NICE recommends drugs for plaque psoriasis in young people – The Pharma Letter (registration)

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The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) today published guidance recommending approval

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NICE recommends drugs for plaque psoriasis in young people - The Pharma Letter (registration)

TCS World Travel Voted No. 1 Tour Operator in Travel + Leisure’s … – Business Wire (press release)

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SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TCS World Travel, the leading tour operator of private jet expeditions for nearly 25 years, has been named the No. 1 Tour Operator in the Travel + Leisure 2017 Worlds Best Awards. One of the worlds most respected hospitality awards programs, the Worlds Bests award winners are selected through a reader survey for favorite hospitality experiences across categories including hotels, spas, cruises and airports.

After more than two decades of offering enriching, expeditionary travel around the globe, we are honored to be recognized as the best tour operator in the world by the readers of Travel + Leisure, said TCS World Travel President Shelley Cline. It is rewarding to our entire team to know our guests value the meaningful travel experiences we provide. We look forward to continuing to expand our portfolio by introducing new and unprecedented journeys and services.

Dedicated to delivering immersive, worry-free travel experiences, TCS World Travel leads the industry in private jet expeditions with the experience and knowledge built from developing hundreds of trips for nearly 25 years. The company caters to the travel needs and preferences of the globally curious and modern affluent traveler, whether on the brands iconic globe-circling expeditions, custom private itineraries, expeditions to emerging destinations, or the recently launched Uncharted Series an all-new collection of small-group, 15- to 20-day regional journeys.

Emerging Destinations and One-of-a-Kind Experiences

Knowing that affluent travelers seek the opportunity to explore undiscovered regions, TCS World Travel offers extraordinary adventures and exclusive access to emerging destinations with ease aboard the companys custom-configured Boeing 757. Northern Summer: A Journey Around the World by Private Jet and Kingdoms and Cultures of Eurasia by Private Jet are two highly anticipated trips taking flight in 2018 that explore remote, hard-to-access destinations. Following the midnight sun to the planets northernmost reaches June 18 July 10, 2018, Northern Summer: A Journey Around the World by Private Jet priced at $81,950 per person, double occupancy visits emerging destinations like Iceland, Mongolia and Russias Kamchatka Peninsula. Kingdoms and Cultures of Eurasia by Private Jet priced at $80,950 per person, double occupancy takes travelers through under-the-radar destinations like Kyrgyzstan, Iran and Oman, where storied pasts mingle with intriguing futures April 28 May 20, 2018.

New Uncharted Series

Set to depart in 2017 and 2018, the new Uncharted Series delivers highly immersive experiences and one-of-a-kind adventures limited to intimate groups of 12 to 20 guests. Travelers will experience the ease of flying on helicopters and mid-size private jets such as the Gulfstream G550 and Bombardier Challenger series on life-list adventures over the course of 15-20 days. Journey options include discovering some of Indias greatest treasures, from the peaks of the Himalayas and the deserts of Rajasthan to the bustling city of Mumbai; exploring China with experiences like a visit to Longshengs fabled terraced rice paddies and an encounter with giant pandas at a sanctuary; and searching for life lessons on health, longevity and spirituality amid the remote corners and thought-centers of Asia. TCS World Travels new regional trips start at $39,950 per person, double occupancy.

All TCS World Travel journeys are all-inclusive of private flights, best-available accommodations, ground transportation, dedicated staff and guides, dining, exclusive sightseeing options, special events and activities, and enrichment programs. For information about TCS World Travel, please visit https://www.TCSWorldTravel.com or call 800-454-4149. Follow TCS World Travel on Facebook at Facebook.com/TCSprivatejet and @TCSWorldTravel on Twitter and Instagram.

About Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure is the preeminent voice for the sophisticated, insatiable traveler, serving up expert intelligence and the most immersive, inspiring travel lifestyle content anywhere. Travel + Leisure captures the pure joy of discovering the pleasures the world has to offerfrom art and design to shopping and style to food and wine. Whether the experience is in print or digital, T+L offers compelling reasons to get up and go. With a total global audience of more than 9 million, the Travel + Leisure portfolio includes the U.S. flagship and five international editions in Mexico, Turkey, China, India/South Asia and Southeast Asia. The U.S. edition of T+L, which launched in 1971, has an authoritative website,TravelandLeisure.com, and an extensive social media following of more than 11 million. Travel + Leisure, a Time Inc. brand, also encompasses newsletters, clubs, retail stores, and media collaborations.

About TCS World Travel

TCS World Travel leads the industry in private jet journeys with the experience and knowledge built from developing hundreds of trips for nearly 25 years. Dedicated to delivering immersive, worry-free travel experiences, TCS World Travel caters to the needs and preferences of the globally curious and modern luxury traveler. Whether on curated around-the-world or regional expeditions by private air; or personalized itineraries created to any destination in the world, TCS World Travel provides unparalleled local access and exclusive activities tailored to any travel style.

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TCS World Travel Voted No. 1 Tour Operator in Travel + Leisure's ... - Business Wire (press release)

This Is the Best City in the World to Travel to – Yahoo News

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This year, San Miguel de Allende, a small city in the state of Guanajuato in eastern Mexico, takes Travel + Leisures award for The Worlds Best Cities.

Because the weather in San Miguel de Allende is temperate year-round, theres no bad time to visit, according to Travel + Leisure. There are also festivals year-round, the citys tourism site says, including a jazz and blues festival in November, a puppetry festival in April and a June parade of the locos (meaning fools) where people dress up in creative costumes as celebrities and politicians and everything in between.

Visitors can relax at hot springs, shop at an organic market, tour the area by bike, sample Oprahs favorite tequila, explore the iconic Parroquia Church, eat at one of San Miguel de Allendes global-inspired restaurants, and end the night at a rooftop bar with a view of the whole city.

Its a walkable city, and is filled with small shopsfrom sellers of arts and crafts to colorful kitsch shops to high end interior design stores, Travel + Leisure reports.

Directly behind San Miguel de Allende on the list came Charlestown, South Carolina. Another Mexican city Oaxaca also made an appearance. See the full list of the Worlds Best Cities here.

In the annual survey, readers rated experiences across 86 categories on a secure website, and scores were averaged in order to determine the Travel + Leisure awards for 2017.

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This Is the Best City in the World to Travel to - Yahoo News

7 of the world’s most beautiful libraries – CNN

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(CNN) How cool can libraries be in an era of iPads and Kindles?

More than you think, if you know where to go.

In its first year, more than two million tourists visited the library, which was designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and American designer Joshua Ramus.

Whatever the verdict, the building is an impressive work of art: shiny, abstract and unusual.

The library holds various art exhibitions, book signings and other events throughout the year.

The library offers free self-guided cell phone tours, along with group tours.

Where to find it: 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle, WA 98104 ; +1 206 386 4636.

Trinity College Library, the largest in Ireland, dates back to 1592.

Old, yes. Boring, no.

One of the most famous manuscripts is "The Book of Kells: Turning Darkness into Light," which contains the four Gospels in Latin based on a Vulgate text, written on vellum. The manuscript itself attracts more than 500,000 visitors a year.

The Long Room houses one of the oldest harps in Ireland. Dating to the 15th century, the oak harp is the model for the emblem of Ireland.

Queen Elizabeth II visited the library last year, the first monarch to do so since 1911.

Where to find it: College Green, Dublin 2; +353 1 8961127.

Geisel Library is named after Audrey and Theodor Seuss Geisel -- AKA Dr Seuss.

Throwing some literature into "Inception."

At first glance, it looks like a spaceship.

Architect William Pereira, who helped design actual space launch facilities at Cape Canaveral in Houston, Texas, designed the library in 1970. It has been featured in sci-fi films, short stories and novels.

If you need a hint of which film, think of Leonardo DeCaprio, dreams and a lot of snow.

Yes, the snow fortress in the film "Inception" looks a lot like the Geisel Library.

But of course, it's not just the exterior that's interesting. The library also hosts "Dinner in the Library," which invites readers for cocktails, a silent auction and also a special speech from prominent authors.

Where to find it: 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; +1 858 534 2230.

The roof of the TU Delft Library is covered in grass.

Where the Teletubbies may come to roam and read.

The building itself exists beneath the ground, so you can't really see the actual library. What makes it interesting is the roof, which is a grassy hill.

A huge cone pierces the grass roof, which symbolizes technology. This "gives (more) shape to the introverted reading rooms," according to the library.

The roof covers 5,500 square meters. Construction of the roof posed several difficulties in terms of maintenance and leakage, but it has become one of the most striking and greenest (both literally and environmentally) structures in the area.

Quick tip before you lie down on the grass: beware the sprinklers.

Where to find it: Prometheusplein 1, 2628, ZC Delft, The Netherlands; +31 15 27 85678.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a modern version of the famous ancient library that burned down in the 4th century.

The new library was reborn in 2002 on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea after 10 years of designing, planning and construction.

Along with the standard libraries with books, there are four museums covering antiquities, manuscripts and science, and also 15 permanent exhibitions, including "Impressions of Alexandria," "Arabic Calligraphy" and "The History of Printing."

With its circular yet tilting form, the library looks like a modern painting. Various carvings and alphabetic inscriptions decorate the flatter side of the building, which the designers explain is "a careful display of the library's basic proviso: language."

Where to find it:El Shatby, Al-Iskandariyya, Egypt; +20 3 483 9999.

Stuttgart City Library is contained within a white cube.

Try not to get your fingerprints on the white walls.

The Stuttgart City Library is controversial. Some say it's innovative, while others say it doesn't match its environment.

The space throws various events, including book signings, readings and exhibitions.

The white and silver library may not fit perfectly with the green trees and red-roofed houses around the city, but it does stand out.

Where to find it:Mailaender Platz 1, 70173, Stuttgart, Germany; +49 711 216 91100.

Bishan Library is designed to resemble a tree house.

Your modernized tree house.

Simple and sophisticated, it was designed to look like a tree house.

The colorful pods that stick out of one side of the building represent books protruding from a bookshelf. Inside the library, these pods offer private spaces for reading. Not to mention a perfect place to hold seminars, readings and workshops.

Its ceiling-high glass windows also make it fun to watch people walking and reading from inside the building.

Where to find it: 5 Bishan Place, #01-01, Singapore 579841; +65 6332 3255.

Editor's note: This article was previously published in 2013. It was reformatted, updated and republished in 2017.

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7 of the world's most beautiful libraries - CNN

What are the world’s best metro systems? – CNN

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(CNN) From the single, circular line of Glasgow to the cobweb-like network that is London, underground train systems have been a cheap, reliable and convenient mode of transport for decades.

But what about the others?

But what other systems rank among "the best?"

Hong Kong's MTR (mass transit railway) is renowned for being clean and fast.

There's free Wi-Fi in every station, facilities such as tactile flooring and Braille plates for travelers with disabilities and public washrooms, shops, banks and takeaway food outlets inside many stations or close to their exits.

There's no timetable for commuters -- trains just turn up every few minutes, sooner during peak periods -- and it's dead simple for visitors to buy a ticket via the automated machines.

It has possibly the world's most convenient Airport Express service, with departures every 10 minutes or so.

The website offers handy one-day itineraries for Hong Kong tourists keen to shop, eat or discover the local culture

Occasionally the walk from one concourse to the next can be lengthy and some stations get ridiculously crowded during peak hours (looking at you TST, Causeway Bay).

But that just gives more time to watch and wonder as this 211-kilometer, 150-station system copes easily with its 3.4 million passengers every day.

Seoul's metro system has TV, heated seats and cell phone service.

In addition to being one of the only metro systems in the world with cell phone service and Wi-Fi, many of the Seoul subway trains are outfitted with TVs and are climate controlled. We love the toasty, heated seats in the winter.

"Many subway planners come to Korea and are really blown away by the technology that we have in place," says Jung-whan Kim from Seoul Metro's media team. "It's a big showpiece for Korea's emphasis on IT."

The only downside is the early closing time -- around midnight on weekdays, a little earlier on weekends -- considering how obsessed the city is with nightlife.

The Singapore Mass Rapid transit (SMRT) is probably the fastest way to explore the city.

Some use it to seek refuge from the heat outside, lapping up the air-conditioned comfort.

The system gets demerits for lack of EZ-Link ticket card machines at some stations, meaning frequent lengthy lines for travelers needing to top up or buy a ticket.

The London Underground was the world's first underground railway, opened in 1863.

But for history, for great underground busking and for something relatively cheap in an expensive city, it's hard to beat.

Despite all the grumbling, the Underground ferries more than 1 billion journeys per year. Not bad for something that old.

Roughly 4.5 million people travel on the Paris metro daily.

With more than 1.5 billion passengers a year, Paris Metro is in the top-five for busiest city-rail services in the world.

The Paris Metro does lose some points for not having automatically opening doors. This hints at the average age of the carriages and suggests a need to spend a little on upgrades.

A giant mural of Spanish flamenco artist Paco de Lucia can be found at Madrid's Paco de Lucia station on the Line 9 of the metro.

At 294 kilometers, Madrid has the sixth-longest metro system in the world. But on top of that is another 386 kilometers of suburban rail services.

All up, Madrid's railway serves 1.5 billion passengers each year with 21 lines and 396 stations. Impressive, particularly given that Madrid's population is only 6.5 million.

Madrid Metro has 1,656 escalators, the most of any system in the world.

On New York's subway, you can actually get arrested for putting your feet on a seat.

It would be grossly unjust to leave out the city whose subway system, at least, never sleeps.

New York City's MTA subway lines are doubled up so all local and express trains can run simultaneously along the same routes, 24 hours a day.

And even when carrying out major work on a line, only a single track is decommissioned, leaving a reduced but still-open service. That's planning.

Speaking of musicians, a trip on the MTA isn't complete without encountering a busker (or beggar) doing the rounds of carriages.

Here, a Shinkansen bullet train waits at Tokyo Train Station. The Shinkansen is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan.

Some 102 train lines, an estimated 14 billion passengers per year. By most measures, Tokyo should take first place on anyone's list of best metros.

Successfully navigating Tokyo by train (and working out which station exit to use) is a proud moment for any traveler.

For some a positive, others a negative, you risk social-pariah status if you ever talk on your phone while moving. That's consideration for others at its best. Or worst.

Guangzhou didn't have a metro until 1997, now it also has a high-speed train to Beijing, pictured here.

Infrastructure investment exploded in 2004 when the city was awarded the 2010 Asian Games. In the ensuing six years, the council spent $11 billion (RMB 70 billion) on the metro system.

For going from absolute zero in 1992 to eight lines, 144 stations, 236 kilometers of track and 1.2 billion passengers in 2008, and for the 48-minute express-trip to Hong Kong (which opened in 2015), Guangzhou must get a mention.

Editor's note: This article was previously published in 2013. It was reformatted and republished in 2017.

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What are the world's best metro systems? - CNN

Transit hotels: How to get to sleep during your stopover – CNN

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(CNN) Globetrotters know what it's like trying to sleep coiled up on a hard plastic airport seat for hours while they await their next flight. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Transit hotels are making long, multi-flight trips tolerable.

These short-stay hotels are located within security checks in airports and close to terminals. Passengers can walk off the plane and check into a room to refresh between long flights.

No visa is required to stay over in a given country.

Rates at transit hotels vary but are often cheaper than at regular hotels.

Minimum required stays average about six hours. Standard amenities include a bed, desk, toilet, shower and Internet access, but many premium transit hotels include gyms and spas, as well.

Singapore's airport is one of the world's busiest.

Because business depends on a heavy flow of onward-bound passengers, transit hotels are nearly exclusive to busy transfer hubs, especially in Asia.

Forget sleeping on the plane, sleeping in a transit hotel is the way forward.

"You don't have to give people much (because it's a very short stay), but it can be difficult to predict the flow of people," Summers says.

"For example, if there is a major closure at an airport, it can be hard to plan how much food to prepare and how much staff to keep on."

The success of transit hotels also depends on the efficiency of the airport, with more efficient airports being less suitable for hotel business.

"If it is easy to clear customs, say at Hong Kong, people are probably less likely to stay inside the airport for their layover," explains Summers.

"But if it's harder, somewhere like New Delhi, people are more likely to find accommodation inside the airport."

The Eaton Smart transit hotel at New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport is stylish and comfortable.

Hotel GM Vikram Khetty explains how transit hotels are revolutionizing the way we wait for our next flight.

CNN: Who are your target customers?

Khetty: Passengers who are stuck at an airport waiting for their connecting flight. You might need to wait up to 10 hours in the airport before your next flight is ready, so a transit hotel is the ideal place to rest your head, refresh and enjoy some freshly prepared food or even a spa treatment, which will aid in the prevention of jet lag.

CNN: Are there visa or ticketing requirements for staying at your hotel?

Khetty: No visa is required, as transiting passengers often don't have an entry visa for India. For international travelers, they just need a passport and airline ticket, and for Indian nationals, identity papers or passport and travel documents.

CNN: What is the minimum stay?

Khetty: The rooms are sold for a minimum slot of five hours at $65 (Rs 3,000).

CNN: What makes Eaton Smart different from other transit hotels?

Khetty: The hotel will be known for its quick turnaround, smart utilization of room space, modern design and comfortable facilities. It will also offer free Internet access, a spa, innovative Aqua Pods, a gymnasium, and a lounge serving teas, alcoholic beverages and all-day dining menus.

Eaton Smart at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport has two wings -- domestic and international. The domestic wing has 36 rooms while the international wing has 57 rooms. All the rooms are 21 square meters in size.

Jane Leung is a Hong Kong-born Canadian who has worked in film and television production, the professional sports industry and magazine publishing.

Editor's note: This article was previously published in 2011. It was reformatted and republished in 2017.

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Transit hotels: How to get to sleep during your stopover - CNN

10 of the world’s most loved airports – CNN

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(CNN) Really? A small outpost on a remote island in Tierra del Fuego is the fifth most-loved airport in the world?

Strange and subjective as this may seem, it all starts to make sense when you think about how little love there actually is for any airport in the world.

Is it even possible -- let alone appropriate -- to love an airport? Maybe that's a subject beyond the scope of yet another illuminating Top 10 List, but the following inspired airports definitely deserve a little affection, at least.

You won't get a better welcome than you get at Auckland.

Like its rugby team, New Zealand's mysterious capacity to outperform much bigger places applies to its flagship aviation facility too.

Auckland's latest renovation has breathed welcome new life into its international terminal, which offers a swift E-gate system and an award-winning commercial property overhaul that includes several new dining options and A-list retailers, including Apple and MAC cosmetics.

Then there's the "Kiwi geniality factor," which in an airport that now supports over 20 international carriers, is more than just about free Steinlager beer on long-haul Air New Zealand flights.

"When we asked airport staff for directions here," notes one passenger, "we were actually walked to the location in question."

Montevideo's airport is renowned for its stylish exterior.

Finding contentment in virtually any airport in the Americas usually depends mainly on the book and/or beverage in your hand. One of the few exceptions to this rule is now hiding in Uruguay, which garners the kind of air passenger enthusiasm that Buenos Aires, Belize City or Baltimore can't even fathom.

"Attractive architecture, spacious, clean, lots of light. Smooth check-in, security control and immigration," gushes another. "Try the small coffee shop next to Gate 8 with an outdoor terrace!"

People passing through Montevideo are digging its airport's sleek, glassy, curvaceous $165 million makeover which was completed a few years ago and will surely score a cameo in "Up in the Air 2."

In a building this bright and shiny, even things that might bum passengers out in regular airports (What, no fast food court?) just make this one seem even more sophisticated.

Amenities include a full-service restaurant and third-floor observation deck with long, sunny views that thankfully don't reach Sao Paolo-Garulhos even on a clear day.

Because Canada does it better.

Canada's favorite little regional airport has earned its stripes on a reputation for ease, efficiency and friendliness, along with some value-added quirks that no other airport in the world would ever bother to think about.

Like, for example, hosting a special "chocolatier" exhibit or unveiling a 2.5-kilometer bike path around the perimeter.

Tucked in a scenic peninsula on Vancouver Island about 20 minutes from mercilessly pleasant downtown Victoria and a picturesque ferry ride from mainland British Columbia, Victoria "International" (the moniker derives from connections to SeaTac and San Francisco) handles well over a million annual domestic and U.S. passengers.

That's a lot for a terminal with nine little gates, three luggage carousels and a cozy glassy atrium. But it doesn't feel like it. "I was out within 10 minutes of the plane touching down," says one recent passenger.

Bottom line: this is the way everyone envisions entering Canada, and almost never does.

An airport so clean, you can eat your over-priced sandwich off the floor.

OK, so maybe not everyone loves Switzerland's largest airport when they're getting squeezed onto the Skymetro to Terminal E, grilled by a hair-splitting security officer, or paying through the teeth for a puny sandwich.

But it's a speedy train ride, security's just doing its job and you could eat your lunch off the floor here.

Zurich continues to offer the sort of spotless, well-run, no-nonsense flying experience that passengers realize they love when they're having a much worse time at another airport.

Recent expansion projects, renovations and increasing crowds may have hampered the facility's cuckoo-clock efficiency rep of late, but projects here -- like new terminals, observation decks, a children's airport-themed play area -- actually get done.

From the airport, there are few better train systems connecting passengers to the rest of Europe.

And few other airports are routinely decorated with as many consumer-oriented awards as Zurich.

When your state is like Las Vegas for the elderly, you need an efficient airport.

Never mind aviational blights like LAX or MIA that live down to their acronyms; it's a shame those sturdier major U.S. hubs don't get more respect. Atlanta-Hartsfield, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth.

These behemoths decently convey some of the largest, hardest-to-please throngs of air travelers on earth, who rag on them constantly.

Mid-sized American airports tend to fare better -- in random places like Portland, Oregon, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hartford, Connecticut and (all kidding aside) Detroit -- which get some due appreciation in the public eye.

The open-air walkways at Honolulu and Maui also earn raves -- though, given their location and high percentage of travelers coming specifically to brighten their moods, any Hawaiian airport has a bit of an unfair advantage.

But Tampa, home of the first Landside/Airside Terminal Complex structure, a frequent Global Airport Efficiency Award winner, and recipient of a Second Best Airport in the World in an aging J.D. Powers & Assoc. customer satisfaction survey, takes the lion's share of shout-outs.

Travelers through Tampa continue to wax on about its efficient, tram-connected wheel-spoked design that ends all running to distant gates (Denver, are you listening?), its affable Floridian staff that aren't like those tired, moody cadavers in Orlando, its tasteful galleria of stores, boutiques and restaurants that wouldn't dare deprive waiting passengers of a Ron Jon Surf Shop.

The only frequent beef here is that no major airline has elected to make this place its hub. But if Tampa is smart, it won't be going there any time soon.

Deep in the Martial mountains lies Ushuaia-Malvinas Argentinas International.

The world is dotted with cruddy, old air terminals plunked in the middle of nowhere, seducing passengers with their wild natural surroundings, hair-raising 50-meter runways and pimply teenage luggage crews.

But the modern, chalet-ish facility nestled on the outskirts of Ushaia between the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Channel on the bottom of the civilized world (aka "the world's southernmost international airport in the world's southernmost town") is an inspired-looking, 747-friendly place.

All slick gable roof and broad timber-beamed interior, you'd half-expect to find a ski boot rental counter in the basement.

There isn't one. But the lounge is quite nice, the bar is open, the Wi-Fi's on the house and there's a respectable duty free shop. Not bad for an outpost serving mainly as a gateway to Patagonia, Antarctica and the Falklands.

Airports like Jackson Hole could learn something here. And your arrival is nearly as dramatic as descending over the Tetons -- with sweet views of the lower Andes before rolling onto a rugged archipelago on the edge of the habitable planet.

Yeah, you're out there. Cheeseburger and a cocoa, please

One of the world's busiest airports.

Now that Lufthansa's second base (after bigger, busier, far less loved Frankfurt) has swiftly grown into a major international airport facing its own capacity issues, it could easily succumb to the stress-inducing foibles of other award-winning European hubs -- like Amsterdam (nice leather sofas, but what's with the lines?) and Copenhagen (is this an airport or a shopping mall with a sauna?).

But so far, so good.

Munich's 1990s-era Terminal 1 is younger, fresher-looking and better organized than most terminal 2s and 3s on the planet. Its second terminal, home to Lufthansa and Star Alliance members, is arranged around a bright, central plaza that makes LHR and CDG look purgatorial.

Smack in the middle, the facility's airy shopping and recreation area -- Munich Airport Centre -- is easily accessible to all passengers without feeling pushy.

A "Bavarian hospitality" ethos here means this is one of the few airports on either side of the Atlantic where a no-frills T2 passenger can enjoy free tea and coffee and a T1er can happily sit out a flight delay at Air Bru, a micro-brew worthy of a college town.

South Korea's largest and busiest airport.

At 10 years young, South Korea's pin-up airport continues to wow passengers with its bright and airy arrival halls, its futuristic connecting train terminal, its Pine Tree and Wildflower gardens and its boggling array of amenities that include private sleeping rooms, free showers, round-the-clock spa facilities, ubiquitous Internet lounges, a golf course and an ice skating rink.

And all this without forgetting why most people actually come to airports: not so much to work on their double axels or putting, but to get somewhere else as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Check out the traditional Korean music performances or acrobatic shows on the first floor open stage. And don't forget to swing by the Korean Culture Museum.

"It was nice to see several cultural experiences placed around the terminal," writes one airlinequality.com passenger. "How many of us go through an airport and learn nothing of the country we are in?"

If this isn't good enough, there's always the theater room.

Is there a bigger compliment to an airport than travelers routinely scheduling more time here just to have fun and relieve stress?

Spotless, flawlessly organized and stocked with conveniences that continue to lock Singapore for the gold, silver or (in an off-year marred by constructing more improvements) bronze in every serious annual airport poll, here's the place that re-invented what airports can be.

That is -- places with pools, whirlpool baths and massage tables, prayer rooms and rooftop bars, LAN gaming areas and free movie theaters, koi ponds and butterfly gardens.

Changi's massive interiors may require some hiking -- on efficient travelators or shuttle trains -- to distant gates or between terminals. But as long as you're not running to catch a flight, it's no O'Hare or Heathrow-style headache. More like a tour of what an elite international airport can and should be.

Above all, it's the mandated comfort factor here that's most appreciated by passengers gravitating to relaxation lounges or, in a pinch, reclining slumber chairs with flat-screen TVs spread throughout the terminal floors.

Based on its four C voting criteria -- Comfort, Convenience, Cleanliness and Customer service -- Sleeping in Airports has granted SIN its coveted Golden Pillow Award for 15 straight years.

Top dog? This airport's too busy to gloat.

Now that its place as one of the great land reclamation projects of the 20th century is, well, 20th-century, HKIA is onto newer benchmarks -- including entering the world's 50 million annual passenger club and becoming the busiest freight airport on earth.

This kind of pressure might sink a less inspired or prepared facility (the airport currently has a multi-phase Master Plan 2030 in the works which will see it through the next couple decades), but Hong Kong keeps looking better and more five-star functional with everything thrown at it.

And not just for cargo carriers, but for more than 900 daily flights' worth of satisfied travelers whisking through this foolproof hub -- offering loads of opportunities for lounging, golfing, fine-dining, 4-D movie theater-ing, free Wi-Fi'ing and simply wishing that the airport could be replicated in London, Paris, New York, Juneau ... anywhere outside of Asia.

Considered one of the most accessible airports in operation today, Hong Kong's swift and driverless Automated People Mover is both ultra-convenient and kind-of-forbidding.

Hong Kong's express train service to/from downtown offers remote check-in and has reinvented just how simple it should be to reach or depart a remote-looking airport. That is, if you ever want to depart.

Jordan Rane's work on travel and the outdoors has spanned six continents and appeared in over 50 publications.

Editor's note: This article was previously published in 2011. It was reformatted and republished in 2017.

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10 of the world's most loved airports - CNN

15 of the world’s weirdest museums – CNN

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(CNN) Not every museum is a shimmering beacon of high culture. Some focus on the more exotic aspects of the world.

No matter how bizarre, offbeat or outrageous the subject may be, there's probably a museum dedicated to it.

No, it's not a mistranslation.

This former pipe-house in the center of Beijing has been converted into a museum dedicated to the ins and outs of tap water, including 130 "real objects," models and artifacts such as vintage water coupons dating to the first tap water company in the capital, the Jingshi Tap Water Company.

But don't be tempted to quench your thirst after all this tap water reading; Beijing residents have long known that the water coming out of their taps is hardly safe to drink.

Don't miss: The miniature tap water filtration system that gives the Forbidden City a run for its money.

Beijing Tap Water Museum, 6A Dongzhimen Beidajie, Beijing, China

But here more than 600 pieces, which in other places might inspire polite nods and insincere compliments, have a place to shine.

Located "conveniently beside the toilets" in an old basement in Dedham, Massachusetts, the museum accepts only art too bad to ignore.

Row after row of misshapen flowers and brightly colored portraits reaffirm that, yes, your five-year-old could probably do that.

Don't miss: "Lucy in the field with flowers," a true icon depicting a seemingly floating septuagenarian amongst a slowly swaying field of blossoms.

Museum of Bad Art, Dedham Community Theatre, 580 High St., Dedham Square, Dedham, Massachusetts, United States

Behind these imposing walls lies ... a dog collar museum.

Medieval puppies would be rolling in their graves if they witnessed the stylish vests doggies are donning today.

Nearly half a million pet lovers rejoice every year in this one-of-a-kind display of dog paraphernalia, surprisingly the only one of its kind found in Great Britain.

The display of puppy attire with more than 100 unique items dates back centuries, documenting the history of canine accessories from medieval times.

Don't miss: Antique collars from the 15th and 16th centuries, sporting a strip of spikes around the neck to protect against attacking beasts.

The Dog Collar Museum, Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent, England

The humble lawnmower gets its own museum in Merseyside, Britain.

Round up the neighborhood fathers, it's time for a field trip!

Want to see the first solar-powered robot grass-chopper, or the original mower itself, transformed from a contraption used to hem guards' uniforms? This museum is for you.

From royal lawnmowers belonging to Prince Charles and Princess Diana, to the world's most expensive lawnmowers, this place allows everyone to at least talk up appearances even if you can't keep them.

Don't Miss: A fully functional lawnmower less than five centimeters high, ready to shave the errant blade of grass off even the tiniest lawn.

British Lawnmower Museum, 106-114 Shakespeare St., Southport, Merseyside, England

Explore the world's largest collection of hair gathered from more than 16,000 women.

Avanos, a tiny town in central Turkey, has been famous since antiquity for its remarkable earthenware pottery. In recent years, however, the town has gained fame for a more unusual sight: the caves of the bizarre Hair Museum, created by potter Chez Galip.

The walls under his studio are covered with the world's largest collection of hair sourced from more than 16,000 women, along with their names and addresses. Locks of every length and color transform everything but the floor in a kind of hairy haven.

Don't Miss: The exit

Avanos Hair Museum, 50500 Avanos, Turkey

Those sculptures say it all.

There's no pornography, but you can admire 276 penises, from the tiniest hamster member (two millimeters) to the colossal private parts of a sperm whale (1.7 meters). The museum received its first human exhibit from a 95-year-old Icelandic man in 2011.

Don't Miss: Lampshades made out of bull testicles, a tree trunk carved to look like a phallus and an "unusually big" penis bone from a specially endowed Canadian walrus.

Icelandic Phallological Museum, Laugavegur 116, 105 Reykjavk, Iceland

This museum will get a rise out of you.

More than 18,000 exhibits depict everything from the 6,000-year history of bread in works of art (artists include luminaries Salvador Dali, Many Ray and Pablo Picasso) to ancient artifacts of bakeries dating from the Stone Age.

Make sure to pack a lunch, though: despite being devoted to the food of life, you won't find one edible loaf within the museum.

Don't Miss: Silver vessels and ornate glass tankards recalling medieval times

The Bread Museum, Salzstadelgasse 10, Ulm, Germany

While the ground floor is devoted to retail, upstairs is a who's who of Hollywood undergarments, from Tom Hanks' boxer shorts in "Forrest Gump" to the undies of the entire cast of "Beverly Hills 90210."

There's even women's undies worn by men in drag, such as the dress worn by Milton Berle on his television show, and the training bra used by Phyllis Diller (marked "this side up").

Don't Miss: The museum was one of the many establishments looted during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, losing its cherished purple and gold brassiere formerly belonging to Madonna; however she provided a replacement after Frederick's donated $10,000 to charity.

Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame, 6608 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, California, United States

Andrea Ludden's obsession is with salt and pepper shakers. A trained anthropologist, she's writing a definitive study of the condiment dispensers, and displays her collection of more than 22,000 sets of salt and pepper shakers in a building specially arranged for their purpose.

The museum recalls small town Americana, with miniature McDonald's menu items, skeletons, penguins, space aliens and endless variations on nearly every type of vegetable.

You can even pick up your own pair at the gift shop, where many duplicates are for sale, allowing you to start your own collection.

Don't Miss: You'll pretty much find whatever figurine you can imagine here between the Amish farmers, sleepy Mexican rancheros and human feet.

Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum, Winery Square, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, United States

Russia's ecletic Kunstkamera museum dates back to 1727.

The massive collection of more than 200,000 natural and human oddities was originally assembled to dispel the Russian people's belief in monsters, though it's difficult to see how the strange exhibits might have accomplished that.

The czar put together a ghastly personal collection of curiosities including deformed fetuses, creatures with extra heads or limbs, even a decapitated human head preserved in vinegar. The building is now home to the modern Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, with many remnants of Czar Peter's collection of medical freaks hidden behind mannequins of local tribes and rather uninteresting presentations.

Don't miss: Hundreds of preserved human fetuses, every one of them with an odd anatomical mutation from flippers to deformed heads.

The Kunstkamera, 3 University Emb., St. Petersburg, Russia

Inside the International Cryptozoology Museum in Maine.

Cryptozoology is the study of unverified animals, mystical creatures only rumored to exist by legend or belief, such as the Yeti or Loch Ness Monster.

For Loren Coleman, who has become one of the world's leading experts on creatures that may not exist, "belief" is purely within the realm of religion.

Coleman has created a museum amassing a collection of purported specimens, relics and artifacts dealing with mythical creatures, including a life-size coelacanth and P.T. Barnum's Feejee Mermaid, as well as a wealth of hair samples, fecal matter and footcasts of animals that probably have never walked the face of the earth.

Don't Miss: A 2.5-meter, 130-kilo "Crookston Bigfoot," probably your only chance to see the legendary creature with your own eyes.

International Cryptozoology Museum, 11 Avon St., Portland, Maine, United States

A sight familiar to students everywhere ...

The meal of choice for bachelors and broke college students the world over now has a home of its own.

The museum itself is hardly dry and flavorless, with a kitchen where visitors can make their own instant chicken substitute meal in a bowl, a gourmet snack for people who can't really cook for themselves. Hot water is provided.

Don't Miss: The entire catalog of every Nissin instant noodle product. Ever. If you've been unemployed for some period of time, you'll feel right at home.

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum, Masumi-cho, Ikeda-shi, Japan

It shouldn't be taken lightly when a museum is colloquially known as the museum of death, and indeed, this museum is not for the weak of spirit. Or stomach.

It's no slasher flick, but it feels like one: hemorrhaged brains, severed and mutilated legs and arms, lungs cut up by deep knife wounds and skulls punctured by bullets demonstrating how bullets ricochet around inside your head.

Pretty much the most gruesome ways to pass on to the next life are on display like a local art museum, and it proves a hit: the morbid exhibition of a hospital is reportedly the most popular attraction in the capital.

Don't Miss: The mummified body of Si Ouey, a notorious cannibal who murdered several children during the 1950s.

Siriraj Medical Museum, Siriraj Hospital, 2 Prannok Road, Bangkoknoi, Bangkok; Thailand

The clowns who joked (and sometimes terrified) America are honored inside, with every one of the fascinating stories behind the inch-thick layer of makeup featured in the world's largest archive of clown artifacts.

Don't Miss: The scrapbooks of legendary circus clowns, allowing you to finally discover what exactly it is that makes a clown cry.

International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center, 102 4th Ave., Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States

Good hair day? On the third floor of the People's Museum in Malaysia is a monument to the extremes people will go to feel pretty, oh so pretty.

The records go back to the very beginnings of human history, revealing some of the outrageous concepts of beauty people will conform to: bound feet, insertion of round disks into their mouths, molding heads into oval shapes and much more.

Bring your own mirror; you'll feel a lot better about your own appearance after leaving this gallery of "real beauty."

Don't Miss: A display of how several tribes elongate the neck with brass rings or stretch ear lobes with plates. Take an aspirin after your look.

Museum of Enduring Beauty, Jalan Kota, Bandar Melaka (p. Jawa), Malaysia; +60 6282 6526

Editor's note: This article was previously published in 2011. It was reformatted, updated and republished in 2017.

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15 of the world's weirdest museums - CNN

Intel Forges New Xeon Line Under Scalable Processor Banner – TOP500 News

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After already shipping more than half a million of its next-generation Xeon products to customers, Intel officially launched its new Xeon scalable processor product line. The chipmaker is calling it the biggest data center advancement in a decade.

The feature set and broad contours of these new chips, which were previously code-named Skylake, have been known for some time. Back in May, we found out the new processors would be offered in four categories Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze -- which generally represent decreasing core counts, performance, and capabilities as you progress through the metal monikers. This new hierarchy would replace the E3, E5, E7 categories of previous Xeon product lines.

Source: Intel

Presiding over his first Xeon platform launch, Navin Shenoy, Intels new general manager of the Data Center Group, talked at length about what the company sees as the big growth opportunity for these latest Xeons: cloud computing, AI & analytics, and the new applications propelled by the transition from 4G to 5G wireless networks.

The first area, cloud computing, is where these datacenter processors are shipping in greatest volume these days. Shenoy noted that the number of Xeons being sold into cloud setups has doubled over the last three years. We anticipate that nearly 50 percent of our Xeon shipments by the end of 2017 will be deployed into either public or private cloud infrastructure, he said.

Some of these, no doubt, will be running high performance computing workloads, and although there was not much talk at the launch event devoted to HPC, the new processors have plenty to offer in this regard. In particular, the inclusion of 512-bit Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX-512) support and the integration of the Omni-Path interconnect on some of the Xeon models, are notable additions for the performance crowd. Up until now, both features were available only in Intels Xeon Phi products, processors that are designed exclusively for high-performance workloads

The AVX-512 provides 32 vector registers, each of which is 512 bits wide. These are twice the width of the 256-bit wide vectors available with the older AVX and AVX2 instruction set, which means performance can be doubled of many types of scientific simulations that rely heavily on floating point operations. AVX-512 also supports integer vectors, which can be applied to applications such as genomics analysis, virtual reality, and machine learning.

This feature can offer some serious speedups at the application level. Intel claimed a 1.72x performance boost on LAMMPS, a popular molecular dynamics code, when running on the 24-core Xeon Platinum 8168 processor, compared to the same code running on the previous generation Xeon E5-2697 v4 (Broadwell) chip. Overall, the company recorded an average 1.65x performance improvement across a range of datacenter workloads, which included applications like in-memory analytics (1.47x), video encoding (1.9x), OLTP database management (1.63x), and package inspection (1.64x).

The Linpack numbers are certainly impressive on the high-end SKUs. A server equipped with two 28-core Xeon Platinum 8180 processors, running at 2.5 GHz, turned in a result of 3007.8 gigaflops on the benchmark, which means each chip can deliver about 1.5 Linpack teraflops. Thats more than twice the performance of the original 32-core Knights Ferry Xeon Phi processor, and even better than the 50-core Knights Corner chip released in 2012. Even the current Knights Landing generation of Xeon Phi tops out at about 2 teraflops on Linpack using 72 cores. Keep in mind that the most expensive Knights Landing processor can be had for less than $3400 nowadays, while the Xeon Platinum 8180 is currently priced at $10,009. So if its cheap flops youre after, and your codes scale to 60 cores or more, the choice becomes pretty obvious.

Intel is also promising better deep learning performance on the new silicon. The company says they are getting 2.2 times faster speeds on both training and inferencing neural networks compared to the previous generation products. Ultimately, the Xeon line is not meant to compete with Intels upcoming products specifically aimed at these workloads, but they can serve as a general-purpose platform for these applications where specialized infrastructure is not warranted or not obtainable.

The integration of the high-performance Omni-Path (OPA) fabric interface is another Xeon Phi feature that was slid into the new Xeons. Its only available on some of the Platinum and Gold models, not the lesser Silver and Bronze processors, since these are unlikely to be used in HPC setups. OPA integration adds about $155 to the cost of the chip compared to its corresponding non-OPA SKU. Since a separate adapter retails for $958 and takes up 16 lanes of the processors PCIe budget, its a no-brainer to opt for the integrated version if youre committed to Omni-Path. If youre considering InfiniBand as well, that decision becomes trickier.

Source: Intel

Of the more than 500,000 Xeon scalable processors already shipped, about 8,600 of those went into three TOP500 supercomputers. One of these is the new 6.2-petaflop MareNostrum 4 system that recently came online at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. That system, built by Lenovo, is equipped with more than 6,000 24-core Xeon Platinum 8160 processors. The other two machines are powered by 20-core Xeon Gold chips: one, a 1.75-petaflop HPE machine running at BASF in Germany, and the other, a 717-teraflop system constructed by Intel and running in-house.

Other early customers include AT&T, Amazon, Commonwealth Bank, Thomas Reuters, Monefiore Health, and the Broad Institute, among others. The first customer for the new Xeons was Google, which started deploying them into their production cloud back in February. According to Google Platforms VP Bart Sano,, cloud customers are already using the silicon for applications like scientific modeling, engineering simulations, genomics research, finance, and machine learning. On these workloads, performance improvements of between 30 to 100 percent are being reported.

Prices for the new chips start at $213 for a six-core Bronze 3104 and extend all the way up to $13,011 for the 28-core Platinum 8180M processor. The fastest clock 3.6 GHz is found on the four-core Platinum 8156 chip. A complete list of available processors can be found here.

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China Tunes Neural Networks for Custom Supercomputer Chip – The Next Platform

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July 11, 2017 Nicole Hemsoth

Supercomputing centers around the world are preparing their next generation architectural approaches for the insertion of AI into scientific workflows. For some, this means retooling around an existing architecture to make capability of double-duty for both HPC and AI.

Teams in China working on the top performing supercomputer in the world, the Sunway TaihuLight machine with its custom processor, have shown that their optimizations for theSW26010 architecture on deep learning models have yielded a 1.91-9.75X speedup over a GPU accelerated model using the Nvidia Tesla K40m in a test convolutional neural network run with over 100 parameter configurations.

Efforts on this system show that high performance deep learning is possible at scale on a CPU-only architecture. The Sunway TaihuLight machine is based on the 260-core Sunway SW26010, which we detailed here from both a chip and systems perspective. The convolutional neural network work was bundled together as swDNN, a library for accelerating deep learning on the TaihuLight supercomputer

According to Dr. Haohuan Fu, one of the leads behind the swDNN framework for the Sunway architecture (and associate director at the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi, where TaihuLight is located), the processor has a number of unique features that couple potentially help the training process of deep neural networks. These include the on-chip fusion of both management cores and computing core clusters, the support of a user-controlled fast buffer for the 256 computing cores, hardware-supported scheme for register communication across different cores, as well as the unified memory space shared by the four core groups, each with 65 cores.

Despite some of the features that make the SW26010 a good fit for neural networks, there were some limitations teams had to work around, the most prominent of which was memory bandwidth limitationssomething that is a problem on all processors and accelerators tackling neural network training in particular. The DDR3 memory interface provides a peak bandwidth of 36GB/s for each compute group (64 of the compute elements) for a total bandwidth of 144 GB/s per processor. The Nvidia K80 GPU, with a similar double-precision performance of 2.91 teraflops, provides aggregate memory bandwidth of 480 GB/sTherefore, while CNNs are considered a compute-intensive kernel care had to be taken with the memory access scheme to alleviate the memory bandwidth constraints. Further, since the processor does not have a shared buffer for frequent data communications as are needed in CNNs, the team had to rely on a fine-grained data sharing scheme based on row and column communication buses in the CPU mesh.

The optimized swDNN framework, at current stage, can provide a double-precision performance of over 1.6 teraflops for the convolution kernels, achieving over 50% of the theoretical peak. The significant performance improvements achieved from a careful utilization of the SW26010s architectural features and a systematic optimization process demonstrate that these unique features and corresponding optimization schemes are potential candidates to be included in future DNN architectures as well as DNN-specific compilation tools.

According to Fu, By performing a systematic optimization that explores major factors of deep learning, including the organization of convolution loops, blocking techniques, register data communication schemes, as well as reordering strategies for the two pipelines of instructions, the SW26010 processor on the Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer has managed to achieve a double-precision performance of over 1.6 teraflops for the convolution kernel, achieving 54% of the theoretical peak.

To further get around the memory bandwidth limitations, the team created a three-pronged approach to memory for its manycore architecture. Depending on what is required, the CPE (compute elements) mesh can access the data items either directly from global memory or from the three-level memory hierarchy (register, local data memory and larger, slower memory).

Part of the long-term plan for the Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer is to continue work on scaling traditional HPC applications to exascale, but also to continue neural network efforts in a companion direction. Fu says that TaihuLight teams are continuing the development of swDNN and are also collaborating with face++ for facial recognition applications on the supercomputer in addition to work with Sogou for voice and speech recognition. Most interesting (and vague) was the passing mention of a potential custom chip for deep learning, although he was non-committal.

The team has created a customized register communication scheme that targets maximizing data reuse in the convolution kernels, which reduces the memory bandwidth requirements by almost an order of magnitude, they report in the full paper (IEEE subscription required). A careful design of the most suitable pipelining of instructions was also built that reduces the idling time of the computation units by maximizing the overlap of memory operation and computation instructions, thus maximizing the overall training performance on the SW26010.

Double precision performance results for different convolution kernels compared with the Nvidia Tesla K40 using the cuDNNv5 libraries.

To be fair, the Tesla K40 is not much of a comparison point to newer architectures, including Nvidias Pascal GPUs. Nonetheless, the Sunway architecture could show comparable performance with GPUs for convolutional neural networkspaving the way for more discussion about the centrality of GPUs in current deep learning systems if CPUs can be rerouted to do similar work for a lower price point.

The emphasis on double-precision floating point is also of interest since the trend in training and certainly inference is to push lower while balancing accuracy requirements. Also left unanswered is how convolutional neural network training might scale across the many nodes availablein short, is the test size indicative of the scalability limits before the communication bottleneck becomes too severe to make this efficient. However, armed with these software libraries and the need to keep pushing deep learning into the HPC stack, it is not absurd to think Sunway might build their own custom deep learning chip, especially if the need arises elsewhere in Chinawhich we suspect it will.

More on the deep learning library for the Sunway machine can be found at GitHub.

Categories: AI, HPC, ISC17

Tags: ISC17, TaihuLight

OpenPower, Efficiency Tweaks Define Europes DAVIDE Supercomputer The X86 Battle Lines Drawn With Intels Skylake Launch

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Sornette Supercomputer Calls For A Crash – Investing.com

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The supercomputer that monitors the stock market for Didier Sornette has diagnosed a bubble in four sectors of the market and has recommended shorting the FANG stocks.

Sornettes bubble calls result in a crash of at least 20% roughly 60% of the time. In those cases, the crash reaches its target within two weeks of the bubble call.

The other 40% of the time, the market starts a sideways move that can take months but usually breaks out downwards into a correction of at least 20%. Occasionally its less, like 15%. It can be a lot more (like the dot-com crash).

Occasionally the sideways move is fast and results in an upwards breakout that extends the bubble. You can get a few of these extensions (as at the top of the dot-com bubble) before a bigger crash.

QQQ is a Favorite to Put In a H&S with a Triangle Right Shoulder Here (Green Scenario)

is potentially putting one of the strongest possible topping patterns on its daily charta head and shoulders with a triangle right shoulder. The likelihood of that topping scenario is increased by the big red candle QQQ put in a June 9. That was a Neely short set-up for a retrace of the move out of the February 2016 low.

QQQ Needs a Retrace to the Bottom of its Light Blue Rising Wedge and Navy Blue Megaphone VWAP

QQQ needs a serious stab at a retrace to VWAP of its navy blue long-term megaphone, which started forming in July 2014, to be legal for an upwards breakout from the megaphone (green scenario). That would also retrace the light blue rising wedge.

QQQ could also go all the way for the navy blue megaphone bottom, but the fast topping process in the green scenario would make that scenario less likely.

The purple scenario becomes more likely if QQQ goes for delay and a more extended topping process. The charts are aligned beautifully with Sornettes call.

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Sornette Supercomputer Calls For A Crash - Investing.com

New NUH study to test stem cells as treatment for liver disease … – TODAYonline

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SINGAPORE The use of stem cell treatment to repair liver cirrhosis, or hardening of the liver, will be tested in a clinical trial here involving 46 patients and costing S$2.6 million.

The four-year study, which was launched yesterday, came amid a growing waiting list in Singapore for a liver transplant, which is currently the only cure for patients with end-stage liver cirrhosis.

Conducted by a multi-centre team from several restructured hospitals here, the study is led by the National University Hospital (NUH).

Liver failure is one of the top 20 causes of death in Singapore, but many patients are not suitable for a transplant due to factors such as age and surgical fitness.

Out of every five patients doctors see with end-stage liver disease, only one qualifies for a liver transplant, said Dr Dan Yock Young, principal investigator of the clinical trial and senior consultant at NUHs division of gastroenterology and hepatology.

(A liver transplant) is curative, but it is a complex procedure, and many patients are not suitable for it. For these patients, treatment is limited, but morbidity and mortality rates are high as high as 50 per cent in one year and this is probably worse than many (of the) other terminal illnesses we talk about today, he said.

Animal studies conducted over the last five years have shown that stem cells can reconstruct the micro-environment of a normal liver.

Like how branches are of critical importance in supporting the leaves and fruits of a tree, the endothelial (stem) cells contribute to supporting a nutritious environment for the hepatocyte (liver) cells, Dr Dan explained.

While similar stem-cell studies have been conducted in other centres in Asia, there has been no definitive evidence of the benefits of the treatment for liver patients.

The study will recruit 46 patients aged between 40 and 70 years old, and who are at the terminal stages of chronic liver disease, over three years. It is funded by the National Medical Research Council.

During the clinical trial, patients will be divided into a therapeutic group and a control group.

All patients will receive an injection to stimulate their bone marrow cells as part of the supportive treatment for their liver cirrhosis. However, only patients in the study group will have the stem cells from the bone marrow extracted and deposited directly into their liver for more targeted repair.

Using ones own stem cells will avoid the problem of cell rejection.

The liver tissue will be examined three months later, and an investigation to compare pre- and post-transplant results will be conducted after a year.

Since invasive surgery is not required for stem-cell therapy, the fatality risk is significantly lowered for the patient. However, other risks such as severe bleeding and infections still remain, given the patients weakened condition.

NUH also noted that the stem-cell therapy does not replace liver transplants, and the latter remains the best available treatment for liver cirrhosis.

It is very painful to turn patients away when we cannot offer them a liver transplant, said Dr Dan, adding that this stem cell therapy will serve as an alternative option.

We hope that this is a stepping stone to trials for stem cell candidates, he added.

MORE WAITING FOR A LIVER

The number of people on the waiting list for a liver transplant has been growing in recent years. In June last year, it was reported that there were 54 people on the list, more than double the 24 patients in 2011.

Chronic Hepatitis B remains the primary cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which refers to a range of liver conditions affecting people who drink little to no alcohol. However, obesity has become a contributing factor to the illness as well.

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‘Stem-cell tourism’ needs tighter controls, say medical experts – The … – Washington Post

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By Reuters By Reuters July 8

Stem cell tourism in which patients travel to developing countries for unproven and potentially risky therapies should be more tightly regulated, according to a group of international health experts.

With hundreds of medical centers around the world claiming to be able to repair tissue damaged by conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinsons disease, tackling unscrupulous advertising of such procedures is crucial.

These therapies are advertised directly to patients with the promise of a cure, but there is often little or no evidence to show they will help or that they will not cause harm, the 15 experts wrote in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Some types of stem cell transplant mainly using blood and skin stem cells have been approved by regulators after full clinical trials found they could treat certain types of cancer and grow skin grafts for burn patients.

But many other potential therapies are only in the earliest stages of development and have not been approved by regulators.

Stem cell therapies hold a lot of promise, but we need rigorous clinical trials and regulatory processes to determine whether a proposed treatment is safe, effective and better than existing treatments, said one of the 15, Sarah Chan of Britains University of Edinburgh.

The experts called for global action, led by the World Health Organization, to introduce controls on advertising and to agree on international standards for the manufacture and testing of cell- and tissue-based therapies.

The globalization of health markets and the specific tensions surrounding stem cell research and its applications have made this a difficult challenge, they wrote. However, the stakes are too high not to take a united stance.

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'Stem-cell tourism' needs tighter controls, say medical experts - The ... - Washington Post

Euthanasia, dignity, and spirituality lite – Religion News Service

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EDITORS NOTE:This article originally appeared in Sightings, a publication of the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Sign uphereto receive Sightings in your inbox on Mondays and Thursdays.

Those (of us) who value the ethical but are not ethicists have good reason to pay attention to those philosophers, theologians, and, yes, ethicists, whose vocation dignity, and spirituality lite it is to deal with values, whether these have to do with ordinary problems and dilemmas or with extraordinary ones, such as matters of life and death. These are not, and cannot be, right all the time, or in agreement with each other much of the time, but they gain credibility in the eyes and minds of ordinary and extraordinary people when they follow their vocation and subject themselves and each other to criticism.

Few problems or issues are more troubling than those code-named euthanasia. When The New York Times (May 25) placed a story about euthanasia on page one and followed through on more pages, there were many reasons for the public to take special note. The story, At His Own Wake: Celebrating Life and the Gift of Death by Catherine Porter, was attention-getting enough, for it followed the career toward death of a particularly engrossing candidate for euthanasia, John Shields, a former Roman Catholic priest who, in the language of the church, left the faith. Among those who read the story of the end of his trail was Gilbert Meilaender of Valparaiso and Notre Dame universities. From their fields in Indiana, this professor has figuratively walked with people in the valley of the shadow of death and reflected on its realms.

He did not think much of the Times piece, and said so in an important response in Commonweal (June 30). Assuming that fewer people read that Roman Catholic magazine than read the Times, well commend both articles to all but concentrate on the little-magazine response. For the title of his article on Porters account of Shieldss end, Meilaender came up with Pathos, Bathos, and Euthanasia: Clearly intended to elicit pathos the account is, by my lights, drowning in bathos. He does not admire the euthanized John Shields nor those who chose to orchestrate and choreograph the homemade rituals, drawn from countless different (and incompatible) cultural and religious traditions

Meilaender scores Porter and the Times for seeking sympathy for Mr. Shields, but sees the article as a puff piece aimed at evoking support for one side of a complicated moral argument. Not humble, Shields became a spiritual cosmologist, who announced, I come forth at this precise moment to contribute my unique gifts to the great unfolding. Not quite Hegelian, thinks Meilaender, who may be sympathetic to Shields, but not to his way of coping with always terminal amyloidosis, as he profited from Canadas newly legalized medical assistance in dying.

The whole scheme of the Canadian law, the self-advertising of Shields, and the awe-full account by Porter and the colleagues whom she quotes, is based on a concept of self-determination, which Meilaender effectively critiques. For this critic the virtue of compassion, which motivates support for euthanasia, has a shape and has limits: the imperative that governs this virtue is not minimize suffering, but maximize care. The self-invented rituals patched together by Shields and executed after his death lead Porter to create traditions which are not likely long to survive; this sort of spirituality lite cannot sustain us in the face of death.

Meilaender ends with a particular and particularized Christian affirmation and response, arguing that in the face of a culture intent on teaching that to experience decline and loss of capacities is to lose dignity, we need to insist that each of us, whatever our capacities, is equidistant from eternity, and that no one for whom Christ was content to die can lack human dignity. Christianity is not the only anti-bathos-faith, but it is representative of values unlikely to be surrendered by those in any community or tradition who celebrate dignity more than advertised self-affirmation. One suspects.

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Euthanasia, dignity, and spirituality lite - Religion News Service

Princess Nokia Will Use Smart Girl Club To Promote Afro-Indigenous Spirituality – Vibe

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Nearly two months ago, Princess Nokia spoke atBrown University about spirituality, and nearly a month later, all of social media began spreading her infectious vibesat least 40,000 times. On Tuesday (July 11), the Afro-Nuyorican took to her Instagram account to thank everyone for the positive affirmations and messages sent her way following the viral clip.

The 25-year-old recording artist also took the time to open up about her journey to the level of spirituality that she has reached thus far.

READ: LAMC SummerStage Battles U.S. Radio Format With Princess Nokia, F & Mon Laferte

When I began my spiritual journey almost 6 years ago at 19 years old, I had much to learn about the mysteries of life, indigo phenomenon, clairvoyance, magic, the reclamation of afro diaspora, conscious evolution and vibrational oneness, the Metallic Butterfly artist began. It has been a wonderful, eye opening last few years of studying and co existing within the sacred realm of light. It has been a both painful and rewarding path that has tested my discipline, commitment, and health. It has tested my emotional, psychological, and spiritual well being. It wasnt always rainbows and sage bundles.

In the last month I have received a large amount of positive affirmations & messages in regard to the viral clip of my talk at Brown University regarding spirituality & magical identity. I have been overwhelmed by the amount of LOVE that has been received and communicated by SO many people, of all ages and worlds alike. I never imagined that my thoughts on spiritual solitude and evolving within the divine feminine and sacred living would be regarded so warmly. Thank you world, for acknowledging my intellect and beliefs, that are deep rooted in so much love and positivity. When I began my spiritual journey almost 6 years ago at 19 years old, I had much to learn about the mysteries of life, indigo phenomenon, clairvoyance, magic, the reclamation of afro diaspora, conscious evolution and vibrational oneness. It has been a wonderful, eye opening last few years of studying and co existing within the sacred realm of light. It has been a both painful and rewarding path that has tested my discipline, commitment, and health. It has tested my emotional, psychological, and spiritual well being. It wasnt always rainbows and sage bundles. In fact it took a long time to fully understand and utilize the information and lifestyle that id been studying and trying to use. What I will say, it has all been worth it, to bask in the knowledge of self, the love of GOD, and understand the conscious mind. It has been life changing to study different forms of healing, wellness, therapy, and apply them to my self with the utmost of purity and good intention. Spirituality is a general connection to the Divine and Sacred. It is a relationship and knowledge of higher cosmic learning. It is a pathway to higher consciousness, and vibrational living. It is a vital part of re healing this broken society and world, but healing ourselves as people. It is a part reshaping our concepts and perceptions of health, interaction, energy, and almost every facet of every day life. Ive decided to use @smartgirlclub as a bigger platform in helping communicate this education. It will be a platform for spiritual wellness, Divine healing, Educational magic and Afro indigenous identity @smartgirlclub

A post shared by New York City Aficionado (@princessnokia) on Jul 11, 2017 at 9:20am PDT

Before thanking the world for acknowledging [her] intellect and beliefs that are deep rooted in so much love and positivity, Nokia continued to note that the journey has been all worth it.

Since her fans and the rest of the world were so drawn to her spiritual wealth, sending positivity and affirmations her way thereafter, she decided to reciprocate. The G.O.A.T. rapper-singer announced that she will be utilizing her Smart Girl Club platform for spiritual wellness, divine healing, educational magic and Afro indigenous identity.

READ: Solange, Willow Smith, & More Plot 2017 Afropunk Atlanta Takeover

Big ups to Destiny Frasqueri for spreading the majestic Afro-Latinx spirituality vibes, because there really is enough to go around. Scroll through some of the Smart Girl Clubs posts below to catch the vibes, education and positivity.

READ: Sampha, Kaytranada, Princess Nokia & More Announced For Afropunk Brooklyn 2017

READ: Femcees Are Still MIA On Major Festival Bills, Care To Explain?

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Princess Nokia Will Use Smart Girl Club To Promote Afro-Indigenous Spirituality - Vibe

Intersection: Community Center 729 Explores Spirituality And Helping The Homeless – WMFE

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Trish Roddis. Photo: Matthew Peddie WMFE

For nearly 10 years the Community Center 729 in Orlando has been a place of yoga, meditation and spiritual retreat. Founder Patricia Roddis has another mission too, which is helping the homeless.

Roddis started the Non-profit Community Center 729 in 2007 as a place to explore spirituality. The center,just off of North Mills Avenue, offers classes in yoga, meditation and spiritual development.

Roddis also helps the homeless by providing them with food, clean clothes and other essentials. said Roddis.

It came down to IDs, steeled toed shoes, and resumes, said Roddis.

And that pretty much summed up what was the difference between someone getting a job and not.

The center always has clean clothes and can help with food when it is needed.

If I want to really sum up the center that is one of the amazing things about it, I can put out a news letter saying that this is what were wanting [items for people in need] and it floods in, said Roddis.

The center holds meditation classes around every night, and yoga classes every other night at the center, and serves all walks of life.

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Intersection: Community Center 729 Explores Spirituality And Helping The Homeless - WMFE

Religion and Spirituality Events: 7/12 – Cecil Whig

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Low-cost, local events happening this week. To be included, your event must be family friendly, cost less than $25 per person and take place in Cecil County as well as adjoining areas within a 20-minute drive. Please submit the event title, time, address to accent@cecilwhig.com. Once approved by an editor, the event will be listed until its completion date. It will run in the print edition as space allows. You can also submit to a separate online calendar at cecildaily.com.

ICE CREAM SOCIAL,7 to 8:30 p.m. at Oxford United Methodist Church, 18 Addison St., Oxford, Pa. Free.

YOGA, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Ongoing $15 drop-in. Multi-level for everyone. Call instructor Laura Hannan at 1-540-421-0296.

CLUTTERERS ANONYMOUS, 6 to 7 p.m. at Janes United Methodist Church, 213 N. Walnut St., Rising Sun. Clutterers Anonymous is a 12-step program to help people solve their problems with clutter/hoarding. There are no dues or fees. Contact Martha H. 443-350-1483.

YOGA, 7 p.m. weekly classes at Cecil County Arts Council, 135 E. Main St., Elkton. Intro class is free. Then pay $10 per class or buy five classes for $45. Classes are designed for new and experienced yogis. Contact class instructor Sarah Mester at smester@comcast.net.

IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH, 7 p.m. at 229 E. Main St., Elkton. Panic, fear, anxiety, depression. Attend a free weekly meeting with Recovery International.

FREE LUNCH, 12 to 1 p.m. every Friday at Elkton Presbyterian Church, 209 E. Main St. provided by Elkton Community Kitchen. All are welcome. For more information contact elktoncommunitykitchen@gmail.com.

SUNDAE AND A MOVIE NIGHT, 6:30 p.m. at Zion UMC. Make your own sundae and then watch "Beauty and the Beast." Free.

SMART RECOVERY, 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Janes UMC in Rising Sun. This meeting is for those recovering from the disease of addiction. This is an open support group that meets every Saturday.

SATURDAY EVENING SERVICE, 5 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 105 N. Bridge St., Elkton. Will recur every week at this time.

PUPPETS AND PEACH ICE CREAM, 6 p.m. at Harts UMC Amphitheater, 3203 Turkey Point Road in North East. Puppets and music performance by Jack Foreaker. Free admission. Refreshments will be on sale, including Harts famous Turkey Point Peach Ice Cream.

OUTDOOR WORSHIP, 9:30 a.m. rain or shine outdoor interdenominational service at Elk Neck State Park hilltop shelter, 4395 Turkey Point Road (Route 272, 9 miles south of NEUMC). Gil Nagle.

PARISH SUNDAY SCHOOL, 9:45 a.m. at Zion UMC in Cecilton. Recurs weekly.

DEBTORS ANONYMOUS, 6 to 7 p.m. at Janes United Methodist Church, 213 N. Walnut St., Rising Sun. Debtors Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who help each other solve their problems with debt. DA is a 12-step program. There are no dues or fees. Contact Martha H. 443-350-1483.

NARANON MEETING, 7 p.m. at Bethel Lutheran Church, North East. Hope and Peace every Monday. Contact Lorri: 443-250-0909.

WOMENS NA MEETING, 7 p.m. at Bethel Lutheran Church, North East.

YOGA 4 SENIORS, 9 to 10 a.m. at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Pre-registration is required. Call instructor Laura Hannan at 1-540-421-0296. $12 per class if all six are pre-paid or $15 drop-in.

SENIOR MEETING, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Stephens Parish Hall in Earleville. Anyone 55 or older is invited to attend. Come and meet your neighbors. No membership fee. Lunch is served. Come for the fellowship, speaker, see what events we are planning. Questions call 410-275-8150. Recurs weekly.

MENS YOGA CLASS, 11 a.m. at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Pre-registration is required. Call instructor Laura Hannan at 1-540-421-0296. $12 per class if all six are pre-paid or $15 drop-in.

COMMUNITY ARTS AND CRAFTS, 1 p.m. free instruction at St. Stephens Church, 10 Glebe Road, Earleville. Ongoing drawing and painting classes for beginner or serious artists. bspelled123@gmail.com. http://www.communityartandcrafts.com. Call Jerry at 410-275-2945.

TOPS, 5:30 p.m. at Rosebank UMC, Rising Sun. Nonprofit weight-loss support group, meets weekly. $6 monthly fee. First meeting free. topsrosebank@gmail.com.

NARANON, 7 p.m. every Tuesday at Elkton United Methodist Church. A Nar-Anon adult support meeting for those with addicts in the family.

MEDITATION, 7 p.m. every Tuesday with Three Roots Wellness at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Learn basics of meditation practices and how to make it useful in your everyday life. Donation based. Registration is required email to angela@threerootswellness.com.

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Religion and Spirituality Events: 7/12 - Cecil Whig

Is Bullying A Public Health Issue? – Big Think

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Lisa Feldman Barrett does not want her leg to be broken. But shell choose a fractured tibia over the atrophying of her hippocampus any day. A stupid choice in the shaky world of hypotheticals, she tells me, but truth is its easier to mend a bone than grow back neurons.

Barrett knows plenty about neurons. A University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University, Barretts new book, How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, is a groundbreaking investigation into how our brain creates emotions. While Im going to discuss this process in an upcoming article, the timeliness of her theory on neuronal damage and justice cannot be ignored. Suffice to say that instead of being reactionary animals in a world of stimulation bombardment, Barrett believes, with plenty of evidence, that humans are creators of cognitive and emotional experiences every step of the way. Emotions dont happen to you; you create them.

In her book she contemplates how the government treats the concept of harm:

The law protects the integrity of your anatomical body but not the integrity of your mind, even though your body is just a container for the organ that makes you who you areyour brain. Emotional harm is not considered real unless accompanied by physical harm.

If she were to break my leg, she says, she would be held accountable. But what if she berated me? Or inflicted casual brutality, as, say, countless trolls on Twitter every day? Communication and social skills are two reasons weve evolved into an apex predator that took control of the planet, yet the same skills compromise our public health when we peck out immature rants on social media. As she says, with a slight laugh,

The best thing for a human nervous system is another human, but the worst thing for the human nervous system is another human.

This problem is especially damaging to children. Bullying and abuse have long-term effects. Children who are bullied become sick more easily throughout their life due to compromised immune systems. Their hippocampus and parts of their prefrontal cortex suffer neuronal death. Chances theyll develop diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers increase.

Even worse, their lives might be shortened. The protective caps at the end of your chromosomes are called telomeres. Each time a cell divides your telomeres are shortened. When they end up too short, you die. One of the main adversaries of telomere length is stress. Bullied children have shorter telomeres.

Barrett recalls that old trope about sticks and stonesnames can kill neurons is how she phrases it. Since our legal system does not associate words with weaponry she believes our society is ill-equipped to deal with pervasive bullying. And this is no longer a childhood phenomenon. We elected one of the biggest. What some call strength is really destruction en masse. Yet the blame is not aimed at him alone.

If you look at what has happened to public discourse and entertainment over the last decade you can see that we have a culture of casual brutality. The way that people look at and speak to each other has really deteriorated.

She mentions network television sitcom research that investigated the frequency in which verbal abuse, bullying, and relational aggression occurs. Once every four to five minutes a character is denigrated, usually to a laugh track. The victim often responds casually, taking it in stride as if no offense has been rendered. Thats not what happens in real life.

Barrett admits shes not a lawyer and is not equipped to deal with the specificities of law. Yet she believes emotional pain needs to be considered. In the long run its more damaging to the health of victims. Because emotional pain is not quantifiable in the way a broken leg is its difficult to measure the effects of bullying and verbal abuse. Yet over 20 percent of children have reported being a victim or perpetrator of bullying, while 13 percent have been involved in electronic bullying. Their pain and suffering is real.

Though uncertain how to approach this growing problem she says the research is crystal clear. Barrett casts aside any notion this is a liberal plea; the evidence is not debatable. And its not only affecting children. She links the record numbers of people on opioids and anti-anxiety and depression meds as part of the larger problem. Words can harm you.

If you and I wanted to sit down and create an environment that would make people sick and distressed, we couldnt have done a better job, frankly. This is why people think the political climate in the United States is very seriously a public health issue.

Our toxic political climate is doing irreparable damage to the national nervous system. We can no longer turn to elected officials for guidance, which brings into question their leadership capabilities. Our life spans are being shortened tweet by tweet. Whats trickling down helps no one, perpetrator or victim. Were all in this together. The longer it takes to realize that, the more we all suffer.

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Derek's latest book,Whole Motion: Training Your Brain and Body For Optimal Health, is out now. He is based in Los Angeles. Stay in touch onFacebookandTwitter.

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Is Bullying A Public Health Issue? - Big Think

Why we need to take the spiritual aspect of sports more seriously – Religion News Service

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commentary By Edward Hastings | 17 hours ago

Britain's Andy Murray celebrates after winning against Italy's Fabio Fognini after their men's singles match on day five at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on July 7, 2017. Photo by Alastair Grant/AP

(RNS) Many people tend to write off sports as a waste of time, only for jocks, not worthy of serious consideration from an academic or even a religious perspective.

As a scholar who teaches a course on Sport and Spirituality, in a Roman Catholic school, I often run up against common cliches that get in the way:

They can build character, but there is no guarantee they will.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of examples of how they do not automatically help one morally, including steroid use, issues related to concussions, recruiting scandals and gambling problems.

It has been said that sports create character or reveal character. In a society that is obsessed with winning, we must focus on the character-building of athletic achievement as opposed to just the outcome of who came in first.

Athletes are often seen pointing to the heavens after crossing home plate following a home run or thanking God in postgame interviews.

However, the connection between sports and God (or the gods) actually goes back to the ancient Greeks, if not earlier. In the fifth century B.C., the Olympic games were always played to placate or to praise the gods. In a context where there is so much me-first thinking, going beyond oneself to the transcendent can move a person beyond the self and perhaps even prompt better performance.

If anything, we do not take sports seriously enough.

Sports can teach spirituality if we are aware of how to look at them. I like to refer to ministry through sports as a spirituality by stealth. We can sneak in significant life lessons or virtues through a popular experience.

Michigan Wolverines guard Derrick Walton Jr. kneels on the court at the conclusion of the Wolverines game against the Wisconsin Badgers during the Big Ten Conference Tournament championship game March 12, 2017, at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Photo by Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports

In 2016, the Vatican launched an initiative titled Sport at the Service of Humanity, during which Pope Francis said: Challenge yourself in faith as you challenge yourself in sports. That conference identified sixvirtues that can be taught through sports: joy, compassion, respect, love, balance and enlightenment.

The Rev. Thomas Keating, a well-known Trappist order spiritual writer, said, Every human pleasure is meant to be a stepping-stone to knowing God better or to discovering some new aspect of God. Only when that stepping-stone becomes an end in itself that is, when we over-identify with it does it distort the divine intention. Everything in the universe is meant to be a reminder of Gods presence.

Sports are a human pleasure and can be a way to get to know God better, as long as we do not get overly attached to the wins and losses, the glitter and the fame.

Another well-known Trappist writer, Thomas Merton, is known to have used sports analogies when he was teaching novices. Merton knew, as did the Apostle Paul, that his charges would be familiar with sports and they might be able to better understand his teachings if he connected them with something they were familiar with.

The Second Vatican Council urged the body of Christ to read the signs of the times and to engage with culture.

Pope Francis has promoted the kind of ministry that meets the people where they are. One of the places where people gather and connect in community is sporting events.

My university, Villanova, hosted a follow-up conference to the Vaticans last month. We focused on the needs of intercollegiate sports, specifically the needs of the student-athlete. College sports are an important area of focus, particularly since 18- to 21-year-olds will use athletics as a steppingstone in life, since the vast majority will stop playing competitively when they graduate.

In his opening words to welcome the conference participants, the Rev. Peter Donohue, president of Villanova, referenced Brian Hainline,chief medical officer of the NCAA, who stated that the contemporary college athlete is on a cliff and in need of help.

Much of what we spoke about at this conference was about how we can attend to the needs of student-athletes who are at risk because of the pressures of expectations, the need to win, the threat of being exploited and the desire for a balanced, healthy way of living.

Often much pressure for the welfare of the student-athlete is placed primarily upon coaches. Is this too much to ask of the coaches who, for the most part, have not been trained to look at a student-athlete holistically?

Many college coaches have been part of a training system that frequently acts like an apprenticeship, where one learns on the job by following a respected mentor. This is all well and good, but the needs of the whole person especially the spiritual needs get overlooked. Whether its more focused training for coaches and/or better collaboration from the support systems around the institutions, the athlete on the cliff needs more attention.

Perhaps what we discussed as important for college sports is applicable for athletes of all ages. Understanding whats truly important in sports, by getting guidance beyond wins and losses, is what can give sports power beyond the fields of play.

Sports and the welfare of those who play them are worthy of deeper consideration and study. Conferences such as the one at the Vatican and its follow-up at Villanova University are providing much-needed hope for one of our favorite pastimes.

(Edward Hastings is an assistant professor in the department of theology and religious studies at Villanova University, where he teaches a course on Sport and Spirituality)

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Why we need to take the spiritual aspect of sports more seriously - Religion News Service

Boston Taxpayers Fund the Mocking of the Catholic Faith – The New American

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This is outrageous. If these men were dressed as Hindu women, Orthodox Jewish women, or Muslim women there would be an uproar, Jewels Green wrote in disgust on the Boston Public Librarys Childrens Page. Green was reacting to the decision of the library to sponsor a Drag Queen Story Time late last month, which also mocked Catholicism. Its attack upon the Catholic religion, with the support of the taxpayer-funded library, has led to increasing public outrage as more Bostonians learn of the activity.

The event follows the example set by the Brooklyn Public Library in New York City, which recently sponsored a Drag Queen Story Hour for toddlers. One would think that would have led to shouts of indignation at such perversity; however, many adults in the audience expressed approval, saying it was great.

Bostons event marked the end of Pride Month, and featured the Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The Sisters are not a real Catholic order of nuns, but rather a modern Order of Nuns, comprising of people of all gender associations, all spiritual affiliations, and all proclivities to do good works, the group said on its website.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is a leading-edge Order of queer nuns, according to its mission statement. Since our first appearance in San Francisco on Easter Sunday, 1979," added the statement, "the Sisters have devoted ourselves to community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment. We believe all people have a right to express their unique joy and beauty and we use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit."

The group wears the attire of nuns in order to draw attention to their causes, and raise money for AIDS research and LGBT-related efforts. When several Christian preachers attempted to share the gospel with them, one of their leaders, calling himself "Sister Missionary Position," led the heckling of the ministers, eventually driving them out of the area.

Now, the group appears to be going on the offensive, giving presentations to little children at public libraries and other venues promoting the gay lifestyle, and in the process, mocking Catholic nuns.

Sister Marianne Lorraine Trouve added her comments on the librarys Facebook page. I am a real Catholic sister and find this extremely offensive. This group mocks the consecrated life, which is rooted in the following of Christ who lived a chaste, poor, and obedient life, not a life of self-indulgence.

Another commentator asked the obvious question: Why dont you mock Islam? Cowards!

The answer is just as obvious. While Christians do not like to be attacked, they are unlikely to do anything other than express outrage. They are not expected to react with violence, and, for that matter, neither are most Muslims. However, after some recent violent responses to the mocking of the Islamic religion through cartoons and the like, many who get a big kick out of mocking Catholics and other Christians would not even consider mocking any aspect of the Muslim religion in such a public way.

And the Boston and Brooklyn libraries would certainly not sponsor such insulting programs, as is done against Catholic icons and practices on a regular basis.

It should also be considered that another reason such institutions as the libraries proudly sponsor such vicious attacks upon the Christian faith is that many of those who run these taxpayer-funded institution despise Christianity. But if a Christian organization such as the Gideons wanted to distribute New Testaments to the little children at the library, officials would most likely react in horror, and the ACLU would declare it a violation of separation of church and state.

Attacking the Christian faith with public funds is celebrated by these secular-progressives. The giving away of scripture to little school children, in the minds of these progressives, is a threat to the republic, and likely to lead to a theocratic dictatorship.

Some who posted on the Boston Public Librarys Facebook page were certainly outraged, not at the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence or the library sponsorship of the insulting performance, but at those who dared to object to the presentation. One person even said those who objected will burn in hell for teaching to hate all of your Gods children.

But teaching hate of Catholics is just fine at the Boston Public Library.

Image of nuns: Clipart.com

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Boston Taxpayers Fund the Mocking of the Catholic Faith - The New American