Urine Teeth Possible, China Research Team Believes

Urine teeth are entirely possible, according to a team of researchers based in China.

The BBC first reported on the finding Monday after an article published in Cell Regeneration Journal revealed that human urine could be the next big development in dental health.

(Before filing this one away as a future ?Go Home, Science, you?re drunk? Internet meme, hear us out.)

By using urine as a jumping off point, scientists at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health were able to coax out stem cells, which then formed into small tooth-like structures.

Cells from the lining of the body?s waterworks, were lab-harvested and mixed with other materials taken from the lab mice and then implanted back into the animals.

After three weeks, the cell cluster began resembling a tooth, which contained ?dental pulp, dentin, enamel space and enamel organ,? researchers said.

Stem cells, if you?re not already in the know, are master cells capable of growing into any type of tissue. They have been both a popular and controversial form of research, particularly in the US where the stem cell creation process has been linked with harvesting unborn fetuses by opponents.

Researchers at Guangzhou believe urine teeth will be an effective way to replace lost teeth and fight the tide of poor dental hygiene throughout the world. Other scientists are (understandably) skeptical.

Take Chris Mason, a stem cell scientist and professor at University College London, who called human urine ?a poor starting point? in comments to the BBC.

?It is probably one of the worst sources, there are very few cells in the first place and the efficiency of turning them into stem cells is very low,? Mason said. ?You just wouldn?t do it in this way.?

Mason issued concerns about contamination risk through contact with bacteria, adding, ?The big challenge here is the teeth have got a pulp with nerve and blood vessels which have to make sure they integrate to get permanent teeth.?

(And here we thought it was the idea of having a mouthful of pee.)

While the concept of urine teeth is certainly a strange one, it?s not the first time in recent weeks that the waste product has proven effective in more ways than relief after a heavy night of drinking, telling us that this guy may be on to something.

Earlier this month, scientists charged a mobile phone using the substance, and in February, we brought you a report on a new smartphone app that will let you test your own urine for disease.

But what about urine teeth? Would you be okay with a few of those in your head?

[Image via ShutterStock]

Source: http://www.inquisitr.com/877711/urine-teeth-possible-china-research-team-believes/

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Florida Apartment Shootings: Neighbors describe suspected gunman Pedro Vargas as loner with pent-up anger

Police say Pedro Vargas was shot and killed after going on a deadly shooting spree in his Florida apartment complex.

/ CBS Miami

(AP) HIALEAH, Fla.-- Pedro Vargas, the gunman who police say went on a shooting rampage at his South Florida apartment building, killing six people, was a lonely man who spoke about having pent up anger, those who knew him said Sunday.

Vargas, 42, lived on the fourth floor of a barren, concrete apartment complex in the Miami suburb of Hialeah with his elderly mother. He rarely spoke with others there, and confided to a man who worked out at the same gym that he liked to work out his anger by lifting weights and trying to get big.

"He'd just say this was the only thing that would keep him normal, pulling out all the anger in the gym," Jorge Bagos told The Associated Press.

Bagos said the gunman expressed frustration over bad experiences with women and losing all his hair from using steroids.

On Friday night, Vargas set a combustible liquid on fire in his apartment, sending the unit into flames, police said. Building manager Italo Pisciotti and his wife went running toward the smoke.

Vargas opened his door and shot and killed both of them, Lt. Carl Zogby, a spokesman with the Hialeah Police Department said.

Vargas then went back into his apartment and began firing from his balcony. One of the shots struck and killed Carlos Javier Gavilanes, 33, who neighbors said was returning home from his son's boxing practice.

Vargas then stormed into a third-story apartment, where he shot and killed a family of three: Patricio Simono, 64, Merly Niebles, 51, and her 17-year-old daughter.

For eight hours, police followed and exchanged gunfire with Vargas throughout the five-story apartment complex as terrified residents took cover in bathrooms and huddled with relatives, sometimes so close to the gunfire they could feel the shots. In the final hours, Vargas took two people captive in a fifth-story unit.

Police?attempted to negotiate with him, but the talks fell apart and a SWAT team swarmed in, killing Vargas and rescuing both hostages.

On Sunday, neighbors struggled to remember anything more than cursory exchanges with Vargas. He was often seen taking his mother, who used a walker, to run errands and go to doctor appointments.

Sometimes, he greeted residents and politely held open doors. Other times, he could be noticeably anti-social.

One woman recalled how she would see him wait for the elevator, only to then take the stairs if he saw someone was inside when it arrived. And neighbors never saw him with anyone other than his mother.

"He looked very alone," said Isael Sarmiento, 42, who lived on the same floor as Vargas, across an open, gray and red concrete terrace. "I saw it in his face sometimes, like he was someone who had spent many years alone."

Nearly every morning, Vargas would get dressed in gym shorts and a tank top and drive to an L.A. Fitness gym, water bottle in hand, neighbors said.

"He looked like an athlete," said Consuela Fernandez.

When shown Vargas' photo, many of the men working out at the gym recalled seeing him there, doing pull ups and lifting weights for hours at a time. Bagos said Vargas worked out almost religiously, and always alone.

"Sometimes it looked like he was in his own world," Bagos said.

Vargas didn't talk much, but occasionally he would share hints of the frustrations he described taking out at the gym.

"He said he'd rather be by himself, that women were no good," Bagos said.

Vargas also described how he was dieting and wanted six-pack abs. He was tall and relatively muscular, but when Bagos suggested Vargas get a tan so that his muscles would look better, he scoffed.

"I don't like the heat," Bagos remembered Vargas saying. "The heat makes me mad."

Lately, Vargas seemed to keep even more to himself. When Bagos tried saying hello, Vargas would turn and walk in the other direction.

"I thought he was going through problems and I kept away from him," he said.

Police said Vargas had no known criminal history, and they'd never responded any calls from the home. His past, they said, was "unremarkable."

"Nobody seems to know why he acted the way he acted," Zogby said.

On Sunday, residents stayed away from the building or kept inside their apartments. A few lingered in the stairways, staring from time to time at Vargas' apartment. The front door was half burnt and a black mix of water and ash from the blaze was scattered along the walkway.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/cbsnews/feed/~3/kO44dPD2cf0/

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Twin City Golf Tournament Day 2

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Source: http://www.news-gazette.com/multimedia/photogallery/2013-07-28/twin-city-golf-tournament-day-2

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Differences small between student loan bills

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The House is set to go along with a bipartisan Senate compromise that would link college students' interest rates to the financial markets and offer borrowers lower rates this fall.

The Senate bill hews closely to one the House already has passed, and leaders from both parties and in both chambers expect those differences won't stand in the way of quick resolution, perhaps as early as Wednesday.

House approval would send the measure to President Barack Obama, who has said he would sign it into law "right away."

But critics note that if the economy improves, as expected, rates could climb higher.

If the Republican-led House consents to the Senate's tinkering with the House's earlier proposal, and Obama signs the legislation before students start returning to campus, families would see better deals on some federal loans this year than they did in 2012. Undergraduates could borrow at rates as low as 3.4 percent for subsidized Stafford loans and 6.8 percent on unsubsidized Stafford loans last year, while graduate students and parents borrowed at 7.9 percent last year.

Those 3.4 percent rates doubled on July 1 because Congress did not act. Lawmakers from both parties said the rate increase was unacceptable and worked on various proposals to extend rates, overhaul rates and even remake the entire program before classes start this fall.

Both chambers would link the interest rate to the 10-year Treasury note plus an added percentage, based on the type of loan. Each sets caps on how high the loans can go.

But under the Senate bill, once a student or parent takes a loan for the school year the rate would not change. The House bill would make the interest rate variable, meaning it could change every year until the loan is repaid.

A look at what the House and Senate bills would mean for students and their parents:

UNDERGRADUATES:

Senate: Undergraduates who take subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans would pay the 10-year Treasury note, plus an additional 2.05 percent. That would put the interest rate at about 3.9 percent this fall. Rates would be capped at 8.25 percent.

House: Under the House bill, undergraduates who take subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans would pay the 10-year Treasury note, plus an additional 2.5 percent. That would translate to an interest rate of about 4.3 percent interest rates for loans taken this fall. Rates would be capped at 8.5 percent.

GRADUATE STUDENTS:

Senate: Graduate students would borrow at the interest rate of the 10-year Treasury notes plus an additional 3.6 percent. That would bring 5.4 percent interest rates for borrowers this fall. Rates would be capped at 9.5 percent.

House: Graduate students and parents would borrow at the 10-year Treasury note plus an additional 4.5 percent. Under this formula, graduate student loans this fall would carry a 6.3 percent interest rate. Rates would be capped at 10.5 percent.

PARENTS AND SOME GRADUATE STUDENTS:

Senate: Parents and some graduate students would borrow at the 10-year Treasury note plus an additional 4.6 percent. That works out to a 6.4 percent interest rate for fall term. Rates would be capped at 10.5 percent.

House: Graduate students and parents would borrow at the 10-year Treasury note plus an additional 4.5 percent. That would bring about 6.3 percent interest rates for borrowers this fall. Rates would be capped at 10.5 percent

___

Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/philip_elliott

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/differences-small-between-student-loan-bills-140411223.html

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60 years after armistice, one harrowing mission still binds several Korean veterans

Kris Connor / for NBC News

E.C. Rivera, center, speaks with other members of the 8th Ranger Company at Bob Black's house in Carlisle, Pa. as part of reunion for members of the company in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement.

By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

Trapped by the enemy, calculating his company had 20 minutes to live, the Army Ranger belly-climbed a napalm-fried hill as Chinese bullets peppered the dirt. From that peak, he glimpsed below ?the most beautiful sight of my life? ? four waiting U.S. tanks. "We are in bad shape," he radioed.

On the 60th anniversary of the final shots fired during what that Ranger, E.C. Rivera, and fellow Korean veterans call ?the Forgotten War,? Rivera, 84, and five survivors of that mission will reunite Saturday in Carlisle, Pa.

The Korean War lasted just three years, but combat claimed 34,000 American lives.?This week, Rivera has been emotional ? crying some about that brazen rescue and the lifelong bonds it forged, fuming some about the welcome home they never received.

?Nobody gave a rat?s ass about us,? Rivera said. ?Nobody cared. They (people in America) were very cold to us. And it was bad because we put ourselves at the top of that hill and let them shoot at us and, believe me, they weren't shooting rubber bullets.?

Rivera?s bold crawl to snatch a radio signal helped save 65 men. He did not earn him a medal for that maneuver. Bob Black, a fellow Ranger, saw it unfold. And when Black eventually returned from Korea, he entered a local clothing store where a clerk remarked: ?I haven?t seen you in ages! You been outta town??

Army Heritage Museum

Lt. Dave Teich during the Korean War.

'I've got a moral obligation'
Exactly six decades after an armistice was signed ending the war, retired Army Maj. Dave Teich, 87, feels the need explain why he defied orders.

As 300,000 Chinese troops rumbled south toward his tank platoon ? parked about five miles south of what is now the 38th parallel that divides North and South Korea ? Teich monitored radio chatter from the 8th Ranger Company. He heard Rivera?s report: they were cutoff with a mess of wounded.

Kris Connor / for NBC News

David E Teich Sr. of Aurora, Colo., was a member of the 8th Ranger Company that served in the Korean War.

Teich, then a lieutenant, asked his captain if he and his fellow tankers could roll north for a rescue attempt. The captain?s response: ?We've got orders to move out. Screw them. Let them fight their own battles.?

?If somebody asks for help, you can?t deny them,? said Teich, who lives in Aurora, Colo. ?When these guys talked to me on the radio, they were in a real bad position. It?s up to me. I?ve got a moral obligation as an officer to do things that are right. Just as a human being, you?ve got to do things that are right.?

Despite the command to withdraw on April 24, 1951, Teich said he ?volunteered to stay behind,? and lead four tanks to the surrounded Rangers. His captain and other U.S. troops, meanwhile, bolted south.

?I know I did the right thing in my heart because if I didn?t and those guys got wiped out,? Teich said, ?I could never live that down.?

Dozens of men saved
As the tanks moved north, the Rangers? leader, Capt. James Herbert, called in air and artillery strikes on what Herbert later described as ?a river of Chinese soldiers? flowing south, blocking the Rangers' escape. The Chinese returned fire, killing several Americans and wounding dozens more, including Herbert, who was hit in the right shoulder, right arm and neck.

Kris Connor / for NBC News

Brigadier General James Herbert at his home in Lebanon, Pa. Herbert was part of the 8th Ranger Company which served during the Korean War.

?The medic pulled me down and said, ?Can you put your left thumb in the left-side hole in your neck and reach around and put your left index finger in the hole on the right?? Placing a tourniquet there would have choked me to death,? recalled Herbert, 89, who retired as a brigadier general and lives in Lebanon, Pa. ?Then he told me to squeeze.

?The able-bodied had to carry the diseased. The wounded had to walk,? Herbert said. ?That?s the way we worked ourselves over a mile to the tank platoon.?

They heard the tanks in the valley. That?s when Rivera scaled Hill 628 to radio Teich to hold and wait. En route to the tanks, the Rangers took fire. They climbed up or were loaded aboard. Not even the tank guns were visible with 65 guys draped on the armor. The tanks returned south.

?Though we don?t always say it, Dave Teich saved our lives,? Herbert said. ?If it wasn?t for him, we figure all of the survivors of the battle would have been killed or captured by Chinese. We look upon Dave as our savior.?

?For the last 62, 63 years,? Teich said, ?I?ve been getting letters and phone calls from these guys, and I don?t know them other then their names.?

They may feel ?forgotten? by time, but they also feel like they still have each other, even as the brotherhood shrinks. From an original Ranger company of 117 plus 20 replacements, about 12 to 15 are living, estimated Rivera, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M.

'The blood is the same'
Six will gather Saturday at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, for a ceremony commemorating the armistice ? and for the dedication of an exhibit highlighting their 1951 mission.

Army Heritage Museum

Col. Bob Black as a corporal in Korea

Kris Connor / for NBC News

Colonel Bob Black (Ret) speaks at his house in Carlisle, Pa. as part of reunion for members of the 8th Ranger company in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement. Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images for NBC

Each man takes pride that they were part of a greater good.

?As time went by I asked myself, what did we do over there? Did we lose that war? Then a kind of a miracle occurred,? said Black, 84, who lives in Carlisle.??I began to see what the South Koreans were doing. They?re now one of the leading economies ? Hyundai, Kia, LG and Samsung. That?s a country taking off.?

To a man, they monitor the younger generation of their old enemy.

?If North Korea does anything, it?s going to be one hell of a fight because they?re going to wipe out somebody with those nuclear weapons but they?re going to get it in retaliation,? Teich said. ?There?s going to be nothing left.?

And those who remain cling to one another. On Thursday, Black hosted a dinner for Teich, Rivera and other veterans of that operation.

?There is no such thing as ?the greatest generation,? ? Black said. ?A man who died on a hilltop in Korea gave just as much for his country as did a man who died at Omaha Beach. History isn?t fair. The big wars, the big battles get the attention. But the blood is the same.?

Related:

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2f3bf6ae/sc/24/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A70C260C1970A19790E60A0Eyears0Eafter0Earmistice0Eone0Eharrowing0Emission0Estill0Ebinds0Eseveral0Ekorean0Eveterans0Dlite/story01.htm

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Woman wins $18.6 million for two-year battle over credit report

credit-and-debt

The Associated Press Staff

3 hours ago

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A federal jury in Oregon has awarded $18.6 million to a woman who spent two years unsuccessfully trying to get Equifax Information Services to fix major mistakes on her credit report.

Julie Miller of Marion County was awarded $18.4 million in punitive damages and $180,000 in compensatory damages, though Friday's award against one of the nation's major credit bureaus is likely to be appealed, The Oregonian reported.

The jury was told she contacted Equifax eight times between 2009 and 2011 in an effort to correct inaccuracies, including erroneous accounts and collection attempts, as well as a wrong Social Security number and birthday. Her lawsuit alleged the Atlanta-based company failed to correct the mistakes.

"There was damage to her reputation, a breach of her privacy and the lost opportunity to seek credit," said Justin Baxter, a Portland attorney who worked on the case with his father and law partner, Michael Baxter. "She has a brother who is disabled and who can't get credit on his own, and she wasn't able to help him."

Tim Klein, an Equifax spokesman, declined to comment on specifics of the case, saying he didn't have any details about the decision from the Oregon Federal District Court.

Miller discovered the problem when she was denied credit by a bank in early December 2009. She alerted Equifax and filled out multiple forms faxed by the credit agency seeking updated information. She had found similar mistakes in her reports with other credit bureaus, Baxter said, but those companies corrected their errors.

A Federal Trade Commission study earlier this year of 1,001 consumers who reviewed 2,968 of their credit reports found 21 percent contained errors. The survey found that 5 percent of the errors represented issues that would lead consumers to be denied credit.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2f3d72f9/sc/8/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cwoman0Ewins0E180E60Emillion0Etwo0Eyear0Ebattle0Eover0Ecredit0E6C10A772195/story01.htm

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Faceting search on google app engine

Has any one implemented Faceted Search using Google App Engine + full text search api + datastore ? I'm aware of solutions based on datastore only (e.g. http://code.google.com/p/bigtablesearch/ ) but we would like to take advantage of the full text search api features as well(they have some nice features) so I'm wondering if there is any feasible solution to combine the tree.

Source: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17903237/faceting-search-on-google-app-engine

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