No. 245 June 2003

FOOD PORTIONS MEASUREMENT The can of peas you open for dinner has a label that provides the number of servings, the number of nutrients per serving, and the number of ounces per serving. The food label on the bag of miniature Almond Joy candy bars says one bar (19 grams) which is also one serving. When eating spaghetti, mashed potatoes, pizza, pies, cake, etc. how do you measure the food nutrients and calories for the portion you “put onto your plate.”? How is a sliver, (big, medium, or small slice), small portion, large portion, smidgen, or just a taste, defined? How do you measure the portion of food(s) on your plate or the volume of liquid in your (drinking) glass? One must know the portion size of each food to calculate the number of food nutrients in each portion of food on your plate. Linda Cleveland and Linda Ingwersen have designed very simple two dimensional measuring guides to help you estimate the size of the portion of food(s) and the amount of beverage you consumed.. Once you measure the size of each portion of food, you can determine the quantity of each of the food nutrients in your “slab of cheese,” “taste of potatoes”, sliver of pie, and double helping of chocolate mousse. Then you can answer the questions of the National Food Survey as to what and how much are you eating. The Food Model Booklet was designed, in 2001, to help American public provide more accurate survey responses to the questions of the USDA Nationwide Food Consumption Survey which began in 2002. Judy McBride, provided us with The New, Improved and Integrated Food Survey (http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2001/010320.htm?pf=1) and
“Was it a Slab, a Slice, or a Sliver?, High-tech innovations take food survey to a new level,” by Judy McBride, Agricultural Research, V. 49, No. 3, March, 2001, pages 4-7, is found online in html, and pdf versions at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/mar01/.

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE ILLUSTRATIONS: PART 2 The July, 2002, Newsletter (http://www.nku.edu/~yannarella/news0207.html ) discussed some illustrations of an antibiotic resistant cell successfully resists an antibiotic cell. But the FDA online source lacked illustrations. Colored illustrations are now available, as are more information and details. Science, V. 300, No. 5621, May 9, 2003 pages 976-980 shows how an antibiotic resistant cell overcomes the antibiotic drug cell and kills it. This article reflects the research done at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (LBL). “Secrets of Drug Resistance Revealed” by Dan Krotz, the LBL contact person, includes a color picture of the AcrB protein found in an Escherichia coli cell. This explanation of the mechanics of drug resistance and graphic display of an E. coli protein cell and its captured ciprofloxacin (antibiotic drug) cell, is found in the May 9, 2003 issue of LBL Research News which is on the LBL website at http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/PBD-drug-resistance.html This 4 -page (printed) article explains how LBL’s Advanced Light Source technology provided these photographs, and shows how and why drug resistant cells can overcome an antibiotic cell. This Light Resource technology will allow further research into how drugs may be designed which can overcome the antibiotic resistance of E. coli and other drug-resistant bacteria.

CACTUS DERBY CAR RACE From 1908-1914, automobile clubs, cities, and manufacturers sponsored an annual car race from Los Angeles to Phoenix. The race was a 415 mile run over California’s no-mans land which includes some roads, Indian trails, stage routes, and mine-to-mine burro paths. The goal of the cars and drivers was to win, but just completion of the entire route was a major accomplishment. One theory is that the purpose of the race was to sell cars. There were race drivers such as Barney Oldfield and Louis Chevrolet diving race cars such as a Ford, Dorris, Kisselkar, Elmore, Franklin, and other “extinct” models. The Los Angeles Times newspaper reported that in 1908 these car races were more popular than Teddy Roosevelt, the Chicago Cubs, or even the Gibson Girls. In 1909, 50,000 people watched the racers leave from the starting line in Hollenbeck (California). From 1908-1914, the number of racers, the prizes varied as did the routes and the California based starting lines. John Frye, who wrote “The Cactus Derby” Our Public Lands, V. 31, No. 2 Spring 1981, pages 17-21 (I 53.12:31/2) says that the beginning of the 1908 race at the Hollenbeck Hotel looked “like a scene from The Great Race”. The Great Race was a 1965 comedy (movie) about the trials and tribulations of overland races, the cars, and their drivers. Maybe the producers of the movie knew about the Cactus Derby Race which is still very much alive. Welcome to Arizona Vintage Racing http://www.autohobbies.com/azracinghistory will provide historical information. For current information the Great Race home page http://www.greatrace.com/ provides access to the Great Race Cactus Derby 2002 race results, and also provides a link to register for the 2003 Cactus Derby. A search for “Cactus Derby” in the Google search engine showed this and other websites. What more can you ask?

WHO’S TOP TEN GLOBAL HEALTH RISKS Currently the World Health Organization (WHO) has released a study of health risks and determined that world-wide, the number of healthy years in a person’s life could be increased by 5 to 10 years, if 25 risks were reduced. Losing healthy years means one will either have a disease, disability, or death earlier than he or she would have if she he were able to avoid a health risk. The World Health Report 2002: Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life identifies the 10 greatest risks to human health worldwide and shows that “surprisingly few risks cause 40% of global deaths and disease.” The 10 risks fall into two categories. First, the populations in developing countries are the primary at risk population for five of the health risks: being underweight, unsafe sex, iron deficiency, indoor smoke from solid fuels, and unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene. The other five risks: high blood pressure, tobacco consumption, alcohol consumption, high cholesterol and obesity can be grouped together as contributors to heart disease and stroke. The latter five risks were previously identified with the developed industrialized countries. However, this WHO study shows that these health risks are also moving into the developing nations. Other related risks discussed in this report include environmentally related health risks such as inadequate and dangerous housing, lead exposure, drinking water contamination, and higher incidence of food and water-borne diseases and infections. Further details about this report can be found at Environmental Health Perspectives, V.111, No.9 July 2003, page A456 (HE 20.5559: 111/9) and the complete The World Health Report 2002 is found at http://www.who.int/whr/2002/en/ . The WHO series of annual reports each has its own title/topic.

BED SHARING: TWO STUDIES Bed sharing, which is the practice of letting babies sleep in an adult bed with a caregiver or parent is increasing in the United States. The National Infant Sleep Position Study (NISP) study completed by the researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)shows that the proportion of infants sharing an adult bed at night increased from 5.5% to 12.8% from 1993 to 2000. As it is stated, bed sharing, although common in many cultures, is controversial in this country. While bed sharing may benefit breastfeeding, infants are open to hazards such as falling, suffocation, and getting trapped between the bed and the wall, a head board, or the foot board. The study shows that African-American, Asian, and mothers under 18 years of age were more likely to sleep with infants than were white mothers over 18 years of age. The Press Release Study Finds Bed Sharing Among Parents and Infants on the Rise (http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jan2003/nichd-13.htm) that announced this study also cites a second related study which indicates that the number of bed sharing mothers were predominately African American below the federal poverty level. This NISP study is a first study to provide a percentage of infants sleeping with adults and find that these same infants are likely to be covered by a quilt or comforter. Covering the infants face or head is a potential hazard for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The NISP study has been published in “Infant-Parent Bed Sharing in an Inner City Population” by R. A. Brenner, et. al, Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, V.157 No. 1 January 2003, pages 33-39. There is also more information about bed sharing on the SIDS: “Back to Sleep” Campaign home page at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sids/

ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO: DOUBLE TROUBLE You may have known that “smokers drink and drinkers smoke”, but did you know “the heaviest alcohol consumers of alcohol are the heaviest consumers of tobacco.” Other facts include: (1) between 80 and 95 percent of alcoholics smoke cigarettes and about 70 percent of alcoholics are heavy smokers. (2) Drinking influences smoking more that smoking influences drinking, which means drinking will make you to smoke, more than smoking will be the cause of your drinking. (3) Smokers are 1. 32 times as likely to consume alcohol as are nonsmokers. (4) Smokers are 10 times more likely to develop alcoholism than are nonsmokers. (5) Adolescents who begin smoking are 3 times more likely to begin using alcohol. The heavy smoker has more difficulty overcoming alcoholism than the non-smoker. This is because of the many ways alcohol and nicotine interact at many levels in the brain. It is this interaction which compounds the individual’s addiction to both nicotine and alcohol. This double addiction also adds to the risk of varied kinds of cancer, cardiovascular, and lung problems. The solution, which is to first stop smoking and then stop drinking, is the presented in Alcohol and Tobacco, Alcohol Alert No. 39-1998, January 1998 issued by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa39.htm

NUCLEAR THREAT (TERRORISM): TWENTIETH CENTURY VERSION Since the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in 1945, there has been concern about terrorists’ use of hand held atomic devices which Charles T. Harrison phrases “a surreptitious importation strike (SIS).” SIS is the instance where small explosives of nuclear origin are carried by one man in a back pack or heavier explosives into the cities and military bases of any country by civilian automobile. The government’s concern about some missile shell size/type nuclear weapons carried in a knapsack or suitcase has been documented as early as the Eisenhower Administration (i.e. the 1950s). In 1993, there was concern about “agents in civilian clothes” who might use these weapons against the United States. Even though, Sadam Hussein is even mentioned in the article as a potential threat, but Harrison does not discuss or make any projections about “terrorism of 2003.” Charles T. Harrison, “Hell in a Hand Basket, The Threat of Portable Nuclear Weapons” Military Review, V. 73 No. 5, May 1993, pages 68-76 (D 110.7:73/5) discusses portable nuclear weapons and their possible SIS use. His chart “Profiles of Nuclear Weapons” provides data on the Designation (Military name), Weight, Length, Diameter, Yield, and Remarks (Bomb, missile warhead, artillery projectile) for seven categories of nuclear weapons. Regarding the SIS concept, he explains the possibilities in terms of the cold war era immediately preceding the downfall of communism. His solutions include the education of the politicians and the public about nuclear proliferation, suitcase weapons, and the current capabilities of foreign scientists. Harrison feels that educating the American public about these matters will leave us a little sadder-but-wiser and safer nation.

INFRARED TELESCOPE MONITORS COUCH POTATOES?? When one uses the TV remote control to change the channel, the remote sends out an infrared wave of light to the television. The television set receives the infrared light and the channel is changed. In 1800, Sir John Herschel used a thermometer to measure the temperature of the rays of light as it showed through a prism. He found all the colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) had specific temperatures, but discovered that “beyond the red” visible ray were invisible light rays with the hotter temperatures. He named these invisible light rays “infrared rays.” Infrared is the “invisible” light, which we can't see but can be detected by instruments. Infrared rays are used to locate people trapped in fires, and in night and ocean search and rescue operations. Human bodies and functioning television remote control units on Earth, and celestial bodies (all) emitting infrared rays can be detected by the proper sensing equipment. NASA has completed its Space Infrared Telescope Facility which uses state-of-the-art infrared light detectors to look into deep regions of space and detect and identify sources of infrared rays. Infrared: Catch the Wave is the August 19, 2003 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Press Release http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features/infrared-081903.cfm provides this news and ends with “And finally, a factoid that only a couch potato could appreciate--this 19-hundred pound observatory is so sensitive it will be able to detect the pulse of a TV remote control five thousand miles away!” Other than monitoring couch potatoes, more about aims and goals of this NASA mission can be found on the Space Infrared Telescope Facility at http://sirtf.caltech.edu/index.shtml .

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February 6, 2004

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