Category Archives: Stem Cell Videos

Ronnie Coleman is a household name when it comes to bodybuilding. The former eight-time Mr. Olympia is considered by many to be the greatest bodybuilder to ever grace the sport. Coleman has also had a series of back issues which compelled him to get multiple spinal infusions. It was also heard that the bodybuilding legend can barely walk now, although it has never been confirmed. Coleman had also appeared on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience where he shared how multiple injuries bowed him down over time.

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Now retired, Coleman has been off the public eye for quite some time. His multiple injuries have taken a heavy toll on his life post-retirement, although they were received while he was well-active and in the sport.

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Rogan went on to mention how Coleman had a bunch of Surgeries, Coleman replied, 13 so far. He also wanted to know, What started it off?

Coleman described how he had hurt his back while he was in high school amidst a powerlifting session. Coleman described how he also had two more injuries in his back. One while he was at college, and the other while at training. The second injury caused him a herniated disc.

Coleman stated on JRE, There was a loud crunching sound. I lost a little strength. I heard it, but the athlete in you is like, Lets go on.' Initially, Coleman chose to neglect his injuries but over time they started taking toll on him.

Coleman iterated, The first time you herniate a disc its as if you stack a bunch of cans on top of each other and you snap one out. Well after a while the other ones are going to start falling out of place, too. Rogans expressions were implying that he empathized with Coleman.

From then, Coleman has undergone more than a score of significant treatments, including two hip replacement surgeries and ten back surgeries. He admitted spending over $2 million on surgeries that had caused more harm than good.

In an interview for Muscular Development Magazine in 2018, he also said that he was concerned about never being able to walk again.

Fortunately, Colemans surgical operations did not result in paralysis. He keeps up his workout routine and regularly uploads weightlifting videos to be viewed byhis 1.4 million YouTube subscribers and5 millionfollowers on Instagram.

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The distances which Coleman can walk are very little. Talking to Rogan, he iterated, I can walk, maybe from here to that wall unassisted but after being up for so long, my legs get real weak,.

Watch this Story Joe Rogan: Thug Life moments in UFC

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He also said that stem cell therapy treatments have helped him a lot to recover from the pain. He stated, Every time I get one it gets better and better, so I just gotta keep getting it. His condition is getting better eventually, he said.

Are you a fan of the The 8x Mr. Olympia and hope for his speedy recovery?

Excerpt from:
There Was a Loud Crunching Sound Bodybuilding Icon Ronnie Coleman, Who Went Through Stem Cell Therapy, Once Revealed Exact Moment His Back Problems...

In molecular biologist David Sinclairs lab at Harvard Medical School, old mice are growing young again.

Using proteins that can turn an adult cell into a stem cell, Sinclair and his team have reset ageing cells in mice to earlier versions of themselves.

In his teams first breakthrough, published in late 2020, old mice with poor eyesight and damaged retinas could suddenly see again, with vision that at times rivaled their offsprings.

For more Health & Wellbeing related news and videos check out Health & Wellbeing >>

Its a permanent reset, as far as we can tell, and we think it may be a universal process that could be applied across the body to reset our age, said Sinclair, who has spent the last 20 years studying ways to reverse the ravages of time.

If we reverse ageing, these diseases should not happen.

We have the technology today to be able to go into your hundreds without worrying about getting cancer in your 70s, heart disease in your 80s and Alzheimers in your 90s. Sinclair told an audience at Life Itself, a health and wellness event presented in partnership with CNN.

This is the world that is coming. Its literally a question of when and for most of us, its going to happen in our lifetimes, Sinclair told the audience.

Whitney Casey, an investor who is partnering with Sinclair to create a do-it-yourself biological age test, said Sinclair wants to make ageing a disease.

His research shows you can change ageing to make lives younger for longer, she said.

While modern medicine addresses sickness, it doesnt address the underlying cause, which for most diseases, is ageing itself, Sinclair said.

We know that when we reverse the age of an organ like the brain in a mouse, the diseases of ageing then go away. Memory comes back, there is no more dementia, she said.

I believe that in the future, delaying and reversing ageing will be the best way to treat the diseases that plague most of us.

In Sinclairs lab, two mice sit side by side. One is the picture of youth, the other gray and feeble.

Yet they are brother and sister, born from the same litter - only one has been genetically altered to age faster.

If that could be done, Sinclair asked his team, could the reverse be accomplished as well? Japanese biomedical researcher Shinya Yamanaka had already reprogrammed human adult skin cells to behave like embryonic or pluripotent stem cells, capable of developing into any cell in the body.

The 2007 discovery won the scientist a Nobel Prize, and his induced pluripotent stem cells, soon became known as Yamanaka factors.

However, adult cells fully switched back to stem cells via Yamanaka factors lose their identity.

They forget they are blood, heart and skin cells, making them perfect for rebirth as cell du jour, but lousy at rejuvenation.

You dont want Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to become a baby all at once; you want him to age backward while still remembering who he is.

Labs around the world jumped on the problem. A study published in 2016 by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, showed signs of ageing could be expunged in genetically aged mice, exposed for a short time to four main Yamanaka factors, without erasing the cells identity.

But there was a downside in all this research: In certain situations, the altered mice developed cancerous tumors.

Looking for a safer alternative, Sinclair lab geneticist Yuancheng Lu chose three of the four factors and genetically added them to a harmless virus.

The virus was designed to deliver the rejuvenating Yamanaka factors to damaged retinal ganglion cells at the back of an aged mouses eye. After injecting the virus into the eye, the pluripotent genes were then switched on by feeding the mouse an antibiotic.

The antibiotic is just a tool. It could be any chemical really, just a way to be sure the three genes are switched on, Sinclair said.

Normally they are only on in very young developing embryos and then turn off as we age.

Amazingly, damaged neurons in the eyes of mice injected with the three cells rejuvenated, even growing new axons, or projections from the eye into the brain.

Since that original study, Sinclair said his lab has reversed ageing in the muscles and brains of mice and is now working on rejuvenating a mouses entire body.

That discovery indicates there is a back-up copy of youthfulness information stored in the body, he added.

I call it the information theory of ageing, he said.

Its a loss of information that drives ageing cells to forget how to function, to forget what type of cell they are. And now we can tap into a reset switch that restores the cells ability to read the genome correctly again, as if it was young.

See more here:
Scientists have figured out how to reverse the ageing process in mice. Now theyre turning their attention to humans - 7NEWS

Kyle Rittenhouse, center, looks back as Kenosha County Sheriff's deputies enter the courtroom to escort him out of the room during a break in the trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Friday, Nov. 5. Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News via AP, Pool hide caption

Kyle Rittenhouse, center, looks back as Kenosha County Sheriff's deputies enter the courtroom to escort him out of the room during a break in the trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Friday, Nov. 5.

The first week of testimony has come to a close in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old charged with homicide after he shot and killed two protesters at a demonstration in Kenosha, Wis., in August 2020.

The protests in Kenosha began after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, on Aug. 23, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Multiple nights of unrest followed, with rioters destroying police cars and burning and damaging businesses.

On Aug. 25, ahead of the third night of protests, Rittenhouse, then 17, drove from his home in Antioch, Ill., across the state line into Wisconsin, where he intended to "protect" businesses from unrest. He was armed with an AR-15-style rifle.

In a series of confrontations with protesters there, Rittenhouse shot and killed two protesters, Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and wounded a third, Gaige Grosskreutz.

Rittenhouse faces seven total charges, including two counts of homicide, one reckless and one intentional, and two counts of recklessly endangering safety. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The prosecution still has yet to wrap their case. Among the remaining witnesses is Grosskreutz, who is expected to testify Monday.

The defense will take over later next week. Whether Rittenhouse himself will testify normally common in self-defense cases is still an open question, in part because there has been so much video evidence of the events.

Closing arguments are expected by the end of the week or sometime in the week of Nov. 15.

Read on for the major moments and takeaways from the trial's first week:

Nearly three hours of testimony Thursday came from Richard McGinnis, a video producer with the right-wing news site The Daily Caller. McGinnis was in Kenosha that night covering the protests as a journalist.

Rittenhouse's encounter with Rosenbaum, the first person he shot, is critical to the prosecution's efforts to characterize Rittenhouse as an initial aggressor whose reckless actions led directly to the violent confrontations that followed.

But video evidence of that encounter with Rosenbaum is sparse meaning the testimony of McGinnis, as the person who was closest to the shooting, was crucial to both sides.

On the stand Thursday, McGinnis described the atmosphere that night as dangerous and menacing, in large part due to the presence of so many armed men.

McGinnis had conducted an interview with Rittenhouse about 15 minutes before the first shooting, in which Rittenhouse described himself as "an adult," an EMT and a medic.

"Our job is to protect this business and part of my job is to also help people. If there's somebody hurt, I'm running into harm's way. That's why I have my rifle because I can protect myself, obviously," Rittenhouse said in the video.

Later, McGinnis testified, he saw Rittenhouse running toward a used car lot, holding both the rifle and a fire extinguisher. McGinnis decided to follow him, reaching for his phone to record.

In the lot, Rittenhouse stopped and turned around. Rosenbaum was not armed, McGinnis said, but he continued to run toward Rittenhouse.

Richard "Richie" McGinniss, chief video director for The Daily Caller, shows how Kyle Rittenhouse was holding his rifle before he shot Joseph Rosenbaum as he gives testimony during Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Thursday, Nov. 4. Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News via AP, Pool hide caption

Richard "Richie" McGinniss, chief video director for The Daily Caller, shows how Kyle Rittenhouse was holding his rifle before he shot Joseph Rosenbaum as he gives testimony during Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Thursday, Nov. 4.

"It was clear to me it was a situation where it was likely something dangerous was going to happen, be it Mr. Rosenbaum grabbing it or Mr. Rittenhouse shooting it," McGinnis testified.

Rosenbaum lunged for the rifle, McGinnis said, and Rittenhouse dodged. As Rosenbaum's momentum was carrying him past Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse fired four times. Afterward, Rittenhouse ran away, leaving Rosenbaum laying face down on the ground, McGinnis said.

When prosecutor Thomas Binger suggested it was impossible for McGinnis to know what Rosenbaum was trying to do as he lunged, McGinnis replied, "Well, he said 'f*** you' and he reached for the weapon."

Prosecutors showed cell phone videos of McGinnis trying to help Rosenbaum after the shooting. In the videos, McGinnis can be seen turning Rosenbaum's body over and McGinnis taking off his own shirt to try to stem the bleeding. In testimony, he described that he felt "in danger" and "afraid" as he did so.

Watching the videos as he sat on the witness stand, McGinnis appeared to grow emotional.

Because McGinnis was close to the line of fire, Rittenhouse has been charged with recklessly endangering his safety with a dangerous weapon, a felony.

Prosecutors have worked to characterize Rittenhouse as a reckless aggressor whose unreasonable initial actions namely, shooting Rosenbaum led directly to the confrontations that followed.

On Thursday and Friday, they called two witnesses who were among the self-styled "militiamen" in Kenosha that night with the intention of protecting local businesses.

That included Ryan Balch, who described Rittenhouse as "a little underequipped and a little underexperienced," and a former Marine rifleman named Jason Lackowski, who was standing with Rittenhouse in the moments leading up to the shootings, armed with an AR-15.

In his testimony, Lackowski described using a "shout, shove, show, shoot" philosophy that night for when he might be approached by an aggressive individual: First he would try shouting at them; if that didn't work, then he would try to shove them, then show them his weapon, then, finally, shoot his weapon.

Lackowski testified that he never felt the need to progress past "shout" that night, including during his encounter with Rosenbaum shortly before Rittenhouse shot him.

Rosenbaum was "acting very belligerently," Lackowski said, yelling for Lackowski to shoot him and making sudden steps toward him trying to provoke a reaction.

Rather than shoot, Lackowski said he chose to turn away.

"After he'd done that a few times, I turned my back to him and ignored him," he said, describing Rosenbaum as a "babbling idiot" and repeatedly testifying that he believed Rosenbaum did not pose a danger to himself or anybody else.

"I really didn't see him as a threat at all, to be honest with you," said Lackowski.

Defense lawyer Corey Chirafisi countered by pointing out differences between the two encounters and questioning Lackowski's memory.

The events of Aug. 25, 2020, were thoroughly documented by live-streamers, reporters and photographers a "unique benefit" for the jury, the judge said Friday.

Both the prosecution and the defense have turned repeatedly to photos and videos to make their case.

Defense lawyers showed a series of photos that, they said, revealed the people Rittenhouse encountered were armed, be it with guns or other objects. Prosecutors have showed many videos, several of them graphic, including the video recorded by McGinnis as he attempted to treat Rosenbaum's wound.

In addition to the widely shared photos and videos, the jury also saw something new to the public: infrared footage of Rittenhouse's encounter with Rosenbaum recorded from overhead by an FBI airplane.

The video appears to show that, at first, Rittenhouse was pursuing Rosenbaum into the used car lot. Rosenbaum appears to pause between two cars as Rittenhouse runs around them. Then, Rosenbaum appears to chase Rittenhouse before Rittenhouse stops and shoots him.

The defense is also expected to rely on video evidence so much so that they may not call Rittenhouse to the stand, which would be relatively unusual for a self-defense case, according to Jessa Nicholson Goetz, a Wisconsin criminal defense attorney who is not involved in the case.

"It's usually the testimony that establishes that self-defense is an issue," she said. "Normally, there isn't all of this video footage."

On Thursday, Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed one of the 20 jurors for making a joke about Jacob Blake, whose shooting by police triggered the protests.

"The public needs to be confident that this is a fair trial," Schroeder said.

The juror, an older white man, was being escorted to his car on Wednesday evening by a court police officer when he told the joke. The officer then reported the joke to the court.

"It was my understanding it was something along the lines of, 'Why did the Kenosha police shoot Jacob Blake seven times?' " said prosecutor Thomas Binger. "It's my understanding that the rest of the joke is: 'Because they ran out of bullets.' "

"It's clear that the appearance of bias is present, and it would seriously undermine the outcome of the case," Schroeder said as he dismissed the juror.

Schroeder, who is currently the longest-serving judge in Wisconsin, has drawn public attention already during the case, in part due to his pretrial decision that prosecutors could not refer to those killed by Rittenhouse as "victims," while the defense lawyers may call them "rioters" or "looters."

"He's got strong opinions on how he conducts his courtroom, sometimes differently than other people do," said Janine Geske, a retired Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who's also a law professor at Marquette University, in an interview with NPR. "But he's knowledgeable, and he has a lot of experience. And you don't mess around in his courtroom."

Additional reporting by NPR's Cheryl Corley and WUWM's Maayan Silver.

Read the original post:
Here's what happened the first week of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial - NPR

DUARTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As a 16-year-old high school sophomore, Julian Castaeda was focused on running track specifically, trying to run a mile in under five minutes. He was also planning to attend two camps that summer that would help him prepare for the rigors of college.

Despite being diagnosed with precursor B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 10 and receiving chemotherapy on and off for three and a half years, Castaeda had been in remission for two years. He had moved on from that difficult experience.

But in March 2017, Castaeda and his mother, Erica Palacios, again received devastating news the leukemia had returned. Castaeda received chemotherapy for a few months, but the cancer kept proliferating. Castaeda would need a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (more commonly referred to as a bone marrow transplant, or BMT) this time to put his cancer back into remission.

It was heartbreaking. I knew at that point that all my plans for sophomore year would be gone, Castaeda recalled.

But Castaeda was determined to get his life back. This was possible thanks to Johannes Eppler, 27, of Breisach, Germany, who joined the bone marrow registry via DKMS, an international nonprofit that is dedicated to the fight against blood cancers and blood disorders, including the recruitment of bone marrow donors. Castaeda received a bone marrow transplant on Aug. 2, 2017, putting the cancer into remission.

He has a big heart, Palacios said about Eppler. Hes an angel. He saved my son. I am thankful that people are willing to [donate].

Castaeda, who grew up in Bakersfield, California, and was treated by City of Hopes Joseph Rosenthal, M.D., M.H.C.M., the Barron Hilton Chair in Pediatrics, is now 20 years old and a junior at California State University Northridge. He also founded Bags of Love Foundation, a nonprofit that has delivered more than 200 care packages to young cancer patients in treatment and has provided $11,000 in scholarships to survivors.

On Friday, Oct. 15, Castaeda will meet his donor for the first time virtually during City of Hopes BMT Reunion. City of Hope, a pioneer and leader in BMT, has hosted a Celebration of Life for bone marrow, stem cell and cord blood transplant recipients, their families and donors for more than 40 years. The celebration honors children and adult cancer survivors, including those who have received autologous transplants, which use a patients own stem cells, and those who received an allogeneic procedure, which require a bone marrow or stem cell donation from a related or unrelated donor.

What began with a birthday cake and a single candle representing a patients first year free from cancer has grown into an annual extravaganza that draws thousands of cancer survivors, donors and families from around the world, as well as the doctors, nurses and staff who help them through the lifesaving therapy.

Each year, patient-donor meetings are the events emotional highlight. Many recipients, though overwhelmed with curiosity and the need to express their gratitude, can only dream of meeting the stranger who saved their lives. City of Hope is making that dream come true for Castaeda, as well as Dona Garrish, a Fullerton, California resident and retired school teacher. Her donor was Michael Fischer, 35, of Wlkau, Germany.

Garrish, 75, received her transplant on March 22, 2017, after it was delayed several times due to infections and other complications that prevented her from going through with the treatment. Garrish, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, felt a strong connection to Fischer from the first time a City of Hope employee told her a German male, whom she had never met, was a perfect match for her. She refers to him as her gift from God and her angel on Earth.

He unknowingly encouraged me to fight harder and not to become discouraged, as someday I wanted to meet him and thank him, she added. Garrish recalled watching two patients meeting their donors at the 2017 BMT Reunion. The reunions were held in front of City of Hope Helford Clinical Research Hospital, where Garrish was recovering from her transplant.

While tethered to her IV pole, Garrish looked down from the hospitals sixth floor and said, Thats what I want to do.

City of Hope nurses, doctors and staff were constantly there supporting me every step of the way, even when I couldnt take a single step, said Garrish, who was treated by City of Hopes Liana Nikolaenko, M.D. The timing was urgent, my battle was rough and long, but I live, breathe and enjoy life today because of City of Hope.

Other event highlights include videos of grateful patients wearing the signature BMT buttons that display the number of years since their transplants, comedy by City of Hope BMT patient Sean Kent and a dance/song performed by BMT nurses, known as the Marrowettes. There will be special guest appearances by a Los Angeles Dodger and Katharina Harf, executive chairwoman of DKMS U.S., to congratulate patients, their donors and the BMT program.

During our annual BMT reunion, we express our most heartfelt thanks to the many selfless individuals who each year donate their bone marrow or stem cells to save a persons life, said Stephen J. Forman, M.D., director of City of Hopes Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute and former chair of its Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. Whether the donor is a patients family member or a person she or he has never met, we are all extremely grateful that these donors took the time to donate and gave someone a second chance at life.

About City of Hopes BMT program

City of Hopes BMT program has performed more than 17,000 transplants, making it one of the largest and most successful programs in the nation. The institution has the largest BMT program in California, performing over 700 transplants annually, and is among the top three hospitals in the nation in terms of total transplants performed.

Over the years, City of Hope has also helped pioneer several BMT innovations. In addition to being one of the first institutions to perform BMTs in older adults, it was one of the first programs to show that BMTs could be safely performed for patients with HIV. City of Hope has had growing success with nonrelated matched donors and, most recently, half matched family donors.

City of Hopes BMT program is the only one in the nation that has had one-year survival above the expected rate for 15 consecutive years, based on analysis by the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research.

City of Hope was also one of the first programs to develop a treatment for prevention of cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common and potentially deadly infection after transplant, which has nearly eliminated the threat of CMV for BMT patients. The institution successfully conducted clinical trials of a CMV vaccine developed at City of Hope. As a pioneer in the development of CAR T cells to treat cancer, City of Hope is also testing how this form of cancer immunotherapy can help patients have a more successful transplant.

In addition, Be The Match at City of Hope last year added more than 13,000 new volunteers willing to save a life when they match a patient who needs a bone marrow transplant. In total, nearly 300,000 potential donors have signed up via City of Hope, motivated by a patient at the cancer center. Be The Match encourages healthy individuals between the ages of 18 and 40 to take the first step of registering by texting COHSAVES to 61474. To learn more about the donation process, visit Be The Match at City of Hopes website.

The public can register to view the event here.

About City of Hope

City of Hope is an independent biomedical research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a leader in bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy such as CAR T cell therapy. City of Hopes translational research and personalized treatment protocols advance care throughout the world. Human synthetic insulin, monoclonal antibodies and numerous breakthrough cancer drugs are based on technology developed at the institution. A National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope is ranked among the nations Best Hospitals in cancer by U.S. News & World Report. Its main campus is located near Los Angeles, with additional locations throughout Southern California and in Arizona. Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) became a part of City of Hope in 2016. AccessHope, a subsidiary launched in 2019, serves employers and their health care partners by providing access to NCI-designated cancer center expertise. For more information about City of Hope, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.

Read more:
College Student and Retired Teacher to Thank Stem Cell Donors They've Never Met for Saving Their Lives During City of Hope's 45th Bone Marrow...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by the end of 2020, 7.8 million women alive had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 5 years, making it the worlds most prevalent cancer as well as one of the leading cause of cancers death in women worldwide. There are also men who suffer from the cancer, with the CDC finding that 1 in 100 breast cancer patients is male. Out of these women in particular, 40% require a mastectomy, the partial or total removal of a breast, for recovery. However, only about 20% of these women choose breast reconstruction (recreating the breasts after removal), even though it is often recommended to patients. In order to support the current, past and future breast cancer suffers, October was designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of that, we decided to take a look at the different ways that 3D printing can be used to help combat breast cancer, including through reconstruction. You can find our choices, in no particular order, below!

One creative way that 3D printing is being used is at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. When patients are told about their tumors, it can be hard to understand what they really resemble since mammogram images only offer a two-dimensional view. This in turn can make them confused about which treatment to choose. MD Anderson has found a solution to this with 3D printed replicas of breasts and the tumors inside. Using 3D printing, radiologists Elsa Arribas and Lumarie Santiago started to make 3D-printed personalized breast models to more accurately illustrate the tumors. This has helped both doctors and patients at the center to understand their treatment options, it can also be used as a 3D guide during surgery, resulting in more efficient operations with fewer complications.

Using 3D printing to better illustrate breast cancer tumors (photo credits: MD Anderson)

Hyperthemia is a cancer treatment in which body tissue is heated to a high temperature that will kill and damage cancer cells while leaving normal tissue intact. Microwave breast hyperthemia in particular is one potential cancer treatment in which breast temperature is raised using electromagnetic (EM) radiation. This particular treatment can be difficult as it is often done using bulky, rigid systems that are uncomfortable for the patient. However, Yusuku Makai, Sizian Li and Minyoung Suh have potentially found a way to improve it using 3D printing. In their study 3D-printed thermoplastic polyurethane for wearable breast hyperthermia, the researchers posit that instead of using the traditional systems, 3D printed wearable antennas would be superior. They ultimately found that the 3D printed antennas could be used and not only provided more comfort to their patients but allowed for adjusted levels of exposure, however there were still limitations that needed to be addressed.

The design of the antennas (photo credits: Yusuku Makai, Sizian Li and Minyoung Suh)

With many of the traditional breast reconstruction procedures relying on a limited supply of human cadavers or animal tissue, CollPlants innovative 3D bioprinting approach removes this supply constraint, allowing for wider reconstruction access for more patients. Earlier this year, CollPlant and 3D Systems entered a co-development agreement to co-produce a 3D bioprinted soft tissue matrix product that is able to promote cell infiltration and proliferation by using bioink formulations based on rhCollagen. This tissue regeneration minimizes the risk of adverse immune response. Due to its plant-based origin, the rhCollagen also offers superior safety while meeting the mechanical requirements for implant procedures.

Photo Credits: 3D Systems

A team of scientists from several medical institutions in China, joined forces to conduct a study on localized chemotherapy breast cancer treatment. Traditional chemotherapy is delivered in massive doses, resulting in toxic side effects including hair loss, anemia, and nausea. Using 3D printing technology, the team of researchers designed a prosthesis containing the drugs paclitaxel (PTX) and doxorubicin (DOX) in order to prevent the recurrence of malignant tumors and metastasis following breast cancer-related surgery. The drug release showed that the 3D-printed prosthesis containing PTX and DOX microspheres was capable of releasing the drugs continuously for over 3 weeks, wherein suppressing a cancer recurrence threshold, and with significantly reduced side-effects. While the study was conducted on mice, this study revealed promising results for future development of breast cancer treatments in humans.

Photo Credits: Drew Hays/Unsplash

Since its founding in 2017 in Lille, the startup Lattice Medical has raised 2.3 million. Funds that have enabled it to develop an innovative application for breast reconstruction. The company has developed a bioprosthesis called MATTISSE, to offer an alternative to silicone prostheses, which require surgery every 10 years. Made of an absorbable material, the MATTISSE bioprosthesis is perfectly adapted to the patients morphology thanks to 3D printing. And unlike silicone prostheses, since it is resorbable, only one operation is required. To design the bioprostheses, the young company is inspired by the properties of Calais lace and uses a 3D printed dome that serves as a guide for cell growth. And thats one of the main advantages of MATTISSE bioprostheses they allow for natural reconstruction because it regenerates the patients own fatty tissue. When it comes to the process used to produce the prostheses, Lattice Medical uses FDM technology.

Photo Credits: Lattice Medical

Founded in Lyon in January 2020, Healshape is a biomedical startup specialized in breast reconstruction and augmentation via bioprinting. Similar to Lattice Medical, it offers a fully customized bioprosthesis bioprinted from an ink that facilitates the regeneration of each womans tissue. The prosthesis is resorbable, designed from natural biomimetic materials. Once implanted, the doctor can inject the patients own cells by performing lipofilling. Thus, only one operation is necessary. These cells will then adopt the shape of the bioprosthesis and will be able to reconstruct breast tissue. After a few months of work, the prosthesis will be able to resorb itself, leaving only the patients own cells, which should then be able to recover their breast.

The New Zealand company myReflection relies on 3D scanning to develop custom-made breast prostheses. The principle is simple: each patient goes to one of the brands centers and one of the consultants will perform a scan of the breast using a portable 3D scanner. After working on the 3D model, the teams 3D print a prototype shell in PLA to check the shape, fit and size of the prosthesis. If the patient agrees, then manufacturing of the prosthesis can begin (it is not 3D printed). For the moment, myReflection only delivers in New Zealand; count 613 New Zealand dollars (about 370 euros) for the scanning and testing phase and 3 prostheses.

Photo Credits: myReflection

A research group at the University of Girona succeeded in using 3D printing to isolate the cells that cause breast cancer in women. Specifically, they made tiny 3D matrices, called scaffolds, that reproduced the tissues and fibers of the human body. With the help of BCN3D Cura software and the Barcelona manufacturers Sigma 3D printer, they tested various parameters to create the most optimal models for the research. They made 10 copies of each configuration in order to see which geometry best separated the stem cells, which are the ones that cause relapses. By successfully isolating the stem cells of this subtype of cancer, the researchers will be able to study them better to find the biomarkers responsible for the tumors and be able to target them with drugs.

Photo Credits: University of Girona

Together with the Leipzig-based company BellaSeno, Fraunhofer IPT is working on the development of an automated production system that will in future manufacture breast implants from autologous tissue with a polymer structure. In the project, the companies are combining their expertise in 3D printing as well as knowledge in the fields of mechanics, electronics, measurement technology and software. The new method is expected to give hope to many women because conventional implants often provoke a defensive reaction from the body and thus pose an additional health risk to patients. In the case of BellaSenos 3D-printed polycaprolactone implants, the implanted material is said to be completely degraded by the body within two years and the breast will once again consist of the bodys own cells. Thanks to the production facility, it should also be possible to manufacture the implants more efficiently and at a lower cost, which should enable more women to have surgery. However, it will be several years before the implants are approved. The two companies expect to have a first industrial prototype of the plant within the next few years.

Photo Credits: Fraunhofer

Thanks to 3D-printed breast templates, doctors can now better prepare for tumor removal surgery. Behind the project is a research team at Asan Medical Center led by Professor Ahn Sei-hyun, Associate Professor Ko Beom-seok and Assistant Professor Kim Nam-kug. With the help of the template, they say, patients breasts can be replicated using 3D printing and used by doctors for surgery. The whole thing works like this: first, the breast and tumor are modeled. Then, the shape of the tumor is projected vertically on the surface and the model of the breast is printed using a 3D printer. After the patient is placed under anesthesia on the day of surgery, breast template 3D breast guide is placed over the breast with the tumor, allowing the surgical site to be accurately marked. Associate Professor Ko Beom-seok explains the following, Breast cancer surgery using the 3D breast template ensures the exact surgical resection margin, preserving the breast as much as possible by reducing reoperation and recurrence rates and achieving an overall improved cosmetic result.

Photo Credits: Asan Medical Center

Supported by the European Commission and Eureka, a European R&D network, new breast implants will be developed over the next few years using 3D printing. The project is led by Korean biotech startup Plcoskin. Yonsei University and LipoCoat, a Dutch medical device manufacturer, are also expected to contribute their expertise to product development. The goal is to jointly develop a biodegradable PCL-based breast implant. Consequently, the implants will be 3D printed with PCL and previously coated with PCL collagen and lipid films using LipoCoats patented biocoating technology. This method is expected to reduce the infection rate of implants and result in less discomfort for patients after surgery. The project will be subsidized to the tune of $1.7 million over the next few years.

One major application of 3D printing is in the creation of implants for breast cancer patients

What do you think of the applications for 3D printing in the fight against breast cancer? Let us know in a comment below or on our Linkedin, FacebookandTwitter pages! Dont forget to sign up for our free weekly Newsletter here, the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox! You can also find all our videos on our YouTube channel.

Read more here:
3D Printing Applications in the Fight Against Breast Cancer - 3Dnatives

In the early weeks of the pandemic, as scientists and physicians scrambled to find the edges of this new, dangerous diseasehow it spread from person to person, how it behaved inside the human body, and how they might be able to stop itone emerging symptom sent a jolt of recognition through Sandeep Robert Datta: the sudden disappearance of many patients ability to smell.

A professor of neurobiology, Datta studies olfaction: what happens between nose and brain as sensory neurons pick up a smell and the signal makes its way to the olfactory cortex, where the information is transformed into something we recognize as coffee, or roses, or dirty socks. But the news that smell loss could be a symptom of COVID-19 jolted him on another level tooas a graduate student in his early 20s, Datta had briefly lost his own sense of smell and taste. For him, it was a side effect of chemotherapy. It was pretty horrible, he recalls. Emotionally, he felt disoriented and disconnected, strangely set adrift. Physically, it became almost impossible to eat: I just found nothing palatable at all. What finally worked was fried egg and cheese sandwicheseven without taste or smell, the saltiness was perceptible, and the texture made them easier to swallow. For a while, this was the only thing he ate. I had a cholesterol of 300, he says, but it got me through. And after a couple of months, his smell and taste recovered. So, I have some sense, he says, of what its been like for people with this virus.

As a scientist, though, he also knew something else: there werent going to be many answers for those patients questions, at least not yet. Despite years of research in labs like his, much about olfaction remains, essentially, a mystery. So much is still just open science, says Datta, who last year led a study that uncovered how COVID-19 seems to disrupt the sense of smell. Right now, theres a lot of intense interest in smell, he says, from physicians and from the many millions of patients whove had their sense of smell affected. And it has really highlighted, collectively, how little we know about all aspects of our sense of smell.

Researchers do have a grasp of the rudiments: that specific odor molecules bind to matching receptor proteins in the noses sensory neurons like keys in a lock, and that when each lock is opened, an electrical signal travels to the brains olfactory bulb, which in turn relays the message to other parts of the brain, where it is processed furtherthe piriform cortex, which identifies smell; the thalamus, which acts as a relay station; the orbitofrontal cortex, which is involved in taste. But even this knowledge is somewhat recent. The landmark genetic study identifying hundreds of different olfactory sensors in the nasal neurons was published only in 1991. That breakthrough won the Nobel Prize for its authors, biologists Linda Buck and Richard Axel, and opened the door to a whole new universe of research. Still, 30 years later, much of the olfactory system remains unmapped.

One reason for the persistence of this mystery is sociological, Datta says: humans are visual creatures. Losing the sense of sight is a psychologically devastating change that substantially impairs peoples ability to navigate everyday existence. Fully one-third of the human brain is devoted to processing visual information. No surprise, then, he says, that from the beginning, modern neuroscience focused most intensely on deciphering sight (and, then, hearing). We have tended to think of olfaction as a kind of bonus sense, an aesthetic sense, Datta says, an accessory to these more essential sensory processes. That comes through in the paucity of language to describe it. Vision and hearing abound with adjectives, but humans vocabulary for what something smells like is fuzzy and fragmentary and highly variable. This is a huge hurdle for science: its extraordinarily difficult for people to convey their olfactory perceptions in a way that is comprehensible to researchers.

Scientists have no such command over the levers of smell. I mean, what is smell, precisely? Datta asks. If I take a sniff of my morning coffee, thats not actually a thing. Its 800 separate volatile chemicals.

Then there is the problem of smell itself. Scientists have a robust understanding about the dynamic components of a visual object or a soundattributes like shape, color, light intensity, pitch, volume, frequency, directionand they can vary these elements with precision during laboratory experiments to stimulate the brain and study how, for instance, a brighter color or a louder sound is processed. But scientists have no such command over the levers of smell. I mean, what is smell, precisely? Datta asks. If I take a sniff of my morning coffee, thats not actually a thing. Or at least, not one single thing: Its 800 separate volatile chemicals that are coming off into the headspace above the cup, all of which exist at different concentrations, which my nose detects and my brain synthesizes into a unitary percept of coffee.

Its not clear, Datta says, how these chemicals interact with each other, or with the nose; its also not clear which chemicals mean the most to the olfactory system, and which it ignores, or under what circumstances it registers any given chemical as pleasant or unpleasant. Sulfur, the rotten-egg smell so noxious to humans it is added to odorless natural gas as a safety warning for gas leaks, is also an essential component of garlic, onions, and certain perfumes; the purified compound MMB, which is what makes cat urine smell intolerable, is also sold, at low concentrations, as a food additive to enhance flavor. We dont know the axes that odor chemistry is organized along, or how they matter to the brain, Datta says. Changing as little as one odor molecule can dramatically alter olfactory perception in ways that we, as scientists, simply do not understand right now.

And yet, olfactory research holds a tantalizing promise: by unraveling the intricacies of smell, neuroscientists might be able to crack open deeper mysteries of how the brain itself works. Thats partly because smell is thought to be the earliest evolved sense in mammals. The olfactory bulb sits near the bottom of the brain, layers below the more recently developed folds of the neocortex. Its neural circuits are ancient, andunlike vision and hearing, whose signals must trace a longer pathintimately connected to other primordial brain centers: the hippocampus, where memories are stored, and the amygdala, responsible for processing many aspects of the emotional world, including fear and threats. (The amygdala is thought to play a major role in anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders.)

Odors have the power to trigger intense memories and emotions, and can profoundly influence mental healthas many COVID patients attest, people who suddenly lose the ability to smell often struggle with depression and emotional wellbeing. Loss of smell is linked to increased mortality risk and considered an early warning signal for neural illnesses like Alzheimers, Parkinsons disease, and schizophrenia. Children with autism have a heightened sensitivity to smell and a different sniff response from neurotypical children. This kind of intimacy between sense of smell and these parts of the brain that are fundamental to our human experience is super intriguing, Datta says. The simplicity of the circuits, and the directness of their connections to places like the hippocampus or the amygdala, offer a potential window into how our brains might sense information and transform it into a memory or an emotion, and then ultimately a behavior.

That same curiosity is also what attracted Venkatesh Murthy, Erikson life sciences professor of molecular and cellular biology and Finnegan Family Director of the Harvard Center for Brain Science. For Murthy, too, olfaction seemed a useful way in to larger questions about the brain. The reasoning was partly practical. In neuroscience, one common research subject is mice, whose neural circuitry approximates humans in important ways; and for mice, smell is dominant, the most profound sense they have for navigating the world. (In mice, it is smell that takes up one-third of the brain.) Researchers can train rodents to respond to specific odors remarkably easily. We think of animal training as difficult, Murthy says. For people who train dogs or horses, for instance, its very laborious. You cannot just tell them the rules, because they cant understand you, and so you have to reinforce the right behavior for each command over and over. But communicating through smell is remarkably smooth. Essentially, scientists can tell mice the rules. Its such an intuitive sense for them, he says, that we are able to train animals to do very complicatedor at least, what we think are very complicatedtasks. And they are able to do them beautifully.

Some of those tasks explore the connection between olfaction and memory: how animals use smells to store memories, and how that process might alter neural activity for those smells. (Murthy has found that it takes mice only a few minutes to make the connection between an odor and a specific corresponding reward, that a whiff of vanilla, for instance, means a sip of water, or a chocolate chip.)

Other experiments, which Murthy calls the olfactory cocktail party, use mice to help decipher the brains strategies for sorting through the cacophony of messages arriving from the tens of thousands of neurons in the nose. Lets say youre in a room where somebody is brewing a fresh pot of coffee and they also put on some really nice perfume, Murthy says. And lets say there are also flowering plants in the background, and food on the stove. How does a person recognize any one smell, when its embedded in so much clutter and chaos? Especially given that each odor is not a single chemical, but numerous ones? This is a long-term question, Murthy says, but mice offer clues: in a mixture of up to 16 smells, they are consistently able to identify whether a particular smellsay, bananais present. One hypothesis is that animals somehow train their sense of smell; after all, sommeliers and coffee tasters manage a similar feat. Or the explanation could be more purely biologicalin mice, the synapses of the olfactory cortex appear more plastic than in the visual cortex, Murthy says. So maybe the brain does have this ability to rewire connections and make associations.

Recently, Murthy has been investigating a new mystery: how animals follow scent trails. Its a deeper question than it seems. You might think, how hard can that be? Murthy says. But actually, its not so easy. I mean, close your eyes and imagine that you smell something. What do you do next? Wheres the next part of the trail? Its completely unobvious. To approach this problem Murthy uses an inkjet printer to print rose-scented trailssometimes straight, sometimes curvedonto long strips of paper, which he fastens on to a contraption that acts as a treadmill for mice. Four separate video cameras capture every move as they sniff their way down the page, and AI software converts the videos into data. The next step, Murthy says, is to use electrodes to start understanding which parts of the brain are involved.

In the meantime, hes taken a potentially elucidating sidestep: running the treadmill experiment with carpenter ants and pheromone trails. Its yielded some intriguing results, he says. On his laptop, he pulls up a brief clip of one of the ants, up close and in black and white. It proceeds slowly, losing its way, correcting the mistake, turning around, proceeding again. Ants do not have nosestheir sensory neurons are located in their antennae, and in the video, the antennae sweep from across the trail, sometimes opening wide like windshield wipers, sometimes bending and stretching like an extra pair of legs. We were shocked to find they were so active with their antennae, Murthy says. Ants are too small to measure their neural activity, so we can only watch this behavior, we cant look inside yet, he says. Turnng back to the video, he watches the mystery unfold in front of him, while the ant on the screen keeps moving slowly forward, smelling its way back to the trail, not knowing exactly where its headed.

In his own lab, Datta is trying to answer a similar question: how smells help the brain build models of the world. Those models allow animals (and humans) to make predictions about their surroundings and then decisions about what to dowhether to turn to the right or the left, whether to run, or eat, or fight, or mate. One study Datta has been working on probes a phenomenon called adaptation. You know how, when you first step into someones kitchen, you smell all the smells of the cooking food? he asks. But then, over time, it dissipates and you stop noticing all the smells. Thats adaptation, the olfactory systems way of allowing the brain to focus on whats new or important, rather than whats simply there. So, if somethings burning, youll smell it, as opposed to having your senses overwhelmed. Datta wanted to learn how that process works, specifically in the olfactory neurons in the nose. Traditionally, people have thought this process occurs in the brain, but weve been asking whether it actually happens before information even gets to the brain. As part of the study, he sequenced cells in mices olfactory epithelium (the thin tissue of neurons and surrounding cells lining the upper nasal cavity) to determine what RNA each cell expressed.

That was the project Datta was working on when the pandemic struck and everything abruptly shut down. Marooned from his lab and reading the proliferating accounts of COVID patients losing their sense of smell, he realized that the sequencing data hed amassedand similar stockpiles in the hands of other smell researchers he knew around the globemight point to an explanation. We were lucky that we had all this stuff on our hard drives, he says. A few months later, in July 2020, Datta and 24 coauthors published their findings. Early analyses had shown that the virus attaches to its host using the ACE-2 receptor protein. But that protein is not expressed by the olfactory neurons; instead, its expressed by cells surrounding the neuronsstem cells, which allow damaged neurons to regrow, and sustentacular cells, which provide physical and metabolic support. The researchers theorized it was those surrounding cells the virus was infecting.

This idea might also explain why some patients recovered their smell quickly, and some patients not at all. If the infected cells were so damaged that the neuron also died, it would take months for the neuron to regrow. And in some cases, perhaps the viral destruction in the epithelium, especially to the stem cells, was so complete that the neurons would never be able to regrow, and sense of smell would never return.

Before COVID, Datta says, It was hard to get many peoplesome scientists includedto pay attention to smell as a legitimate wedge that one might use to understand the brain. And I think thats really changed now. For researchers like him and Murthy, the fresh urgency directed at their field is an unfamiliar feeling, but a galvanizing one. Im excited to begin to think more about the underlying problem of smell itself, Datta says. Murthy foresees a renaissance in olfaction research. Lately hes been contemplating how breathing and smelling might intertwine neurologically.

Much of the new primacy felt by researchers like Datta and Murthy has to do with the increasingly acute, COVID-driven need for therapies. Right now, we have no clinically validated treatments for the loss of smell as a result of a virus or trauma, Datta says. Some studies suggest modest efficacy in the practice of smell training, in which patients try to recover their sense by regularly breathing in specific odors, But for the most part, Datta says, I dont have a drug that I can give you that will fix your broken olfactory system. We dont even know for sure what level those interventions should be made at. If you lose your sense of smell because your nose has been damaged by the coronavirus, is it enough if I simply fix your nose? Do I also have to fix the brain? We just dont know.

Eric Holbrook began hearing about the COVID-related smell loss a few weeks before it started showing up in his clinic. Director of the rhinology division at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, Holbrook had seen bad colds and other viruses occasionally knock out patients olfactory systems for long periods, but hed never seen the sheer number of smell-loss patients that COVID-19 produced: whole families, friend circles, half the floor of a single dorm. And those with long-term loss skewed youngerrather than in their 30s or 40s, COVID patients were often college-aged, or not much beyond, Holbrook recalls. I saw one kid who was nine.

The lack of proven, reliable treatments for smell loss can drive patients to desperation, Holbrook says. It puts physicians in the position of wanting to try everything. And that can be dangerous.

About 85 percent of COVID patients with mild infections seem to suffer loss of taste and smellfor many, it is the earliest symptom, or the only one. And although most regain their ability to smell within three or so weeks, for as many as 35 percent, the loss lasts longer. Those conversations with patients can be hard, Holbrook says. There is usually not much he can do. Smell training sometimes works: a months-long regimen of inhaling smells twice a day in an effort to reactivate the neurons. But the lack of proven, reliable treatments can drive patients to desperation, Holbrook says. You wouldnt believe the number of people who ask me about so-called therapiesmedicines, devices, surgeries abroadthat have no proof, or even very much scientific rationale. It puts physicians in the position of wanting to try everything. And that can be dangerous. It can also lead to false hope.

Like Datta and Murthy, Holbrook is surrounded by unknowns. Although he has some ideas, he is not sure what to make of the numerous reports from COVID patients who say they are incapable of detecting only certain odorsbathroom smells especially. And although he knows its usually a good sign when patients progress from an absent sense of smell to a distorted onein which coffee might smell like sewage, or food like cigaretteshe cannot yet explain exactly why. Doctors have long recognized it in trauma patients as an indication that the olfactory system is working to heal itself, and the neurons perhaps mis-wiring as they grow back, but the mechanism remains murky.

Olfactory sensory neurons are a rare part of the human nervous system capable of regeneration. Thats what first gripped Holbrook, as a medical student sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture on neuroanatomy. After neurons die, they can come back. That was completely fascinating to me, he says. It still is. For the past several years, he has been collaborating on possible therapies for smell loss. One, led by researchers at Tufts University, involves stimulating the systems stem cells. In a lot of cases, after damage has occurred, he says, those stem cells are sitting there, very quiet. And it looks like there are ways we can tell them to start dividing and making neurons again.

Another project, which Holbrook sometimes calls a cochlear implant for the nose, would use electrodes to stimulate the nerves in the olfactory bulb. Its still a distant dream, but in 2018, he and several collaborators conducted a small experimenta proof of concept placing electrodes inside the nasal cavities of five patients with intact senses of smell, very close to the olfactory bulb. After the researchers administered an electric current, three patients described experiencing sensations of antiseptic, sour, and fruity aromas. One said it was onion-like, but not an onion, Holbrook says. The results were encouraging enough to warrant more research. Neurosurgeon Mark Richardson, who founded the Brain Modulation Lab at MGH, is pushing that effort forward.

In the paper Holbrook and his colleagues published after their 2018 experiment, they estimated that five percent of the population suffers from total smell loss. After COVID-19, that number seems almost certain to rise. The implications of this virus are huge, Holbrook says. Some of his patients who lost their sense of smell early in the pandemic still have not regained it. Theres a big, significant number of people who are going to be potentially without smell for the rest of their lives, he says. There is so much work that still needs to be done.

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The Mystery of Smell - Harvard Magazine

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A blood donation clinic is being held Aug. 10 in Chatham to honour the life and memory of the late Jocelyn McGlynn, whose courageous battle with leukemia inspired many to register to become stem cell donors.

Author of the article:

A blood donation clinic is being held Aug. 10 in Chatham to honour the life and memory of the late Jocelyn McGlynn, whose courageous battle with leukemia inspired many to register to become stem cell donors.

McGlynn, who was a medical science student at Western University in London with dreams of becoming a doctor, became an advocate for stem cell and blood donations while she battled leukemia, which took her life on Aug. 15, 2020, at age 23.

McGlynn was first diagnoses in the fall of 2018 when she went to see doctors for what appeared to be a cold she could not shake. This was the beginning of a tough medical battle that included multiple rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and two bone marrow transplants.

Joc was selfless and strong, caring and courageous, wonderful and wise, said McGlynns mother, Jacqueline McGlynn, about her daughter becoming a vocal champion for those fighting similar medical battles.

She loved to live and did not want others to suffer as she did.

During her own fight, Jocelyn McGlynn continued to encourage stem cell and blood donations, which included taking part in Walk the Night for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada and creating awareness videos for Blood Sweat Spin and Canadian Blood Services.

McGlynn used her creative talents to envision and bring to reality her Lets All Go Get Swabbed music video. She wrote the lyrics, played every note, directed, edited and starred in the video while recovering from chemotherapy.

People can help continue McGlynns efforts by scheduling an appointment for the upcoming blood donor clinic being held Tuesday at the Chatham YMCA from noon to 7 p.m. Donations can be booked online at blood.ca, through the GiveBlood App or by calling 1-888 2 DONATE (236-6283).

A single donation of blood is equal to one unit of blood, and a leukemia patient can require up to eight units of blood per week, stated the release.

As McGlynn wrote: Everybody join the team, theres a cure in your bloodstream.

Maureen Macfarlane, event co-ordinator with Canadian Blood Services, said there is an increased need for blood donations as hospital procedures, which were previously on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, are being scheduled.

Another blood donor clinic is also being held in Chatham on Aug. 31 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Retro Suites Hotel.

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Blood donation clinic will honour life of Jocelyn McGlynn - Chatham Daily News

Signals Research Group (SRG) has been actively involved in tracking the advancement of 5G NR since its inception in September 2015 at a 3GPP workshop, held in Phoenix, Arizona. At the time, no one knew for certain what 5G NR would look like, what compelling technical features would comprise it, how it would perform and evolve, not to mention when it would be commercially deployed originally, the target date for commercial services was 2020 to support the Summer Olympics in Japan. In fact, it wasnt until six months after the first 5G workshop that 3GPP coined the term NR (New Radio), and without the 5G prefix since it was felt that only ITU could apply the 5G moniker to the burgeoning standard. I secretly wanted 5G PDQ (Pretty Darn Quick), but my suggestion fell on deaf ears.

Ironically, when 3GPP held its first 5G workshop, it wasnt even certain that it would include millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies in the first set of specifications (Release 15). I use the term ironic since Verizon was the first operator in the world, along with SK Telecom, to launch commercial 5G NR services and it did so with its 28 GHz spectrum (a.k.a. mmWave).

We recently published a whitepaper on behalf of Qualcomm Technologies which looks at recent advancements in 5G NR operating in mmWave spectrum. Some of the findings stem from testing that we did for our Signals Ahead research publication while other findings stem from testing that Emil Olbrich and I did on behalf of this engagement. I encourage you to download and read the entire paper or view the video that I posted to LinkedIn (https://tinyurl.com/y3csfgce). However, as a quick appetizer, here are a few tidbits from the study, which you can download here (https://signalsresearch.com/issue/all-things-5g-nr-mmwave).

Massive capacity and faster downlink speeds. The 5G NR network and smartphones can now support up to 800 MHz of aggregate channel bandwidth (8100 MHz) double what was supported with the initial launches. The doubling of the channel bandwidth equates to a near doubling in user data speeds and/or total capacity the latter is useful in high traffic areas where mmWave sites are typically located. Additionally, concurrent use of 5G NR and LTE leads to even higher data speeds, with higher data speeds in the future when networks assign multiple LTE radio channels to the smartphones alongside their 5G NR brethren.

Figure 1 Throughput for Three Smartphones Operating in Parallel

Source: Signals Research Group

The adjacent figure shows results from one test involving three smartphones downloading in parallel from the same 5G NR mmWave cell site. Two smartphones supported 800 MHz (8CC) and one smartphone only supported 400 MHz (4CC). The figure shows the obvious benefits associated with a smartphone supporting a wider aggregate channel bandwidth as well as the increase in total throughput for the sector. The advantage is most evident starting at 160 seconds when one of the smartphones (UE #3) reverted to a single 100 MHz channel, compared with the other two smartphones which supported 4CC (UE #1) and 8CC (UE #2), respectively.

Faster uplink data speeds. Like the downlink, 5G NR mmWave now supports wider channel bandwidth in the uplink direction specifically 2100 MHz radio channels versus a single 100 MHz channel that it previously supported. This feature, along with concurrent contributions from LTE (PDCP split bearer combining) results in uplink data speeds that can easily exceed 100 Mbps. For the FWA use case, this means the uplink data speeds are arguably faster than possible with virtually all fixed broadband service plans.

New Use Cases and applications. Besides the typical eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband) use case, 5G NR mmWave is enabling new use cases and applications.

Fixed Wireless Access. With new high-power CPEs that also have better receive sensitivity than traditional 5G NR smartphones it is possible to achieve Gigabit-per-second data speeds at locations where you would never expect the closest 5G NR mmWave radio would be able to provide coverage. It is impossible to extrapolate a typical 5G NR experience with a smartphone to what we observed in our tests, meaning you must see it to believe it. In addition to data connections at distances up to 5.1 km, we tested at multiple spots where the distant 5G NR radio was clearly blocked by buildings, trees, and other ground clutter, even when the CPE was facing off-angle from the serving cell site. There is a powerful story for the technical merits of 5G NR mmWave FWA that operators are just beginning to tap into.

Figure 2 Cell Site in Wisconsin Supporting 3G, 4G and 5G NR mmWave

4K Video. We tested 4K multi-screen capabilities whereby we streamed four 4K videos to a single device. It worked great on 5G NR mmWave but was disappointing, at best, on LTE with frequent buffering and poorer video quality (MOS).

Enterprise. 5G NR mmWave is also being deployed in enterprises, and based on our test results, provides coverage in unanticipated areas, including in closed conference rooms and stairwells, not to mention behind the radios and down hallways with non-line-of-site conditions to the serving 5G NR radio.

Figure 3 Achieving 2.2 Gbps in an Enclosed Conference Room

Source: Signals Research Group

Good robustness. In our outdoor testing with a smartphone, we identified numerous locations where multiple 5G NR radios (up to 4 radios) provided usable signals to the same location. These signals included 180 reflections off glass windows more than one block away, straight-away signals at distances over two city blocks, and signals from 5G NR radios on perpendicular streets with near/non-line-of-site conditions.

5G NR mmWave is unlike anything the wireless industry has experienced in the past. The potential performance gains arent evolutionary, theyre revolutionary. Along with these performance gains and the new use cases they enable, 5G NR mmWave introduces a new paradigm in how networks are deployed and where broadband wireless coverage exists. This new paradigm requires a new way of thinking when it comes to mmWave frequencies versus the traditional cellular frequencies of yesteryear. mmWave will never achieve coverage parity with legacy networks, but thankfully it was never envisioned in this way. Instead, 5G NR mmWave is carving out its own market opportunities with massive capacity to satisfy high traffic areas and demanding use cases, as well as improved coverage and robustness to extend these capabilities above and beyond expectations.

You can learn more about SRG and download the full whitepaper from our website (https://signalsresearch.com/issue/all-things-5g-nr-mmwave/)

Going back to Verizons first foray with millimeter wave in 2018 with the 5GTF set of specifications, SRG has been conducting performance benchmark studies of all things 5G NR on a global basis. Thanks to logistical support from our test and measurement partners, including Accuver Americas, Keysight, PCTEL, Rohde & Schwarz, Sanjole, and Spirent Communications, weve peeled back the proverbial onion on 5G NR to understand how it performs and how its performance has evolved over the last 18+ months. We look forward to continuing these endeavors in the coming year as operators deploy new 5G NR features and functionality.

Related Posts

Read more:
The 5G NR mmWave X factor (Analyst Angle) - RCR Wireless News

EXCLUSIVE DETAILS Kyle Rittenhouse was back in court on Friday morning as his attorneys continued their efforts to keep the 17-year-old in his home state of Illinois instead of being extradited to Wisconsin to face trial on homicide charges.

Rittenhouse wore a face mask as he appeared on a video stream for a brief court hearingin Lake County, Ill., on Friday morning, one day after court papers argued that moving him to Kenosha, Wis. would effectively turn him over to the mob.

Judge Paul Novak scheduled an Oct. 30 hearing on the extradition request, though prosecutors told Novak they were prepared to move faster.

The law is pretty clear cut on this, Lake County Assistant States Attorney Stephen Scheller said. This case has been dragging on now, were already into October. ... We want a hearing as soon as possible.

In this screen grab from live stream video, Kyle Rittenhouse appears via video during a hearing at the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court in Waukegan, Ill., on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court via AP)

But John Pierce, Rittenhouses criminal attorney, said there was no reason to rush" and questioned Wisconsin prosecutors' motivation for pursuing the charges.

"This is a very unique, extraordinary situation, Pierce said. There is a massive amount of video evidence that shows beyond a shadow of a doubt this is not a legitimate criminal prosecution, it is a political prosecution.

Rittenhouse remains in an Illinois jail cell.

On Thursday, lawyers for Rittenhouse filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, arguing that his safety is in jeopardy and the case does not meet the legal requirements necessary to move someone from a juvenile center to an adult facility. The Antioch teenager is accused of fatally shooting two men and wounding a third during late-August civil unrest in Kenosha. Attorneys have continuously argued he was acting in self-defense.

RITTENHOUSE ATTORNEYS FILE PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS IN BID TO HALT EXTRADITION

Pierce told Fox News before the hearing that he was extremely concerned for Rittenhouses safety in light of threats that have been made to him, to his family, to his lawyers.

Adding to that concern is the fact that a former vice president of the United States and a sitting United States senator who are running for president in what is arguably the most heated presidential election, perhaps in American history ... has now chosen to use him as a political pawn to suggest falsely that he is a white supremacist, Pierce added. And to suggest falsely that he is one of the people that is responsible for the arson, looting and insurrection in Kenosha and Portland.

Pierce was referring to a video shared last month byDemocratic presidential nomineeJoe Bidenthat appears to suggestthe teenager is a White supremacist.

Speaking exclusively to Fox News,Rittenhouses mother, Wendy Rittenhouse fumed as she recalled how she stumbled upon the video herself.

"I am angry. My son is not a white supremacist. He is not a racist. He is not in no militia," she said. "Former Vice President Biden, how dare [he] use my son for a political ad for his campaign."

KYLE RITTENHOUSE TO SUE BIDEN, CAMPAIGN FOR LIBEL, ATTORNEY SAYS

Rittenhouseturned himself in to Antioch, Ill., police and was later charged with first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering, first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide, all of which had charges reflecting use of a dangerous weapon, the criminal complaint states.

Rittenhousetold Fox News that, despite reports that she had driven her son into Kenosha the night of the shooting, Kyle had actually worked as a lifeguard in Wisconsin the day before and then stayed with a friend overnight.

The next day, he and his friend cleaned up graffiti in the morning before making their way into the area that had been stricken by violence and riots over thetwo previous nights. There, they encountered a business owner who was desperate to ensure his business was safe, Pierce said, joined by Wendy.

A former or current employee, who happens to be friends of Kyle and his friend, desperately wanted to help protecting what was left, Pierce said, later adding:And of course, he had a firearm with him because otherwise he would have been killed.

Wendy Rittenhouse, 45,and Pierce insisted the gun belonged to a friend and was not Kyles. They said it was never kept at their Antioch home and Kyle only ever used the gun in Wisconsin, Pierce added.

I did not drive Kyle. I did not give Kyle that gun and people want to assume that, she said, They're wrong. I did not drive my son to Kenosha that night.

The charges against Rittenhouse stem from a series of alleged shootings on the night of Aug. 25, when Rittenhouse was in Kenosha with a friend and told the Daily Callers Richie McGinniss he was there that night to protect a business that he was seen standing near, and also to help people.

If theres somebody hurt, Im running into harms way," he toldMcGinniss."Thats why I have my rifle because I need to protect, obviously, but I also have my med kit.

Shortly after 11:30 p.m., Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and 26-year-old Anthony Huber died as a result of the shooting. Gaige Grosskreutz, who was allegedly holding a handgun at the time, was wounded but survived.

The criminal complaint pertaining to Rittenhouses arrest, which was shared online, details how several cell phone videos show Rittenhouse running southwest across the eastern portion of the Car Source parking lot holding a long gun. Rosenbaum, who was not armed, is seen on video trailing behind him and then throwing an object later identified as a plastic bag at Rittenhouse, the complaint states.

The defendant and Rosenbaum continue to move across the parking lot and approach the front of a black car parked in the lot, a second video shows, according to the complaint. A loud bang is heard on the video, then a male shouts, F--- you!, then Rosenbaum appears to continue to approach the defendant and gets in near proximity to the defendant when 4 more loud banks are heard. Rosenbaum then falls to the ground.

Rittenhouse then approached Rosenbaum before turning and running away, telling someone on the phone, I just killed somebody, the complaint states. Third and fourth videos show Rittenhouse running after he allegedly shot Rosenbaum, as people running after him can be heard yelling, Hey, he shot him! and Beat him up! and Get him!, the complaint states.

'TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT' AIRS NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN FOOTAGE FROM DEADLY KENOSHA SHOOTING

Then a male in a light-colored top runs towards and the defendant and appears to swing at the defendant with his right arm, the complaint states. This swing makes contact with the defendant, knocking his hat off. The defendant continues to run.

But when Rittenhouse trips and falls, a man jumps at and over him, at which point Rittenhouse allegedly fires two shots, but does not appear to strike the man, police said.

The complaint alleges that Huber, who is holding a skateboard, then approaches Rittenhouse who is still on the ground, on his back.

When Huber gets to Rittenhouse, it appears that he is reaching for the defendants gun with his left hand as the skateboard makes contact with the defendants left shoulder, the complaint states, adding that it appears Huber is trying to take the gun, which is pointed at his body.

Rittenhouse then fires one round which can be heard on the video, the complaint states. Huber staggers away, taking several steps, then collapses to the ground.

The teen then allegedly sat up and pointed his gun at Grosskreutz, who had put his hands in the air when he said Huber had been shot. But when Grosskreutz advanced toward Rittenhouse holding what appeared to be a handgun, Rittenhouse fired a single shot, striking him in the right arm.

Rittenhouses attorneys said the teen tried multiple times to surrender to Kenosha authorities before ultimately opting to return home.

Wendy Rittenhouse told Fox News she had no idea her son would be attending the protest and found out when she texted him late Tuesday.

He got back ... to me and said, 'I'm okay and doing medics.' I'm like, 'What?' she recalled. She said she woke up shortly thereafter with the feeling that something was wrong. She soon got word that something had happened in Kenosha, though details were unclear, she said.

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I had to find my son, and his sister was calling everybody, she said. I'm like, we have to go somewhere to find him.

Wendy, a single mom who also hastwo daughters one younger and one older than Kyle left her apartment and drove into Kenosha to try to find Kyle or his friend, looking for his friends car which she said she would have recognized.But she stayed in the Green Bay area and Highway 50, away from the riot scene, she said.

When I got back home, he was already there, she said. All I did was hug him, tell him I love him. He was crying. He was pale.

Rittenhouse went to turn himself in to Antioch Police within 20 to 30 minutes later, she said.

Wendy said she gave her son permission to learn how to use the gun with his friend in Illinois

Kyle Rittenhouse and his mother, Wendy (Photo courtesy Pierce Bainbridge)

In the weeks since the Aug. 25 shooting, Wendy Rittenhouse said she has tried to watch the full footage of the attack.

I get to the point where the first guy was chasing him to the gas station And I see this mob chasing my son. The guy hitting my son in the head with a skateboard, she said, often sounding as if shes holding back tears. Looking at my son's face ... I just cry, I was sick to my stomach. This mob was chasing my son to try to kill him.

From her knowledge, Wendy said her son had never previously served as a medic at demonstrations. She said she had given Rittenhouse permission to learn how to use the gun at his friend's home in Illinois and added:"If he didn't have that gun, he would've been dead."

She and Pierce vehemently rejected any notion that Rittenhouse was a member of a white supremacy or militia group.

Wendy has since taken a leave of absence from her job at a local nursing home. She and her daughters have relocatedto an undisclosed location, she said, explaining that she no longer felt safe at home.

We cant even go back home. We don't even have a home because the fear of them breaking in my house, killing my daughters, killing me, and if Kyle was there, to kill him.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The rest is here:
Kyle Rittenhouse's lawyers fight extradition in protest of turning him 'over to the mob' - Fox News

Nick Cordero's wife, Amanda Kloots, shared a hopeful update on her husband's condition as he continues to recover from his battle with COVID-19 and related complications.

In a series of videos posted to her Instagram stories on Sunday, Amanda said, "S0 I think this weekend was a good weekend, it was uneventful. Which, uneventful in the ICU is a good weekend. I think he had a weekend of rest, a weekend of growing, strength in his body and recovering a little bit."

"Not too many changes were made, which is also a good sign, but one really good sign is his white blood count number is way down," she continued. "So it has been as high as 65,000; we are now at 30,000. A frame of reference: a normal healthy person is around 15-20,000, even lower sometimes. So 30,000 is a great sign that things are moving in the right direction."

The Tony Award-nominated Broadway actor has been hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for more than two months after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Amanda's optimistic update comes almost a month after her husband woke up from a medically-induced coma and almost two months after he had his right leg amputated due to blood-clotting complications from the virus.

Nick, who is also known for his recurring roles on Blue Bloods and Law & Order: SVU, has started stem cell treatment to help his recovery, Amanda shared in another recent Instagram story.

"This could be really great ... Even if it just bridges us to the next level in healing for him," she said on Friday.

Amanda ended her weekend Instagram stories on a positive note, saying, "I don't know why I just have a really good feeling about this week, so I'm just gonna keep praying for our miracles and keep praying for that healing and God is with us ... Love you!"

We are also praying for Nick's full recovery and wishing him and his family all the best during this difficult time.

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Nick Cordero's Wife Says His COVID-19 Recovery Is 'Going in the Right Direction' - countryliving.com