Monthly Archives: September 2012

NASA Flies Global Hawk Over Hurricane Leslie

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September 9, 2012

Image Credit: NASA/Tony Landis

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

NASA has launched the part of its Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission designed to study hurricanes in the field this week with the programs first flight of an unmanned Global Hawk aircraft over Hurricane Leslie in the Atlantic Ocean.

The research drone took off from NASAs Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California Thursday and landed at the federal agencys Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., on Friday after spending 10 hours in the air collecting data on the Category 1 storm.

Last weeks flight is the first of two scheduled flights for the program this month. The first Global Hawk carried a payload of instruments dedicated to measuring the environment during the storm.

The primary objective of the environmental Global Hawk is to describe the interaction of tropical disturbances and cyclones with the hot, dry, and dusty air that moves westward off the Saharan desert and appears to affect the ability of storms to form and intensify, said HS3 mission principal investigator Scott Braun in a NASA statement.

As the plane approached and flew over the storm, it measured cloud structure, temperature, water vapor vertical profile, cloud properties, and particulate matter such as dust and sea salt. Once the craft was over the storm, it ejected small sensors parachuted down through the storm to record winds, temperature and humidity.

A second Global Hawk that takes flight in two weeks will focus on flying over a developing or established storm and looking and the internal mechanics that make it tick by measuring eyewall and rain-band winds and precipitation using Doppler radar.

Instruments on the over-storm Global Hawk will examine the role of deep thunderstorm systems in hurricane intensity change, particularly to detect changes in low-level wind fields in the vicinity of these thunderstorms, said Braun.

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NASA Flies Global Hawk Over Hurricane Leslie

Munyonga: sports medicine guru

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Zimbabwes unsung hero in the field of sports medicine, Nicholas Munyonga, developed the love for the profession in the late 80s at Zengeza High 1 in Chitungwiza.

REPORT BY ALBERT MARUFU The long serving member of the Warriors technical team could not fit into the schools Under-14 soccer team, but his love for sporting activities saw him carrying the water bottle for boys.

I started off as a medic for the schools Under-14 team that had the likes of Alois Bunjira, among others, said Munyonga who is now the University of Zimbabwe-trained medical doctor.

I do not know where the interest was coming from but I think to a larger extent, it was more of just wanting to be involved, he told Standardsport.

However, that interest grew and the former Zengeza High 1 School flanker in the schools rugby team, went on to become a medic for teams at the University of Zimbabwe, where he was studying for a degree in medicine.

Today Munyonga is a distinguished medical commissioner for the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee; serves on the World anti-doping agency (Wada), the Fifa medical committee and was recently appointed to the Supreme Council for Sport in Africas Zone VI Games.

Munyonga, who works as a group executive co-ordinator Health Care at the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS), was the sports medicine director for Zimbabwe at the Commonwealth Games in England in 2002, chief medical officer for Zimbabwe at the 2004 All-Africa Games in Nigeria, the team doctor for the Under-20 rugby team at the 2005 World Cup.

He was also the team doctor for the Warriors at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.

In 2008, he was incorporated into Wada to educate athletes on the dangers of doping and was the team doctor for the 2007 and 2011 Zimbabwe teams at the Junior World Rugby Trophy.

Recently, Munyonga travelled as the doctor for Team Zimbabwe at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where he took care of athletes such as the seven-time Olympic medalist, Kirsty Coventry.

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Munyonga: sports medicine guru

Free clinics fill insurance gaps for East Iowans

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Elizabeth Busler tests her blood sugar level in Cedar Rapids. Busler, who is diabetic, goes to a primary care physician in Iowa City and receives insulin from the Community Health Free Clinic in Cedar Rapids. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Iowans who rely on government health care programs often turn to free clinics for basic care when they fall through the systems cracks.

Elizabeth Busler, 35, works odd jobs when she can and needs five insulin shots daily to control her diabetes.

She found help as a recent enrollee in IowaCare the states health care program for adults with limited income who are ineligible for Medicaid but even before she moved to Cedar Rapids last week, traveled from Vinton for medications at the Community Health Free Clinic.

I get spells when its too high or too low, she said of her blood sugar levels, adding that without her injections, I could go into a diabetic coma or it could be fatal.

Busler drove nearly 80 miles round-trip to the free clinic every three months because IowaCare doesnt cover the cost of the shots, she said.

IowaCare has more limitations on medications and mental health, for example than Medicaid, which covers low-income people who are blind, disabled or pregnant, as well as certain children or a parent with a child under age 18.

Elizabeth Busler pricks her arm to test her blood sugar level in Cedar Rapids. Busler, who is diabetic, goes to a primary care physician in Iowa City and receives insulin from the Community Health Free Clini in Cedar Rapids. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Busler doesnt have to look far to see the differences. Her boyfriend, Robert Purvine, 40, of Cedar Rapids, is disabled due to schizophrenia and has Medicaid coverage.

Medicaid covers the weekly injection for his condition, which, Purvine said, would be unaffordable for him at $937 each, but is less expensive than the alternative.

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Free clinics fill insurance gaps for East Iowans

Elderly face shortage of dental care

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Published: Saturday, September 8, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

Elders across our state have managed, more than their parents did, to keep their teeth. That's good news. But they're also finding it harder and harder to get the support they need to keep their mouths in working order.

Left untreated, their teeth and gums face the same hazards as those of people of all ages: needless pain and suffering as well as difficulty speaking, chewing and swallowing.

That's a problem not just for their mouths. A mountain of evidence has shown that untreated dental problems increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke -- serious, chronic health conditions that cut our lives short. The mouth is connected to the rest of the body.

Why can't they get dental care? Paying out-of-pocket for a dental visit is a sacrifice for most of us -- especially anyone on a fixed income. As a result, about a third of adults age 65 years and older have untreated tooth decay.

Medicare does not cover routine dental services. But coverage alone doesn't help if dentists don't take your coverage. Even before the recent cuts that removed coverage of routine dental services for adults on Medicaid, too few dentists would see these patients.

People who can't get routine dental care end up in the emergency room -- suffering from an infection or other problems that require costly treatment. That's the most expensive place to receive any type of health care.

In a recent 18-month period, 54,000 dental-related visits to several dozen Washington hospitals consumed $35 million scarce health-care dollars. If we had access to more affordable options for dentistry, those millions would have been better spent elsewhere -- treating problems before they wreak havoc.

And this decayed oral health care system is hurting some more than others. A study by the Snohomish County Long Term Care & Aging agency identified lack of dental care as one of the greatest areas of need among seniors -- and Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, and Hispanic elders reported special difficulty accessing care.

But this inequality in our oral health care system isn't felt only by adults and seniors. Low-income children in Washington are 44 percent more likely to have untreated cavities and children of color are 18 percent more likely to have untreated decay by the third grade.

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Elderly face shortage of dental care

Obama spotlights new Medicare study in the Sunshine State

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A new study found that health care costs would rise for future Medicare recipients under Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's plan. President Barack Obama will focus on the study's numbers as he campaigns for reelection in Florida.

President Barack Obama is drawing new attention to Medicare in the all-important battleground of Florida, taking on his Republican challenger Mitt Romney on an issue that has been more favorable to Democrats.

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Campaigning for a second day in Florida, where older voters and workers approaching retirement hold sway, Obama on Sunday was expected to highlight a study by a Democratic leaning group that concluded that on average a man or woman retiring at age 65 in 2023, would have to pay $59,500 more for health care over the length of their retirement under Romney's plan.

The numbers are even higher for younger Americans who retire later, the study found. A person who qualifies for Medicare n 2030 today's 48-year-old would see an increase of $124,600 in Medicare costs over their retirement period.

While Romney's changes to Medicare would affect future retirees, the study also said that Romney's plan to get rid of Obama's health care law could raise health care costs in retirement by $11,000 for the average person who is 65 years old today by reinstating limits on prescription drug coverage.

The study was conducted by David Cutler, a Harvard professor and health policy expert who served in the Clinton administration and was Obama's top health care adviser during the 2008 presidential campaign. Cutler conducted the study for the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund.

A senior administration official said Obama would draw attention to the study on Sunday as part of an overarching economic message as he takes his two-day Florida bus tour to Melbourne and West Palm Beach on Florida's Atlantic Coast.

Romney would seek to contain Medicare costs by giving retirees voucher-like government payments that they could use to either buy regular Medicare or private health insurance. But Cutler says older Americans would have to pay more out of pocket to cover the rising costs of health care.

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Obama spotlights new Medicare study in the Sunshine State

Capital Health CEO discusses Affordable Care Act, challenges of new hospitals

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Al Maghazehe rarely stops moving or talking. The president and CEO of Capital Health speaks in fast, clipped tones, dishing out orders and jokes to secretaries and doctors with the same self-assured ease. I wasnt born president and CEO, but maybe I should have been, he says.

Since Helene Fuld Medical Center and Mercer Medical Center merged in 1998, Maghazehe has been at the helm of Capital Health. Iranian-born, Maghazehe arrived in Trenton in 1979, working as an administrative resident at Helene Fuld before climbing the ranks of the Trenton-based health care organization.

Over the past 14 years, the hospital system has shed one hospital the aging Mercer campus. It has also grown Regional Medical Center, formerly Fuld, into a high-tech urban hospital with one of the most sophisticated neuroscience programs in the region, and built a $530 million community hospital in Hopewell to appeal to suburban patients looking for medical care in an upscale setting.

In a conversation with The Times in August, Maghazehe spoke about transforming and building the Capital Health brand, about preparing for health care reform years ago, and about the challenges Capital Health has faced opening a new hospital, including the decision to lay off 175 employees this summer.

How has Capital Health changed as an organization in the past few years, the past decade?

Capital Health has been transformed from a community health care system to a regional health care system.

Where do you see Capital Health in five to 10 years?

In 10 years, I see Capital Health being the leader, as it is today. Our job is to become the health care destination and absolutely maintain a certain level of standards in terms of the status of the communitys health care.

Does that mean more expansions, more primary care doctors offices? How do you continue to build on what Capital Health has already done?

To build upon that, we must accept responsibility for the well-being of the people that live in the communities we serve.

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Capital Health CEO discusses Affordable Care Act, challenges of new hospitals

Health care coverage for all Iowans difficult to attain

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Cynthia Houston poses at the Community Health Center in Columbus Junction. Houston is uninsured and visits the clinic regularly for medical and dental care.(Brenna Norman/Brlington Hawk Eye)

About this project: IowaWatch.org, the Burlington Hawk Eye, The Gazette, Iowa City Press-Citizen and the Dubuque Telegraph Herald worked together this summer to report on the need for health care facing Iowans who do not have insurance. They reviewed more than two dozen documents and interviewed two dozen people.

Cynthia Houston didnt panic when she lost her job at the Mount Pleasant school district in 2008. She looked for another job and paid the extra money to keep insurance through COBRA.

She found work but couldnt afford insurance there. That was when she had a breakdown.

I guess youre in that nowhere land of: you dont really qualify for help with this, youre not old enough to get offered (insurance) for senior citizens, said Houston, 60, of Winfield. Youre kind of out there on your own.

She eventually found help. But state efforts to help Iowans without health insurance pay for doctor visits and other medical care fail to reach all who could use the assistance, a review by five Iowa news organizations of the states health care delivery systems for uninsured Iowans reveals.

Geographic limits ensure that one program to which Houston was referred IowaCare does not reach all Iowans who need it, even though it is considered to be a last resort for Iowans ineligible for other programs that fund accessible, affordable health care.

One in 10 Iowans lives without health insurance. Estimates range from 312,600 by the Kaiser Family Foundation to 342,000 by the U.S. Census Bureau. They live in a state where some health care professionals predict fewer available primary care providers to handle growing demand for health care from aging baby boomers, working people with inadequate insurance coverage and others entering the health care market.

It seems to me, from my perspective, to be a perfect storm, Wendy Gray, executive director of Free Clinics of Iowa, said about that anticipated convergence of trends.

The health care workforce, which includes specialists, physician assistants, nurses and others, is a concern, said Dr. Stephen Eckstat, board president of Free Clinics of Iowa and CEO at Mercy Clinics Inc. of Des Moines.

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Health care coverage for all Iowans difficult to attain

Freedom to Marry Launches National Engagement Party October 13th

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Freedom to Marry has launched the National Engagement Party, a program of house-parties nationwide to raise awareness and funds for battles to win marriage ballot-measures in key states this November.

The National Engagement Party will take place in cities across the country on Saturday, Oct. 13.

"With marriage on the ballot in states from Maine to Washington, from Minnesota to Maryland, we all need to get engaged -- and Freedom to Marrys National Engagement Party is a way all of us across the country can raise the money and awareness to fuel big wins this November," said Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry.

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Freedom to Marry Launches National Engagement Party October 13th

Cities fill void by creating ‘urban beaches’

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Published: Saturday, September 8, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

With this in mind, an increasing number of cities are creating or allowing "urban beaches:" manmade beaches with sand shipped in for the summer months. For city-bound travelers who don't want to sacrifice their tans, the members and editors at VirtualTourist.com have picked the "Top Five Urban Beaches."

Paris, France: It's not surprising that the culture that gave us the bikini would be the first to figure out how to bring the beach to their fabulous city.

The original "plage urbaine," the Paris Plage began in 2002, with the French converting the Seine's banks into pedestrian areas as well as sandy sunbathing spots.

The plages spread from the Louvre to the Pont de Sully on Voie Georges Pompidou, along the Seine River, and at Port de la Gare and Bassin de la Villette.

Berlin, Germany: The term widely used in Berlin is "beach bar," and they've been popping up along the Spree River since 2002. While these are not necessarily city-created urban beaches, we can't discount them as part of the phenomena, especially since there are almost 30 of them in the summer.

The first documented "beach bar" was Strandbar Mitte. Another popular spot is Oststrand, the city's largest urban beach, where visitors also can relax on the deck of an anchored ship along the river bank.

Copenhagen, Denmark: The Danish design denizens of Copenhagen created an urban beach that strikingly arises from the water and contains no sand.

Havnebadet, or Harbor Bath, at Islands Brygge is a riverside swimming complex, with five pools, two specifically for children, and two diving towers. Across the canal, a similar harbor bath exists at Fisketorvet.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Rue Quai de l'Horloge is complete with sand, brightly colored beach umbrellas and chairs, as well as a traditional wooden boardwalk and refreshment stand.

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Cities fill void by creating ‘urban beaches’

Decoding Human DNA

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In a milestone for the understanding of human genetics, scientists just announced the results of five years of work in unraveling the secrets of how the genome operates.

The ENCODE project, as it is known, dispensed with the idea that our DNA is largely "junk," repeating sequences with no function, finding instead that at least 80 percent of the genome is important.

The new findings are the latest in a series of increasingly deep looks at the human genome. Here are some of the major milestones scientists have passed along the way.

1. An understanding of heredity, 1866

The realization that traits and certain diseases can be passed from parent to offspring stretches back at least to the ancient Greeks, well before any genome was actually decoded. The Greek physician Hippocrates theorized that "seeds" from different parts of the body were transmitted to newly conceived embryos, a theory known as pangenesis. Charles Darwin would later espouse similar ideas.

What exactly these "seeds" might be was destined to remain a mystery for centuries. But the first person to put heredity to the test was Gregor Mendel, who systematically tracked dominant and recessive traits in his famous pea plants. Mendel published his work on the statistics of genetic dominance in 1866 to little notice. [Genetics by the Numbers: 10 Tantalizing Tales]

2. Chromosomes come to light, 1902

But the painstaking work of cross-breeding pea plants wouldn't languish for long. In 1869, Swiss physician Johannes Friedrich Miescher became the first scientist to isolate nucleic acids, the active ingredient of DNA. Over the next several decades, scientists peering deeper into the cell discovered mitosis and meiosis, the two types of cell division, and chromosomes, the long strands of DNA and protein in cell nuclei.

In 1903, early geneticist Walter Sutton put two and two together, discovering through his work on grasshopper chromosomes that these mysterious filaments occur in pairs and separate during meiosis, providing a vehicle for mom and dad to pass on their genetic material.

"I may finally call attention to the probability that the associations of paternal and maternal chromosomes in pairs and their subsequent separation may constitute the physical basis of the Mendelian law of heredity," Sutton wrote in the journal The Biological Bulletin in 1902. He followed up with a more comprehensive paper, "The Chromosomes in Heredity" in 1903. (German biologist Theodor Boveri came to similar conclusions about chromosomes at the same time Sutton was working on his chromosome discovery.)

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Decoding Human DNA

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Biology in pictures: the science that could save the world

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Another of the images, taken by Wong Chi Keung, shows fields of seaweed being grown in Fujian, china, where it is being harvested to produce biofuels.

Oil produced by the seaweed is collected and refined so it can be used in lawn mowers and cars.

A bumblebee collecting pollen from a wild flower, taken by William Richardson in Fulham, London, illustrates the threat posed to pollinators.

A graduate student overseeing the growth of algae in test tubes at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, USA, also shows the striking green the blooms can create.

Taken by Mohammad Moniruzzaman, the project it illustrates is aimed at better understanding the organisms that make up these important ocean blooms, which are major contributors to the world's oxygen supply.

The winners are due to be announced in October at Charles Darwin House in London. The entire shortlist alongside those from the young photographers category will be put on display as part of Biology Week.

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Biology in pictures: the science that could save the world

iPad App From Healthline Offers 3D View of Human Anatomy

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Healthline Networks has launched an iPad version of its BodyMaps application to provide 3D graphics and animations of the human anatomy fit for the Apple tablet.

The application developer, which operates a medical reference site called Healthline.com, launched the app on Sept. 4. Healthline introduced the Web-based version of BodyMaps in May 2011 as a consumer education tool, and now the iPad app is suitable for health care workers and educators, according to the company.

BodyMaps incorporates more than 1,000 anatomical structures and 30 rotatable models of parts of the body for both males and females.

Cardiologists, neurologists and orthopedists will particularly benefit from the detail of the human anatomy presented in the app. The iPad will allow users to zoom in on the image, mark up body features and share the notations through email.

In addition, the iPad version allows users to move up or down to various sections of the body and choose a male/female toggle. The iPad's Retina high-definition display will make the details of the anatomy easier to study, Healthline reported.

The touch-screen features of the Apple tablet allows users to pinch, expand, drag, and tap on the images. Users can also share images on Facebook or through email.

General Electric funded the creation of the app through its Healthymagination initiative, which promotes the development of health care technology to improve care and lower costs.

Visible Productions produced the 3-D modeling, high resolution graphics and animations, as well as 200 videos, which cover various health conditions and related symptoms and procedures. Healthline developed the app, including its written content.

From layers of muscle to organs and bones, the rich detail of the app allows patients to watch videos and view 3D images to see how osteoarthritis affects the knee or appendicitis affects the abdomen.

Doctors, nurses, chiropractors and physical therapy students will be able to use the app to get an introduction to the anatomy or complement other anatomy apps, according to the company.

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iPad App From Healthline Offers 3D View of Human Anatomy

Yet More Data on Body Weight and Medical Costs

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A couple of generally useful large reference studies on body weight, level of exercise, and resulting life expectancy and lifetime medical costs have shown up in recent years. As I'm sure you all know by now, the data all points in the direction of more fat and less exercise correlating with a shorter, less healthy life and higher lifetime medical costs. Take a look at these items, for example:

I recently noticed another, similar study on the Israeli population:

Health care costs per person were calculated by body mass index (BMI) by applying Israeli cost data to aggregated results from international studies. These were applied to BMI changes from eight intervention programmes in order to calculate reductions in direct treatment costs. Indirect cost savings were also estimated as were additional costs due to increased longevity of program participants. Data on costs and Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) gained from Israeli and International dietary interventions were combined to provide cost-utility estimates of an intervention program to reduce obesity in Israel.

...

On average, persons who were overweight (25 ? BMI < 30)had health care costs that were 12.2% above the average health care costs of persons with normal or sub-normal weight to height ratios (BMI < 25). This differential in costs rose to 31.4% and 73.0% for obese and severely obese persons, respectively.

I imagine that the popularity of this sort of work of late, or at least the increased willingness of funding bodies to make the necessary grants, has to do with a greater awareness of the impending financial collapse in medical entitlements and centralized health systems. This sad end is somewhat inevitable whenever a system is set up such that patients do not bear costs directly and funds are drawn from taxed resources - there will be overspending, waste, spiraling prices, special interests and all the other ugly aspects of business as usual in politics.

The "solution" offered up by the talking heads is, as usual, more control over everything: rationing, expensive attempts to influence lifestyle choices, and so forth. A far better option, and one unlikely to be tried until these systems have decayed into the sort of wasteland commonly associated with the ruins left at the end of the Soviet era, is simply to let people buy and sell medical services unmolested, unregulated, and in open competition. But that offers those in power few opportunities to advance their own position and line their own pockets, so as you can imagine it doesn't have many advocates where it matters. But ultimately the money runs out and the promises cannot be kept; if something cannot be paid for then it will not be paid for, regardless of how pretty the lies and promises might be.

So two lessons here: firstly, don't get fat and don't stay fat. Secondly, don't expect anyone to be paying your way in later life, regardless of what government employees might have to say on the matter.

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http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

Nanog Reverses Some Aspects of Stem Cell Aging

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It's been a while since nanog was discussed here; it's one of the genes associated with early efforts to reprogram somatic cells into stem cells and seems to be important in the activity of embryonic stem cells. Here researchers are investigating the reversal of stem cell aging: "Although the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) is widely accepted, loss of cell function due to donor aging or culture senescence are major limiting factors hampering their clinical application. Our laboratory recently showed that MSC originating from older donors suffer from limited proliferative capacity and significantly reduced myogenic differentiation potential. This is a major concern, as the patients most likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease are elderly. Here we tested the hypothesis that a single pluripotency associated transcription factor, namely Nanog, may reverse the proliferation and differentiation potential of BM-MSC from adult donors. Microarray analysis showed that [expressing Nanog] markedly upregulated genes involved in cell cycle, DNA replication and DNA damage repair and enhanced the proliferation rate and clonogenic capacity of [adult] BM-MSC. Notably, Nanog reversed the myogenic differentiation potential and restored the contractile function of [adult] BM-MSC to a similar level as that of neonatal BM-MSC. ... Overall, our results suggest that Nanog may be used to overcome the effects of organismal aging on BM-MSC, thereby increasing the potential of MSC from aged donors for cellular therapy and tissue regeneration."

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22949105

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Longevity in Mammals as an Ancient Phenomenon

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An interesting view on the evolutionary depths of longevity in mammals, achieved through analysis of presently available genomes: "It is widely assumed that our mammalian ancestors, which lived in the Cretaceous era, were tiny animals that survived massive asteroid impacts in shelters, and evolved into modern forms after dinosaurs went extinct, 65 Mya. The small size of most Mesozoic mammalian fossils essentially supports this view. Paleontology, however, is not conclusive regarding the ancestry of extant mammals, because Cretaceous and Paleocene fossils are not easily linked to modern lineages. Here we use full-genome data to estimate the longevity and body mass of early placental mammals. Analysing 36 fully-sequenced mammalian genomes, we reconstruct two aspects of the ancestral genome dynamics ... Linking these molecular evolutionary processes to life history traits in modern species, we estimate that early placental mammals had a life-span above 25 years, and a body mass above one kilogram. This is similar to current primates, cetartiodactyls or carnivores, but markedly different from mice or shrews, challenging the dominant view about mammalian origin and evolution. Our results imply that long-lived mammals existed in the Cretaceous era, and were the most successful in evolution, opening new perspectives about the conditions for survival to the Cretaceous-Tertiary crisis."

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22949523

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