StemCell Therapy

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Hometown Hero's food truck is rolling fundraiser for visually impaired WYTV But Jeff is proof you don't have to have perfect eyesight to have a perfect vision. He considers himself lucky and is giving back to help others through the Foundation for the Visually Impaired which he started in 2010. Jeff used to sell food in ...

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Hometown Hero's food truck is rolling fundraiser for visually impaired - WYTV

More than 420 million people across the world have diabetes. At least 29 million of those individuals are Americans, including an estimated 8 million undiagnosed cases. And prevalence of diabetes is increasing.

Because of the enormous market size, many pharmaceutical companies have developed treatments for the disease. Some of these drugmakers rank as some of the best dividend stocks on the market. AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), and Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) stand out as the top dividend stocks in diabetes treatment, but several others are strong contenders.

Image source: Getty Images.

AstraZeneca markets several diabetes treatments, including Bydureon, Byetta, Farxiga, Kombiglyze, Onglyza, Symlin, and Xigduo.The company's diabetes franchise generated revenue of $2.4 billion last year.

Farxiga is AstraZeneca's No. 1 diabetes medication. Sales for the drug totaled $835 million in 2016, up 70% compared to the prior year. This strong growth knocked Onglyza out of the top spot among the company's diabetes drugs.

AstraZeneca claims an attractive dividend yield of 5.58%. Although the company currently is paying out more in dividends than it's making on the bottom line, the dividend should be relatively safe because AstraZeneca appears to have solid earnings growth prospects in the coming years.

Pfizer doesn't have as significant a presence in the diabetes market as AstraZeneca. The big drugmaker's lineup includes diabetes medications Glucotrol, Glyset, and Micronase.However, none of these drugs generated enough sales to even merit a reference in Pfizer's annual report for 2016.

More revenue in the diabetes market could be in store for Pfizer, though. Pfizer and its development partner, Merck (NYSE:MRK), expect a decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) forSGLT2 inhibitorertugliflozin by December 2017. The type 2 diabetes drug is expected to reach peak sales topping $1 billion.

Pfizer has long been a favorite among dividend investors. It should be still, with a solid yield of 3.98%. Like AstraZeneca, Pfizer has a dividend payout ratio of just over 100%. While that's not good, it probably will only be temporary. Pfizer should experience reasonable earnings growth in the near future, thanks in part to new products gained with several acquisitions made over the past few years.

Sanofi is a major player in the global diabetes market, with products such as Lantus, Amaryl, Apidra, Toujeo, Insuman, Lyxumia, and Soliqua. Lantus is Sanofi's top-selling product in its diabetes franchise and overall. It's also the No.1 insulin brand in the world.

A major challenge for Sanofi is that sales of Lantus are slipping due to generic competition. Sales for Toujeo, however, are soaring and have largely offset the decline for Lantus. Soliqua should also help. The drug gained U.S. approval in late 2016 and is expected to generate peak annual sales of around $1.5 billion.In addition, Sanofi has a couple of promising late-stage diabetes candidates in its pipeline.

Sanofi's dividend currently yields 3.21%. Its payout ratio of 86% is relatively high, but the dividend doesn't appear to be in significant jeopardy right now.

There are other drugmakers in the diabetes market with dividend yields that aren't too far behind those of AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sanofi. Merck, which markets Janumet and Januvia, claims a yield of 2.94%. Bristol-Myers Squibb, developer of diabetes drug Farxiga, sports a dividend yield of 2.9%.

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) also sells a diabetes drug, Tanzeum. The drugmaker's dividend yield of 4.55% would rank the stock second behind AstraZeneca. However, GlaxoSmithKline's payout ratio is a whopping 225%. There is significant reason to worry that Glaxo's dividend could be slashed in the future.

Still, investors looking for great dividend stocks in the diabetes market have plenty of options from which to choose. AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sanofi can deliver high yields and dividend checks that should keep on flowing well into the future.

Keith Speights owns shares of Pfizer. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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3 Top Dividend Stocks in Diabetes Treatment - Motley Fool

Xconomy Texas

San Antonio Most diabetes treatments work by giving the body the insulin it needs to break down sugar. But that approach deals with the symptoms of diabetes. In recent years, scientists and companies have taken aim at the root cause of the condition by attempting to stimulate or replace the cells in the pancreas responsible for producing insulin in the first place. One of them is a San Antonio researcher hoping to use gene therapya potentially one-time, long lasting treatmentto do the trick.

When cells in the pancreas, known as beta cells, either get destroyed by the immune system or stop producing enough insulin, the result is type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Companies large and small-from European diabetes drug giant Novo Nordisk to privately held startups ViaCyte, of San Diego, and Semma Therapeutics, of Cambridge, MAwant to engineer stem cells that develop into pancreatic beta cells to help a patient produce insulin.

Other researchers, such as Bruno Doiron, a scientist and assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, have different ideas. Doiron has developed an injectible treatment consisting of three molecules glucokinase, a second that targets a protein known as PTP1B, and a third that targets a protein called Pdx-1, a so-called transcription factor that regulates genesthat, when infused into the body, are meant to help stimulate the formation of new beta cells. Doiron has tried the method on mice, and based on some encouraging early results, intends to move the work forward through a startup company.

You have to prove you can translate that to a large animal model, he says.

The San Antonio company, Syner-III, got its name because of the synergistic use of three molecules to generate the beta cells, he says. Those molecules are administered via a gene therapy procedure: theyre stuffed into a modified virus and injected directly into the pancreas in a one-time treatment, where they are meant to stimulate beta cell production. The work was published in the peer-reviewed journal Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology in 2016.

Doiron hopes to raise as much as $10 million to complete preclinical testing.

Others, including Novartis, are considering different ways of boosting beta cell production. Researchers from the Swiss company published findings in Nature Communications that showed a group of compounds called aminopyrazines could be packed into a pill and similarly lead to more beta cells, and more insulin, in mice. Such attempts are fraught with failure, however. In an article on its own website, Novartis notes that researchers have succeeded in producing beta cells in mice many times, but havent been able to reproduce those results in humans.

The potential payoff, however, is huge. Some 29.1 million Americans have diabetes, and 1.25 million of them have type 1 diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Doiron believes the therapy may be able to help both types. While stem cell research has had its share of failures and competition continues to increase in insulin therapysuch as pumps that automatically deliver the treatmentDoiron says a gene therapy, if successful, could result in a longer-lasting, more effective treatment.

When I use your own body to produce medicine, that drastically changes the field, he says.

David Holley is Xconomy's national correspondent based in Austin, TX. You can reach him at dholley@xconomy.com

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With Gene Therapy for Diabetes, San Antonio Researcher Eyes Funding - Xconomy

Hightower hosts women impacted by diabetes at Wonder Woman screening

FOXBORO -- Dont'a Hightower doesn't love the spotlight. He's taken a pass on Super Bowl parades and White House visits. He's not a bigpitch man or someone whowill wait at his locker to see waves of reporters headed for him with microphones at the ready.

But on Tuesday night Hightower made an exception when he hosted women whose lives have been impacted by diabetes at Showcase Cinema de Lux Patriot Place for a VIP screening of the movie Wonder Woman, which hits theaters on June 2.

Hightower'smom, L'Tanya, was diagnosed with diabetes a few years ago and she has encouraged her son, the Patriots linebacker, to help raise awareness and funds to fight the disease. He hosts an annual fundraiserto support the American Diabetes Association and has represented the ADA on Capitol Hill.

"My mom was definitely a big pillar, and [marketing director]Julia [Lauria]and a lot of people at SportsTrust have definitely pushed me in the right direction to step outside my comfort zone," Hightower said. "I'm not a big media public person, so I don't get to necessarily put my character and my personality out there, but I definitely don't mind, especially with a cause as good as this, to get out there and use my platform to try to promote awareness."

L'Tanya couldn't make the event -- she had some gardening back at home to attend to, Hightower said with a smile -- but he'll be back in Tennessee later this offseason to spend some time with her before the start of training camp.

"I go back home and see my mom each and every week, my mom and my sister," Hightower said. "I try to spend as much time with family and close friends that I don't get to see throughout the season that can't come up here. Any time I'm back home, I don't do too much. I'm not a big out there person. So I'm usually at home with my family and friends."

Hightower was part of a group of Patriots who were not on the field for last week's optional OTA practice that was open to the media, but he said that he's looking forward to getting back on the field eventually.

"When the time comes, yeah," he said, "but I'm enjoying my offseason while I can."

FOXBORO -- James White is used to sharing. In high school, he split carries with Bengals running back Gio Bernard for powerhouse program St. Thomas Aquinas in South Florida. In college, at Wisconsin, he ceded work to future NFL backs John Clay, Montee Ball and Melvin Gordon.

In New England, he wasn't counted on to be an every-down back until Super Bowl LI when Dion Lewis suffered a leg injury at the end of regulation and the Patriots were in the midst of the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.

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In 2017, he's expected to be sharing once again. Though he looks like the front-runner for the team's sub-back work, Lewis is back in the fold and the Patriots added both Mike Gillislee and Rex Burkhead to the mix. Second-year pro DJ Foster and special-teams maven Brandon Bolden could also compete for touches.

None of that bothers White, who signed a three-year extension this offseason.

"For me,ever since college and Little League,I've always had other guys in the backfield so just make the most of your opportunities," he said of his approach. "Everybody's going to have a role. You may play one play one game. You may play 60 plays one game. Just be ready for the moment when your number's called."

White was ready for his moment last season in Houston with his team's fifth Lombardi Trophy on the line. During the comeback, with the Patriots relying on their sub packages as they threw their way back into contention, White responded with the performance of his career. He scored three times, including the game-winner in overtime, and caught a Super Bowl record 14 passes for 110 yards.

Despite adding another ring to the collection in 2016, the Patriots were aggressive in building their roster this offseason. Burkhead was signed to a one-year deal as a well-rounded back after spending the majority of his career in Cincinnati as a special-teamer behind Bernard and Jeremy Hill on the Bengals running back depth chart. Bill Belichick and his front office also handed their fifth-round pick to the Bills in order to sign Gillislee as a restricted free agent.

Both have impressed White in their short time with the Patriots thus far.

"They fit in very well," White said. "You gotta welcome the guys in. You never know who's going to be here so you get around those guys, help them learn the offense, let them know how we work here, let them get a feel for this system so that they're comfortable and they feel at home . . .

"They're both good football players. I've watched those guys since college. It's great to have more competition here. It's going to bring the best out of each and every player. I think competition brings the best out of you. You compete with each and every one of those guys that we have, and I think it'll make the team better."

FOXBORO -- James White wasn't necessarily seeking out a new deal. He wasn't banging on the office doors of Bill Belichick, Nick Caserio or Robert Kraft for a second contract. But when the team came to him with a proposal, he didn't turn it down.

"It was a surprising development," White said Wednesday. "I was just gonna come out and work hard, and they brought the offer to me, andI accepted. But at the same time, that's not gonna change who I am. I'm gonna continue to work and continue to do whatever this team asks me to do and follow the lead of all our leaders and the coaches."

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White signed a three-year contract extension with the Patriots back in April, a little more than two months after he had the game of his life in Super Bowl LI. He caught a Super Bowl record 14 passes for 110 yardsscored three times, includingthe game-winning touchdown in overtime to complete the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.

Under his original deal, White was scheduled to earn $690,000 in 2017 as the final year of his four-year rookie pact. With his new contract, he was given a $4 million signing bonus and base salaries of $1 million, $2.5 million and $3 million in 2018, 2019 and 2020. He also has the opportunity to make up to $500,000in roster bonuses for each of those three years.

"Definitely nice," White said of the security he's been afforded."But at the same time, you still have to work. Nothing's for certain. You have to go out there and prove yourself each and every day. I just want to continue to work and continue to improve each and every day."

White is the frontrunner to serve as the team's sub back again in 2017. Primarily a weapon to be used on passing downs due to his hands, his route-running ability, and his understanding of pass-protection schemes, White proved in the Super Bowl that he can also serve as more of a traditionalrunner out of the backfield when needed.

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Hightower hosts women impacted by diabetes at Wonder Woman screening - Comcast SportsNet New England

MEMPHIS, Tenn. Methodist Healthcare is using lifestyle coaches to help patients reduce their risks of developing type 2 diabetes.

The disease affects the way the body processes insulin and blood sugar, and can lead to serious health problems like kidney damage, nerve damage, the need for amputation or blindness.

At Methodist, patients at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes can take part in free group meetings with a lifestyle coach.

They year-long program is designed to teach them how to eat better and lose weight.

When people are prediabetic, weight loss is one of the most important things we can modify during that stage. What we want to concentrate on is developing healthier eating habits overall rather than dieting. If you can develop healthy habits that`s something you can sustain for a longer time, said Dr. Lindsey French.

The Centers for Disease Control said you can cut in half your risk of developing the disease by losing five to seven percent of your body weight, improving food choices and increasing physical activity to at least 150 minutes per week.

For more information on the Diabetes Prevention Program call (901) 516-6616.

Quiz: Could you have prediabetes?

35.149534 -90.048980

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Methodist Healthcare lifestyle coaches help reduce risk of type 2 diabetes - wreg.com

FOXBORO -- Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower is continuing to do right by his mother, as he hosted another event tonight to raise awareness for diabetes.

Hightower hosted a private screening of Wonder Woman at Patriot Place for a group of women who face daily struggles with diabetes. Its a cause that has been personal for Hightower, whose mother, LTanya, was diagnosed with diabetes a couple years ago. His grandmother and aunt have also been affected.

My mom is my Wonder Woman, so what better movie to do it to? Hightower said.

Hightower has also hosted annual Monday Night Football watch parties since 2015 to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. Despite Hightowers loud presence in a Patriots uniform, he tries to stay out of the spotlight off the field, but his mother has encouraged him to put a face to the fight against diabetes

My mom is obviously the reason why Im here, Hightower said. She made a lot of sacrifices for me and my sister. Ever since shes gotten diagnosed with diabetes, Ive tried to do as much as I could to try to promote awareness and do what I can for it. The opportunity came up, and I couldnt say no to it.

Im still not a big public person. I dont mind doing what Im doing. A lot of people appreciate it. At the end of the day, thats all that matters so I dont mind stepping out of my comfort zone for a little bit.

Hightower watched his mother struggle with daily activities upon her diagnosis, so he has tried to promote early testing to get out ahead of the disease. He knows those early tests can ease the transitional phase for diabetic patients.

I know how hard it is to see and feel that change in the life that they go through, Hightower said. If I can change one or two peoples chances in that, it means a lot more to me than youll ever know.

Hightowers mother attended his Monday Night Football watch party last season in Norwood, but she stayed home Tuesday night to tend to her gardening. Hightower got a kick out of that, but there was also a sense of pride because she couldnt handle those household responsibilities a couple years ago.

I guess her lawn was more important, Hightower cracked. She is able to do stuff like that now. Earlier when she got diagnosed, she wasnt able to. She is doing well. She is healthy. Thats all I can ask for.

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Dont'a Hightower supports mom by rallying awareness for fight vs ... - Boston Herald

The real estate industry will be holding its second annual JDRF Real Estate Games at Chelsea Piers to raise money to fund Type One diabetes (T1D) research.

Jim Whelan, an executive vice president of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), who is also on the local JDRF chapters board of directors, is once again organizing the June 15 event.

Real Estate is a competitive industry and this is a different way to exhibit that competition, said Whelan, whose teenager, Jack, was diagnosed with T1D four years ago.

Last year, 19 teams raised over $82,000 and this year $220,00 has already come in.

So far, 20 ten-person teams from the citys top real estate companies have signed on to compete in six events. These include dodgeball, hot shot basketball, a relay race, and a rock climbing relay that last year was won by the REBNY team.

New this year is the challenging sport stacking that uses a dozen cups to see who is really physically fit, and a pass, catch and end zone dance competition that will get bystanders cheering for their favorite quarterbacks and receivers.

The event even has its own hashtag, #JDRFgames.

Teams already involved include AECOM Tishman, Brookfield Properties, The Carlyle Group, Douglaston Development, The Durst Organization, Eastdil Secured, Glenwood Management, Hines, JDS Development Group, JLL, L&M Development Partners, Langan, REBNY, Savills Studley, Silverstein Properties, SL Green Realty Corp., Tishman Speyer, TF Cornerstone, and Two Trees Management Company.

Participants will later stroll to the Sunset Terrace for a networking party.

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Real estate bigs teaming up at Chelsea Piers to fight diabetes | New ... - New York Post

Physicist Stephen Hawking is perhaps the most famous sufferer of motor neuron disease, a crippling degenerative condition that affects an estimated 150,00 people around the world.

Karwai Tang / Getty

In news that may bring hope to Stephen Hawking and hundreds of thousands of others around the world, British scientists have used reprogrammed skin cells to study the development of motor neuron disease.

Its like changing the postcode of a house without actually moving it, explains neuroscientist Rickie Patani, referring to research offering startling new insights into the progress and treatment of the crippling degenerative condition, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Patani, together with colleague Sonia Gandhi, both from the Francis Crick Institute and University College London, in the UK, led a team of researchers investigating how the disease destroys the nerve cells that govern muscle movement.

The results, published in the journal Cell Reports, comprise the most fine-grained work to date on how ALS operates on a molecular level and suggest powerful new treatment methods based on stem cells.

Indeed, so exciting are the implications of the research that Ghandi and Patani are already working with pharmaceutical companies to develop their discoveries.

The neurologists uncovered two key interlinked interactions in the development of motor neuron disease, the first concerning a particular protein, and the second concerning an auxiliary nerve cell type called astrocytes.

To make their findings, the team developed stem cells from the skin of healthy volunteers and a cohort carrying a genetic mutation that leads to ALS. The stem cells were then guided into becoming motor neurons and astrocytes.

We manipulated the cells using insights from developmental biology, so that they closely resembled a specific part of the spinal cord from which motor neurons arise, says Patani.

We were able to create pure, high-quality samples of motor neurons and astrocytes which accurately represent the cells affected in patients with ALS."

The scientists then closely monitored the two sets of cells healthy and mutated to see how their functioning differed over time.

The first thing they noted was that a particular protein TDP-43 behaved differently. In the patient-derived samples TDP-43 leaked out of the cell nucleus, catalysing a damaging chain of events inside the cell and causing it to die.

The observation provided a powerful insight into the molecular mechanics of motor neuron disease.

Knowing when things go wrong inside a cell, and in what sequence, is a useful approach to define the critical molecular event in disease, says Ghandi.

One therapeutic approach to stop sick motor neurons from dying could be to prevent proteins like TDP-43 from leaving the nucleus, or try to move them back.

The second critical insight was derived from the behaviour of astrocytes, which turned out to function as a kind of nursemaid, supporting motor neuron cells when they began to lose function because of protein leakage.

During the progression of motor neuron disease, however, the astrocytes like nurses during an Ebola outbreak eventually fell ill themselves and died, hastening the death of the neurons.

To test this, the team did a type of mix and match exercise, concocting various combinations of neurons and astrocytes from healthy and diseased tissue.

They discovered that healthy astrocytes could prolong the functional life of ALS-affected motor neurons, but damaged astrocytes struggled to keep even healthy motor neurons functioning.

The research reveals both TDP-43 and astrocytes as key therapeutic targets, raising the possibility that the progress of ALS might be significantly slowed, or perhaps even halted.

Our work, along with other studies of ageing and neurodegeneration, would suggest that the cross-talk between neurons and their supporting cells is crucial in the development and progression of ALS, says Patani.

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Patients' stem cells point to potential treatments for motor | Cosmos - Cosmos

May 31, 2017 Researchers from the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and the National Cancer Centre Singapore who discovered the approach of using patients stem cells to test for side effects of drugs. From left: Hanry Yu, Min-Han Tan and Ravindran Kanesvaran. Credit: A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

Severe illnesses sometimes require treatment regimens carrying grave risks, including organ failure. Now, a non-invasive technique developed at A*STAR could help predict patient vulnerability to potentially toxic drugs.

Therapeutics can induce organ damage via mechanisms that vary between individuals. These idiosyncratic drug reactions are a common reason for the withdrawal of new drugs, and can be a significant problem during disease treatment.

Research led by Min-Han Tan and Hanry Yu from the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, and National Cancer Centre shows how cells derived from a patient's blood offer the first opportunity to test an individual's susceptibility to idiosyncratic liver damage, known as hepatotoxicity; in this case, from the cancer drug, pazopanib.

Currently there is no easy way to predict idiosyncratic harm from the drug, "Pazopanib causes idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity, and liver biopsies are not commonly undertaken due to their invasive nature and potential risks," says Tan.

The researchers took white blood cells from five patients receiving pazopanib for metastatic renal cell cancer, three of whom exhibited hepatotoxicity. They converted these white blood cells into stem cells, and then into 'hepatocyte-like cells' (HLCs). This created a population of cells that retained the genetics and morphology of each patient's native liver cells, without the risks of a biopsy. The stem cells were then treated with pazopanib.

After 24 hours, the HLCs taken from the three patients exhibiting hepatotoxicity also experienced significantly more cell death than those from the two patients without liver damage. This validated that the test can model the individually-mediated effects of pazopanib on the liver.

"Currently, new drugs are tested for toxicity using generic liver cells, which cannot model patient-specific reaction. Establishing patient-specific HLCs with characteristics that are representative of genetic variation will be valuable for pharmaceutical drug testing," says Yu.

The team also discovered the mechanism by which pazopanib causes injury by evaluating the changes in HLC gene expression following drug administration. In cells from both groups of patients, gene expression changes indicated a response to drug-induced stress. HLCs from hepatotoxicity-susceptible individuals, however, also showed evidence of differential iron metabolism as well as other genetic variations from non-susceptible HLCs. This probably contributes to the greater levels of cellular damage and death and provides the first experimental evidence of pazopanib's mechanism of action in idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity.

Tan hopes his team's research could be used in future to predict an individual's response to a proposed treatment. "We plan to expand the approach to different drugs and organs, and determine the nature of drug toxicity," explains Tan. "Our ultimate goal is to benefit patients and clinicians by gaining a better understanding of toxicity."

Explore further: Toxic liver effects of fifteen drugs predicted using computational approach

More information: Yukti Choudhury et al. Patient-specific hepatocyte-like cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells model pazopanib-mediated hepatotoxicity, Scientific Reports (2017). DOI: 10.1038/srep41238

Researchers from Monash University have developed a new drug delivery strategy able to block pain within the nerve cells, in what could be a major development of an immediate and long lasting treatment for pain.

Can a fish with a malformed jaw tell us something about hearing loss in mice and humans? The answer is yes, according to a new publication in Scientific Reports.

A newly developed tissue scanner allows looking under the skin of psoriasis patients. This provides clinically relevant information, such as the structure of skin layers and blood vessels, without the need for contrast agents ...

In the average adult human, there are an estimated 100,000 miles of capillaries, veins and arteriesthe plumbing that carries life-sustaining blood to every part of the body, including vital organs such as the heart and ...

Stress changes our eating habits, but the mechanism may not be purely psychological, research in mice suggests. A study published May 30 in Cell Metabolism found that stressed mouse mothers were more likely to give birth ...

Researchers at the University of Birmingham have made a breakthrough in the understanding of how our genetic make-up can impact on the activity of the immune system and our ability to fight cancer.

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Individual adverse drug responses could be predicted by a simple blood test - Medical Xpress

Crime expert: The Lefts Blindness on Terrorism

The Left responded to the Manchester bombing with feckless calls for resisting hate, pledges of renewed diversity and little else, laments Heather Mac Donald at City Journal. Yet nothing that an Islamic terrorist can do will ever shake the left-wing commitment to open borders. Indeed, it seems the real threat that radical Islam poses . . . must be disregarded in order to transform the West by Third World immigration. As for improved anti-terror intelligence, the Left still decries the modest expansions of surveillance power under the 2001 Patriot Act as the work of totalitarianism. But terrorists dont care if an attack is met with candlelight vigils they care if border restrictions and law enforcement make it impossible to destroy lives. They will only have failed when they can no longer slaughter children.

Ex-attorney: Kushners Getting Media Mugged

Todays mainstream news media have turned into the mob as a ruling class, charges Fox News Greg Jarrett. And the latest victim is White House counselor Jared Kushner, whose crime appears to be no crime at all. The fact that he met with two Russian officials has produced mass hysteria in both print and television with no attempts at reasoned analysis, no context of historical precedence. Nearly every single president, he notes, has established and relied on similar back channel contacts and had discussions with foreign governments before taking office, including President Obama. As for Kushner being a focus of the FBIs Russia probe, that simply means the Bureau would like to speak with him. Reporter: Albany Wont Even Fake Ethics Reform

Ever since President Trump fired US Attorney Preet Bharara, Albany lawmakers have breathed a sigh of relief and seemingly stopped pretending to care about ethics reform, notes Ashley Hupfl at City State. This year, Gov. Cuomo proposed the usual ethics reforms he has included for the past few years, but little was done to include them in the state budget. He blames the Legislature, saying its members have no appetite for more. Yet allegations of corruption have continued to dog lawmakers, most recently in the controversy over leadership stipends paid to legislators who dont actually chair their committees. But given Cuomos stance that virtually everything got done in the budget, it appears unlikely there will be any ethics reforms toward the end of the session. Conservative take: Should Insecure Dems Be Coddled?

What do Democrats want? asks Noah Rothman at Commentary. The answer: Nothing so much as to have their assumptions validated. Which is why telling liberals what they want to hear can be a materially rewarding enterprise. Indeed, committed liberal activists do not want to change to meet the moment. Rather, they want an excuse to view their opponents as dangerously outside the mainstream, deserving only of exile. Thats the message Hillary Clinton, for one, is delivering. But not every Democrat is giving in to their partys darkest, most self-destructive impulses. Like Sen. Cory Booker, whose refusal to leap to the firm conclusion that the presidency has been sold to Moscow and that all thats preventing impeachment proceedings is the congressional GOPs cowardice is, in a way, an act of courage. From the right: Sad Decline of the Shopping Mall

Time was, recalls Kevin Williamson at National Review, when the American shopping mall was the reincarnation of the downtown business district, moved indoors where it could be air-conditioned and efficiently policed. Yet now this new downtown is dying were down to 1,100 malls (400 of which are soon set to close) from the high-water mark of 5,000. But shops and jobs go together: One in ten employed Americans works in retail, and they tend to be workers who for various reasons sometimes lack of skill and education, but also things such as the need for flexible scheduling or physical limitations often do not have a great many desirable options. The real crisis is not so much a matter of jobs lost in the present but of jobs that never come into being in the future.

Compiled by Eric Fettmann

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The left's blindness on terrorism, Kushner's getting mugged by the media & other comments - New York Post

Women's Health

5 Unexpected Things That Can Make You Go Blind Women's Health You might be surprised to learn that blindness has a gender bias. Most people aren't aware that two-thirds of people who are blind are women, says Assumpta Madu, M.D., an ophthalmologist at NYU Langone. There's a much larger preponderance to ...

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5 Unexpected Things That Can Make You Go Blind - Women's Health

The FDA designates Orphan Drug-tagged ProQR Therapeutics' (NASDAQ:PRQR) QR-110 for Fast Track review for the treatment of Leber's Congenital Amaurosis Type 10 (LCA 10), a genetic disorder characterized by the progressive loss of vision in the first few years of life. It is caused by a mutation that results in abnormal splicing of messenger RNA (mRNA) which results in the non-functioning of a key protein called CEP920.

QR-110, an RNA-based oligonucleotide, is designed to restore the normal splicing of messenger RNA to enable fully functioning CEP920 to be produced. It is administered via intravitreal injections in the eye.

Fast Track status provides for more frequent interactions with the FDA review team and a rolling review of the New Drug Application (NDA).

Top-line results from an early-stage, open-label study, PQ-110-001, should be available next year.

Shares are up3%premarket but only on 70 shares.

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ProQR's QR-110 Fast Track'd for rare pediatric blindness; shares ahead 3% premarket - Seeking Alpha

News

The exact nature of the link between sea temperature and blindness in salmon has been established by scientists at Norways National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES).

Farmed salmon often lose their sight in summer, when rising temperatures cause cataracts that make their eyes opaque, which is a serious welfare problem.

These are permanent damages to the lens. The worst case scenario is that the vision is so impaired that the fish cannot see the feed, stop eating and stop growing, said Sofie Rem, scientist at NIFES.

Since salmon is cold-blooded, the body temperature is the same as the temperature of the water. The optimal temperature for Atlantic salmon is about 13 degrees. If it gets warmer than that, the salmon will not perform as well and be at greater risk of developing cataracts, she added. In nature, wild salmon can move to deeper and colder waters when temperatures rise, but that is not a possibility in sea cages. The past summers have seen periods of high seawater temperatures in Norway, and Rem says that many fish farmers contact NIFES with questions about cataracts during such periods.

Summer is the cataracts season. Since we are facing climate changes, the ocean temperatures will become even warmer, which makes it important to have knowledge about what happens to fish when the temperature rises so that we can safeguard their health and welfare, she explained.

Oxidative and osmotic stress

The NIFES study demonstrates that several changes take place in the lens when water temperatures rise. - not least that the lens runs out of antioxidants. The antioxidants protect the lens from damage, and when there is not enough of them, the proteins are destroyed and white spots form in the lens. This is called oxidative stress.

The lens is a small sphere of transparent protein. It is a little like egg white, which also consists of transparent protein. When the egg is cooked, the proteins are destroyed and turn white. Something similar happens in the eye of a salmon when the proteins are destroyed, and they are no longer transparent, said Rem.

At the same time, the lens changes in a way that resembles the changes seen in people who develop cataracts due to diabetes. The blood sugar levels of salmon living in the warmest water increased, and this had consequences for the lens.

When the blood sugar level rises, there is an overload of sugar in the lens, and we see an accumulation of sugar alcohol, Rem reflected. This causes problems with the water balance in the lens.

The lens must contain the correct amount of water in order to remain transparent. If it swells up or dries out, this could damage the cells and result in cataract formation. Scientists call this osmotic stress.

The scientists noticed that the lenses of salmon living in the warmest water had a lower ability to regulate this balance because they had less osmolytes, whose function is to transport water out of the cells.

Increasing prevalence

Cataracts have only been a major problem in aquaculture the past 20 years. Before that, animal by-products such as blood meal were used in fish feed, but this practice was discontinued in the 1990s due to the perceived risk of transferring BSE. Without the blood meal, and with less fishmeal in the feed, farmed salmon lost an important source of histidine.

Histidine is an essential amino acid, which makes it an important building block in proteins. In addition, this amino acid can function as an antioxidant and osmolyte. This means that histidine can both protect the cells from oxidative stress and help maintain the water balance in the lens, which is why histidine can protect against cataract development.

The salmon has to get all the histidine it needs to cover the nutritional requirement through the feed. However, not all of the raw materials used in feed production contain enough histidine, and therefore it is common practice to add synthetic histidine to the feed. The scientists at NIFES have previously found that Atlantic salmon need almost twice as much histidine to minimize cataracts, as it needs to sustain growth. This is particularly important right after the smolt are transferred to sea cages and when the temperature rises. However, this is not always enough to eliminate cataracts.

We have identified the underlying causes of why salmon are more susceptible to cataracts during the summer. This will form the basis for further work to increase robustness of the fish when facing environmental changes, Rem concluded.

Link:
Secrets of summer blindness in salmon revealed - TheFishSite.com

Prana Biotechnology Limited (PRAN) Earns News Impact Rating of 0.17 The Cerbat Gem Prana Biotechnology Limited logo Media headlines about Prana Biotechnology Limited (NASDAQ:PRAN) have trended somewhat positive this week, Alpha One reports. The research firm, a service of Accern, ranks the sentiment of press coverage by ... A Keen Look at Prana Biotechnology Limited (NASDAQ:PRAN) SharesMorgan Research all 2 news articles »

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Prana Biotechnology Limited (PRAN) Earns News Impact Rating of 0.17 - The Cerbat Gem

Soccer standout Benny Waida isnt allowing juvenile arthritis kick him around.

In fact, the 14-year-old athlete from Mentor who previously traveled around the country playing his favorite sport is facing the challenge head on.

He recently was chosen as the youth honoree at the Arthritis Foundations 2017 Walk to Cure Arthritis at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and thus far Benny, along with his teammates Waidas Wolf Warriors, have raised approximately $14,000 for the cause.

While at the May 13 event he bravely coped with the pain and swelling affecting his joints and managed to walk about a mile before needing to finish the remainder of the 5K distance in a wheelchair.

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Wheelchairs were the last thing on the active boys mind a few years ago prior to his diagnosis of enthesitis , a form of arthritis affecting the points connecting tendons and ligaments to bones.

At a young age his soccer skills had led him to several tournaments and championships. Shannon Waida, Bennys mother, had even heard buzz about potential scholarships.

But one day in the spring of 2014 after playing three full games his right heel began to hurt causing his leg to drag. At first the pain was chalked up to overuse. When it wouldnt stop Shannon took him to several doctors who diagnosed it as Severs disease, a common heel injury occurring in children. After treatment proved ineffective, additional testing revealed severe arthritis.

Over the next months the pain became progressively worse, spreading to the left foot as well as his ankles, knees and legs. Swelling prevented him from wearing shoes and use of a wheelchair became a common occurrence.

Shannon noted that staff members at Mentor Shore Middle School where Benny attends have been remarkable in their efforts to educate students about the disease and the challenges Benny faces.

In a matter of 15 minutes I can go from walking around to needing a wheelchair and thats what people dont understand, Benny said.

Others becoming aware of the diseases effects has helped him.

However, arthritis isnt the only illness with which Benny must cope. In 2015 he was diagnosed with Crohns, an inflammatory bowel disease. And recently an esophageal condition causing severe vomiting has surfaced.

Regardless of the trials the teen now faces, including a vast void that not playing soccer has created, he manages to keep an upbeat attitude and continues to raise awareness of arthritis.

Last year he attended a Juvenile Arthritis Conference where he mentored younger children learning how to deal with the disease. He has also created videos on YouTube, some of which have been used to spread awareness by the Arthritis Foundation.

Everything happens for a reason, Benny said. The fact that Im meeting new people, going to Juvenile Arthritis conferences, those kinds of experiences Im having a lot ofI think its going to be a good thing for as much as its bad. If I get through this Ill look back at it and Ill still be fundraising for arthritis.

Arthritis is the number one cause of disability in the U.S., affecting more than 50 million people. The Arthritis Foundation is committed to finding a cure for the millions of people who suffer from arthritis pain, including 300,000 children and their families.

For more information, visit http://www.arthritis.org.

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Mentor teen serves as youth honoree for Arthritis Foundation's 2017 Walk to Cure Arthritis - News-Herald.com

1 in 3 Adults in Rural Areas Have Arthritis SurfKY News (registration) (blog) arthritis pain FRANKFORT, Ky. (5/31/17) As part of its 52 Weeks of Public Health campaign, the Kentucky Department of Public Health within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services is emphasizing the negative impact of arthritis on people that live ... CDC: Prevalence of Arthritis 31.8% in Most Rural Areas of USDoctors Lounge 11 foods that help your jointsMen's Fitness all 3 news articles »

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1 in 3 Adults in Rural Areas Have Arthritis - SurfKY News (registration) (blog)

STOCKBRIDGE Success is sweet just ask the physicians and staff at OrthoAtlanta in Stockbridge who recently broke their own company fundraising record with contributions to the annual Arthritis Foundation of Georgia Walk to Cure Arthritis. Their efforts raised awareness and funds for arthritis, the No. 1 cause of disability in the United States. Add in a few pies, and success was even sweeter.

The annual Atlanta Walk to Cure Arthritis is a top charitable event for OrthoAtlanta, the second largest orthopedic and sports medicine practice in Atlanta. With 13 offices across the metropolitan area, including Stockbridge, Newnan, Fayetteville, and new Peachtree City, each OrthoAtlanta office raises funds at the local level, combined into a group donation to the Arthritis Foundation of Georgia.

In spirited competition extending into the community including Clayton State University Athletics, the OrthoAtlanta Stockbridge office donated nearly $6,000 to the 2017 Atlanta Walk to Cure Arthritis, achieving bragging rights as the second-highest fundraiser for the entire Atlanta metropolitan area. Company-wide, the combined OrthoAtlanta donation of nearly $15,700 more than doubled its 2016 contribution and secured OrthoAtlanta recognition as the third-highest group donation and top company donation for the 2017 Walk, the signature event of the Arthritis Foundation.

The most popular fundraising effort initiated by the Stockbridge team, an infamous Pie in the Face promotion, clearly caught the attention of the community. Participants included Todd A. Schmidt, MD, known in the Stockbridge area for his sports medicine, joint preservation and reconstruction skills, and Timothy Ghattas, MD, orthopedic surgeon at OrthoAtlanta Stockbridge. Ghattas also serves as the team physician for Clayton State University Athletics, prompting four members of Clayton State Athletics, including Director of Athletics Tim Duncan, and the university president, Dr. Thomas Tim Hynes Jr., to also take part in the pie-in-the-face fundraiser

Asked about facing a pie in the face, Schmidt explained it simply. OrthoAtlanta physicians and staff treat thousands of patients each year who are suffering from some form of painful arthritis. Treatments range from non-surgical to surgical, including joint repair and joint replacement, known as arthroplasty. We are pleased that this years pie event brought awareness of this dreaded disease and to the excellent work done by the Arthritis Foundation as they seek to conquer arthritis with research, training, advocacy and more.

The 2017 Atlanta Walk to Cure Arthritis raised $300,000 from teams across the metropolitan area.

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Pie-in-the-Face promotion raises funds for Arthritis Foundation - News-Daily.com

"At StemGenex, we are committed to helping people achieve optimum health and better quality of life through the healing benefits of their own stem cells," said Alexander. "Specifically, we use adipose-derived adult stem cell therapy for patients battling conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, COPD, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis. We are also committed to the science of stem cell therapy and sponsor five clinical outcome studiesregistered with theNational Institute of Health (NIH) for these diseases."

"What I personally witnessed before the start of StemGenex were patients who had exhausted conventional medical treatments but wanted to try alternative therapies. I was one of them, suffering from severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. Ihad only three options; I could seek a clinical trial, travel to outside of the U.S. to try alternative therapies such as stem cell treatment or petition the FDA for access to drugs under the agency's "expanded access," or "compassionate use" program. Now, new state laws, built on model legislation from the Goldwater Institute in Arizona, will potentially allow doctors and patients to make their own informed decisions on treatments that have cleared the safety phase of FDA testing."

Last year, in a move that was seen by some as a response to Right to Try laws, the 21st Century Cures Act, a landmark piece of legislation focused on medical innovation and medical research, was signed into law by President Obama. This Act provides the FDA with the flexibility to accelerate how it evaluates regenerative medicine treatments, such as stem cell therapies, while maintaining its high standards of safety and efficacy.

"We're on the cusp of a major change on how patients can access stem cell therapy," saidAlexander. "Today, new treatments and advances in research are giving new hope to people affected by a wide range of autoimmune and degenerative illnesses," she said. "StemGenex Medical Group is proud to offer the highest quality of care and to potentially help those with unmet clinical needs improve their quality of life."

ABOUT StemGenex Medical Group StemGenex Medical Group is committed to helping people achieve optimum health and better quality of life through the healing benefits of their own stem cells. StemGenex provides stem cell therapy options for individuals suffering with inflammatory and degenerative illnesses. Committed to the science and innovation of stem cell treatment,StemGenex sponsors five clinical outcome studiesregistered with theNational Institutes of Health ("NIH") for Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ("COPD") and Osteoarthritis. These have been established to formally document and evaluate the quality of life changes in individuals following adipose-derived stem cell treatment.

Contact: Jamie Schubert, Director of Media & Community Relations jschubert@StemGenex.com, (858) 242-4243

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/patient-centered-stem-cell-therapy-bill-passed-by-texas-legislature-300465987.html

SOURCE StemGenex Medical Group

https://stemgenex.com/

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Patient-Centered Stem Cell Therapy Bill Passed by Texas Legislature - PR Newswire (press release)

Until now, researchers thought that the development of the human brain's visual-processing center stopped in the first few years of life. But a new study challenges this belief, instead suggesting that vision develops until midlife. This may have a significant impact on people with amblyopia, which is an eye disorder that causes what is commonly known as a "lazy eye."

A new study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests that human vision might take longer to develop than previously thought.

A team of researchers led by Kathryn Murphy, a professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, set out to examine the evolution of the primary visual cortex in the human brain by analyzing the postmortem brain tissue of 30 people, ranging in age from 20 days to 80 years.

Until now, the accepted view has been that in humans, the maturation of the primary visual cortex is completed in the first few years of life.

This traditional belief was based on anatomical studies of how the synapses are formed, as well as how connections within the cortex and between the cortex and other brain regions occur.

However, Murphy and colleagues have previously discovered that there are some proteins in the primary visual cortex that continue to develop well beyond the first years of life.

Their new study confirms these preliminary findings.

In their previous research, Murphy and colleagues looked at the so-called GABAergic activity in the brain. GABA stands for gamma-aminobutyric acid, and "GABAergic" refers to the brain's ability to produce it.

GABA is a neurotransmitter whose main function is to inhibit the action of another neurotransmitter called glutamate.

Their former study looked at the balance between excitation and inhibition in the brain, and how it is linked to the plasticity and aging of the visual cortex. The researchers followed the maturation of this brain region and showed how these GABAergic mechanisms change across the human lifespan.

This previous research showed that the GABA-producing mechanisms continue to mature until quite late in life. However, it still was not clear whether all of the mechanisms that regulate the plasticity of the synapses behaved in the same way. GABA is inhibitory, but what about the excitatory neurotransmitters and synapses?

As Murphy and colleagues explain in their new paper, over 80 percent of synapses in the primary visual cortex are excitatory.

So, to answer this question, the scientists looked at the postmortem tissue of 30 people, of whom 12 were females and 18 were males. They examined their brain tissue using Western blotting - a technique commonly used in molecular biology to separate and identify specific proteins from the mixture of proteins that has been extracted from cells.

The researchers found that some of the glutamatergic proteins - that is, the ones that produce the excitatory glutamate - develop until late childhood, but others develop until around the age of 40.

According to the new research, the visual-processing part of the brain matures until a person reaches 36 years of age, plus or minus around 4.5 years.

This was surprising, as the consensus is that the primary visual cortex stops developing at around the age of 5 or 6 years.

Additionally, the researchers found that the primary visual cortex develops gradually across five stages, which reflect "life-long changes in human visual perception."

"There's a big gap in our understanding of how our brains function. Our idea of sensory areas developing in childhood and then being static is part of the challenge. It's not correct."

Prof. Kathryn Murphy

These findings may have significant implications for conditions such as amblyopia, which is more popularly known as "lazy eye." Currently, medical professionals only prescribe corrective therapies to children who have amblyopia. It is currently estimated that "approximately 2 to 3 out of every 100 children" are affected by amblyopia in the United States.

Treating adults is considered futile, as their visual cortex is thought not to be plastic or respond to treatment anymore. However, Murphy says that their research suggests that more brain areas are more flexible and responsive to experience-dependent plasticity than previously thought.

Learn how blind people's brains rewire to improve other senses.

Excerpt from:
Eyesight continues to develop until your 40s, new study finds - Medical News Today

Stanford University has announced the establishment of the new Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research thanks to a generous gift pledged by Mary Spencer in honor of her late husband, Sash. The new center, at the renowned Byers Eye Institute, will support innovative vision research and interdisciplinary collaborations across the Stanford campus.

Sash and Mary Spencer (Image credit: Courtesy Mary Spencer)

The new Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research at Stanford is at the heart of an ambitious vision for advancing research and creating new diagnostics and therapeutics that will change patient care. The goal of the center is to develop new cures and treatments for the most challenging eye diseases, such as macular degeneration and glaucoma, which impact the lives of millions of people often leaving them partially or wholly without sight. The center will be at the forefront of the search for new diagnostics and therapies, both to prevent vision loss and to restore sight, while offering patients access to the latest research, technologies, clinical trials and treatments. It will build on the Byers Eye Institutes reputation for innovation and patient-centered care.

Lloyd B. Minor, the Carl and Elizabeth Naumann Dean of the School of Medicine, said, We are optimistic that with the establishment of this new center, significant advances in vision science will be translated into improved patient care, transforming the lives of millions suffering from eye disease the world over. Of Mary Spencers gift he added, This will create a remarkable legacy for Sash and Mary Spencer for generations to come. We are incredibly grateful for her trust and generosity.

According to Jeffrey Goldberg, MD, PhD, Stanfords chair of ophthalmology and director of the new center, Many diseases of the eye still lack clear and effective methods of prevention, treatment or cure. Although much research is underway, bridging the chasm from the lab to clinical testing and ultimately to proven therapies remains the core challenge to making real progress. He added, Our goal for this new center is to bring together teams of interdisciplinary experts in genetics, imaging, stem cell and neurobiology with leaders in vision science. By harnessing the combined talents and energy available at Stanford and beyond, we can uncover novel therapies and bring them more rapidly to human trials to real patients so that others can benefit in the nearer term. The center will also work toward the development of new diagnostics and methods to help predict eye diseases before they occur, leading to preventive and more personalized care the foundation of Stanfords focus on Precision Health.

Mary Spencer, who suffers from the early effects of macular degeneration herself, believes this new center at Stanford will bring the brightest scientists together at the right place to make a lasting impact on the field of vision science. With the help of her philanthropic commitment, she hopes to witness in her lifetime the discovery of treatments for some of the worst eye diseases and also to create a legacy of excellence that honors her late husbands memory. Dr. Goldberg and the early promise shown by his work using magnetic nanoparticles to promote regenerative therapies for the eye was a major factor in Spencers decision to support the establishment of the new research center. I hope that Jeffs vision for this center will be realized and it will become a place where leading vision scientists from across the country and the world will come together and share their knowledge, she said.

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New Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for vision research established at Stanford - Stanford University News