David Cooper, Writer, Slacker, Trophy Husband

Shabbat Shalom to my Jewish friends, Merry Christmas to my Christian friends, Happy Kwanza ...

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:35:00 -0500

Shabbat Shalom to my Jewish friends, Merry Christmas to my Christian friends, Happy Kwanza ...

Shabbat Shalom to my Jewish friends, Merry Christmas to my Christian friends, Happy Kwanza to my African-American friends, and may 2010 bring health, fulfillment, and peace!

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:09:00 -0500

Posted via web from davidfcooper’s posterous | Comment »

NYC Jewish events tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday night

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:11:20 -0500

NYC Jewish events tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday night

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:45:38 -0500

For NYC Jews: Xmas Eve NYC Jewish parties and concerts (scroll part way down the page) Xmas Day NYC Jewish events for kids and singles in Manhattan + Saturday night Jewish indie rock in Brooklyn

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Stephen Morse's poem “Back porch Synchronicity”: Maslow vs Jung

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:15:45 -0500

Stephen Morse's poem “Back porch Synchronicity”: Maslow vs Jung

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:31:37 -0500

“Back porch Synchronicity”Maslow vs Jung and lets just say that Maslow “studied” creativity
and Jung exercised it. Guess who I favor?”

A sharp bite of cold
snow lit by blue and gold
strings of light in the
Crab apple Bare, Brown
branches hang like clipped
fingernails over the asphalt
path to the back door.Wind moves; playing its pattern
in brass chimes and the rustle
of a nylon wind sock cut
to suggest the American Flag.

Somewhere in the dark
a dog is barking at
some undetectable presence
in the neighborhood …
out there in the dark
closer than the train
rumbling through ChanhassenA dog is barking.
A sharp cold bites at
the partially opened backdoor
of the back porch where
The cat lives
In the summertime
Frozen white

In the wintertime
frozen whitefrozen.

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Scientists find molecular trigger that helps prevent aging and disease

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:56:08 -0500

Scientists find molecular trigger that helps prevent aging and disease

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:42:05 -0500

ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2009) — Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine set out to address a question that has been challenging scientists for years: How does dietary restriction produce protective effects against aging and disease? And the reverse: how does overconsumption accelerate age-related disease?

See Also:

Health & Medicine

Healthy Aging

Cholesterol

Nutrition

Plants & Animals

Food

Biochemistry Research

Biotechnology

Reference

Calorie restricted diet

Senescence

Zone diet

Detox diet

An answer lies in a two-part study led by Charles Mobbs, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience and of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, published in the November 17 edition of the journal PLoS Biology. The study examines how dietary restriction and a high-caloric diet influence biochemical responses.

Dr. Mobbs and his colleagues unraveled a molecular puzzle to determine that within certain parameters, a lower-calorie diet slows the development of some age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, as well as the aging process. How the diet is restricted — whether fats, proteins or carbohydrates are cut — does not appear to matter. “It may not be about counting calories or cutting out specific nutrients,” said Dr. Mobbs, “but how a reduction in dietary intake impacts the glucose metabolism, which contributes to oxidative stress.” Meanwhile, a high calorie diet may accelerate age-related disease by promoting oxidative stress.

Dietary restriction induces a transcription factor called CREB-binding protein (CBP), which controls the activity of genes that regulate cellular function. By developing drugs that mimic the protective effects of CBP — those usually caused by dietary restriction — scientists may be able to extend lifespan and reduce vulnerability to age-related illnesses.

“We discovered that CBP predicts lifespan and accounts for 80 percent of lifespan variation in mammals,” said Dr. Mobbs. “Finding the right balance is key; only a 10 percent restriction will produce a small increase in lifespan, whereas an 80 percent restriction will lead to a shorter life due to starvation.”

The team found an optimal dietary restriction, estimated to be equivalent to a 30 percent caloric reduction in mammals, increased lifespan over 50 percent while slowing the development of an age-related pathology similar to Alzheimer’s disease.

The first part of the study looked at C. elegans, a species of roundworm, that were genetically altered to develop Alzheimer’s disease-like symptoms. Dr. Mobbs and his team reduced the roundworms’ dietary intake by diluting the bacteria the worms consume. In these types of roundworms, human beta amyloid peptide, which contributes to plaque buildup in Alzheimer’s disease, is expressed in muscle, which becomes paralyzed as age progresses. This model allowed researchers to readily measure how lifespan and disease burden were simultaneously improved through dietary restriction.

The researchers found that when dietary restriction was maintained throughout the worms’ adulthood, lifespan increased by 65 percent and the Alzheimer’s disease-related paralysis decreased by about 50 percent.

“We showed that dietary restriction activates CBP in a roundworm model, and when we blocked this activation, we blocked all the protective effects of dietary restriction,” said Dr. Mobbs. “It was the result of blocking CBP activation, which inhibited all the protective effects of dietary restriction, that confirmed to us that CBP plays a key role in mediating the protective effects of dietary restriction on lifespan and age-related disease.”

In the second part of study, Dr. Mobbs and his team looked at the other end of this process: What happens to CBP in a high-calorie diet that has led to diabetes, a disease in which glucose metabolism is impaired? Researchers examined mice and found that diabetes reduces activation of CBP, leading Dr. Mobbs to conclude that a high-calorie diet that leads to diabetes would have the opposite effect of dietary restriction and would accelerate aging.

Dr. Mobbs hypothesizes that dietary restriction induces CBP by blocking glucose metabolism, which produces oxidative stress, a cellular process that leads to tissue damage and also promotes cancer cell growth. Interestingly, dietary restriction triggers CBP for as long as the restriction is maintained, suggesting that the protective effects may wear off if higher dietary intake resumes. CBP responds to changes in glucose within hours, indicating genetic communications respond quickly to fluctuations in dietary intake.

“Our next step is to understand the exact interactions of CBP with other transcription factors that mediate its protective effects with age,” said Dr. Mobbs. “If we can map out these interactions, we could then begin to produce more targeted drugs that mimic the protective effects of CBP.”

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Journal Reference:

Zhang et al. Role of CBP and SATB-1 in Aging, Dietary Restriction, and Insulin-Like Signaling. PLoS Biology, 2009; 7 (11): e1000245 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000245

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

via sciencedaily.com

Dietary restriction induces a transcription factor called CREB-binding protein (CBP), which controls the activity of genes that regulate cellular function. By developing drugs that mimic the protective effects of CBP — those usually caused by dietary restriction — scientists may be able to extend lifespan and reduce vulnerability to age-related illnesses.

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Ex-President Carter offers apology to Jews - Yahoo! News

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:39:09 -0500

Ex-President Carter offers apology to Jews - Yahoo! News

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:25:29 -0500

ATLANTA – Former President Jimmy Carter apologized for any words or deeds that may have upset the Jewish community in an open letter meant to improve an often-tense relationship.

He said he was offering an Al Het, a prayer said on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. It signifies a plea for forgiveness.

“We must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel,” Carter said in the letter, which was first sent to JTA, a wire service for Jewish newspapers, and provided Wednesday to The Associated Press. “As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so.”

Carter, who during his presidency brokered the first Israeli-Arab peace treaty, outraged many Jews with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” Critics contend he unfairly compared Israeli treatment of Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza to the legalized racial oppression that once existed in South Africa.

Israeli leaders have also shunned him over his journey to Gaza to meet with Hamas, considered a terror group by the U.S., the European Union and Israel.

Carter’s apology was welcomed by Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League and a vocal critic of Carter’s views on Israel.

“When a former president reaches out to the Jewish community and asks for forgiveness, it’s incumbent of us to accept it,” he said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem. “To what extent this is an epiphany, only time will tell. There certainly was a lot of hurt, a lot of angry words that need to be repaired. But this is a good start.”

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee could not immediately be reached for comment.

The letter comes weeks after his grandson, Jason Carter, said he would run for a Georgia state Senate seat being vacated by President Barack Obama’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Singapore. If David Adelman is confirmed as ambassador in January, Jason Carter will be a candidate in a March special election in the northeast Atlanta district.

Jason Carter, who is running in a district with a vocal Jewish population, said in a statement that his grandfather’s letter was unrelated to his campaign and hailed the apology as a “great step towards reconciliation.”

President Carter’s letter said he hopes bloodshed and hatred will yield to mutual respect and cooperation between Israel and its neighbors. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has long said bringing peace to the Middle East remains one of his unfulfilled goals.

In a recent appearance at Emory University, he said if he had one more day as president he would use it to bring the “full weight of the White House” to the peace process.

“That’s what I’d do with my one day in the White House,” he said. “Bring peace to Israel and its neighbors.”

via news.yahoo.com

His son is planning to run for office to represent a district with a large number of Jewish constituents.

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Are you Jen's potential bone marrow donor?

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:22:43 -0500

Are you Jen's potential bone marrow donor?

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:22:40 -0500

HELP US SAVE JENNIFER’S LIFE

Read her story, and if you haven’t already done so join the bone marrow registry.

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Returning to the Kotel - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:47:28 -0500

Returning to the Kotel - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:34:51 -0500

Women of the Wall member Haviva Ner-David writes about Jerusalem as seen through her eyes

Check out this website I found at ynetnews.com

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Not our holiday week NYC Jewish events Part 2: Xmas Day

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:46:00 -0500

via examiner.com

Mostly music events for Jewish kids and their parents, as well as movies and comedy for singles in NYC on Friday December 25th, and indie rock music for young adults Saturday night December 26th. To read the article click here

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Not our holiday week NYC Jewish events Part 1: Xmas Eve

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:20:47 -0500

Not our holiday week NYC Jewish events Part 1: Xmas Eve

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:36:41 -0500

ere

via examiner.com

By now it’s a cliche that American Jews celebrate Christmas by going to the movies and then eating out at a Chinese restaurant. There is no shortage of other Jewish events this week, especially for young singles.

Read the rest of the article

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word fun (thanks, Kit B)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:58:17 -0500

word fun (thanks, Kit B)

Sweat glands are secret sensory organs - Behavior

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:58:17 -0500

Sweat glands are secret sensory organs - Behavior

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:56:39 -0500

updated 12:12 p.m. ET Dec. 8, 2009

The human body may be equipped with a separate sensory system aside from the nerves that gives us the ability to touch and feel, according to a new study.

Most of us have millions of different types of nerve endings just beneath the skin that let us feel our surroundings. However, the once-hidden and recently discovered skin sense, found in two patients, is located throughout the blood vessels and sweat glands, and most of us don’t even notice it’s there.

“It’s almost like hearing the subtle sound of a single instrument in the midst of a symphony,” said senior author Frank Rice, a neuroscience professor at Albany Medical College in New York. “It is only when we shift focus away from the nerve endings associated with normal skin sensation that we can appreciate the sensation hidden in the background.”

Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

Sensitive skin
Our skin, the body’s largest organ, seems to have some extraordinary qualities, as another recent study showed skin can hear.

The new finding, detailed in the Dec. 15 issue of the journal Pain, could help scientists to understand mysterious pain conditions such as migraine headaches and fibromyalgia. The study, and others by the team, was supported by the National Institutes of Health and several pharmaceutical companies.

The research team discovered the sensory system when studying two patients who were born with very little ability to feel pain — an extremely rare condition called congenital insensitivity to pain. Other individuals with this condition have excessively dry skin, often mutilate themselves accidentally and usually have severe mental handicaps, the researchers say.

It wasn’t their pain-free lives that brought the patients into the lab, but rather excessive sweating.

“Curiously, our conventional tests with sensitive instruments revealed that all their skin sensation was severely impaired, including their response to different temperatures and mechanical contact,” said study researcher Dr. David Bowsher, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool’s Pain Research Institute.

“But, for all intents and purposes, they had adequate sensation for daily living and could tell what is warm and cold, what is touching them, and what is rough and smooth.”

Surprise results
Bowsher took skin biopsies and sent them to Rice’s lab for microscopic analyses of the nerve endings.

“Much to our surprise, the skin we received from England lacked all the nerve endings that we normally associated with skin sensation,” Rice said. “So how were these individuals feeling anything?”

The answer: While the patients lacked the usual nerve endings in the skin, Rice and colleagues found sensory nerve endings on the small blood vessels and sweat glands embedded in their skin.

“Apparently, these unique individuals are able to ‘feel things’ through these remaining nerve endings,” Rice said. “For many years, my colleagues and I have detected different types of nerve endings on tiny blood vessels and sweat glands, which we assumed were simply regulating blood flow and sweating.”

Rice added, “We didn’t think they could contribute to conscious sensation. However, while all the other sensory endings were missing in this unusual skin, the blood vessels and sweat glands still had the normal types of nerve endings.”

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Posted via web from davidfcooper’s posterous | Comment »

David Cooper, Writer, Slacker, Trophy Husband

Shabbat Shalom to my Jewish friends, Merry Christmas to my Christian friends, Happy Kwanza ...

Shabbat Shalom to my Jewish friends, Merry Christmas to my Christian friends, Happy Kwanza to my African-American friends, and may 2010 bring health, fulfillment, and peace!

NYC Jewish events tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday night

NYC Jewish events tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday night

Stephen Morse's poem “Back porch Synchronicity”: Maslow vs Jung

Stephen Morse's poem “Back porch Synchronicity”: Maslow vs Jung

Scientists find molecular trigger that helps prevent aging and disease

Scientists find molecular trigger that helps prevent aging and disease

Ex-President Carter offers apology to Jews - Yahoo! News

Ex-President Carter offers apology to Jews - Yahoo! News

Are you Jen's potential bone marrow donor?

Are you Jen's potential bone marrow donor?

Returning to the Kotel - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews

Returning to the Kotel - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews

Not our holiday week NYC Jewish events Part 2: Xmas Day

Not our holiday week NYC Jewish events Part 1: Xmas Eve

Not our holiday week NYC Jewish events Part 1: Xmas Eve

word fun (thanks, Kit B)

Sweat glands are secret sensory organs - Behavior

Sweat glands are secret sensory organs - Behavior

When gifts seem to say: You’re old, fat and hairyAir ambulances leave some with sky-high billsDocs airlift toddler with 42 needles stuck in himLooks buy happiness, but only in the city | PollAnimal Tracks: Eye candy for animal lovers

When gifts seem to say: You’re old, fat and hairy
Air ambulances leave some with sky-high bills
Docs airlift toddler with 42 needles stuck in him
Looks buy happiness, but only in the city | Poll
Animal Tracks: Eye candy for animal lovers