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Category Archives: Progress

WATCH LIVE: Zookeepers say April the giraffe continues to progress – fox6now.com

Posted: March 31, 2017 at 7:00 am

CLICK HERE to WATCH Animal Adventure Parks Giraffe Cam LIVE!

NEW YORK April the giraffe isSTILL PREGNANT!Zookeepers atAnimal Adventure Park said Thursday, March 30th that they spent the evening watching April and that she continues to progress.

Zoo officials said Thursday that mammary development stays remains as filled udders, and will likely not get much larger. Discharge continues to be present. Appetite is so-so this morning.

Below are some things to know about April, courtesy Animal Adventure Park:

April is 15. This will be her fourth calf. April has never lost a calf nor had a stillborn. Oliver, Aprils partner is five. This will be his first calf.

The giraffes have some of the biggest pens in the nation (square foot per animal). Animal Adventure Park takes pride in their indoor housing and the level of enrichment and care to keep the giraffes happy and healthy.

The calf will weigh around 150 pounds and will be about 6 feet tall at birth. The front hooves will come out first followed by the snout.

Mom will naturally raise the calf. Weaning could take between 6-10 months, maybe longer. Animal Adventure Park officials will not rush this process. It is just a documented range of captive weaning.

Once the calf is born, there will be a contest to name it.

The keepers will go in with April occasionally to clean her pen and give her treats (but not Oliver). He is a bull and a bull is a bull is a bull, officials said.

Giraffes are pregnant for 15 months.

Upon naturally weaning, the calf will move on to another facility to start a breeding program there. Animal Adventure Park officials cannot retain offspring, as it would lead to incestuous mating and undermine the genetics of the program and species.

Those things on their heads are called ossicones.

Bulls (male giraffes) only really care about two things fighting and the unmentionable. Oliver may share space with April, but for short periods. Bulls take no part in rearing young.

The giraffes eat hay and a specialized giraffe diet, but love romaine lettuce and carrot treats.

Aprils water source, enrichment, and solo hay feeder are out of sight of the camera view.

This will be Animal Adventure Parks first giraffe calf.

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Steady progress – Youngstown Vindicator

Posted: at 7:00 am

Published: Thu, March 30, 2017 @ 12:05 a.m.

Pelini pleased with growth on both sides

By Charles Grove

cgrove@vindy.com

youngstown

There are three practices left before Youngstown States football team showcases itself at their Spring Game on April 7. Wednesday, head coach Bo Pelini said he was pleased with how both sides of the ball have progressed.

The offense and defense have had their moments during drills. A shovel pass from quarterback Hunter Wells to running back Tevin McCaster fooled linebacker Lee Wright while defensive end Fazson Chapman feasted on an offensive line that still hasnt quite found their positions.

Neverthess, each side is pretty deep in their playbooks now.

Most of our stuff is in, offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery said. Theres always some things we want to look at these last three or four days but the biggest thing is consistency.

If consistency is priority one, filling out the depth chart is priority two.

We also need to find our depth. Were not really deep at a few positions, Montgomery said. We still need to find out who our top three or four running backs are. We need to find that next receiver to step in and then the offensive line.

One of those consistent positions on the field has been tight end. Kevin Rader, last seasons hero at Eastern Washington, said the playbook has been opening up for tight ends.

A couple of years ago, tight ends didnt get many catches around here and its really changed, Rader said. I feel like weve really opened the playbook for the tight ends and weve put a little more on top of the plays that we have in there that will disguise things better. Weve also added some deeper passes and I think thats helped.

If the tight ends get the ball, more the receivers will be more open too.

Defensively, Chapman took advantage of inexperience on the offensive line and made life difficult much of the afternoon by taking up residency in the backfield. Chapman said its the defenses job to bring that fun and intensity to practice.

Very intense today, Chapman said. The offense won the last two days so we gave it to them today, and now weve got to respond to them and show the coaches were leaders out there.

Coach Bo has very high expectations of the defense with all the installs out there. Everyone just has to do their job.

While quarterback turned wide receiver Ricky Davis is still competing for a job catching instead of throwing, Wells has shown a new-found ability to tuck the ball away. He torched the defense on a few occasions on Wednesdays practice with his legs.

Theres been some instances where they bring a blitz and I see a crease and just take off for an easy play, Wells said. Our defense isnt used to me taking off so they dont have anyone spying me.

Montgomery said Wells legs wont be a large part of the offense, but its been good for wells to become more comfortable with running.

He knows hes just got to play within the system, Montgomery said. Not that were going to ask him to run the ball a lot but if something is there he can pull the ball down and be effective. The biggest thing is getting confidence and knowing he can do it.

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Wisconsin panel sees progress, problems at Lincoln Hills youth prison – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Posted: at 7:00 am

The sweeping criminal probe is examining allegations of prisoner abuse, child neglect, sexual assault, intimidation of witnesses and victims, strangulation and tampering with public records.

Lincoln Hills School for Boys in Irma has been the subject of a federal investigation for more than two years.(Photo: Dan Young / Daily Herald Media)

MADISON - After doing a private tour of the state's troubled youth prison, a panel of lawmakers said Thursday they see both progress and lingering problems there.

The Assembly Committee on Correctionschairman, Rep. Michael Schraa (R-Oshkosh),denied a request from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to have a reporter accompany the visit after state attorneys said the law allowed that. In a statehouse meeting Thursday, Schraa recapped the visit, sayingthat lawmakers were able to get wide access to the facility and at times were able to talk to staff without having state Department ofCorrections officials hovering nearby.

"I really felt that we were getting the true story from these individuals becausewe were one on one with them," Schraa told lawmakers on the panel. "I was extremely and pleasantly surprised by what I saw up there."

The Journal Sentinel has reported extensively on problems at Lincoln Hills School for Boys, which has been under criminal investigation formore than two years for allegations of inmate abuse.

RELATED:Crisis at Lincoln Hills juvenile prison years in making RELATED:Lawsuit alleges horrific conditions at Lincoln Hills

The tour of the prisonabout 30 miles north of Wausauis a sign that Republicans who control the Legislature are becoming more interested in digging into theproblems there.

Schraa detailed the extensive questions that he put to prison staff and inmates about the conditions there. He asked about the schedules of the employees, the presence ofyouth gangs operating among the inmates, the mealsand what it felt like to wear cuff belts that inmates sometimes have onwhile being moved.

Schraa said he was willing to work with Democrats on recommendations for improving the prison, such as greater training for staff, and he also told Democrats that he was also willing to take unannounced visits to the prison with them in the future.

Both Schraa andRep. EvanGoyke (D-Milwaukee) described a daytime conversation with a staff member who had worked through the night and who cried when describing the way staff often had to work forced overtime in16-hour shifts to fill vacant posts.

Schraa said he believed staff morale was largely good. But Goyke said their conversation showed that more needed to be done, particularly on the forced overtime.

"When we put people in that situation, the tensions flare, it would happen to anyone," Goyke said.

Schraa and Corrections spokesman Tristan Cook separately pointed out positive changes at the prison, including the use of body cameras, pay raises for the staff, new rules for using pepper spray and improved procedures for inmates who want to report an allegation of abuse.

"We are continuing to move forward on additional changes to minimize the use of (pepper spray), confinement, and restraints while maintaining safety and security for youth and staff," Cook said in an email. "DOC is also making additional changes to further enrich opportunities for youth to access quality education, treatment, and programming that will give them tools to be successful in the community."

RELATED:Wisconsin gives cash to Lincoln Hills guards fired for excessive force RELATED:Teen who received $300,000 settlement in Lincoln Hills abuse case charged with new offenses

Lincoln Hillshas often been criticized for being a four-hour drive from offenders' homes in urban areas like Milwaukee, but Schraa said he saw some benefit to the setting.

"Being in a rural setting I feel like you get an individual out of the environment where they broke the law," Schraa said.

Rep. David Bowen (D-Milwaukee) said he disagreed. He noted that the northern Wisconsin facility has just one African-American staff member, even though the majority of its inmates are minorities. He and Goyke have argued for keeping offenders closer to southeastern Wisconsin in smaller facilities, an approach modeled after the one used by Missouri.

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India, Russia make progress toward Ka-226T helicopter production – DefenseNews.com

Posted: at 7:00 am

NEW DELHIIndia and Russia have drawn the road mapfor the joint production of Kamov Ka-226T light utility helicopters in the South Asian country, kick-startingthe $1 billion program.

"With the road mapnow in place, the production of Kamov 226T helicopters has formally taken off," said a top executive of the state enterprise Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, which was the production agency nominated by the two nations.

Gopal Sutar, the chief of media communications at HAL, said: "The helicopters are to be produced through a joint venture company as per the intergovernment agreement between the two countries in October 2016, and theroad mapfor the acquisition is finalized."

The joint production of the helicopters in India now awaits formal approval by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which will lead to the new production entityIndo-Russian Helicopters Private Limited.

Russian government-owned Rostec Corp. will own a 49.5 percent stake in the new entity, and India's HAL will own the remaining 50.5 percent. Thereafter, the Indian Ministry of Defence will issue a single-vendor tender to Indo-Russian Helicopters Private Limited, which will then submit its technical and commercial proposalwithin six months.

While some analysts say the price of the helicopter remains an concern, the top HAL executive said the issue will be sorted out in the technical and commercial proposal.

Bharat Kumar, a defense analyst and retired Indian Air Force air marshal, said the intergovernmental agreement would have already provided a time frame for the delivery of 40 helicopters by Russia and the supply of kits, subassemblies and so on."I am more than sure that the agreement would also have indicated the price and other financial details, including share holdings in the joint venture," he added.

The manufacturing will take place at a new complex in Tumkur near HAL's Bangalore helicopter complex.

"Apart from production, the plan also includes setting up repair and maintenance facilities to provide faster support to the armed forces," the HAL executive said.

However, the overall composition of the Ka-226T helicopter in regard to components and systems remains a concern, according toBaldev Singh Pawar, aretired Indian Armylieutenant general and former director general of Army aviation.

Pawar said the engine and some "key systems and avionics have been sourced by the Russian company from the global market," adding that Russia continues to be under U.S. sanctions.

An Indian MoD official insisted "all the obstacles will be cleared," but did not provide details

India needs a light utility helicopter to replace its aging Cheetah and Chetak helicopters produced under license from France.

"The Cheetah and Chetak continue to be reliable and heavily used helicopters despite their age. The imperative to procure a replacement has as much to do with the growing requirement for light helicopters as creeping obsolescence of the existing light helicopter fleet," offeredVijainder K Thakur, a defense analyst and retired Indian Air Force squadronleader.

Although the Ka-226T program is making progress, the MoD has not quashed its requests for information that it floated separately in 2014 for the joint development of light utility helicopters for the Indian Navy and Air Force; and in this India may keep its options open for the procurement of light utility helos from other sources.

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Brexit: EU says no to free-trade talks until ‘progress’ on final terms – The Guardian

Posted: at 7:00 am

The draft circulated by Donald Tusk said Britain would need to accept EU rules during a transition period after Brexit Photograph: Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters

EU leaders have said there will be no talks on Britains future relationship with the bloc until the UK government makes enough progress on the Brexit divorce including settling its bills and citizens rights.

Donald Tusk, the European council president, said: Once, and only once we have achieved sufficient progress on the withdrawal, can we discuss the framework for our future relationship. Starting parallel talks will not happen.

Tusk said the EU was united behind this principle and wanted to see progress on settling the status of EU nationals and Britains share of EU liabilities.

Making clear that it is the EU27 who will define sufficient progress, draft negotiating guidelines published as Tusk spoke, also say the UK must accept EU rules, including budget contributions and the judicial oversight of the European court of justice in a transition period likely to follow departure in 2019 and before a free-trade pact can be finalised.

The European council will monitor progress closely and determine when sufficient progress has been achieved to allow negotiations to proceed to the next phase, the draft says.

If Britain remains a part of the EU single market for a time after Brexit, it would also have to respect all four freedoms, which would mean accepting free immigration from the continent, it says. There can be no cherrypicking nor any separate negotiations between individual states and the UK.

Tusk rejected the description Brexit bill and said it was only fair that the UK paid what successive governments had signed up to. It is only fair towards all those people, communities, scientists, farmers and so on to whom we, all the 28, promised and owe this money.

The talks will be difficult, complex and sometimes confrontational, Tusk added. But he stressed the EU will not pursue a punitive approach Brexit itself is already punitive enough.

Speaking alongside him, Joseph Muscat, the prime minister of Malta, said the negotiations would be tough, but it will not be a war and the two sides needed to remain friends.

On the future trade deal, the draft also makes clear the blocs objective will be to preserve the integrity of the single market. This excludes participation based on a sector-by-sector approach. A non-member of the union cannot have the same rights and enjoy the same benefits as a member, the draft says.

Theresa May and Brexit ministers have said Britain aims to leave the single market and most of the European customs union in favour of agreeing a bespoke free-trade deal for individual industrial sectors, such as the automotive and pharmaceuticals industries.

Tusks message about an orderly withdrawal was repeated in a nine-page negotiating principles document sent to national capitals on Friday morning. A copy of the guidelines makes clear that the EU will oppose any attempts by the British government to start bilateral talks. There will be no separate negotiations between individual member states and the United Kingdom, it states.

One senior diplomat warned that any attempt to divide and rule was likely to backfire on the British. It is not in the UKs interest to have the 27 divided because then there might be no deal at all.

A No 10 spokesman said: These are draft guidelines and we look forward to beginning negotiations once they have been formally agreed by the 27 member states.

It is clear both sides wish to approach these talks constructively, and as the prime minister said this week, wish to ensure a deep and special partnership between the UK and the European Union.

Owen Smith, the former Labour leadership candidate, said Tusks statement already shows how Mays lofty rhetoric is colliding with hard reality.

The prime ministers plan for Britain is a pipedream, he said. The European councils draft guidelines underline the difficulty the government will have in keeping its Brexit promises. The prime minister promised the exact same benefits on trade, but this has been explicitly ruled out today.

Ministers and leave campaigners have presented Brexit as a cost-free option. It is not. There will be a cost to Brexit, we just do not know how deep it will be. It is time for the government to start levelling with the British people.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, said the guidelines show the strength of the EU in these negotiations, and the carelessness of the UK government in isolating themselves from our European allies.

The terms are clear: no sector by sector deals, no bilateral negotiations and no new trade deal until the withdrawal terms are agreed. This leaves no doubt that Davis comments about special arrangements for the car industry or financial sector are worthless.

It is still possible for the British people to stop a hard Brexit and keep us in the single market. And if they want, it is still possible for the British people to choose to remain in the EU.

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, said: We really are moving forward now, and theres a lot of goodwill, a lot of willingness to achieve what the prime minister has said she wants to achieve, which is an orderly transition and then a deep and special partnership between a strong EU and a strong UK.

The guidelines states the UK will remain subject to EU institutions during any transitional period but hint at a face-saving solution for May, who has vowed the UK will leave the jurisdiction of the European court of justice, an institution that has long attracted the ire of Tory backbenchers.

Britains withdrawal agreement should be governed by appropriate dispute settlement mechanisms bearing in mind the role of the European court of justice the draft states. The EU negotiating team, led by Michel Barnier, are looking at alternatives to the ECJ to govern any future trade deal, but are clear the UK will not escape the oversight of an independent judicial body.

The draft guidelines may well be revised over the next month. Tusk will chair a summit of the EUs 27 prime ministers and presidents at the end of April to finalise the blocs negotiating position before talks with the UK begin.

When formal talks get underway - most likely in late May or early June - the EU plans to focus on three areas: the UKs bills, EU citizens rights and the Irish border. In the draft text on what will be the UKs only land border with the EU, the EU call for flexible and imaginative solutions... with the aim of avoiding a hard border

As the Guardian reported, Barnier hopes the main outlines of an agreement on these three areas will be clear by autumn, enabling the UK and the EU to reach a broad agreement at an EU summit in December. He has pencilled in January 2018 as the point where he hopes to start talks with the British on a future relationship.

But there are lingering fears the talks could collapse. The EU wants an agreement, the draft text says, but it will prepare itself to be able to handle the situation also if the negotiations were to fail.

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FDA Unveils Regulatory Science Progress Report – Regulatory Focus

Posted: at 7:00 am

Posted 30 March 2017 By Zachary Brennan

The report, covering fiscal years 2015 and 2016, notes significant US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) progress in refining non-clinical and clinical tools to better evaluate medical products, advancing manufacturing and quality, and enhancing internal IT tools to support the scientific review of regulatory applications.

In terms of the non-clinical predictive models, the report notes that FDA researchers developed a wide variety of computational tools that now support nonclinical evaluation of medical products.

These tools include sophisticated models to predict the carcinogenic effects of certain drug ingredients based on their structural attributes, mathematical representations of the human body (computational phantoms) that can be used to predict the effects of medical devices, such as exposure to radiation, and mechanistically informed pharmacokinetic models to help predict drug exposures in populations where clinical data are difficult to obtain, the report says.

FDA also has developed in vitro methods and tools to better understand the properties of drugs and biologics, including vaccines, and new tools to support the evaluation and development of medical imaging technologies.

Genetic and transplantation approaches were also used to create animal models that seek to more closely predict human response to medical products, and novel physical methods and procedures were developed to support the evaluation of generic drug bioequivalence.

To better support the clinical evaluation of medical products, FDA is engaged in efforts to advance the development and evaluation of biomarkers to better predict long-term treatment outcomes or to assign certain patients to treatments more likely to succeed.

As an example, FDA notes that its statisticians have helped design trials of antibiotics that could evaluate factors related to the development of resistant organisms.

In addition, the agency has qualified new biomarkers to guide treatment decisions and to predict disease progression.

A long-term research effort to improve prediction of cardiovascular risks contributed to the recommendation by the International Conference on Harmonisation that the costly and resource-intensive thorough QT clinical study (required to evaluate most drug candidates) could be replaced with electrocardiogram-based measurements performed during early-phase clinical studies, the report notes.

It also mentions FDAs efforts around the use of real-world evidence, which staffers have expressed qualms with in the past.

And through initiatives such as the Patient-Focused Drug Development Initiative, the Patient Engagement Advisory Committee for medical devices and the Patient Preference Initiative, FDA is further incorporating the patient viewpoint into medical product development and evaluation.

FDA medical product centers also address scientific issues related to new technologies critical for product manufacturing to improve the reliability of the drug supply, the characterization of complex products, quality standards, post-approval monitoring of product quality and understanding the interactions of regulated products with biological systems.

We have developed in-house laboratory and computational capability for studying continuous manufacturing with an advanced process control system, the report adds. We collaborated with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to leverage continuous manufacturing to minimize domestic vulnerability to chemical, biologic, and radiologic threats, and we spearheaded creation of a 3-D printing facility to understand factors contributing to the quality and performance of implantable medical devices, drugs, and combination products made with this new technology.

In addition, FDA has developed automated approaches for predicting critical properties of human stem cell preparations, such as their ability to contribute to bone growth.

The agency has implemented its JumpStart service, which allows reviewers to organize, manage and verify the quality of the clinical data in product applications, and initiated Kickstart, a service that delivers individual training and user-driven support and analysis for non-clinical data.

To make possible the secure deposition, retrieval, and analysis of the vast next generation sequencing data that will support personalized medicine, we continued to enhance our high performance scientific computing environments. We extended our laboratory capabilities and facilities for mission-critical areas, including advanced manufacturing, analytical methodology, and emerging infectious diseases, the report says.

FY 2015-2016: Regulatory Science Progress Report

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Progress toward a Zika vaccine | MIT News – MIT News

Posted: March 29, 2017 at 11:10 am

Using a new strategy that can rapidly generate customized RNA vaccines, MIT researchers have devised a new vaccine candidate for the Zika virus.

The vaccine consists of strands of genetic material known as messenger RNA, which are packaged into a nanoparticle that delivers the RNA into cells. Once inside cells, the RNA is translated into proteins that provoke an immune response from the host, but the RNA does not integrate itself into the host genome, making it potentially safer than a DNA vaccine or vaccinating with the virus itself.

It functions almost like a synthetic virus, except its not pathogenic and it doesnt spread, says Omar Khan, a postdoc at MITs Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and an author of the new study. We can control how long its expressed, and its RNA so it will never integrate into the host genome.

This research also yielded a new benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of other Zika vaccine candidates, which could help others who are working toward the same goal.

Jasdave Chahal, a postdoc at MITs Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, is the first author of the paper, which appears in Scientific Reports. The papers senior author is Hidde Ploegh, a former MIT biology professor and Whitehead Institute member who is now a senior investigator in the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Boston Childrens Hospital.

Other authors of the paper are Tao Fang and Andrew Woodham, both former Whitehead Institute postdocs in the Ploegh lab; Jingjing Ling, an MIT graduate student; and Daniel Anderson, an associate professor in MITs Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of the Koch Institute and MITs Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES).

Programmable vaccines

The MIT team first reported its new approach to programmable RNA vaccines last year. RNA vaccines are appealing because they induce host cells to produce many copies of the proteins encoded by the RNA. This provokes a stronger immune reaction than if the proteins were administered on their own. However, finding a safe and effective way to deliver these vaccines has proven challenging.

The researchers devised an approach in which they package RNA sequences into a nanoparticle made from a branched molecule that is based on fractal-patterned dendrimers. This modified-dendrimer-RNA structure can be induced to fold over itself many times, producing a spherical particle about 150 nanometers in diameter. This is similar in size to a typical virus, allowing the particles to enter cells through the same viral entry mechanisms. In their 2016 paper, the researchers used this nanoparticle approach to generate experimental vaccines for Ebola, H1N1 influenza, and the parasite Toxoplasma gondii.

In the new study, the researchers tackled Zika virus, which emerged as an epidemic centered in Brazil in 2015 and has since spread around the world, causing serious birth defects in babies born to infected mothers. Since the MIT method does not require working with the virus itself, the researchers believe they might be able to explore potential vaccines more rapidly than scientists pursuing a more traditional approach.

Instead of using viral proteins or weakened forms of the virus as vaccines, which are the most common strategies, the researchers simply programmed their RNA nanoparticles with the sequences that encode Zika virus proteins. Once injected into the body, these molecules replicate themselves inside cells and instruct cells to produce the viral proteins.

The entire process of designing, producing, and testing the vaccine in mice took less time than it took for the researchers to obtain permission to work with samples of the Zika virus, which they eventually did get.

Thats the beauty of it, Chahal says. Once we decided to do it, in two weeks we were ready to vaccinate mice. Access to virus itself was not necessary.

Measuring response

When developing a vaccine, researchers usually aim to generate a response from both arms of the immune system the adaptive arm, mediated by T cells and antibodies, and the innate arm, which is necessary to amplify the adaptive response. To measure whether an experimental vaccine has generated a strong T cell response, researchers can remove T cells from the body and then measure how they respond to fragments of the viral protein.

Until now, researchers working on Zika vaccines have had to buy libraries of different protein fragments and then test T cells on them, which is an expensive and time-consuming process. Because the MIT researchers could generate so many T cells from their vaccinated mice, they were able to rapidly screen them against this library. They identified a sequence of eight amino acids that the activated T cells in the mouse respond to. Now that this sequence, also called an epitope, is known, other researchers can use it to test their own experimental Zika vaccines in the appropriate mouse models.

We can synthetically make these vaccines that are almost like infecting someone with the actual virus, and then generate an immune response and use the data from that response to help other people predict if their vaccines would work, if they bind to the same epitopes, Khan says. The researchers hope to eventually move their Zika vaccine into tests in humans.

The identification and characterization of CD8 T cell epitopes in mice immunized with a Zika RNA vaccine is a very useful reference for all those working in the field of Zika vaccine development, says Katja Fink, a principal investigator at the A*STAR Singapore Immunology Network. RNA vaccines have received much attention in the last few years, and while the big breakthrough in humans has not been achieved yet, the technology holds promise to become a flexible platform that could provide rapid solutions for emerging viruses.

Fink, who was not involved in the research, added that the initial data are promising but the Zika RNA vaccine approach described needs further testing to prove efficacy.

Another major area of focus for the researchers is cancer vaccines. Many scientists are working on vaccines that could program a patients immune system to attack tumor cells, but in order to do that, they need to know what the vaccine should target. The new MIT strategy could allow scientists to quickly generate personalized RNA vaccines based on the genetic sequence of an individual patients tumor cells.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, a Fujifilm/MediVector grant, the Lustgarten Foundation, a Koch Institute and Dana-Farber/Harvard Center Center Bridge Project award, the Department of Defense Office of Congressionally Directed Medical Researchs Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program, and the Cancer Center Support Grant from the National Cancer Institute.

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Trump’s Energy Progress – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Posted: at 11:10 am


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Trump's Energy Progress
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One area where President Trump is notching early victories is unleashing American energy, which for years has been held hostage to progressive climate obsessions. On Tuesday Mr. Trump signed an executive order to rescind many of the Obama ...
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The Guardian
all 1,712 news articles »

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Center for Medical Progress Video Investigation Planned Parenthood Abortionist: ‘Pay Attention to Who’s in the … – Breitbart News

Posted: at 11:10 am

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In the latest CMPvideo, Taylor is heard explaining to the journalists that Nucatola trained her.

During a reception at a Planned Parenthood conference, Taylor describes to CMPs undercover journalistsposing as buyers from a biomedical companyhow she delivers intact fetuses during late-term abortions. In the video, aCMP journalist indicates that intact bodies will allow for the harvesting of organs and body parts that are more valuable for scientific research.

At one point in the footage, theabortionist explains the difficulties abortionists encounter when a baby comes through the procedure with signs of life: In Arizona, if the fetus comes out with any signs of life, were supposed to transport it. To the hospital.

When askedif there is any standard procedure for verifying signs of life? Taylor responds by saying, The key is, you need to pay attention to whos in the room, right?

Taylor chucklesand says, Its a mess. Its a mess.

She goes on to say, Arizona is so conservative, I just dont even want to send a full fetus to, for cremation or any of that.

The abortionist explains to the undercover journalists that she performs Dilation & Evacuation (D&E), also known asdismemberment abortions,and takes into consideration the feelings of her staff members who might be upset at the sight of a whole baby coming out during an abortion. Part of the issue is, its not a matter of how I feel about it coming out intact, she says, but I got to worry about my staff, and peoples feelings about it coming out looking like a baby.

Shealso tells the journalists that those handling fetal death certificates in the state refer to the fetus as a baby, andappears to say that she finds it creepy when fetal remains are repeatedly referred to as babies:We have the people who do our paperwork for the fetal death certificates. They email us calling them babies. Baby this, baby that, baby so-and-so. And Im like, thats creepy!

Also in the footage released by CMP, the abortionistsays that usingdigoxin (referred to as dig) as a feticidal agent makes the procedure less physically strenuous for her. My biceps appreciate it when the dig works, she says.I remember when I was a Fellow and I was training, she continues, I was like, oh, I have to hit the gym for this.

CMP project lead David Daleidenreleased the following statement about this investigation:

This footage shows a longtime Planned Parenthood abortion doctor willing to sell baby parts for profit, use criminal abortion methods to get more intact body parts, and even cover up infanticide. This doctor was trained by Planned Parenthoods senior director of medical services, and encouraged by her to participate in the fetal body parts market. This footage is just a preview of the damning and incriminating admissions of Planned Parenthood leaders on our further unreleased tapes, being censored by an unconstitutional gag order from a federal judge in San Francisco.

In the summer of 2015, Daleiden began the release of his video series that led to the allegations that Planned Parenthood and its counterparts in the biotech field have participated in the sale of the body parts of aborted babies for a profit.

Following a year of congressional investigation, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Select Investigative Panel referred Planned Parenthood Federation of America, several of the largest Planned Parenthood affiliates in the country, and three of their business associates in the fetal tissue procurement industry to the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.

The only difference between Planned Parenthoods barbaric abortion business, and that of the notorious Dr. Kermit Gosnell, is that Gosnell was not so careful as to pay attention to whos in the room, Daleiden says. Elected officials must stop forcing taxpayers to subsidize Planned Parenthoods criminal abortion business, and the Department of Justice must immediately open a full investigation and prosecute Planned Parenthood to the fullest extent of the law.

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Hawks feeling ‘positive’ about Millsap’s progress but have yet to win without him – CBSSports.com

Posted: at 11:10 am

The Atlanta Hawksplay the Phoenix Sunson Tuesday night in an attempt to end two different losing streaks: one, their current seven game slide, and two, their winless 0-8 record without Paul Millsap in the lineup this season. As we found out Monday, Millsap will miss the Hawks next three games , including this contest against the Suns.

That was obviously a tough blow for the team, as they rely heavily on Millsap on both ends of the floor. Tuesday, however, brought some good news, as Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer noted that he feels positive about Millsaps recovery and believes the All-Star forward is making progress. Via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

I would actually say its positive, Budenholzer said Tuesday before the Hawks hosted the Suns. I think we are excited. We feel like he is making progress. I think we have what we feel is a good plan. I think the knee is going to get better and better. Assuming nothing happens between now and the weekend, Im actually upbeat. I think its a positive where we are.

With the Hawks in danger of sliding all the way down to the No. 8 spot in the East, its great to hear that the team doesnt believe this will turn into a long-term issue for Millsap. They are certainly going to need him at full strength come playoff time.

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Hawks feeling 'positive' about Millsap's progress but have yet to win without him - CBSSports.com

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