Southern Strokes
Lori Govan
During the night of 26-27 May 2017, a mesoscale convective system (MCS) rapidly developed over Cornwall and Devon in the South West of England, producing about 3500 lightning flashes in 3 h and 23 sprites. The MCS-type storm was characterised by a circular shape with a size of about 52,000 km2 (cloud top temperature lower than - 40 C) and a local minimum in the CG flash rate (15 min-1), when most of the sprites were observed. The mean intensity of the sprite parent CG strokes was exceptionally high in this case (+170 kA), while the associated charge moment changes ranged from 600 to 2000C km. Two identical detectors, located at different sites in southern England, measured the quasi-static displacement currents induced on metallic electrodes when exposed to the changing atmospheric electric field produced by the storm's discharges. A series of coincident large amplitude short-peak transients, some of which associated with the sprite-producing strokes, were recorded on these detectors. A multi-instrumental analysis of the lightning events producing transient current "spikes" on the electrodes revealed a significant bias towards large peak currents exceeding 100 kA, but only a minor dependence on the impulse charge moment change (iCMC) for those associated with the sprites. We suggest that the current spikes may be induced by a coupling with the electromagnetic impulse radiated by intense lightning discharges. The ease in discriminating such signatures makes the method suitable for monitoring the occurrence of powerful lightning, potentially associated with night-time transient luminous events (TLEs), thereby avoiding the limitations inherent to optical observations and radio noise affecting other receivers.
Scientists have known for decades that blacks in the United States are at greater risk of stroke than whites are. Studies have also suggested that southerners of any race or ethnicity have more strokes than northerners do.
A new investigation finds that blacks between the ages of 55 and 64 living in southern states are about 50 percent more likely to die of stroke than are blacks of the same age living in the north. The stroke-mortality rate for whites in the south was somewhat higher than that for northern whites, but the difference between southern blacks and their northern counterparts was greater, says George Howard, a biostatistician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, and lifestyle factors all contribute to stroke risk. Which factor, or combination of factors, might account for the added stroke mortality among southern blacks is unknown, Howard says. But some studies have found that southerners, regardless of race, are slightly more likely to acquire such risk factors early in life than are people living up north.
In the 16-team field, the Commodores fired a 12-over-par 296 in the final round, posting their best round of the 54-hole tournament. The 43-over par performance put the Dores 47 strokes back of champion Oregon (-4), who was the only team to finish under-par after the 54-hole event.
AFP - Two separate trials are set to begin in Britain utilising cutting edge stem cell research in a bid to help treat victims of strokes and blindness, medical experts announced Monday.
Doctors are hoping to launch the world's first trial for a treatment that aims to improve the quality of life for thousands of stroke victims on patients in Glasgow in June, although the procedure must still be approved by an ethics committee.
The treatment, which uses cells taken from an aborted foetus that are to be injected into the brains of stroke victims to see if they can effectively regenerate damaged areas, was developed by Britain-based company ReNeuron.
"That single cell was expanded by means of technology so we can have something to treat many, many thousands of patients," said ReNeuron founder John Sindon, who is working with consultant doctor Keith Muir on the planned trial at Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.
"You could make the argument that it would have otherwise gone to waste. The reality is that we're trying to turn that into something with a lasting effect."
Separately, a two-year trial involving 20 patients with corneal blindness will begin this month at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh and the Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow.
The treatment being used involves using the stem cells of dead adult donors, rather than the more controversial research involving embryonic stem cells, and if successful could help millions of people around the world who suffer from corneal blindness, around 80 percent of whom are elderly.
As part of the process, adult stem cells are cultivated and then transplanted onto the cornea's surface.
"This study is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and it is exciting to be involved in such groundbreaking work," said Professor Bal Dhillon, who is heading the trial.
"I probably see two or three new cases of corneal disease every month. On a larger scale, it's a significant problem."
A similar study by the University of Pennsylvania in the United States last year found that people with inherited blindness saw dramatic improvements in their vision when a corrective gene was injected into their eyes.
Scientists believe stem cells, which are capable of developing into almost every tissue of the body, could prove key in finding a cure for a number of serious diseases, including also diabetes and cancer.
According to UCLA Health, someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds, while someone dies of a stroke every four minutes. One in six Americans will experience a stroke in their lifetime. Three-quarters of strokes occur in people over the age of 65. The likelihood of having a stroke nearly doubles every ten years after age 65.
It was a new hot day of summer when these hot studs went to have a party at a house that they rented! These two fellas began to talk to each other as they were first that they arrived in that place and after a while they started to kiss and to touch each other! As they got pretty horny this guy over here asked the other dude to stuff something into his ass, so this crazy guy got his cock and lubed his ass with his tongue first of all but soon after that the fucking began! If you wanna see these guys fucking each other in public over and over again all you gotta do is watch this entire southernstrokes scene! You should also have a look around cause you might find more amazing stuff! If you wanna see some horny guys going wild, enter the site!
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