Some Bad Environmentalism

　
By Robert Tracinski

September 10, 2012 -- I was at the grocery store the other day when I noticed that Domino is now advertising its five-pound bags of sugar as "certified carbon-free."

This is the sort of thing that requires photographic evidence, so here it is.
　

It’s been a few years since I’ve been in a chemistry class, but at least I have been in a chemistry class once, so I knew there was something deeply wrong with this advertisement. I pulled out my smartphone and refreshed my memory on the chemical formula for sugar: C₆H₁₂O₆. In case it’s been even longer since you’ve been in a chemistry class, the "C" stands for "carbon." So carbon is one of the basic natural atomic components of sugar, which is no more "carbon-free" than a charcoal briquette.

I know that what they mean by "carbon-free" is that the sugar was produced in a way that does not create industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and therefore—according to the claims of environmentalists—does not contribute to man-made global warming. At least, they claim that their operation is "carbon neutral," which means that they probably do emit carbon dioxide but they buy some kind of dubious "offset" to "greenwash" their operation.

But what struck me is that no one on the staff of a company that makes sugar was aware that it contains carbon, or at least no one thought that any member of the public would be aware of it. No one thought that they might be setting themselves up for ridicule by trying to sell us "carbon-free" C6H12O6. And that is symptomatic of how environmental dogmas are sold to the public.

For all of their bluster about how environmentalists have science on their side, they frequently appeal to a total ignorance of science in the minds of their audience.

In this case, the "carbon-free" pitch is part of a larger shift I’ve seen over the past ten years. Somewhere along the line, some PR flack for the global warmists figured out that to the scientifically ignorant, "carbon" sounds scary. It sounds dirty, it sounds toxic, it sounds unsafe. So the environmentalists all stopped referring to "carbon dioxide" and just started saying "carbon." That’s how we get the terms "carbon footprint," "carbon-free," "carbon neutral." I even remember seeing the New York Times refer to carbon dioxide as emissions of "carbon gas." Run for your lives, everyone, it’s carbon gas!

"Carbon-free" is a turn of phrase that is closely related to "chemical-free." Of course, what people mean when they say this is that something is free of "artificial" chemicals, though the distinction can be a bit, well, artificial. But the way the phrase is used will often give pain to the scientifically literate. Take the sign I recently saw at a cleaner around the corner from my kids’ school. They advertise the fact that their "pure organic cleaning" will use only "chemical-free H2O." Again, this requires photographic evidence, so here it is.
　

　                                                       Chemical Free H₂O

If they had said "chemical-free water," it wouldn’t have been so bad (except for the fact that they want to charge me to clean my clothes without using soap). But they had to proclaim their water to be "chemical-free" while using the chemical symbol for water.

Then there is the fact that all of this is supposed to be "organic." In scientific terms, there are several meanings for the word "organic." Two of them are the most relevant here. In biology, it means: pertaining to or containing living beings. As one of my Facebook friends quipped, "When water is ‘organic,’ it’s time to boil it before drinking."

In chemistry, "organic" means: pertaining to chemical compounds that contain carbon. Note that in neither of these meanings is H2O "organic." But there’s a bigger irony.

We’re all supposed to be instilled with such an unnatural fear of carbon that we have to proclaim our sugar to be "carbon-free"—yet the same people tell us that the best kind of food is "organic," a word that means "carbon-containing."

This fast-and-loose borrowing of scientific terms has real consequences. Consider a recent study which looked at the health effects of "organic" foods versus food grown in the usual manner. It found, unsurprisingly, that "organic" foods are no more or less organic than any other kind of food. They are chemically and nutritionally indistinguishable. "Organic," in this case, has long since ceased to be a scientific term and has just become a meaningless marketing label used to bilk consumers.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, when it comes to the scientific ignorance that environmentalists rely on even as they claim the mantle of science. They tell us to drive electric cars that don’t emit CO2, without bothering to tell us that the electricity is generated in power plants that probably burn coal or natural gas, which does emit CO2.

And remember how they changed the name of their theory from "global warming" to "climate change," so that they could claim any weather phenomenon—including snowstorms—as evidence to back them up?

They are relying on the public’s ignorance of the actual history of the climate, which is constantly changing and over geologic time has swung wildly between hot and cold periods as part of its normal, natural variation.

All of this reminds me of the "logic" courses I took as a philosophy major in college.

This was not good, old-fashioned logic; we never cracked a syllogism, nor did we study the classical logical fallacies (leaving us free to commit them willy-nilly). No, this was modern "symbolical logic," a pseudo-science invented at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. I found that the class gave me no end of difficulty, and I eventually realized why. At the same time, I was studying a legitimate science, advanced mathematics, and I found that my logic class was using all of the same symbols—but it was using them in totally different ways. The humanities types have always been jealous of science and mathematics, with their reputation for rigor and accuracy—not to mention for producing actual, usable results. So they just stole the terminology of science and mathematics, using it as public-relations window dressing, with no regard for its actual scientific meaning.

The environmentalist movement is attempting a similar con. They are stealing the terminology of science to provide cover for an irrational, unscientific fear of industry and technology. And so while they loudly claim to be the tribunes of science, they actually play to and rely on the public’s ignorance of science.

That is how we ended up living in a world of carbon-free sugar, chemical-free H₂O, and science-free environmentalism.

http://www.tracinskiletter.com/2012/09/carbon-free-sugar/

Revisiting Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto

World War II in Europe formally began on September 1, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland. The Poles were brave but didn’t last long against modern German weapons. Early in 1940, Germany neutralized and conquered the nations north and west to the Atlantic. But the island of Great Britain wouldn’t make a deal. Instead it installed an even tougher prime minister, Winston Churchill. The Germans knew well enough to establish air superiority before sending troops across the English Channel. So they undertook an extensive air campaign from July to October of 1940, "The Battle of Britain."

That battle was a stalemate. But the stalemate itself stopped Germany from undertaking a land invasion.

Let’s think about this from the point of view of a motion picture producer or director: What a great plot line for a propaganda movie! How about a classical pianist from Poland who falls in love, gets caught up in the war, and serves as a pilot for the British? This trendy, fashionable idea was easily sold.

The film-makers wanted some heroic music for this saga, particularly something if written by a man with an unquestioned reputation like Rachmaninoff, who was still alive and working in Hollywood at this time. But, perhaps wisely, Rachmaninoff turned down the idea of writing such a soundtrack. Therefore, English composer Richard Addinsell was recruited to write a soundtrack somewhat in the same vein and style as Rachmaninoff for this adventure movie about a pianist turned aviator.

Here are two reviews of the soundtrack to that movie, titled Dangerous Moonlight. The music usually is called The Warsaw Concerto.

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"…Addinsell’s Warsaw concerto… has dropped out of fashion to a large extent and nowadays is probably heard in the cinema rather than the concert hall. Addinsell was a master of film music and has an extensive list of screen music to his credit such as Goodbye Mr Chips, Blithe Spirit, Scrooge, and Tom Brown’s Schooldays, spanning the war years and beyond from 1939 to 1951. It is, however, the music for Dangerous Moonlight, a wartime film starring Anton Walbrook as a Polish pianist and airman, for which Addinsell will be remembered. Incidentally Walbrook was himself a good pianist and his hands accurately mimed those of actual pianist Louis Kentner. It appealed to what might be called middlebrow taste with its striking resemblance to Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto also all the rage at the time. At under nine minutes and in one movement only, it is more Rhapsody than Concerto but it fitted conveniently on to a double-sided 78rpm and sold like hot cakes. It’s heavily romantic, technically brilliant and tuneful from start to finish, and generally placed on a level with the Tchaikovsky and Grieg concertos. This was a heyday for British film music. Walton, Vaughan Williams, Britten and Bax were hard at it and successfully so, but Addinsell’s concerto was a unique triumph. It’s still worth hearing, but whether it can be programmed by persuading a pianist to come back after a work of more traditional length and perform it in a concert is a tough ask."

-- Christopher Fifield

, an English conductor and classical music historian and musicologist based in London, writing a Music Web International review at http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Aug05/addinsell_warsaw_2564620492.htm
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From UCLA:

In what is probably the best-known "concerto film" of the World War II era, Stefan Radetzky is a Polish pianist who composes his "Warsaw Concerto" for his fiancée Carole. "This is your melody," Stefan tells her, ascribing the main theme’s inspiration to his muse. He also establishes the concerto as a musical expression of their relationship: "This music is you and me. It’s the story of the two of us in Warsaw, of us in America, of us in—where else I don’t know. That’s why I can’t finish it." But their marriage is soon consummated, and Stefan premieres the completed work in a climactic performance alongside Beethoven’s "Emperor" Concerto and the Schumann Piano Concerto, but then he is immediately drafted to fight for his country. After being shot down in an air battle, Stefan lives in an uncomprehending torpor, and pounds out dissonant, cacophonous clusters on his piano. Faithful and patient Carole rouses him from his shell-shocked stupor by softly humming "their" theme, and Stefan is restored to relationship as the concerto’s "mutual rondo" sounds. The "Warsaw Concerto" became the first best-selling recording of music from a film soundtrack, and a favorite composition for amateur pianists. Its main theme quickly became a nostalgic standard for dance bands and ballroom orchestras, and in the late 1950s it was also adapted into a song titled "The World Outside."

http://www.echo.ucla.edu/Volume2-Issue1/raykoff/maleagency.html

[It was Carl Sigman who added the lyrics to the B theme of Warsaw Concerto to create the pop song "The World Outside" in the 1950s.]

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How Times Have Changed
By the Blog Author

When I was a child in the 1950s and a teenager in the 1960s, the Warsaw Concerto was considered out-of-date sentimental poison. Isn’t this the piano piece which Margo Channing, played by Bette Davis, asks to have shut off on the car radio in a famous scene in All About Eve? Addinsell was regarded as just another pre-war Rachmaninoff imitator, and, at that, below the level of a tuneful composer like Victor Young. Young, unlike Addinsell, did his own arranging, further adding to his relative professionalism and musicianship. Young also had the best pianist in Hollywood, Ray Turner, to perform the piano solos.

But, lo and behold, if you look up Warsaw Concerto on Amazon.com today, there are various CDs available. They get good customer reviews. The accusations of sentimentality have faded.

I think I can explain why, but such a narrative requires some technical analysis of the music first. Warsaw Concerto begins with a staccato A theme, very brusque and warlike and intimidating. This gives way to a very romantic B theme, which itself sounds something like a new variation of some of Rachmaninoff’s variations on a theme of Paganini. Then there is a turgid and melodramatic C theme. After that, the B theme returns and, in conclusion, the B theme becomes bolder and merges with the elements of the A theme as a conclusion.

Critics who don’t like sentiment tend to draw attention and mockery to the A theme, which is usually actually performed in a bombastic manner. But the theme lifted and brought into popular music was, properly, the B theme. This theme is immutable. It deflects criticism. This is the theme which, in the movie, heals the warrior and makes him whole, as hummed by his beloved. In the very long run, it is also the theme that redeems the reputation of the composer, Addinsell, long after his death.

I was told, and I have read, that the theme song to Gone with the Wind made soundtracks popular. I’ve also heard that the important theme song for making soundtracks popular and available in record shops was the music for Spellbound. I’ve also heard this about the splendid theme for Laura (which received post-release lyrics from the great Johnny Mercer). But UCLA, correctly recognized as a key authority on cinema history, tells us that the film Dangerous Moonlight achieved this first with the Warsaw Concerto.

That success has to be due to the B Theme, the tune that became "The World Outside." That melody upgraded the entire reputation of the late Richard Addinsell. I submit that the reason for this is simple.

Addinsell did his work. He needed a theme for love-during-warfare. Instead of a sensual or erotic theme, he correctly picked a peaceful motif. And this happens during war – there are moments of silence and stalemate, when the moon is full and the crickets chirp, when the soldier is thinking of Lili Marlene, when an oceanic sunset appears spectacularly beautiful because it has been a long day of warfare and the ship remains afloat.

It’s a stunning, brilliant guess by Addinsell: the lifelong love of peace that comes to those who survive being in harm’s way. It trumps and outlives the rest of the work, which has a tendency toward being performed somewhat bombastically.

FOOTNOTE: There is a refreshingly un-corny version of Warsaw Concerto. I recommend the Frank Chacksfield version, because the trite tremulo piano repetitions are muted, and because the B theme sparkles with the best kind of romantic peace.

AFTERWORD:  Legend has it that Rachmaninoff himself was asked what he thought of Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto.  He is reputed to have said, "An excellent imitation!"

Five Weird Medical Tests

You Can Try Right Now        

By Melanie Haiken, Yahoo! Health

Friday, September 7, 2012 -- Have you ever wondered why your doctor asks you to do odd things like touch your nose during an office visit, then scribbles notes in your chart? It's because there are many physical tests that can tell whether your body is functioning as it should. While we tend to leave it to doctors and medical tests to figure out if something's wrong, we can actually use many of these checks ourselves to determine whether all systems are go. Here, five odd medical tests you can do at home.

The Diamond Test or Schamroth’s Sign

What it tests for: Cardiovascular, lung, or other diseasesHow to do it: Hold up (or down) both index fingers and turn them so the nails are facing each other. Press the nails together and you should be able to see a tiny, narrow, diamond-shaped space between your nails where the nails come flat together but the nail beds don't touch each other.What it means: If your nails are rounded over and can't press flat together, it's a sign of "clubbing," a thickening of the fingertips that occurs when not enough oxygen is circulating in the bloodstream. Clubbing can be a sign of cardiovascular disease, such as coronary artery disease or heart failure, or of lung disease, like COPD, lung infection, or lung cancer. In some cases, inflammatory bowel disease and cirrhosis of the liver also cause clubbing.What to do if you fail: Look closely at your fingers for other signs of clubbing. Measure the thickness of your fingertips all the way around; if they're clubbing, you'll notice that they're noticeably thicker above the top knuckle than below it. Clubbing is important to bring to your doctor's attention to monitor your heart and lung health.

Romberg’s Test

What it tests for: Degenerative diseases (or intoxication)
How to do it: Stand with your feet exactly together, arms by your sides. Now close your eyes and stay that way for a full minute. How do you feel: perfectly balanced, or as if you're swaying or falling forward? It's best to do this test with someone watching you to detect swaying. A variation of this test is to do it standing heel to toe on a straight line.What it means: This test measures proprioception or positioning, considered the "sixth sense" that tells us where our bodies are in space. Proprioception requires accurate sensory input from our joints and muscles and healthy functioning of the dorsal columns of the spinal cord, which allow us to perceive the position of our limbs both in relation to other parts of our bodies and to the environment. When you can't balance with your eyes closed, it's considered a sign of sensory ataxia, or loss of motor coordination, which can be a sign of diabetic neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, inner ear problems, lumbar spinal stenosis, or another degenerative disease. Romberg's test is also sometimes used as a test of intoxication or drug use.What to do if you fail: It is possible to fail this test when nothing is wrong with you, but -- because it can also indicate a serious condition -- it's worth discussing with your doctor. If you're also experiencing other symptoms, such as numbness, tingling in your arms or legs, or balance problems, ask your doctor for a referral to a neurologist.

Finger Measurement Test

What it tests for: Osteoarthritis, and other things. . . .How to do it: Hold your hands flat and look closely at the lengths of your fingers in relation to each other. Is your index finger shorter than your ring finger?What it means: A recent study at the University of Nottingham in England found that if a woman's index finger is shorter than her ring finger, she's more than twice as likely as others to develop osteoarthritis of the knee or hip. There's no scientific explanation yet for the connection between finger size and arthritis risk. Several other studies have found another use for finger measurement: It can be used to guess at penis size. According to studies done in South Korea, if a man's ring finger is significantly longer than his index finger, he's likely to be well endowed, while a short ring finger indicates average to below-average size. Previous studies have shown that a long index finger is an indication of lower testosterone exposure in the womb.
What to do if you fail: Women: In this case, there's no immediate action to take. Just be on the alert for signs of osteoarthritis such as knee, hip, shoulder, or back pain. If you do develop pain and suspect osteoarthritis, you might mention the finger length research to your doctor. Guys: If you notice her looking at your ring finger, distract her by buying her a drink.

The Nose Test and Heel Test

What it tests for: Neurodegenerative diseaseHow to do it: Hold your arm out, finger extended. Close your eyes and try to touch your nose with your finger. Then do it again with the other hand. You should be able to do this smoothly and accurately. Next, lie down and run the heel of one foot up and down the shin of the opposite extended leg.What it means: These are two components of basic neurological testing, which evaluates coordination and fine motor movement indicative of the health of the cerebellum, the part of the brain that governs motor movement, coordination, balance, and muscle tone. Failure to do the nose and heel tests accurately can be one sign of a neurodegenerative disease such as multiple sclerosis or a brain tumor or lesion.What to do if you fail: Try these tests several times before you conclude something's wrong, as many factors -- such as having had a glass of wine -- can affect it. If you regularly fail to get your finger anywhere near your nose, alert your doctor.

The "Prayer Position" Test and Pinky Tests

What it tests for:

Rheumatoid arthritisHow to do it: Hold your hands in the position for traditional prayer, with the fingers and palms flat and touching. See if your pinky finger stands straight, as it's supposed to.What it means: If you aren't able to place your hands flat against each other, it suggests that either your wrists don't bend flexibly or your fingers and knuckles aren't straight. This is a possible indicator of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which makes joints swell and stiffen and fingers become gnarled or bent. The inability to extend the little finger is another indicator of RA, because the little finger tends to be the first thing to lose function.What to do if you fail: If you suspect you're developing rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune disease, schedule a visit with your doctor. Before you go, survey your family to determine if there's a family history of RA, which often has a genetic basis.


http://health.yahoo.net/articles/healthcare/photos/5-weird-medical-tests-you-can-try-right-now#0

Obama Speaks in Charlotte

Introduction

The editorial staff at The Week thought Bill Clinton and Michelle Obama gave great speeches at the Democratic National Convention, but President Obama himself did not give a speech that lived up to expectations. The article noted that Ezra Klein of the Washington Post tweeted that "This speech felt very safe to me" and "It’s a speech you give when you think you’re winning." Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast called the speech "dull and pedestrian." Garance Franke-Ruta at The Atlantic bemoaned that the "easy swagger and rambunctiously playful enthusiasm" of Obama in 2008 isn’t there because he "will never be that man again." The pundits seem to agree that Obama was playing it safe in his acceptance speech, in spite of a known tidal wave of paid media attack coming from the Romney campaign.

Summarized from:

http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-dull-pedestrian-convention-speech-why-did-play-070500638--election.html

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Obama’s Acceptance Speech
Comments by the Blog Author

President Obama’s acceptance speech in Charlotte just escaped being a dud. Originally scheduled outdoors at a stadium that seats 80,000, it wound up indoors with a smaller audience, jilting some of the stadium ticket holders. The speech itself was designed to placate the attitudes and motivate the enthusiasm of voters as discovered in millions of dollars of focus group studies.

The speech warmed up with a paean to critical parts of the base – union workers and teachers. Then a nod was given to those faithful toward the global warming theory. Obama said nearly nothing about the record deficits, apparently embracing a view that they would magically shrivel once everything else was going well. He waffled on where cuts would come from except from ending the Afghanistan adventure in 2014. He added a flip-flop on coal, which he stated in 2008 was an industry he wanted to see go bankrupt. Four years later, he finds himself a supporter of clean coal.

Obama knitted his thoughts together under a philosophical umbrella of continental European communitarianism. We’re all in this together. Individualism is old-fashioned and doesn’t matter. Obama offered an open society welcoming all who agree that society comes first.

Which of his lines will make good sound bytes for the commercials in the fall campaign? Because his address did not speak effectively to the long term unemployed or blue-collar underemployed, it was nearly a dud.

Huge Alzheimer's Breakthrough

New treatment reduces a key Alzheimer’s Disease protein by a staggering 90 percent
By Robert Gonzales, io9.com, September 6, 2012

In recent years, some of the haze obscuring neuroscience's view of Aβ peptides and their role in Alzheimer's has lifted, as researchers uncover more and more evidence that these small protein chains play a causative, neurologically harmful role in the disease. They've been found to disrupt communication between neurons, and have been implicated in toxic cell-signaling events that can lead to everything from inflammation, to mitochondrial dysfunction, to cell death. Yet the various cellular mechanisms by which these peptides bring about such destructive outcomes remains muddled.

In today’s issue of Neuron, a team of researchers led by Ohio State University biochemist Sung Ok Yoon have opened a new therapeutic door for Alzheimer's research by shedding valuable light on the cell-signaling pathways of Aβ42, the form of Aβ-peptide most likely to clump into Alzheimer's hallmark plaques. In doing so, the researchers discovered that deleting an enzyme known as JNK3 from the genes of mice with a model form of Alzheimer's lowered Aβ-peptide production by 90 percent over the course of six months.

The molecular players involved in the pathway are numerous, and the details of their dance — while not overly complex — are too lengthy to include here, so here's a distilled version:

                                         JNK3 activation model via Yoon et al.

Yoon and her colleagues show that Aβ42 blocks the production of a variety of proteins, and that this "translational block" triggers a cellular stress reaction known as the unfolded protein response, or UFR. UFR gives rise to a whole mess of cellular activity, including the activation of JNK3.

JNK3's activity in the brain is typically low, but is thought to spike in response to things like stress and illness. One of JNK3's job is to label Amyloid Precursor Protein (which, as its name implies, is a precursor to Aβ42) for processing into Aβ42 and other Aβ-peptides; if this precursor isn't tagged, Aβ42 has a harder time getting made. It follows, then, that when JNK activity is high, Aβ-peptide production increases, too. Or, as Yoon writes:

"JNK3 activation, which is increased [in human cases of Alzheimer's disease] and [mouse models of Alzheimer's disease], is integral to perpetuating Aβ42 production."

This process, hypothesizes Yoon, leads to a destructive feedback loop. "Around and around and around it goes, ever more strongly," she explained in a press release. "These results suggest that JNK3 is the key perpetuating the cycle."

So what happens when you remove JNK3 from the picture? A few things. As we mentioned earlier, it led to a 90% drop in Aβ42 levels among disease-affected mice. But it also results in a dramatic reduction of overall plaque loads, increased total neuronal number and even improved cognition.

Alzheimer's mice with missing JNK3 reached cognitive functions 80% that of normal; in disease model mice, function was limited to 40% of normal.

According to Yoon, the mice used for the study are models for the most aggressive form of Alzheimer's Disease, producing the highest amount of Aβ-peptides; and the 90% drop is the biggest in Aβ-peptide levels "that has been reported so far by treating animal models with drugs or genetic manipulations."

"The fact that we found that protein synthesis is hugely affected by Alzheimer's disease opens up a door to let us try a variety of drugs that are already developed for other chronic progressive diseases that share this commonality of affected protein production," Yoon said.

The researchers' findings are published in the latest issue of Neuron.
　
　
http://io9.com/5940990/new-treatment-reduces-a-key-alzheimers-disease-protein-by-a-staggering-90-percent

Facebook Gets Graded

Facebook Earns a C- for
Respecting User
By Leslie Meredith, Senior Writer, TechNewsDaily, 31 August 2012

Clickwrapped, a new review company, has released its first report card that grades top websites on how well they protect users' privacy and their other user policies.

Despite pervasive criticism in the media, Facebook ranked near the top of the list, ahead of Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn.

The site's founder, attorney and technology entrepreneur Andrew Nicol, based ratings on answers to questions such as "Does the site get more rights to your content than it needs?" and "What can the site do with content you post?"

Websites are graded on four categories: Data Use, Data Disclosure, Amendment & Termination and Miscellaneous.  Each can be awarded up to 100 points — 25 points per category. Wikipedia had the highest score with 86 points, and was the only site to score a perfect 25, which it earned for appropriate use of data, meaning that Wikipedia only uses your data to support listings on the site. Craigslist ended up at the bottom of the list with an overall score of 45. Facebook ranked fourth.

The site's founder Andrew Nicol was himself surprised that Facebook ranked so high.

"Facebook, because it has more data about more of us, it just simply attracts more press just because it’s so big," Nicol said in a report from news site AllFacebook. "I don’t think a lot of people realize that it compares pretty well to a lot of other social networks in that there are actually a lot more restrictions on what it can do with your data."

While Facebook's score of 70 is a barely passing grade on a standard scale, it ranked high compared to other sites.

Facebook made high marks because it allows users to control their privacy, does not cancel an account unless the user is in clear violation of its terms and services agreement and promises to consult users prior to modifying the terms and services agreement.

"Its current terms of service (which it calls the "Statement of Rights and Responsibilities") is actually one of the most pro-user agreements in our survey," Nicols said.

However, the biggest social media network has areas it needs to work on, such as claiming ownership of user content — Facebook can sell your content to other companies, tracking its members’ visits to other websites and not commiting itself to tell you when it has released your data to law enforcement.

Nicol plans to add more websites to his lineup and categorize them by type, including social network, e-commerce and photo-sharing sites.

http://www.technewsdaily.com/4783-facebook-earns-a-c-for-respecting-user-rights.html

Progress in Bone Marrow Cell Research

UCLA scientists discover 'missing link' between blood stem cells, immune system
By Kim Irwin, UCLA Newsroom, September 02, 2012

UCLA researchers have discovered a type of cell that is the "missing link" between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, a finding that will lead to a greater understanding of how a healthy immune system is produced and how disease can lead to poor immune function.

The research was done using human bone marrow, which contains all the stem cells that produce blood during post-natal life.

"We felt it was especially important to do these studies using human bone marrow, as most research into the development of the immune system has used mouse bone marrow," said the study's senior author, Dr. Gay Crooks, co-director of UCLA’s Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell
Research and a co-director of the cancer and stem-cell biology program at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. "The few studies with human tissue have mostly used umbilical cord blood, which does not reflect the immune system of post-natal life."

The research team was "intrigued to find this particular bone marrow cell, because it opens up a lot of new possibilities in terms of understanding how human immunity is produced from stem cells throughout life," said Crooks, a professor of pathology and pediatrics.

Understanding the process of normal blood formation in human adults is a crucial step in shedding light on what goes wrong during the process that results in leukemias, cancers of the blood.

The findings appear Sept. 2 in the early online edition of the journal Nature Immunology.

Before this study, researchers had a fairly good idea of how to find and study the blood stem cells of the bone marrow. The stem cells live forever, reproduce themselves and give rise to all the cells of the blood. In the process, the stem cells divide and produce cells in intermediate stages of development called progenitors, which make various blood lineages, like red blood cells or platelets.

Crooks was most interested in the creation of the progenitors that form the entire immune system, which consists of many different cells called lymphocytes, each with a specialized function to fight infection.

"Like the stem cells, the progenitor cells are also very rare, so before we can study them, we needed to find the needle in the haystack," said Lisa Kohn, a member of the UCLA Medical Scientist Training Program and first author of the study.

Previous work had found a fairly mature type of lymphocyte progenitor with a limited ability to differentiate, but the new work describes a more primitive type of progenitor primed to produce the entire immune system, Kohn said.

Once the lymphoid-primed progenitor had been identified, Crooks and her team studied how gene expression changed during the earliest stages of its production from stem cells.

"The gene expression data convinced us that we had found a unique stage of development in the immune system," Crooks said. "There was a set of genes that the lymphoid-primed cell shares with the bone marrow stem cells and a unique gene expression of its own once it becomes active. This data provided us with an understanding of what genes are important in creating all the cells of the immune system. The information could allow us to manipulate bone marrow to help create a stronger immune system."

As a bone-marrow transplant clinician who treats children with many diseases, including leukemia and immune deficiency, Crooks is keenly interested in how the immune system is made and, more specifically, in potential new ways to speed that process along in her patients, whose immune systems are wiped out prior to transplant.

"The identification of a progenitor in human bone marrow primed for full lymphoid differentiation will now permit delineation of the molecular regulation of the first stages of lymphoid commitment in human hematopoiesis," the study states. "It will also allow understanding of how these processes are affected during aberrant hematopoiesis in disease states."

The study was funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the National Institutes of Health (PO1 HL073140 and RO1 HL077912), the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA and UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-scientists-discover-missing-238096.aspx