Comets claim provincial football title

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Just like a couple of prize fighters stepping into the ring the MUCC Comets and Warman Wolverines were each vying for the SHSAA provincial 9-man football title.

Both teams took a couple jabs early in the game before a flurry of touchdowns and in the end the Comets took the title 46-20.

It was a struggle for both teams at the beginning. Both teams came out pumped up and both teams wanted it. It is obviously the result we wanted, said Mattland Riley, a Grade 12 offensive lineman.

The Wolverines scored first, a 75-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter.

Riley said some teams would have been concerned about that, but not the Comets.

There is a lot of stats about scoring first but we just had to play our game. I know the defense has always been there for us the entire season.

Melforts next possession they settled for a 17-yard field goal to trail 7-3.

However early in the second quarter they took the lead. After marching from midfield quarterback Lee Taylor capped off a 9-play drive with a two-yard touchdown push. The conversion missed leaving the Comets ahead 9-7.

It was a great game for both offense and defense. We are just happy that we got it done, Taylor said.

The Comets defense held the Wolverines deep in their own end and forced a two-point safety to go up to 11-7.

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Comets claim provincial football title

Strange Visitors From the Edge of the Solar System

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TIME Science space Strange Visitors From the Edge of the Solar System Sometimes a comet isn't a comet Art Montes De Oca; Getty Images A pair of sort-of comets pose a puzzle for astronomers

The term Oort Cloud may be obscure for many people, but its familiar terrain for astronomy buffs. Its a giant spherical swarm of trillions of proto-comets, lurking at the outer fringes of the Solar System, so far away that it may stretch a quarter of the way to the nearest star. Theyre proto because theyre not technically comets unless they get knocked out of orbit and fall toward the heat of the Sun, whose warmth turns their long-frozen ices into a halo of dusty gas and, sometimes, a tail as well.

A pair of very unusual objects announced at last weeks Planetary Science Meeting in Tucson, however, have complicated this seemingly straightforward story. The first, found in 2013, has an orbit that clearly shows it came from the Oort Cloudbut while it resembles a comet in some ways, it didnt light up like one even after it warmed. The second, found just this past September, also came from the fringes of the Solar System. This one doesnt even resemble a comet, let alone act like one: it looks more like a rocky asteroid.

Except asteroids arent supposed to live in the Oort Cloudand that creates just the sort of mystery scientists love. Were all very excited, admits Karen Meech, of the University of Hawaii, who led the discovery team. But while both objects surprised researchers, both turn out to confirm two pieces of cosmic wisdom, one from a half-century ago and the other much more recent.

The old wisdom comes from Jan Oort himself, the mid-20th-century Dutch astronomer the Oort cloud is named for. He theorized that long-period comets, with highly elongated orbits lasting more than 200 years, came from a distant, spherical cloud that surrounds the Solar System. He figured this out based on just 13 comets, says Meech. Its really amazing.

The idea is that the comets formed closer in, along with the rest of the Solar System, but that many were flung outward in gravitational interactions with Neptune and other giant planets. That notion was reinforced long after Oorts time, when planetary scientists realized that the giant planets might have changed their orbits significantly soon after they were born; that motion would have ejected icy bodies in vast numbers.

Oort also suggested that the objects that eventually fell in again would be especially bright the first time around, since theyd have lots of ice on their surfacesprecisely what happened when Comet Hale-Bopp showed up in 1997. On their very first passage through the inner Solar System, says Meech, all of that sublimates away, so after that you just dont see them.

The object discovered in 2013, she says, which is known as (deep breath) C/2013 P2 Pan-STARRS, fits the profile of what an Oort cloud comet should look like on a second or later return to the inner Solar System, and, says Meech it may be proof at last that Oort was correct.

Even as the astronomers were trying to figure out what they were seeing, though, the second object, C/2014 S3 Pan-STARRS, showed up (in both cases, the objects were found by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope, atop Mauna Kea, in Hawaii). It didnt act like a comet either, but unlike the first object, it also didnt much resemble one, as a close look at its composition revealed.

And that seems to support an idea advanced back in 2011 by Kevin Walsh, of the Southwest Research Institute, along with several colleagues. Their computer models of the newborn Solar System found that the giant planets should indeed have migrated from their original positions, moving first in toward the Sun, then out to where they are today. As they moved out, says Meech, they would have dragged about fourteen Earth masses worth of material with them and thrown it outward.

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Strange Visitors From the Edge of the Solar System

Bancks, Hamilton and Ehrhardt Signed to AHL Deals

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November 18, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets Utica Comets Director of Hockey Operations Pat Conacher announced today that the Comets have signed forwards Carter Bancks and Wacey Hamilton, and defenseman Travis Ehrhardt to standard player contracts (SPC). All three had been with the Comets since training camp on professional tryout contracts (PTO).

In addition, the Comets have announced that forward Curtis Valk has been returned on loan to the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings.

Bancks, 25, has appeared in 14 games with Utica and has accounted for four points (three goals, one assist) and a plus-3 rating. The Marysville, BC native had spent his entire AHL career with the Abbotsford Heat prior to this year. Over his five professional seasons, he has posted 56 points (18 goals, 38 assists) in 238 games between Abbotsford and Utica. Undrafted, Bancks played two games with the NHL's Calgary Flames during the 2012-13 season.

Hamilton, 24, is tied for third on the team with five assists to go along with a goal and 21 penalty minutes. In 188 career AHL games, between Utica and Binghamton, the Cochrane, Alberta native has 45 points (14 goals, 31 assists) and 157 penalty minutes.

Ehrhardt, 25, joined the Comets this season after an injury shortened season split between the St. John's IceCaps and the Stavanger Oilers (Norway). In 9 games with Utica, Ehrhardt has registered a goal and two assists. The sixth-year pro previously played with the Manitoba Moose and Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL and has totaled 155 career games.

Valk, 21, made his AHL debut with the Comets on Nov. 12 against Chicago and recorded no points. With Kalamazoo, Valk scored four goals and assisted on six others in the first six games of the season and was named the ECHL Player of the Month for October. He currently has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in nine games which ranks second among all rookies.

For a complete schedule of Utica Comets games, as well as ticketing information, visit http://www.uticacomets.com.

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Bancks, Hamilton and Ehrhardt Signed to AHL Deals

Amgen, AstraZeneca Report Phase 3 Brodalumab Meets Endpoints In Psoriasis

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By Cyndi Root

Amgen and AstraZeneca report that a Phase 3 trial of brodalumab has met its primary endpoint and all secondary endpoints in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The two companies announced the results in a press release, stating that the AMAGINE-3 study compared brodalumab to Stelara (ustekinumab) and placebo. Amgen and AstraZeneca are conducting studies of five of Amgens monoclonal antibodies, including brodalumab, under a collaboration agreement initiated in April 2012.

Sean E. Harper, M.D., executive VP of Research and Development at Amgen, said, These results are of particular importance as they are the first to demonstrate superiority to Stelara in achieving total skin clearance, and the second positive pivotal Phase 3 study evaluating brodalumab in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis."

Brodalumab

Brodalumab (AMG 827) is a human monoclonal antibody that dampens inflammatory signals by blocking IL-17 ligand binding to the receptor. Influencing the IL-17 pathway and stopping IL-17 ligand binding reduces inflammatory signals, thereby reducing psoriasis. Amgen is also investigating brodalumab for psoriatic arthritis in Phase 3 trials and in Phase 2 asthma trials.

Brodalumab Study

The AMAGINE-3 study compared two doses of brodalumab to Stelara and a placebo in 1,800 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The study showed that brodalumab was superior to Stelara in achieving total clearance of skin disease, as measured by the Psoriasis Area Severity Index, thereby meeting the trials primary endpoint. Compared to the placebo, brodalumab patients achieved at least a 75 percent improvement from baseline in disease severity at week 12 and clear or almost clear skin. The 210 mg brodalumab group fared better than the 140 mg group, as 36.7 percent achieved skin clearance compared to 27 percent. Both the 210 and 140 mg brodalumab doses proved superior to Stelara patients, as only 18.5 percent achieved skin clearance.

Dr. Harper said, "Despite a variety of treatment options available for psoriasis, many patients still do not meet skin clearance goals. Amgen and AstraZeneca state that they will share results later in the year on the AMAGINE-2 trial evaluating brodalumab versus Stelara.

Stelara

Stelara is a Johnson & Johnson Drug, manufactured by J & Js subsidiary Centocor Ortho Biotech of Horsham, PA. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Stelara (ustekinumab) in 2009 for moderate to severe psoriasis. Stelara is a monoclonal antibody, a biological treatment that mimics the bodys antibodies and blocks two proteins that cause inflammation.

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Amgen, AstraZeneca Report Phase 3 Brodalumab Meets Endpoints In Psoriasis