SAN FRANCISCO?-?The injunction was put in place ahead of a month-long trial that pitted iPhone maker Apple Inc against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in a closely watched legal battle that ended with a resounding victory for Apple last month on many of its patent violation claims.
However, the jury found that Samsung had not violated the patent that was the basis for the tablet injunction and Samsung argued the sales ban should be lifted. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said she could not act because Samsung had already appealed. In its ruling on Friday, the Federal US Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington said Koh could now consider the issue. The decision comes just a month before the South Korean corporation is expected to unveil the second generation of one of its most successful devices, the stylus-equipped Note.
The Galaxy 10.1 is an older model, but the ban still hurts Samsung in the run-up to the pivotal holiday shopping season. The world?s top two smartphone makers are locked in patent disputes in 10 countries as they vie to dominate the lucrative market, which is growing rapidly.
A U.S. jury found during the just-concluded trial that Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages.
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) ? A Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Nigeria landed safely Saturday after the pilot discovered a problem with the aircraft's landing gear, authorities said.
The Airbus 330 aircraft, carrying 148 passengers and 14 crew members, landed in Lagos just after 1 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) with no one onboard sustaining any injuries, state emergency management director Femi Oke-Osanyintolu said.
Qatar Airways said the flight's pilot noticed one of the 10 tires on the aircraft had a low pressure after taking off from Doha early Saturday morning. The airline said the pilot did not declare an emergency over the tire, though local officials said the pilot had. Firefighting equipment and emergency workers stood by for the aircraft's landing at Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport, said Harold Demuren, director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
Images of the aircraft after its landing showed the tire had peeled away from the landing gear. Those onboard later said they had no idea the flight had any problem until after it landed.
Foreign carriers flying into Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, have had troubles before, including arriving at airports and finding their runway lights. In one case involving an Air France flight in 2005, an airplane tore through a herd of cattle that somehow found its way onto a runway at Port Harcourt's international airport.
Local air carriers in Nigeria remain plagued by funding problems and allegations of corruption in the country. In June, a Dana Air flight from Abuja to Lagos crashed just before landing, killing more than 160 people. Recently, the nation's top carrier, Arik Air Ltd., suspended flights over what it claimed was government interference and corruption by the nation's aviation minister. The airline has resumed its flights.
___
Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Orthodox Church called on Sunday for members of the Pussy Riot punk band to repent, on the eve of an appeal court ruling on their two-year sentences for performing an anti-Kremlin song in Moscow's main cathedral.
The three performers of the "punk prayer" criticizing President Vladimir Putin's close ties with the Russian Orthodox Church were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" by a district court on August 17.
Vladimir Legoida, a senior church spokesman, said their act "must not remain unpunished whatever the justification," but that any repentance, if expressed, should be taken into account.
"The church sincerely wishes for the repentance of those who desecrated a holy place, certainly it would benefit their souls," Legoida said in an official address.
"If any words of the convicts indicate repentance ... we would wish that they are not left unnoticed and those who violated the law get a chance to mend their ways."
A church statement after the August verdict indicated that the clergy would back a pardon or a reduced sentence, but that would have required Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, to admit their guilt, something their lawyers say they will not do.
"If they (the church) mean repentance in the sense of a crime ... it definitely won't happen. Our clients won't admit guilt. A call for that is pointless," lawyer Mark Feigin told independent television channel Dozhd on Sunday.
The trio's legal team and relatives hold out little hope that the sentences - which they believe are excessively harsh - will be quashed or reduced at the hearing scheduled for Monday, whether they repent or not.
"The sentence is predetermined; their repentance will not affect it in any way," Stanislav Samutsevich, father of one of the jailed women, told Reuters.
"The fact the church is calling for that is nothing but a public relations move to sustain their reputation in the eyes of the public, as the church says it is separate from the state."
Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has called Putin's 12-year rule a "miracle of God" and backed his presidential election campaign this year.
Kirill dismissed criticism of his backing for the Kremlin on Friday, telling students that close ties between the church and state helped protect and develop society.
The trial exposed Putin to international criticism because of doubts over the independence of the judiciary, and global celebrities including British musician Paul McCartney and U.S. pop singer Madonna called for leniency.
By Ronnie Cohen SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The Obama administration has directed immigration officials to recognize same-sex partners as family members in deportation cases, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Friday. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Pelosi in a letter that she had ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to notify its field offices "that the interpretation of the phrase 'family relationships' includes long-term, same-sex partners." Pelosi welcomed the federal recognition of gay and lesbian couples. At the same time, she called for more to be done to protect undocumented immigrants in long-term relationships with American citizens. Napolitano's directive "will provide a measure of clarity and confidence to families dealing with separation in immigration cases," Pelosi said in a written statement. "Our nation is served when loving families are kept together." But she added: "We need to ... relegate DOMA to the dustbin of history." The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act bars the federal government from extending federal benefits, such as Social Security, to married gay and lesbian couples. DOMA restricts the Obama administration from outright ordering that gay and lesbian couples be treated the same as heterosexual couples. Last year, Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama called DOMA unconstitutional and said they would no longer defend the measure in court. In response, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives stepped in to fund an effort to try to uphold the law. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide next month whether it will review a number of cases questioning the constitutionality of DOMA. Meanwhile, married couples like Brian Willingham, 38, and Alfonso Garcia, 35, of Orinda, California, have been fighting for the right to be considered related in the eyes of immigration authorities. After a traffic stop, officials began deportation proceedings against Garcia, who came to the United States from Mexico when he was 14. "We're definitely happy that the Obama administration took this good first step," Willingham told Reuters Friday. "But it's just a Band-Aid. It helps us because we are faced with deportation. But it leaves thousands of couples in exile." Immigration officials last year said they would consider same-sex partnerships as family relations in deciding whether to deport undocumented immigrants. But 83 members of Congress led by Pelosi and Jerrold Nadler of New York criticized the government for unevenly applying the directive, and they pressed for written guidelines. "This is a huge step forward," said Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality, a national gay-rights group. "Until now, LGBT families and their lawyers had nothing to rely on but an oral promise. The administration's written guidance will help families facing separation and the field officers who are reviewing their cases." (Reporting By Ronnie Cohen; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Todd Eastham)
Campaigners in Maryland before a state vote on marriage (Photo: PA)
Reading posts in response to Herald blogs on the subject of changing the law on marriage so that it is no longer defined as being between a man and a woman ? as David Cameron has pledged to do by 2015 ? I have been struck by the way supporters of this change brush aside the fears of those who oppose altering the law. The latter fear that if, in the future, they defend traditional marriage in public ? in classrooms, meetings and so on ? they will be in breach of the law. As the law has not ? yet ? changed we cannot know for certain if these fears are mere hysteria or legitimate, but there are precedents for anxiety over the matter.
Christian Voice has drawn my attention to a story told by journalist Mark Steyn, about the absurd situations that can arise in ?hate crime? legislation. Steyn writes, ??the very same words can be proof of two entirely different hate crimes. Iqbal Sacranie is a Muslim of such exemplary ?moderation? he?s been knighted by the Queen. The head of the Muslim Council of Britain, Sir Iqbal was interviewed by the BBC and expressed the view that homosexuality was ?immoral?, was ?not acceptable?, ?spreads disease? and ?damaged the very foundations of society?. A gay group complained and Sir Iqbal was investigated by Scotland Yard?s ?community safety unit? for ?hate crimes? and ?homophobia?.
?Independently but simultaneously, the magazine of GALHA (the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association) called Islam a ?barmy doctrine? growing ?like a canker? and deeply ?homophobic?. In return, the London Race Hate Crime Forum asked Scotland Yard to investigate GAHLA for ?Islamophobia?. Got that? If a Muslim says that Islam is opposed to homosexuality, Scotland Yard will investigate him for homophobia; but if a gay says that Islam is opposed to homosexuality, Scotland Yard will investigate him for Islamophobia. Two men say exactly the same thing and they?re investigated for different hate crimes.?
This would be laughable if it were not so serious. Christian Voice adds other examples of heavy-handed and inappropriate state interference, such as that involving a 14-year-old girl, Codie Stott, who ?asked her teacher at Harrop Fold High School whether she could sit with another group to do her science project as in hers the other five pupils spoke Urdu and she didn?t understand what they were saying. The teacher called the police, who took her to the station, photographed her, fingerprinted her, took DNA samples, removed her jewellery and shoelaces, put her in a cell for three and a half hours, and questioned her on suspicion of committing a Section Five ?racial public-order offence?. ?An allegation of a serious nature was made concerning a racially motivated remark,? declared the headmaster, Antony Edkins. The school would ?not stand for racism in any form?. In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said they took ?hate crime? very seriously and their treatment of Miss Stott was in line with ?normal procedure?.
MercatorNet draws attention to another potential minefield: mothers and fathers will officially cease to exist in France if draft gay marriage legislation promoted by the new socialist government goes ahead. Instead, all references to ?mothers and fathers? in the nation?s civil code will be exchanged for the non-gender-specific ?parents?. The draft law, due to go before President Hollande?s cabinet for approval on October 31, states that ?marriage is a union of two people, of different or the same gender?.
The problem is that trying to promote a false equality does not lead to peaceful coexistence or greater tolerance but to their opposite. Progressives who want to change the nature of the marriage laws in order to give same-sex unions the status of marriage are very intolerant of those they see as deeply prejudiced for wanting to retain the status quo; those seeking to keep the status quo are intolerant of what they see as misguided and illiberal attempts to undermine the foundations of a healthily functioning society. Accusations of ?hate crimes? will abound and increase; the stage is set for a long war of attrition.
Handbook of Stem Cells 2ndEdition Co-edited by ? Robert Lanza, M.D., ACTs Chief Scientific Officer
MARLBOROUGH, Mass.?(BUSINESS WIRE)?Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that its chief scientific officer, Robert Lanza, M.D. and Anthony Atala, M.D., W.H. Boyce Professor and Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, have released the second edition of Handbook of Stem Cells (Academic Press/Elsevier), the widely-recognized definitive resource in the field of stem cells. It includes a Forward by Professor Sir Martin Evans, Ph.D., FRS, co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2007. Sir Martin is credited with discovering embryonic stem cells and is considered one of the chief architects of the field of stem cell research. The two-volume set also includes contributions from dozens of stem cell pioneers, including James Thomson, Shinya Yamanaka, Doug Melton, Janet Rossant, and Robert Langer (a member of ACTs board of directors), among others, as well as patient advocate Mary Tyler Moore.
These books make an invaluable contribution to the education of researchers and clinicians both of the present day and of the future. They should be available in libraries of all biology and medical schools as well as those of companies and research institutions.
Handbook of Stem Cells, Second Edition follows a very successful edition published in 2004. The first edition was the first comprehensive body of work dedicated entirely to the stem cell field. The two-volume set quickly became the most relevant textbook in the stem cell arena. Now, several years later, major advances have occurred, with entirely new classes of stem cells being described. The description of induced pluripotent cells in the last few years brought many more avenues of research and discovery. In 2012, the first paper reporting results of two patients treated with human embryonic stem cells was published by ACT and its collaborators. It might seem that we have waited too long to finally see pluripotent stem cells in the clinic. However, this has been accomplished with incredible speed when it is considered that hESCs were first isolated just 14 years ago. Handbook of Stem Cells integrates this exciting area, combining in two volumes the requisites for a general understanding of both adult and embryonic stem cells. Organized in two volumes, Pluripotent Stem Cells and Adult & Fetal Stem Cells, this work contains contributions from the world?s experts in stem cell research to provide a description of the tools, methods, and experimental protocols needed to study and characterize stem cells and progenitor populations as well as a the latest information of what is known about each specific organ system.
The Handbook of Stem Cells, edited by Robert Lanza and colleagues, is an ambitious new text that achieves extraordinary completeness and inclusiveness, wrote Steve Goldman of University of Rochester Medical Center in NATURE CELL BIOLOGY about the first edition. [...] the editors have succeeded in putting together a reference that is broad enough in scope, but sufficiently detailed and rigorous, to be of real interest to both new and seasoned investigators in the field [...] In providing this treatise, which covers the history, biology, methods and applications of stem cells, the editors and authors have succeeded in establishing a conceptual framework and a common language for the field. In so doing, they have ensured that this two-volume set will serve as a benchmark reference in stem cell biology for years to come.
Writing about the first edition in the Times Higher Education Supplement, Ian Wilmut added, These books make an invaluable contribution to the education of researchers and clinicians both of the present day and of the future. They should be available in libraries of all biology and medical schools as well as those of companies and research institutions.
About Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.
Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., is a biotechnology company applying cellular technology in the field of regenerative medicine. For more information, visit www.advancedcell.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this news release regarding future financial and operating results, future growth in research and development programs, potential applications of our technology, opportunities for the company and any other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates, and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including: limited operating history, need for future capital, risks inherent in the development and commercialization of potential products, protection of our intellectual property, and economic conditions generally. Additional information on potential factors that could affect our results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in the companys periodic reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the companys management at the time they are made, and the company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions, expectations, or other circumstances should change. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the companys management at the time they are made, and the company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions, expectations, or other circumstances should change. There can be no assurance that the Companys clinical trials will be successful.
Excerpt from: New Edition of Definitive (Two-Volume) Resource in Stem Cells Released Today
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Imagine a way to get your teenage kids interested in researching and critical thinking about the Constitution and the Founding Fathers.? Now imagine your younger kids receiving a cash award for writing an essay about what they would tell the Founding Fathers if they could travel back in time, or your older teenager recording a winning essay about the relevancy of the Constitution.? To top it all off, imagine your child receiving that award and praise from a group of combat veterans.? Now stop imagining, and read about the VFW patriotic essay programs.
For over 60 years, the Veterans of Foreign Wars has sponsored the Voice of Democracy for high school age kids and the Patriot?s Pen for junior high age.? Each program offers cash prizes from local posts across the country, with progressively larger prizes as winners rise from the post level to district and state level competitions.? Each state submits their top entries to the national level, where the top prize is a $30,000 college scholarship to the school of your choice.
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The Patriot?s Pen contest is for kids in 6-8th grades.? They submit a written essay of 300-400 words on this year?s topic, ?What I Would Tell America?s Founding Fathers? to your local VFW post (list of MN VFW posts here).? Parents can?t write the essay for their kids, but they can help supervise to keep them on track.? Imagine the conversations you could have with your kids about the Founding Fathers.
The Voice of Democracy is for 9-12 graders, and moves beyond a written essay to a 3-5 minute recording of the author reading their own work.? The topic for VOD this year is especially germane to the times, ?Is Our Constitution Still Relevant??? Not only do kids learn about the Constitution and how it applies to our country today, but they get practice in speaking their thoughts out loud.? Winners will get practice in public speaking as well, as they are usually asked to speak at patriotic events such as Veteran?s and Memorial Day ceremonies.
There is no official number, but it was estimated that last year VFW posts across Minnesota gave over $40,000 in prizes.? The top Patriot?s Pen essay from Minnesota, written by 6th grader Chloe Schroeder from Owatonna, received a $4,000 savings bond for her work.? Entries are due to local posts by November 1st.
For conservatives, the VFW?s patriotic essay programs are a Win-Win-Win.? Win 1) Get today?s generation of teenagers (tomorrow?s leaders) to think critically about the Constitution and the Founding Fathers.? Win 2) Show kids what a simple meritocracy system is; no affirmative action or nepotism here, only the top essays win top prizes.? Win 3) Introduce your kids to the veterans who believe in liberty and freedom so strongly that they volunteered to defend them.
If you have questions about the program or need help finding your local VFW post, you can find the Department of MN VFW on the web or on Facebook.
If you still can't find a contact at your local post, leave a comment at Foreign and Domestic and I will be happy to help.
Study researches genetic messenger rather than genePublic release date: 27-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michele Sequeira MSequeira@salud.unm.edu 505-925-0485 University of New Mexico Cancer Center
UNM Cancer Center researcher wins prestigious NCI Provocative Questions grant to investigate a possible mechanism for cancer tumor development
Albuquerque, NM
September 17, 2012
Most of us think of DNA mutations as the culprits that cause cancer. Scott Ness, PhD, University of New Mexico Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Associate Director at the UNM Cancer Center, thinks there may be another, more elusive culprit. If Dr. Ness is right his research, funded as part of the National Cancer Institute's Provocative Questions Project, might open a whole new arena in which to target anticancer drugs.
Currently, most genetic cancer research focuses on DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) abnormalities. Dr. Ness' work will instead focus on RNA (ribonucleic acid), the molecule that transports the protein-making instructions to the structures that make the proteins. RNA is not an exact copy of DNA, however, and researchers have long known that the process to make RNA in normal cells differs from that in cancer cells. Whether these differences are important is the subject of Question 11 on the NCI's Provocative Questions list. Now, thanks to recent technological advances in genome sequencing, Dr. Ness will be able to study the impact of these RNA processing differences and whether they cause cancer.
The cell constructs RNA in a poorly-understood two-step process. In the first step, called transcription, the cell chooses the correct parts of DNA to use since only about 2 percent of the DNA encodes proteins. Genes are the sequences in the DNA that carry the protein-making instructions. In humans and all other vertebrates, genes are discontinuous. As a result, the RNA transcript must be refined and edited in the second step, a process called RNA splicing. In RNA splicing, the cell removes the non-protein-making parts of the genecalled intronsleaving only the protein instructionscalled exonsstrung together like boxcars in a train. Sometimes the RNA splicing machinery skips an exon or includes an extra exon that usually is not part of the final RNA. These changes, called alternative RNA splicing, are one of the mechanisms that allow genes to make multiple different RNAs and different types of proteins.
"One of the big surprises of the Human Genome Project was how few genes were discovered," says Dr. Ness. Researchers expected to find over 100,000 genes based on the number of different human RNA transcripts, but instead they found fewer than 25,000 genes. The discontinuity of genes and alternative RNA splicing explains how it's possible to have so many types of RNA from so few genes. "One gene can make different versions of RNA and then the RNAs are used to make the proteins," says Dr. Ness. "And so a gene might produce different kinds of RNA in different tissues, or in a fetus versus an adult, or in a tumor versus a normal cell."
In a normal cell, alternative RNA splicing occurs occasionally; in a cancerous cell, alternative RNA splicing happens much more often. "It's been known for a long time that tumors have much more alternative RNA splicing than normal cells doten times more. But no one knows if that's biologically important," says Dr. Ness. "No one knows if the controls in tumors are relaxed so that something is just not working properly and these RNAs are made by accident or if something more sinister happened in the tumor cells and these different RNAs are part of the cause of cancer."
To find out, Dr. Ness and his team will look in incredible detail at all the RNA produced in tumor cellslots of tumor cells from hundreds of leukemia samples. Using the next-generation Ion Proton Genome Sequencer expected at the UNM Cancer Center later this month, Dr. Ness's team will sequence the RNA in the samples to determine which proteins the leukemia cells made. Then, using complex statistical analyses combined with data on the patients' outcomes, he and his team will be able to determine whether increased levels of alternative RNA splicing contribute to cancer formation.
The implications of Dr. Ness's work are far-reaching. In his previous work, he and his team studied an oncogene named c-myb. This gene controls the proteins that bind to different other genes to turn them on or off; it decides which proteins the cell makes. The c-myb gene itself may not have a mutation, Dr. Ness found, but the RNA transcripts made from it might be very different in a cancer cell compared with a normal cell because of alternative RNA splicing. The mechanisms for controlling RNA splicingand whether alternative exons are encodedis not very well understood. But, if alternative RNA splicing is important, study of this area could give researchers greater insight into cancer mechanisms and a whole new array of cellular machinery against which to target cancer drugs.
###
About the National Cancer Institute Grant
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01CA170250. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
About the National Cancer Institute's Provocative Questions Project
The Provocative Questions project emerged from discussion among a number of veteran cancer researchers that noticed there were many questions some important but not very obvious, some that had been asked but abandoned in the past because we didn't have ways to study or address them, some sparked by new discoveries or novel technologies that could stimulate the NCI's research communities to use laboratory, clinical, and population sciences in especially effective and imaginative ways. Over the course of 18 months, NCI solicited questions from scientists in various fields and at different stages in their careers, ultimately settling on 24 questions that, if answered, could lead to significant research advances. In a departure from its traditional grant-making process, NCI released a special solicitation just for research related to these 24 questions and empaneled a custom set of peer review groups to score the more than 700 applications NCI received. More than 50 grants, attempting to answer 20 of the 24 proposed questions, are being funded this year from that set of applications. These grants are not intended to represent the NCI's full range of priorities in cancer research, but rather represent a new and different way to identify and address research needs in cancer by challenging researchers to delve into key areas that require more in depth study.
About the UNM Cancer Center
The UNM Cancer Center is the Official Cancer Center of New Mexico and the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center in the state. One of just 67 NCI-designated cancer centers nationwide, the UNM Cancer Center is recognized for its scientific excellence, contributions to cancer research and delivery of medical advances to patients and their families. It is home to New Mexico's largest team of board-certified oncology physicians and research scientists, representing every cancer specialty and hailing from prestigious institutions such as MD Anderson, Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic. The UNM Cancer Center treats more than 65 percent of the adults and virtually all of the children in New Mexico affected by cancer, from every county in the state. In 2010, it provided care to more than 15,800 cancer patients. The Center's research programs are supported by nearly $60 million annually in federal and private funding. Learn more at http://cancer.unm.edu.
Michele Sequeira, UNM Cancer Center, (505) 925-0486, msequeira@salud.unm.edu
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Study researches genetic messenger rather than genePublic release date: 27-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michele Sequeira MSequeira@salud.unm.edu 505-925-0485 University of New Mexico Cancer Center
UNM Cancer Center researcher wins prestigious NCI Provocative Questions grant to investigate a possible mechanism for cancer tumor development
Albuquerque, NM
September 17, 2012
Most of us think of DNA mutations as the culprits that cause cancer. Scott Ness, PhD, University of New Mexico Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Associate Director at the UNM Cancer Center, thinks there may be another, more elusive culprit. If Dr. Ness is right his research, funded as part of the National Cancer Institute's Provocative Questions Project, might open a whole new arena in which to target anticancer drugs.
Currently, most genetic cancer research focuses on DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) abnormalities. Dr. Ness' work will instead focus on RNA (ribonucleic acid), the molecule that transports the protein-making instructions to the structures that make the proteins. RNA is not an exact copy of DNA, however, and researchers have long known that the process to make RNA in normal cells differs from that in cancer cells. Whether these differences are important is the subject of Question 11 on the NCI's Provocative Questions list. Now, thanks to recent technological advances in genome sequencing, Dr. Ness will be able to study the impact of these RNA processing differences and whether they cause cancer.
The cell constructs RNA in a poorly-understood two-step process. In the first step, called transcription, the cell chooses the correct parts of DNA to use since only about 2 percent of the DNA encodes proteins. Genes are the sequences in the DNA that carry the protein-making instructions. In humans and all other vertebrates, genes are discontinuous. As a result, the RNA transcript must be refined and edited in the second step, a process called RNA splicing. In RNA splicing, the cell removes the non-protein-making parts of the genecalled intronsleaving only the protein instructionscalled exonsstrung together like boxcars in a train. Sometimes the RNA splicing machinery skips an exon or includes an extra exon that usually is not part of the final RNA. These changes, called alternative RNA splicing, are one of the mechanisms that allow genes to make multiple different RNAs and different types of proteins.
"One of the big surprises of the Human Genome Project was how few genes were discovered," says Dr. Ness. Researchers expected to find over 100,000 genes based on the number of different human RNA transcripts, but instead they found fewer than 25,000 genes. The discontinuity of genes and alternative RNA splicing explains how it's possible to have so many types of RNA from so few genes. "One gene can make different versions of RNA and then the RNAs are used to make the proteins," says Dr. Ness. "And so a gene might produce different kinds of RNA in different tissues, or in a fetus versus an adult, or in a tumor versus a normal cell."
In a normal cell, alternative RNA splicing occurs occasionally; in a cancerous cell, alternative RNA splicing happens much more often. "It's been known for a long time that tumors have much more alternative RNA splicing than normal cells doten times more. But no one knows if that's biologically important," says Dr. Ness. "No one knows if the controls in tumors are relaxed so that something is just not working properly and these RNAs are made by accident or if something more sinister happened in the tumor cells and these different RNAs are part of the cause of cancer."
To find out, Dr. Ness and his team will look in incredible detail at all the RNA produced in tumor cellslots of tumor cells from hundreds of leukemia samples. Using the next-generation Ion Proton Genome Sequencer expected at the UNM Cancer Center later this month, Dr. Ness's team will sequence the RNA in the samples to determine which proteins the leukemia cells made. Then, using complex statistical analyses combined with data on the patients' outcomes, he and his team will be able to determine whether increased levels of alternative RNA splicing contribute to cancer formation.
The implications of Dr. Ness's work are far-reaching. In his previous work, he and his team studied an oncogene named c-myb. This gene controls the proteins that bind to different other genes to turn them on or off; it decides which proteins the cell makes. The c-myb gene itself may not have a mutation, Dr. Ness found, but the RNA transcripts made from it might be very different in a cancer cell compared with a normal cell because of alternative RNA splicing. The mechanisms for controlling RNA splicingand whether alternative exons are encodedis not very well understood. But, if alternative RNA splicing is important, study of this area could give researchers greater insight into cancer mechanisms and a whole new array of cellular machinery against which to target cancer drugs.
###
About the National Cancer Institute Grant
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01CA170250. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
About the National Cancer Institute's Provocative Questions Project
The Provocative Questions project emerged from discussion among a number of veteran cancer researchers that noticed there were many questions some important but not very obvious, some that had been asked but abandoned in the past because we didn't have ways to study or address them, some sparked by new discoveries or novel technologies that could stimulate the NCI's research communities to use laboratory, clinical, and population sciences in especially effective and imaginative ways. Over the course of 18 months, NCI solicited questions from scientists in various fields and at different stages in their careers, ultimately settling on 24 questions that, if answered, could lead to significant research advances. In a departure from its traditional grant-making process, NCI released a special solicitation just for research related to these 24 questions and empaneled a custom set of peer review groups to score the more than 700 applications NCI received. More than 50 grants, attempting to answer 20 of the 24 proposed questions, are being funded this year from that set of applications. These grants are not intended to represent the NCI's full range of priorities in cancer research, but rather represent a new and different way to identify and address research needs in cancer by challenging researchers to delve into key areas that require more in depth study.
About the UNM Cancer Center
The UNM Cancer Center is the Official Cancer Center of New Mexico and the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center in the state. One of just 67 NCI-designated cancer centers nationwide, the UNM Cancer Center is recognized for its scientific excellence, contributions to cancer research and delivery of medical advances to patients and their families. It is home to New Mexico's largest team of board-certified oncology physicians and research scientists, representing every cancer specialty and hailing from prestigious institutions such as MD Anderson, Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic. The UNM Cancer Center treats more than 65 percent of the adults and virtually all of the children in New Mexico affected by cancer, from every county in the state. In 2010, it provided care to more than 15,800 cancer patients. The Center's research programs are supported by nearly $60 million annually in federal and private funding. Learn more at http://cancer.unm.edu.
Michele Sequeira, UNM Cancer Center, (505) 925-0486, msequeira@salud.unm.edu
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I sometimes try to ask myself what the next great factor will turn out to be online. Since the outset of the substantial utilization of the internet in the 90's, there have been a couple important developments that have altered the arena of website marketing.
The earliest innovation was Google. There were a lot of search engines in the beginning of the web but it was not a lengthy period of time before "google" was a verb and Google was gobbling up over 80% search volume on the web. They are continually in takeover form and working closer to total domination of internet search and maximizing their market share in a few other industries like mobile phones. Watching precisely what Google is working on is a crucial process for anybody who needs to promote on the web.
The next significant innovation was the expansion of web-based streaming video and YouTube. As a result of faster internet speeds becoming more widely accessible, streaming video was accessible and YouTube grew virally mainly because of the simplicity of adding and sharing your own movies. Currently a web-site is not worth squat if it does not have some sort of video to advertise a product or service.
The most recent discovery is still progressing. You guessed it! It's social networking. First it was MySpace, then Facebook and Twitter. The expansion of Facebook and Twitter have been enough to challenge the absolute control of Google, Yahoo, and Bing and shift the manner in which internet surfers spend their time spent online. At this point, an enterprise would be foolish not to ever use Twitter, Facebook, and other social marketing strategies while promoting their venture.
People that predicted these breakthrough discoveries or created them on their own are now extremely rich. People that were prepared to speedily make use of these breakthroughs are reaping the rewards of being adaptive and ready to adapt to an ever-changing internet. Here are a couple of basic questions and ideas to be prepared for the future development on the web.
The Growth of Cellular
Many people are now surfing utilizing their phones and ipads. Site owners must adjust to generate web-sites that are mobile accessible. As use of mobile browsers expands, this will continue to become more and more fundamental. As web developers make their images smaller - mobile displays are getting bigger with tablets more popular. This problem may have been restricted to only a handful of years when mobile phones had really small displays. Regardless, with smartphone browsing on the rise, it's important that site visitors can view your content very easily.
Disappearance of Keyboard and Mouse
When you see people using computers in films set in future decades, they are never making use of a keyboard and mouse. They are frequently making use of some type of multi-screen hologram or speech triggered program. It's likely to happen it's simply a matter of when. So exactly what does this really mean for web entrepreneurs? What should it entail for search engine marketing? Voice search is without a doubt becoming more popular with mobile so online marketers should consider search phrases that are spoken as opposed to entered. The resulting key words could be the very same but usually there is a big difference in spoken word and typed-out key phrases. This is also very crucial for technologies organizations and creators of new products. A lot of income has been generated marketing keyboards and mice over the last several years but they may be on their way out before long.
Google Never Ending
Will there ever be a better manner in which to locate things via the internet rather than typing a search phrase into a search engine (or performing a voice search)? I've been wracking my brain trying to think about what will come after Google and I cannot think of it. One development in the past few years is customized advertising. Google continues to be on the leading edge of this concept. They have so much access to user activity online that they can effortlessly individualize adverts to target advertisements to consumers that have displayed need for these things. This doesn't indicate search will change necessarily yet it may indicate that individuals will take less precious time searching in google and significantly more time simply clicking appropriate advertisements on websites. In any case, it's revenue for Google so they don't care.
Many individuals don't worry about looking towards the next significant technology achievement in computer and online technology but individuals who do can reap the benefit of being the first movers.
The account is a parody? but the ?tel:*2767*3855%23? is quite serious.
It?s a reference to a ?vulnerability? which exists on some versions of Samsung Android phones, those running Samsung?s TouchWiz UI. (So, not Nexus.) And by vulnerability, we mean that some ?genius? developed a feature to factory hard reset TouchWiz devices using an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) code ? without requiring a prompt from the user!
As such, there are numerous ways in which a device could be remotely targeted and prompted to run service commands.
The vulnerability was demonstrated by Ravi Borgaonkar last weekend at the Ekoparty security conference, which you can see here.
The good news is that Borgaonkar informed Samsung in June. Current versions of Galaxy S III firmware should not be vulnerable.
Also good news: remote factory hard resets don?t exactly have a profit motive. So this isn?t something anybody will likely ever see in the wild. But still, if you have a Samsung running TouchWiz, make sure you update to the latest firmware.
Also, other vendor?s phones could be subject to similar issues. One workaround to consider is a third-party dialer app.
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27C3 presentation claims many mobiles vulnerable to SMS attacks
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Apache exploit leaves up to 65% of all websites vulnerable
CARO: Half of all computers running vulnerable versions of Adobe PDF Reader
Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Autoresponders Articles from EzineArticles.com
Put Your Business Email Communications On Autopilot
Email autoresponders are a great way to automate some parts of your business communication. Once you understand the power of using autoresponders, it will transform the way you stay in touch with your customers.
Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Audio-Streaming Articles from EzineArticles.com
Teaching Benefits That You Could Get From Audio Books
More and more children grew tired of reading, or does not have the slightest interest in reading books. Only a few enjoys reading. However reading has its alternatives. With audio books, it is possible for children to learn and gain the knowledge with the materials they don?t like reading. They will still have to read, however reading any materials and hearing it being read is much more fun and exciting. There are schools that incorporates listening to audio books while learning new things. Experts believe that with audio books?
Computers-and-Technology Articles from EzineArticles.com
Different Ways to Use Video Conferencing
Video conferencing is a fairly new form of technology that has quickly become integrated in everyday life. We no longer have to buy webcams and microphones because the technology is already built in to our computers and laptops. We can even use our mobile phones to video call each other.
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Winners to Be Celebrated at Gala Banquet on October 15, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea
DUBLIN, Calif., August 30, 2012 ? Epicor Software Corporation, a global leader in business software solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail and services organizations, announced today that Epicor has been awarded a Silver Stevie? Award for Customer Service Department of the Year and a Bronze Stevie? Award for Fastest-Growing Company of the Year in Canada and the United States in the 2012 International Business Awards.
Our Guest Blog today is by Ann Lee Miller, Author of Kicking Eternity and The Art of My Life. I have to admit, I usually find self-published books disappointing--including my own. AnnLee Miller's books are a definite exception to that rule. Her writing is dynamic and fascinating. My first book debuted June and my second in September, so this is more of a beginner?s testimonial than the last word on book marketing. I don?t have the time or inclination to get a marketing degree, but I know Someone who?s been in the business a long time. Prayer is the foundation for my promotion strategy.
The wacky idea I?m using is to give a book away?forever. I?ve got four novels coming out in a year. The people who read and like free Kicking Eternity should cheerfully buy The Art of My Life (released in September), Avra?s God (due out in December), and Tattered Innocence (expected to release in March of?2013). Smashword?s Mark Coker?s lists free books as Secret No.?Eleven in The Secrets of Ebook Publishing Success. Motoko Rich of the New York Times concurs (LINK).
Blog Tour: I scheduled a blog stop each day of June for my first book. I took several book marketing classes online from Melissa Foster of Fostering-success.com. At her recommendation, for The Art of My Life, I am only scheduling blog stops every two or three days in order to better promote the appearances.
Via Facebook, e-mail, and online groups, I asked friends to read my book and post reviews. I gave them two weeks, but two months is a more realistic time frame. With the second book, I also requested reviews from bloggers I met on Twitter.
Joel Comm recommends in Twitter Power building relationships on Twitter three-fourths of the time and selling one-fourth. His philosophy goes well with my personality. However, my one tweet a day probably didn?t accomplish much in either area. For Art of My Life, I am following fifty new people each day, offering the free book to anyone who follows me, and setting up numerous tweets each day via hootsuite.com.
Indie authors have to earn respect, and this fact was never more obvious than when I sought speaking engagements. I was ignored by twenty universities, one of which I attended for two years. Even the high school I graduated from, served as vice president of my senior class, and as a member of the homecoming court did not respond to my e-mail. My alma mater, where I earned a BA in creative writing, would not allow me to speak to students in writing classes. I did succeed, however in slating seven Christian groups related to my alma mater and denomination. In the Spring, I plan to visit my hometown, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where a book launch will be held for my books, and I will visit area book stores and gift shops to ask them to stock my books.
I?m sending news releases about my book launch to newspapers in all the places I?ve lived. To my delight, a reporter from the Hometown News in New Smyrna Beach interviewed me for an hour on the phone and published a feature. Also, a nearby Daytona Beach News Journal reporter loved my news release and printed two shorter articles. I will approach these reporters again with each book. Also, I will send press releases to the town where I now live and my college alumni magazines.
On Launch Day I opened a Facebook Event called ?Ann Lee Miller Free Book? as an efficient way to spread the word to my friends so they can ?invite? their friends. It was a tad confusing because no event actually?took place. In the first week, about 8,000 people heard about my book through the event.?It was a huge success, but Facebook took it down without explanation, even though I wrote to inquire why. I?m hesitant to try it again because I don?t want to do something that might be against Facebook?s rules.
You never know what tidbit from your life could be an asset in promoting your book. The newspaper reporter called because Kicking Eternity landed First Place Long Contemporary in the 2009 RWA Faith, Hope, and Love Contest. I marveled that God had put this into place three years ago.
Another asset was living on a sailboat while my parents? marriage melted down. Not a happy time, but an experience that lends credibility to my two books set on sailboats. We all have plusses if we dig around and look for them.
I asked a couple of traditionally published friends if they would read Kicking Eternity and write endorsements which I view as huge assets. This is what they gave me:
?Ann Lee Miller writes stories straight from the heart with characters who'll become friends, remaining with you long after you turn that final page. You won't want to miss Kicking Eternity!? Jenny B. Jones, author of the Katie Parker Production Series from the?Think and The Charmed Life Series, and others from Thomas Nelson.
?In Kicking Eternity, Ann Lee Miller masterfully weaves the delicate web of emotions experienced in that turbulent ?twenty-something? stage of life. Powerful family dynamics, intense loyalty challenges, and tender new loves find their niche in your heart as this story unfolds layer by lovely layer.? Mesu Andrews, Author of Revell titles Love?s Sacred Song and Love Amid the Ashes, which won the 2012 CBA Book of the Year, New Author Category.
Contact me through AnnLeeMiller.com for a free e-copy of Kicking Eternity. If you?ve read this far you deserve it!
Back cover of The Art of My Life: Cal walked out of jail and into a second chance at winning Aly with his grandma?s beater sailboat and a reclaimed dream of sailing charters.
Aly has the business smarts, strings to a startup loan, and heart he never should have broken. He?s got squat. Unless you count enough original art to stock a monster rummage sale and an affection for weed.
But he?d only ever loved Aly. That had to count for something. Aly needed a guy who owned yard tools, tires worth rotating, and a voter?s registration card. He?d be that guy or die trying.
For anyone who?s ever struggled to measure up. And failed.
Buy Links: Amazon,?Barnes And Noble,?and Smashwords.
Bio: Ann Lee Miller earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University and writes full-time in Phoenix, but she left her heart in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where she grew up. She loves speaking to young adults and guest lectures on writing at several Arizona colleges. When she isn?t writing or muddling through some crisis?real or imagined?you?ll find her hiking in the Superstition Mountains with her pastor husband or meddling in her kids? lives.
Men who experience high levels of anxiety following prostate cancer surgery are at increased risk for depression and dissatisfaction with their sex life, a new study finds.
The findings suggest that anxious men may benefit from counseling that addresses their worries, and improve their quality of life, the researchers said.
?Given that the majority of men who undergo [surgery] for?prostate cancer?will not die from their disease, we are concerned about what life will be like for these patients decades after diagnosis and treatment,? said study researcher Alexander Parker, an associate professor of epidemiology and urology at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.
Parker and colleagues analyzed information from 365 men who underwent?surgery for prostate cancer. One year after the surgery, participants completed a questionnaire designed to measure their anxiety about their diagnosis and treatment. They also answered questions to measure their levels of erectile function, sexual satisfaction and depression.
The results showed that the men who reported high anxiety levels were more likely to also report low sexual satisfaction and a high rate of depression symptoms.
Interestingly, anxiety was not linked with?erectile dysfunction. ?If our results can be confirmed by other investigators, it would suggest that anxiety is not affecting some men?s ability to perform sexually, but perhaps more their ability to enjoy their sex life,? Parker said.
?We are building on these results by designing trials to test whether counseling can help these patients,? Parker said.
The findings were presented at a joint meeting of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America and the International Society for Sexual Medicine in Chicago last month.
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17.?Genoa,?revamped in 2009, has a completely new look and feel from the original location.?Anyone familiar with the original layout, will be startled by the change in d?cor. The front of the restaurant is welcoming and airy, with a lush, modern feel, soft lighting and a fireplace warming both the ambiance and the room. Sound absorbing materials, as well as the wide spacing between tables, keeps the background noise to a comfortable level. Modern chandeliers pull all the elements together, giving a sophisticated feel, and making it one of the more romantic dining rooms in Portland.
The menu is prix fixe, a 5-course meal for $65, which rotates monthly, focusing on a different section of Italy each time.
All of the pasta is house-made, and is generally excellent.?I loved their Lasagne ai Carciofi. The layers of pasta are airy, with a rich pur?e of artichokes and Yukon gold potatoes. Though the potato flavor was a bit buried, the raw, shaved baby artichokes were warm and earthy. The Sicilian pesto was strong and bright, with little kicks of crushed red pepper to pull everything together.
The Pasta con Sarde, semolina spaghetti with Italian sardines, was also enjoyable. Though the sardines are a bit overwhelming, the pasta with pine nuts is great, and it grew on me as the ingredients got stirred mixed together. Raisins and capers made for nice texture with little bursts of flavor, and caramelized fennel and red onions gave a long finish.
Three secondi are available on each menu. In October, one of the choices was Pancetta in Vetro di Birra ? beer-braised Carlton Farms pork belly with caramelized cabbage, pickled red onion, and apple cider gastrique. The pork flavors were terrific ? fatty, crispy belly, with the fat just offset by the vinegar in the gastrique. The pickled onion to the side was a texturally perfect foil to the shimmering softness of the belly.
Throughout the menu, the courses can be hit and miss, with an occasional need to exercise more restraint, but if you are looking for a romantic Italian restaurant, Genoa may just fit the bill. ?You can read my full review here.
Address:?2832 SE Belmont St., Portland OR 97214 ?Map
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Public release date: 27-Sep-2012
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