Science and Tech

More and more bikers are likely to make their way across Kentucky’s landscape in the years ahead.  It’s an issue which is foremost on the minds of the state’s Bike and Bikeway Commission.  The group’s annual meeting is coming up later this fall in Lexington.  State transportation engineering branch manager, Lynn Soporowski says each new stretch of pavement receives cycling attention.

Lexington-Fayette County Health Department officials expect to give up to 2000 flu shots Friday. The special one-day event serves a dual purpose: vaccinating citizens against the flu and training health department workers for emergencies. Kevin Hall with the Health Department says the clinics helped the city handle the H1N1 outbreak in 2009.

A Western Kentucky University professor found out last week that several members of a research team he’s a part of were awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics. Louis-Gregory Strolger, an associate professor in WKU’s physics and astronomy department, has played a significant role in researching the universe’s expansion for more than a decade. Three leading researchers with whom Strolger works will receive the Nobel Prize

By design, a lot of nothing was going on Sunday afternoon during Lexington's Sedentary Parade, which poked fun at the city being named America's least active by Men's Health magazine. Mayor Jim Gray led the "parade" sitting on a couch atop an electric cart, complete with a table for putting your feet up.

When researchers in Australia were developing what would become adipose stem cell therapy, they tested the procedure on goats. And since introducing the procedure to the world, it’s been used to repair tissue damage in a wide variety of animals: cats, dogs, horses, even camels and a parrot. But until last week in Henry County, despite initially being tested on goats, the procedure had never been done in clinic on a goat anywhere in the world.

The changing colors of leaves don’t just signal the onset of fall.  They’re mark the beginning of flu season in Kentucky.  State health officials are urging everyone over six months of age to get vaccinated this fall.  State epidemiologist Kraig Humbaugh says there is no reported case of flu yet in Kentucky.  That is likely to change in the coming weeks.  The H1-N1 flu pandemic a couple of years ago resulted in thousands of deaths worldwide.  Humbaugh says H1-N1 is expected back this year, but flu shots offer protection against the virus.

The Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has been awarded a $428,278 contract by the Food and Drug Administration to enforce provisions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009. Under the law, tobacco retailers will be inspected to ensure they are complying with new marketing and sales standards. The FDA contract is awarded on an annual basis.

State public health officials are encouraging Kentuckians to get the flu vaccine now to reduce the spread of illness this coming flu season. “We recommend that Kentuckians get their flu vaccine now to protect themselves and their families as we move into flu season,” Dr. Steve Davis, acting commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, said. “Getting the flu vaccine each year is the best way to protect against the flu’s spread and severity.”

Murray-Calloway County Hospital was one of only two hospitals in Kentucky that received a visit from a mobile operating room, as part the Covidien Innovation Tour showcasing the minimally invasive SILS procedure. The tour is stopping in 80 cities nationwide. The technique leads to faster recovery times for patients, and less scarring, according to Covidien surgical device representative Jamie Smith.

Amanda Havens credits Air Evac Lifeteam with saving her daughter’s life after a car crash in Butler County on June 8 that killed two people and injured Havens’ daughter, Caysi, 4, and two other children. Air Evac is the largest independently owned air medical service in the country with 104 bases in 15 states, including a base in front of The Medical Center in Bowling Green. Unlike larger cities, where some hospitals provide their own air ambulance transportation system, the membership-supported Air Evac Lifeteam provides helicopter transport to smaller communities in the states it serves.

The Lexington Fayette County Health Department is consolidating its clinic services to one location.  Beginning next Monday, October 3, the Public Health Clinic South on Regency Road will no longer provide clinical services such as immunizations, cancer screenings, and pregnancy tests. Those will still be offered at the Public Health Clinic North at 805 Newtown Circle.

If Joshua Walkup wants to say the Pledge of Allegiance, he will have to put his hand under his armpit. That’s where his heart sits, barely beneath the surface. When Walkup, 26, lifts his shirt, his heartbeat is visible through his skin. The patchwork of scars all over Walkup’s torso looks like a railroad map to nowhere. But the scars tell the story of a man who journeyed to hell and is making his way back to redemption. Walkup is another casualty of 7H, a product that is marketed and sold as herbal potpourri in hookah lounges and convenience markets. However, many people such as Walkup are smoking the product as a cheap, legal alternative to marijuana, but with disastrous results.

Governor Steve Beshear and First Lady Jane Beshear are calling on all Kentuckians to protect themselves against flu this season. Both recently received their influenza vaccinations from the local First Onsite Clinic nurse practitioners, who provide health care services for state employees in several state office clinics.  “The single best way to prevent the flu is to get a vaccine each season,” Gov. Beshear said. “The availability and affordability of the vaccine make it easier than ever to protect yourself.”

IBM’s Watson computer is using its technology to explore how it can help government agencies and hospitals. Watson appeared in front of a crowd at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts for Louisville’s IdeaFestival. Watson is best known for its success in the game show Jeopardy. IBM researcher David Shepler explained to a crowd Watson’s successes, and its limitations.

Kentucky Medicaid recipients preparing to switch to one of three private providers will have to wait another month to see the effects of the new privatized system. Earlier this year the state signed contracts with CoventryCares of Kentucky, Kentucky Spirit Health Plan and WellCare of Kentucky and then automatically enrolled Medicaid members with one of these providers. The managed-care approach to Medicaid is part of Gov. Steve Beshear’s budget-balancing plan and privatizing Medicaid will save the state $1.3 billion over the three-year contracts, said officials.

A Lexington police officer whose doctor has restricted her to permanent light duty has been denied an occupational disability retirement. The Police and Fire Pension Board heard the appeal of Officer Jennifer Crabill last week. She has suffered various injuries in nearly ten years on the police force. Crabill was waiting to go back to full duty in July of last year when she went skydiving and rode a roller coaster at Cedar Point amusement park.

New regulations that would allow optometrists in Kentucky to perform certain laser eye surgeries are making their way through state legislature. The regulations are a response to Senate Bill 110, which paves the way for optometrists to perform procedures previously done only by ophthalmologists, who are medical doctors. It was signed into law earlier this year as a way of expanding patient access to care. But first, the state must approve regulatory changes for specific procedures.

Frankfort - Attorney General Jack Conway announced Wednesday the indictment and arrest of a former employee of Community Alternatives of Kentucky-Somerset in connection with the alleged abuse of a mentally disabled male resident. 

Humana is adding 200 customer service jobs to the Medicare sector of its downtown Louisville headquarters. Despite the company’s 2010 cuts of nearly 1,500 positions certain sectors have seen growth, said John Brown, vice president of Humana’s Medicare service operations. “But for Medicare Advantage that has been growing steadily over the past several years so any of the reductions noted in prior years was separate from that in the senior space,” said Brown.

The opening of Cardinal Hill's new building was an emotional one for former patient, Judy Hale Everett. "Now with the addition of this new wing, the circle is complete. A top-notch facility to match the top-notch staff," she said. Since her first visit in 1976 after a motorcycle accident, Everett has watched Cardinal Hill grow from a facility caring for only a handful of patients in cramped rooms to the complete rehabilitation center it is today. The expansion brings more private rooms, larger therapy gyms, and a new aquatic center. Hale says her first tour left her impressed. 

Police executed a search warrant at 1 p.m. CDT Monday at a Marion tobacco shop on Sturgis Road after an informant purchased 7H, an alleged synthetic marijuana. Despite its labeling, police throughout Kentucky are finding people who have smoked the product, which some police have likened to LSD.

Health officials in Virginia this week consider emergency regulations which could severely restrict abortion clinics in that state.  The regulations are in response to a bill signed into law by Governor McDonnell earlier this year.  It requires the state to draft emergency regulations to treat abortion clinics as hospitals.  If approved, the regulations would go into effect December 31st and would be in place until permanent regulations are enacted.  It’s an effort to make the clinics safer, says Chris Freund of the Family Foundation of Virginia.