Homeless Bear...Save the Arctic

 

 

http://www.savethearctic.org - Our leaders won't listen to her, but they'll listen to you. What do you have to say to those who want to destroy the Arctic?

Greenpeace, Jude Law, Radiohead and hundreds of thousands of people around the world are coming together to demand we save the Arctic from oil drilling, industrial fishing and militarization. Join us at http://www.savethearctic.org

I Once Was King

I am Nanook, I once was king.
Across the vast, white plains of snow and ice, my soul took wing.
A frozen kingdom, it was my joy, it was my home.
In the shimmering blue of the ocean's deep my heart would sing
With the dazzle of the sun glancing from the ice and dancing on the foam.
The night sky bloomed with flickering lights of brilliant hue,
 The stars seemed close enough to feel their lambent glow,
I felt that I could reach aloft and capture one or two.
All creatures heard me roar and feared my voice and I was lord of all.
I enjoyed the bounty of my world and I rejoiced
And thought it was eternal. How could I know my days were few?
My icy realm began to crack and each day the fissures grew.
A glacial kingdom built on water cannot survive and so I knew
The end would come and though we struggled to endure,
 The waters claimed us one by one.
I looked to you for our salvation, for did you not effect our end ?
You did not rise to my expectation but proved, instead, you were not friends.
And did not try to resist temptation to satisfy your selfish wants,
Nor care about our preservation....and so we die, while you live on.
Some day, not far away, I'll be a bygone image in a book,
But I was here; I lived and breathed. I once was king.
I am...Nanook.


The Genie

The Inuit Eskimo name for the Polar Bear is "Nanuk" or "Nanook", meaning "an animal worthy of great respect." (Some versions say "Master or King of Bears") While in their poetry, the Inuit word they use for Polar Bear is, "Pihoqahiak", meaning "the ever-wandering one".

Taking the Next Step: Revolutionary HIV vaccine approved for human trials.

 

The first and only preventative HIV vaccine based on a genetically modified killed whole virus, developed by Dr. Chil-Yong Kang and his team at The University of Western Ontario, has received approval by the FDA to start human clinical trials.

HIV/AIDS Vaccine Developed at The University of Western Ontario Proceeding to Human Clinical Trials

London, ON – The first and only preventative HIV vaccine based on a genetically modified killed whole virus has received approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to start human clinical trials.

Developed by Dr. Chil-Yong Kang and his team at The University of Western Ontario, with the support of Sumagen Canada, the vaccine (SAV001) holds tremendous promise, having already proven to stimulate strong immune responses in preliminary toxicology tests with no adverse effects or safety risks.  It is the only HIV vaccine currently under development in Canada, and one of only a few in the world.

“FDA approval for human clinical trials is an extremely significant milestone for our vaccine, which has the potential to save the lives of millions of people around the world by preventing HIV infection," says Kang, a researcher and professor at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.

Western President Amit Chakma says, "This joint venture between Sumagen and Western is a prime example of what collaboration between private industry and university researchers can achieve. Dr. Kang and his team are to be commended for their exceptional talent and remarkable persistence in developing a vaccine that addresses a tragic health crisis affecting millions of people around the globe."

 

HIV/AIDS has killed more than 28 million people worldwide, and more than 35 million people currently live with the virus infection. Since the virus was characterized in 1983, there have been numerous trials through pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions around the world to develop vaccines; however, no commercialized vaccine has been developed to date.

 Other HIV vaccines evaluated through human clinical trials have focused on either one specific component of HIV as an antigen, genetic vaccine using recombinant DNA, or recombinant viruses carrying the HIV genes. Kang’s vaccine is unique in that it uses a killed whole HIV-1, much like the killed whole virus vaccines for polio, influenza, rabies and hepatitis A. The HIV-1 is genetically engineered so it is non-pathogenic and can be produced in large quantities.

Before it can be commercialized, the SAV001 vaccine must go through three phases of human clinical trials:

• Phase I, set to begin in January 2012, will double check the safety of the vaccine in humans, involving only 40 HIV-positive volunteers.
• Phase II will measure immune responses in humans, involving approximately 600 HIV-negative volunteers who are in the high-risk category for HIV infection.
• Phase III will measure the efficacy of the vaccine, involving approximately 6,000 HIV-negative volunteers who are also in the high-risk category for HIV infection.

Painting Bought For $50 Actual Worth $388,000

When retired ophthalmic surgeon, Robert Darvell, bought a box of trinkets for 50 dollars, he did not expect to become an art collector over night.

Amongst the less than significant items, a painting the size of a postcard turned out to be an original John Constable worth almost $400,000.

The 19th century painting depicts a summery scene filled with trees, rolling hills and clouds. Darvell’s son has the painting appraised on CNB's "Treasure Detectives," where the host Curtis Dowling confirmed that John Constable had painted the tiny landscape. Dowling thought that the painting belonged to Constable’s father-in-law and assessed that it was worth $388,000.

Constable is known for painting landscapes and his painting "The Lock" sold for $35 million last year.

In an interview with BBC, Darvell tells how the painting actually came into his possession via his father. Dowling further explains how he and experts came to the conclusion that the piece was in fact a John Constable original.

When Darvell suggested to his family that the painting could be a Constable he was met with laughter. "We never took him seriously," Darvell’s son said. "I don’t think he believed it entirely, so it became a bit of a family joke."

Looks like Robert Darvell will be the one laughing all the way to bank.
Photo Credit: Carl Court, AFP/Getty Images

Words of Wisdom

My memory is so bad that I finally have a clear conscience .

My senior moments sometimes turn into a week long vacation.

Grant me the senility to forget the people I never knew , the good fortune to those I do and the vision to tell the difference .

We do not stop laughing because we grow old , we grow old because we stop laughing .

G. ------------A proud grandpa

Why do We Kiss ??

 

 

Well, that explains it

Rescue of a Humpbacked Whale and Research on Sunburned Whales

 

A blue whale’s head and tail fluke tend to be uniformly grey but their dorsal skin is usually mottled and can be quite pale.

The way that whales react to sunlight can shed new light on the human ageing process, say researchers. Some species react by getting darker with UV exposure in the same way as humans get a tan. Others though, protect from themselves from sun burn by turning genes on and off. The work, which is published in the journal Scientific Reports, could lead to new anti-ageing treatments in humans.

For several years now, marine biologists in Mexico have noticed an increasing number of whales in the region with blistered skin as a result of exposure to increasing, damaging UV rays. Over a three-year period researchers took skin samples from three different species of whales during their annual spring migration, when they move to the sunnier waters of the Gulf of California. The scientists found the different species reacted differently to the increase in sunlight.

Blue whales are the biggest creatures ever to have lived on Earth, and they respond to the Sun by increasing the amount of pigment in their skin, just like humans.

"When blue whales go on their holidays to the Gulf of California they get a tan the same way we do," Prof Mark Birch-Machin said. "And that tan protects blue whales from sunburnt DNA."

The scientists used crossbows and modified arrows to take skin biopsies from blue whales in the Gulf of California

According to Prof Birch-Machin, exposure to ultra violet light can damage not just skin but can harm DNA in mitochondria, the battery packs of cells. The ability of blue whales to tan in response to UV exposure may be connected to their historic migratory patterns as they move annually from higher to lower latitudes with a greater amount of sunlight.

Sperm whales have a different approach to the sun, says Prof Birch-Machin. They can spend up to six hours at a time on the surface of the ocean and have far greater exposure to UV light.

"They are akin to people going for the lobster approach - so changes in pigment aren't going to help them very much as the UV is overwhelming the system," he said. Instead of changes in their pigment, the sun triggers a stress response in the genes of these whales, which is similar to our own protective mechanism against sun damage.

"We saw for the first time evidence of genotoxic pathways being activated in the cells of the whales," said researcher Amy Bowman.

"This is similar to the damage response caused by free radicals in human skin which is our protective mechanism against sun damage," she added.

The third species the scientists examined were fin whales. These deeply pigmented animals were found to be more resistant to sun damage, with the lowest prevalence of sunburn lesions.  All species of whales are subject to sunburn lesions in varying degrees.  The researchers hope that by seeing both changes in pigment and changes in genes, the whales may shed some light on the ageing process in humans.

 

But can they help the poor whales who are getting blistered by the increasing intensity of the ultra-violet rays they are exposed to?? Unfortunately not. We can only hope they find a way to adapt quickly. In the mean time, these studies can help us to learn more about our own responses to sun damage and our own ageing mechanisms. And perhaps the plight of the whales will wake us up to the reality of global warming and the  danger of exposure to the growing concentration of ultra violet rays.

 



Blueberries cut type-2 diabetes risk

Eating more fruit, particularly blueberries, apples and grapes, is linked to a reduced risk of developing type-2 diabetes, suggests a study in the British Medical Journal. Blueberries cut the risk by 26% compared with 2% for three servings of any whole fruit - but fruit juice did not appear to have the same effect. The research looked at the diets of more than 187,000 people in the US.

Researchers  used data from three large studies of nurses and health professionals in the US to examine the link between fruit consumption and the risk of contracting type-2 diabetes.

What is type-2 diabetes?

Diabetes is an incurable condition in which the body cannot control blood sugar levels, because of problems with the hormone insulin. In type-2 diabetes, either the pancreas cells do not make enough insulin, or the body's cells do not react properly to it. This is known as insulin resistance.

 

In these studies, 6.5% of participants (12,198 out of 187,382) developed type-2 diabetes. The studies used food frequency questionnaires to follow up the participants every four years, asking how often, on average, they ate a standard portion of each fruit. The fruits used in the study were grapes or raisins, peaches, plums or apricots, prunes, bananas, cantaloupe, apples or pears, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries and blueberries.

The researchers' analysis of the data showed that three servings per week of blueberries, grapes and raisins, and apples and pears significantly reduced the risk of type-2 diabetes. While all fruit was shown to reduce the risk, these fruits appeared to be particularly effective.

The researchers said this could be due to the fact these fruits contain high levels of anthocyanins, which have been shown to enhance glucose uptake in mice. The same fruits contain naturally-occurring polyphenols which are known to have beneficial effects.

In the study paper, they wrote: "Fruits have highly variable contents of fibre, antioxidants, other nutrients, and phytochemicals that jointly may influence the risk." But the glycaemic load of different types of fruit - the quality and quantity of carbohydrate they contain - did not fully explain the results, the study said.

When they looked at the effects of fruit juice consumption, the researchers found a slightly increased risk of type-2 diabetes. The study calculated that replacing weekly fruit juice consumption with whole fruits could bring health benefits.

For example, replacing fruit juice with blueberries could reduce the risk of contracting type-2 diabetes by 33%, with grapes and raisins by 19%, apples and pears by 13% - and with any combination of whole fruit by 7%. Replacing fruit juice with oranges, peaches, plums and apricots had a similar effect.

Qi Sun, study author and assistant professor at Harvard School of Public Health, said, in general, fruit juices contained less of the beneficial compounds found in whole fruits.

Whole fruits are preferable to fruit juice, the study says

"The juicing process gets rid of the fruit, just leaving fluids which are absorbed more quickly, causing blood sugars and insulin levels to rise if they contain sugars. "To try to minimize the risk of type-2 diabetes as much as possible it is reasonable to reduce fruit juice consumption and increase consumption of whole fruits."

Experts say the best way to reduce your risk of developing type-2 diabetes is to eat a balanced, healthy diet that includes a variety of fruits and vegetables and to be as physically active as possible.

Dr Matthew Hobbs, head of research for Diabetes UK, said the study provided further evidence that eating plenty of whole fruit was a key part of the balanced diet that will minimize the risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

Kamlesh Khunti, professor of primary care diabetes and vascular medicine at the University of Leicester, said the large study showed that eating any fruit is good. "Eating all kinds of fruit works and there is still a reduction in risk.

The government recommends eating five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. Make sure one or more of those portions is blueberries. It's one medicine that you can take with pleasure.