Author: Next Gen News Team

Cause Of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Identified

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) may have a biological mechanism that could, at least in part, help explain the condition’s cause.

Researchers have identified a brainstem abnormality affecting serotonin receptors, which they believe, alongside other biological and environmental factors, may increase an infant’s risk of SIDS.

Also known as “cot death”, SIDS is the sudden, unexpected, and unexplained death of a seemingly healthy baby under one year of age that usually occurs while they are sleeping.

It is rare, but is still the leading cause of post-neonatal infant death in the United States, affecting around 38 out of 100,000 live births in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Its cause is unknown, despite a wealth of research and even some breakthroughs. So, researchers, led by Robin Haynes at Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts, embarked on a study to learn more.

They collected and analyzed the brainstem tissue of 70 deceased infants, 58 of whom died of SIDS and 12 of other causes between 2004 and 2011.

When comparing the tissues, the team noticed differences in how serotonin – a chemical that sends signals between nerve cells and is involved in modulating numerous biological processes including mood and sleep  – binds to receptors. 

These same receptors – called 5-HT2A/C receptors – have previously been associated with arousal and autoresuscitation in rodents and so may have a protective function during sleep.

The researchers found that the binding of serotonin to these receptors was altered in the lower brainstems of babies who died of SIDS, compared with those who died of other causes.

They speculate that these abnormalities, in at least a subset of SIDS, may lead to “failure across multiple vital respiratory, cardiovascular, and autonomic brainstem systems that are necessary for successful reoxygenation and perfusion of the developing brain in response to [low oxygen].”

Such a biological vulnerability, in conjunction with other factors such as a child’s sleeping position and age, may all contribute to their increased risk of SIDS, the team believes.

“The work presented builds upon previous work by our laboratory and others showing abnormalities in the serotonergic system of some SIDS infants,” Haynes said in a statement. 

“Although we have identified abnormalities in the serotonin 2A/C receptor in SIDS, the relationship between the abnormalities and cause of death remains unknown.

Much work remains in determining the consequence of abnormalities in this receptor in the context of a larger network of serotonin and non-serotonin receptors that protect vital functions in cardiac and respiratory control when challenged.” 

It is hoped that such research could help us to one day predict an infant’s risk of SIDS. However, “we have no means to identify infants with biological abnormalities in the serotonergic system [at present],” Haynes added, stressing the importance of adhering to safe-sleep practices.

Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidelines on infant sleeping for the first time in six years, providing up-to-date safe-sleep recommendations and advice on lowering the risk of SIDS.

This includes laying infants flat on their backs on non-inclined surfaces and avoiding bedsharing. More information can be found here.

The study is published in the Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology.

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Arby’s Manager Freezes to Death in Restaurant Freezer

A woman working as a general manager at an Arby’s became trapped in the restaurant’s walk-in freezer while performing opening tasks, according to a new lawsuit.

As other employees had arrived for work, Nguyet Le “panicked once locked inside and beat her hands bloody trying to escape or get someone’s attention,” the lawsuit filed May 25 says.

Le, 63, froze to death at the restaurant in New Iberia, Louisiana, on May 11, according to the lawsuit, which says preliminary autopsy findings list hypothermia as the cause.

Now, New Iberia police are investigating the incident after they were called to a report of a body found in a freezer at 6:19 p.m. that day, McClatchy News previously reported.

Her son Nguyen Le, another Arby’s employee, found her body after he arrived for his restaurant shift, the lawsuit says. She was found dead in the evening, according to KADN News 15.

Now, Nguyen Le and his three siblings are suing Arby’s over her death. Additionally, Turbo Restaurants and Sun Holdings, which are based in Texas and own several Arby’s restaurants, are named as defendants, an original petition filed in Harris County District Court in Texas shows.

An Arby’s spokesperson told McClatchy News in a statement on May 26 that the franchisee in New Iberia is “cooperating fully with local authorities as they conduct their investigation” over the “tragic incident.”

A regional director of operations for Turbo Restaurants referred a request for comment from McClatchy News to Sun Holdings. McClatchy News attempted to reach Sun Holdings for comment on May 26 and was awaiting a response.

Attorney Paul Skrabanek, of the Pierce Skrabanek law firm in Houston, is representing the family to “help investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the potential negligence that led to such a disturbing end for their loved one,” a May 17 news release said.

Le, a widow and mother of four who lived with her oldest child Nguyen Le, worked at an Arby’s restaurant in Houston, Texas, as a general manager, the lawsuit says.

In February, her supervisor asked her to take a temporary assignment and work at the Arby’s in New Iberia for what was supposed to last four weeks, according to the lawsuit.

Nguyen Le joined his mother to temporarily work there, Skrabanek told McClatchy News.

At some point, that assignment was extended by her supervisor, the lawsuit says.

The freezer was supposed to be kept at -10 degrees, “if not colder,” according to the lawsuit.

The morning of May 11, Le got trapped in the freezer while on her extended assignment, and ultimately “collapsed into a fetal position face down on the frozen floor,” the lawsuit says.

An investigating police officer reported that he observed blood on the freezer’s inside door, leading him to believe Le was pounding on the door, according to the lawsuit.

In a May 12 news release, the New Iberia Police department wrote that no foul play was suspected.

A former New Iberia Arby’s employee told Nguyen Le and his siblings that the restaurant’s walk-in freezer latch had been broken since August 2022 and employees used a screwdriver to open and close the door, according to the lawsuit. Other times, a box of oil was used to keep the door open, the lawsuit says.

With the lawsuit, Le’s children assert their mother’s death was wrongful, and Arby’s, Turbo Restaurants and Sun Holdings are negligent.

Despite the freezer door’s latch being broken, it was never fixed for nearly nine months, the lawsuit says.

Le’s children demand a trial by jury and are suing to recover damages and relief over her death, past and future mental anguish, conscious pain and suffering, loss of support and loss of love and affection, the original petition shows.

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TV Host Admits to Cheating on His Wife with Male Colleague (VIDEO)

Phillip Schofield has admitted to having a relationship with a much younger man who worked with him on This Morning, and later lying about it.

In a bombshell statement to the Daily Mail, the veteran TV presenter admitted that he and the man began a relationship that was more than a friendship. The ex-TV presenter describes this as ‘unwise but not illegal’.

Schofield further confessed that he lied to his employer ITV, to his colleagues, his friends and his agents at the management firm YMU.

He also lied to The Mail on Sunday, the Daily Mail’s sister paper, which first exclusively described his relationship with the younger man earlier this month.

In his groveling apology, Schofield said: ‘I am making this statement via the Daily Mail, to whom I have already apologized personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story [sic] which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.’

‘The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning. I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.’

‘Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than a just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over…’

‘I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife…’

‘I am resigning from ITV with immediate effect, expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me. ‘

‘I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.’

Schofield’s extraordinary statement concludes weeks of increasingly fevered speculation in both the TV industry and the wider country about the future of his career, following his sudden departure from the This Morning sofa earlier this month.

His exit from ITV apparently scotches plans for the ‘prime time’ show he was allegedly offered by the network as consolation for leaving This Morning after more than 20 years on the show.

Schofield said: ‘I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family’

Schofield had been due to present the prestigious British Soap Awards next week – a role he had performed since 2006. His statement confirms he will no longer do so.

Even before his bombshell statement last night, TV sources were furious at the prospect of him presenting the Awards.

One of his critics called the decision ‘unbelievable’. Another said: ‘We do not want him, thank you,’ while a third exclaimed: ‘Are you freaking kidding me?!’

Without these slick PR professionals behind him, and in the aftermath of this new statement, the chances of him returning to the small screen any time soon look bleak.

So is his career finished?

All this week, Schofield’s spinners had done their best to rescue him, optimistically trying to claim that he retained a bright future in TV. A comfortable berth could even be found for him soon at the BBC, they claimed.

The national broadcaster, claimed Team Phil, had Schofield ‘in [its] sights’ as a contestant on the ever-popular dance show Strictly. 

Mary Bekhait, the Group CEO of YMU Group, said: ‘Honesty and integrity are core values for YMU’s whole business, defining everything we do. Talent management is a relationship based entirely on trust.

‘This week, we have learned important new information about our client Phillip Schofield.’

‘These facts contradicted what Phillip had previously told YMU, as well as the external advisors we had brought in to support him.’

‘As a result, on Thursday we agreed to part company with Phillip, with immediate effect.’

An ITV Spokesperson said on Friday night: ‘We are deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit made tonight by Phillip Schofield.

‘The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Philip made assurances to us which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down.’

‘We accept his resignation from ITV and therefore can confirm that he will not be appearing on ITV as had previously been stated.’

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6-Year-Old Remains in Hospital After Severing Both feet in Freak Accident

A 6-year-old in Virginia is receiving loads of support from her community after being involved in a tragic accident that resulted in her losing both her feet. 

Aubrey Scaletta was playing with a ratchet strap in the passenger seat of a pickup truck on May 17, when one end of the strap went out the window and wrapped itself around the drive shaft. 

In a tragic turn of events, the other end of the strap became wrapped around Aubrey’s feet and as the strap quickly tightened, her feet were severed, according to the Virginia State Police Association. 

The young girl was then airlifted to a hospital where she underwent a six-hour surgery and will possibly face more in an attempt to repair her injuries, said the police. 

Doctors were able to reattach her severed feet, according to WSLS.  The 6-year-old is stable but still has a long road ahead of her, her mother, Lauren Scaletta, said in a Facebook post. 

“The injuries are horrible and painful for all involved. Aubrey, Aubrey’s sister and Aubrey’s parents are having a real hard time coping with this painful tragedy. They need our love and they need our help financially,” the VSPA said.

In an update from the family on their GoFundMe page on Thursday, they said Aubrey has been taken off the ventilator and is now breathing on her own.

They also are hopeful she will be moved from the ICU to the pediatric floor over the weekend if all goes well, said the update. 

“This has been both the longest and shortest days of our lives. We have held our breath and moved hour by hour most of the time we have been in the PICU,” said the family. “Everyone has done their very best to take care of our girl and we couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”

Aubrey’s next scheduled surgery is on June 9, and the hope is to be able to leave the hospital by the end of June, said the update.

After leaving the hospital, Aubrey will then have physical therapy at home and the goal is to have her walking again, with the help of braces and walkers, by Christmas, according to the family. 

“This is going to be a very long, winding road for us. She has already gotten a fan club here at the hospital with her dancing and smiles.

Her spunk is very evident with her displeasure of the ventilator and legs being kept down,” said Lauren in a Facebook post. “The love everyone has show has been tremendous. We are beyond blessed. We can’t thank you enough!”

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Outrage After ‘Scavengers’ Desecrate Graves of 840 Navy Sailors Killed in WW2

Chinese scavengers have violated the sanctity of the war graves of 840 Royal Navy sailors.

Individuals from China illegally extracted remnants of wreckage from the sunken World War 2 ships, HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse which were targeted by Japanese torpedo bombers near the Malaysian coast, a mere two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

These wrecks hold the status of being designated British war grave sites and are meant to be safeguarded.

Photographs obtained by The Sun show the immense dredger named Chuan Hong 68 in the vicinity of the wrecks.

This vessel operates under the Chinese flag and has previously been associated with unauthorized salvage operations.

Hazz Zain, a diver who helps preserves the wrecks said: “The barge was being circled by a small boat.

“I alerted the enforcement agencies.”

Authorities overseeing Malaysia’s cultural heritage and local law enforcement have declared their determination to look into the incident.

The wrecks have already sustained significant damage, according to the UK Government.

The representative for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, Luke Pollard MP, promotes the preservation of the wrecks and demands that they be given the same respect as Commonwealth war graves.

Former Sea Lord Admiral Lord West organised the retrieval of the bell from HMS Prince of Wales after it was targeted by scavengers as part of an earlier effort to protect the wrecks.

He said: “They are war graves — in our waters, we look after them, but in someone else’s waters they have to look after them.

“It’s extremely worrying — the Malaysians said they would look after them.

“I’ve had letters from relatives of those lost on the ships.

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500 Missing in Mediterranean Sea After Ship Loses Contact

A boat carrying about 500 migrants, including a newborn baby and pregnant women, has disappeared in the central Mediterranean, two charities said on Friday.

Alarm Phone, a group that picks up calls from migrant vessels in distress, said it lost contact with the boat on Wednesday morning.

At the time, the boat was adrift, with no working engine, in high seas about 320 km (200 miles) north of the Libyan port of Benghazi and more than 400 km away from Malta or Italy’s southern island of Sicily.

Italian NGO Emergency said on Thursday its Life Support ship and the Ocean Viking, another charity vessel, had unsuccessfully looked for the missing boat for 24 hours, but found no sign of any shipwreck.

A spokesperson for Emergency said on Friday the search was still on, adding that the migrants might have been picked up by another boat or may have managed to fix their engine and continue sailing towards Sicily.

The Italian Coast Guard reported on Thursday the rescue of 423 and 671 migrants in two separate operations in Italian search and rescue waters, and Alarm Phone said they were unrelated to the missing boat.

The Italian coast guard had no immediate comment.

In a separate incident, German charity SOS Humanity said 27 migrants were picked up at sea by an oil tanker and illegally taken back to Libya.

Under international humanitarian law, migrants cannot be forcibly returned to countries where they risk serious ill-treatment, and widespread migrant abuse has been extensively documented in Libya.

Performance Shipping (DS2.F), the Greek company that owns the P. Long Beach tanker allegedly involved in the incident, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via the company’s website.

European governments have taken an increasingly hard line on migration, including in Italy, which is facing a surge in sea arrivals. More than 47,000 landings have been recorded in the year to date, up from around 18,000 in the same period of 2022.

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4-Month-Old Girl Found Dead at New York City Hotel

A 4-month-old girl housed in a Manhattan migrant hotel died early Thursday after she was found unconscious and rushed to a nearby hospital, authorities said.

The NYPD confirmed a 7:32 a.m. report of an unresponsive infant inside the Stewart Hotel, with the child pronounced dead once she arrived at Bellevue Hospital.

There was no immediate suggestion of foul play in the death, with the investigation continuing and no arrests made.

The child was in cardiac arrest when first responders reached the hotel, said the FDNY.

An NYPD evidence collection team was also called to the scene.

The city medical examiner will determine the girl’s cause of death.

The hotel turned migrant shelter on Seventh Ave. near W. 31st St. was the scene of a wild free-for-all this past January, with two people stabbed during a melee inside the 600-room hotel.

The city announced this past November that the site was transforming into a humanitarian relief center for migrants.

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Majority of California Voters Say Senator Dianne Feinstein Should Step Down

Though she has since returned to the hill, 52 percent of surveyed Democratic voters in California believe she should resign, according to the poll. If that happens, Gov. Gavin Newsom would be able to appoint a replacement to serve out the term.

But voters aren’t sure who they would support in a Senate primary, the poll found. Republican attorney Eric Early has a slight lead with 18 percent of respondents — nearly all Republicans. Democrats aren’t far behind: Rep. Katie Porter polled at 17 percent, followed by Rep. Adam Schiff at 14 percent and Rep. Barbara Lee at 9 percent.

Since her return to Washington, Feinstein has taken on a lighter schedule, appearing in the Senate only at committee hearings or on the floor when her vote is essential.

Once a leading voice against gun violence, she skipped a recent Democratic Caucus meeting on guns, and she hasn’t attended any committee activity where her votes aren’t required.

A handful of Democratic House members openly called for her resignation during her absence and have not retracted. Other lawmakers are navigating the situation carefully.

“We need her in committee and on the floor,” Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said last week, referring to Feinstein’s critical vote on judicial nominees who lack any GOP support. “We’re doing our best to be sensitive to her medical condition.”

Fellow Californian and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s eldest daughter, Nancy Corinne Prowda, is among the entourage of aides who have been escorting the senator on the hill.

While there is a long and friendly relationship between Feinstein and the Pelosis, the caretaking arrangement has raised questions about whether Nancy Pelosi’s political interests are in conflict with Feinstein’s personal interests, POLITICO reported earlier this month.

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Governor Faces Backlash for Shocking Remark About Democrats

Original Article – South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, faces demands from state Democrats to apologize for a remark he used to refer to them during a Republican Party event over the weekend.

“I look forward to the day that Democrats are so rare, we have to hunt them with dogs,” McMaster said at a state GOP convention, a reporter for The State newspaper, Joseph Bustos, tweeted during the event.

McMaster’s comment swiftly drew condemnation from South Carolina Democrats, who called for the Republican governor to apologize.

The Anderson County Democratic Party shared a petition online with a statement from its chairman, Chris Salley, asking McMaster to apologize and “retract this racially-tinged dog whistle” and for the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division to open an investigation “into this threat and incitement of political violence” if the governor refuses to do so.

“As a Black, gay man in America, I’ve had to be on guard for people trying to ‘hunt me down’ most of my life and I know thousands of people across South Carolina are forced to feel the same,” Salley said. “This rhetoric emboldens violent extremists, chills political discourse, and needs to end.”

Christale Spain, chairwoman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, decried McMaster’s comments as “absolutely chilling” to hear.

“The majority of the Dem electorate in SC is Black and our governor is saying out loud he can’t wait to hunt us down with dogs,” Spain, who is also Black, tweeted. “This is absolutely chilling to hear from. Southern Gov who knows our history.”

In response to the outcry from Democrats, a spokesperson for McMaster, Brandon Charochak, said the governor had issued the same comment at previous GOP conventions, and that “everyday South Carolinians understand that it’s a joke.”

“If South Carolina Democrat partisans can no longer bear light-hearted jokes made at their expense, then maybe they should focus their energy on winning and not whining,” Charochak said in a statement.

McMaster previously referred to Democrats as “dogs” in remarks at a barbecue event in 2018, The State reported.

“Our Democratic friends are a lot like dogs. One on one, they’re really nice, but in a pack they’re dangerous,” McMaster said at the 2018 event, the State reported.

“So I tell you, we can’t let up. We got to go hard. And in South Carolina we are making progress, and it’s because we have a president … Donald Trump, who is one of the greatest we have ever had or ever will have.”

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Fetty Wap Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison

Rapper Fetty Wap will spend the next six years behind bars for his role in a multi-million-dollar drug trafficking ring, a Long Island federal judge ruled Wednesday.

The platinum-selling rapper, born William Junior Maxwell II, was charged in 2021 with conspiring to bring more than 100 kilos of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine from the West Coast to the East for sale in New Jersey and Long Island.

He pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine, but not the other drugs.

Fetty Wap’s lawyers asked the judge to sentence him to the five-year mandatory minimum, arguing that his involvement in the drug trafficking ring was born out of desperation, and his worry that he wouldn’t be able to keep up his financial obligations during the COVID pandemic.

“With the coming of the worldwide pandemic, things began to change for Mr. Maxwell. There were no opportunities to perform, thus his income was severely limited. He was sued personally, was going through a divorce, and was involved with a tour manager who was stealing from him. While the bills kept coming in, the money to pay them was running out,” wrote his lawyer, Elizabeth Macedonio.

Prosecutors were asking for a nine-year prison sentence, using his hit song “Trap Queen” to make the argument that the drug dealing was not an isolated incident.

“Specifically, he admitted to the Probation Department that the song which was released in 2014, was an ‘ode to a former girlfriend who assisted him a cocaine base distribution operation in Patterson, New Jersey,’” federal prosecutors wrote in a May 18 sentencing memo.

The lyrics make reference to getting rich from drug dealing, including the lines, “We just set a goal, talking matching Lambos / At 56 a gram, five a hundred grams, though.”

They also referenced the incident that led to the revocation of his $500,000 bond revoked — the rapper waved what looked like a gun during a Dec. 11 FaceTime call and told a man, “Imma kill you and everybody you with,” according to court filings.

Federal authorities labeled him “a kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organization,” which sold drugs between June 2019 and June 2020 — long after his rise to stardom. Five other suspects were also charged in the conspiracy.

Fetty Wap and his accomplices got their narcotics on the West Coast and used the mail, along with drivers who had hidden compartments in their vehicles, to bring the drugs to Suffolk County, where they were stored, federal prosecutors say.

Authorities conducted a series of search warrants as they busted the drug ring and found about $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of heroin, several fentanyl pills, two 9-mm handguns, a rifle, a .45 caliber pistol, a .40 caliber pistol and ammunition, prosecutors said.

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