PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

$130k Raised for Variety's Culinary Night of Nights

It was the ultimate gastronomic night featuring a host of unforgettable performances as 400 guests enjoyed a night of decadence and glamour all for a great cause at the Variety of Chefs gala dinner on Saturday June 30th 2012 at the Hilton Ballroom.

2012-07-04
NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, July 04, 2012 (Press-News.org) Amongst the stand out performances, was rising star, Melanie Dyer, who had impressed Joel Madden with her encore performance during The Voice's blind auditions. Melanie was amongst celebrities, radio star Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli, past and present MasterChef contestants Alvin Quah, Audra Morrice and Kylie Millar as well as personalities, Steve Willis, 'Commando' from The Biggest Loser, Karen Ledbury, Lizzy Lovett, Glenn Wheeler, who all frocked up for a night of culinary indulgence.

The event raised an enormous $130k NET for Variety - the Children's Charity.

Guests feasted on a gourmet six course degustation Asian themed menu prepared by Chefs Peter Kuruvita, Reagan Porteous from Toko and Chinese cuisine specialist Yi Chun Chen. Each Chef presented dishes live on stage, complete with culinary games thrown into the mix. Reflecting the high calibre of this gala dinner, the mouth watering menu included a starter share platter of freshly shucked Pacific Oysters Tosazu, thinly sliced Kingfish sashimi with chilli yuza ponzu dressing and beef tataki created by Reagan, mains of spanner crab kinilaw and wagyu beef and short ribs with celeriac and smoke pomme puree mastered by Peter, while dessert was an elegant sweet stuffed pear and tremella and goji berry rock candy stew perfected by My Chen. While premium beverages complemented each course.

Guests also vied for a unique range of priceless experiences, lifestyle and getaway prizes in the auction and raffles.

All the proceeds from this year's Chefs gala dinner will go towards Variety's Freedom program which provides vital equipment and resources such as wheelchairs, standers and suction wigs to special needs children. Another of Variety's programs is the Future Kids program for talented kids and in fact helped Variety scholarship recipient, Melanie Dyer kick start her career by providing her with a new guitar and music tuition.

Variety - the Australian Children's Charity is a national not-for-profit organisation committed to transforming and enriching the lives of Australian children who are sick, disadvantaged or have special needs. In 2012, Variety celebrates 37 years of assisting children in need.

http://www.variety.org.au/nsw/


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

During Winter Months AAMI See Surge in Animal Collision Claims

2012-07-04
The shorter days of winter see a 40% jump in animal collisions on Australian roads compared to the summer months, according to claims data from leading national insurer, AAMI. With twilight coinciding more closely with peak hour on rural roads, and city drivers taking to the country for a winter break, animals and cars are more likely to cross paths. "Through the winter months, daylight is shorter and we are on the roads more at the very time of day when animals, such as kangaroos, tend to be more active and invade our roadways," said Reuben Aitchison, AAMI ...

Secrets of lung cancer drug resistance revealed at UCSF

2012-07-03
People with lung cancer who are treated with the drug Tarceva face a daunting uncertainty: although their tumors may initially shrink, it's not a question of whether their cancer will return—it's a question of when. And for far too many, it happens far too soon. Now, a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco's Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center has discovered that a human protein called AXL drives resistance to Tarceva, which suggests that blocking the protein may prevent resistance to the cancer drug. The discovery, described ...

Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for July 3, 2012, issue

2012-07-03
1. After First Heart Attack, Patients Likely to Return to the Hospital for Unrelated Issues Comorbid Conditions and Treatment Complications Contribute to High Rehospitalization Rate Each year nearly 785,000 people are hospitalized for a first heart attack. Treatment advances have contributed to improved survival rates, but rehospitalization in the first 30 days after discharge remains a common and costly problem. Researchers studied 3,010 patients in one health system who were hospitalized with a first-time heart attack between 1987 and 2010 to determine the rate of rehospitalization, ...

Are brown widows displacing black widow spiders around southern California homes?

2012-07-03
Brown widow spiders are relatively new to North America, where they were first documented in Florida in 1935, and even newer to southern California, where they were only recently discovered in 2003. However, in the last decade they have been so successful that they may be displacing native black widow spiders. If so, the overall danger to homeowners may decrease because brown widow spider bites are less toxic than those of native western black widow spiders. In "The Prevalence of Brown Widow and Black Widow Spiders (Araneae: Theridiidae) in Urban Southern California," ...

Do the world's smallest flies decapitate tiny ants?

2012-07-03
A new species of phorid fly from Thailand is the smallest fly ever discovered. At just 0.40 millimeters in length, it is 15 times smaller than a house fly and five times smaller than a fruit fly. The tiny fly, Euryplatea nanaknihali, is also the first of its genus to be discovered in Asia, and it belongs to a fly family (Phoridae) that is known for "decapitating" ants. Some species in the Phoridae fly family lay eggs in the bodies of ants, and the resulting larvae feed in the ants' heads, eventually causing decapitation. In fact, some of these phorid flies are being ...

Study: Botulinum toxin a shot in the arm for preventing MS tremor

2012-07-03
MINNEAPOLIS – Botulinum toxin may help prevent shaking or tremor in the arms and hands of people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new research published in the July 3, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "Treatments in use for tremor in MS are not sufficiently effective and new alternatives are needed," said study author Anneke van der Walt, MD, consultant neurologist at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and research fellow with the University of Melbourne in Australia. For the study 23 people with MS were ...

Physical activity needed in order to reap benefits of dietary restriction

2012-07-03
Fruit flies on dietary restriction (DR) need to be physically active in order to get the lifespan extending benefits that come from their Spartan diet. If the same axiom holds true in humans, those practicing caloric restriction in hopes of living longer need to make sure they eat enough to avoid fatigue. According to research at the Buck Institute, flies on DR shift their metabolism toward increasing fatty acid synthesis and breakdown, specifically in muscle tissue. "Dietary restriction is known to enhance spontaneous movement in a variety of species including primates, ...

Multiple proxy datasets can clarify ancient climate regimes

2012-07-03
Tree ring and oxygen isotope data from the U.S. Pacific Northwest do not provide the same information on past precipitation, but rather than causing a problem, the differing results are a good thing, according to a team of geologists. The researchers are trying to understand the larger spatial patterns and timing of drought in the arid and semiarid areas of the American West. "We generally understand that the Medieval Climate Anomaly, a warm period in much of the northern hemisphere that occurred about 950 to 1250 was a dry period in the American West," said Byron ...

Gene variant reduces cholesterol by 2 mechanisms

2012-07-03
High levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol increases the risk for coronary heart disease. A variant in the human gene encoding the protein sortilin is associated with reduced plasma LDL levels and a decreased risk of heart attack. This variant results in markedly higher sortilin protein expression in liver. Dr. Daniel Rader and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia have uncovered a two-pronged mechanism for the change in LDL observed. Using a mouse model system, the Rader team found that increased liver sortilin is responsible for reducing ...

JCI early table of contents for July 2, 2012

2012-07-03
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE Gene variant reduces cholesterol by two mechanisms High levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol increases the risk for coronary heart disease. A variant in the human gene encoding the protein sortilin is associated with reduced plasma LDL levels and a decreased risk of heart attack. This variant results in markedly higher sortilin protein expression in liver. Dr. Daniel Rader and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia have uncovered a two-pronged mechanism for the change in LDL observed. Using a mouse model system, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

GIST-MIT CSAIL researchers develop a biomechanical dataset for badminton performance analysis

Study sheds light on 11th century Arab-Muslim optical scientist whose work laid ground for modern-day physics

Rethinking “socially admitted” patients

A better way to ride a motorcycle

Survey of US parents highlights need for more awareness about newborn screening, cystic fibrosis and what to do if results are abnormal

Outcomes of children admitted to a pediatric observation unit with a psychiatric comanagement model

SCAI announces 2024-25 SCAI-WIN CHIP Fellowship Recipient

SCAI’s 30 in Their 30’s Award recognizes the contributions of early career interventional cardiologists

SCAI Emerging Leaders Mentorship Program welcomes a new class of interventional cardiology leaders

SCAI bestows highest designation ranking to leading interventional cardiologists

SCAI names James B. Hermiller, MD, MSCAI, President for 2024-25

Racial and ethnic disparities in all-cause and cause-specific mortality among US youth

Ready to launch program introduces medical students to interventional cardiology field

Variety in building block softness makes for softer amorphous materials

Tennis greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova honored at A Conversation With a Living Legend®

Seismic waves used to track LA’s groundwater recharge after record wet winter

When injecting pure spin into chiral materials, direction matters

New quantum sensing scheme could lead to enhanced high-precision nanoscopic techniques

New MSU research: Are carbon-capture models effective?

One vaccine, many cancers

nTIDE April 2024 Jobs Report: Post-pandemic gains seen in employment for people with disabilities appear to continue

Exploring oncogenic driver molecular alterations in Hispanic/Latin American cancer patients

Hungry, hungry white dwarfs: solving the puzzle of stellar metal pollution

New study reveals how teens thrive online: factors that shape digital success revealed

U of T researchers discover compounds produced by gut bacteria that can treat inflammation

Aligned peptide ‘noodles’ could enable lab-grown biological tissues

Law fails victims of financial abuse from their partner, research warns

Mental health first-aid training may enhance mental health support in prison settings

Tweaking isotopes sheds light on promising approach to engineer semiconductors

How E. coli get the power to cause urinary tract infections

[Press-News.org] $130k Raised for Variety's Culinary Night of Nights
It was the ultimate gastronomic night featuring a host of unforgettable performances as 400 guests enjoyed a night of decadence and glamour all for a great cause at the Variety of Chefs gala dinner on Saturday June 30th 2012 at the Hilton Ballroom.