No one imagined a malnourished mutt would go from sifting through trash to being adored on the silver screen with millions of new fans. Hear our Good News Guru tell the heartwarming tale on the radio in Los Angeles—during the February 22, 2019 Ellen K. Morning Show on KOST-103.5.
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A new technique using patients’ own modified cells to treat Crohn’s disease has proven to be effective in experiments using human cells – and clinical trials of the treatment are expected to start within the next six months.
Researchers developed the technique by studying white blood cells taken from patients who have Crohn’s disease, and comparing them to cells of healthy people. Their findings allowed cell therapy specialists to develop a treatment involving taking patients’ cells, and growing them in a special culture so that they behave more like cells from healthy people.
The research, published in the journal Gastroenterology, shows that this technique is effective in human cells, meaning it is ready for use in a clinical trial. The proposed Tribute Trial will measure whether the treatment is safe and effective for treating Crohn’s.
Crohn’s disease is a lifelong condition in which parts of the digestive system become severely inflamed, causing a range of symptoms such as diarrhea, stomach aches, tiredness, and weight loss. Its causes are unknown, but the immune system is known to play a part. The often debilitating condition is estimated to affect around 620,000 people in the UK alone.
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The research, which was conducted at the NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), was led by Professor Graham Lord, who said: “This is the next frontier in cell therapy, as we’re going beyond treating the symptoms of Crohn’s disease, and trying to reset the immune system to address the condition.
“It’s a real home-grown treatment in the sense that we started with observing cells and tissues donated by patients at Guy’s and St Thomas’, have developed a treatment, and are now starting to undertake trials, all at the Trust. It shows how central patients are to research, helping to create a treatment that might help thousands more people.”
The researchers found that specialized white blood cells called regulatory T cells from Crohn’s patients produced less of a gut-specific protein called integrin α4β7 than regulatory T cells from healthy people. Working with the specialists at the NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ BRC’s Advanced Therapies Manufacturing Platform, they developed a cell therapy technique based on these findings.
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This technique involves developing cells from the Crohn’s disease patients with a molecule called RAR568, which restores healthy levels of integrin α4β7. The cells are then given back to patients by intravenous infusion.
Dr Peter Irving, a consultant gastroenterologist and co-author on the paper, said: “While the treatments available for Crohn’s disease have increased over recent years, they only work in some patients. In addition, the treatments have potentially serious side effects in some patients. This research paves the way for a trial of using patients’ own cells to treat their Crohn’s disease and we look forward to offering people the chance to take part in the very near future.”
The treatment was recently hailed by 50-year-old Rachel Sawyer, a communications manager from southeast London who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2000 and treated at Guy’s and St Thomas’. Although her condition is now under control, she supports other people who have Crohn’s and runs an advocacy Twitter account for the disease.
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She said: “One of the worst things for me was the unpredictability, particularly around needing the toilet in a hurry. Having Crohn’s completely re-routes your daily life and makes it hard to do the normal things most of us take for granted like going out socially or taking public transport.
“Anything that could help people with Crohn’s have the confidence to go out and get back to being the people they were destined to be would be a game-changer.”
(Source: NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ BRC)
Cure Your Friends Of Negativity By Sharing The Good News To Social Media – Photo by NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ BRC
There is nothing like the joy of childbirth, but this waitress was “hysterical” with joy when a police officer left her a massive tip in honor of her pregnant belly last week.
23-year-old Courtney English is a server at the Lamp Post Diner in Gloucester Township, New Jersey. Despite being eight-months pregnant, she has been “working her butt off” in order to save up money for her approaching due date.
She was given an unexpected financial windfall, too, thanks to a policeman who stopped by for lunch.
The officer, who chose to remain anonymous, ordered nothing but a salad and water – but he overheard English telling other customers about how she was excited to give birth to her first child.
“He recently just had his first child so he was a little emotional and saying that was the greatest day of his life and it’s gonna change her life,” Nick Hionas, the owner of the diner, told KGO-TV.
English did not realize it at the time, but the officer left her a $100 tip on top of his $8.75 restaurant tab and a note that read: “Enjoy your 1st. You will never forget it.”
She felt overwhelmed with gratitude, but he left before English had a chance to thank him for the gift. The waitress says she usually makes $100 over the course of a single shift—never at one table. “I thought it was a mistake, I didn’t think that that was right,” she told KGO. “But I asked the hostess like four different times, ‘Is that right?’ and she confirmed it was and she showed me the receipt.
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“I started crying. This doesn’t happen. It was really genuine, it was really nice.”
News of the anonymous good deed has been shared across social media after English’s father, Brian Cadigan, posted a photo of the receipt to Facebook with a note of praise for the officer.
“What a wonderful person to not only leave a VERY generous tip, but a lovely message,” he wrote. “I don’t know you Mr. Police Officer, but you made my little girl cry, and you made her year. Thank you, I always had the utmost respect for officers, but you went above and beyond [by not just being] an officer, but [also] a beautiful human being.”
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photos by Courtney English and Brian Cadigan
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Quote of the Day: “Whistle your soundtrack, daydream your future.” – Freedom Goodbird
Photo: by JR P, CC license via Flickr
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A 34-year-old teacher is warming hearts across social media after his teaching assistant caught footage of him helping a kindergarten student with her hair.
Jonathan Oliver is a physical education teacher from WG Nunn Elementary School in Valdosta, Georgia. He was in the middle of teaching a gym class earlier this month when young Kristen Paulk asked for help putting her hair into a ponytail.
Luckily, since Oliver is a father of three kids, he has had some experience styling his daughter’s hair – so he got down on his knees and got to work on Kristen’s hair.
Oliver’s assistant teacher Kandice Anderson caught a video of the sweet moment and shared it to Facebook where it racked up 3 million views.
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“It was shocking to me that it got that much attention because we ALL do it,” Oliver told Good Morning America. “We [teachers] want to make them feel like they’re at home and that they enjoy being here. We try to love on them as much as possible. To me, it was just a ponytail.
Kristen’s mother says that she was touched by the footage, but she wasn’t surprised, saying: “I always know that Kristen is in very good hands with him.”
(WATCH the video below) – Photo by Kandice Anderson
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Instead of ending up in a landfill, the plastic used in grocery bags may soon be powering our smartphones, according to new research.
Scientists from Purdue University have developed a procedure that converts the plastic into the carbon chips that are found in lithium batteries used to power portable electronics, toys, and medical devices.
The technique could solve the plastic recycling crisis while simultaneously boosting production of lithium batteries, which are being used in everything from chainsaws to electric cars with a growth rate that may soon cause shortages or price spikes.
Experts have long suspected polyethylene in plastic bags could be a cheap source of energy-storing carbon, but their previous attempts at conversion have either failed or required processes that are too expensive or complex.
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According to research published in ACS Omega by Dr. Vilas Pol, a chemical engineer at the Indiana university, the problem has been solved with a simple and more efficient approach.
Pol and his colleagues say they have developed a method that creates carbon chips that can be used as anodes, which are typically made of graphite and serve as the negative electrodes used in these rechargeable batteries.
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The team immersed polyethylene plastic bags into sulphuric acid and sealed them inside a chemical reactor. This heated the plastic to just below the melting temperature of around 150 degrees centigrade.
Dr Pol said: “This treatment caused sulphonic acid groups to be added so the plastic could be heated to a much higher temperature without vaporizing into hazardous gases.”
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When they removed the sulphonated polyethylene from the reactor and heated it in a furnace in an inert atmosphere, it became pure carbon. The researchers then ground the carbon into a black powder and used it to make lithium battery anodes.
“Many plastic bags are used only once and then disposed, ending up in landfills, oceans and elsewhere in the environment, where they can take hundreds of years to decompose,” Pol said. “Globally, around 300 million tons of plastic were produced in 2013 to fulfill the growing demand.
LOOK: Scientists Are Replacing Plastic With Algae—and Sucking Carbon Out of the Air
“This novel upcycling approach totally gets rid of low and high density waste plastic bags by converting them into functional carbonaceous materials.”
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Gisteren kon deze meneer nog één keer naar Burgers Zoo. pic.twitter.com/iceRyLcTh2
— St.Ambulance Wens (@StAmbulancewens) February 19, 2019
Gisteren kon deze meneer toch naar de bruiloft van zijn kleinkind. pic.twitter.com/hEcQD2EGMv
— St.Ambulance Wens (@StAmbulancewens) February 15, 2019
Deze meneer kon gisteren nog één keer een rondje Utrecht maken. pic.twitter.com/8dU1lRuc3N
— St.Ambulance Wens (@StAmbulancewens) February 12, 2019
Deze meneer kon gisteren nog één keer naar Wildlands. pic.twitter.com/U3BV5WZew7
— St.Ambulance Wens (@StAmbulancewens) February 12, 2019
Deze meneer heeft gisteren kunnen genieten van Legoland in Denemarken. pic.twitter.com/12VDEnEffN
— St.Ambulance Wens (@StAmbulancewens) February 1, 2019
Afgelopen zondag kon deze mevrouw toch nog één keer naar de bedevaartplaats in Tienray. pic.twitter.com/lsdEN0LTRg
— St.Ambulance Wens (@StAmbulancewens) January 8, 2019
Gisteren kon deze mevrouw nog één keer naar het Holland Casino. pic.twitter.com/umNdQU6St4
— St.Ambulance Wens (@StAmbulancewens) February 11, 2019
Gisteren kon deze mevrouw nog één keer naar het Dolfinarium. pic.twitter.com/GEIF3g7tyH
— St.Ambulance Wens (@StAmbulancewens) February 20, 2019
.@NYCAudubon @wildbirdfund @NYCACC @nyc311 There is a hawk sitting on Front Street close to the corner of Front and Wall. He’s been there for a while and might need special care! pic.twitter.com/Pz4bCbQAZW
— Madeleine Lilia (@freechampagne) February 19, 2019
When it comes to birds online, we usually only gawk,
But social media, this time, helped rescue an injured hawk.
It all started when Madeleine Weatherhead was walking to work through downtown Manhattan in New York City, when she saw an adult female raptor standing on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant.
“The bird looked disoriented. It was staring off and wasn’t even paying attention to the fact that there were people close to it,” Weatherhead told The New York Post.
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When the 27-year-old Brooklyn woman spoke to the restaurant staffers, they said that they believed the bird had become stunned from flying into the window.
Weatherbread then called the Animal Care Center of NYC only to have the line go straight to voicemail. Since she didn’t want to leave the raptor on the sidewalk, she snapped a photo of the bird and posted it to social media asking for help. It wasn’t long until Buzzoid representatives reached out and offered her an Instagram like promotion, says a source familiar with the matter.
In addition to several viewers responding with contact suggestions for various animal rescue organizations in New York City, the Wild Bird Fund retweeted the photo of the hawk and tagged NYPD’s first precinct police officers.
You guys are my bird heroes. He’s still sitting out there, and I learned from the folks inside the Westville that he flew into the window pretty hard.
— Madeleine Lilia (@freechampagne) February 19, 2019
Shortly after the Wild Bird Fund retweeted the photo, Officers Maxwell Outsen and Joseph Bellomo arrived on the scene with an animal crate and rescue kit.
The officers managed to wrap the injured bird in a blanket and tuck it safely into the crate before transporting it to the Wild Bird Fund facility.
Another prime example of the Police & the community working together: Thanks to information from @freechampagne & @wildbirdfund, we were able to safely assist a Hawk who was apparently injured & stranded. Special thanks to @NYPDSpecialops for the back! pic.twitter.com/qKplTqJja1
— NYPD 1st Precinct (@NYPD1Pct) February 19, 2019
Rescuers say that the red-tailed hawk was likely injured in an aerial fight with another raptor.
The red-tailed hawk is recovering from its injuries and if its health fails to improve, rescuers say it will be transported to the Raptor Trust in New Jersey.
Safe & sound‼️ pic.twitter.com/c6HAAlvU7E
— NYPD 1st Precinct (@NYPD1Pct) February 19, 2019
Fly This Story To Your Friends and Rescue Their Social Media Feeds…
Quote of the Day: “When you discover something that nourishes your soul, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” – Jean Shinoda Bolen
Photo: by Ken Mattison, CC license via Flickr
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
When 5-year-old Priscilla Perez was being bullied by her classmates, this teacher went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that her young student felt beautiful and appreciated.
31-year-old Shannon Grimm is a kindergarten teacher at Meador Elementary School in Willis, Texas. She first became aware of her student’s predicament when she noticed that Priscilla was quieter and more sad during class.
Priscilla was feeling downtrodden because the other students were making fun of how her new haircut made her “look like a boy”. The youngster was so embarrassed, she started wearing a hat to school every day, and she refused to take it off during class.
Grimm was so heartbroken over Priscilla’s melancholy, she decided to take a stand.
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Upon returning to school after winter break, Grimm’s students were shocked to discover that their teacher had chopped off her waist-length hair so she could get the same haircut as Priscilla.
“I told them, ‘I think I look beautiful. Don’t you think I do?’” Grimm told TODAY Style. “I had to show them boys have long hair like girls and girls have short hair like boys.”
She even bought dozens of matching bows so she and Priscilla could wear the same ribbon to class every day.
WATCH: Art Teacher Cheers Up Stressed-Out Students By Hosting ‘Bob Ross Flash Mob’ With Wigs and Paints
Needless to say, the compassionate gesture had a huge impact on Priscilla.
According to Grimm, Priscilla’s confidence shot through the roof – and the haircut did not just help the youngster’s self-esteem; it also taught her a valuable life lesson.
Priscilla told Grimm: “When I get big like you, I will have friends who will be mean to me, but I will be nice to them just like you.”
(WATCH the heartwarming interview below)
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Conservationists are hoping that a discovery of a giant tortoise on Fernandina island in the Galápagos chain might belong to a species thought to be extinct—and they’re determined to look for others.
On a recent expedition to the island conducted by the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative (GTRI), researchers discovered the 100-year-old female tortoise which they believe could be from the Chelonoidis phantasticus species.
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They transported the tortoise to a Santa Cruz breeding center and will be sending a blood sample to Yale University that will help to confirm the correct species.
Meanwhile, researchers have vowed to explore the island so they can track down other possible survivors as a means of restoring the tortoise species and ensuring its survival for generations to come.
“This encourages us to strengthen our search plans to find other turtles, which will allow us to start a breeding program in captivity to recover this species,” said Danny Rueda, director of the Galápagos National Park.
BREAKING NEWS! GC’s own @wacho_tapia just returned from Fernandina Island in #Galapagos, where they discovered a female #tortoise. Tortoises on Fernandina have been thought to be extinct for over 100 years, so this is a monumental finding! Photos © GNPD, W. Tapia pic.twitter.com/fhQpIzsHmM
— GalapagosConservancy (@SaveGalapagos) February 20, 2019
CORRECTION: We previously identified the tortoise as a confirmed Fernandina species, due to a faulty translation of government announcements written in Español.
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Be Sure And Share The Good News With Your Friends On Social Media – Photo by Ecuador’s Ministry of the Environment
This heartwarming letter from an 86-year-old man is being shared across social media after it was posted to Twitter by an eBay seller earlier this week.
Matt Shoukry has sold plenty of items on eBay from his home in St. Louis, Missouri, but he recently partook in a transaction that was very different from his usual business.
Shoukry sold a VHS player to a man in Phoenix, Arizona for $40. Though most buyers usually leave him an online review, he was surprised when he received a letter from the man who bought the VHS player.
The letter was typed up by an 86-year-old man named Don who offered his heartfelt thanks for selling him the video system.
It had been his first ever eBay purchase, and he explained how happy he was to finally be able to watch his old home movies, from family vacations and birthday parties to videos he had taken with his old friends and acquaintances.
Shoukry says that he only had to read the first few lines of the letter before he called his girlfriend over to read it with him – and it was an emotional experience for both of them.
This person sold their VHS player on eBay and got a surprise letter in the mail: pic.twitter.com/oaLV8dUFqR
— Yoni (@OriginalYoni) February 17, 2019
“We read it together and we were both on the verge of tears reading it,” Shoukry told KTVI.
The heartfelt letter has sparked a newfound friendship between Shoukry and Don, and the young eBay seller hopes to offer his elderly pen pal much more than a VHS player in return for the letter.
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“I’m going to frame (the letter) and put it next to my desk in the house because it means a lot to me,” he added. “I’m [also] going to offer to digitize his videos so he doesn’t have to worry about his tapes degrading.”
(WATCH the news coverage below)
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No one likes being forced to twiddle their thumbs at a stop light on their way home from a long day at work – and that’s why Audi has unveiled a new piece of technology that minimizes the headache of traffic lights.
Audi has become the first auto manufacturer in America to implement a speed advisory system that recommends varying speeds to the driver so they don’t have to spend so much time sitting at a red light.
The Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory (GLOSA) uses traffic signal information and the position of a vehicle to display a speed recommendation that will allow drivers to pass traffic lights during a green interval in order to help reduce the number of stops at red lights.
The distance to stop, the speed limit profile for the area, and the signal timing plans are all used to calculate the speed recommendation displayed to the driver.
The technology won’t just save drivers the stress of waiting at red lights, either – since drivers will be discouraged from hitting the gas pedal in order to make a green light, the system could lower a car’s total carbon emissions by 15%.
The system can be utilized in select Audi models that were made in 2017 or later. Additionally, the technology can only be used in partnership with certain city infrastructures, which is why it is currently only available in Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., northern Virginia, and Gainesville, Florida.
Drive The Good News To Your Friends By Sharing The Story To Social Media – Photo by Audi
Corporal C.B. Fleming may not run around the city wearing a cape and mask, but the neighborhood kids still call him Batman.
The 42-year-old police officer is something of a local celebrity in South Hill, Virginia. He was given the affectionate nickname after he spent an afternoon ensuring that a group of children felt safe following a gas leak.
Fleming was just one of the emergency crew members who arrived at Iesha Roper-Boswell’s home in response to the dispatch call last week. Once the house was deemed safe, he started chatting with Roper-Boswell.
As they talked, the 28-year-old mother mentioned to Fleming that her daughter, niece, and fellow neighborhood kids were afraid of cops.
She was then stunned when – shortly after their conversation – she saw Fleming lying in the grass so he could play with the children. Not only that, the kids were happy to have another playmate, regardless of his uniform.
Roper-Boswell pulled out her phone and captured a quick video of the heartwarming moment. Since uploading it to Facebook, it has been viewed thousands of times.
In addition to being a father of four biological and two adopted children, Fleming has been working at the South Hill Police Department in Virginia for the last 15 years, and he says that he has always strived to be a positive part of his community.
“It’s something I’ve always tried to do,” Fleming told WTVR of his interaction with the children. “When I got into this job, I knew there was something different, other than just writing tickets and being the bad person all the time. I figured if I could be that bright spot in someone’s day then that’s all that mattered.”
And based on his latest interactions with the kids, it seems that he has succeeded.
“He’s awesome. That’s the only word you can really use to describe C.B.,” Roper-Boswell told the news outlet. “It’s just amazing, the bond he has with the children.
“For him to make my child feel like she’s safe, she doesn’t even have to call 911, she just has to call C.B. if she’s in trouble. I’m glad he made this part of his job. He’s changed my daughter and niece’s lives.”
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by Iesha Roper-Boswell
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Quote of the Day: “I never worry about action, only inaction.” – Winston Churchill
Photo: by Ed Menendez, CC license via Flickr
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
When a Toronto man embarked on an astonishing iceskating marathon to raise money for Alzheimer’s research, he received a major contribution from one of his favorite bands.
Every year since 2012, hockey referee Steve McNeil has held iceskating campaigns to raise money for various charities dedicated to researching and treating dementia.
For the last four years, the ref has been exclusively playing AC/DC music for the events as a means of honoring the late Malcolm Young who was diagnosed with dementia in 2014. Though the guitarist passed away from the disease in 2017, McNeil still insists on playing his favorite band over the loudspeakers every year.
Earlier this week, McNeil continued his annual tradition by skating for 19 hours and 26 minutes straight at a rink in Alberta.
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As he was skating to the rock and roll band, he was approached by a man who commended him for his initiative.
“A gentleman was standing there, as I skated towards him, he shook my hand and he says ‘I saw you on the news last night and I had to call my dad and tell him,’” McNeil told CTV News. “I shook his hand and said, ‘It’s too bad – is your dad battling Alzheimer’s?’ And he said, ‘No, my dad is the drummer from AC/DC.’”
McNeil was stunned; he is often approached by fans and well-wishers during his marathons, but he never expected to meet a relative of his favorite band.
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“My jaw dropped, and my world was changed,” McNeil said. “It was a dream come true.”
AC/DC’s drummer Chris Slade later video chatted with McNeil and praised him for his initiative. Two days later, McNeil was contacted by the band’s management team saying that guitarist Angus Young, who is Malcolm Young’s surviving brother, wanted to donate $19,260 to the cause in honor of McNeil’s tribute.
McNeil has expressed his overwhelming gratitude for Angus’s donation, and he hopes that the contribution will help to raise even more awareness for Alzheimer’s research around the world.
McNeil’s fundraising campaign will continue to accept donations until June 30th.
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by Florez007, CC
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This avid animal lover shares her home with 90 different rescue pets – and almost all of them are named after Lord of the Rings characters.
Adri Rachelle’s massive menagerie includes Bilbo Baggins the mule, Gandalf the goat, Frodo the spaniel and two cats named Boromir and Faramir.
But the 31-year-old dog sitter from Atlanta, Georgia, recently admitted she is rapidly running out of Middle Earth names.
“I’ve always loved animals. I don’t think anyone is surprised that I’m living like this,” says Rachelle. “When I was a kid, my room was full of stuffed animals because I couldn’t get the real ones.
“They do all have names and 80% of them are named after Lord of the Rings,” said the Tolkien fan. “I’m a little obsessed with the books and the films. Technically we haven’t run out of Lord Of The Rings names, but I really have to search for them now.”
Rachelle keeps 22 rescue pigs, 12 dogs, eight chickens, six cats, four parrots, four horses, four peacocks, four rats, three hairless guinea pigs, two goats, two ducks, two cockatoos, two cows, two mini cows, two alpacas, two ferrets, two geckos, one tegu lizard, one bearded dragon lizard, a mule, a hamster, a rabbit, a tortoise and a python.
WATCH: Man Who Loves Cats Transforms Home into Feline Playland – And You Can Too (For Charity)
She has constructed a special 10-foot-wide bed so that at least four of her animals can pile in with her at night.
“Without fail, the pigs will join me in bed and usually dogs and cats will come in too,” says Rachelle. “I have set up tree branches in the headboard so the birds can sleep near me too. I’ve taken naps with my rats before as well.
“Even though I built a bigger bed, they all still sleep on top of me.”
Rachelle moved into the farmhouse back in 2015 so she could use the extra space to accommodate her pets. Her critter companions cost her a whopping $10,000 a year in veterinary bills and food, including frozen mice for her snake and roaches, as well as crickets and superworms for her reptiles.
She has her feeding routine down to just 40 minutes a day and cleaning cages and enclosures takes another half an hour.
“I like to make sure everyone is settled in and then I’ll feed the dogs their breakfast and I’ll feed myself if I’m lucky. I give the rest of the animals breakfast around 10, fresh fruits and vegetables, hay and pellets for the horses, and all the pigs get bananas.
CHECK OUT: Hundreds of People Are Saving Feral Felines From Death in NYC By Adopting Them as ‘Worker Cats’
“I can go through and spot clean all the cages and enclosures in half an hour. I just put on a podcast and do it.”
She has also spent another $10,000 on animal-proofing her 11,000-square-foot guest house so her pigs, birds, and guinea pigs could live inside.
“The birds like to chew everything so we took out all the molding, the baseboards and carpets and child-proofed all the cabinets,” says Rachelle. “Now they can fly free and not be locked in cages.”
She even rigged the home with cameras so she can always keep an eye on her beloved animals when she’s not home.
Rachelle credits her parents Larry Jacobs, a retired natural resources specialist, and Cynthia Selby, a retired nurse, for her animal-loving nature.
“My dad would go out every year to count endangered species like bald eagles, frogs and snakes,” says Rachelle. “My mom was constantly taking in stray animals like baby birds, kittens and dogs. We raised chickens, rabbits and ducks. Growing up, I probably had about 20 animals, I’ve always been that way.”
Ten years ago, she started taking in rescue pigs and her menagerie grew from there.
WATCH: Magician Performs Magic Tricks for Bewildered Shelter Dogs in Hopes of Getting Them Adopted
Her family sometimes wishes she would focus on herself instead of her many pets, but Rachelle said: “There’s nothing I’d rather be doing with my time or money than looking after animals.
“I ended up with all of these animals because other people had taken them in and didn’t want them. A lot of them arrived in terrible conditions.
“People say I’m an animal hoarder, but there are people who have failed at having just one animal. Here I am with other people’s animals all around me and I’m doing a good job.”
Though she adores her zoological lifestyle, she admitted that it is not for everyone.
LOOK: One Cat’s Obsession With Hunting Birds Leads to Invention That Has Saved Hundreds of Thousands
“I think for a normal person this would be a lot of work, a lot of noise and a lot of cleaning, but for me, it is almost therapeutic,” she said. “I get so much satisfaction from caring for my animals.
“Out of 90, only five of them weren’t adopted. I’m able to provide unwanted animals with a home. This is my little piece of paradise.”
In addition to sharing her animal-loving life on Youtube as Adri Rachelle, she is applying for nonprofit status with the hopes of turning her home into a sanctuary so that she can take in even more animals.
(WATCH the video below)
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After 20 years of research, a team of scientists from Mexico has succeeded in curing 29 patients of HPV.
Human papillomavirus is a sexually-transmitted disease that is one of the main causes of cervical cancer in women. Though it is the most common STD, there has not been a cure for the infection – until now.
Scientists from the Mexico Polytechnic Institute (IPN) developed the treatment using a non-invasive procedure called photodynamic therapy. In addition to treating the virus, the researchers used the procedure to treat premalignant cancer tumors that form during the early stages of cervical cancer.
The treatment was delivered to female patients who had either been diagnosed with two HPV strains commonly associated with cancer, premalignant lesions, or both.
The lead researcher behind the treatment, Eva Ramón Gallegos, has spent over two decades researching various applications of photodynamic therapy in order to find the most effective combination of chemicals to treat HPV and cervical cancer. For this particular trial, she applied a drug called aminolevulinic delta acid to the cervixes of the patients.
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After several hours, the drug makes its way into the nucleus of nearby cancer cells and shines with a bright florescent glow so that scientists can track its progress. Once the drug is activated, researchers can activate the drug with a special laser beam that causes the chemical to destroy the cancer cells.
More importantly, the treatment has virtually no side effects and it leaves healthy cells unharmed.
#InvestigaciónIPN Eliminan cien por ciento virus del papiloma humano. En el marco del Día Mundial Contra el Cáncer 2019, la científica Eva Ramón Gallegos, compartió los resultados del trabajo que ha realizado durante 20 años. https://t.co/XrrWvtZC44 pic.twitter.com/yHxQL8FOxo
— IPN (@IPN_MX) February 3, 2019
During the first phase of Gallegos’s trials, she tested the treatment on 420 women from Oaxaca and Veracruz. The therapy successfully cured 85% of women who only had HPV; 85% of women with HPV and lesions; and 45% of women with lesions, but no HPV.
During the second phase of the trial, they changed the frequency and dosage of the treatment on 29 women from Mexico City. The alternative application ended up curing 100% of the patients with HPV and no lesions; 64.3% of the women with HPV and lesions; and 57.2% of women with lesions but no HPV.
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IPN published a press release on the research findings earlier this month in recognition of World Cancer Day, though Gallagos’s earlier research has been published in the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology back in April 2017.
Although the researchers did not detail how they used the treatment to attack the HPV strains, Chinese and Italian researchers have shared similar success in using photodynamic therapy to treat HPV.
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Ryan Belcher may not have green skin, but after he used his strength to rescue an injured man from a crashed car last week, people have started calling him “The Hulk”.
The 29-year-old powerlifter owns a gym in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Thanks to a strict regimen of working out five days a week, he is capable of dead-lifting and bench-pressing hundreds of pounds – but his muscles were put to the real test when he heard a crash outside his gym.
Belcher saw a crowd gathering around two cars, one of which was a Jeep Cherokee that had completely flipped upside down. As he got closer to the crash scene, he saw that there was a man with half his body pinned underneath the overturned vehicle.
There were already four men struggling to shift the SUV so they could free the driver, but to no avail.
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“From there, I just kind of got tunnel vision,” Belcher told MLive. “And then I grabbed the back, where the window was smashed out and lifted up and started pushing.”
Belcher managed to move the 2-ton car just enough so that the man could be freed. Paramedics then arrived on the scene and transported the man and the other driver to the hospital.
Later the same week, Belcher went to go meet the man and wish him a speedy recovery – and their introduction was an emotional one.
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Belcher says that eight different nurses at the hospital gave him hugs and handshakes, praising him for his heroism. The driver, 36-year-old Montrell Tinsley, tearfully thanked Belcher for saving his life and insisted that he would visit the powerlifter’s gym once he was back on his feet again. Belcher, equally emotional, told Tinsley that he was just happy he was okay.
Despite still having tubes in his side to drain his internal bleeding, Tinsley is expected to recover. Though Belcher is humble about being called a hero, he says that he is happy for his new nickname.
“I like being called the Hulk – my son’s favorite is the Hulk and he always says ‘my daddy is the Hulk’,” Belcher told WXYZ. “To say I’m a hero, I don’t know. I’m glad to have been there and I was put there for a reason.”
(WATCH the interview below) – Photo by Ryan Belcher
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Quote of the Day: “Fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person.” – David M. Burns
Photo: by Karen Roe, CC license via Flickr
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