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torsdag, januari 31, 2019
Kungens sanna förmögenhet avslöjad – är god för miljarder
onsdag, januari 30, 2019
U.S. Midwest Freezes, Australia Burns: This Is the Age of Weather Extremes
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| The Lake Michigan shore in Chicago on Tuesday. Overnight temperatures in the city dipped to minus 21 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 29 Celsius, near the record low. |
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| Sweltering heat gripped Australia this week. |
Ebba Andersson
Delbo-född, jättetrevlig skidåkande ung dam som vi
önskar lycka till under kommande VM och i alla mästerskap därefter också.
Några kostnadsfria museer i Stockholm
Östasiatiska museet
Nationalmuseum,
Medeltidsmuseet,
Riksidrottsmuseet,
Armémuseum,
Stockholms Stadsmuseum,
Moderna museet,
Hallwyllska palatset,
Etnografiska museet.
Nationalmuseum,
Medeltidsmuseet,
Riksidrottsmuseet,
Armémuseum,
Stockholms Stadsmuseum,
Moderna museet,
Hallwyllska palatset,
Etnografiska museet.
As little as 20 seconds of brisk stair climbing, done several times a day, might be enough to increase aerobic fitness.
As little as 20 seconds of brisk stair climbing, done several times a day, might be enough exercise to improve fitness, according to a pragmatic new study of interval-style training./NYT
tisdag, januari 29, 2019
Rachmaninoff; Pianokonsert no. 2
Anna Fedorovas hemsida:
http://www.annafedorova.com/Anna_Fedorova/Home.htm)
Ytterligare en miljöpartist tillika riksdagsledamot att hålla under uppsikt
Kontroversiell MP-ledamot tillbaka i riksdagen
I december 2017 tvingades MP-ledamoten Pernilla Stålhammar lämna sina uppdrag i riksdagens utskott efter att ha riktat grova anklagelser mot partivänner i sociala medier.
Nu är hon tillbaka i riksdagen.
Nu är hon tillbaka i riksdagen.
Pernilla Stålhammar beskrev i sociala medier partikollegor som säkerhetshot och skrev att hon betraktade det hela som ”en nationell säkerhetsfråga”.
Stålhammar anklagade också ledande miljöpartister för att ha tvingat henne att ljuga och hotat att krossa henne. I bakgrunden fanns ett kraschat förhållande med en kollega som lämnade partiet 2015.
Germs in Your Gut Are Talking to Your Brain. Scientists Want to Know What They’re Saying.
The body’s microbial community may influence the brain and behavior, perhaps even playing a role in dementia, autism and other disorders.
By Carl Zimmer
Dr. Cryan and other scientists were beginning to find hints that these microbes could influence the brain and behavior. Perhaps, he told the scientific gathering, the microbiome has a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
The idea was not well received. “I’ve never given a talk to so many people who didn’t believe what I was saying,” Dr. Cryan recalled.
A lot has changed since then: Research continues to turn up remarkable links between the microbiome and the brain. Scientists are finding evidence that microbiome may play a role not just in Alzheimer’s disease, but Parkinson’s disease, depression, schizophrenia, autism and other conditions.
For some neuroscientists, new studies have changed the way they think about the brain.
One of the skeptics at that Alzheimer’s meeting was Sangram Sisodia, a neurobiologist at the University of Chicago. He wasn’t swayed by Dr. Cryan’s talk, but later he decided to put the idea to a simple test.
“It was just on a lark,” said Dr. Sisodia. “We had no idea how it would turn out.”
He and his colleagues gave antibiotics to mice prone to develop a version of Alzheimer’s disease, in order to kill off much of the gut bacteria in the mice. Later, when the scientists inspected the animals’ brains, they found far fewer of the protein clumps linked to dementia.
Just a little disruption of the microbiome was enough to produce this effect. Young mice given antibiotics for a week had fewer clumps in their brains when they grew old, too.
“I never imagined it would be such a striking result,” Dr. Sisodia said. “For someone with a background in molecular biology and neuroscience, this is like going into outer space.”
Following a string of similar experiments, he now suspects that just a few species in the gut — perhaps even one — influence the course of Alzheimer’s disease, perhaps by releasing chemical that alters how immune cells work in the brain.
He hasn’t found those microbes, let alone that chemical. But “there’s something’s in there,” he said. “And we have to figure out what it is.”
‘It was considered crazy’
Scientists have long known that microbes live inside us. In 1683, the Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek put plaque from his teeth under a microscope and discovered tiny creatures swimming about.
But the microbiome has stubbornly resisted scientific discovery. For generations, microbiologists only studied the species that they could grow in the lab. Most of our interior occupants can’t survive in petri dishes.
In the early 2000s, however, the science of the microbiome took a sudden leap forward when researchers figured out how to sequence DNA from these microbes. Researchers initially used this new technology to examine how the microbiome influences parts of our bodies rife with bacteria, such as the gut and the skin.
Few of them gave much thought to the brain — there didn’t seem to be much point. The brain is shielded from microbial invasion by the so-called blood-brain barrier. Normally, only small molecules pass through.
“As recently as 2011, it was considered crazy to look for associations between the microbiome and behavior,” said Rob Knight, a microbiologist at the University of California, San Diego.
He and his colleagues discovered some of the earliest hints of these links. Investigators took stool from mice with a genetic mutation that caused them to eat a lot and put on weight. They transferred the stool to mice that had been raised germ-free — that is, entirely without gut microbiomes — since birth.
After receiving this so-called fecal transplant, the germ-free mice got hungry, too, and put on weight.
Altering appetite isn’t the only thing that the microbiome can do to the brain, it turns out. Dr. Cryan and his colleagues, for example, have found that mice without microbiomes become loners, preferring to stay away from fellow rodents.
The scientists eventually discovered changes in the brains of these antisocial mice. One region, called the amygdala, is important for processing social emotions. In germ-free mice, the neurons in the amygdala make unusual sets of proteins, changing the connections they make with other cells.
Studies of humans revealed some surprising patterns, too. Children with autism have unusual patterns of microbial species in their stool. Differences in the gut bacteria of people with a host of other brain-based conditions also have been reported.
But none of these associations proves cause and effect. Finding an unusual microbiome in people with Alzheimer’s doesn’t mean that the bacteria drive the disease. It could be the reverse: People with Alzheimer’s disease often change their eating habits, for example, and that switch might favor different species of gut microbes.
Fecal transplants can help pin down these links. In his research on Alzheimer’s, Dr. Sisodia and his colleagues transferred stool from ordinary mice into the mice they had treated with antibiotics. Once their microbiomes were restored, the antibiotic-treated mice started developing protein clumps again.
“We’re extremely confident that it’s the bacteria that’s driving this,” he said. Other researchers have taken these experiments a step further by using human fecal transplants.
If you hold a mouse by its tail, it normally wriggles in an effort to escape. If you give it a fecal transplant from humans with major depression, you get a completely different result: The mice give up sooner, simply hanging motionless.
As intriguing as this sort of research can be, it has a major limitation. Because researchers are transferring hundreds of bacterial species at once, the experiments can’t reveal which in particular are responsible for changing the brain.
Now researchers are pinpointing individual strains that seem to have an effect.
To study autism, Dr. Mauro Costa-Mattioli and his colleagues at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston investigated different kinds of mice, each of which display some symptoms of autism. A mutation in a gene called SHANK3 can cause mice to groom themselves repetitively and avoid contact with other mice, for example.
In another mouse strain, Dr. Costa-Mattioli found that feeding mothers a high-fat diet makes it more likely their pups will behave this way.
When the researchers investigated the microbiomes of these mice, they found the animals lacked a common species called Lactobacillus reuteri. When they added a strain of that bacteria to the diet, the animals became social again.
Dr. Costa-Mattioli found evidence that L. reuteri releases compounds that send a signal to nerve endings in the intestines. The vagus nerve sends these signals from the gut to the brain, where they alter production of a hormone called oxytocin that promotes social bonds.
Other microbial species also send signals along the vagus nerve, it turns out. Still others communicate with the brain via the bloodstream.
It’s likely that this influence begins before birth, as a pregnant mother’s microbiome releases molecules that make their way into the fetal brain.
Mothers seed their babies with microbes during childbirth and breast feeding. During the first few years of life, both the brain and the microbiome rapidly mature.
To understand the microbiome’s influence on the developing brain, Rebecca Knickmeyer, a neuroscientist at Michigan State University, is studying fMRI scans of infants.
In her first study, published in January, she focused on the amygdala, the emotion-processing region of the brain that Dr. Cryan and others have found to be altered in germ-free mice.
Dr. Knickmeyer and her colleagues measured the strength of the connections between the amygdala and other regions of the brain. Babies with a lower diversity of species in their guts have stronger connections, the researchers found.
Does that mean a low-diversity microbiome makes babies more fearful of others? It’s not possible to say yet — but Dr. Knickmeyer hopes to find out by running more studies on babies.
Protection against seizures
As researchers better understand how the microbiome influences the brain, they hope doctors will be able to use it to treat psychiatric and neurological conditions.
It’s possible they’ve been doing it for a long time — without knowing.
In the early 1900s, neurologists found that putting people with epilepsy on a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein and fat sometimes reduced their seizures.
Epileptic mice experience the same protection from a so-called ketogenic diet. But no one could say why. Elaine Hsiao, a microbiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, suspected that the microbiome was the reason.
To test the microbiome’s importance, Dr. Hsiao and her colleagues raised mice free of microbes. When they put the germ-free epileptic mice on a ketogenic diet, they found that the animals got no protection from seizures.
But if they gave the germ-free animals stool from mice on a ketogenic diet, seizures were reduced.
Dr. Hsiao found that two types of gut bacteria in particular thrive in mice on a ketogenic diet. They may provide their hosts with building blocks for neurotransmitters that put a brake on electrical activity in the brain.
It’s conceivable that people with epilepsy wouldn’t need to go on a ketogenic diet to get its benefits — one day, they may just take a pill containing the bacteria that do well on the diet.
Sarkis Mazmanian, a microbiologist at Caltech, and his colleagues have identified a single strain of bacteria that triggers symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in mice. He has started a company that is testing a compound that may block signals that the microbe sends to the vagus nerve.
Dr. Mazmanian and other researchers now must manage a tricky balancing act. On one hand, their experiments have proven remarkably encouraging; on the other, scientists don’t want to encourage the notion that microbiome-based cures for diseases like Parkinson’s are around the corner.
That’s not easy when people can buy probiotics without a prescription, and when some companies are willing to use preliminary research to peddle microbes to treat conditions like depression.
“The science can get mixed up with what the pseudoscientists are doing,” said Dr. Hsiao.
Dr. Costa-Mattioli hopes that L. reuteri some day will help some people with autism, but he warns parents against treating their children with store-bought probiotics. Some strains of L. reuteri alter the behavior of mice, he’s found, and others don’t.
Dr. Costa-Mattioli and his colleagues are still searching for the most effective strain and figuring out the right dose to try on people. “You want to go into a clinical trial with the best weapon, and I’m not sure we have it,” he said.
Katarzyna B. Hooks, a computational biologist at the University of Bordeaux in France, warned that studies like Dr. Costa-Mattioli’s are still unusual. Most of these findings come from research with fecal transplants or germ-free mice — experiments in which it’s especially hard to pinpoint the causes of changes in behavior.
“We have the edges of the puzzle, and we’re now trying to figure out what’s in the picture itself,” she said.
söndag, januari 27, 2019
Från de stora skogarna
En god ersättning om man inte har möjlighet
att vara i den stora skogen ; om än det
inte tränger in lika djupt som på riktigt.
She Wanted to Drive, So Saudi Arabia’s Ruler Imprisoned and Tortured Her
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| Opinion |
The U.S. should pressure Saudis to respect the human rights of outspoken women.
Remember this name: Loujain (pronounced Loo-JAYNE) al-Hathloul. She is 29 years old and a courageous advocate for gender equality — so she is in a Saudi Arabian prison, and reportedly our Saudi allies have tortured her, even waterboarded her.
lördag, januari 26, 2019
Trump’s Shutdown Was a Cruel Joke
Trump Signs Bill Reopening Government for 3 Weeks in Surprise Retreat From Wall
Trump’s Shutdown Was a Cruel Joke
It revealed the folly of the president’s approach to politics.
fredag, januari 25, 2019
Venezuela
Caracas.- El presidente Nicolás Maduro dio este jueves un
El mandatario reiteró su decisión del miércoles 23 de Enero con romper relaciones diplomáticas con el gobierno estadounidense, al insistir que la administración del presidente Donald Trump encabeza un golpe de Estado en contra su nuevo mandato de seis años, tras autoproclamarse como presidente interino, el presidente de la Asamblea Nacional (AN), Juan Guaidó.
A Rival Who Can Flummox Trump: A Powerful Woman Named Nancy Pelosi
In the past, when Mr. Trump was challenged by powerful women, he appealed to their bosses. Not so for Ms. Pelosi, who is her own boss./NYT
torsdag, januari 24, 2019
Esa-Pekka Salonen Takes a Bow in San Francisco
Esa-Pekka Salonen, the next music director of the San Francisco Symphony, conducting the orchestra for the first time since his appointment.
Brandon
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Our guide to the
Mediterranean diet
Last reviewed
The Mediterranean diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and it includes less dairy and meat than a typical Western diet.
In this article, we explain what the Mediterranean diet is and provide a 7-day meal plan for people to follow.
What is a Mediterranean diet?
A Mediterranean diet includes fresh produce and some healthful fats and oils.
Essentially, following a Mediterranean diet means eating in the way that the people in the Mediterranean region traditionally ate.
A traditional diet from the Mediterranean region includes a generous portion of fresh produce, whole grains, and legumes, as well as some healthful fats and fish.
The general guidelines of the diet recommend that people eat:
- a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains
- healthful fats, such as nuts, seeds, and olive oil
- moderate amounts of dairy and fish
- very little white meat and red meat
- few eggs
- red wine in moderation
The American Heart Association note that the average Mediterranean diet contains a high percentage of calories from fat.
Although more than half of the calories from fat come from monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil, the diet may not be right for people who need to limit their fat intake.
Building a meal plan
The Mediterranean diet puts a higher focus on plant foods than many other diets. It is not uncommon for vegetables, whole grains, and legumes to make up all or most of a meal.
People following the diet typically cook these foods using healthful fats, such as olive oil, and add plenty of flavorful spices.
Meals may include small portions of fish, meat, or eggs.
Water and sparkling water are common drink choices, as well as moderate amounts of red wine.
People on a Mediterranean diet avoid the following foods:
- refined grains, such as white bread, white pasta, and pizza dough containing white flour
- refined oils, which include canola oil and soybean oil
- foods with added sugars, such as pastries, sodas, and candies
- deli meats, hot dogs, and other processed meats
- processed or packaged foods
7-day meal plan
Here is an example of a 7-day Mediterranean diet meal plan:
Day 1
One breakfast option is greek yogurt with blueberries and walnuts.
Breakfast
- one pan-fried egg
- whole-wheat toast
- grilled tomatoes
For additional calories, add another egg or some sliced avocado to the toast.
Lunch
- 2 cups of mixed salad greens with cherry tomatoes and olives on top and a dressing of olive oil and vinegar
- whole-grain pita bread
- 2 ounces (oz) of hummus
Dinner
- whole-grain pizza with tomato sauce, grilled vegetables, and low-fat cheese as toppings
For added calories, add some shredded chicken, ham, tuna, or pine nuts to the pizza.
Day 2
Breakfast
- 1 cup of Greek yogurt
- half a cup of fruits, such as blueberries, raspberries, or chopped nectarines
For additional calories, add 1–2 oz of almonds or walnuts.
Lunch
- whole-grain sandwich with grilled vegetables, such as eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and onion
To increase the calorie content, spread hummus or avocado on the bread before adding the fillings.
Dinner
- one portion of baked cod or salmon with garlic and black pepper to add flavor
- one roasted potato with olive oil and chives
Day 3
Breakfast
- 1 cup of whole-grain oats with cinnamon, dates, and honey
- top with low-sugar fruits, such as raspberries
- 1 oz of shredded almonds (optional)
Lunch
- boiled white beans with spices, such as laurel, garlic, and cumin
- 1 cup of arugula with an olive oil dressing and toppings of tomato, cucumber, and feta cheese
Dinner
- one-half of a cup of whole-grain pasta with tomato sauce, olive oil, and grilled vegetables
- 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese
Day 4
Breakfast
- two-egg scramble with bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes
- top with 1 oz of queso fresco or one-quarter of an avocado
Lunch
- roasted anchovies in olive oil on whole-grain toast with a sprinkling of lemon juice
- a warm salad comprising 2 cups of steamed kale and tomatoes
Dinner
- 2 cups of steamed spinach with a sprinkling of lemon juice and herbs
- one boiled artichoke with olive oil, garlic powder, and salt
Add another artichoke for a hearty, filling meal.
Day 5
Breakfast
- 1 cup of Greek yogurt with cinnamon and honey on top
- mix in a chopped apple and shredded almonds
Lunch
- 1 cup of quinoa with bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives
- roasted garbanzo beans with oregano and thyme
- top with feta cheese crumbles or avocado (optional)
Dinner
- 2 cups of steamed kale with tomato, cucumber, olives, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese
- a portion of grilled sardines with a slice of lemon
Day 6
Breakfast
- two slices of whole-grain toast with soft cheese, such as ricotta, queso fresco, or goat cheese
- add chopped blueberries or figs for sweetness
Lunch
- 2 cups of mixed greens with tomato and cucumber
- a small portion of roasted chicken with a sprinkling of olive oil and lemon juice
Dinner
- oven-roasted vegetables, such as:
- artichoke
- carrot
- zucchini
- eggplant
- sweet potato
- tomato
- toss in olive oil and heavy herbs before roasting
- 1 cup of whole-grain couscous
Day 7
Breakfast
- whole-grain oats with cinnamon, dates, and maple syrup
- top with low-sugar fruits, such as raspberries or blackberries
Lunch
- stewed zucchini, yellow squash, onion, and potato in a tomato and herb sauce
Dinner
- 2 cups of greens, such as arugula or spinach, with tomato, olives, and olive oil
- a small portion of white fish
- leftover vegetable stew from lunch
Snacks
Avocado on toast is a healthful snack for people on a Mediterranean diet.
There are many snack options available as part of the Mediterranean diet.
Suitable snacks include:
- a small serving of nuts
- whole fruits, such as oranges, plums, and grapes
- dried fruits, including apricots and figs
- a small serving of yogurt
- hummus with celery, carrots, or other vegetables
- avocado on whole-grain toast
Health benefits
The Mediterranean diet receives a lot of attention from the medical community because many studies verify its benefits.
The benefits of a Mediterranean diet include:
Lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease
Evidence suggests that a Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. A study that featured in The New England Journal of Medicine compared two Mediterranean diets with a control diet for almost 5 years.
The research suggested that the diet reduced the risk of cardiovascular issues, including stroke, heart attack, and death, by about 30 percent compared with the control group.
More studies are necessary to determine whether lifestyle factors, such as more physical activity and extended social support systems, are partly responsible for the lower incidence of heart disease in Mediterranean countries than in the United States.
Improving sleep quality
In a 2018 study, researchers explored how the Mediterranean diet affects sleep.
Their research suggested that adhering to a Mediterranean diet may improve sleep quality in older adults. The diet did not seem to affect sleep quality in younger people.
Weight loss
The Mediterranean diet may also be helpful for people who are trying to lose weight.
The authors of a 2016 review noted that people who were overweight or had obesity lost more weight on the Mediterranean diet than on a low-fat diet. The Mediterranean diet group achieved results that were similar to those of the participants on other standard weight loss diets.
Summary
Following a Mediterranean diet involves making long-term, sustainable dietary changes.
Generally speaking, a person should aim for a diet that is rich in natural foods, including plenty of vegetables, whole grains, and healthful fats.
Anyone who finds that the diet does not feel satisfying should talk to a dietitian. They can recommend additional or alternative foods to help increase satiety.
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