London, September 3 (ANI): Offering hope to people who can't smell anything from birth or lose it due to disease, scientists have restored the sense of smell in mice through gene therapy for the first time.
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Freedom man, 61, drowns off Sheboygan coast
By Associated Press, Associated Press
Sept. 2, 2012
Sheboygan - A 61-year-old Freedom man whose grandson had swum too far from shore has died after he entered the water to reach the 9-year-old.
Police who responded Sunday afternoon found bystanders performing CPR on the man.
Witnesses said the man's grandson had been swimming at North Beach but had gotten too far from shore. Other people at the beach helped him back to land.
Moments later they noticed his grandfather hadn't returned to shore. They found him unresponsive in the water and pulled him to shore, where paramedics tried to revive him.
He was pronounced dead at a hospital. His name has not been released.
2012, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved.
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Beaches Museum exhibit to mark 100 years of lifeguard service
Numerous lives have been saved by the sentinels of the beach and an exhibit celebrating a century of lifeguarding will be on display at the Beaches Museum & History Park beginning Tuesday.
As the summer draws to a close, the new exhibit will feature 100 Years of the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps in Jacksonville Beach. Historical photographs, artifacts and gear used to save lives at the shoreline will be on display.
These are a bunch of very dedicated young people who put in a lot of their own time to make sure that visitors to Jacksonville Beach are protected, said Andrew Morrow, operations manager of the Beaches Museum.
The exhibit is in chronological order showing how the corps has changed through the years, the influence its had on lifesaving and the impact its had on beaches culture.
One of the items is the early model of the torpedo buoy that was developed by the Jacksonville Beach Corps and now is standard gear for lifeguards around the world. The buoys are about 2-feet long and attach to a lifeguards torso with a line.
George Hapsis, corps archivist and historian, is the co-curator of the exhibit. He joined the corps in 1950 and is still associated with the service as a retired member.
Hapsis retrieved most of the items in the exhibit by rummaging through storage areas and corners of the lifeguard station building with its iconic white tower and red cross at the foot of the Beach Boulevard public access.
Some of the stuff was left lying around. Some of the stuff was in the attic deteriorating, he said. We had leaks over the years and some of the stuff was destroyed because of that.
Even something as simple as uniform changes demonstrate aesthetic evolution, Hapsis said. Some of the early lifeguard uniform swim suits were wool and stretched down to the knees. Now they are synthetic shorts and tank tops.
Many of the photos, Hapsis said, also demonstrate the evolution of the diversity of staff for the corps.
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Beaches Museum exhibit to mark 100 years of lifeguard service
GEMINI to Represent Insiders Technologies´ ´smart FIX´ in India
MUMBAI, September 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
smart FIX is an Artificial Intelligence Technology Solution for Business Process Optimization and Document Understanding
GEMINI Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the 122-year-old Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo Group of Companies, Bahrain, have signed up with Insiders Technologies GmbH, Germany, to represent them for their smart FIX products in India. GEMINI shall market and provide complete technical support for smart FIX and additionally, in the near future, set up a Centre for Excellence for the Indian and Middle-East regions.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120830/195922 )
smart FIX is a state of the art Intelligent Document Processing and Business Process Optimization solution to manage formatted, semi-formatted and unformatted documents.
Today, ERPs, CRMs, e-mail solutions have been implemented with latest database management systems to manage all important business data, but when it comes to inputting these data into these sophisticated systems, one still has to manually feed in the information from the incoming documents and emails. Now imagine a solution which can read these incoming documents and emails, and then transfer the relevant business data into the ERPs or CRMs automatically.
Developed by Insiders Technologies, smart FIX is an automated document processing solution with inbuilt Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that captures, organizes and intelligently analyzes the relevant extracted business information from formatted (like account application form), semi-formatted (like Supplier Invoices) or unformatted (like Emails) documents. It then makes the data available for further processing in a desired structured format to be integrated with any third party software application systems including, but not limited to SAP, BaaN, Oracle Financials, Document Management Systems, etc.
The smart FIX solution is a self-learning and self-optimizing system that helps in improving quality of data captured and also, increases operational efficiency. Thereby making it an ideal product for verticals such as insurance, banking, retail, manufacturing, hospitality and government institutions. Additionally, being a stand-alone product with no dependencies, software development companies can consider smart FIX as an OEM product to add value to their products.
"smart FIX, that we have brought to India in association with Insiders Technologies, Germany, is a market leader in Europe with awards such as The Great Price of Medium Sized Companies Mittelstandsprogramm, Grosser Preis des Mittelstandes to its credit. The Artificial Intelligence Technology inbuilt in smart FIX makes it a unique product especially when it comes to capturing data from incoming Emails or unformatted text, " said Mr Ramarao - General Manager of GEMINI Software.
About GEMINI Software Solutions
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GEMINI to Represent Insiders Technologies´ ´smart FIX´ in India
Next Space Station Spacewalk To Be Broadcast on NASA TV
WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Â In the wake of an unsuccessful attempt to install a replacement power-switching unit on the truss of the International Space Station, two crew members will venture outside for a second time in six days to complete the work. NASA Television will provide live coverage of the spacewalk beginning at 6 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, Sept. 5. The spacewalk is ...
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Space Station Spacewalkers Stymied By Stubborn Bolt
37056929 story Posted by samzenpus on Sunday September 02, @02:11PM from the stripped-threads dept. Hugh Pickens writes writes "Reuters reports that astronauts at the International Space Station ran into problems after removing the station's 100-kg power-switching unit, one of four used in a system that distributes electrical power generated by the station's solar array wings, and were stymied after repeated attempts to attach the new device failed when a bolt jammed, preventing astronauts from hooking it up into the station's power grid. Japanese Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide got the bolt to turn nine times but engineers need 15 turns to secure the power-switching unit. 'We're kind of at a loss of what else we can try,' said astronaut Jack Fischer at NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston after more than an hour of trouble-shooting. 'If you guys have any thoughts or ideas or brilliant schemes on what we can do, let us know.' Hoshide suggested using a tool that provides more force on bolts, but NASA engineers are reluctant to try anything that could make the situation worse and as the spacewalk slipped past seven hours, flight controllers told the astronauts to tether the unit in place, clean up their tools and head back into the station's airlock. NASA officials says the failure to secure the new unit won't disrupt station operations but it will force engineers to carefully distribute electrical power from three operating units to various station systems and says another attempt to install the power distributor could come as early as next week if engineers can figure out what to do with the stubborn bolt. 'We're going to figure it out another day,' says Fischer." You may like to read: Post
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Space flight bookings available at Benicia travel agency
BENICIA -- At least when it comes to space flight, local residents won't have to go far, far away to find a travel agency.
Benicia's Bye Bye Birdees Travel Consulting is selling XCOR Aerospace flights at a cost of $95,000 per person. A $20,000 deposit qualifies passengers for a four-day orientation, medical screening and G-force training at an Arizona resort.
"It's going to be the wave of the future," said Bye Bye Birdees owner Juliet Vercelli, whose home-based agency also does destination weddings, reunions and romantic get-aways. "The most exciting thing to me is the idea of, in 10 or 20 years, being able to travel halfway around the world in one or two hours."
XCOR is one of a handful of U.S. firms building spaceships to fly passengers and cargo into suborbital space. Others include Virgin Galactic, which is testing a six-passenger, two-pilot vehicle that would launch from a large plane.
Mojave-based XCOR expects to start testing its one-passenger, one-pilot rocket plane later this year, and then fly initial paying participants by the end of 2013.
"We plan to start flight tests in Mojave ... and intend to operate regular operations from Mojave," spokesman Bryan Campen said. "We will eventually move flight test operations to a new R&D center we're developing in Midland, Texas."
XCOR also plans to launch from other sites, including Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Curacao.
Typical flight time will be about 35 minutes from take-off
In addition to tourists, the company hopes to market its flights to commercial and scientific researchers.
Vercelli said she became interested in space tourism two years ago at a luxury travel show in Las Vegas. There she met RocketShip Tours founder Jules Klar, who was the first to partner with XCOR to develop human space flights for the paying public.
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From ‘Angry Birds’ to multi-player video games, NASA ramps up investment in educational technology
Forty-three years after putting a man on the moon, NASA sent the Angry Birds video game to space. A few months later, the birds traveled to the moon and later to Mars.
NASAs recent collaboration with gamemaker Rovio to create Angry Birds Space, in which players use slingshots to launch birds at pigs, is part of a series of computer game projects spearheaded by government agencies to encourage science, technology and math education.
Today, NASA has loftier goals: An upcoming $10 million massively multi-player video game would simulate life on Mars and eventually provide 100 hours of playing time on the iPad, Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox. When a beta version of Starlite is released later this year, it will be NASAs biggest foray into gaming, and one that Laughlin hopes will set the stage for future collaborations with commercial game developers.
There are more higher-end gaming projects going on at NASA than ever before, Laughlin said. Very few people are looking to textbooks to get students inspired anymore.
In the past few years, NASA has released an air traffic control simulator for the iPhone, a trivia game called Space Race Blastoff for Facebook and MoonBase Alpha, a multi-player game that cost $300,000 to develop and resulted in 20 minutes of playing time.
But as the agency grapples with persistent education budget cuts, NASA is experimenting with new business models to fund upcoming projects.
The agency had originally planned to pour $5 million to $7 million into Starlite over three or four years. But budget cuts took their toll, Laughlin said.
Gradually, NASA nibbled down the budget until it turned out we could only afford to fund the educational side of the game, he said.
The agency will now invest about $1.5 million in NASA content and expertise in the Starlite, while Project Whitecard, a Winnipeg-based firm that has already created two games for the Canadian Space Agency, will finance the rest.
The premise of Starlite is quite simple, said Khal Shariff, chief executive of Project Whitecard: Its the year 2035. You are a first-time explorer who has to leave the Earths orbit and travel to Mars. Once you reach the Red Planet, there are a series of challenges, such as orchestrating an emergency rescue mission to find a stranded astronaut.
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Tokyo city officials survey islands at centre of dispute with China ahead of planned purchase
Tokyo city officials planning to buy tiny islands at the centre of a longtime territorial dispute with China surveyed the area and took water samples Sunday in a showcase meant to send a message of ownership.
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Tokyo city officials survey islands at centre of dispute with China ahead of planned purchase
A move to show ownership, Tokyo officials survey disputed islands
Tokyo city officials surveyed five tiny uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, which are controlled by Japan, but also claimed by China and Taiwan. Tokyo plans to buy the islands, a sale China calls 'invalid.'
Tokyo city officials planning to buy tiny islands at the center of a longtime territorial dispute with China surveyed the area Sunday on a visit meant to send a message of ownership.
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The boat, carrying 25 experts and officials as well as journalists from news organizations including The Associated Press, circled the five uninhabited islands in the East China Sea which are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan.
China responded quickly to the survey, saying any unilateral action by Japan on the islands is "illegal" and "invalid."
Tokyo city officials say the survey is crucial and includes measuring the water depth to build a dock at the islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Japan's central government did not grant permission to land on the islands.
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, a strong nationalist, has raised 1.45 billion yen ($19 million) in private donations over the last several months to buy the islands from the Japanese family that owns them. Supporters think having the government own the islands will strengthen Japan's control over them and send a tougher message to China.
"It is an undeniable fact that the islands are Japanese territory, so our task is to see how we can best maintain that," Yoshihiko Yamada, a special adviser to the city's team, said aboard the boat.
The team was scheduled to study the islands for about 10 hours Sunday before heading back to Okinawa in southwestern Japan.
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A move to show ownership, Tokyo officials survey disputed islands
Ex-Obama advisers seek health care cost control – Sun, 02 Sep 2012 PST
September 2, 2012 in Health
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) Some of President Barack Obamas former advisers are proposing major changes aimed at controlling health care costs as political uncertainty hovers over his healthlaw.
Call it Health Care Overhaul, Version 2.0. Their biggest idea is a first-ever budget for the nations $2.8-trillion health care system, through negotiated limits on public and private spending in eachstate.
The approach broadly resembles a Massachusetts law signed this summer by Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick that puts pressure on hospitals, insurers, and other major players to keep rising costs within manageable limits. It could become the Democratic counterpoint to private market strategies favored by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and running mate PaulRyan.
Health costs lie at the heart of budget problems confronting the next president. Health care accounts for 18 percent of the economy and about one-fourth of the federal budget, and many experts believe it cant grow unchecked without harming other priorities. Because the United States spends much more than other advanced countries, theres a consensus that savings from cutting waste and duplication wont harmquality.
We think of these as the next generation of ideas, said Neera Tanden, who was a senior member of the White House team that helped pass the health law. Tanden is now president of the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank close to theadministration.
Under the proposal, the major public and private players in each state would negotiate payment rates with service providers such as hospitals. The idea is to get away from paying for each individual test and procedure. Negotiated rates could be based on an entire course of treatment. Payments would have to fit within an overall budget that could grow no faster than the average rise inwages.
The spending limits would be enforced by an independent council, but crucial details need to be spelled out. In Massachusetts, for example, budget-busting providers will be required to file plans with the state laying out how theyll amend their spendthriftways.
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Ex-Obama advisers seek health care cost control - Sun, 02 Sep 2012 PST
Cooper Green Mercy Hospital changes could draw on indigent care report
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- OK, let's clear the air about Cooper Green Mercy Hospital.
First, it's not going to close.
Come Dec. 1, the target date for changes ordered last week by the Jefferson County Commission, the venerated health care institution for the county's indigent residents will still occupy its building on Sixth Avenue South. Its outpatient clinics will still see and treat the sick. And walk-in care still will be provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week, said County Manager Tony Petelos.
"Our patients will continue to be served, and none will be left on the street," he said.
But at least three major changes are coming, Petelos said:
That 24/7 walk-in service at Cooper Green will be urgent care, not an emergency room, meaning it will handle problems that require immediate attention but are not life-threatening.
Cooper Green patients who need to be admitted to a hospital will go to some other hospital -- sites still to be determined through agreements between the hospitals and the county -- and Cooper Green will shutter its inpatient hospital care.
Many of Cooper Green's staff will lose their jobs. In addition to about 100 who have been cut since March, Petelos said he expects more than 200 layoffs. The hospital employs 528 people.
"The staff of Cooper Green is very upset," he said. "There is a lot of uncertainty."
[Cooper Green Mercy Hospital discretionary fund audit raises questions.]
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Cooper Green Mercy Hospital changes could draw on indigent care report
National Democrats Eye Mass. Health Care Cost Containment Law
WASHINGTON (AP) Some of President Barack Obamas former advisers are proposing major changes aimed at controlling health care costs as political uncertainty hovers over his health law.
Call it Health Care Overhaul, Version 2.0. Their biggest idea is a first-ever budget for the nations $2.8-trillion health care system, through negotiated limits on public and private spending in each state.
The approach broadly resembles a Massachusetts law signed this summer by Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick that puts pressure on hospitals, insurers, and other major players to keep rising costs within manageable limits. It could become the Democratic counterpoint to private market strategies favored by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan.
Health costs lie at the heart of budget problems confronting the next president. Health care accounts for 18 percent of the economy and about one-fourth of the federal budget, and many experts believe it cant grow unchecked without harming other priorities. Because the United States spends much more than other advanced countries, theres a consensus that savings from cutting waste and duplication wont harm quality.
We think of these as the next generation of ideas, said Neera Tanden, who was a senior member of the White House team that helped pass the health law. Tanden is now president of the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank close to the administration.
Under the proposal, the major public and private players in each state would negotiate payment rates with service providers such as hospitals. The idea is to get away from paying for each individual test and procedure. Negotiated rates could be based on an entire course of treatment. Payments would have to fit within an overall budget that could grow no faster than the average rise in wages.
The spending limits would be enforced by an independent council, but crucial details need to be spelled out. In Massachusetts, for example, budget-busting providers will be required to file plans with the state laying out how theyll amend their spendthrift ways.
The federal government would provide grants to states interested in developing their plans.
Tanden joined a brain trust of former administration officials floating the proposal recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. The group included Peter Orszag (former budget director), John Podesta (transition director), Donald Berwick (first Medicare chief), Ezekiel Emanuel (Orszags health policy guru), and Joshua Sharfstein (former No. 2 at the Food and Drug Administration). Also on board was former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Obamas first pick to shepherd his health care overhaul.
Their proposal includes other ideas, such as a malpractice liability shield for doctors who follow best clinical practices, and competitive bidding for all Medicare supplies and lab tests, not just home health equipment. All of the signers support Obamas health care law, but see cost control as unfinished business.
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National Democrats Eye Mass. Health Care Cost Containment Law
Ex-Obama advisers seek health care cost control
Some of President Barack Obama's former advisers are proposing major changes aimed at controlling health care costs as political uncertainty hovers over his health law.
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NIH-funded researchers restore sense of smell in mice using genetic technique
Public release date: 2-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Robin Latham lathamr@nidcd.nih.gov 301-496-7243 NIH/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have restored the ability to smell in a mouse model of a human genetic disorder that causes congenital anosmiathe inability to smell from birth. The approach uses gene therapy to regrow cilia, cell structures that are essential for olfactory function. The study was funded by four parts of NIH: the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders (NIDCD), the National Institute on Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Eye Institute (NEI). It was published online in the September 2, 2012, issue of the journal Nature Medicine.
"These results could lead to one of the first therapeutic options for treating people with congenital anosmia," said James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of NIDCD. "They also set the stage for therapeutic approaches to treating diseases that involve cilia dysfunction in other organ systems, many of which can be fatal if left untreated."
Olfactory dysfunction can be a symptom of a newly recognized class of genetic disorders, known as ciliopathies, which include diseases as diverse as polycystic kidney disease and retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited, degenerative eye disease that causes severe vision impairment and blindness. The disorders are caused by defects in cilia, antenna-like projections on cells that help them sense their environment. Scientists believe that nearly every cell in the body has the capacity to grow one or more cilia. In the olfactory system, multiple cilia project from olfactory sensory neurons, sensory cells that are found in the olfactory epithelium, tissue high up in the nasal cavity. Receptors that bind odorants are localized on the cilia, which is why a loss of cilia results in a loss in the ability to smell.
The team of researchers, led by Jeffrey R. Martens, Ph.D., at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Jeremy C. McIntyre, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in Martens' laboratory, worked with a mouse model carrying a mutation in the IFT88 gene. The mutation causes a decrease in the IFT88 protein, which leads to a dramatic reduction in cilia function in several different organ systems, including the olfactory system.
The researchers used an adenovirus to introduce a healthy copy of the gene as a way to restore IFT88 protein levels in the mice. They wanted to see if the reintroduction of the lost protein could restore cilia to the olfactory sensory neurons and return the ability to smell. For three consecutive days, the mice received intranasal gene delivery therapy and then were allowed 10 days for the infected sensory neurons to express the viral-encoded IFT88 protein. After that time, the mice were tested with increasing concentrations of an odorant (amyl acetate). Their responses were measured at the cellular, tissue, and synaptic levels, which all indicated that the mice had regained olfactory function.
"By restoring the protein back into the olfactory neurons, we could give the cell the ability to regrow and extend cilia off the dendrite knob, which is what the olfactory neuron needs to detect odorants," said McIntyre.
The change in olfactory function also has implications in the feeding behavior of the mice. The mouse model the scientists used is born underweight and its anosmia interferes with the motivation to eat, which in many mammals, including humans, is driven by smell. Treatment with adenovirus therapy increased bodyweight by 60 percent in treated compared to untreated mice, indicating that the restored olfactory function was motivating feeding.
The researchers plan to continue their work by developing another mouse model to look at the impact on olfactory function and the potential for restoring function when the IFT88 gene is completely missing, rather than just mutated. Future studies could begin to plot a way to bring this therapeutic tactic to human study volunteers, which could eventually restore the sense of smell, and a better quality of life, to people who are born with anosmia. Further research could also advance the treatments for other ciliopathies, as these findings show that gene therapy is a viable option for the functional rescue of cilia in established, already differentiated cells.
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NIH-funded researchers restore sense of smell in mice using genetic technique
Can’t smell anything? Discovery may give you hope
ScienceDaily (Sep. 2, 2012) Scientists have restored the sense of smell in mice through gene therapy for the first time -- a hopeful sign for people who can't smell anything from birth or lose it due to disease.
The achievement in curing congenital anosmia -- the medical term for lifelong inability to detect odors -- may also aid research on other conditions that also stem from problems with the cilia. Those tiny hair-shaped structures on the surfaces of cells throughout the body are involved in many diseases, from the kidneys to the eyes.
The new findings, published online in Nature Medicine, come from a team at the University of Michigan Medical School and their colleagues at several other institutions.
The researchers caution that it will take time for their work to affect human treatment, and that it will be most important for people who have lost their sense of smell due to a genetic disorder, rather than those who lose it due to aging, head trauma, or chronic sinus problems. But their work paves the way for a better understanding of anosmia at the cellular level.
"Using gene therapy in a mouse model of cilia dysfunction, we were able to rescue and restore olfactory function, or sense of smell," says senior author Jeffrey Martens, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacology at U-M. "Essentially, we induced the neurons that transmit the sense of smell to regrow the cilia they'd lost."
The mice in the study all had a severe genetic defect that affected a protein called IFT88, causing a lack of cilia throughout their bodies. Such mice are prone to poor feeding and to early death as a result. In humans, the same genetic defect is fatal.
The researchers were able to insert normal IFT88 genes into the cells of the mice by giving them a common cold virus loaded with the normal DNA sequence, and allowing the virus to infect them and insert the DNA into the mouse's own cells. They then monitored cilia growth, feeding habits, and well as signals within and between the nerve cells, called neurons, that are involved in the sense of smell.
Only 14 days after the three-day treatment, the mice had a 60 percent increase in their body weight, an indication they were likely eating more. Cell-level indicators showed that neurons involved in smelling were firing correctly when the mice were exposed to amyl acetate, a strong-smelling chemical also called banana oil.
"At the molecular level, function that had been absent was restored," says Martens.
"By restoring the protein back into the olfactory neurons, we could give the cell the ability to regrow and extend cilia off the dendrite knob, which is what the olfactory neuron needs to detect odorants," says postdoctoral fellow and first author Jeremy McIntyre, Ph.D.
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Can't smell anything? This discovery may give you hope
Public release date: 2-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kara Gavin kegavin@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System
ANN ARBOR, Mich. Scientists have restored the sense of smell in mice through gene therapy for the first time -- a hopeful sign for people who can't smell anything from birth or lose it due to disease.
The achievement in curing congenital anosmia -- the medical term for lifelong inability to detect odors -- may also aid research on other conditions that also stem from problems with the cilia. Those tiny hair-shaped structures on the surfaces of cells throughout the body are involved in many diseases, from the kidneys to the eyes.
The new findings, published online in Nature Medicine, come from a team at the University of Michigan Medical School and their colleagues at several other institutions.
The researchers caution that it will take time for their work to affect human treatment, and that it will be most important for people who have lost their sense of smell due to a genetic disorder, rather than those who lose it due to aging, head trauma, or chronic sinus problems. But their work paves the way for a better understanding of anosmia at the cellular level.
"Using gene therapy in a mouse model of cilia dysfunction, we were able to rescue and restore olfactory function, or sense of smell," says senior author Jeffrey Martens, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacology at U-M. "Essentially, we induced the neurons that transmit the sense of smell to regrow the cilia they'd lost."
The mice in the study all had a severe genetic defect that affected a protein called IFT88, causing a lack of cilia throughout their bodies. Such mice are prone to poor feeding and to early death as a result. In humans, the same genetic defect is fatal.
The researchers were able to insert normal IFT88 genes into the cells of the mice by giving them a common cold virus loaded with the normal DNA sequence, and allowing the virus to infect them and insert the DNA into the mouse's own cells. They then monitored cilia growth, feeding habits, and well as signals within and between the nerve cells, called neurons, that are involved in the sense of smell.
Only 14 days after the three-day treatment, the mice had a 60 percent increase in their body weight, an indication they were likely eating more. Cell-level indicators showed that neurons involved in smelling were firing correctly when the mice were exposed to amyl acetate, a strong-smelling chemical also called banana oil.
Originally posted here:
Low bacteria levels kept Missouri beaches open during hot summer
JEFFERSON CITY A hot summer gave Missouri residents plenty of reasons to want to cool off at state park swimming beaches, and a drought seems to have helped offer more opportunities to do so.
Tests from water samples at state swimming beaches showed that bacteria levels were low enough to keep beaches open more often than during the past two years.
Results from the past three years were provided to The Associated Press by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. They showed bacteria were high a dozen times at beaches this spring and summer, with half coming in April or May. That is less than half the frequency of 2011 and just a fraction of the nearly four dozen times that high bacteria were recorded at beaches in 2010.
High bacteria levels did not force any state park beaches to be closed this year from late May through the last week of July as summer heat was setting records. Since the end of July, the beach at the Cuivre River in northeastern Missouri was closed for one week and Watkins Woolen Mill near Kansas City has been closed in August.
This past week, park officials closed one beach at the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri. The area around the popular tourist lake received some rain last weekend. Water samples are collected near the state park beaches at the beginning of the week.
Ken Midkiff, director of the Missouri Clean Water Campaign, said the lack of summer rainfall has contributed to fewer tests showing high bacteria levels and more open swimming beaches. Pollutants can be washed into lakes and rivers.
"A lot of the high readings were attributable to runoff. We've had no or very little rain," Midkiff said.
Precipitation figures collected by the National Weather Service from local airports and observers showed how little rain has fallen in Missouri. The figures are from May 1 to Aug. 29, which was just before the start of Missouri's drenching from remnants of what once was Hurricane Isaac. Those statistics showed that St. Louis was short by nearly 9 inches of rain, and Farmington was behind by 10 inches. Columbia has reported its driest summer ever and was short by 13 inches.
The U.S. Drought Monitor map reported that through Aug. 28, more than 97 percent of Missouri fell in the two worst categories of drought.
Missouri closes state park beaches when the bacteria level from a single water sample or a rolling average of sample data exceed the levels recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency. Officials say the tests provide important information but are a small snapshot from a single moment and do not reflect the overall water quality in a lake or river.
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Low bacteria levels kept Missouri beaches open during hot summer
Little Compton beaches back open
LITTLE COMPTON, R.I. (WPRI) -- Beaches are back open to swimmers in Little Compton a day after a great white shark washed up on shore.
PHOTO GALLERY: 13-Foot Great White Washes Ashore in Westport
A man out for a morning fishing trip on South Shore Beach found the 13-foot shark Saturday morning, a few hundred feet over the state line into Westport, Massachusetts.
Researchers say the shark weighed in at about 1,700 pounds and after dissecting it to marine biologists were unable to determine what killed it.
Officials plan to leave the shark where it is and let the tide take it out to sea.
Little Compton Police say Goosewing and South Shore Beaches are back open to swimmers Sunday morning, but there will be boat patrols just offshore keeping watch for sharks.
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Beaches to be cleaned September 15
GARBAGE will be removed from several beaches across the island on September 15, as Jamaica joins the rest of the world in observing International Coastal Cleanup Day.
Programme Director at the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), which is organising the days activity, Suzanne Stanley, said a number of sites have been confirmed for cleaning.
She said that a list of sites will be posted on the JET website at http://www.jamentrust.org, where persons can register as volunteers
She said already, several schools, youth and community groups, non-government organisations and service clubs, have indicated that they will participate, and we have support from several corporate entities that will send teams and will also assist us with refreshments for the volunteers."
She is imploring Jamaicans to come out on the day and support the coastal cleanup effort.
Its the largest volunteer event in the world so come out and support the event, become familiar with the solid waste management issues that are (affecting the beaches) and play your part and try to contribute to reducing the amount of waste that we have on our beaches, she urged.
JET has organised beach cleanups in Jamaica since 1994. On International Coastal Cleanup Day 2011, observed on September 17, JET, with the support of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and the business community, mobilised more than 4,000 volunteers for the cleaning of 55 beaches.
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