Oklahoma tornado's aftermath: How safe were schools in Moore?

Two schools were directly hit by the EF5 tornado in Moore, Okla., on Monday, and seven students at one were killed. Neither school had a safe room, but with storms this powerful, experts say there are no guarantees.?

By Amanda Paulson,?Staff writer / May 21, 2013

Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary school after a tornado destroyed the school in south Oklahoma City yesterday. A monstrous tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs, flattening entire neighborhoods with winds up to 200 mph, setting buildings on fire, and landing a direct blow on the elementary school.

Paul Hellstern / The Oklahoman / AP

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As rescue and recovery efforts continue in Moore, Okla., following the devastating tornado that struck Monday afternoon, attention has focused, in particular, on the schools that were hit ? and in some cases, largely demolished.

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Rescue workers pulled several students alive from the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School on Monday, but at least seven of the confirmed 24 dead from the tornado were students at Plaza Towers. It was unclear Tuesday whether there were still more students unaccounted for from the school.

Briarwood Elementary was also severely damaged, though all students seem to have survived. Survivors from both schools have described terrifying scenes as roofs were ripped off and walls collapsed, and in several instances teachers protected students by lying on top of them. Teachers and students also spoke of following well rehearsed drills, hunkering down in bathrooms and closets, and holding backpacks and books over their heads for additional protection.

It?s too soon to know the ultimate cost of Monday?s tornado, in terms of both life and property, and certainly too soon to know whether the emergency procedures that the schools had in place were the best they could have been.

Experts that have helped schools hone tornado-preparedness plans and who have seen the devastation they?ve caused in other communities note that with a tornado as strong as this one (it was confirmed Tuesday as an EF5 on the Fujita scale, the highest ranking, after a preliminary designation as an EF4) there often isn?t a perfect solution, or any way to guarantee complete safety ? though a lot of things can make a difference.

?If we had school in session [when the Joplin tornado struck], we?d have been dealing with a lot of the same issues they?re dealing with in Moore, Okla., now,? says C.J. Huff, superintendent of the schools in Joplin, Mo., where an EF5 tornado decimated the town in 2011, killing 162 people.

The Joplin tornado struck on a Sunday afternoon, when the school buildings were empty. But, says Dr. Huff, 10 school facilities were hit by the tornado, and nine of those were completely destroyed. He was able to watch some video footage of the hallways afterward ? hallways that, in the past, had been designated as shelter areas for kids during a tornado.

?Those hallways become big wind tunnels when you have that much force,? he says, describing debris and projectiles that shot through them. ?We don?t shelter kids in hallways any longer. We move them to interior classrooms and bathrooms and areas away from hallways.? In addition, Joplin has used FEMA and other grant money to add safe rooms within all of the schools it?s rebuilding, ones that can serve not just students and faculty but others from the community as well.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/BSy4ta0pHQI/Oklahoma-tornado-s-aftermath-How-safe-were-schools-in-Moore

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New theory on genesis of osteoarthritis comes with successful therapy in mice

Monday, May 20, 2013

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have turned their view of osteoarthritis (OA) inside out. Literally. Instead of seeing the painful degenerative disease as a problem primarily of the cartilage that cushions joints, they now have evidence that the bone underneath the cartilage is also a key player and exacerbates the damage. In a proof-of-concept experiment, they found that blocking the action of a critical bone regulation protein in mice halts progression of the disease.

The prevailing theory on the development of OA focuses on joint cartilage, suggesting that unstable mechanical pressure on the joints leads to more and more harm to the cartilage?and pain to the patient?until the only treatment option left is total knee or hip replacement. The new theory, reported May 19 in Nature Medicine, suggests that initial harm to the cartilage causes the bone underneath it to behave improperly by building surplus bone. The extra bone stretches the cartilage above and speeds its decline.

"If there is something wrong with the leg of your chair and you try to fix it by replacing the cushion, you haven't solved the problem," says Xu Cao, Ph.D., director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "We think that the problem in OA is not just the cartilage 'cushion,' but the bone underneath," he adds.

Joints are formed at the intersection of two bones. To prevent the grinding and wearing down of the ends of the bones, they are capped with a thin layer of cartilage, which not only provides a smooth surface for joint rotation but also absorbs some of the weight and mechanical strain placed on the joint. The degeneration of this protective layer causes extreme pain leading to limited mobility.

Cao says degeneration is most frequently initiated by instability in the load-bearing joints of the knee and hip caused by injury or strain, so athletes, overweight people and people whose muscles are weakened by aging are at highest risk of developing OA. The prevalence of the disease is rapidly increasing; it currently affects 27 million Americans and may double by 2030. The only treatment available is pain management, or surgical replacement of the arthritic joint with a prosthetic one.

Cao says that the lack of effective drugs or a complete understanding of the underlying process that causes OA to progress led his group to search for a different underlying cause. "We began to think of cartilage and the bone underneath it, called subchondral bone, as functioning as a single unit," says Cao. "That helped us to see the ways in which the bone was responding to changes in the cartilage and exacerbating the problem."

Using mice with ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tears, which are known to lead to OA of the knee, the researchers found that, as soon as one week after the injury, pockets of subchondral bone had been "chewed" away by cells called osteoclasts. This process activated high levels in the bone of a protein called TGF-beta1, which, in turn, recruited stem cells to the site so that they could create new bone to fill the holes. Cao calls these pockets of new bone formation "osteoid islets."

But the bone building and the bone destruction processes were not coordinated in the mice, and the bone building prevailed, placing further strain on the cartilage cap. It is this extraneous bone formation that Cao and his colleagues believe to be at the heart of OA, as confirmed in a computer simulation of the human knee.

With this new hypothesis in hand, complete with a protein suspect, the team tried several methods to block the activity of TGF-beta1. When a TGF-beta1 inhibitor drug was given intravenously, the subchondral bone improved significantly, but the cartilage cap deteriorated further. However, when a different inhibitor of TGF-beta1, an antibody against it, was injected directly into the subchondral bone, the positive effects were seen in the bone without the negative effects on the cartilage. The same result was also seen when TGF-beta1 was genetically disrupted in the bone precursor cells alone.

"Our results are potentially really good news for patients with OA," says Cao. "We are already working to develop a clinical trial to test the efficacy of locally applied TGF-beta1 antibodies in human patients at early stages of OA." If successful, their nonsurgical treatment could make OA ? and the pain and debilitation it causes ? halt in its tracks, he says.

###

Johns Hopkins Medicine: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Thanks to Johns Hopkins Medicine for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128309/New_theory_on_genesis_of_osteoarthritis_comes_with_successful_therapy_in_mice

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The Content Directory: Myths about people with Disabilities

In order to break down barriers to accessibility, it is important for people to understand disabilities. This is why it is important for all people to learn more about all Ontarians and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Myth: People with disabilities are inferior to ?normal? people and their lives are very different.

This is a myth because we don?t even have a consensus of what is ?normal?? We have to remember that we all have different abilities, talents, interests and personalities ? you name it! People with disabilities go to school, get married, work, have families, play, do laundry, go shopping, eat out, travel, volunteer, vote, pay taxes, laugh, cry, plan and dream ? just like everyone else. People with disabilities are us!

Myth: We need to feel sorry for people with disabilities.

This is a myth because it is patronizing. People with disabilities don?t need pity. They need access to opportunities.

Myth: People with disabilities are brave and courageous.

This is a myth because adjusting to a disability requires adapting to a lifestyle, not bravery and courage. Remember that any one of us can become disabled at any time.

Myth: It?s not a good idea to hire people with disabilities. They have a higher turnover rate and they take sick days more often.

This is a myth because many studies show that employees with disabilities are often more productive, dependable and loyal than their co-workers without disabilities. That adds up to savings of millions of dollars every year in hiring and training costs.

Myth: You have to be careful when you?re talking to a person with a disability, because they are easily offended if you use the wrong word.

This is a myth because you just need to be as polite and respectful as you would when speaking to anyone. If you?re not sure what to say or do, it?s okay to ask.

Myth: It?s difficult serving customers with disabilities.

Customers with disabilities have the same preferences, perceptions, attitudes, habits, and needs as customers without disabilities, and they are looking for the same quality of products and services.

Remember, everyone, regardless of ability, deserves to be treated with the same dignity and respect

As the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005)(AODA) is implemented throughout the province there is potential for future change. To learn more about compliance and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities visit my website below.

Story By:

Sincerely,
Sandra Broekhof
Accessibility Compliance Consultant

www.accessibilitycompliance.ca
416-579-1035

http://accessibilitycompliance.blogspot.com/

http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/sandra-broehkof/13/454/530

Source: http://www.content-dir.com/health-fitness/myths-about-people-with-disabilities/

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'Puppet-master' Putin advisor is shown the Kremlin door

Vladislav Surkov was once one of the president's most influential and deft advisers. His forced resignation suggests the Kremlin may be pursuing blunter ways of manipulating the political landscape.

By Fred Weir,?Correspondent / May 8, 2013

Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov speaks before the state of the nation address at the Kremlin in Moscow in this 2011 photo. Surkov, who was once Russian President Vladimir Putin's chief political strategist and dubbed the Kremlin's puppet master, resigned on May 8.

Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

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Vladislav Surkov, the former theater arts major who took on the job of stage-managing Russian democracy on behalf of Vladimir Putin, was abruptly shown the Kremlin door Wednesday.?Most analysts see the move as a sign that an increasingly heavy-handed Mr. Putin has no further use for Mr. Surkov's elaborate and relatively gentle methods of manipulating the political landscape.

Skip to next paragraph Fred Weir

Correspondent

Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998.?

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Surkov, an influential Putin advisor who helped sculpt Russia's so-called "sovereign democracy" system, told the Moscow daily Kommersant that he had tendered his resignation on April 26, but will only discuss the reasons for his departure "when it is appropriate."

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, suggested to the Kommersant FM radio station that he had been pushed out the door due to poor job performance.?

"[His resignation] is related to the high-priority task of implementing presidential decrees," Mr. Peskov said.

Often referred to as the "grey cardinal" of the Kremlin, Surkov's star had been falling since a massive protest movement hit Moscow streets in December 2011. It had been triggered by the near-universal allegations of electoral fraud committed by Surkov's own brainchild ? the pro-Kremlin United Russia party ? in parliamentary polls.

He was subsequently eased out of his role as Putin's deputy chief of staff and given the thankless-by-definition job of deputy prime minister in charge of modernizing Russia's economy.

"His resignation testifies to the fact that there is a real political crisis in the country. Different bureaucratic structures are at war with each other, and Russia is becoming increasingly ungovernable," says Boris Kagarlitsky, director of the independent Institute of Globalization and Social Movement Studies in Moscow. ?

"Surkov had his own vision. He tried to control the process, to reconcile different structures, and he lost," he adds.

Surkov had been a Kremlin fixture since Putin's first presidential term and is widely regarded as the chief architect of the Putin-era system of "sovereign democracy," whose basic idea is that the political system headed by Putin is the direct outgrowth of Russia's own history and public dynamics ? not an import from anywhere else ? and is therefore democracy.

Critics, and even many independent analysts, quickly substituted the more descriptive term "managed democracy."?The phrase evoked the Kremlin's aggressive role in landscaping Russia's political garden ??weeding out pesky opposition parties and independent politicians, concentrating official resources and state media attention behind the ruling United Russia party, and generally altering rules of the game to favor pro-Kremlin outcomes.?

In addition to fathering United Russia, Surkov created a bouquet of pro-Kremlin public organizations, such as the youth movement Nashi and a state-supported assembly of tame civil society groups called the Public Chamber.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/WG6dOY5W4ow/Puppet-master-Putin-advisor-is-shown-the-Kremlin-door

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Live from Google I/O's 2013 opening keynote!

The time is nearly here and are ready to liveblog. Will Google unveil the long-rumored Nexus 7 successor? Will there be new phones to consider? What does the future hold for Google Glass? Over the course of the next three hours (!) we're eager to find out. Join us at 9:00am PT for all the excitement.

Filed under: Google

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/BOebFOCqWMA/

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Indonesia extends forest-clearing ban for 2 years

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) ? Indonesia has approved a two-year extension to a landmark ban on clearing primary rainforests and peatlands, officials said Thursday. Environmentalists praised the move but said the government must do more to curb the nation's burgeoning production of greenhouse gases.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed the decree on Monday to continue the 2011 moratorium, which barred new logging and palm oil plantation permits under a $1 billion deal with Norway, said his environment adviser, Pungki Agus Purnomo.

He said the ban will preserve 64 million hectares (158 million acres) until 2015. It will not affect areas where concessions were granted before the moratorium.

Environmentalists hailed the extension while also urging leaders to better enforce the law. They say some protected areas continue to be exploited because of corruption and illegal fires and logging.

Indonesia's largest environmental group, Walhi, said the government must also work to stop logging permits from being issued at the local level.

"It is just like a presidential instruction to his subordinates ... it has no power to sanction against violators," said Walhi environmentalist Berry Nahdian Furqan, who added that the ban should be made permanent.

Indonesia is one of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, largely because many of the palm oil plantations on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra are planted on carbon-rich peatland that must be drained first, releasing vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.

Rapid deforestation has occurred in recent years in Indonesia as it feeds the world's hunger for palm oil, pulp and paper. The destruction has caused damage ranging from deadly flash floods and landslides to a loss of habitat for endangered species such as orangutans, elephants, tigers and rhinos.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indonesia-extends-forest-clearing-ban-2-years-053655137.html

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Deer smashes Pa. bus windshield, takes short ride

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) ? A deer has taken a ride on a western Pennsylvania bus.

The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat newspaper (http://bit.ly/14nGOx0) reports the white-tailed deer crashed through the windshield of a public bus being driven Tuesday evening in Johnstown, about 65 miles east of Pittsburgh.

The deer hopped around frantically near the driver before jumping on empty seats and running in circles in the aisle.

Authorities say the driver stopped the bus and opened the door and the deer got off. Cambria County transportation spokesman Josh Yoder says it "just walked off the bus."

The bus was carrying one passenger, who was seated in the back far from the deer. No injuries have been reported.

The bus has been taken to a maintenance facility for repairs.

There's no word on what happened to the deer.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-05-15-Deer%20On%20Bus/id-481caa83d13748238c7b67efcebb347c

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