tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37778404365218131592024-03-19T03:44:49.980-07:00SIGHenceMeriannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06053414334539175145noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-5745797820056769342012-03-14T08:40:00.000-07:002012-03-14T08:40:24.961-07:00Speech Buddies: The closest friend a kiddo with a speech impediment could have!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j5RH4XRsMp0/T2C7RBSvqqI/AAAAAAAAAAs/vKF4-wZ2gbk/s1600/speech_buddies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j5RH4XRsMp0/T2C7RBSvqqI/AAAAAAAAAAs/vKF4-wZ2gbk/s400/speech_buddies.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: white;">No one wants to live with a speech impediment. This
is why it is crucial for children with speech impediments to be properly taught
at a young age. However, this task is not simple. Being a speech
therapist will always have its challenges, but with new technology that job may
just become slightly easier.</span> </span><a href="http://www.speechbuddy.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: cyan;">Speech</span> </span><span style="color: cyan;">Buddies</span></a><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: white;">is a revolutionary speech therapy
tool that helps children properly position their tongue for five of the most
difficult problem sounds- R, S, L, CH, and SH. This revolutionary tool was designed
by speech-language pathologists and engineers who truly understand the
challenges of these five difficult sounds. Speech buddies help to correct the
placement of the child's tongue so that they can properly learn how to create
the right sound. For example, the "R" Speech Buddy has a spiraled end
that helps the child lift their tongue up and pull it back to produce the R
sound. These tools are truly amazing and have been shown to correct speech
problems twice as fast.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Speech
Buddies are also FDA approved and are produced in California.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zL6uwL_nnhE/T2C6qwmY8KI/AAAAAAAAAAk/z1XAMPRDR_E/s1600/speechbuddies.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zL6uwL_nnhE/T2C6qwmY8KI/AAAAAAAAAAk/z1XAMPRDR_E/s1600/speechbuddies.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.speechbuddy.com/speech-buddies-for-speech-therapists" target="_blank">Examples of each Speech Buddies Tool</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Change effects people in different ways; and
change is usually hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, making
the change to incorporate Speech Buddies into a speech therapists method of
therapy will be the best decision they have made yet!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This innovative product has been proven to
help improve a kiddo’s ability to say the five difficult problem sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Patients from the age of four and up can be
treated with Speech Buddies as well as patients with many different types of
disorders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The disorders that a speech
therapist should consider treating patients with Speech Buddies include speech
and articulation disorders of all severities such as patient’s on the autism
spectrum, kiddo’s with childhood apraxia of speech, patient’s with acquired
apraxia of speech from stroke or traumatic brain injury, and patient’s that
have accent modification where English sounds are misarticulated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speech therapists should know that Speech
Buddies are not however recommended for language disorders, stuttering, or
voice disorders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Research is also still
being evaluated for speech and articulation disorders that have neuromuscular
weakness, cerebral palsy, paralysis and Down syndrome, and craniofacial
abnormalities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With all this in mind,
this tool still makes a speech therapists job a little easier when finding a
method of therapy that works and has accurate results!</span></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-43120750969185787922012-03-14T08:02:00.001-07:002012-03-14T08:02:56.787-07:00Fracking... Is it Really Such a Great Thing??<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hydaulic fracking is a very prominent issue that is running through the scientific, environmental and also the public conversation. What is fracking? How does is effect the inhabitants surrounding it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fracking is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can be seen as a wonderful solution to our dependence upon foreign oil and our CO2 emissions and new science reveals that the resources that we will be taking while using this technique will not be depleting the earth of any vital resources that it to needs to function. However, the manner in which the natural resources are being extracted is the problem.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wMJKQrcPRko/T2CyWW20-MI/AAAAAAAAAAM/AVJOvSwGbhE/s1600/hydro+fracking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="197" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wMJKQrcPRko/T2CyWW20-MI/AAAAAAAAAAM/AVJOvSwGbhE/s320/hydro+fracking.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> The science behind fracking includes the destruction of the earth’s natural shale constructs and the release of natural resources into the surrounding area along with the inorganic chemicals that are used during the fracking process. Along with this, It takes <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">1-8 million gallons of water </span>to complete each fracturing job. The water brought in is mixed with sand and chemicals to create fracking fluid and <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">approximately 40,000 gallons of chemicals </span>are used per fracturing.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">During this process, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">methane gas and toxic chemicals</span> leach out from the system and contaminate nearby groundwater and shockingly, methane concentrations are <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">17x higher</span> in drinking-water wells near fracturing sites than in normal wells. This happens because <span style="font-size: small;">naturally-occurring fissures and faults or the presence of a previously unregistered abandoned mine can allow highly contaminated fracking fluids, along with natural and methane gases and radioactive debris, to migrate upward and be released into aquifers serving drinking water wells. </span> <a href="http://www.theoec.org/PDFs/FactSheets/FactSheet_Fracking_2012.pdf">http://www.theoec.org/PDFs/FactSheets/FactSheet_Fracking_2012.pdf</a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This site from the Ohio Environmental Council provided a fact sheet on more of the extreme cases of contamination and destruction to our natural shale and bedrock formations. Along with this, the drilling that is being down in the process of extraction is causing the underlying shale and bedrock to shift. This has been linked to the increase in the seismic activity that have been in the news recently with reports that areas in which hydraulic fracturing has taken place have seen a significant increase in the amount of earth quakes experienced. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ePUuphIJh3w/T2Cyr5NjHlI/AAAAAAAAAAU/9FHdBMj9oyY/s1600/fracking-whats-in-your-water-cartoon-sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ePUuphIJh3w/T2Cyr5NjHlI/AAAAAAAAAAU/9FHdBMj9oyY/s320/fracking-whats-in-your-water-cartoon-sm.jpg" width="262" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another effect caused by facking are the emissions that are released during the extraction process. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These include hydrogen sulfide, volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide, BTEX (benzene, tolulene, ethylbenzene and xylene), as well as methane and natural gas. These types of hazardous emissions have been linked to <span style="font-size: small;">reproductive, respiratory, and blood disorders, as well as central nervous system and neurological effects. The pros and cons must be weighed out to determine whether fracking should be allowed and the way in which the oil and natural resources are extracted needs to be perfected before we allow fracking to continue. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Other sites for information on the dangers of hydraulic fracking include:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.nrdc.org/energy/gasdrilling/?gclid=CMHRgKfR5q4CFUZN4AoduB9ehA">http://www.nrdc.org/energy/gasdrilling/?gclid=CMHRgKfR5q4CFUZN4AoduB9ehA</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.epa.gov/hydraulicfracture/">http://www.epa.gov/hydraulicfracture/</a></div>
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</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-43394907721514344602012-03-13T19:58:00.000-07:002012-03-13T19:58:35.582-07:00Genetic Tests for Children Determining Sports<br />
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Each professional, college, or
little league athlete all put forth effort into training in order to succeed.
Primary factors that affect sport performance include training factors and
psychological factors. Training factors involves improving reaction times and
motor skills, while also learning important techniques vital to each sport. Athletes
also need to have the mental ability for sports as well. A high level of
motivation and high level of competiveness are also required. However, one
factor that one wouldn’t think of at first is the genetic factor. Genetics play
a large role in how a person is built, and could determine how successful an
athlete can be at any given sport without looking at their individual training
programs and motivation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/11/London-Olympics-2012.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/11/London-Olympics-2012.gif" width="200" /></a><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Elite sports athletes are always
expected to have a genetic predisposition for greatness, whether it is their
height, their weight, or even the types of muscles their body is made up of.
However, even children are now being looked at for their predicted potential
for sports. Some children are going to grow up to become the next gold medalist
at the Olympics while others will always try and may not succeed. An important
factor in sports performance could be how their genes have already determined
which sport they will excel at based on their ability to carry oxygen in their
muscles. </span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Many news
channels and newspapers have reported the use of a genetic test to test children’s
genetic disposition for sports. Atlas Sports Genetics, an athletic talent laboratory
analysis system, uses a genetic test to predict athletic strengths of children,
to see which sports they are more likely to excel in. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/sports/30genetics.html?_r=1"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/11/30/sports/dna600.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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They are swabbing
mouths of children from infancy until eight years old for the presence of a
specific gene. This gene is called ACTN3, and it has been linked to research on
sport performance because it allows our bodies to produce a specific muscle
protein found in fast twitch muscles, called alpha-actinin-3. The test that is
available searches for variants of that gene that would prevent the protein
from being made. The presence of the variants leads scientists and parents to
find out which sport their child could have more athletic potential for. If a
child who is swabbed has two copies of the variant, one in each copy of the
gene from each parent, they are more likely to excel in endurance events
because their body cannot make this protein that makes muscles contract
forcefully at a high velocity. If they don’t have any copies of the variant in
their gene, they are more likely to excel in sprint or power events, because
their muscles would be able to contract forcefully when moving at a higher
velocity. If they only have one copy of the variant, they can be equally good
at endurance sports and sprint/power sports. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.coreperformance.com/images/411*308/5-recovery-secrets-of-endurance-athletes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://media.coreperformance.com/images/411*308/5-recovery-secrets-of-endurance-athletes.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coreperformance.com/daily/recovery/5-recovery-secrets-of-endurance-athletes.html">http://www.coreperformance.com/daily/recovery/5-recovery-secrets-of-endurance-athletes.html</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The use of
genetic testing to determine children’s predisposition to sports has created
controversy because of parents who would use the knowledge to place children in
sports that they would excel at, not the ones that the child wants to
participate in. They wouldn’t be clear-minded over There is also controversy
surrounding the usefulness of the test, and whether the genes actually could
determine sport performance. <o:p></o:p></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-50764153624285925292012-02-01T08:46:00.000-08:002012-02-01T08:48:01.694-08:00Aphasia...Soo frustrating!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aamu.edu/Academics/EHBS/HSHPCD/csd/Documents/SpeechLanguagePathology.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.aamu.edu/academics/ehbs/hshpcd/csd/pages/csd-speech-language-pathology.aspx&h=290&w=279&sz=40&tbnid=aTsoKGg-mvKy3M:&tbnh=98&tbnw=94&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dspeech%2Blanguage%2Bpathology%2Bimages%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=speech+language+pathology+images&docid=2HQpLDAJDTjNaM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=omopT5L6IOrY0QH2tt3cAg&ved=0CC8Q9QEwAQ&dur=4129" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KhLgpU80CCk/Tylq-41dd3I/AAAAAAAAAAM/e1EQFO4EbG4/s1600/SpeechLanguagePathology.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Picture
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are at your grandparent’s
house helping them clean out their garage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As you are helping them move boxes around, your grandfather starts
complaining of numbness in his right hand and arm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You both do not think anything of it because
of the strenuous work; however, as time goes on he starts getting a headache
and cannot see clearly out of his right eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You make him take it easy and sit down because you realize there is
something clearly wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After forcing
him to go to the hospital, you find out that he was having a stroke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of the severity of the stroke, he now
has trouble speaking and being able to express his thoughts; also known as an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/aphasia.htm" target="_blank">aphasia</a></i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Even though this is a made up
story, these situations do happen almost every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over Christmas break, as I was shadowing a
Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) at Fisher Titus Medical Center, I was
fortunate enough to be able to see the post-tests done on a stroke
patient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tests performed made sure
that the patient did not have any droop in their facial muscles, they made sure
the patient had the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ability to swallow
food of different consistencies, and was able to have normal conversation with
the SLP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole process was called a
bedside swallow evaluation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The SLP
asked the patient what their name was, why they were in the hospital, what year
it was, and who was the president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
tests were performed on the patient in order to see if they were suffering from
any type of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aphasia</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Aphasia is a type of disorder
resulting from there being damage done to the brain affecting the areas in
which language is controlled. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speaking,
listening, reading, and writing are different aspects of language that can be
affected by aphasia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The patient in this
situation suffers from an expressive aphasia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How would you feel if you could understand perfectly what people were
saying to you, but you just could not get the words out to respond to
them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be a tough situation to
have to go through every day of your life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not only would this be very frustrating, but it would limit what you are
able to do because certain people may not know your condition or why you are
not responding to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By working with a SLP, they can
help patients correct this disorder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Depending on how bad the aphasia is, different tactics are taken to
treat the disorder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Formal or informal
tactics are used for treatment and even computer programs can be used to help
get their brain activity working in order to use expressive language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These formal or informal tactics are
activities as simple as repeating words or reading words off a list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the patient struggles with one, the SLP
will help them make the right movements with their mouth and lips in order for
the word to come out clearly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The word
is repeated until the patient gets it right or as close to being right as they
can!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One blog that I came across called,
<a href="http://expressiveaphasia.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-09-01T07:07:00-07:00&max-results=7" target="_blank">Expressive Aphasia</a>, is about a person’s experience with recovering from a
stroke that lead to an aphasia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
person also had expressive aphasia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
went through many sessions of therapy with a SLP and is now almost fully
recovered!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going through and reading his
experiences made me really think about how lucky I am to be able to express
myself without any troubles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had to
have been one of the most frustrating things to go through when before the
stroke he was a normal talking person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is a great feeling knowing that there are people out there (SLP) that
can help people regain their ability to speak after such a traumatic experience
like a stroke, causing brain damage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
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<a href="http://www.centrahealthcare.com/how-to-nail-your-speech-language-pathology-interview" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4HEnc3nHx7o/Tylr-2BHizI/AAAAAAAAAAU/_IP2j0pZO_Y/s320/HS3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In this post, I really tried to
incorporate a story that hooked the reader and made them want to continue
reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also tried to keep the story
relevant throughout the whole post, that way the reader would have a connection
to what they read at the beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
kept my writing at a more personable level, so it was an easy read throughout
the whole post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-25306714623008795322012-01-31T22:29:00.000-08:002012-02-01T19:31:42.156-08:00Eye Can't See a Thing!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1mlWxB4hm0HgKgUwoKn26KtXS_RJpP5cpkQhEEXLyk3sNCowUzu4tpJDjTH5wSDZT1R30AhhnJLP7CJQkh3S4Y_0Kcd7lR1N6kUcxAN8eILojyngcpso5y0j_mKUZ-wmG2donU8t1Q-g/s1600/BLIND" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1mlWxB4hm0HgKgUwoKn26KtXS_RJpP5cpkQhEEXLyk3sNCowUzu4tpJDjTH5wSDZT1R30AhhnJLP7CJQkh3S4Y_0Kcd7lR1N6kUcxAN8eILojyngcpso5y0j_mKUZ-wmG2donU8t1Q-g/s1600/BLIND" /></a></div>
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Would you rather be deaf or blind? It’s one of those typical, fun, “get to know a person" questions that you have been asked more than once in your lifetime. And let’s be honest, who would want to be either of those? Could you even imagine your life without your eyesight or hearing? Personally, I think I would rather be deaf than blind, but that's just me! I could not imagine my life without being able to see things because I am an extremely visual person. However, some people are not even fortunate enough to know what it's like to be able to see. Although some people are born blind, it’s not uncommon for adults to lose their eyesight with age. It’s a sad thought to think that as we get older, we have the chance of losing our visual perception. It would be extremely frustrating to even have distorted vision that you know cannot be fixed. I mean, who wants to deal with poor vision as they get older? Not me, that’s for sure. So, why am I even bringing this up? Science of course! Just another study about stem cells, but don’t worry this is nothing boring. It’s actually great research that can greatly affect us in the future!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5RNSMJkMYEz4oNljjHcPgXg6GVUwWmeyS4saUZW2eAQyfEO4te53jozWMK9xBs_uo0t1PqrOnVJyJ8lrsL3EGUc2_QFfO3wo9nezodL6Vm_1LZ3JBlaMOPg7MRObR4cQutMl8bSBjr8/s1600/MACULAR+DEG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5RNSMJkMYEz4oNljjHcPgXg6GVUwWmeyS4saUZW2eAQyfEO4te53jozWMK9xBs_uo0t1PqrOnVJyJ8lrsL3EGUc2_QFfO3wo9nezodL6Vm_1LZ3JBlaMOPg7MRObR4cQutMl8bSBjr8/s200/MACULAR+DEG" width="156" /></a><br />
This is an exciting study because it is one of the first to show evidence that stem cells can help certain patients by directly testing it on humans. Finally, a study that provides results from actual human tests rather than laboratory tests on animals! So what was this all about? Well, as we age, degeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium (<a href="http://physrev.physiology.org/content/85/3/845.short">RPE</a>) in our eyes can lead to photoreceptor loss, which results in diseases including Stargardt’s macular dystrophy and dry age-related macular degeneration. Stargardt’s macular dystrophy is the most common pediatric macular degeneration, while dry age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness among adults. Basically, macular degeneration is simply a disease that destroys your central vision, which is what you need to see things clearly and do simple tasks like reading and driving. Check out the image below. Could you even imagine developing something like this that you know is untreatable? Scary thought. I guess that’s what we have scientists for though, right?!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEM5rQ4S7BM-9xAaOxqiFBdXKZiWwbNoWvmgM7s3GkRsqIWhYZDd4jQJGEsRhLoQ05jPxBUQMqaU0id6aTMxpFjn3Lh3KcD3wb0FdfRdGGuQP6xOq2WAGZEUW68TuoLJry09wlaGyQdk8/s1600/vision-macular_degeneration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEM5rQ4S7BM-9xAaOxqiFBdXKZiWwbNoWvmgM7s3GkRsqIWhYZDd4jQJGEsRhLoQ05jPxBUQMqaU0id6aTMxpFjn3Lh3KcD3wb0FdfRdGGuQP6xOq2WAGZEUW68TuoLJry09wlaGyQdk8/s200/vision-macular_degeneration.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Well, scientists at UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute wanted to look more into stem cell research to possibly figure out a way to help treat this unfortunate disease, so they found a way to use embryonic stem cells to create RPE cells in the lab. However, Steven D. Schwartz, professor at ophthalmology at UCLA who was leading the research, stressed that the study was primarily designed to determine whether using the cells were safe and not to actually determine whether they would help the patient. They were concerned that the injection of stem cells anywhere in the body, the eye in this case, could cause tumor formation. Fortunately for these guys, they found that the two patients who received the stem cells demonstrated impressive results. The stem cells injected in both patients seemed to have survived well as RPE cells and did not form any tumors, or any other irregular growths or concerns. Another plus, both patients reported that they had improved vision. How exciting! </div>
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Unfortunately, because the scientific world is always oh so cautious, the researchers cannot make any firm conclusions on this study since it was only tested on two patients who have only been tracked for a short period of time. Now all we can do is wait! Only more time and tons more research (of course) will tell if this study holds true to its results. </div>
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It’s somewhat frustrating to think that a study like this, which almost seems like a complete breakthrough, has to be downplayed until more research is done. I guess that’s just research for you, and we can only hope that more research can be done as quickly as possible so that we will actually be able to use stem cell treatment one of these days for diseases like macular degeneration!</div>
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For more information, you can read the full article here: <a href="http://download.thelancet.com/flatcontentassets/pdfs/S0140673612600282.pdf">Embryonic stem cell trials for macular degeneration: a preliminary report </a><br />
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To see a great image of how the treatment works and to read more about it, click here: <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/01/23/145636849/stem-cells-show-promise-as-blindness-treatment-in-early-study">NPR's Health Blog</a></div>
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Also, more information on <a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/maculardegeneration.html">Macular Degeneration</a> </div>
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I went about writing about this article in an informal, conversational manner. I attempted to use the "arouse and fulfill" method by starting off with a paragraph that anyone could relate to. By starting off talking about imagining life being blind, I was drawing in the reader so that they would actually be interested in the research I was about to discuss. I also tried to write in a storytelling manner to keep the readers attention and tried to explain everything so that anyone would be able to understand it, not just science students. </div>
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<br /></div>Meriannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06053414334539175145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-60377956312379941242012-01-31T20:52:00.000-08:002012-01-31T20:56:26.438-08:00New Breakthrough to Save Children?<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Everybody has seen those <a href="http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f87d4c2a71fca210VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD">St. Jude’sChildren’s Research Hospital </a>commercials, haven’t we? The ones that show the
innocent children struggling with the effects of cancer, and cancer treatments,
the ones who don’t have any hair but still have a smile on their face? There is
almost always a sense of guilt or a gut-wrenching need to help those children
live a better life, which is why donations are so important. But what if the
need for the donations wasn’t required, and what if the children on the
commercials weren’t suffering from cancer anymore? People all over the world would be sighing with relief!</div>
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJWJwDY7eL_7gqDEuaHcYkxYm03w_47ELha9hlDPmELgmIIFWKnQ" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJWJwDY7eL_7gqDEuaHcYkxYm03w_47ELha9hlDPmELgmIIFWKnQ" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">With new breakthrough research,
changes in a gene found in brain tumors are
being discovered, and the information about these mutations can help lead to new
treatments that can be used for a variety of other types of cancers.</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Cancer is the abnormal growth of
cells in the body, and can occur when genes stop working the way they are
supposed to. Brain tumors, among other cancers, are debilitating, and in
children and adolescents, treatments that work can be hard to </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">find. Even though most
cancers can be treated using chemotherapy and surgery, certain brain tumors in children
do not react to treatments. Did you know that
some treatments that are aimed for adults do not work on the growing cells of
children and young adults? That’s okay if you didn’t, physicians are kind of
just learning about that now too. By finding the differences in adult and
children tumor cells and genes, and finding out the reasons why treatments are
ineffective, cancer researchers are starting to focus their research on those
differences, and breakthroughs are being made.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://nhne-pulse.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/colorful-brain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://nhne-pulse.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/colorful-brain.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Some of the children seen on those
St. Jude’s commercials may be dealing with a form of brain cancer that is <span style="line-height: 115%;">called
diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma</span>. Definitely easier to call it DIPG,
right? This type of brain tumor is found in children, and
is mostly commonly diagnosed around the age of 6. DIPG is just a fancy word for
a tumor found on the brain stem. The brain stem is the lowest part of the
brain, and these tumors grow throughout the nerves, which makes surgery a risky
choice. </div>
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The mutations that have been discovered are found on the gene <span style="color: lime;">histone
H3.3</span>. This gene is responsible for making sure important genetic information
that is useful for development (DNA) gets put inside cells. The histone part of
the gene is responsible for making sure the information is wrapped up tightly
enough, and a mutation in that could either cause cancer or prevent cancer treatments
from working because it affects whether or not the gene is working.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.parentdish.com/media/2010/07/st-jude-a-425ds071510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.parentdish.com/media/2010/07/st-jude-a-425ds071510.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Even though breakthroughs are being
discovered at a rapid speed, having a child diagnosed with a brain tumor is an unfortunate
scenario. Children and adolescents who are diagnosed with these types of
cancers almost never live two years after their diagnosis, even if they are
getting the best treatments possible. That is one of the many reasons why St.
Jude’s Hospital does the commercials, because no one wants to see a child
suffer. With the many things happening in science and medicine these days,
cancer may be conquerable someday! <o:p></o:p></div>
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For this post, I tried to use the hook approach, by talking about something that almost everyone has seen on TV, a
commercial. Add in a commercial that talks about sick children, and discussing
a way to prevent them from being so sick, adds in a touch that everyone can
relate too. I also tried to limit the amount of scientific words, and if I had
to talk about something, I put it into words that everyone should understand. <o:p></o:p><br />
<a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120130102522.htm">Science Daily Article</a><br />
<br /></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-76823052022969294972012-01-29T21:35:00.000-08:002012-01-29T21:35:28.011-08:00The NATURE of ScienceThroughout the last four years at AU as a Bio student, I have found that I am much more interested in natural sciences and environmental sciences, that is why the first blog that I have chosen to follow is <a href="http://blogs.nature.com/news/">Nature News Blog</a>. I find this blog incredibly interesting because it has so very many different articles and blogs that focus on topics ranging from individual species of animals to world wide climate change and environmental issues. This is my favorite aspect of this particular blog. It not only gives information on current issues in the biological science realm but also the everyday issues that all people are (or at least should be) concerned with as well.<br />
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Because Nature is a magazine, it publishes a lot of different articles by a numerous amount of authors. I really like this concept because science is an ever changing force and the more people that provide information and arguments on a subject, the more knowledgeable we all may become.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-86471079157785042162012-01-24T22:23:00.000-08:002012-01-24T22:23:16.416-08:00Literally...It's an Interesting Science Blog!!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.interestingscience.net/"><span style="color: cyan;">Interesting Science Blog</span></a><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"> is by far the best blog that I have
found while completing this assignment!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It caught my attention right from the start because the first blog was about
sarcasm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I continued down throughout
the webpage, I realized that there was not a post on this blog that I would not
want to read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all were all interesting and were still connected to
science in one way or another!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read
the latest blog about how studies have shown that sarcasm helps a person solve
problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was written in a way that
it kept my attention and it was easy to read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hope this blog catches other people’s attention to because it definitely
deserves to be in the spot light!</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-33789243900048040392012-01-24T22:00:00.000-08:002012-01-24T22:00:09.590-08:00Docnotes!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">One interesting blog that I found was </span><a href="http://www.docnotes.net/"><span style="background-color: black; color: cyan;"><strong>Docnotes</strong></span></a><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">, written by
Jacob Reider, MD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This blog centers on
topics dealing with different medical related issues. It
presents the information in a way that people will understand <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and want to read the posts presented on the
blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no jargon writing or excessive
word use to help portray the bloggers ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He writes as if he were talking to his readers and not as if he were
trying to impress them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blog as a
whole seems very down to earth and is an easy read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of his most recent blog posts was about a
new shoe, called Oesh, that was believed to be very good for runners feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gave background information about the shoe
as well as his own opinion after he had purchased a pair. Overall, this is a very helpful blog to
follow if you are interested in reading about different issues related to the
medical field.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-90640810376852747842012-01-24T20:58:00.000-08:002012-01-24T23:21:29.023-08:00Two Great Science Blogs!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimtbn-xaVjXpp_n72qmMraL7tWzObbSlcw3f-_gyDE1neb9t_uDAI50Yxsq1OOP3UPP3SoVLwEaeoTMEz2jTr7lRQA_Y4E2FCbTn6dt6kPl1ZOnBukI6nNHldDI_w0aLFqDNSsy5n1wmo/s1600/Picture+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimtbn-xaVjXpp_n72qmMraL7tWzObbSlcw3f-_gyDE1neb9t_uDAI50Yxsq1OOP3UPP3SoVLwEaeoTMEz2jTr7lRQA_Y4E2FCbTn6dt6kPl1ZOnBukI6nNHldDI_w0aLFqDNSsy5n1wmo/s320/Picture+4.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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The image above states exactly how I feel about science sometimes! I feel that the majority of the time, science just complicates things. So when I found out that I had to start a science blog, I wasn't too thrilled. It has always been difficult for me to read science articles and research papers that I actually understood, or that actually kept me reading. <br />
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On the bright side, it took me forever, but I finally found two science blogs that I actually enjoyed! The first blog that caught my attention is called <a href="http://blogs.sundaymercury.net/weirdscience/">Weird Science</a>! This is probably one of the first blogs that I have looked at that kept me reading. In fact, I just realized that I had been scanning through it and reading its posts for the past half hour. This definitely says a lot because I sometimes find it extremely difficult to read science articles, but the author of this blog does a great job at picking interesting research to discuss. I really like that fact that he has completely random topics that he writes about and is not just focused on one area of science; this helps keep things interesting. I also really enjoy that he has "weird science Factoids" at the end of each of his posts because it's just something different to look forward to at the end of each post. He also does a fantastic job at communicating the information by explaining the studies in a way that even non-science students could easily be able to understand- nothing too complicated. The last thing that really stood out to me in this blog was all the pictures and videos that went along with his posts. I think images and videos really help communicate information, rather than just having a page full of text. Overall, this is an excellent blog!<br />
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The second blog I came across was the <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/">Well</a> blog in the New York Times. Although you would think that a blog through the New York Times would be extremely formal and boring, I have found it to be quite the contrary. Although it looks intimidating due to all the text on the page, some pictures are included and the actual text keeps you interested. The articles that are discussed throughout the blog are great because they are aspects of health that I am interested in knowing more about. There are multiple authors that post in this blog, and the ones that I have read seem to do a really good job at communicating the information to their readers. They do not just list the facts and throw a bunch of information at you, but instead they know how to comment and communicate the studies in a way that most people could understand, while keeping them engaged. This is a blog that I will definitely keep up with. <br />
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<br />Meriannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06053414334539175145noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-90594505445676097232012-01-24T17:47:00.000-08:002012-01-31T20:59:33.954-08:00NeuroLogica<a href="http://theness.com/neurologicablog/">NeuroLogica Blog</a> is a blog that combines neuroscience and critical thinking into one opinionated blog. The author, Dr. Steven Novella, is a neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine, and writes posts about a variety of different topics.<br />
<br />
His most recent post was about using embryonic stem cells (which is a controversial topic all on its own) and injecting them into blind patients' eyes. The experimental study that he was discussing showed results that showed improvement in the patients' eyesight, even though the study is far from showing conclusive results. Here is the blog post! <a href="http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/stem-cells-for-blindness/">Stem Cells for Blindness</a><br />
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Other posts by Dr. Novella include making biofuels (fuel made from plant and animal sources) out of <a href="http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/biofuels-from-seaweed/">seaweed</a> and other water-based plants, because they are easier to care for, and not as expensive as using land-based plants, which take up farm land and require fertilizier. Plus, the ocean cares for the seaweed, and is vast enough to house the many seaweed plants that could be necessary to make the next type of fuel.<br />
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<a href="http://econews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Algae-biomass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://econews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Algae-biomass.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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For more information about differing topics, from stem cells to seaweed, visit The <a href="http://theness.com/neurologicablog/">NeuroLogica Blog</a>!</div>
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777840436521813159.post-57217336062379370552012-01-24T16:29:00.000-08:002012-01-24T16:29:49.673-08:00SuperBug!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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An interesting blog that I found is <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/superbug">SuperBug</a>, which can be found as part of <a href="http://www.wired.com/">Wired.com</a> The author, Maryn McKenna, is a journalist and author who writes about public health and medicine. This is a blog that describes the impact of illness on society, and new cases of disease that have come to the public's attention. It also includes blog posts about FDA regulations about antibiotic overuse in agriculture, and vaccines that are available to the public, and touches on topics such as obesity and diabetes. <br />
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<a href="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2012/01/CDC-TB2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" src="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2012/01/CDC-TB2.jpg" width="320" /></a>One of Maryn's most recent blog posts was about a drug-resistant form of Tuberculosis that was discovered in 12 patients in India. Tuberculosis is a bacterial pulmonary infection that is very contagious and can be spread through the air by coughing and sneezing. It can be handled and treated with long courses of antibiotics, but with a drug-resistant form, it is untreatable. Other blog posts include information about FDA regulations, and even what types of bacteria and illnesses you can get from your pets.<br />
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By keeping up on important health and safety information, the blog can give a variety of topics within one website. <br />
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For more information, visit <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/superbug">SuperBug</a> to get your scoop on a variety of interesting health topics!<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0