After being sidelined for more than two years because of knee injuries, bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will finally fight again at UFC 169 Feb. 1 against interim belt-holder Renan Barao. Cruz last fought and won with a unanimous decision over now flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in October of 2011.
After that, Cruz was selected as a coach of The Ultimate Fighter, opposite his rival Urijah Faber. The two had fought twice before and were set to have a rubber match after coaching TUF.
Cruz tore his ACL in a knee and was forced out of the fight. Barao stepped in to fight Faber in an interim title bout, which he won.
Cruz' recovery was delayed by a second ACL tear and surgery. Barao has defended his interim title twice in the meantime.
The main event of UFC 169 will include another title bout as featherweight champ Jose Aldo defends against Ricardo Lamas. Lamas has won four straight bouts heading into his long-awaited title shot.
Results of the REPRISE II trial reported at TCT 2013
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Judy Romero jromero@crf.org Cardiovascular Research Foundation
Second generation transcatheter aortic valve shown to successfully address complications of TAVR
SAN FRANCISCO, CA THURSDAY OCTOBER 31, 2013 In a clinical trial, a second-generation transcatheter aortic valve demonstrated low rates of complications that are sometimes seen in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), including challenges with positioning, post-procedure paravalvular aortic regurgitation, vascular complications, and stroke.
The findings were presented today at the 25th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine.
The valve studied in REPRISE II is fully retrievable and repositionable with a unique adaptive seal intended to minimize paravalvular regurgitation, a complication that has been associated with higher mortality among patients undergoing TAVR. In this prospective, single arm, multicenter study, symptomatic patients at high risk for surgery received the Lotus valve to treat calcific aortic stenosis.
The trial enrolled 120 patients; mean age was 84.45.3 years, 56.7 percent were female, and 75.8 percent were considered New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III or IV. The mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons score was 7.14.6 percent and all patients were confirmed by their site heart team to be at high risk for surgery due to frailty or associated comorbidities.
The valve was successfully implanted in all 120 patients with valve repositioning and retrieval performed as needed. There was no embolization, ectopic valve deployment, or need for implantation of a second prosthetic valve.
The primary device performance endpoint was the mean aortic valve pressure gradient at 30 days compared to a performance goal of 18 mmHg; the primary safety endpoint was 30-day mortality. The primary device performance endpoint was met with a 30 day mean aortic valve pressure gradient of 11.55.2 mmHg; mean effective orifice area was 1.70.4 cm2. All cause mortality and disabling stroke were low at 30 days (4.2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively). Additional clinical event rates were consistent with those reported for other valves. Aortic regurgitation at 30 days was negligible in 99.0 percent of patients (78.3 percent none, 5.2 percent trace, and 15.5 percent mild).
"These findings suggest this valve, which is a differentiated, second generation TAVR device, will be a valuable addition for the treatment of severe aortic stenosis," said the lead investigator, Ian T. Meredith, MBBS, PhD. Dr. Meredith is Director of Monash HEART and the Executive Director of the Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre. He is also a Professor of Medicine at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
###
The REPRISE II trial was funded by Boston Scientific. Dr. Meredith reported consultant fee/honoraria/speaker's bureau from Boston Scientific and Medtronic.
About CRF and TCT
The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, academically focused nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the survival and quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease through research and education. Since its inception in 1991, CRF has played a major role in realizing dramatic improvements in the lives of countless numbers of patients by establishing the safe use of new technologies and therapies in interventional cardiovascular medicine. CRF is the sponsor of the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. For more information, visit http://www.crf.org and http://www.tctconference.com.
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Results of the REPRISE II trial reported at TCT 2013
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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]
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Contact: Judy Romero jromero@crf.org Cardiovascular Research Foundation
Second generation transcatheter aortic valve shown to successfully address complications of TAVR
SAN FRANCISCO, CA THURSDAY OCTOBER 31, 2013 In a clinical trial, a second-generation transcatheter aortic valve demonstrated low rates of complications that are sometimes seen in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), including challenges with positioning, post-procedure paravalvular aortic regurgitation, vascular complications, and stroke.
The findings were presented today at the 25th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine.
The valve studied in REPRISE II is fully retrievable and repositionable with a unique adaptive seal intended to minimize paravalvular regurgitation, a complication that has been associated with higher mortality among patients undergoing TAVR. In this prospective, single arm, multicenter study, symptomatic patients at high risk for surgery received the Lotus valve to treat calcific aortic stenosis.
The trial enrolled 120 patients; mean age was 84.45.3 years, 56.7 percent were female, and 75.8 percent were considered New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III or IV. The mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons score was 7.14.6 percent and all patients were confirmed by their site heart team to be at high risk for surgery due to frailty or associated comorbidities.
The valve was successfully implanted in all 120 patients with valve repositioning and retrieval performed as needed. There was no embolization, ectopic valve deployment, or need for implantation of a second prosthetic valve.
The primary device performance endpoint was the mean aortic valve pressure gradient at 30 days compared to a performance goal of 18 mmHg; the primary safety endpoint was 30-day mortality. The primary device performance endpoint was met with a 30 day mean aortic valve pressure gradient of 11.55.2 mmHg; mean effective orifice area was 1.70.4 cm2. All cause mortality and disabling stroke were low at 30 days (4.2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively). Additional clinical event rates were consistent with those reported for other valves. Aortic regurgitation at 30 days was negligible in 99.0 percent of patients (78.3 percent none, 5.2 percent trace, and 15.5 percent mild).
"These findings suggest this valve, which is a differentiated, second generation TAVR device, will be a valuable addition for the treatment of severe aortic stenosis," said the lead investigator, Ian T. Meredith, MBBS, PhD. Dr. Meredith is Director of Monash HEART and the Executive Director of the Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre. He is also a Professor of Medicine at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
###
The REPRISE II trial was funded by Boston Scientific. Dr. Meredith reported consultant fee/honoraria/speaker's bureau from Boston Scientific and Medtronic.
About CRF and TCT
The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, academically focused nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the survival and quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease through research and education. Since its inception in 1991, CRF has played a major role in realizing dramatic improvements in the lives of countless numbers of patients by establishing the safe use of new technologies and therapies in interventional cardiovascular medicine. CRF is the sponsor of the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. For more information, visit http://www.crf.org and http://www.tctconference.com.
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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.
NEW YORK (AP) — Bryan Cranston has an authoritative voice, which all by itself would qualify him to narrate "Big History."
But there's another reason Cranston is a fine choice for this new docuseries, which pledges to reveal "one grand unified theory" for how every event in history (13.7 billion years of it) is intertwined by science. Cranston, after all, starred in the recently concluded drama "Breaking Bad" as Walter White, the nation's favorite psychotic former high-school chemistry teacher.
"Walt was a passionate teacher," Cranston says with a laugh, "and even through the dastardly deeds that he found himself doing later on, he was still a teacher: He taught Jesse the chemistry of cooking meth."
"Breaking Bad" is behind him, and now, in Cranston's current TV project, he is as much student as teacher as he confronts each script for the 16-episode-plus-finale series, which premieres Saturday at 10 p.m. EDT on the H2 network (an extension of the History channel).
"The series uses science and history to show how various things that we take for granted these days had their origins thousands of years ago," Cranston says by phone from the Los Angeles studio where he is busy taping his commentary.
Two half-hour episodes of "Big History" will air on premiere night.
"The Superpower of Salt" reveals its subject to be far more than the thing you cut down on if you have high blood pressure.
"New York City wouldn't be the city that it is without salt," Cranston declares in the episode. Moreover, salt helped determine the road system of America and beyond: It "has silently engineered our global map."
Salt's all-important role in animal life was demonstrated eons ago by the genesis of the egg, a portable container for salty water that allowed a creature to leave the sea for dry land to procreate there. (Even the amniotic sack in the womb serves as a personal ocean for the fetus, he notes.)
The second episode, "Horse Power Revolution," makes clear the noble equine's legacy goes deeper than pulling a plow and toting Paul Revere on his midnight ride.
It was early nomads in Central Asia some 6,000 years ago who first rode horses, Cranston reports.
Among many unexpected benefits the horse spurred was pants. Citizens of ancient Rome wore tunics, which were impractical for riding horses, as Roman soldiers must have realized anew while battling barbarian enemies who sported this sartorial innovation. The Roman cavalry soon got on board. From there, pants became the rage for clotheshorses the world over.
Prior to the H2 series, Big History began as a course developed to help students better understand the world by revealing "big picture" connections between different fields of study. A free, online version is available online.
"I love learning how a moment in history carries through to today's life," says Cranston.
Asked what kind of student he was during his school years, he recalls, "I was good when I wanted to be. And I could get enthused about any subject if a teacher made it come alive.
"That's what this series does. It describes the relationship we have to our history. It explains how and why this is important to ME. That's what's key!"
___
EDITOR'S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore@ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., with House GOP leaders, speaks with reporters following a Republican strategy session, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. At left is Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio. House GOP leaders Tuesday floated a plan to fellow Republicans to counter an emerging Senate deal to reopen the government and forestall an economy-rattling default on U.S. obligations. But the plan got mixed reviews from the rank and file and it was not clear whether it could pass the chamber. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Imagine that someone asked you to name the one group of people who've earned the right to spend less time at the office next year. To just relax. Because, darn it, they've really busted their humps in 2013, and everyone is extremely pleased with the job they're doing.
We're guessing "United States Congress" wouldn't be at the top of your list.
Well, guess what? Congress, the group of esteemed lawmakers who brought you the government shutdown of 2013, has announced that they plan to be in session for fewer days next year.
The news came from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., who announced the schedule on Twitter.
Follow the links and you'll get to this handy-dandy schedule (PDF) that lists the days when Congress will be in session. The grand total for 2014: 113 scheduled days. In 2013, the expected total was 126 days.
To be fair, members of Congress spend a considerable amount of time in their districts. As RollCall puts it, "the work doesn't end when lawmakers leave Washington."
Still, the shorter session begs the question: Why? Not to mention that the shorter session has the potential to be more bad PR for a group in the single-digit job-approval ratings and, as of early October, less popular than cockroaches.
Millions of adults who grew up speaking a language other than English are still held back by their language skills.
iStockphoto.com
Millions of adults who grew up speaking a language other than English are still held back by their language skills.
iStockphoto.com
This is the second report in a four-part series on adult education.
Ana Perez never made it to high school. Her education ended after the sixth grade, when war broke out in her native El Salvador. She says she's "desperate" to learn English, but she gets nervous trying to speak it.
Immigrants like Perez see English as the key to a better life. Many hope learning the language will help lift them out of poverty and integrate them into American society. But gaining English proficiency is a difficult task amid everyday obligations.
'Studying Is Sacred'
Perez has taken English classes off and on for almost 20 years. Now she's trying to fill in the gaps in her education, even though she says it's challenging to juggle everything.
"I have to study, I have a grandchild, I have a daughter, a husband. Everything adds up," she says in Spanish.
But Perez takes two buses and comes to class every day at the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.
"I try to never miss a day. A day of studying is sacred for me. I swear," she says.
Perez, like many of her classmates, struggles to balance learning English with jobs, child care and household responsibilities. Jorge Delgado, the assistant principal at Carlos Rosario, says many of his adult students make "incredible sacrifices" to come to class.
"Lots of cleaning until 7 o'clock in the morning. Many of them are bartenders, parking attendants," he says. "The other day I was leaving an activity, and it was like 3 o' clock in the morning. And when I went to pay, it was one of my students. And I'm like, 'Don't you have class at 8:30?' And he's says, "Yep.' "
The student would get off work at 5.
'Stepchild Of The Stepchild'
There are millions of adults — mostly immigrants — who grew up in the United States speaking a language other than English at home. Many of whom are still held back by their limited language skills. Of those, only 3 to 5 percent are being served in English classes, says Heide Wrigley, a senior researcher at Literacywork International.
"Adult education is a bit of a stepchild in terms of research and the resources available," she says. "And within that, the stepchild of the stepchild is really adult second-language acquisition."
There are long waiting lines for English classes in almost every state. Perez was lucky to get into Carlos Rosario, which has a waitlist of 1,000 prospective students.
At The Literacy Council of Montgomery County in Maryland, Carol Dymond teaches an English conversation class. She has students from dozens of countries.
One of the students, Hyunok Hong, is struggling with the sound of the letter "z" because there isn't an equivalent sound in her native Korean.
Researcher Wrigley says she's often asked, "Why can't immigrants just learn English?" She says she has to remind people how difficult it is to learn another language and how long it takes.
"It doesn't just require that you learn the grammar and the pronunciation. You need thousands of words," she says. "And you have to build what we call 'communicative competence' that allows you to know not just what to say, but what to say to whom and when. And what not to say."
The Motivation
Despite how difficult it is, many immigrants keep at it.
When asked why she wants to learn English, Hong looks confused. The answer seems so obvious: "I live in America; I am American."
Hong's dream is to learn enough English so she can go on a road trip by herself. One of her classmates says longingly she'd love to make American friends; another wants to help her child with homework.
Wrigley says immigrants' ability to speak English is about more than just the language — it makes for a stronger, more integrated country.
"It's really a way to support social cohesion and to feel like you're part of that fabric of the wider U.S. community," she says.
For Hong and Perez, learning English gives them a chance at a better job and a better future for their families. But there are thousands more who are waiting and hoping for their own shot at the American dream.
US policy should encourage highly skilled, foreign Ph.D. students to stay, CU-led study finds
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Keith Maskus keith.maskus@colorado.edu 303-495-9294 University of Colorado at Boulder
Attracting more talented foreign students to study at U.S. universities and encouraging them to launch entrepreneurial ventures here could help "revitalize innovation and economic growth" in this country, a trio of economists led by University of Colorado Boulder Professor Keith Maskus concludes.
Maskus and co-authors Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, associate professor at the Yale School of Management, and Eric T. Stuen, assistant professor at the University of Idaho College of Business and Economics, make this case in the Policy Forum of the Nov. 1 edition of the journal Science.
The economists' perspective draws on their study of 100 research-intensive U.S. universities in 23 science and engineering fields, which found that both U.S. and foreign students are "essential causal inputs into scientific discovery." The trio has also found evidence that increased student diversity boosts innovative research.
Maskus and his collaborators have found that high-performing foreign-born Ph.D. students improve the "creation of knowledge" in U.S. universities. When knowledge is created, it tends to drive entrepreneurial investment and economic growth.
In fact, the researchers found, "The productivity of the average American university science and engineering laboratory in generating publications is a bit higher if it has students from 10 different countries than if it has 10 students from one country."
That might not seem intuitive, Maskus acknowledged. "What it comes down to is that people trained in different traditions tend to have different specialties in terms of how they come to a teamwork environment. And teamwork is more productive, more efficient if you have people with divergent ideas, so they can play off of each other."
Such diversity of intellect, capacities and specializations makes a measurable difference, Maskus added. "It doesn't matter so much on a factory line, but it matters a lot in an intellectual sense when you're trying to be innovative and creative."
The publication comes as Congress weighs whether and how to change the U.S. immigration system. A bipartisan bill that cleared the U.S. Senate in June but has stalled in the House includes provisions that partly mirror those recommended by Maskus and his team.
Based on data showing that highly skilled Ph.D.s in science and engineering tend to generate new jobs where they work, the bill would pave the way for Ph.D.s in science and engineering who are from foreign countries to gain permanent U.S. residency after graduation.
U.S. law requires foreign students to leave the country after earning their Ph.D.s unless they find employers willing to sponsor their visas, which, Maskus and his colleagues note, might not lead to permanent U.S. residency. In recent years, the percentage of foreign Ph.D.s remaining in the United States after graduation has declined.
The Senate bill would grant a green card, or permanent residence, to foreign students who get a Ph.D. in science or engineering at American universities. The bill would also facilitate green-card status to those who have recently earned doctoral degrees in science and engineering at recognized scientific institutions worldwide.
Maskus and his colleagues also recommend an entrepreneurship visa. Such a visa could be granted to those who have secured a patent and met certain milestones for getting that idea commercialized. The idea is similar to an investment visagranted based on immigrants' investment in the U.S. economy.
This year, Canada implemented an entrepreneurship visa that includes inventive foreign Ph.D.s. The program aims to attract science and engineering graduates from U.S. universities.
"Ultimately we think this is an important way of reinvigorating economic growth and technological change in the U.S.," Maskus said.
Additionally, the trio contends that decisions to grant student visas to prospective graduate students from foreign countries should be granted on more factors than just their ability to pay. Historically, the ability-to-pay requirement has been used by immigration officials as an indicator that foreign students will return to their countries of origin.
In the case of foreign Ph.D.s in science and engineering, such a requirement "is short-sighted," Maskus said. "The country should welcome people who can contribute in developing innovation and new technology and permit them to stay."
"You have to have access to the best innovative inputs and resources in the world," Maskus said. "The Europeans recognize that, the Australians, the Canadians."
Addressing a commonly expressed fear, Maskus and his collaborators do not find evidence that granting green cards to high-performing foreign Ph.D.s would displace American Ph.D.s.
The research of Maskus, Mobarak and Stuen reinforces recommendations of groups ranging from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the National Academy of Sciences.
###
Contact:
Keith Maskus, 303-495-9294
keith.maskus@colorado.edu
Clint Talbott, 303-492-6111
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US policy should encourage highly skilled, foreign Ph.D. students to stay, CU-led study finds
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Keith Maskus keith.maskus@colorado.edu 303-495-9294 University of Colorado at Boulder
Attracting more talented foreign students to study at U.S. universities and encouraging them to launch entrepreneurial ventures here could help "revitalize innovation and economic growth" in this country, a trio of economists led by University of Colorado Boulder Professor Keith Maskus concludes.
Maskus and co-authors Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, associate professor at the Yale School of Management, and Eric T. Stuen, assistant professor at the University of Idaho College of Business and Economics, make this case in the Policy Forum of the Nov. 1 edition of the journal Science.
The economists' perspective draws on their study of 100 research-intensive U.S. universities in 23 science and engineering fields, which found that both U.S. and foreign students are "essential causal inputs into scientific discovery." The trio has also found evidence that increased student diversity boosts innovative research.
Maskus and his collaborators have found that high-performing foreign-born Ph.D. students improve the "creation of knowledge" in U.S. universities. When knowledge is created, it tends to drive entrepreneurial investment and economic growth.
In fact, the researchers found, "The productivity of the average American university science and engineering laboratory in generating publications is a bit higher if it has students from 10 different countries than if it has 10 students from one country."
That might not seem intuitive, Maskus acknowledged. "What it comes down to is that people trained in different traditions tend to have different specialties in terms of how they come to a teamwork environment. And teamwork is more productive, more efficient if you have people with divergent ideas, so they can play off of each other."
Such diversity of intellect, capacities and specializations makes a measurable difference, Maskus added. "It doesn't matter so much on a factory line, but it matters a lot in an intellectual sense when you're trying to be innovative and creative."
The publication comes as Congress weighs whether and how to change the U.S. immigration system. A bipartisan bill that cleared the U.S. Senate in June but has stalled in the House includes provisions that partly mirror those recommended by Maskus and his team.
Based on data showing that highly skilled Ph.D.s in science and engineering tend to generate new jobs where they work, the bill would pave the way for Ph.D.s in science and engineering who are from foreign countries to gain permanent U.S. residency after graduation.
U.S. law requires foreign students to leave the country after earning their Ph.D.s unless they find employers willing to sponsor their visas, which, Maskus and his colleagues note, might not lead to permanent U.S. residency. In recent years, the percentage of foreign Ph.D.s remaining in the United States after graduation has declined.
The Senate bill would grant a green card, or permanent residence, to foreign students who get a Ph.D. in science or engineering at American universities. The bill would also facilitate green-card status to those who have recently earned doctoral degrees in science and engineering at recognized scientific institutions worldwide.
Maskus and his colleagues also recommend an entrepreneurship visa. Such a visa could be granted to those who have secured a patent and met certain milestones for getting that idea commercialized. The idea is similar to an investment visagranted based on immigrants' investment in the U.S. economy.
This year, Canada implemented an entrepreneurship visa that includes inventive foreign Ph.D.s. The program aims to attract science and engineering graduates from U.S. universities.
"Ultimately we think this is an important way of reinvigorating economic growth and technological change in the U.S.," Maskus said.
Additionally, the trio contends that decisions to grant student visas to prospective graduate students from foreign countries should be granted on more factors than just their ability to pay. Historically, the ability-to-pay requirement has been used by immigration officials as an indicator that foreign students will return to their countries of origin.
In the case of foreign Ph.D.s in science and engineering, such a requirement "is short-sighted," Maskus said. "The country should welcome people who can contribute in developing innovation and new technology and permit them to stay."
"You have to have access to the best innovative inputs and resources in the world," Maskus said. "The Europeans recognize that, the Australians, the Canadians."
Addressing a commonly expressed fear, Maskus and his collaborators do not find evidence that granting green cards to high-performing foreign Ph.D.s would displace American Ph.D.s.
The research of Maskus, Mobarak and Stuen reinforces recommendations of groups ranging from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the National Academy of Sciences.
###
Contact:
Keith Maskus, 303-495-9294
keith.maskus@colorado.edu
Clint Talbott, 303-492-6111
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| E-mail
Share
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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.
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