Looted, possibly contaminated body parts transplanted into USA, Canadian patients

Monday, March 20, 2006

Fears of contaminated bone and skin grafts are being felt by unsuspecting patients following the revelation that funeral homes may have been looting corpses.

Janet Evans of Marion, Ohio was told by her surgeon, “The bone grafts you got might have been contaminated”. She reacted with shock, “I was flabbergasted because I didn’t even know what he was talking about. I didn’t know I got a bone graft until I got this call. I just thought they put in screws and rods.”

The body of Alistair Cooke, the former host of Masterpiece Theatre, was supposedly looted along with more than 1,000 others, according to two law enforcement officials close to the case. The tissue taken was typically skin, bone and tendon, which was then sold for use in procedures such as dental implants and hip replacements. According to authorities, millions of dollars were made by selling the body parts to companies for use in operations done at hospitals and clinics in the United States and Canada.

A New Jersey company, Biomedical Tissue Services, has reportedly been taking body parts from funeral homes across Brooklyn, New York. According to ABC News, they set up rooms like a “surgical suite.” After they took the bones, they replaced them with PVC pipe. This was purportedly done by stealth, without approval of the deceased person or the next of kin. 1,077 bodies were involved, say prosecutors.

Investagators say a former dentist, Michael Mastromarino, is behind the operation. Biomedical was considered one of the “hottest procurement companies in the country,” raking in close to $5 million. Eventually, people became worried: “Can the donors be trusted?” A tissue processing company called LifeCell answered no, and issued a recall on all their tissue.

Cooke’s daughter, Susan Cooke Kittredge, said, “To know his bones were sold was one thing, but to see him standing truncated before me is another entirely.” Now thousands of people around the country are receiving letters warning that they should be tested for infectious diseases like HIV or hepatitis. On February 23, the Brooklyn District Attorney indicted Mastromarino and three others. They are charged with 122 felony counts, including forgery and bodysnatching.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Looted,_possibly_contaminated_body_parts_transplanted_into_USA,_Canadian_patients&oldid=4673663”

Can Electronic Muscle Stimulation Help Prevent Injuries?

By Adriana J Noton

Electronic muscle stimulation (EMS) or electro myostimulation is a technique in which externally generated impulses are applied to a muscle site through an electrode, causing the muscle to contract. This process has several uses including rehabilitation, body building, weight loss and training of athletes. In this article, we discuss, Can electronic muscle stimulation help prevent injuries?

The impulses used in electronic muscle stimulation work in the similar manner in which the nerve impulses coming from central nervous system work(brain and spinal cord). The central nervous system coordinates the healing processes of the body and this is the reason why EMS can be used to heal and prevent injuries.

Sports and Every day injuries are mainly musculoskeletal in nature. The cause of such injuries is lack of strength and flexibility of the muscles and hence a limited range of motion. In fact the FDA approves the use of EMS in tackling the above.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgkYHhG18uc[/youtube]

EMS has been used by several communist countries in injury prevention training of the athletes since 1950s. It entered the western world in 1973, when Dr. Kots presented a paper on its potential in university of Montreal. The celebrated Olympic sprint coach, Charlie Francis also included it in his athletes regimes. It has been found that EMS can increase the strength by 40% in only three weeks.

This no boundaries training system works like magic.EMS targets the body muscles directly, forcing them to push beyond the energy conservation system of the body. Since this limit is crossed- an infinite amount of muscle fiber can be activated. This enables the athlete to attain a training effect which can not be replicated by any other training methods or their combination.

Apart from prevention of injury, EMS can also be used in preventing the atrophy (degeneration) muscles when they are denerved . However, the most common use that the EMS is put to is toning and building body.

It increases the muscle density and not the size hence making it what you would call rock hard . It is also prescribed to cure post operation muscle spasms. It has also been used as a substitute to prevent and cure central nervous system impairment.

However, EMS has several drawbacks. It works for only the larger muscle groups and not for the smaller ones (like the calves, biceps and triceps). Its use in injury prevention is limited to only a few areas. The FDA inhibits its use on many body parts like the chest and the brain. Further, the use of EMS is affected by the level of contraction of the body muscles. Hence it cannot be deployed during particular types of injuries, menstruation and pregnancy. Many cases of burns, skin irritations and other skin diseases have been reported. Also continued passing of current through the tissues can conflict with the physiology of the cells. Advice of a medical professional must be taken before using EMS in any form and for any purpose. Can electronic muscle stimulation help prevent injuries? The conclusive answer is yes but precautions must be taken.

About the Author:

EMS

is a highly effective way to aid the healing of ligaments and tendons. The method was first developed in Russia, however

Russian stim

is more powerful due to voltage differences.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=548535&ca=Wellness%2C+Fitness+and+Diet

British TV presenter Rico Daniels tells Wikinews about being ‘The Salvager’

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Rico Daniels is a British TV presenter living in France who is known for his two television series — The Salvager — whilst he still lived in the UK and then Le Salvager after he moved to France. Rico has been in a variety of jobs but his passion is now his profession – he turns unwanted ‘junk’ into unusual pieces of furniture. Rico’s creations and the methods used to fabricate them are the subject of the Salvager shows.

Rico spoke to Wikinews in January about his inspiration and early life, future plans, other hobbies and more. Read on for the full exclusive interview, published for the first time:

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=British_TV_presenter_Rico_Daniels_tells_Wikinews_about_being_%27The_Salvager%27&oldid=1100139”

SpaceX launches fifth resupply rocket to International Space Station

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Space transport services company SpaceX launched their fifth Dragon resupply vehicle to the International Space Station yesterday. The spacecraft — containing more than 2,200kg (5,000 pounds) of food, experiments, and spare parts — successfully decoupled from the launch rocket and should reach the station early tomorrow.

The launch was postponed from Tuesday because of a technical issue on the second stage of the rocket. The shipment includes replacements for cargo aboard the spaceship Cygnus, destroyed during a failed launch in October. Cygnus belonged to the rival Orbital Sciences Corporation.

SpaceX tried unsuccessfully to land the Falcon 9 delivery rocket for reuse. The rocket reached an unmanned barge in the Atlantic, but landed too hard. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the landing “bodes well for the future, though”. The attempted salvage of the rocket was experimental, using new retractable fins. Next time they will add extra hydraulic fluid, Musk said.

The ship’s support equipment was damaged but, according to Musk, the barge is intact. Last year saw two successful SpaceX splashdowns but landing on such a small target as a ship is unique.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=SpaceX_launches_fifth_resupply_rocket_to_International_Space_Station&oldid=3185151”

Daimler acquires stake in winning team Brawn GP, changes its name to Mercedes Grand Prix

Thursday, November 19, 2009

On Monday Daimler AG announced a deal to buy a 75.1% stake in Brawn GP.

As a result, the team who won both the 2009 Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships this year with Mercedes-engined cars, would be rebranded as Mercedes Grand Prix from 2010 Formula One Season onwards. The team could possibly use its legendary ‘Silver Arrows’ livery again since a crash at Le Mans in 1955, ending Mercedes’ 55 year absence in the sport as a sole team.

Daimler purchase went in partnership with Aabar Investments, who now own 30% of the shares. The rest of the shares will stay for Ross Brawn, who will remain as team principal, and Nick Fry.

The team still will be headquartered in Brackley (United Kingdom) which is close to Mercedes F1 engine plant at Brixworth, led by Norbert Haug, Vice-President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport.

Mercedes will also continue to supply McLaren with engines until at least 2015, but sell its 40% stake in two years.

Mercedes is now up to decide their drivers for the next season as Rubens Barrichello already signed a contract with Williams and Jenson Button could run for McLaren together with Lewis Hamilton.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Daimler_acquires_stake_in_winning_team_Brawn_GP,_changes_its_name_to_Mercedes_Grand_Prix&oldid=2478917”

The Effects Of Pregnancy Hemorrhoids

Submitted by: Enricotq Gomez

One of the widespread results of pregnancy is the pregnancy hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids can develop through and following pregnancy.

Pregnancy hemorrhoids happen due to the fact of the enhanced strain in the veins particularly in the decrease component of the system that causes swelling and hemorrhoids. An elevated stage of progesterone relaxes the blood vessels which in turn generating those blood vessels susceptible and susceptible to swelling and irritation.

Constipation also leads to pregnancy hemorrhoids since of straining for the duration of bowel movement. Pregnant ladies are susceptible to it because most pregnant ladies encounter constipation in the course of pregnancy. Constipation raises the strain in the anal canal and tissues close to the area as a result leading to swelling and irritation.

Pregnancy hemorrhoids could also take place right after giving delivery due to the fact straining can also take place for the duration of the labor process. Some hemorrhoids disappear right after giving beginning but some grow to be an ongoing issue and could demand remedies to treat the hemorrhoids.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l02Hb-SirCY[/youtube]

Pregnant girls are in delicate situation that is why medication and medicines are not advised unless of course suggested or prescribed by the medical doctor or the gynecologist. To deal with pregnancy hemorrhoids, pregnant girls really should use topical and pure remedies to keep away from harming the baby. There are various pure remedies obtainable and can be quickly carried out to treatment it. 1 of the frequent normal methods is taking sitz bath which is carried out by sitting in a warm bath. Considering that some individuals currently locate it challenging to sit since of the hemorrhoids, the human being can check out squatting in the warm bath if sitting is by now painful. Sitz bath are identified to sooth the ache induced by hemorrhoids.

An additional normal alternative to deal with pregnancy hemorrhoids is the software of ice in the affected place for a couple of occasions day-to-day. Ice helps lessen the irritation of the hemorrhoids as a result lowering the soreness. Pregnant ladies suffering from pregnancy hemorrhoids must also practice appropriate and mindful cleaning of the anus following bowel movement to avoid additional irritation and irritation of the hemorrhoids. Pregnant ladies must use the softest tissues or wet tissues when wiping or cleansing the anus.

For pregnant women who want to prevent pregnancy hemorrhoids, here are some uncomplicated and organic ways to steer clear of hemorrhoids:

* Eat foods with substantial fiber subject material. Fibers in foods are recognized to help in the typical and smoother bowel motion since it has properties that soften the stool. Meals wealthy in fiber content are entire grains, cereals, wheat, greens and fruits like pineapples and mangoes.

* Constantly sustain higher hydration level of the body by drinking plenty of h2o. It is vital to drink proportional amount of water with the total of fiber consumption to steer clear of further constipation.

* Pregnant women really should also stay away from lifting major weights to stay away from pregnancy hemorrhoids.

* Typical physical exercise is also a have to like walking for a couple of minutes. Each day physical exercise like walking can help improve standard bowel motion. Aside from maintaining the entire body nutritious and enhancing the bowel motion, normal exercising can also help in giving start later on.

* Pregnant women should also prevent sitting or standing for a extremely lengthy time and must attempt lying on their aspect to lessen stress in the veins.

About the Author: For more information about How Pregnancy Hemorrhoids Occur, click here:

causeshemorrhoids.com/go.php?tr=iSnare

.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=702864&ca=Womens+Interest

The Deadliest Fall

18 December 2004

Emergency hospital during 1918 influenza epidemic, Camp Funston, Kansas (source: National Museum of Health and Medicine, AFIP).

A bout of the flu can be mild. In young, healthy adults, many infections pass unnoticed. But sometimes the influenza virus evolves into a strain that decimates its victims. The worst known strain swept the world in the Fall of 1918, infecting 500-1000 million and killing 40-100 million, about 2-5% of people.

There are several theories about where the pandemic began, but the likeliest origin was in Haskell County, Kansas, in the United States. People in the sparsely populated county, where farmers raised pigs, poultry, cattle, and grain, began suffering from influenza in late January 1918. Unusually for flu, it was young, healthy adults who were hardest hit. Victims fell ill suddenly, many progressing to pneumonia and dying, often within days. Within weeks, however, the epidemic ended. The natural geographic isolation of this community normally might have contained the fatal flu in a sort of unintentional quarantine, but the First World War intervened. Men were uprooted from their home towns and congregated in huge numbers in army camps for training and then shipping out to other camps or to fight in Europe. The destination for men from Haskell County was Camp Funston, part of Fort Riley, Kansas, where the first influenza case was reported in early March. As soldiers moved among camps, the virus spread. Within two months, the epidemic spread to most of the army camps and most of the largest cities in the United States. As American soldiers went to France, so did the virus, spreading first from the port of Brest.

The flu then spread worldwide. The pandemic reached its height in the Fall of 1918. Spain was affected early, and because Spain was not fighting in the World War, there was no wartime censorship, and news of the outbreak became widely known, leading to the flu being called the Spanish Flu in many countries. In Spain, however, it was called French Flu or the Naples Soldier. In India, about 12 million people died of flu. In some US cities, people died so quickly that morticians couldn’t cope with the bodies. According to Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux, who worked in the Fort Riley laundry during the epidemic: “They were piling them up in a warehouse until they could get coffins for them.”

The disease started with cough, then headache. Temperature, breathing and heart rate increased rapidly. In the worst cases, pneumonia came next, the lungs filling with liquid, drowning the patients and turning them blue from lack of air. Patients bled from every orifice: mouths, noses, ears, eyes. Those who survived often suffered temporary or permanent brain damage. Several million developed encephalitis lethargica, in which victims were trapped in a permanent sleeplike and rigid state, as portrayed in the 1990 movie “Awakenings.” In others, normal thought processes were impaired. During negotiations to end World War I, US President Woodrow Wilson was struck with flu, and people around him noted that his mental abilities never fully recovered. The French leader George Clemenceau had wanted harsher punishment of Germany than Wilson had desired. Clemenceau may have convinced Wilson in his weakened state to accept such harsh terms, which may have been one of the factors causing World War II.

Since flu is highly contagious early in the illness, even before symptoms appear, strict quarantine may be necessary to stop its spread during an epidemic. Australia kept its 1918 flu death rate relatively low by enforcing quarantines. However, in many parts of the world, public health officials hesitated to impose such measures, giving the disease time to gain a foothold. In the US city of Philadelphia, a rally of half a million people was planned in September 1918 to sell bonds to fund the war, at just the time when the flu started to infect residents. Although doctors warned the public health director to cancel the rally, he wanted to meet the city’s quota to raise money for the war and refused to cancel the event. Within days after the rally, half a million city residents caught the flu.

Why was the 1918 flu so deadly? The influenza virus wasn’t preserved at the time of the outbreak, at least on purpose. But in the late 1990s researchers Ann Reid, Jeffery K. Taubenberger, and their colleagues extracted and sequenced the genetic material of the virus, RNA, from tissue of victims who died in the pandemic. They used bits of lung that were preserved in formalin from victims on army bases or from victims buried in permafrost in the Alaskan village of Brevig Mission, where flu killed 85% of adults. Comparisons with known flu viruses in humans, pigs, and birds suggest that some genes of the 1918 virus came from birds or an unknown animal source. Other scientists then were able to show that the amino acid sequence of hemagglutinin protein from the 1918 virus had several changes from other flu viruses that may have helped it to easily bind and invade human cells, and that made the virus look different enough from earlier flu virus strains that people had no immunity.

The possibility exists that another flu pandemic will sweep the world like the one in 1918. In 2004, an H5N1 influenza virus has killed millions of birds and at least 30 people in southeast Asia. So far this virus strain has not evolved the ability to pass directly from human to human, but that possibility becomes more likely as the bird flu pandemic continues and humans remain in contact with chickens, ducks, and other birds. The virus has killed two-thirds of people reported to be infected. Dr. Tim Uyeki, an epidemiologist for the US Centers for Disease Control, says, “you have the ingredients in Asia right now for a public health disaster.”

But since sequences of this bird flu virus are known, it may be possible to develop a vaccine or set of vaccines to protect against it. At a special meeting of influenza experts on November 11th and 12th, World Health Organization influenza program chief Klaus Stohr said, “It is not only possible, but also important, that influenza pandemic vaccines be made available… and there’s a shared responsibility needed to make that happen…. We have a huge window of opportunity now.”

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=The_Deadliest_Fall&oldid=2526338”

SpaceX scrubs Falcon I rocket launch

Monday, November 28, 2005

SpaceX called off the much-delayed inaugural launch of their new Falcon 1 rocket on Saturday from Kwajalein’s Omelek Island launch site. The intent was to launch the U.S. Air Force Academy’s FalconSat 2 satellite, which will monitor plasma interactions with the Earth’s upper atmosphere and magnetosphere.

The launch was delayed, then finally cancelled after an oxygen boil-off vent had accidentally been left open. The oxygen was unable to cool the helium pressurant, which then proceeded to evaporate faster than it could be replenished. A main computer issue, probably serious enough to cause a scrub on its own, was also discovered.

This long-anticipated flight was originally expected to be launched in January 2005, however a series of setbacks forced a series of delays, with the flight most recently scheduled to be in early 2006. It was intended to be launched from the Kwajalein atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The maiden voyage was originally intended to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with a Naval Research Laboratory satellite and a Space Services Incorporated space burial payload.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=SpaceX_scrubs_Falcon_I_rocket_launch&oldid=3172503”

‘Mega Millions’ lottery nears record high in US

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Mega Millions, a multi-state lottery in the United States is nearing a record high. Friday’s August 31 drawing is expected to be at least US$325,000,000. So far, it is the fourth largest jackpot in U.S. history.

Twelve states in the U.S. participate in the lottery and the odds of at least one person winning the jackpot are one in 175,711,536. It costs just one dollar to purchase a ticket and if you win, you can receive the winnings in sums of 36,000 for every million won, each year, or receive it all in one lump sum.

On Tuesday, the jackpot was only at $250 million and reports say that the jackpot could rise even higher than $325 million just before the drawing on Friday.

On March 6, 2007, the Mega Millions jackpot of US$390 million, the highest lottery jackpot ever in the world, was paid out to two individuals who lived in Georgia and New Jersey.

The lottery results will be broadcast on live television at 8:00 p.m. (pacific time), 11:00 p.m. (eastern time).

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=%27Mega_Millions%27_lottery_nears_record_high_in_US&oldid=4379568”

Solving As/400 Printing Problems In A Snap}

Submitted by: John Andersen

After ten years I find that, other than dealing with job contention and working batch jobs through clogged subsystems, printing tends to be an issue that prompts a user to call for help. And of course sometimes the job system and printing go hand in hand, it all depends on the job though.

So let’s break down the printing aspects of the AS/400 to get a much better and more thorough understanding of it and where to look to troubleshoot common or routine printing types of issues related to output queues and device descriptions.

As I just eluded to, first up is your output queues. The output queues or outqs are the queues where all printable output is stored before it is printed to a physical printer. When a job on the system, any job, creates a report or something that can be printed that document, known as a spool file, is stored in an output queue. And you can virtually have an unlimited number of outqs on any given AS/400.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOrQtmwUfY4[/youtube]

Documents within an outq can have different statuses as well. It can be ready to print, held so it won’t actually printed or in a save status which means that it has been printed but a copy is still retained in the output queue so the spool file can be reprinted. The save status is a good thing to know in case you have reports that can’t be regenerated you can set them to save just in case something goes wrong, like with checks if the printer jams up.

So commonly if someone is complaining about a printing issue the first place you will want to look is the output queue where there spool files reside. There could be a specific print job with a message waiting or the spool file could be on hold or the outq itself could be on hold. Simply release them using option six from the work with outq display and you should be good to go. If there is a message, then review the message and respond to it appropriately. I know this is rather vague but it would be nearly impossible to cover every possible message that can pop up for a spool file printing, typically though they will center around form types.

If you have checked the documents and everything seems to be in line then the issue may be with the printer itself. Now there are two ways printers are configured on the AS/400. The first, and original way was to use device descriptions and the second way is by using remote output queues.

Now there is a bit of a difference between the two. A device description will also have a matching output queue but a remote output queue does not have a device description. To work with the device description you can use the work with configuration status screen wrkcfgsts with the *dev parameter.

Sometimes it is necessary to vary a printers device description off and back on using this screen and then startup the writer. Nine times out of ten this will kick start the printer and get things flowing again provided all things are equal and there haven’t been any configuration changes.

When it comes to troubleshooting remote output queus there really isn’t much you can do, however to get one going again typically ending the writer using the endwtr command and then starting it back up again by using the start remote outq commandc strrmtoutq is enough to get the printer going again. If this fails be sure to ping the TCP/IP address of the outq to make sure that you have connectivity to the printer from the AS/400.

About the Author: John Andersen is a ten year veteran of the IT industry working with AS/400 and IBM i systems. Be sure to check out his site

Power System Jump Start

for the latest AS/400 and IBM i power system training material and step by step study courses.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=571324&ca=Computers+and+Technology}