The first stethoscope, invented by the French physician Ren? Laennec, was simply a hollow wooden or ebony tube. Laennec named the device using the Greek roots stethos, or chest, and skopein, to look at or to observe. Medical historian Howard Markel discusses how Laennec came up with the invention. Unlike the stethoscope familiar to patients today, the original device was a simple tube.
Michael Steele, the former chairman of the RNC, defended Newt Gingrich and his comments on immigration at last night?s debate. Steele hopes the Republican party will begin the conversation about how to handle the 11 million illegal immigrants in this country.
schizophrenia or prophecy? this is a hard film to score. its at least a 4 star film, and potentially 5, so ill go in between. it doesnt have a high re-watchability factor which is my only criticism, and that isnt really a criticism because its more a product of the material then the quality of the film. this is easily one of the best films of the year, and one of the better films in the past few years. shannon and chastain were both amazing in their roles, which for chastain amazes me because she has so little experience in film, and even the supporting players around them all added wonderful performances. the subject matter is as engaging as it gets, and as i hoped for through the entire film, things are not what they seem. beautiful direction by nichols, amazing cinematography for such a small scale story, and the material was handled with perfect care. nichols, shannon, and chastain probably all deserve oscar noms, and this is the type of soul stirring film that must be seen. i havent felt like this leaving a film since "a serious man".
Lori Tempesta, of Falls Church, Va., left, holds her baby Ashlyn Tempesta, next to daughter Elena Tempesta, 3, and husband Anthony Tempesta, as they check in for a flight to Dallas for Thanksgiving, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, at Washington's at Ronald Reagan National Airport. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Lori Tempesta, of Falls Church, Va., left, holds her baby Ashlyn Tempesta, next to daughter Elena Tempesta, 3, and husband Anthony Tempesta, as they check in for a flight to Dallas for Thanksgiving, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, at Washington's at Ronald Reagan National Airport. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Jose Mendes sits in line with his daughter Maria Celeste Mendes at an air ticket counter waiting to travel to Venezuela before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at Miami International Airport, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, in Miami. (AP Photo/ Lynne Sladky)
Cars fill the highway in San Diego Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. About 42.5 million people are expected to travel over Thanksgiving, the highest number since the start of the recession, according to a recent study. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
With the Capitol in the background, Thanksgiving travelers come and go at Union Station in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Holiday travel got off to a soggy start in parts of the U.S. Wednesday as millions of Americans undeterred by costlier gas and airfare set out for Thanksgiving celebrations, but few major problems were reported. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
People line up to board the train to New York at Amtrak's 30th Street Station in front of artist Karl Bitter's Spirit of Transportation, created in 1895, on one of the busiest travel days of the year, the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
CHICAGO (AP) ? Undeterred by costlier gas and airfare, millions of Americans set out Wednesday to see friends and family in what is expected to be the nation's busiest Thanksgiving weekend since the financial meltdown more than three years ago.
Many people economized rather than stay home.
"We wouldn't think of missing it," said Bill Curtis, a retiree from Los Angeles who was with his wife at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif. "Family is important and we love the holiday. So we cut corners other places so we can afford to travel."
About 42.5 million people are expected to hit the road or take to the skies for Thanksgiving this year, according to travel tracker AAA. That's the highest number since the start of the recession at the end of 2007.
Heavy rain slowed down early travelers along the East Coast. Snow across parts of New England and upstate New York made for treacherous driving and thousands of power outages. And a mudslide covered train tracks in the Pacific Northwest. But most of the country is expected to have clear weather Thursday.
As afternoon traffic picked up, flight delays were reported in Boston, San Francisco, Newark, N.J., and New York.
The average round-trip airfare for the top 40 U.S. routes is $212, up 20 percent from last year. Tickets on most Amtrak one-way routes have climbed slightly, and drivers are paying an average $3.33 a gallon, or 16 percent more than last year, according to AAA.
Jake Pagel, a waiter from Denver, was flying to see his girlfriend's family in San Jose, Calif. He said he had to give up working during one of the restaurant industry's busiest and most profitable times.
"I think it's something you can't quantify in terms of monetary cost," he said. "I mean, being able to spend quality time with your family is fairly significant."
Most travelers ? about 90 percent, according to AAA ? are expected to hit the road.
John Mahoney acknowledged the economy has changed the way he travels, which is why he and his girlfriend slept in their car instead of getting a motel room when a heavy, wet snowstorm flared up along the New York State Thruway during their 20-hour drive from New Hampshire to St. Louis.
"Americans will still do what Americans do. We travel the roads," he said.
Some drivers who tried to get an early start along the Pennsylvania Turnpike found themselves stopped by ? or stuck in ? a gooey, tar-like mess after a tanker truck leaked driveway sealant along nearly 40 miles of highway. At least 150 vehicles were disabled Tuesday night.
Shun Tucker of suburban Chicago decided to spend the holiday with family in Memphis, Tenn., and booked a $49 bus ticket for a nine-hour trip south. "Yeah, I could go to the airport, but it's going to cost me $300," she said.
Lucretia Verner and her cousin set out on a drive from Tulsa, Okla., to Atlanta. They said they wouldn't stop to eat on the way, making do with the water, juice, lunch meat and bread they took with them. Colette Parr of Las Vegas took flights with connections and switched airlines to save almost $200 on her trip to Newark, N.J.
Investment manager Matt Rightmire and his family typically fly on Thanksgiving. This year, they are making the holiday pilgrimage by car from New Hampshire to his in-laws in Youngstown, Ohio. He figured he is saving $1,000.
"It's family," he said. "That's what the holidays are about: Spending time with family. I don't really think it's optional. You may try to find the least expensive way to get there, but you've got to see your family."
___
Associated Press writers Ben Dobbin in Victor, N.Y.; Ivan Moreno in Denver; Jeannie Nuss in North Little Rock, Ark.; David Porter in Newark, N.J.; Vicki Smith in Morgantown, W.Va.; Chris Weber in Burbank, Calif.; and Chris Williams in Bloomington, Minn., contributed to this report.
Hopkins scientists turn on fountain of youth in yeastPublic release date: 23-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Audrey Huang audrey@jhmi.edu 410-614-5105 Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Collaborations between Johns Hopkins and National Taiwan University researchers have successfully manipulated the life span of common, single-celled yeast organisms by figuring out how to remove and restore protein functions related to yeast aging.
A chemical variation of a "fuel-gauge" enzyme that senses energy in yeast acts like a life span clock: It is present in young organisms and progressively diminished as yeast cells age.
In a report in the September 16 edition of Cell, the scientists describe their identification of a new level of regulation of this age-related protein variant, showing that when they remove it, the organism's life span is cut short and when they restore it, life span is dramatically extended.
In the case of yeast, the discovery reveals molecular components of an aging pathway that appears related to one that regulates longevity and lifespan in humans, according to Jef Boeke, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology, genetics and oncology, and director of the HiT Center and Technology Center for Networks and Pathways, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
"This control of longevity is independent of the type described previously in yeast which had to do with calorie restriction," Boeke says. "We believe that for the first time, we have a biochemical route to youth and aging that has nothing to do with diet." The chemical variation, known as acetylation because it adds an acetyl group to an existing molecule, is a kind of "decoration" that goes on and off a protein in this case, the protein Sip2 much like an ornament can be put on and taken off a Christmas tree, Boeke says. Acetylation can profoundly change protein function in order to help an organism or system adapt quickly to its environment. Until now, acetylation had not been directly implicated in the aging pathway, so this is an all-new role and potential target for prevention or treatment strategies, the researchers say.
The team showed that acetylation of the protein Sip2 affected longevity defined in terms of how many times a yeast cell can divide, or "replicative life span." The normal replicative lifespan in natural yeast is 25. In the yeast genetically modified by researchers to restore the chemical modification, life span extended to 38, an increase of about 50 percent.
The researchers were able to manipulate the yeast life span by mutating certain chemical residues to mimic the acetylated and deacetylated forms of the protein Sip2. They worked with live yeast in a dish, measuring and comparing the life spans of natural and genetically altered types by removing buds from the yeast every 90 minutes. The average lifespan in normal yeast is about 25 generations, which meant the researchers removed 25 newly budded cells from the mother yeast cell. As yeast cells age, each new generation takes longer to develop, so each round of the experiment lasted two to four weeks.
"We performed anti-aging therapy on yeast," says the study's first author, Jin-Ying Lu, M.D., Ph.D., of National Taiwan University. "When we give back this protein acetylation, we rescued the life span shortening in old cells. Our next task is to prove that this phenomenon also happens in mammalian cells."
###
The research was supported by the National Science Council, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Liver Disease Prevention & Treatment Research Foundation of Taiwan, and the NIH Common Fund.
Authors on the paper, in addition to Boeke and Lu, are Yu-Yi Lin, Jin-Chuan Sheu, June-Tai Wu, Fang-Jen Lee, Min-I Lin, Fu-Tien Chian, Tong-Yuan Tai, Keh-Sung Tsai, and Lee-Ming Chuang, all of National Taiwan University; Yue Chen and Yinming Zhao, both of the University of Chicago; and Shelley L. Berger, Wistar Institute.
On the Web:
Boeke lab: http://www.bs.jhmi.edu/MBG/boekelab/
http://www.cell.com
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Hopkins scientists turn on fountain of youth in yeastPublic release date: 23-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Audrey Huang audrey@jhmi.edu 410-614-5105 Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Collaborations between Johns Hopkins and National Taiwan University researchers have successfully manipulated the life span of common, single-celled yeast organisms by figuring out how to remove and restore protein functions related to yeast aging.
A chemical variation of a "fuel-gauge" enzyme that senses energy in yeast acts like a life span clock: It is present in young organisms and progressively diminished as yeast cells age.
In a report in the September 16 edition of Cell, the scientists describe their identification of a new level of regulation of this age-related protein variant, showing that when they remove it, the organism's life span is cut short and when they restore it, life span is dramatically extended.
In the case of yeast, the discovery reveals molecular components of an aging pathway that appears related to one that regulates longevity and lifespan in humans, according to Jef Boeke, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology, genetics and oncology, and director of the HiT Center and Technology Center for Networks and Pathways, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
"This control of longevity is independent of the type described previously in yeast which had to do with calorie restriction," Boeke says. "We believe that for the first time, we have a biochemical route to youth and aging that has nothing to do with diet." The chemical variation, known as acetylation because it adds an acetyl group to an existing molecule, is a kind of "decoration" that goes on and off a protein in this case, the protein Sip2 much like an ornament can be put on and taken off a Christmas tree, Boeke says. Acetylation can profoundly change protein function in order to help an organism or system adapt quickly to its environment. Until now, acetylation had not been directly implicated in the aging pathway, so this is an all-new role and potential target for prevention or treatment strategies, the researchers say.
The team showed that acetylation of the protein Sip2 affected longevity defined in terms of how many times a yeast cell can divide, or "replicative life span." The normal replicative lifespan in natural yeast is 25. In the yeast genetically modified by researchers to restore the chemical modification, life span extended to 38, an increase of about 50 percent.
The researchers were able to manipulate the yeast life span by mutating certain chemical residues to mimic the acetylated and deacetylated forms of the protein Sip2. They worked with live yeast in a dish, measuring and comparing the life spans of natural and genetically altered types by removing buds from the yeast every 90 minutes. The average lifespan in normal yeast is about 25 generations, which meant the researchers removed 25 newly budded cells from the mother yeast cell. As yeast cells age, each new generation takes longer to develop, so each round of the experiment lasted two to four weeks.
"We performed anti-aging therapy on yeast," says the study's first author, Jin-Ying Lu, M.D., Ph.D., of National Taiwan University. "When we give back this protein acetylation, we rescued the life span shortening in old cells. Our next task is to prove that this phenomenon also happens in mammalian cells."
###
The research was supported by the National Science Council, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Liver Disease Prevention & Treatment Research Foundation of Taiwan, and the NIH Common Fund.
Authors on the paper, in addition to Boeke and Lu, are Yu-Yi Lin, Jin-Chuan Sheu, June-Tai Wu, Fang-Jen Lee, Min-I Lin, Fu-Tien Chian, Tong-Yuan Tai, Keh-Sung Tsai, and Lee-Ming Chuang, all of National Taiwan University; Yue Chen and Yinming Zhao, both of the University of Chicago; and Shelley L. Berger, Wistar Institute.
On the Web:
Boeke lab: http://www.bs.jhmi.edu/MBG/boekelab/
http://www.cell.com
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_u9AZCPoSD8JHlAB8txUByq6QzePP1xQ2yMfca6QDrIHSF5SsvHlWHWGPThqsDV86JT3BaPsMznQxegRzDpom2SKhkTYjyozqo-OikF-tk=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 23-Nov-2011
Share ]