Fifty-three percent of U.S. residents said that they or a family member have cut back on medical care in the past year because of cost concerns, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll released Thursday, the AP/Kansas City Star reports. The study found that the most common ways of cutting back on care to avoid costs were relying on over-the-counter drugs or home remedies instead of seeing a doctor (35%) or skipping a dentist visit (34%). In addition, 27% said their household put off needed medical care. Of that group, 19% percent skipped a doctor's visit for a temporary illness and 19% skipped preventive care. Twenty-one percent chose not to fill a prescription and 15% cut pills in half or skipped doses, according to the poll. Sixteen percent chose not to deal with a major medical problem by forgoing a doctor's visit for a chronic illness or postponing surgery, the poll found (Mokrzycki, AP/Kansas City Star, 2/26).
"Experts and policymakers have multiple agendas in health reform, but when half the public reports skimping on care because they can't afford it, it's very clear that what the public wants most from health reform is relief from health care costs," said Kaiser President and CEO Drew Altman (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 2/25).
The poll also found support for President Obama's proposed health care overhaul despite the economic recession. Sixty-two percent said that "it's more important than ever to take on health care reform now," while 34% said that the nation cannot afford health reform at this time. The poll found 59% believe that the U.S. would be better off if Congress and the president overhauled the health care system, while 38% said that their own family would be better off and 43% said that it would make no difference for their family (AP/Kansas City Star, 2/26). Democrats (79%) believe health reform is more important than ever and 57% of independents believe so. On the other hand, 58% of Republicans say the nation cannot afford to tackle health care reform at this point (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 2/25).
The poll questioned 1,204 adults by landline and cell phone between Feb. 3 and Feb. 12. The sampling error was plus or minus three percentage points (AP/Kansas City Star, 2/26).
The poll is available online.
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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Commitment To Conducting More Basic Research In Search For HIV/AIDS Vaccine 'Prudent,' Editorial Says
The cancellation last fall of a Merck HIV/AIDS vaccine trial was "branded as a 'catastrophe' by one scientist and as setting the race for a cure 'back to square one' by others," a Washington Post editorial says, adding, "The hyperbole is understandable, but some perspective is in order."
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has "cut a destructive path across entire continents and all socioeconomic, racial and ethnic groups," the editorial says. It adds, "Americans and people around the world have agitated against government indifference and public apathy to instill a sense of urgency to develop medicines that would ease suffering of those with the disease and to ultimately find a vaccine." However, finding a "vaccine is neither easy nor fast," and "failure of human vaccine trials is common," according to the Post. There is "still much that isn't known about the virus or AIDS," the editorial says, adding, "So what might look like a devastating failure to the public could be a steppingstone to advanced medications and an eventual cure." Scientists involved in the Merck trial answered the "series of questions" they were "looking to answer," the Post says, adding, "The answers just weren't the ones the scientists were hoping for."
Scientists involved in HIV/AIDS vaccine research last month at a meeting convened by NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases "rededicated themselves to conducting more basic research," according to the editorial. This "approach is prudent," the editorial says, concluding that although the "impatience of those who want a cure" is understandable, "that solution will require better science" (Washington Post, 4/21).
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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The HIV/AIDS pandemic has "cut a destructive path across entire continents and all socioeconomic, racial and ethnic groups," the editorial says. It adds, "Americans and people around the world have agitated against government indifference and public apathy to instill a sense of urgency to develop medicines that would ease suffering of those with the disease and to ultimately find a vaccine." However, finding a "vaccine is neither easy nor fast," and "failure of human vaccine trials is common," according to the Post. There is "still much that isn't known about the virus or AIDS," the editorial says, adding, "So what might look like a devastating failure to the public could be a steppingstone to advanced medications and an eventual cure." Scientists involved in the Merck trial answered the "series of questions" they were "looking to answer," the Post says, adding, "The answers just weren't the ones the scientists were hoping for."
Scientists involved in HIV/AIDS vaccine research last month at a meeting convened by NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases "rededicated themselves to conducting more basic research," according to the editorial. This "approach is prudent," the editorial says, concluding that although the "impatience of those who want a cure" is understandable, "that solution will require better science" (Washington Post, 4/21).
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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Energy Dept's Office Of Science Awards 95 Million Hours Of Supercomputing Time To Advance Research
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science announced today that 45 projects were awarded a total of 95 million hours of computing time on some of the world's most powerful supercomputers as part of its 2007 Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program. DOE's Under Secretary for Science Dr. Raymond Orbach presented the awards at the Council on Competitiveness in Washington, DC.
Supercomputers are playing an increasingly important role in scientific research by allowing scientists to create more accurate models of complex processes, simulate problems once thought to be impossible, and to analyze the increasing amount of data generated by experiments. The supercomputers will allow cutting-edge research and design of virtual prototypes to be carried out in weeks or months, rather than the years or decades that would be needed using conventional computing systems.
"The Department of Energy's Office of Science has one of the top ten most powerful supercomputers in the world and 4 of the top 100 and we're proud to provide these resources to help researchers advance scientific knowledge and understanding," Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said. "I look forward to witnessing the promise of these efforts as some of the world's greatest thinking minds use some of the world's greatest thinking computers."
Of the programs selected, nine are from industry and include five new proposals and four continuations from last year. This will double the number of companies with INCITE awards in 2007 compared to 2006 - a clear indication that U.S. industry has realized the potential benefits of our nation's investment in high-end computing.
Launched in 2003, the INCITE mission is to advance American science and industrial competitiveness. These awards will assist in that mission by support computationally intensive, large-scale research projects and award them large amounts of dedicated time on DOE supercomputers. The projects, with applications from aeronautics to astrophysics, consumer products to combustion research, were competitively chosen based on the potential impact of the science and engineering research and the suitability of the project for use of supercomputers.
"One of the most important aspects of the INCITE program is that the resulting knowledge will largely be available, so that the information and technologies can be used by other researchers, further broadening the impact of this work," Dr. Orbach said. "Our scientific leadership underpins nearly every aspect of our economy and by making these resources available to a broad range of science and engineering disciplines, we believe the resulting work will make us more competitive in the years and decades to come."
Processor-hours refer to how time is allocated on a supercomputer. A project receiving one million hours could run on 2,000 processors for 500 hours, or about 21 days. Running a one-million-hour project on a single-processor desktop computer would take more than 114 years.
Research areas to be addressed in 2007 include accelerator physics, astrophysics, chemical sciences, climate research, computer science, engineering physics, environmental science, fusion energy, life sciences, materials science, nuclear physics and nuclear engineering. Fact sheets describing the projects can be found at: science.doe/ .
Practical applications of the research include designing quieter cars, improving commercial aircraft design, advancing fusion energy, studying supernova, understanding nanomaterials, studying global climate change, and the causes of Parkinson's disease.
For 2007, the projects were awarded time at DOE's Leadership Computing Facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, and the Molecular Science Computing Facility at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington.
Industrial firms receiving new 2007 INCITE awards include Corning Inc., Fluent Inc., General Atomics, and Procter and Gamble. Firms with renewed awards are DreamWorks Animation, Pratt and Whitney, The Boeing Co., and General Atomics.
University researchers receiving INCITE awards represent Auburn University; Fisk University; Northwestern University; the University of Alaska, Fairbanks; the University of California campuses at Davis, Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Cruz; the University of Chicago; the University of Colorado; the University of Michigan; the University of Rochester; the University of Washington; and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
DOE scientists receiving awards conduct research at Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Sandia National Laboratories, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
Awards were also made to researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Max-Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Germany.
The Council on Competitiveness is the only non-governmental group of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and labor leaders committed to driving U.S. competitiveness through the creation of high-value economic activities such as the INCITE program, to ensure the prosperity of all Americans.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the nation and helps ensure U.S. world leadership across a broad range of scientific disciplines. For more information about the Office of Science, go toscience.doe/.
Contact: Jeff Sherwood
DOE/US Department of Energy
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Supercomputers are playing an increasingly important role in scientific research by allowing scientists to create more accurate models of complex processes, simulate problems once thought to be impossible, and to analyze the increasing amount of data generated by experiments. The supercomputers will allow cutting-edge research and design of virtual prototypes to be carried out in weeks or months, rather than the years or decades that would be needed using conventional computing systems.
"The Department of Energy's Office of Science has one of the top ten most powerful supercomputers in the world and 4 of the top 100 and we're proud to provide these resources to help researchers advance scientific knowledge and understanding," Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said. "I look forward to witnessing the promise of these efforts as some of the world's greatest thinking minds use some of the world's greatest thinking computers."
Of the programs selected, nine are from industry and include five new proposals and four continuations from last year. This will double the number of companies with INCITE awards in 2007 compared to 2006 - a clear indication that U.S. industry has realized the potential benefits of our nation's investment in high-end computing.
Launched in 2003, the INCITE mission is to advance American science and industrial competitiveness. These awards will assist in that mission by support computationally intensive, large-scale research projects and award them large amounts of dedicated time on DOE supercomputers. The projects, with applications from aeronautics to astrophysics, consumer products to combustion research, were competitively chosen based on the potential impact of the science and engineering research and the suitability of the project for use of supercomputers.
"One of the most important aspects of the INCITE program is that the resulting knowledge will largely be available, so that the information and technologies can be used by other researchers, further broadening the impact of this work," Dr. Orbach said. "Our scientific leadership underpins nearly every aspect of our economy and by making these resources available to a broad range of science and engineering disciplines, we believe the resulting work will make us more competitive in the years and decades to come."
Processor-hours refer to how time is allocated on a supercomputer. A project receiving one million hours could run on 2,000 processors for 500 hours, or about 21 days. Running a one-million-hour project on a single-processor desktop computer would take more than 114 years.
Research areas to be addressed in 2007 include accelerator physics, astrophysics, chemical sciences, climate research, computer science, engineering physics, environmental science, fusion energy, life sciences, materials science, nuclear physics and nuclear engineering. Fact sheets describing the projects can be found at: science.doe/ .
Practical applications of the research include designing quieter cars, improving commercial aircraft design, advancing fusion energy, studying supernova, understanding nanomaterials, studying global climate change, and the causes of Parkinson's disease.
For 2007, the projects were awarded time at DOE's Leadership Computing Facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, and the Molecular Science Computing Facility at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington.
Industrial firms receiving new 2007 INCITE awards include Corning Inc., Fluent Inc., General Atomics, and Procter and Gamble. Firms with renewed awards are DreamWorks Animation, Pratt and Whitney, The Boeing Co., and General Atomics.
University researchers receiving INCITE awards represent Auburn University; Fisk University; Northwestern University; the University of Alaska, Fairbanks; the University of California campuses at Davis, Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Cruz; the University of Chicago; the University of Colorado; the University of Michigan; the University of Rochester; the University of Washington; and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
DOE scientists receiving awards conduct research at Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Sandia National Laboratories, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
Awards were also made to researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Max-Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Germany.
The Council on Competitiveness is the only non-governmental group of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and labor leaders committed to driving U.S. competitiveness through the creation of high-value economic activities such as the INCITE program, to ensure the prosperity of all Americans.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the nation and helps ensure U.S. world leadership across a broad range of scientific disciplines. For more information about the Office of Science, go toscience.doe/.
Contact: Jeff Sherwood
DOE/US Department of Energy
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Fc-gamma RIII: The Alternative To The TCR For NKT Cell-activation
A small subpopulation of T cells known as NKT cells (because in addition to proteins expressed by other T cell-populations they also express markers of NK cells, which are a distinct immune cell-type) promotes disease in an antibody-induced mouse model of arthritis. But researchers have yet to determine how the NKT cells are activated to cause disease in this model of arthritis. In a study appearing online on August 17 in advance of print publication in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Doo Hyun Chung and colleagues from Seoul National University College of Medicine show that engagement of Fc-gamma receptor III (Fc-gamma RIII) by aggregated IgG can activate NKT cells and promote disease. The authors showed that the only Fc-gamma receptor expressed by NKT cells is Fc-gamma RIII and that stimulation of NKT cells through this receptor using aggregated IgG was sufficient to activate the cells. Importantly, wild-type NKT cells, but not NKT cells lacking Fc-gamma RIII, mediated antibody-induced joint inflammation when transferred to mice lacking NKT cells and the ability to stimulate NKT cells through their TCR. The demonstration in this study that NKT cells can be activated by stimulation through Fc-gamma RIII alone should impact approaches for the treatment of autoantibody-induced joint inflammation.
TITLE: Fc-gamma RIII engagement provides activating signals to NKT cells in antibody-induced joint inflammation
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Doo Hyun Chung
Seoul National University College of Medicine
Seoul, Republic of Korea
E-mail: doohyunplaza.snu.ac.kr
View the PDF of this article at: AUTOIMMUNITY
JCI table of contents: August 17, 2006
Contact: Karen Honey
Journal of Clinical Investigation
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TITLE: Fc-gamma RIII engagement provides activating signals to NKT cells in antibody-induced joint inflammation
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Doo Hyun Chung
Seoul National University College of Medicine
Seoul, Republic of Korea
E-mail: doohyunplaza.snu.ac.kr
View the PDF of this article at: AUTOIMMUNITY
JCI table of contents: August 17, 2006
Contact: Karen Honey
Journal of Clinical Investigation
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Innovative Program Connects Minority Computer Science Students To Prepare Them For The Future
Javier Rosa is a on a mission. As an undergraduate at Rutgers University double-majoring in computer science and mathematics, he hopes to one day pursue an advanced degree in computer science with a focus on computational biology or bioinformatics and work to fight cancer.
Many college students studying at top-tier research universities have similarly ambitious goals, but two factors make Javier's academic journey particularly remarkable. For one thing, his passion for fighting cancer is personal--he was diagnosed with testicular cancer last year. Secondly, he is one of the few students from a minority background studying computer science at a tier-one research institution.
According to Richard A. Tapia, professor at Rice University, many minority students enrolled in undergraduate computer science programs at these institutions feel isolated and unsupported. As a result, he says, many leave the field to pursue a different major. "Students migrate to more welcoming degree programs," Tapia says, "where they feel they have support and a high probability of success."
Tapia and colleagues at nearly a dozen universities have teamed up with private industry and other groups to provide that support and prevent what he calls the "loss of the precious few" minority students majoring in computer science. He serves as director of the Empowering Leadership (EL) Alliance, an organization supported by funding from the National Science Foundation to provide these students with a community of support as they pursue their degrees.
"At the nation's top institutions, there are many choices inside and outside the university environment that offer vibrant opportunities and a welcoming environment," Tapia says. "We aim to provide both within the computing disciplines."
The EL Alliance's work could not come at a more crucial time. Despite the importance of information technology to the U.S. economy and society, the number of students from all backgrounds pursuing doctorates in computer science has actually declined in recent years. The statistics are even more dire for students from minority backgrounds. Such students are under-represented as undergraduates, and at the graduate level only 3 percent of doctorate students in computer science are African-American, Native American or Hispanic. Given that minority populations are the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population, this trend will continue unless efforts are made to reverse it.
One of the tools the EL Alliance uses is bringing these students together so they can meet and support each other. This past October, hundreds of students from around the country, many from the EL Alliance, came to Orlando for the Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing conference where they interacted with national leaders in computing from the academic and business sectors. The Alliance has also established an online mentoring group that connects undergraduate and graduate students with national leaders in the computing fields who can offer their experience and advice as students make their way through their academic careers. The Alliance has also created a group on Facebook for its members to connect with each other.
These are just a few of the activities that Alliance members have in mind as they enter their second year. The partnership itself is comprised of universities, including Rice University; Boston University; University of California, Berkeley; University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Texas, Austin; University of IllinoisArizona State University, Auburn University, Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Duke University, Harvey Mudd College, Portland State University, Princeton University, Purdue University, University of Maryland, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Several national laboratories and research centers such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Center for Women in IT, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Renaissance Computing Institute, Sandia National Laboratories are also involved, along with several professional societies such the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Computing Machinery, the Computing Research Association and corporations such as AMD Corporation, HP, IBM, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation and Texas Instruments.
Rosa attended the Tapia Celebration and said it helped him visualize his own participation in academic conferences, something he plans to do in the near future. "I really enjoyed the exposure to other people who were promoting their ideas and experiences," Rosa says, "as well as the opportunity to meet with so many role models and fellow students."
Source: Dana Cruikshank
National Science Foundation
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Many college students studying at top-tier research universities have similarly ambitious goals, but two factors make Javier's academic journey particularly remarkable. For one thing, his passion for fighting cancer is personal--he was diagnosed with testicular cancer last year. Secondly, he is one of the few students from a minority background studying computer science at a tier-one research institution.
According to Richard A. Tapia, professor at Rice University, many minority students enrolled in undergraduate computer science programs at these institutions feel isolated and unsupported. As a result, he says, many leave the field to pursue a different major. "Students migrate to more welcoming degree programs," Tapia says, "where they feel they have support and a high probability of success."
Tapia and colleagues at nearly a dozen universities have teamed up with private industry and other groups to provide that support and prevent what he calls the "loss of the precious few" minority students majoring in computer science. He serves as director of the Empowering Leadership (EL) Alliance, an organization supported by funding from the National Science Foundation to provide these students with a community of support as they pursue their degrees.
"At the nation's top institutions, there are many choices inside and outside the university environment that offer vibrant opportunities and a welcoming environment," Tapia says. "We aim to provide both within the computing disciplines."
The EL Alliance's work could not come at a more crucial time. Despite the importance of information technology to the U.S. economy and society, the number of students from all backgrounds pursuing doctorates in computer science has actually declined in recent years. The statistics are even more dire for students from minority backgrounds. Such students are under-represented as undergraduates, and at the graduate level only 3 percent of doctorate students in computer science are African-American, Native American or Hispanic. Given that minority populations are the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population, this trend will continue unless efforts are made to reverse it.
One of the tools the EL Alliance uses is bringing these students together so they can meet and support each other. This past October, hundreds of students from around the country, many from the EL Alliance, came to Orlando for the Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing conference where they interacted with national leaders in computing from the academic and business sectors. The Alliance has also established an online mentoring group that connects undergraduate and graduate students with national leaders in the computing fields who can offer their experience and advice as students make their way through their academic careers. The Alliance has also created a group on Facebook for its members to connect with each other.
These are just a few of the activities that Alliance members have in mind as they enter their second year. The partnership itself is comprised of universities, including Rice University; Boston University; University of California, Berkeley; University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Texas, Austin; University of IllinoisArizona State University, Auburn University, Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Duke University, Harvey Mudd College, Portland State University, Princeton University, Purdue University, University of Maryland, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Several national laboratories and research centers such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Center for Women in IT, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Renaissance Computing Institute, Sandia National Laboratories are also involved, along with several professional societies such the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Computing Machinery, the Computing Research Association and corporations such as AMD Corporation, HP, IBM, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation and Texas Instruments.
Rosa attended the Tapia Celebration and said it helped him visualize his own participation in academic conferences, something he plans to do in the near future. "I really enjoyed the exposure to other people who were promoting their ideas and experiences," Rosa says, "as well as the opportunity to meet with so many role models and fellow students."
Source: Dana Cruikshank
National Science Foundation
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Influenza's Achilles Heel Discovered By Scientists
As the nation copes with a shortage of vaccines for H1N1 influenza, a team of Alabama researchers have raised hopes that they have found an Achilles' heel for all strains of the flu - antioxidants. In an article appearing in the November 2009 print issue of the FASEB Journal (fasebj) they show that antioxidants - the same substances found in plant-based foods - might hold the key in preventing the flu virus from wreaking havoc on our lungs.
"The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza and the rapid spread of this strain across the world highlights the need to better understand how this virus damages the lungs and to find new treatments," said Sadis Matalon, co-author of the study. "Additionally, our research shows that antioxidants may prove beneficial in the treatment of flu."
Matalon and colleagues showed that the flu virus damages our lungs through its "M2 protein," which attacks the cells that line the inner surfaces of our lungs (epithelial cells). Specifically, the M2 protein disrupts lung epithelial cells' ability to remove liquid from inside of our lungs, setting the stage for pneumonia and other lung problems. The researchers made this discovery by conducting three sets of experiments using the M2 protein and the lung protein they damage. First, frog eggs were injected with the lung protein alone to measure its function. Second, researchers injected frog eggs with both the M2 protein and the lung protein and found that the function of the lung protein was significantly decreased. Using molecular biology techniques, scientists isolated the segment of the M2 protein responsible for the damage to the lung protein. Then they demonstrated that without this segment, the protein was unable to cause damage. Third, the full M2 protein (with the "offending" segment intact) and the lung protein were then re-injected into the frog eggs along with drugs known to remove oxidants. This too prevented the M2 protein from causing damage to the lung protein. These experiments were repeated using cells from human lungs with exactly the same results.
"Although vaccines will remain the first line of intervention against the flu for a long time to come, this study opens the door for entirely new treatments geared toward stopping the virus after you're sick," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal, "and as Thanksgiving approaches, this discovery is another reason to drink red wine to your health."
Details: Ahmed Lazrak, Karen E. Iles, Gang Liu, Diana L. Noah, James W. Noah, and Sadis Matalon. Influenza virus M2 protein inhibits epithelial sodium channels by increasing reactive oxygen species. FASEB J. doi:10.1096/fj.09-135590 ; fasebj/cgi/content/abstract/23/11/3829
Source: Cody Mooneyhan
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
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"The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza and the rapid spread of this strain across the world highlights the need to better understand how this virus damages the lungs and to find new treatments," said Sadis Matalon, co-author of the study. "Additionally, our research shows that antioxidants may prove beneficial in the treatment of flu."
Matalon and colleagues showed that the flu virus damages our lungs through its "M2 protein," which attacks the cells that line the inner surfaces of our lungs (epithelial cells). Specifically, the M2 protein disrupts lung epithelial cells' ability to remove liquid from inside of our lungs, setting the stage for pneumonia and other lung problems. The researchers made this discovery by conducting three sets of experiments using the M2 protein and the lung protein they damage. First, frog eggs were injected with the lung protein alone to measure its function. Second, researchers injected frog eggs with both the M2 protein and the lung protein and found that the function of the lung protein was significantly decreased. Using molecular biology techniques, scientists isolated the segment of the M2 protein responsible for the damage to the lung protein. Then they demonstrated that without this segment, the protein was unable to cause damage. Third, the full M2 protein (with the "offending" segment intact) and the lung protein were then re-injected into the frog eggs along with drugs known to remove oxidants. This too prevented the M2 protein from causing damage to the lung protein. These experiments were repeated using cells from human lungs with exactly the same results.
"Although vaccines will remain the first line of intervention against the flu for a long time to come, this study opens the door for entirely new treatments geared toward stopping the virus after you're sick," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal, "and as Thanksgiving approaches, this discovery is another reason to drink red wine to your health."
Details: Ahmed Lazrak, Karen E. Iles, Gang Liu, Diana L. Noah, James W. Noah, and Sadis Matalon. Influenza virus M2 protein inhibits epithelial sodium channels by increasing reactive oxygen species. FASEB J. doi:10.1096/fj.09-135590 ; fasebj/cgi/content/abstract/23/11/3829
Source: Cody Mooneyhan
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
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Study By Anthony Norman Advocates Higher Intake Of Vitamin D To Help Prevent Diseases
Essential for life in higher animals, vitamin D, once linked to only bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, is now recognized as a major player in contributing to overall human health, emphasizes UC Riverside's Anthony Norman, an international expert on vitamin D.
In a paper published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Norman identifies vitamin D's potential for contributions to good health in the adaptive and innate immune systems, the secretion and regulation of insulin by the pancreas, the heart and blood pressure regulation, muscle strength and brain activity. In addition, access to adequate amounts of vitamin D is believed to be beneficial towards reducing the risk of cancer.
Norman also lists 36 organ tissues in the body whose cells respond biologically to vitamin D. The list includes bone marrow, breast, colon, intestine, kidney, lung, prostate, retina, skin, stomach and the uterus.
According to Norman, deficiency of vitamin D can impact all 36 organs. Already, vitamin D deficiency is associated with muscle strength decrease, high risk for falls, and increased risk for colorectal, prostate and breast and other major cancers.
"It is becoming increasingly clear to researchers in the field that vitamin D is strongly linked to several diseases," said Norman, a distinguished professor emeritus of biochemistry and of biomedical sciences who has worked on vitamin D for more than 45 years. "Its biological sphere of influence is much broader than we originally thought. The nutritional guidelines for vitamin D intake must be carefully reevaluated to determine the adequate intake, balancing sunlight exposure with dietary intake, to achieve good health by involving all 36 target organs."
Vitamin D is synthesized in the body in a series of steps. First, sunlight's ultraviolet rays act on a precursor compound in skin. When skin is exposed to sunlight, a sterol present in dermal tissue is converted to vitamin D, which, in turn, is metabolized in the liver and kidneys to form a hormone. It was Norman's laboratory that discovered, in 1967, that vitamin D is converted into a steroid hormone by the body.
The recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 200 international units (IU) for people up to 50 years old. The recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 400 IU for people 51 to 70 years old and 600 IU for people over 70 years old. Norman's recommendation for all adults is to have an average daily intake of at least 2000 IU.
"To optimize good health you must have enough vitamin D," he said. "Vitamin D deficiency is also especially of concern in third world countries that have poor nutritional practices and religious customs that require the body to be covered from head to toe. Ideally, to achieve the widest frequency of good health by population, we need to have 90 percent of the people with adequate amounts of vitamin D."
About half of the elderly in North America and two-thirds of the rest of the world are not getting enough vitamin D to maintain healthy bone density, lower their risks for fracture and improve tooth attachment.
"There needs to be a sea change by various governmental agencies in terms of the advice they present to citizens about how much vitamin D should be taken," Norman said. "The tendencies of people to live in cities where tall buildings block adequate sunlight from reaching the ground, to spend most of their time indoors, to use synthetic sunscreens that block ultraviolet rays, and to live in geographical regions of the world that do not receive adequate sunlight all contribute to the inability of the skin to biosynthesize sufficient amounts of vitamin D."
Found in minute amounts in food, vitamins are organic substances that higher forms of animals need to grow and sustain normal health. Vitamins, however, are not synthesized in sufficient amounts to meet bodily needs. Therefore, the body must acquire them through diet or in the form of supplements.
Because it is found in very few foods naturally, milk and other foods (often orange juice) are fortified with vitamin D.
While deficiency of vitamin D impacts health negatively, ingestion of extremely high doses of vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia, a condition in which the blood's calcium level is above normal. The highest daily 'safe' dose of vitamin D is 10,000 IU.
"More than ever we need to increase the amount of research on vitamin D, with more funding from government agencies and pharmaceutical companies, to meet the challenge of preserving or improving the health of everyone on the planet," Norman said.
Norman is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Ernst Oppenheimer Award from the Endocrine Society; the Mead Johnson Award and the Osborne and Mendel Award from American Institute of Nutrition; and the William F. Neuman Award from the American Society of Bone & Mineral Research. He is a fellow of the American Association Advancement Science as well as the American Society for Nutritional Sciences.
A grant he received in the late 1960s from the National Institutes of Health to study vitamin D has been renewed consecutively for 41 years, totaling more than $9 million.
The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment of about 17,000 is expected to grow to 21,000 students by 2020. The campus is planning a medical school and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion. To learn more, visit ucr.edu/.
Source: Iqbal Pittalwala
University of California - Riverside
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In a paper published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Norman identifies vitamin D's potential for contributions to good health in the adaptive and innate immune systems, the secretion and regulation of insulin by the pancreas, the heart and blood pressure regulation, muscle strength and brain activity. In addition, access to adequate amounts of vitamin D is believed to be beneficial towards reducing the risk of cancer.
Norman also lists 36 organ tissues in the body whose cells respond biologically to vitamin D. The list includes bone marrow, breast, colon, intestine, kidney, lung, prostate, retina, skin, stomach and the uterus.
According to Norman, deficiency of vitamin D can impact all 36 organs. Already, vitamin D deficiency is associated with muscle strength decrease, high risk for falls, and increased risk for colorectal, prostate and breast and other major cancers.
"It is becoming increasingly clear to researchers in the field that vitamin D is strongly linked to several diseases," said Norman, a distinguished professor emeritus of biochemistry and of biomedical sciences who has worked on vitamin D for more than 45 years. "Its biological sphere of influence is much broader than we originally thought. The nutritional guidelines for vitamin D intake must be carefully reevaluated to determine the adequate intake, balancing sunlight exposure with dietary intake, to achieve good health by involving all 36 target organs."
Vitamin D is synthesized in the body in a series of steps. First, sunlight's ultraviolet rays act on a precursor compound in skin. When skin is exposed to sunlight, a sterol present in dermal tissue is converted to vitamin D, which, in turn, is metabolized in the liver and kidneys to form a hormone. It was Norman's laboratory that discovered, in 1967, that vitamin D is converted into a steroid hormone by the body.
The recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 200 international units (IU) for people up to 50 years old. The recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 400 IU for people 51 to 70 years old and 600 IU for people over 70 years old. Norman's recommendation for all adults is to have an average daily intake of at least 2000 IU.
"To optimize good health you must have enough vitamin D," he said. "Vitamin D deficiency is also especially of concern in third world countries that have poor nutritional practices and religious customs that require the body to be covered from head to toe. Ideally, to achieve the widest frequency of good health by population, we need to have 90 percent of the people with adequate amounts of vitamin D."
About half of the elderly in North America and two-thirds of the rest of the world are not getting enough vitamin D to maintain healthy bone density, lower their risks for fracture and improve tooth attachment.
"There needs to be a sea change by various governmental agencies in terms of the advice they present to citizens about how much vitamin D should be taken," Norman said. "The tendencies of people to live in cities where tall buildings block adequate sunlight from reaching the ground, to spend most of their time indoors, to use synthetic sunscreens that block ultraviolet rays, and to live in geographical regions of the world that do not receive adequate sunlight all contribute to the inability of the skin to biosynthesize sufficient amounts of vitamin D."
Found in minute amounts in food, vitamins are organic substances that higher forms of animals need to grow and sustain normal health. Vitamins, however, are not synthesized in sufficient amounts to meet bodily needs. Therefore, the body must acquire them through diet or in the form of supplements.
Because it is found in very few foods naturally, milk and other foods (often orange juice) are fortified with vitamin D.
While deficiency of vitamin D impacts health negatively, ingestion of extremely high doses of vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia, a condition in which the blood's calcium level is above normal. The highest daily 'safe' dose of vitamin D is 10,000 IU.
"More than ever we need to increase the amount of research on vitamin D, with more funding from government agencies and pharmaceutical companies, to meet the challenge of preserving or improving the health of everyone on the planet," Norman said.
Norman is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Ernst Oppenheimer Award from the Endocrine Society; the Mead Johnson Award and the Osborne and Mendel Award from American Institute of Nutrition; and the William F. Neuman Award from the American Society of Bone & Mineral Research. He is a fellow of the American Association Advancement Science as well as the American Society for Nutritional Sciences.
A grant he received in the late 1960s from the National Institutes of Health to study vitamin D has been renewed consecutively for 41 years, totaling more than $9 million.
The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment of about 17,000 is expected to grow to 21,000 students by 2020. The campus is planning a medical school and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion. To learn more, visit ucr.edu/.
Source: Iqbal Pittalwala
University of California - Riverside
Buy Ditropan Without Prescription
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