Charles and David Koch are very major players in the Tribune Company's sale of some of the biggest newspapers in the country, including the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, and according to a new report, they have debated using the media to spread their political message.?
RELATED: Koch Brothers vs. Rupert Murdoch: The Fight for Tribune Newspapers Is On
The New York Times' Amy Chozick reports that Koch Industries is, in fact, exploring a deal with the Tribune Compnay to buy their package regional of newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, the Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel and The Hartford Courant. We first heard about the Kochs potentially buying the papers back in March when?L.A. Weekly originally reported their interest.
RELATED: The Koch Brothers' Media Takeover Has Big-Money Competition from the Left
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Of course, they're not the only buyer at the table here. As we've detailed before, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation?has been openly flirting with Tribune Co. for months now?about possibly buying the package of papers. The new split-off publishing company will be flush with cash when it launches later this summer, which has led to some speculation they're looking to purchase the papers, and?potentially a bidding war with the Kochs. Conflicting reports have said Murdoch is either interested in buying all eight papers, or only the?L.A. Times, and Chozick posits Murdoch's interest is only in the?Times, for now. A potential strong arm bid from the Koch's could raise his ire and Murdoch's never been one to be bullied around. But Murdoch also has to worry about British phone hacking legal fees which?will continue for at least the next two years. On the other side of the political spectrum, there's also the group of?primarily Democratic ?L.A. based investors?led by billionaire Eli Broad, Austin Beutner, and Ron Burkle. They've shown interest in buying the?L.A. Times, but maybe not the other Tribune papers.?
RELATED: More Ways Sam Zell Destroyed the Tribune Company
It's those other investors reluctance to claim the whole package of Tribune Co. papers that "could prove [Koch Industries] the most appealing buyer," Chozick?writes. Tribune Co. have made no secret about wanting to sell the package of eight papers as a package instead of individually.?
RELATED: Who Wants to Buy the L.A. Times and Chicago Tribune?
Perhaps the most worrisome part of Chozick's report is how the brothers have spoke about making sure "our voice is being heard" at Koch Industry seminars for major Republican and Libertarian luminaries over the last three years. The seminars were private, and the brothers spoke about ?making sure their political agenda was getting what they perceive to be a fair shake in the papers. (The brother like to think they're covered unfairly in the press right now.) It seems they want to control both the medium and the message for their own political gain. The potential political influence a Koch-wielded Tribune empire would look like this, Chozick explains:?
Politically, however, the papers could serve as a broader platform for the Kochs? laissez-faire ideas. The Los Angeles Times is the fourth-largest paper in the country, and The Tribune is No. 9, and others are in several battleground states, including two of the largest newspapers in Florida, The Orlando Sentinel and The Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. A deal could include Hoy, the second-largest Spanish-language daily newspaper, which speaks to the pivotal Hispanic demographic.
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That's a long arm of influence for the guys who already spent millions upon millions on the 2012 election, but were left with little to show for it. A newspaper industry trumpeting their ideals would certainly help them get out the message.
RELATED: Rupert Murdoch Is Going Shopping
The other option on the table: Tribune Co. doesn't have to sell the papers if they don't find a satisfactory deal. But with all of these moneyed players at the table, with egos as big as their wallets, that option doesn't seem likely.?
There was no small amount of technology that went into the capture of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev, but perhaps none was more impressive than the helicopter-mounted, forward-looking infrared camera that confirmed once and for all that there was someone hiding in a boat in Watertown, Massachusetts. And that he was almost certainly Dzokhar Tsarnaev. More »
The African giant land snail, a notorious invasive species, is attempting to establish itself in Florida, say officials. ?
By Eoin O'Carroll,?Staff / April 15, 2013
South Florida is fighting a growing infestation of one of the world's most destructive invasive species: the giant African land snail, which can grow as big as a rat and gnaw through stucco and plaster.
Florida Department of Agriculture Division of Plant Industry/Reuters/Handout/File
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As big as a rat and with a taste for building materials, the African giant land snail is proving to be?a slow-moving disaster for the Sunshine State.
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Originally from Kenya and Tanzania,?the gigantic gastropod is a notorious invasive species, having already established itself throughout Africa, China, India, many Pacific islands, the?Caribbean, and Hawaii. The first reported sighting came in September 2011, and since then, according to Reuters, officials in Miami-Dade?have caught some 117,000 snails, at a rate of about 1,000 per week.
That rate, which gives a new?definition to the term "snail's pace,"?is likely to increase in the coming weeks, as the state's rainy season begins and the snails emerge from underground hibernation. ?
In addition to dining on a wide range of plants ? more than 500 varieties, according to the?Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services ? the massive mollusks also gnaw through stucco, plaster, and even concrete, which contain calcium that the snails need to grow their shells.
The snails can also harbor a parasitic lungworm thought to be dangerous to humans, although no there have been no reported cases in the United States?of humans being infected by the snails.
This is not the first time the giant snails have attempted to establish themselves in Florida. As Reuters notes, in 1966 a boy returning from vacation in Hawaii brought three of them to Miami. The state spent 10 years and $1 million eradicating them.
How they arrived this time is anybody's guess. Officials are investigating the Miami Santeria group, which three years ago was found to be using the snails in their rituals. But they could have just as easily arrived unintentionally in freight or luggage from destinations where the snail is endemic.
So if you're in the mainland United States and you spot something that looks like a snail, only humongous, be sure to contact authorities.
And if they let you keep it, then you just might have found dinner. In 2009, the Guardian's Tim Hayward described how to cook them.?(Because of the lungworms, the University of Hawaii recommends heating snails to an internal temperature of 165 degrees before eating.)?
Hayward described his meal ? the ultimate slow food ? as "?totally new combination of flavour and texture."?
Rising number of rape cases in our society proves that something is wrong at a very large and basic level. It is clear after the brutal rape of five years old kid in Delhi that poverty, lack of education, revealing clothes, use of mobile phones, going out at night, late marriage are not the reasons of rape which were cited again and again by many renowned personalities and even common man. Rape is actually done by sick people who are physically healthy and fine but mentally not. Sick mentality is engulfing every man who does not remain in his senses and results in such a heinous crime.
Society and police is blamed, media becomes super active, protests by people, anger and much more than this is done and seen every time but without a result. All this is not at all changing the society the way it should. Down the line self control through self improvement is the need of the day which will improve one?s life and way of thinking.
Spirituality Be spiritual not to show off but in reality. Living close to God will help you to stay away from negative thoughts. Make a routine of getting up early in the morning to offer prayers. If you know the technique of meditation then perform this or learn it as it helps in getting rid of negative and unwanted thoughts. Do not run after worldly gurus but be close to that supreme divine power. Try getting his positive energy.
Inspirational Environment Environment in which you live has a profound impact on your personality and way of thinking. Even if you are living in a single room or a small home you must create an inspirational environment. Keep it clean and paste nice thoughts on walls so that you can see and feel these day and night.
Honesty ?Honesty is the best Policy? so be honest in everything you do and say.
Be tender Before giving pain to others think what would it feel if same would happen to you? Do hurt anyone neither physically nor emotionally. If you are a person who is not at peace then you have to train your mind for the same. Many times your mind wander and you end up doing a wrong act. But you have to keep your emotions under your control rather than coming under their control.
Bring in a routine Routine in life is the most important aspect of self improvement. Start your day as early as possible. This will improve your life as well as productivity. Ensure to follow a routine in life.
Stop Blaming Most of us have the habit of blaming either God or other person for all our misfortune. It is not they but you who is responsible for all the wrong. So stop blaming and accept if you are wrong. Try to improve yourself for a better life.
Set a challenge Setting up a challenge in life means you will work towards it and remain busy. Keeping yourself busy means not letting negative thought to come. Healthy competition always helps in self improvement and the best way to grow.
Quit bad habits Everyone has bad habits. For self improvement you have to quit bad habits. Note down all your bad habits and start working on these.
Avoid bad company Your friends show your personality and over a period of time you start behaving like them. Negative thoughts grow profoundly if you have bad people around you. Identify such people around you and avoid them.
Do not watch obscenity It is better not to watch TV or any other media as it is full of obscenity. Some people get influenced by obscenity to such an extent that for day and night they keep on thinking about this. With such a mentality they do what they should not. So stay away from obscenity.
If you get success in controlling your mind then self improvement is not a difficult thing as it follows mind control.
Doug Collins durante una conferencia de prensa en la que anunci? su renuncia al cargo de entrenador de los 76ers de Filadelfia el jueves, 18 de abril de 2013, en Filadelfia. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)
Doug Collins durante una conferencia de prensa en la que anunci? su renuncia al cargo de entrenador de los 76ers de Filadelfia el jueves, 18 de abril de 2013, en Filadelfia. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)
Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris responds to questions during a news conference where it was announced Doug Collins is resigning from his position as the team's head coach, Thursday, April 18, 2013 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)
Doug Collins responds to questions during a news conference where he announced his resignation as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team, Thursday, April 18, 2013 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doug Collins studies a stat sheet as his team plays the Indiana Pacers in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, April 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doug Collins, left, hugs forward Thaddeus Young as guard Jrue Holiday looks on before their NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, Wednesday, April 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? His eyes red and moist, Doug Collins explained how he knew in his heart the time was right to retire from coaching.
It wasn't, he insisted, because the Philadelphia 76ers face a painful rebuilding process. Or even because he felt unwanted by ownership.
The 61-year-old Collins simply missed being a family man.
When the emotional tug of five young grandchildren, and a son about to take over at Northwestern became too much to consider missing, Collins walked away. He resigned Thursday after three seasons as coach of the Sixers and will remain with the franchise as an adviser.
After coaching jobs with three other teams, Collins' days on the bench are over.
"There's a lot of things I want to enjoy," he said. "I think it's every man's dream to be able to live that life that you've worked so hard to try and live. That's what I want to do."
Collins had one year and $4.5 million left on his original four-year deal. Team owner Josh Harris said Collins will now begin a five-year stint as a consultant and expects to have his input on choosing the next coach.
Even as the losses piled up, Harris said Collins was not being pushed out.
"Why wouldn't you want a great coach to come back and be your coach?" Harris said. "But at the time, I respect his desires as a man. There's no resentment. I feel like we are going to build a high-quality organization and will attract a high-quality coach."
Collins steps down after a season so full of promise unraveled starting with the knee injury to center Andrew Bynum. The Sixers went 34-48 and missed the playoffs for the first time in his three seasons.
Collins was on hand at the team's end-of-season press conference, and said he considered retirement back in December, citing family reasons. He still wants to add his input from the front office, but he wants to be home, too.
"I think I've done a lot of good things for this organization," he said. "This organization is all I know. It's all I'll ever know. I'm going to be a Sixer for life."
The Sixers picked up the option on Collins' contract for the 2013-14 season in training camp and he said then he wanted to remain with the organization in some capacity when his coaching career is over. It's over earlier than expected.
"I don't want to ever have to drop my head. I didn't fail," Collins said. "Did we have the year that we wanted to have? Absolutely not. But a lot of that was out of our control."
None more than Bynum's health.
After losing Game 7 to Boston last year in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Philadelphia shook up the roster and made the bold move to acquire the double-double threat from Los Angeles in a four-team trade that cost them Olympian Andre Iguodala, rising star Nik Vucevic and draft picks.
Bynum never played for the Sixers because of bone bruises in both knees. He insisted from training camp he would play this season, only to shut it down for good on March 18 and undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on both knees. Bynum earned $16.5 million this season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent.
"This is a team that could have been great," forward Thaddeus Young said. "It was built around the big guy in the middle."
With so many millions of dollars and rehab time invested in the former All-Star center, Harris said the Sixers are still interested in his return.
"A healthy Bynum that's playing is a needle-mover, a top-15 player," he said. "But the reality is, he didn't play a game this season. There's risk. We're going to weigh the positives and the negatives and try to make a reasoned assessment of what's appropriate for Andrew. Certainly we're open to the prospect of bringing him back."
Collins pushed for assistant Michael Curry, a former head coach at Detroit, to take over. Harris and general manager Tony DiLeo will make the final decision. Collins joins Julius Erving and former president Rod Thorn as paid consultants. There is no official team president.
Oddly, Collins never informed his players he was leaving, either as a team or during individual exit interviews Thursday.
Collins, a four-time All-Star with the Sixers, returned to the franchise in 2010 and led them to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons. A year ago, the Sixers eliminated the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in the first round and fell a win shy of reaching the Eastern Conference finals.
He guided a young Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls from 1986-89, and the Detroit Pistons from 1995-98. He coached Jordan again with the Washington Wizards from 2001-03.
His two seasons with the Wizards had been his only two full seasons in which he did not lead his team to the playoffs. He was fired shortly after Jordan was denied a return to the front office.
Collins worked for TNT after leaving the Wizards and received the Curt Gowdy Media Award at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his work as a broadcaster. Collins said the Sixers left the door open for him to return to the booth.
He averaged 17.9 points in a career marred by injuries. A knee injury forced him to retire in 1981, two years before the 76ers beat the Lakers for the 1983 NBA title.
His son, Chris Collins, was hired as coach at Northwestern earlier this month, after a stint as an assistant with Duke.
"I want to see him grow, I want to see him coach," Collins said.
Bynum is one of six free agents for the Sixers, who are devoid of any real assets. Jrue Holiday was an All-Star in his third full season and joined Wilt Chamberlain as the two players in the franchise's 50-year history to average more than 17 points and eight assists for an entire season.
Young and Evan Turner are solid players. But those two ? along with Holiday ? weren't enough to help lead the Sixers back to the postseason.
"I certainly see scenarios," Harris said, "where we're pretty good next year."
It's a stretch. Then again, no one saw the Sixers making the blockbuster move to acquire Bynum, so anything can happen.
"It's not a dire situation," Harris said.
Sixers fans can only hope DiLeo has it in him to pull off another deal for a superstar player.
Realistically, they should brace for the worst.
___
NOTES: Harris said the Sixers have identified a site for a new practice facility. ... He said the team is also in advanced discussions to buy a D-League team.
Quest for edible malarial vaccine leads to other potential medical uses for algaePublic release date: 19-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kim McDonald kmcdonald@ucsd.edu 858-534-7572 University of California - San Diego
Can scientists rid malaria from the Third World by simply feeding algae genetically engineered with a vaccine?
That's the question biologists at UC San Diego sought to answer after they demonstrated last May that algae can be engineered to produce a vaccine that blocks malaria transmission. In a follow up study, published online today in the scientific journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, they got their answer: Not yet, although the same method may work as a vaccine against a wide variety of viral and bacterial infections.
In their most recent study, which the authors made freely available on the Applied and Environmental Microbiology website at http://aem.asm.org/, the researchers fused a protein that elicits an antibody response in mice against the organism that causes malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, which afflicts 225 million people worldwide, with a protein produced by the bacterium responsible for cholera, Vibrio cholera, that binds to intestinal epithelial cells. They then genetically engineered algae to produce this two-protein combination, or "fusion protein," freeze dried the algae and later fed the resulting green powder to mice. The researchers hypothesized that together these proteins might be an effective oral vaccine candidate when delivered using algae.
The result? The mice developed Immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies to both the malarial parasite protein and to a toxin produced by the cholera bacteria. Because IgA antibodies are produced in the gut and mucosal linings, they don't protect against the malarial parasites, which are injected directly into the bloodstream by mosquitoes. But their study suggests that similar fusion proteins might protect against infectious diseases that affect mucosal linings using their edible freeze-dried algae.
"Many bacterial and viral infections are caused by eating tainted food or water," says Stephen Mayfield, a professor of biology at UC San Diego who headed the study. "So what this study shows is that you can get a really good immune response from a recombinant protein in algae that you feed to a mammal. In this case, it happens to be a mouse, but presumably it would also work in a human. That's really encouraging for the potential for algae-based vaccines in the future."
The scientists say bacterial infections caused by Salmonella, E. coli and other food and water-borne pathogens could be prevented in the future with inexpensive vaccines developed from algae that could be eaten rather than injected. "It might even be used to protect against cholera itself," said James Gregory, a postdoctoral researcher in Mayfield's lab and the first author of the paper. In his experiments with mice, he said, Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodieswhich are found in blood and tissueswere produced against the cholera toxin, "but not the malaria antigen and we don't quite understand why."
Part of the difficulty in creating a vaccine against malaria is that it requires a system that can produce structurally complex proteins that resemble those made by the parasite, thus eliciting antibodies that disrupt malaria transmission. Most vaccines created by engineered bacteria are relatively simple proteins that stimulate the body's immune system to produce antibodies against bacterial invaders.
Three years ago, a UC San Diego team of biologists headed by Mayfield, who is also the director of the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology, a research consortium seeking to develop transportation fuels from algae, published a landmark study demonstrating that many complex human therapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies and growth hormones, could be produced by the common algae Chlamydomonas. That got Gregory wondering if complex malarial transmission blocking vaccine candidates could also be produced by Chlamydomonas. Two billion people live in malaria endemic regions, making the delivery of a malarial vaccine a costly and logistically difficult proposition, especially when that vaccine is expensive to produce. So the UC San Diego biologists set out to determine if this alga, an organism that can produce complex proteins very cheaply, could produce malaria proteins that would inhibit infections from malaria.
"It's too costly to vaccinate two billion people using current technologies," explained Mayfield. "Realistically, the only way a malaria vaccine will ever be used in the developing world is if it can be produced at a fraction of the cost of current vaccines. Algae have this potential because you can grow algae any place on the planet in ponds or even in bathtubs."
Collaborating with Joseph Vinetz, a professor of medicine at UC San Diego and a leading expert in tropical diseases who has been working on developing vaccines against malaria, the researchers showed in their earlier study, published in the open access journal PLoS ONE last May that the proteins produced by the algae, when injected into laboratory mice, made antibodies that blocked malaria transmission from mosquitoes.
The next step was to see if they could immunize mice against malaria by simply feeding the genetically engineered algae. "We think getting oral vaccines in which you don't have to purify the protein is the only way in which you can make medicines dramatically cheaper and make them available to the developing world," says Mayfield. "The Holy Grail is to develop an orally delivered vaccine, and we predict that we may be able to do it in algae, and for about a penny a dose. Our algae-produced malarial vaccine works against malarial parasites in mice, but it needs to be injected into the bloodstream."
Although an edible malarial vaccine is not yet a reality, he adds, "this study shows that you can make a pretty fancy protein using algae, deliver it to the gut and get IgA antibodies that recognize that protein. Now we know we have a system that can deliver a complex protein to the right place and develop an immune response to provide protection."
Mayfield is also co-director of the Center for Food & Fuel for the 21st Century, a new research unit that has brought together researchers from across the campus to develop renewable ways of improving the nation's food, fuel, pharmaceutical and other bio-based industries and is this week hosting a major symposium on the subject at the Institute of the Americas at UC San Diego.
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Two other researchers in Mayfield's laboratory, Aaron Topol and David Doerner, participated in the research study, which was supported by grants from the San Diego Foundation, the California Energy Commission (500-10-039) and the National Science Foundation (CBET-1160184).
[ | 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.
Quest for edible malarial vaccine leads to other potential medical uses for algaePublic release date: 19-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kim McDonald kmcdonald@ucsd.edu 858-534-7572 University of California - San Diego
Can scientists rid malaria from the Third World by simply feeding algae genetically engineered with a vaccine?
That's the question biologists at UC San Diego sought to answer after they demonstrated last May that algae can be engineered to produce a vaccine that blocks malaria transmission. In a follow up study, published online today in the scientific journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, they got their answer: Not yet, although the same method may work as a vaccine against a wide variety of viral and bacterial infections.
In their most recent study, which the authors made freely available on the Applied and Environmental Microbiology website at http://aem.asm.org/, the researchers fused a protein that elicits an antibody response in mice against the organism that causes malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, which afflicts 225 million people worldwide, with a protein produced by the bacterium responsible for cholera, Vibrio cholera, that binds to intestinal epithelial cells. They then genetically engineered algae to produce this two-protein combination, or "fusion protein," freeze dried the algae and later fed the resulting green powder to mice. The researchers hypothesized that together these proteins might be an effective oral vaccine candidate when delivered using algae.
The result? The mice developed Immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies to both the malarial parasite protein and to a toxin produced by the cholera bacteria. Because IgA antibodies are produced in the gut and mucosal linings, they don't protect against the malarial parasites, which are injected directly into the bloodstream by mosquitoes. But their study suggests that similar fusion proteins might protect against infectious diseases that affect mucosal linings using their edible freeze-dried algae.
"Many bacterial and viral infections are caused by eating tainted food or water," says Stephen Mayfield, a professor of biology at UC San Diego who headed the study. "So what this study shows is that you can get a really good immune response from a recombinant protein in algae that you feed to a mammal. In this case, it happens to be a mouse, but presumably it would also work in a human. That's really encouraging for the potential for algae-based vaccines in the future."
The scientists say bacterial infections caused by Salmonella, E. coli and other food and water-borne pathogens could be prevented in the future with inexpensive vaccines developed from algae that could be eaten rather than injected. "It might even be used to protect against cholera itself," said James Gregory, a postdoctoral researcher in Mayfield's lab and the first author of the paper. In his experiments with mice, he said, Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodieswhich are found in blood and tissueswere produced against the cholera toxin, "but not the malaria antigen and we don't quite understand why."
Part of the difficulty in creating a vaccine against malaria is that it requires a system that can produce structurally complex proteins that resemble those made by the parasite, thus eliciting antibodies that disrupt malaria transmission. Most vaccines created by engineered bacteria are relatively simple proteins that stimulate the body's immune system to produce antibodies against bacterial invaders.
Three years ago, a UC San Diego team of biologists headed by Mayfield, who is also the director of the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology, a research consortium seeking to develop transportation fuels from algae, published a landmark study demonstrating that many complex human therapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies and growth hormones, could be produced by the common algae Chlamydomonas. That got Gregory wondering if complex malarial transmission blocking vaccine candidates could also be produced by Chlamydomonas. Two billion people live in malaria endemic regions, making the delivery of a malarial vaccine a costly and logistically difficult proposition, especially when that vaccine is expensive to produce. So the UC San Diego biologists set out to determine if this alga, an organism that can produce complex proteins very cheaply, could produce malaria proteins that would inhibit infections from malaria.
"It's too costly to vaccinate two billion people using current technologies," explained Mayfield. "Realistically, the only way a malaria vaccine will ever be used in the developing world is if it can be produced at a fraction of the cost of current vaccines. Algae have this potential because you can grow algae any place on the planet in ponds or even in bathtubs."
Collaborating with Joseph Vinetz, a professor of medicine at UC San Diego and a leading expert in tropical diseases who has been working on developing vaccines against malaria, the researchers showed in their earlier study, published in the open access journal PLoS ONE last May that the proteins produced by the algae, when injected into laboratory mice, made antibodies that blocked malaria transmission from mosquitoes.
The next step was to see if they could immunize mice against malaria by simply feeding the genetically engineered algae. "We think getting oral vaccines in which you don't have to purify the protein is the only way in which you can make medicines dramatically cheaper and make them available to the developing world," says Mayfield. "The Holy Grail is to develop an orally delivered vaccine, and we predict that we may be able to do it in algae, and for about a penny a dose. Our algae-produced malarial vaccine works against malarial parasites in mice, but it needs to be injected into the bloodstream."
Although an edible malarial vaccine is not yet a reality, he adds, "this study shows that you can make a pretty fancy protein using algae, deliver it to the gut and get IgA antibodies that recognize that protein. Now we know we have a system that can deliver a complex protein to the right place and develop an immune response to provide protection."
Mayfield is also co-director of the Center for Food & Fuel for the 21st Century, a new research unit that has brought together researchers from across the campus to develop renewable ways of improving the nation's food, fuel, pharmaceutical and other bio-based industries and is this week hosting a major symposium on the subject at the Institute of the Americas at UC San Diego.
###
Two other researchers in Mayfield's laboratory, Aaron Topol and David Doerner, participated in the research study, which was supported by grants from the San Diego Foundation, the California Energy Commission (500-10-039) and the National Science Foundation (CBET-1160184).
[ | 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.
I've been waiting for the opening of Jun Kaneko's ceramic sculptures at Millennium Park. There are two powerful bodies of work on view. To the south are the dangos I've been familiar with, and exhibited, when I had a gallery. And on the north side of the park are the new Tanuki sculptures that are making their first public appearance. The new work has a playfulness that will engage a broader audience. I'm eager to see how the public interacts with them.
There's a gorgeous show of paintings by Thomas Nozkowski at Russell Bowman. I represented Nozkowski for a stretch during the 1980's. I have distinct memories about his home (an old church), car (a small station wagon with racks in the back for unfinished paintings so he could pull over and work on them while en route to or from Connecticut), and that he worked at Mad Magazine. The focus of these content full, abstract paintings and his unique engagement with his art make him and his art totally memorable. There is a purity here that is special and moves toward balancing the hyperbole in today's art world.
Sanford Biggers is a powerful artist whose work often presents a contemporary take on his cultural heritage. At Monique Meloche his large window presents century old quilts he has painted and embellished. These quilts may have been an Underground Railroad sign of a safe house. His beautiful and contemplative art acknowledges a deeper past and contextualizes its contemporary relevance. Also on view, in the gallery, are disarmingly beautiful and tough work by Kate Levant who investigates alternative uses of atypical materials in work that occasionally incorporates photographic images.
See you out there! Paul Klein
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Authorities have identified a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings and forcefully denied a flurry of news reports that an arrest had been made in the attack Wednesday afternoon.
The Associated Press and the Boston Globe reported a suspect had been arrested and was en route to the Moakley Federal Courthouse in South Boston. CNN also reported that a suspect was in custody, before backtracking from its earlier report and saying no suspect had been nabbed. The Boston Police Department and the US Attorney's office in Boston denied those reports on Wednesday afternoon, saying no arrest had been made.
The FBI issued a sternly worded rebuke to the press for reporting that a suspect was in custody.
"Contrary to widespread reporting, no arrest has been made in connection with the Boston Marathon attack," Special Agent Greg Comcowich said in the statement. "Over the past day and a half, there have been a number of press reports based on information from unofficial sources that has been inaccurate." He added that the reports cause "unintended consequences," and that the media should verify their information through "official channels."
The Associated Press said its original unnamed source stands by the information.
This image from a Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security joint bulletin issued to law enforcement and obtained by The Associated Press, shows the remains of a pressure ... more? This image from a Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security joint bulletin issued to law enforcement and obtained by The Associated Press, shows the remains of a pressure cooker that the FBI says was part of one of the bombs that exploded during the Boston Marathon. The FBI says it has evidence that indicates one of the bombs was contained in a pressure cooker with nails and ball bearings, and it was hidden in a backpack. (AP Photo/FBI) less? Meanwhile, the Moakley Federal Courthouse was evacuated around 3 p.m. Wednesday after a bomb threat. Hundreds of reporters and court employees--some of whom had gathered out front to see if a suspect would be brought there--calmly evacuated the building and walked across the street. More than a dozen news vans with satellite uplinks lined the street adjacent to the courthouse while news helicopters hovered above.
About 90 minutes after the building was evacuated, a maintenance worker emerged from the courthouse waving a green flag signaling "all clear," and people were allowed back into the building.
A small plaza at the Brigham & Women's Hospital was also evacuated due to an abandoned vehicle in the area, a spokeswoman confirmed, but they've been given the all clear and were let back in the building.
Authorities combed through video footage to find an image of "a suspect carrying, and perhaps dropping, a black bag at the second bombing scene," The Boston Globe reported. CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reported that the video showed a man in a black jacket talking on his cell phone "placing a black bag at the second bomb site outside of the Forum restaurant on Boylston Street and then leaving the area before that explosion." Police used the time stamp on the video to scan all the calls made in the area to try to track him down, Orr reported.
The FBI was scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday at 5 p.m., but announced it would be postponed until later Wednesday night due to the courthouse bomb threat. The breakthrough in the investigation came from analyzing department store surveillance video and video from a news station.
An FBI spokesman in Boston and a spokeswoman for Boston Mayor Tom Menino declined to comment on the reports to Yahoo News.
The twin bombs, which were detonated close to the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon, sent 176 people to the hospital and killed three. Eight-year-old Martin Richard, 29-year-old Krystle Campbell and 23-year-old Lingzi Lu were the three people killed. Several of the injured needed amputations.
Police have said the bombs were fashioned from debris-filled pressure cookers and stuffed in black bags. They were located about 100 yards apart.
A Boston-area federal agent told Yahoo News that he suspects there will be more than one arrest in the case eventually.
?To carry one heavy bag in is one thing, but a single suspect having two bags would have stood out,? the law enforcement source told Yahoo News.
--Holly Bailey, Dylan Stableford and Jason Sickles contributed to this report from Boston.
In this handout images provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, rapper Coolio is seen in a booking photo March 9, 2012 in Las Vegas.
Coolio is accused of getting really nasty. The "Gangsta's Paradise" rapper and recent "Wife Swap" participant is facing a misdemeanor charge of battery constituting domestic violence after being arrested earlier this month for allegedly beating on his girlfriend, with whom he has a son.?
According to a report obtained by E! News from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the alleged victim, Anabella Chatman, told the responding officer that Coolio (real name Artis Ivey Jr.) and she got into a fight when he brought another girlfriend over to their house.
NEWS: Coolio and one of his sons ended up in jail at the same time last year
Per the report, Chatman told police that her boyfriend of three years pushed her, causing her to fall to the ground, and then, when she got up, "punched her with a closed fist hitting her on the right side of her lip."
The rapper then tried to leave the house with their son and the other woman, Chatman said, per the report, and when she ran outside to try to stop them, she fell down and Coolio's truck swiped her. The report states that she had a tire mark on her left calf "conducive to a vehicle hitting her."
Coolio then drove her to an urgent care facility, which is where police conducted interviews with both.
NEWS: Former Pippi Longstocking star busted for alleged assault
Per the report filled out by Officer M. Thiele, Coolio admitted that they got into a physical altercation but denied hitting her. He told Thiele that Chatman scratched him and the officer noted in the report that he had "very light scratch marks" on the left side of his face.
Coolio's other girlfriend, Melynda Karr, backed up his side of the story, according to Thiele.
The report states that Chatman had a split lip, a bleeding right middle finger and several abrasions on her body, pointing to her boyfriend as the "predominant physical aggressor," which led to his arrest.
PHOTOS: Celebrity mug shots?
He was booked and released and is due to be arraigned May 31.
Back in February, Google CFO Patrick Pichette said its recent purchase, Motorola, didn't "wow" on the smartphone front, but it looks like the two companies have long since smoothed over any hard feelings. Speaking to PC Mag, Motorola design chief Jim Wicks revealed plans for the first post-acquisition handsets, demonstrating a philosophy that seems perfectly in line with Mountain View. According to Wicks, his company is embracing stock Android with as little bloatware as possible, and hardware itself won't likely reach Galaxy Note II proportions; he says the new design philosophy is "better is better" rather than "bigger is better."
Motorola will also change its approach to carriers, with a move toward offering devices across several service providers rather than keeping certain handsets -- such as the Droid and Razr lines on Verizon -- as exclusives for one. For AT&T and Sprint customers who were tempted by the Razr M on Verizon, for example, this strategy could go a long way in bringing them into the Motorola fold. Wicks says the first batch of new smartphones will debut in the second half of 2013 -- and, at least according to Eric Schmidt, they should be quite impressive.
Apr. 15, 2013 ? Women who had sufficient amounts of vitamin D were 32 percent less likely to develop fibroids than women with insufficient vitamin D, according to a study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
Fibroids, also known as uterine leiomyomata, are noncancerous tumors of the uterus. Fibroids often result in pain and bleeding in premenopausal women, and are the leading cause of hysterectomy in the United States.
The study of 1,036 women, aged 35-49, living in the Washington, D.C., area from 1996 to 1999, was led by Donna Baird, Ph.D., a researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of NIH. Baird and her collaborators at The George Washington University and the Medical University of South Carolina screened participants for fibroids using ultrasound. They used blood samples to measure the primary circulating form of vitamin D, known as 25-hydroxy D. Those with more than 20 nanograms per milliliter of 25-hydroxy D were categorized as sufficient, though some experts think even higher levels may be required for good health. The body can make vitamin D when the skin is exposed to the sun, or vitamin D can come from food and supplements.
Study participants also completed a questionnaire on sun exposure. Those who reported spending more than one hour outside per day also had a decreased risk of fibroids. The estimated reduction was 40 percent. Although fewer black than white participants had sufficient 25-hydroxy D levels, the estimated reduction in prevalence of fibroids was about the same for both ethnic groups.
"It would be wonderful if something as simple and inexpensive as getting some natural sunshine on their skin each day could help women reduce their chance of getting fibroids," said Baird.
Baird also noted that, though the findings are consistent with laboratory studies, more studies in women are needed. Baird is currently conducting a study in Detroit to see if the findings from the Washington, D.C., study can be replicated.
Other NIEHS in-house researchers, led by Darlene Dixon, D.V.M., Ph.D., are learning more about fibroid development, by examining tissue samples from study participants who had surgery for fibroids.
"This study adds to a growing body of literature showing the benefits of vitamin D," said Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., director of NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Baird DD, Hill MC, Schectman JM, Hollis BW. Vitamin D and the risk of uterine fibroids. Epidemiology, 2013
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.
Apr. 15, 2013 ? A new study that examined how the brain learns and retains motor skills provides insight into musical skill.
Performance of a musical task improved among pianists whose practice of a new melody was followed by a night of sleep, says researcher Sarah E. Allen, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
The study is among the first to look at whether sleep enhances the learning process for musicians practicing a new piano melody.
The study found, however, that when two similar melodies were practiced one after the other, followed by sleep, any gains in speed and accuracy achieved during practice diminished overnight, said Allen, an assistant professor of music education in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts.
"The goal is to understand how the brain decides what to keep, what to discard, what to enhance, because our brains are receiving such a rich data stream and we don't have room for everything," Allen said. "I was fascinated to study this because as musicians we practice melodies in juxtaposition with one another all the time."
Surprisingly, in a third result the study found that when two similar musical pieces were practiced one after the other, followed by practice of the first melody again, a night's sleep enhanced pianists' skills on the first melody, she said.
"The really unexpected result that I found was that for those subjects who learned the two melodies, if before they left practice they played the first melody again, it seemed to reactivate that memory so that they did improve overnight. Replaying it seemed to counteract the interference of learning a second melody."
The study adds to a body of research in recent decades that has found the brain keeps processing the learning of a new motor skill even after active training has stopped. That's also the case during sleep.
The findings may in the future guide the teaching of music, Allen said.
"In any task we want to maximize our time and our effort. This research can ultimately help us practice in an advantageous way and teach in an advantageous way," Allen said. "There could be pedagogical benefits for the order in which you practice things, but it's really too early to say. We want to research this further."
The study will be published in the journal Psychology of Music.
New study builds on earlier brain research in rats and humans
Researchers in the field of procedural memory consolidation have systematically examined the process in both rats and humans.
Studies have found that after practice of a motor skill, such as running a maze or completing a handwriting task, the areas of the brain activated during practice continue to be active for about four to six hours afterward. Activation occurs whether a subject is, for example, eating, resting, shopping or watching TV, Allen said.
Also, researchers have found that the area of the brain activated during practice of the skill is activated again during sleep, she said, essentially recalling the skill and enhancing and reinforcing it. For motor skills such as finger-tapping a sequence, research found that performance tends to be 10 percent to 13 percent more efficient after sleep, with fewer errors.
"There are two phases of memory consolidation. We refer to the four to six hours after training as stabilization. We refer to the phase during sleep as enhancement," Allen said. "We know that sleep seems to play a very important role. It makes memories a more permanent, less fragile part of the brain."
Allen's finding with musicians that practicing a second melody interfered with retaining the first melody is consistent with a growing number of similar research studies that have found learning a second motor skill task interferes with enhancement of the first task.
Impact of sleep on learning for musicians
For Allen's study, 60 undergraduate and graduate music majors participated in the research.
Divided into four groups, each musician practiced either one or both melodies during evening sessions, then returned the next day after sleep to be tested on their performance of the target melody.
The subjects learned the melodies on a Roland digital piano, practicing with their left hand during 12 30-second practice blocks separated by 30-second rest intervals. Software written for the experiment made it possible to digitally recorde musical instrument data from the performances. The number of correct key presses per 30-second block reflected speed and accuracy.
Musicians who learned a single melody showed performance gains on the test the next day.
Those who learned a second melody immediately after learning the target melody didn't get any overnight enhancement in the first melody.
Those who learned two melodies, but practiced the first one again before going home to sleep, showed overnight enhancement when tested on the first melody.
"This was the most surprising finding, and perhaps the most important," Allen reported in the Psychology of Music. "The brief test of melody A following the learning of melody B at the end of the evening training session seems to have reactivated the memory of melody A in a way that inhibited the interfering effects of learning melody B that were observed in the AB-sleep-A group."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Southern Methodist University. The original article was written by Margaret Allen.
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Journal Reference:
S. Allen. Memory stabilization and enhancement following music practice. Psychology of Music, 2012; DOI: 10.1177/0305735612463947
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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.
Nobody wants an overstuffed wallet. You can?t find what you need and it feels like an unwanted growth on your leg. While some embrace minimalism and go without the occasionally-needed extra discount, membership, and credit cards, that?s not an option for everyone. If you?ve got a smartphone, however, you can distill the contents of your pocket and still carry everything you desire. Here?s how.
I used to pride myself on how much I could fit into a tiny wallet, but a day came when that wallet was more of an encumberance than an aid and I needed to downsize. I carried nearly every form of insurance and identification. I stored credit and debit cards I never use. Once I started signing up for discount cards, those came with me as well. When my wallet started to feel more like a goiter, I decided it was time to slim it down. Using an app called Lemon Wallet, I can now carry all my cards without wasting space in my pocket. In this post, we?ll take a look at how you can do the same in three simple steps.
Step One: Download and Set Up Lemon Wallet
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Lemon Wallet runs on your smartphone, be it an Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone. To get started, download the app for your preferred platform. Note: In this post, we?ll be looking at Lemon Wallet for Android but the interface is consistent across all platforms and you should have no trouble following along on a Windows Phone or iPhone. Before you can start using the service, you?ll need to create an account using an email address and setting a PIN lock code to keep people from accessing the data on your devices. Having an account also allows you to sync the contents of your Lemon Wallet across your devices, or easily download everything you?ve entered onto a new phone if you replace your current one. While we?d like to see a little added security, such as a more complex passcode in addition to the PIN and two-factor authentication, Lemon encrypts your data and takes extra measures to ensure sensitive information remains private. Once you?ve signed up, you can start transferring your cards into the virtual world.
Step Two: Add Simple Cards
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Before you start scanning your physical cards, you should first make use of Lemon?s Simple Cards Feature. To avoid the mild hassle of scanning, you can enter a membership ID (and, on occasion, some other required information) and the app will generate a card for you. This works mostly with discount cards, such as Best Buy Rewards Zone, Rite Aid wellness+, and Safeway Club, you can also add frequent flier cards, health insurance, and more. Before you can get started, you may need to add the Simple Cards feature to your virtual wallet. To do so, click the + sign at the bottom of your screen. You?ll see only one option: Simple Cards. Choose to install it, and then it will appear as a list item in your wallet. Now you can just follow these steps to add a Simple Card:
Tap the Simple Card tab in your wallet. (If you have a bunch of stuff in your wallet already, it?ll likely be toward the bottom.)
Enter your account?s PIN number.
Scroll through the list to find the card you?re looking for, or use the filter search up top to look for something specific. When you find what you?re looking for, tap on it.
On the next screen, Lemon Wallet will ask you for information about that card. In most cases you?ll only need to enter a Member ID and possibly a card number. (You can see an example above, picturing the information required for GameStop PowerUP Rewards.)
When finished, tap the Generate SmartCard button and Lemon will add it to your wallet.
Repeat this process for as many cards as you like. In the next step, we?ll scan in the cards that you can?t add through the Simple Cards feature.
Step Three: Scan the Remaining Cards in Your Wallet
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Some cards, like credit cards and identification, require a scanned copy for proper storage. Scanning cards takes very little effort as well and works with your smartphone?s built-in camera. Just follow these steps:
At the bottom of the screen, you should see a camera icon or a camera with a + sign. Tap that button to begin.
Lemon Wallet will ask you what you want to scan in. Choose ?Card.?
A camera view with a broken rectangle (pictured above) will show up and you simple need to fit that broken rectangle around your card. As you line it up, the rectangle will start to fill in its lines. When you?ve successfully lined up the card, you?ll hear an alert and then be asked to perform the same task for the back side of the card.
Lemon Wallet will ask a few questions about the card you just scanned. Answer the relevant ones and skip those that don?t apply.
Once you?re done, just save the card and repeat these steps for any others plaguing your wallet. When answering post-scan questions, you can even leave out some information as Lemon will identify and fill it in for you later. If you scan a credit card, Lemon will require your PIN every time you want to access it to keep that information safe and generate a more-readable image with your card?s information so you can read it more easily than a photo. On top of that, you can tap that card to copy your credit card number if you need it to make a purchase on your phone. When you finish scanning all your cards, you?re pretty much done and can enjoy a seriously slimmed down wallet.
Optional Bonus Features
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Lemon Wallet handles a bit more than just card storage. You can also scan receipts for personal reference or use in an expense report. It works much like scanning a card, but you simply choose Receipts instead when prompted. Although Lemon Wallet is a free app, and you can use everything described so far without paying, they do offer a monthly service to help protect you in the event you lose any physical copies of the cards formerly in your wallet (or the wallet itself). It costs $40 per year (or $5 a month) and monitors your accounts, helps detect fraud as soon as it occurs, reminds you when cards are about to expire, and helps you contact your card providers if your wallet is lost or stolen. Basically, the service provides wallet insurance in case of disaster. Lemon likes to send somewhat frightening emails detailing why you?d want this insurance, but it?s important to remember that you do not have to pay if you don?t want to. If you do want the insurance, or just want to pay for the app, you just need to sign up for the service through an in-app purchase or through Lemon's web site. Personally, I?ve gotten into the good habit of monitoring my accounts and haven?t needed this service. Nevertheless, it?s nice to know the option is there. Lemon can?t replace everything, of course. You?ll still need to carry your identification or driver?s license, paper money, and your primary credit card, but most everything else can stay in your smartphone now. That should leave you with a wallet you can fit comfortable in your front pocket, or wherever you choose, without worries of misplacing items or just feeling plain uncomfortable.
Title image remixed from an original by PSD Graphics.
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Public release date: 19-Apr-2013
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