Daniel Chamovitz, director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University, talks about his new book What A Plant Knows.
June 29, 2012
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Daniel Chamovitz, director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University, talks about his new book What A Plant Knows.
Samsung Galaxy Note II tipped for 5.5? screen, September launch - SlashGear
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Previous details of the Samsung Galaxy Note II have indicated that the device would feature a larger screen and quad-core Exynos processor. The current Note is
Specialist Gregg Maloney works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, June 25, 2012. U.S. stocks are sliding at the opening of trading, following global markets lower after Spain requested help for its struggling banks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Gregg Maloney works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, June 25, 2012. U.S. stocks are sliding at the opening of trading, following global markets lower after Spain requested help for its struggling banks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Health care stocks tumbled Thursday after the Supreme Court upheld most of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, falling along with major banks as Wall Street worried about the European debt crisis and the sluggish U.S. economy.
It had already been a bad morning for the market, which was dragged down sharply by news about regulatory investigations at Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and others.
Then, the high court upheld a key provision of the health care law, and the losses accelerated.
Although health care and finance dominated the headlines, the market's concerns were more widespread, stretching to numerous types of companies and economic data.
The Commerce Department said the American economy expanded at a 1.9 percent annual rate in the first quarter, a weak pace that isn't expected to pick up. The government also reported that unemployment applications fell last week, but only slightly, and analysts worried that the claims are still too high to indicate a recovery.
News Corp, parent of the Wall Street Journal and the 20th Century Fox movie studio, fell after it said it planned to split into two companies. Family Dollar declined after reporting that it missed analysts' estimates for revenue and profits.
Major indexes in France, Britain, Germany and Greece were down as the European Union met in Brussels. Leaders are trying to hammer out how to deal with the weakest countries, like Greece and Spain, but many of the previous meetings have failed to produce concrete plans.
"The first one thousand summits, I was pretty excited," deadpanned Jeff Sica, president and chief investment officer of SICA Wealth Management in Morristown, N.J.
David Lefkowitz, senior equity strategist at UBS wealth management research in New York, was also watching Europe more than the health care ruling or the bank probes. Health insurance companies make up only about 1 percent of the Standard & Poor's 500, he said.
And even concerns about the indirect effects of the health care law ? like whether it will cause small businesses to curb hiring ? can get overblown, he said. The much bigger cost of hiring is still salaries.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average fell throughout the morning. It was already down about 100 points by 10 a.m., 30 minutes into trading and just before the Supreme Court released its decision. It fell as much as 165 points later in the morning, then recovered some of those losses.
By 1 p.m., it was down 128 points, or about 1 percent, to 12,499. Thursday could be the Dow's second triple-digit loss this week.
The S&P 500 fell 13 points to 1,318. The Nasdaq composite index fell 43 points to 2,833.
JPMorgan was down 4.5 percent, more than any other company in the Dow index of 30 stocks. The New York Times reported early Thursday that a trading loss there, previously estimated at about $2 billion, could top $9 billion. JPMorgan's stock has lost 14 percent since then, compared to 3 percent for the Dow.
The U.S.-listed shares of Barclays plunged 15 percent. Regulators in the U.S. and the U.K. on Wednesday announced that the British bank would settle accusations that it had manipulated international interest rates, which are important because they affect how much consumers pay on mortgages and other loans.
On Thursday, banking stocks got another dose of unwelcome news when British regulators announced that their investigation had expanded to Citigroup, Britain's HSBC, Switzerland's UBS and the Royal Bank of Scotland'.
Financial stocks fell more than any of the other nine industry groups on the S&P 500, losing 1.7 percent in the afternoon.
Health care stocks fell 1 percent, led by sharp declines in insurers like UnitedHealth Group, WellPoint and Aetna.
But hospitals had the opposite reaction, with stocks rising notably at Hospital Corp. of America and Community Health Systems.
The reasons for the disparity weren't clear cut.
The health care law will require all Americans to carry insurance. So for hospitals and related industries, like companies that make surgical instruments or lab equipment, that can mean more customers.
It also means more customers for insurance companies. But some of those customers won't be as profitable as the companies might like, such as those who are already sick.
Even with the ruling in hand, there's plenty of uncertainty overhanging the issue. Small businesses aren't sure how much money to set aside now that more of them will be required to insure their employees. The health care law also doesn't address the overhanging problem of looming deficits in Medicare.
"It's not like we're at the end of the road here," said Gerard Wedig, a health care economist at the University of Rochester, "where our health care problems are solved."
Coke or Pepsi? In blind taste tests scientists have concluded that most of us can?t tell the difference. But you know which one you prefer, don?t you?
The power of branding
In an interesting variation on the Pepsi Challenge, researchers strapped people into MRIs and had them taste two drinks: one clearly labeled ?Coke? and the other an unlabeled competitor. Time and again Coke was the preferred choice, but the kicker is that both drinks were Coke.
Given branding information, the consumer?s perception of the product changed, and the MRI revealed why. When tasting the clearly labeled Coke, parts of the brain lit up that are associated with memory and nostalgia. The brand was triggering an emotional reaction. Much like it did back in 1985?
Remember ?New Coke??
New Coke is often cited as one of marketing?s greatest blunders. When Coca-Cola tried to win the cola wars by reformulating their flagship soda, the public had a visceral reaction. It took less than three months for Coca-Cola ?Classic? to returned to store shelves.
But what happened wasn?t a matter of people not liking New Coke. In taste tests before and after its release people really did prefer the sweeter flavor of New Coke. But something happened amongst those who felt betrayed by Coke?which was no longer ?the real thing.? This very vocal minority revolted against the new formulation and succeeded in getting the corporate giant to backpedal.
(Read more about New Coke)
The emotional side of branding
Coke?s brand isn?t about quenching thirst, it?s about making the world a better place. It?s ?A Coke and a Smile.? It?s buying the world a Coke and keeping it company. It?s playful polar bears and cute little penguins.
Hell, Coke is even (somewhat inaccurately) credited with giving us the modern incarnation of Santa Clause. Coke?s brand invokes warm, nostalgic feelings that successfully convince us that Coke, in fact, tastes better.
How do people feel about your brand?
Coke has had 120 years to perfect its brand and they back it up with a billion dollars of advertising each year. If Coke is spending that much to promote an internationally recognized, century+ old brand? what about you and your company?
It?s up to you to define and communicate to your customers what your brand stands for. Your mission is to create an emotional connection with your customers. Because, as the above examples demonstrate, that emotional connection is a powerful motivator that will win you more sales.
If you want your customers to choose you, you must communicate on an emotional level. I help you do just that. Contact me today for a free consultation.
Nobody really wants to think about about what would happen if they invest time and money into an organic garden and it doesn't grow. Still, if you want your own organic garden to grow, then it's important to know what you need and what you need to do. That's what the tips below are for.
A great tip when starting your own organic garden is to sprinkle milled sphagnum moss on your seeds in order to prevent damping-off. Damping-off is a fungal disease that will cause your seeds and seedlings to rot. If your seeds need light, you should sprinkle this moss before dropping your seeds in the moss.
Short, low-lying weeds can be a headache in any organic garden. The best tactic for dealing with such intruders is to use a spade to cut them out at root level and bury them entirely under fresh soil. Dense, crawling weeds are too hard to pick out individually, but fortunately they are easily handled in bulk.
Learn to water your garden efficiently.
A soaker hose can be laid in the garden and left on with low water pressure. This frees you up from having to hand-water the plants, so you can do other gardening work. Take care with seedlings, though -- they are still delicate and need to be watered by hand.
Rotate your crops to prevent permanent populations of pests in your garden. As with any ecosystem, pests need a certain amount of time to nest and build up a proper population within a garden. These pests are specially suited for one environment and one food source. By switching their food source you can essentially keep your pest population down simply because they are unable to adapt to the new type of plant.
Keep your fertilizers and pesticides organic.
It may seem like an odd fact, but residential gardeners use a ton more chemicals than actual farmers do. This causes big problems for vegetation, fish, and wildlife. Urban areas are polluted enough without the chemical dumping. Do your part and avoid chemicals at all costs.
Take care of your containers. You do not have to spend a lot of money on containers: you can reuse common items as pots. Make sure you clean your containers thoroughly and disinfect them to avoid diseases. Drill a few holes in the bottom so that the extra water can be drained.
Your plants need to grow in a rich soil. You can buy bags of soil but they can be quite expensive. You can also easily create your own: you need to use perlite, vermiculite and peat in equal quantities. You should also add a small quantity of lime and compost if needed.
A great tip for being economical in your organic garden is to use old tarps from your local lumber store instead of weed-blocking landscape cloths that are much more expensive. These old tarps will work just as well as the more expensive landscape cloths, and you will have more money in your pocket.
An important tip for organic gardening that will naturally help prevent disease from appearing in your plants is to move your plants to different spots of your garden each year. This will keep any disease from spreading because the soil doesn't build up harmful organisms from planting in the same spot each year.
Attract positive bugs to your garden. Bugs like lady-bugs actually hunt natural predators to your plants; aphids and caterpillars are just some of the nasty critters that can go through a garden and eat the leaves of the plants. Lady bugs are the natural predators to such pests and help the growth of a good healthy garden by consuming pests.
Use compost to improve the quality of your soil. Compost comes from the breakdown of natural vegetation, and it is organic. It improves the structure of your soil by making it less dense, thus allowing better water permeability. Compost can also be used to balance the pH level of your soil.
Organic gardening is a great way to get exercise, as well as, a way to relieve stress. There are many healthful benefits you will reap, especially if your organic gardening efforts reward you with a plentiful harvest. Do yourself a favor and follow the tips in this article so that you can grow a healthy organic garden.
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ScienceDaily (June 27, 2012) ? The exhaust from diesel-fueled vehicles, wood fires and coal-driven power stations contains small particles of soot that flow out into the atmosphere. The soot is a scourge for the climate but also for human health. Now for the first time, researchers have studied in detail how diesel soot gets stuck in the lungs. The results show that more than half of all inhaled soot particles remain in the body.
The figure is higher than for most other types of particles. For example "only" 20 per cent of another type of particle from wood smoke and other biomass combustion gets stuck in the lungs. One explanation is that diesel soot is made up of smaller particles and can therefore penetrate deeper into the lungs, where it is deposited. The study was made on diesel particles (which mainly consist of soot) and was recently published in the Journal of Aerosol Science. Ten healthy people volunteered for the the study.
"Findings of this kind can be extremely useful both for researchers to determine what doses of soot we get into our lungs out of the amount we are exposed to, and to enable public authorities to establish well-founded limits for soot particles in outdoor air," says Jenny Rissler, researcher in aerosol technology at Lund University's Faculty of Engineering and responsible for publishing the study.
In population studies, other researchers have been able to observe that people who live in areas with high concentrations of particulates are more affected by both respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. But since there is no conclusive evidence that it is precisely the soot that is to blame, the authorities have so far not taken any decisions on guidelines.
"Currently there is no specific limit for soot particles in the air, despite the fact that soot in the air is linked to both lung cancer and other diseases," says Jenny Rissler.
But Jenny Rissler thinks that in the future, limits on soot levels will also be set, with reference to the WHO's recent reclassification of diesel exhaust from "probably carcinogenic" to "carcinogenic."
Soot particles are not only connected to effects on health but may also contribute to a warmer climate. Paradoxically, other types of aerosol particles can partly be desirable, insofar as they have a cooling effect on the climate and thereby mitigate the warming effect of carbon dioxide.
"Soot particles are black and absorbs light, thus producing a warming effect. So it could be a double advantage to reduce it," she observes.
Jenny Rissler will next be studying individual variations in lung deposition and exposing cells to soot. She is also in the process of further developing methods to measure the surface area of the particles, as this has shown to be an important indicator of their harmfulness.
Background: Every time we breathe, we inhale tiny airborne particles, so-called aerosol particles. Some occur naturally, while others are the result of human activity. Soot mainly belongs in the latter category, as a by-product of combustion from power stations to small-scale wood fires and decorative candles. Another common source of soot is the exhaust from diesel engines, even though modern diesel cars have considerably reduced emissions thanks to efficient filters.
The EU will be tightening rules on emissions for heavy duty diesel vehicles in 2014.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Lund University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Jenny Rissler, Erik Swietlicki, Agneta Bengtsson, Christoffer Boman, Joakim Pagels, Thomas Sandstr?m, Anders Blomberg, Jakob L?ndahl. Experimental determination of deposition of diesel exhaust particles in the human respiratory tract. Journal of Aerosol Science, 2012; 48: 18 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2012.01.005
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.
If you watch TV or pick up a paperback sooner or later you are bound to come across a psychic detective (a psychic detective is a person who investigates crimes by using their claimed paranormal psychic abilities). The first psychic detective appeared as early as 1897 in the form Flaxman Low who was invented by mother and son writing team Kate and Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard.
More recently TV viewers in Australia, Japan, America, Canada and the UK have been treated to the series Psychic Detectives or Psychic Investigators (the program name changed according to the country in which it was shown).
The programme follows cases in which real-life psychics try to help the police with their investigations. The series isn't too popular with sceptics who claim the psychics involved have made exaggerated claims of events. Whilst this might make good TV the series raises some questions; can psychics really help solve crimes and do the police ever resort to using psychics to help their investigations?.
Psychic Sleuths, a study of the subject by Joe Nickell PhD suggests that psychic detectives were not particularly effective; many gave uselessly vague information that could be made to fit the case after it was solved but that would have been no use to the police investigating the matter whatsoever.
Some cases however were more intriguing than the others. In 1980 a nurse went missing in LA, at the time an ordinary woman who was not a professional psychic claimed to have a vision of the nurse's body. She was able to point the area on a map where the unfortunate nurse's remains were and even arrived at the scene before the police. Nickell claims the woman could have found out about the murder site before the police as a local man had already boasted about killing the nurse. Whatever the truth of the situation a number of people have claimed their psychic abilities have allowed them to assist police in solving cases.
Most police departments say that they do not keep records regarding such activity or seek out such help. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that despite their reticence the police aren't adverse to seeking a little extra-sensory help from time to time. One former Detective Senior Constable of the Australian police; Jeffrey Little, has said police do use psychic detectives "even though they officially say they don't".
It seems the police in NSW have used psychic Debbie Malone on a number of cases. While no evidence she has supplied has solved murders or missing investigations on it's own she has been asked to corroborate theories. Little, in reference to one case she assisted on, felt her description of what happened was "exceptional", other officers also had been impressed by her assistance, while yet other NSW officers felt she had not helped solve any cases. Sergeant Gae Crea and Detective Sergeant Damian Loone, state that she did not give them anything the police and the public didn't already know.
Perhaps more interesting are the cases where the police did not listen and clearly should have. In 2001, the body of Thomas Braun was located by Perth based Aboriginal clairvoyant Leanna Adams in Western Australia. Police had initially been unable to find the body. Braun's had been told to contact Adams, an Aboriginal psychic who lived in Perth. The Braun Family had requested police to conduct a search based on Adams' directions but they had not assisted. Adams went to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, and took the family members directly to Braun's remains, a spot high on a ridge west of the town, some 20 kilometres out. The remains were not immediately identifiable but the police later confirmed the remains to be his using DNA testing.
In the UK the Police have also officially pooh-poohed the idea of using psychic help and in 2009 the Metropolitan Police categorically denied using psychics to assist them with their cases. Later, emails were published that suggested they had used psychic helpers on investigations. The shame faced Met issued a statement which read; "We do not identify people we may or may not speak with in connection with inquiries. We are not prepared to discuss this further."
Now, if you are open to the help psychics can give you, why not have a Video Psychic Reading which guarantees a 100% refund if you are not happy. Then again, if you would prefer to speak to a Psychic by Telephone, this service is available too.
Jacqueline Chenhall is a writer and proof reader, and writes for English Astrologer Patrick Arundell.
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The US Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, gets a mite particular when it comes to companies hawking "functional foods" and this week it's coffee maker Rockstar, Inc. which finds itself in the agency's crosshairs. Just moments ago the agency released a copy of its May 23, 2012, warning letter to Rockstar?and CEO?Russell Weiner.
From the letter we learn that back in January the agency stopped by Rockstar's manufacturing plant in Livingston, Tennessee. During that inspection agents took samples of several of Rockstar's labels and found various labeling violations on them. Most of those alleged violations come down to one thing--Rockstar is promoting its coffee drinks as dietary supplements while also presenting them as food.
Under current FDA regulations a supplement is not considered a supplement if it's used as a meal or presented as a "conventional" food. The FDA finds that Rockstar's coffees, which come in 8, 16 and 24 ounce cans, are being peddled in just such a fashion. The agency cites Rockstar's use of verbiage like "refreshing beverage" and "coffee" as language that takes the drink from under the supplement umbrella and places it firmly in food territory.
The agency also has a problem with Rockstar's use of Ginkgo in its drinks. Ginkgo biloba may be a popular herbal remedy but it's not, says the FDA, an approved food additive. And that means that the FDA officially sees it as "unsafe" in food.
As is usually the case, Rockstar, Inc was given 15 working days to correct the alleged violations and respond to the FDA's letter. As of my visit to what I believe is Rockstar's official website, rockstar69.com, I found Ginkgo still listed as an ingredient on the site's Products page. Its Facebook and Twitter pages, which have both been updated today, also seem to be ignoring the release of the warning letter.?
Novel radiation therapy safely treats prostate cancer and lowers the risk of recurrence Public release date: 26-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Wallace wallacej@vcu.edu 804-628-1550 Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Va. (June 22, 2012) A recent Phase I/II clinical trial has shown that a new combination of radiation therapies developed at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center escalates radiation doses to safely and effectively treat prostate cancer and lower the risk of recurrence with minimal radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs.
Recently published in the journal Brachytherapy, a novel treatment protocol designed by Michael Hagan, M.D., Ph.D., radiation oncologist at VCU Massey Cancer Center, that combines intensity-modulated radiation therapy with high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy was tested on 26 prostate cancer patients. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy uses computer-controlled linear accelerators to modulate the intensity of an external radiation beam to more accurately deliver radiation to tumors. HDR brachytherapy is an internal form of radiation therapy that uses small radioactive pellets implanted near the tumor.
"Recent studies have shown that both higher daily doses and higher total doses of radiation are better than standard doses in controlling prostate cancer, but these higher doses may be associated with higher rates of bladder and bowel complications," says the study's lead author Mitchell Anscher, M.D., Florence and Hyman Meyers Chair of Radiation Oncology and program co-leader of Radiation Biology and Oncology at VCU Massey Cancer Center. "Our study was designed to reduce radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs and we were pleased to find that this unique dosing schedule is safe and effective."
The toxicity of the therapy was relatively low and all 26 patients were able to complete treatment. The treatment required only one HDR brachytherapy implant, and all participants were treated as outpatients. After 4.5 years, none of the patients relapsed and the rate of long-term side effects was low.
"Our goal is to improve outcomes for our patients, so we are continually researching ways to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure to healthy tissues and make treatments shorter and more manageable. We're hopeful our findings will lead to better tumor control rates and fewer complications for men with prostate cancer," says Anscher.
Moving forward, the researchers plan to continue exploring prostate cancer therapies using higher dose rates and shorter treatment times. The next step will likely be a four-treatment study utilizing stereotactic body radiosurgery, a technique popular with brain cancer that provides higher accuracy and requires fewer treatments by focusing high-powered X-rays on a very small area.
###
In addition to Hagan, Anscher collaborated on this study with Michael Myers, M.D., Dorin Todor, Ph.D., Lynn Gilbert, Ph.D., Nitai Mukhopadhyay, Ph.D., Jessica Randolph, M.D., and Jeffrey Heilmiller from VCU Massey Cancer Center's Department of Radiation Oncology.
View the full manuscript of this study at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1538472111003564
This study was supported, in part, with funding from VCU Massey Cancer Center's NIH-NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA016059.
News directors: Broadcast access to VCU Massey Cancer Center experts is available through VideoLink ReadyCam. ReadyCam transmits video and audio via fiber optics through a system that is routed to your newsroom. To schedule a live or taped interview, contact John Wallace, (804) 628-1550.
About VCU Massey Cancer Center
VCU Massey Cancer Center is one of only 66 National Cancer Institute-designated institutions in the country that leads and shapes America's cancer research efforts. Working with all kinds of cancers, the Center conducts basic, translational and clinical cancer research, provides state-of-the-art treatments and clinical trials, and promotes cancer prevention and education. Since 1974, Massey has served as an internationally recognized center of excellence. It has one of the largest offerings of clinical trials in Virginia and serves patients in Richmond and in four satellite locations. Its 1,000 researchers, clinicians and staff members are dedicated to improving the quality of human life by developing and delivering effective means to prevent, control and ultimately to cure cancer. Visit Massey online at www.massey.vcu.edu or call 877-4-MASSEY for more information.
About VCU and the VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 222 certificate and degree programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-six of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU's 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation's leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.
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Novel radiation therapy safely treats prostate cancer and lowers the risk of recurrence Public release date: 26-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Wallace wallacej@vcu.edu 804-628-1550 Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Va. (June 22, 2012) A recent Phase I/II clinical trial has shown that a new combination of radiation therapies developed at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center escalates radiation doses to safely and effectively treat prostate cancer and lower the risk of recurrence with minimal radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs.
Recently published in the journal Brachytherapy, a novel treatment protocol designed by Michael Hagan, M.D., Ph.D., radiation oncologist at VCU Massey Cancer Center, that combines intensity-modulated radiation therapy with high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy was tested on 26 prostate cancer patients. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy uses computer-controlled linear accelerators to modulate the intensity of an external radiation beam to more accurately deliver radiation to tumors. HDR brachytherapy is an internal form of radiation therapy that uses small radioactive pellets implanted near the tumor.
"Recent studies have shown that both higher daily doses and higher total doses of radiation are better than standard doses in controlling prostate cancer, but these higher doses may be associated with higher rates of bladder and bowel complications," says the study's lead author Mitchell Anscher, M.D., Florence and Hyman Meyers Chair of Radiation Oncology and program co-leader of Radiation Biology and Oncology at VCU Massey Cancer Center. "Our study was designed to reduce radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs and we were pleased to find that this unique dosing schedule is safe and effective."
The toxicity of the therapy was relatively low and all 26 patients were able to complete treatment. The treatment required only one HDR brachytherapy implant, and all participants were treated as outpatients. After 4.5 years, none of the patients relapsed and the rate of long-term side effects was low.
"Our goal is to improve outcomes for our patients, so we are continually researching ways to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure to healthy tissues and make treatments shorter and more manageable. We're hopeful our findings will lead to better tumor control rates and fewer complications for men with prostate cancer," says Anscher.
Moving forward, the researchers plan to continue exploring prostate cancer therapies using higher dose rates and shorter treatment times. The next step will likely be a four-treatment study utilizing stereotactic body radiosurgery, a technique popular with brain cancer that provides higher accuracy and requires fewer treatments by focusing high-powered X-rays on a very small area.
###
In addition to Hagan, Anscher collaborated on this study with Michael Myers, M.D., Dorin Todor, Ph.D., Lynn Gilbert, Ph.D., Nitai Mukhopadhyay, Ph.D., Jessica Randolph, M.D., and Jeffrey Heilmiller from VCU Massey Cancer Center's Department of Radiation Oncology.
View the full manuscript of this study at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1538472111003564
This study was supported, in part, with funding from VCU Massey Cancer Center's NIH-NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA016059.
News directors: Broadcast access to VCU Massey Cancer Center experts is available through VideoLink ReadyCam. ReadyCam transmits video and audio via fiber optics through a system that is routed to your newsroom. To schedule a live or taped interview, contact John Wallace, (804) 628-1550.
About VCU Massey Cancer Center
VCU Massey Cancer Center is one of only 66 National Cancer Institute-designated institutions in the country that leads and shapes America's cancer research efforts. Working with all kinds of cancers, the Center conducts basic, translational and clinical cancer research, provides state-of-the-art treatments and clinical trials, and promotes cancer prevention and education. Since 1974, Massey has served as an internationally recognized center of excellence. It has one of the largest offerings of clinical trials in Virginia and serves patients in Richmond and in four satellite locations. Its 1,000 researchers, clinicians and staff members are dedicated to improving the quality of human life by developing and delivering effective means to prevent, control and ultimately to cure cancer. Visit Massey online at www.massey.vcu.edu or call 877-4-MASSEY for more information.
About VCU and the VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 222 certificate and degree programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-six of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU's 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation's leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.
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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.
June is drawing to a close and we're back in San Francisco for what will be the last major event of the month. It's Google's I/O developer conference and it starts today with the first keynote. Set your browsers here and refresh at the time below to join us in this great American liveblog!
After a school sunscreen ban left two elementary students severely burned, their mother is taking on the school district. And it could happen elsewhere: 49 states have laws on the books barring schools from letting kids use sunscreen without a doctor's note.
So, what exactly is a Yammer? Well, it's a simple social network designed not to connect you with family or college roommates, but with with your coworkers. The platform has had some success, but its most high profile moment may be today's announcement that Microsoft had purchased the company. Rumors had been circulating for about a week, but now Redmond has made it official and issued a press release announcing its plan to purchase the startup for $1.2 billion in cash. Yammer will continue to live on as a stand alone service, which should make its 5 million users and countless Fortune 500 customers happy. But Microsoft will certainly be looking to fold its features into its own suite of enterprise offerings, like SharePoint and Office 365. For more info check out the PR after the break.
MARC Travel Awards announced for the 26th Annual Symposium of the Protein SocietyPublic release date: 25-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Fran Yates fyates@faseb.org 301-634-7109 Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Bethesda, MD FASEB MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) Program has announced the travel award recipients for The 26th Annual Symposium of The Protein Society in San Diego, CA from August 5-8, 2012. These awards are meant to promote the entry of underrepresented minority students, postdoctorates and scientists into the mainstream of the basic science community and to encourage the participation of young scientists at The 26th Annual Symposium of The Protein Society.
Awards are given to poster/platform presenters and faculty mentors paired with the students/trainees they mentor. This year MARC conferred 2 awards totaling $3,700.
The FASEB MARC Program is funded by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health. A primary goal of the MARC Program is to increase the number and competitiveness of underrepresented minorities engaged in biomedical and behavioral research.
The following have been selected to receive a FASEB MARC Travel Award for their poster/platform presentation:
Jason Collins, Old Dominion University
Daniel Schlingman, Yale University
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FASEB is composed of 26 societies with more than 100,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. Celebrating 100 Years of Advancing the Life Sciences in 2012, FASEB is rededicating its efforts to advance health and well-being by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy.
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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.
MARC Travel Awards announced for the 26th Annual Symposium of the Protein SocietyPublic release date: 25-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Fran Yates fyates@faseb.org 301-634-7109 Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Bethesda, MD FASEB MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) Program has announced the travel award recipients for The 26th Annual Symposium of The Protein Society in San Diego, CA from August 5-8, 2012. These awards are meant to promote the entry of underrepresented minority students, postdoctorates and scientists into the mainstream of the basic science community and to encourage the participation of young scientists at The 26th Annual Symposium of The Protein Society.
Awards are given to poster/platform presenters and faculty mentors paired with the students/trainees they mentor. This year MARC conferred 2 awards totaling $3,700.
The FASEB MARC Program is funded by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health. A primary goal of the MARC Program is to increase the number and competitiveness of underrepresented minorities engaged in biomedical and behavioral research.
The following have been selected to receive a FASEB MARC Travel Award for their poster/platform presentation:
Jason Collins, Old Dominion University
Daniel Schlingman, Yale University
###
FASEB is composed of 26 societies with more than 100,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. Celebrating 100 Years of Advancing the Life Sciences in 2012, FASEB is rededicating its efforts to advance health and well-being by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy.
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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.
ORNL home to new battery manufacturing R&D facilityPublic release date: 25-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ron Walli wallira@ornl.gov 865-576-0226 DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Future automotive batteries could cost less and pack more power because of a new manufacturing research and development facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The $3 million Department of Energy facility allows for collaboration with industry and other national labs while protecting intellectual property of industrial partners. The laboratory is attracting battery manufacturers, chemical and materials suppliers, system integrators and original equipment manufacturers.
"We're able to integrate advanced material components into a complete battery, analyze how it perform and better understand how to improve it," said Claus Daniel, deputy director of ORNL's Sustainable Transportation Program. "With this capability, we can isolate and evaluate a material or process and quantify any advantage that each would provide."
Through the nation's largest open access battery manufacturing R&D facility, American businesses could gain a competitive advantage in the global market.
"R&D facilities such as these are critical in the development of advanced battery technology that is more affordable and more durable than today's batteries," said Patrick Davis, program manager of DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program.
The facility features two chambers totaling 1,400 square feet of space along with state-of-the-art battery manufacturing equipment. One chamber allows researchers to maintain relative humidity levels of between 0.5 and 15 percent. This room houses equipment that allows for mixing of various slurries, stabilization, coating and drying.
The second chamber provides a dew point of minus-40 degrees Celsius, which translates to a relative humidity of 05 percent. This is necessary to prevent moisture from entering and degrading battery cells. In this chamber, electrodes, cathodes and anodes are assembled automatically into pouches that are filled with a precise amount of electrolyte. The pouches are then trimmed and sealed through a heating and vacuum process.
Researchers can make batteries with up to 7 ampere-hours capacity, a size that provides good demonstration capability but requires less material, reducing the burden on smaller companies that lack large-scale production capacity.
Working with others, Daniel looks forward to many successes.
"ORNL's combination of equipment and expertise allows collaborators to develop and optimize processes, manufacturing schemes, perform diagnostics and maximize yield," Daniel said. "Working with industry, we're advancing the field and moving closer to creating a battery that will allow automobiles to travel longer distances on a single charge."
ORNL has a dozen contracts with eight battery-related companies in their quest to compete in a global marketplace.
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Funding for this project was provided by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov/
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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.
ORNL home to new battery manufacturing R&D facilityPublic release date: 25-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ron Walli wallira@ornl.gov 865-576-0226 DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Future automotive batteries could cost less and pack more power because of a new manufacturing research and development facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The $3 million Department of Energy facility allows for collaboration with industry and other national labs while protecting intellectual property of industrial partners. The laboratory is attracting battery manufacturers, chemical and materials suppliers, system integrators and original equipment manufacturers.
"We're able to integrate advanced material components into a complete battery, analyze how it perform and better understand how to improve it," said Claus Daniel, deputy director of ORNL's Sustainable Transportation Program. "With this capability, we can isolate and evaluate a material or process and quantify any advantage that each would provide."
Through the nation's largest open access battery manufacturing R&D facility, American businesses could gain a competitive advantage in the global market.
"R&D facilities such as these are critical in the development of advanced battery technology that is more affordable and more durable than today's batteries," said Patrick Davis, program manager of DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program.
The facility features two chambers totaling 1,400 square feet of space along with state-of-the-art battery manufacturing equipment. One chamber allows researchers to maintain relative humidity levels of between 0.5 and 15 percent. This room houses equipment that allows for mixing of various slurries, stabilization, coating and drying.
The second chamber provides a dew point of minus-40 degrees Celsius, which translates to a relative humidity of 05 percent. This is necessary to prevent moisture from entering and degrading battery cells. In this chamber, electrodes, cathodes and anodes are assembled automatically into pouches that are filled with a precise amount of electrolyte. The pouches are then trimmed and sealed through a heating and vacuum process.
Researchers can make batteries with up to 7 ampere-hours capacity, a size that provides good demonstration capability but requires less material, reducing the burden on smaller companies that lack large-scale production capacity.
Working with others, Daniel looks forward to many successes.
"ORNL's combination of equipment and expertise allows collaborators to develop and optimize processes, manufacturing schemes, perform diagnostics and maximize yield," Daniel said. "Working with industry, we're advancing the field and moving closer to creating a battery that will allow automobiles to travel longer distances on a single charge."
ORNL has a dozen contracts with eight battery-related companies in their quest to compete in a global marketplace.
###
Funding for this project was provided by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov/
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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.
Megan Crafton, a high school cheerleading coach pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an alleged sexual encounter with an Indiana high school basketball player.
A 22-year-old Indiana high school cheerleading coach accused of seducing a teenage boy who plays on the school?s basketball team has pleaded not guilty, insisting she didn?t break the law.
Megan Crafton, 22, a part-time assistant cheerleading coach at Shelbyville High School, allegedly performed oral sex on the 17-year-old boy while in her car at a supermarket parking lot in January.
Crafton has admitted to having sexual relations with the student, but argues it was not illegal, 24-Hour News 8 reported after her court appearance Thursday.
Though the age of consent in Indiana is 16, state law forbids school employees from consorting with students under age 18 whom they oversee or supervise, police say.
Crafton?s lawyer, G. Allen Lidy, said that Crafton was not in a position of authority over the student, the Indianapolis Star reported.
?She wasn?t his coach,? Lidy told the paper. ?She wasn?t his teacher. She wasn?t his teacher?s assistant.?
The Shelbyville police aren?t buying it.
"When she signed on as an assistant cheerleading coach, she took a responsibility that she wouldn't have relations at that school," Michael Turner, a lieutenant at the Shelbyville Police Department, told Fox59.com.
The website Busted Coverage unearthed photos of Crafton that offer a window into her personal life, which include images of her kissing and hugging a man reported to be her fiance.
The photos of her frolics with friends were posted on Crafton?s Facebook and Twitter accounts, but it?s not clear when they were taken.
School officials alerted police about the relationship after hearing rumors circulating the school, reported 24-Hour News 8.
If found guilty, Crafton could face up to three years in jail. A trial is set for Sept. 24.
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