| Keeping cat burglars out of the bird feeder
Dear Dr. Fox: I would like to offer a suggestion to C.B.S. of Salisbury, Md., who had the problem of neighborhood cats hanging around the birdhouses and feeders.Try laying down chicken wire on the ground under them in whatever diameter needed. It's said that cats don't like the feel on their paws; and the birds can still feed off the ground.My birds have learned to be somewhat aware of my cats -- I have eight. Luckily, the cats have outgrown stalking the birds, but I still try not to encourage ground feeders.I used the chicken wire a few years ago when a Carolina wren insisted on nesting on my kitchen window ledge. All seven babies flew off safely, so it must have at least helped.It's worth giving the chicken wire a try; but, truthfully, controlling outside cats is next to impossible.-- S.R.C, Great Falls, Va.Dear S.R.C.: Thanks for the good advice.
Translational Research Benefits From $6.37 Million To Find New Ways To Treat Psoriasis
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a research center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center a $6.37 million award to establish a Center of Research Translation (CORT) for the skin disease psoriasis.
This is one of the largest grants ever given to a medical institution in the United States for the study of psoriasis.
With a five-year grant from NIAMS, the Psoriasis CORT will bring a multidisciplinary team of translational physicians scientists, nurses, community clinicians, laity and basic scientists from different departments and disciplines together. This team will apply the intellectual and scientific resources of their institutions to new therapies to provide relief to patients with the skin disease that has long-term health and psychosocial consequences.
Childhood Influenza Immunization Coalition Encourages Vaccination Throughout the Influenza Season
BETHESDA, Md. (Map) - BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- To raise awareness of the need to vaccinate more infants, children and adolescents against influenza, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in conjunction with Families Fighting Flu, declared today, November 27, as the first ever "Children's Flu Vaccination Day." The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases' (NFID) Childhood Influenza Immunization Coalition commends this effort to emphasize the importance of annual influenza vaccination to protect children and their contacts from this serious and potentially deadly virus. "Influenza claims more American lives every year than all other vaccine- preventable diseases combined," said Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, Coalition Chair, 17th Surgeon General of the United States (2002-2006), President of Canyon Ranch Institute and Distinguished Professor of Public Health, The University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.
3 fire departments receive FEMA grants
Three area fire departments will receive funds in the latest round of Assistance to Firefighter Grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Penn Volunteer Fire Company and Relief Association in Penn Borough was awarded $266,000 for vehicle acquisition; the St. Vincent Fire Department in Unity will receive $7,554 for operations and safety; and the Citizens Volunteer Fire Company in New Kensington will receive $50,943 for operations and safety. The grants are part of $901,519 awarded by the Department of Homeland Security to 15 fire departments and first-responder organizations in Pennsylvania. Nationally, $13.3 million in funds were awarded. .
Good news, bad news
From time to time I actually try to do what's right in my dietary habits. I try to eat good foods and as many natural foods as I can. When I slip up and indulge in high fat foods loaded with preservatives (more often than I care to admit), I suffer a severe case of nutritional guilt. However, the things I've been reading in the newspaper lately certainly have put me into a nutritional tizzy. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what foods were nutritionally good and what ones were not. Now, I just don't know.
For years the good health people have been telling us to avoid chemical preservatives, especially BHA and BHT. Why? Because it was believed these nasty chemicals could cause cancer - the Big C. Now it seem that not only do the nasty chemicals not cause cancer, they may in fact, even help to prevent it.
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