Renal System – Physiology – Part 4 – (Ureters, Bladder, Urethra, Obligatory Water Loss) – Video

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Renal System - Physiology - Part 4 - (Ureters, Bladder, Urethra, Obligatory Water Loss)
Lecture series by G. Fuller, who has been teaching Physiology course for 35 years. This was the last semester teaching before he retired. In this lecture, yo...

By: Wizard of Science

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Renal System - Physiology - Part 4 - (Ureters, Bladder, Urethra, Obligatory Water Loss) - Video

Science Under Pressure: Inside the Hyperbaric Chamber

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Guest post by Lauren Burianek, doctoral candidate in cell biology

The basement of the Duke Clinic (called Duke South by everyone around here) seems like the last place youd expect to dive for treasure, but researchers and physicians at the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology are doing just that diving for a better understanding of the human body.

Medical Director Rich Moon (standing) and chamber engineer Eric Schinazi at the controls of the hyperbaric chambers.

The $10 million facility was built in 1968 to study the effects of diving, altitude, and compressed gasses on human physiology. It features seven large steel chambers capable of simulating the high pressure of 1,000 feet below sea water to the low pressure of 100,000 feet above sea level. To put that into perspective, 1000 feet is the deepest the Smithsonian exploratory submersible, DROP, can dive, and 100,000 feet above sea level is considered to be near-space (with the peak of Mt. Everest at a measly 30,000 feet).

The deadly physiology of atmospheric pressure first came to light during construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and the Eads Bridge in St. Louis in the late 1800s. High pressure tunnels were designed to keep the water out as footings were set in river beds, but the pressure also dissolved gas molecules in the blood streams of tunnel workers. When they emerged from the pressurized conditions, the gas would bubble out of solution like a freshly opened can of soda, causing life-threatening conditions, including damage to the organs and lungs, and killing about a quarter of the workers.

A news photo of workers in the Lincoln Tunnel under construction in the mid-1930s.

A couple decades later, a decompression chamber was used during the building of the Lincoln Tunnel under the Hudson River to slow the depressurization and reduce the chance of injury. This change reduced the deaths relating to decompression from 25% to almost 0%.

Similarly, SCUBA divers must carefully watch their rate of ascent; otherwise, they too might experience what is now known as decompression sickness or the bends.

The Hyperbaric facility at Duke is dedicated to researching exactly how the human body deals with these extreme pressures.

The interior of one of the hyperbaric chambers. The stickers are souvenirs of decades of research projects.

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Science Under Pressure: Inside the Hyperbaric Chamber

Genetic Engineering Pushback Against GMO Foods

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Demand for food free of genetically modified organisms is growing fast and nowhere stronger than in British Columbia.

North American retail sales of Non-GMO Project verified foods have grown more than 300 per cent in three years, from $1.3 billion in 2011 to $5 billion today.

Products that display both an organic and non-GMO certification are out-selling their competitors five to one at Whole Foods Markets, company spokesman Joe Kennedy recently told a conference organized by the B.C. Food Processors Association.

The market share for organic groceries in B.C. is already double that of the rest of Canada, according to the Canada Organic Trade Association. Its 2013 market report found that two thirds of British Columbians buy organic foods each week and more than half of those surveyed said they want to avoid GMOs in their food.

A recent Ipsos Reid poll of 1,200 Canadians conducted for BioAccess Commercialization Centre, a non-profit organization that supports the natural foods industry, suggests that British Columbians are more likely to look for a non-GMO label than other Canadians.

But the Ipsos Reid survey also found widespread confusion about which crops, fruit and vegetables are likely to be the product of genetic engineering.

More than 60 per cent of respondents identified strawberries as a product of genetic engineering, but there are no commercially grown GE strawberries. Only 42 per cent identified tofu as a GMO product, despite the fact that more than 90 per cent of soybeans grown in North America are genetically engineered.

So many shoppers are convinced that perfect, red hothouse tomatoes are the result of genetic engineering that B.C.-based grower Houweling's Tomatoes obtained Non-GMO Project verification. There are no GE tomatoes on store shelves in Canada.

Explaining GMOs Genetically engineered or GE lifeforms - popularly known as genetically modified organisms or GMOs - are created when the genetic code of an organism is altered to express a desirable trait or when code containing undesirable traits is silenced or removed. Much of the opposition to genetic engineering of foods is focused on the practice of inserting genetic code from one organism into another, which cannot occur under natural circumstances. At its heart, genetic engineering is a short cut that scientists devised to speed up the work of selective breeding of plants into more useful and productive forms and to resist threats from the environment. Such selective breeding has been going on for most of human history and nearly every food crop grown today has been genetically modified through this older process.

What could have been a public relations coup for biotechnology with the promise to provide the world more nutritious, less expensive food using fewer resources has become a nasty fight driven by dislike of corporate power and fears of uncontrolled environmental and health effects. Companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta, Dupont and Bayer CropScience, which dominate the biotechnology landscape with billions of dollars in sales, are fighting allegations that they are using intellectual property law to monopolize the world's seeds and by extension the world's food supply.

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Genetic Engineering Pushback Against GMO Foods

What are GMOs and why are they here?

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What are GMOs?

Genetically modified organisms - or more precisely genetically engineered organisms - are created when the genetic code of a life form is altered in a way that is not possible by natural processes. Genetic code may be removed, silenced or replaced by genetic code from another organism to promote the expression of desirable traits such as resistance to pests, or eliminate undesirable traits, such as susceptibility to disease. One of the first widely used GE crops was created by fusing a gene derived from a bacteria into the DNA of soybeans, making them resistant to the herbicide Roundup.

Bt corn was made resistant to insects by inserting a gene from a naturally occurring soil bacterium that produces a protein toxic to insect larvae, but harmless to mammals. A spray version of Bt toxin has been in use for more than 50 years. New technologies allow scientists to rewrite specic sections of genetic code without introducing outside genetic material, a technique recently used with success on monkeys.

Are certified organic and Non-GMO Project-verified foods GMO-free?

No. In the real world, pollen drifts, supply chains are shared and a low-level presence of GMOs in much of our food is a fact of life. This is why the Canadian government does not allow products to be labelled "GE free" or "GMO free."

But certified foods almost certainly contain less GE material than foods that do not carry certifi-cation. Products certified as organic may not be grown from GE seed nor can they contain ingredients derived from GMOs. However, organic certification is process-based, meaning that growers and processors must adhere to certain practices, which may not include testing for the low-level presence of GMOs. Detectable residue from GMOs does not necessarily constitute a violation of certification standards. Non-GMO Project verification does require testing for ingredients such as corn or soy, which have widely grown GE versions. Supply chain segregation, traceability and quality controls are employed to reduce risk that GMOs are present in the final product. The Non-GMO Project uses an "action threshold" of 0.9 per cent GMO. At or below is OK, above is not. The European Union employs the same threshold for food imports.

Are farmers starting to abandon GE crops?

Maybe, maybe not. It seems as if every anti-GMO activist has heard of farmers turning away from GE crops. So far, acreage numbers and biotech companies' balance sheets suggest otherwise. In 2012, more than 97 per cent of canola grown in Canada was GE, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications. Global acreage under biotech crops rose six per cent, reaching a record 170 million acres in 2012, 52 per cent of that in the developing world. Global GE acreage increases in 2012 over the previous year include canola (+5%), maize (+4%), cotton (+7%) and soybeans (+8%).

Where are the GMOs hiding?

In plain sight. A handful of genetically engineered foods are in plain sight. Many thousands of ready-to-eat and processed foods contain ingredients such as oil, sugar, starch and protein made from the main GE commodity crops: corn, soy, sugar beets, canola and cottonseed. None of the genetically engineered whole foods or foods containing ingredients derived from GE commodity crops is required to be labelled in the United States or Canada.

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What are GMOs and why are they here?

St. Jude students to participate in PJAS competition

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Thirty-three seventh- and eighth-grade students from St. Jude School, Mountain Top, will participate in the upcoming regional level of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science competition to be held at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre. Students have prepared projects in the areas of behavioral science, chemistry, botany, biology, physics and computer science. An awards banquet will be held after the competition. All students earning a first-place rating will advance to the state finals at the Penn State Main Campus on May 18. Participants, from left, first row, are Adam Mahler, Patrick Curley, Matthew Hayden, Bryce Zapusek, Sean Murphy, George Strish, Ethan Hoda, Christopher Gibbons and Matthew DiGangi. Second row: Valerie Soto, Annie Hagenbuch, Gabbi Frask, Makenzie Savner, Lizzy Kolojejchick, Grace Dacey, Madison Stoltz, Taylor Josefowicz, McKaylia Ward, Emily Thomas and Morghan Murphy. Third row: Devyn Boich, Kaylee Kotsko, Maria Strish, Alyson Rymar, Dominic Capaci, Ben Koshinski, Yosi Bere, Sean Wills, Nicholas Ganter, Brianna Phillips, Christopher Kocon, Molly McAndrew and Katie Wills.

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St. Jude students to participate in PJAS competition

Gameday: Comets vs. Adirondack

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February 28, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets ADIRONDACK PHANTOMS (22-27-0-3) @ UTICA COMETS (22-25-3-4)

Utica Memorial Auditorium, 7 pm

Radio: 94.9 K-Rock

Tonight's Game: The Utica Comets look to return to winning ways as they host the Adirondack Phantoms at The AUD for the first time this season. The Comets dropped their most recent decision on Wednesday evening, but have picked up points in seven of their past ten games.

When They Last Met: The Utica dropped their third straight game, this 3-1 to the Adirondack Phantoms at the Glens Falls Civic Center on Dec. 7. The Comets were in search of their sixth win in seven tries away from home, but a 2-0 hole midway through the second period proved to be too much for Utica to overcome. Darren Archibald was the lone Utica goalscorer, as his unassisted tally in the second period proved to be all the Comets would muster offensively. Joe Cannata turned away 26 of 29 shots against as he lost his second start in a row.

Comets Outlook: A The Utica Comets were unable to build on a productive weekend, as they were shutout for the first time in franchise history on home ice, 3-0 to the San Antonio Rampage. Joey Crabb was the offensive force on the Rampage, as the veteran winger potted all three goals for the visitors. Center Vincent Trocheck also had a three-point evening, with helpers on each of Crabb's tallies. Jacob Markstrom earned his second shutout of the season and the sixth of his AHL career with 22 saves, while Joacim Eriksson stopped 27 of 30 in defeat.

Phantoms Outlook: The Phantoms were defeated for the eighth straight time, this a 3-2 defeat to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Feb. 22. Adirondack got goals from center Nick Cousins and winger Chris VandeVelde, but Bridgeport scored twice in the third period to earn the victory. Chris Langkow and Aaron Sundstrom each scored for the Sound Tigers, while Aaron Ness' goal with 10:39 left in the game proved to be the game winner. CArsen Chubek turned aside 26 of 29 in his second career AHL start in defeat, while Anders Nilsson picked up the win with 26 saves.

Nick At Nite: Winger Nicklas Jensen remains on a tear during the month of February with eight goals, the most on Utica's roster and tied for the second most in the AHL. Jensen is also the Comets leader in power-play goals, with six this season.

Worker Biega: Defenseman Alex Biega is the career leader on the Utica roster against the Phantoms, with five points (1-4-5) over eight games. As a member of the Rochester Americans, The Harvard graduate had a multi-point game (1-1-2) in a 4-2 win over the Phantoms on Apr. 8, 2012. Biega is scoreless in one game against Adirondack with the Comets.

Tin Can Alley: Netminder Joe Cannata saw a three game winning streak snapped on Sunday in Albany. Cannata has recorded a .954 save percentage over his past four starts, with 126 saves on 132 shots faced. The Wakefield, MA native tied his AHL career high for victories in a season last Sunday in Toronto.

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Gameday: Comets vs. Adirondack

Stacy London leads Uncover Your Confidence psoriasis campaign

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NEW YORK, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- New York style guru Stacy London says her work on the "Uncover Your Confidence" psoriasis campaign supports her mission of helping people look and feel their best.

A former Vogue fashion editor and the author of the book "The Truth About Style," London was the co-host of the makeover show "What Not to Wear" for 10 seasons before the series concluded on TLC last fall. She also has psoriasis herself and is happy to advise people dealing with the immune-mediated skin disease through UncoverYourConfidence.com, a website set up by AbbVie, a research-based pharmaceuticals company.

"AbbVie approached me after my book came out. I talked a little bit about having psoriasis on 'What Not to Wear,' but not extensively. But I did talk a lot about it in the book and, certainly, as a kid, it's not like I was filled with confidence, and, so, it really has been this kind of perfect storm for me -- to [not only] be able to talk about my personal experience, but to be able to put my skill set into this particular campaign, which is about empowerment and, certainly, about patient advocacy," London told United Press International in a recent phone interview.

She went on to say she wants people with the skin condition to know "psoriasis is just a part of you, like your height or your weight or your eye color and you can either work with it or against it.

"If you work with it, chances are you're going to look better and feel better and be able to accept yourself more wholly," London said. "It's not about hiding. I think that goes for style in general. If you don't like something about yourself, you don't hide it because hiding already implies shame. It's about conscientious camouflage in a way that you feel like you're putting your strengths forward and whatever you think are your weaknesses, you are just conscientiously camouflaging. That [feature is] not what you lead with."

Organizers of the campaign said it aims to provide people living with psoriasis with resources, support and style information to encourage them to take a proactive approach to their condition.

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Stacy London leads Uncover Your Confidence psoriasis campaign