How cells limit inflammation in lung injury

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2011) ? Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have found in an animal model of acute lung injury a molecular mechanism that allows cells of the immune system to reduce tissue damage from inflammation.

The study is reported in Nature Immunology.

Inflammation is part of the normal response to infection. One aspect of inflammation is the production of negatively charged oxygen-rich molecules by specialized white blood cells called phagocytes. The molecules, called reactive oxygen species (ROS), help to break up bacteria, allowing the phagocytes to "mop up" the broken pieces and clear out the infection. Unfortunately, ROS can also cause damage to normal tissue.

The UIC researchers found that a channel through the cell membrane of phagocytes is able to modulate this destructive phase of inflammation.

"Although the channel, called TRPM2, is found in many cell types in the immune system, including phagocytes, it's function in these cells has been unknown," said Anke Di, UIC research assistant professor in pharmacology and first author of the study.

The researchers were able to show that TRPM2 had a protective anti-inflammatory role in the animal model of ALI, and, further, it played a previously unknown role in protecting against inflammation and tissue injury generally.

TRPM2's protective effect was a result of its ability to dampen the production of the negatively charged ROS by modulating the electrochemical gradient -- the difference in charge between molecules within the cell and outside the plasma membrane of the cell.

ALI and its more severe form, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) result from pulmonary edema (leaky blood vessels) and inflammation. Both direct lung injury from infection and indirect lung injury from trauma, sepsis, pancreatitis, transfusions, radiation exposure and drug overdose can trigger ALI. It is fatal in almost 40 percent of cases.

Inflammation plays an important role in ALI and a number of other human diseases, said Dr. Asrar Malik, UIC Schweppe Family Distinguished Professor and head of pharmacology and principal investigator of the study. Understanding how inflammatory damage to tissues is controlled normally may help develop therapies in the future, he said.

The study was supported by the Francis Families Foundation through the Parker B. Francis Fellowship Program, and the National Institutes of Health. Malik, Di, Xiao-Pei Gao, Feng Qian, Takeshi Kawamura, Jin Han, Claudie Hecquet, Richard Ye and Stephen Vogel, all of the UIC department of pharmacology and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, contributed equally to the study.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Illinois at Chicago.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Anke Di, Xiao-Pei Gao, Feng Qian, Takeshi Kawamura, Jin Han, Claudie Hecquet, Richard D Ye, Stephen M Vogel, Asrar B Malik. The redox-sensitive cation channel TRPM2 modulates phagocyte ROS production and inflammation. Nature Immunology, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/ni.2171

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/FKMqTOx2N0c/111215095239.htm

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50 Cent's Headphones Sales Will Benefit Feeding America Charity

Sale of each headset will provide 250 meals, rapper tells MTV News.
By Nadeska Alexis

50 cent
Photo: MTV News

50 Cent's entrepreneurial efforts are currently dedicated to pushing his new line of SMS Audio headphones, but the music mogul has also put a charitable spin on the venture. During the NYC launch party for his new tech gear, Fif told MTV News that proceeds from each pair of headphones will be donated to charity.

"Because of my Street King initiative, with every purchase there's a meal being provided through the United Nations World Food Programme," he said. "And with this actual project, I decided I wanted to do something here in America. So for every pair of these headsets that are sold domestically and online through SMSAudio.com, 250 meals will be provided by Feeding America, which is our leading charitable organization against hunger."

Over the past few months, 50 has been outspoken about the need to fund charitable organizations, using sales from his Street King energy drink to launch a campaign focused on feeding "a billion kids."

"I think business is the answer for finding finances for situations that have been unanswered and untouched," 50 added. "If young entrepreneurs follow in my footsteps, with having a charitable business model that actually gives back, then you don't have people standing at Occupy Wall Street, because they're aware that the major corporations are conscious of them."

50 Cent's SMS Audio headphones are priced at $299.99 for a standard pair and $399.99 for the wireless version. They're available in white, black and blue through SMSAudio.com.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676106/50-cent-headphones-sms-audio.jhtml

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5 brands most likely to be gone by 2015

Prophet recently conducted a spot survey of some 5,000 U.S. consumers to see which brands they?d put on the deathwatch for anytime between now and 2015.

Anyone who even skims the news headlines will find their rankings no big surprise: Eastman Kodak topped the list with 27 percent of the group, with Netflix and the U.S. Post Office coming in with 19 percent and 18 percent of the vote. RIM (Blackberry) came as fourth most likely to fail (14 percent), and Sears came in fifth (11 percent).

Forbes.com slideshow: See the 5 brands most likely to be gone by 2015

But what struck me about this exercise was less the polled group?s choices and more their observations about these brands? failings:

About Netflix: ?They have shown they don?t know their own clients. They are not even clear with what they want as a company. It is a mess.?

U.S. Post Office: ?Inefficient and obsolete.?

What emerged through the commentary was the identification of a distinct pattern of worst practices, and none of these struggling companies was seen as being guilty of having only one in play. Clearly, John and Joan Q. Public don?t need brilliant brand diagnosticians to help them figure out why a brand loses relevance. (And it?s a small wonder that a study by Havas Media Group found most people wouldn?t care if 70 percent of all brands disappeared today.)

Among the most common failings to emerge:

Lacking an understanding of what customers want, and providing a poor customer experience as a result. Consider Best Practice companies like Nordstrom, Amazon, Disney and Zappos, all of which make the end-to-end customer experience the mantra by which they live.

Lagging on innovation, and in response to competitive and environmental pressures. Although Apple sets a high bar for best practices (how many categories can one company single-handedly create, after all?), we?ve also been impressed with U.K. retailer Tesco, an early pioneer of self-checkout, the ?club? store concept, and online shopping.

Pricing missteps and insensitivities. On the best practice side of this sticky wicket are brands that aren?t afraid to buck accepted industry policy. U.S. Cellular, with its Belief Project, has built legions of loyal customers by doing away with the ubiquitous contract for many, along with a variety of ?nickel and dime? charges and fees, while Southwest Airlines has similarly grown goodwill and market share by not charging the standard airline industry baggage fees.

Ineffective management and outmoded business models. Consider ZipCar as a Best Practice example for having supplanted the traditional car rental approach, as an on-demand car sharing membership organization for urban dwellers.

Failure to keep up with the digital revolution. For best practices, think streaming, as per NBC/Hulu?s success with video and Spotify?s with music, the New York Times? much lauded mobile app for news content, and the American Red Cross? embrace of social media to facilitate emergency fundraising.

While we did not conduct this study five years ago, my guess is that brands such as Ford, Motorola, Xerox and others could well have made such a list back then. All have adopted one or more of the best practices I identified to turn their games around. So there may, in fact, be hope for the five brands most identified for failure by our survey group.

As we head into 2012, it?s a pretty safe bet that the business landscape will continue to be littered with casualties of a limping economy combined with insurmountably poor management practices. The question is whether those that are struggling the hardest can adjust fast enough to survive.

More from Forbes.com

? 2011 Forbes.com

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45616344/ns/business-forbes_com/

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RI town sues state's main landfill over stench (AP)

JOHNSTON, R.I. ? Residents in this Rhode Island town say the stench moved in this fall, rolling off the state's main landfill and spreading its eye-watering fumes for miles.

After weeks of waiting for officials to eliminate the odor, Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena said he had had enough. He and the Johnston Town Council on Wednesday sued the agency operating the landfill, seeking an immediate end to the odor and damages to compensate for the suffering of residents. He said the smell damages the quality of life in this town of 29,000 just west of Providence.

"The odor has no conscience," Polisena told The Associated Press. "It travels through different neighborhoods. You can't measure the effect of this. It has to end."

The agency in charge of the landfill, the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corp., has dug dozens of wells to trap the gas and dumped tons of soil to smother the smell. Agency Executive Director Michael O'Connell said he understands the distress the odor has caused.

"There are only a few things you can do to fix an odor problem," he said during a recent tour of the landfill. "We're running out of time. We'll do whatever we have to do."

The odor can be traced to a number of factors, O'Connell said, including rain that clogged wells that trap the gas. A decision made years ago to open up more landfill space for trash may be to blame as well, he said.

Complaints about the smell have come from as far as Attleboro, Mass., about 20 miles to the northeast. Residents say it often smells like rotten eggs, though it's also been described as sickly sweet.

"It's nauseating," said Elizabeth Falvo, a 29-year Johnston resident. Falvo said odors from the landfill occasionally have been noticeable in the past but never as bad as they've been in the past several weeks. "It makes my eyes water when it's really strong."

Richard Zompa began noticing the smell several weeks ago outside his North Providence home, several miles from the landfill.

"It's kind of a sweet, but not a good sweet," Zompa said. "I've smelled rotten eggs and it's not that. It's strong and it hits you hard."

Polisena said he worries the smell will hurt property values and the town's reputation as a great place to raise a family or start a business just outside the dense urban bustle of Providence. The lawsuit, he said, was filed as a last resort.

"We've been very patient," Polisena said. "We gave them the time they needed. The time ran out."

According to the lawsuit, the smell first became a problem in April but grew much worse this fall. The landfill received 46 odor complaints in October and 249 in November, according to the suit. On Monday, the mayor's office received 70 calls about the smell.

After complaints began to mount, state environmental officials started regular landfill inspections and sent roving bands of workers into neighborhoods to track the smell and efforts to end it. The workers have used equipment to measure the concentrations of landfill gasses, but the nose knows best, according to David E. Chopy, chief of compliance and inspection at the state's Department of Environmental Management.

"The nose is far more sensitive than any instrument we have," Chopy said.

The lawsuit, filed in Providence County Superior Court, also names as a defendant Broadrock Renewables, an energy company that uses gas from the landfill to generate electricity. The suit alleges that Broadrock hasn't done enough to collect the gas.

Bill Fischer, a spokesman for Broadrock Gas Services, said the company had not yet seen the lawsuit and could not comment on it. But, he said, "Broadrock is doing everything within its control to assist in addressing the odor issues."

The 275-foot high, 200-acre landfill is the main depository for municipal trash in Rhode Island. The Resource Recovery Corp. is a quasi-public agency that operates the landfill on behalf of the state.

O'Connell said rain was filling older gas wells and making it difficult to collect landfill gas, causing the gasses to leak into the atmosphere.

Several years ago, new landfill area was opened up for trash, but then the economic downturn caused a decline in the amount of garbage going into the landfill. As a result, more "uncapped" landfill space than needed was opened, O'Connell said, making it easier for gas to escape.

O'Connell said the new gas wells and the extra soil to cover the landfill should soon cause the odors to dissipate.

State health officials say the fumes can cause nausea, itchy eyes and breathing difficulties, though they haven't noticed any major health problems associated with the landfill.

At the behest of the local state representative, the General Assembly created a committee to study the odor and find ways to prevent similar problems in the future.

"It's a pungent smell that doesn't go away," said Rep. Stephen Ucci, D-Johnston, who said he's received more constituent calls about the odor than any other issue in his seven years in the General Assembly. "It gets in your car. If you open the car windows more comes in. You have to actually leave the area to get away from it."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_re_us/us_landfill_odor

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How Music Affects the Brain and How You Can Use It to Your Advantage [Music]

Music can often make or break a day. It can change your mood, amp you up for exercise, and help you recover from injury. But how does it work exactly, and how can you use it to your advantage?

Photo by JT Theriot.

Recently, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords used music therapy to help her learn to talk again. The still unproven theory revolves around the idea that music is represented in multiple parts of the brain and therefore accesses deeper pathways between neurons. Music then helps patients connect the stored knowledge of words through songs and helps create the new connections needed for speech. This same idea has been used for stroke victims in the past, and has been referred to as the Kenny Rogers Effect.

You don't need to have suffer from brain damage to get the benefits though, lets take a look at how music affects the brain in a more casual sense, and how you can use it to enhance your day-to-day.

Recall Memories

You might remember reports back in the 1990s that said that studying while listening to Mozart increases the likelihood of performing well on a test, but that has been disproven in some studies, and in turn, studies have shown some music has a negative affect on fact retention if you're studying numbers or lists. Still, performing music has been proven to increase memory and language skills, but for listeners, it's better used as a means to recall memories. It has been shown in Alzheimer's patients to help with memory recall, and even restore cognitive function. It works for Alzheimer's patients in the same way it works in everyone else.

When you listen to music you know, it stimulates the hippocampus, which handles long-term storage in the brain. Doing so can also bring out relevant memories you made while listening to a particular song. So, even though the Mozart-effect has essentially been disproven, the idea that forming a new memory with music, and then using the same music again later to recall the memory still appears to be a sound idea. If you're having trouble remembering something, you might have better luck if you play the same music you were listening to when you first made the thought.

Photo by David Mican.

Boost Your Immune System

The idea that listening to music can boost your immune system might sound a little crazy on the surface, but the science is backs it up. Soothing music is known to decrease stress, and when it does that, it decreases the level of the stress hormone cortisol. It's not just soothing music though, even upbeat dance music is known to increase the level of antibodies in your system. Dr. Ronny Enk, who lead the recent research about music's effect on the immune system suggests, "We think the pleasant state that can be induced by music leads to special physiological changes which eventually lead to stress reduction or direct immune enhancement."

Now the cold season has set in, it's a good idea to keep this in mind throughout the day. If you're feeling stressed out or if you're starting to feel ill, listening to music might be the extra help you need to stay well. If you're having trouble finding something soothing to listen to, our collection of work sounds are a good place to start. If you prefer the upbeat method, any fast and upbeat dance song will do the trick.

Photo by sunshinecity.

Enhance Your Exercising

As we've previously covered, music has a positive effect on exercising. In a recent study, researchers found a positive correlation between fast paced music and exercise. While it's nothing too surprising, music works to increase exercising strength by distracting attention and pushing the heart and muscles to work at a faster pace. Not much is known about how or why it works, but it's thought it eases exercise.

The best music to listen to is between 120-140 beats per minute, which also happens to be the standard tempo for upbeat dance music, meaning you'll be increasing your immune system and helping you exercise at the same time.

Keep Yourself from Choking Under Pressure

We've heard before that humming a tune decreases anxiety and the same goes to prevent choking. In a study of basketball players who were prone to failing at the free throw line, researchers found they could improve the player's percentage if they first listened to catchy, upbeat music. Listening to the Monty Python song, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," caused the basketball players to lose focus and execute their free throws with minimal involvement from the prefrontal cortex.

If you're prone to getting anxious, worried, or choking in meetings or presentations, throwing on a humorous, light-hearted song before you go in might help distract your brain enough to keep you from failing. The above mentioned "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," is a great example, but we're sure tracks from the likes of Jonathan Coulton, They Might Be Giants, Weird Al Yankovic, or any other comedy focused song will work just as well.

Photo by Ludie Cochran.

Fight Fatigue and Increase Productivity

The effect of using music to increase productivity is still inconclusive, even though a few studies were done on the subject. Regardless, it certainly doesn't hurt, and it seems the best option might be to use music without words so it doesn't have affect the language parts of your brain. The theory is similar to the exercise one above, faster music might keep you and your brain working hard.

That said, if you have a monotonous job, music is a great way to increase your mood while performing boring work. For the same reasoning it helps with exercising, it can also help with fighting fatigue, especially if you change up the music often. Studies have also shown that almost all music increases your mood, because it causes a release of dopamine, so if you're feeling tired, bored, or depressed, a good pop song might be the cure you need.

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Music is a motivator and a great means to keep yourself in your good mood, and while a number of the effects are still unproven, listening to music certainly doesn't hurt. Do you have a particular song that always puts you in a good or productive mood?

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/YBOnLjeS92o/how-music-affects-the-brain-and-how-you-can-use-it-to-your-advantage

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Afghanistan's allies pledge to stay for long haul (Reuters)

BONN (Reuters) ? The West used an Afghanistan meeting on Monday to signal enduring support for Kabul as allied troops go home, but economic downturn in Europe and crises with Pakistan and Iran could stir doubts about Western resolve.

The goal is to leave behind an Afghan government strong enough to escape the fate of its Soviet-era predecessor, which collapsed in 1992 in a civil war. The country's allies are preparing increasingly for a scenario in which there is no peace settlement with the Taliban before most foreign combat troops leave in 2014.

"The United States intends to stay the course with our friends in Afghanistan," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the conference. "We will be there with you as you make the hard decisions that are necessary for your future."

Hosts Germany sought to signal Western staying power as the gathering of dozens of foreign ministers opened in the German city of Bonn.

"We send a clear message to the people of Afghanistan: We will not leave you on your own. We will not leave you in the lurch," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

Ten years after a similar conference held to rebuild Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks, Western countries are under pressure to spend money reviving flagging economies at home rather than propping up a government in Kabul widely criticized for being corrupt and ineffective.

Brewing confrontations pitting Washington against Pakistan and Iran, two of Afghanistan's most influential neighbors, have added to despondency over the outlook for the war.

Pakistan boycotted the meeting after NATO aircraft killed 24 of its soldiers on the border with Afghanistan in a November 26 attack the alliance called a "tragic" accident.

Some in the West are still hoping Pakistan will use its influence to deliver the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership Washington says is based in Pakistan, to peace talks.

But foreign governments, while regretting Pakistan's absence, made clear they would press ahead in building up the Kabul government's ability to survive after 2014 even if Islamabad fails to bring insurgents into a political settlement.

"It may take a longer time to bring about our objectives but we should not be deterred at all by Taliban reluctance to come to the table," British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC.

FEARS OF CIVIL WAR

Embryonic contacts with the Taliban have so far yielded little, and with the government in Kabul unable to provide security and economic development, the risk is that the withdrawal of foreign troops will plunge Afghanistan back into civil war. Renewed strife might also stir more violence over the border in Pakistan, fighting its own Islamist insurgency.

Iran's growing confrontation with the West over its nuclear program could also bleed into the war in Afghanistan.

Tehran said on Sunday it shot down a U.S. spy drone in its airspace and threatened to respond. International forces in Kabul said the drone may have been one lost last week while flying over western Afghanistan.

Iran has been accused in the past of providing low-level backing to the Taliban insurgency, and diplomats and analysts have suggested Tehran could ratchet up this support if it wanted to put serious pressure on U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Monday reiterated Iran's opposition to the United States keeping some forces in Afghanistan after 2014.

"Certain Western countries seek to extend their military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014 by maintaining their military bases there. We deem such an approach to be contradictory to efforts to sustain stability and security in Afghanistan," he told the conference.

"LAND OF OPPORTUNITY"

Foreign governments however were determined to try to dispel at least some of the pessimism seeping into the Afghan project.

Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna, whose country became the first to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan - much to the irritation of Pakistan - pledged India would keep up its heavy investment in a country whose mineral wealth and trade routes made it "a land of opportunity".

In a rare positive development, Clinton said the United States would resume paying into a World Bank-administered trust fund for Afghanistan, a decision that U.S. officials said would allow for the disbursement of roughly $650 million to $700 million in suspended U.S. aid.

The United States and other big donors stopped paying into the Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund in June, when the International Monetary Fund suspended its program with Afghanistan because of concerns about Afghanistan's troubled Kabul Bank.

The conference is not expected to produce new aid pledges; instead, U.S. officials say they hope it will mark a start to a process outlining future support to be pledged by mid-2012.

The Taliban condemned the conference in a November 30 statement which reiterated a call for foreign occupation of the country.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the conference that reconciliation -- a term used to refer to talks among different Afghan groups as well as with insurgents -- remained an important part of efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.

"The political process will have great importance in future, this is the place where the questions of reconciliation and power sharing must be solved in a way that includes all parts and ethnic groups of the society," she said.

"We can help Afghanistan in this process, we can provide our experience, but we can't solve the problem, it is only the Afghans who can do this."

Britain's Hague reiterated that any settlement with insurgents would require them to renounce violence, sever ties with al Qaeda and respect the Afghan constitution -- "end conditions" which some argue effectively close the door to talks by determining the outcome in advance.

Afghanistan has blamed Pakistan for hindering peace talks. Pakistan says it is being used as a scapegoat for the failure of the United States and its allies to bring Afghan stability. (Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Arshad Mohammed, Sabine Siebold, Myra MacDonald, Missy Ryan and Hamid Khalizi; Writing by Myra MacDonald; Editing by William Maclean)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111205/ts_nm/us_afghanistan_conference

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