Free Republic

A former flight attendant caught smuggling over 100 pounds of a deadly new synthetic drug made of human bones faces up to 25 years in a Sri Lankan prison.Charlotte May Lee, 21, from the United Kingdom, was seized at Bandaranaike Airport in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo earlier this month after allegedly carrying suitcases full of "kush," a new[-ish] drug originating in West Africa which kills an estimated dozen people a week in Sierra Leone alone.

A study team led by researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) says that a 7,000-year-old weapon kit consisting of two bowstrings believed to be the oldest ever found in Europe and a set of three wood arrows discovered in the Cave of Los Murciélagos in Albuñol, Granada, reveals an “unprecedented degree of precision and technical mastery” in their construction. When describing the complexity of the bowstrings, which were woven together from the tendons of three different animal species, Raquel Piqué, a researcher in the Department of Prehistory of the UAB and coordinator of the study, said that “this...

The US Air Force has 140 of its biggest warplanes – its heavy bombers – in active service: 76 Boeing B-52Hs, 44 Boeing B-1Bs and 20 B-2 stealth bombers built by Northrop Grumman. .. Any other air force might content itself with 140 bombers and redistribute the lost bomber’s operating budget. But the US Air Force is counting on the B-1 to play a lead role in a possible air war over the Taiwan Strait. It’s such a high priority that the service is spending millions of dollars recovering, from long-term storage, a surplus B-1 nicknamed “Lancelot” that’s been sitting...

Researchers have identified a novel macrolide–DEL-1 axis that helps in bone regeneration and new bone formation. This finding may lead to the development of therapeutic agents to treat bone loss disorders. Periodontitis is a serious gum infection that damages the soft tissue and destroys the bone that supports teeth. It is usually the result of poor oral hygiene that leads to bacterial infections. Aging may increase susceptibility to periodontitis by altering immune and regenerative functions. Development endothelial locus-1 (DEL-1), crucial for inflammation resolution and tissue repair, declines with age. The low levels of DEL-1 protein also affect bone regeneration and...

New research indicates that higher doses of topical corticosteroids, which are commonly used to treat inflammatory skin conditions, are linked with elevated risks of osteoporosis and bone fractures associated with osteoporosis. The findings are based on information from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Investigators selected 129,682 osteoporosis cases and 34,999 major osteoporotic fracture (MOF) cases and matched them with 518,728 and 139,996 controls (without osteoporosis or MOF) by sex and age. The team found clear dose–response relationships between long-term use of topical corticosteroids and osteoporosis and MOF. For example, compared with no doses, low, medium, and high cumulative...

A study by the University of Leeds revealed that vegetarians have a 50% greater risk of hip fractures compared to meat eaters. Analyzing data from over 400,000 individuals, the research also indicated this risk is present among both men and women. ***************************************************************** A recent large-scale study found that vegetarians, regardless of gender, have a 50% higher risk of hip fractures than regular meat eaters. Potential causes may include low BMI and insufficient protein intake, yet the health benefits of a vegetarian diet could still outweigh the risks. Both men and women who follow a vegetarian diet face a 50% greater...

Researchers show the benefits of screening adult patients in remission from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) for residual disease before receiving a bone marrow transplant. About 20,000 adults in the United States are diagnosed each year with AML, a deadly blood cancer, and about one in three live past five years. A bone marrow transplant, which replaces unhealthy blood-forming cells with healthy cells from a donor, often improves these chances. However, research has shown that lingering traces of leukemia can make a transplant less effective. After screening adults with variants commonly associated with AML, researchers showed that the two most common...

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that causes the cartilage in the joints to break down, leading to pain, stiffness, and difficulty moving. It is a common condition that often affects the hands, knees, hips, and spine. Risk factors for developing osteoarthritis include aging, obesity, and a history of joint injuries. Two recent studies have shown that corticosteroid injections, which are commonly used to treat the pain associated with knee osteoarthritis, may actually contribute to the progression of the disease. These findings were recently presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Osteoarthritis is a...

The widely used disinfectant chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) appears to be the most effective irrigation solution for use as part of the surgical treatment of bone tumors. Of the various solutions used to eliminate remaining tumor cells after surgery, a 0.05% CHG solution appears to be most effective in killing cultured bone tumor cells, according Matthew J. Thompson, MD. Some patients with bone tumors undergo a surgical procedure called intralesional curettage. In this procedure, the tumor is scraped away while preserving as much healthy bone as possible. A common adjuvant treatment is to irrigate the operative area of the bone with...

A team of researchers has found that the application of a pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) following radiotherapy reduced bone loss in test mice. Prior research has shown applying radiotherapy to cancerous tumors results in death of the cells that make up the tumor. But the use of radiotherapy has a major drawback—when it strikes bone, it results in loss of bone mass so that bones become more fragile and patients develop a high risk for bone fracture. Over the past several years, some research has suggested that firing an electromagnetic field at damaged bone can encourage bone cell growth and...

A small (57 g) daily portion of Jarlsberg cheese may help to stave off bone thinning (osteopenia/osteoporosis) without boosting harmful low density cholesterol, suggest the results of a small comparative clinical trial. The effects seem to be specific to this type of cheese, the findings indicate. Jarlsberg is a mild and semi-soft, nutty-flavored cheese made from cow's milk. Previous research indicates that it may help boost levels of osteocalcin, a hormone that is associated with strong bones and teeth. Researchers studied women allocated to adding Jarlsberg (41) or Camembert cheese to their diet. Jarlsberg and Camembert have similar fat and...

Disintegrating Virus Cell Destroy COVID Concept The injection causes type B white blood cells to be genetically engineered inside the patient’s body that would generate neutralizing antibodies against the HIV virus. The technology also has the potential to be developed into a cure for AIDS Adi Barzel Lead author of the study, Dr. Adi Barzel. Credit: Tel Aviv University A new study from Tel Aviv University proposes a novel AIDS treatment that could be turned into a vaccine or a one-time treatment for HIV patients. The research explored modifying type B white blood cells in the patient’s body to release...

A B-1B bomber caught fire on the flight line at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, on April 20, the base announced. The fire started around 10 p.m. during “routine engine maintenance” while the B-1 Lancer was parked, according to a Dyess press release. Two individuals were injured during the fire and transported to a local medical facility with “non-life-threatening injuries,” according to the release. They were later released. A Dyess Air Force Base public affairs official told Air Force Magazine that the cause of the fire and whether the aircraft can be salvaged are still being investigated. Information on the...

MSNBC contributor Donny Deutsch predicted Friday on “Deadline” that former President Donald Trump would be indicted for “bank fraud, mail fraud, and insurance fraud.” Deutsch said, “I met with Michael Cohen a couple of weeks ago. He is doing well, out of house arrest, and he seems to think things are really moving along.”

When 69-year-old Marietta Jinde died in September 2016, police had already been called to her home several times because of reports of possible abuse. A detective described conditions at the woman’s home in Gardena as “horrendous.” She was so emaciated and frail that the hospital asked Los Angeles County adult protective services officials to look into her death. Yet by the time a coroner’s investigator was able to examine Jinde’s 70-pound body, the bones from her legs and arms were gone. Also missing were large patches of skin from her back. With permission from county officials and saying they did...

Defects of the skull and facial bones can pose difficult challenges for plastic and reconstructive surgeons. A synthetic material called hyperelastic bone - readily produced by 3D-printing - could offer a powerful new tool for use in reconstructing skull defects, reports a study in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The experimental material accelerates bone regeneration across skull defects in rats, according to initial results by Ramille N. Shah, PhD, and colleagues of Northwestern University and University of Illinois Health, Chicago. The researchers write, "Hyperelastic bone...

Early humans faced countless challenges as they fanned out of Africa: icy conditions, saber-tooth cats, and, according to a new study of ancient skeletons, an unusually high number of birth defects, both debilitating and relatively inconsequential. It’s unclear why such abnormalities seem to be so common, but scientists say one strong possibility is rampant inbreeding among small hunter-gatherer groups. “This paper represents a valuable compilation,” says Vincenzo Formicola, an anthropologist at the University of Pisa in Italy who wasn’t involved in the new work. “Many cases reported in the list were unknown to me and, I assume, to many people...

It is well known that healthy eating increases our general sense of wellbeing. Researchers have now discovered that a fiber-rich diet can have a positive influence on chronic inflammatory joint diseases, leading to stronger bones. The key to the effect our diet has on our health are intestinal bacteria: healthy intestinal flora consists of a multitude of different species of bacteria. Every adult carries approximately two kilogrammes of benign bacteria in their intestines. They help our digestion by breaking fibre down into its individual components, which can then be absorbed by the body. A by-product of this process are short-chained...

Groundbreaking surgery to regrow part of a human bone was carried out on Tuesday at HaEmek Hospital in the northern Israeli town of Afula. Danny, a resident of a nearby kibbutz who had part of his shinbone removed eight months ago after a car accident, was treated in the procedure, which was hailed by medical staff as “science fiction.” During the surgery, the first of its kind in the world, doctors took fat cells from the patient, grew them in a lab and injected them back into his body for them to generate the missing parts of the bone, the...

The U.S. has quite the penchant for creating celebrities. The manufactured stars that we already have at our disposal are never enough. Like Rice Krispie treats, you tell yourself “just one more,” but there is always the next YouTube sensation—or in this case, a private citizen who manages to pique our interest, at least for a news cycle or two. It’s just usually not in the energy industry. Meet the new man of the hour, Energy’s Latest Unsung Hero: Ken Bone, who was in attendance at Sunday night’s much anticipated presidential debate. The event was a town hall style debate,...