"Eric Leake" - Teaching Empathy to the ‘Me’ Generation

A Midwestern university experiments in teaching empathy not merely through classroom curriculum, but by having students live the lives of the working poor.

By Eric Leake

http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/teaching-the-me-generation-to-care-33824/?utm_source=Newsletter170&utm_medium=email&utm_content=0719&utm_campaign=newsletters

The banner on the side of the Capital University music conservatory has an outline of a sneaker and asks, “They walked a mile in someone else’s shoes. How much did they learn?”

Inside the hall in Columbus, Ohio, a few hundred people wait to find out. They are here this evening late in April for the concluding event of the Empathy Experiment — an experiment not in an empirical sense, but in teaching empathy.

Standing at a podium, the organ pipes above him reminiscent of a church hall, Board of Trustees member Ronald St. Pierre says the idea was for students to explore a social issue “not only by reading books and taking tests, but by immersing themselves in the realities of the situation.” The eight-week program required, for example, that students undergo a temporary eviction, be processed and stay a night at a homeless shelter, and go a night without eating. “It was a good chance for students to, frankly, get out of their comfort zone,” St. Pierre says. They were to move from sympathy to empathy.

The six participating students and their community partners are introduced in turn. Diana Crandall, a first-year psychology major in a smart black jacket and tie, talks about the children she worked with through the Children’s Hunger Alliance.

“I know that I can’t walk away from this and be the same person I was before.”

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"Nutraingredients.com" - Diabetes: From ancient Egypt to modern pandemic

Nutraingredients.com, 18-Jul-2011

http://www.nutraingredients.com/Consumer-Trends/Diabetes-From-ancient-Egypt-to-modern-pandemic

It has been called a pandemic and a silent killer: Diabetes is a growing specter for public health agencies across the world. In the first part of our special series on diabetes, NutraIngredients examines the underlying condition and gets a grip on how big the issue is.

The first report of diabetes dates to 1550 BC

History

Diabetes is not a new disease, being first documented in 1550BC in Egypt. Back then diabetes, or what the historians believe was diabetes, was described as a rare disease. According to an exhibition on diabetes and endocrinology by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (Scotland), an Egyptian manuscript mentions “the passing of too much urine”, which historians take as the first reference to diabetes.

We had to wait a further 1600 years for a complete clinical description and name for the condition, when the Greek physician Aretaeus used the word diabetes (from the Greek meaning ‘siphon’) and noted “the excessive amount of urine which passed through the kidneys”.

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"ScienceDaily" - Natural Chemical Found in Grapes May Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110715135211.htm

ScienceDaily (July 18, 2011) — Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that grape seed polyphenols -- a natural antioxidant -- may help prevent the development or delay the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The research, led by Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, The Saunder Family Professor in Neurology, and Professor of Psychiatry and Geriatrics and Adult Development at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, was published online in the current issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

This is the first study to evaluate the ability of grape-derived polyphenols to prevent the generation of a specific form of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide, a substance in the brain long known to cause the neurotoxicity associated with Alzheimer disease. In partnership with a team at the University of Minnesota led by Karen Hsiao Ashe, MD, PhD, Dr. Pasinetti and his collaborators administered grape seed polyphenolic extracts to mice genetically determined to develop memory deficits and Aβ neurotoxins similar to those found in Alzheimer's disease. They found that the brain content of the Aβ*56, a specific form of Aβ previously implicated in the promotion of Alzheimer's disease memory loss, was substantially reduced after treatment.

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"ScienceDaily" - 2011 Gulf of Mexico 'Dead Zone' Could Be Biggest Ever

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110718141618.htm

ScienceDaily (July 18, 2011) — Researchers from Texas A&M University have returned from a trip to examine the scope and size of this year's "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico and have measured it currently to be about 3,300 square miles, or roughly the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined, but some researchers anticipate it becoming much larger.

Oceanography professor Steve DiMarco, one of the country's leading authorities on the dead zone, says the team of researchers journeyed more than 1,400 miles throughout the Gulf over a five-day period, the first ever focusing on the month of June.

DiMarco says the size of the dead zone off coastal Louisiana has been routinely monitored for about 25 years. Previous research has also shown that nitrogen levels in the Gulf related to human activities have tripled over the past 50 years. During the past five years, the dead zone has averaged about 5,800 square miles and has been predicted to exceed 9,400 square miles this year, which would make it one of the largest ever recorded, according to the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.

Hypoxia occurs when oxygen levels in seawater drop to dangerously low levels, and severe hypoxia can potentially result in fish kills and harm marine life, thereby creating a "dead zone" of life in that particular area.

Because of record amounts of water flowing from the Mississippi River into the Gulf, there is keen interest in the dead zone areas this year, DiMarco explains, adding that the size of this year's dead zone could still change because large amounts of water are still flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River.

DiMarco says he will examine the area again on Aug. 8 and will visit many of the same locations for additional data. In all, 10 researchers, including six graduate students, helped to collect data on the latest cruise, which was funded by the NOAA Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research and Texas Sea Grant.

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"J. D. Heyes" - Pharmageddon: Prescription drugs are killing America's youth

by J. D. Heyes

http://www.naturalnews.com/033044_pharmageddon_drug_abuse.html

(NaturalNews) No parent wants to lose a child, but when one dies from something that should be very preventable, the heartbreak and tragedy is compounded. Such is increasingly the case with prescription drugs - they're killing our youth.

Sarah Shay and Savannah Kissick, of Morehead, Ky., best friends since high school, were both victims of what experts and the White House are describing as an epidemic of prescription drug deaths. Sarah died in 2006 at the tender age of 19; Savannah just three years later, at 22.

Since the medications they were using were prescribed by physicians, some experts believe they carry some sort of legitimacy. But the fact is they are being abused by young people just the same as drugs that are illegal - more so even, in some cases.

"I don't think the kids have any idea how addicting the substance is," Karen Shays told the BBC in an interview. "Before they know it, bam! They're addicted."

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"Katharine Sanderson" - Pollutants' role in birth defects becomes clearer

NATURE   18 July 2011 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2011.423

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110718/full/news.2011.423.html

Levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons linked to neural tube defects.

Katharine Sanderson

Babies who were exposed to certain organic pollutants in the womb are at a highly increased risk of neural tube defects leading to conditions such as spina bifida, according to researchers in China.

Neural tube defects, in which the spinal cord, the brain or their coverings fail to develop completely, arise very early in pregnancy and affect more than 320,000 infants worldwide every year. They can lead not just to spina bifida, in which the spinal covering does not close completely, but also to severe cranial abnormalities such as anencephaly, which often leads to stillbirth, and other conditions.

Previous studies have linked certain pollutants, in particular polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), from sources such as indoor coal stoves, smoking and vehicle exhausts, to neural tube defects. But most of the evidence has been anecdotal, based on mothers saying they had been exposed to certain pollutants, or has relied on tests of the mother's blood alone.

Now an interdisciplinary team of researchers in China has shown the risk of a newborn or foetus having a neural tube defect is much higher when certain organic pollutants are found in the placenta, which shows what is actually reaching the foetus, rather than just what is circulating in the mother's blood stream.

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" Cliff Schecter " - For God's Sake: The Idiocy of "Divine Inspiration" In Politics

By Cliff Schecter, AlterNet
Posted on July 15, 2011, Printed on July 16, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/151658/for_god%27s_sake%3A_the_idiocy_of_%22divine_inspiration%22_in_politics

Lately, there would seem to be a whole lot more people who have a direct channel to the Big Guy Upstairs than one could have humanly thought possible.

It is oft-said that "God works in mysterious ways". But when Michele Bachmann hears voices telling her to run for president, am I the only who thinks the most likely explanation is a batch of bad clams or one-too-many nights role playing The Book of Eli with her equally demented husband Marcus?

Perhaps, these are the very same voices that have shared with her the important role "Founding Father John Quincy Adams" played in ending slavery as he battled the oncoming scourge of puberty? I don't know, just a stab in the dark.

Regardless, whether it is gay marriage or spotting the Virgin Mary in your gordita, our re-embrace of culture-by-theology in the United States (not unlike much of the rest of the world) has led supposedly "serious people" to say things that not so long ago would have landed them a starring role in Girl, Interrupted.

In our current age, in fact, possessing a direct cerebral channel to Deus (or at least claiming you do) would seem to be a requirement for receiving an invitation to a GOP presidential debate.

It equally pervades the rest of right-wing political culture in the US, as twisted scripture both provides ready justification for those who hate everything about the this country post-1930, and renders more difficult the job of the media to effectively criticise any crackpot theory-lest they lose their "objectivity" for a moment and offend some True Believers.

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" Joel Rogers and Laura Dresser " - The Conservatives' ALEC Philosophy: Everything Related to Government Should Be Demonized, Starved or Privatized

By Joel Rogers and Laura Dresser, The Nation
Posted on July 15, 2011, Printed on July 16, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/151662/the_conservatives%27_alec_philosophy%3A_everything_related_to_government_should_be_demonized%2C_starved_or_privatized

This article is part of a Nation series exposing the American Legislative Exchange Council, in collaboration with the Center For Media and Democracy.John Nichols introduces the series. For more great content from the Nation, sign up for their e-mail newsletters here.

In the world according to ALEC, competing firms in free markets are the only real source of social efficiency and wealth. Government contributes nothing but security. Outside of this function, it should be demonized, starved or privatized. Any force in civil society, especially labor, that contests the right of business to grab all social surplus for itself, and to treat people like roadkill and the earth like a sewer, should be crushed.

This view of the world dominated the legislative sessions that began in January. GOP leaders, fresh from their blowout victory in November, pushed a consistent message—“We’re broke”; “Public sector workers are to blame”; “If we tax the rich we’ll face economic extinction”—and deployed legislative tools inspired by ALEC to enact their vision. They faced pushback, but they also made great progress—and will be back again soon.

Let’s examine what happened in three critical economic areas:

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"Alice Park" - Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy Linked to Higher Risk of Autism

By Alice Park Tuesday, July 5, 2011

http://healthland.time.com/2011/07/05/antidepressant-use-during-pregnancy-linked-to-higher-risk-of-autism/

Children whose mothers use antidepressants during pregnancy may be more likely to develop autism than kids whose mothers do not, say researchers in California.

In a study involving data on more than 1,800 children — fewer than 300 of whom had an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — and their mothers, the scientists found that women who were prescribed drugs to treat depression in the year before giving birth were twice as likely to have children with an ASD, compared with women who did not take antidepressants. The risk was even greater for women who were prescribed the drugs in the first trimester: their children were nearly four times more likely to develop autism or a related disorder.

The study focused on one type of antidepressant, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of drug that includes fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil) and sertraline (Zoloft). These antidepressants work by increasing available levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin surrounding nerve cells in the brain, which helps boost mood.

The authors of the study were interested in investigating SSRIs in particular because there is growing evidence that serotonin may play a role in the development of autism. Some studies have found that children diagnosed with the disease tend to have higher levels of serotonin in their blood, and family members of children with autism also show slightly higher levels of the neurotransmitter than those in families without autistic members.

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AIDS drugs can cause premature ageing: study

Mon Jun 27, 10:39 am ET

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110627/hl_nm/us_aids_drugs_ageing

LONDON (Reuters) – A class of generic AIDS drugs often used to treat HIV in Africa and other poor regions can cause premature aging and lead to age-related illnesses such as heart disease and dementia, scientists said on Sunday.

In a study in the journal Nature Genetics, British researchers found that the drugs, known as nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitors, or NRTIs, damage DNA in the patient's mitochondria - the "batteries" that power cells.

The scientists said it was unlikely that newer cocktails of AIDS drugs made by firms like Gilead, Merck, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline would inflict similar levels of damage, since they are thought to be less toxic to mitochondria. But more research is needed to be certain.

"It takes time for these side effects to become apparent, so there is a question mark about the future and whether or not the newer drugs will cause this problem," Patrick Chinnery of the Institute of Genetic Medicine at Newcastle University said in a telephone interview. "They are probably less likely to, but we don't know because we haven't had time to see."

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