Category Archives: Longevity

MONTREAL, May 1, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - The team at the Biodme, a Space for Life, and its colony of gentoo penguins are happy to be celebrating the 33rd birthday of the oldest living gentoo penguin in North America. Our gentoo penguin was born on May 1, 1979 at the Edinburgh Zoo. She has beaten all longevity records, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) studbook. a record of the genealogy and locations of all individuals in this species in captivity in North America. To mark the milestone in style, the penguins donned their tuxedos while the keepers prepared a special three-layer birthday cake of fresh and frozen krill and fish. A hungry penguin couldn't ask for anything more!

Our birthday girl is rather shy, though, and she just stuck to her routine rather than sampling her gift. She did eat one or two fresh fish, but seemed happier hunting for pebbles for her nest, defending her territory from a somewhat pushy neighbour and exchanging greetings and caresses with her partner.

She left the United Kingdom for the Montral Aquarium shortly after she was born, in 1980, and moved to the Biodme in 1992. Like all the penguins she has been a faithful partner, remaining with her young 19-year old male companion since 2000. They have had three chicks.

She has a few health concerns, naturally, in view of her advanced age, but nothing terribly serious: cataracts and arthritis, afflictions common to many elderly animals. She gets an annual check-up, pedicure and beak trim, keeping her in good health.

At first sight there is nothing to distinguish our doyenne from the other penguins, except that she moves around a bit more slowly. In fact it is hard to tell the individuals in a colony apart, as males and females are identical, with their black heads and the little white spot above their eyes.

Gentoo penguins in the Antarctic Ocean generally live 15 to 20 years. Their life expectancy goes up to the thirties in captivity, given their more "laid-back" lifestyle because of the lack of predators and food stress, along with veterinary care and constant attention from the keepers.

Since the Biodme opened in 1992, the penguins have always been among visitors' favourites. And right now these polar birds, like their cousins from temperate and tropical climes, are in the spotlight at the Biodme, as our Bird Fest is in full flight until May21. It's a great opportunity for visitors to test their bird identification skills and get a close-up look at birds of prey during weekends in May.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwbx5SBvluU

The Montral Space for Life, which brings together the Biodme, Botanical Garden, Insectarium and Planetarium, is launching a daring, creative urban movement, urging everyone to rethink the bonds between humankind and nature. The Space for Life is also a place where people come together to create and to cultivate a new way of living, shaped by Montrealers and people from around the world.

View post:
A New Record for Longevity at the Space for Life! - A Female Gentoo Penguin Turns 33

Public release date: 1-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Valerie Wencis valerie_wencis@hms.harvard.edu 617-432-8024 Harvard Medical School

New research reinforces the claim that resveratrola compound found in plants and food groups, notably red wineprolongs lifespan and health-span by boosting the activity of mitochondria, the cell's energy supplier.

"The results were surprisingly clear," said David Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and the study's senior author. "Without the mitochondria-boosting gene SIRT1, resveratrol does not work."

The findings are to be published May 1 in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Over the last decade, Sinclair and colleagues including Leonard Guarente at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have published a body of research describing how resveratrol improves energy production and overall health in cells by activating a class of genes called sirtuins that are integral to mitochondrial function. The cell's power supplier, mitochondria are essential not just for longevity but for overall health.

Sinclair and colleagues had studied sirtuins in a variety of model organisms: yeast, worms, flies and mice. For the first three organisms they were able to thoroughly knock out SIRT1 and show that cells lacking the gene don't respond to resveratrol. But no one had been able to demonstrate the effect in mice, which die at birth without the SIRT1 gene.

In order to solve this obstacle, Nathan Price and Ana Gomes, graduate students in the Sinclair lab, spent three years engineering a new mouse model. These mice, seemingly normal in every way, were designed so that SIRT1 would systemically switch off when the mice were given the drug Tamoxifen.

"This is a drug inducible, whole body deletion of a gene," said Sinclair. "This is something that's rarely been done so efficiently. Moving forward, this mouse model will be valuable to many different labs for other areas of research."

The results were plain: when mice were given low doses of resveratrol after SIRT1 was disabled, the researchers found no discernable improvement in mitochondrial function. In contrast, the mice with normal SIRT1 function given resveratrol showed dramatic increases in energy.

More:
More evidence for longevity pathway

May 1, 2012

By

PLYMOUTH The United States Department of Justice may sue the city of Plymouth on behalf of a military reserve officer and city employees claims for longevity pay. A news release from City Attorney Sean Surrisi Monday states that there is a question as to whether a city ordinance in effect since 1989 differs from a federal law enacted in 1994 protecting civilian job rights and benefits for veterans and reserve troops who may be absent from their jobs during military service. The employee, who was not named by Surrisi, did receive prorated longevity pay from the city for time actually worked. However, the employee also claims entitlement to longevity pay for the entire year of 2010-11 under terms of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). This Act applies to both governmental and private employers, and supersedes any conflicting local law that reduces, limits, or eliminates any rights or benefits of a service member. The release from the city stated that The U.S. Department of Labor has its own rules and regulations interpreting USERRA, which provide, in part, that an employee who is absent from a position of employment by reason of service is not entitled to greater benefits than would be generally provided to a similarly situated employee on non-military furlough or leave of absence. Surrisi said Monday that the city had been in discussion with the branch of reserves that the employee serves under and also with the U.S. Department of Labor over the past year about the issue. The city maintains that its ordinance does not conflict with USERRA and that the employee in question was treated no better or no worse than any non-military employee on a leave of absence. The city complies with all federal, state, and local laws when figuring payroll, said Plymouth Clerk-Treasurer Toni Hutchings. Our ordinance states that the proration of longevity pay is in the interest of fiscal responsibility and fairness. City officials also brought up Indianas Ghost Employment statute. This statute prohibits a governmental entity from paying an employee for work that has not been performed. Officials question whether making the employees requested longevity payment would violate that statute. Plymouth mayor Mark Senter said that he is proud of Plymouth employees who serve in the military, but that he must support city ordinances. As mayor, the people of Plymouth have given me a trust to enforce their ordinances and my administration must prove faithful in serving as well, said Senter. Surrisi further stated in the news release that the USERRA allows for enforcement actions to be brought on the service members behalf by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Department of Justice has been in contact with the city for some time and may file suit in the near future. In this case, a court will determine whether the longevity pay is due in light of differing local, state, and federal laws.

Read more here:
U.S. Dept. of Justice may sue city

It all started circa 1960 in several areas of the Mediterranean region, specifically the Greek island of Crete, other areas of Greece and southern Italy. Researchers were drawn to these areas because the adults living there had very low rates of chronic diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, as well as very long life expectancy. For examples, the natives of Greece had a rate of heart disease that was 90 percent lower than that of Americans at the time. (Mind you, heart disease and cancer are still currently two of the top killers of Americans.)

In addition to a physically active lifestyle, these Mediterranean natives consumed a diet that was rich in grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts. In fact, more than 60 percent of the calories in their diets in the 1960s were supplied by these high-fiber, nutritionally-dense plant foods. The majority of the fat in the diet was provided by olives and olive oil, and fish and seafood was enjoyed at least twice a week. (Note: the latest recommendation from the USDA is to consume at least two fish meals, especially fatty fish such as salmon, weekly to increase longevity.)

Following this traditional 1960s Mediterranean Diet, foods from animal sources were limited as well as sweets. Water was abundantly consumed throughout the day and low to moderate amounts of wine were enjoyed, typically only with meals. Equally important, meals were enjoyed with friends and family.

Fast forward to the present, ongoing research continues to support the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find a study that found that this type of eating style was unhealthy.

With the warmer weather and budding of plants around us, May is the perfect month to start enjoying more of a plant-based, Mediterranean diet and lifestyle. Here's some tips:

Cheers!

Follow Joan on Twitter at: joansalgeblake

See more here:
The Key To Longevity: Eat Mediterranean-Style

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Telecom service providers are increasing their reliance on customer experience management (CEM) tools as a way to improve their relationships with enterprise customers, according to the latest report published by Heavy Reading Insider (www.heavyreading.com/insider), a subscription research service from Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com).

Service Providers Use CEM for Competitive Advantage examines the customer experience management market, analyzing the verticals that are most likely to utilize CEM over the next two years, as well drivers in the market and challenges in the industry. It includes a comparative analysis of CEM solutions available, examines the growth expectations of the market and explores trends that are likely to occur in the industry over the next 18 to 24 months.

For a list of companies covered in this report, http://img.lightreading.com/lri/pdf/hri0512_companies.pdf

"Telco service providers are turning to CEM solutions to manage the increasing demands placed on their networks and to better understand the needs and desires of their users," says Denise Culver, research analyst with Heavy Reading Insider and author of the report. "While CEM has ties to customer relationship management (CRM), it takes a more holistic view of the customer experience, essentially taking all customer touch points or 'experiences' and transforms it into actionable business intelligence for the telco service provider."

Competition and rising customer expectations mean that customer experience issues increasingly drive financial performance, Culver says. "CEM enables companies to think in terms of customer personalization and how to motivate individual customers," she continues. "As more customers feel they're individual needs are being met the more loyalty they will feel toward the companies that are eager to hang on to them for the long term."

Key findings of Service Providers Use CEM for Competitive Advantage include the following:

Service Providers Use CEM for Competitive Advantage is available as part of an annual single-user subscription (12 monthly issues) to Heavy Reading Insider, priced at $1,995. Individual reports are available for $900 (single-user license).

To subscribe, or for more information, please visit: http://www.heavyreading.com/insider. For more information about other Heavy Reading Insider research services, please visit: http://www.heavyreading.com/research.

To request a free executive summary of the report, or for details on multi-user licensing options, please contact:

Jeff Claudino Director of Sales Insider Research Services 619-229-9940 claudino@lightreading.com

Read the original here:
Telcos Look to CEM to Garner Customer Loyalty and Longevity

29 April 2012 05:38

Frank Lampard wants to emulate Manchester United's Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs by continuing his career at Chelsea for several more years.

Frank Lampard wants to emulate Manchester United's Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs by continuing his career at Chelsea for several more years.

The 33-year-old revealed that he had considered a move to a foreign league previously, but is now looking to stay at Stamford Bridge, with contract talks set for the summer.

He told the Daily Mirror: "I love Chelsea and, ideally, I will be here longer than just one more season.

"I look at people like Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs at Manchester United and see what they are still doing and I would love to do the same for Chelsea. I want to emulate them.

"I considered playing abroad three or four years ago. But I decided to be here at Chelsea for the long haul.

"You can see what can be achieved by players like John Terry and Steven Gerrard who have been one-club men. Talks are planned with the club in the summer and as long as they want me, I would be more than happy to continue.

"As you get that bit older, you can't play the same way as you did five or six years ago. But I still feel I can contribute. I still feel good and I feel fresh in training and I am enjoying my football as much as ever."

Chelsea take on QPR on Sunday with controversy already surrounding the clash at Stamford Bridge.

See the original post here:
Scholes, Giggs longevity inspires Lampard