Researchers from Oxford University say they’ve made a breakthrough in developing smart glasses for people with severe sight loss.
The glasses enhance images of nearby people and objects on to the lenses, providing a much clearer sense of surroundings.
They have allowed some people to see their guide dogs for the first time.
(WATCH the video below or READ the story from BBC)
A class of drug currently being used to treat leukemia has the unexpected side-effect of boosting immune responses against many different cancers, reports a new study.
The drugs, called p110δ inhibitors, have shown such remarkable efficacy against certain leukemias in recent clinical trials that patients on the placebo were switched to the real drug. Until now, however, they have not been tested in other types of cancer.
The new study, led by scientists at University College London and the Babraham Institute, Cambridge and published in Nature, provides the first evidence that such drugs can significantly restrict tumor growth and spread and reduce the chances of relapse for a broad range of cancers. The researchers at UCL, the Babraham Institute and Queen Mary University of London, together with scientists from Genentech, South San Francisco, showed that inhibition of the p110δ enzyme helps to boost the body’s immune system to kill tumor cells. The research was funded by Cancer Research UK, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.
The team showed that inhibiting p110δ in mice significantly increased cancer survival rates across a broad range of tumor types, both solid and hematological cancers. For example, mice in which p110δ was blocked survived breast cancer for almost twice as long as mice with active p110δ. Their cancers also spread significantly less, with far fewer and smaller tumors developing. Survival after surgical removal of primary breast cancer tumors was also vastly improved, which has important clinical implications for stopping breast cancer from returning following surgery. The team’s data further show that following p110δ inhibition, the immune system could develop an effective memory response to completely fight off the cancer.
Lead author Dr Khaled Ali, who is now based at Amgen, San Francisco, says: “When we first introduced tumors in p110δ-deficient mice, we expected them to grow faster because p110δ is important for the immune system. Instead, some tumors started shrinking. When we investigated this unexpected effect, we found that p110δ is especially important in so-called regulatory T cells which are suppressive immune cells that the tumors engage to protect themselves against immune attack.”
“Our work shows that p110δ inhibitors can shift the balance from the cancer becoming immune to our body’s defenses towards the body becoming immune to the cancer, by disabling regulatory T cells,” says study co-leader Dr Klaus Okkenhaug of the Babraham Institute, which receives strategic funding from the BBSRC. “This provides a rationale for using these drugs against both solid and blood cancers, possibly alongside cancer vaccines, cell therapies and other treatments that further promote tumor-specific immune responses.”
Professor Nic Jones, Cancer Research UK’s chief scientist and director of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, said: “Treatments that train the immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells are showing huge promise in several types of cancer. This new finding, although only at an early stage, offers the potential to develop more treatments that can do this in many more cancers, including ones that have real need for more effective treatments such as pancreatic cancer.
“If the findings hold true in cancer patients this could make a big difference to many of them. The good news is that because the drugs used in this study are already being used in the clinic, we could see rapid translation of this research into patient benefit.”
(Source: UCL.ac.uk) Image by fotosinteresantes on Flickr, CC license
Homeless runner Ronnie Goodman longed to run in the San Francisco Marathon in July. His story so touched the race’s organizers that they have made him a special part of the event.
Not only that, readers pooled their resources, after The S.F. Chronicle ran a story, so they could pay the $120 entry fee for the 53-year-old artist who sleeps under a San Francisco freeway.
Now, race organizers are featuring him as a fund-raiser for one of his favorite organizations — Hospitality House, a homeless resource center whose community arts program has helped Goodman hone his craft for years.
(READ the story in the San Francisco Chronicle)
A Georgia man who served ten years for manufacturing cocaine is being credited with saving a 15-month-old baby he found alongside a highway.
Bryant Collins, an auto repair man who says he has been free and clean for five years, spotted the girl crawling alongside a Madison County highway, east of Atlanta.
“I had seen something out of the corner of my eye, and I thought it was a baby,” he said. “I just stopped and, when I got out, there was a baby…almost in the highway.”
Collins waited two hours until authorities concluded their questions, and played gospel music from his iPhone when the baby cried.
(WATCH the 11-Alive video below, or READ the story from WFXG)
Story tip from Lisa Bauman
The Monash Children’s Hospital in Victoria, Australia enjoyed an intimate concert in the neonatal ward Friday when Keith Urban began strumming a guitar and his actress wife, Nicole Kidman joined in.
The couple were in their home country to attend the Swisse Celebrate Life Ball, a charity event for the Celebrate Life Foundation.
Hospital staff and patients were treated to photos and autographs, and even a duet of Amazing Grace. Nicole, displaying a lovely voice, was one of the few in the room who knew the second verse.
The Australian couple will celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary on June 25 next week.
WATCH the video above…
Errand Frazier of Vero Beach wasn’t quite sure what to do at first when he heard purring coming from his Chevy pickup, parked outside his house.
Later he heard it again and took matters into his own hands. He reached for his toolbox, took out some sheet metal cutters and cut back the metal on the side of the truck bed. As he peeled it back, he spotted a kitten.
The cat was taken to a shelter and has since been adopted by a family. After the shelter shared the story of the rescue on their Facebook page, several people offered to help pay for the cost to repair Frazier’s vehicle.
(WATCH the video below, or READ the full story at CNN)
Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas announced Wednesday a new plan to raise the minimum wage to $10.25 for 230 janitors, cafeteria workers and other low-wage employees. The $1.50 per hour raise will be funded with bonus checks previously paid to executives.
The hospital’s 60 vice presidents and top executives made the decision to cover the cost of $350,000 for a year. They hope that by providing a living wage they can improve workers’ morale.
“It is the right thing to do,” said Paula Dobbs-Wiggins, MD, chair of the Board’s Employee Relations Executive Compensation Committee. “(We are) recognizing the importance and value of all our employees to fulfilling our mission.”
“It helps us recruit and maintain a higher caliber of staff at all levels inside Parkland,” said Jim Dunn, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Talent Officer at Parkland.
Other companies have voluntarily raised their minimum wages lately, including the retailer Gap, which boosted its lowest pay to $10 an hour.
[Photo credit: SEIU workers, New York City – CC license]
Last week’s presidential election in Afghanistan marked the first-ever democratic transfer of power from one elected leader to another in Afghan history.
To celebrate Caribbean Heritage Month decreed to be June in the United States, we wanted to show you this photo captured by a crew member on the International Space Station: Tidal flats and channels on Long Island, Bahamas.
The islands of the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea are situated on large depositional platforms (the Great and Little Bahama Banks) composed mainly of carbonate sediments ringed by fringing reefs — the islands themselves are only the parts of the platform currently exposed above sea level.
The sediments are formed mostly from the skeletal remains of organisms settling to the sea floor; over geologic time, these sediments will consolidate to form carbonate sedimentary rocks such as limestone. This detailed photograph provides a view of tidal flats and tidal channels near Sandy Cay on the western side of Long Island, located along the eastern margin of the Great Bahama Bank.
The continually exposed parts of the island have a brown coloration in the image, a result of soil formation and vegetation growth. To the north of Sandy Cay an off-white tidal flat composed of carbonate sediments is visible; light blue-green regions indicate shallow water on the tidal flat. Tidal flow of seawater is concentrated through gaps in the anchored land surface, leading to formation of relatively deep tidal channels that cut into the sediments of the tidal flat. The channels, and areas to the south of the island, have a vivid blue coloration that provides a clear indication of deeper water.
(NASA, 11/27/10)
A Pittsburgh police pursuit drove Detective Jack Mook, a perennial bachelor, to become a father.
Mook, a trainer at Steel City Boxing, told himself that the troubles of brothers Josh and Jessee Lyle were not his own as long as the boys arrived at the North Side gym for their almost-daily workouts. Then they stopped showing up and their guardian fled from police, crashing into a car and an embankment in the North Side.
“I said, ‘Enough is enough. I want those kids,’ ” said Mook, 44. “They could’ve been in that car.”
And he’s pursuing permanent adoption with the support of the boys’ mother, a drug addict.
“This is an amazing story about a cop (who I grew up with) stepping up and adopting two at risk youth,” said Christopher Lazzara, who sent the link to us.
(READ the story, with photos, from Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
(Above) Unrelated Photo by Elliot Margolies on Flickr – CC license
A heroic stray dog has saved her puppies from a drainage canal after rescue teams asked for her help in the southwestern Turkish province of Muğla on June 7.
Erhan Erol, a resident, called firefighters as he noticed eight puppies that were stuck in a drainage canal at the beach near the tourist town of Bodrum. The puppies were about to be drowned as the canal was slowly filling with seawater.
(READ the full story, with more photos, from Hurriyet Daily News)
Warren Buffett, the $65.6-billion man, proclaimed last week that he would double his investment in renewable energy across the United States.
Having already invested $15 billion in wind and solar farms in Iowa, Wyoming, California and Arizona, for instance, Buffett spoke at the Edison Electric Institute’s annual convention in Las Vegas, saying he was ready with another $15 billion.
(READ the story in EcoWatch)
Photo credit: Mark Hirschey-CC
Jesse Jackson is a Miami musician whose dad fought in WWII. Yesterday, June 15th, was the 70th anniversary of his father’s landing at the battle of Saipan where he received wounds for which he was awarded one of his two Purple Hearts. Yesterday was also Father’s Day in the U.S. and Jackson recorded a song, not only for his father, but for another Marine who is crossing the United States on horseback to benefit wounded warriors.
A former infantryman, Matt Litrell is riding with two mustang from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to Camp Pendleton, California. He, too, is a Purple Heart combat marine, yet after he returned home from two tours in Iraq, Litrell began contemplating suicide. Now, to raise awareness of the high suicide rate among veterans, he is crossing the country on a horse, something Jackson, as a musician, has always wanted to do to spread his music.
The John Mayer-esque Miami singer-songwriter knew that his song, “Son of a Marine,” was a perfect fit for the moment.
“I wrote this song in Wyoming and it just came to me.”
Jackson performed “Son of a Marine” yesterday on Father’s Day –on his dad’s combat anniversary– so he could use the video to promote Matt Litrell’s fundraising page benefitting the Semper Fi Fund.
Dubbed the Long Trail Home Fund, it has raised $3,400 of $10,000 since Littrell launched the 2700-mile journey on May 1.
“I don’t think the average American is aware that we are losing more than 22 veterans per day (to suicide) in our country,” he told the Jackson, NC Daily News.
(By the way, Jesse’s dad, Harry Jackson was an artist in the New York Abstract Impressionist movement joining the likes of Jackson Pollock. He died in 2011 but you can explore his art and life at www.harryjacksonstudios.com.)
The newly-elected government in India plans to plant 2 billion trees along the network of National Highways across the country to employ jobless youth.
“I have asked officials to come out with a plan to plant 200 crore (2 billion) trees along these stretches which in turn would create jobs for the unemployed on the one hand and protect the environment on the other,” Road Transport, Highways, Shipping and Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari said here today.
(READ the story in the Financial Express)
Photo credit: Ashok666, via Flickr – CC license
Malians wait in line before seeing medics with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Mission in Mali who give free daily medical consultations at a clinic in Gao, in northern Mali.
UN Photo by MINUSMA Peacekeeping force
George Pike’s father was an active farmer and chauffeur at age 70, until he went into the hospital for hip replacement surgery in March 2013.
He was kept off his feet for months by an unseen infection. George was told a new round of drugs would clear it from his blood, so he left on a scheduled 6-month internship in Australia with a film production company in Sydney. When the job ended in February, the 22-year-old began a year long road trip across the continent that he had spent months dreaming about.
But his father had to have another operation to have his hip taken out and replaced with ‘cement’ in order to try and kill the infection that had not dissipated with drugs along. He was in hospital for 3 and a half weeks and during recovery at home he had no ability to do any of the things he had done his entire life — farming, driving, cycling etc.
After a month of traveling, from Sydney to Perth, George was having the time of his life, but his dad was forever in his thoughts.
“My dad is the sole reason I am the person I am today, and I owe him everything I have for everything he has done for me since he brought my brother and I up from an early age. So I made the decision to end my journey, sell my car, and return home.”
Without his father knowing, his brother picked him up from the airport and took him straight to the house on April 1 where his dad had been pretty much chair bound for the previous 14 months.
His brother walked in first with George’s phone to discreetly record a video or the surprise. WATCH the heartwarming reunion above.
Tomorrow George’s father heads back to surgery, with the infection almost gone, to hopefully turn the corner with a final hip operation and end 15 months of pain.
“Since arriving home I have been helping him by working on the farm and driving clients for his chauffeur job, he hasn’t been able to make any money for so long so he really needed the help financially,” said George. “I have also been able to drive him around and take him out of the house — so lots of restaurants and pubs!”
(Watch George’s well-edited Australia travel video below.)
A man who turned the other cheek when a homeless man in Bradford, England shouted racist slurs at him has since helped his abuser find a home and work.
Aminur Chowdhury hopes his forgiving nature and the subsequent turn-around of Ben Gallon’s attitude will help educate others.
The 30-year-old was racially abused by Mr Gallon, 27, outside the Delius pub, Claremont, Bradford on May 14. But rather than retaliate or ignore Mr Gallon, he instead talked to him.
(READ more from Telegraph and Argus)
Story tip from Andrew Potten – Photo “Suresh Smile” by dhyanji via flickr – CC license
The caring moments of fatherhood often go overlooked. This one minute film entitled, “Calls For Dad,” celebrates the ‘dad’ moments in everyone’s life.
By Dove
Teenage cancer hero Stephen Sutton has been awarded appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) after his courageous and selfless campaign to raise cash to fight the disease.
The 19-year-old was told just days before he died in May that he had been included on the’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Proud mum Jane said when she broke the news to her son, who raised nearly £4million for the Teenage Cancer Trust, he gave a thumbs up and declared: “Awesome.”
Last year Stephen posted a bucket list online and start blogging about his journey on Facebook.com/stephensstory. Soon after, “Stephen’s Story” grew into an inspiring global fundraising opportunity.
“I’ve achieved all kinds of fun and wonderful things.”
Learn more at www.stephensstory.co.uk.
(READ it from DailyMirror)
Painting the streets in Brazil has become an annual tradition, bringing generations of soccer fans together and spreading joy and pride throughout the community.
Every four years Brazilians paint their streets for the love of football. This year it is even more exciting with the FIFA World Cup being hosted in their own country.
With the help of Google Maps, people around the world can see how the green and yellow enthusiasm is brought to life in every neighborhood.
(WATCH the video below – Take a tour at g.co/BrazilPaintedStreets)
Story from Mike McGinley
