By MIKE KRAFCIK 6 News Reporter

GREENBACK (WATE) - The new Greenback School is scheduled to open next Tuesday.

The long awaited Pre-K through 12th grade school replaces the old one, originally built in the 1930s.

School officials are asking for volunteers to help move teachers, their supplies and other items needed to prepare the new school. They say the volunteer effort will be greatly needed so the school can open on time.

All week, 650 Greenback students and teachers had a chance to tour and get familiar with the new building before starting class next week.

"When I first walked in here, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't even know what to say, it was huge," said Greenback third grade student Folson Silver.

It's all work and no play, especially for the teachers.

They have to move from the old school to the new one by next Tuesday. There's not much time to finish the job.

"We're not starting the first week of school. We're in the middle of the year, and we need to be ready to go on Tuesday and not waste a teacher day," said third grade teacher Marty Sindlin.

Students were helping teachers on Friday carry their supplies and help unpack their classrooms.

More here:
Greenback needs volunteers Saturday for move to new school

Four Harrisonville High School graduates will become the tenth class inducted into the Distinguished Alumni Wall of Fame during winter Homecoming activities at the high school Friday, Jan. 24.

William Mills, Victor Blaine, Shaun Holden, and Kelli (Wolf) Moles will be formally inducted during a banquet Jan. 24 and will be introduced to the community prior to the varsity basketball game at approximately 7 p.m. that night.

The Wall of Fame induction is sponsored by the Harrisonville Public School Foundation.

Mills graduated from Harrisonville High School in 1972. He has been a business and civic leader in Harrisonville ever since.

Mills owns and operates Family Center with four locations including Harrisonville, Butler, Paola, Kan., and Winterset, Iowa. He also was the developer for Mill-Walk Mall in Harrisonville.

Mills served as the mayor of Harrisonville from 1993-1995. During his tenure, he started the Mayors Christmas Tree fund to support the Ministerial Alliance. Today, he continues his governmental involvement as chair of the Planning and Zoning Board on which hes served for 20 years. Hes also a director of the TIF Commission for the improvement of 291 Highway.

Within the community, Mills has volunteered and led several organizations. He is the past president of the Harrisonville Public School Foundation and continues to serve on that board. He was a Founding Donor and continues to give to the organization through personally matching the donations made in the Mill Walk Mall Fountain.

He is the past president of the Harrisonville Rotary Club. Through Rotary, Mills participated in an international service project traveling to Ecuador to bring clean water to schoolchildren. Hes also organized the annual Casco picnic and hosted three foreign exchange students.

He is past president of the Harrisonville Area Chamber of Commerce. He was also a founding member of the Chambers Ambassadors program.

Mills also serves on the Harrisonville Schools Financial Advisory Board and has actively supported and served on steering committees for district bond and levy campaigns.

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Four grads to be inducted into HHS Distinguished Alumni Wall of Fame

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MAA MEMBERSHIP is a tangible way to show support for your alumni association. Dues are collected each year to finance the operations of the Medical Alumni Association. As an independent foundation affiliated with the university, but not funded by the school or the state, we depend on the membership of alumni, faculty and friends to continue our endeavors.

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP include receipt of the Bulletin magazine, a quarterly journal which keeps alumni in touch with their classmates and abreast of current campus information. Membership also provides invitations to reunion celebrations and regional gatherings, in addition to borrowing privileges at the new medical school library.Members are asked to take an active role in the Association by voting on important issues at the annual business meeting.

NEW FOR2010!! Memberscan now view classroom lectures from their computers. School of Medicine faculty members have given their permission to have more than 300 of their presentations available for on-line viewing. Topics include anatomy, genetics, physiology, pharmacology, infectious diseases, domestic abuse, geriatric assessment and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Click the link above for more details.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP dues is $85 for alumni, faculty and friends of the association. We also offer a discounted membership for $25 to young alumni who have graduated within the last five years. An emeritus membership is available for those who have graduated 50 years ago or more, or who have reached the age of 70. Emeritus members are no longer required to pay dues, although many choose to continue sending a membership payment in an amount comfortable for their budget.

Finally, as a welcome gift to our most recent graduates, the board of directors has decided to provide the first year of membership to graduating seniors without cost. To become a new member of the association or to renew your membership, please click here to find out how.

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Newswise New research from David Westaway, PhD, of the University of Alberta and Jiri Safar, MD, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has uncovered a quality control mechanism in brain cells that may help keep deadly neurological diseases in check for months or years.

The findings, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation (http://www.jci.org/articles/view/72241), present a breakthrough in understanding the secret life of prion molecules in the brain and may offer a new way to treat prion diseases, said Westaway, Director of the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases and Professor of Neurology in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta.

Prion diseases lead to incurable neurodegenerative disorders such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, mad cow disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) and chronic wasting disease in deer and elk. The diseases are caused by the conversion of normal cellular prion proteins into the diseased form.

For years, scientists have been perplexed by two unexplained characteristics of prion infections: vastly differing asymptomatic periods lasting up to five decades and when symptoms do arise, greatly varying accumulation of the diseased proteins. In striking contrast, test tube prions replicate rapidly, and in a matter of days reach levels found in brains in the final stage of the disease.

Our study investigated the molecular mechanism of this intriguing puzzle, said Safar, Co-Director of the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center and Associate Professor in Departments of Pathology and Neurology in Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

In probing these mysteries, Westaway, Safar, their teams and other collaborating researchers in the U.S., Italy and the Netherlands studied a molecule called the shadow of the prion protein.

Dramatic changes in this shadow protein led us to expand our view to include the normal prion protein itself, said Westaway. This is a crucial molecule in brain cells because it is pirated as the raw material to make diseased prion proteins.

The production and degradation of the normal prion protein had previously received little attention because it was assumed its production pipeline did not vary.

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Breakthrough in Understanding the Secret Life of Prion Molecules

To THURSDAY, Jan. 30

Create Valentines Day cards to send to veterans at the Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center in the Lyons section of Bernards Township anytime between Monday Jan. 13, and Thursday, Jan. 30, at the Warren Township Library, 42 Mountain Boulevard. No registration is required. All ages can participate. For more information, stop by the Youth Services desk, call (908) 754-5554, ext. 23, or visit http://www.libraryinsight.net.

To FRIDAY, Jan. 31

The artwork of Warren Middle School (WMS) students will be on display all month at the Warren Township Library at the Warren Municipal Complex, 42 Mountain Blvd., Warren Township. The theme of the exhibit is the artwork of album covers.

To SUNDAY, Feb. 2

Nature Through a Childs Eye, the 22nd annual exhibit of childrens art with an environmental theme will be on display now through Sunday, Feb. 2, at the Somerset County Park Commission Environmental Education Center (EEC) at 190 Lord Stirling Road, a quarter-mile west of the intersection of Carlton Road and White Bridge Road. The EEC is open every day except major holidays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Hundreds of pieces of art have been created by Somerset County kindergarten through sixth grade students from 15 Somerset County schools. The works communicate their views of nature and the environment though application of textures, shapes and colors. For information on Nature Through a Childs Eye or other EEC activities, call (908) 766-2489 or NJ Relay 711 for individuals with a hearing or speech impairment, or visit http://www.somersetcountyparks.org.

FRIDAY, Jan. 17

Several local drop off points have been designated for the Donate to BOBO (Buy One, Bring One) Food Drive the third Friday of every month, sponsored by Somerset County to benefit the Food Bank of Somerset County. Local drop off points will be at the Warren Township Library, 42 Mountain Blvd., at the Warren Municipal Complex; the Watchung Library, off the Watchung Circle in back of the Watchung Arts Center, Watchung; and the Environmental Education Center, 190 Lord Stirling Road, a quarter mile east of the intersection of Carlton Road and White Bridge Road, Millington. Canned or boxed food items are accepted. For ideas about healthy foods to donate, go to http://bit.ly/FoodPantryDonations. Although the targeted collection schedule is the third Friday of every month, the bins are available every day, so donations may be dropped off at any time during regular business hours at all locations.

Three Jazz Divas, featuring Lauren Hooker, Carrie Jackson, and Nancy Nelson, will perform at 8 p.m., at the Watchung Arts Center (WAC), on the Watchung Circle, Watchung. A rhythm section consisting of Fred Fischer on piano, Ron Naspo on bass and Nick Scheuble, on drums will accompany the singers. Jackson will be accompanied by pianist Noriko Kamo. A dessert reception will follow the concert, providing an opportunity to meet the performers. Tickets prices are $16 in advance, $20 at the door, $18 for WAC members, and $10 for students. Advanced tickets may be purchased online at watchungartscenter.eventbrite. com. For more information, visit WatchungArts.org.

SATURDAY, Jan. 18

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Things to do

Published: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014, 12:01a.m. Updated 5 hours ago

When Douglas Education Center marks its 110th anniversary this year, it will be a chance to look at how far the Monessen-based school has changed, not only over the past century, but even during the past 10 years.

The 110th anniversary is important to us, said Kevin Fear, chief marketing officer at DEC.

The 100th was very important, and we were growing. We've evolved and changed so much in past 10 years. And we're expanding the school even more.

110 means a lot because the school has changed so much.

At the end of 2013, DEC celebrated the 10th anniversary of its cosmetology program and five years of the Factory Digital Film program. In addition, a Natural Gas Extraction and Distribution Techniques program was added last year.

The cosmetology and film and gas and oil programs we don't sit still, Fear said.

Fear said DEC has evolved by continually updating the current programs to meet industry standards.

Between new faculty, new technology, and new facilities, we're always pushing the envelope, Fear said.

This year also marks Jeff Imbrescia's 25th anniversary as owner of DEC.

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Douglas Education Center reaches 110th anniversary

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13-Jan-2014

Contact: Lauren Woods lauren.woods@mountsinai.org 212-241-2836 The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine

An international research team led by Mount Sinai Heart at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, is testing its novel sugar-based tracer contrast agent to be used with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to help in the hunt for dangerous inflammation and high-risk vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque inside vessel walls that causes acute heart attacks and strokes.

Their findings, reported Jan. 12 in Nature Medicine, investigate the possible advantage of the proposed imaging agent, fluorodeoxymannose (FDM) sugar-based tracer in comparison to fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), the current glucose-based tracer widely-used in patients undergoing PET imaging.

"Our pre-clinical testing shows that PET imaging with the radiotracer FDM may potentially offer a more targeted strategy to detect dangerous, high-risk plaques and inflammation that may be associated with serious cardiovascular events," says Jagat Narula, MD, PhD, the principal investigator for the study who serves as Director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Program at The Mount Sinai Hospital, and Associate Dean of Global Health at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Glucose forms the source of main energy supply in the human body and in the radiolabeled form FDG it has been traditionally used for the identification of atherosclerosis. Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, the Director of the Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital, was one of the earliest investigators to use FDG for the detection of atherosclerosis.

A known biomarker for high inflammation in arterial plaque is the presence of an abundant level of macrophage cells. Macrophage-rich inflammation lining the artery walls filled with plaque is known to be associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke. "Macrophage cells have a very high metabolic demand for sugars and are dependent on the exogenous source of sugars, and that's why the sugar-based tracers are able to identify the inflamed or dangerous plaques," according to Dr. Fuster.

"Although the research team's investigations of the FDM tracer shows that it performs comparably to the traditional FDG tracer, it is expected that the new sugar tracer may have an advantage to more specifically target inflammation because the plaque infiltrating macrophages develop mannose receptors (MRs)," according to Dr. Narula.

Co-author Jogeshwar Mukherjee, PhD, and his team of radiochemists at the University of California, Irvine had labeled the FDM with Fluorine-18, which like glucose enters the cells through glucose transporters. The current study results show mannose is taken up by a specific subset of macrophage cells that dwell in high-risk plaques, which have developed the mannose receptors. This may represent the theoretical advantage of FDM over the FDG tracer. These macrophages called "M2" within atherosclerotic plaques, tend to overly express MRs, and are especially common in inflamed and hemorrhagic arterial lesions.

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Researchers investigating how to make PET imaging even sweeter

PHILADELPHIA The University of Pennsylvanias Basser Research Center for BRCA has announced the Basser External Research Grant Program, a unique funding program for high impact translational cancer research projects aimed at advancing the care of people living with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Penn Medicines Abramson Cancer Center, home to the Basser Center, will serve as steward of the $5 million grant to four research teams that demonstrate the potential for translation into clinical practice. The grant program is made possible by an additional $5 million donation from University of Pennsylvania alumni Mindy and Jon Gray, bringing their total giving to Penn to $30 million following their $25 million gift that established the Basser Center in 2012. The new awards are a unique effort among academic institutions, which typically utilize philanthropic gifts to further research conducted by their own scientists.

This generous award by the Grays will help expand the mission of the Basser Center by allowing us to support innovative researchers outside of Penn and widen the circle of those who are working to find new ways to prevent and treat cancers associated with BRCA mutations, said Susan Domchek, MD, executive director of the Basser Research Center and the Basser Professor of Oncology at Penns Abramson Cancer Center. There are many research teams doing exceptional work in BRCA1/2 research who are finding it difficult to compete for the shrinking pool of federal and foundation funding for biomedical research, and this program provides a new avenue to accelerate progress across the field.

Research grant applications are being accepted for projects in basic science, prevention, early detection, or targeted therapeutics relevant to the study of BRCA1/2. Two types of awards will be given to four promising innovative projects such as immunologic approaches to preventing cancer, novel therapies unique to tumor type, and new methods for early detection including:

To date, more than 75 investigators have submitted letters of intent to apply for the grants. Applications are due on Friday, February 14, 2014. For more information, visit the Basser Research Center web site.

As the nations only center solely devoted to research into the prevention and treatment of BRCA-related cancers, the Basser Research Center for BRCA is uniquely positioned to help fund team science and original ideas, said Chi Van Dang, MD, PhD, director of Penns Abramson Cancer Center. With these grants, we hope to support interdisciplinary multi-institutional teams that take cutting-edge, creative research with the greatest potential to change clinical approaches to individuals predisposed to cancer resulting from BRCA mutations.

The Basser Research Center was established in memory of Mindy Grays sister Faith Basser, who died of ovarian cancer at age 44.

Recognizing and funding leaders in the field of BRCA research is a cornerstone of the Basser Centers mission. Last year, the first Basser Global Prize was awarded to cancer biology and genetics expert Alan Ashworth, FRS, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Cancer Research in London and leader of the Gene Function team in the ICRs Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre. As part of the award, Ashworth, a pioneer in efforts to develop therapies to target cancer cells that contain BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, will give the keynote address at the annual Basser Research Center for BRCA Symposium in May 2014. Also in 2013, the Basser Center awarded its second year of grant funding more than $2 million to 19 Penn investigators representing a wide array of disciplines. Together, they are studying topics ranging from potential vaccine therapies to prevent BRCA1/2-related cancers to optimal nutrition and exercise for BRCA-positive cancer survivors to managing the side effects associated with prophylactic ovary removal.

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Penn Medicine's Basser Research Center for BRCA Announces Additional $5 Million Gift from Mindy and Jon Gray to Fund ...