Feeling Stressed?
Try a Bottle of
Fresh Air
from Reuters
-
The
National Trust
of the UK is
offering
stressed-out workers
10 minutes of calm,
bottled up in a jar
full of nothing but
fresh air.
That's the effect,
it says, of the air,
which comes from
some of the
country's favorite
beauty spots.
The glass jars are
being handed out to
workers in London
who can choose a
variety of aromas
including the
lakeside smell of
Windermere in
Cumbria and the
grassy tang of
Stourhead in
Wiltshire.
"With most of us
living in an urban
environment and
having little time
to escape to the
great outdoors, we
thought it was about
time the National
Trust shared just a
fraction of our
copious amounts of
fresh air with the
nation," said Trust
spokesman Andrew
McLaughlin.
He said a study had
shown 74 percent of
workers admit they
feel stressed every
day but that 70
percent say that
escaping to the
countryside makes
them feel instantly
relaxed.
The Trust is
offering the jars as
part of a promotion
to publicize a
weekend of free
entrance to its
attractions on March
20/21.
Dial-a-Confession
from Cave News --
A telephone line for Roman Catholics in France allows them to do ‘confession’ by phone. It’s not free - a pay telephone line is used and 0.34 euros a minute, plus a connection charge for mobiles. For advice on confessing, press one. To confess, press two. To listen to some confessions, press three," says a soothing male voice, welcoming the caller to "Le Fil du Seigneur," or "The Line of the Lord" service."In case of serious or mortal sins -- that is, sins that have cut you off from Christ our Lord, it is indispensable to confide in a priest," warns the caller.
The site was set up this month at the beginning of the Christian fasting period of Lent by a group of Catholics working for AABAS, a small Paris company that provides telephone messaging services.
Scientists Discover
Why "Sunshine"
Vitamin D Is Crucial
from
Reuters --
Vitamin
D is vital in activating human
defenses and low levels suffered by
around half the world's population
may mean their immune systems'
killer T cells are poor at fighting
infection, scientists said on
Sunday.
The
findings by Danish researchers could
help the fight against infectious
diseases and global epidemics, they
said, and could be particularly
useful in the search for new
vaccines.
The
researchers found that immune
systems' killer cells, known as T
cells, rely on vitamin D to become
active and remain dormant and
unaware of the possibility of threat
from an infection or pathogen if
vitamin D is lacking in the blood.
"When a
T cell is exposed to a foreign
pathogen, it extends a signaling
device or 'antenna' known as a
vitamin D receptor, with which it
searches for vitamin D," said
Carsten Geisler of Copenhagen
University's department of
international health, immunology and
microbiology, who led the study.
"This
means the T cell must have vitamin D
or activation of the cell will
cease. If the T cells cannot find
enough vitamin D in the blood, they
won't even begin to mobilize."
Scientists have long known that
vitamin D is important for calcium
absorption, and that there is a link
between levels of the vitamin and
diseases such as cancer and multiple
sclerosis.
"What
we didn't realize is how crucial
vitamin D is for actually activating
the immune system -- which we know
now," Geisler wrote in the study in
the journal
Nature Immunology.
Most
Vitamin D is made by the body as a
natural by-product of the skin's
exposure to sunlight. It can also be
found in fish liver oil, eggs and
fatty fish such as salmon, herring
and mackerel, or taken as a
supplement.
Almost
half of the world's population has
lower than optimal levels of vitamin
D and scientists say the problem is
getting worse as people spend more
time indoors.
Geisler
and his research team said the
findings offered much needed
information about the immune system
and would be of particular use when
developing new vaccines.
"This
is important not only in fighting
disease but also in dealing with
anti-immune reactions of the body
and the rejection of transplanted
organs," they wrote.
Active
T cells multiply at an explosive
rate and as well as fighting
infection, can also mistakenly
attack the body itself.
After
and an organ transplant, for
example, T cells can attack the new
organ as a "foreign invader," and in
autoimmune disease, hypersensitive T
cells mistake parts of the body's
own cells as threats, prompting the
body to attack itself.
Geisler
said there were no definitive
studies on the optimal daily vitamin
D dose but experts recommend 25 to
50 micrograms.
A scan of brain
activity can
effectively read a
person's mind,
researchers said
Thursday.