Posted: February 20, 2017 at 4:40 pm
Live Well, Be Well diabetes program set in Union County Annanews A free, six-week diabetes self-management course is scheduled to begin on Feb. 28 at the Union County Courthouse in Jonesboro. The Live Well, Be Well with Diabetes course is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. each Tuesday in the community room at the ... |
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Live Well, Be Well diabetes program set in Union County - Annanews
Posted: February 20, 2017 at 4:40 pm
There are a lot of barriers standing between the average youth soccer player and a career as a professional. Theres competition, fitness, skills, bad coaching. Jordan Morris had one more barrier to deal with. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was nine.
You dont see a ton of professional soccer players with diabetes, Morris tells Sounder at Heart. My dad recently told me he didnt even think Id be able to play soccer in college.
Having Type 1 diabetes means that Morris pancreas doesnt produce insulin. After eating, sugar and other nutrients enter the blood stream, and insulin helps the body absorb that sugar and turn it into energy. Morris wears an insulin pump, a cell phone-sized device that gives him a steady stream of insulin throughout the day, and more whenever he eats.
Zach Galifianakis surrounded by math in the Hangover
A lot of being a diabetic is trying to keep the amount of sugar in the blood within a specific range. That requires constantly paying attention to insulin, exercise, and food intake. It can feel a bit like living in that gif of Zach Galifianakis enshrouded in a swirling cloud of calculations. Insulin lowers blood sugars. With some exceptions, exercise also lowers them and food has the opposite effect.
Even for diabetics with the best control, the disease is a major health issue. Low blood sugars can make a diabetic feel lightheaded or blur their vision. Serious low blood sugars, although rare, can cause loss of consciousness. On the other hand, high blood sugars can mean headaches or nausea and, if left untreated, can lead to comas.
When I was newly diagnosed, it was scary, Morris says. It was tough. There were a lot of questions going through my mind.
Morris profusely credits his parents (his dad is the Sounders team doctor, and his mom was a nurse) for helping him early on. He had to learn to check his blood sugar multiple times a day: when he eats, exercises, wakes up, goes to bed, or just feels off. Before meals he has to count how many carbs hes going to have, so that he knows how much insulin to give himself, because the body converts most carbs into sugar. He carries a backpack around with diabetes supplies he might need in an emergency.
In his journey from high school to college to Major League Soccer, he has gotten better at dealing with the disease, largely because of how well he has gotten to know his body. Things like how sensitive a diabetic is to insulin (in other words, how much insulin they give themselves for how many carbs they eat, or how much their blood sugar is off), can change based on things as simple as the time of day. So knowing your body helps. Morris has a specific food that he knows works well when he has low blood sugar: fruit snacks. Nowadays, most of his diabetes management is up to him.
Its pretty much all me doing it, Morris says. [The Sounders] obviously do normal dietary stuff with athletes, but in terms of my diabetes, its me kind of having to deal with it, because I know my body best.
Even with all the knowledge that he has stored up, with all he knows about how his body reacts to different stimuli, dealing with the diabetes is still difficult. He has to deal with the fact that no matter how much calculation he does, things can still go wrong.
I think the toughest part about diabetes is its so unpredictable, he says. You can eat the same things, do the same work out a couple days in a row and your blood sugar will turn out differently at the end. Its just different days lead to different blood sugars.
And being a professional adds new difficulties too. Adrenaline raises blood sugars, meaning that on gameday, when hes looking up from the turf at a sea of screaming fans, the same thing that energizes him to play his best is also going to cause a spike in his blood sugars if he doesnt counter it with the exact right amount of insulin.
He fine-tuned how he deals with the adrenaline over the 2016 season. During a game against Portland, his blood sugar went low and he had to scramble over to the sidelines to eat some gummies. He said that during the MLS Cup final in Toronto he came into the locker room feeling sick, checked his blood sugar, and found out it was high. That was annoying.
If things arent right with your blood sugar, youre not going to be as efficient on the field, he said. Obviously as a professional athlete everything should be focused on the game, and not on your diabetes.
Dave Tenney, the Sounders High Performance Director, is impressed with Morris diabetes management. Whatever Jordan says, I trust him, because I know what hes been through and that hes learned to listen to his body better than the average (21)-year-old, Tenney told the Seattle Times last October.
Morris says hes proud of how he has dealt with his diabetes, and of course for making it to MLS, too. Now that hes a Sounder, he says hes trying to be a role model for younger kids. Diabetic athletes Jay Cutler and Adam Morrison gave him hope growing up, and he likes giving that same hope to a new generation of young diabetics.
When I was a kid, I told myself I wasnt going to let it hold me back, and now that my dreams become a reality, its pretty special to see that thats happened. I think it taught me how to be responsible at such a young age. I had to deal with this disease that you have to be constantly aware of. I definitely dont think Id be the person I am today without it.
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Type 1 diabetes didn't stop Jordan Morris - Sounder At Heart
Posted: February 19, 2017 at 4:47 am
Several students are playing significant roles in the upcoming launch of a SpaceX rocket carrying two CU Boulder payloads - one designed to help researchers better understand and perhaps outsmart dangerous infections like MRSA, another to help increase the proliferation of stem cells in space, a potential boon for biomedical therapy on Earth.
Shelby Bottoms and Ben Lewis, both master's students in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, are in Florida for the upcoming launch of the SpaceX rocket carrying the CU Boulder-built payloads. Both are helping to assemble flight hardware designed and built by CU Boulder's BioServe Space Technologies for the launch Feb. 18 to the International Space Station (ISS).
BioServe has built and flown over 100 payloads on more than 50 spaceflight missions. Lewis said he came to CU Boulder from Rice University hoping to be involved in spaceflight projects.
"What I didn't know was that I would be actually working on hardware that was going to fly on the International Space Station, which is really cool." Both Lewis and Bottoms are in aerospace engineering's Bioastronautics program, which involves the study and support of life in space. "Shelby and I are very passionate about human spaceflight, so to see hardware that we helped build being handled by astronauts who will eventually transfer the experiments to ISS is exciting."
The payloads are now being loaded in to the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, the ninth mission in which the company - headed by entrepreneur Elon Musk - will be toting CU Boulder-built payloads to ISS since 2012. SpaceX's Dragon will launch atop one of the company's Falcon 9 rockets.
"We are looking forward to another successful mission and continuing our partnership with SpaceX, NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space," said BioServe Director Louis Stodieck. "By providing a low-gravity environment, the ISS has been shown to be an effective testbed to better understand cellular changes, which can have significant implications for advancing biomedical research on Earth."
Bioserve students moving forward After she finished her undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech, Bottoms' interest was perked when she saw CU Boulder had a bioastronautics program. Then she looked at the BioServe website. "I could see the people there were doing some really exciting things.'"
Both Bottoms and Lewis already have jobs in the aerospace industry locked up after they graduate this spring. Bottoms is going to work on human spaceflight issues for Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Littleton, Colorado. Lewis is going to work for Blue Origins, an aerospace research and development company founded by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos in Kent, Washington, where he will be working on spacecraft and launch systems.
Headed by Dr. Anita Goel of Nanobiosym in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the first experiment will carry two strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hopes of better identifying and predicting bacterial mutations, said Stodieck. Understanding such mutations, which are believed to occur at a higher rate in near-weightlessness, could shed new light on how the deadly bacteria become drug-resistant.
The second experiment, led by Dr. Abba Zubiar of the Mayo College of Medicine in Jacksonville, Florida, involves growing stem cells in space for future use in medical therapies on Earth, said BioServe Associate Director Stefanie Countryman. Stem cells are extremely valuable in biomedicine - several million of them are required for use in a single human therapy treatment on Earth.
The space-grown stem cells will be returned from ISS to Earth in several months and will subsequently be used by researchers in clinical trials to test their efficacy in treating human diseases. Stem cells, used in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, also have been used in treatments for stroke and cancer.
BioServe has had a permanent presence on ISS since 2002. Since its inception in 1987, BioServe has partnered with more than 100 companies. BioServe partners include large and small pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities and NASA-funded researchers.
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Students play key biomedical research role in space - Space Daily
Posted: February 19, 2017 at 4:47 am
Graduate student Ben Lewis, BioServe Associate Director Stefanie Countryman and graduate student Shelby Bottoms are in Florida supporting the assembly of two CU Boulder-built biomedical payloads set to launch on a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station Feb. 18.
Several students are playing significant roles in the upcoming launch of a SpaceX rocket carrying two CU Boulder payloads one designed to help researchers better understand and perhaps outsmart dangerous infections like MRSA, another to help increase the proliferation of stem cells in space, a potential boon for biomedical therapy on Earth.
Shelby Bottoms and Ben Lewis, both masters students in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, are in Florida for the upcoming launch of the SpaceX rocket carrying the CU Boulder-built payloads. Both are helping to assemble flight hardware designed and built by CU Boulders BioServe Space Technologies for the launch Feb. 18 to the International Space Station (ISS).
BioServe has built and flown over 100 payloads on more than 50 spaceflight missions.
Lewis said he came to CU Boulder from Rice University hoping to be involved in spaceflight projects.
What I didnt know was that I would be actually working on hardware that was going to fly on the International Space Station, which is really cool.
Both Lewis and Bottoms are in aerospace engineerings Bioastronautics program, which involves the study and support of life in space.
Shelby and I are very passionate about human spaceflight, so to see hardware that we helped build being handled by astronauts who will eventually transfer the experiments to ISS is exciting.
The payloads are now being loaded in to the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, the ninth mission in which the company headed by entrepreneur Elon Musk will be toting CU Boulder-built payloads to ISS since 2012. SpaceXs Dragon will launch atop one of the companys Falcon 9 rockets.
We are looking forward to another successful mission and continuing our partnership with SpaceX, NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, said BioServe Director Louis Stodieck. By providing a low-gravity environment, the ISS has been shown to be an effective testbed to better understand cellular changes, which can have significant implications for advancing biomedical research on Earth.
Illustration of the SpaceX Dragon space capsule
Bioserve students moving forward
After she finished her undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech, Bottoms interest was perked when she saw CU Boulder had a bioastronautics program. Then she looked at the BioServe website. I could see the people there were doing some really exciting things.
Both Bottoms and Lewis already have jobs in the aerospace industry locked up after they graduate this spring. Bottoms is going to work on human spaceflight issues for Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Littleton, Colorado. Lewis is going to work for Blue Origins, an aerospace research and development company founded by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos in Kent, Washington, where he will be working on spacecraft and launch systems.
Headed by Dr. Anita Goel of Nanobiosym in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the first experiment will carry two strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hopes of better identifying and predicting bacterial mutations, said Stodieck. Understanding such mutations, which are believed to occur at a higher rate in near-weightlessness, could shed new light on how the deadly bacteria become drug-resistant.
The second experiment, led by Dr. Abba Zubiar of the Mayo College of Medicine in Jacksonville, Florida, involves growing stem cells in space for future use in medical therapies on Earth, said BioServe Associate Director Stefanie Countryman. Stem cells are extremely valuable in biomedicine several million of them are required for use in a single human therapy treatment on Earth.
The space-grown stem cells will be returned from ISS to Earth in several months and will subsequently be used by researchers in clinical trials to test their efficacy in treating human diseases. Stem cells, used in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, also have been used in treatments for stroke and cancer.
BioServe has had a permanent presence on ISS since 2002. Since its inception in 1987, BioServe has partnered with more than 100 companies. BioServe partners include large and small pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities and NASA-funded researchers. Learn more about BioServe.
See the original post:
Students play key biomedical research role in space | CU Boulder ... - CU Boulder Today
Posted: February 19, 2017 at 4:46 am
Americans spend between one and four billion dollars a year treating hair loss.
Now, four surgeons in the U.S. are testing a stem cell treatment in a non-surgical procedure.
Overseas trials in Japan and Egypt are already showing some success.
Its been 30 years of concern, Roy Woelke said.
Woelke knows how overwhelming hair loss can be.
I noticed thinning in my late twenties, and it never stops. It seems like it just goes on and on, Woelke detailed.
Hes had three hair replacement surgeries, but thats really just moving hair around the head, and as he says, you run out of supply.
Kenneth Williams, D.O., a hair restoration surgeon at Orange County Hair Restoration in Los Angeles, California, may have new hope for Woelke and millions of others.
Hes running a clinical trial that uses stem cells and platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, to treat baldness.
The study is taking cells that are in our body that help to regenerate or stimulate inactive or dormant hair follicles," Williams explained. "That is the theory behind what were doing this procedure on.
Williams takes fat from the abdomen, emulsifies it and separates the stem cells, mixes it with the patients own plasma which has been spun down to be super concentrated. Then with 300 shots, injects the mixture into the scalp, twice over a three-month period.
Woelke hopes to get into the trial, which has five participants so far.
Williams already does the procedure for paying patients whove had promising results.
Those patients are seeing some differences in the density of the hair," Williams said. "Were waiting for the final results, which take nine to 12 months after the administration. We look to see the final results of what were doing.
He hopes to publish results in two years.
Williams trial is supported by NIH, but not by a major pharmaceutical company yet. That means his trial is patient-funded, meaning theyll pay a reduced cost of the $2,500 to $5,800 procedure, depending on which arm of the trial is chosen.
Contact the Irvine Institute of Medicine and Cosmetic Surgery at (949) 333-2999 or visit http://www.straandstudy.com for more information.
Published at 5:46 PM CST on Feb 17, 2017 | Updated at 5:50 PM CST on Feb 17, 2017
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Stem Cells Treat Baldness with PRP | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
Posted: February 19, 2017 at 4:46 am
KJZZ | Tiny Fish Makes A Big Splash In Arizona Medical Research KJZZ For Han, they provide a handy way to study treatments for metastasis the process in which cancer cells break away from a source tumor and form new tumors elsewhere in the body. The key lies in embryonic stem cells called neural crest cells. As they ... |
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Tiny Fish Makes A Big Splash In Arizona Medical Research - KJZZ
Posted: February 19, 2017 at 4:45 am
The vibrant and growing Asian community in the Northwest has a major impact on the excellent healthcare system that benefits everyone in the region. As healthcare professionals delivering high quality patient care, or as patients receiving care, Asians are part of the fabric of local communities.
Although blood donations from the Asian community are increasing, they are still low compared to other ethnic communities in the region, said Dr. Yanyun Wu, chief medical officer at Bloodworks Northwest. The best local blood supply we can have needs to fully reflect the ethnic diversity of all the communities we serve. In some circumstances, the best patient outcomes are achieved when donated blood and patients needing it share similar ethnic background.
There are many options for donating blood. Giving whole blood takes less than an hour, and after it is processed into its components red cells, platelets, and plasma it can be used to help up to three patients. New moms can also donate umbilical cord blood after the birth of their baby. Stem cells in cord blood are used to treat many forms of cancer.
Bloodworks N supports more than 90 hospitals in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, and the demand for blood components is continuous. Patients in hospitals undergoing surgeries, emergency rooms treating traumatic injuries, people receiving treatments for cancer, and surgeons performing organ transplants all depend on a stable blood supply.
All blood types are needed! Donors are welcome at any of Bloodworks Northwests 12 donor centers, or check online for community blood drives close to where you live or work. Information about locations and times can be found at bloodworksnw.org.
Originally posted here:
Asian community plays key role in healthcare - Northwest Asian Weekly
Posted: February 19, 2017 at 4:45 am
Updated at 10:25 a.m. ET
Poised on the brink of ushering in a new era, NASA's historic launch pad in Florida will need to wait another day for its milestone. At the last minute, the private space company SpaceX scrubbed its Saturday launch, which would have marked the first time the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A was used in over half a decade.
Instead, the launch will wait at least 24 hours while SpaceX takes a "closer look at positioning of the second stage engine nozzle," an anomaly that came to light shortly before liftoff. The company plans to try again on Sunday.
Taken on its face, the launch itself is not particularly notable. Naturally, it's no mean feat to send a rocket to space, but missions like this one happen all the time. The International Space Station needs provisions, after all, and the 5,500 pounds of supplies and materials for scientific experiments would be a common (if still impressive) load for a resupply mission.
Rather, the liftoff now scheduled for Sunday is making history not for its cargo but precisely where it will be taking place: the pad that served as the launch site for the Apollo 11 mission that first sent humans to the moon in 1969.
In fact, Launch Complex 39A served as a pad for many of the most famous missions in NASA's history from the first missions to space that packed a human crew, to the decades-long space shuttle program that helped construct the orbiting station SpaceX's rocket will be supplying.
As NPR's Rae Ellen Bichell reports for our Newscast unit, the SpaceX mission marks something of a sea change for the historic launch pad:
"According to NASA, this will be the first time the launch pad has been used since the shuttle program ended in 2011 and it will mark the beginning of a new era for the Kennedy Space Center as a spaceport open for use by public and commercial missions to space."
SpaceX, a privately owned space company, is sending its NASA cargo and the Dragon spacecraft that bears it with a Falcon 9 rocket. In a statement, NASA says SpaceX also plans to attempt to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 back on a platform, as it did during its successful launch last month.
NASA also explains some of the experiments this launch will be supporting:
"Science investigations launching on Dragon include commercial and academic research investigations that will enable researchers to advance their knowledge of the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges astronauts face during long-duration spaceflight.
"One experiment will use the microgravity environment to grow stem cells that are of sufficient quality and quantity to use in the treatment of patients who have suffered a stroke. A Merck Research Labs investigation will test growth in microgravity of antibodies important for fighting a wide range of human diseases, including cancer."
According to NASA, the mission will also aid in recording "key climate observations and data records."
Excerpt from:
A Liftoff Deferred: SpaceX Mission From NASA's Historic Launch Pad Delayed - Alabama Public Radio
Posted: February 19, 2017 at 4:45 am
By: Express News Service | Mohali | Published:February 19, 2017 4:43 am The National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute, Mohali, on Saturday observed its 7th foundation day.
The National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute, Mohali, on Saturday observed its 7th foundation day at the NABI premises at Phase 8 in Mohali. The NABI is an autonomous institute aided by the department of Biotechnology, Government of India, and carries out research in the area of biotechnological applications at the intersection of agriculture, food and nutritional biotechnology.
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A gathering of heads of the institutes and faculty from the Tricity region joined the function. More than 200 scientists, students and staff participated in the foundation day ceremony. Prof. Nagendra Kumar Singh, national professor, B P Pal chair and project director, ICAR National Research Centre on Plant Bioterchnology, New Delhi was the chief guest.
He delivered the foundation day lecture on Decoding the genomes of crop plants uniquely important for India. Dr T R Sharma, executive director, NABI highlighted the achievements of NABI and mentioned that NABI is poised to play an important role in generating world-class knowledge in the area of agri-food and health security. NABI is working on strategies to overcome anti-nutritional activity, and make food crops a better quality source for nutrition.
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National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute celebrates seventh foundation day - The Indian Express
Posted: February 19, 2017 at 4:45 am
Puma Biotechnology Inc (NYSE:PBYI) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.
According to Zacks, Pumas progress with the lead candidate, neratinib, has been impressive. Currently, neratinib is under review in both the U.S. and the EU for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. An approval would be a huge boost for the company given the immense commercial potential in the target market. Several additional studies on neratinib targeting different types of breast cancer patient populations are currently underway. Being a development-stage company, Puma does not have any approved product in its portfolio yet. Thus, the company is totally dependent on neratinib for growth. Puma has had its share of setbacks related to neratinib. With so much depending on the successful development and approval of neratinib, any further kind of development or regulatory setback could hamper the companys growth prospects and the stock adversely. Shares of the company have underperformed that of the industry in the past one year.
Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup Inc. set a $88.00 price target on Puma Biotechnology and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Puma Biotechnology in a research note on Wednesday, November 30th. J P Morgan Chase & Co set a $89.00 price target on Puma Biotechnology and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, November 14th. Cowen and Company restated a market perform rating on shares of Puma Biotechnology in a research note on Tuesday, November 15th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group restated an outperform rating and set a $111.00 target price on shares of Puma Biotechnology in a research note on Tuesday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $68.56.
Puma Biotechnology (NYSE:PBYI) traded up 0.73% on Tuesday, hitting $34.60. Puma Biotechnology has a one year low of $19.74 and a one year high of $73.27. The firms 50-day moving average is $37.28 and its 200-day moving average is $45.81. The companys market capitalization is $1.27 billion.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Puma Biotechnology by 53.2% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 16,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,120,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its position in shares of Puma Biotechnology by 112.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 2,133 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 1,127 shares during the period. Northern Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Puma Biotechnology by 1.2% in the second quarter. Northern Capital Management LLC now owns 16,288 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Puma Biotechnology during the second quarter valued at about $246,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Puma Biotechnology by 31.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 231,875 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $6,907,000 after buying an additional 55,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.98% of the companys stock.
About Puma Biotechnology
Puma Biotechnology, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development and commercialization of products for the treatment of cancer. The Company focuses on in-licensing the global development and commercialization rights to over three drug candidates, including PB272 (neratinib (oral)), which the Company is developing for the treatment of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2), positive breast cancer, and patients with non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer and other solid tumors that have a HER2 mutation; PB272 (neratinib (intravenous)), which the Company is developing for the treatment of patients with advanced cancer, and PB357, which is an orally administered agent.
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The Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) Stock Rating Decreased by the ... - DailyQuint
