Berg calls for health care law repeal

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will hurt business owners, adds uncertainty to the health care market and will increase the cost of health care.

Those were the main points Rep. Rick Berg, R-N.D., made at a Tuesday press conference in Bismarck while calling for repealing the act. Last weeks highly anticipated ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court has led to Berg and other Republicans to call for the federal health care law to be struck down by Congress.

Citing the cost of the laws implementation over the next 10 years, Berg called it a $1.8 trillion takeover of our health care system. He said the laws provisions will make it difficult for small business owners who provide health care to their employees to continue to do so. Berg said there also is a negative financial impact on the public.

This is really a legacy of debt for our children and grandchildren, Berg said. It creates uncertainty throughout America. Its wrong for patients, its wrong for doctors, its wrong for seniors, its wrong for North Dakota, its wrong for America.

Dick Hedahl, owner of Hedahls Auto Plus in Bismarck, spoke about the potential impacts of the federal health care law on employee insurance.

Weve had health insurance for our employees for 55 years, Hedahl said.

Hedahl said the company has had its own health wellness program since 1992. This program, he said, has cut health care costs and promoted health among employees. Hedahl said provisions in the federal law could lead to cost increases in his companys insurance program.

It may cause us to drop our coverage, Hedahl said.

Jeff Neuberger, chief executive officer of Mid Dakota Clinic, said the law doesnt address the cost of health care. He said provisions such as the individual mandate make insurance more costlyfor the public.

It actually encourages people to consume more health care services, Neuberger said.

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Berg calls for health care law repeal

Health care decision prompts responses

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Health care decision prompts responses

By JENNIFER DENEVAN, Needles Desert Star Monday, July 2, 2012 5:32 PM PDT

NEEDLES Last Thursdays ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act, often referred to as ObamaCare, has received varied responses.

Jeff Williams, board of hospital trustees president, said its a terrible thing for Needles to have been upheld. It will mean spending more money than will ever be made.

Its a lousy idea, he continued.

He said he thinks doctors will quit because the acts been upheld; and that doctors dont get paid enough as it is but theyll get paid even less under ObamaCare.

(Supreme Court Justice) John Roberts let us down by calling it a tax, Williams said. He got that wrong. Its a penalty.

Williams said he feels calling that portion of the act a tax is opening the door for the federal government to start taxing many items or services. What else can they penalize us for? he asked.

On paper Meaningful Use, the use of electronic paperwork and filing, sounds good, but in practice it really delays the process further, Williams said. For example, a prescription has to go through all the electronic processes before a patient can get the needed medicine, making it take two or three times as long as previously, he continued.

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Health care decision prompts responses

Next health care headache: Shortage of doctors

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The Supreme Court's validation of President Barack Obama's landmark health law sets off a scramble up and down California to find enough primary care doctors and other professionals to serve an estimated 3million newly insured patients by 2014.

California already rates below average in the number of doctors per capita.

But the state - rural and inland counties in particular - will face additional headwinds as health reform slashes the ranks of its 7 million uninsured.

California has an unusually large number of doctors heading into retirement years. It expects a much higher-than-average rise in the health-intensive 65-and-older population. And it has one of the lowest reimbursement rates in the country for Medi-Cal, the state's primary program offering health coverage for the poor.

Especially for communities already struggling with doctor shortages, the court's somewhat unexpected endorsement of the Affordable Care Act suddenly presents a steep challenge.

"The Affordable Care Act will add hundreds of thousands of people to the rolls of the insured. That's good," said Dr. G. Richard Olds, founding dean of the UC Riverside School of Medicine. "But where are the primary care physicians going to come from to serve that population?"

According to a 2009 study by the California HealthCare Foundation, only 16 of 58 California counties had sufficient primary care doctors as measured against standards set by the American Medical

Many of California's most acute shortages are in the Inland Empire and the San Joaquin Valley, where communities struggle to attract and retain doctors. They also have some of California's highest uninsured rates - exceeding 30 percent of residents in some counties, according to a 2009 UCLA study.

That could mean the same counties already fighting doctor shortages could see big increases in the insured starting in 2014.

Asked if local providers in San Luis Obispo County were numerous enough to accommodate the new patients created by health reform, county health officer Dr. Penny Borenstein had a definitive answer: "No. Simply."

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Next health care headache: Shortage of doctors

Children with genetic disorder write to Chief Minister for help

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V. Rajendran and Sujatha have a six-year-old boy, Raghu, who has been diagnosed with LSD (Lysosomal Storage Disorder) and requires medicines costing Rs. 98,000 per dose.

He needs two doses every month. Raghus older sister does not share his genetic problem or understand the seriousness of the situation as she plays with her brother.

We realised his growth was abnormal when he was 18 months old, Mr. Rajendran said. Diagnosis of the disease was the easier part. If the dose is not administered on time, he suffers from swelling of liver and spleen, he said.

Like Raghu, there are 150 children in the State and while some of them need expensive medicines to manage their condition, others need correctional surgeries.

LSD is a group of 45 different genetic diseases, caused by lack of secretion of certain enzymes in the body.

K. Divya (16), a class XI student, looks like a two-year-old. There are no medicines to treat her, however. Her appearance on a television show helped her get admission in school, said her father J. Karunakaran, who also spearheaded a movement called the LSD Support Society to bring together such children and their parents. Divya scored 92 per cent in the class X board exams.

Worldwide, there are around 10,000 children who can live a near normal life if medicine is made available to them, said geneticist Sujatha Jagadeesh of MediScan, a Chennai-based centre which deals with identification and diagnosis of genetic diseases.

Elsewhere, medicines are provided free of cost. We could at least ensure medicines are provided for those conditions that can be managed with drugs, she said.

There are some laboratories that conduct the basic tests but confirmatory diagnosis is done by sending urine and blood samples to Taiwan. A family requiring such tests must pay Rs. 20,000.

Chief medical director of MediScan S. Suresh said there are medicines for six of the diseases under the LSD umbrella but none of the children can afford it.

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Children with genetic disorder write to Chief Minister for help

Lotion May Treat Skin Diseases

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Imagine a lotion that can treat irreversible genetic skin diseases like psoriasis or life-threatening skin cancers like melanoma. Researchers at Northwestern University say they're another step closer to creating a treatment that will naturally slip through the skin and genetically alter cells to treat a particular skin disease.

Using creams and lotions to target a particular problem area is seen as a great advantage among many dermatologists in treating a localized skin problem.

"We like to treat skin diseases with topical creams so that we avoid side effects from treatments taken by mouth or injected," said Dr. Amy Paller, chair of dermatology and professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

But the difficulty among researchers has been creating a gene-altering topical agent that can successfully penetrate the skin to specifically treat genetic skin diseases.

"The problem is that our skin is a formidable barrier," Paller said. "Genetic material can't get through the skin through regular means."

Using nanotechnology, the researchers packaged gene-altering structures on top of tiny particles of gold designed to target epidermal growth factor receptor, a genetic marker associated with many types of skin cancers. The structure is designed to sneak through the skin and latch onto targets underneath without eliciting an immune response.

The researchers mixed the structure into the ointment Aquaphor, which is commonly used among many patients who have dry skin or irritation.

The researchers then rubbed the ointment onto the mice and onto human skin tissue and saw the gene-altering structure in the lotion successfully penetrated the skin and was able to shut down the potentially cancer-causing protein, according to the findings published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The preliminary study is regarded as the first to deliver topical gene therapy effectively with no toxic effects.

Topical steroids are the most commonly used cream-based treatment for skin problems such as psoriasis. While they can treat inflammation or other effects of a skin disease, they do not treat the underlying mechanism that's causing the problem, Paller said. And in cases like melanoma, the diseased cells are often surgically removed from the skin, leaving scarring.

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Lotion May Treat Skin Diseases

Penn engineers convert a natural plant protein into drug-delivery vehicles

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Public release date: 3-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Evan Lerner elerner@upenn.edu 215-573-6604 University of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA Finding biocompatible carriers that can get drugs to their targets in the body involves significant challenges. Beyond practical concerns of manufacturing and loading these vehicles, the carriers must work effectively with the drug and be safe to consume. Vesicles, hollow capsules shaped like double-walled bubbles, are ideal candidates, as the body naturally produces similar structures to move chemicals from one place to another. Finding the right molecules to assemble into capsules, however, remains difficult.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have now shown a new approach for making vesicles and fine-tuning their shapes. By starting with a protein that is found in sunflower seeds, they used genetic engineering to make a variety of protein molecules that assemble into vesicles and other useful structures.

Daniel A. Hammer, Alfred G. and Meta A. Ennis Professor of Bioengineering, graduate student Kevin Vargo and research scientist Ranganath Parthasarathy of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science conducted the research.

Their work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"To our knowledge, this is the first time a vesicle has been made from a recombinant protein," Hammer said.

Recombinant proteins are the products of a well-established technique that involves introducing a designed gene sequence into a host organism in most cases, the bacterium E. coli in order to get that organism to make a protein it would not normally produce.

Hammer's group worked for nearly a decade to find a protein that was biocompatible, could be produced through recombinant methods and, most important, could be induced to form vesicles.

"The molecule we identified is called oleosin," Hammer said. "It's a surfactant protein found in sunflower and sesame seeds."

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Penn engineers convert a natural plant protein into drug-delivery vehicles

Genetic 911: Cells' emergency systems revealed

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ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) oxic chemicals wreak havoc on cells, damaging DNA and other critical molecules. A new study from researchers at MIT and the University at Albany reveals how a molecular emergency-response system shifts the cell into damage-control mode and helps it survive such attacks by rapidly producing proteins that counteract the harm.

Peter Dedon, a professor of biological engineering at MIT, and colleagues had previously shown that cells treated with poisons such as arsenic alter their chemical modification of molecules known as transfer RNA (tRNA), which deliver protein building blocks within a cell. In their new paper, appearing in the July 3 issue of Nature Communications, the research team delved into how these modifications help cells survive.

The researchers found that toxic stresses reprogram the tRNA modifications to turn on a system that diverts the cell's protein-building machinery away from its routine activities to emergency action. "In the end, a stepwise mechanism leads to selective expression of proteins that you need to survive," says Dedon, senior author of the Nature Communications paper.

The findings offer insight into not only cells' response to toxins, but also their reactions to all kinds of stimuli, such as nutrients or hormones, Dedon says. "We're proposing that any time there's a stimulus, you're going to have a reprogramming [of tRNA] that causes selective translation of proteins you need for the next step in whatever you're going to do," he says.

Lead author of the paper is recent MIT PhD recipient Clement Chan. Other MIT authors are postdocs Yan Ling Joy Pang and Wenjun Deng and research scientist Ramesh Indrakanti. Authors from the University at Albany are Thomas Begley, an associate professor of nanobioscience, and research scientist Madhu Dyavaiah.

A new role for RNA

Transfer RNA is made of 70 to 90 ribonucleotide building blocks. After synthesis, the ribonucleotides usually undergo dozens of chemical modifications that alter their structure and function. The primary job of tRNA is to bring amino acids to the ribosomes, which string them together to make proteins.

In a 2010 paper, Dedon and colleagues exposed yeast cells to different toxic chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, bleach and arsenic. In each case, the cells responded by uniquely reprogramming the location and amount of each tRNA modification. If the cells lost the ability to reprogram the modifications, they were much less likely to survive the toxic attack.

In the new study, the researchers focused on a particular tRNA modification, known as m5C, which occurs when cells encounter hydrogen peroxide, a chemical produced by white blood cells.

They first discovered that this modification occurs predominantly in one of the tRNAs that carry the amino acid leucine. Every amino acid is encoded by three-letter sequences in the genome called codons. Each tRNA corresponds to one amino acid, but most amino acids can be coded by several tRNA sequences. For example, leucine can be coded by six different genome sequences: TTA, TTG, CTT, CTC, CTA and CTG.

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Natural plant protein converted into drug-delivery vehicles

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ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) Finding biocompatible carriers that can get drugs to their targets in the body involves significant challenges. Beyond practical concerns of manufacturing and loading these vehicles, the carriers must work effectively with the drug and be safe to consume. Vesicles, hollow capsules shaped like double-walled bubbles, are ideal candidates, as the body naturally produces similar structures to move chemicals from one place to another. Finding the right molecules to assemble into capsules, however, remains difficult.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have now shown a new approach for making vesicles and fine-tuning their shapes. By starting with a protein that is found in sunflower seeds, they used genetic engineering to make a variety of protein molecules that assemble into vesicles and other useful structures.

Daniel A. Hammer, Alfred G. and Meta A. Ennis Professor of Bioengineering, graduate student Kevin Vargo and research scientist Ranganath Parthasarathy of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science conducted the research.

Their work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"To our knowledge, this is the first time a vesicle has been made from a recombinant protein," Hammer said.

Recombinant proteins are the products of a well-established technique that involves introducing a designed gene sequence into a host organism -- in most cases, the bacterium E. coli -- in order to get that organism to make a protein it would not normally produce.

Hammer's group worked for nearly a decade to find a protein that was biocompatible, could be produced through recombinant methods and, most important, could be induced to form vesicles.

"The molecule we identified is called oleosin," Hammer said. "It's a surfactant protein found in sunflower and sesame seeds."

Surfactants are soap-like chemicals that have two distinct sides; one side is attracted to water and the other is repelled by it. They can make many structures in solution but making vesicles is rare. Most often, surfactants make micelles, in which a single layer of molecules aggregates with the water-loving part on the outside and the water-hating part on the inside. Micelles have a limited ability to carry drugs. Vesicles, in contrast, have two walls aligned so the two water-hating sides face each other. The water-loving interior cavity allows the transport of a large payload of water-soluble molecules that are suspended in water. Since many drugs are water soluble, vesicles offer significant advantages for drug delivery.

The team systematically modified oleosin to find variants of the molecule that could form vesicles. Getting oleosin to take this complex shape meant selectively removing and changing parts of oleosin's gene sequence so that the corresponding protein would fold the way the researchers wanted after it was produced by the E.coli.

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Natural plant protein converted into drug-delivery vehicles

Book imagines a future Civil War

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BARSTOW In a Barstow authors hypothetical history, the Civil War is still unfinished business.

Comes the Southern Revolution, written by Barstow resident James Elstad, mixes history and futurism in a new twist on the war.

When James Elstad a veteran of the Marine Corps and California National Guard visited Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia with a Virginia National Guard batallion from a nearby base, troops described the battle that took place there between Confederate soldiers and the federals.

The tone of their voice was, We would if we could, Elstad said, and their seemingly bitter tone stayed with him.

That got him thinking just what that would look like and sparked his story of a cocky southern Army National Guard General who relaunches the Civil War in 2016.

This is possible, Elstad said, because the general is a direct descendant of Gen. Robert E. Lee, who led the Confederate Army, and in the story Lee installed a group of 12 friends to raise his descendants and ensure their eventual return to hostilities.

He said he came up with the idea in 1996 and wrote a draft. He showed it to his wife, who praised the storyline, but not his writing style, he said.

In 2009, Elstad joined the High Desert chapter of the California Writers Club, which meets at the Newton T. Bass Library in Apple Valley. Each month, members gather at the library and critique each others work.

I went and took my work to their critique group and they helped me work through it, Elstad said. Its now half the size it was before, and its much better.

While his work might have some parallels to the Tea Party movement, with conservatives lingering distrust of the federal government, Elstad said he did not intend the book as an overt political statement.

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Book imagines a future Civil War

Freedom rings? Neighbors want one Corpus Christi resident to tone down year-round decorations

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CORPUS CHRISTI A fight over freedom has landed in one Corpus Christi woman's front yard this Fourth of July.

Elizabeth Pavich spreads the message of freedom each July by decorating her lawn in The Lakes neighborhood with American flags, pinwheels, a 6-foot-tall inflatable Uncle Sam as well as red, white and blue spotlights.

In October, she decorates with witches and ghosts. In December, it's Christmas lights. At Easter, it's bunnies and eggs in baskets.

But some neighbors don't like her year-round showy displays for nearly every holiday and want her to tone it down.

Eight years ago, Pavich was passed the decorating tradition from her mother after she died. She said when her mother decorated her home for the holiday, the neighborhood families would frequently stop by and admire it. Pavich said she now tries to do the same for her neighbors on Pontchartrain Drive.

Jeffrey Cannon respects his next door neighbor's right to express herself but feels that Pavich's decorations are overdone and nonstop. Once one holiday ends, she starts decorating for the next, he said.

"It doesn't go with the neighborhood," he said. "It definitely hurts our property value."

The Lakes is a gated community with a swimming pool, tennis court and five private, man-made lakes. The homeowner's association requires residents to maintain their lawns and regulates landscaping.

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Freedom rings? Neighbors want one Corpus Christi resident to tone down year-round decorations

Eco Growing Systems

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FORT MOHAVE, Ariz., July 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Do you want a more cost effective way of growing your vegetables? Check out our website at http://www.ecogrowingsystems.com.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120703/CG35121)

The Eco Grow Pot will give you the year around advantage of eco friendly gardening in a most cost effective way.

The patented Growing System allows you to grow year around in your own home, greenhouse, with proper lighting from sunlight and a climate from a low at night of 55 degrees and up to 85 degrees . This is true for growing outside for all varieties of vegetables, herbs, ornamental foliage and fruits. The Eco Grow Pots has become a favorite with homeowners, container gardeners', hobbyists, greenhouse growers and is becoming eco friendly to retail garden centers, organic growers and more recently the custom eco growing programs.

The Eco Grow Pots are gaining popularity in Hydroponic Shops, and Gardens Shops, as the Eco Grow Pots are cost effective self contained, labor saving, and easy to grow and maintain year around. This is the very place where you'll be finding some of the best products that are globally accepted as a gardener's best pick for eco friendly gardening.

What you are to do is to begin using the 6 (1gal.) grow pot when growing from seed, cuttings or clones. Some of the chief benefits to begin your gardening using Eco grow pots are:

All Eco Grow Pots draw water from water reservoir through capillary action that allows, plants, vegetation, herbs foliage, fruits to draw up water as needed. The Eco Grow Pot systems have been used by professional Greenhouse, Ornamental Foliage, Herb and Fruit Growers for over 20 years with fruit bearing results. New Growers are joining the ranks and discovering the economic, conservation and ecologic benefits of the Eco Grow Pots.

Each end user can grow all varieties of vegetables, herbs, ornamental fruits from seed or cuttings, use 50% less water and energy. The patented Eco Grow Pot has been scientifically tested and accepted for seed crops, organic crops and many other varieties of foliage.

Media Contact: Brisa Hattem Eco Growing Systems, 877-563-5632, hattembrisa@yahoo.com

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

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Eco Growing Systems

America's most crowded beaches

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More than 16 million visitors a year are drawn to the street life at Venice Beach in California.

By Everett Potter , Travel + Leisure

Independence Day brings to mind fireworks, barbecue, and, if you live in Ocean City, crowds. More than 300,000 sun-seekers flood this small Maryland town each July 4th, packing restaurants, boardwalk attractions, and, of course, the beach.

When the summer holiday strikes, fleeing to the beach seems like a no-brainer. After all, what could be better than a sea breeze to cool you off? You and those hundreds of thousands of fellow beachgoers, that is.

Thats the kind of maritime mosh pit youre likely to encounter at Americas popular beaches. And Ocean City, with 4.5 million annual visitors, is hardly the worst offender.

Slideshow: See more of America's most crowded beaches

The state of Florida has the greatest number of congested beaches on our list; its two coastlines offer seemingly endless stretches of sand, from Miamis party scene to secluded Caladesi Island. But its California, famous for surfing culture, that claims the questionable honor of Americas No. 1 most crowded beach: Venice Beach, to be precise, which swarms with 16 million sunbathers, fortune-tellers, street performers, and people-watchers.

Arriving at that estimate isnt an exact science as beach crowds are fluid and dynamic. To crunch the numbers, we relied on theUnited States Lifesaving Association, which keeps attendance stats for more than 200 beaches. When unavailable, we turned to government organizations like the New York City Parks Department. Not only did Coney Island make our list with 11 million annual visitors, but so did Rockaway Beach, a longtime destination for city-dwelling surfers thats recently become a hipster favorite. Its worth braving the crowds both on the sand and in line at the Rockaway Taco food truck.

Though not everyone may be convinced. Once New York and other local authorities have the stats, they might like to boast about how many visitors their beaches receive. But if they proclaim those numbers too loudly, they might scare people away. As the great Yogi Berra put it, Nobody goes there anymore, its too crowded.

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America's most crowded beaches

TELL US: Quality sand nourishes Aspendale and Mentone beaches

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WORK began this week to save shrinking beaches at Aspendale and Mentone with thousands of tonnes of sand being added to the foreshore.

The $680,000 project will see sand from Mentone that had been washed down to Mordialloc trucked back to Mentone, while Aspendale beach will be renourished using sand sourced from a quarry in South Gippsland.

>> Have you tried out the new sand? Tell us what you think below.

Carrum state Liberal MP Donna Bauer said the State Government and Kingston Council were determined not to see a repeat of a controversial renourishment at Half Moon Bay last year, which saw residents protest against the use of sand that was darker and different in consistency to the natural sand on the Black Rock beach.

"The sand being brought in for Aspendale is of a very high quality and highly compatible in terms of colour and feel with what's already there," she said.

Sandringham state Liberal MP Murray Thompson said the renourishment would enable the beaches to be used all year round.

Kingston Mayor Cr John Ronke said sand renourishment was important for the future of the coast.

"We're very lucky in Kingston to have 13km of foreshore to enjoy all year round, especially in summer when our beaches attract thousands of visitors," he said.

"However, in Kingston there is an overall loss of sand to the south as a result of wave direction, which is why these works are necessary."

The works on both beaches began on Monday and will take up to six weeks to complete.

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TELL US: Quality sand nourishes Aspendale and Mentone beaches

Several southern Maine beaches fail water quality tests

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Study shows public not well warned when pollution is high

No parking spots were available around noon as people were in the water and sand at York's Long Sands Beach on a beautiful Tuesday in Maine.Deb Cram/dcram@seacoastonline.com

PORTLAND, Maine Several beaches in York as well as Crescent Beach in Kittery were in the Top 20 of state beaches that most frequently failed water quality tests in 2011. Short Sands Beach and Cape Neddick Beach were in the Top 10.

Environment Maine released new beach water safety data Tuesday and called on the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to better inform the public when pollution levels exceed the state's health limits.

"Clean beaches are not only part of summertime fun, but they are also critical to our health, as well as to Maine's tourism and fishing economies," said Emily Figdor, director of Environment Maine, a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization.

"The public has a right to know when the water is safe and clean, and when it's not," Figdor said at a news conference held Tuesday at East End Beach.

"That's why I was astounded to hear the false and misleading statements made by the Department of Environmental Protection last week."

The Maine DEP issued a prepared statement Friday stating definitively that beach managers will post an advisory or a closure notice when bacteria levels exceed established health limits. The announcement also stated that more than two-thirds of Maine beaches had no water quality issues in 2011.

Figdor took issue with the guarantee that an advisory would be issued and the resulting conclusion about safety.

Environment Maine released Tuesday state data from the Natural Resources Defense Council's 22nd annual beach water report, "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches."

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Several southern Maine beaches fail water quality tests