Scientists are developing a simple blood test to measure how fast the body’s tissues are ageing at a molecular level. They have found that as tissue ages, concentrations of a protein called p16INK4a dramatically increases. Measuring levels of the protein could potentially provide a way to assess how healthy the tissues are, and how they will respond to surgery or drugs. The University of North Carolina study appears in the journal Aging Cell. Scientists are already interested in p16INK4a because it is known to play a role in suppressing the development of cancer. The protein is present in the T-cells of the immune system, which play a key role in fighting disease, and repairing tissue damage. Physical inactivity link Not only did the North Carolina team show that levels were closely related to cellular ageing, they also found a strong link with certain behaviours, such as tobacco use and physical inactivity, which are known to accelerate the ageing process. They say they have overcome technical hurdles to begin perfecting a simple blood test to detect levels of the protein. To test its accuracy, they analysed blood samples from 170 people, who […]
The use of the powerful antibiotic streptomycin as a growth-promoting agent in turkeys also quickly promotes the growth of dangerous streptomycin-resistant coliform bacteria, according to researchers at University of California, Davis. Perhaps such a finding should be cause for alarm, considering how agribusiness pumps more than 20 million pound of antibiotics into healthy livestock each year, constituting more than 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the United States. Then again, the aforementioned study was published in 1951. Hundreds of similar studies have since been published. But no one seems to care. Yet as serious questions arise about U.S. food safety nearly monthly, and with antibiotic abuse rampant and with antibacterial-resistant ‘super bugs’ reaching epidemic proportions, maybe it’s time to rethink the practice of industrial-scale animal production. Scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore and the Pew Charitable Trusts are now calling for a phase-out and eventual ban of antibacterial agents for nontherapeutic use in livestock. They have taken their cause to Washington this month with ads in the Metro subway system and elsewhere. Old MacDonald had some drugs Antibiotics down on the industrial farm serve two purposes. They make […]
The Obama administration, which came to office promising to protect gay rights but so far has not done much, actually struck a blow for the other side last week. It submitted a disturbing brief in support of the Defense of Marriage Act, which is the law that protects the right of states to not recognize same-sex marriages and denies same-sex married couples federal benefits. The administration needs a new direction on gay rights. A gay couple married under California law is challenging the act in federal court. In its brief, the Justice Department argues that the couple lack legal standing to do so. It goes on to contend that even if they have standing, the case should be dismissed on the merits. The brief insists it is reasonable for states to favor heterosexual marriages because they are the ‘traditional and universally recognized form of marriage. In arguing that other states do not have to recognize same-sex marriages under the Constitution’s ‘full faith and credit clause, the Justice Department cites decades-old cases ruling that states do not have to recognize marriages between cousins or an uncle and a niece. These are comparisons that understandably rankle many gay people. […]
WASHINGTON — The mood was upbeat in early March when scores of powerful lawmakers and lobbyists joined President Obama in the East Room of the White House to talk about fixing the nation’s health care system. Still, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, rose to tell Obama that many Republicans had a problem with his plan to let the government compete with private insurers. ‘There’s a lot of us that feel that the government is an unfair competitor,’ Grassley said. ‘We have to keep what we have now strong, and make it stronger.’ Three months later, disagreement has turned to discord over a key element of Obama’s health care prescription: his insistence on a ‘public plan’ to compete with private insurers. America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group, is joined by the American Medical Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others that have expressed misgivings about greater government involvement. ‘We’re not sure that the government is very good at running a health plan,’ said Nancy Nielsen, president of the AMA, which heard Obama defend his plan Monday. That has led to a number of compromise proposals, designed to inject choice and competition into the market without letting […]
June 15, 2009 ‘Conservatives Are Single-Largest Ideological Group Percentage of ‘liberals higher this decade than in early ’90s by Lydia Saad PRINCETON, NJ — Thus far in 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This represents a slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2004. The 21% calling themselves liberal is in line with findings throughout this decade, but is up from the 1990s. These annual figures are based on multiple national Gallup surveys conducted each year, in some cases encompassing more than 40,000 interviews. The 2009 data are based on 10 separate surveys conducted from January through May. Thus, the margins of error around each year’s figures are quite small, and changes of only two percentage points are statistically significant. To measure political ideology, Gallup asks Americans to say whether their political views are very conservative, conservative, moderate, liberal, or very liberal. As has been the case each year since 1992, very few Americans define themselves at the extremes of the political spectrum. Just 9% call themselves ‘very conservative’ and […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
