Monday, August 25, 2003

Programmed for Conflict Barry Carter writes: The primary problem with wealth creation systems of the Win/Lose Era is that they have limited the levels of emotional and spiritual intelligence in people. This is because wealth creation in this era has been fear based. The desire to control others comes directly from fear and mistrust. For our present level of maturity if the consequence of losing did not exist, the drive to win would not be so important. When humans were in the hunter gather era and the rule was "Eat or Be Eaten," losing could mean death or pain. If losing had meant no discomfort then winning would not have been so important. The fear of losing, at least in the Win/Lose Era, makes winning extremely important. It forces us reactively and defensively to look for ways not to lose first as opposed to looking for ways to proactively win. This rule still holds true in our Industrial Age based civilization. Fear, therefore, is the primary motivator in the win/lose era. This fear-based paradigm is deeply ingrained within human's today. Our normal view of human nature is that of humans being competitive, selfish, judgmental, greedy, sinful, lazy and violent. Our thinking is that humans must be restrained against their natural tendencies through rules, regulations, discipline, punishment and must be managed, regulated and led by strong men. Our paradigm of human nature is, however, merely a reflection of our finite wealth creation, win/lose paradigm based upon fear. (08/25/03) Some Thoughts on Energy Terence R. Wilken writes: A large gasoline delivery line failed in Phoenix, and the price went ballistic if one could even find enough to fill their car.  The line that failed only provided 30 percent of the needs of the city.  The lights got turned off in New York and parts west, and you would have thought it was the end of the World.  We must find the party to blame, and fix it immediately.  We have not and will not learn to conserve energy.  If it is hot, turn on the air conditioner.  If it is dark, turn on the light.  And if you go into another room, turn on that light too.  If you need a pack of gum, than drive to the nearest grocery store (five miles away) and get it immediately.  Your children need their own vehicle, and have the right to go any where they would like.  We have the right to use all the energy that we want to use.  What will happen when we start to run on empty?  We will just have to invent some other way.  There should be no reason that we do not have the energy we need to do whatever we want.  If there is a problem, than we shall just find the guilty party and make them pay for it.  There ought to be a law! ... As a kid, I remember growing up without air conditioning.  We did not have a TV, and only one car and telephone.  We did not know the difference.  Will we have to go back to that?  Let us think on that one. (08/25/03) Nano Tech Advances Diagnostic Medicine The New Scientist An injection of magnetic nanoparticles into your bloodstream could reveal precisely where harmful viruses are lurking. The particles are coated with antibodies to a particular virus, so they will form clumps that should be visible on conventional body scans if that virus is present. The team working on the technology, from the Harvard Medical School's Center for Molecular Imaging Research in Charlestown, Massachusetts, have already managed to detect viruses in body fluids and tissue samples. They hope to be able to detect viruses in patients' bodies within a couple of years. Much of the technology has already been tested in humans, so the scientists are confident that it will be safe. Scans revealing where virus populations are - HIV, for example, tends to concentrate in the lymph nodes - could help doctors improve treatments. And a scan could reveal whether viruses used in gene therapy to ferry new DNA into patients have actually reached the parts of the body they are intended for - and in sufficient numbers to do any good. Usually, viruses can only be detected indirectly, by capturing and amplifying viral DNA through the PCR technique, which takes about two hours. "It's cumbersome, takes time, gives you false positives and negatives, and only detects fragments of the virus," says Manuel Perez, head of the team developing the new technique - which gives an answer in half the time. It relies on particles 50 nanometres wide. They have a core of iron oxide and a coating of dextran, a sugar to which antibodies stick easily. A top coat of antibodies to the virus under investigation is added, and the particles are ready for use. In lab tests, the nanoparticles have been added to samples of body fluids; in patients, they would simply be injected. If live viruses are present, they stick to the antibodies on the nanoparticles, forming a large cluster of particles which can then be detected through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) scans. (08/25/03) Understanding the Benefits of Red Wine The New Scientist -- A chemical found in red wine can mimic the life-extending effect of calorie-restricted diets in yeast, researchers have found. The findings could provide a new explanation for beneficial effects of red wine. And replication of the results in mammals - although still a long way off - would raise hopes that the compound could one day be used to slow age-related diseases in humans. "Seventy years ago we found that caloric restriction in rats increased lifespan. And over the last 70 years people have been looking for ways to explain it," says lead researcher David Sinclair, at Harvard Medical School in the US. "Now we have shown we can control the longevity pathway with a small molecule." The compound is a polyphenol called resveratrol, and is found in grapes. Previous research has shown it can protect against heart disease in humans, but whether the life-extending properties it shows on yeast will extend to mammals is unknown. "It's a long way from yeast to humans," says David Finkelstein, at the US National Institute on Aging in Washington DC. "But it points the way to go." Caloric restriction in yeast activates an enzyme called SIR2, which is thought to extend lifespan by stabilising DNA. Sinclair and his colleagues found a group of polyphenols that activated this gene in yeast and extended the organisms' life. The most potent was resveratrol, which increased average survival time by 70 per cent. Scientists have suggested that resveratrol acts as an anti-oxidant, mopping up harmful free radicals that damage the cell. But Sinclair found the compound does not have strong antioxidant effects in yeast. "The lifespan enhancing properties seem to depend more on SIR2 activation," he says. Sinclair also believes this process is responsible for the human health benefits of drinking red wine. (08/25/03) Advance in Treating Blindness BBC Science -- A blind man can see again after being given a stem cell transplant. Mike May, of California, had been blind for 40 years since an accident at the age of three where he lost one eye and was blinded in the other. During that time he had some ability to perceive light, but could not make out form or contrast. He said he had no visual memories from his early childhood. The operation transplanted corneal and limbal stem cells into his right eye. The cornea is the clear part of the outer layer of the eye that covers the iris and the pupil. The limbus is the thin area that connects the cornea and the sclera, the white part of the eye. Researchers followed his recovery in order to study how Mr May learned to see again. They measured areas such as how he perceived shapes, his spatial awareness and how he saw 3D images. When he was tested five months after surgery, the patient was able to perceive slight movements of a bar and was able to recognise simple shapes. Two years after the surgery, Mr May was able to see form, colour and motion almost normally. However, his 3D perception and face and object recognition was still severely impaired. Mr May could only identify around a quarter of common objects shown to him. And he was also only able to tell if an unfamiliar face was male or female 70% of the time. (08/25/03) 8:31:06 AM

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