Manchester United vs Barcelona Friendly: Roll Call

It’s hard to believe, but Manchester United’s summer tour of the United States comes to an end tonight after they play Barcelona in a rematch of the 2011 Champions League Final, at FEDEX Field in Landover, Maryland. Just think, one week from tomorrow, Manchester United kicks off the ceremonial start to the new season when they play Manchester City in the Community Shield. Time flies!

Out of all of the exhibition games played around the world this summer, this game is the one that’s the most highly anticipated. Of course, it’s a friendly, so the result isn’t going to make or break either team, but I’m confident that both clubs will want to walk away with a victory in front of what promises to be a passionate crowd.

If you are one of the lucky ones going to the game, be sure to let us know in the comments section below. And if you’re interested in writing about the game or taking photos so they can be published on EPL Talk, send me an e-mail at thegaffer[at]epltalk[dot]com.

On their tour of the United States, Manchester United took a break on Thursday to visit The White House in Washington DC. For a pretty revealing insight into what the players and staff saw, as well as which ones looked interested (and not), take a look at the following photo gallery which has more than 100 images from the visit.

If you’re not able to catch the game in person, viewers in the United States can watch it live on ESPN2 beginning at 7pm ET.

Terror at CJIA… Caribbean Airlines plane crashes on landing

A Caribbean Airlines flight crashed on landing at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport shortly at around 01:30 hrs this morning.

The aircraft literally ran out of the runway and crashed through the perimeter fence before falling to the roadway beyond the fence. It broke in two, the break occurring in the area that accommodates the first class cabin. There were no fatalities but at least two passengers sustained broken legs while several others suffered lacerations and other injuries.

Most of the injured were treated at the Diamond Diagnostic Hospital before being taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

A source close to CJIA described the accident as a “landing incident”. He said that there was some panic because an incident of this nature is unheard of at the airport.

Immediately the authorities summoned ambulances from the various health institutions in and around Georgetown, some coming from as far as West Demerara.

Initial reports suggest that the pilot landed far down the runway and could not stop in time. At the Georgetown Public Hospital the staff were put on alert because they expected an influx of patients.

Trinidad immediately flew in another craft which landed and was ready to fly out the more seriously injured.

One woman passenger said that she heard a loud sound when the plane landed. She said that everyone, including herself began screaming. “It was terror,” she said. “I was praying to Jesus.”

She said that she was sitting near the emergency exit with her husband, who opened the emergency door and passengers began exiting the plane. She was complaining of pains to the stomach, which were inflicted by her seatbelt when she was flung forward.

Kaieteur News also spoke to an overseas-based Guyanese, whose wife suffered neck and back injuries. The couple is here on a two-week vacation.

Most of the passengers fled the wrecked plane without their luggage.

Operations at the airport were at a standstill.

There were 176 passengers aboard the craft, many coming in from North America during this the peak season.

The season is so hectic that Delta Airlines put on a daily flight and Caribbean Airlines increased its flight to Georgetown.

Injured passenger in the Diamond E.B.D. hospital

The damaged aircraft

Injured passenger

Injured passenger

Injured passenger

Injured passenger

Injured passenger

Some of the injured being treated at the Diamond E.B.D. hospital

Stranded passengers

- several passengers injured

Four Scenarios to Link Progeria to Aging

 

In light of recent research demonstrating that the longevity-inducing drug rapamycin may treat the accelerated aging condition progeria, a researcher here offers up a fairly comprehensive commentary on what this might mean for work on "normal" aging. It is educational, but should be read with the caveat that the author has a strong conviction that the TOR gene is central in the aging process: "Here I discuss four potential scenarios, comparing progeria with both normal and accelerated aging. This reveals further indications of rapamycin both for accelerated aging in obese and for progeria. ... Scenario 1. Progerin is detectable in normal cells from normal elderly humans. In normal human fibroblasts, telomere damage during replicative senescence activates progerin production. In theory, progerin can accumulate. In this scenario, normal aging is caused by progerin or at least in some individuals accumulation of progerin is life-limiting. If so, progeria is a truly accelerated aging or at least accelerated component of aging. ... Scenario 2. Normal aging is caused by overactivation of TOR-centric pathways such as mTOR, MAPK and kinases of the DNA damage response (DDR). Progerin can activate DDR. In turn, DDR may activate the mTOR pathway. ... Therefore, by activating DDR pathways, progerin might also promote geroconversion. ... Scenario 3. mTOR inhibits autophagy and insufficient autophagy is involved in normal aging. Rapamycin also causes clearance of aggregation-prone proteins. In progeria, rapamycin activates clearance of progerin thus slowing down the progeric aging. Thus, rapamycin can affect both progeria and normal aging via activation of autophagy of different proteins and structures. ... Scenario 4. Two different mTOR activities are responsible for deceleration of normal and progeric aging. In progeria, this is autophagy. In normal aging, this is suppression of cellular hyper-functions ... Rapamycin would be effective in both conditions but by different reasons."