time selected by the scientist, trigger their differentiation into neurons for a while, before returning the stem cells to a proliferative state on demand.

One potential use of the new technology to manipulate cells could help cure a patient with neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson's disease.

The patient's own skin cells could be converted to stem cells using existing techniques. The new technology could help expand the newly converted stem cells back in the laband then direct their growth into specific dopamine-producing neurons before transplantation back to the patient.

"People would love to have cell therapies that utilize stem cells derived from their own bodies to regenerate tissue," Stupp said. "In principle, this will eventually be possible, but one needs procedures that are effective at expanding and differentiating cells in order to do so. Our technology does that."

In the future, it might be possible to perform this process entirely within the body. The stem cells would be implanted in the clinic, encapsulated in the type of material described in the new work, and injected into a particular spot. Then the soluble peptide-DNA molecules would be given to the patient to bind to the material and manipulate the proliferation and differentiation of transplanted cells.

Scaling the barriers

One of the future challenges in this area will be to develop materials that can respond better to external stimuli and reconfigure their physical or chemical properties accordingly.

"Biological systems are complex, and treating injury or disease will in many cases necessitate a material that can mimic the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of the tissues they are used to treat," Stephanopoulos said.

It is likely that hybrid systems that combine multiple chemical elements will be necessary; some components may provide structure, others biological signaling and yet others a switchable element to imbue dynamic ability to the material.

A second challenge, and opportunity, for regenerative medicine lies in creating nanostructures that can organize material across multiple length scales. Biological systems themselves are hierarchically organized: from molecules to cells to tissues, and up to entire organisms.

Consider that for all of us, life starts simple, with just a single cell. By the time we reach adulthood, every adult human body is its own universe of cells, with recent estimates of 37 trillion or so. The human brain alone has 100 billion cells or about the same number of cells as stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

But over the course of a life, or by disease, whole constellations of cells are lost due to the ravages of time or the genetic blueprints going awry.

Collaborative DNA

To overcome these obstacles, much more research funding and recruitment of additional talent to ASU will be needed to build the necessary regenerative medicine workforce.

Last year, Stephanopoulos' research received a boost with funding from the U.S. Air Force's Young Investigator Research Program (YIP).

"The Air Force Office of Scientific Research YIP award will facilitate Nick's research agenda in this direction, and is a significant recognition of his creativity and track record at the early stage of his careers," Yan said.

They'll need this and more to meet the ultimate challenge in the development of self-assembled biomaterials and translation to clinical applications.

Buoyed by the funding, during the next research steps, Stephanopoulos wants to further expand horizons with collaborations from other ASU colleagues to take his research team's efforts one step closer to the clinic.

"ASU and the Biodesign Institute also offer world-class researchers in engineering, physics and biology for collaborations, not to mention close ties with the Mayo Clinic or a number of Phoenix-area institutes so we can translate our materials to medically relevant applications," Stephanopoulos said.

There is growing recognition that regenerative medicine in the Valley could be a win-win for the area, in delivering new cures to patients and building, person by person, a brand-new medicinal manufacturing industry.

Explore further: New technology to manipulate cells could help treat Parkinson's, arthritis, other diseases

More information: Ronit Freeman et al. Instructing cells with programmable peptide DNA hybrids, Nature Communications (2017). DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15982

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Gwinnett Medical Center unveils Sports Medicine and Concussion … – Gwinnettdailypost.com

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Gwinnett Medical Center unveiled Georgias first sports injury treatment center and concussion classroom on wheels Wednesday.

This is the first vehicle of its kind in the state of Georgia and one of the first in the United States, said Kristin Crea, director of GMCs Sports Medicine department.

The Sports Medicine and Concussion Care-A-Van is a mobile care unit equipped with a full-service athletic training room. Basically, it allows GMCs Sports Medicine department to take its injury treatment and prevention services on the road.

When we travel around and talk to different directors, most athletic directors and coaches dont have access to injury prevention, Crea said. This really allows us to reach and have better access to these places that dont have this kind of care.

That includes care for concussions. GMCs Sports Medicine department includes a Concussion Institute directed by Dr. Saadiq El-Amid. Since the institute opened in August 2013, its treated more than 8,500 concussions.

Concussions are happening at epidemic levels, Crea said.

But El-Amid said the real scary cases are concussions that never receive treatment or get attention too late.

I cant tell you how many people ignore concussions, he said. If you ignore a concussion and continue to play a sport, you could hit your head again. That could lead to other issues.

Some patients accidentally ignore concussions because they dont think they could have sustained one unless they were hit on the head while playing a sport. But El-Amid said concussions are more common than that. In fact, any motion that jerks or whiplashes the head could move the brain and cause a concussion.

I personally sustained a concussion once because I tried to ride every roller coaster ride at Six Flags in 24 hours, El-Amid said.

Misinformation and ignorance about concussions thrives, particularly in areas where residents dont have contact with medical personnel or literature. Crea said she hopes the Care-A-Van can fix that gap. She and El-Amid plan to drive it all over the state, including to rural areas that wouldnt normally receive a lot of information about sports injuries or concussions.

The beauty of the Care-A-Van is its mobile, Crea said. So we can go wherever we need to different sports facilities, high schools, day cares, corporations, programs, schools and churches. We can go whereever we see fit.

Both Crea and El-Amid hope to use the Care-A-Van as a sort of moving billboard for concussion awareness and treatment.

I would love to be able to see this thing sitting in front of the mall on the weekends, El-Amid said. Its not only to teach those around, but also to let them have a name and an institution to get in touch with if they think they have a concussion.

The Care-A-Van can also help if nearby residents are already concerned they might have a concussion or could sustain one in the future. The van comes equipped with several laptops and tablets that allow physicians to give Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Tests and baseline tests.

An ImPACT assesment is an online test that measures congnitive ability. A patient can take an ImPACT test after sustaining a head injury to figure out whether the brain is concussed.

The Care-A-Van can administer these tests. But they arent helpful unless the person has a baseline score to compare with the ImPACT score. And few concussion patients have thought far enough ahead to take a baseline ImPACT score test before they were injured.

El-Amin said he hopes the Care-A-Van can change that.

Lets say we administer a baseline test to a kid in rural south Georgia. Then, the kid goes off to Alabama and sustains a concussion, El-Amin said. Then, when they want to ImPACT test him, hell be able to tell doctors, Hey, my family got impact tested by this mobile center a few years ago.

He said the Care-A-Van would be able to share the kids baseline score so his doctors could figure out the severity of his injury.

Right now, El-Amin said GMC plans to take its new mobile center all over Georgia, educating residents in as widespread an area as possible. But he doesnt want Gwinnett to monopolize the states mobile education space forever.

I would love to see other hospitals follow us, El-Amin said.

Its all about preventing potentially serious injuries.

Were in a position right now to really, really make a difference, El-Amin said.

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Top UCSD researchers pitch yoga, massage and integrative medicine for healing – The San Diego Union-Tribune

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She wielded a kitchen knife, not a scalpel, but Serena Silberman was doing her part Saturday to heal the human body, one chop of parsley, peach and pomegranate at a time.

Food can be medicine, said Silberman, an instructor at the University of California San Diego Integrative Medicine Natural Healing Cooking Program, as she prepped a meal for more than 200 people at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla.

Her feast was to commemorate the debut of UC San Diegos Centers for Integrative Health, an initiative throughout the university and health network to unify current research, education and clinical programs ranging from nutrition and acupuncture to meditation and yoga.

Saturdays all-day conference rang in the new collaborative health effort at UC San Diego by discussing how western science can be better wedded to traditional folk cures and alternative medicine to offer better outcomes for patients.

Charlie Neuman/U-T

At the Sanford Consortium, UC San Diego on Saturday launched the new Centers for Integrative Health. At the beginning of the event attendees participate in meditation.

At the Sanford Consortium, UC San Diego on Saturday launched the new Centers for Integrative Health. At the beginning of the event attendees participate in meditation. (Charlie Neuman/U-T)

To Silberman, that means parsley. Rich in antioxidants, the green leaves naturally contain the anti-inflammatory luteolin; Vitamin A to boost the white blood cells that attack infection; and folate, which can help protect patients from heart attack, stroke and hardened arteries.

And then theres her generous dusting of turmeric, the orange-colored herb from the ginger family that doubles as a curry spice and dye. Researchers are studying whether it might heal heart disease and diabetes with very few side effects.

Indian cooks have only been doing it for 5,000 years, so they might know something, said Silberman, punctuating her point with the chop-chop-chop of peaches.

None of this is new to UC San Diego. The Center for Integrative Medicine, for example, was established seven years ago and now treats more than 10,000 patients annually, but organizers hope future consultations will seamlessly involve the Centers for Mindfulness, Integrative Research, Integrative Nutrition and Integrative Education into a one-stop experience.

That means 26 practitioners in 10 clinics within eight departments throughout the health system will be integrated.

Dr. Dan Slater, a physician and UC San Diego professor of family medicine and public health, presented to a packed Sanford Consortium audience a case study he thinks might guide future patient care.

Charlie Neuman/U-T

Attendees to the launch of UC San Diego's Centers for Integrative Health get acupuncture and massages while listening to therapeutic harp music by Carolyn Worster.

Attendees to the launch of UC San Diego's Centers for Integrative Health get acupuncture and massages while listening to therapeutic harp music by Carolyn Worster. (Charlie Neuman/U-T)

A 61-year-old woman was suffering from symptoms suggesting ulcerative colitis, a painful inflammatory bowel disease. The wait had grown to six months in her small town for a colonoscopy that peeked at the lining of her intestine and took a sample of the tissue, a procedure Slater noted was not cheap and was not necessarily convenient.

So he and his team of integrative health specialists prescribed a diet high in fiber, fruits and vegetables and low in fats and sweets. A little more turmeric and a few dollops of probiotics good bacteria to boost the digestive system and within three months she was feeling better. By the time her colonoscopy rolled around, her condition was either in remission or cured.

To Slater, that highlights what the Centers for Integrative Health might do best researching many pathways to a cure but letting the body do most of the work by exploring everything from aromatherapy to zen.

cprine@sduniontribune.com

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Top UCSD researchers pitch yoga, massage and integrative medicine for healing - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Is it too easy to get pain medicine? – Fredericksburg.com

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After everything thats been reported about the opioid epidemic in our nation, I didnt expect a painkiller to be offered so easily.

But after a brief visit to the emergency room, I wondered if my experience is part of the reason America is awash in opioids, in the words of Thomas Frieden, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

I was in the hospital after a prolonged stomach flu. For seven days, I either couldnt keep down or get into my system much of anything, and 9 pounds fell off me. Normally, Id jump up and down at that statement, but I was too miserable.

Before I got to the ER, Id been to my primary care doctor, twice. My doctor thought Id been knocked down to the point I needed a jump start, in the form of intravenous fluids.

So, as I tried to get comfortable on a really uncomfortable slab of mattress, I told the ER doctor my symptoms. I mentioned stomach pain throughout, and that my primary care doctor thought it was muscle soreness from so much retching. The ER doctor listened patiently, poked my innards, felt the pulse in my ankle and listened to my heart.

He agreed that IV fluids were the ticket and ordered a CT scan to rule out any ugly possibilities, like appendicitis or diverticulitis.

Then he asked something about my comfort level. I didnt really grasp what he was saying, so he rephrased it: Do you want anything for the pain?

I said no right off the bat, then asked what was available. As we talked, I told him I didnt want any kind of opioid, and I swear he almost looked embarrassed when I said that. He said there were lesser pain relievers that could be administered through the IV.

My mother, who was in the room with me, said its no wonder so many people have problems with prescription painkillers. Look at how easy it would have been for me to get some.

As I recounted the story, one co-worker made the valid point that doctors want to alleviate the pain and suffering they see. Thats their purpose. Plus, she said, the doctor probably could tell that I didnt look like an addict.

If this epidemic has taught us anything, isnt it that those who get addicted to pain medicine dont fit any kind of profile?

They dont look like strung-out junkies; they look like the rest of us: hard-working moms and dads, honor students and Eagle Scouts, bus drivers, day-care workers and executives. Then, an accident or injury comes along and theyre given highly addictive narcotics to cope with the pain. Some develop an ungodly form of addiction to the highs the medicine produces in the brain and cant turn off the need for it.

But if you still think that only those with tattoos and stringy hair become hooked to the point they lose sight of everything else that matters, I encourage you to attend any of the upcoming town-hall meetings sponsored by a coalition formed to tackle the problem in our region. The Community Collaborative for Youth and Families is holding sessions in each locality in Planning District 16 through October.

The group also will show the documentary, Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict, which is an eye-opening look at the drug problem in our nation. It was filmed in Virginiaincluding at the Rappahannock Regional Jailso dont think for a second that this is a problem limited to the nations urban areas.

The meetings are from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at these locations:

Aug. 21: King George Middle School

Sept. 13: Caroline County Community Center

Sept. 26: Brooke Point High School, Stafford

Oct. 2: James Monroe High School

Oct. 16: Rubicon Caf, Salem Fields Community Church, Spotsylvania

The conversation about opioid drugs needs to include a lot of different people, including health-care providers on the front lines. Certainly, they want to make people feel better, but they cant put people into positions that might cause more pain in the long run.

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Is it too easy to get pain medicine? - Fredericksburg.com

WRCF, Inova Sports Medicine Host Third Annual High School Coaches Clinic – Redskins.com

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The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation on Friday hosted the third annual High School Coaches Clinic for 100 high school coaches from the Washington, D.C., region.

In the midst of the preseason, the Washington Redskins are still in their building phase coaches continue to scout the roster, take notes during games and practice and preach unity that will become vital for the year ahead.

Its a comforting notion for DuVal High School football head coach Carlos Lockwood, who was one of roughly 100 coaches to take in the teams third annual High School Coaches Clinic presented by Inova Sports Medicine at the Inova Sports Performance Center at Redskins Park on Friday.

For me, I like stuff like this because its always about building, being a sponge, Lockwood said. Even for me being a head coach, I can always learn and when you hear the same things from the guys at the higher level, it just always hits home.

The clinic, which was hosted by the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation, allowed local high school coaches to watch the Redskins complete Fridays walkthrough practice prior to a speakers panel that included many special guests and lunch in the team dining room.

Redskins President Bruce Allen kicked things off with a brief introduction followed by head coach Jay Gruden, who chatted about what he looks for in athletes effort and consistent work habits were primary themes before lending the stage to special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica, offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh and defensive coordinator Greg Manusky.

Together, the three of them addressed a wide range of topics, including what they learned from their high school coaches to balancing the stresses of their jobs with their families. The high school coaches, who came from Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., took notes and photos, returning home with bullet points to teach their student-athletes.

Later, EXOS Performance Director of Pro Sports,Brent Callaway, ran through a PowerPoint with slides dedicated to movement, nutrition, mindset and recovery, valuable tenets the company has dedicated their time to prepare athletes to perform at their best.

Before breaking for lunch, Super Bowl MVP and current Senior Vice President of Player Personnel Doug Williams shared a few stories about his time as a high school head coach (he had an undefeated team at Northeast High School in Zachary, La.) and the challenges and joys of the position. The former quarterback was a hit, providing insight and humor for 15 minutes and encouraging those in front of him to be ambassadors for their communities.

Dougs iconic, Lockwood said. Just to hear him speak about his childhood and what was going on back home and how meaningful it was for that team he had to go undefeated. Some of those guys never played collegiately or in the pros, but thats what brings back that community is high school football.

Also in attendance was Dunbar High Schools head football coach Matthew Vaughn, in charge of the program that Redskins tight end Vernon Davis called his growing up. Watching practice and roaming the halls where Davis walks, Vaughn was grateful to be among a community of high school coaches and see Davis up close again.

Hes made a tremendous impact on the community as well as the school, Vaughn said. We use Vernon as the standard of where the kids want to be and what they want to do. Hes a great role model for the kids and he does a lot for the community. Im proud to be here to watch him today and the kids, we always talk about Vernon and the things that hes done, and the way he went about his business and the way he still goes about his business and the way he represents the school, community and the Redskins.

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WRCF, Inova Sports Medicine Host Third Annual High School Coaches Clinic - Redskins.com

WSU’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine welcomes inaugural class – The Spokesman-Review

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Fri., Aug. 18, 2017, 7:13 p.m.

More than a dozen Washington State University deans, faculty and guests helped welcome the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicines inaugural class at a ceremony Friday, where the 60 doctors-to-be donned white coats embroidered with the crimson cougar.

But the spirit of the event was best captured by Carmento Floyd, the widow of the former WSU President for whom the medical school is named.

You are and will be the most important class, because you were first, she said, moments after graciously receiving a symbolic white coat through tears. We expect greatness from you, and you must expect greatness from yourselves. Her remarks were met with a long standing ovation.

The event, which nearly filled the ground floor of the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, was much more than a celebration for future physicians. It was a recognition of the advocacy, persistence and vision from Floyd and others that led to WSU receiving approval to start the school in 2015.

This is a moment Ive been waiting for for a long time, Dean John Tomkowiak said.

The incoming class of 60 students are all from Washington, something touted repeatedly by college administrators.

We dont even have an out-of-state tuition rate, WSU President Kirk Schultz said.

The hope is for the college to make a dent in the areas of Washington considered medically underserved a list that includes some portion of nearly every county east of the Cascades. And not only rural areas; the list, according to the Washington Department of Health, includes all of Yakima and Franklin counties.

We see a lot of things out there about the need for more physicians in our state, and this is a tangible step toward that goal, Schultz said.

He added that the university is lucky to be in a state where theres bipartisan support for investing in higher education.

At a time when many states are cutting funds from state universities, Washington taxpayers are funding about $66,000 of the $100,000 it takes to educate a single medical student for a year, Tomkowiak told students at an orientation ceremony Wednesday.

The state, those 7.1 million stakeholders, are putting in $2 for every $1 that you are, he said.

Its a commitment the students have taken to heart. Following orientation on Wednesday, many members of the class said they wanted to attend WSU in part because of its focused on providing care to underserved parts of their home state.

We wanted to be able to give back to the people of our state, said Christie Kirkpatrick, whos from Longview, Washington. Its really cool to be around people who all care about the same things.

Following speeches Friday afternoon, each students walked across the stage to be cloaked in their own white coat. A display overhead broadcast an individual oath for each student about their commitment to becoming a doctor and the reasons for choosing the profession.

It is a privilege to be trained in eastern Washington, where I plan to serve, wrote student Christina Eglin. Advocating for patients, treating others with compassion and giving back to a home community were common themes.

One student, Sye Jabbouri, wrote about the care shown to his Assyrian Iraqi family by strangers as they fled war at home, and said he wanted to bring that same care to his patients.

Washington poet laureate Tod Marshall read a poem he wrote for the occasion, which focused on the symbolism of a white coat as a honor to be earned.

Today is beautiful plumage and honor. Tomorrow, your gentle actions, the music of your listening will bear out the honor of a coats threads, he recited.

Published: Aug. 18, 2017, 7:13 p.m.

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WSU's Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine welcomes inaugural class - The Spokesman-Review

Sun look to learn from Liberty loss – Norwich Bulletin

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Marc Allard mallard@norwichbulletin.com, (860) 425-4212 mallardnb

MOHEGAN The first word out of Curt Millers mouth was disappointed following Connecticuts 82-70 loss to New York on Friday.

But, in reality, the Sun coach thought it was the kind of game his team needed.

After winning six in a row and eight straight on their home floor, the Sun (18-10) were flying pretty high.

The Liberty brought them down to earth and also helped prep Connecticut for the next phase of the WNBA season the playoffs.

That game was so good for us. I cant begin to tell you how good that game will be for us in the long run. It took on a playoff feel. The physicality that we knew was going to be in this game, the intensity each and every possession of this game, simulated what we have to expect from a playoff game, Miller said.

The playoffs are on the horizon.

The Sun have just six games left in the regular season.

That final two-week stretch begins at 3 p.m. this afternoon at home against Phoenix, followed by home games on Wednesday against Dallas and Friday versus Chicago.

The final three games will take place on the road with the make up against Washington on Aug. 29, followed by a West Coast swing on Labor Day weekend to Phoenix on Sept. 1 and Los Angeles on Sept. 3.

The Sun can clinch the No. 6 spot in the WNBA standings with a win over Phoenix today. That would be important as it would give Connecticut a home game for the first round of the single-elimination portion of the playoffs.

So getting ready for a big game was important.

The Sun havent been in the playoffs since 2012 and no one on the current roster was in the locker room back then.

We needed to remember that its not going to be easy, Connecticut guard Jasmine Thomas said. Were not going to walk over people. The closer we get to the postseason and people still scrapping to get into the playoffs and solidify their spots, its going to be hard.

New York was a case in point.

The Liberty have hung around the .500 mark all season, but the win over the Sun was the fourth straight victory for New York (16-12) and moved them to within two games of the Sun, tied with Washington for the fourth spot.

We were trying to find our way, New York coach Bill Laimbeer said of the up-and-down start for the Liberty. A lot of players came late to training camp which hurt. We had some players go away. We lost Brittany Boyd (to injury), Epiphanny Prince and Kia Vaughn to the world championships for a month. Ive said from the very start that we wont know who we are until August and, now, were starting to know who we are.

For the Sun, it indicated the days of the 90-plus and 100-point games may be over, the grind may have started.

Miller called it a TNT game, dictated by toughness and tempo.

They were tougher and played with better tempo, Miller said. Their screening, their separation in offense while we held them to 40 percent shooting made us feel like we were scrambling the whole game. The toughness in the first half to pound the ball to Tina (Charles). I loved their tempo and toughness compared to us.

Miller said it also showed him how his team would handle adversity in a big game.

Charles scored 18 points in the second quarter and could have turned the game into an early blowout, the Sun rallied to trail by only three at the half.

We stuck together. We gradually made adjustments on the floor that were positive. We couldnt find any offensive rhythm to spark us. Give them credit for that, Miller said.

Its another test today.

The Mercury almost beat the Sun on Aug. 4, losing 93-92, at Mohegan Sun Arena and that was without Brittney Griner. The 6-foot-9 center will be in the lineup today.

Its extremely important to bounce back, Connecticut forward Alyssa Thomas said. We had a tough win last time and they werent full roster, BG will be back. We have to bounce back and not spiral (backwards) at this point of the season.

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Sun look to learn from Liberty loss - Norwich Bulletin

Gameday preview: Lynx in New York to take on Liberty – Minneapolis Star Tribune

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August 19, 2017 - 11:59 PM

2 p.m. at New York NBA TV, 106.1-FM

Lynx aim to sweep Liberty

Preview: The Lynx (22-5) ended a two-game losing streak with a nearly flawless performance in a 111-52 victory over Indiana on Friday. The Lynx, who had scored just 61 and 64 points in their previous two games, scored 68 in the first half en route to their season high in points. The Liberty (16-12) is coming off an 82-70 victory at Connecticut on Friday. It was the fourth consecutive victory for the Liberty, who are 6-2 since losing to the Lynx 76-75 at the Xcel Energy Center on July 25. The Lynx defeated the Liberty 90-71 on May 18 in New York.

Players to watch: Lynx C Sylvia Fowles, who was held to 13 points by Seattle on Wednesday, scored 25 points and G Renee Montgomery matched her season high of 20 points in the victory over Indiana. Lynx F Plenette Pierson, in her first start of the season, tied season highs with 10 points and four assists and had a season-best six rebounds. Liberty C Tina Charles, who scored a game-high 24 points against Connecticut on Friday, is fourth in the WNBA in scoring (20.1) and third in rebounding (9.3). Liberty G Shavonte Zellous is averaging 12.1 points.

Numbers: Lynx G Jia Perkins moved into fifth place on the WNBAs career steals list (625) with three Friday.

Injuries: Lynx F Rebekkah Brunson (ankle) and G Lindsay Whalen (hand) are out indefinitely. Liberty G Brittany Boyd (Achilles) is out for the season.

JOEL RIPPEL

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Gameday preview: Lynx in New York to take on Liberty - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Liberty County man arrested for parole violation – Chron.com

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Staff Report, cadvocate@hcnonline.com

Liberty County man arrested for parole violation

A man who reportedly eluded Liberty County law enforcement for two years is in custody after his arrest Thursday by the sheriff's office.

According to Capt. Ken DeFoor, spokesperson for the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, 40-year-old Craig Howard Castilaw was wanted on multiple outstanding warrants. He was wanted on a blue warrant for a parole violation and another warrant for bond forfeiture on a Driving While License Suspended charge.

"Deputy [John] Tucker, who had prior associations with Castilaw, made arrangements with him to meet in the Dayton Oaks Subdivision near his home on CR 2339," DeFoor said.

Liberty County Pct. 4 Constable's Office was also reportedly looking for Castilaw on possible drug charges. Other charges may be pending, DeFoor said.

Castilaw is being held without bond for the parole violation.

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Liberty County man arrested for parole violation - Chron.com

Last day for lake trout: Season closes in Apostle Islands area as … – WDAZ

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Fishing will be permitted in WI-2 through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20. That zone stretches from Bark Point to the Michigan border and includes the Apostle Islands.

Lake trout fishing in WI-1, from Superior to Bark Point, will continue through Sept. 30.

The closure is taking effect because the harvest of lake trout since last December through late July had reached a predetermined threshold of 7,350 fish out of an overall total allowable catch of 9,800, said Terry Margenau, DNR Lake Superior fisheries supervisor at Bayfield.

Under an emergency regulation adopted last December, the lake trout harvest was to be shut down in WI-2 if harvest reached 7,350 75 percent of the total allowable catch. Harvest figures are determined by creel surveys angler interviews done at boat landings throughout the year, and from monthly harvest reports filed by charter anglers.

If the quota had not been reached, the lake trout season in WI-2 would have continued through Sept. 30.

After seeking feedback last fall in public meetings and through an online survey, DNR officials established new emergency lake trout regulations for WI-2. The regulations were put in place in an effort to help the lake trout population recover, Margenau said.

The new WI-2 regulations, established in December, allowed anglers to keep two lake trout with a minimum size of 15 inches, with only one over 25 inches long.

The reason for the 7,350 trigger threshold is that harvest estimates based on creel surveys and charter fishing reports lag behind actual harvest, Margenau said. Now 20 days into August, the harvest is likely much higher than 7,350.

The lake trout harvest had been relatively low from last December through June, Margenau said.

"Starting in December, we were doing well as far as numbers," Margenau said. "There was very poor ice in the islands, and that limited the deep-water bobbing. Then we had a miserable spring with lots of rain."

Turbid waters slowed fishing as well. Through June, the lake trout harvest in WI-2 was just 3,865 fish, Margenau said.

"July was a different story," he said. "Weather was good, fish were biting and guys were getting out."

By the end of July, the harvest had reached 7,335 fish, Margenau said, near the 7,350 harvest quota that called for the season to close.

Al House, president of the Apostle Islands Sport Fishermen's Association, said anglers supported the emergency regulation chosen last fall, although they knew a pre-emptive season closure was theoretically possible.

"I think no one really realized it could happen this year," House said. "But this has been a banner year for lake trout in the Apostles. I don't blame the DNR. The DNR is between a rock and a hard place. They don't have a whole lot of choice in the matter."

Allocation of lake trout

According to the DNR, in a total allowable catch of 54,000 lake trout annually in WI-2, the Red Cliff and Bad River bands of Lake Superior Chippewa are allowed 73 percent (39,300 lake trout) of the catch for commercial or home use. Of the 27 percent allocation to the state (14,700 lake trout), sport anglers are allowed 9,800 fish and state-licensed commercial fishers are allowed 4,900 fish.

The closure will have broad implications on businesses in the Apostle Islands area, House said.

"It will affect charter fishing, retail shops, motels, gas stations everything sport fishermen utilize when they come up here to go lake trout fishing," House said. "I think, going forward, something has to be worked out different so this doesn't happen again."

Sixteen charter captains operate in the Apostle Islands, House said. They can continue to fish for coho salmon and brown trout.

"But the coho won't show up until the second week of September, and the brown trout are spread out now and not ready for staging," House said. "Basically, for the next three weeks, the charter captains are out of luck."

"It's a very big deal, businesswise," said Carolyn Swartz of Anglers All in Ashland. "It means a loss of a certain amount of business and, obviously, to charter captains, a big loss of business. Hopefully, customers will understand they can still fish for brown trout and cohos and splake."

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Last day for lake trout: Season closes in Apostle Islands area as ... - WDAZ

HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP: Islands softball team shuts out Claxton 15-0 – Savannah Morning News

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LOCAL

Islands softball team

shuts out Claxton 15-0

Rebecca Davis went 2 for 4 with three RBI and Hailey Wingrove was 2 for 4 with four RBI to lead the Islands softball team to a 15-0 shutout of Claxton on Saturday.

WAnna Grace Duncan (2-1). Leading hitters-Islands, Rebecca Davis 2-4, 3 RBI; Hailey Wingrove 2-4, 4 RBI; Stevie Norris 2-3, 2 RBI.

ISLANDS 14, CLAXTON 1

Rebecca Davis earned the win and also hit her fourth homer of the year to lead Islands over Claxton. Mia Stainton went 2 for 2 with a triple and four RBI for the Sharks.

WRebecca Davis (2-1). Leading hitters-Islands, Mia Stainton 2-2, 3B, 4 RBI; Rebecca Davis 1-3, HR, 3 RBI; Anna Grace Duncan 2-3, 3B; Madisyn Lancaster 1-2, 2 RBI. Record-Islands 4-2, 2-0 in region.

VOLLEYBALL

Top 10 Playdate at Holy Innocents in Atlanta

Athens Academy def. Savannah Christian 23-25, 25-18, 15-11

Savannah Christian def. Fellowship 25-21, 25-23

SCPS def. Mount Pisgah 25-9, 18-25, 15-4

Hebron def. Savannah Christian 25-23, 25-23

Top players (combined statistics)SCPS, McKenzie Riner 25 kills; Sarah White 15 kills, 21 digs; Sydney Burks 21 kills, 24 digs; Adrianna Simon 29 kills, 43 digs; Sam Zittrauer 81 assists, 25 digs. Record-SCPS 5-2.

Hebron def. Savannah Country Day 25-15, 25-16

Top playersSCD, Madeline Wynn 7 kills; Ana Schretter 4 kills; Abigail Kahn 15 assists; Ana Schretter 17 digs; Anna Bolch 10 digs.

Mount de Sales def. SCD 25-23, 25-16

Top playersSCD, Wynn 9 kills, 2 blocks; Kahn 12 assists; Lily Glass 8 assists; Bolch 21 digs; Schretter 9 digs; Brittany Hodges 4 aces.

SCD def. Wesleyan 25-18, 25-13

Top playersSCD, Schretter 7 kills, 9 digs; Wynn 4 kills; Ivy Beaver 4 kills; Hodges 4; Kahn 11 assists; Glass 9; Bolch 14 digs and Ana Schretter added 9.

Holy Innocents def. SCD 25-12, 25-27, 16-14

Top playersSCD, Wynn 9 kills; Hodges 9 kills; Schretter 5 kills, 24 digs; Evelyn Khan 4 kills; Glass 16 assists; Kahn 11 assists, 3 kills; Bolch added 17 digs.

RecordSCD 6-4.

St. Vincents def. Eagles Landing 25-21 and 25-16

Top playersSVA, Lizzie Horn 6 kills, 6 aces, 3 digs; Jessica Schwarz 6 kills, 2 aces, 4 digs; Dylan Herb 7 assists, 1 kill, 3 aces; Meagan Voyles 4 assists, 1 kill, 8 digs.

Athens Academy def. SVA 25-22, 25-19

Top playersSVA, Horn 11 kills, 2 assists, 2 aces, 9 digs; Schwarz 5 digs, 3 kills, 1 assists; Herb 14 assists, 1 kill, 6 digs.

SVA def. Mount Pisgah 25-21, 20-25, 15-13

Top playersSVA, Horn 6 kills, 1 assist, 3 aces, 14 digs; Schwarz 9 digs, 9 kills, 1 assist; Voyles 9 digs, 2 kills; Herb 26 assists, 2 kills, 3 digs; Emma Wyman 5 blocks, 5 kills.

SVA def. Wesleyan 25-17, 19-25,15-13

Top playersHerb 16 assits, 7 digs; Horn 8 digs, 9 kills, 2 assists, 3 aces; Schwarz 7 kills, 2 aces, 5 digs; Voyles 3 kills, 2 aces, 2 assists, 12 digs.

Calvary Day def. Fellowship Christian 19-25, 25-13, 15-8

CDS def. Athens Academy 25-13, 25-13

CDS def. Holy Innocents 25-10, 25-19

CDS def. Mount de Sales 25-14, 25-22

Record: CDS 7-0

Late Friday

FOOTBALL

JEFFERSON COUNTY 37,

SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN 13

C.J. Hales threw for three touchdowns, Jaden Jenkins passed for two and Jefferson County outscored host Savannah Christian 24-0 in the second and third quarters in the season-opening victory late Friday.

Jefferson County totaled 431 yards on offense 361 through the air as Hales went 10 of 19 for 189 yards and Jenkins was 5 of 6 for 172 yards. Ty King caught three TDs, and Nikel Stone had two.

Raiders quarterback Jordan Grant rushed for a 9-yard touchdown and was 0 for 6 passing. Eric Davidson had 19 carries for 91 yards.

JC7177637

SC700613

First Quarter

JCTy King 10 pass from C.J. Hales (Evan Hodges kick)

SCJordan Grant 9 run (Noah Chumley kick)

Second Quarter

JCKing 5 pass from Hales (Hodges kick)

JCNikel Stone 27 pass from Hales (Hodges kick)

JCHodges 34 FG

Third Quarter

JCKing 4 pass from Jaden Jenkins (Hodges kick)

Fourth Quarter

JCStone 64 pass from Jenkins (kick failed)

SCDawson Benton 20 run (conversion run failed)

NATIONAL

Jags waiting see how this thing goes at QBs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone isnt quite ready to name Chad Henne his starting quarterback.

Or Blake Bortles, for that matter.

Marrone said Saturday he wants to see how this thing goes over the next few days before deciding who will start against Carolina in a preseason game Thursday night.

Marrone opened up the teams quarterback competition after another inconsistent performance from Bortles, the third overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Bortles was 8 of 13 for 65 yards in a loss to Tampa Bay. All four of Bortles drives ended with punts. He has led the offense to three points in six possessions in the preseason.

Henne is 11 of 16 passing for 183 yards, with a touchdown. The 10th-year pro should have had another score, but rookie Keelan Cole dropped a would-be touchdown pass in the second quarter against the Buccaneers.

Marrone said Bortles and Henne split starter repetitions Saturday.

The biggest question now is whether the Jaguars can even stick with Bortles. Marrone and Coughlin clearly have concerns about his ability, and benching him could be another blow to his confidence.

Plus, the team picked up the fifth-year option in his rookie contract and could be on the hook to pay him $19 million in 2018 if he sustains a significant injury this season.

Regardless, the Jaguars are hoping demoting Bortles prompts him to play better.

You dont make it this far if youre not a competitor, veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis said. If youre a competitor, youre going to respond to it like you should and make it very, very hard for the people up there making the decisions.

Marrone said he has not been part of any conversations about bringing in another quarterback. The Jaguars also have second-year pro Brandon Allen on the roster.

For now, the competition is between Henne and Bortles.

Thats the situation in which coach felt like he needed to do something, receiver Marqise Lee said. Thats the situation that the quarterbacks got to handle. As far as making decisions like that, its not my job. Im going to sit back and wait. At the end of the day, I believe in all three quarterbacks and having a possibility to come out and doing the things that we need to do in order to get the Jaguars going.

Notes

With K Jason Myers struggling in the preseason, the Jaguars brought in veteran Dan Carpenter and Patrick Murray for workouts Saturday. Carpenter spent nine years with Buffalo (2013-16) and Miami (2008-12). Murray has played with Tampa Bay (2014) and Cleveland (2016). Rookie WR Dede Westbrook, who caught six passes for 131 yards against Tampa Bay, sat out practice with lower-body soreness.

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HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP: Islands softball team shuts out Claxton 15-0 - Savannah Morning News

Evolutionary Biologists Probe Long-standing Genetics Mystery – Yale News

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August 17, 2017

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What makes humans different from chimpanzees? Evolutionary biologists from Howard University and the Yale School of Public Health have developed a unique genetic analysis technique that may provide important answers.

Michael C. Campbell, Ph.D., the papers first author and assistant professor in the Howard University Department of Biology, and co-author Jeffrey Townsend, Ph.D., the Elihu Associate Professor in Biostatistics at Yale, published their findings in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Their methodModel Averaged Site Selection via Poisson Random Field (MASS-PRF)looks at protein-coding genes to identify genetic signatures of positive selection. These signatures are actually DNA changes that contribute to the development of beneficial traits, or human adaptations, that emerged during human evolutionary history and that are shared across the human species.

It's a quantum leap in our statistical power to detect selection in recently diverged species.

Other approaches have examined this question but analyses have focused on whole genes, typically missing focused evolution that often occurs in small regions of genes. The method Campbell and Townsend created identifies selection within genes, pinpointing sets of mutations that have undergone positive selection.

Our method is a new way of looking for beneficial mutations that have become fixed or occur at 100 percent frequency in the human species, Campbell said. What we are concerned with are mutations within genes and traits that are specific to humans compared to closely related species, such as the chimpanzee. Essentially, we want to know is what are the mutations and traits that make us human and that unite us as a biological species.

Townsend said the technique has far-reaching implications. It helped the research team discover several genes whose evolution appears to have been critical to the divergence of humans from their common ancestor with chimpanzees. The genes play roles in neurological processing, immunity, and reproduction, and the method could eventually help scientists identify many more. It's a quantum leap in our statistical power to detect selection in recently diverged species, Townsend said.

Campbell began the research project with Drs. Zhao and Townsend while they were associate research scientists in the Department of Biostatistics at the Yale School of Public Health, before he arrived at Howard University in 2015. Dr. Zhao, currently a research scientist at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, co-authored the paper.

This article was submitted by Elisabeth Ann Reitman on August 17, 2017.

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Evolutionary Biologists Probe Long-standing Genetics Mystery - Yale News

Exclusive: Inside The Lab Where Scientists Are Editing DNA In Human Embryos – NPR

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This sequence of images shows the development of embryos formed after eggs were injected with both CRISPR, a gene-editing tool, and sperm from a donor with a genetic mutation known to cause cardiomyopathy. OHSU hide caption

This sequence of images shows the development of embryos formed after eggs were injected with both CRISPR, a gene-editing tool, and sperm from a donor with a genetic mutation known to cause cardiomyopathy.

From the thirteenth floor of a glass tower at the Oregon Health & Science University, you get a panoramic view of downtown Portland and the majestic mountains in the distance. But it's what's happening inside the building that's brought me here.

"Should we go do this thing?" lab manager Amy Koski asks.

She's just gotten a call from the fertility clinic three floors down. A woman undergoing in vitro fertilization has had her eggs extracted. One of the eggs is too immature to be used to try to create a baby, so she's donating it to research.

Koski grabs a small metal box and rushes to the elevator. It's her portable incubator.

"You want to keep the eggs very happy and warm," she says. "When you're jostling them and moving them, they get a little unhappy."

Human eggs are the key starting point for the groundbreaking experiments underway in this lab. It's run by Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a biologist who's been on the cutting edge of embryonic genetic research for decades.

Mitalipov and his international team electrified the world this summer when the group announced it had successfully and seemingly safely figured out how to efficiently edit the DNA in human embryos.

For the first time, they said, they had corrected a mutation that causes a potentially fatal heart condition. The hope is this landmark step could someday help prevent thousands of genetic diseases that have plagued families for generations.

Critics, however, pounced on the news. They fear editing DNA in human embryos is unsafe, unnecessary and could open the door to "designer babies" and possibly someday to genetically enhanced people who are considered superior by society.

As the debate raged last week, I asked Mitalipov if I could visit his lab to see the next round of his experiments. He wants to confirm his initial results and determine whether the method can be used to repair other mutations.

He agreed to a visit, and on Monday, I became the first journalist to see these scientists cross a line that, until recently, had been taboo.

A small room for big science

I've followed Mitalipov's research for years and have visited the labs of other scientists doing related work in Stockholm, London and elsewhere.

Still, I stepped into Mitalipov's embryology lab unsure of exactly what I was about to see and eager to better understand what allowed these scientists to succeed where others had failed.

"This is our small room, but that's where usually lots of big science happened," says Mitalipov, who was born in the former Soviet Union. "We believe this room is really magic in terms of science."

Shoukhrat Mitalipov points to an image of an edited embryo inside an incubator at the Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy in Portland, Ore. Rob Stein/NPR hide caption

Shoukhrat Mitalipov points to an image of an edited embryo inside an incubator at the Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy in Portland, Ore.

He points to a microscope where his colleague, Nuria Marti-Gutierrez, has just positioned a Petri dish. I'm able to watch everything she's doing on a computer screen.

Mitalipov points to a round silvery blob. It's the egg. "You can see it moving," he says.

Suddenly, a bunch of tiny ovals flit across the screen. They are sperm from a donor who has a genetic mutation that causes cardiomyopathy, a potentially fatal heart condition.

Marti-Gutierrez draws the sperm into a thin glass rod called a pipette. She then adds a microscopic gene-editing tool a combination of chemical sequences known as CRISPR that can make very precise changes in DNA.

In this case, CRISPR will zero in on the cardiomyopathy mutation to literally slice the defect in the DNA.

Finally, she pierces the shell of the egg with the pipette and injects the sperm and CRISPR. Almost before I know it's happening, it's done. A human embryo has been created and edited before my eyes.

"That's it?" I ask.

"Yep," Mitalipov says, chuckling to himself.

It was amazingly fast and seemingly easy you could imagine a future where this sort of thing might become routine.

"This is how we do it," Mitalipov says matter-of-factly. He refers to the process as "DNA surgery."

Mitalipov and his team immediately do a second edit and then transfer the embryos to a larger incubator. The scientists will then spend the next few days monitoring live video of the two embryos, along with 17 others they had edited the weekend before, to see how they develop.

What's at work

Mitalipov thinks his team accomplished this feat by injecting the mutant sperm and the DNA editor into the egg at the same time. Previous attempts to edit DNA in human embryos were far less accurate and produced dangerous mutations elsewhere in the embryos' DNA.

Mitalipov and his colleagues are not sure exactly how it works. But they think that when CRISPR cuts the defective gene, the slice triggers the embryo to repair itself.

If future experiments confirm the results and show that the technique also works for other mutations, Mitalipov thinks the process could wipe out many diseases that have plagued families for generations, though he cautions that any practical application is still easily a decade or more away.

"[There are] about 10,000 different mutations causing so many different conditions and diseases," he says, pointing to Huntington's disease, cystic fibrosis and even possibly inherited forms of Alzheimer's and breast cancer.

"We're talking about millions of people affected. So I think the implications are huge," he says.

"I think this is a significant advance," says George Church, a Harvard geneticist. "This is important not only for parents who want to have healthy children, but more generally, it opens the door to preventative medicine where we can avoid a lot of painful genetic problems."

Skepticism, criticism and an ethical debate

While the results seem promising so far, there are still many questions. Some scientists remain skeptical that Mitalipov has really done what he says he's done.

"Unfortunately, the data do not allow the conclusion of correction for the embryos," says Dieter Egli, a biologist at Columbia University. "There are a number of other outcomes that are much more likely."

Mitalipov acknowledges that his work still needs to be reproduced by others, but he is confident his method is working.

Others are worried that less careful scientists might rush ahead too quickly and attempt to make babies before the technique has been proven to work and be safe.

"This is a strong statement that we can do genome editing," says George Daley, dean of the Harvard Medical School. "The question that remains is, 'Should we?' "

"I think it would be professionally irresponsible for any clinician to use this technology to make a baby," Daley adds. "It's just simply too early. It would be premature."

The idea of changing human DNA in ways that could be passed down for generations has long been considered off-limits. The fear is scientists could make mistakes and create new diseases that would persist for generations.

Some critics go so far as to say that scientists are essentially playing God by taking this step. They fear it will lead to parents picking and choosing the traits of their children. While that is not yet technically possible, critics say scientists are moving quickly toward that possibility.

"I think it's extraordinarily disturbing," says Marcy Darnovsky, who heads the Center for Genetics and Society, a watchdog group. "We'll see fertility clinics advertising gene editing for enhancement purposes. We'll see children being born who are said to biologically superior."

Mitalipov and his colleagues acknowledge the fears and agree the technique should be carefully regulated and only used for medical purposes. But, they argue, the fears should not stop the research.

"I don't think I'm playing God," Mitalipov says. "We have intelligence to understand diseases, eliminate suffering. And that's what I think is the right thing to do."

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Exclusive: Inside The Lab Where Scientists Are Editing DNA In Human Embryos - NPR

POINT OF VIEW: Don’t quit, refocus on healthcare reform wins – Palm Beach Post

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Many Americans were disappointed when recent healthcare overhaul efforts failed. Whether they supported the proposed fix or not, many Floridians are now left wondering if they are stuck with all of the downsides of the Affordable Care Act.

They dont have to be, if Congress can regroup and refocus on more modest, achievable changes. One of those should be to stop the health insurance tax from going back into effect in 2018.

Emerging from a divisive healthcare fight has been broad agreement about the need to reduce healthcare premiums, especially on working families, senior citizens, minority communities and small businesses. The HIT tax, which would raise healthcare costs, can play no part in such a solution.

If allowed to return as scheduled, the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) will reach 100 million consumers and business owners in their health insurance bills, taking $156 billion from them over 10 years.

It is especially harmful because the HIT disproportionately affects small businesses and their employees. Family health insurance for a worker employed by a Main Street company, startup or family-owned business will be $500 more expensive each year. For a corner deli or a niche manufacturer, this can add up to many thousands of dollars in extra expenses, and maybe a red number on the bottom line by years end.

We have to consider the consequences of putting government pressure to these companies. Florida is home to nearly 2.2 million small businesses, including 600,000 Hispanic-owned enterprises. They comprise 98.9 percent of our employers and provide jobs for 3 million people.

Small businesses are also growing at a faster clip than the rest of the economy. And U.S. Commerce Department data shows that the minority-owned business sector is becoming a larger share of our economic base, rising from 22 percent to 29 percent of U.S. firms between 2007 and 2012. Florida is even more dependent on minority entrepreneurship. For example, in Miami, 69.2 percent of businesses are Hispanic-owned.

These powerful job creators are especially vulnerable to disruption. More than a third of Florida businesses are less than five years old, according to the U.S. Census Bureaus Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs. And they generally have less capital on hand to absorb unexpected costs.

This is a big part of the reason that of the 152,000 to 286,000 job losses Oliver Wyman predicts will occur due to the HIT tax, the majority will fall on small businesses. In Florida, that is synonymous with a large, negative impact on Hispanic communities.

These are among the many reasons that 400 Democrats and Republicans came together to suspend the HIT for 2017. Their plan was to allow time to craft a lasting solution to get rid of this tax.

Without congressional intervention, the HIT will return Jan. 1. Health insurance companies are already adding the costs to their 2018 premium calculations, so there is only a short window of opportunity before businesses and consumers pay for lawmakers inaction.

JULIO FUENTES, TALLAHASSEE

Editors note: Fuentes is president of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

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POINT OF VIEW: Don't quit, refocus on healthcare reform wins - Palm Beach Post