Colts quarterback Peyton Manning already has missed eight games after a pair of neck surgeries.? It?s still unknown whether he?ll miss eight more.? Or even more than that.
Manning made on Tuesday an unexpected appearance in the team?s locker room.? And he said he?s got more healing to do before he can practice or play.
?We?re still waiting for the fusion to take place, it?s still going slow and we still have some issues with the regeneration of the nerve,? Manning said, according to the Associated Press.? ?I still have some restrictions.?
Characterized as ?more serious? in his demeanor than Manning was during his last visit with reporters, Manning opted not to talk about his future or the possibility that the Colts will draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.? ?Those are all fair questions, but that?s not what I?m going to talk about right now,? Manning said. ?I?m thinking about how can I get a little better?? [The contract] is really a one-year deal with a four-year extension and that was my recommendation because I wasn?t healthy when I signed the contract.?
He?s right, but the Colts need to decide by early March whether to kick in the four-year extension by picking up a $28 million option bonus.? On Manning?s current timeline, the Colts may not be able to make the decision without watching Manning throw, because he may not be able to throw before the 2011 season ends.
Of course, Manning could choose to throw for the team privately, before the 2012 offseason program begins.? Or he could choose not to, which would force the team to make a big decision with incomplete information.
Likewise, he could choose to delay until April, May, or beyond the trigger for the $28 million payment.? Or he could choose not to, forcing the team to decide whether to cut him, trade him, or pay him.
There will be many unanswered questions as it relates to Manning?s playing career, and based on his comments from Thursday the chance he?ll never play again can?t be completely disregarded.? There?s no pill or exercise for regenerating nerves.? If it doesn?t happen for Manning, he won?t be able to throw the ball like used to be able to throw the ball.
Here?s hoping that the healing happens.? All-time great quarterbacks should be able to leave the game on their own terms.
COLLEGE STATION It's been called "the trots," "Montezuma's Revenge," "the runs" and worse. But no matter the name, when it strikes, victims wish for a medicine that could go straight to the offending bacteria to quickly knock it dead.
That wish will ultimately come true if work by Texas A&M University scientists stays on target at the Center for Phage Technology in College Station.
A "medicine that grows" is how the phage concept was described by Dr. Ryland Young, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics who was instrumental in establishing the center.
"Phage is a word that simply means viruses that grow on bacteria," Young said. "They are harmless to humans, harmless to animals, harmless to plants. The only things they attack are bacteria. And every kind of bacteria that are involved in the disease process has bacteria phages that will attack them. So if you are a bacterial cell, your enemy is the bacterial virus."
Young said new technology to fight bacterial diseases of which there are many in addition to "the trots" is critically important because people and animals have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics currently on the market. And yet, he said, there is no major U.S. pharmaceutical company currently trying to develop new antibiotics.
"There is not enough money in it," he said. "You can't blame them. They are companies and they are there to make money. They can make a lot more money making pain drugs and lifestyle drugs. Antibiotics are not a particularly attractive investment."
When antibiotics work, he explained, people get well and don't need drugs any more. Yet bacterial illnesses at a minimum cause lost productivity in the workplace and schools, and some bacteria, such one commonly called MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, can be deadly.
"There is kind of a worldwide crisis right now in human medicine because for some bacteria such as MRSA, we are down to only one antibiotic that works," Young said. "Bacteria have this very pronounced characteristic of being able to very rapidly become drug-resistant. And that's a problem. There is a need for alternatives to antibiotics."
So serious is the issue, that the Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance was initiated in 1999 following a congressional hearing on the topic, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Ten federal agencies are participating in the effort. A transatlantic effort on the topic was formed between the U.S. and Europe in 2009.
"People infected with antimicrobial-resistant organisms are more likely to have longer, more expensive hospital stays, and may be more likely to die as a result of the infection," the CDC notes on its website.
Phages are not new to science. They were first described in 1915, before what Young called "modern biology." Years after the phage discovery, scientists began exploring molecular biology and the intricacies of DNA.
What researchers now know is that the phage, or bacterial virus, encounters a bacterial cell, absorbs to it, injects its DNA into it and "typically 30 minutes later, the bacteria cell explodes," Young explained. Several hundred new virus particles then continue on to eliminate other targeted bacterial cells, if any.
So, almost 100 years after their discovery, scientists can isolate bacteria phages, sequence their DNA and engineer them to be more effective against certain types of bacteria, he said.
"They are relatively cheap to produce," Young said. "All you need to grow them is a culture of the bacteria that you want to kill. You throw one bacterial phage particle in there, come back in a few hours and you have trillions of the bacteria phages, and the bacteria cells have all been killed. Phages grow themselves, that's the beauty of them."
However, regulation will play a role in future development, he noted, because U.S. Food and Drug Administration policies currently subject phage technology to the same criteria as chemical drugs.
"If I give you a chemical drug, that drug is likely to penetrate every tissue of your body your ears, your eyes, your nose, your heart, your kidneys. And a chemical can have a different effect on every organ," Young explained. "And that is why drug testing is so important. I would not advocate lowering the barriers for chemical drugs at all.
"But bacteriophages are not going to go to your eyes, your ears, your brain. And even if they did, they can't do anything," Young said. "They're not capable of even recognizing human cells, and even if they could, the way genes are set up in bacteria phages are completely different than the way they are in humans, so they would not be recognized as genes."
The researcher said part of the center's plan is to educate policy makers so that the rules can be changed for approving phage-based medications for humans without subjecting them to the same type of requirements for chemical pharmaceuticals.
He said phages will likely first be used in veterinary medicine because the barriers for testing for animal use are a lot lower. Veterinary applications could be in use within 10 years, Young believes.
"Once we are successful in veterinary applications, there will be a lot of pressure to get phage therapeutics approved for humans," he said.
Dr. Jason Gill, program director, Center for Phage Technology
Young said the center is midway through its five-year development plan and is hiring faculty with phage expertise to conduct research and assist other scientists with projects where phage technology might be introduced. Young expects the phage center to eventually have 15 scientists developing different phages to target different needs.
"This is translational research," he said, "which means taking the basic research and translating it to practical applications as into commercial products. And we're the first such entity in the world."
"In the long run, we'd like to bacteria phages exploited to their fullest for human, animal husbandry and veterinary antibacterial uses," Young said.
###
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Texas A&M center confronts antibiotic crisis with potential new bacterial treatmentPublic release date: 3-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
COLLEGE STATION It's been called "the trots," "Montezuma's Revenge," "the runs" and worse. But no matter the name, when it strikes, victims wish for a medicine that could go straight to the offending bacteria to quickly knock it dead.
That wish will ultimately come true if work by Texas A&M University scientists stays on target at the Center for Phage Technology in College Station.
A "medicine that grows" is how the phage concept was described by Dr. Ryland Young, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics who was instrumental in establishing the center.
"Phage is a word that simply means viruses that grow on bacteria," Young said. "They are harmless to humans, harmless to animals, harmless to plants. The only things they attack are bacteria. And every kind of bacteria that are involved in the disease process has bacteria phages that will attack them. So if you are a bacterial cell, your enemy is the bacterial virus."
Young said new technology to fight bacterial diseases of which there are many in addition to "the trots" is critically important because people and animals have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics currently on the market. And yet, he said, there is no major U.S. pharmaceutical company currently trying to develop new antibiotics.
"There is not enough money in it," he said. "You can't blame them. They are companies and they are there to make money. They can make a lot more money making pain drugs and lifestyle drugs. Antibiotics are not a particularly attractive investment."
When antibiotics work, he explained, people get well and don't need drugs any more. Yet bacterial illnesses at a minimum cause lost productivity in the workplace and schools, and some bacteria, such one commonly called MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, can be deadly.
"There is kind of a worldwide crisis right now in human medicine because for some bacteria such as MRSA, we are down to only one antibiotic that works," Young said. "Bacteria have this very pronounced characteristic of being able to very rapidly become drug-resistant. And that's a problem. There is a need for alternatives to antibiotics."
So serious is the issue, that the Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance was initiated in 1999 following a congressional hearing on the topic, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Ten federal agencies are participating in the effort. A transatlantic effort on the topic was formed between the U.S. and Europe in 2009.
"People infected with antimicrobial-resistant organisms are more likely to have longer, more expensive hospital stays, and may be more likely to die as a result of the infection," the CDC notes on its website.
Phages are not new to science. They were first described in 1915, before what Young called "modern biology." Years after the phage discovery, scientists began exploring molecular biology and the intricacies of DNA.
What researchers now know is that the phage, or bacterial virus, encounters a bacterial cell, absorbs to it, injects its DNA into it and "typically 30 minutes later, the bacteria cell explodes," Young explained. Several hundred new virus particles then continue on to eliminate other targeted bacterial cells, if any.
So, almost 100 years after their discovery, scientists can isolate bacteria phages, sequence their DNA and engineer them to be more effective against certain types of bacteria, he said.
"They are relatively cheap to produce," Young said. "All you need to grow them is a culture of the bacteria that you want to kill. You throw one bacterial phage particle in there, come back in a few hours and you have trillions of the bacteria phages, and the bacteria cells have all been killed. Phages grow themselves, that's the beauty of them."
However, regulation will play a role in future development, he noted, because U.S. Food and Drug Administration policies currently subject phage technology to the same criteria as chemical drugs.
"If I give you a chemical drug, that drug is likely to penetrate every tissue of your body your ears, your eyes, your nose, your heart, your kidneys. And a chemical can have a different effect on every organ," Young explained. "And that is why drug testing is so important. I would not advocate lowering the barriers for chemical drugs at all.
"But bacteriophages are not going to go to your eyes, your ears, your brain. And even if they did, they can't do anything," Young said. "They're not capable of even recognizing human cells, and even if they could, the way genes are set up in bacteria phages are completely different than the way they are in humans, so they would not be recognized as genes."
The researcher said part of the center's plan is to educate policy makers so that the rules can be changed for approving phage-based medications for humans without subjecting them to the same type of requirements for chemical pharmaceuticals.
He said phages will likely first be used in veterinary medicine because the barriers for testing for animal use are a lot lower. Veterinary applications could be in use within 10 years, Young believes.
"Once we are successful in veterinary applications, there will be a lot of pressure to get phage therapeutics approved for humans," he said.
Dr. Jason Gill, program director, Center for Phage Technology
Young said the center is midway through its five-year development plan and is hiring faculty with phage expertise to conduct research and assist other scientists with projects where phage technology might be introduced. Young expects the phage center to eventually have 15 scientists developing different phages to target different needs.
"This is translational research," he said, "which means taking the basic research and translating it to practical applications as into commercial products. And we're the first such entity in the world."
"In the long run, we'd like to bacteria phages exploited to their fullest for human, animal husbandry and veterinary antibacterial uses," Young said.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
First, TLC gave viewers cute little girls dolled up for beauty pageants in "Toddlers & Tiaras." More recently, the network offered up super rich ladies in search of their dream wedding dresses in "Brides of Beverly Hills." Now, the two are merging.
Sort of.
Rather than a 5-year-old shopping for a spectacular gown to top all gowns, it's 27-year-old former beauty queen Kari-Ann on "Brides of Beverly Hills." And boy, is she one tough customer. After trying around 200 to 300 dresses, Kari-Ann admits she still hasn't found a dress that she likes, even with a hefty $5,000 budget. Check out this sneak peek TLC shared with TODAY.com exclusively:
Wonder if it'll be like this for "Toddlers & Tiaras" stars Eden, Paisley, MaKenzie?and the others when they grow up and find their Prince Charmings ...
Speaking of "Toddlers," the controversial show is set to return on Dec. 7 at 10 p.m., and it's kicking off with a Christmas-themed episode.
"Brides of Beverly Hills" airs on Fridays at 10 p.m.
How much did you spend on your wedding gown/tux? Is $5,000 too much? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!
Could Apple be ready to give its Pro notebooks an Air makeover?
Apple's super-thin MacBook Air notebooks have already spawned a number of copycats, but the company itself may be poised to add another skinny laptop to its ranks. Rumors of a 15" version of the Air have been piling up for months, and enough reliable sources have jumped on the bandwagon that it appears a larger version is indeed on the way.?The newest credible report comes from japanese Apple site Macotakara, where tipsters have pointed to the development of an ultra-thin 15" display as proof a new Air is in the works.
This news follows whispers earlier this year that Apple is prepping not one, but two new super-skinny notebooks. And not only that, they are said to carry MacBook Pro branding. Could a MacBook Air Pro be in the works? It's hard to tell, but with Apple killing off the base-model MacBooks in July of this year the company seems poised to shakeup its notebook offerings in short order.
Currently, the MacBook Air only comes in 11" and 13" (pictured above) flavors, keeping the svelte notebooks from being a hit among power users who require more screen real estate on the go. A 15" version could certainly change that, and if Apple does indeed intend on revamping its Pro models with the sleek lines ? and super-fast solid state storage ? of the Air, it could be a hit amongst those shopping a laptop for both work and play.
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Wall Street closed its best month in 20 years on a down note on Monday as the failure of trading firm MF Global Holdings Ltd and new worries about Europe's debt crisis hammered financial shares.
In a sign that Europe's woes were far from over, Italian and Spanish bond yields soared, prompting the European Central Bank to buy the debt, while shares of European banks came under heavy selling pressure.
MF Global Holdings Ltd (MF.N), the futures broker that made big bets on European sovereign debt, filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, making it the biggest U.S. casualty of the euro-zone crisis. Trading in MF Global shares was halted.
Financial shares fell sharply. Morgan Stanley (MS.N), which has tended to do poorly when fears about Europe rise, dropped 8.6 percent to $17.64. Monday's losses marked a reversal of last week's euphoria over European leaders' deal to contain the debt crisis.
"We started the day with more questions about the European Union," said Mark Grant, Southwest Securities managing director, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
"Serious questions were raised, and then MF Global came along. MF is involved in all kinds of markets, and the fallout from them going bankrupt is unknown."
As the sell-off accelerated at the market's close, the CBOE volatility index (.VIX) jumped 22.1 percent, its biggest daily gain since mid-August.
UNCERTAINTY OVER GREECE
News late in the day that Greece called an unexpected referendum on a new EU aid package baffled investors and added to the uncertainty.
"It struck me as a very curious protocol and I will be interested in how the Asian markets react to that tonight," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Contributing to the downward pressure, the U.S. dollar shot up to a three-month high against the yen as Japan's government
intervened to curb its currency's appreciation, which hurt the export-based economy.
The dollar's jump caused shares of energy and natural resources companies to fall sharply. The S&P energy index (.GSPE) fell 4.4 percent and was the worst-hit sector.
Despite the declines, the benchmark S&P 500 index was up nearly 11 percent for the month and posted its best monthly percentage gain since December 1991.
Most of that run came as European leaders moved to beef up the region's bailout fund and recapitalize its banks.
But despite October's gains, the S&P 500 index is flat for the year so far.
Still, many analysts believe that with a worst-case scenario in Europe seemingly off the table -- at least for now -- stocks could gain further as investors turn their attention to stronger-than-expected economic data in the United States and China.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 276.10 points, or 2.26 percent, to 11,955.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) fell 31.79 points, or 2.47 percent, to 1,253.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) lost 52.74 points, or 1.93 percent, to 2,684.41.
Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co in Nashville, said the market's strong advance over the past month was leading to some selling, but said the market would likely rise further, provided the S&P 500 held the top end of its recent trading range at around 1,250.
"The market had a huge run in October, so the market was overbought coming into today," he said.
BLAME IT ON THE DOLLAR
Bank stocks were among the worst performing, with the KBW bank index (.BKX) down 4.1 percent, although analysts said MF Global was unlikely to be big enough to spark a systemic failure in the banking sector.
JP Morgan Chase (JPM.N), which, according to an MF Global court filing, has about $1.2 billion worth of claims against the brokerage, fell 5.3 percent to $34.76.
The greenback's advance pressured commodity prices, with copper off 2 percent and Brent crude down 0.3 percent. Many commodities are priced in the greenback, making a spike in dollar prices more expensive for traders in other currencies and sapping demand.
The S&P materials sector (.GSPM) dropped 4.2 percent. Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (FCX.N) lost 5.9 percent to $40.26. Aluminum company Alcoa Inc (AA.N) dropped 7 percent to $10.76.
"After a solid month of gains, the (higher) dollar is giving traders a reason to shy from the risk trade and take some profits," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
Volume was moderate, with about 7.7 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq. Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE and the Nasdaq by about 4 to 1.
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Jan Paschal)
In this photo provided by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, a Gulfstream jet lies on the ground after a crash landing Monday, Oct. 31, 2011, in Key West, Fla. Officials say the aircraft carrying Rick and Linda Hendrick had a brake malfunction and overran the runway Monday night. The Hendricks, a pilot and co-pilot were taken to Lower Keys Medical Center. The Hendricks, according to Monroe County Airports' Director Peter Horton, sustained minor injuries. The pilot and copilot were transported for precautionary reasons. (AP Photo/Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Evan Calhoun)
In this photo provided by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, a Gulfstream jet lies on the ground after a crash landing Monday, Oct. 31, 2011, in Key West, Fla. Officials say the aircraft carrying Rick and Linda Hendrick had a brake malfunction and overran the runway Monday night. The Hendricks, a pilot and co-pilot were taken to Lower Keys Medical Center. The Hendricks, according to Monroe County Airports' Director Peter Horton, sustained minor injuries. The pilot and copilot were transported for precautionary reasons. (AP Photo/Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Evan Calhoun)
In a photo provided by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, a firefighter sprays a Gulfstream jet after a crash landing Monday night, Oct. 31, 2011, in Key West, Fla. Officials say the aircraft carrying Rick and Linda Hendrick ran off the runway. The Hendricks, a pilot and co-pilot were taken to Lower Keys Medical Center. Two have minor injuries, though it was not clear who. The other two were taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons. (AP Photo/Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Sgt. Evan Calhoun)
In this photo provided by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, a Gulfstream jet lies on the ground after a crash landing Monday, Oct. 31, 2011, in Key West, Fla. Officials say the aircraft carrying Rick and Linda Hendrick ran off the runway Monday ngith. The Hendricks, a pilot and co-pilot were taken to Lower Keys Medical Center. Two have minor injuries, though it was not clear who. The other two were taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons. (AP Photo/Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Evan Calhoun)
KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) ? A small jet carrying the owner of NASCAR's top team and his wife lost its brakes and crash landed at a Key West, Fla., airport Monday evening, and the couple suffered minor injuries, officials said.
The Gulfstream 150 aircraft ran off the runway at the Key West International Airport Monday at 7:45 p.m. Rick and Linda Hendrick, a pilot and co-pilot were all taken to Lower Keys Medical Centers. The Hendricks had minor injuries and the pilot and co-pilot were taken in as a precaution, said county airport director Peter Horton.
The plane is registered to Jimmie Johnson Racing II Incorporated in Charlotte, N.C. Johnson is a five-time defending NASCAR champion and drives for Hendrick Motorsports, which Rick Hendrick owns.
Besides Johnson, Hendrick also fields cars for four-time champion Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin. The team recently celebrated its 199th career victory in the Sprint Cup Series.
"It was a real big scare. Very frightening to hear," Earnhardt told reporters in Las Vegas, where he was attending the annual SEMA show, which showcases automotive specialty-equipment. "I'm very glad that he and everybody appears to be OK."
In 2004, a plane Hendrick owned crashed en route to a race in Martinsville, Va., killing all 10 onboard. That included Hendrick's son, Ricky, his brother and twin nieces.
According to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, the pilot and co-pilot radioed that the plane had no brakes upon landing in Key West. Horton said the plane ran off the runway, and then 100 feet beyond a 600-foot safety area that was finished in May.
"If we hadn't done that, it likely would have been a different story," Horton said of the safety area that is meant as a runway overrun space.
Photographs of the crash show the plane largely intact and with its nose resting on the ground about 20 feet in front of a chain-linked airport boundary fence.
The National Transportation and Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.
AP
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