Tiger Woods wins, Gary McCord and Peter Kostis out at CBS, and Brooks Koepka (knee) to miss more time: What you missed – Golf Digest

Welcome to the Dew Sweeper, your one-stop shop to catch up on the weekend action from the golf world. From the professional tours, trending news, social media headlines and upcoming events, here's every golf-related thing you need to know for the morning of Oct. 28.

Tiger ties Snead

The greats can make the routine spectacular, and the spectacular seem routine. In a tournament halfway around the world, during a time most golf fans are in hibernation, we were reminded, once again, no one in modern sports personifies that sentiment like Tiger Woods.

Woods, making his first appearance in two months and first since his fifth career knee surgery, won the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan by three shots over Hideki Matsuyama. A win, his 82nd on the PGA Tour, that ties Sam Sneads all-time record.

Its about being consistent and doing it for a long period of time, Woods said. Ive been very fortunate to have the career Ive had so far.

A rain-out on Friday made the weekend a marathon, a dash that was held in the waning hours of Americas East Coast. Yet Woods, who shared the first-round lead with Gary Woodland with a 64, never relinquished his position, entering Monday morning with a three-shot lead over Matsuyama with seven holes left to play.

Woods opened with a bogey at Narashino Country Clubs 12thlet the record show his first-hole jitters apply to restarts as wellbut negated the mistake with a birdie at the 14th. Woods followed with three pars before making an up-and-down birdie, and taking a final-bow fist pump, at the 18th.

The scene was not as visceral or breathtaking as East Lake, the moment not as cathartic or emotional as Augusta. When you win 82 times, all will not be made-for-movie scripts. Even so, Woods made history when few expected him to, in a workman-like manner that belied its blowout fashion. He continues to pen a story no screenwriter could conjure.

The only thing apropos about his performance was his fondness for proving critics wrong. As early as last week, some wondered if Woods was transitioning into the ceremonial player phase of his career. Suppose thats partially true; trophies are handed out at ceremonies, after all.

Its satisfying to dig my way out of it and figure it out, figure out a way, Woods said. There are some hard times to figure it out, but Ive come back with different games over the years.

And perhaps, for years to come.

Tiger the player impresses Tiger the captain

Speaking of future, Woods' next likely appearance will be at his Hero World Challenge in December after the end of the tour's fall slate. The following week is the Presidents Cup, which Woods is captaining for the United States. Though the 43-year-old was not among the eight automatic qualifiers, he remains a consideration for one of the four spot remaining for captain's picks.

A spot he has appeared to lock up.

I think I certainly, as a player, got the captain's attention, Woods jokingly said at his post-round press conference.

Or, as Woodlandalso a captain's pick candidateframed it: "If he doesnt [pick himself], hes dumb.

Woods has made eight Presidents Cup appearances in his career, the last coming in 2013. His picks are expected to come in the first week of November.

The 2019 Presidents Cup will be played at Royal Melbourne, the site of the only International victory in Presidents Cup history (1998). The biennial event begins Dec. 12.

McCord, Kostis out at CBS

Two mainstays of CBS Sports' golf broadcast team are not returning in 2020.

The contracts of Gary McCord and Peter Kostis have not been renewed for next season by the network. Golfweek's Geoff Shackelford and Sports Business Journal's John Ourand reported the news on Saturday, and CBS confirmed the move to Golf Digest in a statement.

"Gary and Peter have been an important part of our golf coverage for three decades," said a CBS spokesperson. "They were both outstanding teammates, and we thank them for their significant contributions throughout the years. We wish them both all the best.

Kostis had been with CBS since 1992, working as an on-course reporter. He is most known for his breakdowns of player swings in slow-motion sequences. McCord, a former PGA Tour player, joined CBS in 1986. He rose to prominence thanks to a colorful personality, one that occasionally got him into trouble, most notably earning a ban from broadcasting at the Masters for saying "There are some body bags down there if that keeps going," when a ball was rolling toward a water hazard, and joking that "bikini wax" was used on Augusta National's greens.

CBS Sports' next broadcast is the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in late January. The network's contract with the PGA Tour ends in 2021, although CBS is one of multiple entities currently bidding for future media rights.

Surprise winner in Euro Tour finale

Steven Brown was using the Portugal Masters to prepare for an upcoming trip to the European Tour's Qualifying tournament. His itinerary post-Portugal has dramatically changed.

Entering the week 150th in the Race to Dubai standings, Brown played bogey-free over his last 36 holesincluding a five-under final round at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Courseto win the Euro Tour regular-season finale by one over Branden Stone and Justin Walters.

The victory means instead of fighting for his tour card in Q-school for the seventh time in eight years, Brown has earned an invite to the postseason, beginning in two weeks at the Turkish Airlines Open.

"You just never know with this game," Brown said. "It's crazy to think how well I've played the last month to how bad it was the first two-thirds of the year. I never thought this was going to happen Even today, I liked the fact that I had to go for it and I wasn't just trying to have a good result. That's probably the difference."

Also gaining entry into the playoffs (the top 115 in the Race to Dubai rankings advance) was Walters, who began the week at No. 124. Some of the bubble boys who didn't fare so well were Paul Dunne, former Ryder Cup player Jamie Donaldson and Lee Slattery. Slatterys ousting was particularly brutal, as he missed the cut by a shot seven times in 2019.

Koepka (knee) to miss more time

The worlds best will be at the first WGC of the 2019-'20 PGA Tour season this week. But the World No. 1 will not.

Brooks Koepka was not among the field commitments to the HSBC Champions on Friday. Koepka aggravated his left knee after slipping on wet concrete during the CJ Cup two weeks ago in South Korea, withdrawing from the event and returning to the United States for further testing. He dropped out of the Zozo Championship in the process yet left open the possibility of playing in the WGC-HSBC.

That Koepka is staying on the sidelines is not a surprise. Following the Tour Championship, Koepka underwent stem-cell treatment to repair a partially torn patella tendon in that same knee, a procedure he referred to as extremely painful. He missed the cut in his first tournament back at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open, and indicated in South Korea another stem-cell treatment is on the table.

Koepka is likely out for the remainder of the PGA Tours fall slate, and his involvement for Decembers Presidents Cup is in question. Tiger Woods, who will captain the United States team, said earlier last week hes been in talks with Brooks about the matter.

Were just waiting to see what the surgeons say and see what his protocols will be going forward. Thats something hell keep me abreast of going forward, Woods said. Hes getting other opinions about where his knee is and what his options are. I went through the same thing with my knee and my back. You want as many opinions as you can before you decide which road you want to go down.

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Tiger Woods wins, Gary McCord and Peter Kostis out at CBS, and Brooks Koepka (knee) to miss more time: What you missed - Golf Digest

Stem cell registry gets good response – The New Indian Express

By Express News Service

KOCHI:Though the impending examinations, the study leave and the hartal called by the merchants association played spoilsport, nearly 525 youngsters came forward to register themselves as stem cell donors on Tuesday at a camp set up by Smilemakers of Cusat and DATRI of St Teresas College. The organisers were expecting around 1,000 registrations.

Next, we will be holding a camp at Lulu Mall on November 14, said Ramiz Rehman of Smilemakers. Not only students but also teachers and people from outside the campus came in to register. However, one big impediment is the lack of awareness about the stem cell donation process, he said.According to him, there is a common notion that bone marrow aspiration needs to be done to extract stem cells. But this is not the case. The stem cells are extracted from the blood. There is no drilling of bones happens, said Ramiz. According to him, stem cell transfusion is the only treatment that can save the lives of those suffering from leukaemia and thalassemia.

The programme has been organised for the benefit of not only the three siblings diagnosed with thalassemia major hailing from Mattancherry, but for the thousands of patients who have registered with DATRI. Since the possibility of obtaining a match is one in 20 lakh, there is a need to have a lot of people registering as fast as possible, he said. Speaking after inaugurating the registry drive, Poornima Jayaram, actor, said: Everyone will come as one to register themselves if they put themselves in the shoes of the recipient.

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Stem cell registry gets good response - The New Indian Express

The Stars in Our Brains – Duke Department of Neurology

More than 10 million people worldwideabout 1 percent of people over age 60live with Parkinsons disease. There are treatments that can help control symptoms, but there is no cure.

The hallmark of the disease is the death of certain brain cellsneurons that produce dopamine. Most Parkinsons researchers have focused on studying these cells. But what if the disease starts elsewhere? What if it involves not only neurons but other cells that interact with neurons? In particular, what role is played by astrocytes, star-shaped cells that nurture and help form the connections, or synapses, between the neurons?

(This article by Angela Spivey, with photos by Alex Boerner, originally appeared in Duke Medical Alumni News. Read that story here.)

Thats the question a team of Duke researchers led by Cagla Eroglu, PhD, associate professor of cell biology and neurobiology, is exploring, thanks to a $1 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Sitting in her office, Eroglu picks up an orange plastic object that resembles a piece of coral, its tentacles branching this way and that. This is a model of a mouse astrocyte, she says. It can interact with 100,000 synapses at the same time. Astrocytes, she explains, infiltrate the brain, touching everything within their reach. They communicate with its synapses, regulating blood flow and metabolism.

Astrocytes from the Greek astron, meaning "star"have traditionally been thought of as support cells. But that thinking is changing. Since astrocytes are in such close contact and continuously communicating with synapses, we are beginning to appreciate that they are also fundamentally involved in regulating brain function, Eroglu says.

Collaborating with Albert La Spada, MD, PhD, Eroglu found that a certain gene known to be important in Parkinsons is more highly expressed in astrocytes than in neurons. And when the researchers mutated that gene in astrocytes, they saw some intriguing changes. This still-unpublished work laid the foundation for their proposal to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which is bringing together experimental scientists from divergent fields to take a fresh look at the causes of neurodegenerative disorders.

There are vanishingly few papers that have delved into how astrocytes are contributing to the Parkinsons disease process, says La Spada, professor of neurology and vice chair of research for the Department of Neurology. This is an area that's been under-studied, and I think that the results that we're generating are suggesting that it deserves more attention.In addition to his long experience studying neurodegenerative diseases, La Spada brings expertise in growing astrocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs). That process starts by growing skin cells from a skin biopsy from a Parkinsons patient. Then we use what's called a reprogramming protocol to basically revert them to stem cells that are pluripotent. Once you create the IPSCs, you could use them to make any cell you wanta muscle cell or a cardiac cell or a neuron or an astrocyte, La Spada says. The beauty of this is, it comes from the patient who has the disease of interest."

His labs expertise will only grow because of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which has formed focus groups for grantees around various areas, such as stem cell modeling, CRISPR gene-editing technology, bioinformatic analysis of data sets, and more. We're meeting other researchers from around the world who are doing really unique things. It's a chance for us all to compare notes, and I think this will accelerate all of our endeavors, La Spada says.

Rounding out the team is Nicole Calakos, MD, PhD, a scientist and clinician who treats patients with movement disorders, including Parkinsons. Calakos says that when she first met Eroglu, she was intrigued by her idea that since astrocytes are involved in sculpting the language of neurons, perhaps they play a role in the events that can lead to disease.

Everybody has been fixated like a magnet on the idea that the problem is the neuron that's dying, Calakos says. Cagla said, Hey, let's think outside of the box of that dead cell. Lets consider whether astrocytes are like the soil around a plant, providing the nutrition, and allowing it to form roots, and maybe that is whats broken. Why aren't we even thinking about this critical piece of the brain?

Eroglu puts it this way: Maybe the problem is loss of connections between neurons, even before they die.

Calakos says that part of the reason she came to Duke was the close intermingling of physicians and bench scientists. Because of how the community is at Duke, Cagla and I had been exchanging ideas and collaborating over the years, she says. The Chan Zuckerberg grant is an opportunity to get together as a formal team. I think it's really forward-thinking of them to have teams of basic scientists and practicing physicians all talking to each other.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was launched in December 2015 by Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, and Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician and founder and CEO of The Primary School in East Palo Alto. In addition to her clinical insight, Calakos brings expertise in electrophysiologyreal-time recording and observation of electrical signals coming from brain cells. We can listen to the language of synapses, she says. They speak in electrical currents,which we can measure. Eroglu believes that by learning all they can about how astrocytes support synaptic development and health in the normal brain, they may find ways to stop neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinsons.

We are seeing aging as a part of development, Eroglu says. If your house is built on a strong base, then it might last longer. Whereas, if you build it in another way, it may be there for a while, but gradually start to break down.

This doesn't mean that we are destined to have neurodegeneration and we can't do anything. We may be more predisposed to get the disease, but we may not get it if we have done something else in our lives that helps strengthen our brain. I strongly believe that there will be ways to stop neurodegeneration.We will find a way to strengthen the brain connections. If we can figure out the weakest link, then we could concentrate on solving that.

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The Stars in Our Brains - Duke Department of Neurology

Brooks Koepka not in the field at the WGC-HSBC Champions, status of his knee injury remains unclear – Yahoo Sports

Its unclear the extent of Brooks Koepkas knee injury, but its severe enough to keep him out of another PGA Tour event he originally had planned to play. The No. 1 ranked golfer in the world was not listed among those who will be competing at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China next week when the initial field was released on Friday.

Granted, it was a longshot that Koepka would make another flight back to Asia for the tournament after aggravating his left knee while slipping on wet concrete during the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges two weeks ago in South Korea. Doctors advised Koepka to return to the United States for further testing, so he withdrew from the CJ Cup after the second round and flew home to Florida. At that time, he also announced that he would miss this weeks Zozo Championship but left the WGC-HSBC up in the air.

Koepka underwent stem-cell treatment in August to repair a partially torn patella tendon in the left knee after finishing tied for third at the Tour Championship. He returned to compete in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, missing the cut after rounds of 70-71, and said prior to the CJ Cup, where he was the defending champion, that the knee felt good, although more stem-cell treatment might be in the offing.

RELATED: Brooks Koepka reveals painful treatment on knee'I was screaming'

Suffice to say, Koepkas status moving forward is a curiosity among many people not just part of the four-time major winners inner circle. None more so, perhaps, then U.S. Presidents Cup team captain Tiger Woods. Koepka was an automatic qualifier for the American team that will compete in December at Royal Melbourne. When asked prior to the Zozo Championship about Koepka, Woods said hed been in contact with him and was hopeful that hed be able to return in time to compete in Australia.

Were just waiting to see what the surgeons say and see what his protocols will be going forward. Thats something hell keep me abreast of going forward, Woods said. Hes getting other opinions about where his knee is and what his options are. I went through the same thing with my knee and my back. You want as many opinions as you can before you decide which road you want to go down.

Earlier in the week, Koepkas management team told multiple media outlets it had no more information about the injury.

Suffice it to say, Woods knows from bad knees after coming off surgery on his own left knee in August as well. Given that there are still more than six weeks until the competition, Woods sounded content to wait to see what might happen with time.

Theres no hurry, you are part of the team, Woods said he told Koepka. Now you have to figure out whats best for your career and your knee. If you decide you can play, great. If you cant, I totally understand and well cross that bridge when it comes.

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Originally Appeared on Golf Digest

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Brooks Koepka not in the field at the WGC-HSBC Champions, status of his knee injury remains unclear - Yahoo Sports

Cynata Therapeutics awarded grant to progress stem cell therapies for coronary artery disease – Proactive Investors Australia

The company is an Australian clinical-stage stem cell and regenerative medicine corporation focused on the development of therapies based on Cymerus a therapeutic stem cell platform technology.

() has been awarded a Federal GovernmentInnovations Connections grant to advance development of therapies based on itsCymerus technology platform for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD).

CAD, which is the narrowing or blockage of the arteries in the heart, causes the majority of heart attacks and about one-third of all deaths in people over the age of 35 in developed countries.

The Innovations Connections grant of $50,000 is supported by the Australian Governments Department of Industry Innovation and Science.

These funds will be used to support the continuation of research at the University of NSW in Sydney under the leadership of Associate Professor Kristopher Kilian, ARC future fellow at the UNSW School of Chemistry and School of Materials Science and Engineering.

Cynata's chief operating officer Dr Kilian Kelly said: We are very pleased to receive this non-dilutive funding which enables us to further our research into the development of customised MSCs that address CAD before a heart attack occurs.

Associate Professor Kristopher Kilian and his team have already demonstrated the potential value of this approach and we now look forward to generating further data in support of a future clinical trial.

Thisfurther research leads on from a collaborative project with this group which started in 2018 and identified optimal cell culture matrices to stimulate the growth of new blood vessels.

These positive effects were demonstrated in a well-established in vitro assay and were maintained after the cells were frozen and then thawed, which is important from a commercialisation perspective.

The additional project, which is expected to complete by the end of 2020, seeks to build on the previous findings by profiling the pro-angiogenic factors released from the primed MSCs, establish the ability of primed cells to promote new blood vessel formation in vivo, followed by in vivo safety and efficacy in a preclinical model.

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Cynata Therapeutics awarded grant to progress stem cell therapies for coronary artery disease - Proactive Investors Australia

How Ruthin mum’s family tragedy became her driving force to save lives – Daily Post

The mother of a teenage drama student who drowned after after jumping into a "freezing" reservoir on a hot summer's day has vowed to make sure his death won't be in vain.

Leeanne Bartley from Ruthin has already fought for 20 emergency water rescue throw lines to be installed since losing her 18-year-old son, Mark Allen in June 2018.

The tragedy has spurred her to raise awareness of water safety after Mark jumped from a platform into Debdale Reservoir in Gorton, Greater Manchester to cool down on one of the hottest days of the year.

But he immediately got into difficulty due to the incredibly cold water despite efforts from friends to save him.

His body was later recovered by police search and rescue teams.

Trying to channel her grief into something positive, Leeanne is now hoping to launch a not-for-profit organisation in Mark's memory in a bid to get water safety included in the national curriculum to teach youngsters about the risks.

Leeanne said: "After Mark died, I felt like I couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

"I wanted to turn our tragedy into something good to help others and make sure Mark's death isn't in vain.

"I contacted United Utilities to ask if there was anything that could be done to prevent other families going through what we've been through, and ended up taking part in a pilot throw line campaign which saw 20 throw lines installed in different locations, including where Mark died.

"Next year, we are hoping to launch a not-for-profit organisation in his memory to spread the water safety message as far as we can."

In the wake of Mark's death, Leeanne turned to the internet looking for support to cope with her loss.

It was then that she came across the story of a little boy called Enis from London, who was left brain damaged after a non fatal drowning accident at a family pool in Turkey when he was 19 months old.

Leeanne said: "Shortly after Mark's death I was searching for drowning support groups on Facebook and came across Enis the Wonderchild.

"I've been following his journey and supporting him and his mum ever since and now I want to hold a fundraising event to help pay for him to have stem cell treatment.

"It would be fantastic if the local community could support us."

Leeanne, who is married to David and is also mum to Lauren, 25, Kelly, 24, Sophie-Lee, 12, Caitlin-Rose, 10, and Megan-Jessica, 8, paid tribute to her only son.

She said: "Mark was a really random and unconventional person.

"He was very loving, positive and would go out of his way to help anyone.

"He had ambitions of becoming a professional actor and even appeared as an extra in the BBC One series, Wanderlust.

"We've recently been sent DVDs of his TV appearances and have also received his double grade distinction certificate in acting which we will treasure."

* The fundraising event for Enis, which includes a raffle and live music from local band, VU, will be held at Ruthin Rugby Club on November 30 at 7pm.

To buy tickets, click here.

Or to make a donation, click here.

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How Ruthin mum's family tragedy became her driving force to save lives - Daily Post

Cork father of boy with bone disease hopes his book will inspire others to celebrate difference – Irish Examiner

David King is hoping his sons imagination will inspire others, writes Health Correspondent Catherine Shanahan

Pictured at the launch of David King's book ''But Really, Adventures with a Difference' in the Read and Write shop in Youghal were Mum Fiona, Robert, Dad David, Katie, Adam and Danny King from Killeagh. Picture: Howard Crowdy. Picture: Howard Crowdy

WHEN Tom Clonan rang David King and said finally, here is a book for a parent like me, David knew his story had done what he had set out for it to do: it spoke to families dealing living with difference.

I welled up, it was emotional to hear that, because that was why I wrote it. I was imagining parents like me with children like Adam, in and out of hospital, getting treatments, and I wanted them to feel spoken to by our story.

I wanted to say to them: Difference can be an adventure, just as life is an adventure. For me, its about being empowered by that difference.

Five-year-old Adam King is the star of his fathers book, But Really ... Adventures With a Difference.

Adam was born with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a brittle bone condition that causes stunted growth and makes him prone to fractures although he has done very well to date, with the exception of fracturing both his left and right femur.

He is generally a wheelchair user, but thanks to the excellent care he receives from consultants in Temple St Childrens Hospital, Cork University Hospital and Enable Ireland, he is also able to crawl and sometimes walk with assistance.

Adam may be short of stature, but what he lacks in height, he makes up for in spirit.

Like any five-year-old, he has a vivid imagination. His fathers book, as well as being a celebration of difference, is a tribute to innocence, to the indomitable human spirit, but most of all, to the powers of the imagination.

So while those who dont know any better might only see Adams wheelchair, in fact Adam knows its a Formula One car winning the Grand Prix. And where some might see a walking frame, Adam can see a horse going into battle.

And those pesky intravenous drips that must sometimes be inserted during hospital visits But Really they supply the superjuice Adam needs to fly high above the rooftops in full superhero mode. The book is an interplay between reality and fantasy.

So you see Adams life is different, our lives are different, but its not bad. Its just different. Its an adventure, said David.

David and his wife Fiona, who live in Killeagh, East Cork, have three other children Danny (10), Katie (8) and Robert (7).

They are also looking forward to the birth of their fifth child in the run-up to Christmas.

The months prior to and after Adams birth were not easy. He was diagnosed in utero and stem cell treatment was delivered. He was injected, while in the womb, with bone-forming stem cells.

David says the first year was fairly traumatic and, in a way, the book has been a form of catharsis for him.

In part, it was an exercise in getting that trauma out, but also about celebrating our life, which is really great. Adam is inspirational, he is the embodiment of life.

I set out to write a story that would capture his spirit and But Really Adventures With a Difference is it. Its the story of Adam and its the story of our family and its the story of the families of children with additional needs.

Children and families who live with additional needs are a hugely important topic in modern society. There are many children in Ireland, and indeed across the world, who require support for different acute and chronic conditions. But rarely are their tales told in such a way that we can see beyond their disability, to their humanity.

Thats why it meant so much to me when Dr Tom Clonan rang.

Tom a security specialist and analyst with at TheJournal.ie, but first and foremost a father and disability advocate, has a son Eoghan who has Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD) a rare progressive condition, which affects the central nervous system. A high-profile campaigner for services and supports for children and adults with disability, he has written passionately about his fears for his sons future.

David asked Tom to review his book.

When Tom told him his book spoke to him in a way no other book had every ever done, David was overwhelmed.

He hopes that other parents who have children with additional needs will feel the same way.

David spent a year working on the book along with illustrator Jesse de la Cour who was born in Cork and is a self-taught painter and illustrator.

It was a labour of love for both of us and she captured the energy, life, and spirit of the children so well in her beautiful illustrations, said David.

Adam has already road-tested the book with his schoolmates at Clonpriest NS, Gortore, where he brought it into every class and explained to pupils what the book was about.

I think its a great way to help educate kids about difference so that they can see its part of everyday life and awesome also, said David.

The book, priced at 11.99 with some of the proceeds going to childrens charity Bumbleance, for whom Adam is an ambassador, went on sale on Amazon at the weekend, and is currently making its way into all good bookshops, David says.

So far, all the feedback has been positive and copies are flying out the door.

Among those to endorse it is Vicky Phelan, the woman who blew the lid on the cervical cancer scandal.

In a tweet, Vicky said: This looks like a fabulous book. I have a daughter with a visual impairment and epilepsy and struggled when she was small to find books that she could relate to that werent about ballet or horse riding things she couldnt do.

The very best of luck with this book.

To find out more, visit http://www.adventureswithadifference.com or follow on: Facebook: @AdventuresWAD; Twitter: @AdventuresWADand Instagram: @adventures_wad

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Cork father of boy with bone disease hopes his book will inspire others to celebrate difference - Irish Examiner