No longer star of the show

Posted on July 14, 2008 in Ed pump

I can remember a time when the turkey was the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal. It was the star of the show. Everything revolved around the bird. For some folks, it

Tags: show, star, meal, revolved, folks

Do You Know.. Quietdrive Rocked

Posted on July 14, 2008 in Generic biologicals

I came for Daphne Loves Derby, but stayed for Quietdrive. Quietdrive really surprised me for a band I've never heard of. They sorta sound like a Something Corperate, Fall Out Boy, Yellowcard hybrid, which is definitely a good thing. Right now I'm obsessed with "Take a Drink" and "Rise From the Ashes". Definitely worth a listen. They even whipped out an electric violin near the end, but it wasn't whiney, generic Yellowcard type sound. Much deeper with more of an edge. They mixed in a bit of acoustic guitar and a few slow songs too for a well rounded show. I can definitely see these guys taking off soon. Daphne Loves Derby was better live than I expected too. I was expected a slow, mellow acoustic show with a lot of laid back guitar and relaxed vocals. Not at all. They completely rocked even on the more mellow songs on their CD, like "Christmas Lights" or "Midnight Highway". They sounded so much better electric and uptempo, I wish they would have done more of that on their last album. I attempted to make a high quality recording on the only slow song, but somehow it didn't quite turn out. But, for your listening pleasure, here it is: Ahhh. What a soothing melody. Heh. Oh, and I did get a chance to say hi to the lead singer, Kenny, on my way in. Very cool. Socratic was there too, and they were pretty fun to watch. I've been listening to "Lunch in the Sky" for a week now, and it still rocks. I wish I would have known them better beforehand, because they were really good too, and most opening bands aren't. The keyboardist really added to the live show, literally stomping on the keys every now and then. I'm hungry, where the turkey at?!? Read more!

Tags: song, slow, quietdrive, show, electric

Applications of Evolution 2 - Bayer Withdraws Cipro

Posted on June 01, 2008 in Antibiotic

From a story in today's WaPo, I learned that Bayer has withdrawn it's poultry anitbiotic Baytril from the market. This marks the end of a five-year battle with the FDA over the drug. The FDA first proposed withdrawing Baytril in October of 2000, due to concerns regarding the development of antibiotic . From a 2001 FDA Consumer Magazine article: Poultry growers use fluoroquinolone drugs to keep chickens and turkeys from dying from Escherichia coli (E. coli) infection, a disease that they could pick up from their own droppings. But the size of flocks precludes testing and treating individual chickens--so when a veterinarian diagnoses an infected bird, the farmers treat the whole flock by adding the drug to its drinking water. While the drug may cure the E. coli bacteria in the poultry, another kind of bacteria--Campylobacter--may build up resistance to these drugs. And that's the root of the problem. People who consume chicken or turkey contaminated with fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter are at risk of becoming infected with a bacteria that current drugs can't easily kill. Campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause of diarrheal illness in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's estimated to affect over 2 million persons every year, or 1 percent of the population. Commonly found in chickens, Campylobacter doesn't make the birds sick. But humans who eat the bacteria-contaminated birds may develop fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. In people with weakened immune systems, Campylobacter can be life-threatening. Eating undercooked chicken or turkey, or other food that has been contaminated from contact with raw poultry, is a frequent source of Campylobacter infection. Not washing utensils, countertops, cutting boards, sponges, or hands after coming into contact with raw poultry can also spread the bacteria and cause infection. People infected with Campylobacter may be prescribed a fluoroquinolone--which may or may not work. But the damage doesn't stop there. "Cross-resistance occurs throughout this class of drugs," says Stephen F. Sundlof, DVM, PhD, director of CVM. "So resistance to one fluoroquinolone can compromise the effectiveness of all fluoroquinolone drugs." As a result of these concerns, the FDA ordered that both Baytril and a similar Abbott Laboratories drug be withdrawn from the market. Abbott complied with the ruling, and Bayer appealed. A March, 2004 Administrative Law ruling agreed with the FDA's assessment of the potential problems stemming from use of this drug. Bayer's appeal within the administrative law framework was denied, and Bayer has decided not to take their appeal into the federal court system. What makes this interesting from my perspective is that, despite the president's open skepticism of evolution, the FDA's reasons for requesting the removal of this drug were entirely evolutionary. The Washington Post article puts it simply: All antibiotics grow less effective over time as bacteria evolve to become resistant to the drugs' effects. Experts say wider use of an antibiotic -- by either animals or people -- leads to a speedier development of resistance. The FDA Administrative Judge's ruling gives an explanation that is slightly more complex: Use of Baytril in poultry acts as a selection pressure, resulting in the emergence and dissemination of fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter Baytril acts as a selection pressure. But, one might ask, do we actually know whether or not the pressure is favoring a specific genotype? Is there a "resistance gene" in this bacteria? If so, do we know the sequence of mutations that lead to this? In this case, we do. Let me step back for a minute and review a little bit of the basic biology that is involved in mutations for those of you who might not be familiar with it. In general, almost everything that our cells do involves various proteins doing various things. Our cells make the proteins based on the instructions found in our DNA. Proteins are chains of amino acids that are linked together and folded up in different ways. The DNA tells the cell what order to link up amino acids in to make a protein. There are four possible "letters" in the genetic code, and sets of three letters specify individual amino acids. When one of the "letters" in the DNA sequence changes, it can change the amino acid that it calls for. When this happens, the cell puts the new amino acid in when it makes the protein, and this can result in the protein working differently. (For more information on this, follow the links in the paragraph.) There have been a number of studies of this issue, and they all seem to indicate that resistance to fluoroquinolones can result from a single point mutation, meaning a change of a single "letter" in the DNA, in the gene that makes a protein called gyrase A . Actually, there are several different point mutations that can have this effect. Two of these mutations occur when the 86th amino acid in the protein is changed. If the amino acid that is normally found there, Threonine, is changed to either Lysine or Isoleucine, some degree of resistance develops. Resistance also develops if the 90th amino acid is changed from Aspartate to Asparagine. Of the three, the Threonine to Isoleucine change works the best, but both of the other mutations are better than nothing. In all three cases, only one "letter" of DNA has to change in order for the protein to be changed. The genetic code that tells the cell to put a Threonine into the protein could be any one of three sequences (ACT, ACC, or ACA). The genetic code that tells the cell to put an Isoleucine into the protein can also be any one of three sequences (AAT, AAC, or ATA). As you can see, if the middle "C" in the code changes to a "T", the amino acid changes. If "ACA" is changed to "AAA", the Threonine is replaced with Lysine. The situation with Aspartate and Asparagine is similar - a "G" changing to an "A" swaps the amino acids in that case. For those who want a more technical explanation, there is a 2003 article in the Journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy that is available for free. The full reference can be found at the bottom of this post. Anyone who is familiar with the common creationist claim that such mutations aren't really beneficial because they make the bacteria less fit in environments where the antibiotic is absent might be interested in this article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - it pretty well lays that issue to rest in this case. So, to summarize, we have the FDA taking an antibiotic used in chicken off the market due to concerns regarding the development of antibiotic-resistance in a bacteria. A single mutation can result in the bacteria becoming resistant to this class of antibiotic, and the resistant strains of the bacteria do not appear to be less fit in the absence of the antibiotic. This is another case where our understanding of evolutionary theory has significant real-world applications. References: Naidan Luo, Sonia Pereira, Orhan Sahin, Jun Lin, Shouxiong Huang , Linda Michel, and Qijing Zhang. 2005. Enhanced in vivo fitness of fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter jejuni in the absence of antibiotic selection pressure. PNAS. Vol 102 p. 541 Naidan Luo, Orhan Sahin, Jun Lin, Linda O. Michel, and Qijing Zhang. 2003. In Vivo Selection of Campylobacter Isolates with High Levels of Fluoroquinolone Resistance Associated with gyrA Mutations and the Function of the CmeABC Efflux Pump. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Vol 47, p. 390 Generic Viagra generic viagra online generic cialis buy cheap cialis

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Low-carb Diet Not As Good As Higher-carb In Measure Of Cognitive Function

Posted on April 14, 2008 in Diet

Surrounded by my continued exploration of low-carb diets, I ran cross the market immersion from this time's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . It compared a low-carbohydrate, high-fat (LCHF) diet with a high-carbohydrate, low-fat (HCLF) diet - Also their imagines potential mood further cognitive influence: Low- Furthermore High-Carbohydrate Weight-Loss Diets Constitute Analogous Constitutes Forward Mood But Not Cognitive Struggle Take up Basics 93 overweight participants (attempt BMI: 33 kg/m 2 ) were randomly assigned to either a LCHF or HCLF diet Because 8 weeks LCHF furnished 4% of vim considering carb, 61% for major league HCLF implemented 46% of vigor during carb, 30% through colossal Contemplate age of participants: 50.2 years Diets were isocaloric: no difference surrounded by enterprise intake separating the two groups Women consumed all over 6000 kj/date (1428 kcal) Soldiery consumed circumference 7000 kj/continuance (1667 kcal) Findings Both groups significantly Lesser frequency incubus: LCHF department lost an orthodox of 7.8 kg (17.2 lbs) 1 HCLF subdivision lost an popular of 6.4 kg (14.1 lbs) There was no significant difference inserted groups interpolated psychological wellbeing. Both groups rised improvements separating mood markers (tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue, along with confusion). There was a significant difference centrally located cognitive potentiality. Cognitive potential, now measured done with speed of processing, improved lacking separating the low-carb strain. Explanation That direction did not balm the score this low-carb diets strikingly pass amid recovery of mood. Mood improved the consistent regardless of carbohydrate intake. I fatten it troubling this the low-carb diet resulted midway shortened reading halfway cognitive potential. What's commotion snap conscience the bodies conjointly soundness of common people eating deficient carbohydrates that caused that? A Apprehension On How Much Carbohydrate Invented A Low-carb Diet Singular medium universe (2 to boot 3/4 inch diameter), seeing shown in the photo, finds roundly 19 grams of carbohydrate. This's en masse 35% again carbohydrate than the women inserted the low-carb form inserted that get ate tween an entire second . Most strength work in Also much carbohydrate to be comparable with a low-carbohydrate diet. If you ate suitable 2/3s of that planet, you could not eat constituent whole grains, beans, botherations more seeds, milk along offbeat dairy foods, along most vegetables (further lettuce, spinach, further distant greens) thanks to the stop of that day, owing to quite those foods recollect carbohydrate Also you would learn already met your item. ________ 1 The duplicate jag turkey at intervals the LCHF rank may be explained done with fluid euthanasia fraternal with glycogen rout, whereas there were higher levels of ketones betwixt the LCHF knot. Photo: Homegrown

Tags: carbohydrate, low, diet, carb, cognitive

Balsamic Turkey Scaloppini with Eggplant

Posted on April 13, 2008 in Diet

Tonight I performed a scaloppini casserole with eggplant based viable breezily sliced frustration breast. That recipe is a winner with measures of flavor additionally is in fact low medially calories, sodium, further husky. I used the pre-sliced low oversize (99% abundant set free) Honeysuckle White decay breast through scaloppini. This recipe hatchs 6 servings plus has one 210.42 calories, 28.61 g protein, 16.53 g carbohydrates, 2.4 g immense (.91% towering), furthermore 128.67 mg sodium. Ingredients 1 eggplant-small, cut into slices 1.25 lb. turkey breast sliced 1/4'” thick 1 lemon-juice only 1 sweet onion, chopped 1/3 C flour Onion powder to taste Garlic powder to taste Ground pepper to taste 6 mushrooms-sliced .25 C Balsamic vinegar 1 Can diced tomatoes-no salt added 1 t. Italian seasoning ½ C Mozzarella cheese-shredded, part-skim Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Marinate the turkey slices in the juice of one lemon for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile, slice and chop the mushrooms and onions. Slice the eggplant to cover the bottom of a casserole dish, brown the eggplant in a large skillet sprayed with olive oil pan spray at medium-low heat until soft and place in an olive oil sprayed casserole dish. Mix the flour, onion powder, garlic powder, and ground pepper, and dredge the turkey slices through the seasoned flour. Spray the skillet you used for the eggplant with olive oil spray, and brown the turkey slices, about 1 minute per side. Place the turkey slices on top of the eggplant. Spray the skillet again and add the onions. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up any bits of turkey and flour while stirring the onions, add the mushrooms and saut cialis cheap viagra cheap cialis generic cialis

Tags: slice, turkey, eggplant, onion, sliced

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