PRELIMINARY THREE-DAY BEAR HARVEST RESULTS

HARRISBURG, PA

– Through three days of Pennsylvania’s general bear season, hunters have harvested 1,498 bears, with bears taken in 52 counties.

That compares to a three-day 1,833 in the 2018 general season. However, the 2019 general season harvest is complemented by a large bear harvest during new and expanded early bear seasons for muzzleloader, firearms and archery hunters. Factoring in the early season harvest, 3,373 bears have been taken through Tuesday. That already tops the 2018 total bear harvest of 3,153, with plenty more bear hunting still to go.

After the season’s third day, two bears of more than 600 pounds have been added to the list.

A 743-pound bear taken Tuesday morning with a rifle in Greene Township, Pike County, by Matthew J. Erdie Jr., of Nazareth, ranks as the third-heaviest bear taken across all 2019 bear seasons.

Meanwhile, a 661-pounder taken Monday morning with a rifle in Lake Township, Wayne County, by Michael A. Biduck II, of West Abington, now ranks as the fifth-heaviest bear in 2019.

The largest bear through all 2019 seasons continues to be the 813-pound male taken with a rifle on the opening day of the general season in Smithfield Township, Monroe County, by Victor M. Vassalluzzo, of Kintnersville.

The heaviest bear ever taken in Pennsylvania was an 875-pounder harvested in 2010 in Middle Smithfield Township, Pike County. Since 1992, seven black bears weighing at least 800 pounds have been lawfully harvested in Pennsylvania hunting seasons.

Other large bears taken in the 2019 general season’s first three days – all taken with a rifle – include: a 747-pound male taken in Wright Township, Luzerne County, by J. Kripp Jr., of Mountaintop; a 696-pound male taken in Penn Forest Township, Carbon County, by Brian J. Borosh, of Jim Thorpe; a 657-pound male taken in Franklin Township, Columbia County, by Nicholas A. Podgurski, of Elysburg; a 656-pound male taken in Hanover Township, Luzerne County, by Dale J. Kobal, of Hunlock Creek; a 623-pound male taken in Beech Creek Township, Clinton County, by Mikael J. Catanese, of Sewickley; a 620-pound male taken in Miles Township, Centre County, by Reuben Kennel, of Turbotville; and a 604-pound male taken in Gallagher Township, Clinton County, by Steven Z. Rohrbach, of Lock Haven.

The top bear-hunting county in the state over the general season’s first three days was Lycoming County with 113 bears. It was followed by Tioga County with 107 bears.

Three-day preliminary harvests by county and region are:

The preliminary three-day bear harvest by Wildlife Management Unit was as follows:

WMU 1A

, 11 (17 in 2018);

WMU 1B

, 44 (100);

WMU 2A

, 3 (5);

WMU 2C

, 69 (115);

WMU 2D

, 92 (114);

WMU 2E

, 38 (56);

WMU 2F

, 170 (198);

WMU 2G

, 309 (344);

WMU 2H

, 49 (59);

WMU 3A

, 85 (99);

WMU 3B

, 138 (117);

WMU 3C

, 56 (45);

WMU 3D

, 161 (141);

WMU 4A

, 76 (123);

WMU 4B

, 32 (53);

WMU 4C

, 50 (83);

WMU 4D

, 92 (112);

WMU 4E

, 21 (48);

WMU 5A

, 1 (4);

WMU 5C

, 1 (0).

Three-day harvests by county and region are:

Northwest (221)

: Warren, 61 (52); Clarion, 35 (37); Venango, 30 (68); Forest, 26 (52); Jefferson, 25 (64); Butler, 20 (17); Crawford, 19 (49); Mercer, 4 (12); and Erie, 1 (15).

Southwest (114)

: Somerset, 34 (57); Armstrong, 30 (25); Indiana, 24 (30); Fayette, 14 (32); Cambria, 7 (13); Westmoreland, 4 (11); and Greene, 1 (0).

Northcentral (626)

: Lycoming, 113 (103); Tioga, 107 (86); Clinton, 87 (119); Potter, 76 (54); McKean, 59 (43); Clearfield, 53 (72); Elk, 51 (46); Centre, 35 (46); Cameron, 30 (61); and Union, 15 (13).

Southcentral (154)

: Huntingdon, 49 (76); Bedford, 34 (51); Fulton, 17 (33); Perry, 16 (14); Blair, 15 (21); Juniata, 8 (15); Mifflin, 6 (10); Franklin, 5 (14); Cumberland, 3 (4); and Adams, 1 (4).

Northeast (349)

: Pike, 66 (46); Monroe, 44 (46); Luzerne, 39 (50); Bradford, 36 (46); Wayne, 35 (29); Sullivan, 30 (30); Susquehanna, 29 (10); Wyoming, 19 (24); Lackawanna, 18 (15); Carbon, 16 (25); Columbia, 12 (17); and Northumberland, 5 (17).

Southeast (34)

: Dauphin, 14 (25); Schuylkill, 13 (17); Berks 6 (1); and Lebanon, 1 (7).

Op-Ed: Peyton’s Law –

Empowering Student Athletes/Parents to be Proactive about Cardiac Arrest Prevention

By Sen. Mike Regan

Nov 2019/

The Center Square

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is reported to be the leading killer of student athletes in the United States and the leading cause of death on school campuses. An average of one in 300 student athletes have undetected abnormal heart issues that could lead to SCA.

Recognizing these staggering statistics, I introduced

Senate Bill 836

, known as Peyton’s Law, in an effort to educate every student athlete and their parents about electrocardiogram (EKG) testing to detect underlying heart conditions.

This bill has been a top priority for me because it honors a young woman who was taken from us six years ago at the young age of 19. Her name is Peyton Walker, and she died from Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Peyton was a graduate of Trinity High School in Camp Hill, and she was a sophomore at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre when she died. Her mother, Julie Walker, established and now heads The Peyton Walker Foundation, which advocates for the use of EKG testing to screen for underlying electrical issues in the heart that can lead to SCA. The foundation conducts free EKG screening events at schools across Pennsylvania and has screened several thousand students.

Unfortunately, Peyton’s family is not alone in losing a loved one to SCA. Based on Cody’s Law, recently enacted legislation in Texas named after Cody Stephens, a young football player who died of SCA, Peyton’s Law builds on the important groundwork of Act 59 of 2012, the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act.

Thanks to Act 59, student athletes and their parents currently are provided an information sheet with symptoms and warning signs of SCA. However, there is no guidance on what steps can be taken if a parent wants to be proactive or if the student athlete has experienced any of the signs or symptoms of SCA.

Peyton’s Law requires information be provided to student athletes and their parents regarding electrocardiogram testing and notice be given of the option to request the administration of an electrocardiogram in addition to the standard physical examination.

This is a common-sense piece of legislation aimed at educating our student athletes and their families at a time when every hour of every day we lose a child to SCA. And the majority of those deaths are attributed to detectable and treatable heart conditions that went undiagnosed due to the limited scope of standard sports physicals and well-child check-ups.

As a father of four, Peyton’s story, as well as so many others, has hit close to home. Knowing a simple test could save my children from becoming a victim of SCA motivated me to have my own boys screened, and my legislation provides life-saving information to all parents and empowers them to take the same steps I did. And while the legislation speaks specifically to student athletes, I want all parents to be part of the bigger conversation – to be aware of SCA, its warning signs, and their ability to seek an EKG if they are worried about their child having an underlying heart condition.

Peyton’s Law has garnered tremendous support and momentum in the legislature, and I commend my colleagues for recognizing the importance of this issue. It is unusual for a bill to see such quick action, but the fact that I met with Julie Walker on this issue in July, introduced the bill in August, and by October it had achieved unanimous passage in the Senate, is a testament to the merits of the bill.

The legislation now awaits consideration in the House of Representative’s Education Committee, chaired by Representative Curt Sonney, R-Erie. I have had the pleasure of meeting with Chairman Sonney to discuss the significance of this issue, and I look forward to the bill’s passage in the House and it being signed into law by the governor.

Peyton’s Law will undoubtedly help save the lives of many young people in Pennsylvania while honoring the life and memory of a young woman gone too soon.

published here with permission of

The Center Square

Cellphone shock: Pennsylvanians Paying More in Fees Than Most

By Steve Bittenbender |

The Center Square

Nov 26, 2019

Pennsylvanians are paying more taxes on their cellphone bill than all but one of their neighbors and significantly more than the national average. That’s

according to a report

by a nonpartisan tax policy research group.

The combined local, state and federal taxes on a resident’s cellphone bill is 25.4 percent. The Washington-based Tax Foundation noted that was the seventh-highest rate in the nation. Excluding the federal 9.1 percent rate, Pennsylvania’s state and local tax is slightly more than 16.3 percent.

A state resident who has a $100 monthly bill from their wireless provider pays more than $304 in taxes per year. The average U.S. resident pays about $260 annually in local, state and federal levies.

“It’s important that people keep an eye on these things because they are well-hidden within people’s phone bills,” said Ulrik Boesen, a senior policy analyst for the foundation.

Two things stand out regarding Pennsylvania’s higher than average costs. First, Boesen said Pennsylvania charges a 5 percent gross receipts tax that’s in addition to the 6 percent sales tax.

Telecommunications is one of five industries on which Pennsylvania levies a gross receipts tax. The others include electric utilities providers, transportation companies, private bankers and managed care organizations.

The other surcharge that Boesen noted was the $1.65 monthly fee for state wireless 9-1-1 service. That represents a tax rate of nearly 4.4 percent. By comparison, Ohio’s charge is just 25 cents per number per month for state and local wireless 9-1-1.

While 9-1-1 is an essential service for residents, Boesen said that doesn’t mean it should have its own tax.

“In general, we don’t like when you have specific taxes for specific services,” he said. “We like it more when you broaden your tax bases to be as broad as possible and as low-rate as possible.”

A year ago, Pennsylvanians were paying a rate of 22.9 percent, but the bulk of that is due to a nearly 2.5 percent increase in the federal surcharge, which provides funding for certain organizations, such as schools and hospitals, in communities with higher than normal costs. The federal tax also can assist low-income residents in those areas.

Among neighboring states, only New York residents paid a higher percentage of taxes, as its 18.7 percent state-and-local rate ranks fourth in the U.S. Maryland was also in the top half of states at 14.7 percent, 14th highest.

West Virginia was 32nd overall at 10.2 percent, New Jersey landed at 38th at 9 percent, and Ohio residents pay 8.5 percent in state and local taxes, which ranked 43rd. Delaware’s rate of 6.6 percent is 49th in the study, which also includes Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

A Guide to Preparing Your Home for the Holidays

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(Nov. 29, 2019)–The festive season is rocketing into view and, as all grown-ups know at this time of year, that means more work, more guests, more mouths to feed and more joy and laughter to nurture. The festive period is full of fun for your close and extended family, and visiting friends, but it’s also a time during which your home will be sheltering more heads than usual – and as such, it’s an important time to be prepared for. In this handy guide, you’ll learn how to best prepare your home for the holiday season in order to make your Christmas as wonderful and carefree as possible.

Seating Arrangements

Your first task is undoubtedly simply to understand how so many more people arriving in your home will find places to sit, talk, socialize, make merry, and – most importantly – eat. If you’re unable to find enough chairs for all the guests you’re expecting, you may wish to hire some more from a local furniture warehouse, or else buy some second-hand from local furniture stores. Meanwhile, make sure you know how to cater to everyone who visits. You may wish to invest in some

elegant furniture

for your new arrivals – in order to provide seats, beds, couches and tables for everyone who’ll be attending your home this Christmas.

Cleaning and Tidying

With a host of guests due to arrive in your home, there is the usual cleaning and tidying to undertake in order for you to present the home interior that you want to promote to your friends, family, and guests. Go around your home

fastidiously to clean each and every corner

– and be especially careful to hide or secure some of your more precious belongings: Christmas is a time of indulgence, and those who’ve had a little too much cherry may find themselves breaking items that you’ve left out.

The Kitchen

Hands-down the most important room in the house during the festive period, the kitchen will require some work before your guests begin to arrive. You need to make sure that everything’s clean, and that you have enough plates, knives, forks and cooking accessories for some of the feasts you have planned. It goes without saying that you should also check the food in your fridge, and stock up on meat, dairy and beverages to keep you ravenous and excited guests happy throughout the duration of their stay.

Festive Touches

With all the preparation out of the way in terms of seating, sleeping and cleaning, it’s time to add the flourishes that can make your home sparkle and gleam with the

red-and-green festive feel of Christmas

. Whether that means hanging stockings and mistletoe, heaving a Christmas tree into the main room, or adding little cutlets of ivy and holly to your mantelpiece, this is the final stage to decorating your home in the anticipation of a festive frolic with all your closest loved ones this festive period. Decorate in order to luxuriate in a truly Christmas-themed interior this holiday season.

Prepare your home for the festive season with the four tips outlined above – guaranteeing all of your guests a merry, wonderful time!

images courtesy of unsplash

Cancer linked with a more than doubled risk of dying from stroke

Credit: Getty Images utah778

Newswise — People living with or beyond cancer are more likely to die from stroke than the general public, according to new Penn State research, and certain types of cancer may boost the risk

even more.

Researchers at

Penn State College of Medicine

found that compared to the general population, people who have or have had cancer are more than twice as likely to die of a stroke, and the risk increases with time. Additionally, cancers of the breast, prostate or colorectum were the type most commonly associated with fatal stroke.

Nicholas Zaorsky

, assistant professor in radiation oncology and public health sciences, said the

results

– recently published in Nature Communications – may help physicians identify patients at risk for fatal strokes.

“Previous research has shown that most cancer patients aren’t going to die of their cancer, they’re going to die of something else,” Zaorsky said. “A stroke is one possibility. Our findings suggest that patients may benefit from a screening program to help prevent some of these early deaths from stroke, as well as help identify which patients we could target with those preventative efforts.”

According to the researchers, cancer is the leading cause of death in the United States, with stroke being the fifth leading cause. But while institutions like the American Heart Association and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network provide separate guidelines for stroke prevention and advice for people beyond cancer treatment, there is little guidance for preventing strokes in people who have or have had cancer.

Zaorsky, a member of the

Penn State Cancer Institute

, said he and the other researchers were interested in identifying those at the highest risk of stroke to help future prevention efforts.

The researchers used data gathered from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program. SEER includes data about cancer incidence, survival, treatment and age and year of diagnosis, and covers 28 percent of the U.S. population.

For the current study, the researchers used SEER data on more than 7.2 million patients who had been diagnosed with invasive cancer – cancer that has spread beyond the tissue in which it originally developed – between 1992 and 2015.

The researchers found that out of 7,529,481 cancer patients, 80,513 died of a stroke. Males and females had equal chances of dying from a stroke, but those diagnosed with cancer at a younger age had a higher chance of a fatal stroke.

Additionally, they found that among those diagnosed with cancer before they turned 40, most strokes occurred in people treated for brain tumors and lymphomas. In patients diagnosed with cancer above the age of 40, fatal strokes were most commonly associated with cancer of the prostate, breast and colorectum.

Zaorsky said one explanation for the increased risk could be that many people who are diagnosed with cancer are in a “prothrombotic” state, which means they are more likely to form a blood clot.

“That blood clot may then go to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism, for example, or cause a stroke if it goes to the brain,” Zaorsky said. “In general, it’s an underlying theme and risk factor for a lot of cancer patients. And because certain cancers like those of the prostate, breast and colorectum are some of the most common cancers, that could also help explain that high association.”

Brad Zacharia

, assistant professor of neurosurgery, said another explanation may stem from the effects of certain types of cancer treatment.

“We can speculate that a subset of cancer patients are receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatments that may have a direct effect on the blood vessels to the brain and could increase stroke risk,” Zacharia said. “This may be particularly true in patients with brain cancer.”

The researchers added that future studies could help pinpoint mechanisms and further establish the relationship between cancer and strokes.

Ying Zhang, Penn State; Leila T. Tchelebi, Penn State; Heath B. Mackley, Penn State; and Vernon M. Chinchilli, Penn State, also participated in this work.

About Penn State College of Medicine

Located on the campus of

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

in Hershey, Pa.,

Penn State College of Medicine

boasts a portfolio of nearly $100 million in funded research. Projects range from development of artificial organs and advanced diagnostics to groundbreaking cancer treatments and understanding the fundamental causes of disease. Enrolling its first students in 1967, the College of Medicine has more than 1,700 students and trainees in medicine, nursing, the health professions and biomedical research on its two campuses.

Avoid Holiday Shopping Scams

Don’t Fall Victim to Online Schemes

‘Tis the season for holiday gifting, and many shoppers will go online this time of year to find the best deals on popular items. But the sellers you buy from may not be what they seem.

According to the FBI’s

Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

, thousands of people become victims of holiday scams every year. Scammers can rob you of hard-earned money, personal information, and, at the very least, a festive mood. The two most prevalent of these holiday scams are non-delivery and non-payment crimes.

In a non-delivery scam, a buyer pays for goods or services they find online, but those items are never received. Conversely, a non-payment scam involves goods or services being shipped, but the seller is never paid. In 2018 alone, the IC3 estimates that non-delivery and non-payment scams together affected more than 65,000 victims, causing almost $184 million in losses.

Similar scams to beware of this time of year are auction fraud, where a product is misrepresented on an auction site, and gift card fraud, when a seller asks you to pay with a pre-paid card.

The IC3 receives a large volume of complaints in the early months of the year, suggesting a correlation with the previous holiday season’s shopping scams.

Always be wary of deals that seem too good to be true.

Do your part to avoid becoming a victim. These simple tips from the IC3 can help you look out for scammers during the holiday season or any other time of year:

Always get a tracking number for items purchased online so you can make sure they have been shipped and can follow the delivery process.

Be wary of sellers who post an auction or advertisement as if they reside in the U.S., then respond to questions by stating they are out of the country on business, family emergency, or similar reasons.

Avoid sellers who post an auction or advertisement under one name but ask that payment be sent to someone else.

Consider canceling your purchase if a seller requests funds be wired directly to them via a money transfer company, pre-paid card, or bank-to-bank wire transfer. Money sent in these ways is virtually impossible to recover, with no recourse for the victim. Always remember that anyone who asks you to use one of these forms of payment might be a scammer. A credit card is generally the safest way to pay for an online purchase.

Avoid sellers who act as authorized dealers or factory representatives of popular items in countries where there would be no such dealers.

Verify the legitimacy of a buyer or seller before moving forward with a purchase. If you’re using an online marketplace or auction website, check their feedback rating. Be wary of buyers and sellers with mostly unfavorable feedback ratings or no ratings at all.

Avoid buyers who request their purchase be shipped using a certain method to avoid customs or taxes inside another country.

Be suspect of any credit card purchases where the address of the cardholder does not match the shipping address. Always receive the cardholder’s authorization before shipping any products.

Always be wary of deals that seem too good to be true.

If you do become the victim of a holiday scam, contact your bank immediately. You should also inform your local law enforcement agency, and file a complaint with the IC3 at

ic3.gov

Resources

FBI, This Week: Holiday Scams

Action Wellness Honors Three “Friends For Life”

Action Wellness to be Presented with Pioneer Award by Center for AIDS Research at UPENN

PHILADELPHIA, PA (NOVEMBER 2019)

– Every year, Action Wellness observes

World AIDS Day

in partnership with

AmeriHealth Caritas

. On December 1, as a part of their annual campaign

“Action Heroes Wear Red”

, friends and supporters are asked to wear red, or a red ribbon, on this day to raise awareness for World AIDS Day. This day is an opportunity for people to unite in the fight against HIV and to commemorate those who have died from AIDS-related illness. In 2017, according to the CDC, there were 1.8-million new cases of HIV in the United States. Action Wellness refuses to let this disease take over, and is dedicated to raising awareness in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Since 1991, Action Wellness has recognized individuals who have made a very real difference in the lives of people living with HIV and other chronic illnesses by giving them their highest honor: the

Friend for Life Award

. On December 4, Action Wellness is hosting the Friends for Life Awards event at

Yards Brewing Company

. The award ceremony is set to honor NBC10’s Vai Sikahema, Yard’s Brewery’s Tom Kehoe and London Grill Owner Terry Burch McNally.

Vai Sikaehma has done an outstanding job in raising awareness for those affected by HIV through his work on

NBC10

and

Telemundo62

Tom Kehoe, Owner of

Yards Brew

ing Company

, has been supporting Action Wellness for years by creating Action IPA. Every year the sales of Action IPA benefit Dining Out For Life. Dining Out For Life is Philadelphia’s largest dining fundraiser in which participating restaurants donate 33% of your food bill back to local HIV/AIDS service organization.

Terry Burch McNally has been supporting Action Wellness since the first year of Dining Out For Life. Fairmount’s London Grill (which is now closed) has been one of the few restaurants that have been with Dining Out For Life for the last thirty years.

Through their work, their vision, and their philanthropy, these three individuals have made a very real difference in the lives of people living with HIV and other chronic illnesses.

Finishing out the week on December 6, Action Wellness Executive Director Kevin Burns will be accepting an award on behalf of the organization. It is the Pioneer Award from the

Community Advisory Board of the Center for AIDS Research

at the University of Pennsylvania. The award is part of the Red Ribbon Awards Ceremony which is held each year in commemoration of World AIDS Day, and recognizes the tireless efforts of our local heroes in policy, research, community, faith, youth leadership and more. The Penn CFAR CAB has developed partnerships with several programs from the School District of Philadelphia showcasing the work of youth around the city and creating the space to continue the work of HIV activism and education.

For media inquiries and/or interview requests, please contact

Molly@PhillyPRGirl.com

About Action Wellness:

Action Wellness is one of Pennsylvania’s largest AIDS service organizations. It is committed to helping people living with HIV and other chronic illnesses. Its services include: medical case management, a range of health screenings including HIV testing, treatment as prevention, prevention education, supportive housing, and volunteer services. Services are provided at five Action Wellness locations and at more than 30 host sites throughout the city of Philadelphia and in Delaware County. Action Wellness currently serves over 4,000 clients annually through the efforts of 400 dedicated volunteers and over 100 professional staff working together to sustain and enhance the quality of life for the diverse community it serves.

About World AIDS Day:

World AIDS Day

was founded in 1988 and is the first ever globally recognized health day. There are an estimated 30,000 people living with HIV in Philadelphia and an estimated 37.9 million people living with HIV globally. Despite the virus only being identified in 1984, more than 3 million people have died of HIV or AIDS, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.

5 Pieces of Essential Equipment for a New Dental Surgery

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(Nov. 29, 2019)–A surgeon is only as good as their tools, and this also goes for a dentist. When opening, upgrading or launching a new dental surgery, it’s vital that you first have all the supplies you need to provide excellent care for your patients.

Your skill and technique might be top of the class from all your training and qualifications, but if you don’t have the necessary tools to make use of those skills, they will all go to waste.

Before you open your new dental surgery to the public, make sure you have these essential instruments and pieces of equipment at hand.

X-Ray Equipment

Some dental treatments require an insight that you cannot get by eye, which is why you need to

invest in X-ray equipment

. Digital X-rays are much more efficient and less harmful than traditional X-rays; there is a lot less radiation which makes it safer for both the dentist and the patient. What’s more, instead of waiting for X-ray images to develop, you can access them immediately on a computer.

Sterilization Equipment

Maintaining sterile equipment and a sterile environment is vital for good quality care and for the health of your patients. If your equipment isn’t sterile, it can pass on contagious germs and infect multiple patients. There are multiple types of sterilization equipment that you will need throughout the office, including but not limited to:

Dental instrument washers & dryers

Dental sterilizers

Sterilization is essential; even if your other equipment and instruments are of excellent quality. If they aren’t sterile, you won’t be providing excellent care.

Curing Light Units

For treatments like veneers, specialized instruments and equipment are required for the procedures. If you plan to offer cosmetic teeth treatments, you will need a wide range of instruments specifically used for these types of treatments.

One of these instruments is a dental curing light

that will become essential for any procedure that involves materials that need curing by light.

Dental Operatory Lights

To be able to see all the way into patients’ mouths, you will need a strong dental operatory light. When you have a good view of the patient, you can provide more accurate and tailored care for the current condition of their teeth and their mouth.

Cabinets

While cabinets aren’t directly correlated to patient care, they are correlated to how well you perform as a dentist. Organization is key when you have a lot of instruments and equipment in the office. Having cabinets will allow you to organize and store all the essential equipment you need so that you can access it with ease when you are treating a patient.

Reaching for an instrument and knowing exactly where it is, looks much more professional than taking a long time to look for it and wasting the patient’s time.

—

Whether you are starting a new dental office from scratch or updating one that’s already running, it is important to remember the essentials before anything else.

image courtesy of unsplash.com

All-American Joseph Domanico Named League Performer of the Week

TROY, NY (11/26/2019)– Following an All-America effort at the NCAA Championship Meet, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athlete Joseph Domanico of Haddon Township 08108 and Haddon Township High School has been selected as the Men\’s Cross Country Performer of the Week by the Liberty League, it has been announced.

A senior captain, Domanico earned All-America after leading Rensselaer to a school record 10th place finish at the Division III Championship. He was 17th in the field of 279 finishers to pace the Engineers, who recorded their first top 10 finish.

He was in 124th place after the first 1K (3:08.1) before moving up 76 spots to get to 48th place at the 3K mark (9:15.0). A 3:23.7 split put him in 47th at 4K (12:38.7) before he advanced 18 spots into 29th at the 6.4K mark (19:58.3). A final kick of 4:50.9 brought Domanico into 17th place overall with a time of 24:49.1 – the first time he broke 25:00.0 in his college career. He scored 14 points, which was the best total for any competitor from a Liberty League school and second from a squad from the northeast. The All-America certificate is the first of his career.

Rensselaer, which entered the meet ranked 16th in Division III, has now competed in each of the last four national championships and six in total. It was 13th in 2018 and 2016, 14th in 2017, 17th in 1996 and 33rd in the nation in 1975.

Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is America\’s oldest technological research university. For nearly two centuries, the Institute has been a driving force behind breakthroughs in engineering and science in virtually every arena-from transportation and infrastructure to business, medicine, outer space, and cyberspace.

As it approaches its bicentennial anniversary, the Institute continues to define The New Polytechnic, a new paradigm for teaching, learning, and research that uses advanced technologies to enable fresh collaborations across disciplines, sectors, and regions, in order to answer the global challenges of our day.

Researchers discover HIV drug is effective against Zika virus

A research team at Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine has discovered that a drug used to treat HIV is effective in suppressing Zika virus, suggesting potential global implications for treating mosquito-borne viral diseases.

Photography By: Ryan S. Brandenberg

Laura H. Carnell Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience Kamel Khalili, right, and a researcher, work in a lab at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

A team of Temple researchers has discovered that a drug used for HIV treatment is also effective in suppressing Zika virus. Now with help of

HIV home test kit

you can easily detect HIV.

In a new study published in the journal Molecular Therapy, the research team—led by Laura H. Carnell Professor and Department of Neuroscience Chair Kamel Khalili, director of the Center for Neurovirology and the Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine—describes a study that demonstrated in cell and animal models that the drug, rilpivirine, stops Zika virus by targeting enzymes that both Zika and HIV depend on for replication.

The enzymes also occur in other flaviviruses—

enveloped RNA viruses often transmitted by mosquitoes

—including dengue, West Nile and yellow fever.

“HIV and Zika virus are distinct types of RNA viruses,” Khalili explained. “By discovering that rilpivirine blocks Zika virus replication by binding to an RNA polymerase enzyme common to a family of RNA viruses, we\’ve opened the way to potentially being able to treat multiple RNA virus infections using the same strategy.”

Previously endemic to regions of Africa and Asia, Zika virus is now present throughout the Americas, and has attracted growing concern in recent years due to its global spread and damaging effects on the brain and nervous system. Zika virus infection is known to cause Guillain-Barré syndrome, which culminates in muscle paralysis, and microcephaly, or underdevelopment of the head, in infants born to mothers infected with the virus.

We now have a clear path forward. We have a starting point from which we can find ways to make these drugs even more potent and more effective against flaviviruses.\”

— Kamel Khalili, Laura H. Carnell Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience

Rilpivirine is one of several non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) drugs that have been developed to treat HIV. This research breakthrough and other tests showing that other NNRTIs are effective in Zika-infected cells have significant implications for their use in treating other flavivirus infections. The researchers plan to soon step up their studies to develop ways to improve the effectiveness of these drugs in blocking viral infections.

“We now have a clear path forward,” Khalili said. “We have a starting point from which we can find ways to make these drugs even more potent and more effective against flaviviruses.”

A team from across the university, including College of Science and Technology Dean and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Science Michael L. Klein and Associate Professors of Neuroscience Ilker K. Sariyer and Jennifer Gordon of Temple’s Center for Neuroviology, came together to carry out the research.

Read more about the work that led to this research breakthrough.