Common gene variants explain 42% of antidepressant response

Mar. 28, 2013 ? Antidepressants are commonly prescribed for the treatment of depression, but many individuals do not experience symptom relief from treatment. The National Institute of Mental Health's STAR*D study, the largest and longest study ever conducted to evaluate depression treatment, found that only approximately one-third of patients responded within their initial medication trial and approximately one-third of patients did not have an adequate clinical response after being treated with several different medications. Thus, identifying predictors of antidepressant response could help to guide the treatment of this disorder.

A new study published in Biological Psychiatry now shares progress in identifying genomic predictors of antidepressant response.

Many previous studies have searched for genetic markers that may predict antidepressant response, but have done so despite not knowing the contribution of genetic factors. Dr. Katherine Tansey of Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London and colleagues resolved to answer that question.

"Our study quantified, for the first time, how much is response to antidepressant medication influenced by an individual's genetic make-up," said Tansey.

To perform this work, the researchers estimated the magnitude of the influence of common genetic variants on antidepressant response using a sample of 2,799 antidepressant-treated subjects with major depressive disorder and genome-wide genotyping data.

They found that genetic variants explain 42% of individual differences, and therefore, significantly influence antidepressant response.

"While we know that there are no genetic markers with strong effect, this means that there are many genetic markers involved. While each specific genetic marker may have a small effect, they may add up to make a meaningful prediction," Tansey added.

"We have a very long way to go to identify genetic markers that can usefully guide the treatment of depression. There are two critical challenges to this process," said Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry. "First, we need to have genomic markers that strongly predict response or non-response to available treatments. Second, markers for non-response to available treatments also need to predict response to an alternative treatment. Both of these conditions need to be present for markers of non-response to guide personalized treatments of depression."

"Although the Tansey et al. study represents progress, it is clear that we face enormous challenges with regards to both objectives," he added. "For example, it does not yet appear that having a less favorable genomic profile is a sufficiently strong negative predictor of response to justify withholding antidepressant treatment. Similarly, there is lack of clarity as to how to optimally treat patients who might have less favorable genomic profile.."

Additional research is certainly required, but scientists hope that one day, results such as these can lead to personalized treatment for depression.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Elsevier, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Katherine E. Tansey, Michel Guipponi, Xiaolan Hu, Enrico Domenici, Glyn Lewis, Alain Malafosse, Jens R. Wendland, Cathryn M. Lewis, Peter McGuffin, Rudolf Uher. Contribution of Common Genetic Variants to Antidepressant Response. Biological Psychiatry, 2013; 73 (7): 679 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.10.030

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/depression/~3/z5l4WA6eDzU/130328091730.htm

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Paying the Costs of Iraq, for Decades to Come (Atlantic Politics Channel)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295362847?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Lloyd's Register Publishes New Guide on How to Manage Asbestos ...

Lloyd?s Register has published a new guide, Asbestos on ships ? how to manage it safely, to help shipowners, operators and all stakeholders understand how to deal with asbestos on ships and to support compliance with maritime asbestos regulations which, since 2002, have widely prohibited the continued use of asbestos.

Asbestos remains a problem in shipping. Despite better management and reduced production of asbestos, there remains considerable room for improvement, primarily to reduce the number of deaths. It is still estimated that more than 107,000 people die each year from mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis ? the three major asbestos-related diseases ? as a result of occupational exposure.

The report?s author, Robin Townsend, Lloyd?s Register?s Regulatory Affairs Lead Specialist, says: ?Far from being a problem of the past, asbestos is still produced in many countries and is still widely used, and it is present in many existing buildings and structures, including ships. Most countries still do not have effective prohibitions and global production is still over 40% of peak values. It is imperative that we see further and substantial improvements in regulatory enforcement and a reduction in asbestos related mortality.?

The guide takes a wider look at asbestos, exploring its history, composition and health effects to underline the vital importance of correct management. It also details asbestos-related regulation and suggests tools that can be used to achieve best practice in asbestos management.

Ships often have an increased risk of asbestos exposure. The use of asbestos in shipbuilding has been unusually high over the years and some of the most dangerous asbestos application methods have been particularly prevalent in ship construction.

A UK study estimated a 61% increased incidence of asbestos related illness in shipyard workers. A similar study in Trieste, Italy, showed that of 153 men who had died of malignant mesothelioma 99 had worked in shipbuilding 19 had been in the navy/merchant marine and 7 had been dockworkers.

?What is vital is that we continue to guard against the risks that asbestos presents within the maritime industry, and we very much hope this publication will further in this aim,? added Robin.

LR, March 27, 2013

Source: http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/80097/lloyds-register-publishes-new-guide-on-how-to-manage-asbestos-on-ships/

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Vera Wang scraps $500 try-on fee in Shanghai

Melanie Lee, Reuters ? ? ? 6 hrs.

SHANGHAI - Vera Wang, the queen of bridal couture, is abolishing the nearly $500 fee she charged Chinese brides-to-be to try on a garment at her new Shanghai bridal boutique after the move, meant to deter counterfeiters, set off a global outcry.

Local and global media had criticized the surcharge as being discriminatory because it was applied only in China, at the company's Shanghai store, which staged a "soft opening" in January as the company's first bridal salon in the country, a vast potential market as the numbers of wealthy grow.

A Vera Wang spokeswoman told Reuters that the 3,000 yuan ($480) charge was being scrapped as of Wednesday.

"Please kindly be informed that Vera Wang has abolished appointment fees at her bridal salons worldwide starting from March 27, 2013," the spokeswoman said in an email, without elaborating.

A company spokeswoman told local media earlier this year that the charge was imposed to fend off copying of the elaborate dresses, which fetch thousands of dollars in the original.

Despite the move, though, Vera Wang's ivory tulle trains and pinched bodice gowns had already found fans in the world of pirates, with knockoffs widely available on Chinese e-commerce sites for a fraction of the price.

Li, one seller of "Vera Wang style" dresses on Taobao Marketplace, China's largest e-commerce site, says he can achieve up to 90 percent similarity to the namesake garments without even seeing the originals.

A Vera Wang original can range anywhere from $2,000 to over $10,000, but on Taobao some imitations go for as little as $100.

"For the experts you don't need to try on the dress to figure out how to copy it, you just need to see it or feel it at the shop," said Li, who declined to give his full name.

Li's factory, based in Suzhou, a city near Shanghai, makes Vera Wang knockoffs from photos of her creations, then sells them online for between 600 yuan ($97) to 1,700 yuan ($270).

The Taobao sellers who hawk the look-alikes use organza, satin and lace to recreate the ethereal bridal trains and three-dimensional floral whorls on Wang's dresses.

Most of the sellers online said they could achieve near 100 percent similarity to Vera Wang dresses but the complicated hand stitching and high quality materials that go into an original dress is something they can't replicate.

"There will be slight changes... If you want 100 percent you should buy the original," said one seller of mid-range copies.

In 2012, China was the top source country for counterfeit goods entering the United States and the European Union (EU) with more than 70 percent originating from China, according to the latest customs seizure reports from the U.S. and the EU.

Alibaba Group, which owns Taobao Marketplace, said in a statement to Reuters the company works with intellectual property rights holders to take down counterfeit listings and will penalize stores caught.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a0c6808/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cvera0Ewang0Escraps0E50A0A0Etry0Efee0Eshanghai0E2B910A1156/story01.htm

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Combinations of estrogen-mimicking chemicals found to strongly distort hormone action

Public release date: 28-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Kelly
jpkelly@utmb.edu
409-772-8791
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

For years, scientists have been concerned about chemicals in the environment that mimic the estrogens found in the body. In study after study, researchers have found links between these "xenoestrogens" and such problems as decreased sperm viability, ovarian dysfunction, neurodevelopmental deficits and obesity. But experimental limitations have prevented them from exploring one of the most serious questions posed by exposure to xenoestrogens: what happens when as in the real world an individual is exposed to multiple estrogen-mimicking chemicals at the same time?

Now University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have used new techniques to study exposure to low doses of multiple xenoestrogens. And they've come to some disturbing conclusions.

Using cell cultures to test mixtures of three compounds known to affect estrogen signaling, bisphenol A (found in plastic bottles and the linings), bisphenol S (a supposedly safer replacement for bisphenol A recently found to have similar effects) and nonylphenol (a common component of industrial detergents and surfactants) the scientists determined that combinations of endocrine disruptors could have a dramatically greater effect than any one of them alone.

"We wanted to see how these persistent, ubiquitous contaminants affect estrogenic signaling when they're mixed together as they are in nature, so we set up a cell-culture system that allowed us to test their influence on signaling by estradiol, the estrogen found in adult, cycling women," said UTMB professor Cheryl Watson, senior author of a paper on the study now online in the journal Environmental Health (http://www.ehjournal.net/). "What we found is that these things gang up on estradiol and thwart its response, which is not a good thing."

Watson and her colleagues tested different mixtures of estrogen-disrupting compounds using rat pituitary cells, cells that are master regulators of the animals' endocrine systems. Their experiments measured the responses of key signaling pathways that lead to cell proliferation, the secretion of the pituitary hormone prolactin and the activation of proteins involved in apoptosis (programmed cell death), comparing the effects of estradiol alone with those of estradiol and mixtures of bisphenol A, bisphenol S and nonylphenol.

"These compounds work at very low concentrations at the parts per trillion or parts per quadrillion level and when you mix them together they affect estrogenic signaling differently and more dramatically than they do individually," Watson said. "We need to pay attention to this, because estrogens influence so many things in both males and females reproduction, the immune system, metabolism, bone growth, all sorts of important biological functions."

Studies have detected measurable levels of bisphenol A and bisphenol S in the urine of more than 90 percent of Americans. According to Watson, modern humans are exposed to dozens of xenoestrogens more or less continually.

"These things are all over the environment, and we need to know what they do so we can start figuring out what we need to change," Watson said. "They're probably disrupting and confusing hormones in people, and it's important to find a way to prevent that as soon as we can. We need to test these compounds for their hormone-disrupting activities before they are put into products, so we can redesign for safety very early in the process."

###

Graduate student Ren Vias co-authored the paper with Watson. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Passport Foundation.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 28-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Kelly
jpkelly@utmb.edu
409-772-8791
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

For years, scientists have been concerned about chemicals in the environment that mimic the estrogens found in the body. In study after study, researchers have found links between these "xenoestrogens" and such problems as decreased sperm viability, ovarian dysfunction, neurodevelopmental deficits and obesity. But experimental limitations have prevented them from exploring one of the most serious questions posed by exposure to xenoestrogens: what happens when as in the real world an individual is exposed to multiple estrogen-mimicking chemicals at the same time?

Now University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have used new techniques to study exposure to low doses of multiple xenoestrogens. And they've come to some disturbing conclusions.

Using cell cultures to test mixtures of three compounds known to affect estrogen signaling, bisphenol A (found in plastic bottles and the linings), bisphenol S (a supposedly safer replacement for bisphenol A recently found to have similar effects) and nonylphenol (a common component of industrial detergents and surfactants) the scientists determined that combinations of endocrine disruptors could have a dramatically greater effect than any one of them alone.

"We wanted to see how these persistent, ubiquitous contaminants affect estrogenic signaling when they're mixed together as they are in nature, so we set up a cell-culture system that allowed us to test their influence on signaling by estradiol, the estrogen found in adult, cycling women," said UTMB professor Cheryl Watson, senior author of a paper on the study now online in the journal Environmental Health (http://www.ehjournal.net/). "What we found is that these things gang up on estradiol and thwart its response, which is not a good thing."

Watson and her colleagues tested different mixtures of estrogen-disrupting compounds using rat pituitary cells, cells that are master regulators of the animals' endocrine systems. Their experiments measured the responses of key signaling pathways that lead to cell proliferation, the secretion of the pituitary hormone prolactin and the activation of proteins involved in apoptosis (programmed cell death), comparing the effects of estradiol alone with those of estradiol and mixtures of bisphenol A, bisphenol S and nonylphenol.

"These compounds work at very low concentrations at the parts per trillion or parts per quadrillion level and when you mix them together they affect estrogenic signaling differently and more dramatically than they do individually," Watson said. "We need to pay attention to this, because estrogens influence so many things in both males and females reproduction, the immune system, metabolism, bone growth, all sorts of important biological functions."

Studies have detected measurable levels of bisphenol A and bisphenol S in the urine of more than 90 percent of Americans. According to Watson, modern humans are exposed to dozens of xenoestrogens more or less continually.

"These things are all over the environment, and we need to know what they do so we can start figuring out what we need to change," Watson said. "They're probably disrupting and confusing hormones in people, and it's important to find a way to prevent that as soon as we can. We need to test these compounds for their hormone-disrupting activities before they are put into products, so we can redesign for safety very early in the process."

###

Graduate student Ren Vias co-authored the paper with Watson. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Passport Foundation.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/uotm-coe032813.php

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U.S. sends stealth bombers to S. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? The U.S military says two nuclear-capable B-2 bombers have completed a training mission in South Korea amid threats from North Korea that include nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul.

The statement Thursday by U.S. Forces Korea is an unusual confirmation. It follows an earlier U.S. announcement that nuclear-capable B-52 bombers participated in ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.

The U.S. says the B-2 stealth bombers flew from a U.S. air base and dropped munitions on a South Korean island range before returning home.

The announcement will likely draw a strong response from Pyongyang. North Korea sees the military drills as part of a U.S. plot to invade and becomes particularly upset about U.S. nuclear activities in the region.

Washington and Seoul say they the annual drills are routine and defensive.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-sends-nuclear-capable-b-2-bombers-skorea-112309292.html

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Happy 27th Birthday, Lady Gaga!

As Gaga celebrates the big 2-7 on a golden wheelchair, her Little Monsters send her their birthday wishes.
By Jocelyn Vena

Lady Gaga
Photo: Michael Buckner/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704485/lady-gaga-birthday.jhtml

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Cypriots fear run on banks as branches prepare to reopen after almost two weeks

Yiannis Kourtoglou / AFP - Getty Images

Employees of the Bank of Cyprus frown as they demonstrate outside the main office of the bank in Nicosia on Tuesday.

By Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, Correspondent, CNBC

NICOSIA, Cyprus - Anguished Cypriots fear a run on banks when branches on the tiny tax haven reopen for first time in almost two weeks on Thursday.

Since March 16, customers have only been able to withdraw limited amounts of cash from ATMs after banks closed to allow Cypriot officials and European leaders to hammer out a 10-billion euro ($13-billion) rescue meant to avert a chaotic national bankruptcy.

However, some believe the deal will instead push the country further into economic crisis as thousands of bank employees lose their jobs. The country's unemployment rate is about 14 percent.

Under the terms of the EU bailout, accounts of more than 100,000 euros ($128,460) at the islands' two biggest banks will be frozen. Depositors with accounts at Laiki Bank, which is being liquidated, won't get paid for years and won't get all of their money back. CNBC sources estimate those with bank accounts in Laiki above 100,000 euros could lose 40 to 70 percent of their deposits.

Deposits above 100,000 euros with the Bank of Cyprus will be frozen and 40 percent of each account will be converted into bank stock. Accounts in both banks with balances under 100,000 euros will be fully protected.

Katia Christodoulou / EPA

A woman walking past a boarded up branch of the Bank of Cyprus branch in Nicosia on Wednesday.

Many Cypriots say they do not feel reassured by the bailout deal and are expected to besiege banks as soon as they open their doors Thursday.

"We have an uncertain future in in Cyprus," said Chris Sofroniou, as he waited in an ATM line in Nicosia. "There's uncertainty in our future in our children, and we are very, very disappointed with the European Union. We are being treated like third-class citizens and we are very, very angry."

A spokeswoman for the island's central bank said banks would not reopen until 12 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET) on Thursday, according to Reuters.

The spokeswoman said banks would open their doors between midday and 6 p.m. (1600 GMT). The Cypriot authorities are expected later on Wednesday to detail the capital controls they plan to impose to prevent a flight of funds.?

The last-minute deal was reached Monday, just hours before the EU was due to cut off the country?s financial lifelines.

The agreement ended a week of protests in Cyprus, long lines at cash machines, and a tense geopolitical standoff after European officials made the unprecedented demand that ordinary Cypriot savers share in the cost of any bank bailout.

Cyprus promoted itself as an offshore financial haven by making depositing money there attractive to foreigners. The result? A financial sector that dwarfed the rest of the economy.

Without that deal, Cyprus? banks would have collapsed, dragging down the economy and potentially pushing it out of the euro zone.

'Extremely unfair'
While the country?s president, Nicos Anastasiades, called the deal ?painful? but essential, Nobel laureate economist Christopher Pissarides said the bailout was ?extremely unfair to the little guy.?

?For the first time in the euro zone, depositors are (being) asked to bail out failing banks," he said. "Now that used to be the case in the 1930s, especially United States (and) caused big bank runs. It has been decided since then that we shouldn?t allow that to happen again.?

As Cyprus celebrates its Independence Day, the ?government is defending the last-minute bailout deal it's negotiated with the European Union. This means shutting down the country's second biggest bank, with big savers facing ?losses. ?ITV's Emma Murphy reports.

Finance Minister Michael Sarris said that the government was implementing measures to halt a run on the banks when they opened on Thursday, although he did not go into detail, according to Reuters.

It isn?t only bankers and the wealthy who are angry, however. On Wednesday, around 3,000 high school students protested the plan agreed to with the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.

"They've just got rid of all our dreams, everything we've worked for, everything we've achieved up until now, what our parents have achieved," a student named Thomas told Reuters.?

So as Cyprus waited to see what Thursday would bring, citizens mourned what they saw as the end of an era.?

?It?s the destruction of the country,? Cypriot Aristos Sardi said. ?Who they think they are? For this country the colonial days finished in the 1960s.?

?I am heartbroken,? he added.

NBC News' F. Brinley Bruton, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:?

In Cyprus deal, Russia may have the last laugh

Cypriots: Hope, but also fear they 'will be like slaves' to Russia

EU to Cypriots: Let us raid your savings or no bailout

?

This story was originally published on Wed Mar 27, 2013 11:00 AM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a0e4b1f/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C270C174843790Ecypriots0Efear0Erun0Eon0Ebanks0Eas0Ebranches0Eprepare0Eto0Ereopen0Eafter0Ealmost0Etwo0Eweeks0Dlite/story01.htm

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The Angry Arab News Service ? Comrade Joseph Massad on the ...

WARNING. Too delicious. "There is however a different history of the uses of the boycott. In contrast with its uses to force the end of race, class and colonial injustice, boycott would also be deployed as a tactic to bring about colonial and racial injustice. Zionism would be a pioneer in this regard. Upon the formalisation of Zionist settler colonialism in the 1897 First Zionist Congress, Jewish colonists were incensed that earlier Russian Jewish agricultural colonists who had settled in Palestine since the 1880s would employ Palestinian labour in their colonies, on account of its availability and cheapness. It was in this context that Zionism would develop its racially separatist notion of "Hebrew labour", insisting and later imposing its regulations on all Jewish colonists in Palestine, namely that Jewish labour should be used exclusively in the Jewish settler-colony.

Realising the difficulty of imposing its racialisation project on Palestine, a country which Zionism did not control yet, the movement developed the idea of the first racially separatist planned community for the exclusive use of Ashkenazi Jews, namely the Kibbutz, which would develop in the first decade of the 20th century. Lest one mistake the idea of the Kibbutz as a commitment to socialism, Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion, who came up with the exclusive "Hebrew labour" idea to boycott the Palestinians, set the record straight: The Kibbutz was set up to "guarantee [separatist] Jewish labour" and not as an application of socialist theory.?

As a racially separatist Jewish economy and colony established on the lands of the Palestinians continued to be the primary goal of Zionism, the principle of boycott of Palestinian labour and products would become more aggressive as time passed. Like its parent Zionist movement before it, which used the tactic of boycott to effect racial separation and discrimination rather than end it, the Zionist labour Federation, the Histadrut, would begin in 1927 to use the time-honoured act of picketing. Picketing is traditionally used by workers and unions to end practices involving the exploitation and unfair treatment of workers. In the case of the Jewish colonists, they used picketing to bring about discrimination against Palestinian workers and to deny them employment in their own country. The Zionist picketing campaign sought to boycott Jewish businesses which continued to employ Palestinian labour as well as the goods the Palestinians produced. This was not only confined to the agricultural Jewish colonies in the Palestinian countryside, but also included urban settings where Jewish businesses employed Palestinians in the area of construction.

The Zionist campaign would continue until 1936 when the Great Palestinian Revolt would erupt threatening both the Zionist settler colonial project and the British occupation safeguarding it. In these nine years of picketing, not only did the workers among the Jewish colonists join the picket lines, but so did the professionals and the middle class of Jewish colonial society, including actors, teachers, librarians, as well as Histadrut officials. In addition to the major picketing campaign of the citrus groves of Kfar Saba in the 1920s, the Histadrut would organise "mobile-pickets" where picketers would travel from one construction site to the next in the cities, including Tel Aviv, where Palestinian workers were employed in the building of the first racially separate Jewish city."

Posted on March 19, 2013 by?As'ad

Source: http://angryarab.net/2013/03/19/comrade-joseph-massad-on-the-politics-of-boycott/

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Inflation hits nine-month high, further rises likely

By David Milliken and William Schomberg

LONDON (Reuters) - British inflation hit a nine-month high in February and looks set to rise further, but many economists said they still expect the Bank of England to give more help to the stagnant economy.

Annual consumer price inflation rose to 2.8 percent, in line with economists' forecasts, after holding steady at 2.7 percent since October, the Office for National Statistics said.

Inflation has exceeded the central bank's 2 percent target since December 2009. Economists said Tuesday's figures would probably not reduce the chances that the Bank of England will sooner or later pump more money into Britain's economy.

"What does it mean for the Bank of England? Not a lot. I don't think high inflation will act as a deterrent to their desire to do something else if they want to," said Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank.

"You very much get the sense that they are more interested in growth than they are in inflation at the current time."

Sterling rose against the dollar after the inflation data, however, suggesting some investors see less leeway for the Bank of England to ease monetary policy further.

Bank's governor Mervyn King and two other policymakers voted to resume the central bank's programme of asset purchases last month. But other policymakers think there could be better ways to help Britain's economy, which is teetering on the edge of its third recession since 2008.

Chancellor George Osborne is widely expected to announce a review of the central bank's remit in his annual budget statement on Wednesday, and the arrival of new Bank governor Mark Carney in July may herald more changes.

High inflation has cut into British households' disposable income, and a further rise will be a concern to the government, which is already looking ahead to a 2015 election.

The Bank forecasts inflation will exceed 3 percent later this year due to upward pressure on the cost of imported goods and raw materials caused by sterling's near 7 percent slide against the dollar since the start of 2013 and higher utility bills.

Tuesday's data suggested this was well underway. February's increase in consumer prices was driven by a mix of rises in household gas and electricity bills, higher petrol prices and increased costs for video games and photo equipment.

Factory gate prices showed their biggest month-on-month jump since April 2011, rising by 0.8 percent, propelled by a 3.2 percent jump in manufacturers' input costs.

Crude oil prices rose 7.1 percent in February alone. This was their biggest surge since last August, pushed up by a mix of higher global prices for oil and the weaker pound.

King said last week that the central bank was not seeking any further fall in sterling, which now appeared to be fairly valued, and Bank policymaker Ian McCafferty said the inflation consequences of a further rapid fall would be "damaging".

Last month the Bank's forecast that inflation would exceed its 2 percent target until early 2016, pushed up by long-term rises in energy prices and university tuition fees.

(Reporting by David Milliken and William Schomberg; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/inflation-hits-nine-month-high-february-oil-prices-095312472--business.html

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Live from Expand: Toyota's Sheldon Brown (video)

We'll be joined on stage by Toyota's executive program manager, product development Sheldon Brown to discuss the car's company's presence in the hybrid market, and the RAV4 EV, which furthers its focus on electric vehicles.

March 17, 2013 12:00 PM EST

For a full list of Expand sessions, be sure to check out our event hub.

Filed under: Transportation

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/WHkIFqKtEcY/

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Wolverton: New Roku, TV Play streaming video players a hit and a ...

For watching Internet video on your TV, I'm a big fan of streaming video players.

These typically are inexpensive, hockey-puck sized boxes that plug into your TV and offer access to dozens of Internet channels and sometimes allow you to watch videos streamed from your computer or smartphone.

In recent weeks, two new streaming video players hit the market, one from Roku and another from Western Digital. I like the former, but am not so hot about the latter.

Roku's newest box is the Roku 3, which replaces the Roku 2 XS at the top end of its product line. For the same $100 price, it represents a nice upgrade.

The biggest difference between the two generations is a seemingly minor one: The

This product image provided by Roku shows the Roku 3. Roku is plugging headphones and several other new features into its latest set-top box for streaming Internet video to TVs, a move that amplifies its effort to upstage Apple s better-selling player. (AP Photo/Roku) ( Uncredited )

remote control that ships with the Roku 3 includes a headphone port and headphones, which let you watch TV without the sound track disturbing those who don't want to hear it.

It's a cool upgrade, and one that users with small houses or young kids will appreciate. I often find myself wanting to watch TV right after my kids have gone to bed, but worrying I'll disturb them by turning it on. With the Roku 3, that's no longer a concern.

The only other big difference between the two generations is that the Roku 3 has a dual-core processor that helps make it speedier and load apps more quickly.

The Roku 3 also ships with a newly designed interface that the company will roll out to older boxes next month. It arrays users' channels

across three columns instead of arranging them all on a single horizontal line, making it easier to scroll through channels. To the left of the channel list, users will find a new navigation area that includes a link to Roku's universal search. That feature allows users to search across some of the device's top channels, including Netflix (NFLX), Hulu and Amazon, for particular movies, actors and directors. It's a great feature that now is more prominent and quicker to find and use.

Although they aren't new, there are other things to like about the Roku 3. It offers the broadest selection of Internet channels around, about 750 at last count. It still lacks YouTube, which is available on most other digital set-top boxes, and iTunes, which is only available on Apple (AAPL) TV, but those are about the only notable absences you'll find among streaming video and audio services.

And users can play games on the Roku 3, including some by using its motion sensing remote control. The selection is fairly limited, but it does include "Angry Birds Space" and "Jeopardy."

If you've already got a Roku 2 box, there's no need to throw it out for a Roku 3. But if you are in the market for a streaming video device, the Roku 3 is one of the best around.

I wasn't as impressed with Western Digital's newest digital player, the WD TV Play.

Western Digital has tried to carve out a spot for itself in the digital living room with devices that are supposed to help users enjoy their personal content on their big-screen TVs. Last year, the company introduced the WD TV Live, which added the ability to stream video from a collection of Internet channels.

Its $80 Play, introduced last month, is even more focused on streaming video, with an interface built around video and audio apps.

The Play includes a decent range of the most popular Internet content services, including Netflix, Hulu and YouTube. And it includes a cool feature borrowed from some smartphones and tablets: Some of its apps will display updated information without requiring you to actually launch them. So, for example, the icon for the AccuWeather app displays the current temperature and the Tweet app displays the latest Twitter posts from people you follow.

But compared with Roku's devices or Apple TV, the Play comes up short in numerous ways. It only offers 33 channels and is missing lots of notable ones. It has no channels for professional sports programming and no Amazon app. And you're stuck with whatever channels are preinstalled; Western Digital doesn't have an app or channel store.

I found that streaming content from your PC or network to the Play was more difficult than on the Roku 3, forcing you to navigate an ugly folder-based interface to find the content you want.

The Play also lacks a universal search feature, and its smartphone app is disappointing. You can't use it to beam pictures or music to your TV, and with some Play channels, you can't use the smartphone's virtual keyboard to type user names and passwords, forcing you to hunt and peck with the remote.

So I'd pass on the Play. For watching Internet video, you have much better choices, starting with the Roku 3.

Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285 or twolverton@mercurynews.com. Follow him at www.mercurynews.com/troy-wolverton or Twitter.com/troywolv.

What: Roku 3 streaming media player
Likes: Inexpensive; offers access to hundreds of Internet channels; new headphone port on remote control allows users to watch movies without disturbing family members; faster than previous models; new interface easier to use.
Dislikes: Lacks YouTube channel or ability to play protected iTunes content; game offerings paltry.
Price: $100
Web: www.roku.com

What: Western Digital WD TV Play
Likes: Inexpensive; offers access to many top Internet channels; new, streamlined interface; "live" app icons show updated information.
Dislikes: No app store; relatively few Internet channels included; lacks professional sports content and an Amazon channel; smartphone app can't beam music or pictures to TV; clunky interface for streaming video from PC.
Price: $70
Web: www.wdc.com

Source: http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_22792238/wolverton-hit-and-miss-among-new-streaming-video?source=rss

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Transistor in the fly antenna: Insect odorant receptors regulate their own sensitivity

Mar. 18, 2013 ? Highly developed antennae containing different types of olfactory receptors allow insects to use minute amounts of odors for orientation towards resources like food, oviposition sites or mates. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have now used mutant flies and for the first time provided experimental proof that the extremely sensitive olfactory system of fruit flies ? they are able to detect a few thousand odor molecules per milliliter of air, whereas humans need hundreds of millions ? is based on self-regulation of odorant receptors.

Even fewer molecules below the response threshold are sufficient to amplify the sensitivity of the receptors, and binding of molecules shortly afterwards triggers the opening of an ion channel that controls the fly's reaction and flight behavior. This means that a below threshold odor stimulation increases the sensitivity of the receptor, and if a second odor pulse arrives within a certain time span, a neural response will be elicited.

Results of the research are published in the online journal PLOS ONE.

A sensitive sense of smell is vital

It is amazing how many fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) find their way to a rotting apple. It is known that insects are able to detect the slightest concentrations of odor molecules, especially pheromones, but also "food signals."

Dieter Wicher, Shannon Olsson, Bill Hansson and their colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology were looking for answers to the question why insects can trace odor molecules so easily and at such low concentrations in comparison to other animals. They focused their attention on odorant receptor proteins in the antenna, the insects' nose. These insect proteins are pretty young from an evolutionary perspective and their molecular constituents may be the basis for the insects' highly sensitive sense of smell.

Receptor system Or22a-Orco

Insect odorant receptors form a receptor system that consists of the actual receptor protein and an ion channel. After binding of an odor molecule, receptor protein and ion channel trigger the neural electrical response. This mechanism was recently described in the receptor system Or22a-Orco (Wicher et al., Nature 452, 2008); Sato et al., Nature 452, 2008). Apart from functioning as so-called ionotropic receptors, which enable ion flow through membranes after binding of odor molecules, odorant receptors also elicit intracellular signals. These stimulate the formation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cyclic AMP or cAMP), which activates an ion flow through the co-receptor Orco. The role and relevance of this weak and slow electrical current, however, was until now unclear.

Drosophila mutant Orco mut

Merid N. Getahun, a PhD student from Ethiopia, and his colleagues have conducted numerous experiments on Drosophila olfactory neurons. They injected tiny amounts of compounds that stimulate, inhibit or imitate cAMP formation directly into the sensory hairs housing olfactory sensory neurons on the fly antenna. The researchers tested the flies' responses to ethyl butyrate, which has a fruity odor similar to pineapple, and measured activity in the sensory neurons by using glass microelectrodes. As a control, they used genetically modified fruit flies where the co-receptor Orco had been inactivated. "The fact that these mutants are no more able to respond to cAMP or the inhibition/activation of the involved key enzymes, such as protein kinase C and phospholipase C, shows that the highly sensitive olfactory system in insects is regulated intracellularly by their own odorant receptors," says Dieter Wicher, the leader of the research group. The combination of odorant receptor and co-receptor Orco can be compared to a transistor, Wicher continues: A weak basic current is sufficient to release the main electric current that activates the neuron. The process can also be seen as a short-term memory situated in the insect nose. A very weak stimulus does not elicit a response when it first occurs, but if it reoccurs within a certain time span it will release the electrical response according to the principle "one time is no time, but two is a bunch." [JWK/AO]

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Merid N. Getahun, Shannon B. Olsson, Sofia Lavista-Llanos, Bill S. Hansson, Dieter Wicher. Insect Odorant Response Sensitivity Is Tuned by Metabotropically Autoregulated Olfactory Receptors. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (3): e58889 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058889

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/v7OmrLYkyp0/130318132635.htm

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White blood cells found to play key role in controlling red blood cell levels

Mar. 17, 2013 ? Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found that macrophages -- white blood cells that play a key role in the immune response -- also help to both produce and eliminate the body's red blood cells (RBCs). The findings could lead to novel therapies for diseases or conditions in which the red blood cell production is thrown out of balance.

The study, conducted in mice, is published today in the online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

"Our findings offer intriguing new insights into how the body maintains a healthy balance of red blood cells," said study leader Paul Frenette, M.D., professor of medicine and of cell biology and director of the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research at Einstein. "We've shown that macrophages in the bone marrow and the spleen nurture the production of new red blood cells at the same time that they clear aging red blood cells from the circulation. This understanding may ultimately help us to devise new therapies for conditions that lead to abnormal RBC counts, such as hemolytic anemia, polycythemia vera, and acute blood loss, plus aid recovery from chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation." Einstein has filed a joint patent application with Mount Sinai related to this research, which is currently available for licensing and further commercialization.

Previous studies, all done in the laboratory, had suggested that macrophages in the bone marrow act as nurse cells for erythroblasts, which are RBC precursors. But just how these "erythroblastic islands" (macrophages surrounded by erythroblasts) function in living animals was unclear.

A few years ago, Andrew Chow, a Mount Sinai M.D./Ph.D. student in the laboratories of Drs. Frenette, and Miriam Merad, M.D., Ph.D., professor of oncological sciences and immunology at Mount Sinai found that bone marrow macrophages express a cell surface molecule called sialoadhesin, or CD169 -- a target that could be used for selectively eliminating macrophages from bone marrow. Doing so would help pinpoint the role of macrophages in erythroblastic islands in vivo.

That's what Drs. Frenette and Merad did in the current study involving mice. They found that selectively eliminating CD169-positive macrophages in mice reduces the number of bone marrow erythroblasts -- evidence that these macrophages are indeed vital for the survival of erythroblasts, which develop into RBCs.

"What was surprising is that we couldn't see any significant anemia afterward," said Dr. Frenette. The researchers then analyzed the lifespan of the red blood cells and found that they were circulating for a longer time than usual.

"After we depleted the macrophages in the bone marrow, we discovered that we had also depleted CD169-positive macrophages present in the spleen and liver. It turns out that the macrophages in these two organs are quite important in removing old red blood cells from the peripheral circulation. Taken together, the findings show that these macrophages have a dual role, both producing and clearing red blood cells," he said.

The researchers also examined the role of macrophages in polycythemia vera, a genetic disease in which the bone marrow produces too many RBCs, typically leading to breathing difficulties, dizziness, excessive blood clotting and other symptoms. Using a mouse model of polycythemia vera, they found that depleting CD169-positive macrophages in bone marrow normalizes the RBC count. "This points to a new way to control polycythemia vera," said Dr. Frenette. "Right now, the standard of care is phlebotomy [periodic blood removal], which is cumbersome."

The title of the paper is "CD169+ macrophages provide a niche promoting erythropoiesis under homeostasis and stress." The first author of the paper is Dr. Andrew Chow. Other co-authors of the study include Matthew Huggins, Daniel Lucas, Ph.D., Jalal Ahmed, B.S., Sandra Pinho, Ph.D., Yuya Kunisaki, M.D., Ph.D., and Aviv Bergman, Ph.D., of Einstein, and Daigo Hashimoto, M.D., Ph.D., Clara Noizat and Marylene Leboeuf of Mount Sinai, New York, NY. The study was done in collaboration with Nico van Rooijen at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Masato Tanaka at RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology, Yokohama, Japan, and Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan; and Zhizhuang Joe Zhao, Ph.D., at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK.

The study was supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01 HL097700, R01HL069438, and R01HL116340); the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK056638); and the National Cancer Institute (R01CA112100), all part of the National Institutes of Health.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Andrew Chow et al. CD169 macrophages provide a niche promoting erythropoiesis under homeostasis and stress. Nature Medicine, 2013

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/BJ0M8zNFbcI/130317154727.htm

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Prince delivers funk-filled finale at SXSW

FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2010 file photo, musician Prince holds a news conference at The Apollo Theater announcing his "Welcome 2 America" tour in New York. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday night, Match 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2010 file photo, musician Prince holds a news conference at The Apollo Theater announcing his "Welcome 2 America" tour in New York. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday night, Match 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)

This Fall 2012 publicity photo provided by Rogers and Cowan shows musician Prince performing in concert in Chicago. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday, March 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Rogers and Cowan)

This Fall 2012 photo provided by Rogers and Cowan shows musician Prince performing at a concert in Chicago. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday, March 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Rogers and Cowan)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? How else would Prince shut down the South by Southwest Music Festival that is basically a weeklong showcase of rock n' roll?

By throwing a totally different kind party: a grooving, brass band-backed funkfest that stretched to 3 a.m. and outlasted many fans lucky to get inside in the first place.

As Justin Timberlake and the Smashing Pumpkins headlined other SXSW wrap-ups nearby, Prince prevailed as the toughest ticket Saturday night by performing for only 300 people in his first appearance at the annual music smorgasboard that featured 2,200 bands and artists this year.

Prince towered over them all ? but his concert at the tiny La Zona Rosa club that sits on the fringe of the SXSW mayhem was no grandiose spectacle. He performed on a spartan stage behind a giant video board, and contentedly played bandleader instead of superstar for this funk-filled SXSW finale.

"They called our people and said they wanted some funk in Austin," said Prince, before belting out the last bars of a gentle rendition of "Purple Rain."

A 12-piece brass band joined the latest incarnation of Prince's New Power Generation for a run of hits like "1999" and "Cool" that jammed a groove twist. The show began with the band making a Mardi Gras-style march onto the stage, which was quickly drowned out by shrieks upon the sight of Prince emerging in a magneta, high-collared shirt and snug black blazer.

Few fans, however, came away with photographed keepsakes. Prince is notoriously rigid about controlling his music and image, and organizers warned the crowd three times before the show that taking pictures was forbidden. Fans who flaunted the rule were scolded by security or told to scram.

Even simply using a cell phone was banned? a biting irony, given that the concert was thrown by Samsung Galaxy and promoters worked the crowd beforehand offering customers fresh phone batteries or device test-drives.

Prince never played guitar during the set. Nor did he perform his new single "Screwdriver" that debuted earlier this year, opting instead for funk covers: Curtis Mayfield's "We're a Winner" and Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Until You Get Enough" among them as the night dragged on and weary fans made their way to the exits early.

"Don't make me hurt you. You know how many hits I got?" Prince said during the first of several pseudo-set closers, before launching into yet another encore.

Green Day, Dave Grohl, Vampire Weekend, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks also starred at SXSW this week.

____

Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-17-Music-SXSW-Prince/id-dd3f3279837246fa94eacbb8ef723c52

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If your department is needing training on a particular product and your schedule or population size won't fit into a scheduled course below, contact Byron Johns at 913-588-7117.

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Source: http://www.kumc.edu/information-resources/technology-training-classes-and-resources/technology-training-calendar.html?trumbaEmbed=view=event&eventid=103809188

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Red tide is killing manatees at record pace in Fla.

Florida state officials are finding as many as ten dead manatees a day, which experts say is nothing short of a catastrophe, killed by a deadly algae known as the red tide that has infested their winter migration waters. NBC's Mark Potter reports.

By Mark Potter and Erin McClam

An outbreak of paralyzing algae known as red tide is killing manatees by the dozens in Florida.

Florida wildlife officials report that 149 of the gentle giants have been killed by red tide this year in just two and a half months, making it almost certain that the state will pass the record of 151, set in 1996.

The bloom of algae this year covers a 70-mile stretch of the west coast of Florida, roughly from Sarasota to Fort Myers. That makes it particularly dangerous for the blimp-shaped, endangered?mammals because they congregate in the warm water there for winter.

The algae contain a toxin that can stop the breathing of manatees when they eat it, and particles seep into sea grass, which manatees also eat. So the killing will probably continue for two months after the red tide dissipates.

?They?re basically paralyzed, and they?re comatose,? Virginia Edmonds, animal care manager of Florida mammals for the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, told the Tampa Bay Times. ?They could drown in 2 inches of water.?

Eleven manatees, often called sea cows, have been rescued and taken to the zoo for treatment this year. Workers there take three-hour shifts standing in a water tank and holding a manatee?s head out of the water so it can breathe until it recovers and can breathe on its own.

?We just keep taking them in,? Edmonds told the newspaper. ?We want to save as many as we can.?

The algae develop naturally, and when water temperature, salt content and nutrients are just right, they can bloom in an outbreak that turns the water reddish-brown. Red tide develops all over the world, including off California and throughout the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists say some studies have linked red tide to global warming because algae thrive in warmer water.

Adult manatees average about 10 feet long and glide through the water, steering with their flippers, at about 5 mph. They have to come to the surface every few minutes to breathe.

Florida has an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 manatees. The most common cause of death is not red tide but collisions with boats, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Watercraft killed almost 800 manatees from 1995 to 2005.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/11/17268832-paralyzing-algae-is-killing-manatees-at-record-pace-in-florida?lite

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