Monthly Archives: August 2012

Nutrition month culminating program set Friday

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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

OUTSTANDING nutrition workers will be showcased during the 38th Nutrition month culminating program at 9 a.m. on August 3 at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center auditorium.

Assistant Secretary Maria Bernardita Flores of the National Nutrition Council (NNC) will be the speaker for the occasion, which has the theme, Pagkain ng Gulay Ugaliin, Araw-araw Itong Ihain.

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Service Awardees who have served for five to 35 years, Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS), Outstanding Nutrition Action Officer (BNAO), Outstanding Nutrition committee shall be given plaques of recognition and tokens during the program.

Other winners of the search for the outstanding pot garden, cooking contests, recycled cloth handy bag contest, and other contests will be awarded with Flores, Mayor Mauricio Domogan, Nutrition Program coordinator Angelita Sabado, City Health Officer Dr. Florence Reyes, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center Dr. Manuel Factora and other officials.

Members of the City Nutrition Council will also present some of the awards.

Mayor Domogan will also give his message during the program with Outstanding BNS 2011 Monica Sicat, Outstanding BNAO 2011 Jo Ann Alvez conducting the national anthem and Baguio Hymn, respectively.

Popular local singer Ingrid Payaket shall give an intermission, as with a performance by the Pines City National High School.

Barangay nutrition representatives and constituents are expected to be at the venue, dressed in Filipiniana or ethnic attire for the occasion.

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Nutrition month culminating program set Friday

DNA, Contortionist

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The DNA forms known as G-quadruplexes are finally discovered in human cells.

In 1962, researchers at the National Institutes of Health identified peculiar twists of DNA shaped into four-stranded structures, rather than the double helix that had come to define DNA. For much of the 50 years since the discovery of these structures, now known as G-quadruplexes, it was felt that those findings were a laboratory curiosity, an artifact if you will, says Stephen Neidle of University College London. Still, researchers were intrigued by these test-tube structures because they were made exclusively from guanines and were stable at physiological conditions. Yet evidence for their existence in human cells remained elusive. Its almost become more religion than science, says Steve Jackson of the University of Cambridge. Some believed in them, some didnt.

To end the debate, Jacksons lab teamed up with the lab of Shankar Balasubramanian, also at Cambridge. They used a small molecule called pyridostatin, which binds to G-quadruplexes in vitro, to try to ferret out these structures in human cells, and found that, like other small molecules that bind quadruplexes in vitro, pyridostatin induces a DNA damage response. The team took advantage of this response by exposing cells to pyridostatin and cross-linking the DNA to a damage-response protein, a histone called H2AX. After zeroing in on the genomic foci of this damage response, the group used high-throughput sequencing to determine which genes pyridostatin had targeted and determined that they were indeed regions with a high tendency toward G-quadruplex formation. It shows that G-quadruplexes really [do exist] in human cells in culture, Jackson says.

The findings are a triumph for those who had believed that G-quadruplexes exist in vivo. Pyridostatin doesnt induce G-quadruplexes to form, Jackson points out, but binds to those that already exist.

What G-quadruplexes are doing in the genome still remains unanswered. I think probably in some cases G-quadruplexes are problems that need to be resolved by the cell, says Jackson. For instance, others have reported that in yeast it appears that the helicase Pif1 unwinds G-quadruplex structures to maintain genomic stability. Jacksons group also found overlap between pyridostatin damage and Pif1 targets.

I think in other cases, the idea that they can have positive functions is very appealing, says Jackson. Given that telomeres can form G-quadruplexes, its possible that the structures are involved in facilitating telomeres unique structure or preventing them from being recognized as broken bits of DNA, Jackson speculates. Or perhaps G-quadruplexes are involved in regulating transcription, since they also form in promoter regions, making them possible targets for small-molecule therapies to arrest cancers cell cycle. Although G-quadruplex research has been conducted for half a century, Jackson says, its still early days.

R. Rodriguez et al., Small-moleculeinduced DNA damage identifies alternative DNA structures in human genes, Nat Chem Biol, 8:301-10, 2012.

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DNA, Contortionist

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Rare fungus enhances sexual prowess

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From May to July every year, dozens of Nepalise fungus collectors scale up the Himalayas to find a rare caterpillar fungus believed to be an immunity booster and aphrodisiac.

Reuters reports the rare fungus is created when a spore attacks a caterpillar, killing it and creating the yarsagumba fungus which grows out of the insect's body.

The fungus is especially popular in Chinese medicine, fetching more than $US100 per kilo due to its many medicinal benefits.

'It is an aphrodisiac, it is used as a tonic, for vitality. Recent research also showed that it is useful for anti-tumour, and anti-aging drug,' Cordyceps research student Uttam Babu told Reuters.

The exportation of the fungus was only legalized in 2001 and since then sales have skyrocked, particularly in China.

Dipendra Bhandari, a film director who made a movie on the collecting of yarsagumba, explains the reason behind the super fungi's popularity.

'It's known to be used in Chinese traditional medicines since 1500 to 2000 ago. Speaking with various people during my research, I am told they use it mainly for the sexual powers,' he told Reuters.

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Rare fungus enhances sexual prowess

Love of nature defines Florida Wildlife Federation chairman’s career

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By Randall P. Lieberman

For Jim Schuette, spirituality is synonymous with love of nature.

The Loxahatchee resident came by his love of nature as a boy in Wisconsin. His parents raised hunting dogs and his grandfather was a fishing guide. Schuette loved to spend his summers with his grandfather, learning to fish and trap animals.

Schuette went on to earn a bachelors degree in wildlife management from the University of Minnesota and a masters in wildlife ecology from Oklahoma State.

To get experience between his schooling, Schuette took volunteer jobs throughout the world, working for such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management in Montana, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Kentucky, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association in Alaska, the United States Forest Service in Arizona and the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso.

My favorite was identifying prairie falcon nests in Montana, Schuette said. We would go camping and were provided with a place to sleep and $35 a week to buy peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches. It makes for great stories to tell your children when they start complaining.

In 1991, Schuette graduated from Oklahoma State and came to Florida to work as a land manager for the Florida Game and Freshwater Commission, now the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He worked for that organization for 20 years, assigned to the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area in northwestern Palm Beach County.

We managed everything on the 60,000 acres of land, including trying to achieve a three-year burn rotation, he said.

Six years ago Schuette became a board member of the Florida Wildlife Federation, becoming chairman for a two-year term in September 2010. He says he has grown as a person in that role.

We have 25 very strong personalities on the board, Schuette said. It is a challenge to direct all the energies in the same direction. Ive learned to better communicate, coordinate and organize.

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Space freighter undocks from space station

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The Progress M-15M unmanned cargo spacecraft. Credit: NASA TV

MOSCOW, July 31 (UPI) -- A Russian spacecraft has undocked from the International Space Station for a three-week scientific mission before it is buried in the Pacific, officials said.

The Progress M-15M unmanned cargo spacecraft undocked early Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.

"The undocking was carried out at 01.16 Moscow time," Russia's Mission Control said. "The spacecraft will conduct a series of scientific experiments under the Radar-Progress project."

That project is intended to study the impact of space engines on the Earth's ionosphere.

"After the project is completed the space freighter will be de-orbited and sunk in the Pacific," Mission Control announced.

The freighter, which arrived at the ISS in April, undocked July 23 to test an upgraded Russian automated rendezvous system.

The first attempt to re-dock with the ISS using the Kurs-NA system resulted in failure, but the spacecraft successfully docked on a second attempt July 29 after Russian engineers had reprogrammed the system.

Russia is planning to launch its next space freighter, the Progress M-16M, from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on Aug. 1 to deliver some 2 tons of food, water and fuel supplies to the ISS, RIA Novosti reported.

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Space freighter undocks from space station

Barbara Cohen to Talk Mars Exploration

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PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Source: Marshall Space Flight Center

Barbara Cohen to Talk Mars Exploration

What: On Aug. 2, Dr. Barbara Cohen, a planetary scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will talk about the history and future of NASA's exploration of Mars as part of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Pass the Torch Inspiration Lecture Series. The event is free and open to the public.

The lecture will highlight NASA's successful series of Mars rovers, from Pathfinder, to Spirit and Opportunity, to the Mars Curiosity rover. Curiosity is scheduled to land on the Red Planet at 12:30 a.m. CDT Aug. 6. The event will be broadcast live on Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc

Who: Dr. Barbara Cohen is a science and operations team member for the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which continue to explore Mars after eight years. Cohen's science interests focus on the formation and evolution of the Earth, moon, Mars and asteroids. At Marshall, she helps plan new planetary robotic missions and develops new techniques to understand planetary samples in the laboratory and robotically.

When: Thursday, Aug. 2, 5 p.m. CDT

Where: U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Davidson Center for Space Exploration 3D theater

To attend: News media interested in covering the event should contact Tim Hall at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center at 256-701-0916, or Angela Storey in the Marshall Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0034 no later than 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1.

For more information about the Mars landing, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mars

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Barbara Cohen to Talk Mars Exploration

NASA's Curiosity rover completes crucial course correction en route to Mars

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NASA's car sized Curiosity Mars Science Lab fired its thrusters to set in on course for its scheduled touchdown in the Red Planet'sGale Crater, where, if the landing goes well, it will begin searching for signs of habitability.

Now just 1 week out from landing beside a 3 mile high (5 km) layered Martian mountain in search of lifes ingredients, aiming thrusters aboard the cruise stage of NASAs car sized Curiosity Mars Science Lab successfully fired to set the rover precisely on course for a touchdown on Mars at about 1:31 a.m. EDT (531 GMT) early on Aug. 6 (10:31 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5).

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Two precise and brief thruster bursts lasting about 7 seconds were successfully carried out just hours ago earlier today at 1 a.m. on July 29, EDT (10 p.m. PDT on July 28). The effect was to change the spacecrafts velocity by about 1/40 MPH or 1 cm/sec as it smashes into Mars at about 13,200 mph (5,900 meters per second).

This was the fourth and possibly last of 6 interplanetary Trajectory Correction Manuevers (TCMs) planned by mission engineers to steer Curiosity since departing Earth for the Red Planet.

If necessary, 2 additional TCMs could be implemented in the final 48 hours next Saturday and Sunday before Curiosity begins plunging into the Martian atmosphere late Sunday night on a do or die mission to land inside the 100 mile wide Gale Crater with a huge mountain in the middle. All 6 TCM maneuvers were preplanned long before the Nov 26, 2011 liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Without this course correction firing, MSL would have hit a point at the top of the Martian atmosphere about 13 miles (21 kilometers) east of the target entry point. During the preprogrammed Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) sequence the vehicle can steer itself in the upper atmosphere to correct for an error amounting to a few miles.

On landing day, MSL can steer enough during its flight through the upper atmosphere to correct for missing the target entry aim point by a few miles and still land on the intended patch of Mars real estate. The missions engineers and managers rated the projected 13-mile miss big enough to warrant a correction maneuver.

The purpose of this maneuver is to move the point at which Curiosity enters the atmosphere by about 13 miles, said Tomas Martin-Mur of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., chief of the missions navigation team. The first look at telemetry and tracking data afterwards indicates the maneuver succeeded as planned.

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NASA's Curiosity rover completes crucial course correction en route to Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover completes crucial course correction en route to Mars (+video)

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NASA's car sized Curiosity Mars Science Lab fired its thrusters to set in on course for its scheduled touchdown in the Red Planet'sGale Crater, where, if the landing goes well, it will begin searching for signs of habitability.

Now just 1 week out from landing beside a 3 mile high (5 km) layered Martian mountain in search of lifes ingredients, aiming thrusters aboard the cruise stage of NASAs car sized Curiosity Mars Science Lab successfully fired to set the rover precisely on course for a touchdown on Mars at about 1:31 a.m. EDT (531 GMT) early on Aug. 6 (10:31 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5).

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition

Two precise and brief thruster bursts lasting about 7 seconds were successfully carried out just hours ago earlier today at 1 a.m. on July 29, EDT (10 p.m. PDT on July 28). The effect was to change the spacecrafts velocity by about 1/40 MPH or 1 cm/sec as it smashes into Mars at about 13,200 mph (5,900 meters per second).

This was the fourth and possibly last of 6 interplanetary Trajectory Correction Manuevers (TCMs) planned by mission engineers to steer Curiosity since departing Earth for the Red Planet.

If necessary, 2 additional TCMs could be implemented in the final 48 hours next Saturday and Sunday before Curiosity begins plunging into the Martian atmosphere late Sunday night on a do or die mission to land inside the 100 mile wide Gale Crater with a huge mountain in the middle. All 6 TCM maneuvers were preplanned long before the Nov 26, 2011 liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Without this course correction firing, MSL would have hit a point at the top of the Martian atmosphere about 13 miles (21 kilometers) east of the target entry point. During the preprogrammed Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) sequence the vehicle can steer itself in the upper atmosphere to correct for an error amounting to a few miles.

On landing day, MSL can steer enough during its flight through the upper atmosphere to correct for missing the target entry aim point by a few miles and still land on the intended patch of Mars real estate. The missions engineers and managers rated the projected 13-mile miss big enough to warrant a correction maneuver.

The purpose of this maneuver is to move the point at which Curiosity enters the atmosphere by about 13 miles, said Tomas Martin-Mur of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., chief of the missions navigation team. The first look at telemetry and tracking data afterwards indicates the maneuver succeeded as planned.

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NASA's Curiosity rover completes crucial course correction en route to Mars (+video)

CWRU School of Medicine researchers discover gene that permanently stops cancer cell proliferation

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Public release date: 1-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Christine A. Somosi 216-368-6287 Case Western Reserve University

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered a mutant form of the gene, Chk1, that when expressed in cancer cells, permanently stopped their proliferation and caused cell death without the addition of any chemotherapeutic drugs. This study illustrates an unprecedented finding, that artificially activating Chk1 alone is sufficient to kill cancer cells.

"We have identified a new direction for cancer therapy and the new direction is leading us to a reduction in toxicity in cancer therapy, compared with chemotherapy or radiation therapy," said Dr. Zhang, assistant professor, Department of Pharmacology at the School of Medicine, and member of the university's Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. "With this discovery, scientists could stop the proliferation of cancer cells, allowing physicians time to fix cells and genetic errors."

While studying the basic mechanisms for genome integrity, Dr. Zhang's team unexpectedly discovered an active mutant form of human Chk1, which is also a non-natural form of this gene. This mutation changed the protein conformation of Chk1 from the inactive form into an active form. Remarkably, the research team discovered that when expressed in cancer cells, this active mutant form of Chk1 permanently stopped cancer cell proliferation and caused cell death in petri dishes even without the addition of any chemotherapeutic drugs.

The biggest advantage of this potential strategy is that no toxic chemotherapeutic drug is needed to achieve the same cancer killing effect used with a combination of Chk1 inhibitors and chemotherapeutic drugs.

Cells respond to DNA damage by activating networks of signaling pathways, termed cell cycle checkpoints. Central to these genome pathways is the protein kinase, called Chk1. Chk1 facilitates cell survival, including cancer cells, under stressful conditions, such as those induced by chemotherapeutic agents, by placing a temporary stop on the cell cycle progression and coordinating repair programs to fix the DNA errors.

It has long been suggested that combining Chk1 inhibition with chemotherapy or radiotherapy should significantly enhance the anticancer effect of these therapies. This idea has serves as the basis for multiple pharmaceutical companies searching for potential Chk1 inhibitors that can effectively combine with chemotherapy in cancer therapy. To date, no Chk1 inhibitor has passed the clinical trial stage III . This led Dr. Zhang's team to look for alternative strategies for targeting Chk1 in cancer therapy.

Future research by Dr. Zhang and his team will consider two possible approaches to artificially activating Chk1 in cancer cells. One possibility is to use the gene therapy concept to deliver the active mutant form of Chk1 that the team discovered, into cancer cells. The other is to search for small molecules that can induce the same conformational change of Chk1, so that they can be delivered into cancer cells to activate Chk1 molecules. The consequence of either would be permanent cell proliferation inhibition and cancer.

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CWRU School of Medicine researchers discover gene that permanently stops cancer cell proliferation

UW medicine chair appointed dean of Iowa College of Medicine

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Dr. Debra Schwinn will become dean of the Carver College of Medicine starting Nov. 1. Photo by Joshua Bessex.

The UW School of Medicine took a hit to its faculty ranks last week, when Debra Schwinn, the chair of the UWs department of anesthesiology and pain medicine, was appointed as the next dean of the University of Iowas Carver College of Medicine.

Schwinn, who also serves as an adjunct professor of pharmacology and genome sciences, came to the UW in 2007 after serving on the faculty of the Duke University Medical Center. She said the collaborative research and the environment at the UW were key to her decision to come.

The department was already strong, and I saw an opportunity to help it grow to be a model anesthesiology department in the U.S., outstanding in research as well as teaching and clinical care, said Schwinn.

Schwinn, who holds one Australian and four U.S. patents, is a nationally known investigator in molecular pharmacology and an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science.

Though leaving the UW after just five years, Schwinn said she is proud of the strides her programs have made. Under her watch, the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine established an interdisciplinary Mitochondria and Metabolism Center at UW Medicines South Lake Union campus, giving the school national prominence in mitochondrial biology. In addition, the schools chronic-pain program has become a world leader.

Our chronic-pain program, which had strong historical roots, has been transformed into an international leading program in outcomes-based clinical care as the vision of several key leaders who were recruited to UW from across the U.S. and Europe, said Schwinn. We have partnered with foundations and key visionary individuals who have donated funds to develop and enhance this center.

University of Iowa officials said Schwinn was a great pick for their open position.

Dr. Schwinn has an unmatched breadth and depth in her understanding of the future challenges and opportunities in academic medicine, said Donna Hammond, acting dean at the Carver College of Medicine. She is an extremely accomplished physician scientist, a committed educator and advocate of interprofessional education, and has a record of strong visionary leadership.

While Schwinn is excited to expand her role at Iowa, leaving the UW is bittersweet.

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UW medicine chair appointed dean of Iowa College of Medicine

Liberty Ross: 5 Things You Don't Know About Rupert Sanders' Wife

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Together for more than 15 years, Liberty Ross always stuck by the side of her husband Rupert Sanders -- but everything changed on July 17 when the director, 41, was photographed in a steamy tryst with the heroine of his film Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart. Us Weekly revealed the photos one week later.

PHOTOS: SEE ALL THE PICS FROM KRISTEN AND RUPERT'S AFFAIR!

"It's really shocking," a Ross insider tells Us. "She has been with Rupert since she was 18 -- they got together when she graduated. He's the only love she's known."

Here, Us uncovers five details about the married mom of two whose world was rocked by her husband's indiscretions with Stewart, 22.

NEWS: 6 myths about Kristen's fling with Rupert

1. Moving to Los Angeles to further her husband's film career, Ross admits she's resistant to change. "I romanticized domesticity for a while and loved having a shopping list of groceries stuck to the fridge for the first time," she told YOU Magazine two weeks before the scandal broke. "But moving here and starting a life all over again was a lot harder than I had anticipated. I just didn't think it would be as isolating and daunting as it turned out to be."

PHOTOS: Rob Pattinson's sexiest looks

2. Stewart earned her lead role in Snow White and the Huntsman partly due to her rapport with Ross. "Liberty really liked and trusted Kristen," explains a film source. "Liberty chose her to be in the movie based on how she and Kristen vibed and they got on well." Indeed, Ross confirmed to Celebuzz at the film's May premiere that "there is no better Snow White in my opinion. She is great." Ross landed her own small role in the film, playing the mother of a younger version of Stewart's character.

PHOTOS: Kristen and Rupert's road to scandal

3. Prior to her turn in Snow White, Ross -- who got her big break at 19 when Mario Testino photographed her for British Vogue -- enjoyed commercial success as a model for lines including Burberry in her native U.K.

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Liberty Ross: 5 Things You Don't Know About Rupert Sanders' Wife

Asylum seekers swim ashore at Cocos Islands

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A boat carrying 69 asylum seekers is believed to have arrived undetected at the Cocos Islands.

Local resident Jack O'Donnell, who has a beachfront house, says he spotted the boat just after 8:00 am local time, about 200 metres offshore.

He says four men on board then swam ashore.

"About 10 minutes later four of the refugees, they're Tamils, swam with life jackets through the surf," he said.

Mr O'Donnell says one man, who spoke broken English, said there were 69 people on board who were exhausted and in need of food.

"It was obviously crowded with bodies," he said.

"We were just worried that they might try and traverse the surf which would be dangerous, well, it would be catastrophic because it's jagged reef."

Mr O'Donnell says he alerted police who showed up and spoke to the four men.

It is understood the boat has been towed to the island's lagoon.

Customs has not been able to confirm any details.

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Asylum seekers swim ashore at Cocos Islands

Bank of the Philippine Islands 1st Half Net Profit up 52% at PHP9.4 Billion

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Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI.PH) said Wednesday its first-half net profit surged 52% to 9.4 billion pesos ($225 million) from PHP6.2 billion a year earlier, supported by a 24% improvement in revenues.

Net interest income in the January-June period rose 9% and fee-based income gained 51%, the bank said in a statement to the stock exchange.

The lender's loan portfolio totaled PHP480 billion in the first half, a 17% increase from a year earlier.

Net profit for the second quarter rose 8% to PHP3.6 billion from a year earlier.

Write to Cris Larano at cris.larano@dowjones.com and Rhea Sandique-Carlos at rhea.sandique-carlos@dowjones.com

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Bank of the Philippine Islands 1st Half Net Profit up 52% at PHP9.4 Billion

Bank of Philippine Islands 1st Half Net Jumps 52%; Record 1Q Profit Boosts

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Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI.PH) said Wednesday its first-half net profit surged 52% from the year-earlier period helped mainly by record profits in the first quarter but the company's chief operating officer warned of challenges ahead, including a squeeze on interest margins, which may weigh on earnings in the second-half.

BPI, the Philippines' third-largest lender by assets, said net profit in the January-June period climbed to 9.4 billion pesos ($225 million) from PHP6.2 billion a year earlier due mainly to strong revenue growth and record earnings in the first quarter, when the lender booked large trading gains.

In the April-June quarter, net profit just rose 8% to PHP3.6 billion from a year earlier.

"We expect challenges going forward especially on our net interest margin with the recent cut in the BSP overnight borrowing rate," said BPI COO Gil Buenaventura, referring to the 25-basis-point rate cut implemented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in July, increasing the total rate cut to 75 basis points since the start of the year.

Still, Mr. Buenaventura said the bank was ready to seize on opportunities arising from strong domestic economic growth. He said the bank is "actively participating" in several infrastructure deals, particularly those being pushed by the government under its public private partnership program.

He said that BPI remains confident it remains "on track" to delivering its target of 15% return on equity for 2012. With first-half net profit pointing to a 21% return on equity, the bank's earnings growth could moderate in the second half, he said.

Net interest income in the January-June period rose 9% and fee-based income gained 51%, the bank said in a statement to the stock exchange.

The lender's loan portfolio totaled PHP480 billion in the first half, a 17% increase from a year earlier.

At 0355 GMT, shares of BPI were up 1.9% to PHP74 as investors welcomed the first-half result. In comparison, the bellwether PSEi was down 0.2%.

Write to Cris Larano at cris.larano@dowjones.com and Rhea Sandique-Carlos at rhea.sandique-carlos@dowjones.com

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Bank of Philippine Islands 1st Half Net Jumps 52%; Record 1Q Profit Boosts

The "Harry Potter" magic

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Scientists have theorized that magical traits described in the Harry Potter series have a realistic connection to recessive genes in human genetics. University of Oxford geneticists Sreeram Ramagopalan, Marian Knight, George Ebers, and Julian Knight published a paper that analyzes the heritability of the described magical abilities in many of the characters.

In describing magical family lineages, they wrote:

We estimated familial aggregation to detect whether a characteristic has a genetic component. The final Harry Potter book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows goes into great detail about magical families, notable examples being the Black and Gaunt lineages. Although shared environmental influences can also lead to familial clustering of a trait, the presence of magical abilities in seven generations of the Black family and at least three generations in others strongly suggests the influence of genetic factors in determining magical ability.

The geneticists also said magic, similar to athletic ability, is not a dichotomous trait, but rather carries a wide range of capacities, ranging from the power of Albus Dumbledore to the unimpressive abilities of Crabbe and Goyle.

Magical ability is likely to be affected by the environment, with experience and emotional state being important factors, the scientists said.

The flying broomstick

Bernoullis principle states that as air flow speeds up, air pressure must decrease.

In the case of an airplane, air flows more quickly at the top of the planes surface than the bottom, reducing pressure on the bottom of the plane. The planes ability to fly relies mostly on its wings, which are shaped to allow the air to deflect downward, giving the aircraft its lift.

This concept doesnt work for a broomstick without wings. Instead, flying broomsticks would have to use a completely different approach: antigravity. Just as magnets have the ability to repel each other, they also apparently have the ability to repel other objects that have their own natural magnetic fields. In 1997, a group of British and Dutch scientists successfully levitated a frog with super magnets, which repelled the frog 2 meters into the air.

In 1999, scientists at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York made a saucer fly on a 10-kilowatt beam of light. The super magnet developed for this experiment is powerful and large enough to lift a human and his broomstick.

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The "Harry Potter" magic

CPMA: Podiatrists- An Important Part of the Health Care Team

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CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire -07/31/12)- The Canadian Podiatric Medical Association applauds the first report of the Health Care Innovation Working Group, entitled "From Innovation to Action," but encourages the working group to consider the many facets of health care practitioners that comprise the primary health care team.

"It is encouraging that the Health Care Innovation Working Group includes "innovation" in its name, however, that sense of innovation should also be used when determining the spectrum of practitioners within the primary health care team," said Dr. Joseph Stern, President of the Canadian Podiatric Medical Association (CPMA).

"Using examples from the report, such as foot ulcers and leg amputations, the working group should be expanding its team to include podiatrists, who are specialists in preventing, diagnosing and treating foot pain and foot disorders, both medically and surgically," added Stern. "Although the education, training and scope of practice of podiatrists differs somewhat across Canada, practitioners in this profession all focus specifically on the foot and ankle. Of particular note are Doctors of Podiatric Medicine (DPMs) who have considerable experience and significant success in healing ulcers of people with diabetes and helping to avoid amputations.

"People with diabetes are individuals who share a common disease with wide ranging effects," noted Dr. Timothy Kalla, an operative podiatrist in Vancouver, B.C. who specializes in preventing, diagnosing and treating diabetes-related foot problems, one of the leading causes of hospitalization for people with diabetes. "Some people with diabetes are at a very high risk for foot complications where others are not. As a result, foot care needs to be tapered to the individual, based on his or her risk status and presentation. Foot care may range from regular preventative foot care visits to emergency operations. "Diabetes management necessitates a team approach and podiatrists in Canada have the training and the ability to provide the full spectrum of foot care for people with diabetes."

"As the report states, about 85% of all leg amputations are the result of non-healing foot ulcers and research on best practices in prevention suggests that most diabetic foot ulcers and amputations can be prevented," advised Stern. "These statistics stress the importance of dealing with the epidemic of diabetes and the need to include podiatrists, who are specialists in the foot and ankle, to be part of the primary health care team. Amputation is always a last resort and with proper management, including a team approach to health care, Canadians can live well with diabetes."

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CPMA: Podiatrists- An Important Part of the Health Care Team