High-tech cargo airship being built in California

The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside a blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside a blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Leonel Cruz pulls down the flab on the Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside a blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside a blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bradley Hasemeyer, the host of AOL's Trasnlogic show, uses his smartphone to photograph the Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, outside a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside the blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside a blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

TUSTIN, Calif. (AP) ? The massive blimp-like aircraft flies but just barely, hovering only a dozen feet off a military hangar floor during flight testing south of Los Angeles.

Still, the fact that the hulking 230-foot-long Aeroscraft could fly for just a few minutes represents a step forward in aviation, according to the engineers who developed it. The Department of Defense and NASA have invested $35 million in the prototype because of its potential to one day carry more cargo than any other aircraft to disaster zones and forward military bases.

"I realized that I put a little dot in the line of aviation history. A little dot for something that has never been demonstrated before, now it's feasible," said flight control engineer Munir Jojo-Verge.

The airship is undergoing testing this month at Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, and must go through several more rounds of flight testing before it could be used in a disaster zone or anywhere else. The first major flight test took place Jan. 3.

The biggest challenge for engineers is making sure the airship will be able to withstand high winds and other extreme weather conditions, Jojo-Verge said.

"Their vulnerability is their large size," said aviation expert and former Navy test pilot Pete Field. "There's a lot of surface area so wind affects it tremendously."

Worldwide Aeros, the company that developed the aircraft, said it also must secure more funding for the next round of flight tests, but is hopeful the Defense Department and others will step in again as investors.

The company says the cargo airship's potential to carry more cargo more efficiently than ever before would provide the U.S. military with an advantage on the battlefield and greater capacity to save more lives during natural disasters.

The lighter-than-air vehicle is not a blimp because it has a rigid structure made out of ultra-light carbon fiber and aluminum underneath its high-tech Mylar skin. Inside, balloons hold the helium that gives the vehicle lift. Unlike hydrogen, the gas used in the Hindenburg airship that crashed in 1937, helium is not flammable.

The airship functions like a submarine, releasing air to rise and taking in air to descend, said Aeros mechanical engineer Tim Kenny. It can take off vertically, like a helicopter, then change its buoyancy to become heavier than air for landing and unloading.

"It allows the vehicle to set down on the ground. And then when we want to become lighter than air, we release that air and then the vehicle floats and we can allow it to take off," Kenny said.

In the early 1930s, the Navy operated two airships ? the Macon and the Akron ? as flying aircraft carriers that could launch and retrieve biplanes. Both were lost to thunderstorms.

If the design team can make the Aeroscraft steady and maneuverable, it would be the ultimate logistics and transport vehicle, carrying tanks, equipment and supplies to bases around the world, Field said.

"I don't think there's much doubt about whether it's going to work or not. It's physics," he said. "In the right atmospheric conditions, it would be ideal."

The project has set abuzz the old hangars at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin. The structures were built to hold blimps during World War II. Now workers zip around in cherry-pickers, and the airship's silvery surface shines against the warm tones of the aging wood of the walls.

"You could take this vehicle and go to destinations that have been destroyed, where there's no ports, no runways, stuff like that. This vehicle could go in there, offload the cargo even if there's no infrastructure, no landing site for it to land on, this vehicle can unload its whole payload," said Kenny.

The prototype isn't intended to carry cargo, though a similar-sized craft could haul about 30 tons. Aeros wants to build a full-size 450-foot-long vehicle that can carry 66 tons of payload.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-30-Military%20Airship/id-b3601c39e97d49c797cc856e76a42ea3

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Tornado watch issued for Charleston and much of southern West Virginia. Has the...

Tornado watch issued for Charleston, much of southern part of state - News - The Charleston Gazet

www.wvgazette.com

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The National Weather Service in Charleston has issued a tornado watch until 1 p.m. today for Kanawha County and much of southern West Virginia.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/wvgazette/posts/611361425556744

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Justin Bieber strips down voice, heartache on 'Believe Acoustic'

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Justin Bieber is stripping down. Musically, that is.

The Canadian pop phenomenon showcases his vocal and song-writing talents with a new acoustic album, out on Tuesday, that also features three new tracks including a heartbreak ballad thought to be about his former girlfriend Selena Gomez.

"Believe Acoustic" sees Bieber, 18, change up the arrangements of songs from his fourth chart-topping album "Believe," released last June, singing with only a guitar or piano-driven melody.

The album went straight to the top of the iTunes U.S. album charts on Tuesday, and won generally warm reviews.

Up-tempo songs such as "Boyfriend," and "Beauty and the Beat," which roped in electronic sounds with fast-paced dance beats, are slowed down as the singer uses his vocals to manipulate the vibe of the song.

"Believe Acoustic" sees Bieber return to his acoustic roots five years after he was discovered on YouTube, singing on the streets of Canada accompanied only by a guitar.

It was released following Bieber's failure to pick up a single Grammy nomination this year, despite having a chart-topping album and a sold-out world tour.

Bieber often performs acoustic versions of his hits, most recently at the American Music Awards in November, where he delivered a stripped-down version of dance song "As Long As You Love Me."

But most ears now are turned to new track "Nothing Like Us," which follows Bieber's widely reported split from former Disney Channel star Gomez.

It features Bieber singing a raw and emotion-filled ballad over a piano melody, with lyrics such as "Girl, why would you push me away?/Lost in confusion, like an illusion ... But that is the past now, we didn't last now."

SIMPLE LOVE SONGS

Bill Werde, editorial director of Billboard music magazine, who interviewed Bieber last week, said the song was "directly about Selena" and that fans were anticipating the singer sharing "his feelings about something this personal."

Werde said he hoped people would take notice of Bieber's song-writing and vocal production skills on the new album.

"Some of the best songwriters that are working out of our pop space are the ones that can take these very, very specific feelings that you would expect a teenager or a young adult to have and then sing and write about them in a way that makes them universal," Werde told Reuters.

"That's a skill that needs to be respected. It's not easy to write great, simple love songs."

Rolling Stone magazine gave the album three out of five stars, calling it "proof that the Bieb is, verily, a musician, whose songs work even with the high-gloss production stripped away."

Newspaper USA Today said Bieber was a "master at maximizing his material." But it added, "For people who've forgotten ? or who never understood ? the appeal of young performers like Bieber, 'Believe Acoustic' is a good place to hear it."

The other new songs are "I Would," a sweet love song, and "Yellow Raincoat," a mellow survival song with the singer crooning softly "cause the fame and the money and the girl will drive you crazy ... I'm thinking maybe just put on my raincoat."

If "Believe Acoustic" reaches No. 1 in the Billboard 200 album chart next week, Bieber will become the youngest artist to have five No. 1 albums under his belt. He would also be one of the few artists, including The Beatles and Jay-Z, to have a No. 1 album each year for four consecutive years.

Bieber, who surpassed Lady Gaga earlier this month to become Twitter's most-followed person, will make his television hosting debut on "Saturday Night Live" on February 9, the night before the Grammy awards.

Bieber told Billboard he would not be attending the Grammy awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

Click on www.billboard.com for the full interview.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/justin-bieber-strips-down-voice-heartache-believe-acoustic-093328814.html

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Spencer Green: New Mental Health Law: Future Sociopaths ...

In a unanimous vote, Congress has passed The Criminal Clarity Act (CCA), a law requiring all U.S. citizens who plan on becoming mass murderers to identify themselves as such and to predict when they will kill people. Said Representative Blain Fitzparsons, "This makes absolutely clear which people will be responsible for future random and senseless acts of deadly violence."

CCA enables the government to send out detailed questionnaires to all Americans who suspect they are or may become violence-prone loners, schizophrenics, and outcasts. Such Americans will be asked to provide detailed information about their anti-social proclivities; which government/cultural figures have negatively influenced them; specific language, movies, TV shows, books, comic strips, video games, coupons, grocery lists, and/or intergalactic messages that have incited or may eventually incite them.

In addition, current and potential sociopaths will be asked to submit detailed personal essays and timelines tracing key events in their upbringings which have shaped and probably will shape all of their future actions. "Most importantly, these people must be very specific about when they plan to snap and do harm to others," says Representative Laurel Heinlich. "Having that information will really help out a bunch in terms of our ability to stop them from the things they may or may not plan on doing."

The law is expected to swiftly pass the Senate, although some speculate that CCA itself could cause mentally unbalanced people to go over the edge. "No problem," says Senator Jonathan Covingbird. "If that happens, we will simply pass another law."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/spencer-green/gun-control_b_2566268.html

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NFL Players Sing Beyonce Songs, Reveal Their Favorites Ahead Of Super Bowl Performance [VIDEO]

In anticipation of Beyonce?s halftime Super Bowl performance, NFL players have released a video revealing their favorite songs by the superstar.?

Thomas DeCoud, a Falcons safety, opens the video by singing ?Say My Name.? Among the NFL players in the video are Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, Chiefs safety Eric Berry and Texans offensive tackle Duane Brown.

?You know, she makes good music; she's beautiful,? says Berry, quickly adding, ?Jay-Z, no offense there.??

?She?s the female version of Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson could perform, he could sing ? so I feel like she?s the total package,? he goes on to say.

?1+1? is 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis? favorite Beyonce song, and Redskins linebacker Lorenzo Alexander covers her hit song, ?Freakum Dress.??

Cardinals linebacker Daryl Washington does a nice cover of her ballad, ?Listen.?

Meanwhile, Beyonce is in New Orleans as she prepares to headline Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens.?

Beyonce is expected to begin the halftime show Sunday with her hit song, ?Crazy in Love,? which features her husband, Jay-Z, a source told Us Weekly.

She will then reunite with her Destiny?s Child partners, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. They will sing a medley of some of their greatest hits, including ?Bills, Bills, Bill? and ?Survivor.? They will also perform their newest song since 2004, ?Nuclear,? a love song.?

"She can't wait to get on the Super Bowl stage and show everyone," the Us source went on to say.

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/nfl-players-sing-beyonce-songs-reveal-their-favorites-ahead-super-bowl-performance-video-1050396

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Cyprus president: Russia ready to help in bailout

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Cyprus' president says Russia is ready to contribute to a rescue package that the country needs to stay afloat.

Dimitris Christofias says Wednesday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin assured him of Moscow's readiness to "extend a helping hand" to Cyprus in a telephone conversation the previous day.

Christofias didn't specify how much Russia would offer, but said this help could "save" the country.

Cyprus is trying to finalize a bailout from its euro partners of as much as ?17 billion ($22.8 billion) ? roughly equal to its annual gross domestic product ? to prop up its ailing banks and flagging economy.

Cyprus received a ?2.5 billion loan from Russia in 2011 and sought another ?5 billion from Moscow last year without result.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cyprus-president-russia-ready-help-bailout-103300678--finance.html

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Israel hits target in Syria border area: sources

LONDON (Reuters) - Israeli forces attacked a convoy on the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight, a Western diplomat and regional security sources said on Wednesday, as concern has grown in the Jewish state over the fate of Syrian chemical and advanced conventional weapons.

The sources, four in total, all of whom declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, had no further information about what the vehicles may have been carrying, what forces were used or where precisely the attack happened.

In the run-up to the raid, Israeli officials have been warning very publicly of a threat of high-tech anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles reaching Israel's enemies in the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah from Syria. They have also echoed U.S. concerns about Syria's presumed chemical weapons arsenal.

The Lebanese army reported a heavy presence of Israeli jets over its territory throughout the night.

"There was definitely a hit in the border area," one security source said. A Western diplomat in the region who asked about the strike said "something has happened", without elaborating.

An activist in Syria who works with a network of opposition groups around the country said that she had heard of a strike in southern Syria from her colleagues but could not confirm it. A strike just inside Lebanon would appear a less diplomatically explosive option for Israel to avoid provoking Syrian ally Iran.

Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said on Sunday that any sign that Syria's grip on its chemical weapons was slipping, as President Bashar al-Assad fights rebels trying to overthrow him, could trigger Israeli intervention.

Israeli sources said on Tuesday that Syria's advanced conventional weapons would represent as much of a threat to Israel as its chemical arms should they fall into the hands of Islamist rebels or Hezbollah guerrillas based in Lebanon.

Interviewed on Wednesday, Shalom would not be drawn on whether Israel was operating on its northern front, instead describing the country as part of an international coalition seeking to stop spillover from Syria's two-year-old insurgency.

"The entire world has said more than once that it takes developments in Syria very seriously, developments which can be in negative directions," he told Israel Radio, recalling that President Barack Obama has warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of U.S. action if his forces use chemical weapons.

"The world, led by President Obama who has said this more than once, is taking all possibilities into account," Shalom added. "And of course any development which is a development in a negative direction would be something that needs stopping and prevention."

BORDER STRIKE

Whether the strike took place within Syrian territory, or over the border in Lebanon, could affect any escalation from the incident. Iran, Israel's arch-foe and one of Damascus's few allies, said on Saturday it would consider any attack on Syria as an attack on itself. During and since Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah, there have been unconfirmed reports of Israeli strikes on convoys just after they entered Lebanon from Syria.

Israel has long made clear it claims a right to act preemptively against enemy capabilities. Alluding to this, air force chief Major-General Amir Eshel on Tuesday said his corps was involved in a covert and far-flung "campaign between wars".

"This campaign is 24/7, 365 days a year," Eshel told an international conference. "We are taking action to reduce the immediate threats, to create better conditions in which we will be able to win the wars, when they happen."

He did not elaborate on any operations, but did single out the threat Israel saw from Syria's arsenal, calling it "huge, part of it state-of-the-art, part of it unconventional".

Israel fought an inconclusive war in Lebanon with Iranian-backed Hezbollah in 2006. Its aircraft then faced little threat, though its navy was taken aback when a cruise missile hit a ship off the Lebanese coast. Israeli tanks suffered losses to rockets and commanders are concerned Hezbollah may get better weaponry.

Israeli jets regularly enter Lebanese airspace, but its forces have been more discreet about Syrian incursions.

Israel's bombing of a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, though revealed by then U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, is still not formally acknowledged by the Israelis.

According to Bush, then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sought to keep the matter quiet so as to reduce the risk of Assad feeling public pressure to retaliate. Syria and Israel are technically at war but have not exchanged fire in a significant way in decades.

A U.N. force sits on the line, north of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where a ceasefire ended their last war in 1973.

Israeli media reported this week that the country's national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, was sent to Russia and its military intelligence chief Major-General Aviv Kochavi to the United States for consultations.

Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London said that there are indications that Hezbollah is training near chemical weapons sites in Syria, with which the Shi'ite Lebanese militia has historically had a strong alliance.

"We also know that (Syria's) use of tactical ballistic missiles has been escalating - presumably as air power becomes harder to use in contested areas, and rebels seize larger targets like bases that are amenable to missile attack," he said.

Worries about Syria and Hezbollah have sent Israelis lining up for government-issued gas masks. According to the Israel post office, which is handling distribution of the kits, demand roughly trebled this week.

"It looks like every kind of discourse on this or that security matter contributes to public vigilance," its deputy director Haim Azaki told Israel's Army Radio. "We have really seen a very significant jump in demand."

(Reporting by Myra MacDonald; Writing by Oliver Holmes; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-hits-target-syria-border-area-sources-113955592.html

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The MileCards Travel Credit Card Calculator Finds the Best Travel Rewards Card for Your Needs

Putting all of your spending on one rewards card is the key to earning as many credit card rewards and travel points as you can. But which card is right for you? This calculator from MileCards compares the many travel credit cards based on your spending habits and the kinds of rewards you'd like.

Using the calculator is straightforward: Enter your typical monthly spending and choose whether you prefer redeeming rewards for flights (domestic or international), hotel stays, or gift cards.

MileCards displays the cash value of each card based on what you input as well as intro bonus point offers. The grid is broken up by the first year and ongoing years, to account for annual fees. To further refine the calculations based on your travel habits, you can enter at the bottom of the page cash values for plane tickets and how many miles you fly every year.

Although we've previously highlighted our favorite travel rewards cards, there's no one-size-fits-all card. This calculator can help you choose the travel card that will give you the most cash (or rewards) back.

Travel Credit Card Comparison Calculator | MileWise

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/CynAmrgHM-o/the-milecards-travel-credit-card-calculator-finds-the-best-travel-rewards-card-for-your-needs

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The Truth About Payday Loans Things You Should Know | Free ...

The Truth about payday loans ? Things You Should Know

Sometimes we can all use a little help financially. If you find yourself with a financial problem, and you don?t know where to turn, you can get a payday loan. A payday loan is a short-term loan that you can receive quickly. There is a bit more involved, and these tips will help you understand further about what these loans are about.

Keep your personal safety in mind if you have to physically visit a payday lender. These places of business handle large sums of cash and are usually in economically impoverished areas of town. Try and only visit during daylight hours and park in highly visible spaces. Go in when other customers are also around.

A lot of payday loan companies like to offer people many times more than they have requested to borrow. Do not fall for this trick, since this is done to get you to owe the company more money at the end. Only borrow the amount you need and nothing extra.

If you are considering using a payday loan service, be aware of how the company charges their fees. Often the loan fee is presented as a flat amount. However, if you calculate it as a percentage rate, it may exceed the percentage rate that you are being charged on your credit cards. A flat fee may sound affordable, but can cost you up to 30% of the original loan in some cases.

Spend some time shopping around before you commit to one lender. There are a ton of different payday loan companies, each will have different interest rates, and different terms with their loans. If you take some time to look at multiple companies, you can save a lot of your hard-earned money.

Check your credit history before you look for a payday loan. Consumers with a healthy credit history will be able to get more favorable interest rates and terms of repayment. If your credit history is in poor shape, you can expect to pay interest rates that are higher, and you may not be eligible for a longer loan term.

When researching payday loan companies, do not ever consider a company who hides their interest rates, fees, and penalties. The law requires that all payday loan companies reveal all the relevant information, before a person applies for a loan. Companies that don?t provide this information could be attempting to trick you, into agreeing to pay huge interest rates.

Now you have a better idea of what you can expect from a payday loan. Think about it carefully and try to approach it from a calm perspective. If you decide that a payday loan is for you, use the tips in this article to help you navigate the process easily.

Source: http://freefinancearticles.info/the-truth-about-payday-loans-things-you-should-know

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Faulty manufacturing seen behind F-35B grounding

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pentagon and industry officials said on Monday a manufacturing problem was the most likely cause of an engine failure that led to the grounding of all 25 Marine Corps versions of the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet 10 days ago.

The investigation found that a fuel line built by a unit of Parker Hannifin Corp had been improperly crimped, which resulted in it detaching and failing just before a training flight took off at a Florida Air Force base, said Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Pentagon's F-35 program office.

He said engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp , and Britain's Rolls Royce Plc , which build the engine for the F-35B model were taking steps "to improve their quality control process and ensure part integrity."

The F-35B should be able to resume flights as soon as the parts supplied by a unit of Parker Hannifin are replaced, said Matthew Bates, a spokesman for Pratt & Whitney.

"The team continues to work diligently toward ... implementing corrective actions with the supplier. We anticipate a return to flight for the (short takeoff, vertical landing) variant soon," Bates said.

The Pentagon's F-35 program office said it was working with the Navy to resume flights of the F-35B model, which can take off from shorter runways and land like a helicopter, but gave no timetable for when training and test flights would resume.

The grounding did not affect the Air Force or Navy versions of the new fighter since they do not use the same part.

The speedy conclusion of the investigation is good news for the F-35 program, which is racing to complete an aggressive schedule of flight tests this year. The program has completed about 34 percent of its planned test flight program, but Lockheed is already building production models of the new plane.

DellaVedova said the investigation ruled out any design or maintenance problems, but revealed that the faulty fuel line had been improperly crimped during the manufacturing process.

Similar problems were found with six additional fuel lines used on the F-35B, and all the faulty parts had been removed from the planes and shipped to Pratt for replacement.

A spokeswoman for Parker Hannifin said the company, which makes many components for the aircraft, was working around the clock to support the investigation.

The Pentagon grounded all 25 F-35B jets on January 18 after the "fueldraulic" line, associated with directing the B-model's exhaust, failed just before takeoff during a training flight at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

Instead of traditional hydraulic fluid, the line uses fuel as the operating fluid to reduce weight.

An initial inspection after the incident discovered a detached propulsion line in the rear part of the engine compartment, and subsequent tests showed the line was not built to specifications by Stratoflex, a unit of Parker Hannifin.

Lockheed is building three different models of the F-35 fighter jet for the U.S. military and eight countries that helped pay for its development: Britain, Canada, Italy, Turkey, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia and Norway.

The Pentagon plans to buy 2,443 of the warplanes in coming decades, although many analysts believe U.S. budget constraints and deficits will eventually reduce that overall number.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/faulty-manufacturing-seen-behind-f-35b-grounding-000244940--sector.html

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Analysis: Stuck in reverse, Detroit edges closer to bankruptcy

DETROIT (Reuters) - At the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, luxury was in the air. Pricey new Bentleys and Maseratis glittered - including a Maserati 2014 Quattroporte with a $132,000 price tag; U.S. Cabinet Secretaries and dignitaries rubbed shoulders; and many of the well-heeled attendees ponied up for a $300-a-ticket black-tie charity ball.

But in a city that is slowly dying, the glitz didn't extend much beyond the Cobo Center exhibition hall.

General Motors Co and Chrysler , which along with Ford Motor Co gave the Motor City its identity, survived near-death experiences after filing for bankruptcy during the financial crisis. Now, Detroit itself is edging closer to a similar precipice, only unlike the automakers, its chances of getting a federal bailout are almost nonexistent.

The story of Detroit's decline is decades old: Its tax revenue and population have shrunk and labor costs have remained out of whack. But the city's budget problems have deepened to such an extent that it could run out of cash in a matter of weeks or months and ultimately be forced into what would be the largest-ever Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy filing in the United States.

Frustrated by the lack of concrete progress, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, last month appointed a team to scour the city's books. The audit could result in a state takeover of Detroit's finances through the appointment of an emergency financial manager. Such a manager, who would seize control of the city's checkbook, could then propose federal bankruptcy court as the best option.

Snyder, who has called the situation "a crisis in terms of financial affairs," said the team would deliver its report in February.

"Detroit is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy after the City Council has failed to make the necessary cuts to deal with having a smaller population," said Rick Jones, chairman of the Republican majority caucus in the state Senate.

Jones, who has indicated he does not favor a bankruptcy, said he would like to see an emergency manager installed to fix the city's problems. If that failed, there would be a case for finding a way to shrink the Detroit municipal area, he argued.

Detroit's population is now just over 700,000 - down 30 percent since 1990 - but the city still has to provide services to an area encompassing more land than San Francisco, Boston and the borough of Manhattan.

While Democratic Mayor Dave Bing and the Detroit City Council have moved to reduce spending and initiate some reforms to stave off a takeover, including layoffs and wage and benefit cuts, the progress may not be enough for Michigan officials and lawmakers.

STREETS WITHOUT LIGHTS

In the booming post-Second World War era, Detroit was America's fifth-largest city. Today, it ranks 18th. In addition to a sharp population decline, it suffers from high unemployment related to a loss of businesses, a flood of home foreclosures and a cut in state funding. That has led to shriveling revenue, leaving the city unable to afford a workforce of more than 10,000 and the surging health and pension costs that go with them and with its retirees. As a result, credit ratings on Detroit's approximately $8.2 billion of outstanding debt have sunk deeper into junk territory.

The city's labor costs, including health care and pensions, are shrinking in absolute terms but rising as a share of the budget. They are slated to drop to $968 million, or nearly 49.5 percent of the operating budget, in the fiscal year ending June 30 versus $1.14 billion, or 45.5 percent, a year earlier.

Signs of decline are everywhere - in a rising crime rate, streets without lights and block after block of abandoned buildings. The murder rate of one per 1,719 people last year was more than 11 times the rate in New York City. The jobless rate is above 18 percent, more than twice rate for the country as a whole.

COLLISION COURSE

A bankruptcy would be messy.

The interests of creditors would likely collide with those of labor unions wanting to protect workers' benefits, said Eric Scorsone, a Michigan State University economist who has written papers on municipal bankruptcy and on the state's emergency manager laws.

"It is going to require the players - the City Council, the mayor, the state - to be on the same page. If you go into bankruptcy with a lot of conflict and dissent, it's going to cost more," said Scorsone.

It could also be racially explosive. Detroit has the largest percentage of black people of any U.S. city, with 83 percent of the population identifying themselves as African American, black or Negro, according to the 2010 U.S. census. Most of Michigan's state government, including the governor's office, is run by white Republicans.

Detroit Council Member JoAnn Watson, who along with two other members of the city's all-black City Council has been resisting reform measures, said she is still hopeful of a federal bailout or an injection of state money that she claims the city is owed.

Mayor Bing would not comment for this story.

CONSEQUENCES, WHAT CONSEQUENCES?

The automakers have little to say publicly about the crisis. Most of their operations in Michigan are now outside Detroit, and getting any top executive to even discuss the possibility of a city bankruptcy was almost impossible at the auto show. "I don't want to get into the politics," said GM CEO Dan Akerson, while Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said: "I don't see what the consequences would be for us."

One of the city's biggest challenges is its complex set of labor agreements with a whopping 48 bargaining units that represent most of the city's workforce.

Max Newman, a bankruptcy attorney at Michigan-based Butzel Long, said a Chapter 9 bankruptcy could help the city throw out its collective bargaining agreements with unions.

Costs would have to be tackled since Detroit cannot just jack up taxes to reduce the cumulative budget deficit, which grew to $326.6 million in fiscal 2012 from $196.6 million in fiscal 2011. The state would likely resist tax increases, and they might only make matters worse anyway. "If taxes go up any further it would exacerbate the flight out of the city," Newman said.

But for some of those who have seen Detroit struggle for years, bankruptcy is starting to look like the least awful option - even though it will be painful.

"I think...off and on, that it wouldn't be a bad idea," said former Ford chief financial officer Allan Gilmour, now the president of Detroit's Wayne State University. "Let's clean this out once and for all."

(Reporting by Nick Carey and Bernie Woodall in Detroit and Karen Pierog in Chicago; Additional reporting by Deepa Seetharaman and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Martin Howell and Ciro Scotti)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-stuck-reverse-detroit-edges-closer-bankruptcy-214830923--finance.html

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Nikon's Ridiculous 800mm Lens Only Costs $18,000

Nikon has been teasing development of the new absurdly long, fixed AF-S Nikkor 800mm, f/5.6 aperture lens since last year. Now it's here, and you'll be happy to know that this lens' crazy and inflexible magnification potential is coupled with the absolutely ludicrous price of $18,000. But don't worry, cheapskates, because there's an actually affordable new lens coming out, too. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/UGDZd0DVXnw/nikons-ridiculous-800mm-lens-only-costs-18000

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Weekend death toll in Egyptian riots rises to 40

PORT SAID, Egypt (AP) ? Clashes flared anew in the turbulent Egyptian city of Port Said on Sunday, killing at least three more people as a mass funeral was held for most of the 37 people who died during intense riots in the city a day earlier.

The three were killed when police exchanged fire with gunmen trying to storm two police stations and the local prison, according to the city's director of hospitals, Abdel-Rahman Farah. A total of 418 people were injured, some of them with gunshot wounds, he said.

Tens of thousands of mourners poured into the streets for the mass funeral of those killed a day earlier, chanting slogans against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

"We are now dead against Morsi," said Port Said activist Amira Alfy. "We will not rest now until he goes and we will not take part in the next parliamentary elections. Port Said has risen and will not allow even a semblance of normalcy to come back," she said.

Violence in the city, about 140 miles northeast of Cairo, erupted on Saturday after a court convicted and sentenced 21 defendants to death for their roles in a mass soccer riot in a Port Said stadium on Feb. 1, 2012 that left 74 dead. Most of those sentenced to death were local soccer fans from Port Said.

The clashes in Port Said were the latest in a bout of unrest across the country that has left more than 50 people dead since Friday. That death toll includes 40 dead in Port Said and 11 killed in clashes in other cities between police and protesters marking the second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew Mubarak after nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule.

The riots stemmed mostly from animosity between police and die-hard Egyptian soccer fans, known as Ultras, who have become highly politicized. The Ultras frequently confront police and were also part of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's regime two years ago.

They were also at the forefront of protests against the military rulers who took over from Mubarak and are now again on the front lines of protests against the Morsi, the country's first freely elected leader.

A prominent Islamist leader delivered a thinly veiled warning that Islamist groups would set up militia-like vigilante groups to protect public and state property against attacks.

Addressing a news conference, Tareq el-Zomr of the once-jihadist Gamaa Islamiya, said:

"If Security forces don't achieve security, it will be the right of the Egyptian people and we at the forefront to set up popular committees to protect private and public property and counter the aggression on innocent citizens."

The threat by el-Zomr was accompanied by his charge that the mostly secular and liberal opposition was responsible for the deadly violence of the past few days, setting the stage for possible bloody clashes between protesters and Islamist militiamen. The opposition denies the charge.

There was also a funeral in Cairo for two policemen killed in the Port Said violence a day earlier. Several policemen grieving for their colleagues heckled Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the force, when he arrived for their funeral, according to witnesses. The angry officers screamed at the minister that he was only at the funeral for the TV cameras ? a highly unusual show of dissent in Egypt, where the police force maintains military-like discipline.

Ibrahim hurriedly left and the funeral proceeded without him.

In Port Said, mourners chanted "There is no God but Allah," and "Morsi is God's enemy" as the funeral procession made its way through the city after prayers for the dead at the city's Mariam Mosque. Women clad in black led the chants, which were quickly picked up by the rest of the mourners.

There were no police or army troops in sight. But the funeral procession briefly halted after gunfire rang out. Security officials said the gunfire came from several mourners who opened fire at the Police Club next to the cemetery.

Activists, however, said the gunfire first came from inside the army club, which is also close to the cemetery. Some of the mourners returned fire, which drew more shots as well as tear gas, according to witnesses. They, together with the officials, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation in the city on the Mediterranean at the northern tip of the Suez Canal.

Survivors and witnesses of the Port Said soccer melee blame Mubarak loyalists for the violence, saying they had a hand in instigating the killings. The troubles erupted after Port Said's home team Al-Masry beat Cairo's Al-Ahly 3-1. Some witnesses said "hired thugs" wearing green T-shirts and posing as Al-Masry fans led the attacks.

Other witnesses said at the very least, police were responsible for gross negligence in the soccer violence, which killed 74 people, most of them Al-Ahly fans.

Anger at police was evident in Port Said, home to most of the 73 men accused of involvement in the bloodshed. Of those, 21 were convicted of murder charges on Saturday and the court is to rule on the remainder of the defendants in March.

The trial was in Cairo and Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid did not give his reasoning when he handed down the guilty verdicts and sentences for 21 defendants. Executions in Egypt are usually carried out by hanging.

Verdicts for the remaining 52 defendants, including nine security officials, are to be delivered on March 9. Some have been charged with murder and others with assisting the attackers. All the defendants ? who were not present in the courtroom Saturday for security reasons ? can appeal the verdict.

In Port Said on Sunday, army troops backed by armored vehicles staked out positions at key government facilities to protect state interests and try to restore order.

The military issued a statement urging Port Said residents to exercise restraint and protect public property, but also warning that troops would deal "firmly" with anyone who "terrorizes" citizens or infringes upon the nation's security and stability.

Rioters on Saturday attacked the prison where the defendants were being held and tried to storm police stations and government offices around the city. Health officials say at least 37 people were killed, including two policemen, in rioting on Saturday.

Clashes broke out in Cairo for the fourth straight day on Sunday, with protesters and police outside two landmark, Nile-side hotels near central Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 2011 uprising. Police fired tear gas while protesters pelted them with rocks.

The clashes show how turmoil was deepening in Egypt nearly seven months after Morsi took office. Critics say Morsi has failed to carry out promised reforms of the judiciary and police, and claim little has improved in the two years since the uprising.

At the heart of the rising opposition toward Morsi's government is a newly adopted constitution, which was ratified in a nationwide referendum.

Opponents claim the document has an Islamist slant. It was drafted hurriedly by the president's allies without the participation of representatives of liberals and minority Christians on the panel that wrote the charter.

Protesters on the streets this past week demanded the formation of a national unity government, early presidential elections and amendments to disputed clauses in the constitution.

Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which he hails, counter that the opposition was seeking to overturn the results of democratic and free elections. The Brotherhood, a well-organized and established political group in Egypt for decades, has emerged as by far the most powerful force in post-Mubarak Egypt.

As the situation in Port Said spiraled out of control Saturday, police disappeared from the city's streets, residents and security officials said, staying put in their camps, police stations and the city's security headquarters.

The military then dispatched troops to the city, taking up positions at vital state facilities, including the local power and water stations, the city's main courthouse, the local government building and the city prison. Navy sailors were guarding the local offices of the Suez Canal company.

Navy vessels were escorting merchant ships sailing through the international waterway, a vital income earner for Egypt's beleaguered economy. Military helicopters were flying over the canal to ensure the safety of shipping, according to Suez Canal spokesman Tareq Hassanein.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/weekend-death-toll-egyptian-riots-rises-40-184955404--spt.html

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Obama lauds Clinton as she prepares to leave

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama lauded Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as one of his closest advisers and said their shared vision for America's role in the world persuaded his one-time rival ? and potential successor ? to be his top diplomat while he dealt with the shattered economy at home.

During a joint interview that aired Sunday, Obama and Clinton chuckled as they described their partnership and stoked speculation that Obama may prefer Clinton to succeed him in the White House after the 2016 elections. Clinton is leaving Obama's Cabinet soon, and speculation about the former first lady and senator has only grown more intense after a heated appearance last week on Capitol Hill.

Both Obama and Clinton batted away questions about future campaigns, but the joint interview ? the president's first with anyone other than first lady Michelle Obama ? was only likely to increase the fascination with Clinton's future.

"The president and I care deeply about what's going to happen for our country in the future," Clinton said. "And I don't think, you know, either he or I can make predictions about what's going to happen tomorrow or the next year."

Obama, who suggested the joint interview as Clinton prepared her exit from the State Department, lavished praise on his rival for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. He called her a friend and an extraordinary talent, and praised "her discipline, her stamina, her thoughtfulness, her ability to project."

It teetered on an endorsement of a 2016 presidential bid that is still an open question. Clinton advisers say she has not made a decision about a run, while Democratic officials suggest Clinton would be an early favorite if she decided to mount another campaign.

Obama and Clinton laughed when asked about the political future.

"You guys in the press are incorrigible," Obama said when pressed on another Clinton presidency. "I was literally inaugurated four days ago. And you're talking about elections four years from now."

The possibility of a presidential campaign for Vice President Joe Biden did not come up during the interview, taped Friday at the White House.

Obama described why he insisted Clinton become his secretary of state.

"She also was already a world figure," Obama said. "To have somebody who could serve as that effective ambassador in her own right without having to earn her stripes, so to speak, on the international stage, I thought, would be hugely important."

It was a job she initially refused. But Obama kept pushing, Clinton said.

"The one thing he did mention was he basically said: 'You know, we've got this major economic crisis that may push us into a depression. I'm not going to be able to do a lot to satisfy the built-up expectations for our role around the world. So you're going to have to get out there and, you know, really represent us while I deal with, you know, the economic catastrophe I inherited."

It's a job she embraced during the last four years. She arrived on the job with a global brand she quickly lent to promoting U.S. interests. In return, the public rewarded her with high approval ratings that could come in handy if she runs in 2016.

But her tenure has had its blemishes. For example, the United States did not directly intervene in the civil war in Syria, where the United Nations says more than 60,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million people have been internally displaced since the start of the conflict in March 2011.

"There are transitions and transformations taking place all around the world. We are not going to be able to control every aspect of every transition and transformation," Obama said, saying his jobs are to protect the United States and engage where the U.S. can make a difference.

In a separate interview with The New Republic, also released Sunday, Obama said, "As I wrestle with those decisions, I am more mindful probably than most of not only our incredible strengths and capabilities, but also our limitations."

On "60 Minutes," he praised Clinton's State Department for helping him sort out what the United States can ? and cannot ? accomplish.

"It has been a great collaboration over the last four years. I'm going to miss her. Wish she was sticking around. But she has logged in so many miles, I can't begrudge her wanting to take it easy for a little bit," Obama said.

It's something of a turnaround from 2007 and 2008, as the two raced through Iowa and New Hampshire and onward. In increasingly bracing language, the two excoriated the other. At one point, a visibly angry Clinton seethed, "Shame on you, Barack Obama."

Obama now jokes about the rivalry.

"Made for tough debates, by the way, because we could never figure out what we were different on," the president said.

Both acknowledged disagreements continue but said they had common goals.

"Are there going to be differences? Yeah. Deep differences? Of course," Clinton said. "You had a lot of strong-willed, -minded people. But the president deserves our best judgment, our advice and then he deserves us to stand with him and to execute."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-lauds-clinton-she-prepares-leave-000119075--politics.html

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Get Ready For Even More Google Glasshole Sightings

A whole new group of Google Glass developers are expected to be getting their hands on the devices this week, coinciding with two meetups that Google is throwing for developers in San Francisco and New York City. Some developers we've talked to expect to be able to take some hardware home after the Glass Foundry events, taking place January 28 and 29 in SF and February 1 and 2 in NYC.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ashpZOrNwnc/

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Purdue goes different way with legal leanings | WLFI - West ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Purdue is making a change to its legal area and switching to an in-house counsel, who has ties to Mitch Daniels.

Although it's a first for Purdue, Purdue is the last school in the Big Ten to hire an in-house legal counsel.

"It'll be helpful to have a single point of contact and not just for me, but for the campus. Purdue was the only school in the Big Ten operating as it was," Purdue University President, Mitch Daniels.

The University previously used the firm Stuart & Branigin, which provided legal counsel to Purdue for more than 130 years.

Steven Schultz will now serve as legal adviser. Schultz was former Gov. Mitch Daniels' chief legal counsel.

Daniels said Schultz will advise him and the Board of Trustees on legal issues. Daniels said he suggested hiring Schultz.

"We want everybody around here, looking for ways to economize and that's one possibility. And once again, I want somebody looking at the whole array of rules and policies that we have here to make sure that they're all necessary, that they're clear," Daniels explained.

Meanwhile Stuart & Branigin also showed its support for the new plan.

?This change has been under discussion for a long time,? Stuart & Branigin partner Thomas Parent said. ?We have been actively engaged with Purdue?s Board of Trustees in evaluating various models for the provision of legal services to the University.?

A native of Indianapolis, Schultz got his bachelor's degree from Butler University and law degrees from Yale Law School and the University of Cambridge.

He has worked as an attorney with two law firms and as chief legal counsel to Daniels when he was governor.

Schultz also has served as general counsel for Irwin Financial Corp. and as executive director of the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority.

He currently is vice president and general counsel of Southeastern Indiana Health Organization and is concluding an engagement as special adviser to the state of Indiana on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

?Mr. Schultz is a highly respected attorney who has been a trusted adviser to President Daniels,? Parent said. ?We look forward to continuing our long and productive relationship with them and with the trustees.?

President of Purdue Student Government Joe Rust hopes the new legal counsel will also help students and student organizations.

"Contracting guest speakers, contracting musicians and musical groups. There's a lot that goes into, not outside of just individual students, but also includes student organizations because that's a big part of? the experience that a lot of people have here on campus," Rust said.

Rust said Purdue Student Government has already been trying for years to get a contracted attorney to help students with legal advice. He said he plans to speak with Daniels to see if the new legal counsel will be able to aid students and student organizations as well as administrators.

Steven Schultz will take over as the university's legal counsel this Friday. Stuart and Branigan will continue to handle a portion of Purdue's outside legal work.

Source: http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/local/purdue-goes-different-way-with-legal-leanings

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National Cancer Centre Singapore scientists discover p53 mutation hinders cancer treatment response

Public release date: 25-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rachel Tan
Rachel.Tan.C.H@nccs.com.sg
65-623-69535
SingHealth

Reducing the level of mutant p53 gene increases susceptibility to treatment

Scientists from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) have discovered the workings of the gene that has been hindering treatment response in cancer patients. This discovery was made after 5 years of studying the mutant form of the p53 gene, the major tumor suppressor in humans, which is generally found mutated in over 50% of all type of human cancers.

The dominant-negative (DN) effect of the mutant p53 gene in cancers was found to affect the outcome of cancer treatment modalities. DN effect is a phenomenon whereby one copy of mutant p53 that exists in cancer cells inhibits the tumor suppressor activity of the other wild-type p53 copy when they co-exist. The result is that a patient may either have poor response or earlier relapse of tumours after their treatment.

The research findings is significant in that it offers hope to improve cancer treatment outcomes by selectively inhibiting mutant p53's DN effect through several methods by generating selective and specific inhibitory molecules specific for some of the common hot-spot p53 point mutations. There are currently no drugs or compounds that can alleviate DN effects of mutant p53.

In order to understand the specific roles of mutant p53 DN properties in regulating acute treatment response and long-term tumourgenesis, a team of five researchers led by NCCS Prof Kanaga Sabapathy, the Principal Investigator in the Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Head of the Division of Cellular & Molecular Research from NCCS, carried out experiments by generating genetically engineered knock-in mouse strains expressing varying levels of mutant p53. The results showed that DN effect is observed after acute p53 activation by a variety of chemotherapeutic drugs and irradiation, thereby affecting anti-cancer treatment. This breakthrough came after five years of intensive research.

It was found that mutant p53 have DN effects in a cell-type and dose-dependent manner, especially during acute p53 activation where p53 levels are elevated. Based on the above observations, efforts to generate specific inhibitors for the common hot spot p53 point mutations are underway. The inhibition of mutant p53 expression in cells carrying a wild-type and mutant p53 alleles can improve response to chemotherapeutic drugs.

In a further study, the researchers also questioned the possibility of the mutant p53 acquiring new functions (or Gain of Function) to drive carcinogenesis, transforming normal cells to cancerous cells. Their investigation comparing cells from genetically engineered mouse strains expressing 2 different types of p53 mutations: the R172H mutation versus the R246S mutation, which showed that Gain of Function (GOF) was found only in the former. This showed that GOF of mutated p53 is specifically dependent on mutation-type but not across all kinds of genetic mutations, highlighting diversity in properties of the different types of p53 mutations, thereby indicating that mutations found in human cancers can behave differently, and thus, need to be carefully assessed prior to treatment.

Thus, the existence of mutant p53 certainly has a negative impact on cancer treatment, whether it is through DN effect or GOF. Prof Sabapathy said that the team is now embarking on more research to determine the possibility of targeting mutant p53 without affecting wild-type p53 in human cells, paving way to clinical trials in the future to test the efficacy on cancer therapeutic response.

###

The research was supported by grants from the National Medical Research Council of Singapore and the Singapore Millennium Foundation to KS. The publication has been accepted and published by Cell Press, publisher of biomedical journals, in the premier cancer journal Cancer Cell, on 10 Dec 2012, Monday. Prof Sabapathy also teaches at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.

---

[ | 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: 25-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rachel Tan
Rachel.Tan.C.H@nccs.com.sg
65-623-69535
SingHealth

Reducing the level of mutant p53 gene increases susceptibility to treatment

Scientists from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) have discovered the workings of the gene that has been hindering treatment response in cancer patients. This discovery was made after 5 years of studying the mutant form of the p53 gene, the major tumor suppressor in humans, which is generally found mutated in over 50% of all type of human cancers.

The dominant-negative (DN) effect of the mutant p53 gene in cancers was found to affect the outcome of cancer treatment modalities. DN effect is a phenomenon whereby one copy of mutant p53 that exists in cancer cells inhibits the tumor suppressor activity of the other wild-type p53 copy when they co-exist. The result is that a patient may either have poor response or earlier relapse of tumours after their treatment.

The research findings is significant in that it offers hope to improve cancer treatment outcomes by selectively inhibiting mutant p53's DN effect through several methods by generating selective and specific inhibitory molecules specific for some of the common hot-spot p53 point mutations. There are currently no drugs or compounds that can alleviate DN effects of mutant p53.

In order to understand the specific roles of mutant p53 DN properties in regulating acute treatment response and long-term tumourgenesis, a team of five researchers led by NCCS Prof Kanaga Sabapathy, the Principal Investigator in the Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Head of the Division of Cellular & Molecular Research from NCCS, carried out experiments by generating genetically engineered knock-in mouse strains expressing varying levels of mutant p53. The results showed that DN effect is observed after acute p53 activation by a variety of chemotherapeutic drugs and irradiation, thereby affecting anti-cancer treatment. This breakthrough came after five years of intensive research.

It was found that mutant p53 have DN effects in a cell-type and dose-dependent manner, especially during acute p53 activation where p53 levels are elevated. Based on the above observations, efforts to generate specific inhibitors for the common hot spot p53 point mutations are underway. The inhibition of mutant p53 expression in cells carrying a wild-type and mutant p53 alleles can improve response to chemotherapeutic drugs.

In a further study, the researchers also questioned the possibility of the mutant p53 acquiring new functions (or Gain of Function) to drive carcinogenesis, transforming normal cells to cancerous cells. Their investigation comparing cells from genetically engineered mouse strains expressing 2 different types of p53 mutations: the R172H mutation versus the R246S mutation, which showed that Gain of Function (GOF) was found only in the former. This showed that GOF of mutated p53 is specifically dependent on mutation-type but not across all kinds of genetic mutations, highlighting diversity in properties of the different types of p53 mutations, thereby indicating that mutations found in human cancers can behave differently, and thus, need to be carefully assessed prior to treatment.

Thus, the existence of mutant p53 certainly has a negative impact on cancer treatment, whether it is through DN effect or GOF. Prof Sabapathy said that the team is now embarking on more research to determine the possibility of targeting mutant p53 without affecting wild-type p53 in human cells, paving way to clinical trials in the future to test the efficacy on cancer therapeutic response.

###

The research was supported by grants from the National Medical Research Council of Singapore and the Singapore Millennium Foundation to KS. The publication has been accepted and published by Cell Press, publisher of biomedical journals, in the premier cancer journal Cancer Cell, on 10 Dec 2012, Monday. Prof Sabapathy also teaches at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.

---

[ | 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/2013-01/s-ncc012513.php

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American women have served and died from the first

WASHINGTON (AP) ? American women have served and died on the nation's battlefields from the first. They were nurses and cooks, spies and couriers in the Revolutionary War. Some disguised themselves as men to fight for the Union or the Confederacy. Yet the U.S. military's official acceptance of women in combat took more than two centuries.

New roles for females have been doled out fitfully, whenever commanders have gotten in binds and realized they needed women's help.

"The main driver is that it's been militarily necessary," says retired Capt. Lory Manning, a 25-year Navy veteran who leads military studies for the Women's Research & Education Institute. She points, for example, to creation of the Army Nurse Corps in response to the struggle against disease in the Spanish-American War.

Some milestones on the way to this week's lifting of the ban on women in ground combat jobs:

___

FROM THE FIRST

They didn't wear uniforms, but the Army hired women as nurses, cooks and laundresses during the American Revolution. Women were also spies and saboteurs. They carried George Washington's messages across enemy lines to his generals.

Many "camp followers" went to war with their soldier husbands, sometimes bringing children along. Some stepped into the places of fallen men in battle. Other women disguised themselves as young men to join the fighting.

A few hundred women secretly served as Civil War soldiers, historians estimate. There are records of some who were discovered only after they were wounded or killed.

For her service as a Civil War surgeon, Dr. Mary E. Walker was awarded her era's Medal of Honor. Harriet Tubman led a group of former slaves who spied on Confederate troops in the South and helped the Union Army free more slaves. A Virginia woman, Elizabeth Van Lew, ran one of the war's most sophisticated spy rings for the Union. Clara Barton's experiences tending battlefield wounded led her to found the American Red Cross.

___

NURSES NEEDED

Despite their record as volunteers and contract workers, women were denied a place within military service until 1901, when the Army Nurse Corps was created. Navy nurses followed in 1908.

What prompted the creation of the Nurse Corps? The devastating toll of typhoid, malaria and other diseases that killed far more soldiers than the fighting during the Spanish-American War.

Overwhelmed by the tropical diseases, the military rushed to find more than 1,500 female contract nurses to serve at military hospitals and aboard ships. Twenty-one nurses died in the line of duty. After the war, the Army's surgeon general called for creation of a permanent nurse corps with reserves at the ready for future wars.

___

OVER THERE

The world wars brought large-scale proof that women could handle many of the military's noncombat jobs. They were recruited to "Free a man to fight!"

For the first time in World War I, women other than nurses were allowed to enlist in the Navy and Marines. They worked as telephone operators, accountants, draftsmen, clerks. Some went to Europe. Still, only about 35,000 women, the majority of them nurses, served among nearly 5 million U.S. men. They were promptly sent home after the armistice.

They were the advance troops for the wave of women to come in the next world war, including the Navy's WAVES and the Army's WACS. There were even civilian pilots ? the WASPS ? who repositioned planes and towed gunners' targets but were denied Air Force status.

The demands of a huge military buildup and a diminishing pool of male draftees crumpled resistance to enlisting large numbers of women for World War II.

More than 400,000 women served, at home and overseas, stepping into nearly all types of noncombat jobs. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught, a teenager then, remembers women's eagerness to help.

"America was attacked," said Vaught, president of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation. "Women felt, 'This is my country, I've got to help defend my country.' They wanted to be part of it."

World War II was the turning point that earned women full-fledged military status. In 1948, after fierce debate, Congress approved allowing women to serve in the regular forces of all branches of the service all the time, not just in war.

___

WELCOME BACK

In peacetime, the Pentagon retreated back to assigning females to "women's work." They got few chances at promotion and couldn't be admirals or generals. Although military nurses risked their lives in Korea and Vietnam, the military insisted women weren't fit for combat conditions.

The equal rights movement prompted some changes ? in 1967, Congress got rid of a law limiting women to 2 percent of the military and opened up promotions to higher service grades.

But the armed services didn't welcome women back in a big way until the nation cut off its guaranteed supply of men.

In 1973, the draft ended and the all-volunteer military was born. Short on male volunteers, the Defense Department began seriously recruiting women and assigning them a wider range of jobs. In 1975, the service academies were opened to women.

Women grew to more than 10 percent of America's force by the 1980s.

___

FRONT LINES BLUR

More than 40,000 women deployed for the Persian Gulf War in 1990 and 1991. They worked alongside men, flying helicopters, driving trucks, guarding bases and firing missiles as Americans at home watched on television news.

Officially women were banned from combat. But there were no clear front lines. Women soldiers and Marines were at risk wherever SCUD missiles fell.

"They always said the American public will not live with women coming back in body bags," said Vaught. "Well, they did. We found out there wasn't a big reaction from the public. They recognized that these women were there doing their jobs. We have adjusted to that as a people."

After the Gulf War, jobs flying combat planes and serving on warships were opened to women. And some restrictions on combat-related jobs in the Army and Marines were eased.

___

AFTER 9/11

More than 200,000 women serve in the military now ? 15 percent of a force of 1.4 million. And the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have obliterated any remaining notion that they can be kept out of the fight.

With the military straining to staff two wars at once, everyone was needed. But battle lines were jagged; insurgents could be anywhere. Women in support jobs found themselves in firefights and blasted by roadside bombs. And their gender made them especially valuable on some patrols: They could search and interview Muslim women whose culture forbid such contact with men.

In 2012, to reflect the new realities, the Defense Department changed its rules to officially allow women into many jobs they were already doing, but in units closer to the fighting. They were still banned from the most dangerous jobs, such as being infantry soldiers or Special Operations commandos.

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced an end to the ban on women in combat. Women have become an integral part of the service, fighting and dying alongside men, Panetta said. In fact, 152 women in uniform have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The time has come," he said, "for our policies to recognize that reality."

___

Associated Press writer Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.

Follow Connie Cass on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ConnieCass

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/american-women-served-died-first-221159980.html

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Folkerson Communications: For Affordable Business Phone Systems

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Source: http://harealap.blogspot.com/2013/01/folkerson-communications-for-affordable.html

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McDonald's fish to get 'sustainable' tag

6 hrs.

The Associated Press , Staff

McDonald's says it will be the first national restaurant chain to carry a label from a group that certifies sustainable fishing practices.?

The blue "ecolabel" from the Marine Stewardship Council certifies that the Alaskan Pollack used in McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwiches come from suppliers with sustainable fishing practices.?

Major retail chains including Wal-Mart and Whole Foods already use the council's label. The nonprofit group is paid a royalty fee from companies that use its label. For McDonald's, that means the fee would be based on sales of its fish offerings, such as the Filet-O-Fish and the Fish McBites that will be launched as a limited-time offer next month.?

The Marine Stewardship Council, based in Seattle, isn't the only group that offers consumer labeling for seafood. Last year, for example, Whole Foods also stopped carrying wild-caught seafood that's "red-rated," which indicates it's either overfished or caught in a way that harms other species.?

The move reflects the growing concerns among consumers about the sources of their seafood. Major supermarket chains, including BJ's Wholesale Club, have also moved recently to try to make their seafood selections more sustainable.?

The Marine Stewardship Council has about 300 fisheries in its program, representing between 12 to 14 percent of the world's fisheries, said Kerry Coughlin, the group's regional director for the Americas. Fisheries can go through a confidential pre-assessment phase to get guidance on whether they're ready for certification. Coughlin said about 30 to 40 percent of fisheries aren't ready when they start the pre-assessment phase, but that more than 90 percent obtain certification after beginning the full, official assessment process.?

McDonald's gets all its fish in the U.S. from a single Alaskan Pollack fishery, Coughlin said. The chain's restaurants in Europe already use the council's label.?

A spokeswoman for McDonald's, Christina Tyler, said the all U.S. stores should have the labeling by early February. McDonald's will promote the certification on packaging for other products, including Happy Meals and drinks.?

The company, based in Oak Brook, Ill., stopped using Eastern Baltic Cod in 2007 because of sustainability concerns. Since then, Tyler said the company has sourced Alaskan Pollock and New Zealand Hoki exclusively from fisheries with the Marine Stewardship Council's label. Now the chain uses only Alaskan Pollock for its fish items in the U.S.?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/mcdonalds-says-its-filet-o-fish-be-tagged-ecolabel-1B8101474

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