This Penn heart patient is a 9-year-old boxer dog named Sophie

Cardiology resident Alexandra Crooks and cardiologist Anna Gelzer of Penn Vet headed up care for 9-year-old Sophie, the beloved pet of Karen Cortellino, pictured here with her son Alex Peña. Not long after the ablation procedure, Cortellino says the boxer was “back to her perky self.”

For Karen Cortellino, her 9-year-old dog Sophie is more than just a companion.

“There’s this bumper sticker that says, ‘Rescue dogs: Who rescued who?’” says Cortellino, a physician from New Jersey. “That’s exactly how I feel.” Eight years ago, she adopted Sophie, a boxer, two weeks after the death of the family’s first boxer, and “she’s been Mommy’s baby ever since.”

A few months ago, however, Sophie’s star rose even higher: She became the first dog with a particular type of heart disease—arrhythmogenic right ventricle cardiomyopathy (ARVC)—to be treated with cardiac ablation.

Anna Gelzer

, a cardiologist in Penn’s

School of Veterinary Medicine

, led Sophie through the procedure, together with cardiology resident Alexandra Crooks. But the equipment and expertise to perform an ablation, in which a high energy catheter tip burns tiny portions of damaged heart tissue to restore normal rhythms, wouldn’t have been possible without collaborators from just down the street. At the

Perelman School of Medicine

’s

Translational Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory

, Director

Cory Tschabrunn

and members of his team worked hand-in-hand with their veterinary colleagues to plan out and provide Sophie a procedure that mirrors the best that human medicine has to offer.

“This collaboration and this close distance between our hospitals allows us to be able to utilize the tremendous access to all this knowledge,” says Gelzer. “And from our experience with Sophie and other dogs to come, we may able to glean information that will be valuable to human medicine. It’s the best of both worlds.”

For Gelzer and Crooks, Sophie is a pilot case for a study now backed by two grants that will support cardiac mapping and ablation procedures for six additional dogs. Currently, cardiac ablation is only available for pet dogs in two other sites in the world, one in Italy and one in Ohio. Sophie’s case puts Penn Vet on the map. While the equipment necessary to perform ablations is costly, access to Penn Medicine’s translational electrophysiology lab has opened the possibility that Penn Vet may one day be able to provide committed dog owners a more durable alternative to medication for treating their pets’ arrhythmias.

A scary spell

ARVC is not an uncommon diagnosis in boxers. Some studies estimate as much as a quarter of the breed may have the inherited disease, which is also prevalent in American bulldogs. But Sophie’s heart was not top of mind in early July, when she had surgery to repair a torn ligament in her left knee. Two weeks later, Cortellino took her for a follow-up visit at their local veterinary hospital to have her stitches removed.

Sophie’s diagnosis of ARVC meant she could suffer a life-threatening arrhythmia, despite starting medications to reduce that risk.

“Everything was great and literally we were just about walking out the door when Sophie collapsed,” Cortellino says.

Sophie received emergency care, was transferred to another veterinary facility with a cardiac department, and was soon diagnosed with ARVC. A strikingly similar condition affects roughly 1 in 1,000 humans. In both dogs and humans, the disease, which doesn’t manifest until adulthood, causes a deterioration of the tissues in the heart muscle, leading to occasional episodes when the heart beats very fast.

The condition increases the risk of sudden death. While drugs like beta blockers and sodium channel blockers can mitigate this risk, arrhythmias can sometimes break through these medications.

“It was kind of a somber picture when she was diagnosed,” Cortellino says. “She could have a fatal arrhythmia at any time: today, next month, next year, three years from now.”

Cortellino, capitalizing on her medical training, began researching alternative treatment options. In humans with a diagnosis similar to Sophie’s, the treatment of choice is an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD). But, as Gelzer explained to Cortellino when she reached out about this possibility, that option is not yet tenable for dogs.

“ICDs are designed to recognize human arrhythmias,” Gelzer says. “But they’re not able to distinguish the normal variation in heart rate that a dog is capable of from a life-threatening arrhythmia.”

An affectionate dog awaiting its owners’ return home for work, for example, might get so excited upon hearing a key turn in the door that its heart rate could jump from 40 to 200 beats per minute within the space of a few heartbeats. If that dog was outfitted with an ICD, the device might interpret the rate change as an arrhythmia and misfire, triggering a painful and possibly traumatic shock.

But Gelzer did have an alternative proposal for Cortellino, one that could address the underlying cause of Sophie’s heart condition. The only catch was that it had never been done in a dog with ARVC before.

Ideal expertise

When Cortellino emailed Gelzer, the timing was good. Gelzer had been thinking about options for curing cases like Sophie’s for many years. And she had the right kind of expertise to be considering that possibility.

In 2000, when Gelzer was a junior faculty member at Penn Vet, she worked with

David Callans

, an expert on cardiac electrophysiology at the School of Medicine. At the time, they collaborated on basic cardiac research, using pig models. Gelzer remembers wishing they could apply the technique of ablations to dogs, which develop heart conditions similar to humans.

Fast forward 15 years, after time away from Penn Vet in positions at Cornell and University of Liverpool, Gelzer returned and reconnected with Callans. His old basic research lab was no longer operating, but Gelzer continued to reach out to him for consultations from time to time, or attended rounds for human patients in his group.

Roughly a year ago, when discussing one of Gelzer’s cases, Callans connected her with Tschabrunn, who had recently set up his lab in Penn Medicine’s

Smilow Center for Translational Research

as part of the recently established Electrophysiology Translational Center of Excellence (EP-TCE) initiative, led by

Francis Marchlinski

, director of cardiac electrophysiology for Penn Medicine. Marchlinski and the Penn EP team have been pioneers in the evaluation and treatment of patients with inherited arrhythmia disorders like ARVC.

Tschabrunn’s primary research interests focus on the development of clinically relevant translational research models to elucidate the underlying pathophysiology and mechanisms of complex arrhythmias and the creation of new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies for treating cardiovascular diseases. He also performs, in close collaboration with Marchlinski and with support from the Winkelman Family Fund in Cardiovascular Innovation, clinical research in human patients with ARVC.

As such, Tschabrunn responded with enthusiasm upon hearing of Gelzer’s interest in pursuing ablations in dogs, particularly those with ARVC. The two struck up a collaboration that brought together the latest in technique and technology in cardiac electrophysiology with deep knowledge in veterinary cardiology.

“This was an exciting opportunity not only in terms of a research collaboration,” says Tschabrunn, “but we also had the chance to help a patient by combining our expertise and resources that are really only available at just a few institutions in the world.”

Not a bandage

Ablations are “routine care” for many cases of arrhythmias in people. “You approach the heart through the blood vessel, get in the right spot, and—with all the expertise and knowledge of the practitioner—you can find the damaged area and burn it,” says Gelzer. “And then maybe the patient doesn’t need to be on medications that can have side effects and are in some cases not that effective.”

Gelzer saw Sophie, a healthy dog aside from her heart condition, as an excellent candidate for an ablation. Cortellino, while a bit nervous about putting her beloved dog into uncharted medical territory, was comforted by Gelzer’s and Crooks’s clear expertise, their warm manner with Sophie, and their openness and honesty about the procedure’s upsides—and possible risks.

“I was a little nervous—a lot nervous—but we thought to ourselves, really, what’s our alternative?” Cortellino says. “As my son said, ‘Look Mom, at the very least, Sophie is contributing to the possible welfare of other dogs.’ So there was a small element of altruism in putting Sophie through this, in addition to hoping for a more definitive treatment for her condition.”

Before the surgery, the veterinarians gathered data on the patterns of Sophie’s arrhythmias using a device called a Reveal LINQ, implanted just beneath her skin. The LINQ—which is also used in humans—records a continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) as a loop recorder, storing abnormal rhythm strips for up to three years, giving clinicians a more complete picture of abnormal heart activity than a quick office visit ECG. That information was used during the procedure to zero in on the correct area of the heart to target with the ablation.

Performing the mapping of Sophie’s heart and the ablation procedure was a team effort, involving experts from both Penn Vet and the Perelman School of Medicine. “I think the openness and enthusiasm for this type of multidisciplinary collaboration is a major strength of this University,” says Cory Tschabrunn (to right of Sophie, with black glasses around neck), who directs the translational electrophysiology lab where it happened.

The morning of the procedure, Gelzer used her own car to drive Sophie the short distance from Penn Vet’s

Ryan Hospital

to the Smilow Center. When she brought the dog up to the lab, a full complement of experts awaited her: not only Crooks, Tschabrunn and his team, and

Giacomo Gianotti

, head of anesthesia at Ryan, but also two anesthesia residents, Penn Vet’s two other cardiology faculty, Marc Kraus and Mark Oyama, two other cardiology residents, a cardiology research intern, experts on the machines that were used in the procedure, veterinary nurses, and interested observers.

“The number of people we had in one room for one patient, it blows my mind,” says Gianotti. “Everyone had a specific role, and it took a lot of training and cooperation to get there.”

The procedure was long and complex, taking place in different stages. First, to locate the areas of unhealthy heart tissue that had been indicated by the ECG, the clinicians used an advanced mapping system based on GPS technology called CARTO.

“You put a patch on the bottom and top of the dog,” Gelzer says. “You then use those as your points of orientation as you advance the catheter and create a map of the inside of the heart. It’s great because you don’t have to use fluoroscopy, so nobody is exposed to X-rays.”

The technology Tschabrunn and Gelzer and colleagues used during the procedure mirrors that employed during a human intervention. At right, a map of Sophie’s heart guided the clinicians in making tiny burns to eliminate damaged heart tissue.

The CARTO system maps the voltage of the heart tissue, a technique pioneered by Marchlinski and Callans nearly two decades ago and a continued area of Tschabrunn\’s research focus today in both the translational and clinical PE laboratories. Decreased voltage corresponds with diseased tissue. They confirmed these areas by artificially introducing extra heart beats into Sophie’s normal rhythm. But Sophie’s heart resisted these challenges, a sign that her disease was being kept in check by her medications.

The heart mapping and challenges did, however, allow the clinicians to reproduce the abnormal beats that they had seen on the ECG, giving them more evidence that they were targeting the right areas for ablation. Guided by that information, Tschabrunn used precisely directed radiofrequency to burn millimeter-sized portions of the tissue inside Sophie’s right ventricle, one of the lower chambers of the heart.

Throughout the several-hours-long procedure, Gelzer and Crooks sent texts with updates to Cortellino. “While it was nerve-wracking, I really felt that Sophie was in good hands,” she says.

And all went smoothly. “Sophie did amazing,” Gelzer says. “After we were done, we pulled the catheter out, she rested, and then went home the next day.”

Paving the way

Gelzer and Tschabrunn recently performed another ablation on a canine patient, and they are hopeful that the outcomes from the study will lay the groundwork for ablation to become a more routine option for dogs and their owners.

“My long-term hope for Penn Vet is that any arrhythmia that is potentially ablatable, we will be able to offer ablation therapy,” she says. “It’s not going to be the right option for every owner or dog, but with the right case, the right circumstance, it’s a very promising and rewarding treatment to be able to provide.”

Members of the team on both the veterinary and medical sides share enthusiasm about the information that canine patients will be able to lend to human medicine as well. “There is a lot we can learn about cardiac disease pathology from veterinary patients like Sophie,” says Tschabrunn. “It is extremely difficult or nearly impossible to model human-like inherited cardiac diseases and complex arrhythmias in the laboratory, but similar diseases can occur naturally in dogs. This provides us a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of these diseases and develop new treatments for human and veterinarian patients alike.”

From Sophie’s case and others that follow, researchers hope to glean information that could benefit both human and veterinary patients in the future.

This type of mutually beneficial exchange highlights the value of a One Health approach to medicine, one that takes advantage of the remarkable similarities between humans and our companion animals, says

Oliver Garden

, who heads the

Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine

at Penn Vet.

“If ever there was a thrilling example of One Health in action, this is it,” says Garden. “Sophie’s case brings new heights to our department’s ethos of advanced medicine. And the work of such a transdisciplinary team, in this case involving members of our own esteemed faculty collaborating with experts at the Perelman School of Medicine, is nothing short of breathtaking.”

Tschabrunn concurs. “I think the openness and enthusiasm for this type of multi-disciplinary collaboration is a major strength of this University,” he says. “It is only possible in places like Penn, which brings together the expertise from faculty across so many diverse schools coupled with extraordinary facilities and resources all on a single campus. There’s always something incredible going on that you can be a part of.”

And Cortellino and her family are reaping the benefits: “Sophie is back to her perky self.”

Anna Gelzer is professor of cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Alexandra Crooks is a resident in cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Giacomo Gianotti is associate professor of clinical anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Oliver Garden is the Henry and Corinne R. Bower Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Cory Tschabrunn is an instructor of medicine and director of the Translational Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

David Callans is professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Francis Marchlinksi is the Richard T. and Angela Clark President’s Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

source https://www.vet.upenn.edu/

Migratory Game Bird Stamp Design Contest Winner Announced

Indiana Artist’s Blue-Winged Teal to Adorn Hunting Stamps

The

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

is pleased to announce that Jeffrey Klinefelter of Etna Green, Ind. won the 46th Annual Maryland Migratory Game Bird Stamp Design Contest. Judges selected his stunning depiction of a hen and a drake blue-winged teal, complete with leg band and mirror-like reflection in the water, aptly named “Quiet Waters.”

The artwork will be featured on the

stamps that hunters purchase to hunt all migratory game birds in the state

, with the proceeds funding migratory game bird research and habitat enhancement on public lands.

The winner was chosen by a panel of judges on Nov. 10 at the 49th Annual Waterfowl Festival in Easton in front of art enthusiasts, as well as some of the entrants and their families.

“I am happy to win and am grateful to be a part of the event,” said a surprised Klinefelter.

“Congratulations to our winner and all participants. It was a great experience for our judges and staff to witness such a remarkable collection of entries,”

Wildlife and Heritage Service

Director Paul Peditto said. “We appreciate and thank all of the artists who participated this year.”

The achievement gap: Is your school helping all students succeed?

Is your school equitably serving its students? Successful schools have found fair, effective ways to raise the performance of all.

by:

GreatSchools Staff

Many diverse schools experience an achievement gap, meaning that some groups of students achieve at a much higher level than other groups, especially on standardized tests. It is common to see persistent patterns of underachievement for lower-income, African American, and Hispanic students on standardized test scores. More and more, standardized tests are serving as gatekeepers to a child’s academic future. As a result, schools are being asked to close this gap and to help all children reach high standards.

If your school, or the school you are considering for your child, has disparities in outcomes between groups of students, you should look into why this gap exists and what measures the school is taking to close the gap. Schools should strive to create an environment where all children feel valued and all children are learning to high standards. To find out if your school is working to close the achievement gap, schedule a school visit to meet with the principal and observe some classes.

Meeting with the principal: Questions to ask about equity

Here are some questions to ask the principal that will help you assess the school’s commitment to helping all children reach high standards:

Ask:

How are students achieving in the school now? Are there any groups of students that are scoring below others on standardized tests? If so, what is the school doing to address this challenge?

Listen for:

Exact achievement data for each group of students in the school; specific strategies the school is using (curricular programs, interventions, etc.) to raise the achievement of low-performing students; and concrete, measurable school goals for improving test scores.

Ask:

How do the teachers hold all children to high expectations and measure progress to ensure that all students are learning?

Listen for:

Concrete examples of assessments that teachers use to gauge student learning and ways that teachers analyze this assessment data to make sure all students are on track.

Ask:

How is the school working to close the achievement gap? Are teachers using any new curriculum or instruction? Are they offering extra academic support for students?

Listen for:

Specific actions the school is taking to raise achievement for low-performing students. Potential actions include: Implementing new teaching strategies that have been proven successful in other schools and providing additional academic support for students, during the school day and after school. Ask how many children take advantage of these resources and how parents are notified about this extra help.

Ask:

Do all students have equal access to the most challenging classes or are lower-achieving students grouped in remedial programs?

Listen for:

Evidence that all students have access to high-level courses and enriched curriculum and the school discourages permanent “ability grouping” and remedial programs. If you’re not sure, ask to see the demographics of the students in accelerated courses vs. remedial courses.

Walking around the school: Looking for signs of equity

Take a walk around the school, visiting classrooms and observing the surroundings. As you walk, keep an eye out for some of the following signs that this school is striving to be equitable for all students:

Teachers using a variety of instructional strategies, including cooperative learning (students working in groups) and directed lessons to meet the learning needs of the students. Watch to see if students look engaged in the lessons and if the purpose of the lesson is clear.

Artwork and decorations, both in the hallways and in classrooms, that value and affirm the culture, language and backgrounds of the students.

Evidence that the school makes an effort to communicate with parents through their home language and encourages parents of all ethnic and cultural groups to participate in the school.

Accommodations for students with physical handicaps to access all parts of the school.

It may take years for a school to reverse historical trends of underachievement and inequity. The key is to look and listen for evidence that the school is aware of its challenges and is working actively to raise the achievement of all students.

source

https://www.greatschools.org/

Colorado Rapids Ahead of a Busy Offseason

Gloucestercitynews.net (December 2, 2019)–Tim Howard retired and coach Robin Fraser was handed the reins on a permanent basis. The squad made a sluggish start to the 2019 season, but in the end, they were unlucky to miss out on a postseason place after delivering a strong rally. Now it is time for a new chapter to begin and these are the top five reasons for Colorado supporters to feel positive about the franchise’s prospects:

Improving Results

Colorado Rapids endured an 11-game winless streak at the start of the 2019 season. They lost nine and tied two in a dreadful run of form that left them rock bottom of the Western Conference standings.

The top-rated sportsbooks made them huge underdogs in every game and they were given no chance of reaching the playoffs.

Yet they then secured 12 wins and four draws in their final 23 games of the season and they were ultimately unlucky to miss out on a postseason spot. That strong upturn in form should allow them to approach the offseason in a positive fashion, and it gives them something to build upon in 2020.

A Visionary Coach

The team went through three coaches in 2020 and that sort of upheaval is always going to dent results. However, they ultimately settled on former Colorado Rapids player

Robin Fraser

, who guided the team to five wins in their final seven games of the season. The 52-year-old is just the second African American head coach in MLS history, and he arrived with a big reputation. He was part of the coaching staff at Toronto FC during their domestic treble in 2017, while he previously headed up the coaching team at Chivas USA, and he was also an assistant coach at Real Salt Lake and New York Red Bulls. “I consider Colorado to be home, I’ve played here, coached here and I know the soccer community in this state,” said Fraser. I’m committed to the club’s vision and I’m excited to work with this strong group of players and especially the nucleus of young, talented players we have at the club.” He has the tactical nous and dynamism to drive this franchise forward, and he proved that in the final weeks of the season.

Tying Down Top Centre-Backs

The Rapids have moved quickly during the short transfer window that opened on Monday, signing the talented Lalas Abubakar on a permanent basis and making a move for Philadelphia’s Auston Trustly.

They also signed center-back Drew Moor for the 2020 season

, and that should provide them with a strong blend of youth and experience at the back. Colorado conceded 63 goals last season, the second-highest tally in the conference and the best way to generate an improvement in 2020 is to tighten up at the back. Abubakar will be key to that, as they conceded 1.5 goals per game when he played and 2.4 when he was missing this year. “We’re thrilled to have Lalas back and with us from the very start next year,” said executive vice president Padraig Smith after meeting Columbus Crew’s transfer demands. “I think Lalas himself was pretty open about the fact that he enjoyed his time here, he felt like he integrated into the group very well, this was somewhere he wanted to be and I think that\’s very important.”

Designated Player Spots

The Rapids have three DP slots to play around with during this offseason and that should allow them to add significant talent. These players operate outside of the salary cap, and it provides the franchise with a tantalizing opportunity to recruit the sort of overseas talent that can light up the league. Smith has spent time in South America on a recruitment drive, and we could see some stellar talent move to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park before next season begins.

Cap Space

Smith also has cap space and plenty of Targeted Allocation Money to use as he bids to build a squad that can end a three-year postseason drought. “We’ve brought in some great young players over the last 12-18 months, but we need a little bit of experience in this group,” said Smith in a recent interview. The best teams in MLS history blend youthful exuberance with the steady presence of some veteran pros, and it is good to see Smith recognize this. He is building a strong, enthusiastic group of players and it will surely benefit from a smattering of Latin American talent and a few season professionals to help steady the ship during tough away games. “This is the way we want to do this,” said Smith. “We’re building a young, dynamic, attack-focused team. Being able to add these new DPs will be huge for us.”

image courtesy of unsplash.com

Want To Bet On Sports In New Jersey? Here’s Your Guide!

Gloucestercitynews.net(Dec. 2, 2019)–Do you like the idea of sports betting but aren’t sure if you’ll be able to manage something so complex? Rest assured, it’s not as difficult as you think! Sports betting is actually one of the easiest forms of gambling, so if you’re a complete beginner it’s time to get started!

If you’re betting on sports, you’re essentially trying to predict what the outcome of a particular sporting event will be, wagering money depending on what you believe will happen. If you’re right, you’ll win cash, if you’re wrong, you’ll lose your stake. It’s that simple!

If you know the basics of sports betting, you’ll be ready to place your first wager and even that’s a breeze

thanks to online sports

betting sites and handy sports betting apps that you can download to your device. So, are you ready to get started? Here’s our ultimate beginner’s New Jersey sports betting guide!

Fixed Odds Betting – An Overview

This traditional style of wagering basically means predicting what will happen then placing your wagering on your chosen selection. “

Fixed odds

” is a term which is used to describe odds that are agreed at the time of the wager being placed. If your bet wins, your payout will be based on the odds that you agreed to, even if they’ve moved subsequently.

Sports Wager Types

Sports betting is one of the most appealing gambling forms since it offers a host of different options. It’s possible to bet on virtually every type of sport, even obscure ones, and not only that, you can also usually bet on virtually every event, game, competition or league. That presents bettors with a wealth of opportunities when it comes to placing winning wagers.

The basic win bet is the simplest form of sports betting, i.e. choosing which team or player will win or lose a particular match, game or tournament. However, there’s lots of other options to explore and discover, many of which offer you a higher chance of making a bigger profit. Of course, they aren’t as simple either, but none of them are so complex that you’ll never understand them!

Let’s take a closer look at some of the options you might want to consider:

Live or in play betting

– this is a form of fixed odds betting but it takes place during the actual play itself. Traditional fixed odds bets are placed before the event begins, however with live betting, you can place your wager at any time during gameplay.

Spread betting

– this involves choosing whether a specific figure will be lower or higher than the spread posted by the bookmaker. The amount lost or won depends on how much lower or higher that number is. So if, for example, you’ve chosen to wager on how many goals will be scored during a particular soccer game you may look at a bookmaker’s spread of 2-3. If you think that more than three goals will be scored you can “buy the spread”. This means that for each goal that is scored higher than three, you’ll win a multiple of your initial stake. On the other hand, if fewer than 3 goals were scored during the game, you’d lose a multiple of your stake for each goal below that number.

How To Place A Bet

Once you’ve decided which type of bet to place, the next step is to actually place one! You’ll need to use a bookmaker to do this. Choose the selection which you’d like to back, make a choice about how much you’re going to stake, then give the stake and selection to your bookmaker. The

bookmaker takes care of everything else,

paying out afterwards if you’re a winner. Online bookmakers are the best way to do this since you can place your wager from the comfort of your own home and receive payment direct into your account once you’ve had a win.

What Are Your Objectives When Sports Betting?

Before you bet on sports for the first time, think about what your objectives are. Are you a recreational bettor who just wants to have some fun and make some money in the process? Recreational bettors are all about the challenge and thrill of placing a wager and hoping that they may be a winner at the end of the event.

Or are you a serious bettor who wants to put a lot of time and effort into choosing the right selection that will make you a profit? If you want to be in the second category, you’ll need to dedicate yourself to doing lots of research into your chosen sport so that you can have the best chance of picking the right teams, players and events to bet on.

As a novice bettor, you don’t need to decide right away whether you’re just going to be wagering for fun or whether you’re serious about making a profit, however when you know what your main objectives in betting are going to be, you’ll be able to tailor your overall approach to suit your wagering style.

You’re probably ready by now to place your first bet, so it’s time to download your sports betting app to your tablet or smartphone, find a sport that you’d like to bet on, choose your stake and then start betting! We wish you luck with your first wager – choose well!

Will Artificial Intelligence Improve Our Futures?

Gloucestercitynews.net(Dec. 2, 2019)–AI or artificial intelligence uses an enormous amount of data paired with sophisticated algorithms to accomplish an amazing array of tasks that just a few years ago would have been impossible. AI is already being used to automate tasks and to improve customer experiences, and the potential for artificial intelligence applications in the world of tomorrow is huge.

How Is AI Being Used Today?

Within just a few years, artificial intelligence has advanced in leaps and bounds. Almost everywhere you look, there are AI applications changing our lives. Take a look at online gaming, for example. AI is now opening up the

potential for live online gaming

that creates a real-world style experience for players all over the world.

Or how about AI-enhanced map applications that tell you which roads to avoid because of jams on your way home? Take a look around you, and you’ll notice that artificial intelligence is pervading through more and more elements of our everyday lives. It’s influence is often so subtle that we can barely see it unless we look closely.

The Rise Of The Chatbot

One of the top applications for artificial intelligence is chatbots. When customers call their bank or use an online messaging service, they will frequently be

passed to a chatbot first

to determine their requirements and needs before passing them onto a human representative. By personalizing the customer experience right from the start, artificial intelligence holds a lot of potential for the service industry.

Will AI Replace The Need For Humans?

There is an ongoing concern that with the developments in artificial intelligence, human workers will no longer be required. However, this is unlikely to be the case. In fact, experts are predicting that the real future of AI will lie in augmented analytics.

Augmented analytics is, essentially, traditional analytics which has been augmented with artificial intelligence. By collating huge amounts of data and applying algorithms which determine key factors, AI can help to achieve goals such as improving retail margins through the automation of discount recommendations for different products. This kind of use for AI will certainly not remove human agents from the equation since they will still be required to sell the products that the discounts are being offered on.

It’s also likely that more organizations will, within the next few years actually need more human specialists to work behind the scenes with AI algorithms. Experts in customer trust, privacy and behaviour forensics will all be needed to reduce reputation risks for brands when they adopt AI into their existing protocols.

Augmentative AI – Supporting Humans Not Replacing Them

Augmentative AI is already in use in our everyday lives. If you’ve ever used

Grammarly to improve your writing

, you’ll already have benefited! This AI uses sophisticated algorithms which can determine if grammar has been improperly used. It can offer suggestions for improvements and recommend options which would improve phrasing. This doesn’t eliminate the need for human writers – rather it nudges writers in a specific direction, helping to give them greater confidence and reducing their editing workload. It’s likely that this type of AI is where the future is headed – augmentative functionality that makes human’s lives easier.

Augmentative AI

offers the potential to complete operations and tasks that would otherwise be expensive and time consuming for humans to do. Auto-transcription, for example, can take a task which takes hours to complete manually and reduce it to a matter of minutes. Humans won’t miss these unwanted, laborious tasks and will, instead, be able to dedicate their time to more worthwhile pursuits.

Providing Company

Another highly probable future use of AI will be to improve our social experience. Humans are naturally social creatures who enjoy talking with others. As many of us are living increasingly isolated lives, it’s only natural that we look for things to talk to that can replace other humans when there are none around.

Siri and Google Assistant are just two examples of AI that can be a confidant and friend as well as a useful tool. Capable of responding appropriately when spoken to, these voice assistants can already do much more than just retrieving information or playing a song when instructed. Siri already has a raft of responses that are frivolous rather than functional and this will only become better as time goes on, with even more realistic encounters and conversations becoming possible with your AI-enhanced devices in the future.

AI In Our Near Future

For the foreseeable future, it’s likely to be the case that AI augmentation will be the way in which most of us will be directly

interacting with artificial intelligence

. The effect is likely to be so subtle that we barely notice it. Digital products will have a higher quality, fewer errors will appear, the time taken to create works such as writing and art will be shorter.

However, it’s clear that AI is already rewriting all the rules that we have been living by for centuries and within our lifetimes, it’s likely that it will become increasingly hard to discern human-generated responses and content from that created by a compute

Letters to the Editor: Sestak Drops Out of Presidential Race

I want to thank you for the honor of running for President of the United States of America. It has been an endeavor filled with immeasurable wisdom, passions, humor and insights to, and from, the people of America. I have “lived America” … and will cherish every moment, whether a

veteran from a maximum security penitentiary calling to say, “Hey, Joe, the guys have heard you’re running for President, and they want you to know they’re going to organize Philadelphia for you,” or the tears of a transgender youth as she quietly told me she just wants what everybody else wants. I could never pay enough for what I experienced, and the men and women I met.

It’s a marvelous fabric we Americans have woven together throughout the centuries. I know there is a tear in that fabric right now; but it can be repaired by someone who can lead, and therefore unite, all Americans. It’s been done before, beginning with the best, George Washington, as he lay on the ground after battle to sleep in a cloak together with his men even before he was a President who united America.

A moral compass for our great ship of state is the beacon most needed today. And it is for the Captain of State who offers it that all Americans will provide the fair winds and following seas to advance us. That is necessary for us both at home and abroad, to convene the world to advance our policies and commitment to democratic values for our collective good.

Again, thank you for this priceless opportunity as I end our campaign together. Without the privilege of national press, it is unfair to ask others to husband their resolve and to sacrifice resources any longer. I deeply appreciate the support so many of you offered — whether by volunteering, offering financial contributions or coming to our campaign events. I will miss the opportunities I had in experiencing America in such a wonderful way!

With my deepest appreciation, please accept my final note of service to you … Joe Sestak

Track Latest Gadgets News Easily

Gloucestercitynews.net (Dec. 2, 2019)–In recent decades technologies firmly integrated into our life. Indeed, no human activity isn’t without gadgets. Everyone has a mobile phone and uses any household equipment. No matter how hard some people stood against the dissemination of technologies, science doesn’t stand still. All we can do to be a modern man is to be aware of the newest updates in technology. The benefits of their usage are obvious.

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No matter who you are: the technology-lover, who admires the achievements of modern science or person, whose professional activity is connected to the high-tech world. This web-site won’t let you miss the latest gadgets news. The success and popularity of the web-site are due to the authors. Our team consists of people who are real tech geeks. We always try to visit the most important events dedicated to gadgets and computers to share with you.

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You’re free to choose the sections, which apply to you most. The page with the best tech news informs you about the latest launches of the world-famous corporations: Apple, Google. The articles also dedicated to our impressions after various technological expos. If you used to buy a new gadget immediately after its presentation, monitor our web-site. We try to publish the thought about them as soon as possible. 4Promedia is the best way to know the authoritative views of our authors.

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The Top 6 Frequently Made Automation Mistakes and How to Solve Them

Gloucestercitynews.net (Dec. 1, 2019)–Testing is a vital procedure in the development of products, software or hardware, separate components in order to find and eradicate errors, ensure that it’ll perform well and have good output.

Test automation can also be described as a method of utilizing an automated testing tool to check, analyze and predict expected results to actual ones. It intends using software to automatically perform the most difficult testing jobs or carry out ones that may appear many times, usually more than once or twice. The main advantage of

automation testing

over manual is that it’s much faster and more correct and accurate.

While automation is anything but difficult to perform whenever done right, it\’s much simpler to fail to understand the situation.

Using test automation every time

Automation shouldn\’t be viewed each time since certain issues don\’t even require robotization. Some of the tests ought to be done manually. A strategy for figuring out which test way to employ ought to be created to spare automation testers from burning through their time and vitality on automating what must be done in manual way or doing manually what should be automated.

Here’s the solution: Automated testing is reasonable for tests with a great deal of information, tests that give precise results, rehashed tests, and so on, while manual testing is appropriate for API,UX and UI tests.

Utilization wrong automation tools

Using an inappropriate device to take care of the correct issue will prompt awful results. Additionally, in the event that you have very few testings\’ to mechanize, it wouldn\’t be right to utilize only one computerization device. Thus, utilizing only a device to tackle every one of your issues via automated testing will bring terrible outcomes in light of the fact that various issues more often than not may require various methodologies and instruments.

Proposed solution: Analyze each issue you have and decide which tool is the most appropriate in each case.

Neglecting validation test

Validation

is significant in testing automation since it is required to affirm the framework is working as wanted and the normal outcomes are acquired. In this manner, dismissing the approval stage may prompt getting undesired results if there had been bugs in the framework that wasn\’t recognized in light of the fact that approval was skipped during testing.

Consider this solution: Validation testing can be performed successfully utilizing instruments like Appium, HP quality focus or Selenium.

Drive testing through the UI

Embracing this technique means one thing: slow results. The whole process initially runs smoothly, but then becomes slower and slower over time. There are continuous delays in the display of test results and if there was a mistake during the procedure, the results are affected and the whole procedure has to be started all over again.

Solution: use of a test tooling system through an upgraded UI

Separating tests from advancement

Initial stage

of automation testing is writing of codes. The written codes may along the line contain bugs which will be corrected, and then the test runs smoothly. The problem is, there is set back on the feedback from development to testing. The code may not have the necessary qualities to test it.

Solution: create tests at the beginning that can be managed by a tester or software.

Duplicating or pasting test codes

In the case of a rush and the programmer decides to save time by copying and pasting instead of writing the codes. Some procedures will have an intermediary link or phase before proceeding. Copying/pasting will break off the automation of each stage. This makes the testing procedure disorganized. This makes the testing methodology complicated.

Proposed solution: fix duplicated codes or even better, compose new codes. Capacities for intelligent procedures can also be made.

Seniors in Pain find Relief with Cannabis

Stephanie O\’Neill:

September 18, 2018

Megan Baker (left) of Papa & Barkley Co., a cannabis company based in Eureka, Calif., shows Shirley Avedon different products intended to help with pain relief. (Stephanie O’Neill for KHN)

Shirley Avedon, 90, had never been a cannabis user. But carpal tunnel syndrome that sends shooting pains into both of her hands and an aversion to conventional steroid and surgical treatments is prompting her to consider some new options.

“It’s very painful, sometimes I can’t even open my hand,” Avedon said

So for the second time in two months, she’s climbed on board a bus that provides seniors at the Laguna Woods Village retirement community in Orange County, Calif., with a free shuttle to a nearby marijuana dispensary.

The retired manager of an oncology office says she’s seeking the same relief she saw cancer patients get from smoking marijuana 25 years ago.

“At that time [marijuana] wasn’t legal, so they used to get it off their children,” she said with a laugh. “It was fantastic what it did for them.”

Avedon, who doesn’t want to get high from anything she uses, picked up a topical cream on her first trip that was sold as a pain reliever. It contained cannabidiol, or CBD, but was formulated without THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient.

“It helped a little,” she said. “Now I’m going back for the second time hoping they have something better.”

As more states legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use — 30 states plus the District of Columbia to date — the cannabis industry is booming. Among

the fastest growing group

of users: people over 50, with especially steep increases among those 65 and older. And some dispensaries are tailoring their pitches to seniors like Avedon who are seeking alternative treatments for their aches, pains and other medical conditions

On this particular morning, about 35 seniors climb on board the free shuttle — paid for by Bud and Bloom, a licensed cannabis dispensary in Santa Ana. After about a half-hour drive, the large white bus pulls up to the parking lot of the dispensary.

About half of the seniors on board today are repeat customers; the other half are cannabis newbies who’ve never tried it before, said Kandice Hawes, director of community outreach for Bud and Bloom.

Residents of Laguna Woods Village, a retirement community in Orange County, Calif., ride a free shuttle to a marijuana dispensary in August.

(Stephanie O’Neill for KHN)

“Not everybody is coming to be a customer,” Hawes said. “A lot are just coming to be educated.”

Among them, Layla Sabet, 72, a first-timer seeking relief from back pain that keeps her awake at night, she said.

“I’m taking so much medication to sleep and still I can’t sleep,” she said. “So I’m trying it for the back pain and the sleep

.”

Hawes invited the seniors into a large room with chairs and a table set up with free sandwiches and drinks. As they ate, she gave a presentation focused on the potential benefits of cannabis as a reliever of anxiety, insomnia and chronic pain and the various ways people can consume it.

Several vendors on site took turns speaking to the group about the goods they sell. Then, the seniors entered the dispensary for the chance to buy everything from old-school rolled joints and high-tech vaporizer pens to liquid sublingual tinctures, topical creams and an assortment of sweet, cannabis-infused edibles.

Jim Lebowitz, 75, is a return customer who suffers pain from back surgery two years ago.

He prefers to eat his cannabis, he said.

“I got chocolate and I got gummies,” he told a visitor. “Never had the chocolate before, but I’ve had the gummies and they worked pretty good.”

“Gummies” are cannabis-infused chewy candies. His contain both the CBD and THC, two active ingredients in marijuana.

Derek Tauchman rings up sales at one of several Bud and Bloom registers in the dispensary. Fear of getting high is the biggest concern expressed by senior consumers, who make up the bulk of the dispensary’s new business, he said.

“What they don’t realize is there’s so many different ways to medicate now that you don’t have to actually get high to relieve all your aches and pains,” he said.

But despite such enthusiasm, marijuana isn’t well researched, said Dr. David Reuben, the Archstone Foundation professor of medicine and geriatrics at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.

While cannabis is legal both medically and recreationally in California, it remains a Schedule 1 substance — meaning it’s illegal under federal law. And that makes it harder to study.

The limited research that exists suggests that marijuana may be helpful in treating pain and nausea, according to a

research overview

published last year by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Less conclusive research points to it helping with sleep problems and anxiety.

Reuben said he sees a growing number of patients interested in using it for things like anxiety, chronic pain and depression.

“I am, in general, fairly supportive of this because these are conditions [for which] there aren’t good alternatives,” he said.

But Reuben cautions his patients that products bought at marijuana dispensaries aren’t FDA-regulated, as are prescription drugs. That means dose and consistency can vary.

“There’s still so much left to learn about how to package, how to ensure quality and standards,” he said. “So the question is how to make sure the people are getting high-quality product and then testing its effectiveness.”

And there are risks associated with cannabis use too, said

Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz,

who directs the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

“When you have an industry that does nothing but blanket our society with messages about the medicinal value of marijuana, people get the idea this is a safe substance to use. And that’s not true,” she said.

Side effects can include increased heart rate, nausea and vomiting, and with long-term use, there’s a potential for addiction, some studies say.

Research suggests

that between 9 and 30 percent of those who use marijuana may develop some degree of marijuana use disorder.

Still, Reuben said, if it gets patients off more addictive and potentially dangerous prescription drugs — like opioids — all the better.

Jim Levy, 71, suffers a pinched nerve that shoots pain down both his legs. He uses a topical cream and ingests cannabis gelatin capsules and lozenges.

“I have no way to measure, but I’d say it gets rid of 90 percent of the pain,” said Levy, who — like other seniors here — pays for these products out-of-pocket, as Medicare doesn’t cover cannabis.

“I got something they say is wonderful and I hope it works,” said Shirley Avedon. “It’s a cream.”

The price tag: $90. Avedon said if it helps ease the carpal tunnel pain she suffers, it’ll be worth it.

“It’s better than having surgery,” she said.

Precautions To Keep In Mind

Though marijuana use remains illegal under federal law, it’s legal in some form in 30 states and the District of Columbia. And a growing number of Americans are considering trying it for health reasons. For people who are, doctors advise the following cautions.

Talk to your doctor.

Tell your doctor you’re thinking about trying medical marijuana. Although he or she may have some concerns, most doctors won’t judge you for seeking out alternative treatments.

Make sure your prescriber is aware of all the medications you take. Marijuana might have dangerous interactions with prescription medications, particularly medicines that can be sedating, said Dr. Benjamin Han, a geriatrician at New York University School of Medicine who studies marijuana use in the elderly.

Watch out for dosing.

Older adults metabolize drugs differently than young people. If your doctor gives you the go-ahead, try the lowest possible dose first to avoid feeling intoxicated. And be especially careful with edibles. They can have very concentrated doses that don’t take effect right away.

Elderly people are also more sensitive to side effects. If you start to feel unwell, talk to your doctor right away. “When you’re older, you’re more vulnerable to the side effects of everything,” Han said. “I’m cautious about everything.”

Look for licensed providers.

In some states like California, licensed dispensaries must test for contaminants. Be especially careful with marijuana bought illegally. “If you’re just buying marijuana down the street … you don’t really know what’s in that,” said Dr. Joshua Briscoe, a palliative care doctor at Duke University School of Medicine who has studied the use of marijuana for pain and nausea in older patients. “Buyer, beware.”

Bottom line:

The research on medical marijuana is limited. There’s even less we know about marijuana use in older people. Proceed with caution.

Jenny Gold and Mara Gordon contributed to this report.

This story is part of a partnership that includes

NPR

and Kaiser Health News.

KHN’s coverage of these topics is supported by

John A. Hartford Foundation

and

The SCAN Foundation