2008: July 18th Good News: (

Good Evening all,

Well, it's been a while since I've been on. I can't promise I'll be on again soon either. Unfortunately, with our second move, buying a new dog, being incredibly busy at work, and sponsoring a cadet in our home, I have not had time to devote to my blog. I have missed it terribly, and I have even gotten some emails from readers questioning where it went.

The best I can hope for this week is to be able to post once or twice. If I beat that best, that is awesome...but please understand if I can't, that I'm just caught, in life, with life...and busy. :)

Anyway, I want you all to know that good news is still happening every day. Here are the articles I found for you all that have already happened today. :)


Today's Top 5:
1. Vet Reaches Inside Shark to Pull Grappling Hook (Atlanta Journal Contstitution)
2. Alzheimer's Drug Reverses cognitive Decline Over 12 Month Period in Early Human Testing (Science Daily)
3. Archaeologists Find 600 Year Old Chess Piece in Northwest Russia (RIA Novosti)
4. Woman Elbowing Her Way to Arm Wrestling History (The Denver Post)
5. Students Can Now Get Textbooks for Free (Inventorspot.com)

Honorable Mention:
1. Rock Port Missouri, First 100 Percent Wind Powered Community in US (Science Daily)






Today's Top 5:

1. Vet Reaches Inside Shark to Pull Grappling Hook
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/news/stories/2008/07/18/australia_shark_rescue_grappling_hook.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=15
Associated Press
Published on: 07/18/08

SYDNEY, Australia — A veterinarian in Australia plunged his arm up to his shoulder into the throat of a rare shark to save the animal after it swallowed a grappling hook.
The gray nurse shark is generally much smaller than the more aggressive great white. It is also not considered a threat to humans, but its bite could still do serious damage.
Divers spotted the shark Monday as it swam with a group of others near Byron Bay, 500 miles north of Sydney, Trevor Long of the Sea World marine park said Friday.
After the animal was captured and placed in a holding tank, rescuers pushed a stiff plastic pipe into the shark's throat. Blyde then reach down through the pipe to free the hook.
"As a veterinarian you often end up putting your hands in places that people find somewhat unattractive," Blyde told Seven Network television.
The gray nurse shark is one of Australia's most endangered marine species after being fished to near-extinction, with some estimates running as low a fewer than 300 animals left in the wild in waters off the country's east coast.



2. Alzheimer's Drug Reverses Cognitive Decline Over 12 Month Period In Early Human Testing
ScienceDaily
(July 18, 2008) —

A drug once approved as an antihistamine in Russia improved thinking processes and ability to function in patients with Alzheimer's disease in a study conducted there, said an expert at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. The findings are published in the journal The Lancet.
"More research is needed, but we are encouraged by the effect the drug Dimebon had on Alzheimer's patients" said Dr. Rachelle Doody, professor of neurology at BCM and lead author of the study.
In the study, the authors noted that Dimebon is the first drug for Alzheimer's disease that demonstrated continued improvement in patients over a 12 month period. Other approved drugs do not have this effect.
Half of the 183 patients in the Russian study received Dimebon; the other half were given a placebo or an inactive pill. Clinicians at the study sites then monitored the patients' progress over the next year on five different outcomes. All of those in the study had mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.
"What we saw in the clinical trial is that people on the medication continued to improve over time," Doody said. "Those on placebo continued to decline."
Researchers believe the medication works by stabilizing mitochondria, the cellular components that produce energy, and possibly by inhibiting brain cell death. Researchers evaluated patients' thinking and memory ability, overall function, psychiatric and behavioral symptoms, and ability to perform daily activities.
"Usually at this point in a drug's development, we are happy to see improvement in one of the outcome measures," Doody said. "We saw improvement in all five."
Some participants complained of occasional dry mouth, but no one opted out of the study because of the side effects.
"As we continue research, we hope to replicate these results," Doody said. "My belief is that this drug will turn out to be useful for Alzheimer's disease, regardless of the stage of the disease."
Doody said this is only the first study looking into the effects of Dimebon on Alzheimer's disease. She also noted that it involved only a relatively small population from one specific region of the world. The ongoing Phase 3 study will include several international locations including the United States.
Other researchers who contributed to this study include: Dr. Svetlana I. Gavrilova, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Dr. Mary Sano, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, NY; Dr. Ronald G. Thomas, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA; Dr. Paul S. Aisen, formerly with Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC and now at the University of California, San Diego; ; Dr. Sergey O. Bachurin, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Physiologically Active Compounds, Chernogolovka, Russia; Drs. Lynn Seely and David Hung, Medivation, Inc., San Francisco, CA.
Funding for this study came from Medivation, Inc., the company developing the drug worldwide. Doody is also a member of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory board for Medivation, Inc.





3. Archaeologists Find 600-year-old Chess Piece in Northwest Russia
http://en.rian.ru/culture/20080718/114352042.html
14:51 18/ 07/ 2008

VELIKY NOVGOROD, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - Archaeologists in northwest Russia have discovered a chess piece dating back to the late 14th century, a spokesman for local archaeologists said on Friday.
"The king, around several centimeters tall, is made of solid wood, possibly of juniper," the spokesman said.
The excavations are being carried out at the site of the Palace of Facets, in the Novgorod Kremlin in Veliky Novgorod. The palace is believed to be the oldest in Russia.
According to the city chronicles, chess as a competitive game emerged in Veliky Novgorod, the foremost historic city in northwest Russia, in the 13th century, but was banned in 1286 by the church.
However, besides the king, archeologists in the region have found a total of 82 chess pieces dating back to at least the 14th century, showing that the game remained popular among the local population despite the church ban.
In late May, archaeologists in the ancient city uncovered a number of medieval baby bottles. Medieval Slavs made feeding bottles by attaching leather bags to the wider part of a cow's horn. The babies drank milk from holes made in the tip of the horns.
The first historical mention of Veliky Novgorod was in 859 AD. City chronicles say that by 862 AD it was already a stop on the trading route between the Baltics and Byzantium.
The city will celebrate its 1150th anniversary in 2009.




4. Woman Elbowing Her Way to Arm Wrestling History
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9915967
By William Porter
Denver Post Columnist
Article Last Updated: 07/18/2008 02:31:10 PM MDT


Arm-wrestler Brandy Stark does a static hold with a 40-pound dumbbell for one minute as husband Russell looks on. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post )On the laundry list of things I might first notice about a woman — her eyes, her smile, whether she is aiming a large-bore handgun at me — biceps generally don't rank too high.
But when the woman is Greeley's Brandy Stark, one of America's greatest arm-wrestlers, well, I check out the muscles in her shirt sleeves.
We were in the weight room at Work Out West, Brandy's hometown gym. She was fresh from a grueling static hold with a 40-pound dumbbell, replicating the feel of locking down on an opponent's unfortunate arm.
Brandy assessed her bulging bicep. "You know, I have no idea how big my arms are. A lot of women don't have good upper-body strength, but for whatever reason I do."
Her beefy forearms taper into strong wrists and small, almost delicate, hands. In two weeks she hopes to have them wrapped around a big trophy.
Stark's goal is to be the first woman to win her sport's triple crown. She's one title away, needing only a victory at the U.S. Armwrestling Federation championships on Aug. 3 in Salt Lake City.
Stark also won major tourneys in May and June. In horse-racing terms, they were arm-wrestling's Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. The USAF tourney is the Belmont — and the third jewel in the triple crown.
If she places first or second in Salt Lake, competing in the 176-pound-plus unlimited class, she makes Team USA and goes to the world meet.
"That's the dream," she said.
Stark is 35. She has the thick trunk and sturdy legs of a shot-putter, but was a volleyball player and sprinter growing up in Limon. Her spiked hair is streaked with blond.
On her right bicep is a tattoo: "Armwrestler."
"It's official," she said, grinning. "I can't quit now."
Brandy, a mother of three, began arm-wrestling in 2003.
"I just like the adrenaline rush and being able to compete one on one," she said. "Although I get nervous before meets. Like nauseous nervous.
"But that goes away after the first match."
There is little money in her sport, just bragging rights.
Her husband, Russell, introduced her to the sport. He, too, is a competitive arm-wrestler, though not quite at the elite level of his wife.
Russell is an easygoing guy and doting husband. Massaging Brandy's left shoulder, he proudly told me a story.
"I had some of my roughneck friends down one evening," said Russell, an oil-rig worker in Wyoming. "They wanted to arm-wrestle me, but I told them they'd have to wrestle Brandy first.
"She pinned them all. And these were big, strong dudes."
Little did the dudes know.
Along with iron biceps and forearms, arm-wrestlers develop unusual tendon strength. An average person's elbow tendon is the diameter of a pencil. A champion wrestler's might be as thick as a nickel.
Technique is crucial. Some competitors try to nail opponents out of the gate. Others lock their arm in place until the opponent tires, then slowly lever them over for the pin.
"It takes a certain personality to start arm-wrestling," Brandy said. "You have so many aches and pains."
Brandy wrestles as a righty and lefty, often exiting tourneys lugging two trophies. Nothing is left to chance: She scouts her opponents. "I don't know if they scout me, but if they don't, they should."
Brandy hoisted a barbell. Russell looked on, beaming.
Forget Beijing. History awaits in Utah, just a few pins away.
William Porter's column runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 303-954-1977 or wporter@denverpost.com.





5. Students Can Now Get Textbooks For Free
http://inventorspot.com/articles/students_can_now_get_textbooks_for_free_15904
Posted July 18th, 2008 by Joshua Khan

Textbooks are a major expense college students wish they didn’t have to deal with. Despite being a stack of paper that will only be looked at once, they can cost individuals up to a $1000 a year. Some students try to fight the “system” by sharing textbooks, but disadvantages keep bombarding their plans. When you buy a textbook, you’ll be lucky to even sell it back for half of the original price.
The publisher Flat World Knowledge is hoping to help students by giving away textbooks for free. Based in New York, the firm recently launched a project to supply four business and economics textbooks online to undergraduates of 15 different campuses. It may seem like a small start, but the results can free a student from the textbook fiasco that binds them.
But will the textbooks have the same content as the thick ones located on campus?
Flat World Knowledge’s resources aren’t different at all. They have been reviewed by academics and are even unique in their own way as some text includes images and video. Since their based online, the textbooks are also open-source; they can be updated easily and changed to match a particular outline or curriculum.
Starting next January, Flat World Knowledge hopes to offer its textbooks to numerous institutions. It’ll be interesting to see how other bookstores and publishers react, since their plan is strongly affects a lot of organizations and companies.
As for the students, don’t be surprised if they never buy another book again.




Honorable Mention:
Rock Port, Missouri, First 100 Percent Wind-powered Community In U.S.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715165441.htm
ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) —

Rock Port Missouri, with a population of just over 1,300 residents, has announced that it is the first 100% wind powered community in the United States. Four wind turbines supply all the electricity for the small town.
Rock Port’s 100% wind power status is due to four wind turbines located on agricultural lands within the city limits of Rock Port (Atchison County). The city of Rock Port uses approximately 13 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year. It is predicted that these four turbines will produce 16 million kilowatt hours each year.
Excess wind generated electricity not used by Rock Port homes and businesses is expected to be move onto the transmission lines to be purchased by the Missouri Joint Municipal Utilities for use in other areas.
University of Missouri Extension specialists say that there are excellent opportunities for sustainable wind power in northwest Missouri.
There are currently 24 wind turbines in Atchison County, 24 in Nodaway County and 27 in Gentry County. MU Extension specialists say the wind farms will bring in more than $1.1 million annually in county real estate taxes, to be paid by Wind Capital Group, a wind energy developer based in St. Louis.
"This is a unique situation because in rural areas it is quite uncommon to have this increase in taxation revenues," said Jerry Baker, MU Extension community development specialist.
The alternative-energy source also benefits landowners, who can make anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 leasing part of their property for wind turbines.
Other wind energy companies are looking at possible sites in northwest Missouri, Baker said.
A map published by the U.S. Department of Energy indicates that northwest Missouri has the state's highest concentration of wind resources and contains a number of locations potentially suitable for utility-scale wind development.
"We're farming the wind, which is something that we have up here," Crawford said. "The payback on a per-acre basis is generally quite good when compared to a lot of other crops, and it's as simple as getting a cup of coffee and watching the blades spin."
"It's a savings for the community in general, savings for the rural electric companies, and it does provide electricity service over at least a 20-year time period, which is the anticipated life of these turbines," Baker said.
Baker said the wind turbines attract visitors from all over, adding tourism revenue to the list of benefits.