You are presented with an anagram – a scrambled word – and you have to type the unscrambled version as fast as you can to progress. If you don't get it right away you'll be given a clue to what the word is, and you can hit the spacebar to re-arrange the letters which may help you work out the correct order. If you really can't figure it out, hit the ; key to skip the word but you'll lose 5 seconds if you do!
This made me realize how illiterate I am.
This is an addictive word game! The more you play it, the better you become. Words are repeated each round, and the more you type them, the faster and more accurate you get. Points seem to be deducted for spelling errors and for time, but if you keep at it, it becomes kind of automatic. Persistence pays with this one.
P.S. I'd turn the volume off while playing.


Due to the high shipping costs (and risks) orders can only be shipped to countries within Europe. If you live outside of Europe and still want to purchase a Ginko Synthese product please go to Modular Addict.
You can calculate the shipping costs and tax for your order in your cart. All parcels are shipped with UPS.
The shipping time varies per country. Mostly it arrives within a week after you get a notification that you order is shipped.
When your order is shipped you will get a notification from me as well from UPS. If you got an email from me that your order is shipped but no notification from UPS (this can take a day after my email), please send me an e-mail with your order number.
For customers inside the EU, VAT will be added to the product price.
Customers outside the EU don't have to pay VAT, but the shipment will be taxed by the customs in the destination coutry.
If you want to return a product, please send me an e-mail explaining the problem. I will then see if it's a problem that can be solved from a distance. If it turns out that it's something that cannot be solved from a distance, I will send you instructions on how to send the product to me. I will then fix the product and return it to you. The costs you paid for returning the product will be reimbursed by me.


Two of the greatest sources of frustration for Medicare recipients and their families are hospital observation status and the government's incredibly complex appeals process. On Monday, a federal judge in Hartford, CT certified a class action lawsuit aimed at addressing both. The judge's eventual decision in the case (Alexander v. Price) could have far-reaching effects on both the burgeoning use of observation status in hospitals and the rights of people getting Medicare to dispute decisions about their care.
Observation status is intermediate hospital-based care between the emergency department and admission. For example, it may be used for someone who comes to the ED with chest pain but is not suffering heart attack. Doctors may want to keep an eye on the patient for a day or two but determine that she does not require a formal admission. Care is usually provided in a special observation unit, sometimes called a clinical decision unit or CDU.
Observation care is not new. It has been around since the 1970s and it serves an important clinical purpose. But over the past several years, it has become increasingly common. Observation cases doubled from 2006 to 2014, to 1.6 million, according to Medicare.
What happened? Medicare auditors have been pressuring hospitals to use observation rather than admissions as a cost-saving measure. Medicare payments for observation patients vary by condition but are roughly two-thirds of its payment for an admission. Worse for a hospital, if Medicare auditors determine that a patient should have been placed in observation rather than being admitted, the hospital must refund its full payment from Medicare, not just the difference between the two rates. Thus, risk-averse hospitals encourage doctors (who make the final call) to use observation.
The growth of observation has created confusion and significant financial issues for some patients.
There are two big ones. The first is that Medicare patients in observation are covered as outpatients under the rules of Medicare Part A rather than inpatients under Part B. In other words, they must pay the same copayments as if they were visiting a doctor's office. On the other hand, they are not required to pay the Part B hospital deductible. Confused? You should be.
Those patients who are discharged to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) for rehabilitation or post-acute care. Medicare will pay for up to 100 days of skilled nursing care, but only if a patient has first been hospitalized for three days. The problem: Observation does not count toward this three-day rule. Thus, someone who spends three days or more in observation may not receive any Medicare post-acute benefits while someone who is admitted to the hospital would.
As a result, the observation patient would have to pay for that often-costly care out of pocket. At the same time, it also happens that Medicare pays hundreds of millions of dollars in SNF care that should be billed to patients.
For several years, a bill to count observation time against the three day rule has been pending in Congress, but it has gone nowhere.
This three-day rule problem affects only a limited number of Medicare patients. A 2014 study found that only about 10 percent of patients were discharged from hospital to a skilled nursing facility, and less than one percent were at risk for higher out-of-pocket costs. However, that study used 2009 data and, given the growth of observation since, it is likely that more are at risk now. Those who are caught up in the rule may spend thousands of dollars.
Worse, patients and their families may not understand their status in the hospital or the financial consequences of observation. That brings us to appeals.
Normally, Medicare has an appeals process, though it is cumbersome and often hard to understand. When it comes to observation, it is even more challenging for patients. There is no expedited appeals process at all, thus patients must pay SNF costs out of pocket and then try to sort it out with the facility and Medicare later. Worse, according to the complaint in the new court case, Medicare often does not respond to these appeals, leaving patients and their families in legal limbo—not denied but not approved either.
On July 31, US District Judge Michael Shea OK'd a class action lawsuit by many (though not all) of the patients caught up in the observation mess. Justice in Aging, which represents some of the plaintiffs, says that "class members are likely to number in the hundreds of thousands." The Department of Health and Human Services strongly opposed certification of the class and could appeal.
(Full disclosure: I am the unpaid chair of the board of a community hospital).


text:
Ph: 1300 735 445
Community Achievement Awards
Young Achiever Awards
Home » Podcast » Helena Nicholson, leading school and community initiatives in sustainability education
Helena Nicholson, leading school and community initiatives in sustainability education
I am currently employed as a Digital Technology teacher Year 1-6 and coordinate STEM education and Sustainability at Dunsborough Primary School. Previously I taught Drama and Media Arts for many years developing confidence in students and giving them the opportunity to participate in whole school community Musical performances. I have developed and led whole school and community initiatives in sustainability education, the Arts and STEM education in Regional Western Australia for over 20 years. In the past 15 years at Dunsborough Primary I have had great impact in the sustainability education of the whole school community. 9 years of Annual Bay OK Day whole school environmental, science and marine education Excursion (750 + providers and community), 12 years of Active Transport Walking School Bus, 11 Years Waterwise, 11 Years Waste Wise, Solar Schools Project, 4 Sustainability Expos at Centrepoint Shopping Centre, developed an outdoor classroom, Science in the Veggie Garden, Chooks, Compost and a seasonal frog habitat. I manage the school partnership with Dunsborough Coast and Land Care to improve biodiversity, protecting the critically endangered western ringtail possum, and through revegetation of the Blythe Reserve and other locations. In 2019 I added soft plastics recycling to our regime and significantly reduced our landfill. In teaching digital technology I use the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals as an underlying context for project work where students create digital solutions to real problems using robotics and coding applications. Students share their learning and develop an increased global awareness through these projects. In 2020 my involvement in the new Dunsborough Djiljit Mia Aboriginal Themed Nature Based Gathering Place saw me work with the local custodians to determine culturally sensitive, appropriate reconciliation outcomes to be achieved through the project. These included acknowledgement of people place and country, caring for country through revegetating the adjacent Brook and 'Wongi' sharing stories. Students are contributing to the revegetation element which will help connect them to the place and its purpose.
We hear how Helena has taken on the challenge to not just teach about sustainability, but to bring it to life for her students
We learnt that Helena swims in the ocean every day and how it has had a really great impact on both her general and mental health
Connect with Helena on Twitter
Connect with Helena on LinkedIn
Want to know how to Rate and Review a podcast, see this article
Follow us on our Inspirational.Australians Instagram Page
Want to nominate someone? (It can take as little as 2 minutes to recognise someone making a difference)
Like some more information on Corporate Partnership?
[00:00:05] Annette
Welcome to the Inspirational Australians podcast, where we check to people making a difference in their communities and in the lives of others. And here is your host for today, Geoff Griffin
[00:00:21] Geoff
Welcome to the Inspirational Australian podcast stories of inspiring achievements and community contribution. Every week we will celebrate an award program category Winner or finalist. We hope you'll be inspired and encouraged to know that Australia is in good hands,
[00:00:40] Speaker 2
, together with our corporate partners and not for profit partners, Awards, Australia, showcase ordinary people from right across Australia. Doing extraordinary things. If you enjoy hearing the stories of our Inspirational Australians, please subscribe. Write us and review us. We really appreciate it.
This week's Inspirational Australian podcast guest is Helene Nicholson. It was presented as a finalist in the prestigious Curtin University School of Education teaching excellence award. Last year. halima has a passion for sustainability, education and as a technology teacher is three to six. And she's also coordinator of Stem education and sustainability at dunsborough primary School as well. Eileen, welcome to the podcast.
[00:01:33] Helena
Thank you very much, Geoff. It's great to be chatting with you.
Yeah, we're looking forward to it. You know, you do an amazing work and I think we all realize and if we don't start to realize that our Children spend more time with their teachers than they do at home with us. So we rely heavily on our teachers and they make a massive contribution to the future of our Children, not just for one year, of course, but all through their education. So we acknowledge the amazing work that you do and that of the teachers said, thank you so much. You've been teaching for over 20 years now. You must really love it.
I certainly do. I have a lot of fun. I work as a specialist teachers teacher, so I have a lot of students that I interact with over the course of the week. And I'm really inspired by their creativity. I love tapping into their curious minds and always learning myself and I sit comfortably learning with these Children, often, especially in the technology space. And I really try
sponges, sometimes
they are. And I think, you know, as educators today, we can't feel like we have all the answers because the Children can Google the content. What we're doing is facilitating for them.
So that wasn't the case in my day. And technology is an extraordinary thing to work in or against, you know, Watson technologies and tile for 3s to 6s as a technology specialist.
So I work in both the digital and design and technology space. So there's two strands to that learning area. One of the eight learning areas for the National curriculum, for all students, it's mandated. So in digital technologies, the Children learn to code. They don't use block language to start, which is quite intuitive for them and does allow for a great level of creativity. They also learn everybody to have lots of different devices that the students can use and control with code. A big part of my content in digital technologies is the safety, which everyone knows is extremely important in understanding the risks and ways to be a responsible digital citizen. Children also learn computer systems and then in design and technologies, they learn design thinking and create solutions. And look at different contexts, so they look at engineering and materials and we have lots of fun.
In today's world, it sounds so essential going back there was no such thing of course in, in my day, but so important. All those things that you talked about are all critically important. So you must feel very empowered to be able to teach kids these really essential qualities. Skills that
I do and I don't take it lightly. I have really strong conversations with the kids. And the thing is sometimes as an educator in technology, you have a conversation where you're teaching Children about something that you kind of go is this too soon to teach them this, but that we took kids out of the 24 that need whatever the messages. But the point is if you have that conversation with them now they have the foundation for a response that is informed when they are actually faced with that particular issue. It's really interesting or challenging.
So true. So what sparked your interest in becoming a teacher in technology?
It was actually a School decision and the technologies curriculum was mandated about five years ago and I've done it for primary schools, a large School. We have 650 students and the administrators made a decision to have technologies is a specialist area just to ensure that the introduction of that new technology curriculum was done with integrity across the whole School. So at the time I was actually working as a drama specialist, I did that at the School for about eight years. So they said look, just pop out of drama for a couple of years. And then we'll address it. But I haven't actually got back to drama teaching, but there was a natural connection. I'm really interested in technologies and in the drama space, I was already doing movie making and green screen. And using iPads as tools for creativity. So that was the starting point and I said, sure, I'll do that. And I haven't got back, but that's the School decision. And there's, there's a lot of creativity going on in my technology room.
Well, sounds like you've embraced that and obviously had great faith in you to put that burden on your side. Good on you, and good on them for making that decision. How do your students embrace the technology? I love it. You know,
I think you know, the answer to that question, what kids don't love technologies. There's 100 percent engagement. The kids are always having fun. They're having opportunities to be creative and collaborate collaborative because those are the Skills that critical thinking, collaboration and creativity that we have to have them set up for. That's what is required for their future employment. So having opportunities to work in teams on duty in different whether it's a virtual world on education, Minecraft platform where they are working collaboratively to build something, to create a solution or whatever the context they are developing. These Skills and technologies is the vehicle for that. So it's great,
fantastic. Must be wonderful to have 100 per cent interest. That must be difficult in all of the other subjects getting out. And that's, I not exactly a eurozone coordinator matter, the Stem education sustainability. I know you are a little bit passionate about that. What does that involve, particularly the Stem.
So Stem education is not a curriculum area. Stem is a way of teaching, so allowing Children to create solutions where they are integrating the curriculum areas, whether it's science with technology or technology with engineering, or science and maths and making sure that you've got that, that broad curriculum link with whatever the activities that you do we've come a long way from Stem being just who can build the tallest spaghetti tower? It's not that anymore. So we work as leading teams and we have Stem focused activities that are linked to a main curriculum, descriptor or outcome of each semester, where all of the classes make sure that they do a really good job of that particular unit. And then that's used in moderating and in just ensuring that the kids are getting the opportunity for Stem. But it's also strongly linked to the design and technologies curriculum that is mandated. So a Stem learning informs the design and think design and technologies curriculum and then reporting
so beautifully interlinked. Yeah, and it sounds, sounds wonderful. Once coins come such a long way away, everything integrates very cleverly to get the best possible outcomes for
students. I think with regard to sustainability though and how that works in the School setting is that I've been running this committee for about 13 years. And it's a really broad committee with administrators on board and at least one teacher from each learning area. We have industry representatives and parent representative, so it's all beautifully linked. And then of course we focus on the five areas of sustainability with lots of different host School events. So water conservation, waste Management, active transport, energy conservation, so have solar panels and biodiversity. So lots of tree planting and possum surveys and lots and lots and lots of things going on.
Fantastic must be fascinating and very interesting for the kids have so much to occupy and grow their minds. Are parents able to support their kids adequately with homework and subjects like technology?
I think so we, a lot of schools have digital portfolios to demonstrate the learning for students. And so the teachers are tuned in to what's going on with the class through what we use a platform called seesaws. So the students post work and the parents see it and comment on it. And there's this beautiful connection between home and School. And I think, you know, parents today choose to keep up things like the mandatory QR codes that have happened. It's really stepped up our community in the use of technology. So yeah, I think the parents can support their kids. And if they can't, you know, the doors open and parents do come and talk to me about supporting these students.
When you see the parents is their first word help. Well,
Hello. Yes.
What initiatives have you introduced in technology and some of the Stem ideas in your 15 years at Dunsborough Primary?
Well, when I started in the technology's role, I didn't feel like I just wanted to step through the descriptors in the curriculum and teach them in isolation. So my approach is to always integrate with other subject areas, so I find out what the kids are doing in a year level in the science space. And then I might get them to create an animation online to demonstrate their understanding in that, that learning area. And I also grabbed hold of the United Nations sustainable development goals in my first year in this role. Because I wanted to provide a context for learning if I couldn't link it to another curriculum area. And so the Children have challenges where they can use a digital device and or coding to create a solution that works towards solving the United Nations sustainable development goals, the 17 of them to be achieved by 2030. So they really have a good understanding of those. That's a whole School approach, and it gives them a really great context. So they might be looking at quality education or decreasing poverty or clean water or life below the water life on land, whatever the goal is. And then they are working towards that with whatever they create. So it gives them a really great hook initiatives Stem family challenge. So we have an annual Stem family challenge, so the Children work with their families to complete a challenge last year, 2021, we did the sustainable house, so there were parameters, we had a really cool, sustainable architect, come and do the judging and they built these models and they had design parameters that had to demonstrate sustainable practices, but then use recycled materials to build them and we had heaps of entries and that was really inspiring Stem club. So I have a Stem club for you, for fives and sixes during lunch time. Once a week and in the design and tech space, I'm talking about motivation and technologies and how much they love them. At the end of last year, I did a year five project with, with sewing, so design and tech bought the sewing machine. Got a couple of parent helpers and the Children had to Design and construct a lunch bag that was reusable to reduce the amount of plastic that was disposed. So I'd rather do this and play Minecraft. I heard a unified voice. So that was pretty inspiring.
You've nailed it. Now that's, that's absolutely brilliant. And it sets a foundation for sustainability and it'll be outside the square thinking for our young ones when I get into high School when they leave School. So I reckon that it's absolutely brilliant, really howling and I reckon you're also very passionate about the environment. We talked about sustainability, sustainability a little bit. What led you down this path? Originally,
a farm girl country chick. I've always been connected to nature. I live in a beautiful part of the world in the South West of Western Australia we a biodiversity hotspot. So we have incredible biodiversity. We have plants and animals or plants that grow here that grow nowhere else in the world. And I had this, I had this experience at my School in the early days where there was the 2000 year 2000 explosion of population. And we had to take a Bush area and turn it into a playground. And there were about four spider orchids. I don't know whether you know the spider or could, but they were growing and they only grow in a particular place. The soil, but biome has to be right. And they were there and I spoke to the gardener. Said look, can you just cordon off this little area? ? We need to save these orchids and he got busy. It didn't happen in the 75 kids trap over the awkward and I will go on forever. So I just went right on it to try and do something about this. So I've been, I'm the president of a local Landcare group and have been for about seven years and been a member for longer than that. And so we have a really great vision and we do a lot on ground to help rehabilitate Brooks and lead a clean ups and advocate for for sustainable development. There's still development going on in this part of the world, but we just need to make sure that the environment is right up there in the considerations.
And it sounds like we need to find a sustainability award sponsor so that Dunsborough Primary can be nominated for
that. We've already won it. Yes, we won that about five years ago. The Landcare sustainability Awards was brilliant.
Oh, you're way ahead of me on it. Are there any other initiatives or what are some of the initiatives you've talked about a couple just in there? Any other initiatives that you've been
so we've had, we've had chickens at School for about 12 years. We have Children advocates called the green ambassadors, which has been running for that length of time to so each class has two members that work for their class. And they make sure the lights are off and they do the recycling and do other little jobs and then they're part of the leadership team. So they report to the School fortnightly. On what's going on in the sustainability space. We've had a veggie garden forever and ever, and then a couple of new things that waste station, so 750 kids in the School, three places to get rid of rubbish. So we have four different choices. We have a flowchart to show where things go. And then in 2021 we introduced the green chain so these guys are monitors and I stand at the bench, just make sure there's cross-contamination is always a problem with weed bins. So the green team's new initiative and then for the last couple of years is we've also been recycling stuff. Plastics, which has been amazing. So it's one of the choices that the waste
and the garden, what's, what's the main production item?
Lots of herbs. So we have, we close the loop at School, so we have a five day canteen and most of the food is homemade in there. So the canteen works with us to work out what needs to be grown. So there's lots of herbs that always in the garden and they just negotiate.
And you look at the signs of the
garden where you have yes, science in the veggie garden. So I developed programs, garden gurus and actually created activities for the students to do in the garden that are linked to the science, to scriptures. That hasn't been running for a couple of years because we had a change in staff, but the garden is available for Teachers to go in and work when they're doing the biological science. And so the spice is there, as well as the work that they are going to
investigate. And you've got a seasonal frog habitat.
Yes, that's another one of my babies. I was lucky enough to sweet talk, a local fellow, his great grandfather built the Busselton jetty, which is a mile long out to sea and ship yogurt's and had a whole bunch of granite and he brought it in. And so we've got this beautiful long granite space that when the rain comes it overflows and then it goes into the storm water. So we've had frogs in there that the Tradies built and they become and most of the frogs in the South West are burrowing frog, so they don't need to have permanent water source. So it works a treat.
Now the themed nature basically,
guys have been involved through the School and the Landcare group in with Djiljit Mia , which I was fortunate enough to be on the committee and it was the first time our local were Dandi People had were acknowledged in our community and built this Aboriginal think nature based gathering place. And my role was really that rehabilitation because it was right on a brook. But we worked collaboratively. The Children did art at our School and then went into the the space and the actual space is based on the story of the and people. So it would only people would walk down the dog lap, walk to the sea, and there still remains. The ancient fish traps, so with the tidal flow, the, the fish would be caught in the rock circles and there still remains of them there now. And then they would take the fish and then they would dry them and smoke them over on peppermint branches over fire and they would gather together in the season. So they actually geojit mind gathering places built based on that. So it has a dry water course and it has bits and pieces that the kids can actually manipulate to create nature playing. So it's, it's fantastic and it's right in the centre of town. So the kids are involved in planting and the artwork is great.
Great for the Children also to be able to understand our Aboriginal heritage.
That's fantastic. And we can learn a lot about culture if we look back, get more involved in our Aboriginal cultures locally. More
broadly. Yeah, I think the wishes of the Wadandi people at the time were acknowledgement of country. And as I say that hadn't occurred until that point, caring for country and rehabilitating the brook and getting the native sea celery and other endemic species back in there. And also wongi, which is the stories. And so those stories are actually carved on wood and visitors to the space can, can learn about what I was just explaining to you. So it's pretty special.
Sounds like you're is affecting the wishes science. That's awesome. You know, what legacy will you leave you have obviously, can contribute in given what's your legacy going to be?
Well, believe that, you know, these conversations have been going for a long time and the conversations don't happen just at School, but I go home and there's the pester power and there's been behavioral change. So I think raising awareness and the behavior change is, is what is the key for me? I think my other legacy is another special thing that I started 11 years ago now called by Arcadia. So I decided that we needed to celebrate our sustainability. And annually we have a excursion to the beach so we can walk to the beach for 750 kids at the beach all at the same time. And they have activities that they do that are based on sustainability, science, education, marine safety, and we're all down there. And this coming November, it will be number 10, it would be 11, but we had to cancel in 2020. But all of the students are there from Katy six and they work on learning about the catchment, the ocean crabs, the fisheries, their multi different providers from government sector and also private providers. And so hopefully that will continue. And that is, my leg is part of my legacy too.
To raise awareness is one thing, but to make change is really special and significant. So it's no wonder that you became a finalist in last year's Curtin University School of Education teaching excellence award, which of course is part of the w-why community achievement Awards for regional Western Australia. That's been such a wonderful validation of the terrific work you were doing. That stands for a primary and for all the young people that you teach.
Yes, Mike made me very proud. And this last year when I was a finalist, I took my sister and I took a girlfriend and it was my girlfriend who sat there and said this should be televised. Only the Inspirational nominees are just incredible. And we sat there the whole time, just astounded and you really don't know what you don't know. And the, the, the Awards just provide that opportunity for people to be celebrated. You know, you don't do it for the acknowledgement. It's all about, for me, it's all about the kids, but you know, being regional is a gift as far as I'm concerned. And I think the acknowledgment is, is really special
that that's wonderful. And that's what the Awards are all about. Acknowledging people who do what they do because it needs to be done. And they want to do it super well. To do it the best of their ability to be the best version of themselves, which is really what you're doing with every one of your Children. Giving them an opportunity to be the best person that they can possibly be of themselves. You talked about how inspiration it was and everybody's amazing, which is absolutely true. Is there anything else that's stood out to you at the Hyatt Regency there in Perth on the night itself?
Oh look, I think just as I said, the inspiration of other nominees, you know, just really understanding other stories and it's such a fun night. You know, the music's great, the food's great and it's a really joyous celebration. There's often big support crews for sitting in trees, which is really cute. And that's challenging too, because as we are regional West Australia is a big state. It's a long way to come. There are a lot of people, but also I think the industry acknowledgement and the government acknowledgement I think the fact that those Awards are sponsored by different organisations and the significance that people are to them because it's always a partnership, is in that you know, there's no show without an audience. Everyone's important as each other
is becoming a finalist in the Awards made a difference for you in any way.
I'd certainly put it on my CV and proudly display my certificate. It is great to be acknowledged it's. It's a lovely thing.
You're so right and a big shout out to the School of Education at Curtin Uni, have been long term partners of the Awards to promote and acknowledge the terrific work people like you, Helen are doing in regional WA and a shout out to Mr. Mctiernan and a director general Rolf Harris at the Department of primary industries and regional development that you were just talking about. You our major award partners in making these Awards possible and bringing the Awards to the people of regional WA. So important to acknowledge the brilliant work going on in the regions. And like all of us, you must feel the daily pressure build up from time to time. Helen, how do you stay motivated and keep energised?
Well, I'm very lucky. I have a small four legged child, my Children are old and have moved on, but I have my dog Leon, and we go to the beach twice a day. Every day. He keeps me going and always seeing those fresh faces every day. I've always been a busy person, but I do it for the kids. Yeah. That's where I
and walk along the beach is pretty special. Very supportive, and it's a beautiful part of the world. What's something quirky that we might not know about you?
I actually linked to the beach at the end of 2020. I had a round birthday starting with F and it wasn't 40 and I decided that I needed to do something special and I wasn't going to run a marathon. So I set myself the challenge to dip in the ocean every day of 2021 and I achieved that. In fact, I'm still going. So that's a special thing that I'm pretty excited to be able to keep up. And it has had a really great impact on general health, my mental health, and just keeping myself connected to the sea and staying healthy. And so that some it's
so cold in winter is the first thing in the morning or after School.
It's usually first thing in the morning. I have a photograph of me walking down with six degrees on my watch and one day in August I thought it's particularly cold. I chose not to find out the water temperature because it didn't make any difference. But in August, when my bones in my ankles and wrists were cold, I thought I'd check it. It was fourteen point one. So six degrees outside fourteen point one in, you know, it's only a few minutes. I'll go home and have a hot shower. It was still exhilarating and I still did it. The only other challenge was just trying to step over the seaweed. So we have some of the most pristine seagrass beds in the world in geographic Bay. And I hurt my knee because I hit a solid wall of seaweed, but I'm standing over a wave that was pretty tiny.
I'm not sure if that is a word, but it's fascinating. I take my hat off to you all through winter. Going for a dip when the water's 14 degrees, but it probably a very warm up if you stood there for a few minutes and six degrees, you probably thought 14 was
one. That's right. And when you get out, you don't actually feel that cold. It's quite bizarre.
And that is something I don't really believe, but my Oh my Oh, trust you on that. So what's next for Eileen and Nicholson?
Well, back into technology's teaching. I'll start on Thursday. I'm actually a curriculum support teacher for the Department. So I'm spending the first day and a half back at School presenting to other teachers on curriculum. But the most exciting thing next for me is I'm directing my fifth School musical. So I have 46 eager beaver this in year five and six at the School already signed up and ready to go. And we're doing a music theater international Shrek junior production in June. So just
really fitting that in so you're a woman of many talents. What do you think the world needs more of right now?
I think we need to continue to show kindness to others, and I think it's really important to have an attitude of gratitude every day. I think we have been in a serious bubble in the South West of Western Australia where I mean Western australia's got 24 covid cases today. And that's, that's the very beginning of it for us. So we've got no concept of what's been happening in your side of the world, so let's just be grateful and look after each other and
be yes in Melbourne. We're way down on what we were for a few too few days or weeks ago when we went above 30000 in a die. And we were not able to get to any of our wards not across the
country. You know, you missed us when
we were not wanted by anyone know, obviously very lonely and not only we were not wanted, we weren't even allowed out of our houses. Yeah. You know, it's not the story. You have no words of wisdom or encouragement for our listeners.
Oh, I think just always be the best that you can base. I think it's important to be a lifelong learner.
Yeah, I think that's very important. And that's our producer is a very good learner. It's something she doesn't know, she giggles or she studies, and next thing she knows. So I've been spoilt. I don't worry about learning anything. I tend to have a tender computer on. So I probably get past the first question of your first lesson for you ones. But it's probably not the stock. You know, it's another story as well. Where can our listeners connect with you online to find out more about you in the course of teaching?
I am a teacher. It's right on my Twitter handle is at Helenergy underscore 4. So late in July and the School for
what about LinkedIn, are you on LinkedIn as well?
I am on LinkedIn, so yes, they can look me up on LinkedIn. I'm not that active on that. As far as a technologist teacher, I'm a little bit naughty at social media. I do have a private Instagram account because I picture paints a thousand words, but I'm a bit busy. To be honest. It's
online. It's a reasonable excuse. I would have thought.
But I must say Twitter in the education sphere is an incredible resource. It's where you find out what's going on. First, especially when you link so I'm part of a wonderful chat called primary Stem chat, which is managed by West Australian. And that has a weekly conversation and it's a great opportunity to share Stem teaching and Learning and connect with like minded Stem teachers. I highly recommend that to
Helena, it's been a real pleasure talking with you a true community champion. You do so much, it does Dunsborough primary for your Children. You make a real difference, and I'm sure they're very thankful. We're very appreciative of what you do and of course, all teachers, we're very thankful that we can leave our kids in capable hands like yours. Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me and thank you again on behalf of your students, what we do.
It's a pleasure, thanks for choosing to chat with me.
It's been a real privilege. Well, I hope everybody's enjoyed my chat with Helena and now a little more in line, the passion of our teachers, and that there is much more taught in our schools besides reading, writing, and arithmetic. Until next week, be kind and keep inspiring because together we make a difference. Thank you so much.
I hope you enjoyed today's interview as much as I have. If it's lovely to subscribe to our podcast, you won't miss an episode. Join us each week as we talk with ordinary Australians, choosing extraordinary things. Did you know that Awards Australia is a family owned business that proudly makes a difference in the lives of those? Make a difference for others? And we thank our corporate not-for-profit partners to
making award programs possible. Do you know someone that's making a difference? Or maybe your business might like to sponsor an award. Contact us throughout Instagram page. Inspirational thought Australians will head to our website. Awards, Australia dot com would be great if you could share this site with your network. Because who doesn't like a good news story, and please write in with us. We would really love to hear your thoughts until next week. Stay safe. And remember together we make a difference.
#transcripts, Achievement, awards, Celebrate, Community, CSR, fulltranscripts, Good news, Leadership, Making a difference, Partnerships, Stories
Get to know Karyn French
I'll be the judge of that – Interview with Executive Judge Karyn French By Jenny...
The Handy Hint Guide to get your nomination from "Blah" to "Ta-da!"
So, you've just been nominated – now what do you do? Firstly, we want to...
Taylah King, inspiring and training the next generation of young chefs
In this week's episode, Josh is talking to Taylah King who was a Finalist...
Dravid Rao and Healthy George Town.
In this week's episode, Geoff is talking who is representing George Town Council,...
Ashley Watt, encouraging people to 'Shop Local'
In this week's episode, Geoff is talking to Ashley Watt from Why Leave...
Steffi Patience, author and mental health & suicide prevention advocate
In this week's episode, Stephanie Lenehan is talking to Steffi Patience who was a Winner...
Steve Pearce and the Glen Innes & District Historical Society
In this week's episode, Geoff is talking to Steve Pearce from the Glen...
Siobhan Wilson,13 year old founder of Our Pixie Friends, supporting children with medical conditions
In this week's episode, Geoff is talking to Siobhan Wilson who was a...
© 2023 Awards Australia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Petrology, I must admit, was never my favourite subject even though I had to do quite a bit of it during my time as a student. Even my Honours project had a petrological component. An important tool for the classification of igneous rocks is the QAPF diagram which forms the basis of the IUGS classification of igneous rocks (Le Bas and Streckeisen, 1991). It was interesting to go back to this original publication to read about the considerations that led to the adoption of the classification schema. The general principles are solid science. In some of the finer points, however, it becomes apparent that this classification schema comes from the pre-digital age.
"One of the merits of the TAS system is that the boundaries are definitive although they could be criticized as over simplistic. Definitive boundaries remove the ambiguity in naming a rock which plots near a boundary between two adjacent rock types. The simple boundaries of the TAS system also enable the classification to be constructed in a few minutes by pencil and ruler"
Furthermore, the TAS classification system only takes into account the sum of Na2O + K2O over SiO2 and does not account for any other major elements even though such classification systems had already been proposed (e.g. De La Roche et al. 1980).
"[It] was not adopted, partly because the two cation per mil parameters were difficult to calculate without electronic assistance"
"The most common interpretations made by geologists are petrogenetical, but there could also be aesthetic considerations."
Robert Huber, Jess Robertson and myself (JK) have started to look more closely at the classification of igneous rocks in the dawning age of data intensive research in the geosciences. Watch this blog for more on this subject.
Thank you to Jess Robertson for pointing out this gem.
De la Roche, H., J. Leterrier, P. Grandclaude, and M. Marchal (1980), A classification of volcanic and plutonic rocks using R1R2-diagram and major-element analyses — Its relationships with current nomenclature, Chemical Geology, 29(1–4), 183–210, doi:10.1016/0009-2541(80)90020-0.


text:
Q: Save Data Using Javascript Here I have a popup window with table having 3 columns of Text Area and Dropdown1 and Dropdown2. Here user will enter the input data into text area and user will select the dropdown index values. And here One "SAVE" button is in popup window. After entering data and selecting dropdown options user needs to save this data in server.
Java script is for saving the data.

**Button code**

    <button runat="server" id="savefile" class="btn btn-primary" onclick="savaasfile()" >Save </button>

After entering the data and while trying to save the data it is not performing anything. And it is closing automatically. While debugging the code it is saying like "no element found". What's wrong in the above code. What changes I have to make.
This is HTML code for Table and pop up window

                                Index Position
                                Type of Scrambler
                                Scrambling Required

                                    <textarea class="form-control" id="textdata"></textarea>	// input area

                                        <asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownList2" runat="server" CssClass="selectpicker"> //dropdown index
                                            <asp:ListItem Text="Alpha-Numeric Scramble" />
                                            <asp:ListItem Text="Packed-Decimal Scramble" />
                                            <asp:ListItem Text="Date-Time Scrambler" />
                                        </asp:DropDownList>

 //dropdown index
                                        <asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownList1" runat="server" CssClass="selectpicker">
                                            <asp:ListItem Text="Yes" />
                                            <asp:ListItem Text="No" />
                                        </asp:DropDownList>

                    <button runat="server" id="savefile" class="btn btn-primary" onclick="savaasfile()" >Save </button>

Here is the full code of Modal popup window with having table with text area and 2 dropdown indexes. And it is having "Save" button. Here user will enter the data. That data need to store in the given path.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Nice job figuring this out and sharing. Thanks!
Can anyone comment how reactive it is? any lags ?
1) Input lag on this monitor is about 20+ ms, was long time ago when I played FPS, it's more than plenty for sim racing but requirements are different.
2) The monitor does not do 120Hz at 1080p w/o skipping frames. I am not aware of any 40"+ 4K monitors that support that currently.
Below are supported resolutions and refresh rates on this monitor. This is from manual, although 60Hz 4K HDMI1 is probably just a typo, spec does not support that.
This post is awesome, thanks ricky. I didn't even know EDID emulation was a thing - some years ago, when 720p HDTVs first arrived on the market, there were all kinds of issues using some models with computers, because they held incorrect EDID information.
I care. If you don't care, then that's fine - the rest of the thread doesn't need to know.
if that were true, than you'd already know that any resolution >60Hz will skip frames on all 4K panels, so few here bother with over clocking.
1080p will only run at 60Hz on the UHD420.
I play Battlefield 4, and it runs great - there's no noticeable lag.
I've had good results with using the "Super Resolution" setting in the monitor's menu to sharpen the 1080p image. The default of "OFF" is very blurry - but switch to "Medium" and you'll find that 1080p looks pretty good.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be a "per resolution" setting - so once you switch back to the Windows Desktop at 4K, you'll want to switch it off again otherwise it degrades the image quality.
Thought I'd ask over here too if any UHD420 owner has observed any flickering.
I'm trying to see if it's a monitor defect or just bad quality control for the average monitor.
Don't remember reading any. Someone reported some short period of signal instability after sleep but that could be GPU or driver, I haven't seen even this on mine.


Fred not enough: Man United now need to sign £54m-rated master to complete midfield | The Transfer Tavern | Where football transfer rumours fly or die!
The Manchester United fans in and around the Transfer Tavern are excited to see what the future holds for the club having secured two impressive early signings.
The Red Devils look as if they mean business this season, having captured Dalot and Fred during this transfer window already, identifying weaknesses and then building on them. That progression needs to continue this summer if they stand any chance of competing with Manchester City and one player who they could bring in would instantly reduce the gulf in class between the two sides. Thiago of Bayern Munich, (who is valued at £54 million on Transfermarkt) would be a huge statement ahead of the new campaign with the Spaniard possessing undeniable quality that could create a formidable midfield full of determination, skills and goal-threat with him next to Pogba and Matic.
The 27-year-old endured a frustrating season with the German champions, due to only making 19 league appearances, where he managed to contribute 2 goals and 2 assists. Having been unfortunate with injuries, Thiago will hope to make amends by showcasing his ability at the World Cup with Spain this summer.
Thiago is a dynamic midfielder, packed full of skills and trickery to beat an opponent and then is capable of firing a shot into the back of the net, something he is familiar with doing since his arrival in Germany in 2013. With the wanted addition of Thiago in Manchester United's midfield alongside numerous amounts of talent such as Paul Pogba, new signing Fred and Nemanja Matic, the Red Devils would easily have the greatest superiority in midfield and could be a real threat to Man City's title defence.


Premium Li Son High MT Oolong Tea - TR TEA, LLC.
Click the button below to add the Premium Li Son High MT Oolong Tea to your wish list.
Picked by hand from five thousand feet and above mountain in Taiwan, Li Son region in Ali Son, the tea receives moistures from morning and evening without any use of pesticide, the Premium Li Son High MT Oolong Tea has a very vibrant, light and fresh taste.


text:
MÅNESKIN RELEASE NEW SINGLE "GOSSIP" FEATURING TOM MORELLO
January 13, 2023 Amanda WilligMåneskin, Music
Today, globally skyrocketing rock band Måneskin have released their new single 'Gossip' featuring the Tom Morello (of Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band and more) Watch HERE.
Fierce with a rapid, infectious and hammering guitar hook, Måneskin's latest offering continues to reaffirm their status as a genuine force in rock'n'roll. The single is taken from their upcoming album RUSH! Set for release next week on January 20. The album is available to pre-order/save HERE.
Discussing working with Tom Morello on the forthcoming new single, the band say:
"Tom Morello's enormous experience allowed us to take cues on how to work on tracks without overthinking. We can't thank him enough for joining us on this track. It's an honour for the whole band!"
– Damiano
"Tom Morello brought some Rage to Måneskin!" – Ethan
"Tom is one of the greatest musicians that I've always listened to and learned from. Playing with him is a dream come true. It's an enormous gift and a personal highlight of this incredible year" – Thomas
"The song originated from a riff which Thomas had written some time ago and which we had been holding onto for a long time which we kept developing. Then the icon Tom Morello joined and brought something extra to the classic uptempo Måneskin cheerfulness." – Vic
In More News, Måneskin Just Received 2023 iHeartRadio Music Award Nominations For Best Duo/Group of the Year & Alternative Artist of the Year!
-Last Year's Award Ceremony Saw The Breakout Band WIN For Best New Alternative Artist.
MÅNESKIN Will Next Return To The United States In Late January For Promotional Appearances In Conjunction With The Release of "RUSH!"
And To Attend The GRAMMY Awards As A Nominee For BEST NEW ARTIST
ABOUT MÅNESKIN
"A Genuine Force… rejuvenating rock 'n' roll for the younger generation," MÅNESKIN is a critically acclaimed four-piece-rock band that began busking on the streets of Rome as teenagers, and now just a few years later, are a razor tight group of captivating musicians widely hailed for being at the forefront of driving a worldwide resurgence of Rock music. The band has 320 certifications, including 48 Gold, 253 Platinum, and 18 Diamond. The past year has seen the band reach over 7 BILLION streams, while surging to #1 in numerous countries and across the Global charts of multiple digital platforms (including the #2 TikTok song of 2021). The band's meteoric rise has continued straight into 2022, as they performed on Saturday Night Live, were hailed by The Los Angeles Times as "America's New Favorite Rock Band,", won Best Alternative Video at the VMAs, Top Rock Song at Billboard Music Awards, Best New Alternative Artist at iHeart Radio Music Awards, various wins at National award shows in Japan, Spain, Poland, Hungary, and Finland, as well as over 19 nominations globally including the Brit Awards, NME Awards, Kerrang Awards, Swiss Music Awards, and more. They are also the first Italian artist to have won the "Best Rock" award at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2021. This summer has seen MÅNESKIN contribute a distinctive rendition of "If I Can Dream" for ELVIS, the major motion picture and #1 charting soundtrack. Their Max Martin produced single "SUPERMODEL" has recently surpassed 238 Million global streams, appeared in the Top 20 APC in 17 countries, and remained #1 on the Billboard Alternative chart for 5 consecutive weeks. The band continue to re-affirm their triumphant status in 2023, with their recent Grammy Award Nomination for Best New Artist and AMA Award for Favourite Rock Song. Simultaneously, the band's reputation as the leading new generation MUST-SEE LIVE rock act builds each and every time they take the stage. The band have been dominating the TikTok – Instagram – Facebook – Twitter – YouTube – Spotify – Apple Music –
Tags: Måneskin, Music Promotion, Music Video, rock, Tom Morello
Sleigh Bells free download on FUSE!
March 8, 2011 roylamanna
Justin Bieber "Pray" video reaches over 26 million views!
Hands Like Houses Debuts Video On Revolver
August 28, 2012 Christian


Think you've got the guidelines straight for pregnant women's fish consumption? Think again.
Thursday, the Washington Post announced yet another panel of experts who offered yet another set of guidelines for fish consumption -- targeting pregnant and breast-feeding women and young children.
Now, according to the new guidelines, this vulnerable group is supposed to eat at least 12 ounces of seafood every day. This breaks from the Food and Drug Administration guidelines issued in 2001 and again in 2004 that pregnant women et al. eat no more than 12 ounces of fish a week because of worries about rising mercury exposure. Since then scientists and different government bodies have quibbled with such limitations. A Lancet study suggested that at age 8 the children of U.S. women who stayed within the FDA recommendations during pregnancy had lower IQs and more behavioral issues than the children of women who ate more than 12 ounces a week. The new pro-fish guidelines come from the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition -- which includes the American Academy of Pediatrics and the March of Dimes, as well as federal agencies like the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They cite studies that a lack of omega-3 fatty acids (the superfood found in fish) is associated with premature birth and postnatal depression.
Others make you both insane.
But mercury makes it oh so chancy.
Toxins congregate in kidneys and livers.
If tempted to forswear all but Spam.
Until your burp-backs make friends recoil.
For those who'd prefer an unrhyming assessment of the fish-eating conundrum, paddle over here.


text:
Q: Linux/Unix command to check when a file was renamed Is there a specific Unix/Linux command that would show when a file was renamed? I have a file in a Linux box and want to know when the file got renamed. I tried ls -ltr but that command only shows the date when it was created and not when it was last modified.
Is there a specific Unix/Linux command to do this?

A: The behaviour is going to depend on the file system type.  On classic Unix file systems (and, amongst others, the Mac OS X HFS file system in particular), the interesting thing about a file rename within a file system is that it does not affect the inode of the file at all; it only affects the directory (or directories) where the file was moved from/to.  So, within a single file system, the only timestamps that change for a rename are the modify time of the directory holding the file.  For example*:
$ fl -a -c -m -n xxx.pl
2013-07-17 16:17:17 2013-07-17 16:17:17 2013-07-17 16:17:17 xxx.pl
$ mv xxx.pl yyy.pl
$ fl -a -c -m -n yyy.pl
2013-07-17 16:17:17 2013-07-17 16:17:17 2013-07-17 16:17:17 yyy.pl
$

This means that on such file systems, you cannot tell when the file was renamed some time after the file was renamed.
* fl is a home-brew command; the invocation is equivalent to the Mac OS X stat invocation stat -f '%Sa %Sm %Sc %N'.  This is only marginally related to the GNU/Linux stat command.
On the other hand, empirical evidence shows that a Linux ext4 file system does record the name change with a change of the modification time of the inode itself.
$ stat -c '%x %y %z %n' test.dat
2013-07-19 10:31:31.803842672 -0700 2013-07-19 10:31:31.803842672 -0700 2013-07-19 10:31:31.803842672 -0700 test.dat
$ mv test.dat test.data
$ stat -c '%x %y %z %n' test.data
2013-07-19 10:31:31.803842672 -0700 2013-07-19 10:31:31.803842672 -0700 2013-07-22 09:11:49.074339525 -0700 test.data
$

So, what you can do depends on the O/S on which you are running and which file system type your file is on.
If you have the inotify service available and running, you could record the event that is the file rename, but if you don't record the event, there is no 'post mortem' way to know when the file was renamed.
The modify time on the directory is not a good indication of when a specific file was changed; it changes whenever any file is created, moved, deleted.  If there's only a single file in the directory, then the change time probably indicates when that file was created or renamed, but single file directories are the exception and not the rule.

A: You can use the inotify library (man page) to be notified when something happens on a file.
It's likely that there are bindings to scripting languages.

A: You can use
stat filename

Check Access when it was last read.
Check Modify when it was updated.
Check Change if it was renamed.
Plus other file info like blocks, inodes, etc.

A: On AIX, you can use equivalent of "stat" -

istat filename

You should be able to know the file's last updated, modified and accessed time  down to the seconds along with some more information.


text:
the scenes
Ryan Pratzel
Ryan is Creative Liquid's founder and chief creative. He holds a BS in Journalism from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Prior to Creative Liquid, he spent a decade working in news at television stations in Ohio, Indiana, Maryland and Washington, DC. In his spare time Ryan is often hanging out with his dogs and volunteering for Lucky Dog Animal Rescue.
Trevor Johnson
Trevor oversees all of our technical operations, including internal infrastructure, IT customer projects & applications and streaming services. He earned his B.A. in International Relations with a minor in Chinese studies from the University of Redlands, in Redlands CA. His background is in Web and Application development (focus on opensource, XAMP) and IT project management in commercial and federal environments. He loves gadgets, and is passionate about accessibility and end user experience.
Julia Cowell
Producer & Post Manager
Julia is a producer and the post-production manager in the office, which is the technical way of saying she's here to take care of your project from beginning to end. She graduated from George Mason University in Virginia with a BA in Communications, concentrating in Media Production and Criticism. Her background includes both production and editing, as well as working for two local television stations. She enjoys playing guitar and learning about new graphic design techniques.
Nick Lewis
Nick is the Editor/Production Specialist for Creative Liquid. He graduated George Mason University with a BA in Film & Video Studies, concentrating in production. Prior to Creative Liquid, Nick was an editor and video creator specializing in corporate work in and around DC. When Nick isn't editing for work or for passion, he enjoys listening to hip hop and watching indie films.
Rebecca Castaneda
Rebecca is the assistant editor for Creative Liquid. She earned her M.A. in Film and Media Arts at American University. She has spent most of her career doing post production work for both narrative and documentary filmmaking. While not editing she enjoys photography, baking and a good ghost story!


text:
Do commercial airlines have procedures for evacuating pets from the cabin in an emergency?
I recently got into an offsite discussion about flying with pets in the cabin and what would happen in an emergency on board. I brought up the fact that United Airlines' pet policy states, "In the event of an emergency, oxygen service will not be available for pets." Southwest has a similar phrase in their pet policy, though I couldn't find anything similar in American Airlines' or Delta's pet policies.
Beyond oxygen service, I was arguing that if an evacuation took place, I wasn't aware of any procedures for getting a carryon pet evacuated safely. I said that the human lives of the other passengers on board would take precedence over a pet. To my knowledge, pets in carriers are essentially treated as a carryon bags in the cabin. I also hypothesized that letting a pet out during an emergency could be extremely dangerous and would likely invoke the ire of the crew, if not get you into legal trouble.
TL/DR: The discussion left me wondering are there actually any procedures for getting carryon pets out of the cabin in an emergency? This is mostly directed at pets that would be in a small kennel and stowed for the duration of the flight under the seat in front of you as a personal item. Are they considered carryon luggage, which should then remain stowed (as awful as that sounds), or treated like infants? Have there been instances of serious accidents where carryon pets were also evacuated in the past?
commercial-aviation emergency-procedures evacuation
Curious_Flyer
Curious_FlyerCurious_Flyer
$\begingroup$ I found AC120-32 that says blind people should evacuate with their guide dogs. That's an advisory circular, not a regulation per se. Also are you interested in pets carried in the cargo hold? Like larger breed dogs? If so, feel free to add that into the question. $\endgroup$ – ymb1 Mar 15 '18 at 19:53
$\begingroup$ I'm more interested in animals that aren't service animals, since I know that service animals are governed by different regulations. Cargo hold didn't come up in the discussion, so I'm mostly curiously about pets brought aboard in a small carrier and stowed as the personal item under the seat in front of you. $\endgroup$ – Curious_Flyer Mar 15 '18 at 20:22
There are no policies because pets are technically cargo/baggage as you note in the question, and treated as such. In other words in case of an emergency evacuating the passengers is a priority and as you would be instructed to leave your baggage behind you would more than likely be instructed to leave any pets behind.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allows each airline to decide if they will allow you to travel with your pet in the passenger cabin. If an airline does allow you to bring your pet into the cabin, we consider your pet container to be carry-on baggage and you must follow all carry on baggage rules (14 CFR part 121, section 121.589)
The exception to this is service animals which are not treated as pets.
Service animals are not pets. They are working animals that assist persons with disabilities.
NOTE: For the answer, scroll down to the bottom of the comment
Loss of pressurisation is a potentially serious emergency in an aircraft flying at the normal cruising altitude for most jet passenger aircraft. Loss of cabin pressure, or depressurisation, is normally classified as explosive, rapid, or gradual based on the time interval over which cabin pressure is lost.
The cabins of modern passenger aircraft are pressurised in order to create an environment which is physiologically suitable for humans (Aircraft Pressurisation Systems). Maintaining a pressure difference between the outside and the inside of the aircraft places stress on the structure of the aircraft. The higher the aircraft flies, the higher the pressure differential that needs to be maintained and the higher the stress on the aircraft structure. A compromise between structural design and physiological need is achieved on most aircraft by maintaining a maximum cabin altitude of 8,000 ft.
The composition of atmospheric air remains constant as air pressure reduces with increasing in altitude and since the partial pressure of oxygen also reduces, the absolute amount of oxygen available also reduces. The reduction in air pressure reduces the flow of oxygen across lung tissue and into the human bloodstream. A significant reduction in the normal concentration of oxygen in the bloodstream is called Hypoxia.
The degree to which an individual's performance is affected by lack of oxygen varies depending on the altitude of the aircraft, and on personal factors such as the general health of the person and whether he/she is a smoker. Below 10,000 ft, the reduced levels of oxygen are considered to have little effect on aircrew and healthy passengers but above that, the effect becomes progressively more pronounced. Above 20,000 ft, lack of oxygen leads to loss of intellectual ability followed by unconsciousness and eventually respiratory and heart failure. When suddenly deprived of normal levels of oxygen, estimates of the Time of Useful Consciousness are a pertinent guide - at 35,000 ft it is less than one minute. See the separate article on Hypoxia for more detailed information.
Note that some military flights may involve deliberate depressurization at high altitude for the purpose of dropping troops or equipment by parachute. Such flights are normally conducted in accordance with specific special procedures.
(From: SKYBRARY.AERO)
Four points must be done at this time - Fasten seat belt - Use of supplementary oxygen mask - Stay on oxygen until further advised - No smoking
Commercial airlines do not have procedure for any type of pet that is brought on the aircraft. My advice would be to not bring a pet and in the case of emergency bring you're own oxygen bottle or oxygen bag to use in the unlikely case of emergency.
FallenUserFallenUser
$\begingroup$ This addresses oxygen, but the question is not about oxygen - it's about evacuation. $\endgroup$ – Nate Eldredge Mar 17 '18 at 3:04
$\begingroup$ Is there anywhere that would allow you to bring your own oxygen bottle even if you had one? Cylinders of compressed gas are not permitted in the US, and likely elsewhere for hazmat reasons. Some airlines might allow portable oxygen concentrators, but those are meant for humans during normal flight, not pets during emergencies. $\endgroup$ – Zach Lipton Mar 17 '18 at 6:58
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged commercial-aviation emergency-procedures evacuation or ask your own question.
Why is C-5 Galaxy not used for commercial airlines while Boeng 747 is?
Does the Airbus A350 have an Automatic Emergency Descent System?
What fundamental differences separate low-budget airlines from traditional airlines?
How long have commercial aircraft been continuously in the sky?
Why isn't the application of "carb heat" in initial piston multi-engine failure emergency procedures?
Why aren't passengers trained and evaluated for operating emergency exits in commercial aircraft?
Does the crew have a professionally mandated responsibility to inform passengers of a potentially fatal emergency?
What were the Concorde's emergency procedures for an uncommanded droop-nose extension in flight?
Who operates delivery flights for commercial airlines?


Since the introduction of biomolecular testing for the identification of high-risk human papillomavirus DNA (hrHPV-DNA) in cervical cancer preventive strategies, many interesting aspects have emerged in this field; firstly, HPV-DNA testing has been demonstrated to have better sensitivity than conventional cytology in several settings: screening, triage of ASC-US and in follow-up after treatment. Despite this, some limitations of these new technologies have also been underlined: the major issue is the low specificity of the tests, which cannot discriminate between regressive and progressive infections. Thus, recent research has moved the attention towards novel markers of progression that could more precisely detect cases at real risk of cancer development. In view of the fact that progression to cancer is dependable of the E6/E7 proteins integration and transforming action, the overexpression of E6/E7 transcripts has been seen as a valuable marker of this risk. This review aims to summarise the literature data on this topic and to provide a clear view of the emerging perspectives.
To reduce morbidity and mortality caused by cervical cancer, in the past 40 years, most developed countries have introduced cervical screening programmes based on cytological examination of cervical smears (Pap test). However, cervical cytology demonstrated a less than optimal sensitivity, and advances in the knowledge of the natural history of the disease have more recently suggested alternative approaches. Persistent infection with high-risk genotypes of the human papillomavirus (hrHPV) has been recognised as the necessary cause of cervical cancer . This led initially to the adoption of molecular tests evaluating hrHPV-DNA presence for the triage of minimally abnormal Pap smears. More recently, evidence has accumulated which implies that a significant improvement of the effectiveness of cervical cancer screening can be achieved by using hrHPV-DNA testing as a primary screening tool. As a matter of fact, hrHPV-DNA testing has a better sensitivity for clinically relevant cervical lesions (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2 or worse, CIN2+) than cytology. Moreover, molecular testing proved to offer better protection against high-grade CIN and cancer than cytology in subsequent screening rounds, allowing extension of the screening intervals with favourable logistic and economic implications. Nonetheless, hrHPV infections are rather common in the general population and most of them are transient, spontaneously regressing in a 18–24 months' period. In fact, the positive predictive value (PPV) of a positive hrHPV-DNA test is rather low (i.e., only a small proportion of the women who test positive for high-risk HPV-DNA will have CIN2+ lesions at the time of the test or will develop it in the next few years), and up to 10% of the screened population test positive and will consequently need some form of second-level triage. The research effort has therefore been focused on potentially alternative or supplementary testing methods capable to limit unnecessary follow-up procedures of women with clinically not relevant, transient hrHPV infections. So far, most of the national guidelines on cervical cancer prevention consider reflex cytology (i.e., the lecture of the cytological sample collected at the time of primary HPV-DNA testing but stored and not initially evaluated) a valuable triage tool for hrHPV-DNA-positive women. Nevertheless, up to 8% of hrHPV-positive women with normal cytology have or will develop in the subsequent years a CIN2+ lesion, and the previous knowledge of HPV-DNA status might influence the subjective reading of cytology. Therefore, there is a strong need for biomarkers that will allow risk-stratification of HPV-positive women with normal cytology or, alternatively, capable of replacing cytology as a triage tool. Considering that the progression to cervical malignancy requires the overexpression of the E6 and E7 genes of the integrated hrHPV genome, demonstration in cervical samples of hrHPV E6/E7 transcripts might be more specific than hrHPV-DNA testing alone for the detection of CIN2+ lesions. Nowadays, transcript analysis is feasible on cervical scrapings, because the introduction of liquid-based cytology has resulted in collection media that preserve RNA sufficiently to allow in vitro amplification and detection.
Currently, three commercial tests exist for detecting hrHPV E6/E7 messenger RNA (mRNA). The PreTect HPV-Proofer (NorChip AS, Klokkarstua, Norway) and the NucliSENS Easy Q HPV (bioMérieux) are based on the same technology, but are produced by different companies, with small differences in mRNA extraction protocol and data analysis . These tests are nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA). The assay is an isothermal, RNA real-time amplification method that detects E6/E7 mRNA and perform genotyping of the five more oncogenic hrHPV types (16, 18, 31, 33, and 45) . The NASBA amplification is based on primer extension and transcription by coordinated activities of three enzymes (RNase H, reverse transcriptase and RNA polymerase). The amplification reaction is isothermal and performs at 41°C; due to this relatively low temperature, contaminating DNA cannot be amplified. Real-time detection using molecular beacons is based on the measurement of the time-related detection of increase in a fluorescent signal. This signal is produced only after specific binding of the molecular beacon to an amplicon (specific HPV mRNA) (figure 1). The measurement is performed in combination with the amplification step (real time) . Both tests received the CE-IVD mark. (figure 1) The APTIMA HPV Assay (Hologic, San Diego, CA) is a target amplification nucleic acid probe test for the qualitative detection of E6/E7 viral mRNA from 14 hrHPV types (16/18/31/33/35/39/45/51/52/56/58/59/66/68). The assay involves three main events in a single tube: target capture, target amplification by transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) and detection of the amplification products. TMA is a transcription-based nucleic acid amplification method that involves two enzymes, reverse transcriptase and RNA polymerase (figure 2). The reverse transcriptase is used to generate a DNA copy of the target mRNA sequence containing a promoter sequence for RNA polymerase. RNA polymerase produces multiple copies of RNA amplicon from the DNA copy template . The detection of the amplicons is performed by the hybridisation protection assay (HPA) using single-stranded nucleic acid probes with chemiluminescent labels that are specifically complementary to the target amplicons. The selection reagent differentiates between hybridised and unhybridised probes by inactivating the label on the unhybridised probes. During the detection step, light emitted from the labelled RNA/DNA hybrids is measured as photon signals in a luminometre and are reported as relative light units (RLU) . APTIMA assay could also perform genotyping for HPV 16 single and 18-45 in pool but requires a separate APTIMA 16, 18/45 genotype assay. The APTIMA HPV assay is a FDA and CE-IVD approved test.
Figure 1. The NASBA RNA amplification technology.
Figure 2. The TMA RNA amplification technology.
In 2009, a group of researchers from Catholic University, Rome, published their findings on 180 colposcopically and histologically evaluated women, studied for the presence of HPV-DNA (HC II) and mRNA (NucliSENSE) . As expected, fewer women tested positive for mRNA transcripts than hrHPV-DNA, and there was a fairly good correlation between the degree of positivity and the severity of the lesion. DNA from hrHPVs was found in 57.8% of the specimens; E6 and E7 transcripts were found in 45%. The rates of detection of HPV-DNA and of E6 and E7 transcripts were 33.3% and 25%, respectively, for specimens with normal findings; 51.4% and 31.9%, respectively, for specimens with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 1 (CIN1); and 61.1% and 44.2% for specimens with CIN2, respectively. All specimens with CIN3 and 95.5% of specimens from patients with squamous cell carcinoma were positive by both assays. Overall, the mRNA tests showed a better specificity than the DNA tests for high-grade lesions (72.7% and 56.2%, respectively) and a higher positive predictive value (59.3% and 49.0%, respectively). The authors suggested that mRNA assays could be more powerful than DNA testing for predicting the risk of progression and offer a strong potential as a tool for triage and patient follow-up. In 2011, Burger from Norway performed a systematic review to determine the test performance of HPV mRNA testing compared to DNA testing using CIN2+ as the target condition . The reference standard used to diagnose precancerous lesions was histologically confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2+ (CIN2+). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios and diagnostic odds ratios were evaluated for each study. The included studies (11 of 3271 publications) were of varying methodological quality and predominately performed in a secondary screening setting. Eight studies investigated the performance of the PreTect HPV-Proofer/NucliSENS EasyQ, two studies investigated the performance of the APTIMA assay, and one study investigated both mRNA tests on the same patient samples (Table 1). Due to few studies and considerable clinical heterogeneity, pooling of data was not possible; the authors, however, compiled a 'best evidence synthesis' for E6/E7 mRNA HPV testing. Sensitivities ranged from 0.41 to 0.86 and from 0.90 to 0.95 for the PreTect HPV-Proofer/Easy Q and APTIMA assay, respectively. Specificities ranged from 0.63 to 0.97 and from 0.42 to 0.61 for the PreTect HPV-Proofer/Easy Q and APTIMA assay, respectively. The SROC curves for both mRNA tests were to the left of the diagonal, and the APTIMA assay performed closest to the DNA tests. The authors concluded that mRNA tests have diagnostic relevance, but additional studies and economic evaluations have to be performed in order to make a solid conclusion regarding the clinical applicability of HPV mRNA testing. In 2012, Monsonego published the results from the FASE Study (French APTIMA screening evaluation), a multicentre trial involving 5,000 French women designed to assess the performance of APTIMA HPV assay (AHPV), hybrid capture 2 (HC2), in-house PCR genotyping, and ThinPrep LBC in population-based screening . AHPV had the highest absolute risk of both histological endpoints, detecting 5% to 15% more CIN3+ and CIN2+ lesions, respectively, than LBC. Compared to the HC2 assay, the relative risk of AHPV positivity was 24% to 29% higher, with a significant difference in CIN2+ detection. With LBC as reference, AHPV had the best sensitivity/specificity balance measured by AUC (area under ROC curve) comparison test (significant for CIN2+), and the colposcopy referral rate (9.2%) comparable to that of LBC (8.7%). Data from the FASE study corroborate the suitability of AHPV in a primary cervical cancer screening. Several studies have investigated the PreTect HPV-Proofer assay on biopsy and cervical scraping samples and showed that the ratio of hrHPV E6/E7 mRNA positivity to hrHPV-DNA positivity increased along with the histological severity of dysplasia. This suggests a higher specificity of this mRNA assay for high-grade cervical lesions compared to HPV-DNA assays . In a recent study by Rijkaart , 375 women among 13.401 women participating in a population-based cervical cancer screening programme in the Netherlands were stratified for CIN2+ risk according their hrHPV E6/E7 mRNA status. Study populations included 202 women with normal cytology, 88 with borderline or mild dyskaryosis (BMD) and 85 with moderate dyskaryosis or worse (>BMD); all of the women tested positive for hrHPV-DNA by the GP5+/6+ PCR assay used in the screening programme. A positive mRNA test result conferred an increased CIN2+ risk in hrHPV-DNA-positive women with normal cytology (0.55, 95% CI: 0.34–0.76) versus 0.20 (95% CI: 0.07–0.33) in mRNA-negative women. In hrHPV-DNA-positive women with BMD or >BMD, the result of the mRNA test did not influence the CIN2+ risk. Therefore, the authors concluded that mRNA testing by PreTect HPV-Proofer might be of value to select hrHPVDNA- positive women with normal cytology at an increased risk and therefore requiring immediate referral to colposcopy. A very recent study from Korea evaluated in a series of 337 ThinPrep samples a commercial diagnostic kit targeting a HPV E6/E7 mRNA based on RTqPCR assay and reported 91% sensitivity and 98.6% specificity for CIN2+ cervical lesions . The overall positive rates of the HPV E6/ E7 mRNA RT-qPCR assay were 100% (24/24), 86% (38/44), 100% (7/7), 37% (10/27), 15% (5/32), and 1% (3/203) in SCC, HSIL, ASC-H, LSIL, ASC-US, and normal samples, respectively. The tested kit showed a remarkably higher sensitivity (91 vs. 41%) compared to the realtime NASBA assay, considered in the study as the reference standard. The tested assay showed also a better correlation between rate of positivity and severity of the cytological lesion and stressed the possible relevance of mRNA detection assays in the clinical management of women screened for cervical cancer precursors. In the discussion section, however, the authors underlined that the poor performance of the NASBA assay could be related to a series of technical limitations due to the adopted method of RNA extraction and amplification and stressed the importance of larger studies evaluating a more representative patient population as well as the importance of taking into account geographical differences, due to variable HPV genotypes prevalence in cervical cancer specimens. In summary, the performance in terms of sensitivity/specificity of the 5 hrHPV mRNA tests (PreTect HPV-Proofer and NucliSENS EasyQ HPV) cannot be pooled with the 14-h HPV mRNA test APTIMA. The APTIMA test is more similar to HPV DNA test like Hybrid Capture 2 regarding sensitivity and specificity, while the five genotype HPV E6/E7 mRNA tests have much higher specificity than the APTIMA assay [12, 13].
Table 1. Performance of E6/E7 HPV mRNA and DNA tests.
HPV-DNA tests have low specificity and a high positivity rate in LSILs, making HPV-DNA test not particularly useful in triage of LSIL. The 14 genotype APTIMA test and especially the five genotype HPV E6/E7 mRNA tests have higher specificity and a low positivity rate in LSIL. A low positivity rate translates into a low referral rate for colposcopy, which is very appealing for triage situations [13–16]. Women with minor cervical lesions have a small but significantly increased risk of developing cervical cancer compared to women with normal smears. The purpose of triage is to identify women needing further follow-up by colposcopy and biopsy to detect high grade cervical dysplasia or cancer (CIN2+). In cases of atypical squamous cell of undetermined significance (ASC-US), it is now widely recognised that triage with an HPV-DNA test is more sensitive, but less specific than repeat cytology [17, 18]. For low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), however, recommendations regarding the best triage method are conflicting and vary from repeat cytology, HPV testing or direct referral to colposcopy [19, 20]. Meta-analyses indicate that triage of LSIL with a high-risk HPV DNA test is not more sensitive and substantially less specific than repeat cytology [15, 16]. In some studies, HPV-based triage of LSIL in women older than 30–35 years has been suggested [21, 22], but other studies have not confirmed this [23, 24]. Defining the best strategy to triage LSIL lesions is, therefore, identified as a priority for research . In a Norwegian study of 522 women with LSIL, 207 had biopsies and 125 of them had CIN2+. The sensitivity and specificity of repeat cytology (ASC-US or worse) were 85.7% (95% (CI): 72.1, 92.2) and 54.4 % (95% CI: 46.9, 61.9), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the HPV mRNA test were 94.2% (95% CI: 88.7, 99.7) and 86.0% (95% CI: 81.5, 90.5), respectively. The PPV of repeated cytology was 38.4% (95% CI: 29.9, 46.9) compared to 67.0% (95% CI: 57.7, 76.4) of the HPV mRNA test. In conclusion, five genotype HPV E6/E7 mRNA testings were more sensitive and specific than repeated cytology in triage of women with LSIL cytology. In addition, the HPV mRNA test showed higher PPV. These data indicate that the HPV mRNA test is a better triage test for women with LSIL than repeated cytology [15, 16]. In a meta-analysis by Arbyn, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of APTIMA to triage LSIL were 96.7% (95% CI: 91.4–98.9%) and 38.7% (95% CI: 30.5–47.6%) for CIN3+. APTIMA was as sensitive as HC2 but more specific (ratio: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.11–1.66). In both triage of ASC-US and LSIL, APTIMA is as sensitive but more specific than HC2 for detecting cervical pre-cancer . In follow-up of patients with negative colposcopy/negative cervical histology, the five genotype HPV E6/E7 mRNA tests have a higher specificity and a higher PPV for CIN2+ than repeated cytology, suggesting a 'test and treat' approach for HPV mRNA-testing in women above 40 years . In clinical studies, histology is used as a gold standard for detecting CIN2+. Unfortunately, colposcopy does not have optimal sensitivity for CIN2+. The National Health Service Cervical Screening Programme (NHSCSP) Guidelines for Colposcopy and Programme Management, which guides British practice, asks for evidence of a colposcopic accuracy of 65% . Zuchna, reported 66.2% sensitivity of CIN2+ when up to three guided cervical biopsies were taken regarded as a diagnostic test with the cone specimen as reference standard . Using digitised cervical images from 919 women referred for equivocal or minor cytologic abnormalities into the ASCUS-LSIL Triage Study, Massad, reported 39% sensitivity for CIN2+ . Hence, all women with negative colposcopy and biopsies after abnormal cytology and/or HPV testing have to be followed.
Women conservatively treated for CIN2–3 lesions are considered at high risk of developing invasive carcinoma for many years, and therefore, they require continued surveillance. In particular, between 5% and 20% of women treated for CIN2+ will develop recurrent disease within 3 years . For this reason, an adequate follow-up is mandatory. Currently, despite the now perceived low sensitivity, Pap test is widely used in the follow-up of patients treated for intraepithelial neoplasia and European guidelines for cervical screening policy recommend 6-, 12- and 24-month cytology after CIN treatment [31, 32]. Observational studies demonstrated that HPV-DNA testing has a significant higher efficacy compared to cytology in predicting persistent disease or relapse, and hence, the detection of a persistent infection with hrHPV genotypes has the potential to improve patient management. In point of fact hrHPV-DNA testing is significantly more sensitive (90%) compared with follow-up cytology (70%) [33, 34] and currently ASCCP recommends the use of HPV-DNA testing with cytology (co-testing) at 12 and 24 months following treatment for CIN2/3 . Actually, eradication of the clinical lesion does not necessarily mean eradication of all the infected tissue and up 40% of treated women still remains hr-HPV positive due to the fact that hrHPV-DNA testing does not distinguish between a persistent infection from a new, transient one [36, 37]. This is the reason why hrHPV-DNA testing owns a lower specificity than cytology in identifying relapse or persistent disease. Recent prospective studies have documented that rates of residual or recurrent disease in women with persistent hrHPV 16 and/or 18 are higher than in women with other hrHPV types, stressing the importance of type–specific genotyping determination after treatment for CIN2+ [38–40]. As hrHPV-genotyping assays have become increasingly utilised in clinical practice, further research will be needed to determine whether type-specific HPV results can improve the identification of women most likely at higher risk of developing cervical disease after treatment. A recent systematic review highlights that new HPV infections are a potential source for future disease risk after treatment for cervical pre-cancer and cancer . More recently, it has been suggested that the oncogene activity by hr-mRNA transcripts  may be a better indicator of women at risk of persistence or relapse of the disease, showing an higher specificity than DNA-based assays, having a better specificity and negative predicting value (NPV) than hrHPV-DNA testing , while others underline that HPV E6/E7 mRNA is not useful to detect relapse . In order to assess the performance of different biomolecular tests, alone or in cotesting with cytology, an Italian prospective study is on-going to evaluate the prediction of persistence/recurrence rate in women treated for CIN2+. Preliminary results seem to indicate that cotesting Pap + HPV E6/E7 mRNA shows the best specificity, while hrHPV genotyping retains the higher prediction for CIN2+ persistent or recurrent disease.
In general, HPV E6/E7 mRNA testing has been demonstrated in several published experiences to have the characteristic of an accurate diagnostic tool in the field of cervical cancer prevention . For this reason, current evidence suggests that mRNA testing may be regarded with promising possibilities in terms of implementation of the diagnostic accuracy of pre-neoplastic cervical lesions in different settings [45–50], including glandular lesions and adenocarcinoma . Primary screening has obviously been investigated more widely, representing the most interesting application option in view of the recent evidence-based shift from cytology to molecular-based screening programmes worldwide. Compared to hrHPV-DNA testing, which actually represents the most validated alternative to cytology in screening settings, mRNA tests present the valuable improvement of a better specificity, and consequently, higher positive predictive value (PPV) towards highgrade cervical lesions (CIN2+) . In terms of test of cure after treatment, though with the significant limitation of a lack of large controlled trials, interesting preliminary data indicate a possible integration of mRNA testing with cytology. HPV E6/E7 mRNA testing may serve as a more specific discriminator between transient cervical dysplasia and potentially progressive lesions. Accordingly, testing for high-risk HPV E6/E7 mRNA might reduce the psychological burden associated with HPV-DNA testing .
In conclusion, since the beginning of the molecular era in the prevention of cervical cancer, many steps forward have already been made to overcome the limitations of cervical cytology alone; mRNA testing actually represents a new challenge, with the promising possibility of being integrated in the pool of valuable molecular tools that will hopefully lead to the elimination of invasive cervical cancer in women in the near future.
The authors wish to acknowledge the guidance and mentorship of Mario Sideri in this work and the entire activity of the Italian HPV Study Group (IHSG). He has been among the most intelligent and visionary colleagues we ever encountered and we were blessed with his friendship. The 'Mario Sideri Italian HPV Study Group - IHSG' endeavours to continue its research and teaching initiatives in his memory.


text:
Israeli, French team eyes genetic syndromes cure
Researchers innovative technique looks to cure syndromes such as those that cause cleft lips and palates in babies.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
A PREMATURE BABY born in an Israeli hospital 370
(photo credit: Courtesy Forum for Premature Babies)
An Israeli-French team of scientists has developed an innovative technique that they believe will cure numerous rare genetic syndromes in babies.
These syndromes include those that cause cleft lips and palates; defects in the fingernails, sweat glands, teeth, fingers, skull and facial bones; and a syndrome that makes the corneas opaque, threatening the victim with blindness.
Researchers from the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and the Paris Descartes University investigated the cause of ectodermal dysplasia, which affects seven out of every 10,000 babies born in the world. The collection of syndromes, they discovered, results from a mutation in the p63 gene.
More than 150 different congenital syndromes have been identified, and while they affect a variety of different organs, the symptoms are similar. The syndromes can affect any race, but are more common in light-haired Caucasians, and were named about 85 years ago.
Their paper has just been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
The researchers created a unique cellular model that summarizes the main embryonic defects involved in ectodermal dysplasia. Dr. Ruby Shalom-Feuerstein of the Technion's Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Prof. Daniel Aberdam and Dr. Isabel Petit of Paris programmed cell samples taken from patients with the syndrome, so they would turn into pluripotent stem cells that bear the mutation.
In the next stage, they proved that unlike normal embryonic stem cells, those taken from the patients were unable to complete the embryonic ripening process to become skin and cornea cells. Finally, using a chemical substance called PRIMA-APR246, the team greatly improved the function of the damaged cells via in-vitro experiments.
They said that the substance is likely to improve renewal of the skin and corneas in patients.
But the researchers said they are being careful and will wait for clinical testing that will look at the drug's influence on the functioning of the cornea.
These tests will be carried out at Saint Louis Hospital in Paris.
The research proves the relevance of embryonic stem cell research for the investigation of genetic diseases in general and specifically disorders connected to the p63, and paves the way for future treatments, concluded the researchers.