Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295783365?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, March 31, 2013
Artificial spleen to treat bloodstream infections: Sepsis therapeutic device under development
Mar. 30, 2013 ? The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced today that it was awarded a $9.25 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to further advance a blood-cleansing technology developed at the Institute with prior DARPA support, and help accelerate its translation to humans as a new type of sepsis therapy.
The device will be used to treat bloodstream infections that are the leading cause of death in critically ill patients and soldiers injured in combat.
To rapidly cleanse the blood of pathogens, the patient's blood is mixed with magnetic nanobeads coated with a genetically engineered version of a human blood 'opsonin' protein that binds to a wide variety of bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, and toxins. It is then flowed through microchannels in the device where magnetic forces pull out the bead-bound pathogens without removing human blood cells, proteins, fluids, or electrolytes -- much like a human spleen does. The cleansed blood then flows back to the patient.
"In just a few years we have been able to develop a suite of new technologies, and to integrate them to create a powerful new device that could potentially transform the way we treat sepsis," said Wyss founding director and project leader, Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D. "The continued support from DARPA enables us to advance our device manufacturing capabilities and to obtain validation in large animal models, which is precisely what is required to enable this technology to be moved towards testing in humans."
The team will work to develop manufacturing and integration strategies for its core pathogen-binding opsonin and Spleen-on-a-Chip fluidic separation technologies, as well as a novel coating technology called "SLIPS," which is a super-hydrophobic coating inspired from the slippery surface of a pitcher plant that repels nearly any material it contacts. By coating the inner surface of the channels of the device with SLIPS, blood cleansing can be carried out without the need for anticoagulants to prevent blood clotting.
In addition to Ingber, the multidisciplinary team behind this effort includes Wyss core faculty and Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science faculty member Joanna Aizenberg, Ph.D., who developed the SLIPS technology; Wyss senior staff member Michael Super, Ph.D., who engineered the human opsonin protein; and Mark Puder, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pediatric Surgery at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School who will be assisting with animal studies.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wyss Institute.
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Bushwick's Pet Superette Offers Adorable Cats and Kittens for ...
Adoptable munchkins at Pet Superrete (all photos by Katarina Hybenova for Bushwick Daily)
Have you always dreamt of adopting a cute little munchkin cat but never got around it? Now it?s easier than ever with Pet Superette, a new pet store located on 12 Cypress Ave, you can adopt your kitten right here in Bushwick!??
Pet Superette is a sister store to PS9 Pets on North 9th in Williamsburg and, if you ask us, it?s not just any pet store. Sure, they offer high quality food for your cat, dog, fish, iguana, you name it, and a variety of beds, funny dog outwear, and other pet necessities. Most importantly,?however, is that?they are really engaged in helping street cats and in cat adoption.
Pet Superette has tw kittens and?two adult resident cats who temporarily live in the store and are available for play, foster care or even adoption. Most of the cats are rescues from the Bushwick/Ridgewood area, which is known for a particularly high number of feral cats.?I personally brought in Billy Jean, an adorable skinny kitten born in my backyard, who morphed from a scared cat into a leader of kitten mischief in the store. ?This morning I came in to the store and it looked like they had a party while we were closed,? laughed Dottie Evans, an employee at the store.?Apparently, the kittens managed to rip open a bag of catnip and cat food, and spent the night running around the store, tossing around toys and beds.
Kitten is pretty tired after partying all night on catnip.
In addition to the resident kitties, Pet Superette closely collaborates with a cat rescue organization, Kitty Karetakers that runs a regular adoption day at Per Superette. Every Saturday (not Sundays anymore), the organization brings in cats in cages available for adoption or foster care. Members of Kitty Karetakers are present in the store during the adoption day, and they are also very knowledgeable people to consult if you have any questions regarding feral cats living in your backyard or on your block, affordable spay and neuter programs, etc.
As you can imagine, cat rescue and vet services are not exactly cheap. To support this endeavor, you can donate any amount online or in-person at Pet Superette. Additionally, Kitty Karetakers is a?501(c)(3) not-for-profit no-kill organization, and the donations are tax-deductable.
This one is also pretty sleepy.
?
About Katarina Hybenova
Combination of a writer+photographer, and the founding editor of Bushwick Daily. She can easily be moved by reflection of the sky in a puddle. Yogi, runner, Buddhist.
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Shroud of Turin returns to spotlight with new pope, new app, new debate
New research has found that the Shroud of Turin, a mysterious relic previously believed to date back only to the Middle Ages, was actually created between 280 B.C. and 220 A.D., around the time of when Jesus would have lived and died.
By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News
The age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin is being resurrected this Easter ? thanks to the attention of a new pope, the creation of a "Shroud 2.0" app, and a new book that claims the cloth dates back to Jesus' time.
The book immediately faced a wave of criticism, including a harsh statement from Turin's archbishop that reportedly drove a stake into its heart.
Believers say the centuries-old shroud bears the imprint of Jesus, chemically captured in the cloth at the time of his resurrection. Skeptics say it's a cleverly done medieval fake, wrapped up in highly debatable scientific claims that just won't die.
The newly published Italian-language book ??"Il Mistero Della Sindone," or "The Mystery of the Shroud"?? recycles some of those claims, adds in some fresh results from single-fiber tests, and makes the argument that the shroud shows the difficult-to-reproduce image of a man who lived sometime between 280 B.C. and the year 220.
If that's not enough to bring the shroud back into the spotlight, there's also the news that Pope Francis, who was named to lead the Roman Catholic Church just last month, will appear on Italian TV on Holy Saturday to introduce a RAI Uno TV appearance of the shroud. "It will be a message of intense spiritual scope, charged with positivity, which will help (people) never to lose hope," the Italian ANSA news agency quoted Turin Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia as saying.
And then there's Shroud 2.0, a free app for Apple's iPad/iPhone (and soon for Android) that lets users zoom in on high-definition images of the shroud and get factoids about its history. The app is being offered by Haltadefinizione, which took photos of the relic in 2008 and collaborated with church officials on the project. Shroud 2.0 is being offered as an "evangelization tool," according to the Vatican's News.va website.
Antonio Calanni / AP file
A photo from 2000 shows the Shroud of Turin displayed at Turin's cathedral.
Scientific links
The Catholic Church has taken no official stand on the authenticity of the shroud, which is kept under lock and key in Turin and is only rarely brought out for public display. But over the years, some researchers have tried to show that the shroud goes back to biblical times rather than to the 14th century.
"The Mystery of the Shroud" is the latest book of this genre. It was written by journalist Saverio Gaeta and Giulio Fanti, an engineering professor at the University of Padua. Fanti is part of a controversial research group that has claimed the image on the cloth couldn't possibly have been created by natural means. The new book refers to those past claims, plus a new angle.
That angle has to do with single fibers that were purportedly vacuumed up from the shroud during scientific testing. Fanti and his colleagues put the fibers through a series of mechanical and chemical tests. "Combining the two chemical methods with the mechanical one, it results [in] a mean date of 33 B.C., with an uncertainty of plus or minus 250 years at 95 percent confidence level, that is compatible with the period in which Jesus Christ lived in Palestine," the publishers say in a news release.
Skeptical views
Fanti's claims drew a quick reaction from Joe Nickell, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry who regularly counters claims from Fanti and other shroud researchers.
"As is typical of a religious rather than scientific agenda, their news was shrewdly released just in time for Easter," Nickell said in a blog posting. "That alone casts doubt on the claims, but there is more."
Nickell pointed out that Fanti's tests "involve three different procedures?? each with its own problems?? which are then averaged together to produce the result." He said that stands in contrast with 1988's mass spectrometry tests, which yielded a date range between 1260 and 1390. Fanti says those earlier tests were not "statistically reliable," but Nickell and most scientists are sticking with the verdict rendered in 1988.
As a professional skeptic, Nickell can be expected to voice doubt about the book. But criticism also came from Archbishop Nosiglia.
Because there's "no degree of security" as to the authenticity of the fiber samples, the shroud's custodians "cannot recognize any serious value to the results of these alleged experiments," Nosiglia said in a statement quoted by La Stampa's Vatican Insider. The archbishop's comments "put stakes into Fanti's work," Vatican Insider reported.
Somehow I suspect that shroud science is not truly dead, but what do you think? Feel free to weigh in with your own verdict in the comment section below.
More about science and the shroud:
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Saturday, March 30, 2013
Body of pilot who fell 2,500 feet from plane found in Tennessee
By Tim Ghianni
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Search crews in rural Tennessee have found the body of a man who fell an estimated 2,500 feet to his death after the cockpit canopy of his airplane opened, officials said on Saturday.
"They found him in a tree line, not too far off the road," about a half-mile from a volunteer fire station, said Bob Gault, spokesman for the Bradley County Sheriff's Office.
Gault said he would have to wait until the National Transportation Safety Board completes an investigation before confirming reports that the man was not wearing his safety harness and that the plane had gone into a nosedive at the time of the accident late on Friday afternoon.
Emergency personnel from Bradley County as well as a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter were called into the search for the missing man after his co-pilot was able to fly the plane back to Collegedale Municipal Airport after the accident, according to Gault.
Local reports said that man who died was an experienced pilot who was being trained to fly the plane, which he had recently purchased.
Gault said the single-engine aircraft left Collegedale Municipal Airport just outside Chattanooga between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday. The flight path took them over southern Bradley County, a rural area with many farms and few communities.
"There were two pilots on board," Gault said. "At some point during their flight, the canopy on the aircraft malfunctioned and, as a result, one of the pilots was ejected."
Search efforts from the air and on the ground were unsuccessful Friday night and resumed on Saturday morning. Gault said the fact that the body was in a tree line probably kept it from being spotted from the air.
The names of the pilots involved have not been released. A worker at the airport who asked not to be identified said both men were experienced pilots and "real nice guys."
(Editing by Nick Carey and Gunna Dickson)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/body-pilot-fell-2-500-feet-plane-found-195402250.html
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Friday, March 29, 2013
Bitcoin: How An Unregulated, Decentralized Virtual Currency Just Became A Billion Dollar Market
Hang around in the tech industry long enough and you or someone you know will be heard saying, "that's so crazy it just might work." Two years ago, if you'd told me that an open-source, P2P currency would soon be a thriving, billion-dollar market, I would've told you that you were on a lonely bus headed to CrazyTown, U.S.A. But today, Bitcoin officially became a crazy idea that's actually working. Today, all the Bitcoin in circulation -- some 10.9 million -- have collectively crossed the billion-dollar mark. As it is wont to do, the value of Bitcoin (and its exchange rate) has fluctuated wildly today. At one point, it hit a dollar value around $78, then pushed into the mid-nineties. As of this minute, it's hovering around $90.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/3yp-1RktKQ0/
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How a Pope's Chalice Is Made
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_4z_c4y7HSI/how-a-popes-chalice-is-made
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Monroe, Eisenhower letters to be auctioned
NEW YORK (AP) ? Marilyn Monroe's letter of despair to mentor Lee Strasberg, and Dwight D. Eisenhower's heartfelt missives to his wife during World War II are among hundreds of historical documents being offered in an online auction.
Monroe's handwritten, undated letter to the famed acting teacher is expected to fetch $30,000 to $50,000 in the May 30 sale.
"My will is weak but I can't stand anything. I sound crazy but I think I'm going crazy," Monroe wrote on Hotel Bel-Air letterhead stationery. "It's just that I get before a camera and my concentration and everything I'm trying to learn leaves me. Then I feel like I'm not existing in the human race at all."
The 58 Eisenhower letters, handwritten between 1942 and 1945, range from news of the war to the Allied commander's devotion to his wife, Mamie. They are believed to be among the largest group of Eisenhower letters to survive intact and could bring up to $120,000, said Joseph Maddalena, whose Profiles in History is auctioning the items.
They are among 250 letters and documents being sold by an anonymous American collector. Selected items will be exhibited April 8-16 at Douglas Elliman's Madison Avenue art gallery.
Also included is a typed, undated draft letter from John Lennon to Linda and Paul McCartney that reflects the deep animosity between the two Beatles around the time of the foursome's formal 1971 breakup. The two-page letter is unsigned and contains corrections. A photographic logo on the stationery shows Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono within a circle with their lips almost touching.
"Do you really think most of today's art came about because of the Beatles? I don't believe you're that insane ? Paul ? do you believe that? When you stop believing it you might wake up!" Lennon writes. It's expected to fetch $40,000 to $60,000.
Other highlights include two large photo albums that Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini exchanged prior to War World II.
"When Mussolini and Hitler visited each other before the war, they would each have their photographers document their trips," Maddalena said. "They really documented the regalia, the flags, the uniforms, tanks and all the pomp and circumstance, and them speaking and reviewing the troops."
The leather-bound albums, containing hundreds of images, have a pre-sale estimate of up to $50,000.
The sale is the second of several planned online auctions of the anonymous collector's artifacts. The entire collection contains 3,000 items.
____
Online: www.profilesinhistory.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/monroe-eisenhower-letters-auctioned-062939252.html
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Boston Mayor Menino will not seek sixth term: Boston Globe
BOSTON (Reuters) - Boston Mayor Tom Menino, a Democrat who has run the city for almost two decades, will not seek a sixth term, the Boston Globe reported on its website Wednesday night.
Menino will announce his decision at a Thursday afternoon news conference, the newspaper said. Staff at the mayor's office could not be reached for immediate comment.
The 70-year-old mayor was hospitalized for a month last year for a virus and back pain that cut short an Italian vacation.
A decision not to seek re-election would set the stage for Boston's most competitive mayoral race since 1993, when Menino first won the office.
So far, only one candidate, city councilor John Connolly, has declared an intention to run, though observers said aspirants may have held off jumping into the race, waiting to see if Menino would seek re-election.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Philip Barbara)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-mayor-menino-not-seek-sixth-term-boston-024857747.html
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Thursday, March 28, 2013
Kessler Foundation scientists receive Consortium of MS Centers grant to study emotional processing
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 28-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Carolann Murphy
CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org
973-324-8382
Kessler Foundation
Helen Genova, Ph.D., and Jean Lengenfelder, Ph.D., were awarded a $40,000 grant for a 1-year study funded by the Consortium of MS Centers titled 'Remediation of emotional processing deficits in MS: A pilot study'
West Orange, NJ. March 27, 2013. Helen Genova, PhD, and Jean Lengenfelder, PhD, were awarded a $40,000 grant to study disorders of emotional processing in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). The one-year study, funded by The Consortium of MS Centers, is titled "Remediation of emotional processing deficits in MS: A pilot study." Dr. Genova is a research scientist in Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Research and Dr. Lengenfelder is assistant director of Traumatic Brain Injury Research at Kessler Foundation.
"This is one of the first studies to address emotional processing deficits in MS," noted Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, director of Neuropsychology, Neuroscience & TBI Research at Kessler Foundation. "The program being tested is an emotional processing training program that has been successful in both autism and schizophrenia. Our scientists will examine its effects on emotional processing abilities, as well as on mood, cognitive processing, and quality of life."
Recent evidence suggests that a significant number of individuals with MS have difficulty in emotional processing. "Specifically, individuals with MS may have difficulty correctly identifying emotions from facial expressions," explained Dr. Genova. "Because deficits in emotional processing can have a significant negative impact on social interactions and quality of life, finding ways to treat these deficits is critical to improving the lives of individuals with MS."
Drs. Genova and Lengenfelder work closely with Dr. Chiaravalloti and John DeLuca, PhD, VP for Research and Training at Kessler Foundation, both of whom are experts in cognitive rehabilitation research in MS and traumatic brain injury. Drs. Genova, Lengenfelder, DeLuca and Chiaravalloti have faculty appointments in the department of physical medicine & rehabilitation at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.
###
Recent article:
Genova HM, Lengenfelder J, Chiaravalloti ND, Moore NB, DeLuca J. Processing speed versus working memory: contributions to an information-processing task in multiple sclerosis. Appl Neuropsychol Adult. 2012;19(2):132-40. doi: 10.1080/09084282.2011.643951.
About MS Research at Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation's cognitive rehabilitation research in MS is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National MS Society, NJ Commission of Brain Injury Research, and Kessler Foundation. Scientists in Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Research at Kessler Foundation have made important contributions to the knowledge of cognitive decline in MS. Clinical studies span new learning, memory, executive function, attention and processing speed. Research tools include innovative applications of neuroimaging, iPADs, and virtual reality. Among recent findings are the benefits of cognitive reserve; correlation between cognitive performance and outdoor temperatures; the efficacy of short-term cognitive rehabilitation using modified story technique; and the correlation between memory improvement and cerebral activation on fMRI.
About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.
Contacts:
Carolann Murphy, 973.324.8382, CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org
Lauren Scrivo, 973.324.8384, 973.768.6583 - c, LScrivo@KesslerFoundation.org
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 28-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Carolann Murphy
CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org
973-324-8382
Kessler Foundation
Helen Genova, Ph.D., and Jean Lengenfelder, Ph.D., were awarded a $40,000 grant for a 1-year study funded by the Consortium of MS Centers titled 'Remediation of emotional processing deficits in MS: A pilot study'
West Orange, NJ. March 27, 2013. Helen Genova, PhD, and Jean Lengenfelder, PhD, were awarded a $40,000 grant to study disorders of emotional processing in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). The one-year study, funded by The Consortium of MS Centers, is titled "Remediation of emotional processing deficits in MS: A pilot study." Dr. Genova is a research scientist in Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Research and Dr. Lengenfelder is assistant director of Traumatic Brain Injury Research at Kessler Foundation.
"This is one of the first studies to address emotional processing deficits in MS," noted Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, director of Neuropsychology, Neuroscience & TBI Research at Kessler Foundation. "The program being tested is an emotional processing training program that has been successful in both autism and schizophrenia. Our scientists will examine its effects on emotional processing abilities, as well as on mood, cognitive processing, and quality of life."
Recent evidence suggests that a significant number of individuals with MS have difficulty in emotional processing. "Specifically, individuals with MS may have difficulty correctly identifying emotions from facial expressions," explained Dr. Genova. "Because deficits in emotional processing can have a significant negative impact on social interactions and quality of life, finding ways to treat these deficits is critical to improving the lives of individuals with MS."
Drs. Genova and Lengenfelder work closely with Dr. Chiaravalloti and John DeLuca, PhD, VP for Research and Training at Kessler Foundation, both of whom are experts in cognitive rehabilitation research in MS and traumatic brain injury. Drs. Genova, Lengenfelder, DeLuca and Chiaravalloti have faculty appointments in the department of physical medicine & rehabilitation at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.
###
Recent article:
Genova HM, Lengenfelder J, Chiaravalloti ND, Moore NB, DeLuca J. Processing speed versus working memory: contributions to an information-processing task in multiple sclerosis. Appl Neuropsychol Adult. 2012;19(2):132-40. doi: 10.1080/09084282.2011.643951.
About MS Research at Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation's cognitive rehabilitation research in MS is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National MS Society, NJ Commission of Brain Injury Research, and Kessler Foundation. Scientists in Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Research at Kessler Foundation have made important contributions to the knowledge of cognitive decline in MS. Clinical studies span new learning, memory, executive function, attention and processing speed. Research tools include innovative applications of neuroimaging, iPADs, and virtual reality. Among recent findings are the benefits of cognitive reserve; correlation between cognitive performance and outdoor temperatures; the efficacy of short-term cognitive rehabilitation using modified story technique; and the correlation between memory improvement and cerebral activation on fMRI.
About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.
Contacts:
Carolann Murphy, 973.324.8382, CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org
Lauren Scrivo, 973.324.8384, 973.768.6583 - c, LScrivo@KesslerFoundation.org
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/kf-kfs032813.php
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Asia stocks up, Europe flat before data release
HONG KONG (AP) ? Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday after upbeat economic data from the world's largest economy. But in Europe, markets were unsteady ahead of the release of more indicators that would provide further clues about the health of the world's leading economies.
Reports including a forward-looking German consumer confidence index and U.S. pending home sales were expected out later in the day.
In early European trading, Germany's DAX slipped less than 0.1 percent to 7,873.17 while France's CAC 40 fell 0.1 percent to 3,743.49. The FTSE 100 index of leading British companies was practically unchanged at 6,398.29.
U.S. stocks were poised to rise marginally. Dow futures rose less than 0.1 percent to 14,484.00 while broader S&P 500 futures were up 0.1 percent to 1,558.50.
Asian stocks ended the day higher following reports overnight from the U.S. showed home prices rose in January at the fastest rate since the country's housing boom peaked in 2006 while February factory orders for long-lasting goods were at their highest in five months.
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index rose 0.6 percent to close at 22,464.82 while South Korea's Kospi gained 0.5 percent to 1,993.44. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.2 percent to 2,301.26 while the smaller Shenzhen Composite rose 0.3 percent to 955.24.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.9 percent to 4,995.00 while benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand also rose.
"So we had a good session in the US last night, certainly. I think the durable goods order figures were really supporting to the market," said Guy Stear, head of Asia research at Societe Generale. "We continue to see strong figures really, out of the production side in the US economy."
In Japan, gains were more muted, with the Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2 percent to end at 12,493.79 as investors stay on the sidelines, hoping for more than just talk from policymakers trying to stimulate the economy. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to pull Japan out of deflation through monetary easing and higher government spending.
"If the Abe government is going to keep the yen down, it is going to have to pull the trigger sooner rather than later, as investors are going to start calling its bluff," IG Markets strategist Evan Lucas said in a commentary.
In currencies, the dollar strengthened slightly to 94.57 yen from 94.50 yen in late trading Tuesday. The euro slipped to $1.2832 from $1.2858.
Oil prices slipped. Benchmark crude for May delivery fell 39 cents to $95.95 a barrel. The contract rose $1.53 to settle at $96.34 on the Nymex on Tuesday.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-europe-flat-data-release-090350833--finance.html
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Dad told cops Loughner 'doesn't seem right lately'
FILE - This is a combo of photos of Jared Loughner released Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011, by the U.S. Marshal's Service. Loughner pleaded guilty in the Tucson, Ariz., shooting rampage that killed six people and left several others wounded, including then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Hundreds of pages of police reports in the investigation of the shooting were released Wednesday, March 27, 2013 marking the public's first glimpse into documents that authorities have kept private since the attack on Jan. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/U.S. Marshal's Office, File)(AP Photo/U.S. Marshal's Office)
FILE - This is a combo of photos of Jared Loughner released Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011, by the U.S. Marshal's Service. Loughner pleaded guilty in the Tucson, Ariz., shooting rampage that killed six people and left several others wounded, including then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Hundreds of pages of police reports in the investigation of the shooting were released Wednesday, March 27, 2013 marking the public's first glimpse into documents that authorities have kept private since the attack on Jan. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/U.S. Marshal's Office, File)(AP Photo/U.S. Marshal's Office)
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) ? Major findings on the Jan. 8, 2011, attack on former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords gleaned from about 2,700 pages of documents released Wednesday, including survivor accounts, police reports and interviews with friends and family of gunman Jared Loughner:
PARENTS
Amy Loughner described her son's run-ins with authorities, use of marijuana and cocaine and increasingly erratic behavior. She said a drug test turned up negative. Randy Loughner said his son became more and more difficult, and it was a challenge to have a rational conversation: "I tried to talk to him. But you can't, he wouldn't let you. ... Lost, lost, and just didn't want to communicate with me no more." Randy Loughner said his son "just doesn't seem right lately."
TALKED TO SELF
Despite the bizarre behavior and his school's recommendation he undergo a mental health evaluation, the parents didn't seek help. Loughner, who was ultimately diagnosed with schizophrenia, often talked to himself in the year before the shooting and even laughed during the conversations, which weren't angry or about hurting anyone, his mother said. "And sometimes he would look like he was having a conversation with someone right there. Be talking to someone. I don't know how to explain it. I don't."
SCHOOL VIDEO
Hours after the shooting, Randy Loughner mentioned a video that caused Pima Community College to expel his son. "They didn't like his video. 'Cause, he's always, his First Amendment rights. He's, uh, he's too intelligent. You know? And they, and it, and they, they dismissed him from school. Told him he needed to go see, seek medical help to come back to school. ... He felt that the pigs were out to get him."
FIRED FROM JOB
The father considered his son's firing as a salesman at an Eddie Bauer store to be a turning point: "He just wasn't the same. He just, nothing, nothing worked, seem to go right for him."
SHOTGUN
Loughner bought a 12-gauge shotgun in 2008, but his parents took it away from him after he was expelled.
HANDGUN PURCHASE
One-time Loughner friend Zachary Osler was an employee at a store where Loughner bought a Glock 9 mm handgun with a 15-round magazine in November 2010. Loughner had a military style haircut and cleared all background checks. He used a Visa card to pay the $559 for the gun and a box of ammo.
GUN STORE JOB
Osler remembered Loughner coming into the gun store on at least two occasions in the previous year, including once to apply for a job, for which he was denied. Osler said hello during one of the visits, but Loughner didn't acknowledge or look at him and just continued onward.
DREAMS
Osler told investigators he had grown uncomfortable with Loughner's personality. "He would say he could dream and then control what he was doing while he was dreaming."
HOME LIFE
Osler told investigators Loughner's parents drank heavily and he didn't get along with his father. "A lot of the times I'd be over there his dad would be yellin' at him about whatever. Kind of a somewhat hostile environment. I never really felt comfortable over there," Osler said.
PISTOL IN WAIST
A few weeks before the shooting, Loughner showed up at the apartment of boyhood friend Anthony Kuck with a 9 mm pistol in his waistband. Loughner said he bought the gun for Christmas for "home protection." Kuck's roommate, Derek Heintz, said Loughner left a bullet as a souvenir. Kuck said he had seen Loughner deteriorate over time: problems with drinking in high school, trouble with police, being kicked out of college, then showing up with a shaved head, bullet tattoos on his shoulder and a gun. "I just know his personality is not normal."
SUICICAL VOICEMAIL
On the day of the shooting, friend Bryce Tierney told investigators that Loughner had called him early in the morning and left a cryptic voicemail that he believed was suicidal. "He just said, 'Hey, this is Jared. Um, we had some good times together. Uh, see you later.' And that's it." Tierney tried to call back, but it was a restricted number that didn't register on his phone.
TRAFFIC STOP
A wildlife agent pulled Loughner over that morning for a traffic violation. He cried and said, "I've just had a rough time," and then composed himself, thanked the agent and shook his hand after he was let go with a warning. The agent asked Loughner again if he was OK, and Loughner said he was going home.
CAB RIDE
Loughner went to a convenience store immediately before the shooting and had the clerk call a cab for him. As he waited, he paced inside and outside the store and went to the bathroom three or four times. The employee said that at one point Loughner looked up at a clock and said, "Nine twenty-five, I still got time."
THE ENCOUNTER
Giffords intern Daniel Hernandez, who helped people sign in as they lined up to see Giffords, recalled handing Loughner a clipboard. "The next thing I hear is someone yell, 'gun!'"
CARTRIDGES FLYING
Doris Tucker was talking to Giffords when she was shot. All she recalls of Loughner was a dark, slim shape. "I remember screaming and ... hearing the terrible noise, and seeing the cartridges fly," said Tucker, whose husband was wounded. "I was talking, the next thing I knew, she was down. ... I saw her fall." Witness Lane Beck was pulling up in her car, with Giffords and the line of constituents in full view. Loughner was "kind of hopping up and down as he was shooting," she said. "His face was very animated."
LOUGHNER TACKLED
Patricia Maisch said Loughner walked up the line of people waiting to talk to Giffords and shot people at random, including the woman next to her. Then, three men tackled him. In the ensuing struggle, Loughner tried to reload. "He was partly on top of me. I had laid down to get out of the line of fire, I didn't know what else to do. ... Apparently he was out of bullets. He pulled the clip out, so I grabbed the clip and would not let him have that." Maisch then kneeled on Loughner's ankles while others held him down, until she noticed that one of the men was bleeding from his head. She went into the Safeway supermarket to get paper towels to stanch the flow of blood.
GIFFORDS RESPONSE
Hernandez helped tend to his boss after she was shot in the head. "She couldn't open her eyes. I tried to get any responses for her. Um, it looked like her left side was the only side that was still mobile. Um, she couldn't speak. It was mumbled. She was squeezing my hand," Hernandez said. "Her breathing was getting shallower. Uh, I then lifted her up so that she wasn't flat on the ground against the wall."
FULL POCKETS
Loughner had two Glock magazines in his left front pocket, both fully loaded. In his other front pocket was a foldable knife with about a 4-inch blade. In his back right pocket, he had a baggie with some money, a credit card and his Arizona driver's license. He had peach-colored plugs in his ears and was wearing a black beanie, a black hoodie-type sweatshirt, khaki pants and Skechers shoes.
MORE GUNS
At Loughner's house, police found two shotguns in the trunk of a car parked in the garage, where they also found photographs of President Bill Clinton and other Pima County officials, including U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva eating at a Mexican restaurant. A search of a safe in Loughner's room turned up a gunlock, an envelope with his Glock's serial number on it and two spent bullet casings. The envelope said he planned to go ahead with an assassination. Items seized included a copy of the Anarchist Cookbook, photo negatives and writings.
INTERROGATION
Loughner was polite and cooperative with authorities the afternoon of the shooting. The conversation as Loughner sat in restraints in an interview room was mainly small talk. Little was said over the four hours. Loughner asked at one point if he could please use the restroom and said "Thank you" when allowed. At another point he complained of being sore: "I'm about ready to fall over." When a detective told Loughner he was going to change his restraints, Loughner responded, "Okay. I'm not going to move."
WHY GIFFORDS
Tierney told investigators he wasn't surprised Loughner shot Giffords. "I don't think he liked Gabrielle Giffords," he said, recalling that when she visited the college they attended, Loughner asked her "'What is government?' and stuff." ... She couldn't give him the answer. ... I feel like he had ... something against Gabrielle Giffords."
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Hamlin out 6 weeks with fractured vertebra
Denny Hamlin stands in the garage area after taking the pole position in his FedEx Express Toyota for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series Auto Club 400 auto race in Fontana, Calif., Friday, March 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Denny Hamlin stands in the garage area after taking the pole position in his FedEx Express Toyota for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series Auto Club 400 auto race in Fontana, Calif., Friday, March 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Rescue workers tend to the wreckage of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota driven by Denny Hamlin after he collided with Joey Logano on the final lap of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race in Fontana, Calif., Sunday March 24, 2013. The pair had been battling for the lead the last three laps. The No. 18 car of Kyle Busch passes behind on its vicory lap. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ? Denny Hamlin will be sidelined at least six weeks because of a fractured vertebra sustained in a last-lap crash at California.
Hamlin was evaluated Tuesday by Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates. While it was determined Hamlin won't need surgery, the L1 compression fracture in his lower back needs time to heal.
"Dr. Petty will make the determination when Hamlin will be able to return to racing this season," Joe Gibbs Racing said in a statement.
While there was no official word from Hamlin in the statement, he tweeted: "I wish I got good news today.. I didn't."
Hamlin has made 264 consecutive Sprint Cup Series starts, 13th most among active drivers. He raced two weeks after undergoing knee surgery during an off week in 2010, and completed the race at Phoenix without a replacement driver despite obvious pain.
If he heals according to Petty's estimated timeline, he'd only miss five races because NASCAR is off this weekend. But among the next five are stops at Martinsville and Richmond, where the Virginia-raised driver has a combined six wins. He also hosts and competes in an annual charity race at RIR.
Joe Gibbs Racing said no decision has been made on a replacement for Hamlin, who is 10th in the Sprint Cup Series standings. But the team has former Cup regulars Elliott Sadler and Brian Vickers in its stable in the Nationwide Series, and both will likely get seat time in the No. 11 Toyota.
Vickers is scheduled to drive the Sprint Cup race at Martinsville for Michael Waltrip Racing.
Hamlin was injured when his car hit head-on into an interior wall at Auto Club Speedway after contact with Joey Logano.
Hamlin and Logano have been feuding over the last month, and neither wanted to give an inch as they raced side-by-side on the last lap for the win. Both cars ended up wrecking after the contact.
NASCAR ruled that neither driver was trying to intentionally wreck the other during the battle, and no penalties were issued Tuesday. NASCAR chairman Brian France said earlier Tuesday that while Hamlin's injury was unfortunate, the battle for the win was the kind of throwback racing he expects out of the drivers.
"I have said repeatedly, every minute, that contact, especially late in the race when you are going for a win, that's not only going to happen ? that's expected," France said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "Both of them did exactly what I think you would do when you really, really want to win. Getting some contact, trying to race extra hard to win the race, that's what we're about."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the last championship-level driver to sit out, missing two races last season in the middle of the Chase for the Sprint Cup because of concussions. Vickers missed more than half of the 2010 season because of blood clots.
Sterling Marlin, who led the points for 25 weeks in 2002, missed the final seven races of the season with a fractured vertebra in his neck.
The time out of the car could cost Hamlin a spot in the 12-driver Chase field. He has made the Chase every year since entering the Cup Series in 2006.
Although he's 10th in points, he'll fall after missing Martinsville. The top 10 in standings after the 26th race earn a spot in the Chase, and the two winningest drivers not already eligible get the final two berths.
Hamlin does not have a win this season.
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Futurity.org ? Google math predicts lung cancer's path
The findings, which use mathematical models similar to Google's PageRank, help physicians predict where lung cancer will spread in the body. The study also finds that some parts of the body are "spreaders" for cancer, whereas others are more like "sponges," and are relatively unlikely to send cancer farther. (Credit: Dalibor Lev??ek/Flickr)
USC (US) ? A mathematical model like the one Google Search uses to rank webpages also offers insight into how lung cancer spreads.
The researchers used an algorithm similar to the Google PageRank, which predicts which websites people are most apt to visit, and to the Viterbi Algorithm for digital communication to analyze the spread patterns of lung cancer.
Their findings could potentially impact clinical care by helping guide physicians to targeted treatment options designed to curtail the spread of lung cancer.
?This research demonstrates how similar the Internet is to a living organism,? says lead and corresponding author Professor Paul Newton of University of Southern California (USC).
?The same types of tools that help us understand the spread of information through the web can help us understand the spread of cancer through the human body.?
Employing a sophisticated system of mathematical equations known as a Markov chain model, the research team?guided by applied mathematicians?found that metastatic lung cancer does not progress in a single direction from primary tumor site to distant locations, which has been the traditional medical view.
Instead, they found that cancer cell movement around the body likely occurs in more than one direction at a time.
Sponges and spreaders
The researchers also learned that the first site to which the cells spread plays a key role in the progression of the disease. The study shows that some parts of the body serve as ?sponges? that are relatively unlikely to further spread lung cancer cells to other areas of the body. The study identified other areas as ?spreaders? for lung cancer cells.
As reported in Cancer Research, the study reveals that for lung cancer, the main spreaders are the adrenal gland and kidney, whereas the main sponges are the regional lymph nodes, liver, and bone.
The study applied the advanced math model to data from human autopsy reports of 163 lung cancer patients in the New England area, from 1914 to 1943. This time period was targeted because it predates the use of radiation and chemotherapy, providing researchers a clear view of how cancer progresses if left untreated.
Among the 163 patients, researchers charted the advancement patterns of 619 different metastases to 27 distinct body sites.
The findings could one day allow doctors to better target treatment. For example, if the cancer is found to have moved to a known spreader location, imaging tests, and interventions can be quickly considered for focused treatment before the cells may be more widely dispersed. Further study is needed in this area.
Keeping tabs on cancer?s movement in the body is vital to patient care. While a primary cancer tumor (confined to a single location) is often not fatal, a patient?s prognosis can worsen if the cancer metastasizes?that is, flakes off and travels to other parts of the body to form new tumors.
The study is part of a relatively new movement to involve physical sciences in oncology research. Mathematics probability models that interpret data from specific patient populations offer a new alternative to the established approach of relying on broader clinical trends to predict where, and how fast, cancer will spread.
In addition to Newton, senior contributing authors researchers from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Scripps Clinic, the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, Billings Clinic, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the Scripps Research Institute.
The National Cancer Institute and the Gates Millennium Fellowship Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded the study, which was conducted at the Scripps Physics Oncology Center.
Source: University of Southern California
Source: http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/google-math-predicts-lung-cancer%E2%80%99s-path/
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Mauritius cuts growth forecast for 2013 to 3.5 pct
By Jean Paul Arouff
PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius has cut its economic growth forecast slightly for 2013 to 3.5 percent, the Statistics office said on Tuesday, citing a deeper contraction in the construction industry.
The Indian Ocean island, with an annual gross domestic product of $10 billion, had previously forecast 3.7 percent growth this year, after a 3.3 percent expansion in 2012.
"Construction is expected to decline further by -6.9 percent after the contraction of -3.0 percent in 2012," Statistics Mauritius said in a statement, blaming the deterioration on fewer construction projects like roads planned for this year.
The information and communication sector is also expected to grow at a slower pace, by 8.6 percent from an earlier forecast of 9 percent, the agency said.
The International Monetary Fund said in January the country would grow 3.7 percent this year helped by fisheries, financial services as well as the information and communication technology sector.
The island state is striving to diversify its economy to cut a reliance on the economically troubled euro zone, its main source of revenue from tourism and a major market for its textiles, sugar and services industry.
The central bank maintained its key repo rate at 4.9 percent earlier this month in line with market expectations.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mauritius-cuts-growth-forecast-2013-3-5-pct-102513767--business.html
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Fruit flies fed organic diets are healthier than flies fed nonorganic diets, study finds
Mar. 26, 2013 ? A new study looking at the potential health benefits of organic versus non-organic food found that fruit flies fed an organic diet recorded better health outcomes than flies fed a nonorganic diet.
The study from the lab of SMU biologist Johannes H. Bauer, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, found that fruit flies raised on diets of organic foods performed better on several tests for general health.
"While these findings are certainly intriguing, what we now need to determine is why the flies on the organic diets did better, especially since not all the organic diets we tested provided the same positive health outcomes," said Bauer, principal investigator for the study.
Fruit flies on organic diets showed improvements on the most significant measures of health, namely fertility and longevity, said high school student researcher Ria Chhabra.
"We don't know why the flies on the organic diet did better. That will require further research. But this is a start toward understanding potential health benefits," said Chhabra, a student at Clark High School in Plano, Texas, who led the experiment.
Chhabra sought to conduct the experiments after hearing her parents discuss whether it's worth it to buy organic foods to achieve possible health benefits.
Bauer, an assistant professor in SMU's Department of Biological Sciences, mentored Chhabra by helping guide and design her research experiments. The research focus of Bauer's fruit fly lab is nutrition and its relationship to longevity, health and diabetes.
"It's rare for a high school student to have such a prominent position in the lab. But Ria has tremendous energy and curiosity, and that convinced me to give this research project a try," Bauer said.
The findings, "Organically grown food provides health benefits to Drosophila melanogaster," have been published in the open access journal PLOS One. Buaer and Chhabra co-authored the paper with Santharam Kolli, a research associate at SMU.
Flies on organic food performed better on some health tests
"The data demonstrated that flies raised on organic food extracts by-and-large performed better on the majority of health tests," reported the researchers.
It remains unclear why organic diets delivered better health, the researchers said.
The Bauer lab results come at a time when the health effects of organic food are widely debated.
Prior studies by other researchers have found conflicting results when reviewing the scientific literature for data. While several studies have shown elevated nutrient content and lower pesticide contamination levels in organic food, a recent publication reporting a large-scale analysis of all available studies concluded no clear trend was apparent.
Fruit flies were fed extracts from produce purchased at a grocery store
In order to investigate whether organic foods are healthier for consumers, the lab utilized one of the most widely used model systems, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Because of the low costs associated with fly research and the fly's short life cycle, researchers use fruit flies to study human diseases, from diabetes to heart function to Alzheimer's disease.
The Bauer lab fruit flies were fed organic and nonorganic produce purchased from a leading national grocery retailer of organic and conventional foods. The flies were fed extracts made from organic and conventional potatoes, soybeans, raisins and bananas. They were not fed any additional nutritional supplements. The researchers tested the effects of each food type independently and avoided any confounding effects of a mixed diet.
The health tests measured longevity, fertility, stress and starvation resistance.
Findings suggest beneficial health effects dependent on specific foods
Some negative or neutral results were obtained using diets prepared from organic raisins, which suggests the beneficial health effects of organic diets are dependent on the specific food item, Bauer said. That might explain some of the inconsistent results in the published studies in the scientific literature, he said, noting some studies suggest there is a nutritional benefit from organic food, while others suggest there is not.
"To our surprise, in the majority of our tests of flies on organic foods, the flies fed organic diets did much better on our health tests than the flies fed conventional food," Bauer said. "Longevity and fertility are the two most important aspects of fly life. On both of these tests, flies fed organic diets performed much better than flies fed conventional diets. They lived longer, had higher fertility, and had a much higher lifetime reproductive output."
Factors such as soil condition and latitude where the produce was grown weren't considered, mimicking a typical grocery store shopping experience.?
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Southern Methodist University. The original article was written by Margaret Allen.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Ria Chhabra, Santharam Kolli, Johannes H. Bauer. Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits to Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (1): e52988 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052988
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/xdeiKpzalhY/130326121732.htm
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Scientists discover that DNA damage occurs as part of normal brain activity
Monday, March 25, 2013
Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered that a certain type of DNA damage long thought to be particularly detrimental to brain cells can actually be part of a regular, non-harmful process. The team further found that disruptions to this process occur in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease?and identified two therapeutic strategies that reduce these disruptions.
Scientists have long known that DNA damage occurs in every cell, accumulating as we age. But a particular type of DNA damage, known as a double-strand break, or DSB, has long been considered a major force behind age-related illnesses such as Alzheimer's. Today, researchers in the laboratory of Gladstone Senior Investigator Lennart Mucke, MD, report in Nature Neuroscience that DSBs in neuronal cells in the brain can also be part of normal brain functions such as learning?as long as the DSBs are tightly controlled and repaired in good time. Further, the accumulation of the amyloid-beta protein in the brain?widely thought to be a major cause of Alzheimer's disease?increases the number of neurons with DSBs and delays their repair.
"It is both novel and intriguing team's finding that the accumulation and repair of DSBs may be part of normal learning," said Fred H. Gage, PhD, of the Salk Institute who was not involved in this study. "Their discovery that the Alzheimer's-like mice exhibited higher baseline DSBs, which weren't repaired, increases these findings' relevance and provides new understanding of this deadly disease's underlying mechanisms."
In laboratory experiments, two groups of mice explored a new environment filled with unfamiliar sights, smells and textures. One group was genetically modified to simulate key aspects of Alzheimer's, and the other was a healthy, control group. As the mice explored, their neurons became stimulated as they processed new information. After two hours, the mice were returned to their familiar, home environment.
The investigators then examined the neurons of the mice for markers of DSBs. The control group showed an increase in DSBs right after they explored the new environment?but after being returned to their home environment, DSB levels dropped.
"We were initially surprised to find neuronal DSBs in the brains of healthy mice," said Elsa Suberbielle, DVM, PhD, Gladstone postdoctoral fellow and the paper's lead author. "But the close link between neuronal stimulation and DSBs, and the finding that these DSBs were repaired after the mice returned to their home environment, suggest that DSBs are an integral part of normal brain activity. We think that this damage-and-repair pattern might help the animals learn by facilitating rapid changes in the conversion of neuronal DNA into proteins that are involved in forming memories."
The group of mice modified to simulate Alzheimer's had higher DSB levels at the start?levels that rose even higher during neuronal stimulation. In addition, the team noticed a substantial delay in the DNA-repair process.
To counteract the accumulation of DSBs, the team first used a therapeutic approach built on two recent studies?one of which was led by Dr. Mucke and his team?that showed the widely used anti-epileptic drug levetiracetam could improve neuronal communication and memory in both mouse models of Alzheimer's and in humans in the disease's earliest stages. The mice they treated with the FDA-approved drug had fewer DSBs. In their second strategy, they genetically modified mice to lack the brain protein called tau?another protein implicated in Alzheimer's. This manipulation, which they had previously found to prevent abnormal brain activity, also prevented the excessive accumulation of DSBs.
The team's findings suggest that restoring proper neuronal communication is important for staving off the effects of Alzheimer's?perhaps by maintaining the delicate balance between DNA damage and repair.
"Currently, we have no effective treatments to slow, prevent or halt Alzheimer's, from which more than 5 million people suffer in the United States alone," said Dr. Mucke, who directs neurological research at Gladstone and is a professor of neuroscience and neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, with which Gladstone is affiliated. "The need to decipher the causes of Alzheimer's and to find better therapeutic solutions has never been more important?or urgent. Our results suggest that readily available drugs could help protect neurons against some of the damages inflicted by this illness. In the future, we will further explore these therapeutic strategies. We also hope to gain a deeper understanding of the role that DSBs play in learning and memory?and in the disruption of these important brain functions by Alzheimer's disease."
###
Gladstone Institutes: http://www.gladstone.ucsf.edu
Thanks to Gladstone Institutes for this article.
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Knox awaits decision from Italy's highest court
FILE - This Nov. 2, 2007 file photo shows Amanda Marie Knox, of the U.S., left, and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, of Italy, outside the rented house where 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher was found dead in Perugia, Italy. The Court of Cassation on Monday March 25, 2013 is considering prosecutors' contentions that the 2011 acquittals of American Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher should be thrown out and a new trial ordered. (AP Photo/Stefano Medici, File)
FILE - This Nov. 2, 2007 file photo shows Amanda Marie Knox, of the U.S., left, and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, of Italy, outside the rented house where 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher was found dead in Perugia, Italy. The Court of Cassation on Monday March 25, 2013 is considering prosecutors' contentions that the 2011 acquittals of American Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher should be thrown out and a new trial ordered. (AP Photo/Stefano Medici, File)
Giulia Bongiorno, lawyer of Amanda Knox's ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, talks to reporters in front of the Italy's Court of Cassation, in Rome, Monday, March 25, 2013. Amanda Knox was waiting anxiously Monday to hear whether her ordeal is over or whether she will face trial again, as Italy's top criminal court considered whether to overturn her acquittal in the murder of her roommate. Prosecutors are asking the high court to throw out the acquittals of American Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend in the murder of 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher, and order a new trial. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)
ROME (AP) ? Amanda Knox was waiting anxiously Monday in Seattle to hear if she will face trial again as Italy's top criminal court considered whether to overturn her acquittal in the murder of her roommate in Italy.
Italian prosecutors have asked the high court to throw out the acquittals of Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend in the murder of 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher and order a new trial.
"She's carefully paying attention to what will come out," attorney Luciano Ghirga said as he arrived at Italy's Court of Cassation in Rome. "This is a fundamental stage. The trial is very complex."
The court began deliberations in the evening after hearing six hours of arguments from both sides. A decision was expected later Monday.
Knox, now 25, and Raffaele Sollecito, who turns 29 on Tuesday, were arrested in 2007, shortly after Kercher's body was found in a pool of blood in her bedroom in the rented apartment she shared with the American and others in the university town of Perugia, where they were exchange students. Her throat had been slashed.
Prosecutors alleged that Kercher was the victim of a drug-fueled sexual assault.
Knox and Sollecito have both maintained their innocence, although they said that smoking marijuana the night Kercher was killed had clouded their recollections.
Knox and Sollecito were convicted and given long prison sentences: 26 years for Knox, 25 for Sollecito. But the appeals court acquitted them in 2011, criticizing virtually the entire case mounted by prosecutors. The appellate court noted that the murder weapon was never found, said that DNA tests were faulty and added that Knox and Sollecito had no motive to kill Kercher.
After nearly four years behind bars in Italy, Knox returned to her hometown of Seattle and Sollecito resumed his computer science studies. Knox is now a student at the University of Washington, according to her family spokesman, Dave Marriott.
In the second and final level of appeal, prosecutors are now seeking to overturn the acquittals, while defense attorneys say they should stand.
The court can decide to confirm the acquittal, making it final, or throw out the Perugia appellate court ruling entirely or partially, remanding the case to a new appeals court trial.
In that case, Italian law cannot compel Knox to return to Italy. The Italian appellate court hearing the case could declare her in contempt of court but that carries no additional penalties.
It is unclear what would happen if she was convicted in a new appeals trial.
"If the court orders another trial, if she is convicted at that trial and if the conviction is upheld by the highest court, then Italy could seek her extradition," Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said.
As a foreigner, Italy is not obliged to seek her extradition but it could decide to do so. Then it would be up to the United States to decide if it honors the request.
U.S. and Italian authorities could also come to a deal that would keep Knox in the United States.
Prosecutor general Luigi Riello argued before the court that there were ample reasons "not to bring down the curtain on the case."
Riello said the appellate court was too dismissive in casting aside DNA evidence that led to the conviction in the lower court, arguing that another trial could make way for more definitive testing.
Neither Knox nor Sollecito was in court for the hearing Monday, which opened with a summary of the gruesome murder, although Sollecito's father attended.
Defense attorneys said they were confident the acquittals would be upheld.
"We know Raffaele Sollecito is innocent," said his attorney, Giulia Bongiorno, who called the entire case "an absurd judicial process."
Before the court, Bongiorno argued there was an "unending series of errors by scientific police" in how they handled evidence in the case, including the fact that the crime scene had been disturbed "and possibly contaminated" during the investigation.
A young man from Ivory Coast, Rudy Guede, was convicted of the slaying in a separate proceeding and is serving a 16-year sentence. Kercher's family has resisted theories that Guede acted alone.
The lawyer for the Kercher family, Francesco Maresca, said the family was likely to issue a statement when the decision is issued. They did not attend the arguments.
The court is also hearing Knox's appeal against a slander conviction for having accused a local pub owner of carrying out the killing. The man was held for two weeks based on her allegations, but was then released for lack of evidence.
Riello argued that conviction should stand because "you cannot drag in an innocent person while exercising your right to a defense."
Knox's lawyer Dalla Vedova said the slander verdict should be thrown out because Knox had not been advised that she was a suspect during the questioning.
"The girl was confused, worn out" after 14 hours of questioning by police that stretched overnight, Dalla Vedova said, adding that while Knox was alone, 36 investigators signed the interrogation sheet.
___
Associated Press writer Chris Grygiel contributed from Seattle.
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