Monday 27 May 2013

WiFi Kills Cress!


Cress expose to WiFi.  Yum?
Foreign researchers are extremely excited for a biology project from five 9th grade girls.
Researchers from England, Holland and Sweden have shown great interest in the five girls’ biology experiments.
Take 400 Cress seeds and place them into 12 trays. Then place six trays in two rooms at the same temperature. Give them the same amount of water and sun over 12 days, and remember to expose half of them to mobile [Wi-Fi] radiation.
It is a recipe for a biology test so brilliant that it has attracted international attention among acknowledged biologists and radiation experts. Behind the experiment are five girls from 9b in Hjallerup School in North Jutland, and it all started because they found it difficult to concentrate during the school day:
“We all think we have experienced difficulty concentrating in school, if we had slept with the phone next to our head, and sometimes also experienced having difficulty sleeping”, explains Lea Nielsen, who is one of the five aspiring researchers.
The school was not equipped to test the effect of mobile phone radiation on them. Therefore, the girls had to find an alternative. And the answer was Cress.
Six trays of seeds were put into a room without radiation, and six trays were put into another room next to two [Wi-Fi] routers. Such routers broadcast the same type of radiation as an ordinary mobile.
Healthy Cress
The “healthy” cress without the influence of the router. Photo: The girls from 9b
Then it was just necessary to wait 12 days, observe, measure, weigh and take pictures along the way. And the result spoke was clear: cress seeds next to the router did not grow, and some of them were even mutated or dead. (emphasis added – Ed.)
“It is truly frightening that there is so much affect, so we were very shocked by the result”, says Lea Nielsen.
Unhealthy Cress
The “sick” cress exposed to the [Wi-Fi] router. Photo: The girls from 9b
Reactions The experiment secured the girls the finals in the competition “Young Scientists”, but it was only the beginning. Renowned scientists from England, Holland and Sweden have since shown great interest in the girls’ project so far.
From left: Lea Nielsen, Mathilde Nielsen, Signe Nielsen, Sisse Coltau and Rikke Holm. Photo: Kim Horsevad
The renowned professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Olle Johansson, is one of the impressed researchers. He will now repeat the experiment with a Belgian research colleague, Professor Marie-Claire Cammaert at the Université libre de Bruxelles, for the trial, according to him, is absolutely brilliant:
“The girls stayed within the scope of their knowledge, skilfully implemented and developed a very elegant experiment. The wealth of detail and accuracy is exemplary, choosing cress was very intelligent, and I could go on”, he says.
He is not slow to send them an invitation to go on the road:
“I sincerely hope that they spend their future professional life in researching, because I definitely think they have a natural aptitude for it. Personally, I would love to see these people in my team!”
No mobile by the bed
The five girls from northern Jutland have not yet decided their future careers. They are still very surprised by all the sudden attention.
“It has been such a rollercoaster ride. I still cannot believe it”, says Lea Nielsen.
And Mathilde Nielsen added:
“It’s totally overwhelming and exciting. It’s just not something you experience every day”.
But there have also been other consequences of the cress trial, which is quite low-tech in nature.
“None of us sleep with the mobile next to the bed anymore. Either the phone is put far away, or it is put in another room. And the computer is always off”, says Lea Nielsen.
http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2013/05/16/131324.htm (in Danish)
via C4ST – Danish Students Attract International Attention with Cress and Wifi Experiment.

Thursday 23 May 2013

Study: Regular Marijuana Use May Prevent Diabetes and Make You Skinnier

Current marijuana users have 16 percent lower fasting insulin levels compared to non-users, according to the American Journal of Medicine


Activist Post

Regular marijuana use is associated with favorable indices related to diabetic control, say investigators. They found that current marijuana users had significantly lower fasting insulin and were less likely to be insulin resistant, even after excluding patients with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Their findings are reported in the current issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

Marijuana (Cannabis sativa) has been used for centuries to relieve pain, improve mood, and increase appetite. Outlawed in the United States in 1937, its social use continues to increase and public opinion is swinging in favor of the medicinal use of marijuana. There are an estimated 17.4 million current users of marijuana in the United States. Approximately 4.6 million of these users smoke marijuana daily or almost daily. A synthetic form of its active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC, has already been approved to treat side-effects of chemotherapy, AIDS-induced anorexia, nausea, and other medical conditions. With the recent legalization of recreational marijuana in two states and the legalization of medical marijuana in 19 states and the District of Columbia, physicians will increasingly encounter marijuana use among their patient populations.

A multicenter research team analyzed data obtained during the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) between 2005 and 2010. They studied data from 4,657 patients who completed a drug use questionnaire. Of these, 579 were current marijuana users, 1,975 had used marijuana in the past but were not current users, and 2,103 had never inhaled or ingested marijuana. Fasting insulin and glucose were measured via blood samples following a nine hour fast, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated to evaluate insulin resistance.


Participants who reported using marijuana in the past month had lower levels of fasting insulin and HOMA-IR and higher levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). These associations were weaker among those who reported using marijuana at least once, but not in the past thirty days, suggesting that the impact of marijuana use on insulin and insulin resistance exists during periods of recent use. Current users had 16% lower fasting insulin levels than participants who reported never having used marijuana in their lifetimes.

Large waist circumference is linked to diabetes risk. In the current study there were also significant associations between marijuana use and smaller waist circumferences.

"Previous epidemiologic studies have found lower prevalence rates of obesity and diabetes mellitus in marijuana users compared to people who have never used marijuana, suggesting a relationship between cannabinoids and peripheral metabolic processes, but ours is the first study to investigate the relationship between marijuana use and fasting insulin, glucose, and insulin resistance," says lead investigator Murray A. Mittleman, MD, DrPH, of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.

"It is possible that the inverse association in fasting insulin levels and insulin resistance seen among current marijuana users could be in part due to changes in usage patterns among those with a diagnosis of diabetes (i.e., those with diabetes may have been told to cease smoking). However, after we excluded those subjects with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, the associations between marijuana use and insulin levels, HOMA-IR, waist circumference, and HDL-C were similar and remained statistically significant," states Elizabeth Penner, MD, MPH, an author of the study.

Although people who smoke marijuana have higher average caloric intake levels than non-users, marijuana use has been associated with lower body-mass index (BMI) in two previous surveys. "The mechanisms underlying this paradox have not been determined and the impact of regular marijuana use on insulin resistance and cardiometabolic risk factors remains unknown," says coauthor Hannah Buettner.

The investigators acknowledge that data on marijuana use were self-reported and may be subject to underestimation or denial of illicit drug use. However, they point out, underestimation of drug use would likely yield results biased toward observing no association.

Editor-in-Chief Joseph S. Alpert, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, comments, "These are indeed remarkable observations that are supported, as the authors note, by basic science experiments that came to similar conclusions.

"We desperately need a great deal more basic and clinical research into the short- and long-term effects of marijuana in a variety of clinical settings such as cancer, diabetes, and frailty of the elderly," continues Alpert." I would like to call on the NIH and the DEA to collaborate in developing policies to implement solid scientific investigations that would lead to information assisting physicians in the proper use and prescription of THC in its synthetic or herbal form."

Contact: Jane Grochowski
ajmmedia@elsevier.com
406-542-8397
Elsevier Health Sciences

Wednesday 8 May 2013

ABOLISH TASER PETITION RCA

Believing tasers to do far more harm than good, to kill far more people than they save and that they leave the public wide open to abuse and unjust suffering, we call for an end to the use of these weapons.  As the vast majority of people killed by tasers were unarmed and alone, we say ‘No more deaths’, ban the taser now.  Before another pregnant woman, another blind man, handcuffed youth, or unarmed teenager is dropped to the concrete by 50,000 volts of electricity surging through their body, before another young life is cold in the grave, we say ban this sinister new weapon that has no legitimate place in a civilized society. 
 Sometimes people get the idea that to be anti-taser, you have to be anti-police.  This is an absurd assumption to make.  We realize the police have to deal with extremely dangerous situations and people, but we Brits have always prided ourselves on our unarmed police, and see the cattle-prod as an insult to our Human dignity.  Whilst the police need to protect themselves when dealing with violent people, there are many more safe and humane technologies available, such as nets, or even tranquilizer darts.  The taser has already done a great deal to harm the image of the police and this will take time to remedy.  The taser will inevitably disappear soon, as the reality of its consequences rapidly overtakes the myth of its safety and effectiveness.  Until that time, we ask you to remember the many people who have been killed by tasers and to protect the living by signing the Abolish Taser Petition. 

                                                    




                            


Please print out some flyers, cut them up and distribute them…. Thanks!





 SIGN HERE:

Moberly, Missouri T.A.S.E.R. Victim Memorial


British Heart Foundation:
Physiological effects of Electricity:
A list of the Tasered-Dead….
Taser Safety Issues:
RESIST CARDIAC ARRESTThe Limpet  No.53:  A selection of taser videos, an in-depth investigation into the whole subject of tasers, a letter to Parliament & the launch of a public safety campaign:  http://savetheholyheadland.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/test-do-not-publish.html
Text of the United Nations Convention Against Torture:
Andrew George is MP for West Cornwall, NOT Plymouth, where Andrew Pimlott died following the incident involving a police taser and inflammable fuel.  However, I have asked Mr George to take action on tasers many times in the past.  Please consider e-mailing or writing to your local MP and telling them your views on tasers.    
OVERSEAS READERS:  Why not consider writing to your political representatives about tasers.  Has your government signed Article 22 of the UNCAT?  Without it you have no legal protection against torture – with it you have a legal basis on which to challenge taser. 

Contact details for Attorney General:
Association of Chief Police Officers:
More information on tasers:


 If you check through the ‘Blog Archive’ at the top of the page, you can find numerous other articles concerning the work of RESIST CARDIAC ARREST and the campaign against stun guns…


Please send any questions or comments to: savetheholyheadland@yahoo.com