Premature aging of stem cell telomeres, not inflammation, linked to emphysema

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Lung diseases like emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis are common among people with malfunctioning telomeres, the "caps" or ends of chromosomes. Now, researchers from Johns Hopkins say they have discovered what goes wrong and why.

Mary Armanios, M.D., an associate professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine., and her colleagues report that some stem cells vital to lung cell oxygenation undergo premature aging -- and stop dividing and proliferating -- when their telomeres are defective. The stem cells are those in the alveoli, the tiny air exchange sacs where blood takes up oxygen.

In studies of these isolated stem cells and in mice, Armanios' team discovered that dormant or senescent stem cells send out signals that recruit immune molecules to the lungs and cause the severe inflammation that is also a hallmark of emphysema and related lung diseases.

Until now, Armanios says, researchers and clinicians have thought that "inflammation alone is what drives these lung diseases and have based therapy on anti-inflammatory drugs for the last 30 years."

But the new discoveries, reported March 30 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest instead that "if it's premature aging of the stem cells driving this, nothing will really get better if you don't fix that problem," Armanios says.

Acknowledging that there are no current ways to treat or replace damaged lung stem cells, Armanios says that knowing the source of the problem can redirect research efforts. "It's a new challenge that begins with the questions of whether we take on the effort to fix this defect in the cells, or try to replace the cells," she adds.

Armanios and her team say their study also found that this telomere-driven defect leaves mice extremely vulnerable to anticancer drugs like bleomycin or busulfan that are toxic to the lungs. The drugs and infectious agents like viruses kill off the cells that line the lung's air sacs. In cases of telomere dysfunction, Armanios explains, the lung stem cells can't divide and replenish these destroyed cells.

When the researchers gave these drugs to 11 mice with the lung stem cell defect, all became severely ill and died within a month.

This finding could shed light on why "sometimes people with short telomeres may have no signs of pulmonary disease whatsoever, but when they're exposed to an acute infection or to certain drugs, they develop respiratory failure," says Armanios. "We don't think anyone has ever before linked this phenomenon to stem cell failure or senescence."

In their study, the researchers genetically engineered mice to have a telomere defect that impaired the telomeres in just the lung stem cells in the alveolar epithelium, the layer of cells that lines the air sacs. "In bone marrow or other compartments, when stem cells have short telomeres, or when they age, they just die out," Armanios says. "But we found that instead, these alveolar cells just linger in the senescent stage."

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Premature aging of stem cell telomeres, not inflammation, linked to emphysema

Jazz Fusion & Spirituality – Ivan Verrastro – Valleys of Freedom (Sentience) – Video

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Jazz Fusion Spirituality - Ivan Verrastro - Valleys of Freedom (Sentience)
from the 2013 album "Sentience" Ivan Verrastro. All rights Reserved. http://ivanverrastro.com http://facebook.com/ivanverrastromusic http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ivanverrastro https://soundcloud.com...

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Merlin’s Mystery School: Going Beyond New Age Spirituality And Getting Back To Practicality – Video

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Merlin #39;s Mystery School: Going Beyond New Age Spirituality And Getting Back To Practicality
I #39;m sure many of us started our lives, in some type of religious dogma or form of indoctrination. Over the years we probably grew out of the belief system, or found that it never worked for...

By: Michael Pratt

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Merlin's Mystery School: Going Beyond New Age Spirituality And Getting Back To Practicality - Video

Social Justice Stations link present-day problems to Jesus' suffering

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The Franciscan Spirituality Center will host its annual Justice and Peace Stations of the Cross from 10 a.m. to noon Good Friday through downtown La Crosse.

The 2-mile trek is a silent prayer walk starting at the St. Rose Convent sign at Ninth and Market streets and making 10 stops as it winds through downtown to Riverside Park.

The formal Stations of the Cross, which have 14 stops, commemorate Jesus journey as he carried his cross to Calvary.

Participants stop to pray and sing at places that represent suffering, such as violence, poverty, inadequate health care and incarceration, in the community and the world, with the final stop at the Mississippi River representing resurrection and new life.

The stops, the corresponding steps in Jesus passion and the current issues for meditation they represent:

Organizers note that participants will have to walk back to the stations starting point or arrange for a ride back from Riverside Park.

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Social Justice Stations link present-day problems to Jesus' suffering

Can you be spiritual without being religious? 'There are many paths to enlightenment'

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faith

Chris Serico TODAY

7 hours ago

Whats it like to lead a life thats spiritual, but not traditionally religious? Answers vary, but perhaps not as wildly as one might expect.

A recent TODAY survey indicated that 77 percent of participants see a difference between religion and spirituality, with more than 70 percent of respondents indicating its more important to be spiritual than religious.

Perhaps among those who identify with that latter majority is Suzi Lula, who prays and expresses gratitude on a daily basis. Raised by a Jewish mother and Christian father, Lula says she found comfort in being raised with religious traditions, but discovered a deeper connection once she attended events through Culver City, Californias Agape International Spiritual Center.

To me, spirituality is the best of what any religion is seeking to offer, Lula told TODAYs Erica Hill. When I found Agape, it really felt more like a community where the spiritual essence that I was looking for was just infused.

A transdenominational movement founded by Rev. Michael Beckwith in 1986, Agape claims some 9,000 local members and 1 million friends worldwide all on a quest to find deeper spirituality.

I think that sometimes there's a misconception that spiritual people are airy-fairy, he said. I would say it's just the opposite: that a deeply spiritual person is trying to manifest their gifts and their talents in this world to change the world for the better.

Discussions about God, acts of prayer, and an emphasis on service mirror elements of religion, but Agape doesnt offer the traditional structure many Americans associate with religion.

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Can you be spiritual without being religious? 'There are many paths to enlightenment'

The Spatials Review – Fun, Building, Conquest and Projectile Vomit – Video

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The Spatials Review - Fun, Building, Conquest and Projectile Vomit
In this video I take a look at The Spatials, a new space station sim from Weird and Wry games. In The Spatials, you #39;re given command of a new space station, and must complete missions on nearby...

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Astronaut Scott Kelly sets out to break an American record in space – Video

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Astronaut Scott Kelly sets out to break an American record in space
his week, astronaut Scott Kelly arrived at the International Space Station, where he will stay for a year -- the longest duration of time any American has spent in space. While Scott is in...

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Space Station Astronaut Snaps Breathtaking Pictures of Record-breaking Typhoon – Video

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Space Station Astronaut Snaps Breathtaking Pictures of Record-breaking Typhoon
Super Typhoon Maysak #39;s maximum sustained winds of 160 miles per hour are churning the waters of the Western Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, lashing the tiny island of Yap, with a population of only...

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What Happens If Russia Abandons the International Space Station?

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Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty Images Mikhail Kornienko, Gennady Padalka, and Scott Kelly (left to right) in front of a Soyuz spacecraft simulator. Kornienko and Kelly started a one-year tour of the space station last week.

For fifty years, NASA prepared for space missions as if for battle: practice repeatedly what you must do, prepare to be surprised, and have backup plans when you are, because you will be. But now with Americas space future at stake, that principle appears to have weakened, and NASA may have overlooked something crucial.

On March 4, during testimony before a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee, NASA administrator Charles Bolden was asked about what happens if the Russians pull out of the International Space Station. (Critical ISS modules are Russian, and currently the only way for humans to travel between the ISS and the ground is via Russian Soyuz spacecraft.) Asked by the new chairman, John Culberson, about what would happen in the event that Vladimir Putins current belligerency ever led to Russia refusing to fly Americans to the space station, Bolden stated that it would be impossible for either Russia or America to operate the station without the other. Pressed by Culberson about NASA contingency plans, Bolden said You are forcing me into this answer, and I like to give you real answers, then adding I don't want to try and BS anybody. But, in the end, told the committee, We would make an orderly evacuation.

Thats itwed have time to pack and turn out the lights.

Thats the wrong answer. But Culbersons question was wrong too, narrowly focused as it was on Kremlin perfidy. Many scenarios could cripple Russias ability to fly crews to the ISS. The Russians could be victimized by technical problems with launch vehicles, suffer diplomatic problems with the Soyuz launch site (which is located in Khazakastan, a country concerned about whats been happening in Ukraine), be subject to terrorist attacks on ground infrastructure, or suddenly have to cope with age- or human-error-induced crippling of one of their station modules. Exactly what NASA and its other partners would have to do in response to any of these scenarios would deeply depend on the specific nature of the loss of function.

So to learn that NASA has spent no thought on what to do in the face of this wide gamut of possible events is disturbing. Past space disasterssuch as Apollo 13s liquid-oxygen tank explosion, Skylabs crippling launch mishaps, and the misshapen Hubble telescope mirrorwere overcome in large part because space planners had anticipated categories of failures and had then outlined response plans, albeit often with the details left to be filled in as needed.

But apparently not this time, with the most expensive and irreplaceable space station the world has ever seen? Let me suggest some half-baked answers as a starting point.

The problem of getting a US crew to the station is approaching resolution, with operational missions of commercial crew transportation vehicles from SpaceX and Boeing two or three years away. That date is budget-driven and with emergency funding could be moved significantly sooner.

Meanwhile, even if no new astronauts can be sent to the ISS, those already aboard would be able to hunker down and extend their stay significantly. It would bend and even break current medical limits (which have only recently been extended to permit a one-year stay on the station for Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly, who blasted off for the ISS last Friday) but it would be an emergency response.

The remaining safety issue would be the problem of conducting anemergency evacuation in the case that one or both of the two Soyuz spacecraft normally docked at the station were unavailable. Even here, there are conceivable short-term modifications to existing cargo vehicles, such as SpaceXs Dragon capsule, that could provide an acceptable crew return ability with bare-bones life support.

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What Happens If Russia Abandons the International Space Station?

NASA covers Super Typhoon Maysak's rainfall, winds, clouds, eye

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IMAGE:This close up photo of Super Typhoon Maysak's eye was taken by Terry Virts aboard the International Space Station on April 1, 2015. view more

NASA's fleet of satellites and instruments in space have covered Super Typhoon Maysak's rainfall, winds, clouds and an astronaut about the International Space Station captured a close-up photo of the storm's eye.

On April 1 at 01:35 UTC (March 31 at 9:35 p.m. EDT), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a stunning view of Super Typhoon Maysak in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The MODIS image clearly showed its eye and bands of powerful thunderstorms circling the eye, and wrapping into it from the east and west.

From the International Space Station, astronaut Terry Virts photographed Super Typhoon Maysak's 15 nautical-mile wide eye using a zoom lens on April 1, 2015.

The Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core observatory's Microwave Imager (GMI) revealed that Maysak was dropping rain at a rate of over 70 mm (2.8 inches) per hour northwest of a well-defined eye on April 1 at 12:15 UTC (8:15 a.m. EDT). The 12:11 UTC (8:11 a.m. EDT) GPM microwave image also showed the weakening of the deep convection on the southern edge of the storm.

Super typhoon Maysak's winds were near 130 knots (~150 mph) and the storm was north of Palau in the western Pacific Ocean when the Global Precipitation Measurement of GPM core observatory satellite flew overhead on April 1, 2015 at 1215 UTC (8:15 a.m. EDT). GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) revealed that Maysak was dropping rain at a rate of over 70 mm (2.8 inches) per hour northwest of a well-defined eye.

On April 1 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) Super Typhoon Maysak, known in the Philippines as Chedeng, was centered near 11.6 north latitude and 135.6 east longitude, about 194 nautical miles (223 miles/359.3 km) northwest of Yap.

Maysak's maximum sustained winds were near 130 knots (149.6 mph/ 240.8 kph) with higher gusts. Maysak is a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale. The super typhoon was moving to the west-northwest at 10 knots (11.5 mph/18.5 kph) and generating 44-foot-high seas (13.4 meters).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) noted that Maysak appears to be "weakening slightly, as can be seen by the increase in dry air entrainment (moving into the system) seen in the water vapor and total perceptible water loops (animated imagery)."

The JTWC forecast calls for Maysak to move northwest toward the Central Luzon Region of the Philippines. The storm is not expected to intensify further and begin weakening in the next day as vertical wind shear increases. JTWC is forecasting a landfall in Central Luzon on April 4.

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NASA covers Super Typhoon Maysak's rainfall, winds, clouds, eye

Selma native named to leadership role at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

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HUNTSVILLE, AL -

Larry K. Mack, a native of Selma, Alabama, has been named deputy director of the Office of Human Capital at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Named to the position in March 2015, he is responsible for helping oversee organization and leadership development, academic affairs, training and incentives, workforce strategy and planning, federal labor relations and employee services and operations.

Mack has more than 20 years of experience in human capital, human resources and personnel management with the federal government. Most recently, he was compensation manager in the Human Resources Branch of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, where he was responsible for the development and execution of human resources linked to the CFTC's human capital, performance management and compensation programs.

He held a number of posts with the CFTC during his tenure at the agency. Earlier in his career, Mack was a personnel management specialist at the federal government's Office of Personnel Management, providing advice and counsel to managers and employees regarding employee and labor relations matters, as well as providing support in the administration of government-wide systems for setting and adjusting rates of pay.

In both high finance and space exploration the goal of human capital professionals is largely the same, Mack said. "The key part is to devise effective human resource strategies so that they align with the mission and its needs. The way you support the mission is to keep team members from worrying about these issues so they can focus on their work."

He has earned a number of awards, including the CFTC's Chairman's Award for Supervisory Excellence, the Office of Personnel Management Director's Citation for Exemplary Public Service, the Small Agency Human Resources Council's Charles A. Bradshaw Award, superior performance awards and several letters of commendation for outstanding service.

Mack earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Alabama State University in Montgomery, and a Master of Arts degree in human resources development from Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland.

His wife, Tamara, born in Montgomery, Alabama, also grew up in Columbus, Georgia. Mack said that after years in Washington, they were excited by the opportunity to move their family to the South. "I'm coming home," he said.

Mack, his wife and their children, Zachary, 16, and Alexis, 3, live in Madison, Alabama.

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Selma native named to leadership role at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center