Super tall buildings of the future

If you find in awe the engineering challenges of constructing super tall buildings then take a peak here to see the top 8 tallest buildings that are either being built now or are being considered, including one that's over a mile high. Pretty freaky, and why on earth would they build such super tall buildings?

EMPOWERMENT IN THE DEAF COMMUNITY:ANALYZING THE POSTS OF INTERNET WEBLOGS

Here's an August 2009 Masters of Art thesis paper entitled: Empowerment in the Deaf Community: Analyzing the Posts of Internet Weblogs. In this paper it covered several well known deaf/hh blogs or "the nine amazing bloggers whose words can inform the world of the strength of their community," such as Kokonut Pundit, Fookem and Bug, Ear of My Heart, Ridor Live, Woparsb, Mishka Zena, Berke Outspoken, and The Deaf Edge (see page 38). Though the person who did the thesis tried to guess our age but missed mine by a decade. No contacts were made by the author of this study in order to reduce any interference or biasing.

In 2007 when the study began, several criteria were established to weed out 366 blogs where eight blogs remained (see page 34, note that Fookem and Bug is one blog with two bloggers). The thesis goes on to explain about the bloggers and the 416 posts (from April to June of 2007) that were analyzed:

this research examined personal and community empowerment in Deaf individuals as evidenced in 416 blog posts by nine individuals who are members ofthe DeafRead community. Common elements of empowerment found in the literature across a variety of disciplines include: evidence of valued social roles, improving others’ perceptions of oneself or ones’ own self image, overcoming stigma, changing or improving the community, informing the community and sharing expectations of what the community’s abilities. These elements constitute the framework for the current study. The study examined the degree to which Deaf bloggers discussed their sense of personal empowerment in their blog posts and the degree to which the content of Deaf blog posts advocated for community empowerment for their readers.

"Members of the Deafread community"? I don't see it that way but rather it's simply an aggregator site where you can submit your blog URL address to get it listed. No more different than Deaf Village as an aggregator site.

Secondly, the thesis goes on to describe Deaf bloggers which is incorrect since not all deaf bloggers are Deaf but deaf or hard of hearing. Just because one has a blog listed in Deafread does not make that person a Deaf blogger. I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted for the author to label me as a Deaf blogger, which I'm not. A deaf blogger, yes. A hard of hearing blogger, yes. That was the author's mistake to assume a blogger's identity without asking first.

All in all, this thesis study put out a good effort to analyze Deaf bloggers (and not so much for Deaf, deaf, and hh bloggers) and their role in the Deaf community, empowerment efforts and such. Although the author neglected to even consider the deaf and hard of hearing communities in her research of those born with a hearing loss or acquired it later in life.

Mayor Bloomberg's hearing aid help increase awareness

There seems to be a bit of a disdain by a few Deaf people over the media reporting of Mayor Bloomberg seen wearing an in the ear hearing aid. In Deafness About.com there is short but somewhat snarky comment about the whole thing.

Sometimes I don't understand the media. They think it is a big deal for the mayor of New York City to wear hearing aids. Then the media reported that the mayor's hearing aids "were gone." Was he discouraged from using his hearing aids by the burst of media attention? It even got the attention of the Huffington Post.

Another Deaf blogger posted this.

I just don't understand why the media would be so fascinated by what should be something as normal as wearing eyeglasses.

The problem is that wearing a hearing aid carries a greater stigma than do glasses. Glasses have been around for hundreds of years. But hearing aids have only been around for the last 4 or 5 decades. In-the-ear hearing aids have been around for about a decade. So, the stigma is there for hearing aids, not so much with eye glasses.

Research shows that women, and especially younger women, attach a greater stigma to wearing hearing aids than men. A study on indigenous Australian children revealed they had more negative view of a peer with a hearing aid. However, things are changing, it’s cool to have something on your ear – Bluetooth.

Here are some of the reasons why people attach a stigma to wearing hearing aids.
• Very few people are truly satisfied with their hearing aids.
• They feel wearing an aid is something to be ashamed of because they are seen as different. Being the only one with hearing aids.
• Hearing loss means many people lose confidence. When you don’t hear properly you often make mistakes in conversation and so deaf/wearing hearing aids is equated with being stupid. People who cannot hear experience, anger, defeat, depression, isolation, anxiety, frustration.
• Most people lose hearing gradually and are in denial that they have a loss (people mumble, walk away, don’t look at me)
• They make me look older or handicapped. It’s all in the perception. Grandma wore a hearing aid, grandma was old, I’m not old so I can’t wear a hearing aid.
• Getting a hearing aid signifies age and therefore makes us seem less attractive or smart.
• A hearing aid used to prompt uneasiness to anyone who saw it. So it’s as much the hearing person’s issue as the deaf person’s. The hearing person is afraid and doesn’t know how to communicate.

The only shame is missing out on sounds in life. Hearing aids have improved. They give better sound quality and can be tailored to meet a specific hearing loss type.

Indeed. What we need is more media exposure of well known people who do wear hearing aids and help lessen the stigma of wearing a hearing aid. And those who do wear them ought to be proud of wearing one rather than be embarrassed.

Deaf girl cochlear implant wins NFL Contest uses her voice.....Deaf man whines...

Here's a cool story. A 5th grade deaf girl with a cochlear implant won a NFL essay contest where she got the chance to speak (with her voice) about her essay.

Caroline Masia, a 5th grader at Highland Oak Elementary in North Miami Beach, will be rubbing elbows with the some of the NFL's big boys after she won the league's "Winning Moments" essay contest.

Yesterday, Masia, who was born deaf, was announced as the Grand Prize winner of the contest, and her class got a visit from Dolphins nose tackle Paul Soliai and running back Kory Sheets.

The contest was sponsored by the NFL Players Association as part of their "Stay Cool in School" Program. Kids submitted essays detailing their "Winning Moments."

For Masia, who had Cochlear implants to give her hearing for the first time in her life, picking a winning moment was easy.

"Every song I hear is special," Masia said yesterday, as she read her essay to Soliai, Sheets and her classmates. "My winning moment started with my first implant, leading to my first sound and continues every day that I can hear the beautiful sounds of the world."

I'd say good job Maria! And cool that she got the chance to speak, too. But one Deaf man is literally upset over this that the news media covered a story about a deaf girl with a cochlear implant who can speak very well. RLM essentially whined thinking this is somehow an Alexander Graham Bell (AGBell) pre-planned counter-offensive attack against a superbowl Pepsi ad aired a few years back with Deaf actors signing in ASL (which, btw, reminds me of my Pepsi video spoof I did as well). Nice conspiracy theory but this is between a video commericial versus a news story and surely nothing to do with AGBell.

What this shows is that Maria has a lot of self-esteem and confidence in her ability to listen and speak very well as evidently seen in the video (scroll down to video portion). I'm not surprised that a cochlear implant can help bolster self-esteem and confidence in many deaf children. A recent study came out tells exactly that comparing quality of life of cochlear implanted children (8 to 11, and 12 to 16 years old) from 88 families with that of their hearing peers.

Previous studies have indicated that deaf children feel less socially accepted, experience more difficulty in making friends, and show greater adjustment problems than their hearing peers.

However, the findings of the new research, a cross-sectional study of 88 families with CI children from 16 U.S. states, differ from traditional conclusions.

The study team used a generic QOL questionnaire. The subjects were divided by age of the child when they filled out the questionnaire - an 8-11-year-old group and a 12-16-year-old group.

Both parents and children filled out the QOL questionnaire, with the parents assessing their child. The study group was then compared to a control group of 1,501 NH children in fourth and eighth grades.

Results of the questionnaire showed that overall QOL did not differ between CI and NH groups. However, examination of individual subscales disclosed that 8-11-year-old CI children rate their QOL with family less positively than their NH peers.

Younger CI recipients rated overall QOL more positively than the older 12-16-year-old CI group. But, the authors believe that this could be a reflection of standard adolescent behaviour.

By and large QOL showed a significant inverse association with age at implantation, and a significant positive correlation with duration of CI use in the 12-16-year-old group.

The authors say that even though prior studies have appraised QOL in CI children, this study adds additional perspective to the literature, as it combines assessments by the actual CI recipients and parents, and it maps the results in context with NH children.

The research also demonstrates that parents proved to be reliable reporters for their children in areas where they could observe and participate.

The authors write: “For profoundly deaf children who regularly use a cochlear implant, feelings about life overall are no better or worse than their hearing peers. These findings indicate that cochlear implantation has a positive effect on certain psycho-social domains.”

In a nutshell, cochlear implant recipients are able to fare emotionally, socially, and mentally on par with that of their hearing peers, faring no worse. A cochlear implant enables younger recipients with improved self-esteem and confidence. As in Maria's case, she spoke with such eloquence and confidence no wonder she was the darling news story of the day.

The day DeafDC died.......happy hour, too.

Ever wondered what happened to the once popular DeafDC website that was made up of designated Deaf writers to write on various subjects with many of them related to Deaf culture and whatnot? The last article written was "Song lyrics: Offensive or…??" dated July 13, 2009 according to DeafDC's Twitter. That date is pretty significant considering the fact that DeafDC and Deaf Professional Happy Hour (discontinued) are/were owned by Viable since 2007 according to Rob Rice's post "DeafDC.com Changing Hands" posted in November 2007. On July 24, 2009 Gazette.net announced a story about Viable, a Rockville company, was the subject of a federal investigation which resulted in the arrests of Viable employees.

I'm sure once the story broke last year did DeafDC became radioactive and certainly, perhaps so, writers didn't want to become associated with DeafDC since it was owned by Viable, Inc. At least that'd be a plausible story here. It has since remained in internet limbo since July 13, 2009 with nary a peep from any of the writers in DeafDC. Their collective silence speaks volume.

Proteins found to help develop auditory neurons

The leading cause of congenital and acquired hearing impairment is loss of spiral ganglion neurons or hair cells in the inner ear.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health found that Sox2, a protein that regulates stem cell formation, is involved in spiral ganglion neuron development. The study was published in the January 13 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

"These findings may provide the first step toward regenerating spiral ganglion neurons, the nerve cells that send sound representations to the brain," said Alain Dabdoub, PhD, co-investigator and assistant professor of surgery with the division of otolaryngology at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. "This has significant implications for advances in cochlear implant technology and biological treatments for hearing loss."

In the cochlea, auditory neurons transmit sound vibrations conveyed by hair cells. These vibrations are then converted to nerve impulses that communicate with the brain. If the neurons are lost or damaged, hearing loss occurs. Existing therapies for hearing loss are based on either increasing hair cell stimulation with hearing aids or introducing an electronic substitute for the hair cells with cochlear implants. In either case, the presence of functional spiral ganglion neurons is required for a successful outcome.

Prior research shows that as few as 10 percent of the normal number of spiral ganglion neurons is sufficient for the success of cochlear implants.

"The identification of factors that induce functional neurons has important implications for hearing restoration," said Chandrakala Puligilla, PhD, a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. "The ability to induce even a small number of cells with gene-based therapy could be enormously beneficial."

Source: - read more.

Are deaf people more prone to believe in global warming claims?

I couldn't help but think about this question. Are deaf people more prone or likely to believe in the global warming claim (as caused by man) when compared to hearing people? It'd be an interesting data to gather and collect but it would also mean a lot of time involved to come to this conclusion. Although I have formed my own "conclusion" if you don't mind. It's based on what I've read so far and how people responded to this anthropogenic global warming theory claiming that CO2 is the major culprit on causing Earth to warm up (btw, we haven't warmed up in over 11 years) despite the fact that the Earth's climate system is incredibly complex that is coupled closely with our ocean, the land, the sun and even cosmic rays. What I've seen and read so far it appears that Deaf people in general have a much greater tendency to believe in such a global warming claim than hearing people. Of course, I could be wrong since it's an observation of mine over many years. Though please note a recent poll on global warming concerns by people was shown to be dead last in 20th place with economy, jobs, and terrorism as the top 3 concerns. If impending doom is so great I'm sure global warming concerns would be a the top. But it's not.

Gallaudet University has been pushing this global warming theory (yes, it is a theory and not a fact, folks) for several years on campus to gullible students. Mind the fact that having clean water, air and land, and be good environmental stewards at the regional and local scale is what we all want but to mix it up with the global warming theory confuses the issue and message. And while I'm at it at I have not seen any evidence of Gallaudet University of ever setting up a forum debate between those who believe in the theory to those who do not or are very skepetic. I've addressed this students and Gallaudet question before a few years back in this blog but this time my question is bit different.

First off, one of the good reasons as why people shouldn't buy into this global warming theory is the continual use of fear on people who don't know any better about science. This is currently being done at a global scale in the effort to push this global warming theory. That alone should ring plenty of warning bells. Several clues were already apparent such as polar bears drowning because of lack of sea ice (not true since polar bears can swim for many miles for hours), fearful video ads (such as this little girl seen clutching a stuffed polar bear toy as sea water rushes in with her clinging to life on tree limb), rising sea water to hundreds of feet (like on Al Gore's book cover where sea water ate away many states shoreline even far back into the North Georgian mountains and with Cuba gone, too, even though they have mountains over 6,000 ft high), more frequent and intense hurricanes (already debunked), Himalayan glaciers retreating quickly with such unprecendency (quite false and unproven much to IPCC embarrassment and ineptitude), rising temperature (we've been warming up ever since the last ice age some 13,000 years ago but funnily enough we've been static for the last 11 years or so), and so on. When you see scare tactics being used then it's a warning sign that something doesn't pass the smell test.

Gallaudet Green is guilty of doing this as well.

Dear Student Organizations,

The Green Gallaudet Environmental Organization serves an emerging movement of globally conscious citizens dedicated to improving the condition of our earth. The earth is facing an imminent catastrophic ecological collapse if human civilization continues on its current course.

Imminent catastrophic ecological collapse? That dire warning reminds me of that weird guy on a city corner street holding a sign that says, "The end is near, repent!" Or maybe that would be Obama doing that? Exactly when will this happen? How imminent are we talking about? Years? Decades? Centuries? A few hundred thousand years from now? Can you, Gallaudet Green, explain exactly how this "ecological collapse" will occur? Or do you not have the proper science background and knowledge to spew that nonsense in the first place? I'd have more concerns over an all out nuclear or biological warfare than global warming or for that matter...cooling.

But back to my original question. Are Deaf people more prone to be influenced by this global warming claim (as caused by man)? Or is this related to their lack of understanding in the field of science? Or even critical thinking skills? Does Gallaudet University teach critical thinking skills when it comes to climate and Earth science? Or has Gallaudet University, the students, teachers and such allow themselves to be influenced by a climate theory that cannot even be validated out in the field?

Again, when scare tactics are used globally and scientists who have their hands in the cookie jars of government grants on global warming call names on other people like "deniers" are warning signals that something is wrong here. Something is fishy. People and leaders have been lying to the public for over a decade on this global warming claim.

Shame on them. Shame on Gallaudet University. Shame on those who think it's better to call people names than to debate on the merit of scientific knowledge.

Mowl and Tropp Plead Guilty to Fraud...will others follow?

Yes, it's 4 days old but this is something I want to address here even though this whole thing started back in July 2009.

In a Department of Justice press release:

Anthony Mowl, the former assistant vice president of business development for Viable Communications Inc. (Viable), and Donald Tropp, the former human resources manager for Viable, pleaded guilty today to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Video Relay Service (VRS) program of more than $2.5 million, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

Today, Mowl, 25, and Tropp, 25, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton, N.J., to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Mowl and Tropp were indicted on Nov. 19, 2009, along with Viable’s president, John T.C. Yeh; Viable’s vice president of corporate strategy, Joseph Yeh; and the Viable corporate entity.

In pleading guilty, Mowl and Tropp admitted that beginning in approximately fall of 2007 and continuing through approximately January 2009, they conspired with others to pay individuals to make fraudulent VRS phone calls using Viable’s VRS service. According to the pleas, John and Joseph Yeh paid Mowl and Tropp who would then pay people for using Viable’s VRS service. Mowl and Tropp kept a portion of the payments for themselves and distributed the remainder to the paid callers. Viable then caused the submission of fraudulent call minute claims to the FCC, causing the FCC to pay those claims at a rate of approximately $390 per hour for each of the VRS calls that it processed.

According to information contained in the plea documents, Mowl and Tropp admitted that their role in defrauding the FCC’s VRS program led to a total of between $2.5 million and $7 million in fraudulent billing to the program. At sentencing, both Mowl and Tropp face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, as well as mandatory restitution and forfeiture. A sentencing date has not yet been set by the court.

So, what's the deal here? This is all about corporate greed when one finds him/herself lured by the powerful dollar in using loopholes to defraud the government and other entities to cash in on even more money going into the millions of dollars. Easy money as they thought. Never before has this happened on such a large scale in the Deaf community bilking millions of dollars from the FCC's VRS program. It is an unprecedented event and a lesson for all.

Anthony Mowl, if you remember, was one of the "darlings" who spoke out during the heady days of Gallaudet Protest in 2006. He was also the Copy Editor for Gallaudet's online magazine "The Buff and Blue" whose picture of Mr. Mowl is still there. There is a video of him in YouTube signing away as recent as July 22, 2009 in trying to sell ViableVRS services literally just a few months before he got charged as seen in the November 18, 2009 court docket for fraud.

With names like Anthony Mowl, Donald Tropp and Joseph and Jon Yeh (who founded the famous Rathskeller, a favorite student hangout for many years at Gallaudet) well known in the Deaf community (especially at Gallaudet University where they all graduated beginning with John Yeh in 1971) does this fraud case hits hard the Deaf community. It especially shines a bad light on Gallaudet University as they all are alumni with Yeh at the top of the list. So, embarrassing is this that Deaf Nation, as it would seem, removed a picture of the Yehs (Jason, John, and Joseph Yeh) posing in a picture seen in one of the DN blog article but it is blank except for the captions (a picture of it can be seen in a Google cache.) This case is not just the 4 of them but are part of the 26 people involved in this fraud case. And so I ponder, what are the odds that many of the 26 involved also graduated from Gallaudet University since the VRS center is located in Rockville, Maryland, not far from Gallaudet University?

One thing for sure, this is all a big black eye on the Deaf community and Gallaudet University.

Adult stem cells from adipose tissue accidentally improves hearing in one patient

Or so it seems if one read this recent medical article.

In May 2008, the patient was treated with two I.V. infusions of 28 million SVF cells and multiple intrathecal and intravenous infusions of allogeneic CD34+ and MSC cells. MSC were third party unmatched and CD34 were matched by mixed lymphocyte reaction. Infusions were performed within a 9-day period and were very well tolerated without any adverse or side effects. No other treatments were necessary during the patient's stay. After the second stem cell infusion the patient reported a significant decrease of his generalized pain. However, he continued to experience severe neck and shoulder pain and was re-evaluated by his neurologist. Two months after the stem cell therapy, the volume of his hearing aids had to be lowered once per week over 4 weeks. Three months after the stem cell infusions the patient reported a significant improvement of his cognition and almost complete reduction of the spasticity in his extremities. He mentioned that he has had 623 tonic seizures in the past and confirmed that he has not experienced any more seizures since the completion of the stem cell therapy. A neurological evaluation performed three months after the stem cell infusions revealed an intact cranial nerve (II-XII) function and no nystagmus, normal motor function without any atrophy or fasciculations, and intact sensory and cerebellar functions and mental status.

Stem cells on hearing loss for returning soldiers

Here's a stem cell development in the state of Washington for soldiers who lost some of their hearing during war.

Regenerative Medicine for Acute Deafness
Recipient: FATE Therapeutics
Amount: $3,000,000
Location: Seattle, WA

This funding would use advanced stem cell research and developmental biology to develop therapeutic treatments for acute hearing loss among Army soldiers. This would advance safe and effective treatments for acute hearing loss, which affects many men and women of the Army on return home from war.

Fate Therapeutics, a company that has made some important leaps in producing induced stem cells without embryos or gene therapy.

UbiDuo helps those who are unable to write

Aside from people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or have a speech impediment, the UbiDuo can help a small minority of population that have a condition that make hand writing difficult. This is a condition called "handwriting deficits." Or it can be called "dysgraphia" which is a learning disability in writing where it affects an individual’s writing ability and is manifested by difficulties in hand writing. Students with this condition often struggle during writing assignments while in school.

In a recent 2009 Assistive Technology research article called "Assistive Technology for Writing, including Motor Aspects of Writing and Composing," it discusses the motor and cognitive functions of a person with "handwritting deficits" of varying degree and severity on what it takes to write using a pen or pencil. The paper goes on to mention the UbiDuo as a possible face-to-face communication technology for students with certain "handwriting deficits."

The UbiDuo is not only just a face-to-face communication device but a potential assistive writing device to assist students with certain writing disabilities with their composing or writing assignments.

Could your own stem cells in your hair follicles help you hear someday?

From the October 2009 22ND IGB MEETING STEM CELLS: FROM MOLECULAR PHYSIOLOGY TO THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS:

Adult stem cells in your hair follicles seen as a potential source that could differentiate into auditory neurons.

Stem cells from the hair follicle differentiate into auditory neurons. Margriet A. HUISMAN, Ragad El Seady, Johan H.M. Frijns

Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Leiden University Medical Centre, The Netherlands To patients suffering from profound sensorineural hearing loss, cochlear implantation(CI) is currently the standard approach. Most implant recipients experience benefits, however, understanding speech in noisy circumstances and music perception remains challenging. It is suggested that stem cell-based therapy, by increasing the number of auditory neurons (ANs), will improve the performance of a CI1.

Stem cells, derived from the bulge of hair follicles from adult mammalian dermis (epidermal neural crest stem cells, EPI-NCSC), are potential candidates for AN regeneration: they have a similar origin as inner ear cells, their functionality has been proven and autologous transplantation is possible, avoiding graft versus host disease2,3. The aim of this research is to investigate whether EPI-NCSC have the capacity to differentiate into neurons with features of auditory neurons, such as bipolar morphology, presence of TrkB/C and GluR2/3 and sodium voltage channel 1.6 (NaV1.6)4. EPI-NCSCs from whiskers of mice were expanded and differentiated on a collagen I matrix. Subsequent t o proliferation, quantitative immunohistochemistry was performed to demonstrate the presence of neural stem cells (nestin). In addition, expressions of TUJ1, TrkB and -C, GluR2/3 and NaV1.6 were determined.

After the proliferative phase, the majority of the cells (90%) were positive for nestin. The average yield per follicle was 2x105, while for inner ear transplantation purposes 2-5x105 cells are required. 70%±8% of the differentiated cells was positive for the neural marker TUJ1. Moreover, 60%±2% of the neurons showed a bipolar morphology and the majority was positive for GluR2/3 and NaV1.6 and showed co-expression of TrkB and –C. EPI-NCSC-derived neural stem cells can easily be obtained in quantities sufficient for inner ear transplantation purposes. These stem cells have the capacity to differentiate into neurons with hallmarks of functional AN, which makes them promising candidates for a stem cell-based therapy of the auditory nerve.

Who knew? Adult stem cells from your own hair follicles have the potential and capacity to help restore your hearing loss. Problem is, bald guys are out of luck.

How the UbiDuo could enhance your career

 If you haven't heard about sComm's UbiDuo then you will find out exactly how this face-to-face communication device can help your career in an impactful but meaningful way. A difference between staying in the same job position for 13 years without any promotional opportunities or get the promotion you deserved because you're able to fruitfully interact with your customers in many face to face situations.This is true if you work in a management position where you have to fully interact with your customers, co-workers, supervisors and your boss on a regular basis in a face-to-face situation. This is exactly what happened with Peter Downey at Sam's Club. So, check out Peter Downey's story, a Sam's Club employee in Overland Park, KS, where he was promoted several times ever since the UbiDuo came into his possession. He was in the same position for 13 years until the UbiDuo came along. Because of this communication barrier-breaking device Peter is now a member of the Sam's Club management. A little investment in a face-to-face communication device can go a long way in a person's career.

UFC Matt Hamill vs Jon Jones at Las Vegas December 5

Be sure to watch Matt Hamill fight against Jon Jones tonight (9 PM ET, 8PM Central) on Spike TV channel at the Ultimate Fighter Heavyweight Finale in Las Vegas (watch the video for several minutes until you see Matt Hamill and Jon Jones weigh ins). The UFC fight on Spike TV is free. More videos of Matt Hamill including a Q & A session during his shadow boxing exercise. No signing but used his voice  (subtitled) in talking about his upcoming fight against Jones. The video is small. Best to move your mouse over the video selection and pick "Dec 4 Shadow Boxing with Matt Hamill." You will see a download video menu appear at the top. Click on it and begin downloading it for a bigger screen viewing and easier to read subtitles. 

Jones has a few words about Matt Hamill.

There are a couple of Dec. 2nd articles on Matt Hamill and his upcoming UFC fight here and here for you to read up on.

Matt's last fight was the March 2009 UFC 96 fight where he knocked out Munoz in the first round as seen at the 3:55 mark in the video below. You can actually hear the sicking slap/crunch of Matt's right foot against the right side of Munoz's head knocking him unconscious for a few minutes while on the ground. That knockout earned Matt Hamill $60,000 in the $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus money.



All Kokonut Pundit blogs on Matt Hamill including personal interviews with him by Kokonut Pundit.

UPDATE: Matt Hamill wins the fight against Jon Jones in the first round in 4:14 from using an illegal move against Matt Hamill. Jones used an illegal downward elbow on Matt Hamill.

UPDATE II: Matt Hamill sustained some injuries to his nose and what it appears to be a dislocated right? shoulder. You can review discussions in the Sherdog forum about the fight between Hamill and Jones.

UPDATE III: Here's the fight video between Hamill and Jones!

UPDATE IV: Since Matt Hamill won the fight through a disqualification for Jones use of his elbow against Hamill's face the fight was all Jones. There may be talks of reversing the referee's decision? Matt's face really got pummeled folks. Said blood were coming out of his eyes (or was it from a cut to his nose that got into his eyes?) and he could see or even here what the referee was saying. Looks really brutal and something that Matt will need to take home and rethink on how to handle Jones the next time. If Jones hadn't done his illegal elbowing Jones would've won the fight anyway. Matt's face will be sore and no idea if this fight hurt his eyes or not or how extensive his injuries were. Prayers and thoughts of rapid return to health for Matt Hamill.

UPDATE V: Captioned video of the fight.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4tvUYoJvzg

UPDATE VI: More news on Hamill injuries here. Expect a Hamill vs Jones re-match around spring/summer of 2010 next year. It may be a few months or so of recovery and rehabbing til Matt gets into practice fulltime for the next fight.

Dr. Rivolta on stem cells cure for hearing loss and making hearing aids and cochlear implants obsolete someday soon

Here's a subtitled video and article (transcript) on Dr Marcelo Rivolta who is the Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield where he explains how his stem cells research could make hearing aids and cochlear implants a thing of the past in his quest to find a cure for deafness in the field of sensorineural hearing loss.

On the video be sure to click on the "S" button for "subtitle" on the left of the screen to get the English subtitles with the video. There is the option of choosing video itself only, video and subtitles, video with a British Sign Languageinterpreter, or video, subtitles and BSL.

Hattip: Neuro

David Armand in "Where I Lay my Hat"

David Armand, an English comedian who is known for his visual sight gags using mime movements and gestures to "interpret" a song. He is especially well known for a song he mimed called "Torn" a few years back that propelled him to comedic status. Here are two videos with subtitles that capture his funny comedy style of miming a song. Here he plays as "Johann Lippowitz" an interpretive mime to a song for "Where I lay my hat" by Paul Young and "Torn" by Natalie Imbrulia.




TORN by Natalie Imbruglia.




UPDATE: There's a bit of a debate in one forum over David Armand's mime skit on "Torn" where some forum members think it's a snark against the Deaf community making fun of sign language (which is not the case) and some objection over the use of the words "deaf karaoke".

Stem Cell Transplantation into the Damaged Mammalian Inner Ear

Below is one of Dr. Douglas A. Cotanche's projects that is ongoing. He is also scheduled for a live chat tonight on stem cells and for the restoration of nerve deafness (sensorineural hearing loss).

Stem Cell Transplantation into the Damaged Mammalian Inner Ear.
PI: Douglas Cotanche, Collaborator: Dr. Mark Parker, Emerson College & Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary. This project focuses on the utilization of stem cells to replace damaged hair cells in the mammalian organ of Corti. We are transplanting mouse and human neural stem cells into the cochleas of sound damaged guinea pigs and have shown that these stem cells migrate throughout the spiral ganglion and into the organ of Corti where they begin to differentiate into tissue-specific cell types to replace those damaged by the sound exposure. We have also been exploring the genetic profiles of these neural stem cells and are developing methods for “priming” the neural stem cells by growing them in culture along with immortalized cochlear cells. We have been able to show that co-culturing the stem cells causes a change in the genes and proteins they express so that they take on the aspects of cochlear progenitor cells. This will enable us to target the stem cells so that they differentiate down specific pathways needed for cells to repair the damaged cochlear sensory epithelium. Eventually we hope to be able to use these stem cells as a therapeutic treatment for sensorineural hearing loss in humans.

Stem Cells for hearing loss live chat tomorrow night, November 19, 2009!

Stem Cells for hearing loss live chat tomorrow night, November 19, 2009!

(Errata: The topic heading said November 18. Correct date is November 19. It has been corrected)

Get ready and dial in at 9 PM Eastern Time (8PM - Central time, 7PM Mountain time, or 6 PM West Coast time)


Topic: "Development and regeneration of hair cells – the latest news in research"

Guest Speaker: Dr. Douglas A. Cotanche

Date & Time: November 19, 2009 at 9 PM

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Here are my questions that I submitted to Dr. Cotanche.

Dr. Cotanche,

I run a blog (Kokonut Pundit) and I do try and keep abrest of these news and developments regarding stem cells and gene therapy for the restoration/cure of hearing loss, mostly in the arena of nerve deafness.

Have you heard recently the latest development about an 18 year old woman Chloe Sohl who had her hearing partially restored (so far - see captioned video http://kokonutpundits.blogspot.com/2009/11/video-interview-caption-with-first.html) by using her own adult stem cells? And if so, is this an indication of how rapidly the field of regenerative medicine using stem cells for the cure/restoration of hearing loss? Instead of a few decades away are we looking at within the next 5 or even 10 years to see this become a common procedure? If not in the United States but what about in other countries (due to FDA lagging behind?).

Thank you

Checkmate?

I read kmayes response that she noticed an interesting thing regarding the news of an 18 year old woman who received her own adult stem cells treatment saw her hearing loss improve dramatically.

I noticed one thing… a total silence from the people who are involved in advocating for audism, DBC, etc… no comments from them (I am sure they lurk here though.)

Interesting.

I think all this is an understatment on what's going on here. More like an exclamation point and some just don't want to deal with that fact. Hence, the literal silence.

Here's the captioned video about the story of that 18 year old woman who may be in fact the first American to have her hearing loss nearly restored with the help of her own adult stem cells.
Why are the Deaf bloggers so quiet on this? If it were a cochlear implant thing they'd be all over it like a moth to a flame because it's a topic they've become well accustomed to and are comfortable in dealing with it, even acceptance. But what about the story on this adult stem cells successful treatment (so far) on an 18 year old deaf woman who was once hearing is now close to her former self? Doing a blog Google search hardly show any Deaf blogs that have covered the breaking story. Not hardly but none is more like it but save a few.

Perhaps they are still digesting the story? Perhaps so even though many believed just a few months ago that a cure or successful restoration (partial or otherwise) wouldn't happen in another few decades away find suddenly themselves confronted with the fact that it happened just last month!

Adult stem cells research and application for the restoration and cure for nerve deafness are fast approaching and becoming a reality. There is no way this can be compared on the level of cochlear implant which was a source of scorn and distrust for over 20 years. According to the video it appeared that using your own adult stem cells has seemingly proven to be safe and effective compared to embryonic stem cells and cells donated from other people for use. Perhaps the Deaf community doesn't want to talk about this success extensively so because looking at the chess board seeing that they've been "checkmated"? After all, how can you compete against 33+ million people with hearing loss with the majority of them due to nerve deafness who will welcome this successful adult stem cells treatment for hearing loss. Even Gamas Wanderings' own poll showed that approximately 60% of those who voted would take or might take the adult stem cells cure over those who would not. That's pretty telling. Funny how people thought cochlear implant was bad enough, we now have a very real possibility in the very near term well within our lifetime to see that nerve deafness hearing loss would become a thing of the past once this adult stem cells treatment begin to ramp up and that 2009 is the turning point.

Checkmate?

Or not?

You decide.

Will Deaf Culture Die Out Someday? - Part II

If you want a quick recap on "Part I" piece go to my September 19, 2009 blog. Here, I just wanted to respond to "Souggy's" blog claim that I "was proud of that 'fact' " that Deaf culture is dying, which was an irresponsible comment on his part and showed an attempt to twist words here.

I was reading a blog that Deaf culture was dying because of cochlear implants and stem cells; and apparently the blogger (or so-called pundit) was proud of that “fact,” which was the reason why I published this blog post.

There is a caveat at the very beginning of my blog "Will Deaf Culture Die Someday? " in my first paragraph.

There is always a possibility that Deaf culture could die out and this is dependent on a variety of factors with some of them going against the spread of Deaf culture and its language, ASL. But at this point it's probably more of a matter of "if" and not "when."

It's pretty clear what I wrote was a matter of "if" and not when.

I'm pretty sure Souggy was referring to my blog piece since he commented about "a blog" he read and that mine was dated September 19, 2009 while his blog piece was on September 20, 2009. And what was interesting was that he never bothered to make clear who he was referring to. No link or names. I wonder why? Rather curious to try and hide it like that.

Secondly, there is nothing in my blog indicating I was "proud of that fact" that Deaf culture is dying because of cochlear implant and stem cells. If "Souggy" actually took the time to read what I wrote it was discussed in terms of a possibility, and not a fact that it will happen. In my blog piece there is nothing said or implied about being proud to see Deaf culture die out. It was irresponsible of "Souggy" to say such a thing. I presented a scenario that because of technology and the advancing biotechnnology could get to the point where it could heavily influence and impact the Deaf community in ways not seen with hearing aids and cochlear implants, and how it could affect mating preferences among deaf and hard of hearing people over time.