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Overweight? It Could Be Your Intestinal Bacteria

(Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

Obese People Could Have Different Germs in Their Guts That Encourage Weight Gain

By APRIL ARMSTRONG, M.D.ABC News Medical Unit

Dec. 20, 2006— Overweight individuals may now have a new factor to blame for their excess weight — the germs living inside their guts.
The trillions of microbes living inside our intestines may play a role in the differences in body weight among people, suggests a new study published in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

"Groundbreaking work like this that opens up a novel hypothesis is important," said Dr. Randy Seeley, associate director of the obesity research center at University of Cincinnati.

Researchers found that the bacteria in the guts of obese mice are better at extracting energy from food than gut bacteria in lean mice. In short, the fat mice take away more calories from their food.

Moreover, when the bacteria from the guts of obese mice were transplanted to slimmer, germ-free mice, these germ-free mice got fatter.

"There is a tremendous battle waged by scientists from many different backgrounds to try to understand this worldwide epidemic of obesity," said Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, director of the genome science center at Washington University in St. Louis and senior author of the study. "We want people to consider the microbial community as a potential factor."


'We Never Dine Alone'

"We had a question about the role our gut microbes play in human health," said Gordon. "Because we never dine alone."

Humans have had a long-standing, evolutionary relationship with bacteria and other microorganisms living in the gut. Many of these bacteria are necessary for well-being because they help us digest food particles that we cannot digest on our own.

"These trillions of microbes provide us with different sets of attributes that are important," said Gordon. "For example, the sugars known as polysaccharides in grains and vegetables have complex structures. Our microbial organisms have the tools to break down these structures and help us extract energy."

The differences in the identity of these gut bacteria may be a clue into why some people are obese and others are lean.

"One interesting idea [from this research] is that our gut microbes may be responding to changes in our body weight," said Seeley.

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(from abcnews.go.com)

Microsoft's New Vista, Office, Exchange Certs on Track

11/15/2006 -- Right on the heels of the releases of Windows Vista and Office 2007 to manufacturing, Microsoft has released some details on its new-generation tracks for those software releases. Lutz Ziob, director of the Microsoft Learning Group, announced the new tracks today at the company's IT Forum conference in Barcelona, Spain.

The next-generation tracks follow a simpler path: one exam at the Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist (MCTS or TS) level that focuses on Vista skills, and one or two more at the new Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP or PRO) level that focus on job role.

The first exam, now in beta, is currently called 70-620 TS: Windows Vista Client Configuration.

"The new exam will be the entry point for all that is Windows Vista," said Keith Loeber, group product manager of Microsoft's certification group. (And while this report might toss out names liberally, Loeber explained that names for many of the tracks and exams have yet to be determined as of this writing.)


At the next level up, the track splits in two. The Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Support track, says Loeber, is equivalent to the current MCDST, while another track, currently called MCITP: Consumer Support, goes in a new direction for Microsoft. "It will really focus on technicians that work in the retail environment selling to a home user or a consumer crowd."

Only one exam is currently planned for the MCITP: Consumer Support track, and it's a mouthful: 70-623 PRO: Supporting and Troubleshooting Applications on a Windows Vista Client for Consumer Support Technicians. The other track, MCITP: Enterprise Support, has two: 70-622 PRO: Supporting and Troubleshooting Applications on a Windows Vista Client for Enterprise Support Technicians; and an exam to be named later, but which the company says will test skills based on Enterprise Support.

For those who already possess an MCDST, Loeber says that an upgrade path will be made available, with details forthcoming.

If the surprise is that the track appears simpler than its predecessors, that's because Loeber says the framework really tries to align itself with job roles. So, rather than the seven exams in the current MCSE program and several entry points into the premium certifications -- which included a mix of either Windows XP or Windows 2003 knowledge on top of specializing in a technology set such as deploying or designing messaging, security or database administration -- the new Vista track requires only two or three exams to complete and the track focuses exclusively on Windows Vista deployments.

"At the TS level we have the technology skills, and the Enterprise IT Professional level we add the job role," as well as the addition of another job role track for the consumer side, he said.

Loeber says the group is already contemplating how Windows "Longhorn" Server will fit into the new-generation framework a year from now, but said that development was too raw to reveal at the moment.

Exams 70-620 is currently in beta, with availability expected in January 2007. Exams 70-622 and 70-623 are expected to be beta tested in the next few weeks, with live versions in the first quarter of 2007.

The Exchange 2007 track follows a similar, Vista-like pattern, with a focus on skills and then job roles. The MCTS level, which can be referred to at the moment as the MCTS: Exchange Server 2007 title, requires one exam: 70-236 TS: Exchange Server 2007 Configuration. On the MCITP level, the group so far has developed one track, MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator, with two exams: 70-237 PRO: Designing Messaging Solutions with Exchange Server 2007 and 70-238 PRO: Deploying Messaging Solutions with Exchange Server 2007.

"The real win for the Exchange folks here is that it, currently, in order to get any recognition in terms of a logo, you have to take four exams to get the Exchange specialization for the MCSA...in the new round, you only have to take one to get the MCTS," said Loeber. Likewise, for the seven exams needed to complete the MCSE: Messaging, Leober says "now you only have to take three [for the MCITP].

"We focused it on the Exchange administrator role, rather than you having to take all the Windows stuff first and then moving to Exchange," he added.

"When we rolled this out to a session at Tech Ed, we got a round of applause, which is unusual for a certification," said Microsoft Learning Group Program Manager Rob Linsky. "The fact that made the track tighter and much more specific to the needs of the audience, I think, was appreciated."

Because the 2007 Office System encompasses a set of technologies, the formula does get a bit more complicated here. The Office IT Professional track contains a number of TS entry points: MCTS Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, with one exam whose name is to be decided later; MCTS: Office SharePoint Server 2007 (exam name TBD); MCTS: Deploying and Maintaining Vista Client and Office 2007 Desktops (exam TBD); and several TS tracks for Project (not to be confused with a project management track that the company announced a few weeks ago), Office Live Communications Server 2007 and Windows Mobile. And other TS tracks and exams may follow in the months to come.

The Professional Developer side has similar exams and tracks, but adds a TS certification and exam for Visual Studio Tools for Office.

Loeber explains that the group's goal here is a bit more difficult, since they're trying to line up the IT Professional and Professional Developer titles under Office System within the Microsoft Partner competencies, particularly for Information Worker. "All of those [exams] are directly applicable to the Partner program, so one or more of the exams will be required."

Microsoft plans to hold two LiveMeeting events on Dec. 6, to introduce the Windows Vista certifications and exams. Click here for details. -Michael Domingo

(from Certcities.com)

Can Microsoft Save the World?

Microsoft Research teams with top scientists to tackle the world's most pressing problems -- and it could turn conventional computing on its head in the process.

December 2006 • by Doug Barney


Three years ago, William Henry Gates III ordered Microsoft Research to launch a Science division. Money was one motive -- by staking out a position in the growing field of scientific computing, future profits were insured. Fortunately Microsoft Research doesn't have to turn every dollar and man-hour into marketable products. The Science group has the wonderful freedom to work on the big problems: global warming, disease, the future of medicine, the origin of the universe and the creation of life -- those sorts of things.

Leading this charge is Stephen Emmott, director of the Microsoft Research European Science Program, an Englishman with some 20 years of experience in science and computing, including a stint at Bell Labs.

Emmott's main goal is to blend computer science and traditional science, and in the process transform both. "We are at a profoundly important point in time where computer science and computing have the potential to completely revolutionize the sciences," Emmott says.

Microsoft doesn't plan to do this all alone. Today 14 Microsoft researchers are working with some 40 scientists around the world. Those numbers are rapidly expanding. "Within 12 months, there'll be 30 Microsoft Research Cambridge scientists collaborating with around 80 to 100 scientists worldwide to build new software tools for addressing important scientific challenges," Emmott explains.

These efforts were given legs during the 2020 Science conference, where some 30 scientists, hailing from nations from Japan to Germany and representing universities such as Stanford and companies like GlaxoSmithKline Inc., gathered. The group produced an 82-page oversized glossy book, "Towards 2020 Science," outlining their goals, technologies and plans.

The conference also set the stage for research projects, now ongoing, that match Microsoft researchers with their scientific counterparts.

"The real benefits come from bringing together people from Microsoft Research -- whether they're computer scientists or computational biologists or computational climatologists or oceanographers -- with people in the wider science community, to do the kinds of things that neither of us could do on our own," Emmott explains.

Understanding Life Bit by Bit
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(from http://redmondmag.com)