‘The first taste of a wine is like the first kiss; you look forward to the second.’
— André Tchelistcheff, 1901-1994, Legendary Winemaker
By Bob Lipinski
Bob Lipinski
Tasting is the art of consciously assessing a wine’s quality or identity and the activities or mechanisms involved in receiving the sensory impressions a wine can stimulate.
Just as with food, we have preferences for certain tastes and flavors in wine. Each of us has our own history of tastes and flavors. Much of this is due to where and how we grew up—there may be cultural differences in the experiences we had for certain foods and beverages. We all have personality differences. Some of us are very adventurous and others more averse to risk. Although tastes and flavors are subjective, they are not entirely relative—that is, we often agree on what we taste and smell.
There are ways to taste and evaluate wine that are generally accepted to provide a maximum impact on our palate—I call this the Five S’s: Sight, Swirl, Smell, Sip, Spit (or Swallow).
SIGHT: Wine should be clear in appearance; color and hue tell us a lot about the grape variety, oak treatment, age, and intensity of the wine. For example, a pale-yellow wine most likely did not receive any oak-aging while a golden colored wine probably did. Knowing which grapes benefit from oak-aging narrows the field for each grape variety. Chardonnay benefits from oak aging since it provides balance with bigger flavors and body.
SWIRL: Swirling wine in a glass will release the aroma, so once you stick your nose in the glass, you can smell it better.
SMELL: More than 80 percent of what we taste is actually smell. Smell describes the fruity, floral, earthy, mineral, spicy, herbal, and oak characteristics of some wines.
SIP: Now it’s time to taste the wine. Take a good sip and swirl the wine around in your mouth as if it’s mouthwash (evaluating differs from drinking). Your tongue tastes sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, but together with smelling, you get the complete picture of the wine. Some elements to note are acidity, alcohol, body, dry or sweet, flavor, tannin, and texture.
SPIT/ SWALLOW: the difference between “tasting” and “drinking” is that once you have sipped the wine, you spit it out into a cup or spit bucket (professional tasters do this).
SWALLOW: Allows you to evaluate and describe the finish, length, and aftertaste of the wine.
Well, there you have it. Now open a bottle of wine and start practicing!
Bob Lipinski is the author of 10 books, including “101: Everything You Need To Know About Whiskey” and “Italian Wine & Cheese Made Simple” (available on Amazon.com). He consults and conducts training seminars on Wine, Spirits, and Food and is available for speaking engagements. He can be reached at www.boblipinski.com OR [email protected].
■ A resident on Park Ave. in Centereach reported that someone took a Wayfair package from their porch on Feb. 24. The package contained a Gwen 46” console table valued at approximately $200.
■ Walgreens on Middle Country Road in Centereach reported a shoplifter on Feb. 24. A woman allegedly stole assorted skin care products and detergent worth approximately $300 and also walked off with a shopping cart valued at $125.
■ Walmart on Middle Country Road in Centereach reported a shoplifter on Feb. 22. A person allegedly stole a 70” Samsung TV worth approximately $640.
Commack
■ Walmart on Crooked Hill in Commack reported a shoplifter on Feb. 21. A man allegedly stole a 55” flat screen TV and three jackets. The merchandise was valued at approximately $460.
■ Walmart on Crooked Hill Road in Commack called the police on Feb. 20 to report that a man allegedly stole two iPhone 12 Pro Max valued at $2098.
■ Walmart on Crooked Hill Road in Commack reported two shoplifters on Feb. 20. A man and woman allegedly took two suitcases from the floor, filled them with merchandise and walked out of the store without paying. The woman blew a kiss to security as she was leaving. The merchandise was valued at approximately $1000.
■ Target on Veterans Memorial Highway in Commack reported a shoplifter on Feb. 18. A man allegedly stole 15 pairs of assorted women’s jeans. The merchandise was valued at approximately $350.
■ Home Depot on Jericho Turnpike in Commack reported a grand larceny on Feb. 21. Two men allegedly stole 37 Google products, 6 Honeywell thermostats and three DeWalt radios.
■ Ulta Beauty on Veterans Memorial Highway in Commack reported a grand larceny on Feb. 23. Two men allegedly stole assorted perfumes valued at $2500.
■ CVS on Jericho Turnpike in Commack reported a petit larceny on Feb. 24. Two men and a woman allegedly filled shopping carts with assorted Dove body wash and 3 packs of Heineken beers and left the store without paying. The merchandise was valued at $288.
■ Costco Wholesale on Garet Place in Commack called the police on Feb. 24 to report that a man allegedly took two Seagate 2TB hard drives from a display case, hid it on his person and left without paying. The items were valued at$160.
East Setauket
■ Walmart on Nesconset Highway in East Setauket reported a shoplifter on Feb. 21. A man allegedly stole an Acer gaming monitor valued at $569.
Elwood
■ A resident on Juanita Avenue in Elwood called the police on Feb. 20 to report that a catalytic converter had been stolen from his 2004 Toyota Prius. The item was valued at $250.
Farmingville
Burlington Store on North Ocean Avenue in Farmingville reported a petit larceny on Feb. 25. A women allegedly stole clothing worth approximately $150.
Hauppauge
■ Shoprite on Nesconset Highway in Hauppauge reported a petit larceny on Feb. 20. A woman allegedly stole assorted merchandise valued at approximately $480.
Huntington
■ A resident on Dunlop Road in Huntington reported that his 2015 Toyota Prius had been stolen from the driveway on Feb. 19. The key had been left in the center console with the door unlocked.
Huntington Station
■ A resident on E. 13th Street reported that a catalytic converter had been stolen from her 2004 Honda Suburban on Feb. 12. The item was valued at $200.
■ Macy’s on Walt Whitman Road in Huntington Station reported that a man allegedly stole 13 items of men’s clothing on Feb. 24. The merchandise was valued at $2077.
Kings Park
■ A resident on Twin Oaks Drive in Kings Park reported that a Fedex package was taken from their front porch by a man on Feb. 24. The incident was captured on their Ring camera.The package contained women’s clothing valued at approximately $500.
Lake Grove
■ A woman reported having her wallet with cash and credit cards stolen from her shopping cart at Whole Foods on New Moriches Road in Lake Grove on Feb. 23. Someone attempted to use the credit cards at Target and Best Buy in South Setauket later in the day but the cards were declined.
Mount Sinai
■ A resident on Coventry Court in Mount Sinai reported that someone entered their unlocked vehicle on Feb. 21 and stole a champion backpack worth $100 and cash.
■ A resident on North Country Road in Mount Sinai reported that someone entered their unlocked vehicle on Feb. 21 and stole an Uncle Giuseppe’s gift card valued at $100.
Port Jefferson Station
■ A woman shopping at HomeGoods on Nesconset Highway in Port Jefferson Station on Feb. 24 called the police to report that her iPhone and phone case valued at $525 had been stolen. The case contained credit cards which were later used at a Sunoco gas station and a Family Dollar in Port Jefferson Station in the amount of $340.
■ Shoprite on Nesconset Highway in Port Jefferson Station reported a shoplifter on Feb. 17. A man allegedly stole a floral arrangement worth approximately $100.
Rocky Point
■ A resident on Judith Court in Rocky Point reported that someone stole cash from their unlocked vehicle on Feb. 22.
St. James
■ Soul Brew on North Country Road in St. James reported a burglary on Feb. 21. Someone forced open the rear door and stole a black drop box containing cash.
Selden
■ The Town of Brookhaven reported the theft of a generator with 200 gallons worth of diesel fuel from a construction site at a park on South Street in Selden on Feb. 17 valued at approximately $600.
■ Bob’s Store on Middle Country Road in Selden reported a shoplifter on Feb. 20. A man allegedly stole assorted clothing valued at approximately $800.
South Setauket
■ Stop & Shop on Pond Path in South Setauket reported a petit larceny on Feb. 24. Two men allegedly stole 36 packages of shrimp valued at $874.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS.
Town of Smithtown residents can now renew or obtain parking permits (vehicle window sticker) from the comfort of home. The permit allows residents to park registered vehicles at Town parks, beaches and public facilities within the township. The Town Clerk’s office, in conjunction with Public Safety, has launched Citizen Connect, an online web portal for residents to request the parking permit, without the hassle of making a trip to Town Hall. To register, log on to www.tocite.net/smithtownny/portal.
The physical permit is in the form of a sticker, and allows residents access to Smithtown’s parks, beaches and recreation facilities. The new permit is effective from April 1st, 2022 through March 31st, 2024.
“This is just one example of how Smithtown is modernizing services and providing ease of access to its residents every day. Now, community members have the option of registering to get their Town sticker online with a quick five minute process. And anyone who is accustomed to, or prefers to do so in person, can still walk into Town Hall to get their new permit. I commend our Town Clerk, his team and the Department of Public Safety for orchestrating this new and efficient process,” said Supervisor Ed Wehrheim.
Registering online for a Smithtown parking permit is a fast and convenient process. Residents simply log on to www.tocite.net/smithtownny/portal, create an account, input the required information, and upload an image of the vehicle’s registration.
Note: Residents should confirm that vehicle registration is current and issued to a Town of Smithtown address, or additional proof of residency will be required to be uploaded. Once the online submittal is completed, and the request for a parking permit is approved by the Town Clerk’s office, residents will be sent the new 2022-2024 parking permit through the mail. The parking permit should be placed on the OUTSIDE of the driver’s side passenger window.
“We have been working with Citizen Connect for months to create an easy, accessible web portal for our residents to use to request their resident parking permit. We listened to our residents’ concerns and have changed the design of the permit. The new permit will now adhere to the outside of the vehicle’s window to avoid any contact with the interior for those who have tinted windows. Also, our town is no longer listed on the permit, so it keeps the place of residency private. We are excited for these changes and for the new permit to go in effect,” added Town Clerk Vincent Puleo.
How to Register Online for the Town of Smithtown’s Resident Parking Permit:
For the first time in Smithtown history, resident parking permits can now be requested online. Below are the steps on how to register to Citizen Connect to request the permit.
Create an account – Click “Login” located at the upper right hand corner of the screen. The sign-in page will open. Click “Create Account” underneath where it says “New to Citizen Connect?” Fill in the required fields (name, email, & password).
Activate your account by confirming the email – Once you’ve created an account, you must check your inbox for an “Email Confirmation.” Click the link in the email to activate your account.
Add vehicle and address information – After your account is activated and you’re logged in to Citizen Connect, click “View Permits” and then click the “Register” button. Fill in the information under the field “Address 1.” Then click “Add Vehicle to Permit” and fill in your vehicle’s information listed on its registration.
Upload your vehicle registration – Take a photo of your vehicle registration, and upload it to the website for proof of residency and to be in accordance with the law.
Register for permit – Once all of the required information has been submitted, at the bottom, read the disclaimer and click the box next to it. Click “Register For Permit.”
Check the Mail – After you have successfully registered and the Town Clerk’s office approves your request, your resident parking permit will be sent to you via mail.
DID YOU KNOW: The Town Clerk’s office is often considered the record keeper of the Town. It is the office responsible for recording vital records, and the distribution of various permits and licenses. Located inside of Smithtown Town Hall, the Town Clerk’s office is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00AM-5:00PM (4:00PM in July and August). For more information and updates about the Town Clerk’s office and services, follow on Facebook and Instagram: @SmithtownTownClerksOffice.
My mother never made macaroni and cheese so when I was a kid it was Franco-American straight out of the can. In my young adulthood I made macaroni and cheese for my kids from the Kraft package which included the elbow macaroni and a little packet of powdery grated American cheese to which, if I remember correctly, I added milk and butter.
Now that the kids are all grown up and I need the calories and cholesterol from macaroni and cheese like a hole in the head, I’ve suddenly awakened to real mac and cheese (during the Covid incarceration, of course). It was lobster mac and cheese that did it. And then the other day my friend suggested a mac and cheese column. So here it is and to hell with the calories and the cholesterol!
Classic Macaroni and Cheese
YIELD: Makes 4 to 6 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound curly macaroni
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
4 cups milk
Freshly ground pepper to taste
3/4 pound freshly grated sharp white cheddar cheese
3/4 pound freshly grated fontina cheese
1 teaspoon cayenne
DIRECTIONS:
Cook macaroni in a large pot of boiling salted water until just barely al dente. Drain, toss with oil and set aside. Preheat oven to 425 F. In a medium pot, heat butter over medium heat; whisk in flour, and continuing to whisk constantly, cook until flour starts to foam and turn golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk, then salt and pepper and still whisking, bring to a simmer. Add grated cheese, whisk until completely melted, add cayenne and cooked pasta and stir well. Transfer mixture to a 9 x 13” baking dish, place on baking sheet to catch any drippings and bake until top starts to crisp and sides are bubbly, about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve hot with a tossed salad.
Four Cheese Mac and Cheese
YIELD: Makes 6 to 8 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound curly macaroni
6 ounces Robiola, rind removed, cheese diced
4 ounces goat cheese, diced
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mascarpone
2/3 cup grated Pecorino
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
Scant 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter a two-quart casserole dish. Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain and immediately transfer to large bowl and toss with Robiola and goat cheese until they are melted. In another bowl whisk together the eggs, mascarpone and Pecorino; stir into macaroni mixture, add pepper and nutmeg, stir. Transfer mixture to prepared casserole dish; bake until golden and bubbly. Serve immediately with a tomato and onion salad.
Lobster Mac and Cheese
YIELD: Makes 6 to 8 servings
INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup pureed cottage cheese
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 cups (packed) grated extra sharp white cheddar
1/2 pound curly macaroni, cooked half the time indicated on package and drained
Meat from 2-pound cooked lobster, cut into bite-size pieces
2to 3 tablespoons bottled clam juice
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 F; place rack in upper third of oven. Grease a 9 x 13” baking dish with one tablespoon of the butter. In an electric blender or food processor, puree together the cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and stir in cheddar and pasta, then pour into baking dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven, stir in lobster meat and clam juice, dot with remaining butter and return, uncovered, to oven. Bake another 30 minutes until golden and bubbly; remove from oven, let sit 10 minutes, then serve hot with a chilled dry crisp white wine and arugula and endive salad.
Jose M. Adrover and Mikala Egeblad. Photo by Lijuan Sun
By Daniel Dunaief
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Professor Mikala Egeblad thought she saw something familiar at the beginning of the pandemic.
Mikala Egeblad. Photo from CSHL
Egeblad has focused on the way the immune system’s defenses can exacerbate cancer and other diseases. Specifically, she studies the way a type of white blood cell produces an abundance of neutrophil extracellular traps or NETs that can break down diseased and healthy cells indiscriminately. She thought potentially high concentrations of these NETs could have been playing a role in the worst cases of COVID.
“We got the idea that NETs were involved in COVID-19 from the early reports from China and Italy” that described how the sickest patients had severe lung damage, clotting events and damage to their kidneys, which was what she’d expect from overactive NETs, Egeblad explained in an email.
Recently, she, her post doctoral researcher Jose M. Adrover and collaborators at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai proved that this hypothesis had merit. They showed in hamsters infected with COVID and in mice with acute lung injuries that disabling these NETs improved the health of these rodents, which strongly suggested that NETs are playing a role in COVID-19.
“It was very exciting to go from forming a hypothesis to showing it was correct in the context of a complete new disease and within a relatively short time period,” Egeblad wrote.
Egeblad, Andover and their collaborators recently published their work in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight.
Importantly, reducing the NETs did not alter how much virus was in the lungs of the hamsters, which suggests that reducing NETs didn’t weaken the immune system’s response to the virus.
Additional experiments would be necessary to prove this is true for people battling the worst symptoms of COVID-19, Egeblad added.
While the research is in the early stages, it advances the understanding of the importance of NETs and offers a potential approach to treating COVID-19.
An unexpected direction
Jose Adrover. Photo from CSHL
When Adrover arrived from Spain, where he had earned his PhD from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and had conducted research as a post doctoral fellow at the Spanish Center for Cardiovascular Research in March of 2020, he expected to do immune-related cancer research.
Within weeks, however, the world changed. Like other researchers at CSHL and around the world, Egeblad and Adrover redirected their efforts towards combating COVID.
Egeblad and Andover “were thinking about the virus and what was going on and we thought about trying to do something,” Adrover said.
Egeblad and Adrover weren’t trying to fight the virus but rather the danger from overactive NETs in the immune system.
Finding an approved drug
Even though they were searching for a way to calm an immune system responding to a new threat, Egeblad and Adrover hoped to find a drug that was already approved.
After all, the process of developing a drug, testing its safety, and getting Food and Drug Administration approval is costly and time-consuming.
That’s where Juliane Daßler-Plenker, also a postdoctoral fellow in Egeblad’s lab, came in. Daßler-Plenker conducted a literature search and found disulfiram, a drug approved in the 1950’s to treat alcohol use disorder. Specifically, she found a preprint reporting that disulfuram can target a key molecule in macrophages, which are another immune cell. Since the researchers knew this was important for the formation of NETs, Daßler-Plenker proposed that the lab test it.
Working with Weill Cornell Medical College and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, Adrover explored the effect of disulfiram, among several other possible treatments, on NET production.
Using purified neutrophils from mice and from humans, Adrover discovered that disulfiram was the most effective treatment to block the formation of NETs.
He, Assistant Professor Robert Schwartz’s staff at Weill Cornell and Professor Benjamin tenOever at Mt. Sinai tried disulfiram on hamsters infected with SARS-Cov-2. The drug blocked net production and reduced lung injury.
The two experiments were “useful in my opinion as it strengthens our results, since we blocked NETs and injury in two independent models, one of infection and the other of sterile injury,” Adrover said. “Disulfuram worked in both models.”
More work needed
While encouraged by the results, Egeblad cautioned that this work started before the availability of vaccines. The lab is currently investigating how neutrophils in vaccinated people respond to COVID-19.
Still, this research offered potential promise for additional work on NETs with some COVID patients and with people whose battles with other diseases could involve some of the same immune-triggered damage.
“Beyond COVID, we are thinking about whether it would be possible to use disulfiram for acute respiratory distress syndrome,” Egeblad said. She thinks the research community has focused more attention on NETs.
“A lot more clinicians are aware of NETs and NETs’ role in diseases, COVID-19 and beyond,” she said. Researchers have developed an “appreciation that they are an important part of the immune response and inflammatory response.”
While researchers currently have methods to test the concentration of NETs in the blood, these tests are not standardized yet for routine clinical use. Egeblad is “sensing that there is more interest in figuring out how and when to target NETs” among companies hoping to discover treatments for COVID and other diseases.
The CSHL researcher said the initial race to gather information has proven that NETs are a potentially important target. Down the road, additional research will address a wide range of questions, including what causes some patients to develop different levels of NETs in response to infections.
Some medication side-effects include increased fall risk
By David Dunaief, M.D.
Dr. David Dunaief
This has been a particularly challenging winter here in the Northeast. Instead of snow, we’ve had a fair amount of ice and variable temperatures that caused snowy surfaces to ice over.
Many older adults are concerned about falling, thus they stayed inside and sedentary. While this addressed the immediate challenge of icy sidewalks, it may have increased their risk of falling in the future.
What drives this concern about falls? Even without icy steps and walkways, falls can be serious for older patients, where the consequences can be devastating. They can include brain injuries, hip fractures, a decrease in functional ability and a decline in physical and social activities (1). Ultimately, a fall can lead to loss of independence (2).
There are many factors. A personal history of falling in the recent past is the most prevalent. However, there are other significant factors, such as age and medication use. Some medications, like antihypertensive medications, which are used to treat high blood pressure, and psychotropic medications, which are used to treat anxiety, depression and insomnia, are of particular concern. Chronic diseases can also contribute.
Circumstances that predispose us to falls also involve weakness in upper and lower body strength, decreased vision, hearing disorders and psychological issues, such as anxiety and depression (3).
Setting yourself up for success
Of the utmost importance is exercise. But what do we mean by “exercise”? We mean exercises involving balance, strength, movement, flexibility and endurance, all of which play significant roles in fall prevention (4). The good news is that many of these can be done inside with no equipment or with items found around the home.
Footwear also needs to be addressed. Nonslip shoes are crucial indoors, and footwear that prevents sliding on ice in winter, such as slip-on ice cleats that fit over your shoes, is a must. In the home, inexpensive changes, like securing area rugs and removing other tripping hazards, can also make a big difference.
Does medication increase risk?
There are a number of medications that may heighten fall risk. As I mentioned, psychotropic drugs top the list. But what other drugs might have an impact?
High blood pressure medications have been investigated. A well-designed study showed an increase in fall risk in those who were taking high blood pressure medication (5). Those on moderate doses of blood pressure medication had the greatest risk of serious injuries from falls, a 40 percent increase.
Blood pressure medications have significant benefits in reducing the risks of cardiovascular disease and events. Thus, we need to weigh the risk-benefit ratio in older patients before stopping a medication. We also should consider whether lifestyle modifications, which play a significant role in treating this disease, can be substituted for medication (6).
The value of exercise
A meta-analysis showed that exercise significantly reduced the risk of a fall (7). It led to a 37 percent reduction in falls that resulted in injury and a 30 percent reduction in falls requiring medical attention. Even more impressive was a 61 percent reduction in fracture risk.
Remember, the lower the fracture risk, the more likely you are to remain physically independent. The author summarized that exercise not only helps to prevent falls but also fall injuries.
Unfortunately, those who have fallen before, even without injury, often develop a fear that causes them to limit their activities. This leads to a dangerous cycle of reduced balance and increased gait disorders, ultimately resulting in an increased risk of falling (8).
What types of exercise help?
Any consistent exercise program that improves balance, flexibility, and muscle tone and includes core strengthening should help you improve your balance. Among those that have been studied, tai chi, yoga and aquatic exercise have all been shown to have benefits in preventing falls and injuries from falls.
A randomized controlled trial showed that those who did an aquatic exercise program had a significant improvement in the risk of falls (9). The aim of the aquatic exercise was to improve balance, strength and mobility. Results showed a reduction in the overall number of falls and a 44 percent decline in the number of exercising patients who fell during the six-month trial, with no change in the control group.
If you don’t have a pool available, tai chi, which requires no equipment, was also shown to reduce both fall risk and fear of falling in older adults (10).
Another pilot study used modified chair yoga classes with a small assisted living population (11). Participants were those over 65 who had experienced a recent fall and had a resulting fear of falling. While the intention was to assess exercise safety, researchers found that participants had less reliance on assistive devices and three of the 16 participants were able to eliminate their use of mobility assistance devices.
Thus, our best line of defense against fall risk is prevention with exercise and reducing slipping opportunities. Should you stop medications? Not necessarily. But for those 65 and older, or for those who have arthritis and are at least 45 years old, it may mean reviewing your medication list with your doctor. Before you consider changing your blood pressure medications, review your risk-to-benefit ratio with your physician.
Dr. David Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com.
This week’s shelter pets are 18-year-old Ranger (tuxedo) and 12-year-old Lily (tabby), currently up for adoption at the Smithtown Animal Shelter. These sweet seniors lost their home due to a house fire. They are bonded and would prefer to go to a home together.
Ranger and Lily love other cats and lived with a small child. They deserve a warm lap and lots of love to enjoy their golden years. They are very healthy for their ages and just had their teeth all polished up!
If you would like to meet Ranger and Lily, please call ahead to schedule an hour to properly interact with them in a domestic setting.
The Smithtown Animal & Adoption Shelter is located at 410 Middle Country Road, Smithtown. Visitor hours are currently Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Sundays and Wednesday evenings by appointment only).
For more information, call 631-360-7575 or visit www.smithtownanimalshelter.com.
In my youth I read Joyce Cary’s novel Herself Surprised and was moved by his opening chapter describing a woman, rather frumpy looking, hustling and puffing her way through a train station only to realize she was looking at a mirror image of herself. The book’s title and theme engaged my attention.
In my own life I have had a few “myself surprised” moments. One of them came as I read an article in American Scientist by evolutionist David Pfennig who works at the University of North Carolina. He discusses a concept called “phenotypic plasticity.” When Mendel worked out his laws of genetics he distinguished between the phenotype (appearance) and the genotype (genetic composition) of the pea plants he studied. A yellow pea could be heterozygous or homozygous and look the same. You had to do a genetic cross to determine the genotypes form the phenotypes of the traits you studied.
In Pfennig’s study, phenotypic plasticity is a surprise. An organism can have itself or its progeny change characteristics very rapidly in moments or days instead of mutational change which takes generations or millennia to distinguish new populations. Some species of birds or animals can change color seasonally. Some social insects like bees or wasps or ants can change body shape and function by feeding the developing embryos in the hives or by shifting a mode ofreproduction from fertilization to cloning or parthenogenesis (virgin birth). They are adaptations to changes in seasons or changes of a sudden nature (like flooding or a drought). Unlike the survival of finches in the Galapagos islands that take decades or millennia to change through natural selection of mutations arising spontaneously, phenotypic plasticity enables some organisms to resist extinction by a rapid response.
I realized that my own body was subject to this phenotypic plasticity as I turned 85.I knew I was getting older physically as I began to grey and my skin wrinkled. I feel as if my mitochondria are being depleted and the energy requirements of my cells are no longer being met in all my tissues. I am the reverse of Oscar Wilde’s portrait of Dorian Gray.
I have accelerated the aging process in my advanced old age, a fate that will befall all who are lucky to live as long as I have. One of my undergraduate students at Stony Brook University did a project on aging in identical twins. He got photo albums of elderly identical twins and matched their appearance by scissoring copies of their photos and matching the left of one twin to the right of the other twin when they were separately photographed. It was surprising how much they fit, while nonidentical same sex twins did not do this and produced asymmetrical faces.
The surprise is how a body can use its genotype to maintain a sameness in the two twins who are identical at any age. We don’t select for each year’s features of our faces and bodies. Something else is going on that plays out in our lifestyle as we age. It makes sense that our environments can shape us through the careers we choose and opportunities that come our way. But the biological changes that take place are much more difficult to explain and show that much is to be learned about the “plasticity” in our lives and how it works at a scientific level.
Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University.
When homeowners think of selling their house, many forget about essential factors, such as paying attention to the news and the trends that follow, because what’s going on in the world affects real estate and the prices of homes.
A nose for news
We have seen the same trends that I’ve talked about in past columns, a sellers’ market and homes selling quickly, all over the country. The bottom line is simple: what’s going on economically in our country and worldwide affects us.
I always advise people thinking of selling or buying a home to pay attention to the news. It’s vital because the real estate market always has the potential to change.
Financial experts are keeping an eye on what the Federal Reserve, which will meet in March, will do. It’s possible the short-term federal funds rate will be raised four to six times in 2022. The goal is to combat inflation. Raising the rates hasn’t been done since 2018.
The anticipation of rate hikes has already pushed rates up slightly, which is starting to affect the housing market. Last week rates started inching up over 4% for a 30-year fixed mortgage.
However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is creating uncertainty in the economic arena. If there is a financial fallout, possibly due to an oil price increase, it could lead to mortgage rates increasing. The flip side of the coin is that the Federal Reserve may take a less drastic approach than initially believed.
At the beginning of the week, the U.S. already saw stocks dipping and oil prices jumping. Trends such as these can make some aspiring buyers a bit hesitant to make a move. Only the future will tell if rates will go up or stay steady, even though they will still be on the historically low side.
The current trend
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that “pending home sales slumped in January, continuing what is now a three-month drop in transactions.” (See graph above)
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, stated, “With inventory at an all-time low, buyers are still having a difficult time finding a home … Given the situation in the market — mortgages, home costs and inventory — it would not be surprising to see a retreat in housing demand.”
Yun also mentioned “house hunters are contending with a number of additional market issues, including escalating home prices and rising interest rates. Rates jumped nearly a percentage point in January from December, further adding to monthly mortgage costs.”
Takeaway
Everything connects to one another and creates a domino effect. Whether you’re looking to sell or buy, it’s vital to pay attention to current events as well as the present economy. You’ll want not only to research your area, but also the area you’re looking to move to in the future. Real estate professionals can help explain everything involved in buying and selling homes in today’s market. So … let’s talk.
Michael Ardolino is the Founder/Owner-Broker of Realty Connect USA.
White-tailed deer are prevalent on Long Island. METRO photo
By Matthew Kearns, DVM
Dr. Matthew Kearns
I recently saw an article that researchers in Canada were concerned with transmission of COVID-19 from deer (white-tailed deer) to a human, as well as deer. I thought that we only had to worry about white-tailed deer as a reservoir for Lyme disease. Now COVID? Ugghhh!!!
The Canadian scientists that performed this study did not have definitive proof that the individual that tested positive was infected directly from a deer. However, this individual had the same strain of COVID as the deer in the area and the individual did spend a considerable amount of time around deer.
The good news is a human has a much higher chance of catching COVID from another human than from a deer. Also, the symptoms this individual had were not more severe than a human to human infection. Canadian health officials do caution hunters to take additional precautions such as washing hands thoroughly, wearing goggles, and wearing a well-fitted mask when handling the respiratory tissues of a deer.
Previously, the only documented cases of animals passing the virus to humans were in mink. Six countries — Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy and the United States — have reported cases of farmed mink infected with the coronavirus to the World Health Organization. Danish authorities also documented over 200 humans that contracted the virus from mink. Unfortunately, many of these minks were required to be culled to prevent further spread.
The main concern with any animal reservoir is the ability of the COVID, or any coronavirus for that matter, to mutate so easily.
The good news? Of the 31 species of animals that have been documented infected with COVID, current data shows that dogs and cats are terrible reservoirs of the virus. Although there are documented cases of both dogs and cats testing positive for COVID-19, there is no evidence that a human has been infected directly from a dog or cat. The CDC advises all pet owners to avoid contact with their pets when isolating with an infection (if possible). If a pet is exposed, symptoms are usually very mild or none at all.
Dr. Kearns practices veterinary medicine from his Port Jefferson office and is pictured with his son Matthew and his dog Jasmine.
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