TASK DEFINITION: Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.
PROBLEM: Scientists led by Ali Erturk at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich have developed a technique that uses a solvent to make organs such as the brain and kidneys transparent. The organ is then scanned by lasers in a microscope that allows researchers to capture the entire structure, including the blood vessels and every single cell in its specific location. Using this blueprint, researchers print out the scaffold of the organ. They then load the 3D printer with stem cells which act as “ink” and are injected into the correct position making the organ functional. While 3D printing is already used widely to produce spare parts for industry, Erturk said the development marks a step forward for 3D printing in the medical field. Until now 3D-printed organs lacked detailed cellular structures because they were based on images from computer tomography or MRI machines, he said. “We can see where every single cell is located in transparent human organs. And then we can actually replicate exactly the same, using 3D bioprinting technology to make a real functional organ,” he said. “Therefore, I believe we are much closer to a real human organ for the first time now.”  Erturk’s team plan to start by creating a bioprinted pancreas over the next 2-3 years and also hope to develop a kidney within 5-6 years. The researchers will first test to see whether animals can survive with the bioprinted organs and could start clinical trials within 5-10 years, he said.

SOLUTION: German scientists create see-through human organs.

PROBLEM: Unlike the all-out defense that Buxton normally puts on display, the Twins were more than willing to play it safe with this injury. Buxton was placed on the seven-day injured list for players with concussion-like symptoms, just as first baseman C.J. Cron and left fielder Eddie Rosario returned from their injuries. The Twins also designated right-handed reliever Mike Morin for release or assignment Tuesday before their series opener against the New York Mets. “We’re not going to mess around, really, in any way,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “This is serious stuff. The health of Buck is obviously the most important thing. I think it’s something that is already resolving itself in some ways, but something where I think this is the right move.” Buxton was hurt Saturday during his head-first, diving catch of a sinking line drive during a critical win at main division competitor Cleveland, forcing him out of the game in the eighth inning. Buxton, who was sidelined for 13 games last month with a bruised right wrist, has had his promising career so far stunted by a variety of injuries, in part due to the speedster’s fearless style in the outfield and on the bases. Buxton was announced Tuesday as the team’s annual winner of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association’s Heart and Hustle Award. “He hit the ground pretty hard, and this isn’t any sort of light injury,” Baldelli said. “He didn’t graze anything. He made a great play and hit the ground, and he gives his body up for this team every single night that he takes the field.” The Twins, who took a six-game lead in the AL Central over the Indians into Tuesday night, have managed to maintain the highest-scoring offense in the majors despite putting 10 different position players on the injured list over various points of this season. Rosario was out for 13 games with a sprained left ankle. “It’s been a tough couple of weeks when it comes to injuries and things like that, but I’m back today and I know what Buxton is going through is nothing bad and he’ll be back soon as well,” said Rosario, who’s second on the team with 20 homers and still leads the Twins with 60 RBIs. Because of the All-Star break, Cron only missed five games with right thumb inflammation, a condition that has bothered him for most of the season. “I’m just going to try to tape it up, I guess. Try to pretend as if nothing’s wrong and try to just keep going,” Cron said. “That’s really all you can do.” Morin had a 3.18 ERA in 23 appearances after being invited to spring training on a minor league contract. His somewhat surprising removal from the roster could be the precursor to the addition of a reliever or two on the trade market over the next two weeks. “When you make decisions like this, you can look back on them, and you’re not really sure because things are not obvious sometimes, but unfortunately we landed on the thought of designating Mike,” Baldelli said. “I have no doubt he’s going to land on his feet.” ___ More AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SOLUTION: As Cron, Rosario return, Twins put Buxton on concussion list.

PROBLEM: Eastern Virginia Medical School announced Tuesday that it plans a news conference and will make a written report of the investigation public. The school’s statement included no details about what the investigation found out about Northam’s 1984 yearbook page, which includes a photo of a man in blackface standing next to someone in Ku Klux Klan clothing. Northam’s office declined to comment. The medical school in Norfolk hired the law firm McGuireWoods, which is also a top lobbying firm, to conduct an independent investigation. Virginia politics was turned upside down in a matter of hours in early February after a conservative website posted a picture online of Northam’s medical school yearbook page. The Democratic governor issued two apologies within hours, initially indicating that he was one of the people in the picture. By midnight it appeared his entire political base was gone, with the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, other key Democratic groups and top allies calling on him to resign. Northam reversed course at a news conference the next day, saying he was convinced it was not him in the picture, while revealing that he did in fact wear blackface once decades ago, to look like Michael Jackson for a dance contest. Defying calls to resign, he said he wanted to focus his remaining three years in office on addressing longstanding racial inequities. While he was all but invisible in February and much of March, the governor is making routine public appearances again. And he’s won praise from black lawmakers and others for several recent policy moves. Those include a halt to suspending the suspension of driver’s licenses for motorists with unpaid court fines and costs, and a review into how public schools teach our nation’s racial history. The heat for Northam to resign significantly lessened after scandal enveloped his potential successors. Two women publicly accused Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault, which he denies, and Attorney General Mark Herring announced he’d also worn blackface in college, just days after he too called on Northam to resign. Both Fairfax and Herring also resisted calls to resign. And other politicians around the South soon had their own explaining to do over yearbook images taken long ago. But the incident will forever mark Northam’s time in office, and opponents still use it against him. House Majority Leader Del. Todd Gilbert recently said Northam had chosen to “repair his own racist legacy,” rather than protect victims of domestic abuse after the governor vetoed a bill requiring a mandatory jail term for repeat domestic abusers. The photo on Northam’s yearbook page was one of at least three blackface photos in the 1984 publication, which was reviewed by an Associated Press reporter. One of the others shows a man in blackface who is dressed up as a woman wearing a wig. A caption reads: ”‘Baby Love,’ who ever thought Diana Ross would make it to Medical School!” Calling the photos “shockingly abhorrent,” school leaders commissioned an investigation into past yearbooks and the school’s culture. Thousands of letters and emails were sent to alumni asking for information as part of the investigation. Former students who worked on the 1984 yearbook have disagreed over whether the photo could have been mistakenly placed on Northam’s page. Dr. Giac Chan Nguyen-Tan, a physician practicing in Connecticut, said earlier this year that a page he laid out for the yearbook was changed without his knowledge before publication. But fellow yearbook staffer Dr. William Elwood disagreed that any photos were mixed up and said it was unlikely someone could have pulled a prank, because a limited number of people had keys to the yearbook room. __ Suderman reported from Richmond, Virginia.

SOLUTION:
Virginia gov’s yearbook: Probe of racist photo completed.