Scientists make paralyzed rats walk again after spinal-cord injury
Some pretty compelling stuff. Maybe there is still hope for me yet.
Published Nov. 20 in the online edition of Nature Neuroscience, the findings suggest that the regeneration of severed nerve fibers is not required for paraplegic rats to learn to walk again. The finding may hold implications for human rehabilitation after spinal cord injuries.
"The spinal cord contains nerve circuits that can generate rhythmic activity without input from the brain to drive the hind leg muscles in a way that resembles walking called 'stepping,'" explained principal investigator Reggie Edgerton, a professor of neurobiology and physiological sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
"Previous studies have tried to tap into this circuitry to help victims of spinal cord injury," he added. "While other researchers have elicited similar leg movements in people with complete spinal injuries, they have not achieved full weight-bearing and sustained stepping as we have in our study."
Click here to read more.
Come On, Really?
Yesterday, I went to the Tukee Bowl football game between Mountain Pointe and Desert Vista. I was expecting a raucous game between two bitter high school rivals that would be fun to watch.
But I didn’t even make it to halftime before I decided to leave. And it had nothing to do with the score of the game.
I went to the game with my dad and we got there about 45 minutes ahead of time, so we could find accessible seats. After we got our tickets, we made our way to the visitor’s bleachers on the west side of the field. This year’s game was at DV, so we of course were unfamiliar with the way their accessible seating was arranged.
Once my dad made it to the base of the bleachers, I rolled up the ramp to the seats. Basically, the bleachers had cut outs on the first row of seats where a wheelchair could sit. With this in mind, we went towards the 50 yard line to find open seats. We found an open section and waited for the game to begin.
And that’ when the shenanigans ensued…
As it got closer to kickoff, the bleachers became flooded with students, parents and other fans. It began to look like a sea of black as the Mountain Pointe fans adorned their black-colored apparel to support the “black out.” It quickly became apparent that it was going to be a little snug if we’re going to fit all the fans in the bleachers.
It soon got to the point where students were standing in front of railing at the bottom of the bleachers. And, of course, they stood right in front of me in my line of sight. So my dad and I spent the next quarter and a half telling kids to move.
Things finally came to a head in the second quarter.
After we finally managed to get a clear view, three boys came and stood right in front of us. My dad then tapped one on the shoulder and asked him to move. Two of the boys politely said sorry and moved out of the way, but one did not.
He simply stood there and continued watching the game. Believing he did hear the request, my dad taps him on the shoulder and asks him to move. The kid simply moves to the right, literally, a couple inches. I know right? My dad taps him again and tells him to move more. He then proceeds to move just a couple more inches.
Come on, really?
“You need to move out of the way so we can see!” Shouted my dad.
Finally, the kid then walks to the other side with his friends. But not without rolling his eyes and giving us a look of disgust. He actually had the gall to make us feel like we had nerve asking him to move. I guess in his world, they just put people in wheelchairs in rooms and never let them out.
I guess I should apologize for knocking him off his high horse (note my sarcasm). But after we got through all that, a horde of students came over and took over the railing. The crowd in front of me was now three deep and my view now was of the backs of the students who stood in front of me. At this point, we were tired of arguing with students, so my dad and I decided to leave.
It didn’t take us long to realize that getting kids to move out of the way while I rolled by, was just as hard a task. But after a few crushed toes and heels, they quickly got the picture.
So, to sum it up, the night was a fail on two fronts:
The accessible seating - It was horrible because you can’t see past the people in front of you and it needs to be redone.
The Mountain Pointe students – There are some rude and obnoxious kids who go to Mountain Pointe. And as an alumnus of MPHS, that’s a little disappointing.
But the night wasn’t a total loss. It ended in a 34-18 Mountain Pointe win.
Happy Anniversary...
September 12 is a bittersweet day for me. Exactly 12 years ago today marks the last day of my “normal” life. It was the day I said goodbye to the life I loved and mistakenly took for granted. It was the day I lost my innocence and childhood.
It was the day I became a quadriplegic.
Every September 12, I go through a myriad of emotions; sadness, anger, confusion, happiness, appreciation, and determination. I am saddened because of all the things I have lost; experiences, time, abilities, and old friends. But I am appreciative of what I still have; family, new friends, health, courage, and determination.
I don’t ever get depressed as my anniversary approaches each year. I simply just reflect back on what I’ve been through and accept who I am and what has happened. It was a tragic event and my life was drastically changed because of it.
But it wasn’t going to change how I lived my life.
I am fortunate enough to have battled depression about my situation, and most people are surprised to hear that. I guess it is common place for people in my situation to go through bouts of depression. I don’t really know what to tell people when they ask how I’ve been able to keep such a positive attitude.
I just like to think that if I have to use so much time and energy on being sad and reclusive, why don’t I just use that same time and energy on staying positive and extroverted? Yes, there are times when I feel bad, but I don’t let it rule how I feel.
So today, I simply look back and remember with appreciation and acceptance. While I have said goodbye to the past and lost many things because of my illness, I say hello to my future and have found a new outlook on life.
One of hope, courage and perseverance.
Never Forget...
Be sure to take time out of your day to remember those lost in the September 11th attacks.
Thank you to all of our brave men and women in uniform.
As if You Needed Another Excuse to Play Video Games
Just call him, Mr. Chief.As a student. I've done it. As a teacher, I've advised against it. As a self-proclaimed "geek," I absolutely love it. What am I talking about?
Playing video games.
From my Atari to my Xbox 360, I have enjoyed the beloved past time of spending countless hours in front of the television, button-mashing away on the game controllers. Whether it was Pitfall on the Atari, or Halo 3 on the 360, I've always been in awe of the design and fun of video games.
And now, some teachers have found that video games can actually elevate a student's performance in school.
In January 2009, Crenshaw High School, part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, launched GameDisk. This small pilot program takes state-based standards for high school art and math and incorporates them into the multimedia platform of building video games from scratch. This innovative program was conceived and created by USC professor Victor Lacour, associate director for game research at the university's Viterbi School of Engineering. The pilot was implemented at Crenshaw by Scott Spector, the LAUSD's director of educational technology.
Cathy Garcia, one of the two teachers who participated in Crenshaw's initial spring 2009 program, highlighted a few extraordinary classroom moments. "Although these students often have a difficult time engaging with mathematics, they threw themselves into the task of mastering the programming in the GameMaker software," she wrote in a year-end evaluation. "The normally rambunctious students were silent and engaged with their work -- enjoying themselves while working out problems on ratios, proportions, graphing, and conversions."
By March 2009, at the initial pilot program's halfway point, the Crenshaw students had completed their assigned game, so, working in teams, they chose new games to build. In April, the teams showed off their new games at the Information Technology Conference (Info-Tech), a convention where 90-plus schools presented technology-based projects.
Spector remembers a ninth-grade student with mild autism who stood up at the convention and presented his team's game. "He suffered from communication problems, but in this class, he became the team leader," Spector says.
Programs such as this should be available in all schools. We live in a technology driven world, so developing curriculum that embraces tech, only seems right. If done correctly, it could help increase student engagement andlet them learn about things they use in their everyday lives.
Now before you toss that history book aside, and go play Madden NFL 10 for "educational purposes," remember it is the process of developing these games that is beneficial.
But then again, there's nothing wrong with a little "research and development."
To read more about the GameDisk program and the use of video games in the classroom, click here.
Japan Unveils Sci-Fi Wheelchair!
A definite chick magnet for sure.A group of Japanese robotics experts showed off their new concept for a Sci-Fi inspired wheelchair. It looks like something out of Bladerunner, but cool none the less. I hope I don't have to wait until there are actually flying cars and holograms before I can get one. Professor X would be salivating about now...
Looks a little dangerous since there is no back rest, but dangerous is my middle name. Or at least, slightly adventurous.
It nice to see people are thinking more form and function in wheelchair design. Even though I'm disabled, I still enjoy trendy pop culture art as much as the next guy.
New Hand Controls Allow the Disabled to Fly
This looks awesome! Goose and Maverick better look out!This is really cool. A new control system has been created to give people with disabilities, the chance to fly. This should give all those aspiring pilots a legitimate shot to make it to the sky. Looks like a blast. If I ever overcome my fear of flying, I'd definitely check it out!
Click here to read more about the device.
Disability Group Boosts Google Book Search
Read this article on Wired, and I think it will help a lot of people with disabilities. I know whenever I read, having an e-book option definitely helps. This really comes in handy when I read new or unread books because the binding keeps the books from staying flat.
I breezed through many a homework assignments because it was so frustrating to try and hold the book open. But don't get me wrong, I made sure to take my time when I read through my Spawn comics or current issues of Maxim. So that probably wasn't the only reason.
Click here to read the article.
Look Ma', No Glasses!
This past week, I finally caved in and decided to get contacts. I have been wearing glasses for the past seven years, and have been hesitant to get contacts. But after my recent visit to the optomotrist, my eye doc persuaded me to give them a try. While some of you might be wondering why I'm writing about such a blah topic such as contacts, here's my reasoning.
Even though the topic of contacts themselves might not warrant a conversation, my application of them would. You see, since I can't move, I'm unable to put them in myself. This the the biggest hurdle for me to jump, or roll over, as I came to my contact solution. So my dad has graciously decided to volunteer to be my contact installer. I can feel your hesitation as you read this, so I'll go over his qualifications:
- He wears contacts himself, so he knows the procedure
- He's in construction, so he must be good with his hands
- He's stuck a plastic tube down a hole in my throat when I had a trach, so he good with medical proceedures
Sold? Good. Because I'm going to ignore the fact that his hands feel like they're coated with sand paper and can cut my contacts or eyes at any moment. And to even get some additional practice, the eye doc let him put the contacts in and out a few times before we left. After the first week, so far so good. I haven't lost them or got my eye slashed. Check back later for pics. Now that I don't have glasses to cover my eye brows, I might have to do something about my emerging uni-brow. I guess I'm going to have to cave in again and do some "man-scaping..."