Latest news with #ChrisHall
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fla. mom accused of attacking daughter with knife, ‘discarding' her under brush in nature preserve
Investigators in Southwest Florida are investigating a horrifying attack against a 12-year-old girl. Deputies said she was found alone in a nature preserve after her mother attacked her. Investigators in Charlotte County said Gwendolyn Girard drove her daughter to the Cecil Webb Wildlife Management Area and stabbed her multiple times. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Deputies said the girl was found bleeding and barely able to speak. 'The victim had been kind of, I hate to use the word, discarded. But that's kind of the best way to describe what it was. After the attack, she was left bloodied and under a pile of brush,' said Chris Hall with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office. Officials said the girl was taken to a hospital where she continues to recover from her injuries. Her mother is charged with aggravated battery and aggravated child abuse. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
RNZ News
25-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Daylight can boost the immune system's ability to fight infections
By Chris Hall * of How does the immune system know when it's daytime? File photo. Photo: Unsplash Ever found yourself out of sync with normal sleep patterns after late nights or working a night shift? It could be you're experiencing what scientists call social jet lag. The term describes the misalignment between our internal body clock (circadian rhythm) and our social schedule. Social jet lag associated with irregular sleep patterns and inconsistent exposure to daylight is increasingly common, and has been linked with a weakened immune system. Disruption of our circadian rhythms through shift work, for example, has been shown to have a negative impact on our ability to fight infections. These observations reinforce the idea that maintaining a robust circadian rhythm through regular exposure to daylight supports a healthy immune system. But how does the immune system know when it's daytime? That is precisely what our research, published today in Science Immunology, has uncovered. Our findings could eventually deliver benefits for the treatment of inflammatory conditions. Circadian rhythms are a fundamental feature of all life on Earth. Believed to have evolved some 2.5 billion years ago, they enable organisms to adapt to challenges associated with the 24-hour solar day. At the molecular level, these circadian rhythms are orchestrated through a genetically encoded multi-component time keeper called a circadian clock. Almost all cells are known to have the components for a circadian clock. But how they function within different cell types to regulate their behaviour is very poorly understood. In the laboratory, we use zebrafish - small freshwater fish commonly sold in pet stores - as a model organism to understand our immune response to bacterial infection. We use larval zebrafish because their genetic makeup and immune system are similar to ours. Also, they have transparent bodies, making it easy to observe biological processes under the microscope. Chris Hall (left) and co-researcher Guy Warman with the zebrafish used as a model organism in their study. Photo: Supplied / Chris Hall We focus on an immune cell called a "neutrophil", a type of white blood cell. We're interested in these cells because they specialise in killing bacteria, are first responders to infection, and are the most abundant immune cell in our bodies. Because they are very short-lived cells, neutrophils isolated from human blood are notoriously difficult to work with experimentally. However, with transparent larval zebrafish, we can film them to directly observe how these cells function, within a completely intact animal. Our initial studies showed the strength of immune response to bacterial infection peaked during the day, when the animals are active. We think this represents an evolutionary response that provides both humans and zebrafish a survival advantage. Because diurnal animals such as humans and zebrafish are most active during daylight hours, they are more likely to encounter bacterial infections. This work made us curious to know how this enhanced immune response was being synchronised with daylight. By making movies of neutrophils killing bacteria at different times of the day, we discovered they killed bacteria more efficiently during the daytime than at night. We then genetically edited neutrophils to turn off their circadian clocks by carefully removing specific clock components. This is an approach similar to removing important cogs from an analogue clock so it doesn't tick anymore. This led to the discovery that these important immune cells possess an internal light-regulated circadian clock that alerts the cells to daytime (similar to an alarm clock). This boosts their ability to kill bacteria. Our next challenge is to understand exactly how light is detected by neutrophils, and whether human neutrophils also rely on this internal timing mechanism to regulate their antibacterial activity. We're also curious to see if this killing mechanism is restricted to certain types of bacteria, such as those we're more likely to encounter during the day. Or is it a more general response to all infectious threats (including viral infections)? This research unlocks the potential for developing drugs that target the neutrophil circadian clock to regulate the cells' activity. Given neutrophils are the first and most abundant immune cells to be recruited to sites of inflammation, the discovery has very broad implications for many inflammatory conditions. * The research described here was led by PhD candidates Lucia Du and Pramuk Keerthisinghe, and was a collaboration between the Hall laboratory and the Chronobiology Research Group, led by Guy Warman and James Cheeseman, at the University of Auckland's Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. This story was originally published on The Conversation. * Chris Hall is an Associate Professor of Immunology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Daily Record
22-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Samsung's newest tablet offers 'a premium experience' says expert, as £100 off sale drops
Samsung's newest tablet has had a surprise price drop but is it worth it? Tech expert Chris Hall has shared his thoughts on the device For shoppers on the lookout for a reliable, but not extortionate tablet, Samsung could be a brand to consider. As it launches its newest Galaxy S10 FE, a budget take on a high-end device, with decent streaming and gaming features but without a hefty price. The tablet only launched at the beginning of April, but it's already been cut in price. Having already launched as a cheaper alternative, it's been slashed by £100, no matter the model picked. The 10.9-inch display is now £499 cut from its launch price of £599. And the bigger 13.1-inch display is £649, but that's not the only offer. Shoppers are currently best picking the bigger storage option of each models as the 256GB option is cut to the same sale price as the smaller 128GB size. As regular Samsung deal shoppers will be aware of, this deal also includes the chance to ditch an older device and cut the price even further. On top of the already £100 off sale price and free storage. This is part of its 'trade-in' deal, where an extra £150 can be cut off for anyone with an old tablet, or £100 for those who hand in an older phone. Potentially cutting the price of the 256GB 10.9-inch model from £599 to £349 (with all the deals bundled into one). The 'FE' part of the model stands for fan edition, and essentially is Samsung's way of offering a cheaper price for shoppers but cutting on some higher-end features. Like the Exynos processor, but despite its lighter capabilities, it's still considered boosted enough for streaming and even gaming. However, for a better quality screen, the older Samsung Tab S9 could be a better fit, which is available to buy at Samsung or at Amazon. Alternatively, shoppers with a bigger budget could opt for Apple's newest 2025 iPad, which can be split in price with a contract from Sky Mobile. As tech writer Chris Hall shared for The Mirror, the much cheaper Tab S10 FE is worth considering. Thanks to its quality. He said: "I've been testing the Galaxy Tab S10 FE and I've found it to be a really premium experience, great for watching movies. "But the LCD display isn't as good as the OLED display you get on the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. There's a single camera on the back instead of the dual camera that Samsung's top tablets get." According to Chris, the scrimp on camera isn't necessarily a bad thing and would depend what shoppers want to use the tablet for. As he said the single camera 'doesn't bother him' because he uses his iPhone for photos instead. "Although it does have slightly lower power, using the Exynos 1580 processor, rather than the flagship-grade processor in the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. It has an IP68 rating, so if you knock over your drink and flood your tablet, then it will be just fine."
ITV News
21-05-2025
- Sport
- ITV News
Excitement builds in Bilbao ahead of Manchester United's game with Spurs in the Europa League final
Video report by ITV Granada sports correspondent Chris Hall. It's a huge night for Manchester United as they face Tottenham in the final of the Europa League. Thousands of United supporters have headed over to the Spanish city of Bilbao. After a Premier League season to forget Manchester United are hoping for a Europa League campaign to remember. Despite their club's domestic difficulties fans have travelled in their thousands to be here for the final. The San Mames stadium in Bilboa is once again hosting United supporters who are enjoying a second sitting of it's cuisine and culture just three weeks after they were there for the first leg of their Europa League semi final with local side Athletic Club. It has a capacity of 53,000, with both United and their opponents fellow Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur receiving an allocation of 15,000 each. At their official fan park, United fans have been soaking up the pre match atmosphere with some well known faces. Wayne Rooney talks to ITV Granada's David Chisnall in Bilbao. Former United striker Wayne Rooney says a win tonight is vital: "If you win this , you end the season with a European trophy and get back to the Champions and I'm sure that would be very important in bringing players in the summer as well. "So I think it's a huge game for both teams and whoever wins it, you know could say they've actually finished the season in not a bad position, whoever loses it, I think it's a nightmare season for them." Harry Maguire says the team are motivated to win the final for the fans, he said: "They've been absolutely incredible. It is surprising as players how much they are backing us. "We've disappointed them far too much. I'd say they're the greatest fans in the world. They deserve it and we deserve to go and win the first final and give them that day out." Manchester United have secured just six Premier League victories since Ruben Amorim succeeded Erik ten Hag in November, but their impressive unbeaten run in the Europa League has kept their campaign alive. 'Nothing is going to change our season,' he said on the impact of the glory in Spain. 'Players know, everybody knows the stuff, the fans know. 'But winning a European title can help us to have that feeling that can help us to build (for) the future.'
Business Mayor
20-05-2025
- General
- Business Mayor
Crazy Japanese Technique for Splicing the Bottom of a Rotted Column
First built in the 1500s, Osaka Castle has been destroyed, rebuilt and repaired over the years. In the early 1900s one of the wooden columns supporting the castle's main gate, known as the Otemon Gate, rotted out at the bottom. Craftsmen patched this in 1923 with this peculiar splice: I know the photo quality is poor. Here's a better photo of an identical splice joint executed by craftsman Chris Hall: Image and work: Chris Hall Following World War II, this splicing technique had been lost. Japanese craftsmen in the latter part of the 20th century had no idea how this splice was installed. In 1983, the joint was X-rayed. The joint was reverse-engineered, and Japanese craftsmen (and eventually Western craftsmen like Chris Hall*) learned to make it again. Here's how the mysterious joint goes together. I've cued this up to the right spot: Enter a caption (optional) The joint is referred to both by its technical name, basara-tsugi, and colloquially as the 'Otemon splice.' It's one thing to see how it goes together; it's another to make the joint on-site. Imagine trying to chisel that thing out, upside-down, on the rotted column while it's in place. I imagine installation on-site is similarly fiendish; if you cannot jack the entire structure up, you'd need to remove foundation stones (in Japanese timber framing, the posts often rest on stacked stone pilings dug into the ground) to have the space to wedge the replacement part in. —- *Chris Hall was a highly skilled craftsman who shared his knowledge on his website, The Carpentry Way, until his passing in 2020. Hall's widow maintains the website in Chris' memory. If you're interested in woodworking, I highly recommend checking it out. Read More Merry Christmas from Dezeen!
