* Nadal beats fellow Spaniard Almagro 6-4 6-3 * Wins eighth Barcelona title in nine years (Updates with details, quotes) April 28 (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal became the first player to win four titles this year when he defeated fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-3 to win the Barcelona Open for the eighth time in nine years on Sunday. Since returning from a seven-month absence with a left knee injury in February, the world number five has reached the final at all six events he has played, his Barcelona triumph adding to the victories in Sao Paulo, Acapulco and Indian Wells. "I'm very happy. ...
As soon as Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the alleged perpetrators of the Boston Marathon bombings, were identified as Chechen immigrants, and then as refugees, questions were raised about where the system had gone wrong to admit them to the United States. But careful examination of the known facts reveals no flaws in the asylum system; it worked as it should have.
The tragedy in Boston could not have been foreseen in the case files of an 8-year-old asylum seeker and his 15-year-old brother. What can ? and has ? been questioned is whether authorities at all levels in the US do enough to integrate immigrant children into mainstream American life. (The same question could, of course, be asked about other disadvantaged children in the country?s underclass or those who suffer from undiagnosed or inadequately treated mental illness.)
OPINION: Boston bombings and a Muslim identity crisis
To immigrants in general, the US offers a bootstraps approach: a generous admissions policy compared to most other developed countries and very little help for those who take up the offer. A condition for legal immigration is that the immigrant is not likely to become a ?public charge.?
An exception is made for refugees and asylum seekers, in recognition of the fact that they were compelled to leave their home countries for fear of persecution. But even for them, assistance is very limited ? about seven months of cash assistance and help in connecting to a job, housing, and most of the public benefits available to US citizens.
The Tsarnaevs? family origins in Chechnya gave them a solid claim to a ?well-founded fear of being persecuted,? in the language of US and international refugee law. When the Tsarnaev family briefly moved to Chechnya from Kyrgyzstan after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, things may have looked promising for the region.
But life in Chechnya became a nightmare after Russia invaded in 1994 to end Chechnya?s bid for independence. The subsequent turmoil tossed the family back to Kyrgyzstan, then to Dagestan, Mrs. Tsarnaev?s family homeland, and on to the US in 2002. Tamerlan would follow his parents and younger brother Dzhokhar to the US a year later.
Chechens as a group were always subject to discrimination throughout the Soviet Union, and from 1999 on, they were also tainted with the terrorist attacks that Chechen militants visited on Moscow and other Russian cities. Chechens, even those like the Tsarnaevs who had nothing to do with the insurgency, were subject not only to discrimination but attack, including by the police. By 2003, Chechens were by far the largest group of asylum seekers in Europe.
Tens of thousands of Chechens were granted asylum in the European Union, but many were pushed back to the borders of the EU, returned to countries that offered no effective protection, or even sent back to Russia. It was a logical move for a man like Aznor Tsarnaev, looking for a decent prospect for his family, to seek asylum in the US, especially since he had family already settled there. In 2003, the US had the second highest recognition rate for asylum seekers from Russia of any country, second only to Austria (which had given asylum status to 17,000 Chechens by 2005).
The Tsarnaev family showed no signs of anything more sinister than homesickness in most of their time in the US. The brothers? journey to disaffection, violence (in the case of the elder brother), and finally terrorism has yet to be fully traced. But to say that they should not have been given asylum in 2002 is to deny an honorable tradition of the United States as well as the facts of the Tsarnaevs? history.
They had every reason to claim ? and be granted ? asylum. If US authorities had made a blanket decision that children from Russia were potential terrorists, they would have turned away 6-year-old Sergey Brin, the computer genius who co-founded Google, along with 8-year-old Dzhokar Tsarnaev.
The laissez-faire immigration system of the US permits catastrophic failures as well as off-the-charts successes, though the reality for most newcomers to the United States lies well between those two extremes. One way to guard against failures is to pay more attention to the integration of children who come to the US, especially those who may be troubled by the legacies of war-torn areas, and to be alert to signs of disaffection.
A little help getting settled in the first few months after arrival does not constitute sufficient support for refugee families. A longer and deeper engagement both by government agencies and communities is needed to heed warning signs like a fall-off in school performance, a turning away from friends and activities, gang involvement or previously unheard-of aggressiveness.
OPINION: Motive in Boston bombings: Look to tribal code of honor
Such developments should prompt teachers, coaches, friends, and religious figures to ask questions and let kids know that someone notices them and cares what happens. If their families and ethnic communities feel themselves fully part of this country, they will be part of that effort as well.
Kathleen Newland directs the Migration Policy Institute?s refugee protection program. She serves on the boards of the International Rescue Committee, USA for UNHCR, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), and the Stimson Center. She is a chair emerita of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Setting the stage for a constitutional showdown, the Obama administration on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to rule that presidents have broad authority to make certain appointments without Senate approval.
If the nine justices agree to hear the dispute over appointments President Barack Obama made to the National Labor Relations Board last year, it will be one of the biggest issues before the court in its next term, which will begin in October and end in June 2014.
In January the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that three appointments to the panel, which normally has five members, were invalid.
The appeals court agreed with Noel Canning, the bottling company that challenged Obama's move, in finding that the president did not have the authority to make the NLRB appointments because the Senate was not technically in recess at the time.
The U.S. Constitution allows the president to make appointments when the Senate is in recess. Such appointments expire at the end of the congressional session.
Backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Noel Canning argued that an NLRB ruling against it was invalid because of the appointments, which meant the board lacked a quorum.
Obama made his NLRB appointments on January 4, 2012, when the Senate was in session but not conducting business. The congressional session began on January 3, according to the Senate website.
In the brief filed on Thursday, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli defended the recess appointment powers of the president, disputing the court's conclusion that it can only be used in the period between formal sessions of the Senate.
Presidents from both parties have used their recess appointment authority to make appointments when the Senate is not conducting business.
If the appeals court ruling was left to stand, it would "dramatically curtail" the president's authority, Verrilli said.
In addition to limiting presidential power, the ruling meant that the NLRB did not have the required quorum to make decisions, casting doubt on all its actions and rulings since Obama made the appointments.
The ruling "threatens a significant disruption of the federal government's operations," Verrilli wrote.
The high court will decide whether to hear the case after lawyers for Noel Canning file a response, which is due within 30 days.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Amanda Becker; Editing by Howard Goller and Xavier Briand)
The U.S. Navy is planning to expand training exercises off California and Hawaii, citing the need for military readiness. That's raising concerns about threatened whales and marine mammals, because sonar is known harm and, in some cases, kill them. The state of California is fighting the Navy's plan.
MANCHESTER, Ill. (AP) ? The five people found shot to death in a small south-central Illinois town this week were two young brothers, their pregnant mother, their father and their great grandmother, authorities said Thursday.
Investigators were still trying to piece together the events that led to Scott County's first homicide in two decades, and why the suspect, Rick O. Smith allegedly walked into a home Wednesday and shot an entire family ? including a 6-year-old girl who survived ? before he was killed during a shootout with police.
The Illinois State Police said the victims were: 1-year-old Brantley Ralston, 5-year-old Nolan Ralston, 29-year-old James Ralston, 23-year-old Brittney Luark, and 67-year-old Jo Ann Sinclair. Sinclair was Luark's grandmother.
Authorities believe Smith and the victims were acquainted, but they didn't provide details of the relationships. Manchester Mayor Ronald Drake confirmed Wednesday that Smith was his nephew.
The state police said they believe Smith, 43, entered the home through the back door Wednesday and shot the victims at close range with a shotgun. Two people were found in a bedroom, two in a second bedroom and the man in the hallway. A sixth victim, a 6-year-old girl, was injured and taken to a hospital in Springfield.
"The offender took the 6-year-old out of the residence and put her in the hands of a neighbor," State Police Lt. Col. Todd Kilby said.
A bystander called police and told them that Smith fled in a white sedan. Smith led authorities on a chase to the nearby town of Winchester, where they exchanged gunfire. Officers shot Smith, and he later died at a hospital.
Police said they found a rifle, shotgun and large hunting knife in Smith's car.
Scott County State's Attorney Michael Hill said Smith, of rural Morgan County, had previous convictions for reckless homicide, drugs and bad checks.
Drake said he hadn't spoken to Smith in two years but that he believed his nephew was unemployed. Drake said the last time Smith contacted him was to borrow tools.
The preschool program that Nolan Ralston attended was closed Thursday, and Winchester Community School District Superintendent Dave Roberts said staff was meeting Thursday to decide how to broach the subject.
"I am trying to work with staff to get them prepared," he said. "They are very emotional at this point."
Roberts said he also wants to meet with parents Thursday night.
"I would say at least 40 kids knew him, and they're 3,4, 5 years old and that makes it even more difficult," he said.
He said a school psychologist will be at the school on Friday to talk with the children in the classrooms ? including the class of the 6-year-old girl who survived. He said that the girl is the older sister of the two dead boys.
___
Associated Press writers Don Babwin and Jason Keyser in Chicago and David Mercer in Champaign, Ill., contributed to this report.
Apr. 24, 2013 ? Prisoners who are psychopaths lack the basic neurophysiological "hardwiring" that enables them to care for others, according to a new study by neuroscientists at the University of Chicago and the University of New Mexico.
"A marked lack of empathy is a hallmark characteristic of individuals with psychopathy," said the lead author of the study, Jean Decety, the Irving B. Harris Professor in Psychology and Psychiatry at UChicago. Psychopathy affects approximately 1 percent of the United States general population and 20 percent to 30 percent of the male and female U.S. prison population. Relative to non-psychopathic criminals, psychopaths are responsible for a disproportionate amount of repetitive crime and violence in society.
"This is the first time that neural processes associated with empathic processing have been directly examined in individuals with psychopathy, especially in response to the perception of other people in pain or distress," he added.
The results of the study, which could help clinical psychologists design better treatment programs for psychopaths, are published in the article, "Brain Responses to Empathy-Eliciting Scenarios Involving Pain in Incarcerated Individuals with Psychopathy," which appears online April 24 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
Joining Decety in the study were Laurie Skelly, a graduate student at UChicago; and Kent Kiehl, professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico.
For the study, the research team tested 80 prisoners between ages 18 and 50 at a correctional facility. The men volunteered for the test and were tested for levels of psychopathy using standard measures.
They were then studied with functional MRI technology, to determine their responses to a series of scenarios depicting people being intentionally hurt. They were also tested on their responses to seeing short videos of facial expressions showing pain.
The participants in the high psychopathy group exhibited significantly less activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala and periaqueductal gray parts of the brain, but more activity in the striatum and the insula when compared to control participants, the study found.
The high response in the insula in psychopaths was an unexpected finding, as this region is critically involved in emotion and somatic resonance. Conversely, the diminished response in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and amygdala is consistent with the affective neuroscience literature on psychopathy. This latter region is important for monitoring ongoing behavior, estimating consequences and incorporating emotional learning into moral decision-making, and plays a fundamental role in empathic concern and valuing the well-being of others.
"The neural response to distress of others such as pain is thought to reflect an aversive response in the observer that may act as a trigger to inhibit aggression or prompt motivation to help," the authors write in the paper.
"Hence, examining the neural response of individuals with psychopathy as they view others being harmed or expressing pain is an effective probe into the neural processes underlying affective and empathy deficits in psychopathy," the authors wrote.
The study with prisoners was supported with a $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Chicago, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Jean Decety, Laurie R. Skelly, Kent A. Kiehl. Brain Response to Empathy-Eliciting Scenarios Involving Pain in Incarcerated Individuals With Psychopathy. JAMA Psychiatry, 2013 DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.27
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. 23, 2013 ? While gun control issues usually surface after major incidents like the fatal shooting of 20 elementary school students in Newtown, Connecticut, a new U.S. study shows that children are routinely killed or injured by firearms.
The study, conducted by the Colorado School of Public Health, Denver Health and Children's Hospital Colorado, was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It examined trauma admissions at two emergency rooms in Denver and Aurora over nine years and found that 129 of 6,920 injured children suffered gunshot wounds.
"In 14% of these cases children managed to get access to unlocked, loaded guns," said the study's lead author Angela Sauaia, MD, Ph.D., at the Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "In an area with so much disagreement, I think we can all agree that children should not have unsupervised access to unlocked, loaded guns."
The study shows that at least 14 children between the ages 4 and 17 are injured by firearms every year in the Denver metro area alone. That number excludes those found dead at the scene. It also doesn't count those who did not go to the emergency department, so Sauaia believes the injury rates exceed 14 or about 2 percent of all trauma admissions.
The number of gun injuries to children has changed little over the years.
According to state data, Colorado firearm death rates for children were 2.2 per 100,000 in the year 2000, 1.9 per 100,000 in 2009 and 2.8 per 100,000 in 2011.
"People tend to only pay attention to gun safety issues after these mass killings but this is happening all the time to our children and it's totally preventable," Sauaia said. "Are we as a society willing to accept that 2 percent of our children shot each year is an acceptable number?"
Sauaia, an associate professor of public health, medicine and surgery, studied child trauma admissions from 2000-2008 at Children's Hospital Colorado and Denver Health Medical Center. She found those who had been shot suffered significantly more severe wounds than children hurt with other objects and that the severity of the firearm injuries in increasing
At the same time, 50 percent of shooting victims required intensive care. And 13 percent died compared to 1.7 percent of children hurt in non-firearm incidents. The majority of those shot were adolescent males whose injuries were often self-inflicted.
Sauaia did not include the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School, which killed 12 students and injured another 21, in her study. The 2012 Aurora theater shootings, which killed 12 and wounded 58 last year, were also left out.
"When we examined the data we found that 7 percent of the injuries to children were related to violence and of those 38 percent were related to guns," she said. "If the injury was gun related, the odds of dying were 10 times greater than from any other kind of injury."
Sauaia and her colleagues had done another study in 1993 that found that 42 percent of people who died from trauma incidents in Denver were killed by guns. That compared to 26 percent killed in car accidents.
She conducted both studies entirely without federal funding.
"There is little money to do gun research, which is unfortunate," Sauaia said. "But the point we can all agree upon is that, no matter what side of the gun divide you fall on, we need to store these weapons safely to protect our children from death or serious injury."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Colorado Denver, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Angela Sauaia, Joshua I. Miller, Ernest E. Moore, David Partrick. Firearm Injuries of Children and Adolescents in 2 Colorado Trauma Centers: 2000-2008. JAMA, 2013 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2013.3354
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.
Families continue cleaning their homes after major flooding across the area.
State officials encourage people, who have damage due to severe weather and/or flooding, to report it. People can go online and report their damage. They can go to:?https://myoracle.in.gov/hs/damage/ia-public.do?method=active&incidentId=IA20130419121922.
It is unclear whether state officials will ask for federal assistance. State officials want to collect as much information from residents as possible. They want people to report damage sooner rather than later.
Steve Powell lives in Tipton. His master bedroom was flooded on Friday. He cleaned his home?over the weekend -like many of his neighbors. On Monday, people continued cleaning their homes and placing piles of furniture outside. Powell has flood insurance.
??I got (the) carpet. (The) bed (was) saved (and) all the clothing. I don?t know if we?re going to have to rip out the bathroom,? Powell said.
?Powell has spoken with his adjuster. He has?had a?number of dryers in his master bedroom since Saturday.
?Deana Montgomery was rescued from her home on Friday. She lives close to Powell.? She was one of about 33 people who were rescued from her home.
?Montgomery has flood insurance as well.
??It took me a good 24 hours to get my head wrapped around what we needed to do to get started,? Montgomery said.
??We?ve had a couple floods before, but nothing this drastic,? she said.
?The Indiana Department of Insurance said people should go online to www.floodsmart.gov?for more information about flood insurance.
?Laura?Wegmann is the communications director for the department. She said people should be prepared before and after it floods. Whether people live within a flood plain or not, she said, the website will inform people about getting?coverage based on their address.
Wegmann?said if people purchase a policy today, it would take 30 days before the person has coverage.
?It?s best to document very carefully all your damages (and to) make sure to take photos. (You should) write down the object serial number and make and model and that sort of thing,??Wegmann said.
Powell said that is what his adjuster told him to do.
?He sent (us) the paperwork to fill out and the task falls upon us to document everything and send (it to) him so he can file the report,? Powell said.
Wegmann said people need to know that homeowner?s insurance does not cover flood loss.
LONDON (Reuters) - A sharp drop in German business activity overshadowed an easing downturn in France in April, surveys showed on Tuesday, raising concerns over a further economic contraction in the euro zone.
Markit's flash euro zone services PMI, an early gauge of business activity each month, rose to 46.6 in April from 46.4 in March, below the 50 line that divides growth from contraction but matching the forecast of economists.
Survey compiler Markit cautioned against taking the rise as a clear sign the region's recession has bottomed out, pointing to a surprise decline in German companies that form the backbone of the euro zone economy.
"Previously, we've seen Germany expand while other countries have contracted - notably Spain, Italy and France," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
"Now it seems those contractions are being accompanied by a downturn in the largest economy, Germany, and that will no doubt act as a drag on growth."
There was some respite for French companies, which in March endured their worst month since the depths of the deep recession in 2009, and that helped to support the latest wider euro zone PMI.
Williamson said officials at the European Central Bank, which meets next week to decide monetary policy, may be relieved to see the euro zone PMIs at least did not signal a further deterioration this month.
However, that could change.
"The forward-looking indicators suggest there's risks to the downside for the contraction to gather pace," said Williamson.
The euro zone economy shrank 0.6 percent quarter on quarter in the last three months of 2012.
Comments by European Central Bank policymakers on Monday stressing falling inflation and poor growth prospects in the euro zone suggest the ECB may be leaning towards a further cut in its main interest rate.
Most economists polled by Reuters earlier this month did not think the European Central Bank would cut its main rate from 0.75 percent, already a record low, although the poor German PMI readings may alter that view.
Confidence in services companies about the coming year slipped to the lowest level this year, with the business expectations index slipping to 55.7 from 56.2 in March.
Consumer morale in the euro zone improved in April, the European Commission said on Monday, but remained well below the currency area's long-term average.
FACTORY GATES IN THE RAIN
Euro zone factories suffered another grueling month in April, with the manufacturing PMI falling to 46.5 from 46.8, its worst showing this year.
There seems little prospect of much improvement next month, with the new orders index dropping to its lowest since December, at 44.9 from 45.3.
Philips , one of the world's biggest electronics makers and based in the Netherlands, on Monday cited the weak European economy as it forecast a slow first half of the year.
The composite euro zone PMI, which groups both the services and manufacturing surveys together, held at 46.5 in April.
Disappointingly, it showed euro zone companies cut jobs at a faster rate this month, after the March survey showed firms laid off staff at a slower pace.
"The overriding evidence we're getting on the future outlook perspective is that the debt crisis is really acting as a dampener on business and consumer confidence," said Markit's Williamson.
"There's a lack of clarity about the outlook. As long as that persists, we think there's going to be a big drag on growth, and the downturn is going to persist."
- Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a licence.
To subscribe to the full data, click on the link below: http://www/markit.com/information/register/reuters-pmi-subscriptions
For further information, please phone Markit on +44 20 7260 2454 or email economics@markit.com
The term ?cyberwarfare? conjures images of hackers developing nasty scripts and viruses to be used by state militaries as an instrument of foreign policy. Stuxnet, the malware that disabled thousands of Iranian nuclear centrifuges, was all but confirmed as the product of U.S. and Israeli information warriors. But these kinds of sophisticated weapons are hard to cover up, harder to build and still harder to keep from getting out of control. Sexy as they are, tools like Stuxnet only make sense some of the time.
The rest of the time, according to an annual study of data breaches released today, state-affiliated attacks draw inspiration from a more common, though no less effective, source: the criminal world. The weapon of choice for most governments? Phishing, or the sending of fake emails that try to get targets to click malware-laden links or attachments.
Ninety-five percent of all data breaches that can be connected to a government IP address involve phishing attacks, per the study, which was conducted by Verizon?s RISK team. The yearly report looks at tens of thousands of reported attacks and examines the subsequent investigations by law enforcement and private cybersecurity firms.
How do we know that governments are deploying phishing attacks? A lot of it is based on circumstantial evidence, Ostertag admitted.
?When we?re able to make a conclusion as to attribution,? he said, ?it?s more through the use of MD5 hashing, and looking for a hard-coded IP address inside a piece of malware that?s affiliated with a known IP.? Known IP addresses often come in via government authorities who?ve been monitoring the addresses themselves. In all, Verizon?s partnered with 18 agencies around the world to gather its data, from the U.S. Secret Service to the Australian Federal Police.
Since the project began nearly a decade ago, Verizon?s data breach investigations report has tallied 2,500 confirmed penetrations that resulted in a loss of data. Over a billion personal records have been compromised. Not all of those were the result of government actions. But state-affiliated hacking attempts last year accounted for almost a fifth of all data breaches. Good thing some companies have started phishing their own employees to practice their defense.
Evian's "Roller Babies" video holds the official Guinness World Record for most viral video ad of all time. The company released a follow up late Friday that sticks with the baby theme.
It has already racked up nearly 13 million views on YouTube.
But viral success is not the same as sales success. After Roller Babies was released in 2009, sales of the water brand actually declined, according to Jonah Berger, an assistant professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Forbes noted:
In the year the Evian ?Roller Babies? video went viral and attracted 50 million views, the brand lost market share and sales dropped 25 percent.
The brand continued to lose market share in the UK in 2012, according to SWNS.com. The Danone Group's water business is growing overall ? it has many different brands ? but the company does not mention Evian specifically in either its quarterly financials or its most recent investor presentation.
Has tough boardroom boss Donald Trump gone soft? Well, if his grand gesture at the end of Sunday's episode of "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice" is anything to go by, then the answer is yes!
It all happened after Team Power lost yet another challenge. When tasked with creating an engaging tourism campaign for South Africa, it was Brande Roderick who led the team to a loss against Plan B's superior ad.
Trump, with this week's boardroom advisor -- former contestant Bret Michaels -- by his side, grilled Roderick about the failure and her odd choice to have Marilu Henner and Trace Adkins face the firing squad with her.
"You're with two people who don't deserve to be fired, wouldn't you agree?" Trump said.
Roderick admitted he had a point.
"You know what that means, right?" he asked.
Of course, everyone in the boardroom knew what that meant. Roderick was toast. But no sooner had Trump fired her than Adkins made a special request.
"Give her some money!" the singer said. "She didn't win nothing."
Yes, despite the fact that Roderick raised plenty of money in the game, she didn't raise any for her charity, Promises 2 Kids -- a non-profit that helps abused and neglected foster children.
Hearing that, Trump decided to forgo the usual money-goes-to-winners way of the game and offered to give Roderick's worthy charity $20,000 just because.
What do you think of Trump's last-minute charitable contribution -- was he breaking the rules of the boardroom battle or just bending them for a good cause? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner went out for dinner in Hollywood, Calif., on April 19.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Carey Mulligan was spotted out and about in the East Village in New York City on April 18.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Zac Efron stopped by "Good Morning America" on April 18 in New York City.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Emily Blunt and John Krasinski were seen arriving on a flight at LAX airport in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 17.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Kate Hudson and Matthew Bellamy grabbed breakfast at Bubby's Restaurant with children Bingham and Ryder in New York City on April 17.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Jennifer Aniston attended the world premiere of the Lifetime Original Movie Event "Call Me Crazy: A Five Film" held at The Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif., on April 16.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
"The Big Wedding" star Katherine Heigl went out for lunch with her mom in Los Feliz, Calif., on April 16.
Celebrity Photos:
Rachel Bilson enjoyed a day on the beach with friends and boyfriend Hayden Christensen while on vacation in Barbados on April 16.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Ashton Kutcher wore a Boston hat in London following the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15 as he left girlfriend Mila Kunis' apartment on April 16.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
'The Hunger Games' actor Liam Hemsworth hit up the gym for a workout in West Hollywood, Calif., on April 15.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Selena Gomez flaunted her gorgeous gams in short shorts while shopping in Beverly Hills on April 15.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Sienna Miller walked hand-in-hand with her fiance Tom Sturridge through the West Village in NYC on April 15.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Zendaya was spotted leaving her "Dancing With The Stars" rehearsal studio snacking on Fruity Pebbles in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 15.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. cozy up at the premiere of "Iron Man 3" at the Grand Rex in Paris, France on April 14.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Brittany Snow rocked a short dress at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 14.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Zoe Saldana looked amazing at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 14.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Coachella buddies Ashley Benson and Katy Perry posed together at the McDonald's Premium McWrap launch party in Palm Spring, Calif., on April 13.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Julianne Hough rocked short shorts at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 13.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson hold hands at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 13.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Angelina Jolie and her son Maddox Jolie-Pitt arrived on a flight at LAX in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 12.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Halle Berry played tourist and visitied Sugarloaf Mountain while in Rio de Janeiro on April 12. Berry, who showed off her growing pregnancy curves in a black tank top and jeans, has been in Brazil promoting her movie "The Call."
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Tom Cruise was at the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show in Hollywood, Calif., on April 11.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Gwyneth Paltrow was spotted leaving "Good Morning America" in New York City on April 10.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Michelle Williams showed off her new short hair cut while out and about in New York City on April 9.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Zachary Quinto attended the Manhattan Magazine Men's Issue Party at PH-D Rooftop Lounge at Dream Downtown in New York City on April 9.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Lindsay Lohan greets fans as she heads into a taping of 'The Late Show with David Letterman' in New York
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
"True Blood" star Alexander Skarsgard was spotted out and about in New York City on April 9. He spent time signing autographs for his fans on the street.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Cameron Diaz grabbed an iced tea after a workout at the gym on April 8 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Celebrity Phoos: April 2013
Olivia Wilde took her dog Paco out for a walk with her brother Charlie in New York City, New York on April 8.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Rumor Willis was spotted wearing the U by Kotox Generation Know bracelet while playing with her dog in Beverly Hills, Calif., on April 8.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Taylor Swift walked the red carpet at the 2013 Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 6.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Jessica Alba flaunted her amazing bikini body as she hit the beach while on vacation in St. Barts on April 7.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Giuliana Rancic was all smiles at The Naked Grape Wine's `Peel It Off to Give Back` event in Chicago on April 6.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Pregnant Jessica Simpson's curves were on full display in a tight black shirt as she took her family to lunch at King's Fish House In Calabasas, Calif., on April 6.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Chris Hemsworth took his adorable daughter India Rose grocery shopping at the 'Whole Foods' in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 5. Hot dad alert!
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Angelina Jolie attended the Women in the World Summit 2013 on April 4 in New York City.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Jada Pinkett Smith spotted out and about in New York City on April 3.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Emmy Rossum was all smiles in New York while sporting the Henri Bendel Sutton Mini Bag on April 2.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Jon Hamm and his girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt took their dog for a walk in West Hollywood, Calif., on April 2.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Charlize Theron was seen bundled up in a dark pea coat and scarf as she hurried out of her hotel to run some errands around New York City on April 2.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Rihanna performed at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada on April 1. Looking good, RiRi!
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Kate Beckinsale was spotted stocking up on spring fragrances from Jo Malone London in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 1.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Heidi Klum walked on the beach at the North Shore in Oahu, Hawaii on April 1.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Sarah Jessica Parker walked her kids to school on April 1 in New York City. How adorable are those army jackets?
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
A bikini-clad Hayden Panettiere enjoyed a peaceful Easter Sunday on the beach in Miami, Fla., on March 31.
Celebrity Photos: April 2013
Kourtney Kardashian took her kids Mason and Penelope to Church on Easter Sunday, where they were joined by Kendall, Kylie and Kris Jenner in Los Angeles, Calif.
Celebrity Photos: March 2013
Lily Collins attended Day 2 of WonderCon 2013 at Anaheim Convention Center on March 30 in Anaheim, Calif.
Celebrity Photos: March 2013
Britney Spears, her two sons Sean and Jayden Federline and her father Jamie were spotted arriving on a flight in New Orleans, La., on March 29.
Celebrity Photos: March 2013
Diane Kruger posed for pictures outside ABC Studios for an appearance on "Good Morning America" on March 28 in NYC.
Celebrity Photos: March 2013
Taylor Swift went casual in a black sweater and red pants as she headed out and about in New York City on March 27.
Celebrity Photos: March 2013
Sandra Bullock gave her son Louis a piggyback ride after picking him up from school in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 26.
LITTLE ROCK, AR -- The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will be hosting a free skin cancer screening next month.
The screenings will take place May 18 from 8 a.m.-2 p.m., on the sixth
floor of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. ? For information, call (501) 686-7546 from 9 am-noon Monday-Friday. ? Patients will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis and are encouraged to arrive no later than 1 p.m.
Free parking is available in UAMS Parking 3 at Cedar Street and Capitol Avenue. ? Signs and symptoms of skin cancer include new spots on the skin or spots that change in size, shape or color. Potential signs also include bumps, patches or sores that don't heal after two to three months. ? The screening is held in conjunction with the American Academy of Dermatology.
Apr. 21, 2013 ? Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) gives better results than standard radiotherapy in patients with early breast cancer, according to results from a randomised trial presented today (Sunday) to the 2nd Forum of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO). IMRT is an advanced, high-precision form of radiotherapy that can deliver an even dose of radiation, thus reducing the cosmetic problems that can often occur after breast radiotherapy.
"We believe that this study, the largest prospective trial in the world to test breast IMRT against standard two-dimensional radiotherapy, will be practice-changing at an international level," said Dr Charlottes Coles, from Addenbrooke's Hospital Oncology Centre, Cambridge, UK. "Analysing the results five years after treatment, we saw significant benefits in patients who had received IMRT."
The researchers analysed the radiotherapy treatment plans of 1145 patients with early breast cancer who had previously had breast-conserving surgery. The plans were screened to see if they would produce an uneven radiation dose with standard two-dimensional radiotherapy (2DRT). A total of 71% of the plans fell into this category, and those patients were randomised between standard 2DRT and IMRT. The 29% of patients whose plans would not produce an uneven dose were treated with standard 2D RT, but still followed up within the trial.
One of the aims of external radiotherapy is to treat the target -- in this case the whole breast -- with an even dose distribution, i.e. within a range of 95% to 107% of the prescribed dose. Too low a dose can risk tumour recurrence, and too high a dose can cause undesirable side-effects such as skin changes.
"The problem with 2D breast radiotherapy is that the dose distribution is only recorded across the central part of the breast. Usually it meets the 95-107% constraints, but the shape of the breast changes, so if the same plan is looked at in 3D, then there may well be areas with overly high doses. By modulating the intensity of the radiation beam, IMRT can be used to correct for this and smooth out the dose," said Dr Coles.
The researchers set out to see whether the effect of using IMRT in those patients who would have received a dose greater than 107% to parts of their breast with 2DRT would translate into clinical benefit. IMRT planning uses results from scans to determine the dose intensity that will best treat the tumour, and therefore is more complex and time-consuming than 2DRT planning, so there was an important need to see a clear advantage to patients from the use of the procedure.
The only previous study looking at this was much smaller, and rather than picking out all patients with doses greater than 107% and randomising them, it only included women with larger breasts who are already known to be more likely to have regions of dose above the upper limit. "Our trial was more inclusive as all women were able to take part and we could quantify those who would receive an uneven dose," said Dr Coles.
"We saw that fewer patients in the IMRT group developed skin telangiectasia (dilated blood vessels near the surface of the skin), and the overall cosmetic effect in the breast was better," she said. Although there was no significant difference between the two groups in breast shrinkage, breast oedema, breast induration (hardening), and pigmentation changes, the benefits of using IMRT in these patients were clear.
The researchers intend to follow up their work by analysing the patients' questionnaires to see whether IMRT has an influence on quality of life. The trial has also contributed 1000 blood samples to the UK translational research study RAPPER (Radiogenomics: Assessment of Polymorphisms for Predicting the Effects of Radiotherapy), which aims to ultimately develop individualised radiotherapy plans based on the analysis of individual patients' genetics.
"Although IMRT is employed increasingly in breast cancer, its use is far from universal throughout the world. We hope that the evidence of benefit shown in our trial will encourage its greater use, resulting in improved patient access and, ultimately, improved outcomes for breast cancer patients," said Dr Coles.
President of ESTRO, Professor Vincenzo Valentini, a radiation oncologist at the Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, Rome, Italy, said: "This study not only shows a better outcome for the women treated with IMRT, but has an additional value in defining the selection criteria for providing treatment to those patients who will benefit from new frontline technologies. In the study design, the patients who could be treated satisfactorily by standard technology were not referred for IMRT, avoiding the use of a complex technique where it was not necessary. At a time when resources are limited, individualised medicine can help us offer new technology only to those patients who will have a tangible benefit from it."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by ESTRO, via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
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.
FILE- An unidentified man shouts slogans near burning tyres during a protest on a major road junction in the commercial capital of Lagos, Nigeria, during a fuel subsidy protest in this file photo dated Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, as angry mobs call on the government to keep a cherished consumer subsidy that had kept gas affordable for more than two decades. A 30-minute film documentary called "Fuelling Poverty" has been online for months, but it is revealed Sunday April 21, 2013, that Nigerian officials have refused its director Ishaya Bako permission to show it publicly in this oil-rich nation, as it focuses on the January 2012 protests and the alleged billions of dollars thought to have been swallowed up by greedy companies and the nation's elite.(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, FILE)
FILE- An unidentified man shouts slogans near burning tyres during a protest on a major road junction in the commercial capital of Lagos, Nigeria, during a fuel subsidy protest in this file photo dated Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, as angry mobs call on the government to keep a cherished consumer subsidy that had kept gas affordable for more than two decades. A 30-minute film documentary called "Fuelling Poverty" has been online for months, but it is revealed Sunday April 21, 2013, that Nigerian officials have refused its director Ishaya Bako permission to show it publicly in this oil-rich nation, as it focuses on the January 2012 protests and the alleged billions of dollars thought to have been swallowed up by greedy companies and the nation's elite.(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, FILE)
FILE- An Unidentified man stands near burning tyres during a protest on a major road junction in the commercial capital of Lagos, Nigeria, during a fuel subsidy protest in this file photo dated Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, as angry mobs call on the government to keep a cherished consumer subsidy that had kept gas affordable for more than two decades. A 30-minute film documentary called "Fuelling Poverty" has been online for months, but it is revealed Sunday April 21, 2013, that Nigerian officials have refused its director Ishaya Bako permission to show it publicly in this oil-rich nation, as it focuses on the January 2012 protests and the alleged billions of dollars thought to have been swallowed up by greedy companies and the nation's elite. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File)
FILE- An Unidentified man stocks the fire of a road block in the commercial capital of Lagos, Nigeria, during a fuel subsidy protest in this file photo dated Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, as angry mobs call on the government to keep a cherished consumer subsidy that had kept gas affordable for more than two decades. A 30-minute film documentary called "Fuelling Poverty" has been online for months, but it is revealed Sunday April 21, 2013, that Nigerian officials have refused its director Ishaya Bako permission to show it publicly in this oil-rich nation, as it focuses on the January 2012 protests and the alleged billions of dollars thought to have been swallowed up by greedy companies and the nation's elite.(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, FILE)
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) ? The documentary on a massive strike that paralyzed life in Nigeria features newspaper headlines, television news footage and other information widely known about a government gasoline subsidy that saw billions of dollars stolen by greedy companies and the nation's elite.
It also, according to Nigerian authorities, could spark violence and potentially threaten national security.
The 30-minute film called "Fuelling Poverty" has been online for months, but only recently Nigerian officials have refused its director permission to show it publicly in this oil-rich nation of more than 160 million people. While free speech is enshrined in this democratic nation's constitution, an ever-increasing drumbeat of complaints and critical articles about the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has seen authorities increasingly target journalists and others.
The film, sponsored by Soros Foundation's Open Society Justice Initiative for West Africa, focuses on the protests around Jonathan's decision to remove subsidies on gasoline in January 2012. Life in Nigeria ground to a halt before unions backed down. Later, a report by lawmakers demanded businesses and government agencies to return some $6.7 billion over the subsidy program.
Ishaya Bako, who directed the film that features civil rights activists and Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka, later applied for the right to show the film publicly. In a letter dated April 8, Nigeria's National Film and Video Censors Board told Bako that the documentary was "prohibited for exhibition in Nigeria."
"I am further to inform you that this decision is due to the fact that the contents of the film are highly provocative and likely to incite or encourage public disorder and undermine national security," the letter signed by board lawyer Effiong Inwang reads. "Please you are strongly advised not to distribute or exhibit the documentary film. All relevant national security agencies are on the alert."
Tanko Abdullahi, a spokesman for the board, initially told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the film wasn't banned, but was "denied classification." Later, in the same conversation, he acknowledged it couldn't be shown over unspecified "security issues."
"What is national security for Nigeria is different from that of the U.S.A.," Abdullahi said. "We made that determination because of the content of the film. That's why you have regulators."
The government's decision has seen more people watch the film online. It also has sparked outrage from human rights activists and press freedom groups.
"Instead of banning the documentary 'Fuelling Poverty,' authorities should look into the important questions it raises about corruption and impunity in the country's oil sector and at the highest levels of government," Mohamed Keita, an official with the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement. "We urge Nigeria's National Film and Video Censors Board to overturn this censorship order."
The move to ban the film comes as Jonathan's government, which many voted for believing he would change the engrained interests and corruption of Nigeria's government, has grown increasingly unpopular as extremists carry out bombings and the state-run power company cannot offer stable electricity. During the strikes, government officials put increasing pressure on broadcasters not to show images of protests, which at one point saw tens of thousands in the streets of Lagos.
Today, journalists at a newspaper face forgery charges over a story that claimed the presidency would try to disrupt opposition parties. Security agencies have harassed reporters at a weekly newspaper that wrote about abuses by the military in its crackdown against Islamic extremists. And workers who ran a call-in radio show in the northern city of Kano face charges over talking about rumors surrounding polio vaccinations in the wake of at least nine women vaccinators being killed.
Despite the outcry, however, the apparent crackdown continues, only fueling more of the same apathy for Nigeria's government seen by those featured in the documentary.
"We don't have government. It's a whole big banana republic," barber Emmanuel Tom Ekin says in the film. "They've been coming telling us story all the time, deceiving us. And right now, in our faces, they are still deceiving us."
___
Online:
The "Fuelling Poverty" documentary: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVq10BwzQoI
___
Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .
Nicki Minaj is known for her crazy outfits — and I’m a huge fan of them. But this was just unclassy and strange. For wearing the outfit in front of millions of people, she earned a nice, big fashion fail! Photo: Nicki Minaj’s Idol Outfit (credit FOX via YouTube) This little number got so much negative attention that people sent some pretty negative Tweets her way. Here are just a few: @hannahjrobb – I know it’s bad that I was watching idol, but you should google nicki minaj’s outfit on tonights show, because she looked like an idiot @tiffany_4prez – Nicki minaj’s outfit is very stripper like #idol #lapdance Youch. Okay, so people weren’t happy about the outfit. I just think it’s a little too revealing — even for her! What are your thoughts?
UTSW researchers identify new potential target for cancer therapyPublic release date: 19-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Alex Lyda alex.lyda@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS April 22, 2013 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that alternative splicing a process that allows a single gene to code for multiple proteins appears to be a new potential target for anti-telomerase cancer therapy.
The enzyme telomerase is overexpressed in almost all cancer cells, and previous research efforts have failed to identify good telomerase inhibitors. The study by Dr. Woodring Wright and UT Southwestern colleagues in the April 4 issue of Cell Reports identifies a new approach for inhibiting telomerase, which is an enzyme that drives uncontrolled division and replication of cancer cells.
Alternative splicing allows genetic information to be assembled in different ways and is almost always controlled by DNA sequences that are immediately adjacent to the parts of a gene that code for protein. "In the case of the telomerase gene, we found that these controlling regions are located very far from the protein coding regions and that they contain unusual DNA sequences," said Dr. Wright, professor of cell biology and internal medicine. "Their unusual DNA structure suggests that humans regulate telomerase in a very different fashion that we may be able to exploit to develop inhibitors of the enzyme."
Most of the splice variants that telomerase makes are inactive, but Dr. Wright's team demonstrated that it was possible to shift the splicing to make even less active telomerase, potentially providing a new approach for cancer therapy.
Telomeres are specialized structures at the ends of each chromosome. As DNA replicates, telomeres shorten each time a cell divides. Telomerase in human cancer cells is 10 to 20 times more active than in normal body cells. The increase provides a selective growth advantage to many types of tumors. If telomerase activity was to be turned off, then telomeres in cancer cells would shorten like they do in normal body cells.
"The oft-used analogy is that telomeres are like the plastic ends of shoelaces that protect them from fraying," Dr. Wright said. "Once the plastic becomes damaged and falls off, the shoelace can no longer be threaded effectively. The only solution at that point is to throw the shoelace away."
In most tissues, telomerase turns off during development, after which telomeres shorten and limit the number of times a cell can divide, eventually losing their capping function similar to the shoelace tip falling off. This timing also functions as a tumor-protection mechanism, since the limited cellular lifespan prevents pre-malignant cells from accumulating the mutations they need to become cancerous.
Preclinical studies have shown that inhibiting telomerase causes tumor cells to lose immortality, re-initiate telomere shortening, and eventually die. In the event that a tumor has already thoroughly developed, it may be surgically removed, and following conventional chemotherapy, telomerase inhibition could prevent rare surviving cells from having enough divisions to cause a relapse.
Dr. Wright said the alternative splicing method also could be useful for regenerative medicine, because telomeres in our stem cells shorten with age and that eventually compromises their function. "Under the right circumstances, increasing or decreasing telomerase activity could profoundly affect our treatments for both cancer and aging," he said.
###
The investigation was supported by the National Cancer Institute.
Other UT Southwestern researchers participating in the study are graduate student Sze "Mandy" Wong, who served as first author; research associate Ling Chen; medical student Radhika Kainthla; and Dr. Jerry Shay, professor of cell biology and a senior member of the Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center.
Please visit the Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center to learn more about oncology at UTSW, including highly individualized treatments for cancer at the region's only National Cancer Institute-designated center.
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution's faculty has many distinguished members, including five who have been awarded Nobel Prizes since 1985. Numbering more than 2,700, the faculty is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in 40 specialties to nearly 100,000 hospitalized patients and oversee more than 2.1 million outpatient visits a year.
This news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at
http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html
To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email,
subscribe at http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews
[ | 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.
UTSW researchers identify new potential target for cancer therapyPublic release date: 19-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Alex Lyda alex.lyda@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS April 22, 2013 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that alternative splicing a process that allows a single gene to code for multiple proteins appears to be a new potential target for anti-telomerase cancer therapy.
The enzyme telomerase is overexpressed in almost all cancer cells, and previous research efforts have failed to identify good telomerase inhibitors. The study by Dr. Woodring Wright and UT Southwestern colleagues in the April 4 issue of Cell Reports identifies a new approach for inhibiting telomerase, which is an enzyme that drives uncontrolled division and replication of cancer cells.
Alternative splicing allows genetic information to be assembled in different ways and is almost always controlled by DNA sequences that are immediately adjacent to the parts of a gene that code for protein. "In the case of the telomerase gene, we found that these controlling regions are located very far from the protein coding regions and that they contain unusual DNA sequences," said Dr. Wright, professor of cell biology and internal medicine. "Their unusual DNA structure suggests that humans regulate telomerase in a very different fashion that we may be able to exploit to develop inhibitors of the enzyme."
Most of the splice variants that telomerase makes are inactive, but Dr. Wright's team demonstrated that it was possible to shift the splicing to make even less active telomerase, potentially providing a new approach for cancer therapy.
Telomeres are specialized structures at the ends of each chromosome. As DNA replicates, telomeres shorten each time a cell divides. Telomerase in human cancer cells is 10 to 20 times more active than in normal body cells. The increase provides a selective growth advantage to many types of tumors. If telomerase activity was to be turned off, then telomeres in cancer cells would shorten like they do in normal body cells.
"The oft-used analogy is that telomeres are like the plastic ends of shoelaces that protect them from fraying," Dr. Wright said. "Once the plastic becomes damaged and falls off, the shoelace can no longer be threaded effectively. The only solution at that point is to throw the shoelace away."
In most tissues, telomerase turns off during development, after which telomeres shorten and limit the number of times a cell can divide, eventually losing their capping function similar to the shoelace tip falling off. This timing also functions as a tumor-protection mechanism, since the limited cellular lifespan prevents pre-malignant cells from accumulating the mutations they need to become cancerous.
Preclinical studies have shown that inhibiting telomerase causes tumor cells to lose immortality, re-initiate telomere shortening, and eventually die. In the event that a tumor has already thoroughly developed, it may be surgically removed, and following conventional chemotherapy, telomerase inhibition could prevent rare surviving cells from having enough divisions to cause a relapse.
Dr. Wright said the alternative splicing method also could be useful for regenerative medicine, because telomeres in our stem cells shorten with age and that eventually compromises their function. "Under the right circumstances, increasing or decreasing telomerase activity could profoundly affect our treatments for both cancer and aging," he said.
###
The investigation was supported by the National Cancer Institute.
Other UT Southwestern researchers participating in the study are graduate student Sze "Mandy" Wong, who served as first author; research associate Ling Chen; medical student Radhika Kainthla; and Dr. Jerry Shay, professor of cell biology and a senior member of the Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center.
Please visit the Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center to learn more about oncology at UTSW, including highly individualized treatments for cancer at the region's only National Cancer Institute-designated center.
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution's faculty has many distinguished members, including five who have been awarded Nobel Prizes since 1985. Numbering more than 2,700, the faculty is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in 40 specialties to nearly 100,000 hospitalized patients and oversee more than 2.1 million outpatient visits a year.
This news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at
http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html
To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email,
subscribe at http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews
[ | 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.
As a general rule, NBA playoff battles in the Western Conference tend to be a lot better than the ones in the Eastern Conference. This year is no exception. Whereas the East boosts one interesting series, maybe, all four series in the West are much-watch events.
The Kobe Bryant-less Lakers got the only team that they can sorta, kinda match up with. The Thunder and Rockets will play in the James Harden Bowl. Denver and Golden State are two of the most exciting teams in the NBA, period. And the Clippers-Grizzlies bring the NBA?s best non-Heat vs. Celtics rivalry to the table.
In all likelihood the Spurs, Thunder, Nuggets and Clippers will prevail ? but at least three out of these four series figure to be entertaining.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 19-Apr-2013
Share ]