Monthly Archives: June 2012

Mississippi barrier islands closed until Debby passes

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Tropical storm warning dropped for Louisiana Tropical storm warning dropped for Louisiana

Updated: Sunday, June 24 2012 4:47 PM EDT2012-06-24 20:47:13 GMT

Updated: Saturday, June 23 2012 5:21 PM EDT2012-06-23 21:21:00 GMT

Updated: Friday, June 22 2012 5:55 PM EDT2012-06-22 21:55:19 GMT

Updated: Wednesday, June 20 2012 2:34 PM EDT2012-06-20 18:34:34 GMT

The National Park Service just posted this warning on its website.Mississippi's barrier islands are closed until Tropical Storm Debby passes. And the islands will remain closed until further notice.

The coastal waters of Mississippi are under a tropical storm warning. Those are the waters immediately south of the barrier islands.

A coastal flood warning has been issued for Harrison and Hancock Counties. And a coastal flood advisory is in effect for Jackson County.

Copyright 2012 WLOX. All rights reserved.

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Mississippi barrier islands closed until Debby passes

Genome-wide analysis shows previously undetected abnormalities in parents of affected children

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Public release date: 24-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mary Rice mary.rice@riceconseil.eu European Society of Human Genetics

Nuremberg, Germany: The use of genome-wide array analysis[1] in parents whose children are suspected of having a genetic disease shows that the parents frequently also have previously undetected genetic abnormalities, a researcher from The Netherlands told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Sunday). Being aware of this is important to parents because it means that their risk of having another affected child is significantly increased.

Dr. Nicole de Leeuw, a clinical laboratory geneticist in the Department of Human Genetics of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in Nijmegen, and colleagues performed genome-wide SNP[2] array analysis in 6,500 patients and 1,874 parents. The patients had intellectual disability and/or congenital abnormalities, and the parents of those in whom an aberration was detected were tested in a similar way to determine whether they had the same aberration as their child. Mosaic aberrations, where both genetically normal and abnormal cells are present in an individual, were not only found in one in every 300 patients, but in one in every 270 parents as well. "These abnormalities occurred more frequently than we had expected", said Dr. de Leeuw. "Armed with this knowledge, we can try to understand not only why, but also how genetic disease arises in individuals, and this can help us to provide better genetic counselling."

Analysis of patients' genomes showed 6.5% de novo (spontaneously arising) genomic imbalances, 9.1% of rare, inherited imbalances, and 0.8% of X-linked abnormalities. Moreover, with the additional data from their SNP array test results, the researchers were able to subsequently find pathogenic mutations in recessive disease genes, uniparental disomies (where a single chromosome is doubled leading to two genetically identical ones), and mosaic aneuploidies (an extra or missing chromosome in some of the cells of the body) in about 30 patients.

"In at least seven families, these findings meant that what we had thought of as a spontaneously arising, non-inherited genetic abnormality in a child was in fact already present in some form in the parent", said Dr. de Leeuw. "Furthermore, when we tested in different cell lines for example, DNA from blood and that from a mouth swab we often found that results varied. This is because mosaic aberrations can occur in cells in some organs and not in others, and underlines the importance of not just relying on one type of cell line for this kind of genetic diagnosis."

In two cases these tissue-dependent differences changed over time, and the researchers believe that this was due to an attempt by the body to correct and rescue the situation. "Such rescue attempts are best known in cases of trisomy, where there are three chromosomes instead of two in a cell, or monosomy, where there is only one. In both these cases, the body may try to correct the situation by respectively deleting or adding (doubling) a chromosome. Such rescue mechanisms may be more common than we expected, and by using genome-wide SNP array analysis it will help us to reveal them. For some patients, it would be particularly interesting if we could test multiple samples of these patients over time", said Dr. de Leeuw.

The majority of genetic diseases are not treatable, but in some cases a special diet may reduce the severity of the symptoms ,for example, in phenylketonuria (PKU) or in coeliac disease, in others the same can be obtained by periodic examination of certain organs (for example in Down syndrome or Marfan syndrome). Sometimes hormone treatment will be of benefit to the patient, for example growth hormone treatment in Turner syndrome. For most patients with a genetic disorder, there is no cure, but knowing the genetic cause of their disease may help and improve the care for these patients through knowledge about other patients with the same disease. And if the family is at risk of a genetic disease, couples considering having children can be better informed as to their options, the researchers say.

"By using genome-wide array analysis to look for imbalances in the human genome, we will uncover more and more accurate findings in patients. This will not only increase our knowledge of genetic disorders and the human genome in general, but if we can also collect the clinical features of these patients in a structured and uniform way, the information will become increasingly valuable. Fortunately, this is becoming easier due to advances in tools and software applications, and many professionals in the academic and commercial world have agreed to collaborate in order to substantially increase the genotype/phenotype collection and make these anonymised data publicly available to medical professionals in order to improve patient care worldwide", Dr. de Leeuw concluded.

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Health-care ruling will cap a consequential week for Obama

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This is the most important week of President Obamas bid for a second term in November.

Consider:

The Supreme Court will rule not only on the constitutionality of Obamas landmark health-care law, but the highest court in the country also will hand down judgment on Arizonas stringent illegal immigration law.

Congress will be forced into action (or inaction) on federal student loans and highway projects both of which will expire within the next week.

The House will vote on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress due to his refusal to turn over some documents related to the Fast and Furious gunrunning operation.

Any one of those issues in isolation would be a major political event with resultant consequences on the presidential race. Combined them all in the space of a week and we may well look back at this coming seven days as where/when Obamas second term bid was made/broken.

We are in a short period right now where the candidates and the terms of the presidential debate will be defined, with several critical issues coming to a head and voters perceptions of the economy, and who will best deal with it, clarifying, said Steve Rosenthal, a longtime Democratic strategist.

First among equals when it comes to its impact on the dialogue of the presidential race is the Supreme Courts ruling on the Affordable Care Act, which is set to be handed down either Monday or Thursday.

The administration and Democrats spent the better part of a year wrestling the bill through Congress amid unified Republican opposition and worries within their party that they were doing too much too fast. When he signed the legislation into law, Obama touted it as a historic moment insisting he had done something that seven presidents had tried and failed to do and telling ABCs Charlie Gibson in December 2009 that this will be the single most important piece of domestic legislation passed since Social Security.

Given that proclamation, if the Court rules against the law its hard not to see it as a repudiation of a major part of Obamas first term in office.

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Health-care ruling will cap a consequential week for Obama

Health care reform: Connecticut officials anxiously await Supreme Court decision

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By Mary E. OLeary, Topics Editor moleary@nhregister.com / Twitter: @nhrmoleary

There is a lot at stake.

Connecticut officials, like the rest of the country, are anxiously awaiting the Supreme Courts decision on health care reform, which could be announced as early as Monday.

It is generally conceded that the Obama administration has lost the public relations war over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the reforms will remain controversial no matter what is upheld or struck down by the high court as the country heads to a presidential election in November.

Much of the discussion has centered on whether the individual mandate to buy insurance is constitutional, but changes to the wide-ranging market reforms that are rolling out, the establishment of insurance exchanges and a vote against increasing the Medicaid population could prove to be more problematic for the states.

It is estimated the Affordable Care Act would add coverage for some 30 million uninsured Americans, a total of 17 million through expanding Medicaid.

In Connecticut, estimates by the Rand Corporation are that 130,000 additional people would be on Medicaid, with 100 percent of the cost of the new enrollees picked up by the federal government for three years from 2014-16, slowly declining to 90 percent by 2020.

Rand estimated 10 percent of Connecticuts nonelderly population, or 310,000, will participate in the insurance exchange now being worked on, while the number of uninsured by 2016 will be about half of what it would be, or 170,000, rather than 340,000, if the ACA wasnt in effect.

Its hard to find a person who will not be touched by this decision, said Vicki Veltri, Connecticuts health care advocate. Everyone with coverage and those who need coverage will be affected in some way.

The court will look at the division of power between the states and the federal government and the ability of Congress to regulate commerce. It will decide if sections of the law can stand alone and whether this is the right time to rule on the constitutionality of the ACA or if it has to wait until 2014 tax returns are filed in 2015.

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Health care reform: Connecticut officials anxiously await Supreme Court decision

Health care proposal gives Louisiana more Medicaid spending flexibility

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WASHINGTON -- With the Supreme Court days away from ruling on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's 2010 health care overhaul legislation, members of Congress are preparing to respond. One of the first out of the gate is Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, a doctor. Cassidy has introduced a bill that would change funding for Medicaid, the joint federal/state health program for the poor and disabled, that would give states more flexibility in spending scarce health resources.

Under the legislation, a state's share of funding would be limited to what is currently the lowest matching amount for the 50 states: the 24 percent share paid by Mississippi. Louisiana's matching share under the bill would drop from 27.2 percent to 24 percent.

Savings to the states would be offset, though, because Cassidy's bill would bar the use of other federal funds, or interagency transfers -- what the congressman calls "funny money" -- to pay the state matching shares.

As part of the plan, which Cassidy describes as a work in progress, states would be free to design health programs for their Medicaid recipients, and would be able to use savings from better preventative care, and elimination of fraud and abuse, to finance other Medicaid related programs.

"By modernizing the way Medicaid is financed and incentivizing better care, we can improve Medicaid's bottom line and patient outcomes," Cassidy said. "If nothing is done, the status quo will eventually bankrupt Medicaid and America. I hope this legislation encourages more debate and discussion on this critical topic."

The federal funding would be based on the number of Medicaid recipients in each state in four broad categories: elderly; blind or disabled; children; and adults. In that way, it differs from a block grant program that designates federal funds on a per-capita basis. Cassidy said funding should be based on Medicaid populations and the degree of care different groups of patients require.

For instance, he said, Louisiana has high levels of intense poverty, which carry high levels of diabetes, hypertension and kidney dialysis.

Louisiana Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein praised the Cassidy proposal, saying it would enable the state to develop innovative programs that will both lower costs and improve health. Greenstein talked about implementing an "outcome-based" reimbursement formula for Medicaid health providers, rather than the traditional pay per procedure.

The state has faced major cuts in Medicaid reimbursement, but Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., has helped pass a legislative fix that averted a major financial crisis.

Cassidy, who is thought to be a likely 2014 opponent to Landrieu's expected re-election bid, said he hopes his proposal can be crafted with input from members of both parties in a way that can get it through the House and Senate next year.

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Health care proposal gives Louisiana more Medicaid spending flexibility

Dr Rima Laibow 4/4 Speaks on Codex Alimentarius – Video

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23-06-2012 23:23 Dr Rima Laibow Speaks on Codex Alimentarius Global Eugenics -- Using Medicine To Kill' is a feature length documentary using a collaboration of various materials. It covers topics such as the swine flu, vaccines and vaccinations, quarantine, water, depopulation, eugenics, Monsanto, gm seeds, Agenda 21, and Codex Alimentarius. In 2008, BA Brooks, a director specialized in meanwhile at The New York Film Academy in the creation of digital movies, launched his first exclusive documentary created with videos downloaded from YouTube, a technique that was used successfully in the documentary at hand, Global EUGENlCS -- Using Medicine to Kill, from 2009, which in over two hours of footage, he could afford to treat a wide range of topics: the avian flu and swine and their possible genetic manipulation, the vaccines and the aggressive vaccination campaigns, the origins of AIDS / HIV , martial law, medical news, water, GD Searle and genetically modified food, Agenda 21 -- the imposition of "sustainable development", HR 875 -- the legislation enforcement of the Codex Alimentarius in the US and others, all of which can be grouped under a single logo -- eugenic politics.

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Dr Rima Laibow 4/4 Speaks on Codex Alimentarius - Video

Dr Rima Laibow 3/4 Speaks on Codex Alimentarius – Video

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23-06-2012 23:23 Dr Rima Laibow Speaks on Codex Alimentarius Global Eugenics -- Using Medicine To Kill' is a feature length documentary using a collaboration of various materials. It covers topics such as the swine flu, vaccines and vaccinations, quarantine, water, depopulation, eugenics, Monsanto, gm seeds, Agenda 21, and Codex Alimentarius. In 2008, BA Brooks, a director specialized in meanwhile at The New York Film Academy in the creation of digital movies, launched his first exclusive documentary created with videos downloaded from YouTube, a technique that was used successfully in the documentary at hand, Global EUGENlCS -- Using Medicine to Kill, from 2009, which in over two hours of footage, he could afford to treat a wide range of topics: the avian flu and swine and their possible genetic manipulation, the vaccines and the aggressive vaccination campaigns, the origins of AIDS / HIV , martial law, medical news, water, GD Searle and genetically modified food, Agenda 21 -- the imposition of "sustainable development", HR 875 -- the legislation enforcement of the Codex Alimentarius in the US and others, all of which can be grouped under a single logo -- eugenic politics.

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Dr Rima Laibow 3/4 Speaks on Codex Alimentarius - Video

Dr Rima Laibow 2/4 Speaks on Codex Alimentarius – Video

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23-06-2012 23:24 Dr Rima Laibow Speaks on Codex Alimentarius Global Eugenics -- Using Medicine To Kill' is a feature length documentary using a collaboration of various materials. It covers topics such as the swine flu, vaccines and vaccinations, quarantine, water, depopulation, eugenics, Monsanto, gm seeds, Agenda 21, and Codex Alimentarius. In 2008, BA Brooks, a director specialized in meanwhile at The New York Film Academy in the creation of digital movies, launched his first exclusive documentary created with videos downloaded from YouTube, a technique that was used successfully in the documentary at hand, Global EUGENlCS -- Using Medicine to Kill, from 2009, which in over two hours of footage, he could afford to treat a wide range of topics: the avian flu and swine and their possible genetic manipulation, the vaccines and the aggressive vaccination campaigns, the origins of AIDS / HIV , martial law, medical news, water, GD Searle and genetically modified food, Agenda 21 -- the imposition of "sustainable development", HR 875 -- the legislation enforcement of the Codex Alimentarius in the US and others, all of which can be grouped under a single logo -- eugenic politics.

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Dr Rima Laibow 2/4 Speaks on Codex Alimentarius - Video

Gene mutations cause massive brain asymmetry

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ScienceDaily (June 24, 2012) Hemimegalencephaly is a rare but dramatic condition in which the brain grows asymmetrically, with one hemisphere becoming massively enlarged. Though frequently diagnosed in children with severe epilepsy, the cause of hemimegalencephaly is unknown and current treatment is radical: surgical removal of some or all of the diseased half of the brain.

In a paper published in the June 24, 2012 online issue of Nature Genetics, a team of doctors and scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, say de novo somatic mutations in a trio of genes that help regulate cell size and proliferation are likely culprits for causing hemimegalencephaly, though perhaps not the only ones.

De novo somatic mutations are genetic changes in non-sex cells that are neither possessed nor transmitted by either parent. The scientists' findings -- a collaboration between Joseph G. Gleeson, MD, professor of neurosciences and pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego; Gary W. Mathern, MD, a neurosurgeon at UC Los Angeles' Mattel Children's Hospital; and colleagues -- suggest it may be possible to design drugs that inhibit or turn down signals from these mutated genes, reducing or even preventing the need for surgery.

Gleeson's lab studied a group of 20 patients with hemimegalencephaly upon whom Mathern had operated, analyzing and comparing DNA sequences from removed brain tissue with DNA from the patients' blood and saliva.

"Mathern had reported a family with identical twins, in which one had hemimegalencephaly and one did not. Since such twins share all inherited DNA, we got to thinking that there may be a new mutation that arose in the diseased brain that causes the condition," said Gleeson. Realizing they shared the same ideas about potential causes, the physicians set out to tackle this question using new exome sequencing technology, which allows sequencing of all of the protein-coding exons of the genome at the same time.

The researchers ultimately identified three gene mutations found only in the diseased brain samples. All three mutated genes had previously been linked to cancers.

"We found mutations in a high percentage of the cells in genes regulating the cellular growth pathways in hemimegalencephaly," said Gleeson. "These same mutations have been found in various solid malignancies, including breast and pancreatic cancer. For reasons we do not yet understand, our patients do not develop cancer, but rather this unusual brain condition. Either there are other mutations required for cancer propagation that are missing in these patients, or neurons are not capable of forming these types of cancers."

The mutations were found in 30 percent of the patients studied, indicating other factors are involved. Nonetheless, the researchers have begun investigating potential treatments that address the known gene mutations, with the clear goal of finding a way to avoid the need for surgery.

"Although counterintuitive, hemimegalencephaly patients are far better off following the functional removal or disconnection of the enlarged hemisphere," said Mathern. "Prior to the surgery, most patients have devastating epilepsy, with hundreds of seizures per day, completely resistant to even our most powerful anti-seizure medications. The surgery disconnects the affected hemisphere from the rest of the brain, causing the seizures to stop. If performed at a young age and with appropriate rehabilitation, most children suffer less language or cognitive delay due to neural plasticity of the remaining hemisphere."

But a less-invasive drug therapy would still be more appealing.

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Gene mutations cause massive brain asymmetry

Think tank: freedom, not pay, is best motivation

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Cash-strapped businesses should look to incentivise staff by giving them a degree of autonomy.

How do you incentivise your staff without paying them more money?

It is a question that is keeping a growing number of owners of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) awake at night as they grapple with poor growth prospects and the impact of a double-dip recession.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, less than a third of SME employers are expecting to give pay rises to their employees in 2012.

For companies that have traditionally used the carrot approach of dangling the prospect of pay rises, promotions and bonuses in front of employees to spur them on, the realisation that the cupboard is bare is especially daunting.

One possible solution to the problem is to give a delayed monetary incentive in the form of share options, but that will only work if you give them to all employees, otherwise resentments will fester.

Realistically it will also only be an option for certain types of business. And if the current growth prospects for the business really are negligible, then it is debatable just how much of an incentive a tiny sliver of a future theoretical pot of gold will really be.

The good news for cash-strapped SME owners is there are many non-monetary ways to incentivise and motivate staff. The even better news is that these may well turn out to be even more effective than a pay rise would have been.

Indeed, using money as a way of motivating employees is actually not nearly as effective as people generally think.

Non-monetary factors, such as being given some autonomy over how tasks are carried out, the freedom to make decisions about issues that affect them and having achievements praised and acknowledged, have been repeatedly shown to be far more effective in motivating people. Flexible working arrangements and being given time off are equally valued.

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Catholics, Protestants rally in Oklahoma City for religious freedom

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Copyright 2010. The Associated Press. Produced by NewsOK.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

A religious gathering punctuated by fiery speeches and standing ovations brought Catholics and Protestants together Saturday, united against a common enemy.

Frank Cargill, Superintendent of the Oklahoma District Council of the Assemblies of God, speaks during an ecumenical rally for religious freedom at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, OK, Saturday, June 23, 2012, By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman

Rally for Religious Freedom speakers, including a Roman Catholic archbishop, a Pentecostal leader and a Southern Baptist pastor, said threats to religious liberty should trouble all people of faith.

The rally at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City was hosted by a group of Catholic laity called St. Peter's Fellowship, and it drew about 3,200 people. Organizers said it was held in conjunction with the Fortnight For Freedom, a faith initiative born out of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' outrage over a U.S. Health and Human Services mandate that effectively requires faith-affiliated organizations to pay for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.

In his speech that kicked off the rally, the Most Rev. Paul S. Coakley, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, said the broader and most troubling concern about the federal mandate is what the U.S. bishops see as the federal government's infringement on religious liberty.

The government has picked this fight, and we cannot afford to back away from it. There is simply too much at stake for us all, Coakley said.

He reminded those in attendance that the Fortnight For Freedom is a rallying cry for the faithful to pray against threats to religious freedom, to help educate others about the issues at hand and to stand with American bishops in their battle against the mandate.

The government has no business defining religion or religious entities, Coakley said, adding that the religious freedom issue is not a partisan issue.

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Eco-friendly air conditioning gaining ground in GCC

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(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Evaporative air conditioning of outdoor environment is the new trend in the Gulf and its demand is fast rising especially with the advent of summer.

"We forecast exponential growth over the next five years and all countries in the GCC region are supporting environmentally friendly and energy-efficient sources of air conditioning," Sabu Abraham, managing director of UAE-based ClimaGulf, told Khaleej Times during an interview.

Being cost-effective is the main advantage of evaporative air conditioning over conventional, refrigerated air conditioning as it consumes as little as 20 per cent of energy.

ClimaGulf has just been appointed master distributor in the GCC for Breezair, the evaporative air conditioning technology brand manufactured by Australian company Seeley International, following its success in promoting this concept in the UAE.

In the UAE, Breezair systems have been installed in diverse sites including Al Wasl vehicle testing centres; large commercial kitchens for hospitality and catering companies in Ruwais; the outdoor dining area for Fenyala Restaurant at Qanat Al Qasba; the Lucy switchgear manufacturing plant; RAK Ceramics' kiln area; leisure and heritage destinations like the Sharjah Heritage area; the Sky Diving Institute located on Al Ain Road; and secondary cooling for HVAC at the Streit Vehicle Factory in Ras Al Khaimah.

Abraham explained that the reasons for the rapid growth in the region could be enumerated as: increasing awareness of effectiveness of air-cooling systems during peak summer conditions in GCC; increasing electricity costs and low-energy consumption of air-cooling systems; and consciousness of health and safety in work places requiring comfort conditions in hotter industrial and construction environment. In five years time, ClimaGulf aims to be the market leader with a 20 per cent market share of branded evaporative cooling systems in the GCC region, he said. About the country in which the demand is highest, Abraham said that initially, Breezair was promoted only in the UAE.

As a result, demand is high in the UAE with the product being installed at several sites across the country. Further, it has been tried and tested successfully at several other locations in the UAE that are suitable for this type of air conditioning.

"We expect this trend to catch on soon in the neighbouring GCC states once we have established our regional distribution network. Conditions typical to countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait or even Al Ain in the UAE are ideal for these systems. However, due to the lack of awareness or probably due to lower energy tariffs, even these regions have been slow in picking up demand. The main reason could be attributed to lack of leading brands in these markets," Abraham said.

Evaporative air conditioning technology is ideal for hotter climates like the Middle East, as it cools air naturally, effectively and efficiently, he said. It is a simple process, wherein the cool breeze is created by hot ambient air passing over water-soaked cooling pads. Natural evaporation helps soak up the heat and cools the hot air. The effect created by evaporative air conditioning is similar to the cooler conditions found at or near large expanses of water.

Abraham said that some of the places where evaporative air conditioning can be used include schools and universities, factories, warehouses, commercial kitchens, outdoor Majlis, tents, outdoor restaurants, airports and hangars, bus stops, public and private zoo, sports grounds, outdoor swimming pools and in poultry farming.

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Cyborg system stifles your need to drink water

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9 hrs.

Morgan Clendaniel , Co.Exist

The Japanese design studio Takram was asked to design a water bottle for people to use after a hypothetical future environmental disaster. Takram, imagining what a world would be like with rising sea levels and radioactive disasters, thought that we probably wouldnt be carrying around water bottles. Instead, they designed an entirely new organ system, to be implanted in the body, that would mean we used less water in the first place.

Its solution, called the Hydrolemic System, involves both harvesting more moisture from the air than our current unmodified bodies are capable of, and also doing more to retain the water we have. The company imagines that system would require us to drink 0.1 cups of water a day.

Inserts that go in our noses convert moisture in the air we breathe into water, and other inserts at the ends of our renal and digestive systems keep water from leaving by those routes. A collar on our neck helps prevent perspiration by turning our body heat into electricity, so it doesnt make us perspire, losing precious liquid.

Click through the slide show for more details.

Let'shope for a world in which our designers are just designing water bottles with more convenient handles, rather than ones you have to go to the hospital to have installed.

Morgan Clendanielis editor of Co.Exist.

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Bama beaches convenient, but no Snooki, Pauly D., Washington Post notes

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Outside Looking In: What people outside Alabama are saying about the state:

Bob Carden of The Washington Post first discovered the beauty of Alabama's beaches when first visiting his future in-laws 21 years ago.

"I once called Gulf Shores the Jersey Shore of the South, and my wife almost slung a bowl of crawfish gumbo at me," he writes. "She was offended that I would compare the beaches of her youth to those of Snooki and Pauly D. But in some ways, it's true. If you're from Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi or the Midwest, this is your closest, best ocean beach. Like New Jersey, it draws from a wide area - geographically and otherwise. But comparisons probably end there.

"There are no kitschy boardwalks. It's more grits and less guido. The beaches are free. Alcohol and food are permitted. And, for all that's consumed, the beaches stay pretty clean. Visitors respect the beauty of the place."

Join the conversation by clicking to comment or email Richter atgrichter@bhamnews.com.

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RNLI lifeguards return to posts

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24 June 2012 Last updated at 08:23 ET

The RNLI's summer lifeguards are returning to patrol four of Ceredigion's busiest beaches.

The lifeguards will be stationed at Aberystwyth north, Llangrannog, New Quay and Aberporth beaches from this weekend.

They returned briefly in Aberystwyth for the Diamond Jubilee bank holiday weekend earlier this month.

They start work at Borth, Clarach, Aberystwyth south and Tresaith beaches on 7 July.

The lifeguards will be at their posts daily from 10:00 to 16:00 BST until 2 September.

The scheme started in Pembrokeshire in 2008 and was extended to take in Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Ceredigion a year later.

The lifeguards have already completed two weeks of intense training and passed fitness tests.

Councillor Gareth Lloyd, who is responsible for tourism on Ceredigion council, said: "We look forward to another incident free summer on Ceredigion's beaches in the safe hands of the RNLI lifeguards."

Elin Jones, RNLI lifeguard supervisor, said the lifeguards were eager to return to their posts.

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RNLI lifeguards return to posts

Do sugary snacks make you stupid?

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By Madeline Haller Men's Health

Prepping for a big presentation but can't seem to remember any of the content? Blame your sweet tooth.

A diet high in sugar may hamper your memory and ability to learn, says a study published in the Journal of Physiology.

Researchers had two groups of rats drink water mixed with fructose, a type of sugar. One of the groups also received omega-3 fatty acids as a part of their diet. After 6 weeks, the rats who drank only sugar water completed a maze slower than the omega-3-fed mice. (We know you're not a mouse -- but you can still take steps to navigate the maze of life. Check out these 27 Ways to Power Up Your Brain.)

Not only were they slower in the maze, the rats who drank only sugar water had higher triglyceride, glucose, and insulin levels. It appears that they entered a state of insulin resistance, which is where the hormone insulin becomes less effective at lowering your blood sugar, says Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, Ph.D., lead study author and a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Why did sugar wreak havoc on their system?

Here's how it works: Insulin, in addition to controlling blood sugar, also influences the ways in which your brain cells operate. And within the hippocampus -- the part of the brain responsible for short-term and long-term memory -- insulin signaling actually facilitates memory. Therefore, an insulin resistance may be what's causing a disruption in the rats' ability to recall the route they'd learned 6 weeks ago, the researchers hypothesize.

But the good news is, omega-3 fatty acids appeared to have protective effect on the brain.

How so? Although the researchers are unaware of what's happening on a molecular level in the brain, Gomez-Pinilla says it may have to do with the large amount of DHA (the type of omega-3 fatty acid they monitored in the study) that's already present in the brain.

So could sugar slow down your brain, too? The researchers say yes. But since the study monitored the rats for nearly two months, the effect on humans would take several years of exposure to fructose to see these effects. (If you're looking to wean yourself off of sugar, check out these 9 Sneaky Ways to Eat Less.)

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Healthy market addition: Complete Nutrition wants to expand in El Paso

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One of the nation's fastest-growing franchises is planning to open several stores in El Paso.

Complete Nutrition, which specializes in weight loss, sports nutrition and healthy aging products, will have the stores operating by the end of this year, officials said.

Each store will add six to 10 jobs.

"We would like to try to develop two stores in the next 12 months," Steve Brewster, director of development for Complete Nutrition, said in an email. "Ultimately, we hope to have a presence of three to four stores in El Paso.

The company would like to have its stores next to sites with strong co-tenants such as well-known national brands Target, Verizon, Starbucks and Chipotle.

El Paso is ideal for franchise expansion based on a number of carefully measured factors, Brewster said.

"Based on our market analysis and the strength of the Complete Nutrition brand, we are confident that El Paso will be a successful market to enter," he said. "With more than 50 percent of adult Americans taking a daily supplement, the room for growth in communities such as El Paso is limitless."

Company officials are looking for El Pasoans interested in becoming franchisees, he said.

"There has been some franchising interest in the area," Brewster said. "We're still working on the discovery process to find the right owner-operator with health and industry knowledge."

The expansion into the El Paso market is part of a nationwide expansion initiative, which aims to increase Complete

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Healthy market addition: Complete Nutrition wants to expand in El Paso