ago for total carbon dioxide levels in the blood. Levels abo

Greater Western Sydney are destined for a maiden AFL finals berth.Maybe even from finishing in the top four, with some tipping them to clinch the minor premiership.But coach Leon Cameron wont so much as glance past Saturdays meeting with Collingwood, let alone do the maths on the favourable fixtures enticing the Giants towards a potential home final.The competitions youngest club are already third and have a cracking run home featuring just two top-eight rivals in their last eight matches.Those are eighth-placed West Coast, whom the Giants will host at their so far untouchable fortress of Spotless Stadium in round 21, and seventh-placed North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium in round 23.While it makes positive reading for Giants fans, Cameron was loath to label any opponent as less challenging than another.We never talk about whats coming up in two or three weeks, we always talk about whats in front of us, Cameron said.As soon as you start thinking ahead about whether youre travelling, whether you think you might have some easier games - there are never any easier games.Weve got a huge challenge against Collingwood, all we can focus on is that.If we get the job done we move to our 11th win which moves us closer to where we want to get to.But until we get that job done we cant discuss anything else.The AFLs top eight is as tight as ever.Before this round began, six teams including the Giants had 10 wins and 40 points, behind leaders Hawthorn who are clear on 48 points.Septembers finals line-up also appears all but set barring an unlikely challenge from ninth-placed Port Adelaide.The Powers main role now could be in helping to shape the configuration, given theyll play five top-eight sides in their last 10 games, including the Giants in a fortnight.Cameron thrived on the unpredictability of it all.Thats the good thing about this competition at the moment, Cameron said.Port are trying to get into the eight, theyre playing some good footy.And theres eight sides trying to stay in the eight and eight sides trying to get into the top four.I think its just a fabulous year for the competition because its so unknown whats going to happen from game to game. Allen Iverson Nuggets Jersey . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Will Barton Nuggets Jersey . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. http://www.nuggetsprostore.com/kids-nikola-jokic-nuggets-jersey/ . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. Thomas Welsh Nuggets Jersey . At a Manhattan federal court hearing, attorney Jordan Siev said his law office has gotten more evidence nearly every day to support its lawsuit accusing MLB and Selig of going on a "witch hunt" to ruin Rodriguezs reputation and career. He said the defendants went "way over the line. Michael Porter Nuggets Jersey . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments. Lets concede for a moment that some people will cheat to win. I know, its hard to swallow. But human nature, being driven by human beings, sometimes veers toward the dark side, and it is up to those who prefer to play the game on the square to make cheating a no-win option.To that end, it was announced last week by the California Horse Racing Board that the Ken Maddy Laboratory at UC-Davis will be going full speed ahead in developing the same kind of athletic biological passport (ABP) being applied to participants in such international sports as cycling, track and field, and World Cup soccer.In order to monitor the new generation of doping agents, were going to have to develop biological passports, said Rick Arthur, CHRB equine medical director. Remember, its always a cat-and-mouse game. Whenever we plug up one problem, they start looking for a new and better treatment.A biological passport would record the normal blood profile of every horse in competition. Pre-race and out-of-competition testing would require that the horse maintains his normal profile.Arthur cites the illegal use of anabolic steroids and blood-doping agents as the two primary targets of the biological-passport project. The first study module for the Maddy lab would be an ABP that would indicate abnormalities in the natural biosynthesis of equine testosterone.We know the effects anabolic steroids have on the muscles last well beyond the presence of the drug and because of that are not detectable with our normal testing, Arthur said. We think we can measure abnormalities in the steps along the way that indicate the animal has been doped with an anabolic agent.The idea of an equine biological passport is gaining supporters. Jonathan Allen, a practicing vet based in south Florida, became a believer after a reputable lab tested the blood of two groups of horses in his care. One of the sample groups had recently arrived from another racing region.We know things like cobalt and EPO are used to enhance oxygen delivery to muscles, Allen said. But the traditional tests for blood doping are expensive and unreliable.Allen is an amateur club cyclist who does not need to look far to see the likely effects of blood enhancement.There are probably guys I cycle with that are going all the time to these wellness clinics and are doing HGH, testosterone, Allen said. Im from Boca Raton, the land of ever young. My neighbor is 72, pumping iron, wearing testosterone patches - all under a doctors prescription.The biological passports of human athletes contain a blood measure that accounts for the normal distribution and width (RDW) of red blood cells. A simple, pre-race blood test for racehorses would need to conform closely to the informationn established in their personal passport.dddddddddddd A marginally abnormal reading would require a follow-up test, while dramatic abnormalities would be cause for the horse to be scratched.Dr. Raquel Walton, the equine pathologist, has written that there are three main reasons for RDWs to be abnormal in horses, Allen said. The first would be some kind of hemolytic anemia, where your horse is sick and not producing a sufficient amount of red blood cells. The second would be a massive blood loss. And the third one would be if the horse was given EPO or another substance that stimulates red blood cells above and beyond the normal level.It stands to reason that an anemic horse or a horse who has just suffered a large blood loss would not be doing much training, let alone be entered to race.This is not looking for the smoking gun, Allen said. Its looking for the crime scene. There is no positive called, no suspensions or fines, and no cause for a trainer to lawyer up. It is a biological pre-race examination, just as horses are required to pass a pre-race physical examination and could be scratched for a suspicious tendon.No one supporting the biological-passport concept is suggesting that it will replace conventional small-molecule drug testing since analgesics and stimulants do not alter RDW benchmarks. The best comparison, according to Arthur, is the pre-race testing instituted in California and other jurisdictions several years ago for total carbon dioxide levels in the blood. Levels above a certain threshold were indicative of a practice known as milkshaking.We now have about 300,000 TCO2 levels in our database, Arthur said. We can follow a horses levels from start to start, from barn to barn. You just have to let people know youre paying attention.And when, Arthur was asked, was the last high TCO2 called in California?We havent had one in two years, he replied.With more persuasive pressure from veterinarians like Arthur and Allen, in both public and private sectors, the equine biological passport will become a reality, and horse racing will join the 21st century when it comes to policing its players. Hopefully, California will be the first of many racing jurisdictions to make such a commitment.It may be ambitious, but weve set a goal to be able to have a fairly good data test for this a year from now, Arthur said, referring to the biological passport for anabolic steroids. This is important, and Im excited about the prospects. I think most people realize that if we cant provide real integrity for horse racing -- not just the perception -- then nothing works. ' ' '