Category Archives: Progress

Happy St. Patricks Day! The Blackhawks are off tonight, but weve got March Madness and White Sox-Cubs Cactus League action to look forward to today. As a Southside Irish kid, St. Patricks Day was always an important day growing up. While I live in the suburbs these days, I keep the tradition alive and celebrate the day with my family and children every year, so Ive got a little extra pep in my step this morning.

Who remembers the St. Patricks Day Massacre at the old Chicago Stadium?

On St. Paddys Day 1991, the Blackhawks played host to the hated St. Louis Blues (not much has changed when it comes to the way the two teams and fanbases feel about each other) with both teams battling for the top spot in the old Norris Division. After meeting in the Stanley Cup Playoffs the previous three years, the rivalry had plenty of wind in its sails on this day, and boy did it ever come to a head.

This game would end up seeing 12 players ejected and three players suspended in the aftermath, with the two teams racking up a whopping 278 penalty minutes with brawls breaking out in the first and second periods. As you saw in the teaser above, one of the most memorable scenes was Dave Manson calling out Scott Stevens to center ice where they slugged it out with Manson getting the best of Stevens, who left the ice with a nice cut around his eye. You can watch more in the video here!The Blackhawks would win the Presidents Trophy as the leagues best regular-season team and lose the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Minnesota North Stars.

So, lets talk about today; more particularly, lets talk about Dominik Kubalk. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Blackhawks are making progress on a trade of Dominik Kubalk, with Anaheim and Edmonton being the frontrunners for the 26-year-old wingers services. However, last night, Ryan Rishaug of TSN reported that his sense of the situation has the Oilers out on Kubalk and more focused on acquiring some blue line help.

Having teams bidding against each other would be the only way I can see the Blackhawks getting a mid-rounder back for Kubalk, so Rishaugs report that Edmonton is out isnt great news. Its seemed for a while now that Anaheim is a likely landing spot for Kubalk, but we shall see in the next few days if anything comes to fruition there. Its worth noting that Ben Pope has double-down on Edmontons interest this morning and added Winnipeg as a team that he hears is in the mix in the Kubalk discussions.

Kubalk burst onto the scene with the Blackhawks during the 2019-20 season, when he racked up 46 points (30 goals, 16 assists) as a rookie in the COVID-19 shortened season. But now, just two years after the pandemic halted Kubalks breakout rookie season, hes a frequent healthy scratch who is seemingly destined for a new home. Even when hes in the lineup, ice time has been sparse for the 26-year-old winger who skated just 8:46 in Chicagos overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

Staying on the Blackhawks trade front (because what else is there to talk about these days?), can we interest you in some defenseman? The defenseman market is heating up with just four days to go before the trade deadline, and the Blackhawks have a few blue line players that should be on the block.

Calvin de Haan is the prototype that teams look for when searching for blue line help at the deadline. A veteran defender on an expiring contract and still playing at a level that can help a team push for a Stanley Cup is what de Haan could provide one of these teams looking for help. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period named the Maple Leafs, Hurricanes, Blues, Rangers, and Bruins as teams looking for the services of players like Calvin de Haan.

Of course, if de Haan isnt your flavor, Im sure that Kyle Davidson will be willing to part with pretty much any of their blue-liners not named Connor Murphy if the price is right, so, hey, come on down and do some shopping!

Hey, a Leper-Hog!

Scott Powers discusses the tough decisions that Kyle Davidson will have to make if hes genuinely going to rebuild this franchise from the ground up:

The Bulls need some good news these days. This is good news!

Baseball is back !

Thats it for today, enjoy your day and irinn go Brch!

More here:

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Progress on a Kubalk Trade, Can We Interest You Some Defenseman? And Other Blackhawks Bullets - bleachernation.com

Construction crews are working hard on the Zink dam and Coffer dam on the Arkansas River in front of Tulsa's Gathering Place. Crews say the next steps will be to start demolition on the old pedestrian bridge and existing dam.

Brooke Caviness is the lead engineer of stormwater design and said once the dam is complete the water will be about 10 feet deep for Zink lake that will run from Gathering Place to Highway 244.

Caviness said demolition will begin on the 21st of March.

Just like we did on this side where they start all the concrete work, a lot of concrete work. And then theyll come in with the new gates and put them in. At the same time theyre going to be working on the bank on the east side as well as the flume. There is a lot of rock work and concrete work that goes involved in that," said Caviness.

According to Caviness, the timeline for completion is still set for July 2023.

More:

Construction Crews Making Progress On Projects Along The Arkansas River - news9.com KWTV

GameStop might not have a bright future in terms of selling tangible video games yet the company is finding other ways to drive revenue. In particular, GameStops leadership is capitalizing on the soaring popularity of NFTs. GameStop is a publicly traded company on the NYSE with the symbol of GME.

Even if you arent interested in GameStop shares as a speculative bet on video game sales, you should pay attention to the companys progress in the context of NFT investing. Heres why.

GameStop is making headway in creating its own NFT marketplace. If everything goes as planned, the video game retailer will soon provide NFT fans with a virtual space to buy, sell and trade NFTs. A GameStop representative recently stated the company is poised to launch an NFT marketplace by the midway point of the year. The hope is that those interested in NFTs will be able to buy, sell and trade NFTs on GameStops virtual marketplace as early as July.

Though GameStops brass has held its metaphorical cards close to its vest in regard to its venture into the NFT waters, the company has revealed it has brought on dozens of new employees experienced in e-commerce, the blockchain and additional tech related to NFTs. GameStop officially announced plans for its NFT marketplace last February.

GameStops personnel is working with Immutable X, a group of gaming specialists located in Australia, to launch its new NFT marketplace. The tandem announced an NFT gaming fund with a value of $100 million.

The corporate partnership is likely to succeed as they have gone to great lengths to facilitate NFT transactions without gas fees. Add in the act that Immutable X is providing GameStop with $150 million worth of IMX tokens to hit milestones and there is even more reason to be bullish about the partnership.

It isnt often that rumors swirling around a video game company prove legitimate. Rewind back to 2021 and Reddit message board posters had pinpointed a site stating GameStop was adding engineers to create an NFT platform based on Ethereum. That platform will see the light of day as early as this summer.

Though the NFT community is largely bullish on GameStops plan to expand into the NFT space, one of the companys former board members, Reggie Fils-Aime, insists the company is lacking a coherent overarching strategy. Furthermore, it is also worth noting Reddit users who insisted they were employees of the gaming retailer posted on the GameStop subreddit earlier this year to criticize the companys NFT plans.

GameStop reported a quarterly loss earlier this month, meaning the company is struggling to compete with those who have ventured to the digital sales realm. The companys stock has turned into a popular meme stock simply because its offerings are tailored to individuals who use the internet at a high frequency.

Even if traditional video game cartridges and discs are completely phased out of existence in favor of digital downloads, GameStop has the potential to survive and possibly even thrive. The companys accessories are as popular as ever. If GameStop hits a homerun with its NFT platform, it might have staying power.

Read more here:

GameStop Is Making Progress In Its NFT Marketplace - The Dales Report

LCMC Health is marking the two-year anniversary of identifying its first COVID-19 patient. University Medical Center, which is a part of the health system, would soon become a Ground Zero of sorts, in the city's fight against coronavirus.Dr. Jeffrey Elder told WDSU that in late March 2020, LCMC hospitals treated a total of 500 COVID-19 patients at one time. On Monday, that number dropped to just a dozen. "While this isn't over, we can live our lives," Elder said. "We can protect our most vulnerable population and we can do the things we want to do while living with this virus long-term."Elder said the city has not seen a dramatic increase in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 after celebrating Mardi Gras two weeks ago."Hopefully, those (increases) get lower, have a shorter duration, are more spread out over time and this really does become an endemic virus," Elder said.He cautioned that Louisiana is not there yet, warning that the state needs to boost vaccination rates to avoid another surge in cases.Dr. David Janz runs the Intensive Care Unit at UMC. He told WDSU that the pandemic tested his team like never before."Unprecedented is probably the only word I can use to describe the feeling," Janz said. "The rate at which patients were coming in, how quickly they were coming in, how sick they were, it was just overwhelming. If we hadn't spent weeks to months anticipating this and planning for it, I could easily imagine that it would have been much more chaotic than it was."Janz said that planning helped save lives."We've had some of the best ICU outcomes with COVID patients of a lot of hospitals around the country," Janz said.

LCMC Health is marking the two-year anniversary of identifying its first COVID-19 patient. University Medical Center, which is a part of the health system, would soon become a Ground Zero of sorts, in the city's fight against coronavirus.

Dr. Jeffrey Elder told WDSU that in late March 2020, LCMC hospitals treated a total of 500 COVID-19 patients at one time. On Monday, that number dropped to just a dozen.

"While this isn't over, we can live our lives," Elder said. "We can protect our most vulnerable population and we can do the things we want to do while living with this virus long-term."

Elder said the city has not seen a dramatic increase in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 after celebrating Mardi Gras two weeks ago.

"Hopefully, those (increases) get lower, have a shorter duration, are more spread out over time and this really does become an endemic virus," Elder said.

He cautioned that Louisiana is not there yet, warning that the state needs to boost vaccination rates to avoid another surge in cases.

Dr. David Janz runs the Intensive Care Unit at UMC. He told WDSU that the pandemic tested his team like never before.

"Unprecedented is probably the only word I can use to describe the feeling," Janz said. "The rate at which patients were coming in, how quickly they were coming in, how sick they were, it was just overwhelming. If we hadn't spent weeks to months anticipating this and planning for it, I could easily imagine that it would have been much more chaotic than it was."

Janz said that planning helped save lives.

"We've had some of the best ICU outcomes with COVID patients of a lot of hospitals around the country," Janz said.

Go here to read the rest:

Local ICU doctor discusses pain and progress in the pandemic - WDSU New Orleans

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Football Insider subscriber asked on Monday if the Browns got better by gaining Amari Cooper and losing Jarvis Landry. My answer was, essentially, we should be framing the discussion around the receiver room by taking a longer view. (Or, at least, I should have answered that way.)

Lets do this in pieces, some we know and some we dont.

First, the Browns needed to add a player like Cooper, regardless of Landrys status. Cooper is a legitimate No. 2 receiver at worst -- and potentially a No. 1 -- with 4.4 speed. Hes a sound route runner and gives the Browns a player they simply didnt have a year ago after Odell Beckham Jr. forced his way out.

They did it by essentially giving up a fifth-round pick -- they also swapped sixth-round picks with Dallas -- an even smarter move in light of Christian Kirk signing with Jacksonville for $18 million per year.

So, yes, the move to acquire Cooper was both smart and made the Browns better.

Now the Landry decision.

When the Browns officially released Landry, they announced it with the type of language usually reserved for a player who spent a Hall-of-Fame career with a team. For someone who was only here for four seasons, he earned it.

Landry was an important acquisition who helped signal the Browns wanted to start winning. Landry is just a football player and its what the Browns needed. He was durable, a willing blocker, a usually sure-handed pass catcher and did pretty well when asked to throw the ball. His versatility unlocked parts of the Browns offense other players couldnt.

He also would have cost the team a cap hit not palatable for a roster with looming extensions and holes to fill.

Are the Browns better without Landry? No. But ...

The Browns wide receiver room is far from complete. It currently stands at six players if you include Demetric Felton, which you should. Cooper will make it seven. JaMarcus Bradley, Ryan Switzer and Rashard Higgins, make up three of those seven. Higgins time might have finally run out here, too, and Bradley and Switzer are bubble players.

The core group is essentially Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz.

Nothing has ruled out selecting a receiver at No. 13 overall. If not there, they can find quality in the second round in a deep receiver class to add a fourth to the core.

The tiers of the free agent receiver market will begin to take shape as well. The Browns can find value in an inflating market perhaps in players like Will Fuller or DJ Chark, to get their core to five, which is a logical number for a team with so much invested in its tight ends and running game.

The early days of free agency make patience difficult when it isnt your team in the headlines, but the Browns are in the process of remaking a wide receiver room that, this time a year ago, had $30 million tied up in two players no longer here.

Once the picture is complete, they should be in a better position longterm.

Betting on upside

Taven Bryan has the athleticism to help the Browns defensive line.AP

Last year, when the Browns signed Takk McKinley, they bet on a player GM Andrew Berry did work on during the 2017 draft process. They brought McKinley, the former Falcons first-round pick, into their system, put him in an ideal role as their third edge rusher and he played well before tearing his Achilles, using his speed to complement Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney.

Taven Bryan could be a similar gamble on upside, an affordable defensive tackle contract for a former first-round pick.

Bryan has intriguing athletic traits, comparing favorably with current Browns defensive end Porter Gustin, a strong athlete in his own right, according to mockdraftable.com, a website that compares testing numbers.

Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb on Twitter) compiles a Relative Athletic Score (RAS) for prospects and Bryan did particularly well in this formula, rating 11th out of 1,096 defensive tackles from 1987 to 2018.

Dont read into this as anything more than it is -- hes really athletic. Thats what the Browns are betting on with this signing, turning his athleticism into a productive defensive tackle.

Mitch on the move

Mitch Trubisky will see his hometown Browns a bit more often this season.cleveland.com

Did a year behind the scenes in Buffalo with Brian Daboll, Ken Dorsey and Josh Allen offer some clarity for Mitch Trubisky? The Steelers will find out.

Pittsburgh is an interesting fit for the Northeast Ohio native who didnt pan out in Chicago. Trubiskys best season with the Bears featured a run game led by Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, who ended up as the Bears second-leading receiver with 725 yards. Trubisky was the third-leading rusher with 421 yards.

Can he manage an offense with a high usage running back who is effective in the passing game and intriguing weapons? Can offensive coordinator Matt Canada utilize his mobility as a weapon? Can Trubisky keep the seat warm for whoever is next?

Those are the things the Steelers are likely looking for from the former No. 2 overall pick.

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More Browns coverage

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Browns are still exploring a trade for Deshaun Watson, and will have to offer multiple first-round picks, Baker Mayfield and maybe other players

2022 Free Agency Tracker: Latest news from around the NFL

What the Amari Cooper trade means for Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry, Garrett Wilson and more: Orange and Brown Talk

Browns free agency primer

Coopers new Browns reality and what the numbers say about it

Berry seizes on Cooper opportunity while keeping draft capital

Berry did his job, now Stefanski and Mayfield must do the same: Lesmerises

Browns make a wise, bold move Pluto

3 ways the trade boosts Browns flexibility: Bastock

What the Cooper trade means: Podcast

What theyre saying about the trade on social media

Excerpt from:

Browns wide receiver room is a work in progress that wont be built in a day and more Monday free agency take - cleveland.com

The outlines of a potential deal to end the war in Ukraine are coming into focus, but sources on the Ukrainian side tell Axios they fear Moscow's newfound enthusiasm for diplomacy is a ruse.

Why it matters: Kyiv has gained unexpected leverage by withstanding the Russian advance for three weeks, though the humanitarian crisis is deepening daily as Russia shells major cities.

Driving the news: After Zelensky said Ukraine wouldnt be invited into NATO, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Ukraine's post-war "neutrality" could be based on the Austrian or Swedish models.

Both are non-NATO members in the EU and firmly anchored in the West.

What they're saying: An adviser to Zelensky told Axios he believes the Russians aren't yet serious about reaching a deal, though one could be reached in the next few weeks if the West and Ukrainian forces continue to pile pressure on Putin.

The U.S. view is similar. While the White House had avoided high-level dialogue with Russia on the grounds that Moscow wasn't genuinely interested in diplomacy, national security adviser Jake Sullivan did speak to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday.

On the Russian side, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the text of a potential deal is close to being agreed to.

What to watch: Military analysts have warned that Putin might soon seek a ceasefire to resupply his troops without any intention of ending the war altogether.

See the original post:

Ukrainians fear Russia diplomacy progress is a head fake - Axios

Every year, VA diagnoses and treats about 43,000 Veterans with new cases of cancer; VA currently treats 400,000 Veterans with cancer. Here is VAs progress on treating cancer.

VA launched the National Precision Oncology Program that allows us to target treatments to the right patients at the right time through a molecular understanding of the patients tumor. In 2016, we started with a handful of sites that were able to collect and test samples. Since then, we expanded to 129 sites, providing 24,000 molecular tests to 18,000 Veterans.

The growth of the program was especially important with access for Veterans because, in the general population, these therapies are not usually reimbursed, are expensive, and are not widely available.

VA also started the National TeleOncology Service to provide all Veterans with sub-specialized cancer care, especially those in remote areas where there is not an oncologist. This expansion and ability to provide cancer care virtually has also allowed us to treat Veterans equitably.

In our partnership with the National Cancer Institute and the program NAVIGATE, (National Cancer Institute and VA Interagency Group to Accelerate Trials Enrollment) we were able to increase Veteran access to novel National Cancer Institute cutting-edge clinical trials at 12 sites within VA. There has been an emphasis on enrollment of underrepresented Veterans in clinical trials. The benefit to Veterans is the ability to access more therapeutic options to potentially extend and improve the quality of their lives.

In the expansion on NPOP we were able to provide our Veterans access to germline genetic testing at more than 85 of our medical centers. This testing allows Veterans to guide their own treatment as well as inform the Veterans family members about their inherited genetic mutations, which may predispose family members to certain cancers. This information may be used to steer the Veterans family members to more timely screening, diagnosis and treatment for cancers they may be predisposed to.

We partnered with DoD and NIHs National Cancer Institute in the development of Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) Program. APOLLO and Proteogenomics address the unique findings and features of service members and Veterans tumors by studying protein-based cancer biomarkers, its alterations and mutations, and applying this knowledge to the precise treatment of our Veterans and service members.

Rare cancers and unique exposures

About 16% of all cancers in VA are rare cancers, and the effect of Veterans unique exposures is not well understood. A few examples include gynecological cancers and B-Cell hematological malignancies.

To address this, we are establishing a new program aimed at targeting Veterans rare cancers and will partner with and expand upon existing DoD and other federal agency partnerships to implement this program. The VA Rare Cancer Program will combat rare cancers through a multi-pronged approach using sub-specialized oncologists, clinical pathways, advanced testing and research. The potential impact for Veterans includes rapid diagnosis, access to advanced precision treatments and clinical trials, and proficient management of disease to reduce inequities in care. Further, this effort provides research opportunities to close the knowledge gap in genetic and molecular understanding of rare cancers that can affect patient care, drug development and disparities in disproportionately affected populations.

To help us understand the contribution of the exposure to a cancer diagnosis, VA, CDC, DoD, NCI, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), EPA and HHS will develop a cohort of Veteran tumor samples from various registries to conduct sequencing of tumor samples and identify genomic signatures that may be associated with carcinogens from military and environmental exposures. This approach has been attempted in the past, but because of privacy constraints, there was a lack of progress. The collaboration would be beneficial in the interpretation of the data for cancers specific to military service members.

We will develop a centralized and accessible data compilation to better understand Veterans unique exposures and to ensure two-way data exchange. Currently, the VA Cancer Registry System expends substantial effort to identify and track incident cancer cases throughout VA, and we are limited in functionality to automate integration of all relevant cancer-related data. With this data made accessible in this way, VA, other agencies and institutions would have the ability to learn from more patients and reduce the cost and time of data curation.

Cancer screening efforts

As a result of the pandemic, many Veterans and civilians have deferred cancer screenings. Additionally, a quarter of all Veterans live in rural locations, making access to screening more difficult. Lung cancer is the second most common form of cancer for our Veterans, where nearly 8,000 are diagnosed with lung cancer. Lung cancer is also the deadliest form of cancer among Veterans, where 5,000 Veterans die annually. Deferred cancer screening prevents diagnosis and timely treatment. VA has been focusing on promoting cancer screening for breast, colorectal, lung, cervical and prostate cancers to encourage Veterans to address pandemic-deferred care.

As noted by the recent Presidents Cancer Panel, colorectal cancer screening can effectively take place in the convenience of ones own home with stool-based screening tests, such as the Fecal Immunochemical Tests (FIT). VA is implementing a program to deliver FIT screening to Veterans across the nation. This program will ensure Veterans have access to evidence-based screening in a timely manner, and this intervention has been shown to both reduce cancer mortality and improve health equity. National program guidance is being developed and pilot programs are underway with the goal of deployment in early 2023. It is estimated that 1.2 million Veterans are eligible for FIT screening.

We will be encouraging lung cancer screenings to the estimated 900,000 Veterans who are at risk for developing lung cancer. Lung cancer screening using annual computed tomography (CT) scans substantially reduces the number of people who die from lung cancer. Unfortunately, of the 1- to 2-million eligible Veterans, less than 10% currently have received even one CT scan for lung cancer screening.

In 2021, VA established the National Center for Lung Cancer Screening to address this problem. Its mission is to increase systematic and equitable access to high-quality lung cancer screening processes. The Center will leverage VAs learning health care system to sustainably increase access to evidence-based lung cancer screening processes that are effective, equitable, safe and efficient. With the help of the Center, VA is poised for rapid growth in enabling Veterans to access lung cancer screening and subsequently dramatically reduce the number who die from lung cancer.

The Center supports and advocates for Veterans by implementing patient-centered care processes for shared decision-making, smoking cessation interventions, and connecting patients at very high risk of having lung cancer to additional levels of care. It partners with VA facilities to provide data and policy advice to central leadership regarding lung cancer screening-related issues.

Read the original post:

VA's progress on treating cancer since 2016 - VAntage Point - VAntage Point Blog

New regional UN report sounds alarm on widening disparities and increased vulnerabilities amid the pandemic

News Number: G/04/2022

The need to reach those who are furthest behind has never been greater, reveals the 2022 Asia and the Pacific Sustainable Development Goals Progress Report issued today by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The report finds that average progress in the region disproportionately excludes some groups with distinct demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Those furthest behind, including women, persons with disabilities, rural populations and poorer households, are also facing increased vulnerabilities. For many vulnerable populations, food security, education and livelihoods have also deteriorated during the pandemic.

A better understanding of development outcomes for distinct population groups and intersecting vulnerabilities is key to a fairer recovery. The Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved without protecting the most vulnerable, many of whom have been particularly affected by the pandemic, said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

The challenges of achieving the SDGs in the region have been magnified in recent years by an increase in the frequency and intensity of human made crises and natural disasters, as well as the challenges of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Progress on the 17 SDGs have tremendously slowed down and with each passing year, the Goals are moving further out of reach for the region. At its current pace, Asia and the Pacific is now only expected to achieve the SDGs by 2065 more than three and a half decades behind the original goalpost.

Although the climate crisis has become more acute, alarmingly, the region has regressed on responsible consumption and production (Goal 12) and climate action (Goal 13). While headway has been made on some of the targets dealing with industry, innovation, and infrastructure (Goal 9) and affordable and clean energy (Goal 7), they still fall short of the pace required to meet the 2030 Agenda. Across the region, progress has been very slow or even stagnant on quality education (Goal 4), gender equality (Goal 5), clean water and sanitation (Goal 6), decent work and economic growth (Goal 8), sustainable cities and communities (Goal 11), and life below water (Goal 14).

However, amid the disturbing trends, the report also highlights some good news for the region. The number of SDG indicators with data available have doubled since 2017. Collaboration between national and international custodian agencies has significantly contributed to enhancing the availability of data. The report encourages countries to continue this cooperation to close the remaining gaps, as 57 of the 169 SDG targets still cannot be measured.

A flagship annual publication produced by ESCAP, in partnership with ten other UN agencies, the *Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2022: Widening Disparities Amid COVID-19 *uses the latest data for global SDG indicators to determine where additional effort is needed in the region and where momentum for future progress is building.

Access the full report: https://www.unescap.org/kp/2022/asia-and-pacific-sdg-progress-report-2022

Read more here:

Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2022: Widening disparities amid COVID-19 [EN/RU] - World - ReliefWeb

A retinal stem cell patch developed through a collaboration of researchers at UC Santa Barbara, University of Southern California and California Institute of Technology continues to make progress in its bid to secure approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The latest milestone? Results finding that after two years, not only can the implant survive, but also it does not elicit clinically detectable inflammation or signs of immune rejection, even without long-term immunosuppression.

What really makes us excited is that there is some strong evidence to show that the cells are still there two years after implantation and theyre still functional, said Mohamed Faynus, a graduate student researcher in the lab of stem cell biologist Dennis O. Clegg, and a co-author on a paper published in the journal Stem Cell Reports. This is pretty important, because if the goal is to treat blindness, we want to make sure that the retinal pigment epithelium cells that we put in there are still doing the job theyre supposed to.

A treatment in development since 2013, the California Project to Cure Blindness Retinal Pigment Epithelium 1 (CPCB-RPE1) patch consists of a monolayer of human stem cell-derived RPE cells cultured on an ultrathin membrane of biologically inert parylene. The goal for this patch is to replace deteriorating cells in the retinas of those who have age-related macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide for people over 50. The condition affects the macula the part of the retina responsible for central vision. People with AMD experience distortions and loss of vision when looking straight ahead.

The researchers have made strides with the patch since its inception, guiding it through clinical trials for use with the dry form of AMD. If the implant works, the new cells should take up the functions of the old ones, and slow down or prevent further deterioration. In the best-case scenario, they could restore some lost vision.

The first sets of trials concentrated on establishing the safety of the patch and collecting any data on its effectiveness. The group, in a one-year follow-up published last year in the journal Translational Vision Science & Technology, concluded the outpatient procedure they were developing to implant the patch could be performed routinely and that the patch was well-tolerated in individuals with advanced dry AMD. Early results were promising: Of the 15 patients in the initial cohort, four demonstrated improved vision in the treated eye, while five experienced a stabilization of their vision. Visual acuity continued to decline in the remaining six, and the researchers are working to understand why.

Having implanted the patches in live volunteers, however, the researchers no longer had a direct means for assessing the patches function and any changes in the longer term.

Its a lot more difficult and complicated to do that a clinical trial setting, Faynus said. But we can figure things out by proxy if something is working. So for example, if a patients vision was getting worse and is now getting better, thats worth noting.

But the team had other questions that couldnt necessarily be answered by proxy. Had the cells maintained their identity and thus, their function? Was the patch still in place and were the donor cells surviving? Were there any signs of immune rejection, a common and serious concern for any patient receiving an implant? If they could answer these questions, they would not only be able to take next steps with the patch, they would gain significant knowledge in general for the field of regenerative medicine.

Thanks to the generosity of one patient in the trials, the group would get their chance to find out. Named Subject 125, she passed away at the age of 84 from pneumonia two years after receiving the implant, leaving her eyes and a rare opportunity for the team to check the progress of their patch.

We are very grateful to the brave patients who volunteered in our clinical trial, said Clegg, who holds the Wilcox Family Chair in Biomedicine. Without them, we could not advance the science into what could be an effective therapy for millions of people.

A Key TestTo address their questions, the team had to first identify the cells in the general area of the patch.

Now that we had these sections of tissue, how do we demonstrate that the cells on the membrane were RPE cells? Faynus said. That was one of our key questions. Beyond that, they had to identify whether the cells were from the donor or the recipient, and whether they were functional.

Through a careful process of staining and immunoreactivity testing, the team determined that the cells were in fact RPE donor cells, confirming that the cells on the patch hadnt migrated and that the cells were oriented in the optimal, polarized position a sign that they had maintained a healthy, functional form, according to Faynus.

The whole point of us implanting the cells was for them to perform the many functions that RPE cells do, Faynus said. One of those functions in particular is the breakdown of debris and the recycling of vital cellular material.

Every day you open your eyes, and light gets inside the eye, which triggers a whole cascade of events, Faynus explained. One of these being the shedding of photoreceptor outer segments. Without the constant recycling of this material conducted by the RPE cells, he continued, it is thought that proteins and lipids accumulate, forming deposits called drusen, a hallmark of AMD.

In addition, the team found that after two years, the presence of the patch hadnt triggered other conditions associated with implantation, such as the aggressive formation of new blood vessels or scar tissue that could cause a detachment of the retina. Importantly, they also found no clinical sign of the inflammation that can indicate an immune response to the foreign cells even after the patient was taken off immunosuppressants two months post-implantation.

This is the first study of its kind and it indicates that the implanted RPE cells can survive and function, even in what could be a toxic environment of a diseased eye, Clegg said.

Having passed the initial phase of trials, the team is now gearing up to begin Phase 2, which more specifically assesses the effectiveness of the patch. They have also made improvements to the shelf life of the patch, a technological advance they document in the journal Nature. In it, they describe a cryopreservation process that simplifies storage and transport of the cultured cells.

Cryopreservation of the therapy significantly extends the products shelf-life and allows us to ship the implant on demand all over the world, thus making it more accessible to patients across the globe, said Britney Pennington, a research scientist in the Clegg Lab, and lead author of the Nature paper.

Looking to the future, the Clegg Lab and colleagues are exploring combining multiple cell types on the patch.

AMD progresses through several stages, Faynus explained. When the RPE cells degenerate, he continued, the photoreceptors and varying other retinal cells that are supported by the RPE quickly follow suit. To treat patients at varying stages of the disease, we need to consider the remaining cell types. If we can create composite implants that support many of the impacted cells, we can hopefully rescue a patients vision despite the severity of the disease.

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Visionary Progress | The UCSB Current - The UCSB Current

BRETHREN The Brethren Bobcats ended the 2021-22 season 11-10 overall, fourth in the West Michigan 'D' League, and one game away from the regional semifinals.

Most of their accomplishments came after losing senior point guard Kenny King to a season-ending shoulder injury.

In turn, Brethren needed numerous freshmen and sophomores, including Jack Meszaros, Kaylon Tighe, Connor Wojciechowski, and Garret Mobley, to step up.

"It was an up and down year, but I definitely saw the progression of the team at the end of the year," Bobcats boys coach JJ Randall said. "Unfortunately, we didn't play our best in the district final game against Frankfort as the season went on, it was really cool to see the potential coming with these kids.

"Our varsity was younger than our JV team, which doesn't happen very often it was good to have the kids watch Frankfort win the district medal. A lot of them were upset, and hopefully, that motivates them going into this summer and the fall."

For Wojciechowski, the responsibility on both ends of the court significantly increased, but Randall was impressed with how he embraced his new role.

"He put some fear into some ball handlers' eyes as the season went on," said Randall. "He got into foul trouble here and there, but he picked it up, especially as an underclassman."

Randall continued, saying he's excited for the future, considering a large portion of the returning talent has significant room to grow.

"That's the best part at the end of the year, I felt we were the second or third best team in the conference. I wish we could go back and play Mesick a third time just because we got adjusted to the speed. You look at Mobley, he's a 6-foot-7 big who is getting his feet underneath him, and he almost had a triple-double in the semifinal.

"Jack took over at point guard and did a great job while Tighe came off the bench at the end of the year, and he was always a spark. We're going to be scary, hopefully in a couple of years."

However, Brethren is graduating six seniors featuring Nico Postigo, Logan Gossett, Logan Baldwin, Nick Wilson, Ethan Dean, and King.

Randall says he will miss their presence around the program.

"He (King) was one of my naturally intense kids at practice; I didn't have to come in and ramp it up. He was already doing that he is probably one of the best defenders I've ever coached," he said. "Nick and Ethan put in a lot of time with us, and it was very hard to see them come off the floor on Friday night.

"Nico was such a great personality to have around our practices and games. Both Logans, not once did they complain throughout the year about not getting a ton of playing time. They showed up to practice every day, ready to work. I was very grateful to have their experience this season."

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Brethren boys hoops shows progress through 'up and down year' - Manistee News Advocate