Over at CF Husband:
Tricia is on a "regular" floor and out of the ICU! HUZZAH! :)
The Focus of a Monk
36 minutes ago
Life after a lung transplant (c) 2005-2010 Questions, comments? Email me at janeandessie@gmail.com
… we've got young people all across this country who have never had a reason to participate until now.
We're up against the belief that it's all right for lobbyists to dominate our government, that they are just part of the system in Washington.
We're up against the conventional thinking that says your ability to lead as president comes from longevity in Washington or proximity to the White House.
… real leadership is about … the ability to rally Americans from all walks of life around a common purpose, a higher purpose.
… there are people all across this great nation who … can't afford another four years without health care, that can't afford another four years without good schools, that can't afford another four years without decent wages because our leaders couldn't come together and get it done.
And where we are met with cynicism and doubt and fear and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the American people in three simple words: Yes, we can.
You Are New York |
Cosmopolitan and sophisticated, you enjoy the newest in food, art, and culture. You also appreciate a good amount of grit - and very little shocks you. You're competitive, driven, and very likely to succeed. Famous people from New York: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tupac Shakur, Woody Allen |
My White Knight/ Not a Lancelot/ Nor an angel with wings/ Just someone to love me/ Who is not ashamed of a few nice things/ My white knight/ What my heart would say if it only knew how/ Please, dear Venus/ Show me now./ All I want is a plain man/ All I want is an honest man/ A quiet man, a gentleman/ A straightforwrad and honest man to sit with me/ in a cottage/ somewhere in the state of Iowa/ And I would like him to be/ More interested in me/ than he is in himself/ and more interested in us/ than in me./ And if occasionally he'd ponder/ what makes Shakespeare and Beethoven great/ him I could love till I die./ Him I could love till I die./ My white knight/ not a Lancelot/ nor an angel with wings/ Just someone to love me/ who is not ashamed of a few nice things./ My white knight/ Let me walk with him while the others ride by/ Walk and love him/ Till I die/ Till I die.
January 11, 2008
We're off and "Climbing" to new heights for CF research funding in 2008. But we need your help to get the right participants for our upcoming 27th Annual Climb for a Cure fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, February, 23, 2008 at the Rhodes State Office Tower in downtown Columbus. Climbing 40 flights of stairs isn't for everyone....but I'm counting on the fact that YOU know a lot of different people and maybe there are a few that just might take the "VERTICAL" challenge for CF research! Just as important is the fact that these special people know of your commitment to funding CF research and your personal "ASK" is what I am counting on. Here are a few details:
From 8:30 - 11:30 AM on Saturday, February 23, participants can climb the 40+ flights of the Rhodes State Office Building (the tallest building in Central Ohio) as many times as they want. The stairwell closes at 11:30 AM for the commencement of timed events.
All Participants are encouraged to bring additional pledges on the day of the event OR to use the CFF web-site to get on-line donations.
Timed events categories include 4-person relay, Timed single ascent, Heroes Division, and Firefighters Challenge. Relay Teams registration for 4 persons starts at $200.
The Challenge to fund all of the promising research to unlock the many mysteries of CF is upon us. We invest your donations quickly to fund the research that will answer the mystery of CF and help us "Add Tomorrows Everyday."
Registration and fundraising is just a click or phone call away:
Option 1 - Participants Register and pay your $50 Participant fee online at www.cff.org/chapters/central/ohio/ . Online fundraising ideas and capabilities are right at your fingertips!
Option 2 - Call our chapter office at (614) 846-2440 and ask our staff to register you over the phone. We can then note that you'll pay the registration fee by check or cash by event day. However, you will now be able to utilize the web site to fundraise for additional pledges from your family, friends, and other e-mail contacts.
We are busily planning for the food, fun and festivities that await our terrific climbers. We are working towards having many new climbers and appreciate any help that you can give us. Thank you for supporting our life changing mission. Your enthusiasm and dedication to maintaining health for those with CF inspires us to help "add tomorrows everyday" for those with CF.
Please call, e-mail or Morse code me with any questions that you may have. Please e-mail my contact info to any contacts that you may have. We already have Fire Department teams coming from throughout Ohio. We would certainly enjoy having any new fitness enthusiasts take the CF Vertical Challenge!
Best Wishes for 2008!
French scientists develop new strategy to stop transplant rejection
[Date: 2008-01-04]
French researchers have developed a new therapy which successfully prevents transplant rejection while avoiding many of the side effects of the drugs currently given to transplant patients.
The results, carried out by a team led by Joost van Meerwijk of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) are published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Controlling the body's extremely strong immune reaction to transplanted organs remains a major challenge for modern medicine. Immunosuppressant drugs have improved survival in the first year after transplant by effectively preventing acute rejection of the new organ. However, they are less effective at preventing chronic rejection which arises much later and affects a significant number of transplant patients. Furthermore, as immunosuppressants block the entire immune system, patients taking them are particularly prone to opportunistic infections and the development of certain cancers.
In healthy people, special cells called regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs) ensure that the body's immune system does not turn against itself. For a number of years, Professor Van Meerwijk and his colleagues have been investigating ways of taking advantage of this regulatory role of Tregs in transplant medicine.
In 2004, they showed that regulatory T lymphocytes effectively inhibited the rejection of a bone marrow transplant in mice. However, until now they have proven less effective at preventing the rejection of skin and heart transplants. Undeterred, the researchers designed a new experiment based on the fact that a bone marrow transplant makes subsequent organ transplants easier.
The first step of the newly designed protocol involved placing regulatory T lymphocytes in a culture with cells from the organ donor. Over a two week period, the T cells effectively 'learnt' to recognise the organ which was to be transplanted.
The scientists then carried out a double transplant on the recipient mouse, involving both bone marrow and an organ (either skin or heart). At the same time, the mice received an injection of Tregs from the culture.
The experiment was a success, with neither acute nor chronic rejection of either transplant taking place. 'In conclusion, we have demonstrated that adequately prestimulated Tregs can be used to protect skin and cardiac allografts from acute and chronic rejection,' the scientists write.
'This cellular therapy has two major advantages: an effective prevention of chronic rejection and a specificity of immunosuppression towards the transplanted organ, thereby avoiding a large number of undesirable side effects,' commented Professor Van Meerwijk.
The next step is to find out if the same procedure could be as effective in humans. The researchers note that the induction of tolerance to organs or tissues should be feasible using their protocol or a modified version of it. Furthermore, with some adjustments it could also be used to induce tolerance to transplants taken from dead organ donors.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine
http://www.inserm.fr