February is pet Dental Health Month! | Ann Arbor Cat Clinic

Welcome to Pet Dental Health Month!

Dental health is one of the commonly overlooked areas in owning an animal. Most people don?t realize that cats, dogs, and other animals need proper dental care to keep their teeth and mouths healthy just like people do. Without proper care, pets can get many conditions and diseases that humans are also prone to. These include tartar and plaque buildup, gingivitis, rotting teeth, and gum disease. Poor oral health is also a major contributor to bad breath! When left untreated, these seemingly insignificant issues can have dire consequences. Tartar buildup and gingivitis can be quite painful and cause cats to stop eating well. Gingivitis infection?can also?spread to other organs (such as the heart and kidneys) through the bloodstream and lead to failure of those organs. Luckily, there are many easy ways to help your pets maintain good oral health.

The easiest way to promote good oral health is by adding an oral care food to your pets diet. There are multiple formulas of oral care diets ? be sure to ask your vet which diet would be most appropriate for your cat. Oral care diets are generally larger, crunchier kibbles that act as a scrubber almost on the surface of your cat?s teeth to help remove buildup from the teeth. Most oral diets seem to be very palatable and cats will eat them readily.

The best way to care for your pet?s teeth at home though is regular brushing. There are many varieties of pet toothbrushes, from ones that look like small human toothbrushes to ones that slide over your finger. Some people will also use gauze squares wrapped around their fingers instead of an actual toothbrush. There are also different choices for animal friendly toothpaste. You do NOT want to use human toothpaste on your cat; it can cause stomach upset. Animal toothpaste comes in a variety of flavors such as seafood, poultry, and malt. Animal toothpaste is also designed to stay on the teeth not get rinsed off, so don?t worry about how you?ll get your cat to rinse! Most cats will accept tooth brushing if you introduce it slowly. It is best to start when they are kittens, but it is never too late to start a dental care routine! You can also ask the vets to give you some tips on how to introduce brushing to your cat.

In honor of Pet Dental Month, we are offering free ?Lift the Lip? exams. A lift the lip exam is an appointment with one of our veterinary technicians who will visually check the status of your cat?s teeth and gums. The tech will let you know if your cat?s teeth look great, can use some preventative measures, or need a dental cleaning soon. If your cat does need a dental procedure, we will schedule you a pre surgical exam with the doctor who will be performing the dental procedure to discuss what will happen and make sure the cat is healthy enough for the procedure.

Also, anyone who schedules a dental procedure during the month of February will receive a free 7 lb. bag of Science Diet Oral Care food!

If you are interested in scheduling a ?Lift the Lip? exam, please call the office at 734-973-9090.

Source: http://annarborcatclinic.com/2012/02/february-is-pet-dental-health-month/

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Honey Helps Heal Wounds

60-Second Health | Health

Manuka honey stopped a skin strep in its tracks. Katherine Harmon reports

January 31, 2012?|

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Honey soothes a sore throat. Now research suggests that it could also help fight serious skin infections.

People have used honey's antibacterial properties for centuries. Now, scientists are discovering just how it works?and that it might be even better than antibiotics.

After surgery or a skin injury, many otherwise harmless bacteria that live on the skin can infect the wound site. One type of strep is particularly common and can lead to stubborn wounds that refuse to heal. But researchers found that honey?in particular that made from bees foraging on manuka flowers?stopped this strep in its tracks. The study is in the journal Microbiology. [Sarah Maddocks et al., "Manuka Honey Inhibits the Development of Streptococcus pyogenes Biofilms and Causes Reduced Expression of Two Fibronectin Binding Proteins"]

In lab tests, just a bit of the honey killed off the majority of bacterial cells?and cut down dramatically on the stubborn biofilms they formed.

It could also be used to prevent wounds from becoming infected in the first place. Hospital-borne infections are all too common, with more and more strains developing resistance to standard antibiotic treatments. So if the honey works in clinical trials, too, this sweet news will be all the buzz.

?Katherine Harmon

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=78482e576998d7c9161e1b2b70fae007

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Greek debt relief talks at 'crucial' stage - Financial News | Financial ...

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Source: http://ifinancedaily.com/greek-debt-relief-talks-at-crucial-stage/

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China dissident tried over Skype messages, poem (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? Chinese prosecutors cited a poem and messages sent on Skype against a dissident who stood trial on Tuesday, his son and his lawyer said, in the latest case highlighting the Communist Party's drive to silence political challengers.

Veteran activist Zhu Yufu faced trial in the prosperous eastern city of Hangzhou, where police arrested him in April and charged him with "inciting subversion of state power," his lawyer, Li Dunyong, said.

The court did not deliver its verdict straight away. But Zhu, who turns 59 in February, appears likely to follow other Chinese dissidents who have received stiff prison terms from the party-run judiciary on subversion charges, which are often used to punish ardent advocates of democratic change.

In Zhu's case, the prosecutors cited his poem, "It's time," as well as text messages that he sent using the Skype online chat service, said Li.

There was no suggestion that Skype helped police to collect evidence, he told Reuters by telephone.

"They took his computer away from his home and went through it," he said of the Hangzhou police.

"His Internet contacts and password were saved on it, with automatic access, and when the police accessed it they could open the records of text messages saved on Skype. He had not erased the records."

Skype's online telephone and messaging service has become popular among Chinese activists as a cheap and relatively secure way to communicate.

Zhu's wife, Jiang Hangli, told Reuters that she feared that he could join other dissidents recently given prison terms of nine years and longer for subversion. Chinese courts rarely find in favor of defendants.

"I hope he won't face trouble, but that's a wish. I don't think that they'll let him off lightly," Jiang said in a telephone interview before the trial.

China's Communist leaders are steeling for a leadership handover late this year, and their long-standing determination to stifle political challenges is likely to deepen. The government is also trying to quell flare-ups of protest in Tibetan areas in the country's west.

Beijing has rejected criticism that Chinese human rights conditions have worsened, especially since 2010, when authorities cracked down out of fear that anti-authoritarian upheavals across the Arab world could trigger unrest in China.

Like two dissidents given sentences of 10 and nine years in December, Zhu was jailed before for his pro-democracy activism, making it more likely that he too will get a heavy sentence. He was jailed in 1999 for seven years and in 2007 for two years, said the Chinese Human Rights Defenders.

Zhu's son, Zhu Ang, said he and his mother, Jiang Hangli, were the only two family members allowed to attend the trial, which lasted a morning. Other kin and supporters were kept out.

"My father seemed listless and even exhausted, but he was mentally together," Zhu Ang told Reuters by telephone. "His defense was that he was not advocating subversion but urging progress, which is nothing illegal."

The charges against Zhu also centered on a poem, "It's time," which he circulated online, said the lawyer Li.

A version of the poem that has circulated on the Internet, declares: "It's time, Chinese people!/ The square belongs to everyone/the feet are yours/it's time to use your feet and take to the square to make a choice."

References to a "square" might evoke memories among many Chinese people of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the epicenter of pro-democracy protests in 1989 that were quelled by armed troops. But the poem did not mention that.

At the trial, Zhu rejected the charge that the poem amounted to "inciting subversion," said Li.

"He said the poem was not urging an assembly, because the people were in different cities and places, and he did not tell them a specific time or place to assemble," said Li.

"As well, there's no legal prohibition on going to a square," added the lawyer, citing Zhu's words. "Everyone has the right to walk on a square."

Li said the court was likely to deliver its verdict in February.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)

(This story was corrected in the third paragraph to change the age)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/wr_nm/us_china_dissident

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Decaffeinated coffee preserves memory function by improving brain energy metabolism

Decaffeinated coffee preserves memory function by improving brain energy metabolism

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that decaffeinated coffee may improve brain energy metabolism associated with type 2 diabetes. This brain dysfunction is a known risk factor for dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease. The research is published online in Nutritional Neuroscience.

A research group led by Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology, and Psychiatry, at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, explored whether dietary supplementation with a standardized decaffeinated coffee preparation prior to diabetes onset might improve insulin resistance and glucose utilization in mice with diet-induced type 2 diabetes. The researchers administered the supplement for five months, and evaluated the brain's genetic response in the mice. They found that the brain was able to more effectively metabolize glucose and use it for cellular energy in the brain. Glucose utilization in the brain is reduced in people with type 2 diabetes, which can often result in neurocognitive problems.

"Impaired energy metabolism in the brain is known to be tightly correlated with cognitive decline during aging and in subjects at high risk for developing neurodegenerative disorders," said Dr. Pasinetti. "This is the first evidence showing the potential benefits of decaffeinated coffee preparations for both preventing and treating cognitive decline caused by type 2 diabetes, aging, and/or neurodegenerative disorders."

Coffee intake is not recommended for everybody due to the fact that it is associated with cardiovascular health risks such as elevated blood cholesterol and blood pressure, both of which lead to an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, and premature death. These negative effects have primarily been attributed to the high caffeine content of coffee. Nonetheless, these novel findings are evidence that some of the non-caffeine components in coffee provide health benefits in mice. Dr. Pasinetti hopes to explore the preventive role of decaffeinated coffee delivered as a dietary supplement in humans.

"In light of recent evidence suggesting that cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer's disease and other age-related neurodegenerative disorders may be traced back to neuropathological conditions initiated several decades before disease onset, developing preventive treatments for such disorders is critical," he said.

###

The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine: http://www.mountsinai.org

Thanks to The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117254/Decaffeinated_coffee_preserves_memory_function_by_improving_brain_energy_metabolism

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In Israel: UN chief argues against attack on Iran (AP)

JERUSALEM ? The U.N. chief has told Israel the international standoff over Iran's suspect nuclear program must be resolved peacefully.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered his message at a time of growing concerns that Israel could be planning an attack on Iran. Israel, like the West, believes Iran is developing nuclear weapons and says no option, including force, can be ruled out in stopping it. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful

At a news conference with Israel's prime minister, Ban urged the Iranians to prove their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. When asked whether he fears an Israeli attack, he said "there is no alternative to a peaceful resolution of these issues."

U.N. nuclear inspectors said Wednesday they would soon return to Tehran after a "good trip" to the Iranian capital.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

VIENNA (AP) ? A senior U.N. nuclear expert on Wednesday announced plans to revisit Tehran soon after a "good trip," indicating progress on his team's quest to probe suspicions that the Islamic Republic is secretly working on an atomic arms program.

The announcement from mission leader Herman Nackaerts came shortly after his group landed at Vienna airport after three days of discussions with Iranian officials in Tehran.

While Nackaerts gave no details on what the International Atomic Energy Agency experts had achieved, diplomats had said before their departure that their main focus was to break Iranian resistance to talking about the weapons program allegations.

"We had three days of intensive discussions about all our priorities, and we are committed to resolve all the outstanding issues," Nackaerts told reporters. "And the Iranians said they are committed, too.

"But, of course, there's still a lot of work to be done," he said. "So we have planned another trip in the very near future."

Asked how the visit was, he replied, "we had a good trip."

Diplomats familiar with IAEA strategy told The Associated Press before the trip that the agency delegation was unlikely to settle for vague promises or complicated plans that could further stall their probe. Nackaerts' announcement that a new visit would soon take place ? plus his praise of a "good trip" ? therefore suggested that he was coming back to Vienna with some progress made.

Any progress on the issue would be significant. Iran has refused to discuss the alleged weapons experiments for more than three years, saying they are based on "fabricated documents" provided by a "few arrogant countries" ? a phrase authorities in Iran often use to refer to the United States and its allies.

Faced with Iranian stonewalling, the IAEA summarized its body of information in November in a 13-page document drawing on 1,000 pages of intelligence. It stated then for the first time that some of the alleged experiments can have no other purpose than developing nuclear weapons.

The IAEA team was seeking progress on its efforts to talk to key Iranian scientists suspected of working on a weapons program. They also hoped to break down opposition to their plans to inspect documents related to nuclear work and secure commitments from Iranian authorities to allow future visits.

Beyond concerns about the purported weapons work, the United States and its allies want Iran to halt uranium enrichment, which they believe could eventually lead to weapons-grade material and the production of nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes ? generating electricity and producing medical radioisotopes to treat cancer patients.

Since the discovery in 2002 that Iran was secretly working on uranium enrichment, the nation has expanded that operation to the point where it has thousands of centrifuges churning out enriched material ? the potential source of both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead material.

Iran also has started producing uranium at a higher level than its main stockpile ? a move that would jump start the creation of highly enriched, weapons grade uranium, should it chose to go that route. And it is moving its higher-enriched operation into an underground bunker that it says is safe from attack.

Tehran is under four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions because of its refusal to heed international concerns about its nuclear programs, as well as penalties imposed by the United States and Western nations meant to force it into dialogue.

The European Union last week imposed an oil embargo on Iran and froze the assets of its central bank. In December, the United States said it would bar financial institutions from the U.S. market if they do business with Iran's central bank.

___

AP video reporter Philipp Jenne contributed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120201/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear

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Where the Heck is Demi Moore?

She's out of the hospital, that much we know. But based on the panic on one end of the recently-released 911 call, Demi Moore is far from out of the woods.

So where is the troubled star at the moment? An insider tells E! News Moore is NOT enrolled in a rehab program, but she has been undergoing some kind of "spiritual counseling," while, presumably, still living at home.

Daughters Tallulah and Rumer, meanwhile, are residing at their father's Los Angeles condo.

Rumer, however, spent at least one fun night on the town this weekend.

Various sources report she ate dinner on Saturday with Annie Starke, Annie's mother Glenn Close and Close's husband David Shaw at Comme Ça in West Hollywood, before ending the evening at Chateau Marmont.

Willis has been in the news lately because she spent a lot of time with her mother prior to Demi's hospitalization last week, with evidence seeming to point to Rumer actually being present when the 911 call was placed.

[Photo: WENN.com]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/where-the-heck-is-demi-moore/

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