Could artificial islands stop another Sandy? U.S. feds mulling the idea

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SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. -- A string of artificial islands off the coast of New Jersey and New York could blunt the impact of storm surges that proved so deadly during Superstorm Sandy, according to a proposal vying for attention and funding as the region continues its recovery.

It's a big proposal that would cost $10 billion to $12 billion. But it's also the kind of innovative idea that federal officials requested as they consider how best to protect the heavily populated region from future storms.

"We've discussed this with the governor's office of Recovery and Resiliency and the Department of Environmental Protection, and they all look at me like, 'Whoa! This is a big deal!" said Alan Blumberg, a professor at New Jersey's Stevens Institute of Technology. "Yes, it is a big deal. It can save lives and protect property."

The "Blue Dunes" proposal is part of Rebuild By Design, a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to come up with novel ways to protect against the next big storm. It is one of 10 projects that will be evaluated and voted on next week, but there's no guarantee any of them will receive funding. Other ideas include building sea walls around cities, re-establishing oyster colonies in tidal flats to blunt wave action and creating water-absorbent nature and recreational preserves.

The artificial islands plan was created by Stevens Institute, along with the WXY architectural firm and West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. It is designed to blunt the worst effect of Sandy: the storm surge that pounded the coast. From Maryland to New Hampshire, the storm was blamed for 159 deaths, and New Jersey and New York alone claimed a total of nearly $79 billion in damage.

"How do you protect New Jersey and New York at the same time from the storm of the future?" Blumberg asked. "Our idea is to build a chain of islands, like a long slender banana. The wave action and storm surge will reflect off these islands and go back out to sea rather than hitting the coast. Barnegat Bay would not be pounded, nor would lower Manhattan or Hoboken."

The islands 10 to 12 miles off the coast would be uninhabited, though day trips for surfing or fishing might be allowed, Blumberg said. They would be built by pumping sand atop some hard base made of rock, concrete or other material, he said.

Steve Sandberg, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said funding for at least some of the proposals is already available as part of the $60 billion in Sandy aid that Congress passed last year. Other money could come from disaster recovery grants as well as public and private-sector funding, according to the Rebuild by Design website.

A gap would be left between the New York and New Jersey island groups, mainly to allow water from the Hudson River to flow out into the ocean.

Blumberg also said computer modeling has shown such islands would have produced vastly lesser damage during Sandy, Hurricane Donna in 1962 and the destructive December 1992 nor'easter.

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Could artificial islands stop another Sandy? U.S. feds mulling the idea

After Sandy, feds mull plan for artificial islands off NJ, NY

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This artist rendering provided by WXY/West 8/Stevens Institute of Technology shows a proposed project to create a string of artificial barrier islands off the coast of New Jersey and New York to protect the shoreline from storm surges like the ones that caused billions of dollars worth of damage during Superstorm Sandy.AP

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. A string of artificial islands off the coast of New Jersey and New York could blunt the impact of storm surges that proved so deadly during Superstorm Sandy, according to a proposal vying for attention and funding as the region continues its recovery.

It's a big proposal that would cost $10 billion to $12 billion. But it's also the kind of innovative idea that federal officials requested as they consider how best to protect the heavily populated region from future storms.

"We've discussed this with the governor's office of Recovery and Resiliency and the Department of Environmental Protection, and they all look at me like, `Whoa! This is a big deal!" said Alan Blumberg, a professor at New Jersey's Stevens Institute of Technology. "Yes, it is a big deal. It can save lives and protect property."

The "Blue Dunes" proposal is part of Rebuild By Design, a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to come up with novel ways to protect against the next big storm. It is one of 10 projects that will be evaluated and voted on next week, but there's no guarantee any of them will receive funding. Other ideas include building sea walls around cities, re-establishing oyster colonies in tidal flats to blunt wave action and creating water-absorbent nature and recreational preserves.

The artificial islands plan was created by Stevens Institute, along with the WXY architectural firm and West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. It is designed to blunt the worst effect of Sandy: the storm surge that pounded the coast. From Maryland to New Hampshire, the storm was blamed for 159 deaths, and New Jersey and New York alone claimed a total of nearly $79 billion in damage.

"How do you protect New Jersey and New York at the same time from the storm of the future?" Blumberg asked. "Our idea is to build a chain of islands, like a long slender banana. The wave action and storm surge will reflect off these islands and go back out to sea rather than hitting the coast. Barnegat Bay would not be pounded, nor would lower Manhattan or Hoboken."

The islands 10 to 12 miles off the coast would be uninhabited, though day trips for surfing or fishing might be allowed, Blumberg said. They would be built by pumping sand atop some hard base made of rock, concrete or other material, he said.

Steve Sandberg, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said funding for at least some of the proposals is already available as part of the $60 billion in Sandy aid that Congress passed last year. Other money could come from disaster recovery grants as well as public and private-sector funding, according to the Rebuild by Design website.

A gap would be left between the New York and New Jersey island groups, mainly to allow water from the Hudson River to flow out into the ocean.

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After Sandy, feds mull plan for artificial islands off NJ, NY

After Sandy, feds discuss plans for artificial islands off New Jersey, New York

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By FOX NEWS -

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. A string of artificial islands off the coast of New Jersey and New York could blunt the impact of storm surges that proved so deadly during Superstorm Sandy, according to a proposal vying for attention and funding as the region continues its recovery.

It's a big proposal that would cost $10 billion to $12 billion. But it's also the kind of innovative idea that federal officials requested as they consider how best to protect the heavily populated region from future storms.

"We've discussed this with the governor's office of Recovery and Resiliency and the Department of Environmental Protection, and they all look at me like, `Whoa! This is a big deal!" said Alan Blumberg, a professor at New Jersey's Stevens Institute of Technology. "Yes, it is a big deal. It can save lives and protect property."

The "Blue Dunes" proposal is part of Rebuild By Design, a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to come up with novel ways to protect against the next big storm. It is one of 10 projects that will be evaluated and voted on next week, but there's no guarantee any of them will receive funding. Other ideas include building sea walls around cities, re-establishing oyster colonies in tidal flats to blunt wave action and creating water-absorbent nature and recreational preserves.

The artificial islands plan was created by Stevens Institute, along with the WXY architectural firm and West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. It is designed to blunt the worst effect of Sandy: the storm surge that pounded the coast. From Maryland to New Hampshire, the storm was blamed for 159 deaths, and New Jersey and New York alone claimed a total of nearly $79 billion in damage.

"How do you protect New Jersey and New York at the same time from the storm of the future?" Blumberg asked. "Our idea is to build a chain of islands, like a long slender banana. The wave action and storm surge will reflect off these islands and go back out to sea rather than hitting the coast. Barnegat Bay would not be pounded, nor would lower Manhattan or Hoboken."

The islands 10 to 12 miles off the coast would be uninhabited, though day trips for surfing or fishing might be allowed, Blumberg said. They would be built by pumping sand atop some hard base made of rock, concrete or other material, he said.

Steve Sandberg, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said funding for at least some of the proposals is already available as part of the $60 billion in Sandy aid that Congress passed last year. Other money could come from disaster recovery grants as well as public and private-sector funding, according to the Rebuild by Design website.

A gap would be left between the New York and New Jersey island groups, mainly to allow water from the Hudson River to flow out into the ocean.

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After Sandy, feds discuss plans for artificial islands off New Jersey, New York

Drilling into trends in genetics, epigenetics of aging, longevity

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Since the dawn of civilization people were searching for clues to longevity and trying to extend human lifespan. But only in the past two decades with the advances in genetic sequencing, epigenetic analysis, and increased government investments the area experienced rapid expansion in the knowledge base, allowing scientists to develop comprehensive models and theories of aging. And while there is still much disagreement among scientists, the evolutionary theories are dominating the field. These theories predicted existence of certain genes that provide selective advantage early in life with adverse effects on lifespan later in life or longevity insurance genes. Indeed, the study of human and animal genetics is gradually identifying new genes that increase lifespan when overexpressed or mutated -- gerontogenes. Furthermore, genetic and epigenetic mechanisms are being identified that have positive effects on longevity.

"The study of the effects of mutations and epimutations on life expectancy and the aging rate expands the range of potential pharmacological and genoteraputic targets, as well as biomarkers of treatment of aging-dependent pathologies," said professor Alexey Moskalev, PhD, DSc, head of the laboratories for aging research at the Institute of Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

The international group of scientists performed a comprehensive analysis of the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms and demonstrated that the majority of the genes, as well as genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that are involved in regulation of longevity, are highly interconnected and related to stress response. Also, for the first time, the group performed a comprehensive analysis of government research grants related to the genes involved in aging. One of the tools that may help understand the direction of scientific research that is still unpublished are research grant abstracts. To better understand the general trends in aging genetics, the funding and citation information for the longevity genes was collected using the International Aging Research Portfolio (IARP) system as well as the NCBI PubMed system.

Grants analysis led to interesting conclusions. The science of aging genetics is a comparatively new field. P53 was discovered in 1979 and implicated in aging in 1987. On average, genes in Table 2 were discovered 21 years ago and it took 9.7 years between the first citation and the first citation with "aging." The approximate amount of funding spent on genes related to aging is at over $8.5 billion with over 195,000 citations with the most funding spent on genes involved in stress response. On average approximately 7.4% of the funding was spent on projects with "aging" in the grant application and this was consistent across all three categories. The average amount of funding per citation was over $43,900. The largest amount of funding spent on a single gene with "aging" in the grant abstract was $195 million, which represents fewer than 5% of the total funding spent on P53 research. SIRT1 and homologs is the only gene with over $100 million spent on analyzing its role in aging with just under 14% of the funding spent on non-aging related projects. Most of the genes related to aging and longevity were associated with other biologic processes, and most of the funding and publications citing these genes is related to areas other than aging.

"While most scientists rely on published research data and scientific conferences to follow the advances their areas of research, the vast amount of knowledge is codified in the published research grant abstracts and associated metadata. A comprehensive analysis of government grants and related publications shows that aging research is an emerging field and that only a minor fraction of the research dollars spent on genes implicated in aging and longevity was actually intended for aging research," said professor Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, director of the Biogerontology Research Foundation, UK.

The team also performed the signaling pathway analysis of the genes implicated in aging and longevity and demonstrated that that most of the gerontogenes are members of the stress response pathways that confirm the existence of genetics "longevity program." As a rule, genes -- regulators of longevity program -- suppress mild stress response and mutations that make some of those pathways less efficient and provide life-extension benefits. Mild overexpression of effector longevity genes, involved with stress-response to DNA, protein, or other cellular damages, prolong lifespan. While moderate stress induces "longevity program" by stimulating expression of life assurance genes and promoting prevention or elimination of errors, including the novel and spontaneous ones, chronic or acute stress exposure exhausts the defense mechanisms and therefore accelerates aging. Pro-aging and anti-aging gene-determined processes exist on all levels of organismal system -- from molecules to systems (metabolic, endocrine, immune, and inter-cellular communication). Their multi-level organization, the interpenetration of levels, a combination of regular and stochastic elements, is what makes the process of aging a fractal process.

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The above story is based on materials provided by Landes Bioscience. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Drilling into trends in genetics, epigenetics of aging, longevity

Community Health Program Success Formula-Sustaining Successful Business Relationships Part 2 – Video

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Community Health Program Success Formula-Sustaining Successful Business Relationships Part 2
Community health program http://communitywellnessday.com/google-hangout-special.html In this video Community Health Program expert Dr. Randi Ross shared the ...

By: Dr Randi Ross

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Community Health Program Success Formula-Sustaining Successful Business Relationships Part 2 - Video

Answers to health-care questions available

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FAIRMONT Though the March 31 sign-up deadline for health care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will pass on Monday, Monongahela Valley Association of Health Centers (MVA) wants people to know they will still be here, available to answer residents questions.

Well always have somebody on-site at our MVA Fairmont Clinic site, Kevin Crockett, MPA and assistant administrator with MVA, said.

MVA has had assisters on site, ready to help residents with the ACA since October.

In addition to having assisters on-site Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Fairmont Clinic on Locust Avenue, the MVA clinic has been holding events all over the area to help answer peoples questions about the ACA.

Weve been trying to reach the public in different avenues and let them know were there to help them however we can, Brandon Williams, certified application counselor with MVA, said.

The MVA will continue to hold events through at least the middle of April, though they would like to continue even longer if they are able. The MVA is available to help answer questions at the Marion County Public Library in Fairmont on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Fairmont Workforce on Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fairmont General Hospital on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays at the Morgantown Public Library from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Even if events stop in mid-April, on-site help will still be available at the Fairmont MVA through the end of the year.

Residents can also ask questions by calling 304-367-8759 or 304-366-0700 extension 8444, or by sending an email to enroll@mvahealth.org.

Williams said that there are a few questions that have come up time and again.

One of the biggest questions I get is what kind of subsidy will I qualify for? Williams said. And my answer for all those individuals is that it is based off your household income and household size.

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Answers to health-care questions available

Obamacare: California proving new health care law can work

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It's almost become a clich: If the new health care law makes it here, it can make it anywhere.

As thousands of California procrastinators try to beat Monday's midnight deadline to apply for a health care plan, they'll be joining more than 1 million others in the Bellwether State who already have enrolled through California's health insurance exchange. And another 2 million have been determined eligible for Medi-Cal, the state's program for the poor.

With exchange sign-ups in the state exceeding many projections for the first six months of open enrollment, health care experts say the federal law has worked in California pretty much as it was meant to -- despite startup hassles such as a glitchy website and hourlong waits to talk to a human being on the phone.

Brochures and handouts on the Affordable Care Act at a San Jose library, Oct. 1, 2013. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group) ( Josie Lepe )

"What California has done is kind of proof that the concept can work," said Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Menlo Park-based Kaiser Family Foundation. But, he cautioned, "it's not a guarantee that it will work everywhere.''

Much of the reason it has been relatively smooth sailing in California, Levitt and other health care experts note, has to do with the groundwork laid years ago by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed legislation creating provisions that allowed the state to get a big head start on the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare. It also didn't hurt that the blue state received $1 billion in federal grants to help it build its own insurance exchange and pay for outreach, marketing and consumer assistance.

But there are still lingering questions about the long-term viability of Obamacare, California style.

Indeed, the things many California health consumers want to know -- from whether insurance premiums will go up next year to whether they should expect long waits for doctors' appointments or packed waiting rooms at hospitals -- won't be known for a while, Levitt and other experts say.

In part, it will be hard to characterize the exact "risk pool" the new exchange has created until the final enrollment numbers are counted and analyzed after April 15 -- the extended deadline for those who start but cannot finish their applications by Monday.

Even assessing the health status of many new enrollees -- Who is sick? Who is healthy? -- may be next to impossible unless they have sought medical care under their new policy and generated a medical record by May 1, when insurers need to submit their proposed 2015 rates to the exchange.

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Obamacare: California proving new health care law can work