Here is a news article: Box Office Report: 'The Butler' Wins Again With $17 Million, Crosses $50 Million

 UPDATED: "We're the Millers" also shines as it crosses the $90 million mark; "Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" disappoints, while fans turn out in force for Edgar Wright's "The World's End."

 Further boosting its profile, Lee Daniels' The Butler topped the box office in its second weekend with $17 million, pushing its total to $52.3 million and becoming Daniel's most successful film in North America.

 The Weinstein Co. release -- headlining Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey -- fell just 31 percent as it surpassed the $47.6 million earned by Daniels' acclaimed drama Precious in 2009.

 The Oscar hopeful is broadening out in terms of its appeal to white moviegoers, with Caucasians making up 55 percent of this weekend's audience, compared to 48 percent on opening weekend. The percentage of African-Americans dipped from 39 percent to 33 percent (still far higher than the norm).

 "What happens is that when you get a picture that gets great reaction, word of mouth spreads," said Erik Lomis, president of distribution for TWC, noting that The Butler is also skewing younger. On opening weekend, 76 percent of ticket buyers were over the age of 25; that number has now dropped to 62 percent.

 STORY: 'The Butler' Follow-Up: Lee Daniels Says His Janis Joplin Biopic Is Next

 The Butler wasn't the only holdover to beat the weekend's three new films. New Line's Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston raunchy comedy We're the Millers fell a scant 25 percent in its third weekend, grossing $13.5 million to place No. 2.

 The R-rated sleeper hit has now grossed $91.7 million in a major victory for New Line and parent company Warner Bros. following the success of The Conjuring, which cleared the $200 million mark over the weekend at the worldwide box office. We're the Millers and Conjuring will be sizeable profit generators, considering they cost $37 million and $20 million to make, respectively.

 Among the trio of new offerings, the results were disappointing for Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, which took in $9.3 million for the weekend and $14 million for five days (the pic opened Wednesday).

 Based on Cassandra Clare's popular supernatural young-adult book series, Mortal Instruments is the latest YA property to disappoint. The $60 million film, starring Lily Collins as a demon-hunting teen, was produced and financed by Germany's Constantin Films.

 In the U.S., females made up 68 percent of the audience, while 46 percent of those buying tickets were under the age of 21. Sony is releasing Mortal Instruments domestically via its Screen Gems label.

 Edgar Wright's modestly budgeted action-comedy The World's End fared nicely as it opened to $8.9 million from only 1,549 theaters, compared to 3,118 for Mortal Instruments and 2,437 for horror pic You're Next. From Focus Features, the $20 million movie, boosted by stellar reviews and a B+ CinemaScore, placed No. 4. It nabbed the highest location average of any title in the top 10 ($5,773) thanks to diehard fans.

 World's End, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, follows a group of friends who reunite for an epic bar crawl only to discover that their hometown has been infested with supernatural beings. Written by Wright and Pegg, the comedy -- fueled by males (58 percent) -- opened ahead of their Shaun of the Dead ($3.3 million) and Hot Fuzz ($5.8 million) and did best in cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Austin. College graduates made up nearly 60 percent of those buying tickets.

 "It's very satisfying to see our strategy pay off -- target the core and don't worry about anything else," Focus Features president of distribution Jack Foley said. "This is pretty big for a picture like this when competing with films playing on many more screens."

 By opening World's End on 1,549 theaters, Focus was able to keep marketing costs down.

 STORY: Why 'Lee Daniels' The Butler' Has 41 Producers

 Lionsgate's You're Next, about a family whose vacation home is attacked my animal-mask-wearing assailants, opened to a subdued $7.1 million to come in No. 6. Heading into weekend, the horror film had been tipped to beat World's End and Mortal Instruments.

 Woody Allen's critically acclaimed Blue Jasmine cracked the top 10 chart as it expanded into a total of 1,200 theaters in its fifth weekend, marking Allen's widest release ever. However, the Sony Pictures Classics release has now only earned $14.8 million, far less than Midnight in Paris at the same point in its run. At one point, the Cate Blanchett starrer was performing on par with Midnight in Paris..

 Steve Jobs biopic Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher, tumbled nearly 60 percent in its second weekend to No. 12, grossing an estimated $3 million for a total $12.1 million. ||||| "Lee Daniels' The Butler" served up another box office-topping weekend, earning $17 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

 That was enough to lead all films on a late August weekend known as a dumping ground for studios following their summer blockbusters and before the start of the fall moviegoing season. Daniel's historical drama about a long-serving White House butler starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, last weekend opened with $24.6 million for the Weinstein Co.

 Two new releases failed to catch on. The teen fantasy "Mortal Instruments: City of Bones," adapted from the popular young adult book series, opened tepidly in third with $9.3 million for Sony Screen Gems.

 Edgar Wright's pub-crawl-gone-wrong comedy "The World's End" opened with $8.9 million for Focus Features. |||||
A summary of this is?

– Lee Daniels' The Butler might have fared very poorly in one Kentucky theater, but it was the winner nationwide for a second week in a row, pulling in $17 million on a sleepy end-of-summer weekend. We're the Millers also held steady, with a $13.5 million haul that gave it the No. 2 spot; the Hollywood Reporter notes that the surprise hit has now earned $91.7 million in a "major victory" for New Line Cinema. Rounding out the top four were Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, with what the AP calls a "tepid" $9.3 million, and The World's End, with $8.9 million. Down in the basement: Ashton Kutcher's Jobs, which came in No. 12 in its second week out, with $3 million. It's earned $12.1 million thus far.


Captain Travolta John Travolta lends his talents as a Qantas pilot and movie star in this Qantas in-flight safety demonstration video.

 A NEW Qantas safety video introduced by Hollywood actor John Travolta has been labelled "cringeworthy" by the airline's flight attendants and pilots, who are annoyed he calls them a "team" instead of a crew.

 The three-minute demonstration video, played before take-off on every domestic and long-haul Qantas flight, has angered cabin crew who say a "real pilot" - like Captain Richard de Crespigny, credited with saving 466 lives on the failed QF32 flight from Singapore - should front the message.

 The video opens with Travolta, named the airline's ambassador in 2010, dressed in a pilot's uniform and hat, announcing: "This is your captain speaking - well, maybe not today.

 "But I can guarantee that the guys on the flight deck and the greater team care just as much about aircraft safety as I do.

 "I've been flying over 40 years as a pilot and I can tell you, there's no one I'd rather have at the controls than a Qantas pilot."

 Staff have taken to anonymous posts on online chat forums to discuss their dislike of the Travolta video.

 They called on Qantas to use Captain de Crespigny.

 "Who better than the genuine aviation professionals who saved QF32?," said one Qantas staff member.

 One Qantas flight attendant, who did not wish to be named, described the video as "corny" and "tacky".

 Flight attendants say they also have a problem with being repeatedly referred to as "the team " - not flight attendants or cabin crew members - in the video.

 "We feel it's demeaning to be called "the team", one said. "It makes us feel like we work at McDonald's."

 Another staff member said he had expected more from the video in the wake of recent safety disasters.

 "The whole thing seems to make the safety message seem trite," he said.

 A Qantas spokeswoman said they had received only positive feedback from staff and customers.

 "We're really happy with the video and we think it's really engaging," she said.

 Latest News: Cockpit fire forces Sydney-bound Qantas Airbus A330 to force land in Cairns ||||| John Travolta's new introduction to the Qantas Airlines in-flight safety video (played on all domestic and long-haul flights) has been dubbed "cringe-worthy" by Qantas staff, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Travolta appears in a captain's uniform saying cheesy things "this is your captain speaking--well, maybe not today" and calling flight crews "teams."

 Flight crews ripped Travolta (who flew his own Qantas Boeing 707 to Australia last November), as not being a "real" pilot, according to news.com.au. One staff member said that "the whole thing seems to make the safety message seem trite."

 Maybe it's not best time to point out that Oprah had Travolta arrive on stage in a captain's uniform in a make-shift Qantas plane when she announced her surprise trip to Australia last fall. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– John Travolta's latest leading role isn't going over too well with Qantas airline's crew. The actor, clad in a pilot's uniform, opens the airline's three-minute safety video, announcing, "This is your captain speaking—well, maybe not today." (Click here to watch the video.) He continues, "But I can guarantee that the guys on the flight deck and the greater team care just as much about aircraft safety as I do. I've been flying over 40 years as a pilot and I can tell you, there's no one I'd rather have at the controls than a Qantas pilot." Among the crew's complaints, as reported by Australia's Daily Telegraph: Referring to flight attendants as "the team:" Says one, "We feel it's demeaning. It makes us feel like we work at McDonald's." Considering the recent safety issues, the tone is too light: "The whole thing seems to make the safety message seem trite." Travolta wasn't the right choice: Some staff felt Captain Richard de Crespigny, who was at the helm of the failed flight from Singapore, would have been the better pick. "Who better than the genuine aviation professionals who saved QF32?" It's just plain lame: Or "corny," "tacky," and "cringeworthy." A Qantas rep called the video "engaging" and said all feedback had been positive.


Article:
Leave it to Serena Williams to come back to tennis in style. Williams, a former world No. 1 who hasn’t played since July because of injury and illness, announced on Twitter that she returned to training Tuesday by posting a photo of herself serving in a hot pink full-length body suit.

 “Look who I spotted on the court. Her first day back …” she wrote to her 2.1 million Twitter followers.

 Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam champion, returned to practice in Palm Beach Gardens for the first time since having an emergency procedure for a pulmonary embolism in February. She remains on blood thinners for the blood clots, and she is not taking long plane flights. It is unknown when she will return to the WTA Tour.

 “She was out there hitting balls, and she’s taking it one day at a time,” Williams’ agent, Jill Smoller, said by telephone. “She is progressing well, and the doctors have given her some clearance to do light cardio, but she is not setting any time frame. She will come back when she feels strong and healthy, and it will be in consultation with her doctors.”

 After winning Wimbledon last summer, Williams cut her foot on glass at a restaurant in Germany, and that injury led to two operations to repair tendons. She spent much of the fall and winter in a cast and walking boot, and had the second surgery in October. The immobility of the leg, might have contributed to the blood clots, which were discovered after a flight from New York to Los Angeles.

 Although she hasn’t played since July, Williams is No. 10 in this week’s rankings. She has not withdrawn from the French Open, which begins May 22, but it is more likely her comeback will be later, either at Wimbledon in late June or the U.S. Open in late August.

 Meanwhile, world No. 2 Kim Clijsters also sustained a freak foot accident that likely will keep her out of the French Open. She was at her cousin’s wedding, wearing high heels, and took a bad tumble. Clijsters sustained a severe strain of her medial and lateral ligaments in her right ankle, and torn ligaments in her ankle joint. She is wearing a cast and faces a recovery of “at least four to six weeks,’’ according to her website.

 Sweet win

 Fort Lauderdale’s Ryan Sweeting, 23, who played at St. Thomas Aquinas and the University of Florida, won the first ATP title of his career last week. Entered as a wild card, Sweeting defeated Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) in the U.S. Clay Court Championship in Houston.

 Sweeting moved up from No. 93 to No. 71 with the victory. He celebrated the milestone by jumping into the River Oakes Club pool, a tournament tradition. Sweeting, who was born in the Bahamas and moved to Fort Lauderdale at 12, had been 0-4 against Nishikori, including a loss in the Delray Beach quarterfinals in February.

 Teen time

 The U.S. Fed Cup team will rely on 18-year-old Christina McHale and 19-year-old Melanie Oudin this weekend in Stuttgart, Germany, in a world group playoff. McHale, a New Jersey native, trains at the USTA training facility in Boca Raton. Bethanie Mattek-Sands was supposed to play but pulled out because of a hip injury. The Germans are not taking the teenagers lightly.

 “They are hungry, they want to prove themselves and they are surely very patriotic,” said Andrea Petkovic, who made a memorable run at the Sony Ericsson Open on Key Biscayne.

 German captain Barbara Rittner added: “They are still very dangerous. Oudin and McHale are two aspiring players that have nothing to lose here.” ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||Summary:

– Guess who's back? Serena Williams. And she made sure her return to the tennis court Tuesday was a stylish one, the Miami Herald notes, tweeting a picture of herself in a hot pink body suit. "Look who I spotted on the court. Her first day back," Williams wrote. She hadn't played since July thanks to health problems; click here to catch up on what's been going on. Her agent says Williams is "progressing well" and has the OK from doctors to do light cardio, but still has not set an exact date for her return to the WTA Tour.


– Twitter's 140-character limit is all but sancrosanct, as Slate's Farhad Manjoo discovered a while back when he suggested doubling it. Diehards were horrified, and company honchos ridiculed the notion. But what's this? Twitter has just unveiled "expanded tweets" that allow a lot more characters and "interactive experiences" in tweets that link to material at certain partner sites—the New York Times, BuzzFeed, and TMZ to name a few, but expect the list to grow. (Manjoo's piece at Slate shows an example of what one of these looks like.) Add up all those extras, and "expanded tweets" come in at up to 410 characters, even if the original technically remains 140 or less. Blasphemy? Nope, these "are a great development for Twitter, a way to add depth to the service while still clinging to its hyperabridged roots," writes Manjoo. Tiny text blocks just don't cut it anymore given all the photos, videos, songs, blogs, etc., out there. "Twitter’s purpose is to reflect everything that’s going on in this crazy ecosystem. If it takes a few hundred more characters to do so, what’s so bad about that?" Read the full piece here.

Expand this summary.

Photograph by Brian Harkin/Getty Images.

 Almost a year ago, I proposed that Twitter double its character limit from 140 to 280. The microblogging site long ago outgrew its original purpose as a platform for simple status updates. Now people use Twitter for news, jokes, conversations, and ferocious arguments—and 140 characters is too cramped for all of these things. That’s why people often resort to hacks like multipart tweets, ugly textese, and TwitLonger to express their expansive thoughts. Though it would be a bad idea to drop the character limit entirely, allowing up to 280 characters would let people add more heft to their tweets while ensuring they wouldn’t drone on.

 Farhad Manjoo Farhad Manjoo is a technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal and the author of True Enough.

 Everyone thought I was nuts. People at the company pointed out that the service is still used by lots of folks who rely on SMS text messaging for access; the 140-character limit was originally chosen so that tweets would fit within texts, and if Twitter dropped it, texters wouldn’t be able to see the bigger tweets.

 Lots of folks on Twitter called me a moron, too, and I had a long, mostly incoherent argument about the merits of longer tweets with Mathew Ingram, a blogger at GigaOm, who wrote a piece calling my idea “dumb.” (On Twitter, I tried to tell Ingram that his article was equally dumb for suggesting that I was proposing unlimited-character tweets rather than 280-character tweets, but of course Twitter’s dumb character limit made the whole argument dumb.) And not long ago, I went to a dinner at which Twitter CEO Dick Costolo talked about the bad advice people had given the company over the years. One of his examples was the recurrent proposal to drop the character limit. The audience laughed and laughed at the stupidity of the idea.

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 Imagine my surprise, then, when I read last week that Twitter is beginning to push past the sacrosanct 140. In a blog post, the company announced the creation of “expanded tweets,” which will allow for “interactive experiences” within boring old text-laden posts. Technically, all tweets can still be only 140 characters long. But the company is letting select organizations—including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, TMZ, and the WWE—append more stuff to tweets that reference their content.

 For instance, if I link to an article from the Times, my followers will now see a little button on the tweet labeled “View summary.” If you click that, you’ll see hundreds more characters: The article’s headline, the author’s byline and Twitter handle, the publication’s Twitter handle, a photo from the piece, and even a short snippet from the article. Here’s what an expanded tweet will look like:

 How many characters is all that? Twitter has posted guidelines for sites looking to create these in-tweet “media experiences,” and they specify exactly how much more expansive the new tweets can be. Headlines in supersized tweets can be 70 characters long. Snippets can be 200 characters long. And that’s on top of the main tweet, which can be 140 characters long. Add it all up and you get 410 characters! I can already picture the billboard. Expanded Tweets—fortified with 270 more characters!

 But I kid. I think expanded tweets are a great development for Twitter, a way to add depth to the service while still clinging to its hyperabridged roots. In truth, expanded tweets have been around for a while—if you include a picture or a video as part of a Twitter message, then your followers can click to see it. This continued tweet expansion was inevitable. A shrinking percentage of Twitter’s userbase accesses the site through SMS, so the 140-character limit was becoming increasingly arbitrary (SMS users will still see all Tweets, but they won’t be able to see the expanded summaries). Instead, most of us get our tweets on the Web and on smartphones, venues that allow for richer content.

 As expanded tweets roll out to all users on all devices, we’ll find that posts which pack 410 characters worth of information will make the network a deeper, more coherent source of news and conversation.

 For one thing, expanded tweets will make Twitter feel less disjointed. Today, if you see a friend linking to an article of mine with a note, “Greatest article ever!!!!!” you might accidentally click on the story without knowing it’s another dumb Farhad Manjoo piece. Expanded tweets will let you see what’s behind links before you click on them. They’ll also let you follow your favorite writers right from tweets that link to their pieces. And as Twitter adds similar expansive summaries of other kinds of content—perhaps you’ll be able to see reviews when someone links to an Amazon product, or maybe Twitter will let me quote a 200-word summary of an article when I link to it—the experience will become more engaging. Twitter won’t be a place that’s always sending you away to other things. Instead, it will become a destination.

 One criticism of expanded tweets is that Twitter has only allowed a few organizations to get expansive. Why do links to the New York Times get expanded but not links to your favorite Ryan Gosling-themed Tumblr? As blogger Dave Winer put it, “no one should think that this is a level playing field, that all content is treated equally, because that is not true.”

 In a conversation with a Twitter spokeswoman, though, I got the sense that the preferential treatment is only temporary, part of a slow rollout of a complex technical change. At the moment, Twitter is letting any site apply to have its content show up as expanded summaries. Over time, it seems likely that more and more sites will be allowed to automatically expand into summaries within tweets. So not long from now, when someone links to a post from Is Ryan Gosling Cuter Than a Puppy?, you’ll be able to see both Ryan and the puppy right in the tweet, and perhaps even cast your vote there, too.

 A bigger-picture criticism is that, by offering more and more stuff within each tweet, Twitter risks becoming something altogether different from a quick-update site. This fear rests on the idea that there’s something mystical and poetic about the current character limit. Many people argue that it inspires creativity, and that without it, Twitter would get bogged down in endless talk and too many flashy things. Costolo himself has fretted about this. In an interview with Fortune last year, the CEO was asked whether he felt pressure to make Twitter more dynamic in response to other, more feature-rich social networks. “You know, if you just look in the sideview mirror at what are particular companies doing, and then you start to say, ‘Twitter is going to be the world in your pocket—now with video chat!’—then you lose your way, right?" Costolo said. "So, we're going to offer simplicity in a world of complexity, focus on our goal, while we understand what everyone else is doing."

 Expanding tweets isn’t quite the same thing as adding video chat to Twitter—but it’s moving in that direction. The cynical view is that Costolo is rolling out expanded tweets for commercial reasons. In the same way that the new feature will show you a snippet from a new article, supersized tweets would let McDonald’s offer you an in-tweet coupon for super-sized fries. ||||| Starting today, you can discover more interactive experiences inside any Tweet on twitter.com and mobile.twitter.com. When you expand Tweets containing links to partner websites, you can now see content previews, view images, play videos and more.

 You’ve probably expanded Tweets before to play videos from YouTube or see photos from Instagram. Now, a diverse and growing group of new partners like the The Wall Street Journal, Breaking News, and TIME also deliver rich content inside Tweets containing a link to those websites.

 It’s easier than ever to discover breaking news and bylines. When you expand a Tweet linking to a news article by The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle or Der Spiegel Online, you can see a preview with the headline, the introduction and sometimes the Twitter accounts of the publisher and writer. You can continue to read the article, follow these accounts, and reply, favorite or retweet the Tweet.

 You can also see exclusive photos from inside the WWE ring, or images from sources like BuzzFeed and TMZ.

 You can even watch moments from your favorite television shows like BET’s 106 & Park and play video from partners like Lifetime and Dailymotion.

 This easy new way to discover content from the web begins rolling out to everyone on twitter.com and mobile.twitter.com starting today, and it’s coming soon to Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android.

 - Michael Sippey, Director, Product Team (@sippey) |||||


Summarize this article:

1. Introduction

 On 18 October 2009, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) opened an exhibition called The Secrets of Tomb 10A: Egypt 2000 BC . One of the most intriguing items in the collection was a mummified human head discovered over a century ago in the necropolis of Deir el-Bersha (also known as Dayr al-Barshā). The site is located on the east bank of the Nile River in close proximity to the city of Mallawi, approximately 250 km south of Cairo. Deir el-Bersha is known for tombs cut into cliffs of limestone that date back to the Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC), the First Intermediate Period (about 2100–2040 BC) and the Middle Kingdom (MK; 2040–approx. 1640 BC). During the MK 11th and 12th Dynasties (2040–1783 BC), it served as the chief cemetery for the governors or regional lords (a.k.a. nomarchs) of the 15th Upper Egyptian Nome (a.k.a. the Hare Nome).

 2, In 1915, Deir el-Bersha was excavated by a joint MFA-Harvard University team directed by George A. Reisner with the assistance of Hanford L. Story and Said Ahmed Said [ 1 ]. On 23 April, Reisner’s men began clearing the burial shaft from tomb number 10A. Six days later, at the bottom of a 30-foot pit, they discovered the burial chamber of an early MK governor named Djehutynakht. It is not yet clear whether he is Djehutynakht IV, son of Ahanakht I, or Djehutynakht V, son of Nehri I [ 1 3 ]. Both were nomarchs of the Hare Nome, and while they shared the same name (which means Thoth [the main local deity] is Strong), there is no evidence they were related. Tomb 10A contained a second occupant: the governor’s wife, who was also called Djehutynakht. Although the tomb had been plundered in antiquity and most of the valuable jewels stolen, many objects were left behind. In fact, the recovered contents of Tomb 10A are considered one of the largest burial assemblages of the MK ever discovered. The funerary equipment includes pottery, canopic jars, models showing men and women in different daily life activities, nearly 60 model boats, and a famous, exquisitely carved and painted processional group composed of a priest and four offering bearers, known as the “Bersha procession” [ 4 ]. Befitting their high status, the governor and his wife were both buried in finely decorated rectangular wooden coffins placed within larger coffins, all made of thick cedar of Lebanon boards. Upon discovery, the coffins of the governor were nearly intact with the exception of the head end that had been removed by tomb robbers. The intricate carvings and paintings on the governor’s outer coffin make it an unparalleled masterpiece of MK art (see pictures in [ 5 ]).

 When the tomb was looted, the mummies of the governor and his wife were damaged by thieves in search of fine jewelry. A torso, originally attributed to Lady Djehutynakht, was found in the far corner of the burial chamber, but was recently argued to belong to the governor after re-excavation of Tomb 10A [ 6 ]. A mummified head, which could neither be attributed to the governor nor to his wife, was found atop the governor’s coffin ( Figure 1 ).

 In an effort to learn more, the head was analyzed with computerized tomography (CT) in 2005. The CT scanning of the head revealed extensive bilateral post-mortem alterations of the facial bones [ 7 ]. The absence of these bones, together with the lack of comparative data on ancient Egyptian skulls, preclude definitive morphological sex determination; however, the presence of large mastoid processes, robust occipital and temporal regions, and pronounced gonial flaring of the mandible, suggest that the skull more likely belonged to a man [ 8 ], ( Figure S1 ). In order to unequivocally determine the biological sex of the individual, the MFA collaborated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Laboratory to perform DNA analysis.

 At the time the FBI was contacted, the ancient DNA community had largely given up on the testing of ancient Egyptian human remains. Though DNA extraction and amplification from ancient Egyptian samples had been attempted in the early days of paleogenetics, these initial attempts either resulted in failure (4500-year-old human femurs [ 9 ]) or yielded data that turned out to be the product of modern DNA contamination (2400-year-old mummy [ 10 ] and 1600-year-old sacred monkey bones from the Saqqara Baboon Galleries [ 11 ]), both contaminated with modern human DNA). These early failures prompted studies on DNA survival [ 9 12 ]. Together with older research showing that DNA degradation (depurination in particular) is primarily influenced by temperature, pH, oxygen, and water [ 13 ], these analyses suggested that Egyptian environmental conditions likely cause DNA to degrade to fragments smaller than 100 base pairs (bp) in just a few hundred years [ 14 15 ].

 Currently, forensic DNA testing at the FBI, as well as in nearly all global operational laboratories, is based on targeted PCR amplification of fragments ranging from 90–1200 bp in size, followed by size-based capillary electrophoresis for short tandem repeats (STRs) or Sanger sequencing for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). These approaches have served the forensic community well over the past twenty years. They present limitations, however, to both the quality and quantity of genetic data that can be recovered from the most challenging specimens. Recently, a number of commercial high throughput sequencing (HTS) assays, designed specifically for forensic applications, have become available [ 16 17 ]. While these assays overcome many of the limitations of traditional capillary electrophoresis-based forensic DNA analyses, they are still based on targeted amplification of defined genomic regions. As a result, their utility is limited to samples harboring DNA fragments large enough for PCR amplification.

 One of the primary advantages of HTS is that DNA fragments of very short size can be recovered and sequenced, thus obviating the need for targeted PCR. Here, we exploit this feature and describe the use of shotgun sequencing to determine the biological sex of a 4000-year-old Egyptian mummy. ||||| If the F.B.I.'s scientists could extract DNA from the 4,000-year-old mummy, they would add a powerful tool to their forensics arsenal and also unlock a new way of deciphering Egypt’s ancient past https://t.co/a1em2dIpBG — NYT Science (@NYTScience) April 2, 2018

 A team of forensic scientists has managed to extract DNA from a 4,000-year-old mummy, and their finding has solved a century-old mystery of its ransacked tomb.

 The Egyptian mummy wasn't a fully preserved corpse, but rather a decapitated, mutilated, bandage-wrapped head that archaeologists found on top of a coffin when they excavated a tomb back in 1915. And that was the source of the mystery.

 As the researchers explained in a paper published March 1 in the journal Genes, the tomb belonged to an Egyptian Middle Kingdom governor named Djehutynakht. But by the time modern scientists found the tomb, it had been ransacked; it was robbed in ancient times. In an article describing the discovery, The New York Times reported that the robbers had set the place on fire "to cover their tracks." [Gallery: Amazing Egyptian Discoveries]

 All that remained of the tomb's occupants was a dismembered torso in one corner of the tomb and a head placed on top of Djehutynakht's coffin. For more than a hundred years, researchers have wondered and disagreed about whether these mummified remains belonged to Djehutynakht himself or to his wife.

 Deepening the mystery, the head had been altered during the mummification process, with several bones removed from the jaw and cheek in an effort to enable the deceased to eat and drink in the afterlife, the Times reported. Those bones might have offered clues as to whether the body was male or female.

 That left DNA analysis. But extracting DNA from ancient Egyptian mummies, after centuries in hot, DNA-degrading environments, had never been achieved before. The Times reported that earlier attempts failed or produced contaminated results.

 This is a good article by @SciFleur . You should read it.

 But I can't be the only person who looks at this picture of the mummy's head and kind of sees a roast chicken.

 Sorry (not sorry).https://t.co/28hbBGLeCe pic.twitter.com/AJjznpfodi — Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis (@KendraWrites) April 2, 2018

 Still, FBI forensic researchers gave it a shot. They had access because the head, along with many artifacts from the tomb, had long since made its way to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. (Shipping artifacts out of Egypt would be illegal today under Egyptian law.) They drilled into a molar extracted from the head "in pristine condition" back in 2009, producing 105 milligrams (0.004 ounces) of tooth dust. After exposing the dust to a liquid mixture designed to copy and amplify existing DNA, they found that it came from a biological male. The head, in other words, most likely belonged to Djehutynakht and not his wife. A team at the Department of Homeland Security, working with a smaller tooth-dust sample, later confirmed the results. In both cases, the DNA was damaged, demonstrating that it came from the ancient mummy and not modern contamination.

 Interestingly, it remains unclear which Djehutynakht the head (and tomb) belonged to. Two governors with that name ruled an area call Hare Nome, and, the researchers wrote, "while they shared the same name (which means Thoth [the main local deity] is Strong), there is no evidence they were related."

 Originally published on Live Science. ||||| 1. Introduction

 On 18 October 2009, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) opened an exhibition called The Secrets of Tomb 10A: Egypt 2000 BC . One of the most intriguing items in the collection was a mummified human head discovered over a century ago in the necropolis of Deir el-Bersha (also known as Dayr al-Barshā). The site is located on the east bank of the Nile River in close proximity to the city of Mallawi, approximately 250 km south of Cairo. Deir el-Bersha is known for tombs cut into cliffs of limestone that date back to the Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC), the First Intermediate Period (about 2100–2040 BC) and the Middle Kingdom (MK; 2040–approx. 1640 BC). During the MK 11th and 12th Dynasties (2040–1783 BC), it served as the chief cemetery for the governors or regional lords (a.k.a. nomarchs) of the 15th Upper Egyptian Nome (a.k.a. the Hare Nome).

 2, In 1915, Deir el-Bersha was excavated by a joint MFA-Harvard University team directed by George A. Reisner with the assistance of Hanford L. Story and Said Ahmed Said [ 1 ]. On 23 April, Reisner’s men began clearing the burial shaft from tomb number 10A. Six days later, at the bottom of a 30-foot pit, they discovered the burial chamber of an early MK governor named Djehutynakht. It is not yet clear whether he is Djehutynakht IV, son of Ahanakht I, or Djehutynakht V, son of Nehri I [ 1 3 ]. Both were nomarchs of the Hare Nome, and while they shared the same name (which means Thoth [the main local deity] is Strong), there is no evidence they were related. Tomb 10A contained a second occupant: the governor’s wife, who was also called Djehutynakht. Although the tomb had been plundered in antiquity and most of the valuable jewels stolen, many objects were left behind. In fact, the recovered contents of Tomb 10A are considered one of the largest burial assemblages of the MK ever discovered. The funerary equipment includes pottery, canopic jars, models showing men and women in different daily life activities, nearly 60 model boats, and a famous, exquisitely carved and painted processional group composed of a priest and four offering bearers, known as the “Bersha procession” [ 4 ]. Befitting their high status, the governor and his wife were both buried in finely decorated rectangular wooden coffins placed within larger coffins, all made of thick cedar of Lebanon boards. Upon discovery, the coffins of the governor were nearly intact with the exception of the head end that had been removed by tomb robbers. The intricate carvings and paintings on the governor’s outer coffin make it an unparalleled masterpiece of MK art (see pictures in [ 5 ]).

 When the tomb was looted, the mummies of the governor and his wife were damaged by thieves in search of fine jewelry. A torso, originally attributed to Lady Djehutynakht, was found in the far corner of the burial chamber, but was recently argued to belong to the governor after re-excavation of Tomb 10A [ 6 ]. A mummified head, which could neither be attributed to the governor nor to his wife, was found atop the governor’s coffin ( Figure 1 ).

 In an effort to learn more, the head was analyzed with computerized tomography (CT) in 2005. The CT scanning of the head revealed extensive bilateral post-mortem alterations of the facial bones [ 7 ]. The absence of these bones, together with the lack of comparative data on ancient Egyptian skulls, preclude definitive morphological sex determination; however, the presence of large mastoid processes, robust occipital and temporal regions, and pronounced gonial flaring of the mandible, suggest that the skull more likely belonged to a man [ 8 ], ( Figure S1 ). In order to unequivocally determine the biological sex of the individual, the MFA collaborated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Laboratory to perform DNA analysis.

 At the time the FBI was contacted, the ancient DNA community had largely given up on the testing of ancient Egyptian human remains. Though DNA extraction and amplification from ancient Egyptian samples had been attempted in the early days of paleogenetics, these initial attempts either resulted in failure (4500-year-old human femurs [ 9 ]) or yielded data that turned out to be the product of modern DNA contamination (2400-year-old mummy [ 10 ] and 1600-year-old sacred monkey bones from the Saqqara Baboon Galleries [ 11 ]), both contaminated with modern human DNA). These early failures prompted studies on DNA survival [ 9 12 ]. Together with older research showing that DNA degradation (depurination in particular) is primarily influenced by temperature, pH, oxygen, and water [ 13 ], these analyses suggested that Egyptian environmental conditions likely cause DNA to degrade to fragments smaller than 100 base pairs (bp) in just a few hundred years [ 14 15 ].

 Currently, forensic DNA testing at the FBI, as well as in nearly all global operational laboratories, is based on targeted PCR amplification of fragments ranging from 90–1200 bp in size, followed by size-based capillary electrophoresis for short tandem repeats (STRs) or Sanger sequencing for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). These approaches have served the forensic community well over the past twenty years. They present limitations, however, to both the quality and quantity of genetic data that can be recovered from the most challenging specimens. Recently, a number of commercial high throughput sequencing (HTS) assays, designed specifically for forensic applications, have become available [ 16 17 ]. While these assays overcome many of the limitations of traditional capillary electrophoresis-based forensic DNA analyses, they are still based on targeted amplification of defined genomic regions. As a result, their utility is limited to samples harboring DNA fragments large enough for PCR amplification.

 One of the primary advantages of HTS is that DNA fragments of very short size can be recovered and sequenced, thus obviating the need for targeted PCR. Here, we exploit this feature and describe the use of shotgun sequencing to determine the biological sex of a 4000-year-old Egyptian mummy. |||||

– It has to rank among the less usual undertakings doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital had attempted: In 2009 they removed a molar from a severed Egyptian mummy's head via an endoscope with grasping forceps they inserted through the neck. The tooth was a hopeful clue in a nearly century-old mystery—one that still wouldn't be solved for years to come. The head (see it here) was discovered in 1915 in Deir el-Bersha, south of Cairo, in a room built for a governor named Djehutynakht and his wife 4,000 years ago. It had been looted by grave robbers, and the identity of the head—was it Djehutynakht's or his wife's?—remained unclear. A DNA test could provide the answer, but no mummy of that age had given up usable, reliable DNA, and "the ancient DNA community had largely given up on the testing" of such remains, per a report in the journal Genes. The molar was their best bet, and scientists tried and failed to get it to give up its DNA. Then, in 2016, the tooth made its way to the FBI's Dr. Odile Loreille, a forensic scientist with a long history of working with old and ancient DNA; the New York Times reports she has identified Korean War victims, a 2-year-old who died on the Titanic, and the remains of two children of Russian Tsar Nicholas II. She managed to retrieve a tiny bit of powder—just 0.004 ounces, per LiveScience—from the tooth's core, and the ratio of chromosomes it contained proved it was male DNA: Governor Djehutynakht. The Times sums up the significance: "In doing so she had help[ed] establish that ancient Egyptian DNA could be extracted from mummies." (This Egyptian coffin is "dowdy," but the inside is astonishing.)


– Police have arrested five suspected gang members in connection with the escape of three prisoners last week from the Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, Calif. The fugitives, however, remain at large. When announcing the arrests Wednesday, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens did not identify the men or say what charges they face, the Los Angeles Times reports. She did say, according to the Orange County Register, that more arrests were expected overnight and into Thursday, adding that there's a possibility guards or other jail employees may have provided "inside help" to the escapees. Since the Friday escape, deputies have served some 30 warrants, ABC7 reports. A $200,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the escapees. More from Hutchens' press conference: Those arrested in connection to the escape were affiliated with the same street gang as 20-year-old fugitive Jonathan Tieu, knew the escaped inmates, or were arrested on probation violations. Hutchens believes Hossein Nayeri, 37, was the "mastermind" of the escape. Authorities have not recovered the tools used, and Hutchens believes the escapees would have needed help getting their hands on them. ("It's not something we think could have occurred with a jail-made shank, if you will.") "It's every sheriff's nightmare," Hutchens said of the escape, which has sparked criticism over how inmates are housed at the nearly 50-year-old jail. Nayeri, Tieu, and Bac Duong, 43, were not noticed missing for some 16 hours. Hutchens says she has made changes to the way inmates are counted throughout the day, per the Register. She also defended the decision to house the escapees in a dormitory instead of individual cells, the Times reports. "We house based on behavior, and there were no issues … while they were in our custody," she says.

Expand this summary.

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 Authorities released new images of Bac Duong, 43, and his tattoos on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.

 Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said five arrests were made Wednesday in connection with three inmates who escaped the Orange County Central Men's Jail.Hutchens did not say what was the connection to the inmates, but said authorities are hitting area gang members, specifically a Vietnamese gang in Westminster and Garden Grove. During a Wednesday afternoon press conference, she said more arrests would be made in the evening and into Thursday morning.No further details on the connected arrests were released so as not to compromise the investigation.Jonathan Tieu, 20, Bac Duong, 43, and Hossein Nayeri, 37, were all awaiting trial for various violent crimes before they escaped the jail on Friday.The trio were last accounted for at 5 a.m. and their disappearance wasn't noticed until 16 hours later when an evening count was conducted. Hutchens said five counts are conducted at the jail throughout the day.When Hutchens first discovered the escape, she said it was "every sheriff's nightmare.""I am troubled by the amount of time it took for us to discover that three inmates from our maximum-security jail were unaccounted for for such a long period of time," Hutchens said.As a result of the escape, Hutchens said the department is looking into the policies and procedures conducted at the jail to prevent any future attempts.She added that she, along with other investigators, believe the inmates escaped with help from outside of the jail. Investigators are also looking into whether there was any help from inside the facility.Hutchens said she believes Nayeri, who faces charges such as kidnapping and torture, is the mastermind behind the elaborate escape plan based on his military background.Nayeri had been in custody since September 2014 after he had been extradited back into the U.S. from Iran . During a court hearing that same month, prosecutors suspected Nayeri broke into a marijuana dispensary owner's Newport Beach home, kidnapped the man, tortured him and severed his penis.Tieu, who is a documented gang member, faces charges for murder and attempted murder among other charges. He was held on a $1 million bail and had been in custody since October 2013.New images of Duong, another documented gang member, and his tattoos were released during the press conference to further assist the public in identifying him.Duong faced charges for crimes such as attempted murder and possession of a firearm. He was arrested in December 2015 and held without bail due to an immigration hold. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were unable to deport Duong because his country of origin would not accept him, according to Hutchens.Authorities said the inmates cut through 1/2-inch-thick steel bars and plumbing tunnels to gain access to the unsecured roof , which is used for recreational purposes. There, all three men used sheets to rappel to the ground and flee on foot.Hutchens said she and investigators believe the tools were professional and not made in jail because of the clean incisions made to the steel bars.Since Friday, sheriff's deputies served at least 30 warrants in the investigation into their escape. A $200,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the inmates' arrests.Anyone with information on the inmates' whereabouts was urged to call the Orange County Sheriff's Department hotline at (714)628-7085. Those wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at (855) 847-6227. ||||| Five people were arrested Wednesday, suspected of helping three inmates escape from Orange County Central Men’s Jail.

 Although the three fugitives remained at large, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said in a televised news conference that she believes the five people arrested are part of a larger group that helped in the escape. Their names have not been released, and Hutchens said more arrests are expected during the next two days.

 Hutchens also has not ruled out the possibility that the escapees had help from people inside the system. An investigation into that question is ongoing.

 Hutchens described the three fugitives – Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu and Bac Duong – as “armed and dangerous” and said authorities still have no sightings of the men. A $200,000 reward has been offered for information leading to their arrests.

 The men escaped Friday, cutting through barriers (one barrier was one-inch steel, the sheriff said), squeezing through plumbing ducts and rappelling off the roof.

 “It’s every sheriff’s nightmare,” Hutchens said. “You don’t want an escape from any jail; it’s not a good day. There’s not a member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department ... that does not feel like we let the public down.”

 Earlier in the day, Hutchens visited Little Saigon, appealing for help within the community. Tieu and Duong have connections to Vietnamese gangs.

 Later, in the news conference outside the jail, the sheriff said some of the suspects arrested are gang members. But she offered no details of the arrests. A department spokesman said later that revealing the names of those arrested would compromise the investigation.

 The Sheriff’s Department released new photos of Bac Duong on Wednesday that showed his gang tattoos.

 The escape has prompted changes at the jail, including the way deputies count prisoners, Hutchens said. The men escaped sometime after the 5 a.m. head count Friday and were not noticed missing until a second head count that evening.

 Hutchens described Nayeri, who is charged in a 2012 kidnap and torture case, as the escape’s likely “mastermind,” saying he is more sophisticated than Tieu and Duong.

 On Monday, a deputy district attorney said Nayeri is “diabolical” and compared him to movie villain Hannibal Lecter. Heather Brown, who is prosecuting the case against Nayeri, said jail officials were warned that Nayeri deserved special attention. The District Attorney’s Office later called those comments “inappropriate, uninformed and rash.”

 Hutchens on Wednesday defended the Sheriff Department’s handling of Nayeri.

 “We house based on behavior, and there were no issues with any of these individuals while in our custody,” Hutchens said. “(Nayeri) was housed in an appropriate area of the jail.”

 The Central Men’s Jail, built in 1968, has had 16 escapes over the decades. Hutchens described it as “old” and “high-maintenance” and noted that at the time it opened, 70 percent of its inmates were charged with misdemeanors and 30 percent with felonies. Today, she said, the ratio is flipped.

 She pointed out that the jail, including the dormitory-style module where the escape began, is short on modern technology.

 “Do we continue to put money into an old jail?” the sheriff asked. “I think there are some technologies that we can invest in.”

 Authorities have set up a hotline for anyone who has information about the case: 714-628-7085. ||||| "It is every sheriff's nightmare," she said. "You never want to have an escape from any jail. They do happen. You certainly don't want maximum security prisoners who are a danger to the public to get out of your jail. So it is not a good day."

 Hutchens said changes have been made to jail head count policies that some believe enabled the men to gain a 16-hour head start on their pursuers. Jonathan Tieu, Bac Duong and Hossein Nayeri escaped from the jail sometime after 5 a.m. Friday, following the first of two physical inmate counts that are conducted each day. Their escape went undetected until late Friday night, when deputies realized they were missing during a second head count.

 Other "paper checks" that involve reviewing records to account for inmate movements to educational classes, medical facilities or court were conducted from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. that day, but failed to discover the escape. Hutchens said Wednesday that deputies will now be required to conduct more thorough checks by confirming that inmates actually moved to other locations during the day.

 "In terms of the count, that was a breakdown, and we are looking at who helped these individuals because they did have help," she said. |||||


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– An absolutely amazing story out of Oklahoma, where a Texas 16-year-old survived a 3,500-foot fall in a skydiving mishap—and didn't even require any surgery for her injuries. Mackenzie Wethington, who went skydiving Saturday as a birthday present from her parents, slammed into the ground, yet somehow only suffered a lacerated liver and kidney, broken bones, and a broken tooth; she's already communicating with her parents in writing and doctors say she's in good condition and should suffer few long-term effects. "I have no idea how she survived," one tells Today. Experts are calling it a miracle; one suspects the teen somehow decreased her air speed and thus landed somewhat more softly—in other words, she was incredibly lucky. The teen was supposed to do a tandem jump with an experienced skydiver, but was told when she arrived that Pegasus Air Sports Center wasn't doing tandem jumps, so her first jump after six hours of training was on her own—and went horribly awry. It's not clear exactly what happened: According to MyFox DFW, the family says Mackenzie's primary parachute didn't open properly (it was supposed to open automatically) and may have gotten tangled, and Mackenzie couldn't open the emergency chute. Mackenzie's dad (who says the main chute only half-opened, according to CNN) blames Pegasus Air Sports Center, claiming it offered inadequate training and didn't properly maintain its equipment. The owner of Pegasus, however, blames Mackenzie and denies any problem with her equipment: "She didn't do what she was supposed to do," he says, though it's not clear what she did wrong; the owner says she didn't take a "corrective counter action" to make her parachute "stop turning." He claims the chute did open fully but somehow, "maybe ... initiated by her," started a rotation that caused the problem. The family has hired a lawyer, Fox News Insider reports.

A 16-year-old is on the mend after falling 3,500 feet during a skydiving accident.

 That first time jumper was 16 year old Mackenzie Wethington.

 "Nobody survives that," said Holly Wethington, Makenzie's mother.

 But Mackenzie is surviving. She’s in ICU right now, in and out of sleep, each time she's awake, remembering bits and pieces of her horrifying experience. But her father Joe Wethington remembers much more.

 He says only half of the parachute opened as Mackenzie spiraled to the ground,

 "The guy with the radio on the ground is trying to talk her out of what's going on and telling her what to do and she can’t do it,"

 "She's going too fast and in different directions she can’t reach up and grab it anyway and then when she goes into the spiral he keeps telling her to cut away to release the shoot and to pull the reserve."

 But the owner of Pegasus Air Sports Center in Chickasha, Bob Swainson says the parachute opened completely.

 "The jumper left the airplane. The parachute appeared to open ok. Soon after the opening the parachute started to rotate. There are a number of technical reasons why that could have happened possibly caused by the jumper herself. The jumper didn't sought out the rotation in accordance with the training she received earlier and contented to rotate to the ground and hurt herself,"

 Mackenzie hit the ground, a 3,500 feet fall.

 "She would scream and arch her back and ask me to rub her back," Joe Wethington told NBC.

 Paramedics soon arrived and Mackenzie was airlifted to OU medical center.

 "It was like somebody has sit on my chest really an elephant and it did not come off until I got here....not knowing if she was going to be ok or not," Holly Wethington explained.

 And doctors are telling the Wethingtons Mackenzie is going to survive.

 "She's a miracle child, that she's doing well and she's going to be alright," Joe Wethington said.

  ||||| falls A lot of luck: How teen survived parachuting accident Jan. 28, 2014 at 7:32 PM ET

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 When Texas teen Mackenzie Wethington survived a parachuting accident Saturday, her father Joe called the 16-year-old “a miracle.” Doctors who treat traumatic injuries aren’t disagreeing.

 “Considering the bone and soft tissue damage that would occur from a fall from this height, the fact that she is alive and seemingly doing well really is quite miraculous, ’ said Dr. Michael Anderson, a pediatric critical care specialist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland.

 Wethington is one lucky teen. The trauma surgeon who first treated Mackenzie in the ER didn't expect her to survive. "I'm glad to be wrong about that," Dr. Jeffrey Bender of the University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City said Tuesday at a news conference.

 Currently, Wethington is awake and breathing on her own and is listed in fair condition. “We see worse injuries routinely from car and ATV accidents,” said trauma surgeon Dr. Jason Lees, who is part of the Oklahoma team treating Wethington. “There’s a reason we wear parachutes when we step out of a plane.”

 Amazingly, Wethington, who suffered a lacerated liver and kidney, broken teeth and multiple fractures throughout her body, is expected to fully recover within about six to eight weeks, Bender said Tuesday. Her injuries are "consistent with someone hit by a car going 40-50 mph," although that doesn't mean she hit the ground at that speed, he said.

 According to the World Health Organization, falls are the second leading cause of accidental or unintentional injury deaths worldwide. Each year an estimated 424,000 individuals die from falls globally. And it doesn’t have to be a 3,500-foot mishap.

 “A person can take a fall from a standing height and the neck can break, so this young girl is exceptionally fortunate in how the circumstances and force of the fall dissipated throughout her body,” said Dr. Ryan Goodwin, director of the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Orthopedics at the Cleveland Clinic. “She is young, and in seeming good health, so she has that going for her.” But, he adds, she also had a lot of luck and physics on her side, too.

 When an individual falls from a great height, survival often depends on a lot of luck, as well as air resistance, or drag.

 “You can think of a fall as a form of energy,” explained James Kakalios, the Taylor Distinguished Professor in the school of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota. “Basically, if a person steps out of a plane you have no velocity. Gravity will start to pull you down and you accelerate.”

 But as you gain speed, air resistance comes into play and acts as a kind of brake slowing you down and reducing the amount of kinetic energy, or in other words, the force in which your body slams into the ground, said Kakalios, author of the Physics of Superheroes.

 He thinks the teen may have done some things accidentally to increase air drag, slowing her fall, and leading to a potentially softer, yet still serious, landing.

 “She’s creating a lot of turbulence as she falling, and therefore she’s maximizing the time it takes for her to hit the ground,” he said, citing that reducing the rate in which an object, or person, comes to a stop is critical for safety. “That’s why we have airbags,” Kakalios said, citing other instances of people surviving long falls such as I- 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis in which 13 people were killed, but 145 survived the 115-foot fall and the case of man who survived after he fell 500 feet from a New York skyscraper.

 “It’s noteworthy that people don’t usually survive these things, but some people do in the right set of circumstances,” he said. “Many people buy lottery tickets and don’t win, but there’s always someone who does win.”

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News article:

Supreme Court Ducks Effort To Defund Planned Parenthood

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post/Getty Images Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post/Getty Images

 Updated at 2:42 p.m. ET

 The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case brought by Republican-led states that were seeking to defund Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide women's reproductive health services.

 The case does not involve federal money for abortion-related services. That is barred by federal law. Rather, it involves an effort by two states to block Medicaid funding for some abortion providers that, like Planned Parenthood, get Medicaid funding for providing other services to low-income women, services like cancer screenings, prenatal services, birth control and ultrasounds.

 Three conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito — dissented and would have heard the challenges brought by Kansas and Louisiana.

 But notably, two other conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, did not. They were joined by the court's four liberals.

 The court's decision not to decide strongly suggests that a majority of justices, led by Roberts, would like to keep a low profile this term. In the aftermath of the explosive and divisive Kavanaugh confirmation hearings this fall, and with two new justices on the court in less than a year, Roberts and most of the other justices have gone out of their way to paint the court as a nonpartisan, apolitical institution.

 "It's an incredibly important thing for the court to guard — is this reputation of being fair, of being impartial, of being neutral, and not being simply an extension of the terribly polarized political process and environment that we live in," Justice Elena Kagan said in October.

 And last month, Chief Justice Roberts issued an extraordinary rebuke of President Trump for angry remarks that dismissed a lower court decision by an "Obama Judge" as a "disgrace."

 Roberts then issued a statement declaring, "We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for."

 The justices' decision to stay out of the Medicaid issue goes back to discredited videos purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials inappropriately looking to sell fetal parts. Despite evidence showing the videos had been edited, some states then enacted laws that removed Planned Parenthood from their list of qualified Medicaid providers for other women's health services.

 Planned Parenthood, which says that only 3 percent of the services it provides are abortions, then sued, along with other similarly affected organizations.

 NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reported in 2015:

 "[T]his 3 percent statistic has many critics, who point out, for example, that it doesn't explain how much of Planned Parenthood's revenue comes from abortion. Others note that the figure counts services provided, not patients served — and some patients receive more than one service from the organization. That means more than 3 percent of patients receive abortions (PolitiFact [that] week estimated the figure at around 12 percent, for example)."

 Planned Parenthood contended in this case the states were singling them out for disfavored treatment because they separately provide constitutionally protected abortion services.

 The court's decision Monday to stay out of the issue for now leaves in place a conflict in lower court decisions. It lets stand decisions in five federal appeals courts that have ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood and other women's health service providers, and one appeals court that has ruled the other way.

 Six remaining circuits — most of them in geographical areas dominated by Democrats — have not ruled on the issue; presumably most, if not all of, the states in those circuits have not enacted a ban on Medicaid funding for women's health service providers if those organizations also provide separate and privately funded abortion services.

 Some 70 million Americans are on Medicaid, Justice Thomas observed in his dissent. The court, he said, should have heard the case and resolved the legal conflict.

 "So what explains the court's refusal to do its job here?" Thomas asked in the written dissent joined by Gorsuch and Alito. "I suspect that some" of those health service providers challenging their removal "are named Planned Parenthood."

 But, he added, "some tenuous connection to a politically fraught issue does not justify abdicating our judicial duty."

 Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, praised the decision in a statement:

 "We are pleased that lower court rulings protecting patients remain in place. Every person has a fundamental right to health care, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much they earn. As a doctor, I have seen what's at stake when people cannot access the care they need, and when politics gets in the way of people making their own health care choices. We won't stop fighting for every patient who relies on Planned Parenthood for life-saving, life-changing care."

 Students for Life of America, an anti-abortion-rights group, focused on Planned Parenthood's role in abortions, though, again, Medicaid funds cannot be used to fund abortions. SFLA's Kristan Hawkin said in a statement of her own:

 "Taxation without representation lives on today in a decision by a majority on the court that ignores the wishes of state leaders who no longer want to be coerced into funding abortion. Abortion is not healthcare, and women's needs are better met by real, full-service medical locations, not abortion vendors. This is a legitimate question and a missed opportunity — whether abortion vendors have a right to taxpayer monies."

 NPR's William Conlon and Sarah McCammon contributed to this report. ||||| The Supreme Court passed on cases asking whether patients can sue states for excluding Planned Parenthood from state Medicaid funding. | Zach Gibson/Getty Images legal Kavanaugh, Roberts side with liberal judges on Planned Parenthood case

 The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review whether states can block Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from their Medicaid programs, passing on a pair of cases that would have served as the first major abortion test for the court’s new conservative majority.

 Chief Justice John Roberts and the newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, joined the court's four liberal jurists in turning away a pair of petitions from Kansas and Louisiana seeking the ban on abortion providers.

 Story Continued Below

 Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, dissented. It takes four justices to agree to accept a case.

 Thomas, suggesting most of his colleagues were fearful of taking up a challenge involving Planned Parenthood, asserted the cases weren't about abortion rights but whether individuals have a right to challenge a state’s decision to cut a particular provider from its Medicaid program.

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 “Some tenuous connection to a politically fraught issue does not justify abdicating our judicial duty," Thomas wrote. "If anything, neutrally applying the law is all the more important when political issues are in the background."

 One federal appeals court previously ruled that Medicaid enrollees can't sue their states for blocking funding to Planned Parenthood. Monday's action by the Supreme Court doesn't affect that decision for states in that federal circuit.

 States have tried to defund Planned Parenthood since a series of undercover videos in 2015 purported to show the women's health organization profiting off the sale of tissue from abortions. A series of investigations found no evidence of wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood, which has forcefully denied the claims made by anti-abortion activists behind the videos.

 Justices had twice earlier this year declined to act on petitions in Andersen v. Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and Gee v. Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast. The decision to refuse the cases came after Kavanaugh was confirmed as the ninth justice with strong support from anti-abortion activists.

 Tim Jost, an emeritus professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law, said it's "noteworthy" that Kavanaugh passed on the cases.

 "If Kavanaugh was going to deal a major blow to health care rights during his first session on the court, this would have been the case to do it," Jost said.

 The anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List said it was "disappointed" the Supreme Court declined the case, as it called on the Trump administration to quickly finalize rules blocking federal funds to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers through the Title X family planning program.

 “The pro-life citizens of states like Kansas and Louisiana, through their elected representatives, have clearly expressed their will: they do not want Medicaid tax dollars used to prop up abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood," said SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement.

 For decades, no federal dollars have gone to fund abortions, but there have been many legal battles over whether providers like Planned Parenthood that offer a wide range of health services in addition to abortion are entitled to some amount of public health care funding.

 Defunding Planned Parenthood has been a priority of the GOP base, and anti-abortion groups have been frustrated that a Republican-controlled Congress and administration have so far been unable to do so. Kavanaugh's elevation to the Supreme Court in October following the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, a crucial swing vote on abortion cases, was thought to have delivered the five votes needed to back the states.

 “We are pleased that lower court rulings protecting patients remain in place," Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Leana Wen said in a statement. "Every person has a fundamental right to health care, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much they earn."

 The cases in Kansas and Louisiana, filed earlier this year, ask whether patients can sue states for excluding Planned Parenthood from state Medicaid funding.

 In February, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that Kansas was wrong to to end Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding, writing that states can’t cut off funding for reasons “unrelated to the provider’s competence and the quality of the healthcare it provides.” Four other appeals courts have ruled that Medicaid patients have the right to access the provider of their choice.

 But the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that states do have the right to terminate a provider’s Medicaid contract and that residents cannot challenge that decision.

 The Supreme Court's action Monday allows the split decisions to stand in different federal circuits. Thomas, in his dissent, wrote that the Supreme Court should have taken the cases to resolve conflicting findings from lower courts.

 "Because of this Court’s inaction, patients in different States — even patients with the same providers — have different rights to challenge their State’s provider decisions," Thomas wrote.

 Jost, the retired law professor, said the split rulings mean Medicaid enrollees in the 8th Circuit can't challenge a decision by their state to terminate Planned Parenthood from Medicaid. States in the circuit include Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

 "But presumably in the rest of the country, Medicaid beneficiaries still have access to Planned Parenthood," Jost said.

  ||||| Washington (CNN) The Supreme Court Monday rebuffed efforts by states to block funding to Planned Parenthood.

 It left in place two lower court opinions that said that states violate federal law when they terminate Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood affiliates who offer preventive care for low income women.

 It would have taken four justices to agree to hear the issue, and only three conservative justices -- Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch -- voted to hear the case.

 Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared to side with the court's liberals in not taking up the case -- showing an effort to avoid high-profile abortion-related issues for now.

 Roberts and Kavanaugh "likely have serious objections," said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law. "But such votes seem to be a signal that they would rather avoid contentious, high-profile disputes for now, at least where possible."

 Read More ||||| Supporters of Planned Parenthood demonstrated in Seattle this summer to protest Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. (Photo: Ted S. Warren, AP)

 WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider efforts by Republican-led states to defund Planned Parenthood.

 Despite its new, more conservative tilt, the court let stand federal appeals court rulings that allowed the reproductive health organization's patients to contest laws in Louisiana and Kansas that stripped its Medicaid funds.

 The court’s refusal to hear the case represents a setback for conservative interest groups in many states that have sought aggressive action against Planned Parenthood and abortion providers in general.

 Three of the court's conservatives – Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch – dissented and said the court should have taken up the issue. Chief Justice John Roberts and new Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not join the dissent.

 ► Dec. 10: Only abortion provider left in Tennessee capital suspends its services

 ► Oct. 25: Abortion cases offer test for the Supreme Court

 "What explains the court’s refusal to do its job here?" Thomas wrote. "I suspect it has something to do with the fact that some respondents in these cases are named 'Planned Parenthood.' That makes the court’s decision particularly troubling, as the question presented has nothing to do with abortion.

 "Some tenuous connection to a politically fraught issue does not justify abdicating our judicial duty," he said. "If anything, neutrally applying the law is all the more important when political issues are in the background."

 Similar defunding efforts have been blocked in Arizona and Indiana and are being contested in Ohio and Texas. Only in Arkansas has a federal court allowed the state to deny funds.

 The laws were passed by state legislatures opposed to Planned Parenthood's provision of abortions. Abortions already were denied federal Medicaid funds. The laws blocked funding for other services, from contraception to cancer screenings.

 The federal Medicaid Act allows patients to seek out any qualified provider – the key word being "qualified." Louisiana and Kansas sought to block Planned Parenthood's funding based on a variety of allegations, including disputed claims that the group sold fetal tissue and body parts for profit.

 ► Oct. 24: Federal court says undocumented teen can get abortion

 ► Aug. 19: Brett Kavanaugh could make difference on abortion, race, gay rights

 Opponents of abortion rights expressed disappointment at the high court's inaction but noted that other cases are percolating in lower courts that could give the justices another chance.

 Catherine Glenn Foster, president of Americans United for Life, said the group "will continue to fight to protect states from being forced to use their limited public funds to subsidize abortion businesses.”

 Dr. Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, hailed the court's decision to leave lower court rulings alone.

 “As a doctor, I have seen what’s at stake when people cannot access the care they need and when politics gets in the way of people making their own health care choices," Wen said.

 The Supreme Court has upheld abortion rights in a series of decisions dating back to 1973. Its most recent ruling struck down restrictions on abortion clinics and providers in Texas two years ago.

 Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest provider of abortions. More than 2 million women use its clinics for a variety of reproductive services, including many on Medicaid. More than 70 million people – 1 in 5 Americans – are enrolled in Medicaid.

 Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/10/defunding-planned-parenthood-supreme-court-wont-hear-case/1777972002/ |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Planned Parenthood got some good news from the Supreme Court on Monday, as new Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the court's more liberal judges—as did Chief Justice John Roberts—in deciding not to hear a case involving the group. The upshot is that state court rulings will remain in place; those rulings allow Planned Parenthood to contest laws in Louisiana and Kansas to defund the organization. If either Kavanaugh or Roberts had joined conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch, the court would have taken up the case, turning it into the first major abortion test of the new court, reports Politico. Lawmakers in the two states sought to deny public funding to Planned Parenthood because the group provides abortions. However, federal law already prohibits Medicaid funds from being used for abortions, notes NPR. In his dissent, Thomas blasted the decision. "What explains the Court's refusal to do its job here?" he wrote. "I suspect it has something to do with the fact that some respondents in these cases are named Planned Parenthood." He contended that the cases at hand "are not about abortion rights" but "about private rights of action under the Medicaid Act," per CNN. Still, USA Today sees the court's move as a setback for conservative interest groups who have been pushing for action on Planned Parenthood over the issue of abortion. (Abortion rights groups won a reprieve in Iowa earlier this year.)


Article:
Early warnings that this could be a tough flu season appear to have been on the mark.

 The Center for Disease Control reports "influenza activity continues to increase in the United States with most of the country now experiencing high levels of influenza-like-illness."

 New Jersey saw a spike in flu reports during the last weeks of December, particularly in the northwest part of the state where temperatures are often lower.

 New Jersey has had about twice the reported number of emergency room visits attributable to influenza as there were during the same week last year, according to the CDC.

 The state's Department of Health says the best way to combat the problem is by getting the flu vaccine, and offers a Find a Flu Shot Locator on their website.

 Across the nation, flu-related child and infant deaths climbed to 18 and outpatient visits for flu symptoms jumped to 5.6 percent.

 The CDC's Tom Skinner says "people who come down with the flu can be pretty sick," with severe muscle aches and high-grade fever lasting 4 or 5 days.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report

 Follow @dgoldbergsl

  ||||| January 8, 2013 5:27 AM

 CBS Chicago (con't) Affordable Care Act Updates: CBSChicago.com/ACA Health News & Information: CBSChicago.com/Health

 UPDATED: 1/8/2012 – 5:27 p.m.

 CHICAGO (CBS) — Some Chicago area hospitals on Tuesday were being forced to turn away emergency room patients because of an influx of people suffering from the flu.

 play pause Flu Hitting Hospitals Hard

 WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya

 In the city, University of Chicago, Northwestern and Swedish Covenant were among eight Chicago area hospitals that directed ambulances elsewhere at some point on Monday or Tuesday, because they were treating so many patients with the flu.

 Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn lifted its ambulance bypass order at 9 p.m. on Monday.

 As of about 5 p.m. Tuesday, the Chicago Fire Department said six hospitals were “on bypass” because of the flu.

 “Emergency departments are getting overrun with people with respiratory illness,” said Melaney Arnold, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We are seeing an increase in influenza cases.”

 Hospitals on “bypass” temporarily divert ambulances to other hospitals because of a high volume of patients.

 The University of Chicago Medical Center emergency room has seen 166 flu cases this season, compared to just 43 last year.

 Dr. Allison Bartlett said, even though flu season has already started, people should still get a flu shot.

 “It takes about two weeks between when you get the flu shot and when you’re protected against the flu,” she said.

 Hospitals haven’t been the only places seeing a lot more patients because of the flu. Many clinics at Walgreens and CVS pharmacies have been flooded with patients with flu-like symptoms.

 Waddie Grant started suffering flu-like symptoms Tuesday morning. First, he tried to get in to see his doctor, but couldn’t get in right away, so he decided to go to a Walgreens Take Care Clinic in the Loop.

 “I started feeling this little lump in my throat, and then some kind of a slight temperature,” he said. “I don’t want to get sick.”

 Walgreens pharmacy manager Nancy Salman said, “The Take Care Clinic has been extremely busy. It’s been inundated with appointments, and walk-ins. They’ve seen anywhere from 20 to 25 patients a day.”

 The flu season in Chicago started much earlier than normal and is expected to be one of the worst in several years, medical experts have said.

 Illinois Public Health Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck told WBBM Newsradio that last year at this time, there had only been two people with flu-like symptoms admitted to the intensive care units of hospitals in Illinois, with no deaths.

 So far this season, he says, 147 people have been admitted to hospital intensive care units due to the flu, and six of those people have died.

 Patients in need of critical care–such as those suffering from a stroke–would still be admitted to hospitals on bypass, Arnold told the Sun-Times.

 The flu is hitting earlier and harder this year not only in Chicago but across the country, WBBM Newsradio’s Lisa Fielding reports.

 “We aren’t seeing very sick people. We’re just seeing more sick people,” said Mary Alice Lavin, Director of infection, prevention and control with Rush University Medical Center.

 Lavin says even though they encourage the flu vaccine, it doesn’t always guarantee immunity.

 “The viruses that were included in the vaccine this year are the ones that are circulating this year but studies have shown that the vaccine is only effective in 60 percent of people.”

 play pause Will Vaccine Work?

 WBBM Newsradio's Lisa Fielding

 Lavin says those who’ve gotten the vaccine don’t get as sick as those who haven’t.

 The flu shot also takes about two weeks to be effective. Rush has seen 203 cases of the flu since Nov. 5, much higher than years past. Flu season usually lasts through March.

 Dr. Julie Morita of the Chicago Department of Public Health says city residents can call 311 to find out where to get a free flu shot.

 Doctors also advise patients who have had the flu for two days to avoid coming to the emergency room. Instead, stay home and treat yourself with plenty of fluids, rest and proper hygiene. Flu medications are only effective if taken during the initial stages of symptoms.

 Dr. David Zich, internal medicine and emergency medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, says that if you get flu symptoms, you’re still considered contagious until 24 hours after your fever is gone.

 At Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Dr. Brian Sayger, vice-chairman of Emergency Medicine, suggests that, if you start coming down with flu-like symptoms such as a high fever, achy body, chills and shakes, within 48 hours, you should ask your doctor to prescribe an antiviral flu drug like Tamiflu.

 Antivirals, he says, tend to work best at reducing the severity of symptoms–not ending the flu–if taken in that two-day window. ||||| The flu is racing across nearly 30 U.S. states and it's leaving a deadly trail

 Melissa Roberts, left, administers a flu vaccine to Kelly Ternes at the Okaloosa County Health Department in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., Dec. 20, 2012. (Photo: Nick Tomecek, AP) Story Highlights Eighteen children have died, over 2,200 people hospitalized so far

 Flu is widespread throughout the U.S.

 Nearly 30 states have flulike activity

 Chances are that you or someone you know has been chained to the bed recently with fever, fatigue, sore throat and muscle aches.

 That's because the current flu season is turning out to be a bad one, affecting more people than usual, starting earlier and covering a broader geographical area. Government health experts say 18 children, under age 18, have died because of the seasonal flu and 2,257 people had been hospitalized with flu symptoms through the end of 2012.

 "The sense that everybody has is that there's been an extremely rapid increase in influenza," says Trish Perl,co-leader of a flu study encompassing about 100 clinics in several cities. She is also an epidemiologist for the Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore. "It has been relatively widespread across the United States."

 The public should be concerned, says Gregory Poland, professor of medicine and infectious disease at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

 "A decade ago, when we had widespread circulation (of the seasonal flu), we had 70,000 deaths in the U.S.," says Poland, who directs Mayo's Vaccine Research Group.

 "We have this cultural thing in the U.S. about, 'Oh, it's just the flu.' I was telling a group yesterday, imagine in October I said, 'We expect a virus to be circulating in the U.S. and it will kill 30- or 40,000 Americans.' Can you imagine the panic that would ensue?"

 For the fourth week in a row, the proportion of people seeing health care providers for flulike illness is above the national baseline, and jumped from 2.8% to 5.6% in that time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Last season's proportion peaked at 2.2%, the CDC reports.

 Twenty-nine states plus New York City are now reporting high flulike activity, up from 16 states the week before, the CDC says. Forty-one states reported in the last week of December that flulike activity was widespread geographically, with that number up from 31 states the week before, according to the CDC.

 During the last week of 2012, 7% of all deaths reported in 122 U.S. cities were due to pneumonia and the flu, according to the CDC. That figure is just below the epidemic threshold of 7.1% for the last week of the year.

 The medical industry is concerned because this is the earliest flu season the U.S. has seen in the past 10 to 12 years, says Michael Jhung, an epidemiologist and influenza expert at the CDC.

 Flu season usually peaks in January and February, according to the Flu.gov website maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services.

 The predominant type of flu that is circulating is H3N2 Influenza A virus, which is making up 76% of the viruses reported, according to the CDC.

 The outbreak has strongly affected the East and the South and is spreading westward, Poland says.

 Perl reports from her studies that initially health professionals were seeing a lot of Influenza B, but now they are seeing mostly A as well as other respiratory illnesses, including respiratory syncytial virus or RSV.

 H3N2 flu seasons tend to be more severe, Poland of the Mayo Clinic says.

 On the ground, the outbreak has sent more people to doctors and hospitals with flu symptoms.

 For instance, in Minnesota, 600 people were hospitalized because of the flu and four people died, Poland says. Among those who died was an otherwise healthy 17-year-old boy who was visiting the Twin Cities area from Texas, according to Poland.

 The professor said he's hearing similar stories from colleagues around the country of people who are generally healthy being hit hard.

 In Indiana, seven deaths have been associated with influenza, two in people younger than 18.

 "It's not too late to get vaccinated, and the CDC encourages everyone who hasn't been to do so soon," Jhung says.

 Enough vaccine has been produced and distributed so that everyone who wants a shot should be able to get one. He urges, though, that if people run into delays because of a run on vaccine, not to be discouraged.

 "People … may have to go to more than one pharmacy," Jhung says.

 Perl says the outbreak also is a good opportunity for the public to remember that hand-washing and use of sanitizing gels can reduce infection rates by 30%.

 "It's an opportunity for us to reinforce those basic things your mom always told you," she says.

 While health experts advise people to get the flu vaccine and use hand sanitizer, some research shows children who attend daycare or tend to be exposed to more allergens may build up stronger defenses. VPC

 Contributing: Tim Evans, The Indianapolis Star

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/UwBwcC ||||| LAKE COUNTY, Ohio — The Lake Health system has begun limiting visitors to its facilities to help control the spread of the seasonal flu.

 The West Medical Center and TriPoint Medical Center are temporarily limiting visitations to two per patient. Visitors must also be 19-years-old or older.

 The medical centers are also requesting visitors with flu-like symptoms, or have been diagnosed the flu within the past seven days, to refrain from visiting patients. All visitors are also asked to wash their hands before and after visiting a patient, or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer to help control the spread of the flu.

 The temporary visitation guidelines come as the Centers for Disease Control announced this season’s flu is both more potent than in previous years, and spreading quicker than average.

 So far, the CDC says at least 41 states have reported cases of the seasonal flu.

 For more information about the seasonal flu and visitation guidelines, visit the Lake County General Health District website by clicking here.

 The website for the Centers for Disease Control can be found here. ||||| HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - We're still weeks away from the historical peak of the flu season, but now it appears the nation may be behind the curve as the flu is already spreading like wildfire.

 Here in Florida, the panhandle, central Florida and southern Florida are seeing the biggest jump in cases.

 The issue concerning many is the fact that some got a flu shot, but still have contracted the virus.

 Breaking down the numbers, the Centers For Disease Control has tracked at least 2,257 hospitalizations and 18 deaths nationwide among just children this flu season.

 The days of people 65 and over and young kids being the ones who were the most at risk and were strongly encouraged to get a vaccine are now over.

 The CDC is recommending that everyone get vaccinated this year and no, its not too late!

 Getting vaccinated each year provides the best protection against influenza throughout the flu season.

 The train being seen a lot this year is that of H3N2.

 The good news is, this year's vaccine was made from an H3N2 flu like virus, with each vaccine containing three different viruses, giving the vaccinated individual even more protection.

 But its not full proof if you come in contact with another strain.

 It's getting so bad that some cities, like Cleveland and Boston, are reporting that hospitals are restricting visitors for fear of contamination.

 "We are evaluating whether we are going to need to take other special measures such as screening visitors to the institution, screening employees as measure to try and control, or better understand the volume of influenza in the hospital," says Dr. Kenneth E. Sands of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

 So does it mean that this year's vaccine isn't working because the outbreak is the worst the nation has seen in years?

 "No, it doesn't mean that at all," says Dr. Robert Glatter of Lenox Hill Hospital on Manhattan's Upper East Side. "Generally, in proportion to the population, a number of people will still contract the flu virus even though they've been vaccinated."

 Doctors say the vaccine is still your best defense though. While you may still contract the virus, it may not be as severe. Physicians also point out that the vaccine takes about two weeks to take full effect in the body. The CDC is suggesting those who have severe flu symptoms or are at risk of serious flu-related symptoms to also think about taking an anti-viral medication.

 In addition to the vaccine, be sure to do all the things right to keep yourself clean.

 Washing your hands constantly, keeping your hands away from your face, taking a shower immediately when you get home, and remembering that you could still infect someone with the flu seven days after your symptoms are gone, so be sure to STAY HOME if you think you may have it.

 To pinpoint the flu impact in your specific area, visit http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Disease_ctrl/immune/flu/index.html and to find a place you can get your flu shot visit http://www.hillscountyhealth.org/ |||||Summary:

– As predicted, this year's flu season is already a doozy: It features a more severe strain, it started earlier, it's hitting more people, and it has affected a wider swath of the country than usual, USA Today reports. Flu season started earlier this year than it has in the past 10 to 12 years, and by the end of 2012, 18 children had died and 2,257 had been hospitalized as a result. And things could get much worse: One Mayo Clinic expert recalls that "a decade ago, when we had widespread circulation [of seasonal flu], we had 70,000 deaths in the US." The proportion of people with flulike symptoms and the states reporting such illnesses are both on the rise, and a flurry of local stories today illustrate the problems in various states: There's quite an abundance, but here's a sampling: Flu cases spiked in New Jersey last month, the Star-Ledger reports; the state has seen about twice the number of flu-related ER visits as it did last year. In Chicago, some ERs are actually turning away patients because they're so overwhelmed with flu cases, CBS Chicago reports. In Cleveland, medical centers are limiting visitors in an effort to control the spread, Fox 8 reports. And in Florida, even people who got a flu shot still got sick, ABC News reports. NPR explains that this is a common problem, since the vaccine is only 60% effective—plus it takes about two weeks to kick in, and doesn't necessarily cover all strains of the virus.