I read the New York Times article “A Revolutionary Surgery, Now as Typical as a Sinker,” written by Mike Tierney. In this article, the author talks about how widespread “Tommy John” surgery has become. He says that it, “…now extends to pitchers at multiple levels of the game, as well as tennis players and javelin throwers, from athletes as young as 14 to those nearing retirement.” The surgery grafts a tendon from the forearm into the elbow to act as a ligament. More and more people are getting this surgery, including young athletes. While it has most definitely been beneficial for athletes, there are questions about whether or not people should get it if their ligament hasn’t been torn. Athletes seem to think that it makes their elbows stronger, but that could also be attributed to that fact that they are doing more exercises and getting physical therapy. In recent years the surgery has been advanced to involve a different way of grafting and a less invasive procedure.

            There is no doubt that the operation is effective, but should this many people be getting it? The author said, “…baseball patients were amazed to learn that the condition was not caused by an improper pitching style. ‘Really, really good technique increases it the most,’ he said, adding that as players got bigger and stronger, the need for surgery would only increase.” What does this say about our society? We are driving people, even kids, to compete in sports that are rapidly breaking down their bodies and destroying their elbows. It is only through the discoveries of modern medicine that these people can move their elbows without severe pain. There is so much pressure on athletes to be successful that they are ruining their bodies. The question should not be “What can we do to cut down the recovery time of the procedure?” but “What can we do to stop the harm done on our bodies in sports?”

            I thought that the author did a good job writing a readable article, but I think that he touched on too many topics and didn’t go in depth enough on any of them. I would like to know more details about what the surgery involves, and what it is about the sports these athletes play that causes the injuries. It would have been a better article if the author had talked more about the controversy of the operation, because I believe that there is more to it than what he mentioned.

Tierney, Mike. "A Revolutionary Surgery, Now as Typical as a Sinker." The New York       Times. The New York Times, 07 Mar. 2014. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.     <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/sports/baseball/how-tommy-john-surgery-   has-evolved-since-frank-jobe.html?ref=science&_r=0>.

   I read Early Treatment is Found to Treat HIV in a 2^nd Baby, by Donald G. McNeil Jr. This article was about how the second baby was successfully treated for HIV by injecting antiviral medication for the first 48 hours of life. This was similar to the first “Mississippi Baby” who was said to go from positive to negative testing. The long Island baby, the second HIV cured child, is allowing for a larger clinical study of 60 babies. If successful, this could mean that all 250,000 babies born with HIV could be cured right away. However, it is an integral part of the trial that these babies are still HIV free by the age of two, and eventually through childhood, before scientists can even consider spreading this treatment throughout the world. A University of California, San Francisco scientist agrees that this second baby seems to have been cured, which can potentially lead to a changed future.

            This article is really important because it gives us a sense that we are nearing the day HIV becomes a curable disease. Although this article states that this is only the second baby to have been cured, we have a sense of hope that research will allow for first more babies to be born cured of HIV and eventually adults can be cured. Scientific research has come far since HIV/AIDS were discovered. Now there are preventable measures one can take, as long as medication to prevent the spread of HIV into the AIDS virus. This is a very important article for the fascinating world of science.

            I thought the author wrote this article very well. It was difficult at first to understand this cure, however, I think I did grasp a majority. For a person who is not in the field to understand that much, it is because of a well-spoken author. I thought the author could have improved his use of scientific terminology. Although he did explain some, there was clearly a lack of explanation elsewhere. I found that there were a few things I had to Google in order to me to fully understand what he was saying.

Mcneil, Donald G. "Early Treatment Is Found to Clear H.I.V. in a 2nd Baby." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Mar. 2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/health/second-success-raises-hope-for-a-way-to-rid-babies-of-hiv.html?ref=science&_r=0>.

“Early Treatment Is Found to Clear H.I.V. in a 2nd Baby”

This article exposes two newborn babies who were treated for H.I.V. within 30 hours of being born and have showed signs that they do not contain the virus after months of treatment. Last year, scientists made a stunning announcement that a baby born with H.I.V. had apparently been cured through intense treatment directly after birth. After this case was made public, there was a great deal of skepticism. Although there has not been an actual trial to prove that scientists have found a cure for babies, this child is now 3 years old and is still virus-free. Also, there was a woman in California who had advanced AIDS and she gave birth to a baby girl who also carried this infection. However, four hours after this baby was born, she was immediately put on three different drugs at the high doses usually used for treatment of the virus. Although this baby is also free of AIDS, doctors still claim that it is incorrect to describe the baby as “cured” because she is still on drugs. But because the most sensitive blood tests can find no virus capable of replicating, she describes the baby as “having sero-reverted to H.I.V.-negative.” Scientists are still continuing to test infected babies, and their next plan is to figure out when it is safe to stop giving the patients their treatment. I found this article to be very eye opening. After visiting Kenya two years ago, I became well aware of this topic because infectious diseases are very prevalent in Africa. At the time there had not been any public breakthroughs in regards to cures, so it was a very depressing thing to learn about. However, after reading this article, I can see that we are moving in the right direction. The H.I.V. virus is very dangerous and if we can focus on preventing it from spreading to babies, we will see a huge decline in the numbers of those who are infected. Although this article was interesting and informative, it was broken up in such a way that made it difficult to fully understand after reading it one time through. It kept going back and forth between the two babies that were treated for H.I.V. and the work that researchers will do in order to move forward with this process. The writing didn’t really flow, so I had to keep going back and re-read the information again and again. posted for P. Marshall

“Study Gives Hope of Altering Genes to Repel H.I.V.”

“Study Gives Hope of Altering Genes to Repel H.I.V.”

            A pilot study was performed which found that immune cells could be altered to possibly cure patients with H.I.V., and that this treatment is not harmful to the patients.  A certain mutated gene for CCR₅ has been known to cause the H.I.V. virus to disappear, and according to Dr. Carl June, expert in AIDS at the University of Pennsylvania, “gene editing may offer another way to achieve the same result.”  Gene editing is a treatment that can zero in on a particular gene of interest and disable it, which could be revolutionary for treating diseases such as H.I.V.  The goal of gene editing regarding H.I.V. is that “if enough cells could be engineered to repel the virus, patients might no longer need antiviral drugs, and might in effect be cured.”  In this study, 12 H.I.V. patients had a certain protein removed from their immune cells that the virus must latch onto to invade the cells.  In order to do this, the cells had to be removed from the patients, treated and then dripped back into their bloodstreams through an intravenous line.  The cells in theory would then replicate with this “mutation” and ultimately beat out the virus.

            For people infected with H.I.V., this new treatment brings much hope.  Other treatments for the virus are antiviral drugs, but patients dislike the side effects, and lifelong treatment using these drugs can cost $1 million in the United States.  Gene editing is worth considering because it is much cheaper and more effective treatment.  I think that this new treatment is a revolutionary medical achievement and could really change the way that H.I.V. affects a population.  Many lives have the potential to be saved with this treatment.

            Overall, I really enjoyed reading this article, and I thought that it presented a good explanation of the study and why it should be considered.  The article included quotes from doctors expressing their views on the new treatment and provided facts and evidence of the treatment’s success.  I will be very interested to see if this new treatment takes off, because I think that it could really change the medical world significantly.

Grady, Denise. "Study Gives Hope of Altering Genes to Repel H.I.V." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

“Early Treatment is Found to Clear H.I.V. in a 2nd Baby,”

Citation: McNeil, Donald G., Jr. "Early Treatment Is Found to Clear H.I.V. in a 2nd Baby." New York Times 5 Mar. 2014. Print.

  In the New York Times article, “Early Treatment is Found to Clear H.I.V. in a 2nd Baby,” by Donald G. McNeil Jr., the news from an AIDS conference is announced that a second baby that was born with H.I.V. was cured. In 2013, there was once similar case in while after thirty hours of aggressive drug treatment, the baby was cured. Now that a second child is believed to be completely cured, a clinical trial will begin that examines sixty infected babies after their immediate 48 hours on the drugs to see if a new protocol should be put in place for children born with this infection. As the executive director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony S. Fauci said, “this could lead to major changes, for two reasons…Both for the welfare of the child, and because it is a huge proof of concept that you can cure someone if you can treat them early enough.” The first cured child is now three years old and from Mississippi and the second from California who is nine months old both continue to test negative for H.I.V., and although doctors cannot technically call them cured because they are both still taking the drugs, any trace of the illness are gone. 

The topic of H.I.V. has been prevalent in the world since its outbreak in 1980s and the disease has been known to not have any viable cure. The possibility of a cure for children born with H.I.V. could change the impact of the disease and end the cycle of the infection. Although it will take a few years for scientists to be 100% sure of the drugs’ success, just the chance of changing the lives of some victims is outstanding. 

           I thought that this article was written very well and relevant. It was presented in a way that even someone who has not been following the H.I.V. discussion could understand. McNeil gave background on both of the children whom have been “cured” and with that information the reader was able to feel more connected to the topic. The possibility of finding a cure for newborns with the horrible infection of H.I.V. would be revolutionary and I can only hope that future trials have similar success. 

Lower Hudson Valley Engineering Expo

On Sunday, March 30, 2014, the Foundation for Engineering Education will present the eleventh annual Engineering EXPO, to educate regional high school and middle school students about engineering as a career. It will be held at White Plains High School, White Plains, NY (Westchester County), from 11 :00 AM to 4:00 PM. Last year's EXPO saw attendance of over 3,000 students, 40 colleges, and 50 engineering or technology based businesses and societies.

The goals of the annual Lower Hudson Valley Engineering Expo are as follows:

 1. Recruit grade 8-12 students interested in math and science and teach them about careers in engineering. We need to convey all options: Civil, Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical, Materials, etc., and perhaps we can attract them with interesting careers in some of the new and exotic fields like nanotechnology, biomedical engineering and aerospace. It is imperative that we recruit the best and the brightest into our profession.

2. Inform juniors and seniors about requirements for engineering degrees. Several colleges in the region with engineering programs will set up booths or tables with information about admission and curriculum.

3. Enlighten the students about careers in engineering. Most do not realize that 8 of the 10 highest paying Bachelor degrees are in engineering fields. Various firms and industries have volunteered to set up displays and be available for discussions with interested students. Some very exciting work goes on in our industry. There is much to be proud of.

Evolutionary Adaptation Projects

AP Biology students presented their third quarter projects, in which each student chose an animal from a list an were to produce a "museum quality" poster that identified the animal's taxonomical classification. They were also to examine the behavioral, structural and biochemical adaptations that their animal had developed over the course of their biological history. See the "project" handout that follows for details of the assignment.

   Third Quarter First Project Newsletter 2014 by Charles Ippolito

In the first half of the class on Thursday, half the class stood by their posters, while the other half of the class viewed the posters and listened to the poster author's explanations of the information on the poster. In the second half of the class the students switched places/roles.

Lilia chose to become an expert on the koala bear.

Nicole was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the bottlenose dolphin.

Briana was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the boa constrictor.

William was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the ostrich.

Sabine was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the hippopotamus.

James was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the timber wolf. What was most impressive was his use of a pastel he had drawn of the face of a wolf in one of his art classes last year.

Matt was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the emperor penquin.

Elise used a windows tablet to illustrate the sea otter's taxonomy and adaptations.

Blake was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the walrus.

Paul was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the common skunk.

Jesse was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the seal.

Christian explains what he has learned about the evolution and taxonomy of the hippopotamus.

Fiona was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the duck-billed platypus.

Morgan was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the lion.

Andrew was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the sloth.

Caroline was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the komodo dragon. It was really depressing when none of the class remembered the important role this animal played in the movie "The Freshman", which followed the travails of an NYU student (Matthew Broderick) working for a Godfatherish conman (Marlon Brando) and his chef (Maximilian Schell)!

Lucy was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the great panda.

Chrissy was our expert regarding the evolution and taxonomy of the giraffe. I would be remiss if I did not point out her giraffe patterned blouse!