Self Improvement | Practice Happiness | The Self Improvement Blog

By Cynthia L. Smith ?

There are many causes of depression. External as well as internal. The death of someone we love or care about. The falling out of a friendship. A local tragedy. An unwanted divorce. A serious illness. The constant sense of ?impending doom?. Perhaps we realize we haven?t lived up to a set of standards that we have chosen to abide by, making us feel shame or guilt. I call this my conscience. Perhaps we feel constant loneliness. Or worse than that, being stuck in a ?bad? marriage. A chemical or hormonal imbalance. The list is as extensive as there are people. Some of these causes can be rectified by us. Some cannot. It is these issues that can seem to have a death-like grip on our emotions.

But what if I told you that you could still ?change? your mood as easily as you could change your clothes? Would you say I?m not being realistic? Would you say that I?ve just never had happen to me what has happened to you? I have had several of these scenarios happen to me or to someone I love. Don?t get me wrong, if any of these things happen to any human being, the natural response is to get depressed. For awhile anyway. That?s normal. Think about that word ?depress?. What exactly gets ?depressed?? Our natural ability and desire to be HAPPY. There is a scripture in the Bible where God says ?you must be happy because I am happy,? so since God is happy, and He created us in His image?

So how does one go about getting happy, truly, genuinely -as opposed to ?artificially? ? happy anyway?

Good question! Have you ever noticed that sometimes you can wake up in a good mood, then other times you wake up in a bad mood, and don?t really know why, either way? For whatever reason, either our subliminal dreams and the states of emotion they produce, our hormones, that ?time of the month?, a sense of dread of either a test at school, some particular project at work, an upcoming bill that?s due, etc., can subconsciously put us in a ?bad? mood, then again, maybe we are expecting to receive a tax refund, or a gift from someone, or are about to go on a fun vacation, these can put us in a ?good? mood! Do you see how our thoughts can affect our mood? So in reality, what we therefore choose to think about can also affect, manipulate, guide, and control our mood and THAT affects how we FEEL! Do your thoughts make you feel sad or happy? Mad or glad? Realize also that no one can make you feel any emotion unless you give them the power to do so. Here?s proof: think about when you?re driving down the street and out of the blue, someone cuts you off and yells some obscenity out the window at you while making an angry hand gesture. That might make you a little mad. But you?d get over it pretty quickly. But what if, during a disagreement someone you love behaved towards you in this same manner. That would likely hurt wouldn?t it. Because we give those we love the power to affect our own assessment of ourselves. They matter to us!

So again I ask, how does one go about ?getting? happy? Really, how can someone ?practice happiness??

One of the many NLP presuppositions says ?if anyone can learn to do something and learn to do it well, you and I certainly can!?

There have been, throughout history, countless examples of people who have had horrific things happen to them, and yet they draw on resources within them that enabled them to stand tall, move forward and actually succeed in life, and sometimes succeed so well they are written about! That?s how you and I have come to learn about them. What resources do they draw on?

The very first thing is their thought patterns. What kind of ?self talk?, or ?pep? talk did they give themselves? Positive or negative? Well, for one thing, there is NO negative talk! None of this ?I can?t? or ?they won?t let me? or ?I don?t know how? business! No, but it might go something like this: ?I am not sure how to go about (accomplishing some task, or surviving for that matter) but I am going to ask someone for advice, or get help to learn what to do first!? If you?re a God fearing person, pray for guidance and direction. God won?t let you down. Remember, everything is temporary. We can make the best of a bad situation by remembering THAT, or we can wallow in the bad situation, getting stuck there, and milking it for all it?s worth! We can actually make a bad situation last longer, without meaning to, because we ultimately do nothing to change the situation or how long we ?stay? there!

So here?s a little exercise to do when you find yourself ?stuck? in depression. And it will take ?practice?! In the morning, when you first get up?

Consciously think about how you are feeling. Don?t spend a lot of time there. There doesn?t need to be a reason for the ?bad? or depressed mood. It just is. Think about where you feel those negative feelings in your body. Notice where your eyes go when you are deeply in those feelings.

Now consciously think of some good memory, not attached to the subject of your depression. Think of something or someone and an experience where you were happy, perhaps even laughing. Everyone has memories of that sort, no matter how far back you must go. Give it some time. Involve yourself in those thoughts. Then, raise your eyes up to the ceiling. This is important. Now say out loud, in as cheerful a voice as you can muster, ?I am having a GREAT day today!? And I know this sounds silly, but start singing ? even if it is through tears ? and as you begin to walk away, walk with a bounce in your step! It matters not how depressed you are or have been. This works 100% of the time. But it might take some time. It is guaranteed to work! Just give it some time. If you do this every morning for 21 days in a row, you will notice a change in how you feel!

The dynamics of this exercise are these: it is your subconscious that decides your behavior. Your subconscious is where your drivers are. And remember, we wake up in the mood set by that very subconscious. We are hardwired to a certain set of behaviors but we can consciously change them by telling our subconscious what to do! When you wake up in a sad, bad, mad or depressed state, it is either because of our chemistry (which, by the way, can be changed by changing our thought patterns) or what our subconscious has been thinking about in our sleep, IF we sleep(!) When we take control of our thoughts, rather than let our thoughts ?run amok?, we essentially ?reboot? our mind / thought patterns!

If we really want to improve our mood, if we really want to be happy, we can! Once we ?get the hang of it?, once we ?fake it till we make it? ? living in an ?as if? we?ve already achieved our goal, the everyday problems of life won?t get us down, and the bigger issues won?t keep us stuck. We are in control, and we get to decide to practice happiness!

Cynthia is an NLP Master and Health Practitioner and practices in the Modesto, CA area.

http://www.NLP-stanislaus.com

My name is Cynthia (many call me Cindy) Smith and I am a certified NLP Master and Health Practitioner and live in the central valley area of California. I have a coaching / counseling business which I conduct in the Modesto, CA area.

I absolutely LOVE NLP and helping people reach their maximum potential using the various processes and techniques I learned in 2006-2007 at NLPCA in Burlingame, CA.

http://nlp-stanislaus.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cynthia_L._Smith
http://EzineArticles.com/?Practice-Happiness&id=7524588

?

?

Source: http://theselfimprovementblog.com/self-improvement/holistic-health/practice-happiness-2/

taylor swift safe and sound delilah nevis 2012 sports illustrated swimsuit same day flower delivery valentines day cards hallmark

Swish Navigates SFTP Connections in Windows Explorer

Windows: Opening up a dedicated FTP client just to find a file or two is a pain. Swish integrates your SFTP connections directly into Windows Explorer to save you the trouble.

Swish will install as a Windows Explorer extension and show up as a mounted drive on your system. Within this drive, you can add SFTP connections, and navigate them within Explorer. You'll need to put in your password the first time you connect, but it will save it thereafter to make navigation even faster.

Unfortunately, Swish only works with SFTP connections, not FTP, WebDAV, or cloud storage services like most FTP clients support. If that's all you need though, this will essentially replace any need you have for a standalone client.

Swish (Free) via MakeUseOf

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/XfEl_4QT3WM/swish-navigates-sftp-connections-in-windows-explorer

megan fox pregnant metta world peace suspension apple earnings report john l smith apple earnings the glass castle jennifer hudson trial

New DNA-Based Transistor Brings Us One Step Closer to True Human Computers

The increasingly ambiguous divide between man and machine just got blurred that much more with Stanford's recent announcement: scientists have successfully created the first truly biological transistor made entirely out of genetic material. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/qeyEoC9D-Ns/new-dna+based-transistor-brings-us-one-step-closer-to-true-human-computers

Candy Crowley binders of women presidential debates Felix Baumgartner Little Nemo gawker Romney

Lebanon: Uncertain Future of Civil War Party Headquarters | Al ...

Three political parties allied under the banner of the right-wing Lebanese Front were instrumental in igniting the country?s long civil war. Today, in the twilight of their glory, their historic headquarters are under threat of fading into obscurity.

The house where some of the most important decisions were made about the fate of Lebanon ? the headquarters of the Lebanese National Bloc (LNB), led by the prominent Edde family ? is facing near imminent destruction.

The owner of the house, located in the Beirut neighborhood of Gemmayzeh, has filed a lawsuit for the return of her property from the current occupant ? the LNB, represented by it current president, Carlos Edde.

Edde?s lawyer countered that the owner is in her eighties and the real reason for reclaiming the home is to destroy it and sell it to a real estate developer. Nevertheless, the court decided in favor of the owner, asking her to pay close to a quarter of a million dollars to the renter as compensation. The party considered the offer too low and lodged an appeal.

The party went through this process back in 1976, when one of their regional offices in Byblos was reclaimed by the owner.

Chamoun even sought to have it listed as a heritage site eight years ago, ?closing the door before any successors, who may want to sell it,? he said.Despite the growth of the party, which was founded in 1943, the Eddes never owned their offices. Bloc members were always moving from office to office throughout the years, being pursued by landlords who sought to reappropriate their property.

Liberals Stand Firm

The story of former president Camille Chamoun?s National Liberal Party is somewhat different. This party, which later became one of the key forces in igniting the civil war, was founded in 1958 in their Sodeco area headquarters in Beirut.

At the beginning of the civil war, the party moved its offices to the Achrafieh district where they occupied several floors in the SNA building.

Their powerful Lebanese Forces allies eventually defeated the Liberals and evicted them from the SNA building, forcing the remaining leadership to return to their old headquarters in Sodeco.

Current head Dory Chamoun admits that he was forced to sell much of the party?s property in the face of repeated financial crises. Chamoun even sought to have it listed as a heritage site eight years ago, ?closing the door before any successors, who may want to sell it,? he said.

Phalange House for Sale

Perhaps the most notorious of all party headquarters is the Phalange house in Saifi on the edge of Beirut?s newly developed city center. The fall of this building during the civil war was tantamount to the defeat of Lebanon?s Christians.

The building hosted successive generations of the Gemayel family who have controlled the Phalange Party since its its foundation. Under the French Mandate, the building served as headquarters for France?s Mediterranean fleet.

Its strategic location made it repeated prey to real estate developers, particularly from Solidere, which was in charge of rebuilding downtown Beirut after the civil war. At the time, party head George Saade threatened to resign from his government position in order to save it.

Years later, some party members proposed the idea of taking down the old structure and building a much larger party headquarters in its place. But such ideas often angered its current leader, Amin Gemayel, who viewed the Saifi house as a symbol of the Phalanges.

Today, there is talk among party members of building a new headquarters that would make better use of the space around the current building. There are also rumors ? confirmed by some members of the former party leadership ? of negotiations to sell the building for $20 million. This is on the condition that the party gets a large apartment in the new development.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

Source: http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanon-uncertain-future-civil-war-party-headquarters

college football scores khan academy Espn College Football Eddie Murphy died Suzanne Barr Clint Eastwood speech Maria Montessori

North Korea: What happens if Kim Jong-un acts on his threats?

In the event that the 'bellicose rhetoric' of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un turns into something more serious, the opening hours of conflict could be 'pretty ugly,' defense analysts warn.

By Anna Mulrine,?Staff writer / March 29, 2013

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a meeting of information workers of the whole army at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang, March 28, 2013.

KCNA/REUTERS

Enlarge

Veteran North Korea watchers, citing what they see as increasingly troubling signs coming from the dictatorial regime, are voicing concerns that its new young leader, Kim Jong-un, could do something ill-advised, even start a war.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

On Friday North Korea renewed what the U.S. has condemned as its ?bellicose rhetoric,? saying Kim had ordered the nation?s missile forces to prepare to strike the United States and South Korea.

In response to the prospect of North Korea following through on this and other marginally less dire threats, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday that the US military ?will unequivocally defend, and [is] unequivocally committed to the alliance with, South Korea.?

But if hostilities were in fact to erupt, how might they play out?

Some former US Special Operations Forces and longtime Korea defense analysts have their own thoughts on what an ?unequivocal? US military response could look like, including how US troops would be deployed in the event of a lethal first strike on US and allied military forces by North Korea ? precisely the sort of move Mr. Kim has been threatening to make.

What would such a first North Korean move resemble? It might involve small-scale infiltrations using mini-submarines, assassination attempts, ?maybe shooting someone on the DMZ [demilitarized zone] or missile tests that fly too close over Japan,? says Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

This might be done ?to show he?s in charge, he won?t be intimidated, or because he?s truly desperate,? Dr. Cronin says.

In the past, most such provocations generally have been met with international condemnation and strengthened sanctions.

Should Kim choose to do ?something even more outlandish,? the US military and South Korean response would be more dire, he adds.

One of the scenarios that most concerns US defense analysts, for example, involves North Korea?s estimated 500,000 to 700,000 rounds of artillery aimed at Seoul, says retired Brig. Gen. Russell Howard, former commander of the 1st Special Forces Group, which has an Asia focus.?

Should Kim decide to begin firing them, he says, ?in the first few hours of the conflict, it would be pretty ugly.?

At the same time, North Korea could begin ?swarming? its sizable contingent of 600,000 Special Operations commandos, adds Mr. Howard, now the director of the Terrorism, Research, and Education Program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/D76sqSBE_6o/North-Korea-What-happens-if-Kim-Jong-un-acts-on-his-threats

barefoot bandit polar bear plunge lovelace antioch the grey review demi moore 911 call ipo

House Speaker admonishes fellow Republican for immigrant slur (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295470790?client_source=feed&format=rss

Helen Gurley Brown Kathi Goertzen Johnny Pesky spice girls justin theroux Bumbo recall USA Basketball

HIV Test Urged for 7K Dental Patients

The Tulsa Health Department is warning 7,000 patients of a local dentist's office that they could have contracted HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C from poor sterilization practices.

Dr. Wayne Harrington, an oral surgeon with a practice in Tulsa, Okla., is being investigated by the state dental board, the state bureau of narcotics and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency because one of his patients recently tested positive for hepatitis C and HIV without known risk factors other than receiving dental treatment.

Upon hearing of the infected patient, the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry conducted a surprise inspection of Harrington's practice on March 18, allegedly finding numerous problems, including regular use of a rusty set of instruments on patients with known infections, and the practice of pouring bleach on wounds until they "turned white."

Calls to Harrington's office were directed to an operator, who told ABC News the clinic no longer took voicemails. The operator said patients were being referred to another clinic, but did not disclose the clinic's name.

Susan Rogers, executive director of Oklahoma's Board of Dentistry, called the incident a "perfect storm." On top of his many violations in sanitary practice, the dentist was a Medicaid provider, which means he had a high proportion of patients with HIV or hepatitis, she said.

Harrington and his staff told investigators that he treated a "high population of known infectious disease carrier patients," according to a complaint filed by the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry.

Chilling Details Emerge on Newtown School Shooter Adam Lanza Watch Video Secrets of the Teenage Mind: What Parents Should Know Watch Video

He allegedly allowed unlicensed dental assistants to administer medication, according to the complaint. These assistants were left to decide which medications to administer, and how much was appropriate.

Drug cabinets were unlocked and unsupervised during the day, and Harrington did not keep an inventory log of drugs, some of which were controlled substances. One drug vial expired in 1993.

"During the inspections, Dr. Harrington referred to his staff regarding all sterilization and drug procedures in his office," the complaint read. "He advised, 'They take care of that. I don't.'"

Harrington allegedly re-used needles, contaminating drugs with potentially harmful bacteria and trace amounts of other drugs, according to the complaint. Although patient-specific drug records indicated that they were using morphine in 2012, no morphine had been ordered since 2009.

The instruments for infected patients was given an extra dip in bleach in addition to normal cleaning methods, but they had red-brown rust spots, indicating that they were "porous and cannot be properly sterilized," according to the complaint.

The Tulsa Health Department said Harrington's patients will receive letters by mail notifying them of the risk and steps to obtain free-of-charge testing.

While 7,000 patients may have been exposed, Joseph Perz, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said it's "extremely rare" to see dental transmission of HIV and hepatitis B or C. In July 2012, 8,000 Coloradans were notified that their dentist had reused needles, potentially exposing them to the blood-borne viruses. But not a single case was identified, according to the CDC.

Dental transmission is not impossible, however. Perz cited a dental fair three years ago in which hepatitis B was transmitted between patients.

In July 2012, more than 1,800 veterans who received dental care at a St. Louis VA Medical Center were warned that improper cleaning of dental tools may have exposed them to HIV and hepatitis.

The Tulsa Health Department has set up a hotline at (918) 595-4500 for people with questions.

ABC News' Dr. Richard Besser and Katie Moisse contributed to this story.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rogue-dentist-exposed-7000-patients-hiv-hepatitis/story?id=18834611

Barcelona Kwame Kilpatrick New pope 2013 good morning america earthquake california earthquake california douglas adams

Pregnant Man: Judge Refuses To Grant Thomas Beatie's Divorce

PHOENIX ? An Arizona judge on Friday refused to grant a divorce for a transgender Arizona man who gave birth to three children after beginning to change his sex from female.

Maricopa County Family Court Judge Douglas Gerlach ruled that Arizona's ban on same-sex marriages prevents Thomas Beatie's 9-year union from being recognized as valid.

Thomas Beatie was born a woman and later underwent a double-mastectomy, and began testosterone hormone therapy and psychological treatment to become a man, but he retained female reproductive organs and gave birth to three children.

Gerlach said he had no jurisdiction to approve a divorce because there's insufficient evidence that Beatie was a man when he married Nancy Beatie in Hawaii. He said the Beaties never provided records to fully explain what Thomas Beatie actually had done and not done to become a man.

"The decision here is not based on the conclusion that this case involves a same-sex marriage merely because one of the parties is a transsexual male, but instead, the decision is compelled by the fact that the parties failed to prove that (Thomas Beatie) was a transsexual male when they were issued their marriage license," he wrote in Friday's ruling.

A spokesman for Beatie, Ryan Gordon, said the judge's comments came as a shock and that Beatie plans to appeal the ruling. He said Beatie legally was married as a man and never was required to disclose that he retained female reproductive organs when applying for and being granted a new birth certificate in Hawaii as a man. He said Beatie halted testosterone treatments so that he could give birth to his children.

"It's unfortunate that the judge out here doesn't recognize marriage in another state," Gordon said.

Beatie is eager to end his marriage, but the couple's divorce plans stalled last summer when Gerlach said he was unable to find legal authority defining a man as someone who can give birth.

Gerlach's ruling didn't address whether Arizona law allows a person who was born female to marry another female after undergoing a sex change operation.

A separate ruling issued Friday by Gerlach sets guidelines on how the Beaties will co-parent their three children and grants them joint authority in making legal decisions. Thomas Beatie is required to pay nearly $240 a month to Nancy Beatie for child support, but she won't get alimony because the marriage was declared invalid.

Nancy Beatie's attorney, David Higgins, praised Gerlach for the thoroughness of the decision on the marriage, although it wasn't the one she had hoped for.

"He still sees a same-sex marriage, but he gave us all the rulings that we're asking for as far as the children," Higgins said.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, which isn't involved in the Beatie divorce case, has said courts have declared marriages involving a transgender person invalid in a handful of cases across the country, but that those cases had different factual and legal issues than those in the Beatie case.

Thomas Beatie, known as "The Pregnant Man," was born Tracy Lehuanani Lagondino in Oahu, Hawaii. He began testosterone treatments in 1997 and underwent double mastectomy and chest reconstruction surgery in 2002. He changed his Hawaii driver's license to say he was a man and had a Hawaiian court approve his name change to Thomas.

Gerlach's ruling noted that Thomas Beatie halted the testosterone treatments and that he didn't provide documentation for any additional non-surgical efforts.

Thomas Beatie married his partner Nancy in early 2003 in Honolulu and became pregnant because Nancy was unable to have children. Thomas Beatie conceived with donated sperm and gave birth to children who are now 4, 3 and 2 years old. The couple eventually moved to Arizona.

Beatie has garnered a range of media attention, making the rounds on talk shows such as Larry King and Oprah Winfrey and winning a spot on Barbara Walters' list of "10 Most Fascinating People" in 2008, alongside President Barack Obama, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh and swimmer Michael Phelps. He also published a book, "Labor Of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy," the cover displaying an image of a shirtless Thomas sporting facial hair and holding a hand over his bare pregnant belly.

___

Fonseca reported from Flagstaff, Ariz. Associated Press Writer Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report.

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/pregnant-man-judge-reject_n_2979968.html

sag aftra merger dj am bully bohemian rhapsody bohemian rhapsody spike lee carson daly

Bloomberg celebrates 10 years of smoke-free NYC bars

Michael Bloomberg (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)NEW YORK?Mayor Michael Bloomberg took a victory lap Wednesday, heralding the 10-year anniversary of a ban on smoking at the city?s bars and restaurants as ?one of the best things that ever happened? to New York.

Enacted in 2003, the Smoke-Free Air Act?one of the first major health initiatives Bloomberg pursued as mayor?was at first mired in controversy. Among other things, opponents argued it would kill the city?s bar and restaurant industry, and hurt tourism.

But at a press conference at Old Town Bar, one of Manhattan?s oldest taverns, Bloomberg insisted those critics were wrong. He credited a nearly 50 percent growth in the hospitality industry to the fact that more people are dining out because they can do so without being around smoke.

Bloomberg also touted stats showing at least 500 cities around the country that have adopted similar bans as proof that New York?and his administration?has been a leader in ?innovative? municipal policies.

?People want to come here because we are healthier,? Bloomberg said, describing the results of the bill as ?very gratifying.? He added, ?I think it?s fair to say that nobody wants to go back to the way things were.?

Bloomberg said at least 10,000 smoking-related deaths have been prevented in New York because of the smoking ban. And he directly linked the smoke-free legislation to stats showing the life expectancy of New Yorkers is longer than ever?80.9 years, three years longer than the national average.

?Back then many people opposed the bill, and they tried to stop it. They said it was taking away people?s rights as though nonsmokers didn?t have the right to breathe clean air. They said it would destroy the restaurant and bar business in the city, as well as our tourism industry. There were dire predictions about how the ban would lead to job losses and tax revenue [losses],? Bloomberg said. ?Well, here we are 10 years later, and we can look back now and see how accurate those four claims were. I think it?s safe to say the Smoke-Free Air Act has been one of the best things that has ever happened to [the] restaurant, bar and tourism industries.?

Bloomberg?s claims were backed up by Gerard Meagher, the owner of Old Town Bar, who said he opposed the ban when it went into effect a decade ago. But speaking to reporters, he pointed to the bar's antique light fixtures and old mirrors, which date back to the tavern's opening in 1892. He said the fixtures used to turn yellow from smoke but now need to be cleaned less. And he said he?s getting more business, in part because people have become used to nonsmoking venues.

?It turned out to be great, not this bad thing that I thought it would be,? Meagher said. At his side, Bloomberg beamed.

Bloomberg?s desire to tout the effects of the smoking ban comes as he?s been criticized as a ?nanny? mayor for continuing to pursue sweeping health policies in the final months of his tenure at City Hall, including limits on the sales of large, sugary drinks. A judge earlier this month threw out the so-called soda ban, saying, in part, that the city had overstepped its powers. The Bloomberg administration is now appealing.

Last week, Bloomberg proposed another citywide regulation, this one requiring retailers to physically hide cigarettes behind counters. The bill was introduced before the City Council last week.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/bloomberg-touts-10-anniversary-nyc-smoking-ban-171125343--politics.html

fiscal cliff Pitbull Hannah Storm Psy fergie minnesota vikings looper

Obama, moms to mark 100 days since Newton shooting with White House event (Washington Bureau)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/294989207?client_source=feed&format=rss

summer solstice Summer Solstice 2012 Waldo Canyon fire nba finals K Michelle roger clemens multiple sclerosis

Get Screened During Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month | Navy ...

By Cmdr. Jim Keck, Naval Hospital Jacksonville family medicine physician

Cmdr. Jim Keck, Naval Hospital family physician, explains to patient, Jessie Kemp, some preventive techniques to prevent colon cancer. March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and a good time to learn more about colorectal cancer and how it can be prevented or best treated. (U.S. Navy photo by Jacob Sippel/Released).

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, so it?s a good time to get familiar with this disease and how you can prevent it.? Colorectal cancer affects the colon or rectum?the lower part of your digestive system. ?According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.? It?s expected that in 2013,?there?will be?about 142,000 new cases of colorectal cancer, claiming more than 52,000 lives.

All men and women age 50 and over are at risk and should be screened.? Some people are at higher risk and should be screened earlier, including those with inflammatory bowel disease, a personal or family history of colorectal cancer or polyps, or certain genetic syndromes.

Colorectal cancer often has no symptoms.? But symptoms can include stomach discomfort that doesn?t go away, blood in your stool (bowel movement), or unexplained weight loss.

A number of factors have been shown to reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer.? You can support your health by eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables; increasing your physical activity; and limiting alcohol intake.? And if you smoke, stop.

And the good news is, early detection makes a difference.? Screening includes things like colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy?where a lighted instrument is used to examine your colon, and any growths can be checked or removed.? When diagnosed in its early stages, colorectal cancer can be cured in up to 90 percent of people.

Screening for colorectal cancer saves lives.? If you?re age 50 or above, get screened and take control of your health!?

For more information on colorectal cancer awareness month and screening information, check out the CDC?s page here.

Naval Hospital Jacksonville?s priority since its founding in 1941 is to heal the nation?s heroes and their families. The command is comprised of the hospital, located aboard Naval Air Station Jacksonville, and five branch health clinics in Florida (Jacksonville, Key West and Mayport) and Georgia (Albany and Kings Bay).? To find out more, visit the command website at www.med.navy.mil/sites/NavalHospitalJax, like the Facebook page at www.facebook/NavalHospitalJacksonville, follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NHJax and view the YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/NavalHospitalJax. ??Sign up for email updates at nhjaxconnect@med.navy.mil.

Source: http://navymedicine.navylive.dodlive.mil/archives/4473

papa johns dominos dominos Perez Hilton Michelle Obama Oscars Wissam Al Mana seth macfarlane

Massive extinction fueled the rise of crocodiles

Michael Alfaro

Scientists want to know how the lineage of modern crocodiles and alligators survived the massive extinction between the Triassic and Jurassic eras.

By Tia Ghose
LiveScience

A massive extinction between the Triassic and Jurassic eras paved the way for the rise of the crocodiles, new research suggests.

The researchers, who detailed their work Tuesday?in the journal Biology Letters, found that although nearly all the crocodilelike archosaurs, known as pseudosuchia, died off about 201 million years ago, the one lineage that survived soon diversified to occupy land and sea. The lineage included the ancestors of all modern crocodiles and alligators.

"Even though almost all the lineages except for one was extinct, the remaining survivors still did well in terms of morphology and body plans and the whole morphological diversity," said study co-author Olja Toljagic, an evolutionary biology researcher who was at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich at the time of the study.

Understanding the traits that allowed certain lineages to thrive could one day help paleontologists untangle one of the greatest mysteries: how dinosaurs survived the extinction unscathed and took over Earth. [Mysterious Earth: 50 Amazing Facts]

Dinosaur counterparts
During the Triassic period, two lines of archosaurs lived in the same environment, which included dinosaurs, and the pseudosuchians, a large group of crocodilelike creatures that had short necks, long snouts and massive skulls.

But around 201 million years ago, volcanic activity or a meteor killed off?half the known species on Earth. Just one lineage of pseudosuchians, called the crocodylomorphs, survived. That branch would ultimately give rise to modern-day crocodiles and alligators.

Crocodile line
In order to find out what happened to the pseudosuchians during the mass extinction, Toljagic and her colleague Richard Butler analyzed previous research data on pseudosuchians' skull characteristics, which could provide details about species diversity.

After doing a systematic analysis, the team found that the single surviving branch not only survived the extinction, but showed great diversity within a few million years after the extinction. These diversified crocodilelike creatures fanned out into different environments -- such as swamps, rivers and oceans?-- during the Triassic period.

Ecological opportunity
The findings suggest that the extinction allowed crocodiles to flourish, said Stephen Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in the study.

"That extinction seems to have had a major effect by knocking off many species and then giving new species a chance," Brusatte told LiveScience.

The next step is to try to piece together a similarly detailed picture for dinosaurs around the same time in order to understand how dinosaurs survived the extinction, he said.

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter @tiaghose.?Follow?LiveScience @livescience, Facebook?and Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a0fff8f/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C270C174885670Emassive0Eextinction0Efueled0Ethe0Erise0Eof0Ecrocodiles0Dlite/story01.htm

b.i.g 1000 words ron white ron white buckyballs buckyballs awake

RIM to provide glimpse into how Z10 is selling

TORONTO (AP) -- Research In Motion Ltd. will provide a glimpse of how it's critically important new BlackBerry is selling when it releases fiscal fourth-quarter results before markets open on Thursday.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: How well the Z10 touchscreen smartphone is selling in Canada and internationally. Details on the U.S. launch won't be part of the financial results until the next earnings report because the Z10 just went on sale in the U.S. last week.

Analysts are expecting RIM to announce around 1 million Z10 phones sold for the fourth quarter.

"It was probably fine," Morgan Stanley analyst Ehud Gelblum said. "It probably won't be a blowout, but the way they have been talking I'd be shocked if it wasn't anecdotally bullish."

Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Financial, expects that an above consensus estimate of 1.3 million Z10 units shipped. Gillis believes demand will fall off quickly and said that might not be seen until RIM's next earnings report or the one after. He notes store checks reveal a lack of marketing support and poor positioning by U.S. carrier AT&T.

"It's sad," Gillis said. "They are way off in the corner with the iPhone 4."

WHY IT MATTERS: The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, had been the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and other consumers before the iPhone debuted in 2007 and showed that phones can handle much more than email and phone calls.

The new BlackBerry Z10 has received favorable reviews since its release in February in Canada and elsewhere, but the launch in the critical U.S. market was delayed until late this month. A new keyboard BlackBerry, called the Q10, won't be released in the U.S. for two or three more months. The delay in selling the new keypad BlackBerry complicates RIM's efforts to hang on to customers tempted by the iPhone and a range of devices running Google Inc.'s Android operating system. Even as the BlackBerry has fallen behind rivals in recent years, many users have stayed loyal because they prefer a physical keyboard over the touchscreen on the iPhone and most Android devices.

Gelblum said RIM can survive as a niche player. He believes the Canadian company doesn't have to approach the numbers Apple has with the iPhone. He notes the iPhone has a 21 percent smartphone market share. "There is going to be a billion smartphones sold this year. A five percent market share would be 50 million sold, that's 12 million a quarter. If they are selling 12 million a quarter they are doing back flips," Gelblum said.

WHAT'S EXPECTED: Analysts polled by FactSet forecast a fourth-quarter loss of 31 cents per share on revenue of $2.85 billion.

LAST YEAR'S QUARTER: RIM said it lost $125 million, or 24 cents a share, on revenue of $4.2 billion.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rim-glimpse-z10-selling-191647146.html

ellen degeneres jcpenney yeardley love nba all star reserves rock center christine christine will ferrell

Mount Sinai leads global program using stem cells to accelerate cures for Alzheimer's disease

Public release date: 27-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mount Sinai Press Office
newsmedia@mssm.edu
212-241-9200
The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Collaboration with the New York Stem Cell Foundation will involve using skin samples and brain imaging to identify causes and cures

Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is leading an international team of researchers working to reprogram skin cells into brain cells to gain a better understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD). As part of the Consortium, Dr. Gandy is collaborating with Scott Noggle, PhD, the NYSCF Charles Evans Senior Research Fellow for Alzheimer's Disease and Director of the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF)'s laboratory in Manhattan.

Dr. Gandy heads the Stem Cell Research Consortium funded by the Cure Alzheimer's Fund (CAF). The Consortium consists of six institutions that plan to directly investigate, for the first time, brain cells in petri dishes from individual patients who have the common form of AD.

Dr. Gandy is working with Dr. Noggle's team to reprogram skin cells from AD patients into brain cells using stem-cell technology. The research team will obtain and monitor adult AD brain cells, providing not only a way to study the causes of the disease but also a system for discovering potentially effective drugs. The strategy has been nicknamed "the patient-specific disease in a dish" and enables studies on a time scale of minutes or hours, compared with mouse model testing, which routinely requires nine months to one year.

"This approach is one of our best shots at understanding common forms of Alzheimer's. Once defects are identified, we can use these same brain cells to screen for new drugs," said Dr. Gandy, Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Cognitive Health at Mount Sinai. "This breakthrough technology will enable us to identify genetic and biochemical differences underlying the most common form of Alzheimer's disease."

In collaboration with Mary Sano, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC), Dr. Gandy plans to select carefully characterized patients and healthy participants from the ADRC who will have skin biopsies and will also undergo brain scans to detect the amount of amyloid plaque, the hallmark of AD, present in the brain. Samples will also be collected from a skin cell bank at the National Institutes of Health. The scans will be used to confirm AD, the risk for developing AD, and whether a brain is amyloid-free.

Dr. Noggle will reprogram these skin cells into the various cell types that make up the brain, employing the NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array, a breakthrough automated robotic technology that produces standardized stem cell lines. Results are specific to the patient's genetic makeup, allowing researchers to uncover Alzheimer's-related changes at an individual level and to track changes that might otherwise go undiscovered.

"Having all the cell types together in the same dish enables us to mimic as closely as possible the normal and the diseased adult human brain," said Dr. Gandy. "In these mixed cultures, we will study the roughly three-dozen genes that have been linked to AD to see if any are dysfunctional in such a way as to cause one or more known features of the disease."

To encourage international collaboration in Alzheimer's treatment, consortium researchers will create a stem cell bank that can be accessed globally to accelerate drug screening worldwide. This collaboration is an example of NYSCF's commitment to work with global collaborators to advance research.

"We can, for the first time, test drugs across a large, diverse population of Alzheimer's patients, using only their cells. This stem cell resource will embolden scientific investigations and accelerate bench to beside delivery of new treatments," said Dr. Noggle. "We're incredibly excited to be working with Dr. Gandy and fellow collaborators to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease."

###

Other organizations involved in the Consortium are Hadassah University Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University Stem Cell Institute, and The Rockefeller University, who is pursuing related research separately funded by CAF.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center

The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Established in 1968, the Icahn School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States, and is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report.

The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and by U.S. News & World Report and whose hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/.

Find Mount Sinai on:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mountsinainyc

Twitter @mountsinainyc

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mountsinainy

About The New York Stem Cell Foundation

The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) is an independent research institute founded in 2005 to accelerate cures and better treatments for patients through stem cell research. NYSCF has over 40 researchers in its New York laboratory and is an acknowledged world leader in stem cell research and in developing pioneering stem cell technologies, including the NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array. Additionally, NYSCF supports another 60 researchers at other leading institutions worldwide through its Innovator Programs, including the NYSCF Druckenmiller Fellowships and the NYSCF-Robertson Investigator Awards. NYSCF focuses on translational research in a model designed to overcome the barriers that slow discovery and replaces silos with collaboration.

NYSCF researchers have achieved four major discoveries in the field, including: the discovery of a clinical cure to prevent transmission of maternal mitochondrial diseases in December 2012; the derivation of the first-ever patient specific embryonic stem cell line (#1 Medical Breakthrough of 2011 by Time magazine); the discovery of a new way to reprogram stem cells; and the creation of the first disease model from induced pluripotent stem cells (also named the #1 Medical Breakthrough by Time magazine in 2008). More information is available at http://www.nyscf.org.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 27-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mount Sinai Press Office
newsmedia@mssm.edu
212-241-9200
The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Collaboration with the New York Stem Cell Foundation will involve using skin samples and brain imaging to identify causes and cures

Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is leading an international team of researchers working to reprogram skin cells into brain cells to gain a better understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD). As part of the Consortium, Dr. Gandy is collaborating with Scott Noggle, PhD, the NYSCF Charles Evans Senior Research Fellow for Alzheimer's Disease and Director of the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF)'s laboratory in Manhattan.

Dr. Gandy heads the Stem Cell Research Consortium funded by the Cure Alzheimer's Fund (CAF). The Consortium consists of six institutions that plan to directly investigate, for the first time, brain cells in petri dishes from individual patients who have the common form of AD.

Dr. Gandy is working with Dr. Noggle's team to reprogram skin cells from AD patients into brain cells using stem-cell technology. The research team will obtain and monitor adult AD brain cells, providing not only a way to study the causes of the disease but also a system for discovering potentially effective drugs. The strategy has been nicknamed "the patient-specific disease in a dish" and enables studies on a time scale of minutes or hours, compared with mouse model testing, which routinely requires nine months to one year.

"This approach is one of our best shots at understanding common forms of Alzheimer's. Once defects are identified, we can use these same brain cells to screen for new drugs," said Dr. Gandy, Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Cognitive Health at Mount Sinai. "This breakthrough technology will enable us to identify genetic and biochemical differences underlying the most common form of Alzheimer's disease."

In collaboration with Mary Sano, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC), Dr. Gandy plans to select carefully characterized patients and healthy participants from the ADRC who will have skin biopsies and will also undergo brain scans to detect the amount of amyloid plaque, the hallmark of AD, present in the brain. Samples will also be collected from a skin cell bank at the National Institutes of Health. The scans will be used to confirm AD, the risk for developing AD, and whether a brain is amyloid-free.

Dr. Noggle will reprogram these skin cells into the various cell types that make up the brain, employing the NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array, a breakthrough automated robotic technology that produces standardized stem cell lines. Results are specific to the patient's genetic makeup, allowing researchers to uncover Alzheimer's-related changes at an individual level and to track changes that might otherwise go undiscovered.

"Having all the cell types together in the same dish enables us to mimic as closely as possible the normal and the diseased adult human brain," said Dr. Gandy. "In these mixed cultures, we will study the roughly three-dozen genes that have been linked to AD to see if any are dysfunctional in such a way as to cause one or more known features of the disease."

To encourage international collaboration in Alzheimer's treatment, consortium researchers will create a stem cell bank that can be accessed globally to accelerate drug screening worldwide. This collaboration is an example of NYSCF's commitment to work with global collaborators to advance research.

"We can, for the first time, test drugs across a large, diverse population of Alzheimer's patients, using only their cells. This stem cell resource will embolden scientific investigations and accelerate bench to beside delivery of new treatments," said Dr. Noggle. "We're incredibly excited to be working with Dr. Gandy and fellow collaborators to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease."

###

Other organizations involved in the Consortium are Hadassah University Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University Stem Cell Institute, and The Rockefeller University, who is pursuing related research separately funded by CAF.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center

The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Established in 1968, the Icahn School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States, and is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report.

The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and by U.S. News & World Report and whose hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/.

Find Mount Sinai on:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mountsinainyc

Twitter @mountsinainyc

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mountsinainy

About The New York Stem Cell Foundation

The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) is an independent research institute founded in 2005 to accelerate cures and better treatments for patients through stem cell research. NYSCF has over 40 researchers in its New York laboratory and is an acknowledged world leader in stem cell research and in developing pioneering stem cell technologies, including the NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array. Additionally, NYSCF supports another 60 researchers at other leading institutions worldwide through its Innovator Programs, including the NYSCF Druckenmiller Fellowships and the NYSCF-Robertson Investigator Awards. NYSCF focuses on translational research in a model designed to overcome the barriers that slow discovery and replaces silos with collaboration.

NYSCF researchers have achieved four major discoveries in the field, including: the discovery of a clinical cure to prevent transmission of maternal mitochondrial diseases in December 2012; the derivation of the first-ever patient specific embryonic stem cell line (#1 Medical Breakthrough of 2011 by Time magazine); the discovery of a new way to reprogram stem cells; and the creation of the first disease model from induced pluripotent stem cells (also named the #1 Medical Breakthrough by Time magazine in 2008). More information is available at http://www.nyscf.org.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/tmsh-msl032713.php

Ron Palillo Chad Johnson Twitter Helen Gurley Brown Kathi Goertzen Johnny Pesky spice girls justin theroux

Earthquake shakes Mexico City

MEXICO CITY (AP) ? Earthquakes shook a broad swath of southern Mexico on Tuesday, causing buildings to sway in the capital and sending thousands fleeing into the streets as an earthquake alarm sounded. But there were no immediate reports of damages or injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey said a magnitude-5.5 quake hit at 7:04 a.m. (9:04 a.m. EDT; 1304 GMT), centered about 10 miles (17 kilometers) west-southwest of Pinotepa Nacional on the Pacific Coast and 227 miles (365 kilometers) south-southeast of Mexico City.

Mexico Seismology Service initially calculated the quake's magnitude at 5.9.

A second quake shook the region a few minutes later.

Mexico City's soft soil makes it especially sensitive to distant earthquakes. But Mayor Manuel Mancera said in a Twitter post that no damage was reported. Local news media also said there were no reports of damage close to Pinotepa Nacional.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-26-LT-Mexico-Earthquake/id-077a2211f1b04388acbf59b936cd388d

mike daisey nicollette sheridan apple dividend snow white and the huntsman snow white and the huntsman rupaul drag race walking dead comic

Cleverly designed vaccine blocks H5 avian influenza in animal models

Mar. 25, 2013 ? Until now most experimental vaccines against the highly lethal H5N1 avian influenza virus have lacked effectiveness. But a new vaccine has proven highly effective against the virus when tested in both mice and ferrets. It is also effective against the H9 subtype of avian influenza. The research is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.

The strength of the new vaccine is that it uses attenuated, rather than "killed" virus. (Killed viruses are broken apart with chemicals or heat, and they are used because they are safer than attenuated viruses.) Killed virus vaccines against avian influenza are injected into the bloodstream, whereas this vaccine is given via nasal spray, thus mimicking the natural infection process, stimulating a stronger immune response.

The danger of current attenuated virus vaccines is that they might exchange dangerous genetic material with garden variety influenza viruses of the sort that strike annually, potentially rendering a lethal but very hard to transmit influenza virus, such as H5, easily transmissible among humans. To mitigate those dangers, the study authors, led by Daniel Perez of the University of Maryland, came up with an ingenious design. Influenza viruses carry their genetic material in eight "segments," explains coauthor and University of Maryland colleague Troy Sutton. When viruses reassort, they exchange segments. But each segment is unique, all eight are needed, and the viruses are unfit if they contain more than eight segments.

The vaccine is based on an attenuated version of the H9 virus, with an H5 gene added into one of the H9 virus' segments, to confer immunity to the H5 virus. Segment 8, which is composed of the so-called NS1 and NS2 genes, was split apart, and the NS2 gene was moved into segment 2, adjacent to the polymerase gene, which copies the virus' genetic material during replication. Placing NS2 next to the polymerase gene slowed its function, interfering with the virus' replication. That makes the vaccine safer.

The next step was to engineer the H5 gene into the vaccine. It was inserted into segment 8, where the NS2 gene had been.

Another aspect of the new vaccine's design makes it safer still, by rendering successful reassortment less likely. Both NS1 and NS2 are needed for viral replication. Since the two genes are now separated into different segments, any reassortment will have to include both segments, instead of just segment 8, in order for a reassortant virus to be viable. This greatly reduced the probability of successful reassortment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes avian influenza subtypes H5, H7, and H9 as potential pandemic viruses, because they all have in rare instances infected humans, and because they circulate in wild birds. Single reassortants could be sufficient to breach the species barrier, and since they do not circulate among us, we lack any immunity. Moreover, H5 is unusually lethal, having killed roughly half of those few it is confirmed to have infected.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Society for Microbiology.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. L. Pena, T. Sutton, A. Chockalingam, S. Kumar, M. Angel, H. Shao, H. Chen, W. Li, D. R. Perez. Influenza viruses with rearranged genomes as live-attenuated vaccines. Journal of Virology, 2013; DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02490-12

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/mfBeja0RPaM/130325125649.htm

ryan tannehill cispa space shuttle new york courtney upshaw catch me if you can delmon young arrested the raven

President's Pen Establishes New National Monuments

Kayak at Sunset San Juan Islands.

Mark B. Gardner/San Juan Islands Visitor Bureau

Kayak at Sunset San Juan Islands.

Mark B. Gardner/San Juan Islands Visitor Bureau

President Obama on Monday designated five new national monuments, including one in Maryland dedicated to anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman and another setting aside Washington state's San Juan Islands.

"These sites honor the pioneering heroes, spectacular landscapes and rich history that have shaped our extraordinary country," President Obama said in a statement. "By designating these national monuments today, we will ensure they will continue to inspire and be enjoyed by generations of Americans to come."

Here's a list of the new dedications:

? First State National Monument in Delaware and Pennsylvania:

Includes 1,100 acres of land in the Brandywine Valley along the Delaware-Pennsylvania border that National Parks Traveler says was originally acquired by William Penn from the Duke of York in 1682:

"Woodlawn property lies on the banks of the Brandywine River, primarily in Delaware and extending north into Pennsylvania. Nearby, in 1777, General George Washington's troops defended against British forces in the largest battle of the American Revolution. Since then, the Brandywine Valley's natural beauty has inspired generations of artists, including acclaimed painter Andrew Wyeth. Today, however, rapid development is squeezing the pristine open spaces that remain."

Vice President Joe Biden says the monument tells "the story of the essential role my state played in the history of the United States."

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, there is still legislation pending to turn the area into a full-fledged national park, which "has had wide support from conservationists, community and civic groups, elected officials and the Lenni-Lenape tribe."

? Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument, Maryland:

The African-American abolitionist who directed a secret network of safe houses to move slaves to freedom in the North will be honored with a national monument on land in Dorchester County, Md., on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, a key stop on the Underground Railroad.

The Baltimore Sun reports:

"Members of Maryland's congressional delegation have for years sought to approve funding to honor Tubman on the Eastern Shore. The monument designation coincides with this year's commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Tubman's death March 10."

According to The Auburn Citizen:

"The national monument designation won't affect legislation in Congress that would create national historical parks in Auburn and on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where the monument will be located. ... The national historical park in Maryland would include several significant sites from the first half of Tubman's life. In Auburn, the national historical park would consist of Tubman's home and the Home for the Aged on South Street. The Thompson AME Zion Church and Fort Hill Cemetery, where Tubman's grave site is located, would also be part of the park."

? Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, New Mexico:

The Albuquerque Journal describes this area, 28 miles north of Taos near the Colorado border, as:

" ... a swath of unspoiled country that may appear just modestly attractive compared to the neighboring Sangre de Cristo range and the likes of Bandelier. But in reality, the northern reaches of the Rio Grande house a treasure trove of scenery and natural resources, including wildlife, and historical remnants ranging from petroglyphs to parts of El Camino Real. The river gorge alone, from its mouth near Pilar all the way to the Colorado border, is truly a wonder."

Some of the petroglyphs date back 11,000 years.

The Journal notes:

"The whole area, extending from the site of the first Spanish settlements north of Espa?ola all the way into the San Luis Valley of Colorado is a human heartland ... wintering ground to the Utes in ancient times, then home to Spanish settlers and, later, homesteaders. Preserving this heritage is part of the plan for the monument: Supporters have made sure that traditional wildland uses, including hunting, firewood and pi?on harvesting, will continue."

National Park Traveler says Rio Grande del Norte "is popular with kayakers, birders, anglers, hikers and equestrians."

? Charles Young Buffalo Soldier National Monument, Ohio:

According to The Dayton Daily News:

"Col. Charles Young, a distinguished officer in the United States Army, was the third black to graduate from West Point and first to achieve a colonel ranking. He later became a professor of military science at Wilberforce University.

"Young's fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, made the site of his former home available to the federal government to establish a monument dedicated to him.

"Young served as an army superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant National Parks before the National Parks Service establishment in 1916."

? San Juan Islands National Monument, Washington:

The official travel guide for this area is inviting, advertising, "Deep green forests. Sparkling blue waters. Silence broken only by birdsong."

Brian J. Cantwell, a blogger for The Seattle Times, is just as effusive, saying the San Juan Islands include:

" ... soul-soothing scenery such as San Juan Island's Cattle Point lighthouse, a lonely sentry at the windswept edge of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Lopez Island landmark of Chadwick Hill, where I've counted dozens of turkey vultures soaring on updrafts above gorgeous little Watmough Bight, a favorite saltwater hidey-hole for boaters with a hermit gene."

(If you're confused about the difference between a national park and a national monument, you might want to read this. In short, it takes an act of Congress to establish a national park, while the president can unilaterally create a national monument.)

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/25/175266768/presidents-pen-establishes-new-national-monuments?ft=1&f=1007

adele lyrics best new artist 2012 grammys foo fighters nikki minaj album of the year grammy red carpet