2008: Mar 2nd Good News (Cancer Burning Magnets, Diabetes Hope in Frog Slime, more...)

Good evening everyone!

It's been a relaxing Sunday here. I had some trouble finding new news, things that weren't printed yesterday. I think this must be because it's Sunday. Everyone is resting, I guess. There are therefore several articles from yesterday evening. However, I did find some goodies from today. Interestingly, most of the top 5 today are health related. Articles of note are the article about a particular frog slime that may help cure diabetes, and the article about nanomagnets developed in Scotland which may help cure cancer.

As always, I hope you enjoy the articles posted today. See you tomorrow! :)



Today's Top 5:
1. Cancer-burning Magnets Developed in Scots Laboratory (The Scotsman)
2. Frog Slime Offers Hope of Diabetes Therapy (The Scotsman)
3. Now Eco-friendly Prince Charles Teams up with Supermarket Chain to Wage War on the Bags (Daily Mail UK)
4. Cleaner Water With a Wand (No Magic Required) (NY Times)
5. Newly Discovered Antibody Can Potently Neutralize Two Viruses, Study Shows (Science Daily)


Honorable Mentions:
1. Residents Hope to Save B.C.'s Salt Spring Island Rainforest (CBC Canada)
2. India to Spend $13.15M to Protect Tigers (Yahoo News)
3. Rwanda Economy Thriving as Country Moves Past Genocide (Yahoo News)
4. Nature's Helpers: Using Microorganisms To Remove TCE Pollutants From Water (Science Daily)
5. Living ‘Roof’ of Plant Life in the City (The Irish News)




1. Cancer-burning Magnets Developed in Scots Laboratory
02 March 2008 10:23 PM
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/health/Cancerburning-magnets-developed-in-Scots.3834953.jp

SCOTTISH scientists have discovered how to burn away cancer by using tiny magnets attached to bacteria.
Researchers at Edinburgh University say their findings will allow doctors to guide powerful but tiny "nanomagnets" straight to the site of tumours inside cancer patients' bodies. There they can be activated to destroy cancerous tissue by heating or to release drugs.
Previous studies into the use of the biomagnets have stumbled as they have lost their magnetic force easily.
Now, though, the Edinburgh scientists have become the first in the world to develop nanomagnets that keep their magnetism so they can deliver potentially life-saving treatment.
Dr Sarah Staniland, research fellow at the university's school of biological sciences, grew magnetic bacteria in a cobalt solution. Putting an alternating field through the magnets causes them to heat up, enabling doctors to burn tumours away.




2. Frog Slime Offers Hope of Diabetes Therapy
Updated: 02 March 2008 10:47 PM
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/health/Frog-slime-offers-hope-of.3834910.jp

SLIME from the skin of a South American frog could provide a new treatment for diabetes, say scientists.
The paradoxical frog, Pseudis paradoxa, secretes a substance from its skin which protects it from infection.
But the molecule, pseudin-2, may have another use for humans. Researchers found that it stimulates the release of insulin, the vital hormone which is deficient in diabetes sufferers.
Scientists made an artificial copy of the peptide, or protein building block, and showed that it could be used to boost insulin production in people with Type 2 diabetes.
They believe it could provide a new diabetes treatment, part of a new class of medicines called incretin mimetics which mimic natural substances.
However, more work must be carried out before the frog therapy is ready to be tested on human patients.
The research is being carried out by scientists at the University of Ulster and United Arab Emirates University.
Dr Yasser Abdel-Wahab, senior lecturer in biomedical sciences at the Universityof Ulster, said: "We are at an exciting stage with this research.
"We have tested a more potent synthetic version of the pseudin-2 peptide and have found that it has the potential for development into a compound for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.
"Now we need to take this a step further and put our work into practice to try and help people with Type 2 diabetes.
"More research is needed, but there is a growing body of work around natural anti-diabetic drug discovery that, as you can see, is already yielding fascinating results."
Normally insulin is produced by cells in the pancreas in the right amounts needed to regulate blood sugar levels. But in Type 2 diabetes either not enough is produced, or the body becomes resistant to the concentrations that are available.
The frog research is being presented today at the Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference in Glasgow.




3. Now Eco-friendly Prince Charles Teams up with Supermarket Chain to Wage War on the Bags
By REBECCA ENGLISH
»http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=524349&in_page_id=1770
Last updated at 00:50am on 3rd March 2008 GMT

The Prince of Wales is to launch his own campaign to persuade shoppers to turn away from plastic carrier bags.
Charles, who has received plaudits for his work highlighting green issues, believes they are a damaging by-product of the throwaway society which are choking the environment.
As part of the initiative, the prince is linking up with the Booths supermarket chain to highlight the issue next month. In particular, he wants to encourage the adoption of reusable eco bags, such as those being given away by the Daily Mail. Determined to lead by example, Charles has already banned the use of plastic bags in the shop at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire residence.
His stance is a boost to the Daily Mail's Banish the Bags campaign, which has won massive support from political leaders, environmental campaigners and the retail sector.
As the Mail reported on Saturday, the prince's personal spokesman said that he "supports any practical effort to reduce the harm we do to our environment, and if more people use reusable bags instead of plastic carrier bags for their shopping it would make a real difference".
A Clarence House spokesman yesterday added: "It is such an obviously sensible move."
Prince Charles has long been known as the most eco-friendly member of the Royal Family, installing energy-saving measures in his homes and lobbying the international community on climate care initiatives, although he has been criticised for his use of gas-guzzling transport.
His link-up with Booths, a family-run group with branches across the North West, is a first for the prince and reflects his strong feelings on the subject.
Last year the company voluntarily reduced plastic bag usage by a dramatic 26 per cent - giving out almost 660,000 a month fewer than in 2006.
Booths took a practical approach, removing plastic bag dispensers from the checkouts at its 26 stores in Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Cheshire. Instead of routinely handing out plastic bags, staff ask each customer, "Do you need a carrier?".
Eco-friendly jute bags and bags for life have also been offered as alternatives. In 2007 the company sold 400,250 bags, compared with only 35,000 in 2006.
Jute is a natural fibre composed of cellulose, the main building material of all plants. As well as lasting longer than a plastic carrier bag, it will decompose completely after it is discarded, putting vital nutrients back into the soil.
Waste and Recycling manager Colin Everest said yesterday: "Like the Mail, we think the best way to help the environment is to reduce the number of plastic bags used in our stores as opposed to encouraging the use of recycled ones.
"Your campaign has really catapulted this on to the national agenda.
"We couldn't have achieved what we have so far without our staff, who have been brilliant, and we're confident that our customers will continue to show that when it comes to thinking about the environment, they are the greenest of them all.
"The fact that the Prince of Wales has decided to support our efforts is enormously encouraging."
The Daily Mail campaign to banish throwaway plastic bags began last week when we highlighted how the 13billion we dump each year are blighting our countryside and the oceans, strangling and poisoning wildlife around the world.
The following day, Marks & Spencer pledged to stop offering free bags, charging shoppers 5p from May.
And on Friday Gordon Brown promised to legislate on the matter by ordering supermarkets to follow M&S's example.
A filthy eyesore is already being transformed into a beautiful children's garden thanks to the M&S initiative.
Following a pilot scheme of the 5p bag levy in Northern Ireland, M&S is giving the proceeds to the environmental charity Groundwork UK.
And the first project to benefit is in a deprived area of Plymouth. Almost £10,000 is being pumped into reviving the Woodhay Road Garden Project.
Colin Toogood, Groundwork's executive director in Devon and Cornwall, said fly-tippers had left the parkland in a "state of squalor".
Mr Toogood has since drafted in the help of local children, who have come up with an action plan and a new design for the derelict space.
He said: "This is a great project which has really bought a community together. There isn't a lot of money in this area and some of the residents who live in flats don't have anywhere nice to go in the summer.
"So this would be the perfect place for young families to enjoy a picnic or for children to play. Just a simple overhaul of this garden means that the residential area as a whole is being spruced up.
Ed Williams, head of corporate social responsibility at M&S, said: "Encouraging people to make a difference to their own lives or environment around them is very important to us.
"This is an exciting project, which we believe will have a positive impact on the local community and we're delighted to be part of it."




4. Cleaner Water With a Wand (No Magic Required)
By ANNE EISENBERG
Published: March 2, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/business/02novel.html

TRAVELERS who don’t trust the water from a mountain stream or a hotel-room faucet have often used chemicals or filters to purify it. Now they have a high-tech option as well: swirl the water with a portable, lightweight wand that beams rays of ultraviolet light.
Skip to next paragraph The SteriPen JourneyLCD is built to be portable for travelers who fear the tap and for campers who want to do more than filter stream water. The wand can clean up a quart of water that is clear — but could harbor stomach-wrecking microorganisms — in 90 seconds. The high-frequency light damages the DNA of bacteria, viruses and protozoa in the water like giardia and cryptosporidium so they can’t reproduce and create havoc.
To make the disinfection process easier for users to monitor, one new device on the market, the SteriPen JourneyLCD($129.95) has a liquid-crystal display that shows a countdown during purification (48 seconds for 16 ounces, 90 seconds for 32 ounces) and a smiley face at the end to signal that the job is done.
The device, which weighs a bit less than 5 ounces, including two disposable batteries, will be sold at camping, travel and other stores beginning in April and online at rei.com and other sites, said Edward A. Volkwein, the president of Hydro-Photon, the company in Blue Hill, Me., that makes the unit.
The L.C.D. screen and its messages are a good idea, said James P. Malley Jr., a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, who specializes in the use of ultraviolet light for treating drinking water. “Forty-eight seconds is a long time for some people,” Mr. Malley said of the purification process with the wand. Without a display screen to guide them, people might be inclined to do a perfunctory job of disinfection.
“Human nature is to give a lick and a promise. You are swirling away with your arm out,” and might stop before the water is safe, he said. “It’s very wise to put a smiley face and other simple symbols there to guide people.”
A thorough swirling of the water being disinfected is important, so that photons released by the ultraviolet bulb can penetrate organisms in the water. Professor Malley also recommended that apparently clear water be filtered at a minimum with a fine piece of mesh screening, for instance, before it is purified. “UV is not meant to replace filters,” he said. “Filter first, and then disinfect second.”
If the water is tea-colored, has an orange or yellow tinge, or has objects like leaves in it, ultraviolet devices will not work well, as particulates in the water can absorb the light meant to destroy the harmful organisms, he said.
For example, “you wouldn’t want to use these devices to disinfect apple cider,” he said. “The light wouldn’t penetrate.”
The lamp that creates the ultraviolet light, which has a wavelength of 254 nanometers, is good for 10,000 treatments — about 2,500 gallons of water — said Miles Maiden, inventor of the SteriPen and the chief executive of Hydro-Photon. The batteries will last for about 100 treatments before they need to be replaced.
Ultraviolet rays, of course, can be damaging to eyes and skin, so the product comes with safety features. The SteriPen has electrodes or water sensors in its neck that prevent its turning on until the device is completely immersed in water, Mr. Maiden said. After that, the ultraviolet light is securely contained: the surface of the water acts as a mirror, blocking the ultraviolet light from escaping, and UV beams cannot pass through standard container materials.
SHANNON DAVIS, associate editor of Backpacker magazine in Boulder, Colo., liked the liquid-crystal display and the microprocessor of the new SteriPen Journey. “The display shows you that you’ve left the device in there the right amount of time,” Mr. Davis said, “and that adds confidence.” He also liked the snug fit between the pen and standard plastic bottles that hold, for instance, one or two liters of water. “The fit is so tight that you can insert the pen in the bottle,” he said, and then swirl the bottle vigorously without spilling a drop.
Meridian Design, of San Jose, Calif., also makes a portable ultraviolet water purifier, the mÜV ($49 at the company Web site, uvaquastar.com) that is rechargeable, said Dan Matthews, president of the company. The unit is in limited production, Mr. Matthews said. “We’re testing them individually before they are released to full marketing,” he said. “We’re not ready to make thousands of them until we’re comfortable we’ve worked out the kinks.”
Jamie DeBenedetto, a hiker and trail leader who lives in Phoenix, tried the mÜV and prefers it to the iodine tablets she usually carries in her backpack for purification of water. It is easy to recharge, she said, “and the water tastes a lot better than it does with iodine.”





5. Newly Discovered Antibody Can Potently Neutralize Two Viruses, Study Shows
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080228200337.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2008)

In laboratory experiments, scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and their colleagues supported by the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), have discovered an antibody that neutralizes two viruses classified as henipaviruses. Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV) are highly infectious agents that transitioned from infecting flying foxes in the mid-1990s to causing fatal disease in humans and livestock in Australia, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, and Singapore. Recent outbreaks have resulted in encephalitis and acute respiratory distress, person-to-person transmission, and up to 70 percent fatality rates. Antibodies are proteins that are found in blood or other bodily fluids of vertebrates and are used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign molecules, including bacteria and viruses. According to study author Dimiter S. Dimitrov, Ph.D., of NCI's Center for Cancer Research in Frederick, Md., "We hope that with further research this antibody can save human lives. The insights offered about how it works also could potentially provide a starting point for the development of tools for targeting other diseases."
The first step in countering infections caused by these viruses is to find antibodies that can neutralize them. Viral neutralization is the process by which an antibody alone or an antibody plus another molecule, called complement, block the infectivity of a virus. Zhongui Zhu, Ph.D., of Dimitrov's group, and their NIAID-supported collaborator Christopher Broder, Ph.D., of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md., had previously identified antibodies to NiV and HeV by panning a large antibody library against a soluble form of the protein that makes up the HeV shell. One of these antibodies, m102, exhibited a strong ability to neutralize both NiV and HeV.
In their current experiment, the researchers created an improved version of m102, called m102.4, by using a complex procedure called in vitro maturation. The m102.4 version is even more potent than its parent antibody, m102, and can neutralize both HeV and NiV without a loss of cross-reactivity, which is the ability of an antibody that is specific for one target, or antigen, to bind to a second antigen.
The researchers believe that the m102.4 clone is the first fully human antibody that is capable of potently neutralizing both HeV and NiV. Their results suggest that m102.4 may prove useful as a therapeutic for treatment of diseases caused by henipaviruses. Their initial experiments in small mammals, called ferrets, found that m102.4 was well tolerated, exhibited no adverse effects, and retained high neutralizing activity, which may point to this antibody's potential for clinical use as a preventive agent, a diagnostic probe, or an antiviral therapeutic.
"The generation of a potent antibody against both HeV and NiV could help control outbreaks in geographical regions susceptible to henipaviruses, and result in a benefit for mankind," said Dimitrov. He also noted that the laboratory technology they used for the maturation of antibodies is being used for the development of antibodies against cancer.
This study was a collaboration with investigators Katharine N. Bossart, Ph.D., and Lin-Fa Wang, Ph.D., from Geelong, Victoria, Australia, where there is a high-level safety and security facility for testing the antibody.
Journal reference: Zhu Z, Bossart K, Bishop KA, Grameri G, Dimitrov AS, McEachern JA, Feng Y, Middleton D, Wang L, Broder CC, Dimitrov DS. Exceptionally Potent Cross-Reactive Neutralization of Nipah and Hendra Viruses by a Human Monoclonal Antibody. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, February 15, 2008.






Honorable Mentions:


1. Residents Hope to Save B.C.'s Salt Spring Island Rainforest
Last Updated: Saturday, March 1, 2008 3:00 PM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/02/29/bc-salt-spring-island.html

Residents of B.C.'s Salt Spring Island are trying to save a temperate rainforest that's slated to be cut down soon so a subdivision can be developed.
Residents say they don't want to see the pristine beauty of Salt Spring Island destroyed.(CBC) Maureen Moore, a spokeswoman for Save Salt Spring Island's Creekside Rainforest, said a private company plans to develop eight hectares of the island located on the east side of Vancouver Island.
"It's important because temperate rainforests store more carbon than tropical rainforests. And therefore, it is a carbon sink. It helps to mitigate global warming," Moore told CBC News Friday.
Local residents sprung into action and created a grassroots committee four months ago, taking pledges, holding fundraising dinners and concerts.
Moore said they want to raise about $1 million to buy the pristine forest from the company.
Maureen Moore says Salt Spring Island residents are close to raising the $1 million required to save the rainforest. (CBC) "We've had four months and we have raised over $800,000," she said. "We now have to raise $116,000 more to reach our goal and pledges are still coming in."
Biologists and wildlife experts have volunteered to come to Salt Spring Island to help the committee identify the trees, moss and fish, as well as other animals that depend on the rich, damp area, Moore said.
While Feb. 29 was the deadline to raise the money, the group still has another few weeks to call in all of the pledges.






2. India to Spend $13.15M to Protect Tigers
By ASHOK SHARMA, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 1, 8:59 AM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080301/ap_on_sc/india_disappearing_tigers;_ylt=AjUl7ZfWShIsSdnMMPECt0Cs0NUE

NEW DELHI - The Indian government plans to spend more than $13 million establishing a special ranger force to protect the country's endangered tigers, following pressure from international conservationists to save the wild cats. The funding proposed Friday by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram follows the announcement just weeks ago of a $153 million program to create new tiger reserves, underscoring renewed efforts by India's government to protect the big cats.
New estimates suggest India's wild tiger population has dropped from nearly 3,600 five years ago to about 1,411, the government-run Tiger Project said last month.
"The number 1,411 should ring the alarm bells ... The tiger is under grave threat," Chidambaram told Parliament during his budget presentation for 2008-2009.
Chidambaram said the National Tiger Conservation Authority would be granted about $13.15 million to "raise, arm and deploy" a Tiger Protection Force. While the budget is just a proposal at this stage, Parliament is widely expected to pass it without opposition later this month.
Conservationists welcomed the government's proposal, saying a new force would need to be specially trained and armed to protect tigers from poachers.
"They are finally addressing a very important problem — poaching," Belinda Wright, director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, said Saturday. "I would imagine that much of the existing system would be improved by the injection of the funds."
The Tiger Project plans to create eight new reserves to protect the tigers, covering an area of more than 11,900 square miles at a cost about $153 million. Private groups will contribute extra funding.
Some 250 villages, or an estimated 200,000 people, will be relocated under the plan. The government has promised each relocated family about $25,600.
The population of tigers in Asia is estimated at around 3,500 today compared to nearly 5,000 in 1997, according to Wright.
Unless the government drastically improves enforcement steps against poachers and illegal wildlife traders, the number of tigers will continue to dwindle, Wright said.




3. Rwanda Economy Thriving as Country Moves Past Genocide
By Shashank Bengali, McClatchy Newspapers Sat Mar 1, 4:50 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080301/wl_mcclatchy/2866219;_ylt=AoWIXNpF7rjPUiFjrGKXWEys0NUE
KIGALI, Rwanda — When President Bush came here last month on his five-nation Africa tour, he paid a solemn visit to the site where 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide are buried, laying a wreath and strolling quietly along a row of concrete slabs marking mass graves.
But government officials here say Bush's more important act that day was something else: He signed a deal to promote bilateral U.S.-Rwandan investment.
Rwanda hasn't forgotten the genocide, but it's moving forward, and 14 years later this tiny central African nation boasts one of the most stable and rapidly expanding economies in the region. Poverty and illiteracy are declining, immunization rates are up, HIV and malaria have been dramatically curtailed, and new industries from coffee to information technology are experiencing sudden booms.
The country's rebirth under President Paul Kagame — a bookish former rebel leader— was noted last year by the Ibrahim Index, a scale that rates African countries on political and economic freedoms. It called Rwanda the most improved country over the past five years.
"After the genocide everyone was down, and there was a lot of confusion. Now we are on the right track," said Kainamura Issa, co-founder of Index, a local magazine that covers the burgeoning technology sector.
Under Kagame, the government has pumped money into the country's roads and electricity networks and slashed red tape on businesses in a bid to lure foreign investors. Since 1994, the country's economy has grown at a robust 6 percent clip annually.
Lured perhaps in part by its tragedy-to-triumph story, American corporate giants have been drawn to this tiny, hilly nation, where 8 million people are crammed into a space smaller than Maryland .
Starbucks and Costco have signed exclusive deals with Rwandan coffee growers to sell their smooth, aromatic beans in U.S. stores. Government officials say Microsoft has floated a plan to equip the country's Senate chamber so that lawmakers can draft and edit legislation electronically.
"There is a wave of enthusiasm right now for Rwanda ," said Josh Ruxin , a Columbia University public health professor who lives in Rwanda .
Rwanda's upward trajectory is belied by its sleepy-looking capital. Kigali , a city of about 1 million people, has the feel of a quiet small town, with orderly, tree-lined streets that meet at intersections where drivers use their turn signals more than their horns. Men hawking cell phone airtime run up and wave the scratch cards in people's faces, but they plead for a sale with their eyes, not their lungs.
The silence is subtle but unmistakable. It's as if everyone has a secret.
It's tempting to ascribe the feeling to the memory of the genocide, but many in Kigali say it has more to do with the current political climate.
To restore order after 1994— when Hutu militias slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus over 100 days— Kagame's Tutsi-led government assumed complete control.
Kagame has a reputation as a micro-manager, overseeing everything from the AIDS policy to something he has dubbed "Vision 2020," a high-minded if quixotic plan to turn this overwhelmingly rural nation into a regional hub for information technology.
More worryingly, say human rights groups, he has imposed strict laws over free speech to stop people from inciting ethnic hatred, and some journalists who have published critical stories have been beaten, jailed or driven into exile.
The U.S. State Department last year cited reports that Rwandan security forces engaged in extrajudicial killings and arbitrarily detained and arrested countless people, including street children, vagrants and Jehovah's Witnesses. But the department's annual human rights report also noted that police officials fired more than 70 officers for indiscipline and formed a unit within the police force to investigate citizen complaints of abuse and corruption.
"Significant human rights abuses occurred," the report concluded, "although there were important improvements in some areas."
Rwandan officials prefer to discuss the country's record on AIDS. Experts say the country has made a turnaround thanks to the capable management of donor funding, including more than $300 million from Bush's global anti-AIDS program. The plan has helped put 50,000 Rwandan AIDS patients on life-saving drugs, although an additional 25,000 still lack access.
Six years ago, the U.N. estimated that 8.9 percent of Rwandan adults were living with HIV; by last year that had fallen to 3 percent.
The changes are evident in a redbrick HIV clinic in Nyagasambu, perched on a verdant hillside a half-hour's drive from the capital, Kigali . The clinic was built by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation , a Washington D.C. -based charity, with Bush administration funds. Now dozens of HIV patients from the surrounding villages troop in for regular check-ups.
"Now we have the medicines we need; we have the lab equipment we need," said Theogene Ndayambaje, the clinic's assistant administrator. Motioning to a gaggle of brightly clad women waiting for their check-ups, he added, "Three years ago, they would not have lived."
Rwanda has also expanded access to primary health care in its 438 public health facilities around the country. Nearly all children have been immunized against basic diseases, among the best rates in Africa .
"In the next five years, it's conceivable there will essentially be universal access to health care," said Ruxin, the Columbia professor. "They still have a way to go, but that's astonishing."





4. Hundreds of Arizona Women Rally Together to Raise Funds for MS
Posted : Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:40:21 GMT
Author : AZ-NATIONAL-MS-SOCIETY
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/hundreds-of-arizona-women-rally-together-to-raise-funds-for-ms,298543.shtml


PHOENIX - (Business Wire) The Arizona Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is hosting its third annual Women Against MS luncheon on Wednesday, April 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa. Guests will share the joys of a fine lunch while watching an inspirational program emceed by Tara Hitchcock of “Good Morning Arizona,” and featuring keynote speaker Kristie Salerno Kent. Kent will speak to the hundreds of guests about her life with MS. She was diagnosed with MS in 1999, and after several years of denial, she decided that the word dreams may end with an M and an S but her dreams don't end because of her MS. She is now a singer/songwriter/producer and the CEO of her own production company. Her music is a heartfelt testimony of her determination to succeed despite adversity.
The Women Against MS luncheon creates a motivational and empowering environment for people to gather, learn about MS, and raise funds for the National MS Society. A live drawing will allow attendees to purchase tickets for their chance to win one of five prize packages, each valued at over $500.
While men are certainly welcome to attend, it is women who founded this important event and who inspire each other to move it forward. Two-thirds of the people living with MS are women, and women often are the care providers for everyone else. Last year the Women Against MS luncheon raised nearly $70,000 to provide programs for people living with MS and fund research towards the cure and treatment of this chronic disease of the central nervous system.
Sponsorships, tables of 10 for families or corporations and individual tickets for the event are available for purchase, a portion of which is tax-deductible. To buy tickets or for more information, visit http://nationalMSsociety.org/azwams2008 or call the Arizona Chapter at 480-968-2488, option 2.
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS through our 50 state network of chapters. We fund more MS research, provide more services to people with MS, offer more professional education and further more advocacy efforts than any other MS organization in the world. The Society is dedicated to achieving a world free of MS. We are people who want to do something about MS now. Join the movement at http://nationalmssociety.org.
Studies show that early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can reduce future disease activity and improve quality of life for many people with multiple sclerosis. Talk to your health care professional and contact the National MS Society at http://nationalmssociety.org or 1-800-FIGHT-MS to learn about ways to help manage multiple sclerosis and about current research that may one day reveal a cure.
The Arizona Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Virginia Roberts, 480-968-2489 x 203



5. Nature's Helpers: Using Microorganisms To Remove TCE Pollutants From Water
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080228100728.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2008)

In 2002, Bruce Rittmann, PhD, director of the Biodesign Institute's Center for Environmental Biotechnology, received a patent for an innovative way to use nature to lend society a hand. He invented a treatment system, called the membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR), which uses naturally occurring microorganisms to remove contaminants from water.
Now Rittmann and his research team, which includes Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown and Jinwook Chung, recently published a paper in the journal Environmental Science & Technology for a new application that removes a problematic contaminant that has made local headlines.
The chlorinated solvent trichloroethene (TCE) has been found to be an increasingly problematic contaminant in groundwater. The detection of TCE recently forced the shut down of the water supply for the Greater Phoenix area municipalities of Paradise Valley and Scottsdale.
TCE has been widely used as a cleaning agent and solvent for many military, commercial, and industrial applications. Its widespread use, along with its improper handling, storage, and disposal, has resulted in frequent detection of TCE in the groundwater. TCE has the potential to cause liver damage, malfunctions in the central nervous system and it is considered a likely human carcinogen.
"As with other elements, the chlorine cycle is becoming a key concern to many environmental pollution scientists," said Krajmalnik-Brown, a researcher in the Biodesign Institute's Center for Environmental Biotechnology and assistant professor in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Transforming the chlorinated solvent to a harmless product is the best way to eliminate the harmful effects of TCE. In the case of TCE, Mother Nature is the best helper. Scientists have discovered specialized microorganisms that can replace the chlorine in the chlorinated molecules with hydrogen, a process called reductive dechlorination. While other methods are possible, they are often more costly than reductive dechlorination on a large scale, and many do not transform TCE into a harmless end product.
In the paper, the Rittmann team utilized the MBfR and a naturally occurring group of microorganisms able to remove TCE from water. Surprisingly, these microorganisms, called dehalogenerators, have an affinity for chlorinated organics and can be found all throughout nature, even in clean water supplies, the soil, and groundwater.
"These bacteria respire TCE, that is, they can use TCE like we use oxygen to breathe," said Krajmalnik-Brown. "They take in the TCE and they start removing the chlorines, step by step. In the ideal case, the dehalogenators remove all the chlorines, converting TCE to ethene, which is harmless."
With this knowledge in hand, the challenge for the research team was to adapt their existing MfBR system, which can remove other water contaminants, to see if it could now handle TCE. A version of the reactor that addresses perchlorate, a byproduct of rocket fuel, is already in the commercialization pipeline.
"A key challenge with using these bacteria is that, if they don't dechlorinate all the way, the TCE can be converted to vinyl chloride, which is a known human carcinogen," said Krajmalnik-Brown. "In other words, if you don't have complete dechlorination, you can end up having something worse than what you started with. So, it is critical to have the right mix of microorganisms for complete dechlorination."
Their approach was simple in execution. They took an existing MBfR that was handling perchlorate removal and then introduced TCE into the system.
Rittmann's MBfR works by delivering hydrogen gas to the bacteria through tiny hollow tubes submerged in water. In the right environment, the tubes become coated with a biofilm containing microorganisms. The system provides the microorganisms with hydrogen gas, which must be present for the microorganisms to change the chemical composition of a contaminant and render it harmless.
Their results indicated that the MBfR could be an incredibly versatile system, quickly adapting to now handle TCE. "This was really surprising, because there wasn't any TCE at our pilot plant experiments prior to switching," said Krajmalnik-Brown. "So there must have been really small amounts of the critical microorganisms in the culture. When shifted to TCE, they thrived and handled the contaminants."
By assessing the MBfR community, they found the special dehalogenating bacteria that can take the hydrogen supplied by the MBfR and reduce TCE all the way to harmless ethene. Using the latest molecular techniques, they could not only identify the bacterial population to handle TCE, but also the genes within these populations that make enzymes that detoxify TCE to ethene.
The team found one particular organism, a new type of Dehalococcoides, the bacteria known to dechlorinate TCE all the way to ethene. They were also the first group to grow these dehalogenating bacteria in a biofilm in the lab.
"The bacteria are notoriously difficult to grow into a biofilm in the lab and study because they need hydrogen as an electron donor. An advantage of our system is that the MBfR can provide hydrogen through a membrane, which allows the microbial community to grow and naturally form a biofilm surrounding the membrane," said Krajmalnik-Brown.
Next, the team hopes to drive the TCE system toward commercialization. Other oxidized contaminants that the system has been effective in reducing in the laboratory setting include perchlorate, selenate (found in coal wastes and agricultural drainage), chromate (found in industrial wastes), and other chlorinated solvents.