A SQUIRT OF STEM CELL GEL HEALS BRAIN INJURIES
By Sandeep Ravindran  Posted September 4, 2009

  Scientists have developed a gel that helps brains recover from traumatic injuries. It has the potential to treat head injuries suffered in combat, car accidents, falls, or gunshot wounds. Developed by Dr. Ning Zhang at Clemson University in South Carolina, the gel is injected in liquid form at the site of injury and stimulates the growth of stem cells there.
Brain injuries are particularly hard to repair, since injured tissues swell up and can cause additional damage to the cells. So far, treatments have tried to limit this secondary damage by lowering the temperature or relieving the pressure at the site of injury. However, these techniques are often not very effective.
More recently, scientists have considered transplanting donor brain cells into the wound to repair damaged tissue. This method has so far had limited results when treating brain injuries. The donor cells often fail to grow or stimulate repair at the injury site, possibly because of the inflammation and scarring present there. The injury site also typically has very limited blood supply and connective tissue, which might prevent donor cells from getting the nutrients they require.
Dr. Zhang's gel, however, can be loaded with different chemicals to stimulate various biological processes at the site of injury. In previous research done on rats, she was able to use the gel to help re-establish full blood supply at the site of brain injury. This could help create a better environment for donor cells.
In a follow-up study, Dr. Zhang loaded the gel with immature stem cells, as well as the chemicals they needed to develop into full-fledged adult brain cells. When rats with severe brain injuries were treated with this mixture for eight weeks, they showed signs of significant recovery.
The new gel could treat patients at varying stages following injury, and is expected to be ready for testing in humans in about three years.

Ravindran, Sandeep. "A Squirt of Stem Cell Gel Heals Brain Injuries."
Popular Science. N.p., 4 Sept. 2009. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.

From <http://www.easybib.com/cite/view>

This Article discusses the prospect of a new brain injury treatment. This article was written in 2009, hoping for this treatment to be applicable to human patients by 2012, however there are no updated articles confirming the success of that hope.  Seeing as how this would be a major development in the medical world, it is strange to me for there not to be a follow up article.  This article does not have a huge bias, but is biased in its failure to mention any downsides to this treatment. It is possible that there aren't any downsides but that is very unlikely.  This article also fails to mention how the rats they used for their treatment acquired brain injuries as well as how they were given that diagnosis.  I think this is an exciting prospect for the medical world, but was sad to see that there were no articles on how the treatment worked on humans.

Hungarian Police Fire Tear Gas, Water Cannons at Migrants Who Break Through Razor-Wire Fence

Chaos erupted on the Hungarian border Wednesday as riot police quelled refugees with water cannons and tempers escalated among EU nations struggling to control the human flow.

Serbia swiftly denounced Hungary for peppering desperate refugees with tear gas and water cannons 24 hours after closing its border crossing and putting up razor wire.

The border shut down Tuesday created a panicked bottleneck and trapped migrants from Syria and other war-torn countries in a no-man’s land between Hungary and Serbia.

The flare-up came as Hungary arrested 519 migrants it said tried to sneak across the border after its stricter controls were imposed

Authorities launched 46 criminal prosecutions and found two Iraqi men guilty, the first convictions based on the new laws.

Two men were expelled from Hungary, with one banned from re-entering the country for one year, the other banned for two years.

Amid Europe’s disorder, the Obama administration prepped for a new plan that would admit more refugees — but the number was too small to ease the overseas overflow, according to reports.

Senior national security officials are talking about lifting the cap on the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. from 70,000 this year to 85,000 next year and 100,000 in fiscal 2017, Bloomberg News reported.

Meanwhile, Hungary’s aggression Wednesday upset its neighbor Serbia.

Serbian minister Aleksandar Vulin expressed “the harshest possible protest” to Hungary’s actions on state TV, near the border village of Horgos where the clashes took place.

“Hungary must show it is ready and capable to accept these people,” Vulin said.

Austria also started selective controls on its border with Slovenia, meaning refugees would have to pass through a specific checkpoint where they could apply for asylum.

Austria was looking to send “a clear signal” that the country cannot handle an uncontrolled mass influx, Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told the Austria Press Agency.

That more cautious approach was reflected across the European Union at large, where leaders were rethinking a plan to share 120,000 refugees across multiple nations.

The initial idea was to relocate refugees from Greece, Italy and Hungary to other nations over the next two years.

But Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn of Luxembourg, which holds the EU presidency, told EU lawmakers on Wednesday there would be an “important change” to the plan when it comes up for debate next Tuesday.

France’s Prime Minister Manuel Valls said his country is ready to restore its border controls too — a move that rolls back 20 years of trying to open Europe’s internal frontiers, known as the Schengen program.

“Schengen means free movement for people and that’s part of our security and identity,” Valls told lawmakers in the National Assembly. “But Schengen also means controls on the borders of Europe, otherwise it won’t work.”

Poland echoed the sentiment, telling lawmakers it was willing to accept refugees — but only if its officials controlled the spigot.

Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz said her country must verify the refugees are truly in need of asylum — and not just migrants looking to move for economic benefit.

Polish officials said it has 11 refugee centers that can immediately offer 700 places and another 5,000 places can be quickly added at military facilities. Warsaw has offered to take in 2,000 refugees, but the EU wants it to handle 12,000.

Elsewhere in Europe migrants remained on the move.

Greek police said about 5,000 refugees and migrants crossed the country's northern border with Macedonia in the 24 hours from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning

Otis, Ginger Adams. "Hungarian Cops Fire Tear Gas as Migrants Break through Fence." 

NY Daily News. New York Daily News, 17 Sept. 2015. Web. 21 Sept. 2015

From <http://www.easybib.com/cite/view>

This article talks about a recent struggle in the ongoing immigration crisis. Hungary recently closed off their borders, but immigrants are still trying to find a way into the country.  This resulted in a riot that lead the police to fire tear gas and water cannons at the immigrants. The author of this article has a slight bias towards the immigrants. This bias doesn’t come out in the authors choice of words, but rather in the pictures chosen. A fair number of the pictures presented in this article show kids who are crying because of the actions of the riot police. Seeing those kids cry in the pictures automatically makes you relate to them and their story. This shows the authors bias. I would agree with the author. I understand where the countries that are closing their borders are coming from, but I think more efforts need to be made to find somewhere for all these people to go. The EU is trying, but at the moment they don’t appear to be having great success. 

Friday, September 11, 2015

3:15 PM

The Global Refugee Crisis, Region by Region

By PATRICK BOEHLER and SERGIO PEÇANHA        UPDATED August 26, 2015

A look at hot spots in what the United Nations says has

become the worst migration crisis since World War II.

BALKANS

Tens of thousands of migrants and refugees are working their way north through the Balkans.

PASSAGEWAY

Masses of migrants and refugees, many from Syria, Afghanistan and Kosovo, have been overwhelming border authorities in several Balkan countries as they try to reach Western Europe. The migrants travel in groups of just a few to dozens, moving north by bus, train, taxi or van. Serbian news media reported that some 70 buses of migrants entered the capital, Belgrade, on Sunday. Migrants in Macedonia told reporters that they were especially eager to move after Hungary said it planned to complete a fence along its 109-mile border with Serbia by Monday. PUBLISHED AUG. 26

MIDDLE EAST

Syria’s neighbors have been making it harder for migrants to cross into their territories.

TAXING THE NEIGHBORS

Years of violence in Iraq and Syria have stretched the capacities of neighboring countries to accommodate the displaced. In Jordan, unemployment has almost doubled since 2011 in areas with high concentrations of refugees, according to a recent International Labor Organization study. Lebanon began to require visas from Syrians in January. Refugees now make up about 20 percent of Lebanon’s population. In March, Turkey announced it would close the two remaining border gates with Syria. UPDATED AUGUST 26

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Thousands of Bangladeshis and Rohingya, an ethnic minority from Myanmar, have fled from poverty and persecution.

FLEEING BY SEA

Indonesia and Malaysia, countries that in the past have quietly taken in many refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar, first reacted to the new rise in migrants by vowing to send back smugglers’ boats. Facing public pressure, they reversed their stance in mid-May, saying they would provide shelter to migrants still at sea. An absence of landings and a paucity of sightings suggest that the flow has subsided. UPDATED JULY

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

The European Union wants to stop smugglers near the African coast. European governments are divided over the fates of those who reach shore

DIVISION OVER HOW TO RESPOND

In May, European leaders said they would form a naval force based in Italy to combat people-smuggling. The European Commission also appealed to the bloc’s member states to accept quotas of migrants to relieve the burden on southern states, like Italy and Greece, which are the main landing points. Poverty and war in places like Libya, South Sudan, Eritrea and Nigeria are driving migrants to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea. UPDATED JULY 1

EASTERN EUROPE

Fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists has severely damaged Ukraine’s industrial belt.

CRIPPLED ECONOMY

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have fled to Russia. But European Union countries, like Poland, Germany and Italy, which are among the top destinations for asylum seekers, have rejected most applications from Ukrainians. Less than a third of the $316 million needed in 2015 for the United Nations’ humanitarian response has been raised so far. The conflict was particularly damaging to Ukraine’s economy, which is expected to shrink 9 percent by the end of the year. UPDATED JULY 1

Boehler, Patrick, and Sergio PeÇanha. "The Global Refugee Crisis, Region by Region." 

The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 June 2015. Web. 11 Sept. 2015.

This article outlines some of the struggles facing countries in Europe. A lot of countries in that area are struggling in such a way that is causing many of their population to flee. This is causing problems with surrounding countries, because they don’t have enough resources and space to accommodate all of these refugees. This article does not have a very strong bias. If I had to mention a bias, I would say the author is more biased towards the refugees, however most of the information presented are just facts that do not  appear to have any opinion behind them. This whole situation is complicated. The refugees have nowhere to go if their countries' neighbors won't let them in, but if the countries admit the refugees, it could be bad for their economy or have other ramifications. There is no obvious solution to this problem, and some government officials have some hard decisions to make. 

My name is Amy Bowler. I live and grew up in Malawi, a country in Africa. I now go to a boarding school in Kenya, which is also in Africa. I am a Christian and grew up in a Christian home. I have lived in Malawi since I was ten days old, so I haven't really experienced life anywhere else.  I am originally from Canada, but have never lived there. A lot of my responses will stem from my Christian and MK (missionary kid) upbringing.

KIM DAVIS ARREST CONCLUSIVELY PROVES THE HARD LEFT WANTS THOSE THEY DISAGREE WITH PUT IN JAIL

 The first shots in the battle between cultural Marxists and American Christians has been fired with Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis being shipped off to jail for refusing to issue same-sex marriage certificates after the now infamous Supreme Court decision legalized gay marriage throughout the country.

That’s right, in a country where the vast majority of politicians on both sides of the aisle are corrupt to the core but remain free, a Christian woman who doesn’t want to be forced to do something that goes directly against her religious beliefs has been jailed.

For her part Davis seems to have accepted the fact that she would be jailed for her religious beliefs, telling Fox News contributor Todd Starnes before the ruling that, “I’ve weighed the cost and I’m prepared to go to jail, I sure am. This has never been a gay or lesbian issue for me. This is about upholding the word of God.”

While one can debate the merits of gay marriage ad nauseam (there is a legitimate libertarian belief that government should not be in the business of outlawing anything that involves nonviolent interaction between consenting adults) the fact that Davis has been arrested while Wall Street criminals and corrupt organizations like Planned Parenthood operate freely is a clear indicator of how far gone America actually is.

Although it is important to highlight the actual facts of the Kim Davis case, a larger, more important issue has emerged after the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning that sent Davis to jail. This fact is now stunningly obvious and proves, without a doubt, the authoritarian mindset of the new left.

HARD LEFT WANTS THOSE THEY DISAGREE WITH ARRESTED

Immediately following the news that Davis would be jailed for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses, the vast majority of liberal media talking heads and activists cheered the arrest while gleefully letting the world know that they support the arrest of any Christian who doesn’t allow themselves to be forced into acts of support for homosexuality.

"Kim Davis Arrest over Gay Marriage Certificates Proves That Liberals WANT Christians Put in Jail." 

Intellihub. Intellihub News, 4 Sept. 2015. Web. 07 Sept. 2015.

From <http://www.easybib.com/cite/view>

     This author is writing towards all the Liberals who supported the arrest of Kim Davis. He  has a strong bias towards Christians. The author's bias however, is rare. As the author mentions, a lot of people celebrated the arrest of Kim Davis. In my opinion that doesn’t seem right. America is supposed to be a land of freedom: freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Kim Davis was using those rights when she was arrested. The only thing she did was refuse to sign certificates of marriage. The so-called freedom of religion in America is long gone if someone can be arrested for standing by their beliefs. I understand that gay marriage has been made legal now, and by refusing to sign it could be seen as breaking the law. However, I still think jail time is a harsh punishment for standing by what you believe in. If anything, they should have just fired her. But instead she was put in jail until she decides to change her mind about her actions. This fact was found later on in the article but not mentioned in the above excerpt.

    This whole situation seems to foreshadow a change in the future. To a lot of countries America is a role model, and if America is putting someone in jail for being a Christian, then other countries might be soon to follow. This threatens Christians all over the world, and is a sad reminder of what our world is becoming.