Sunday, May 28, 2017

THE GOSSIP - NHL Stanley Cup, consumer protections and Paul Baloche



OPPONENTS: BILL COULD UNRAVEL CONSUMER PROTECTIONS -  The Regulatory Accountability Act sounds innocuous enough, but consumer and public-health advocates say it's anything but. The RAA claims to eliminate red tape for manufacturers, but environmental groups say the measure essentially would ban agencies from keeping pesticides and bacteria such as salmonella out of food, keeping lead out of water, and from preventing exposure to known carcinogens such as asbestos. Anne Kelly, the senior program director of public policy for the sustainability nonprofit, Ceres, says public health is at stake. "This is an elaborate environmental-law infrastructure that has been put in place over the last 40 years, and to unravel those protections would really put our public health at great risk," she explains.

NEW ALBUM FROM BALOCHE - Recording artist, composer David Baloche released his contemplative, scripture-based debut album, Labyrinth, worldwide amidst acclaim March 24. Hitting top 10 on the iTunes Christian & Gospel chart during its first week at digital retail, the momentum continues as the nation’s largest Christian retail outlet, LifeWay Christian Stores, will exclusively feature the Labyrinth CD in all its 170 locations beginning August 29. LifeWay will further include special in store Labyrinth audio and video airplay, and feature counter and music section positioning along with in-store advertising.

Labyrinth has also sparked the video “Come To Me” that highlights Catholic Charities USA‘s work with refugee families. Catholic Charities USA is a national organization that offers support to member agencies, provides disaster relief and promotes poverty-reduction through research and legislative reform. Directed by Orion Pahl, the video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/MfpNaimBAnA.

In addition to “Come To Me” (Matthew 11:28; Proverbs 3:24), the full-length Labyrinth features “He Hears My Voice” (Psalm 55:16-17 NLT), “Nothing Can Separate” (Romans 8:38 NLT), “Those Who Hope” (Isaiah 40:31 NIV) and seven more songs that focus on scriptures from the Holy Bible meant to calm anxiety and stress. A soundscape for use during times of personal and corporate prayer and meditation, the scriptures are sung by David Baloche, who also plays piano, acoustic guitar, clarinet, trumpet and virtually all the instrumentation on the album.

SURVEY CONDUCTED ON HSV1716 - HSV1716 – an oncolytic herpes simplex virus-1 – has been studied in adults via injection into the brain and superficial tumors. Now, a team of researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have completed the first phase 1 trial of the virus in the pediatric population, published online in Clinical Cancer Research.

Children with relapsed or refractory solid tumors continue to have poor outcomes and significant toxicities from available therapies. Researchers and clinicians are looking to novel strategies and treatments to improve those outcomes – including oncolytic virotherapy, which has shown improved outcomes and decreased toxicities in numerous adult and animal studies.

“The virus we tested – HSV1716 – is similar to talimogene laherparepvec, the HSV-1 recently FDA-approved for melanoma by intralesional injection,” says Timothy Cripe, MD, PhD, division chief of Hematology/Oncology & BMT, principal investigator in the Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s and senior author on the study. “Oncolytic viruses have a high potential for therapeutic performance with limited toxic effects due to their tumor-selective attributes.”

SEEKING THE STINK BUG'S NATURAL ENEMIES - When Celeste Welty unzips the white, nylon cage, none of the stink bugs inside move.

“They’re very tranquil,” she says.

Why wouldn’t they be?  Inside their cage, they enjoy spa-like conditions with all the sunflower seeds and nuts they can feed on, the warmth of the sunlight coming through the window beside them and a few house plants to make it feel like the outdoors, though they’re in a lab.

Young offspring clutch the walls of a separate cage inside what appears to be a refrigerator but instead is a warming chamber.

Such special treatment for the brown marmorated stink bug, which farmers despise and homeowners often flick out of the way when they discover them indoors during the cold months.

Thriving on a range of fruits and vegetables, the marmorated stink bug has damaged or destroyed enough crops in Ohio and across the United States to get the attention of entomologists nationwide.

Welty, an Ohio State University Extension entomologist, is involved in a 15-state study to determine the best, and ideally natural, way to get rid of the marmorated stink bug. The study is one of several being done on stink bugs through Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

APP PUTS FOOD ASSISTANCE WITHIN AN ARM'S REACH - Feeding Children Everywhere, a social charity that has activated 466,458 volunteers to package 70,266,829 meals for hungry people here in the U.S. and around the world, is expanding its groundbreaking Fed 40 program.

Launched as a pilot program in Florida in November 2016, Fed 40 quickly expanded to Texas and Oklahoma. Now, the program is available in Connecticut and is coming soon to other states.

For the millions of American families who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, Fed 40 puts help within arm’s reach.

Using the Fed 40 mobile app, the first-of-its-kind, families in need of food assistance can request 40 servings of FCE’s tasty and nutritious Red Lentil Jambalaya, which is delivered to their front door in about one business day — at no charge.


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