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Subject:Comicon's KOTG issue.
- Thread starter C-40
- Start date
steve samurai jack
New member
The New Jack aka: The King Of The Gutters? Sounds about right.
Who's gonna challenge that point, who?
opcorn:
as a valid member of n.a.p, I'll have to give this two thumbs up
*tee hee*
steve samurai jack
New member
total kaos
New member
Elrod's Dood
cupcake
what's going on
The Dork Lord
Whipping Boy
8====D ~o ~o ~o
C-40
NEW AGE POSTING
Aren't you the one who bitched and moaned when Ed took over "The King Of Tard" crown from you, then nominated me as the holder,
then came running to "TK" after vowing not to ever post here because you became extremly jealous of me at Comicon?
^Pathetic, huh?^
You thought you could get at me dawg. You failed bitch.
The Dork Lord
Whipping Boy
Uh yeah, all of this happend like 5 years ago. Let it go, "dawg".
Again: old news. You never explained what I'm supposed to be jealous of
C-40
NEW AGE POSTING
opcorn:Again: old news. You never explained what I'm supposed to be jealous of
The game. You took the low road, crawling on your belly in the trenches.
opcorn:
The Dork Lord
Whipping Boy
If life is a game Chuck, you ate the dice.
If life is a highway, your hummer broke down in 2004, and you've been begging for change at the rest area ever since.
If life is a box of chocolates, your box is full of chocolate covered FISH.
And no amount of pocorn emoticons will change that
If life is a highway, your hummer broke down in 2004, and you've been begging for change at the rest area ever since.
If life is a box of chocolates, your box is full of chocolate covered FISH.
And no amount of pocorn emoticons will change that
Joe Hennessy
New member
The New Jack aka: The King Of The Gutters? Sounds about right.
Its all good. Stick to your gun, KING.
The King of Wisdom may, when he's tired of spamming The Gutters.
The Dork Lord
Whipping Boy
AP: Health News
Research suggests children can recover from autism
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner, Ap Medical Writer – 27 mins ago
CHICAGO – A small but provocative study suggests that at least 10 percent of children with autism overcome the disorder by age 9 — most of them after undergoing years of intensive behavioral therapy. Skeptics question the phenomenon, but University of Connecticut psychology professor Deborah Fein is among those convinced it's real.
She presented research this week at an autism conference in Chicago on 58 children, including 20 who, according to rigorous analysis, got a correct diagnosis but years later were no longer considered autistic.
Among them was Leo Lytel of Washington, D.C., a boy who once made no eye contact, who echoed words said to him and often spun around in circles — all classic autism symptoms. Now he is an articulate, social third-grader. His mother, Jayne Lytel, says his teachers call Leo a leader.
The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, involves children ages 9 to 18.
Autism researcher Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, called Fein's research a breakthrough.
"Even though a number of us out in the clinical field have seen kids who appear to recover," it has never been documented as thoroughly as Fein's work, Dawson said.
"We're at a very early stage in terms of understanding" the phenomenon, Dawson said.
Previous studies have suggested between 3 percent and 25 percent of autistic kids recover. Fein says her studies have shown the range is 10 percent to 20 percent.
But even after lots of therapy, most autistic children remain autistic.
Recovery is "not a realistic expectation for the majority of kids," but parents should know it can happen, Fein said.
Doubters say "either they really weren't autistic to begin with ... or they're still socially odd and obsessive, but they don't exactly meet criteria" for autism, she said.
Fein said the children in her study "really were" autistic and now they're "really not."
University of Michigan autism expert Catherine Lord said she also has seen autistic patients who recover. Most had parents who spent long hours working with them on behavior improvement.
But, Lord added, "I don't think we can predict who this will happen for." And she does not think it's possible to make it happen.
The children in Fein's study, which is still ongoing, were diagnosed by an autism specialist before age 5 but no longer meet diagnostic criteria for autism. The initial diagnoses were verified through early medical records.
Because the phenomenon is so rare, Fein is still seeking children to help bolster evidence on what traits formerly autistic kids may have in common. Her team is also comparing these children with autistic and non-autistic kids.
So far, the "recovered" kids "are turning out very normal" on neuropsychological exams and verbal and nonverbal tests, she said.
The researchers are also doing imaging tests to see if the recovered kids' brains look more like those of autistic or nonautistic children. Autistic children's brains tend to be slightly larger than normal.
Imaging scans also are being done to examine brain function in formerly autistic kids. Researchers want to know if their "normal" behavior is a result of "normal" brain activity, or if their brains process information in a non-typical way to compensate for any deficits.
Results from those tests are still being analyzed.
Most of the formerly autistic kids got long-term behavior treatment soon after diagnosis, in some cases for 30 or 40 hours weekly.
Many also have above-average IQs and had been diagnosed with relatively mild cases of autism. At age 2, many were within the normal range for motor development, able to walk, climb and hold a pencil.
Significant improvement suggesting recovery was evident by around age 7 in most cases, Fein said.
None of the children has shown any sign of relapse. But nearly three-fourths of the formerly autistic kids have had other disorders, including attention-deficit problems, tics and phobias; eight still are affected. Jayne Lytel says Leo sometimes still gets upset easily but is much more flexible than before.
Research suggests children can recover from autism
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner, Ap Medical Writer – 27 mins ago
CHICAGO – A small but provocative study suggests that at least 10 percent of children with autism overcome the disorder by age 9 — most of them after undergoing years of intensive behavioral therapy. Skeptics question the phenomenon, but University of Connecticut psychology professor Deborah Fein is among those convinced it's real.
She presented research this week at an autism conference in Chicago on 58 children, including 20 who, according to rigorous analysis, got a correct diagnosis but years later were no longer considered autistic.
Among them was Leo Lytel of Washington, D.C., a boy who once made no eye contact, who echoed words said to him and often spun around in circles — all classic autism symptoms. Now he is an articulate, social third-grader. His mother, Jayne Lytel, says his teachers call Leo a leader.
The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, involves children ages 9 to 18.
Autism researcher Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, called Fein's research a breakthrough.
"Even though a number of us out in the clinical field have seen kids who appear to recover," it has never been documented as thoroughly as Fein's work, Dawson said.
"We're at a very early stage in terms of understanding" the phenomenon, Dawson said.
Previous studies have suggested between 3 percent and 25 percent of autistic kids recover. Fein says her studies have shown the range is 10 percent to 20 percent.
But even after lots of therapy, most autistic children remain autistic.
Recovery is "not a realistic expectation for the majority of kids," but parents should know it can happen, Fein said.
Doubters say "either they really weren't autistic to begin with ... or they're still socially odd and obsessive, but they don't exactly meet criteria" for autism, she said.
Fein said the children in her study "really were" autistic and now they're "really not."
University of Michigan autism expert Catherine Lord said she also has seen autistic patients who recover. Most had parents who spent long hours working with them on behavior improvement.
But, Lord added, "I don't think we can predict who this will happen for." And she does not think it's possible to make it happen.
The children in Fein's study, which is still ongoing, were diagnosed by an autism specialist before age 5 but no longer meet diagnostic criteria for autism. The initial diagnoses were verified through early medical records.
Because the phenomenon is so rare, Fein is still seeking children to help bolster evidence on what traits formerly autistic kids may have in common. Her team is also comparing these children with autistic and non-autistic kids.
So far, the "recovered" kids "are turning out very normal" on neuropsychological exams and verbal and nonverbal tests, she said.
The researchers are also doing imaging tests to see if the recovered kids' brains look more like those of autistic or nonautistic children. Autistic children's brains tend to be slightly larger than normal.
Imaging scans also are being done to examine brain function in formerly autistic kids. Researchers want to know if their "normal" behavior is a result of "normal" brain activity, or if their brains process information in a non-typical way to compensate for any deficits.
Results from those tests are still being analyzed.
Most of the formerly autistic kids got long-term behavior treatment soon after diagnosis, in some cases for 30 or 40 hours weekly.
Many also have above-average IQs and had been diagnosed with relatively mild cases of autism. At age 2, many were within the normal range for motor development, able to walk, climb and hold a pencil.
Significant improvement suggesting recovery was evident by around age 7 in most cases, Fein said.
None of the children has shown any sign of relapse. But nearly three-fourths of the formerly autistic kids have had other disorders, including attention-deficit problems, tics and phobias; eight still are affected. Jayne Lytel says Leo sometimes still gets upset easily but is much more flexible than before.
steve samurai jack
New member
what's up dork, having an epic melt down?
*laughing*
*laughing*
The Dork Lord
Whipping Boy
AFP: World News
China's panda programme struggling after quake
by Robert J. Saiget Robert J. Saiget – Fri May 8, 10:54 am ET
CHENGDU, China (AFP) – China's quest to save the giant panda has been hit hard by last year's massive Sichuan earthquake, which destroyed a vital food source, inhibited its sex drive and sent tourism revenues diving.
While it is unclear how many pandas living in the wild were killed by the quake, it felled entire bamboo groves in their mountainous habitat and often rendered inaccessible those forests left standing.
For pandas being bred in captivity meanwhile, the earthquake coincided with a baby boom that is stretching resources and making it tougher for carers to find enough bamboo to go round.
"The biggest impact has been on the food source of the panda, as a lot of bamboo was destroyed," said Wang Chengdong, the director of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Centre.
"The food supply is very, very tight," Wang told AFP. "The disaster has had a huge impact on our centre and brought big difficulties too for our national treasure."
The 8.0-magnitude quake struck Sichuan province last May 12 leaving nearly 87,000 people dead or missing in this rugged, southwest region where China's endangered panda population is concentrated.
At a nursery at this breeding centre, near the provincial capital Chengdu, staff in blue medical gowns looked after two baby pandas while on a platform outside a couple of slightly older ones wrestled merrily.
The cubs came from a recent baby boom among pandas which has boosted demand for the species' favourite food, bamboo, just at a time when supplies are low due to the earthquake.
In turn, it has made it harder for the centre's staff to find food for the finicky animal, while wild pandas have in many cases been cut off from their usual food sources.
"The panda is a picky eater and is accustomed to eating bamboo from the same habitat, but now this is harder to find," Wang told reporters at the centre, which is home to 83 pandas.
Providing the right diet has been vital to China's success in breeding the species, Wang said -- there are nearly 300 in captivity, but only around 1,200 estimated to be living in the wild.
"Food is important for relaxation," he added. "The panda breeds better when it is relaxed so in this way the earthquake has had an impact (on the panda's sex drive)."
In recent years, panda breeding programmes in China have led to a mini-baby boom -- a record 25 pandas were born at nearly 50 breeding facilities in 2007 and preliminary figures suggested that continued last year.
"Last year at our centre we produced 18 pandas. This was our historical best," said Hou Rong, head of research at the Chengdu centre -- while adding that it meant over-crowded conditions and more animals to care for.
Meanwhile tourist income -- an important revenue stream for the centre at Chengdu -- fell almost to half in 2008 due to the quake, with visitor numbers dropping from 600,000 in 2007 to 300,000 last year, she said.
The global economic downturn could also hit the number of visitors, while donations may also drop.
Exacerbating such financial woes, the Chengdu centre last year took in 40 pandas from the Wolong Giant Panda Breeding Centre, China's biggest, which was largely destroyed by the quake, Wang said.
Much of the Wolong centre, which sits nestled in the Himalayan foothills near the epicentre of the quake, will have to be rebuilt, and its efforts to reintroduce captive pandas back into the wild have also suffered.
Although the 40 pandas housed at the Chengdu centre have been returned to Wolong, nearly 100 others from Wolong remain in other breeding centres around China.
The baby boom has also made efforts to return captive pandas to the wild -- crucial to the species' survival -- more pressing, Wang said.
The Chengdu centre is to build a separate facility to research methods on re-introducing the notoriously shy animals into the wild, including training them to forage for food, seek shelter and cope with wild pandas.
"We need to protect the panda and its habitat," Wang added. "But this is still going to take a long time." Pandas at the Chengd Breeding Centre are still feeling the aftershocks of last year's Sichuan quake, which destroyed a vital food source and sent tourism revenues diving. Duration: 01:48
China's panda programme struggling after quake
by Robert J. Saiget Robert J. Saiget – Fri May 8, 10:54 am ET
CHENGDU, China (AFP) – China's quest to save the giant panda has been hit hard by last year's massive Sichuan earthquake, which destroyed a vital food source, inhibited its sex drive and sent tourism revenues diving.
While it is unclear how many pandas living in the wild were killed by the quake, it felled entire bamboo groves in their mountainous habitat and often rendered inaccessible those forests left standing.
For pandas being bred in captivity meanwhile, the earthquake coincided with a baby boom that is stretching resources and making it tougher for carers to find enough bamboo to go round.
"The biggest impact has been on the food source of the panda, as a lot of bamboo was destroyed," said Wang Chengdong, the director of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Centre.
"The food supply is very, very tight," Wang told AFP. "The disaster has had a huge impact on our centre and brought big difficulties too for our national treasure."
The 8.0-magnitude quake struck Sichuan province last May 12 leaving nearly 87,000 people dead or missing in this rugged, southwest region where China's endangered panda population is concentrated.
At a nursery at this breeding centre, near the provincial capital Chengdu, staff in blue medical gowns looked after two baby pandas while on a platform outside a couple of slightly older ones wrestled merrily.
The cubs came from a recent baby boom among pandas which has boosted demand for the species' favourite food, bamboo, just at a time when supplies are low due to the earthquake.
In turn, it has made it harder for the centre's staff to find food for the finicky animal, while wild pandas have in many cases been cut off from their usual food sources.
"The panda is a picky eater and is accustomed to eating bamboo from the same habitat, but now this is harder to find," Wang told reporters at the centre, which is home to 83 pandas.
Providing the right diet has been vital to China's success in breeding the species, Wang said -- there are nearly 300 in captivity, but only around 1,200 estimated to be living in the wild.
"Food is important for relaxation," he added. "The panda breeds better when it is relaxed so in this way the earthquake has had an impact (on the panda's sex drive)."
In recent years, panda breeding programmes in China have led to a mini-baby boom -- a record 25 pandas were born at nearly 50 breeding facilities in 2007 and preliminary figures suggested that continued last year.
"Last year at our centre we produced 18 pandas. This was our historical best," said Hou Rong, head of research at the Chengdu centre -- while adding that it meant over-crowded conditions and more animals to care for.
Meanwhile tourist income -- an important revenue stream for the centre at Chengdu -- fell almost to half in 2008 due to the quake, with visitor numbers dropping from 600,000 in 2007 to 300,000 last year, she said.
The global economic downturn could also hit the number of visitors, while donations may also drop.
Exacerbating such financial woes, the Chengdu centre last year took in 40 pandas from the Wolong Giant Panda Breeding Centre, China's biggest, which was largely destroyed by the quake, Wang said.
Much of the Wolong centre, which sits nestled in the Himalayan foothills near the epicentre of the quake, will have to be rebuilt, and its efforts to reintroduce captive pandas back into the wild have also suffered.
Although the 40 pandas housed at the Chengdu centre have been returned to Wolong, nearly 100 others from Wolong remain in other breeding centres around China.
The baby boom has also made efforts to return captive pandas to the wild -- crucial to the species' survival -- more pressing, Wang said.
The Chengdu centre is to build a separate facility to research methods on re-introducing the notoriously shy animals into the wild, including training them to forage for food, seek shelter and cope with wild pandas.
"We need to protect the panda and its habitat," Wang added. "But this is still going to take a long time." Pandas at the Chengd Breeding Centre are still feeling the aftershocks of last year's Sichuan quake, which destroyed a vital food source and sent tourism revenues diving. Duration: 01:48
