Fayetteville, GA, US
Atlanta resident Vince Vellucci hosted a graduation party yesterday afternoon. An estimated 50-60 guests, many of them children, flocked to his pool to escape the heat of the day. With the party in full swing, Vellucci's 6 year-old grandson Haden Stusak noticed what looked like a shadow in the deep end . Diving in to investigate, Haden discovered his friend, Josiah Buddha, 5, unconscious at the bottom.
"I went right to him and got him," says Haden, "I yelled, 'Help, he drowned,' and laid him on the steps."
Vellucci and two of the party's guests started CPR immediately, while someone called an ambulance. After staying the night at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for observation, Josiah has made a full recovery. Says his mother, Judith, "No water in his lungs, no brain damage. . . He's back in school."
For more details and pictures, visit http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/fayette/stories/2008/06/04/drowning_boy_hero.html
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Childhood Obesity No Longer on the Rise...
Healthy Kids Club, Nutrition programs, and well, the general media blitz have apparently begun to pay off. Our local paper, http://www.reporterherald.com/ reports that a national study performed from 2004 to 2007 shows childhood obesity has maintained, rather than risen over that period. This is big news for parents and professionals alike, struggling to treat children with adult diseases. We know, for instance, how to prescribe insulin to a male adult weighing 150 lbs, but what do you do for a 10-year-old? This could also have positive implications for life expectancy of the next generations. Let's hope so, and let's hear it for The Good News Goose!
Synthetic Molecules Show Promise for Fighting Cancer
Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem
Prof. Shimon Gatt and Dr. Arie Dagan have developed synthetic molecules which may be the foundation for a new class of anti-cancer drugs. The molecules, mostly derivatives of ceramide, have been shown to reduce the sizes of various malignant tumors, including pancreatic, prostate, and breast tumors. The molecules inflict little to no damage on surrounding, healthy tissue.
Ceramide is a lipid molecule which causes what is called "programmed cell death" in several types of cancer cells. Its natural levels in the body are not high enough to be beneficial in fighting cancer, however the synthetic molecules developed by Prof. Gatt and Dr. Gagan increase these levels significantly.
For more information, visit http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080604101546.htm
Prof. Shimon Gatt and Dr. Arie Dagan have developed synthetic molecules which may be the foundation for a new class of anti-cancer drugs. The molecules, mostly derivatives of ceramide, have been shown to reduce the sizes of various malignant tumors, including pancreatic, prostate, and breast tumors. The molecules inflict little to no damage on surrounding, healthy tissue.
Ceramide is a lipid molecule which causes what is called "programmed cell death" in several types of cancer cells. Its natural levels in the body are not high enough to be beneficial in fighting cancer, however the synthetic molecules developed by Prof. Gatt and Dr. Gagan increase these levels significantly.
For more information, visit http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080604101546.htm
Not What Leaps to Mind as "Rocket Science"
Space
Thanks to handy cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, the only toilet on the International Space Station is back up and running.
Two weeks ago, the liquid waste system aboard the ISS began to malfunction. Ordinarily, urine is "flushed" via airflow which directs the waste to a pump, where it is then separated into gas and liquid. The pump failed, as did the two replacement pumps which were stored on board. Crew members instead had to use a roundabout system of manual flushing which consumed excess water and a great deal of time.
The humor of the situation was not lost on Cmdr. Mark Kelly of the Navy, who commanded a shuttle mission of the Discovery to deliver, among other things, a replacement pump. Upon his arrival at the Space Station, Kelly asked, "You looking for a plumber?”
Kononenko performed the 2-hour repair and tested the new system, which has been declared ready for use.
For more details and pictures, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/science/space/05shuttle.html?ref=science
Thanks to handy cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, the only toilet on the International Space Station is back up and running.
Two weeks ago, the liquid waste system aboard the ISS began to malfunction. Ordinarily, urine is "flushed" via airflow which directs the waste to a pump, where it is then separated into gas and liquid. The pump failed, as did the two replacement pumps which were stored on board. Crew members instead had to use a roundabout system of manual flushing which consumed excess water and a great deal of time.
The humor of the situation was not lost on Cmdr. Mark Kelly of the Navy, who commanded a shuttle mission of the Discovery to deliver, among other things, a replacement pump. Upon his arrival at the Space Station, Kelly asked, "You looking for a plumber?”
Kononenko performed the 2-hour repair and tested the new system, which has been declared ready for use.
For more details and pictures, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/science/space/05shuttle.html?ref=science
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