2008: July 18th Good News: (

Good Evening all,

Well, it's been a while since I've been on. I can't promise I'll be on again soon either. Unfortunately, with our second move, buying a new dog, being incredibly busy at work, and sponsoring a cadet in our home, I have not had time to devote to my blog. I have missed it terribly, and I have even gotten some emails from readers questioning where it went.

The best I can hope for this week is to be able to post once or twice. If I beat that best, that is awesome...but please understand if I can't, that I'm just caught, in life, with life...and busy. :)

Anyway, I want you all to know that good news is still happening every day. Here are the articles I found for you all that have already happened today. :)


Today's Top 5:
1. Vet Reaches Inside Shark to Pull Grappling Hook (Atlanta Journal Contstitution)
2. Alzheimer's Drug Reverses cognitive Decline Over 12 Month Period in Early Human Testing (Science Daily)
3. Archaeologists Find 600 Year Old Chess Piece in Northwest Russia (RIA Novosti)
4. Woman Elbowing Her Way to Arm Wrestling History (The Denver Post)
5. Students Can Now Get Textbooks for Free (Inventorspot.com)

Honorable Mention:
1. Rock Port Missouri, First 100 Percent Wind Powered Community in US (Science Daily)






Today's Top 5:

1. Vet Reaches Inside Shark to Pull Grappling Hook
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/news/stories/2008/07/18/australia_shark_rescue_grappling_hook.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=15
Associated Press
Published on: 07/18/08

SYDNEY, Australia — A veterinarian in Australia plunged his arm up to his shoulder into the throat of a rare shark to save the animal after it swallowed a grappling hook.
The gray nurse shark is generally much smaller than the more aggressive great white. It is also not considered a threat to humans, but its bite could still do serious damage.
Divers spotted the shark Monday as it swam with a group of others near Byron Bay, 500 miles north of Sydney, Trevor Long of the Sea World marine park said Friday.
After the animal was captured and placed in a holding tank, rescuers pushed a stiff plastic pipe into the shark's throat. Blyde then reach down through the pipe to free the hook.
"As a veterinarian you often end up putting your hands in places that people find somewhat unattractive," Blyde told Seven Network television.
The gray nurse shark is one of Australia's most endangered marine species after being fished to near-extinction, with some estimates running as low a fewer than 300 animals left in the wild in waters off the country's east coast.



2. Alzheimer's Drug Reverses Cognitive Decline Over 12 Month Period In Early Human Testing
ScienceDaily
(July 18, 2008) —

A drug once approved as an antihistamine in Russia improved thinking processes and ability to function in patients with Alzheimer's disease in a study conducted there, said an expert at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. The findings are published in the journal The Lancet.
"More research is needed, but we are encouraged by the effect the drug Dimebon had on Alzheimer's patients" said Dr. Rachelle Doody, professor of neurology at BCM and lead author of the study.
In the study, the authors noted that Dimebon is the first drug for Alzheimer's disease that demonstrated continued improvement in patients over a 12 month period. Other approved drugs do not have this effect.
Half of the 183 patients in the Russian study received Dimebon; the other half were given a placebo or an inactive pill. Clinicians at the study sites then monitored the patients' progress over the next year on five different outcomes. All of those in the study had mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.
"What we saw in the clinical trial is that people on the medication continued to improve over time," Doody said. "Those on placebo continued to decline."
Researchers believe the medication works by stabilizing mitochondria, the cellular components that produce energy, and possibly by inhibiting brain cell death. Researchers evaluated patients' thinking and memory ability, overall function, psychiatric and behavioral symptoms, and ability to perform daily activities.
"Usually at this point in a drug's development, we are happy to see improvement in one of the outcome measures," Doody said. "We saw improvement in all five."
Some participants complained of occasional dry mouth, but no one opted out of the study because of the side effects.
"As we continue research, we hope to replicate these results," Doody said. "My belief is that this drug will turn out to be useful for Alzheimer's disease, regardless of the stage of the disease."
Doody said this is only the first study looking into the effects of Dimebon on Alzheimer's disease. She also noted that it involved only a relatively small population from one specific region of the world. The ongoing Phase 3 study will include several international locations including the United States.
Other researchers who contributed to this study include: Dr. Svetlana I. Gavrilova, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Dr. Mary Sano, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, NY; Dr. Ronald G. Thomas, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA; Dr. Paul S. Aisen, formerly with Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC and now at the University of California, San Diego; ; Dr. Sergey O. Bachurin, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Physiologically Active Compounds, Chernogolovka, Russia; Drs. Lynn Seely and David Hung, Medivation, Inc., San Francisco, CA.
Funding for this study came from Medivation, Inc., the company developing the drug worldwide. Doody is also a member of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory board for Medivation, Inc.





3. Archaeologists Find 600-year-old Chess Piece in Northwest Russia
http://en.rian.ru/culture/20080718/114352042.html
14:51 18/ 07/ 2008

VELIKY NOVGOROD, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - Archaeologists in northwest Russia have discovered a chess piece dating back to the late 14th century, a spokesman for local archaeologists said on Friday.
"The king, around several centimeters tall, is made of solid wood, possibly of juniper," the spokesman said.
The excavations are being carried out at the site of the Palace of Facets, in the Novgorod Kremlin in Veliky Novgorod. The palace is believed to be the oldest in Russia.
According to the city chronicles, chess as a competitive game emerged in Veliky Novgorod, the foremost historic city in northwest Russia, in the 13th century, but was banned in 1286 by the church.
However, besides the king, archeologists in the region have found a total of 82 chess pieces dating back to at least the 14th century, showing that the game remained popular among the local population despite the church ban.
In late May, archaeologists in the ancient city uncovered a number of medieval baby bottles. Medieval Slavs made feeding bottles by attaching leather bags to the wider part of a cow's horn. The babies drank milk from holes made in the tip of the horns.
The first historical mention of Veliky Novgorod was in 859 AD. City chronicles say that by 862 AD it was already a stop on the trading route between the Baltics and Byzantium.
The city will celebrate its 1150th anniversary in 2009.




4. Woman Elbowing Her Way to Arm Wrestling History
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9915967
By William Porter
Denver Post Columnist
Article Last Updated: 07/18/2008 02:31:10 PM MDT


Arm-wrestler Brandy Stark does a static hold with a 40-pound dumbbell for one minute as husband Russell looks on. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post )On the laundry list of things I might first notice about a woman — her eyes, her smile, whether she is aiming a large-bore handgun at me — biceps generally don't rank too high.
But when the woman is Greeley's Brandy Stark, one of America's greatest arm-wrestlers, well, I check out the muscles in her shirt sleeves.
We were in the weight room at Work Out West, Brandy's hometown gym. She was fresh from a grueling static hold with a 40-pound dumbbell, replicating the feel of locking down on an opponent's unfortunate arm.
Brandy assessed her bulging bicep. "You know, I have no idea how big my arms are. A lot of women don't have good upper-body strength, but for whatever reason I do."
Her beefy forearms taper into strong wrists and small, almost delicate, hands. In two weeks she hopes to have them wrapped around a big trophy.
Stark's goal is to be the first woman to win her sport's triple crown. She's one title away, needing only a victory at the U.S. Armwrestling Federation championships on Aug. 3 in Salt Lake City.
Stark also won major tourneys in May and June. In horse-racing terms, they were arm-wrestling's Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. The USAF tourney is the Belmont — and the third jewel in the triple crown.
If she places first or second in Salt Lake, competing in the 176-pound-plus unlimited class, she makes Team USA and goes to the world meet.
"That's the dream," she said.
Stark is 35. She has the thick trunk and sturdy legs of a shot-putter, but was a volleyball player and sprinter growing up in Limon. Her spiked hair is streaked with blond.
On her right bicep is a tattoo: "Armwrestler."
"It's official," she said, grinning. "I can't quit now."
Brandy, a mother of three, began arm-wrestling in 2003.
"I just like the adrenaline rush and being able to compete one on one," she said. "Although I get nervous before meets. Like nauseous nervous.
"But that goes away after the first match."
There is little money in her sport, just bragging rights.
Her husband, Russell, introduced her to the sport. He, too, is a competitive arm-wrestler, though not quite at the elite level of his wife.
Russell is an easygoing guy and doting husband. Massaging Brandy's left shoulder, he proudly told me a story.
"I had some of my roughneck friends down one evening," said Russell, an oil-rig worker in Wyoming. "They wanted to arm-wrestle me, but I told them they'd have to wrestle Brandy first.
"She pinned them all. And these were big, strong dudes."
Little did the dudes know.
Along with iron biceps and forearms, arm-wrestlers develop unusual tendon strength. An average person's elbow tendon is the diameter of a pencil. A champion wrestler's might be as thick as a nickel.
Technique is crucial. Some competitors try to nail opponents out of the gate. Others lock their arm in place until the opponent tires, then slowly lever them over for the pin.
"It takes a certain personality to start arm-wrestling," Brandy said. "You have so many aches and pains."
Brandy wrestles as a righty and lefty, often exiting tourneys lugging two trophies. Nothing is left to chance: She scouts her opponents. "I don't know if they scout me, but if they don't, they should."
Brandy hoisted a barbell. Russell looked on, beaming.
Forget Beijing. History awaits in Utah, just a few pins away.
William Porter's column runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 303-954-1977 or wporter@denverpost.com.





5. Students Can Now Get Textbooks For Free
http://inventorspot.com/articles/students_can_now_get_textbooks_for_free_15904
Posted July 18th, 2008 by Joshua Khan

Textbooks are a major expense college students wish they didn’t have to deal with. Despite being a stack of paper that will only be looked at once, they can cost individuals up to a $1000 a year. Some students try to fight the “system” by sharing textbooks, but disadvantages keep bombarding their plans. When you buy a textbook, you’ll be lucky to even sell it back for half of the original price.
The publisher Flat World Knowledge is hoping to help students by giving away textbooks for free. Based in New York, the firm recently launched a project to supply four business and economics textbooks online to undergraduates of 15 different campuses. It may seem like a small start, but the results can free a student from the textbook fiasco that binds them.
But will the textbooks have the same content as the thick ones located on campus?
Flat World Knowledge’s resources aren’t different at all. They have been reviewed by academics and are even unique in their own way as some text includes images and video. Since their based online, the textbooks are also open-source; they can be updated easily and changed to match a particular outline or curriculum.
Starting next January, Flat World Knowledge hopes to offer its textbooks to numerous institutions. It’ll be interesting to see how other bookstores and publishers react, since their plan is strongly affects a lot of organizations and companies.
As for the students, don’t be surprised if they never buy another book again.




Honorable Mention:
Rock Port, Missouri, First 100 Percent Wind-powered Community In U.S.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715165441.htm
ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) —

Rock Port Missouri, with a population of just over 1,300 residents, has announced that it is the first 100% wind powered community in the United States. Four wind turbines supply all the electricity for the small town.
Rock Port’s 100% wind power status is due to four wind turbines located on agricultural lands within the city limits of Rock Port (Atchison County). The city of Rock Port uses approximately 13 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year. It is predicted that these four turbines will produce 16 million kilowatt hours each year.
Excess wind generated electricity not used by Rock Port homes and businesses is expected to be move onto the transmission lines to be purchased by the Missouri Joint Municipal Utilities for use in other areas.
University of Missouri Extension specialists say that there are excellent opportunities for sustainable wind power in northwest Missouri.
There are currently 24 wind turbines in Atchison County, 24 in Nodaway County and 27 in Gentry County. MU Extension specialists say the wind farms will bring in more than $1.1 million annually in county real estate taxes, to be paid by Wind Capital Group, a wind energy developer based in St. Louis.
"This is a unique situation because in rural areas it is quite uncommon to have this increase in taxation revenues," said Jerry Baker, MU Extension community development specialist.
The alternative-energy source also benefits landowners, who can make anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 leasing part of their property for wind turbines.
Other wind energy companies are looking at possible sites in northwest Missouri, Baker said.
A map published by the U.S. Department of Energy indicates that northwest Missouri has the state's highest concentration of wind resources and contains a number of locations potentially suitable for utility-scale wind development.
"We're farming the wind, which is something that we have up here," Crawford said. "The payback on a per-acre basis is generally quite good when compared to a lot of other crops, and it's as simple as getting a cup of coffee and watching the blades spin."
"It's a savings for the community in general, savings for the rural electric companies, and it does provide electricity service over at least a 20-year time period, which is the anticipated life of these turbines," Baker said.
Baker said the wind turbines attract visitors from all over, adding tourism revenue to the list of benefits.

2008: July 2nd Good News (George Washington's Boyhood Home Found; Certain Foods May Improve Intelliegence; more...)

Good Afternoon all,

Here is yesterday's post. Todays will follow soon. :)




Today's Top 5:
1. Get Smart About What You Eat and You Might Actually Improve Your Intelligence (Eurekalert.org)
2. New Approach Offers Chance to Finally Kill Herpes (Yahoo News)
3. Long Sought Boyhood Home of George Washington Found (ABC News)
4. Ethanol Byproduct Produces Green Results (Bio-medicine.org)
5. University of Washington Medical Center Takes Part in World Health Organization Surgical Checklist Initiative (University of Washington News)



Honorable Mentions:
1. Humans Wore Shoes 40,000 Years Ago, Fossil Suggests (National Geographic)
2. Taiwan Power Co to Plant 1 Million Trees in Exchange for Expansion (Earth Times)


Today's Top 5:

1. Get Smart About What You Eat and You Might Actually Improve Your Intelligence
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-07/foas-gsa070208.php
Public release date: 2-Jul-2008
Contact: Cody Mooneyhan
cmooneyhan@faseb.org
301-634-7104
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

MIT researchers offer tantalizing evidence on how to make people smarter, naturally
New research findings published online in The FASEB Journal provide more evidence that if we get smart about what we eat, our intelligence can improve. According to MIT scientists, dietary nutrients found in a wide range of foods from infant formula to eggs increase brain synapses and improve cognitive abilities.

"I hope human brains will, like those of experimental animals, respond to this kind of treatment by making more brain synapses and thus restoring cognitive abilities," said Richard Wurtman, MD, senior researcher on the project.

In the study, gerbils were given various combinations of three compounds needed for healthy brain membranes: choline, found in eggs; uridine monophosphate (UMP) found in beets; and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), found in fish oils. Other gerbils were given none of these to serve as a baseline. Then they were checked for cognitive changes four weeks later. The scientists found that the gerbils given choline with UMP and/or DHA showed cognitive improvements in tasks thought to be relevant to gerbils, such as navigating mazes. After these tests were concluded, the researchers dissected the mouse brains for a biological cause for the improvement. They found biochemical evidence that there was more than the usual amount of brain synapse activity, which was consistent with behaviors indicating higher intelligence.

"Now that we know how to make gerbils smarter," said Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, "it's not too far a stretch to hope that people's intelligence can also be improved. Quite frankly, this can't happen soon enough, as every environmentalist, advocate of evolution and war opponent will attest."

###

This article is scheduled for final publication in the November 2008 issue of The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), which is published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and is the most cited biology journal worldwide according to the Institute for Scientific Information. FASEB comprises 21 nonprofit societies with more than 80,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. FASEB advances biological science through collaborative advocacy for research policies that promote scientific progress and education and lead to improvements in human health.



2. New Approach Offers Chance to Finally Kill Herpes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/herpes_treatment_dc
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
Wed Jul 2, 5:39 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday they may have found a way to flush out herpes viruses from hiding -- offering a potential way to cure pesky and painful conditions from cold sores to shingles.

They discovered that a mysterious gene carried by the herpes simplex-1 virus -- the one that causes cold sores -- allows the virus to lay low in the nerves it infects.

It does so via microRNAs, little pieces of genetic material that regulate the activity of many viruses, the researchers report in the journal Nature.

It may be possible to "wake up" the virus and then kill it with standard antiviral drugs such as acyclovir, said Jennifer Lin Umbach of Duke University in North Carolina, who worked on the study.

"We are trying to go into animal trials," Umbach said in a telephone interview.

The Duke team is discussing a potential collaboration with Regulus Therapeutics LLC, a joint venture between Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc that specializes in microRNAs.

Herpes viruses cause permanent infections. They head straight to nerve cells, where they stay latent for the life of an animal or person, often causing periodic outbreaks.

Herpes simplex 1 or HSV-1 causes cold sores, HSV-2 causes genital herpes, while varicella causes chicken pox and returns in middle or old age as herpes zoster to cause shingles.

Acyclovir and related drugs can suppress symptoms but only when the virus is active.

IMPOSSIBLE TO KILL

"Inactive virus is completely untouchable by any treatment we have. Unless you activate the virus, you can't kill it," said Bryan Cullen, who oversaw the research.

Umbach said that for still unknown reasons, viruses infecting different neurons in the same body activate at different times, making it impossible to eradicate an infection.

Her team found that a gene called LAT controls microRNAs that turn off other genes in the virus.

"The presence of these active microRNAs keep the virus dormant," Umbach said. "When the virus is activated by stress like UV (ultraviolet) light or a wound, production of (other) genes goes up."

Then LAT is overwhelmed and unable to keep the virus in check. It wakes up and causes an outbreak.

A drug that would turn off the microRNAs could drive the virus out of hiding and allow all copies of the virus to be killed with acyclovir, she said.

"You would have one cold sore but you would get rid of it," she said. Curing something more painful, such as shingles, might be a little trickier, she added.

One class of drug called an antagomir might work, Umbach said. These chemically engineered oligonucleotides are short segments of RNA that can be made into mirror images of a targeted bit of genetic material -- such as the herpes microRNAs. They would attach and "silence" the microRNA.

The potential market is large. An estimated one in five Americans have genital herpes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while 100 million have the HSV-1 virus that causes cold sores.

The CDC estimates there are a million cases of shingles every year in the United States alone.




3. Longsought Boyhood Home of George Washington Found
Discovery Offers Insight Into First President's Life
http://www.abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=5297035&page=1
By JOHN DONVAN
July 2, 2008

Nearly everyone has heard of George Washington's Mount Vernon, Va., estate, where tourists flock to visit the place where our first president lived and died.

Archeologists' discovery of George Washington's childhood home offers insight into the life of our nation's first president.
(AP Photo)Now, archeologists believe they have found the home where, according to legend, Washington, who could not tell a lie, chopped down the cherry tree.

The Ferry Farm site, located near Fredericksburg, Va., overlooking the Rappahannock River, just 50 miles south of Washington, D.C., which archeologists have excavated, is believed to be the house where Washington lived as a child, from the time he was 6 years old,.

After Washington moved away, the house rotted and was swallowed by time and grassland, preventing archeologists from finding its actual site until now.

The search for Washington's childhood home began seven years ago. First, researchers found remains of a home predating Washington's, and then they uncovered another home from the 19th century. Through trial and error, researchers found this area and excavated for three years, before verifying that it was the Washington's family home.

Related
The 'Real' George Washington EstateFloods Dash Historic Town's Tourism HopesNew D.C. Walking Tour Traces Lincoln's End"If George Washington did, indeed, chop down a cherry tree, as generations of Americans have believed, this is where it happened," said Philip Levy, who is a historical archaeologist and professor at the University of South Florida.

"What we see at this site is the best available window into the setting that nurtured the father of our country," Levy said.

David Muraca, director of archeology at the George Washington Foundation, made the find. From the remains, they were able to debunk historical assumptions about Washington's first home.

While historians had long believed Washington lived in a small cottage, the foundation and cellars that were found prove that the house was one and a half stories. Evidence also shows that the fire that had been said to have driven the family from the home, was merely minor.

Also from the remains, archeologists unearthed thousands of artifacts that once belonged to the Washington family: fragments of ceramic tableware, the bowl of a clay pipe with Masonic markings, scissors and a set of 18th century wig curlers -- perhaps used by Washington himself.

The clay pipe bowl -- with the Masonic crest -- is especially exciting for archeologists, since Washington joined the Masons in 1753.






4. Ethanol Byproduct Produces Green Results
http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/Ethanol-byproduct-produces-green-results-3864-1/
2 July 2008

PROSSER WA Commercial flower and plant growers know all too well tha...Enter dried distillers grains with solubles or DDGS. DDGS a byprod...Researchers applied DDGS two ways: to the soil surface and mixed into...When mixed into the potting media however dried distillers grains we...[RSS]
http://www.bio-medicine.org/inc/biomed/biology-news.asp
http://feeds.bio-medicine.org/latest-biology-news
Email Subscription: Get Latest Biology News delivered by emailDate:7/2/2008[Outline] [RSS]

PROSSER, WA Commercial flower and plant growers know all too well that invasive, ubiquitous weeds cause trouble by lowering the value and deterring healthy growth of potted ornamental plants. To control weeds, many commercial nursery owners resort to the expensive practice of paying workers to hand-weed containers. Some growers use herbicides, but efficacy of herbicides is questionable on the wide range of plant species produced in nurseries, and many herbicides are not registered for use in greenhouses.

Enter "dried distillers grains with solubles", or DDGS. DDGS, a byproduct of converting corn to fuel ethanol, is typically used as livestock feed. Rick A. Boydston, Harold P. Collins, and Steve Vaughn, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, undertook a research study on the use of DDGS as a weed deterrent on potted ornamentals. The study results, published in the February 2008 issue of HortScience, evaluated the use of DDGS as a soil amendment to suppress weeds in container-grown ornamentals.

Researchers applied DDGS two ways: to the soil surface, and mixed into the potting media of transplanted ornamentals. Applied to the soil surface after transplanting, DDGS caused no injury to plants. According to Dr. Boydston, an agronomist with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), "grains applied to the surface at rates that gave good coverage of the soil (800 and 1600 g/m2) reduced the number of common chickweed and annual bluegrass. Weed control was not perfect, but could reduce the amount of hand-weeding typically required."

When mixed into the potting media, however, dried distillers grains were toxic to transplanted rose, coreopsis, and phlox plants. Researchers concluded that DDGS may be useful for reducing weed emergence and growth in container-grown ornamentals when applied to the soil surface at transplanting. Dr. Boydston noted that additional research is needed to identify and confirm the safety (of using DDGS) to ot
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Contact: Michael W. Neff
mwneff@ashs.org
703-836-4606
American Society for Horticultural Science
Source:Eurekalert





5. University of Washington Medical Center Takes Part in World Health Organization Surgical Checklist Initiative
http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=42704
2 July 2008
Mary Guiden

UW Medical Center (UWMC) took part in an international broadcast and global launch of the World Health Organization's "Safe Surgery Saves Lives" campaign Wednesday, June 25. UWMC is the only U.S. site of eight sites around the globe participating in the pilot phase of the project, which involves the use of a checklist for care before, during and after surgery.

Dr. E. Patchen "Patch" Dellinger, vice-chair of surgery, is directing UW efforts and implemented use of the checklist for all general surgical operations at UWMC starting in April. It will be used for all operations by all surgical specialties by fall 2008.

Dellinger's work coincides with Dr. David Flum's efforts on the state's Surgical Clinical Outcomes Assessment Program and is supported by groups including the Washington State Hospital Association, Washington State Nurses Association, Washington State Medical Association, Group Health and others. Flum is a UW associate professor of surgery.

What items are covered on the checklist? Before a patient is rolled into the operating room, medical center staff ask the patient to confirm his or her identity and the procedure. Once in the operating room (OR), all team members introduce themselves by name and role ("I'm Patch, and I'm the surgeon," is how Dr. Dellinger introduced himself before a recent surgery).

As a visual prompt, the checklist is poster-sized and hangs from an IV (intravenous) pole. The patient's identity is again confirmed as well as the site of the surgery and procedure due to be performed. The health-care team discusses any anticipated critical events and goes over an antibiotic redosing plan for cases that may last more than three hours. The OR checklist takes from one to four minutes to complete.

Dellinger said the UW "jumped at the chance to be a pilot site" for the WHO initiative. "A lot of us feel as if we don't know why the checklist hadn't been there" all along, he said. Not all reactions were initially positive, he admitted. "One surgeon said, ‘It sounds like a good idea as long as I don't have to do anything I'm not already doing,'" Dellinger said, with a chuckle.

Registered nurse Jodi Bloom said she was initially skeptical because she thought the checklist was cumbersome. "But now, when I go to other specialties, I feel as if something is missing," Bloom said. (She will no longer have that "missing" feeling as the checklist is rolled out more broadly at UWMC.)

Debby Lunde, also a registered nurse, described herself as perhaps the "biggest skeptic" when it came time to employ the checklist. "It was one more thing that we had to do," she explained. After a few months of using the checklist, however, Lunde said she is now one of the strongest supporters of the initiative. One of the things she appreciates is the opportunity to ask questions and raise concerns. "I love the way it brings us together in open communication and connection as a team, totally focusing on the patient," Lunde said.

The checklist has now been used in more than 500 operations at UWMC, and Dellinger estimates that it has helped to reduce patient safety errors by about half.



Honorable Mentions:

1. Humans Wore Shoes 40,000 Years Ago, Fossil Suggests
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080630-oldest-shoes_2.html
Scott Norris
for National Geographic News

July 1, 2008
Humans were wearing shoes at least 10,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to a new study.

The evidence comes from a 40,000-year-old human fossil with delicate toe bones indicative of habitual shoe-wearing, experts say.

A previous study of anatomical changes in toe bone structure had dated the use of shoes to about 30,000 years ago.

Now the dainty-toed fossil from China suggests that at least some humans were sporting protective footwear 10,000 years further back, during a time when both modern humans and Neandertals occupied portions of Europe and Asia.

Study author Erik Trinkaus, a paleoanthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, said the scarcity of toe bone fossils makes it hard to determine when habitual shoe-wearing became widespread.

However, he noted, even Neandertals may have been strapping on sandals.

"Earlier humans, including Neanderthals, show [some] evidence of occasionally wearing shoes," Trinkaus said.

Regular shoe use may have become common by 40,000 years ago, but "we still have no [additional] evidence from that time period—one way or the other," the scientist said.

The study by Trinkaus and Chinese co-author Hong Shang appears in the July issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Tale of the Toes

In a previous study, Trinkaus found that shoe-wearing and barefoot human groups show characteristic differences in the size and strength of their middle toe bones.

Consistent shoe use results in a more delicate bone structure, because footwear reduces the force on middle toes during walking.

In his latest study, this anatomical evidence allowed Trinkaus to date the origin of shoes to a period long before the oldest known shoe remains.

Elizabeth Semmelhack curates the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Canada. She said given what we know about the effects of shoe-wearing, Trinkaus' approach makes perfect sense.

"The simple act of wearing shoes alters the structure of our feet," Semmelhack said.

"It's interesting that [Trinkaus] is looking at these prehistoric remains and coming to the same conclusions."

Function vs. Fashion

The first forms of protective footwear probably evolved from simple wrappings used to insulate the feet from snow and freezing temperatures, experts say.

The oldest preserved shoe remains, dating to roughly 10,000 years ago from the western United States, are simple sandals woven of plant fibers.

But at some point shoes stopped being mere protection and become a fashion item.

Some anthropologists have suggested that even the earliest shoes may have served a more symbolic than protective function.

Beads found around the ankles and feet of human skeletons dated to 27,000 years ago suggest the presence of decorated footwear, Trinkaus said.

"History is replete with examples of impractical, irrational shoes," noted shoe museum curator Semmelhack.

"The actual first shoes may have been created out of necessity. But elements of irrationality probably crept in very early on," she said.

"Even these ancient people were probably trying to express something."


2. Taiwan Power Co to Plant 1 Million Trees in Exchange for Expansion
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/216557,taiwan-power-co-to-plant-1-million-trees-in-exchange.html
Posted : Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:27:05 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Environment
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Taipei - The Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), after promising to plant 1 million trees, has won permission from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to expand one of its power plants, a newspaper said on Thursday. According to the Commercial Times, EPA gave approved Taipower's plan to expand its coal-fired power plant in Linkou, outside Taipei, after Taipower had promised to plant 1 million trees to compensate for green house emissions from the expanded plant.

In its report to EPA, Taipower detailed short-, mid- and long-term measures for environmental protection, and pledged to cut its 2020 greenhouse emission to the level of 2008, the daily said.

The state-run Taipower plans to install 3 more generators at the Linkou Power Plant to boost the plant's power generation capability from the current 1 million kilowatts to 2.48 million kilowatts.

Taipower will invite international tenders for the 3 generators, with the contract worth about 4.8 billion US dollars. The first generator is scheduled to go into operation in 2013, the Commercial Times said.

2008: July 1st Good News (World Becoming Happier; Coffee Could Help Beat Multiple Sclerosis; more...)

Good Afternoon All,

It's 5am here in Seoul. I've been up since 3 am, unable to sleep. I am not tired, and I hope I don't get tired later on today. Wish me luck. :)

Here are the news articles I have found for you today. :)



Today's Top 5:
1. World Becoming a Happier Place, Survey Says (ABC News)
2. Prince Charles Shrinks Carbon Footprint with Car that Runs on Wine (Fox News)
3. Coffee Could Help Beat Multiple Sclerosis (Yahoo News)
4. Malaysian Folk Medicine Cuts Chemo Treatment Resistance (United Press International)
5. A Boy with Leukemia Gets His Wish with a Visit to Hawaii (Honlulu Star Bulletin)


Honorable Mentions:
1. Dragonflies May Provide Alert System for Water Pollution (Earth Times)
2. Jordan Discovers What Could be First Christian Church on Earth (Yahoo News)






Today's Top 5:

1. World Becoming a Happier Place:
Denmark World's Happiest Country
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/wireStory?id=5281954
July 1, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Denmark, with its democracy, social equality and peaceful atmosphere, is the happiest country in the world, researchers said on Monday.

New research shows that while Denmark leads the world in happiness, people in most other countries are also, on the whole, becoming happier.
(ABC News Photo Illustration)Zimbabwe, torn by political and social strife, is the least happy, while the world's richest nation, the United States, ranks 16th.

Overall, the world is getting happier, according to the U.S. government-funded World Values Survey, done regularly by a global network of social scientists.

It found increased happiness from 1981 to 2007 in 45 of 52 countries analyzed.

"I strongly suspect that there is a strong correlation between peace and happiness," said Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, who directed the study.

And, said Ingelhart, there is a strong correlation between happiness and democracy.

"Denmark is the happiest country in the world in our ratings," Inglehart said in an audio statement released by the National Science Foundation, which paid for the analysis.

"Denmark is prosperous -- not the richest country in the world but it is prosperous."

Puerto Rico and Colombia also rank highly, along with Northern Ireland, Iceland, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada and Sweden.

"Though by no means the happiest country in the world, from a global perspective the United States looks pretty good," Inglehart said. "The country is not only prosperous; it ranks relatively high in gender equality, tolerance of ethnic and social diversity and has high levels of political freedom."

The survey, first done in 1981, has kept to two simple questions:

"Taking all things together, would you say you are very happy, rather happy, not very happy, not at all happy?" And, "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?"
Writing in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, Ingelhart's team said they have surveyed 350,000 people.




2. Prince Charles Shrinks Carbon Footprint with Car that Runs on Wine
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,374303,00.html
Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Prince Charles drives his Aston Martin Volante DB6 with wife Camilla Parker Bowles.
LONDON — Prince Charles' income grew last year, while his carbon footprint shrank.

The eco-friendly prince even has an Aston Martin that runs on wine.

An annual review of Charles' accounts released Monday said the prince made more than $32 million from property and investments between April 1, 2007 and March 31 this year, 7 percent more than in 2006-7. Charles paid $6.8 million in tax, $10,000 less than the year before.

The prince's office said greater use of green energy and fewer plane and car journeys helped Charles cut the amount of carbon dioxide he produced by 18 percent to 3,081 tons.

Charles has promised to reduce his emissions of greenhouse gases by 25 percent between 2007 and 2012.

The report said Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, traveled 37,000 miles on official duties and overseas travel accounted for the largest chunk of the prince's carbon footprint.

For domestic travel, the prince's Jaguars, Audi and Range Rover now run entirely on biodiesel made from used cooking oil, and his 38-year-old Aston Martin is fueled by bioethanol from surplus wine.

The prince has also installed wood-chip stoves at his country homes — the Highgrove estate, where he farms organically, and Birkhall in Scotland — and energy-efficient boilers at his Clarence House residence in London.

"I hope it shows a good picture," said royal aide Sir Michael Peat. "I really do believe that the contribution their royal highnesses make to national life continues to develop and broaden."

The 59-year-old heir to the throne receives private income from properties of The Duchy of Cornwall, the 136,000-acre estate established in 1337 by King Edward II to provide income for his heir.

Charles' official spending, including money spent on charitable work and official duties, was $20.8 million. His personal spending, which includes the salaries of 30 full-time staff, was $4.4 million, down from 2.6 million pounds.

However, Charles' thrifty gene appears to have skipped his oldest son. A British newspaper reported Monday that five helicopter flights taken by Prince William during training with the Royal Air Force cost taxpayers more than $100,000.

The most contentious was a flight to attend a stag party on the Isle of Wight off southern England, which cost just over $17,400, The Guardian reported.

The newspaper said it obtained the figures from the Ministry of Defense under a freedom of information request.

William also flew military aircraft to his girlfriend Kate Middleton's home, his father's country house and the royal residence at Sandringham.

The Ministry of Defense said "all flights undertaken by Flying Officer Wales were a legitimate part of his RAF training." But the ministry acknowledged there had been "a degree of naivety in the planning of the training sorties."





3. Coffee Could Help Beat Multiple Sclerosis
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/healthussclerosis
Tue Jul 1, 12:45 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A strong cup of coffee may do more than just wake you up in the mornings. It could also help you stave off multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study.

Scientists in Oklahoma found that mice which had been immunized to develop an MS-like condition appeared to be protected from the disease by drinking the equivalent of six to eight cups of coffee a day.

"This is an exciting and unexpected finding, and I think it could be important for the study of MS and other diseases," said Linda Thompson, from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation who worked in collaboration with Cornell University and Finland's University of Turku.

Caffeine prevented adenosine, one of the four building blocks in DNA, from mixing with its receptor in mice.

Adenosine is common molecule in humans and plays a large role in helping to control the biochemical processes for sleep and suppressing arousal.

When the molecule is blocked from binding with its receptor, the body's infection-fighting white cells cannot reach the central nervous system and trigger the reactions which lead to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, or EAE, the animal form of MS.

The findings could have important implications for other auto-immune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, in which the body's own defense systems turn against itself.

But Thompson, co-author of the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, warned there was a lot more work to be done in fighting multiple sclerosis, a debilitating and progressive disease in humans.

"A mouse is not a human being, so we can't be sure caffeine will have the same effect on people prone to develop MS without much more testing," she said.

Further retrospective studies to track the caffeine intake of patients with MS and its effects might be the next major step.

"If you found a correlation between caffeine intake and reduced MS symptoms, that would point to further studies in humans," Thompson said.

Some 2.5 million people worldwide are thought to suffer from MS, a disorder of the central nervous system which leads to loss of muscle coordination.





4. Malaysian Folk Medicine Cuts Chemo Treatment Resistance
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/07/01/Malaysian_medicine_cuts_chemo_resistance/UPI-26631214920256/
Published: July 1, 2008 at 9:50 AM

MONTREAL, July 1 (UPI) -- A Canadian, U.S. and Austrian study has discovered a Malaysian folk medication reduces resistance to cancer chemotherapy treatments.

McGill University researchers said the study focused on a class of natural products known as cyclopenta benzofuran flavaglines, or CBFs. Working with mice genetically modified to mimic human leukemias, they found the CBF compound silvestrol can make tumors susceptible to the killing effects of anticancer drugs.

Silvestrol is a natural compound derived from a large genus of trees and shrubs found in Malaysia, South China and some Pacific islands, the scientists said. It's been used in Malaysian folk medicine for generations, but never as a cancer therapy.

The researchers cautioned trials in humans and possible treatments are still many years away.

The results of the study that included Boston University, the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the University of Vienna and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute are published in the June issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.



5. A boy with Leukemia Gets His Wish with a Visit to Hawaii
http://starbulletin.com/2008/07/01/news/story09.html
By Nalea J. Ko
nko@starbulletin.com

Peddling on his BMX bicycle through Diamond Head crater with his family in tow, 12-year-old Kyle Williams' wish finally came true.
The Make-a-Wish Foundation, with the help of the Hawaii Bicycling League, brought to fruition yesterday Kyle's dream to ride his bike in a volcano.

"In all reality, it's a miracle he's with us," said Kyle's mother, Ann Walden.

Last week, Kyle's Hawaiian vacation plans were nearly suspended again when he caught chickenpox.

Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer that attacks infection-fighting cells, Kyle has been in recovery, waiting for more than a year to visit Oahu.

"I just really wanted to go to Hawaii," he said.

Kyle is one of about 100 children who asked to visit Hawaii in the month of June alone, according to an official with Make-a-Wish Foundation of Hawaii.

Since 1986 the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Kyle's home state of Washington granted 3,500 wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions.

"Until the time there are no more kids who get sick, I can't imagine one kid going through what they do and not getting a really fabulous wish," said Audrey Seale, a volunteer with the Washington chapter. She met the Williamses in 2006 when Kyle was at the Ronald McDonald House preparing for a bone marrow transplant.

To grant wishes like Kyle's, the foundation depends on a community of people.

Alaska Airlines flew Kyle's family - his father, mother and brother - from Washington state. Airline officials also waived fees to fly Kyle's BMX bike, which he received last summer at a luau in Washington.

Seale says the people of Hawaii really worked to make everything possible for Kyle.

"Everybody just really had that spirit of aloha to make it happen," said John Climaldi, events manager with the Hawaii Bicycling League. The league provided three bikes for the Williamses, but Climaldi credits the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for arranging yesterday's Diamond Head bike ride.

Ann said flying to Hawaii was what Kyle had wanted for a while. "I think it's important because, you know, it's an opportunity that he might not ever had before," she said.

In total, Kyle's wish is estimated to cost $5,800. But despite popular belief, the Make-a-Wish Foundation is not well funded, according to a statement released by the foundation. Children typically wait about four months before their wishes are granted.

The young Sonics fan's dream does not end with the bicycle ride. Kyle's family will visit Hanauma Bay, the Polynesian Cultural Center and Pearl Harbor. Set to drop by the Matsumoto Shave Ice store before returning home, Kyle said he is anxious to see more of Hawaii.




Honorable Mentions:

1. Dragonflies May Provide Alert System for Water Pollution
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/215656,dragonflies-may-provide-alert-system-for-water-pollution.html
Posted : Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:43:02 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Nature (Environment)

Singapore - Dragonfly young could soon be the aquatic version of the canary in a coalmine, a researcher said in a published report on Sunday. Just as the singing birds were used by miners to warn them of toxic air, young dragonflies that live in reservoirs and ponds hold the potential of alerting humans to water pollution, The Straits Times said.

Researcher Nanthinee Jeevanandam, at the National University of Singapore, said she hopes to use their genetic fingerprint to help national water agencies like Singapore's Public Utilities Board determine the level of cleanliness in reservoir water.

Different dragonfly species have varied tolerance to pollutants such as lead and sulphate, the report said. Some require cleaner water or more oxygen.

Studying the species would be a quick and chemical-free method of evaluating water quality, Jeevanandam said.

She said she has collected DNA sequences for about a quarter of the city-state's 110 dragonfly species.





2. Jordan Discovers What Could be First Christian Church on Earth
http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20080628/896/twl-jordan-discovers-what-could-be-first.html
Sat, Jun 28 08:00 AM

Rihab (Jordan), June 28 (DPA) Excavations are continuing on a hilltop in the rural Jordanian town of Rihab to find additional evidence that supports a recent epoch-making discovery of what renowned archaeologists believe could be the first church on earth.

'We believe this is the world's first church, where early Christians took refuge after they escaped Roman persecution in Jerusalem and came here to perform their rituals in secrecy,' archaeologist Abdul Qader al-Hosan told DPA.

Al-Hosan is head of the state-run Rihab Centre for Archaeological Studies and a professor of archaeology at Hashemiyah University.

'The evidence we have indicates that this church sheltered 70 disciples of Jesus Christ and was built between 33 and 70 AD,' he said.

'We believe they remained in this cave until the Christian religion was endorsed by the Romans,' he added.

The chapel, which lies directly underneath the Saint Georgeous Church, was dug in an underground cave, the exterior outlet of which leads to a cluster of churches, which were built successively at different times, according to al-Hosan.

Therefore, Rihab, 60 km north-east of Amman, is called the town of 30 churches, he said.

Al-Hosan said that he 'deeply believed that Jesus Christ visited Rihab in the early days of Christianity'.

'According to authenticated history, Jesus Christ spent part of his life in Jordan's Ajloun area, 32 km north of Rihab, and was earlier baptised at a site 40 km south-west of Amman,' he said.

A mosaic inscription in Greek on the floor of St Georgeous Church described the early Christians as 'the 70 beloved by God and Divine'.

St. Georgeous is believed to be the oldest 'proper' church in the world, built in 230 AD, according to the inscription in the church.

Going three steps into the cave, one can see a circular area with a 2.5-metre radius, believed to be the apse, and several stone seats for the clerics.

The cave also includes the living places of the first Christians. 'A wall with an entrance is the only partition separating the altar from the living area,' said Hosan, who holds a doctorate in archaeology from Istanbul University.

'This tunnel is believed to have been used by the first 70 Christians as a gateway to their water system. We hope when we open the tunnel soon, we will get further evidence that this worship place is the first church on this globe,' he added.

Al-Hosan said that his excavation team had found pottery believed to have been brought by early Christians from Jerusalem 'because such products were not familiar to people in northern Jordan in that period'.

His team also found 'skeletons and bones' in a cemetery situated next to the chapel.

'It is divided into three parts, which we believe were devoted to men, women and children,' he said.

The City of Rehabis, as it was called during the Roman era, was one of the 10 allied cities, or Dekapolis, which were under the military control of the Roman empire but which were economically and religiously independent, al-Hosan said.

He reproduced letters from at least three churches in Jordan describing the discovery as an 'amazing event'.

Archimandrite Nektarious, bishop of the Greek Orthodox archdiocese, called the discovery of the cave an 'important milestone for Christians all around the world'.