Bear in Mind
Lessons from The Atlantic and the Columbus Dispatch
http://lisa-bu.blogspot.com
The Atlantic posts profit in the fourth quarter of 2010
# Creating a solid brand identity
# A digital-first strategy
# Building a marketing services operation
# Expanding live events; and
# Maintaining a relentless focus on hiring top talent.

Pivotal discoveries in age-related macular degeneration

Geographic atrophy is induced by DICER1 reduction as seen in the retinal photograph . This is prevented by blocking Alu RNA . Flat mount pictures show that the degeneration of the RPE cells induced by DICER1 reduction is prevented by blocking Alu RNA

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-pivotal-discoveries-age-related-macular-degeneration.html

Other News

Red wine compound increases anti-tumor effect of rapamycin

Medicine & Health / Cancer

Cleveland – Researchers from Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute have discovered that resveratrol – a compound found in red wine – when combined with rapamycin can have a tumor-suppressing effect on ...

Abnormal control of hand movements may hint at ADHD severity in children

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Measurements of hand movement control may help determine the severity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, according to joint studies published in the February 15, 2011, print issue of Neurology, th ...

Does social anxiety disorder respond to psychotherapy? Brain study says yes

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

When psychotherapy is helping someone get better, what does that change look like in the brain? This was the question a team of Canadian psychological scientists set out to investigate in patients suffering from social anxiety ...

Biologists gain new insights into brain circuit wiring

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Neurobiologists at UC San Diego have discovered new ways by which nerves are guided to grow in highly directed ways to wire the brain during embryonic development.

Artificial retina helps some blind people (AP)

Artificial retina helps some blind people

Medicine & Health / Research

For two decades, Eric Selby had been completely blind and dependent on a guide dog to get around. But after having an artificial retina put into his right eye, he can detect ordinary things like the curb and ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1354549/Glow-dark-liquid-helps-doctors-nerves-surgery.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1354683/Junk-food-diet-hits-childs-IQ-reveals-major-UK-study.html

The indestructible insect: New mosquito that evades malaria control measures is 'impossible' to kill off
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1353569/New-mosquito-evades-malaria-control-measures-impossible-kill-off.html

Sun-Triggered Protein Drives Skin Cancer
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110205141314.htm
Severe sunburns at an early age raise a person's risk of cutaneous melanoma, but the way in which those burns lead to cancer has remained elusive.
In 2004, he and his collaborators confirmed suspicions that UV-B radiation, as opposed to UV-A, triggered melanoma. And in the current Nature study, they find that UV-B causes white blood cells called macrophages to migrate higher in the skin of mice and release an immune protein, interferon-ÿ. Instead of protecting the body like most interferon proteins do, interferon-ÿ allowed tumors to grow by preventing the body's natural immune response.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 6, 2011) — An unexpected immune protein exacerbates cancer due to sun exposure, report researchers in the January 27th issue of Nature. The study suggests that drugs blocking the protein might halt tumor growth in skin cancer patients.

Cutaneous melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, appears to be on the rise. And mortality rates from this difficult-to-treat disease are some of the highest in cancer. Severe sunburns at an early age raise a person's risk of cutaneous melanoma, but the way in which those burns lead to cancer has remained elusive.

In order to discover new ways of treating melanoma, Edward De Fabo, a research professor of in the department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and a co-corresponding author on the current paper, has been examining the pathway between ultraviolet (UV) rays and melanoma for over a decade. "We ultimately want to figure out what goes wrong so that we can fix it," De Fabo says.

In 2004, he and his collaborators confirmed suspicions that UV-B radiation, as opposed to UV-A, triggered melanoma. And in the current Nature study, they find that UV-B causes white blood cells called macrophages to migrate higher in the skin of mice and release an immune protein, interferon-ÿ. Instead of protecting the body like most interferon proteins do, interferon-ÿ allowed tumors to grow by preventing the body's natural immune response.

"We didn't expect to see interferon-ÿ aiding the tumor, instead of killing cancerous cells," De Fabo says. Interferons, named for the way they interfere with viruses, are traditionally thought to fight tumors. In fact, skin cancer is occasionally treated with another type of interferon, interferon-ÿ, but with limited success.

In exposing an unforeseen dark-side of these immune proteins, the report points to a new direction in drug development. Blocking interferon-ÿ prevented melanoma cancerous skin cells from growing into tumors in mice. A drug that intercepts interferon-ÿ, or its effects, might therefore be used to treat melanoma patients. Indeed, the team found that 70% of cancerous cells from melanoma patients contained high levels of the interferon-ÿ protein.

De Fabo and his colleagues made their discovery thanks to a new set of tools, which will aid melanoma researchers for years to come.

At George Washington University, De Fabo developed a high-tech UV radiation device able to shine a precise UV-A or UV-B beam onto several mice simultaneously. Meanwhile, Glenn Marino at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland collaborated with GW researcher Frances Noonan, to engineer mice that could develop the type of melanoma people have, in which cancerous skin cells, or melanoctes, occur near the epidermis.

Career overview

Nursing Schools

Who Needs Wheat Anyways? The Top 50 Celiac Blogs

Celiac disease, also known as Celiac sprue or Coeliac disease, is an autoimmune disorder of the digestive system. Suspected to be in one out of every 133 Americans, this disease is basically an allergy to wheat. With wheat found in every product from bread to desserts, a diagnosis of Celiac disease can leave the patient confused and in for a huge lifestyle change.
Although Celiac disease can run in families, many who are diagnosed can have no family or friends to turn to after a diagnosis. However, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of sites and blogs to be found on the internet. Many of these are written by people who have been diagnosed with Celiac disease, have a family member who is, or are just experts in the area. To help those who are newly diagnosed or have years of experience, we have collected the top 50 Celiac blogs below.

http://www.healthcaretechnicians.org/who-needs-wheat-anyways-the-top-50-celiac-blogs
Deficiency of Dietary Omega-3 May Explain Depressive Behaviors
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110130194143.htm

The History of Health Insurance in America: The Ultimate Web Guide
http://onlinemha.com/2011/the-history-of-health-insurance-in-america-the-ultimate-web-guide

How Does Canada’s Health System Actually Work?
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/how-does-canadas-health-system-actually-work

"Anyway Poem.." written by
(Kent M. Keith 1968)

(Do It Anyway)

Image via Wikipedia

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today, will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Dear Reader,

Some in Congress are attempting to gut the Clean Air Act, a hallmark environmental law that has dramatically reduced dangerous pollutants, saved many thousands of lives, prevented millions of illnesses such as asthma and cancer, saved us more than $22 trillion so far, and is our current best chance to fight global warming now.

For 40 years, the Clean Air Act has protected the air we breathe and it has already been put to work on our most pressing challenge: global warming. But just as Clean Air Act programs are being ramped up to curb carbon pollution, big corporate polluters want free rein to continue to dump unlimited amounts of dangerous carbon pollution into our air, threatening our health and warming our planet.

The Center for Biological Diversity is committed to making 2011 a real turning point in the ever-more-urgent fight to stop global warming, but we need your help. We need you to become one of the Center's Clean Air Advocates and help the Center defend and use the Clean Air Act in 2011.

Click below to become a Clean Air Act Advocate today and check out our Clean Air Act Take-action Toolbox for more ways to help. Contact Rose Braz, our climate campaign director, at rbraz@biologicaldiversity.org or (415) 436-9682 ext. 319 if you'd like more information.

Click here to become a Clean Air Advocate.

If you have trouble following the link, go to http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=5708.

*Please take action by February 28, 2011.

Donate now to support our work.

Coal-fired power plant photo courtesy Flickr Commons/rmcgervey; blue skies photo courtesy Flickr Commons/LukeBears.

=====================

> Care2 News to Note, Take Action, Discuss & Forward-Share with Thanks!:

http://www.care2.com/news/member/510010530/2706026

http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=5708

http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/2706012

PLZ Pledge Your 2011 "Clean Air Act" Advocacy Here Today!

Environment (tags: u.s., usa, clean-air-act, 2011, carbon, pollution, environment, business, corporate, ethics, rights, congress, government, democrats, republicans, activists, climate-change, CO2-emissions, global-warming, health, humans, protection, world )

GO GREEN 3RD PARTY PIRATES - 16 minutes ago - care2.com

Some in Congress are now attempting to gut the Clean Air Act, just as programs are being ramped-up to protect us, big corporate polluters want free rein to continue to dump unlimited amounts of dangerous carbon pollution into our air!

Take Action Now!!!

A Very Public Sociologist

Here are the clutch of new left blogs that have crossed my desk this month. Enjoy!

1. .Zeitgizzed (Australia - Unaligned)
2. Clare Short (Unaligned)
3. Cllr Steve Reed (Labour)
4. Clydebank Trades Union Council (TUC)
5. Collective Resistance (Unaligned) (Twitter)
6. Dr Matthew Ashton's Politics Blog (Unaligned) (Twitter)
7. Exposing the EDL (Unaligned/Anti-Fascist) (Twitter)
8. Glasgow Against Education Cuts (Unaligned/Anti-Cuts)
9. Latent Existence (Unaligned)
10. Little Miss Wilde's World (Unaligned) (Twitter)
11. Network X (Unaligned/Anarchist)
12. Passing Nightmare (Unaligned) (Twitter)
13. People Before Profit Mid-Ulster (Ireland - People Before Profit) (Twitter)
14. Radical Dandy (Unaligned/Anti-Cuts) (Twitter)
15. Shabogan Graffiti (Unaligned) (Twitter)
16. Small Nation (Unaligned)
17. Socialist Doctor (Unaligned) (Twitter)
18. Student Theory (Unaligned)
19. The Opinionated Northerner (Labour) (Twitter)
20. The Radical Left (Unaligned)
21. Thought Things (Unaligned) (Twitter)
22. To Future Humans (Unaligned)
23. Tunisia Scenario (Tunisia - Unaligned)
24. What Would Clement Do? (Labour)
25. WilliamBowles.info (Unaligned/Anti-Imperialist)

That's your lot for January/February. If you know of any new blogs a year or less old and haven't been featured before, drop me a line via email, the comments or on Twitter. The new blog round up is posted on the first Sunday of every month.

PR Against AV

from A Very Public Sociologist by Phil

The Labour No2AV campaign launched today and thought I'd reproduce the below piece from their site while I muck around writing another blog post.

Socialism is, among other things, about organising society along democratic lines. In the here and now that means favouring more democratic systems of governance so the state becomes more amenable to the pressures and aspirations stemming from below. This is the reason why I favour the proportional representation generally and the single transferable vote in particular (see here). The first pass the post system we have now has the distinction of having only one voting system worse than it from this standpoint. And that is the system we're having a referendum on on May 5th.
What about Proportional Representation

It is important to remember this referendum is about the Alternative Vote system. NO to AV does not take an official position on proportional representation.

Some of our supporters back PR – such as Labour MP Margaret Hodge – while others prefer the current system.

There are strong principled arguments for and against PR, and it’s a debate worth having. The Alternative Vote, however, is a step backward rather than a step forward.

AV combines the weaknesses of both systems; it is less proportional than First Past the Post, and AV ensures that the BNP will gain more votes and more legitimacy, while not giving any help to small parties like the Green Party.

Before it became the principal financial and logistical backer of the Yes to AV campaign, the Electoral Reform Society (who were previously called the Proportional Representational Society) said of AV:

"AV is thus not a proportional system, and can in fact be more disproportional than FPTP... It does very little to improve the voice of traditionally under-represented groups in parliament, strengthening the dominance of the 'central' viewpoint."

This is the wrong referendum at the wrong time, and risks saddling the UK with a system that even the supporters of the Yes2AV Campaign don't want.

Nick Clegg has acknowledged that there won't be another change in the voting system in the foreseeable future, saying:

"you can't constantly ask people. Referendums have a fairly definitive feel to them...I wouldn't be expecting another one."

Cooperative Councils? Feb 2

It's not very often this blog features material from Progress, but the post reproduced below from last Friday is very interesting. As readers may or may not be aware, Lambeth Council is embarking on an experiment to become Britain's first 'cooperative council'. It certainly sounds worthy but whether such an ambitious plan like this can be delivered in the context of £37m worth of cuts and an increasingly gloomy economic situation remains to be seen. In other words, if Lambeth communities are going to suffer in terms of fewer local government jobs and the decline of businesses that depend on them, you've got to question where the resources are going to come from to fund some of these mutualised schemes.

Nevertheless while socialists should approach the experiment with a critical eye, no doubt many valuable lessons are about to be learned on creating more participatory and democratic forms of local governance. 'Lambeth Launches the Cooperative Council' is by Council Leader Steve Reed.

NB: Readers interested in a critical Marxist appreciation of cooperatives would do well to consult Arthur Bough's blog posts on the subject.

...

Today Lambeth council launches plans that detail how we will become Britain's first cooperative council. So why are we doing it, what difference will people see, and are there wider lessons for Labour politics?

Public services in Britain have reached a tipping point. They are under attack from a rightwing government that wants to marketise services using, where possible, the language of empowerment to mask what they are up to. But public services are also under threat from falling public confidence which, if it is not addressed, will create the space the right needs to implement large-scale privatisation. Falling confidence in services as different as the health service and the police, despite massive investment in recent years, arises from a sense of disempowerment and remoteness people feel in the face of top-down public services that owe their shape to the Beveridge-inspired postwar settlement. To give public services a sustainable future we need to combat that loss of confidence by handing more power to individuals and communities as part of a rebalanced settlement between the citizen and the state. In handing more power to the people we can expect public services to change dramatically as they shift to meet people's real needs.

That's the theory and the purpose, and we explored it in detail through Lambeth's Cooperative Council Commission. The Commission consulted with over 3,000 Lambeth residents and heard from over 50 organisations nationally that have experience in delivering services in ways that put the users rather than the providers in control. But people want to know what difference they will see, so here is some of what we plan to do.

Youth services will be run by the community using a model called ‘community-led commissioning'. That involves the council supporting communities to decide what kind of youth services will best meet their needs, then helping them buy the appropriate services from whoever is best able to provide them. Sometimes that will mean community involvement in delivering the services - such as running groups or activities. Sometimes the services will be delivered by qualified professionals or voluntary organisations, depending on the needs the community identifies.

Adults receiving care services will have more control of their own budgets, and some buildings - such as Lambeth's Disability Resource Centre - will be transferred to mutual ownership including service users. That means people who are supported by services including home helps, respite care, day centres or support for disabled people to live independently at home, will decide what help they need and where they get it from using their own personalised care budget. They will be offered professional guidance to take their decisions, but the key is that the people using the services will be in control of their own lives instead of finding themselves under the control of others.

Lambeth will encourage local schools to become cooperative trusts, forming strong bonds with the local community and other schools in the area. This gives the local community a bigger say over how the school is run, and it creates communities of schools that can share or pool resources so children at each school benefit.

We are exploring putting all our libraries into a trust owned and run by the local community. This model works well in the borough of Queens, New York, where the foundation library attracts outside investment and provides services that better meet the needs of local people. Any libraries that have to close because of government funding cuts will be offered to the community as a standalone mutual or trust.

There are a range of different models for cooperative housing, which makes up a tiny fraction of the housing market in the UK compared with other countries including Germany, Sweden and Canada. The options range from tenant-managed estates where ownership remains with the council, through to shared equity models where the housing is owned by a company in which every resident owns a share. This model allows mixed-income communities to develop where people on lower incomes can own shares in their own home without running the risk of defaulting on a mortgage if their income suddenly collapses as, in that case, they can simply reduce their monthly equity purchase rather than lose their home. Lambeth's estates will be able to choose which housing model best suits them.

Local communities will be encouraged to develop neighbourhood micro-plans and to help take decisions over how their share of the council's overall budget is spent in their area. The council will make sure that all parts of local communities are listened to so the plan isn't run in the interests of only one part of the community.

Residents will be encouraged to take part in shaping or running local services through a Lambeth Cooperative Incentive Scheme. This will take the form of credits that people can use for discounts in local shops, for local leisure or sports facilities, or as a council-tax discount. To make sure the money is spent locally, any credits will be awarded in a new local electronic currency, building on the success of the Brixton Pound that already operates in the borough and is the UK's only local currency in an urban area.

What's clear from this small sample of services is that the model operates quite differently in different services but the principles of empowerment and cooperation remain the same. Local communities and the people who use services will be in the driving seat instead of the people who deliver those services. In this way services will become more accountable to local people, and more responsive to local need. By allowing people to exercise more choice we expect both better services and higher levels of confidence in those services. This transformation offers a radical new vision of what Labour local government can become by supporting the development of cooperative communities.

There are similarities with some of the rhetoric of the ‘big society'. That is inevitable because the Tories are deliberately stealing Labour's language to mask their cuts agenda. It is imperative that Labour reclaims that language and shows what empowerment really means. A quick look at Tory councils like Barnet or Suffolk shows that while they talk about empowerment all they're really doing is privatising services and dumping unprofitable services on communities ill-equipped to manage them. The Tories want to roll back the state, while Labour's task is to change the role of the state by putting it under the control of local people. That is true empowerment. It offers us the chance to rebuild confidence in public services while making a reality of that long-held rallying cry of progressive politics: power to the people.

Kevin Drum

| Mon Feb. 14, 2011 8:28 AM PST

Today is budget day, so we're going to be hearing a lot about the budget deficit. Probably from me, too. But here's really all you need to know:

80% of the federal budget goes to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Pentagon, and interest on the national debt. So where are we trying to find cuts? The other 20%, naturally.

This is doomed to failure, and everyone knows it. But we'll continue with the kabuki show anyway.

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/02/its-budget-day

Rumsfeld on the Arab revolution: It could go either way
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/14/rumsfeld_on_the_arab_revolution_it_could_go_either_way

Comments

Thank you Mr. Rumsfeld

Thank you Mr. Rumsfeld for your service. You are in no way a hedging, self-serving, arrogant, disingenuous, deluded arms peddlar and coddler of friendly dictators (when convenient). You are brilliant, and brave.

Thank you so much--and I speak for all Americans, and the whole world. The sacrifices were worth it. America now has more power, prestige, and wealth because of your efforts, and the people of Afghanistan and Iraq are truly better off.

Democracy is coming. There will soon be a grand square in the Iraqi capital named in your honor. It truly is the New American Century!

I'm glad you feel good about your results, and yourself, Sir. Sleep well.

( Amazing. 'I speak for all Americans, and the whole world'...maybe not

Iraqi deaths due to U.S. invasion

15 years of GMO contamination in Canada
http://www.commonground.ca/iss/235/cg235_gmo.shtml
The control bill failed

Chefs stir up the heat on GM food
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sunday-telegraph/chefs-stir-up-the-heat-on-gm-food/story-e6frewt0-1226000775444
While more than 180 chefs have signed Greenpeace's GM Free Charter since it was launched two years ago, an opposition group has now sprung up, claiming that signatories are "ill-informed" and "grandstanding".

Some of the country's top foodies, including Peter Gilmore of Quay, Neil Perry of Rockpool, Matt Moran of ARIA and Margaret Fulton, are signatories to the treaty, which states they are opposed to the use of GM foods in Australian restaurants.

Gilmore said he was against the principle of genetic engineering and found it unacceptable that current laws meant that food did not have to be labelled as being modified.

"When you start talking about fish genes in strawberries ... it becomes a concern," Gilmore said.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

"I don't like the idea of consuming something that has been genetically modified. They have a lot of foreign organisms that are not supposed to be in food.

Jeffrey Smith and the Damaging Effects of Genetically Modified Foods - P2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbyHivJ6bXs&feature=youtube_gdata