Losing a dog is distressing, losing a 15-year-old dog is worse—and losing a 15-year-old dachshund is a grim situation indeed.
Luckily for distraught owner Chelsea Blackwell, her dog had made its way into the arms of a person who could help.
Blackwell lost Blue the dachshund in her home town of Albany last Monday, prompting her to drive around looking and asking passersby if they had seen the dog. Then, nearing the Greyhound bus stop, she noticed something out of the ordinary.
“I noticed there were like eight police cars and people with cameras—I thought maybe somebody got shot,” Blackwell told an Albany paper. “I asked them if anyone saw a little brown dog.”
What happened next is that a member of the crowd replied, “yes, we’ll call her,” sparking curiosity in Blackwell. Inquiring as to the “her,” the person said that a celebrity had found her dog, and the next thing she knew, a car had pulled up and out came Million Dollar Baby star Hillary Swank, with Blue cradled in her arms.
Swank has a history of animal advocacy, including co-founding the Hilaroo Foundation, which helps connect at-risk teens with shelter dogs in order to foster a healing connection.
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If a healthy house plant makes one relax, an unhealthy plant doesn’t do anything right? In reality, unhealthy or dying plants go the other way—making us depressed.
A study done by the English RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) found that dead or sickly houseplants are worse than having no plants at all, and should be removed immediately.
The health benefits of having a healthy house or office plant, such as a birds-nest fern, Ficus, or snake plant, are well worth the effort of taking care of them. They can absorb volatile organic compounds emitted by paint or furniture, oxygenate the room, and help reduce stress by seeing living green.
But this is only the case when healthy. The study from the University of Reading asked participants to rate plants in various states of health for their appearance and perceived ability to clean the air.
A neglected palm used in the study “was the least attractive, least preferred plant and participants thought the appearance was unhealthy and depressing.”
“This important finding shows that to benefit occupants’ well-being, sick or dead plants should be removed from the indoor environment,” the authors concluded.
They went further to suggest that people with little experience looking after plants should avoid plants that are difficult to care for. An example of this might be an orchid, which can live indoors but which is difficult and moody.
Another conclusion was that people should avoid decorating the home or office with plants that feature the color brown, as a large section of the participants said it didn’t make them feel good, but rather sad, and that spherical or conical shapes should be preferred to spreading plants.
The Lesson: Perhaps it’s no surprise that professional acting takes a toll on one’s emotions, but taking over the roles of emotionally-troubled characters is all the more challenging. What can professional actors share to others about confronting despair of the past, gratitude for the present, and anxiety of the future?
Notable Excerpt: “I heard this once, I made friends with my anxiety and turned it into my engine. But you have to be careful because it can sometimes overpower and then Worry will steal (your energy). Anxiety and anxiousness is something I’ve always worked with to move myself forward… When you’re in a more vulnerable place, gratitude can hit you like a Mack truck—the attitude of gratitude is the key to daily living (or at least) it certainly helps when you get off track.”
The Guest: Amir Arison is a well known actor, director and activist. Best known for his work on the NBC/Sony/Netflix international hit series The Blacklist as tech-wizard Aram Mojtabai. Other TV credits include recurring & guest appearances on Law & Order: SVU, American Horror Story, as well as many others including the current HULU limited series THE DROPOUT.
He is the recipient of the Mendez Award from MIFF, given to an individual in the entertainment industry who uses their platform to give back. He currently teaches workshops and directs/performs for multiple organizations including The New School, Pace University, YoungArts, United Arts Partnership, NBC director’s diversity showcase, Broadway for All, Broadway Workshop, Bridge Builders, Hole-In-The-Wall-Gang-Camp, and Angelight Films.
The Podcast: Livin’ Good Currency explores the relationship of time to our lives. It gives a simple, straight-forward formula that anyone can use to be present in the moment—and features a co-host who knows better than anyone the value of time (see below). How do you want to spend your life? This hour can inspire you, along with upcoming guests, to be sure you are ‘Livin’ Good Currency’ and never get caught running out of time.
The Hosts: Good News Network fans will know Tony (Anthony) Samadani as the co-owner of GNN and its Chief of Strategic Partnerships. Co-host Tobias Tubbs was handed a double life sentence without the possibility of parole for a crime he didn’t commit. Behind bars, he used his own version of the Livin’ Good Currency formula to inspire young men in prison to turn their hours into honors. An expert in conflict resolution, spirituality, and philosophy, Tobias is a master gardener who employs ex-felons to grow their Good Currency by planting crops and feeding neighborhoods.
Quote of the Day: “If you can’t believe in miracles, then believe in yourself. When you want something bad enough, let that drive push you to make it happen.” – Isabel Lopez
Photo by: Sebastian Knoll
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A metal detectorist who found a newlywed’s wedding ring on a beach surprised them, by sending a picture of it being held by a LEGO man.
44-year-old groom Richard Whetter and his bride Anne arrived on the island of Jersey for their honeymoon last month.
But Richard lost his wedding ring during a romantic stroll in Portelet Bay two days later.
He says he took off his ring to go swimming, and put it by his shoe. Unfortunately, as a newlywed he wasn’t used to owning such an item—and forgot to put it back on. It was only when he got back to the car that he realized it was missing.
The couple traveled back to their hotel and told a porter who immediately contacted local metal detectorist Steve Andrews. Still, they thought the ring had been lost forever.
For Steve, it took only ten minutes to find the lost item.
SWNS
Steve marks his finds with a special picture of a LEGO man. In fact, it’s a mini-replica of himself—complete with matching clothes and a little metal detector.
He never charges for his work. “The thing I enjoy most about detecting is re-uniting people with their items,” he says. “I was delighted to find the ring; it was one of the quickest I’ve ever completed.”
“The LEGO man is just a nice thing to send to people. I find their item and take a photo as a sort of ‘I’ve found it!’ I got it as a jokey present from my sister, and it just stuck.”
Richard, who lives in Bristol, said, “I’m really grateful for Steve. What could have been an absolute disaster turned into a valuable lesson learnt—with an amusing edge”.
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Animal welfare groups have commended the New York State Legislature for passing the Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill—groundbreaking legislation that will end the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet stores across the state.
Championed by Assembly member Linda B. Rosenthal and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, this bill now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul. If signed into law, it would stop the flow of cruelly bred puppies into New York.
“Over the years we have tried to regulate pet stores, but the industry continues to prioritize profits over the welfare of animals. My legislation will finally shut down the pet store-to-puppy mill pipeline once and for all,” Linda B. Rosenthal said.
“With so many good animals in need of rescue, there is no need for abusive puppy mills to supply pet stores. Our four-legged companions should be treated with respect, not like commodities,” noted Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris.
The Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill is supported by leading animal welfare groups including the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and various others, including millions of New York animal lovers who support ending the sale of puppies in pet stores.
Puppies sold in pet stores come from commercial breeding operations that are designed to prioritize profit over the well-being of the animals. Breeding dogs in these facilities are often kept without adequate shelter, veterinary care, food, or socialization.
These puppies can suffer severe health and behavioral issues–and families are often unprepared for the financial loss and heartbreak that come with buying a sick puppy.
This broken system is made possible because it’s still legal to sell dogs in New York pet stores, leaving New York to become one of the puppy mill industry’s largest markets. When the Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill is signed into law, New York will shut down this pipeline and deny cruel mills access to New York’s communities.
In Galveston Island State Park, a routine survey has uncovered a nest of 107 extremely precious turtle eggs belonging to a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle’ a species listed as Critically Endangered, it is the most at-risk sea turtle on the globe.
It’s been a long, lonely decade for Texas A&M’s Sea Turtle Patrol; they haven’t found a Lone Star State turtle nest since 2012. The exhilarating discovery ended in mid-May when the eggs were transported to an incubation center, where there chances of survival raise from a pittance to a near-certainty.
Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle is a smoother, smaller turtle than more widely-known species like the Green, Loggerhead, or Hawksbill sea turtles. It’s one of just two members of the genus Lepidochelys and has been on the Earth for around 160 million years in its current form.
Widely dispersed around Mexico, in the U.S. they have been found only in Texas. In 1947, aerial surveys recorded on the beaches of Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, confirmed that this species used to come ashore by the tens of thousands but catastrophic population lost followed.
“A lot of nesting habitat for the Kemp’s Ridley has been lost to storms, high tide and predation, which is why it is important to transport these nests to an environment where they have the best chance for survival into adulthood,” said Christopher Marshall, Professor of Marine Biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston and Director for the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research.
Conservation efforts were already focused on restoring this marine reptile to its former hordes by 1980, and indeed by the 2000s, 10,000 individuals were recorded nesting on Padre Island National Seashore.
Two major declines in population followed, and by 2014 the number of nests found each year on Padre Island fell by 45%. On Galveston Island, they disappeared all together.
Conservation efforts are ongoing, with Smithsonian reporting that around 5,500 individuals nest on the beaches of Mexico, and 55 nest in Texas. Returns to old breeding haunts is a solid sign of population recovery, and hopefully A&M’s Turtle Patrol won’t have to wait another ten years to find the next nest.
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A teenager used his very own drone to spot a Russian convoy approaching his town, providing real-time positional information which allowed Ukrainian artillery to destroy it.
Quietly being hailed as a Hero of Ukraine, Andrii Pokrasa is just one of over a thousand civilian drone operators that are aiding in their country’s defense with everyday drones.
We know of drones through their myriad of different uses. One thing that many don’t realize is how much they’ve decentralized what were once cost-prohibitive activates, such as cinematography, news reporting, and even military operations in countries where the money to afford such activities is rarely available.
The Federation of Drone Owners of Ukraine has worked from day one alongside the military, while also encouraging hundreds of their members to conduct reconnaissance missions.
15-year-old Pokrasa’s intervention, confirmed to Global News Canada by a military officer and his parents, was the main reason the Russian military convoy didn’t overrun his town.
“He was the only one who was experienced with drones in that region,” explained the commander of the armed forces unmanned reconnaissance section, Yurii Kasjanov. “He’s a real hero, a hero of Ukraine.”
After confirming the convoy’s position, Andrii passed the information to his father, who in turn sent it to Ukrainian military over a social media channel, which resulted in the convoy’s destruction.
Pokrasa, who has a dreadful fear of heights, became interested in drones after watching a YouTube video filmed above the skyline of Kyiv.
In a truly 21st-century story, he used the money that he and his father had saved up buying and selling cryptocurrency to afford the drone, which, costing a few hundred dollars, was used to turn a multi-million dollar military invasion force into disorganized, smoldering rubble on the roadside.
(WATCH the Global News Canada video for this story below.)
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Quote of the Day: “The cause of most of man’s unhappiness is sacrificing what he wants most for what he wants now.” – Gordon B. Hinckley
Photo by: Alexander Schimmeck
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If you need another reason to start the day drinking a cup of joe, a recent study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers has revealed that consuming at least one cup of coffee a day may reduce the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) when compared to those who do not drink coffee.
The findings show that those who drank any quantity of coffee every day had a 15% lower risk of AKI, with the largest reductions observed in the group that drank two to three cups a day (a 22%–23% lower risk).
“We already know that drinking coffee on a regular basis has been associated with the prevention of chronic and degenerative diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and liver disease,” says study corresponding author Chirag Parikh, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Nephrology and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “We can now add a possible reduction in AKI risk to the growing list of health benefits for caffeine.”
AKI, as described by the National Kidney Foundation, is a “sudden episode of kidney failure or kidney damage that happens within a few hours or a few days.” This causes waste products to build up in the blood, making it hard for kidneys to maintain the correct balance of fluids in the body.
AKI symptoms differ depending on the cause and may include: too little urine leaving the body; swelling in the legs and ankles, and around the eyes; fatigue; shortness of breath; confusion; nausea; chest pain; and in severe cases, seizures or coma. The disorder is most commonly seen in hospitalized patients whose kidneys are affected by medical and surgical stress and complications.
Using data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, an ongoing survey of cardiovascular disease in four U.S. communities, researchers assessed 14,207 adults recruited between 1987 and 1989 with a median age of 54. Participants were surveyed seven times over a 24-year period as to the number of 8-ounce cups of coffee they consumed per day: zero, one, two to three, or more than three. During the survey period, there were 1,694 cases of acute kidney injury recorded.
When accounting for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, lifestyle influences and dietary factors, there was a 15% lower risk of AKI for participants who consumed any amount of coffee versus those who did not. When adjusting for additional comorbidities— such as blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), diabetes status, use of antihypertensive medication and kidney function—individuals who drank coffee still had an 11% lower risk of developing AKI compared with those who did not.
New hope
“We suspect that the reason for coffee’s impact on AKI risk may be that either biologically active compounds combined with caffeine or just the caffeine itself improves perfusion and oxygen utilization within the kidneys,” says Parikh. “Good kidney function and tolerance to AKI—is dependent on a steady blood supply and oxygen.”
More studies are needed, Parikh says, to define the possible protective mechanisms of coffee consumption for kidneys, especially at the cellular level.
“Caffeine has been postulated to inhibit the production of molecules that cause chemical imbalances and the use of too much oxygen in the kidneys,” he explains. “Perhaps caffeine helps the kidneys maintain a more stable system.”
Parikh and his colleagues note that coffee additives such as milk, half-and-half, creamer, sugar or sweeteners also could influence AKI risks and warrant further investigation. Additionally, the authors say that consumption of other types of caffeinated beverages, such as tea or soda, should be considered as a possible confounding factor.
An adopted child from Utah always wanted to meet his biological mother, but he never realized that she was only just down the hall.
Both working at St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake City, Benjamin Hulleberg and his biological mother Holly Shearer were almost certainly in the building at the same moment, and they may have parked next to each other, even passed each other in the hallway.
It was always a dream to meet the woman he only knew as Holly, a person who his adopted parents never discouraged Benjamin from trying to find and meet.
He wrote letters, signed up with an adoption registry, and even took a DNA test in the hopes that the program’s algorithms could potentially lead to a clue—a cousin or second cousin that could put him on the trail.
Little did he know, Holly Shearer had never forgotten the child she put up for adoption as a young teenager.
“He was always on my mind. More so on holidays and his birthday, roller coaster of emotions,” 36-year-old Shearer told Good Morning America. “I thought about him all the time.”
HCA Healthcare’s St. Mark’s Hospital
The Hulleberg family Benjamin was adopted sent photos and letters to Holly periodically. She also found Benjamin on Facebook. She kept her distance, not wanted to “throw a wrench” into what she saw as a rich and busy young adulthood.
Eventually though, Shearer sent a Happy Birthday message to Benjamin, which turned his world upside down.
“I was crying. It was all very positive emotions,” he said. “But to me, this is a day I had been waiting for the past 20 years of my life and to imagine that it was finally happening was outrageous. It was a lot to take in.”
Deciding that he had waited long enough, he immediately asked to organize a reunion, and chose Red Robin restaurant, on the 21st of November as the time and place, as well as insisting the two bring the rest of their families. By then Benjamin had discovered he had a half-brother as well as a half-sister, so there was a lot of catching up to do.
After a tearful introduction, Shearer and Hulleberg discovered they worked in the same hospital—the former a medical assistant at the Heart Center, the latter a volunteer at the NICU.
This has led to regularly-recurring coffee breaks between the two, which Hulleberg described as “amazing.”
Hulleberg described the whole process as “very healing,” and encourages anyone looking to still meet their biological parents to keep up the search, adding that it feels he can begin to live the rest of his life.
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“It is more important to preserve the Maya legacy,” says Mauricio Montalvo, property owner of industrial park that had to be delayed due to the discovery of a large Mayan settlement from around 600 CE.
Filled with plazas, pyramids, and a natural sinkhole called a cenote which tend to feature in Mayan settlements, there may have been 4,000 people living there at one time.
It was back in 2015 when construction workers first found the city, which has been given the temporary Maya name of “Xiol,” in the municipality of Kanasín, near Yucatan’s capital of Merida, and work had to be stopped while archeologists looked into it.
It wasn’t the “lost city” some newspapers would have it—it was in plain view of the highway reports Yucatan Magazine. However it’s now being unveiled as a historic site later this year after undergoing excavations and restoration.
Spread across 51 acres, excavators found a large central plaza surrounded by 12 restored buildings of living areas and workshops, and the foundations of another 76 under the area’s vegetation. Two large buildings on either side of the plaza are thought to be elite residencies.
They also found a burial site containing the remains of 15 people, as well as a variety of grave goods and an altar they believe to have been used in ceremony and ritual.
Carlos Rosado van der Gracht, writing for Yucatan Magazine, reports that it’s possible the people were Maya, but also not Maya—a genetically-Maya subjugated city state.
Courtesy of INAH
Cavers will begin exploring the cenote in the coming months, and aren’t sure what to find there.
As Maya settlements are typically built around these natural sinkholes, being one of the few sources of freshwater on the Yucatan, they tend to be wells of discovery in addition to water wells.
Jape, copper, marble, obsidian, human remains, beads, and much more has been recovered from the bottoms of these eroded limestone features.
The Yucatan Peninsula is known as the Riviera Maya, and even as densely populated centers in the territory of surrounding countries like Guatemala and Belize began to decline with staggering speed, the populations on the peninsula grew.
The cause of the abandonment of Maya habitation sites is still a great mystery, and historians have not ruled out extreme drought, warfare, or something less disastrous like changing trade patterns.
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Roger Williams Park Zoo has announced the birth of a red wolf pup, the world’s most endangered canid species, as part of its red wolf breeding program.
Born at the Zoo on May 5, six-year-old mom Brave has been observed carefully tending to her little one. This is a historic birth for the zoo and an emblem of hope for the survival of this species. Only 15-20 red wolves remain in the wild, and they are all located in eastern North Carolina.
This now month-old pup is the first red wolf born at Roger Williams Park Zoo since 2005 and first ever successful birth for Brave and her companion Diego.
The zoo’s zookeepers and veterinary team continue to monitor mom and baby through the use of an infrared camera located inside the wolves newly built birthing den. While the pup has been observed nursing and appears to steadily gain weight, the next month is a critical time for the pups’ development.
While seven-year-old Diego, the father, may be seen in the wolves’ North American habitat now, the pup and mother will most likely remain in the den for the next several weeks. Guests may be able to catch a glimpse of the pup when they begin to venture outside of the den.
Until then, follow the zoo’s Facebook and Instagram for updates on the pup’s progress.
Future hope
Named for their red-tinged fur, red wolves are smaller than their better-known cousins the gray wolf, and larger than the coyote. They most often hunt smaller mammals including raccoons and rabbits, but they will occasionally prey on deer. Beyond howls, red wolves communicate through scent marking, facial expressions, and body posture.
Red wolves were listed as Extinct in the Wild by 1980. Through the collaboration of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Associations of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Red Wolf Species Survival Plan® (SSP), the last 14 remaining wild red wolves were brought into zoos to establish a captive breeding program with the primary objective of forming the foundation of a wild population through reintroduction back to the wild.
SSP’s are cooperative species population management and conservation programs undertaken for threatened or endangered animals by AZA member institutions. The goal of this SSP and all Species Survival Plans is to build and maintain a healthy and genetically diverse population. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of these partner facilities across the United States, the captive red wolf population has once again risen steadily to nearly 250 wolves.
Quote of the Day: Is seeing believing? Water and ice droplets in the average cumulus cloud weigh the same as 100 elephants. – USGS.gov
Photo by: Louis-Philippe Poitras
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Cannabis products containing the active ingredient THC do relieve chronic pain in the short term, scientists have revealed.
The study is one of the first into its pain-relieving properties despite many products being legalized and sold across the U.S.
Voters in Oregon, Washington and 20 other states have legalized medical and recreational marijuana, however the researchers, from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), found many products available in dispensaries have not been studied.
In the federally funded review, researchers trawled through 3,000 studies in the scientific literature up to January this year and found a total of 25 with scientifically valid evidence—18 randomized controlled studies and seven observational studies of at least four weeks.
They also found there was evidence to support a short-term benefit in treating neuropathic pain such as diabetic neuropathy which causes a burning or tingling sensation when the nerves become damaged.
The drugs found to be effective were tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and dronabinol (brand name Marinol) with nabilone (Cesamet).
Both products also led to notable side effects including sedation and dizziness, according to the review.
Another product, an under-the-tongue spray known as nabiximols, made of equal parts THC and cannabidiol, or CBD, also appeared to treat neuropathic pain.
This also led to side effects such as nausea, sedation, and dizziness.
Cannabis products are based on their ability to mimic the body’s own endocannabinoid system.
This is comprised of receptors and enzymes in the nervous system that regulate bodily functions and can affect the sensation of pain.
In the evidence review, researchers sorted the types of products into high, comparable, and low ratios of THC to CBD and compared their reported benefits and side effects.
Dronabinol and nabilone fit into the high THC and CBD ratio category, with 100% THC (no CBD) showing the most benefit among the products studied.
And six of the randomized controlled studies demonstrated statistically valid benefits for easing neuropathic pain compared to a placebo.
“Cannabis products vary quite a bit in terms of their chemical composition and this could have important side effects in terms of benefits and harm to patients,” co-author Dr Roger Chou, at OHSU, said. “That makes it tough for patients and clinicians alike since the evidence for one cannabis-based products may not be the same for another.”
The living review includes a visual abstract summary of the findings and will also be shared on a new web-based tool launched by OHSU and VA Portland Health Care System this year to help clinicians and researchers evaluate the latest evidence on the health effects of cannabis.
Known as Systematically Testing the Evidence on Marijuana, or STEM, the project includes clinical briefs to help health care workers translate the clinical implications.
“This new living evidence review is exactly the type of resource clinicians need to clarify for patients the areas of potential promise, the cannabis formulations that have been studied and, importantly, the major gaps in knowledge,” co-author Dr Devan Kansagara, also of OHSU, said.
“Honestly, the best advice is to talk to your primary care physician about possible treatments for chronic pain,” Dr McDonagh added.
Alexa's ear before the transplant (left) and the results 30 days after the procedure (right). Pic- Microtia-Congenital Ear Institute and 3DBio Therapeutics
In a major advance in the field of biological 3D-printing, a firm has successfully transplanted a printed ear made from a patient’s own stem cells.
Such a procedure has been theorized for over a decade, but demonstrations have never been carried out at the scale now being done by medical researchers at 3DBio Therapeutics.
Their trial of 11 patients includes a 20-year old woman who was born with congenital microtia, a disease that left her with a misshapen ear. While previous such operations have involved the 3D printing of prosthetics with silicon, in this case her own stem cells were nestled in a “bioink” of collagen, printed into an air, shipped via cold storage, and inserted under the skin.
It’s definitely a big deal,” said Adam Feinberg, a professor of biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University who wasn’t involved in the study but who works in the field. “I’m hoping these kinds of success will build enthusiasm and understanding this is moving from the realm of science fiction into reality.”
A precise 3-dimensional scan of her other ear was used as the model in a computer to ensure the two were identical.
“As a physician who has treated thousands of children with microtia from across the country and around the world, I am inspired by what this technology may mean for microtia patients and their families,” said Dr. Arturo Bonilla, a leading pediatric ear reconstructive surgeon who led the team.
“This study will allow us to investigate the safety and aesthetic properties of this new procedure for ear reconstruction using the patient’s own cartilage cells.”
Not only will it allow people the freedom from the self-consciousness of having a deformed ear, but 3DBio Therapeutics’ ear is 100% living, and so in most cases it restores ordinary hearing back to the patient.
For thousands of kids who have to go to school with an undeveloped ear, this method of cultured, living ear prosthetic will be life-changing, and experts outside the research team are excited by the leap it makes towards other important components which could be printed in the same way.
They’re not necessarily looking towards hyper-complex organs like a liver, but simpler, collagen-rich tissues such as a spinal disc, a rotator cuff, or a meniscus, which could restore mobility in disabled people.
Feinberg notes this hypothesizing is now securely in the realm of “when” not “if” it becomes possible.
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A Japanese man has once again completed his favorite pastime of sailing across the Pacific Ocean without stopping.
The undeterrable Kenichi Horie did it once before when he was 23, and probably didn’t expect to be pulling the same stunt 60 years later. But that’s just who he is.
Embarking on the 27th of March in his 2,182 lb. (990 kg), 19-foot-long (six-meter-long) sailboat the Suntry Mermaid III.
Horie sailed solo for two months across the world’s largest ocean before arriving in the Kii Peninsula in western Japan at 2:39 a.m. local time.
“Don’t let your dreams just stay as dreams. Have a goal and work towards achieving this and a beautiful life awaits,” Horie told CNN over a satellite phone.
Making no port calls, Horie nevertheless called his family every day to check in.
The Guardian reports that he will arrive in Cape Hinomisaki this Saturday, after which he will be towed to his home port in order to appear at an arrival ceremony in Nishinomiya city in the Hyogo prefecture.
It’s not his first award ceremony, because it’s not hia first trans-Pacific voyage. As a 23-year-old used car parts salesman, Horie became the first person ever to make a non-stop, unaided voyage across the Pacific, during which he ate only rice, canned food, and had a single radio for communication aboard a plywood vessel no less.
“I had the confidence that I would make it—I just wanted to take on the challenge,” Horie said.
When he arrived under the Golden Gate Bridge, 94 days later, he was promptly arrested, as he had neither a passport nor money. When mayor George Christopher heard what he had done, though, he gave Horie an honorary visa, and he became a mini-celebrity.
The boat in which he arrived in is held at the National Maritime Museum in California with a placard that reads “Recall for a short moment, if you will, the deed of a young Japanese, who loved the yacht and the United States of America.”
Kenichi Horie has actually crossed the Pacific many times, often on yachts build of recycled materials, like beer kegs, plastic bottles, or aluminum cans. One was even solar powered. He does these things, and hopes to continue doing them until age 100, to raise awareness of the irreplaceable resource that is the ocean.
“I didn’t think I’d be sailing at 83 but I’m still healthy and I didn’t want to miss this chance,” he told CNN. “Challenges are exciting so I’d like to keep trying.”
Sascha Roth remembers the phone call came on a hectic Friday evening.
She was racing around her home in Washington, D.C., to pack for New York, where she was scheduled to undergo weeks of radiation therapy for rectal cancer.
But the phone call from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) medical oncologist Andrea Cercek changed everything, leaving Sascha “stunned and ecstatic—I was so happy.”
Dr. Cercek told Sascha, then 38, that her latest tests showed no evidence of cancer, after Sascha had undergone six months of treatment as the first patient in a clinical trial involving immunotherapy at MSK.
Immunotherapy harnesses the body’s own immune system as an ally against cancer. The MSK clinical trial was investigating—for the first time ever—if immunotherapy alone could beat rectal cancer that had not spread to other tissues, in a subset of patients whose tumor contain a specific genetic mutation.
“Dr. Cercek told me a team of doctors examined my tests,” recalls Sascha. “And since they couldn’t find any signs of cancer, Dr. Cercek said there was no reason to make me endure radiation therapy.”
These same remarkable results would be repeated for all 14 people—and counting—in the MSK clinical trial for rectal cancer with a particular mutation.
In every case, the rectal cancer disappeared after immunotherapy—without the need for the standard treatments of radiation, surgery, or chemotherapy—and the cancer has not returned in any of the patients, who have been cancer-free for up to two years.
“It’s incredibly rewarding,” says Dr. Cercek, “to get these happy tears and happy emails from the patients in this study who finish treatment and realize, ‘Oh my God, I get to keep all my normal body functions that I feared I might lose to radiation or surgery.’ ”
Her co-investigator, MSK medical oncologist Luis Diaz, Jr., is equally thrilled. He’s spent his career studying how to defeat cancer with immunotherapy. “It’s really exciting,” says Dr. Diaz, a member of the White House’s National Cancer Advisory Board. “I think this is a great step forward for patients.”
Using Immunotherapy Earlier To Target a Genetic Mutation
Drs. Cercek and Diaz explain that their team’s research was sparked by two key ideas.
The first premise, says Dr. Diaz, is to figure out precisely which patients benefit most from immunotherapy, so they can receive it right away. “Immunotherapy has proven successful in treating a subset of patients with colon and rectal cancer that has metastasized, meaning spread to other tissues.”
The patients in this subset, Dr. Diaz explains, have tumors with a specific genetic makeup known as mismatch repair-deficient (MMRd) or microsatellite instability (MSI).
Between 5% and 10% of all rectal cancer patients are thought to have MMRd tumors, including all the patients in the MSK clinical trial that Sascha participated in. There are 45,000 Americans diagnosed a year with rectal cancer.
“An MMRd tumor develops a defect in its ability to repair certain types of mutations that occur in cells. When those mutations accumulate in the tumor, they stimulate the immune system, which attacks the mutation-ridden cancer cells,” says Dr. Diaz, who heads the MSK division of Solid Tumor Oncology and holds the Grayer Family Chair.
But cancer has a trick up its sleeve to stop the immune system from doing its job.
Helping the Immune System Overcome Rectal Cancer
Immune cells contain a safeguard called a checkpoint, to prevent them from attacking normal cells. Cancer cells can trip this safeguard and shut down immune cells, allowing a tumor to hide and grow.
However, immunotherapy can turn the tables yet again.
An immunotherapy agent called a checkpoint inhibitor releases the brake on an immune cell, freeing it to recognize and attack cancer cells. “When the brakes are taken off the immune cells, MMRd cells look especially strange because they have so many mutations. So the immune cells attack with much more force,” explains Dr. Cercek.
Dr. Diaz’s pioneering research in treating cancer with immunotherapy had already shown that checkpoint inhibitors could “help people with MMRd colorectal tumors that have spread,” he says. “We thought, ‘Let’s try it before cancer metastasizes as a first line of treatment.’ ”
The second premise of the clinical trial was to avoid the toxicity often associated with treatment for rectal cancer.
Dr. Cercek explains: “Our first duty is to save our patient’s life. But the standard treatment for rectal cancer with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy can be particularly hard on people because of the location of the tumor.” She continues, “They can suffer life-altering bowel and bladder dysfunction, incontinence, infertility, sexual dysfunction, and more.”
Dr. Diaz notes, “Obviously, that can lead to a lot of self-esteem and psychiatric issues as well.”
To avoid these toxicities, many approaches to rectal cancer try to shrink the tumor as much as possible with chemotherapy and radiation to facilitate surgery. Drs. Cercek and Diaz surmised that immunotherapy in MMRd patients may similarly shrink the tumor to enable a more successful surgery.
But Dr. Cercek proposed going further: In patients where the immunotherapy caused the cancer to completely disappear, doctors would omit chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery—and, instead, closely monitor for any signs of recurrence. Dr. Diaz says this decision by Dr. Cercek was “a world-class moment” that promised to change the lives of patients— f it worked.
All patients in the trial must have stage 2 or 3 rectal tumors that are MMRd—which makes their cancer particularly sensitive to immunotherapy. The patients were given the checkpoint inhibitor dostarlimab (Jemperli) intravenously every three weeks, for six months.
Their tumors were closely tracked, Dr. Diaz explains, “using imaging, visualization such as endoscopy, as well other methods.”
No More Symptoms of Rectal Cancer
The results surprised even Drs. Cercek and Diaz.
“The immunotherapy shrank the tumors much faster than I expected,” says Dr. Cercek. “My research nurse Jenna Sinopoli would tell me, ‘The patient has only received one treatment and already they’re not bleeding anymore and their terrible pain has gone away.’ ” Dr. Cercek recalls: “Patients came to my office after just two or three treatments and said, ‘This is incredible. I feel normal again.’ ”
As the first patient to enroll in the trial, the research team was anxious that Sascha’s experience might prove to be an outlier. Sascha explains: “Before I came to MSK, oncologists at another medical center told me I needed chemo, radiation, and surgery. To instead get immunotherapy infusions every few weeks in New York with no side effects seemed like a cakewalk in comparison.”
It turned out Sascha was not an exception. Dr. Diaz recalls his growing excitement as “the first patient had a complete response to therapy and didn’t need anything else. Then the second patient didn’t need surgery or radiation. Then the third. Pretty soon we’re at the 10th patient that had a complete response. That is incredible.”
Patients, of course, were even more thrilled. “One young man and his family just sat in stunned silence when I told them his cancer had disappeared,” recalls Dr. Cercek. “Then they thanked us over and over.” She continues, “A young woman looked at the screen during an examination and asked, ‘Where is the tumor?’ ‘It’s gone,’ we told her.”
“The most exciting part of this is that every single one of our patients has only needed immunotherapy,” Dr. Cercek says. “We haven’t radiated anybody, and we haven’t put anybody through surgery.” She continues, “They have preserved normal bowel function, bladder function, sexual function, fertility. Women have their uterus and ovaries. It’s remarkable.”
Next Steps for Study Patients
Drs. Cercek and Diaz want people with rectal cancer tumors that are MMRd to know the clinical trial continues to enroll patients and is growing. Dr. Diaz says, “Our message is: Get tested if you have rectal cancer to see if the tumor is MMRd. No matter what stage the cancer is, we have a trial at MSK that may help you. And MSK has special expertise that really matters.”
That’s particularly important for people at high risk of rectal cancer. Sascha, like eight of the people in the study, was found to have Lynch syndrome, an inherited condition that puts people at significantly higher risk of rectal, colon, and other cancers.
Lynch syndrome is associated with poorer outcomes from chemotherapy and surgery, so treatment with immunotherapy may be an important new tool.
Similarly, there has been a disturbing rise in the number of people under 50 who are diagnosed with colorectal cancer—particularly rectal cancer. Dr. Cercek says: “We are seeing more and more young people with rectal cancer, including people in their 20s in our trial. Immunotherapy might be an important new option for them.”
MSK is also trying to help the growing number of younger patients with the Center for Young Onset Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancer. It’s the first center in the world devoted to the specific needs of people under 50 and is co-led by Dr. Cercek.
Potential Help for Other Cancers
As MSK’s rectal cancer trial continues, Dr. Diaz says he hopes “it’s the tip of the iceberg.” He explains that “we are investigating if this same method may help other cancers where the treatments are often life-altering and tumors can be MMRd. We are currently enrolling patients with gastric (stomach), prostate, and pancreatic cancers.”
Dr. Diaz has coined a term for this new method of using immunotherapy alone to target MMRd tumors, calling it “immunoablative” therapy—that means using “immunotherapy to replace surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation to remove cancer.” Dr. Diaz says, “That might sound futuristic—but in this trial, we have a clinical example where that happened.”
Today, nearly two years after she began the trial and remains cancer free, Sascha continues to live a normal life. She runs a family-owned home-furnishing and interior design business and often speaks to people facing rectal and other cancers.
“My whole experience has been like a dream,” she says. “MSK research and cancer care is simply years and years ahead of where other hospitals—even really good ones—are or should be.”
While it’s a small trial so far, the results are so impressive they were published in The New England Journal of Medicine and featured at the nation’s largest gathering of clinical oncologists in June 2022.
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Shedding the pounds boosts a man’s fertility as sperm also become fitter and are more likely to reach the egg, according to new research.
Losing weight increases both he number and quality of sperm, researchers reveal.
In the U.K, around one in ten men are infertile—defined as unsuccessfully attempting pregnancy for a year or longer.
“It was surprising to us that such a big improvement can be shown in the semen quality in connection with weight loss,” Professor Signe Torekov, lead author of the study at the University of Copenhagen, said.
In the UK two in three men either overweight or obese. A study of 56 obese participants found sperm concentration and count soared by 50 and 40 per cent in just eight weeks, after they lost around two and a half stone.
Subjects were aged 18 to 65 and had BMIs, body mass indexes, from 32 to 43 before undergoing a diet and exercise regime.
The findings are “good news” for fertility. A link between higher sperm count and faster achievement of pregnancy has been established.
On average a man produces between 80 and 300 million sperm each time he ejaculates.
Despite that, more than 60 per cent of issues are related to poor sperm, so it is important to keep them healthy. One in five under 35s has a low sperm count.
It has long been known obesity is associated with reduced semen quality. But studies into the affect of weight loss on sperm have been too small to draw conclusions.
“But now we are ready to do just that. This is the first long term randomized study, where we have shown semen quality in men with obesity improve with a sustained weight loss,” Prof Torekov added.
“The men lost an average of 16.5 kg [36lbs] which increased the sperm concentration by 50 percent and the sperm count by 40 percent eight weeks since the weight loss.
“During the 52 weeks the trial lasted following the weight loss, the men maintained the improved semen quality, but only the men who maintained the weight loss.
“After a year, these men had twice as many sperm cells as before. The men who regained weight, lost the improvements in semen quality.”
New Hope
The Danish volunteers provided semen samples and followed a low-calorie diet for eight weeks.
They were then divided into four groups, two of which received obesity medications and the rest a placebo.
They were further separated, with half assigned a weekly exercise programme of at least 150 or 75 minutes of moderate or hard training, or their usual level of activity.
After a year, those that only exercised and did not receive medication, or received obesity medication and did not exercise, maintained the weight loss.
Those that both received obesity medication and exercised lost additional weight and improved health.
The placebo group that did not exercise regained half of the weight loss – with aggravation of many risk factors related to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
“Our study shows a short-term low-calorie weight loss intervention in men with obesity improves sperm concentration and sperm count,” Prof Torekov said.
“In addition, we provide evidence obesity medication and exercise can be used to maintain the weight loss-induced improvements and may be used for preserving sperm quality in the long term.
“Improved sperm concentration and sperm count may be linked to a shorter time to pregnancy. The persistent improvement may also result in improved male fertility.”
The findings in the journal Human Reproduction add to evidence obesity is a risk factor for development of male infertility.
“The prevalence of obesity is increasing globally, while studies indicate declining sperm count over time,” she added.
“Increasing BMI levels, overweight and obesity are associated with decreased sperm concentration, total sperm count, progressive sperm motility, and sperm morphology.”
Earlier this month a study found older men are less likely to be able to have children if they are fat.
Ageing sperm is more likely to be abnormal. Men with a BMI above 30, in the obese range, had sperm that was accelerated in age.
Even fathers who were able to have kids before gaining weight struggled with their reproductive health as they became obese.
The U.S. scientists said the results reveal while aging may lead to weaker sperm overall, having a high BMI exacerbates the process.
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