‘Always online’ DRM makes things a lot easier for game creators but ultimately, more frustrating for gamers.
Read the link for the full story.
Kalos explains that the technique works much like a vaccine, training
the immune system to target cancer cells, just as inoculations coax it
to fight off viruses.
To do this, researchers isolated
immunological T-cells from the blood of the three leukemia patients and
genetically reprogrammed them using a virus vector that inserted a new
gene into their DNA.
This gene coaxed the T-cells to
create an antibody — known as chimeric antigen receptor or CAR — that
would specifically target structures on the surface of cancer cells.
The newly armed T-cells were then
injected back into the respective patients where they sought out and
bound themselves to the cancer cells and killed them.
More importantly, however, the
reprogrammed hunters caused other T-cells to multiply each time they
attacked, creating more killers with each slain cancer cell.
“Within three weeks the tumours had
been blown away, in a way that was much more violent than we ever
expected,” Dr. Carl June, a senior study author, said in a statement.
“In addition to an extensive capacity
for self-replication the infused T-cells are serial killers. On average
each infused T-cell led to the killing of thousands of tumour cells,”
said June, a University of Pennsylvania pathologist.
It’s estimated the scant number of
T-cells originally injected into the patients killed more than two
pounds of tumour cells in each of the men, whose blood and bone marrow
were replete with cancer.
After a year, microscopic analysis of their blood could find no trace of cancerous cells, Kalos says.
“I am still trying to grasp the
enormity of what I am part of and of what the results will mean to
countless others with (leukemia) or other forms of cancer,” one of the
patients, none of whom were named, said in a written statement.
Kalos says it appears that, like a
vaccine, the T-cells also left the patients with a lingering protection,
which would reactivate the immunological attack if cancer returned.
“If leukemia does come back, those T-cells (appear to be) armed and ready to eliminate it,” he said.
While both anger and sarcasm improved an observer’s attention to
detail, focus and speed in solving simple analytic problems, being
exposed to anger limited their ability to deal with more complex
problems that involved mental creativity, the team found. Sarcasm on the
other hand boosted their creative juices.
“When they were exposed to anger, it created ‘prevention motivation,’
or the motivation to avoid unpleasant situations or pain,”
Miron-Spektor told the Star. “It demonstrated that if you are
exposed to your boss yelling at your colleague, you will try to avoid
similar situations by working harder.”
Prevention motivation forces the brain to narrow the scope of its
attention, focusing only on relevant information and exclude unrelated
and distracting issues, according to the paper.
Because of its humorous tone, sarcasm elicits less fear in listeners
while stimulating the brain by forcing it to decipher the literal
meaning of what the speaker is saying along with the underlying
hostility of the message.
“I would like to stress that (the positive creative result) is
compared to anger. It is not that sarcasm is a good thing, period. It is
good compared to anger, but too much sarcasm and can be problematic,”
Miron-Spektor told the Star.
“There is never any harm in receiving another dose of measles, mumps
and rubella vaccine if you simply do not know,” King said. Extra doses
are generally not considered harmful, she said.
Later this year the province is rolling out an integrated infectious
disease and immunization registry, called Panorama, which will compile
existing data and create a vaccination database accessible by health
professionals and, one day, the public. The project is expected to take
years, and eventually link to other provincial systems.
King called Panorama, related to the broader eHealth program, a
“really important advancement” in public health and emergency
preparedness.
To be fully vaccinated requires two doses of the measles, mumps and
rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is publicly funded and delivered for free
to Ontario residents. The province provides 14 vaccines against 17
illnesses. Those born before 1970 probably became immune to those
illnesses by exposure.
Measles is highly contagious, spread by contact, coughing and
sneezing. Symptoms of measles include rash, high fever and watery eyes.
Mumps, a viral infection of the salivary glands, is rare. Symptoms of
the mumps include swelling and pain in the side of the jaw, fever,
headache, fatigue, and loss of appetite.
To find more information on publicly available vaccines, visit the health ministry’s fact sheet online.
CIUT, U of T's community radio station at St. George campus, has fired its manager over an unspecified issue.
The station's Board of Directors voted to cancel then-station manager
Brian Burchell's contract last Monday. Ken Stowar is now the station
manager in addition to his previous role as program director.
“We've asked Ken Stowar to serve at least until the annual general
membership meeting in March,” said Gage Averill, chair of CIUT's Board
of Directors.
Stowar said Averill asked him about accepting the position on September 27.
“[Averill] asked if I would consider stepping in as the acting station manager, and I said yes.”
Stowar added that Burchell was dropped because of an audit issue.
“[Burchell was] requested to work in cooperation with internal audits
of the University of Toronto and as to what that is about specifically,
I really have no idea,” said Stowar. “I was just asked to step in and
here's why.”
U of T's spokesperson said the university is unable to give any
additional information. Averill said he could not specify what exactly
led to the change, but explained it had to do with another company
managed by Burchell.
“We had a process of review over the last few months and decided to
terminate the contract with a company that Brian Burchell runs that had
management contracts for CIUT,” said Averill.
Burchell is publisher of Gleaner Community Press. Averill said he
wasn't sure if this is the company in question, and that it was
registered as a set of digits followed by "Ontario Inc."
Burchell did not respond to requests for comment. CIUT completed its week-long fall membership drive yesterday.
CommentsStowar isn't any better than Burchell. He's
fired almost all the paid staff in order to replace them with his own
cronies and has cut back on original spoken word by killing Take 5.
Stowar is unpopular with volunteers and is making the same mistakes that
led to the divisions at CKLN. Let's hope the Board hires someone else
as station manager or CIUT's days are numbered. - Susan F. Fe 13, 2011 at 02:46 AM
About 55 million years ago, a massive chunk of land rose up from the
floor of the North Sea, giving birth to a wild and beautiful river
valley surrounded by steep mountains.
For a million years, this verdant landscape — about 200 kilometres
north of Scotland — was home to countless plant and wildlife species and
rushing, crystal clear rivers and streams.
Then, as quickly as it appeared, it sank back beneath the waves of the ocean, never to be seen again.
Until now.
...
A daily beer or cocktail could be turning into a habit for more
people in Ontario and marijuana use is also growing, according to a new
survey.
The survey released today by the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health suggests the proportion of adults reporting daily drinking
increased from 5.3 per cent in 2002 to more than nine per cent in 2009.
Tobacco smoking is down slightly, but the use of cannabis, or
marijuana, has increased from 8.7 per cent in 1996 to 13.3 per cent in
2009.
Read the link for the whole story
With same-sex marriage, we saw the advent of arguments for
“genderless parenting” – the idea that all a child needs is love, and
that it’s irrelevant whether the loving persons are male or female. Now
we have “genderless kids.”
Kathy Witterick and David Stocker, the parents of five-year-old Jazz,
two-year-old Kio, and three-month old Storm, want to rear and love each
of their children not as a daughter or son, not as a girl or a boy, but
just as a child.
Now, at one level, that’s not a bad thing. It’s a statement of
unconditional love for one’s child simply because he or she is one’s
child, and it stands as a small counter-statement to the abomination of
the millions of missing girls in India and China, where daughters are
aborted or killed as infants because the parents want a son instead.
But, as the Supreme Court of Canada, citing the United States Supreme
Court, once said, in distinguishing what parents were free to decide
with respect to their own medical treatment as compared with what they
could decide for their children, “Parents may be free to become martyrs
themselves. But it does not follow they are free, in identical
circumstances, to make martyrs of their children.”
So, are Witterick and Stocker making martyrs of their children? Is
their conduct with respect to their children unethical? And, if it is,
does society have any obligation to step in? These are difficult
questions to answer, and ones that require us to consider some
definitions and facts.
First, a person’s sex is a matter of biology: Women have two X
sex chromosomes, and men have one X and one Y. (There are other
combinations, such as XXY or XO, but these are not the norm, and the
people who have them are usually infertile).
Gender, on the other hand, is the cultural expression of male and female. For most people, gender parallels their biological sex.
Media reports quote Witterick and Stocker as wanting their children
to be “gender creative.” In trying to achieve this goal, they allow the
two older boys “to make their own choices” with respect to clothing and
hairstyles (they often wear pink feather boas, dresses, and braids). As a
result, the boys are often mistaken for girls, and other children do
not want to play with “that girl-boy.”
The sex of the baby, Storm, has not been disclosed to anyone other
than the midwives who delivered it, a close family friend, the father,
and the two siblings, who have been told to keep it secret (which also
raises ethical issues). They refer to the baby as “Z,” not he or she.
Even the grandparents don’t know Storm’s sex.
To analyze this situation, ethically and legally, the basic
presumption from which we start is that the parents have a right to make
decisions concerning their children, and have obligations to them in
doing so. That right can be displaced, however, when the parents’
conduct constitutes neglect or abuse. My guess is that most people would
be very reluctant to argue that that’s the case here, but, at the same
time, many believe that these children are going to have a difficult
path in life as a result of the nature of their upbringing. So what do
we need to consider in trying to gain some insights as to whether the
parents’ present approach is acceptable?
The parents seem to believe that children “can make choices to be
whoever they want to be,” including regarding their gender, and they are
giving them the opportunity to do this. Are the parents, however,
conducting a social experiment on their children, or – as it’s been
described – “a social experiment of nurture”? If so, the principles
governing experimentation should be especially stringent when children
are the subjects, because children are classified as “vulnerable
persons.” Ethics requires that, when there is a conflict that prevents
us from honouring everyone’s rights or claims, we must decide in a way
that gives a preference to the most vulnerable people.
As with all experimentation, we can only find out later what harm may
result, but we have obligations, at the very least, to avoid reasonably
foreseeable harm. In this regard, we might learn from past unethical
experimentation. Sexologist and psychologist Dr. John Money's experiment on David Reimer
is a tragic example. In the infamous case, Reimer was sexually
reassigned after a botched circumcision destroyed his penis. Money
reported the reassignment as successful, and as evidence that gender
identity is primarily learned. However, later research showed that
Reimer never identified as female, and he began living as male at age
15. He lived a tormented life and eventually committed suicide.
I suggest that we might also gain insights from asking: “Are the
parents doing this for the kids, as they claim, or are they doing it for
themselves?” My guess is that they would say – and probably believe –
they’re doing it for the kids, but that their own ideological and
political beliefs are the main motivation. When the adults’ beliefs
about such things are concordant with the “best interests” of the
children, there is no problem – but when they clash, there is. The
conflict situation can be compared to that of a physician asking a
patient to participate in a medical experiment. Long ago, as a
protective measure, we started to teach patients to ask doctors who
approached them to be research subjects: “Are you doing this for me,
doctor, or am I doing it for you?” These kids need someone to ask their
parents that question for them.
It merits noting that there is an ethical difference between parents
having children who are non-conformist in some ways, and parents
intentionally making their children non-conformist, as in this case. As
well, parents are still making a choice when they choose not to choose for their children.
Witterick and Stocker’s strong emphasis on the idea of choice, and on
giving their children choice, even at such a young age, is also
noteworthy. In many ways, it seems naïve. It is a rejection of the
belief that there is a natural reality, including with respect to our
own selves, with which we need to live in harmony and balance. Much of
what makes us who we are as individuals, and what matters to us as human
beings, is not open to choice. The new field of epigenetics
is showing us, from one scientific perspective, just how complex the
interaction of nature and nurture is in forming who we are and who we
become.
There is also arrogance in ignoring millennia-worth of human wisdom
when it comes to what we need in order to become as fully actualized as
we can. Before the “choice armies” come after me, let me quickly add
that this does not mean that we must not change or continue to evolve
socially. Instead, it means that, in seeking to do good, we must be
careful that we do not do serious harm to individuals or society.
Finally, in the context of some other work I’m involved in from time
to time, it’s interesting to note that the most socially liberal parents
(such as Storm’s parents) and the most socially conservative ones (such
as, for example, those who want strict obedience from their children
and are willing to use corporal punishment to get it) both want the
state to keep its nose out of family issues. (Strange bedfellows!) But
society always has residual obligations to protect its children.
This article originally appeared in the Ottawa Citizen.
Being secretive about a child's gender seems rather antithetical to
this necessary process of developing an identity. Witterick and Stocker
seem to be raising their three children in a kind of bubble by creating
an expectation-free zone, which may be great for experimentation but
doesn't help them develop the strength and confidence to be comfortable
in the world inhabited by other children and adults.
because of his penchant for wearing his hair in braids and sometimes
donning a dress, apparently elected not to start school last year,
though he is eligible, for fear of being teased. "People -- children and
adults -- would immediately react with Jazz over his gender," Witterick
tells Poisson. "That's mostly why he doesn't want to go to school."
Last year researchers identified a new gene mutation associated with
the disorder. Known mutations have only explained a small number of
Tourette’s cases, so the investigators, led by Matthew State,
co-director of the Yale Neurogenetics Program, studied a rare family in
which the father and his eight children all had Tourette’s. In these
family members, the gene involved in the production of histamine in the
brain was shorter than normal, generating lower levels of the compound,
which is involved in inflammatory response. State believes these lower
levels can cause tics, and he is looking for this and further
histamine-related mutations in other people with Tourette’s.
Now scientists have found parallels between this family and
histamine-deficient mice, which furthers the connection to Tourette’s.
Most individuals with Tourette’s have low prepulse inhibition, meaning
that they are more easily startled or distracted than the average
person, says Christopher Pittenger, director of the Yale OCD Research
Clinic. In May he was to present new data to the Society of Biological
Psychiatry that both this family and mice missing the histamine gene had
low prepulse inhibition and tics. Other experiments have shown that
histamine-boosting drugs decrease ticlike behaviors in mice.
The 2011 end times prediction made by Christian radio host Harold Camping states that the Rapture (in premillennial theology, the taking up into heaven of God's elect people) will take place on May 21, 2011[1][2] at 6 P.M. local time (the rapture will sweep the globe time zone by time zone) [3] and that the end of the world as we know it will take place five months later on October 21, 2011.[4] Camping, president of the Family Radio Christian network, claims the Bible as his source and says May 21 will be the date of the Rapture and the day of judgment "beyond the shadow of a doubt".[5] His followers claim that around 200 million people (approximately 3% of the world's population) will be raptured.[6]
Camping's predictions have not been embraced by most other Christian groups;[7] some have explicitly rejected them.[8][9][10][11] An interview with a group of church leaders noted that all of them have scheduled services as usual for Sunday, May 22.[12] Camping previously claimed that the world would end in September 1994.
...
Atheists Offer Post-Rapture Services
A group of atheists in Seattle have begun a funding campaign for
people who will be left behind, and a website offers to deliver the mail
of Christians after they are taken to heaven to their non-believer
friends.
“Rapture Relief
Fund” was created just in case Family Radio prognostication is correct,
and if not, Seattle Atheists plan on donating its proceeds to Camp
Quest West, a camp for children from non-religious families.
In a recently screened BBC documentary, UK
neuroscientists suggested that the brains of Apple devotees are
stimulated by Apple imagery in the same way that the brains of religious
people are stimulated by religious imagery.
People have
often talked about “the cult of Apple”, and if a recent BBC TV
documentary is to be believed, there could be something in it.
The program, Secrets of the Superbrands,
looks at why technology megabrands such as Apple, Facebook and Twitter
have become so popular and such a big part of many people’s lives.
In
the first episode, presenter Alex Riley decided to take a look at
Apple. He wanted to discover what it is about the company that makes
people so emotional. Footage of the opening of the Cupertino company’s
Covent Garden store in central London last year showed hordes of Apple
devotees lining up outside overnight, while the staff whipped up
customers (and themselves) into something of an evangelical frenzy. This
religious-like fervour got Riley thinking – he decided to take a closer
look at the inside of the head of an Apple fanatic to see what on earth
was going on in there.
Click the top link to read the rest.
Ontario newborns will soon be able to receive a new, drinkable vaccine to protect them from diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration.
Nearly 140,000 infants will benefit from the oral rotavirus
vaccine, the Liberal government says. They are set to announce a number
of changes to its publicly funded immunization program this morning.
Ontario is the first jurisdiction in Canada to cover the oral rotavirus vaccine, according to Health Minister Deb Matthews.
Beginning this August, the government will offer two new vaccines —
one for rotavirus and the other a combined chicken pox and
measles-mumps-rubella vaccine known as MMRV.
The government says the vaccine change will save families up to $350 per person.
Also this August, Ontario will cover a second childhood dose of the
varicella (chicken pox) vaccine to enhance protection and they’ll pay
for a lifetime dose of the pertussis, or whooping cough vaccine.
“Immunization is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself
and your family,” said Dr. Arlene King, Ontario’s chief medical officer
of health in a release.
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If you dig a bit further, I'm sure you'll
find that Mr.Burchell has committed a number of crimes against his
listenership. Let's hope he doesn't get away with it.- Joseph A. Dec 1, 2010 at 04:50 PM