2010 Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure becomes world’s largest Komen race

Saturday, June 12, 2010 

The 2010 Susan G. Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure, held earlier today in St. Louis, Missouri, became the world’s largest Race for the Cure, with over 71,000 participants.

2010 marks the twelfth year for the race in St. Louis, which raises money for breast cancer research nationwide. Originally brought to the city in 1999, it has raised over US$19 million. It was sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors, a locally-headquartered brokerage firm of the financial services provider Wells Fargo. Nationally, the Race for the Cure is hosted by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a non-profit organization supporting breast cancer research.

In 1999, there were only about 10,000 participants in the St. Louis Race for the Cure. In recent years, the number has grown to over 60,000, and today’s 5K race saw over 71,000 runners, walkers, and wheelchair racers. Despite the heat and humidity, 1,090 teams signed up, and over 4,500 breast cancer survivors participated. Overall, the race raised more than US$3.3 million. A phone bank set up by Wells Fargo and local television station KSDK contributed over US$28,000 of that amount in four hours.

Prior to the race, there was a parade of all the breast cancer survivors who had signed up for the race. The actual competition began at 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 UTC) with the wheelchair race. Following them were the timed runners, the untimed runners, the walkers, and lastly, the “fun walk” participants, who had only opted to walk one mile (1.6 kilometres).

The Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure is only one of many Races for the Cure, which is the largest group of 5K runs and walks in the world. The first Komen race was held in 1983 in Dallas, Texas, but has since spread to over 140 cities throughout the world. Proceeds from today’s St. Louis race will benefit both local institutions and the rest of the United States. At least 25 percent of the money raised will go toward funding national research on breast cancer, while the rest will be given to organizations in St. Louis for breast cancer awareness programs.

Scientist: Sulfur remedy for greenhouse effect backed by data

Sunday, December 17, 2006 

Nobel Prize winner Professor Paul J. Crutzen has stated he has data to support his controversial claim that injecting sulfur into the atmosphere would negate the greenhouse effect.

The data is intended to quiet critics of the theory he first discussed in the scientific journal Climatic Change in August, 2006.

The 1995 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry stated “Our calculations using the best models available have shown that injecting 1 million tonnes of sulfur a year would cool down the climate so the greenhouse effect is wiped out.”

The theory uses the idea that an added layer of sulfates in the stratosphere, approximately 16 kilometres above the earth, would reflect sunlight back into space and reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface.

Critics have shown that the earth has struggled for decades to reduce sulfur pollution, and how it is a component of acid rain that kills plantlife and animals.

A large-scale experiment would be impossible to conduct, however scientists have noticed that massive volcanic eruptions have had similar effects on the earth. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines lowered temperatures around the world for two years, according to data taken at the time.

Crutzen resparked discussion on the topic, a theory which has been dismissed up until now as dangerous. “Until August this was a taboo issue. But the paper I published really set off some movement in this area. It never hit the level of seriousness which it has taken in the past months,” Crutzen said.

Environmental groups are skeptical but agree the idea should be investigated. “This idea should be examined and as a last resort it can buy us a few decades,” said Steve Sawyer, a policy adviser for Greenpeace International.

Gunman at Illinois campus said to have stopped taking medication

Friday, February 15, 2008 

After the death of five students in Illinois from the shooting Thursday, in which police say a former graduate student entered a university classroom at Northern Illinois University with several guns and opened fire, hitting over 20 people before taking his own life, a day later students are expressing shock.

Students today held a vigil for the 5 dead students, who died after the gunman entered the hall dressed in black and carrying a shotgun and three hand guns and began firing as students sought cover under desks. One student who escaped unharmed told reporters his life has changed as a result of what he experienced.

“I am going to be in class from now on, looking over my shoulder, because if he would have come through the back door, I would not be here right now. I would have been dead,” he said.

Police say the gunman was Steven Kazmierczak, 27, a former graduate student in Sociology at the school. Police say he purchased the shotgun and two of the handguns on Saturday, indicating he may have planned the attack in advance, but authorities have not determined a motive for the shooting.

Kazmierczak had no criminal record but had been a patient for a year at Thresholds-Mary Hill House, a psychiatric treatment center for teens. Under Illinois state law he would not have been able to purchase a weapon legally if there had been a record of arrests or mental problems, but police said he had stopped taking an unspecified medication recently and his behavior had become erratic.

Kazmierczak received a Dean’s Award from the university’s Sociology Department in 2006. He served as a member of the school’s Academic Criminal Justice Association and was considered a good student, but he was not enrolled this semester.

Thursday, police arrived on the scene of the shooting within two minutes, but they were too late. Witnesses say the gunman fired multiple shots in a matter of seconds, reloaded, fired some more and then took his own life.

In Washington Friday, President Bush reacted to the shooting. “This morning I spoke to the President of Northern Illinois University,” said Mr. Bush. “I told the President that a lot of folks today will be praying for the families of the victims and for the Northern Illinois University community. Obviously a tragic situation on that campus, and I ask our fellow citizens to offer their blessings, blessings of comfort and blessings of strength.”

This is the latest in a string of shootings at U.S. schools in recent years, the worst being the shooting at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia 10 months ago that left 32 students and teachers dead. That incident ranks as the deadliest armed rampage in U.S. history. The shooter also killed himself in that case.

Category:Nuclear medicine

The following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total.

British government apologises for suggesting the Pope could create a brand of “Benedict” condoms

Sunday, April 25, 2010 

The British foreign office has apologised, after a leaked memo about a visit by Pope Benedict XVI suggested that he might launch a “Benedict” brand of condoms, bless a gay marriage, and open an abortion clinic during a papal visit to the UK.

The memo followed a brainstorming session, where members of the Papal Visit Team came up with ideas for the first papal visit to Britain in 28 years, and was sent to senior civil servants via email on the 5th of March, with the title “Policy planning ahead of the Pope’s visit”. Attached files included an “ideal visit list”, and said “Please protect; these should not be shared externally.” However, the memo was leaked, and published in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

The ministry apologised, saying that it was “ill-judged, naive and disrespectful,” and that the responsible member of staff had been transferred to other duties.

Other suggestions were that the pope should change policy to allow female bishops, sponsor AIDS clinics, “spend night in council flat in Bradford” and “do forward rolls with children to promote healthy living.” A further idea was to change the national anthem to a charity song “God Save the World”, performed as a duet by Queen Elizabeth II and the pope.

It also said that the Pope should acknowledge clerical sex abuse scandals; British-papal relationships are strained, following the recent resignation of an Irish bishop and other allegations of Catholic Church child sex-abuse. The pope has been criticised for not taking a firm stance. In March 2010, the Pope sent a letter to Irish Catholics, expressing sorrow for the sexual abuse by Catholic priests to minors, and promising reform.

The four-day papal visit to England and Scotland is scheduled to take place in September 2010, but a “highly-placed source in the Vatican” said, “It’s even possible the trip could be cancelled as this matter is hugely offensive.”

False cancer cure claims lead to federal charges against five US companies

Saturday, September 20, 2008 

The United States Federal Trade Commission filed charges against five companies for “deceptive advertising of bogus cancer cures”. An additional six companies also named in the federal agency’s complaint have settled and their cases will not go into litigation; however, they will be required to send letters to their former customers, and four will be forced to offer reimbursement

The five companies charged are Omega Supply, San Diego, California; Native Essence Herb Company, El Prado, New Mexico; Daniel Chapter One, Portsmouth, Rhode Island; Gemtronics, Inc., Franklin, North Carolina, and Herbs for Cancer, Surprise, Arizona. According to Lydia Parnes, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, “There is no credible scientific evidence that any of the products marketed by these companies can prevent, cure, or treat cancer of any kind.”

Attorney Richard Jaffe who represents the firm Native Essence, one of the companies charged, protested against the FDA’s action. “In our view it’s a battle between the right to speak and the government’s censorship.” Native Essence sells herbal supplements and informs customers of herbs that have historic use for cancer and other ailments. Jaffe asserts the claim of historic use is truthful and does not necessarily mean that the herb is effective. Other items marketed by the companies named in the action include laetrile, essiac tea, mushroom extracts, and black salve. FDA representative Douglas Stearn expressed concern that people who have cancer may select these items instead of treatments that have been studied and found effective, or that unstudied herbal treatments could produce drug interactions with conventional medicine.

Before filing legal action the FTC sent over 100 warning letters and many firms dropped or changed the health claims for their products. In conjunction with the announcement the FDA announced a new website http://www.ftc.gov/curious that urges cancer patients to discuss all treatments they consider trying with their physicians, warns about the dangers of delaying or stopping cancer treatments in favour of alternative medicine, and gives advice about spotting and reporting false health claims.

Category:Health

This category has the following 18 subcategories, out of 18 total.

The following 200 pages are in this category, out of 1,094 total.

Homeopathy proponents jailed for allowing daughter to die

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 

In Sydney, Australia, Thomas and Manju Sam were jailed after being convicted of manslaughter on Monday. The court found they had failed to take their ill daughter to medical appointments, and shunned the effective conventional medical treatments offered. Instead they chose homeopathic ‘alternative’ medical treatments which the medical profession generally considers to be pseudoscience. As a result, their then nine-month-old malnourished daughter Gloria died of the skin disorder eczema in 2002.

In the evidence, the Crown prosecutor, Mr Tedeschi, said that the Sams ignored repeated advice to send Gloria to a skin specialist for her eczema. The severity of her condition made her skin so thin that it was constantly breaking and becoming infected. Creams provided by medical doctors were not used; they preferred to employ homeopathic drops as a method to treat her illness. By the time they finally sought treatment, “her skin was weeping, her body malnourished and her corneas melting”, and she died from the complications and massive infection caused by the effectively untreated eczema.

In his ruling, Supreme Court Justice of New South Wales Peter Johnson stated that “Gloria suffered helplessly and unnecessarily … from a condition that was treatable.”

Thomas received a maximum sentence of eight years and is no longer allowed to practice homeopathy. Manju received a maximum sentence of five years and four months.

Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine which uses substances that have gone through a process of serial dilution so extensive that in most cases, no molecules of the original are likely to remain. There is no convincing evidence that it has any effect greater than placebo. For it to work as homeopaths claim, basic well-tested scientific laws would have to be wrong.

Guide To Cheltenham Betting 2011

Submitted by: Daniel Stanley

The Cheltenham Festival is the apex of all horse jump racing. This 2011 marks a special event for Cheltenham as the festival celebrates its centennial year.

The entirety of the horse jump racing calendar centers to and is geared towards the festival. It comes once a year in March that for four days all the best horses from Ireland and Britain aspires to become champions in their respective categories. The Cheltenham Festival features a total of 26 races wherein 12 of which are Grade 1s.

The Cheltenham betting 2011 is all about the art high rolling with over 600 million pounds to be expected to change hands in all 27 festival races. The feature race will be the fourth race on the card each day supported with grade 1 races and handicaps. We have the best Cheltenham betting odds comparison tables for each festival race category where you can have a look out for the best price of your selection and open an account with an authorized bookmaker by registering on online Cheltenham betting sites plus you get to benefit from having up to the minute updates and most of these bookmakers offer a

Cheltenham Festival free bet.

Day one

Race day opening of the Cheltenham Festival is really pure excitement as the Champion Hurdle is highlighted as the feature race of the day. The event is connected with the Supreme Novices Hurdle which also opens the festival and subsequently followed by the Arkle Chase. It is truly a great day for racing enthusiasts.

Day two

The second day of the Cheltenham 2011 Festival race meeting highlights six interesting events including the Champion Bumper which is the flat race run which adopts the National Hunt rules and the showpiece event, the Queen Mother Chase. The Queen Mother Chase is often seen as on the bookmaker s most feared events as the horse favorites has the tendency to perform excellently in this event. Another event is the Coral Jump, even if the event is relatively new to the racing meeting it has already registered a strong following as it have a strong Irish winning charm to it. Meanwhile the newest addition to the Cheltenham races is the National Hunt Novice Chase.

Day Three

The third day of the race festival highlights the Ladbrokes World Hurdle which is now the fourth race on the card. The Ryanair is another of the day s highlighted event with the Pertemps as the final race of the day. There is a new race in the festival s list, the Jewson Novices Handicapped Steeple Chase which is the first race on the card.

Day Fou

This is the final day of the race meeting and it features the Cheltenham Gold Cup and most of the race enthusiast eagerly waits if Kauto Star can make a repeat of this 2009 win or if crowd favorite Denman can avenge his defeat and make a comeback from his injury. The Triumph Hurdle and the Albert Bartlett race are one of the best races in the Cheltenham 2011 Festival.

About the Author: Get the chance to learn what Cheltenham betting 2011 are all about. Visit

freebettingonline.co.uk/cheltenham-betting-2011

to get more information.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=711512&ca=Wellness%2C+Fitness+and+Diet

Moderate Cold Hardy Traits In Date Palms And Fan Palms

By Pat Malcolm

The Canary Island Date palm, Phoenix canariensis, is one of the most sought after and spectacular palm trees seen in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Lower Texas, and coastal South Carolina. This large, formal palm tree, looks great when grown next to Mediterranean architectural structures at resorts and hotels, such as the Cloister Hotel, at Sea Island, Georgia, where the large Canary Island Date palms are planted and grown at the entrances to the hotels, and stretching up the boulevards as a street tree along Sea Island Drive. These Canary Island Date palms produce dates, but barely palatable; are very slow growing, and the unique triangular leaf scars are very ornamental. You can buy Canary Island Date palms in large specimen sizes that are extremely expensive, but small trees are reasonably priced at most nurseries.

Other Phoenix Date Palm trees that show moderate cold hardy traits are the standard Biblical Date palms, Phoenix dactylifera; the celebrated plant of the Scriptures of the Hebrew Bible, documented thousands of years ago in Deuteronomy 8:8, ‘A land (Israel) of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil, and dates (palms).’ A huge grove of these large date palms grow outside Yuma, Az, where the date products are harvested seasonally from the trees with tall ladders, as they have been for decades past.

The Wild Date palm, Phoenix sylvestris, called the Sylvester palm, is not a fast growing date palm tree, but the blue-green foliage forms a large canopy of leaves that persists for years. The wild, large date palm tree, Phoenix sylvestris, can grow to 40 feet, but the trunk is slender, and this wild date palm will readily hybridize with other date palms growing nearby. You can buy large specimens of wild, date palm trees that are very expensive, but smaller trees can be purchased at reasonable prices. This palm tree has also been called a Toddy palm, because the sweet dates are harvested and fermented into an alcoholic drink, a Toddy.

The Chinese Fan Palm, Livistona chinensis, is a well adapted tree to large areas of the South. The huge leaves are fan shaped (palmate), and not fast growing, but the large heavy leaves give a weeping appearance. You can buy these Chinese fan trees cheap, but almost any nursery sells them, and they can survive cold hardy temperatures, around 20 F.

Mexican Fan Palm Tree, Washingtonia robusta, is also called the Washington Palm Tree, and grows faster than most other cold hardy Palm Trees. The fan shaped, bright green leaves are large, growing 6 feet long. Mature Washington Palm trees can grow 100 feet tall, and small Washington Palm Trees are so fast growing and inexpensive to buy, many people are planting them. Large Washington palm trees planted in front of motels at Waycross, Georgia, have survived extreme cold winters, and even when leaf canopies were frozen and black, the new shoots grew back in the Spring to renew their beauty.

The European Fan Palm, Chamaerops humilis, also called the Mediterranean Fan Palm, is a beautiful cluster palm; a favorite palm tree planted abundantly at the Cloister Hotel, at Sea Island, Georgia. The European Palm Tree forms multiple, daughter, closely connected, palm trees that were planted and grown as circular groups, although if the daughter palm trees are removed after the trunks grow to 3 – 4 feet, single trunked specimens can be grown in the landscape. The leaves are very variable in color, from green to silver. This very delicately leaved plant is controlled by a graceful, slender trunk, that is embedded with long brown fibers. In Mediterranean areas, the European Palm tree is often grown as a street tree, planted in large containers. Its slow growing character makes the European palm tree well adapted for planting in pots.

About the Author: Patrick A. Malcolm, owner of TyTy Nursery, has an M.S. degree in Biochemistry and has cultivated palm trees for over three decades.

Source: isnare.com

Permanent Link: isnare.com/?aid=77068&ca=Gardening