CBS Sunday Morning is one of my favorite shows, and I set my DVR so I can watch it AND sleep in every weekend. It?s such a great show that covers so many topics. This last Sunday, there was a feature on ubiquitous fitness personality Jillian Michaels (click to watch it if you want to). It was about her many many DVDs, and fitness pills and potions she endorses, and how hard she?s worked to build her brand, and how ? despite what we see on The Biggest Loser ? Jillian Michaels is at heart, a misunderstood woman who takes the tough love method we see on television to heart because she once was a bigger teenager and knows tough love works.
I was fascinated by the story, but still somehow unmoved. I?m not meaning to disparage Jillian Michaels at all ? her DVDs and fitness books stay in the top 10 for a reason, but hers is not a journey I can personally relate to, and her method that has ever worked for me. My goal?isn?t?dramatic weight loss or physical reinvention. My goal is an overall improvement in my health and fitness. I completely disagree with yelling and using anger as a motivating tool in working out, that?doesn?t?inspire me at all. What does inspire me, is seeing real role models with real results that have come from consistently putting in work. No surgery. No pills. No crazy diet plans. Nothing unhealthy or extreme.
Top ? Erika of A Black Girl?s Guide to Weight Loss, bottom left Dr. Nina Ellis-Hervey, right Renisha James
I am inspired by women who I know, who have transformed themselves both externally and internally, with hard work and exercise and consistent effort. I am inspired by women who I know, who have managed to put fitness at the forefront of their lives despite the difficulties and demands of real life. Let me tell you about the three women who are my personal fitness inspirations, and hopefully they can inspire you too. Because of these ladies, I know my own fitness journey is possible if I dedicate myself to it.
Erika of A Black Girl?s Guide To Weight Loss.
When I first heard about Erika?s weight loss journey ? you can see it right at the top of her blog, first of all. And she did it all with consistent hard work and teaching herself healthier ways to eat. When I first heard about Erika?s weight loss journey, it seemed impossible. But she did it, without gimmicky diets or unhealthy exercise habits. Erika?isn?t?one who believes in fads or programs with fancy names. She?doesn?t?get caught up in crazes. Her blog tackles the psychological aspects of fitness and what it takes to dedicate yourself to changing your physique. A LOT of what she?s written about resonates with me, and her recipes are amazing! You can follow her on Twitter @BGG2WL and here?s her Facebook page. And she just started a YouTube channel which is as amazing as I expected it to be! Check her out there, and on Ebony.com!
Click here to visit her official site. And you can follow her @BGG2WL on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Dr. Nina Ellis-Hervey AKA ?Beautiful Brown Baby Doll? .
Anyone who?s managed to lose more than 100 pounds by changing their life to include a healthy diet and exercise gets major kudos from me, and not only has Dr. Nina Ellis-Hervey done that, she?s managed to keep the weight off and inspire others while doing it. She?s a force to be reckoned with. On Facebook she keeps her followers on track throughout the day by asking them what they?re eating and sharing positive messages. Her YouTube channel is vibrant, fun, touching and always honest and relatable. She tackles tough topics, like how to heal from unsupportive friends and family, and the difference in how the opposite sex treats her now. She?s not afraid to be emotionally honest about her experience, and I love that about her. Encouragement, positivity, and honesty!
Click here to visit her official site. And you can follow her @ButflBrwnBabyDoll on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
Renisha James of Renewed Fitness
Renisha is SUCH an inspiration to me on so many levels. I know her personally and have seen how fitness has transformed her life, her personality, and her outlook on the future. But that alone isn?t what has made her one of my fitness inspirations. Renisha didn?t have a dramatic weight loss story of her own, but making fitness and healthy living the focus of her life has taken her to some incredible places, and her life?s work is to inspire other people to be fit and healthy as well. From Renisha, I?ve learned how taking fitness seriously can change your personality for the better and make you a more focused, centered and confident person. I?ve worked out with Renisha, talked to her about my life and my own journey, and she?s really helped me to get my mind right about my health. Her blog is awesome and she?s about to star in French art film Bobby Seale Polyptych. Click here for details on that!
Click here to visit her official site. And you can follow her @RenewedFitness on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
My goals aren?t to?metamorphosize?into a different person, it?s just to take better care of this body that is my temple. Currently I am working out regularly with a personal trainer ? the awesome Jen Zea, who teaches classes at PhyziqueChicago.com.?When I work out with her, I feel positive, recharged, capable and BETTER.?The three women above inspire me to do better and try harder. It?s a journey, but I?m back on it. And I feel good about it!
Who are your biggest fitness inspirations?
Tags: exercise, Featured, fitness, full-image, health, health and fitness, inspiration, Inspiring Women
Mar. 28, 2013 ? Messier 77 is a galaxy in the constellation of Cetus, some 45 million light-years away from us. Also known as NGC 1068, it is one of the most famous and well-studied galaxies. It is a real star among galaxies, with more papers written about it than many other galaxies put together.
Despite its current fame and striking swirling appearance, the galaxy has been a victim of mistaken identity a couple of times; when it was initially discovered in 1780, the distinction between gas clouds and galaxies was not known, causing finder Pierre Mechain to miss its true nature and label it as a nebula. It was misclassified again when it was subsequently listed in the Messier Catalogue as a star cluster.
Now, however, it is firmly categorised as a barred spiral galaxy, with loosely wound arms and a relatively small central bulge. It is the closest and brightest example of a particular class of galaxies known as Seyfert galaxies -- galaxies that are full of hot, highly ionised gas that glows brightly, emitting intense radiation.
Strong radiation like this is known to come from the heart of Messier 77 -- caused by a very active black hole that is around 15 million times the mass of our Sun. Material is dragged towards this black hole and circles around it, heating up and glowing strongly. This region of a galaxy alone, although comparatively small, can be tens of thousands of times brighter than a typical galaxy.
Although no competition for the intense centre, Messier 77's spiral arms are also very bright regions. Dotted along each arm are knotty red clumps -- a signal that new stars are forming. These baby stars shine strongly, ionising nearby gas which then glows a deep red colour as seen in the image above. The dust lanes stretching across this image appear as a rusty, brown-red colour due to a phenomenon known as reddening; the dust absorbs more blue light than red light, enhancing its apparent redness.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chief Justice John Roberts, who spent the last two days presiding over high-profile oral arguments on gay marriage, has been a victim of credit card fraud, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Roberts' credit card problem was first reported by the Washington Post in a story that said the chief justice was heard talking about it in a suburban Maryland Starbucks on Tuesday morning. That was the day the court weighed the validity of Proposition 8, a California ban on gay marriage.
Roberts was again in the spotlight on Wednesday when the court weighed the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples for the purposes of federal benefits.
Kathy Arberg, the court spokeswoman, said Roberts had no comment on the incident.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Howard Goller and Todd Eastham)
The newly protected area ? the size of New York City ? connects several adjacent parks, making it one of the largest contiguous tiger habitats in the world.
By Douglas Main,?Our Amazing Planet / March 26, 2013
A tigress and her cub rest in India's Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary.
Vijay Kumar / WWF-India / LiveScience.com
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India has created a new protected area for tigers within a wildlife reserve in the south of the country.
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The area, part of the Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary, is home to about 25 tigers, according to a release from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a conservation group. This population of tigers rivals the size of some of India's better-known reserves, the statement said.
This will be the 42nd tiger reserve in the country, which is home to the largest population of tigers in the world. The 272-square-mile (705 square kilometers) protected area will help connect several adjacent parks, making it one of the largest continuous tiger habitats in the world, according to the WWF. The area is also home to elephants, leopards, hyenas and vultures.
For more than a decade, WWF-India has worked with local authorities in the state of Tamil Nadu (where the reserve is found) to support projects to counter poaching, improve communications via cellular phones and wireless networks, train forest rangers and monitor tigers, the statement said.
"The tiger is the national animal of India, and WWF congratulates the government for yet another important milestone in its conservation efforts that will make a tremendous contribution to the goal of conserving wild tigers and their natural habitats in the country," said Dipankar Ghose, of WWF-India, in the statement.
Tiger numbers have declined by about 95 percent in the last century across their entire historic range, and experts think there are only about 3,000 left in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Email Douglas Main?or follow him @Douglas_Main. Follow us?@OAPlanet, Facebook?or? Google+.Original article on LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
For years now Open Access news from the AAA has been nothing but one frustration after another, so it is great to finally have some unqualified good news:
The Society for Cultural Anthropology (a section of the American Anthropological Association) is excited to announce a groundbreaking publishing initiative. With the support of the AAA, the influential journal of the SCA,?Cultural Anthropology, will become available open access, freely available to everyone in the world. ?Starting with the first issue of 2014, CA will provide world-wide, instant, free (to the user), and permanent access to all of our content (as well as ten years of our back catalog).
Well, OK, maybe not completely unqualified? There was this:
we hope that you will continue to access CA by means of Anthrosource. The statistics these downloads generate continue to play an important part in the allocation of revenue, including to?Cultural Anthropology, and thus help subsidize this new publishing venture.
If they want us to use Anthrosource they are going to need to make it, you know, actually useful. Otherwise they should find some other way to allocate revenue.
P. Kerim Friedman is an associate professor in the Department of Ethnic Relations and Cultures at National Dong Hwa University, in Taiwan, where he teaches linguistic and visual anthropology. He is co-director of the film Please Don't Beat Me, Sir!, winner of the 2011 Jean Rouch Award from the Society of Visual Anthropology. Follow Kerim on Twitter.
Answering messages behind the wheel is as dangerous as being twice over the limitPublic release date: 13-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: SINC info@agenciasinc.es 34-914-251-820 FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
Scientists from various Australian universities in collaboration with the University of Barcelona have compared the effects of mobile use while driving with the effects of alcohol using a simulation. Their experiment demonstrates that using a handsfree kit or sending text messages is the same as being above the legal alcohol limit.
The Australian universities of Wollongong, Victoria, Swinburne of Technology, the Institute for breathing and sleep and the University of Barcelona have measured the reaction capacity behind the wheel of twelve healthy volunteers who participated in a driving simulation test lasting two days, each a week apart.
On the one hand, they took the test having consumed alcohol, and on the other, while using the mobile telephone. Habitual drinkers and those who had never consumed alcohol before the test were not allowed to participate.
"We conducted the study in Australia and the participants, who were volunteer students holding a driving licence, had to keep their position in the centre of the left lane on the screen at a speed of between 60 and 80 kilometres per hour, breaking every time a lorry appeared," as explained to SINC by Sumie Leung Shuk Man, co-author of the study published in the 'Traffic Injury Prevention' journal and researcher at the University of Barcelona.
By comparing the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) with the effects of mobile phone usage, they saw that when the telephone conversation required high cognitive demand or when answering a text message, the BAC test was above legal limits in Spain (0.5 gram/litre). Headphones and a microphone were used to simulate the handsfree effect.
Handsfree does not pass the test
"When the conversation using the handsfree was simple, the effects were comparable to a BAC level of 0.04 g/l, which is below the legal limit of 0.5 g/l in countries like Spain and Australia. However, when more attention was required, their alcohol level analogue shot up to 0.7 g/l, which is above the legal limit in both countries yet below in other countries, like the USA or the UK where up to 0.8 g/l is allowed. When answering text messages, the rate stood at 1 g/l, which is illegal in any of all of these countries," states the scientist.
The two different handsfree conversation levels studied are the equivalent to: a natural conversation in which the subject and the scientist speak about an interesting subject but as a way of passing the time; and a dialogue with more specific, cognitively demanding questions, such as "can you describe the car journey from your work to your house?" or "how many of your friends have names that begin with a vowel?".
"Our results suggest that the use of handsfree devices could also put drivers at risk. Although they should be allowed, they require more research to determine how they should be regulated and, of course, the thorough knowledge that national authorities should have regarding their pros and cons," concludes the expert.
###
References:
Sumie Leung, Rodney J. Croft, Melinda L. Jackson, Mark E. Howard y Raymond J. Mckenzie, "A Comparison of the Effect of Mobile Phone Use and Alcohol Consumption on Driving Simulation Performance", Traffic Injury Prevention 13 (6): 566-574, noviembre 2012. DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2012.683118.
[ | 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.
Answering messages behind the wheel is as dangerous as being twice over the limitPublic release date: 13-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: SINC info@agenciasinc.es 34-914-251-820 FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
Scientists from various Australian universities in collaboration with the University of Barcelona have compared the effects of mobile use while driving with the effects of alcohol using a simulation. Their experiment demonstrates that using a handsfree kit or sending text messages is the same as being above the legal alcohol limit.
The Australian universities of Wollongong, Victoria, Swinburne of Technology, the Institute for breathing and sleep and the University of Barcelona have measured the reaction capacity behind the wheel of twelve healthy volunteers who participated in a driving simulation test lasting two days, each a week apart.
On the one hand, they took the test having consumed alcohol, and on the other, while using the mobile telephone. Habitual drinkers and those who had never consumed alcohol before the test were not allowed to participate.
"We conducted the study in Australia and the participants, who were volunteer students holding a driving licence, had to keep their position in the centre of the left lane on the screen at a speed of between 60 and 80 kilometres per hour, breaking every time a lorry appeared," as explained to SINC by Sumie Leung Shuk Man, co-author of the study published in the 'Traffic Injury Prevention' journal and researcher at the University of Barcelona.
By comparing the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) with the effects of mobile phone usage, they saw that when the telephone conversation required high cognitive demand or when answering a text message, the BAC test was above legal limits in Spain (0.5 gram/litre). Headphones and a microphone were used to simulate the handsfree effect.
Handsfree does not pass the test
"When the conversation using the handsfree was simple, the effects were comparable to a BAC level of 0.04 g/l, which is below the legal limit of 0.5 g/l in countries like Spain and Australia. However, when more attention was required, their alcohol level analogue shot up to 0.7 g/l, which is above the legal limit in both countries yet below in other countries, like the USA or the UK where up to 0.8 g/l is allowed. When answering text messages, the rate stood at 1 g/l, which is illegal in any of all of these countries," states the scientist.
The two different handsfree conversation levels studied are the equivalent to: a natural conversation in which the subject and the scientist speak about an interesting subject but as a way of passing the time; and a dialogue with more specific, cognitively demanding questions, such as "can you describe the car journey from your work to your house?" or "how many of your friends have names that begin with a vowel?".
"Our results suggest that the use of handsfree devices could also put drivers at risk. Although they should be allowed, they require more research to determine how they should be regulated and, of course, the thorough knowledge that national authorities should have regarding their pros and cons," concludes the expert.
###
References:
Sumie Leung, Rodney J. Croft, Melinda L. Jackson, Mark E. Howard y Raymond J. Mckenzie, "A Comparison of the Effect of Mobile Phone Use and Alcohol Consumption on Driving Simulation Performance", Traffic Injury Prevention 13 (6): 566-574, noviembre 2012. DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2012.683118.
[ | 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.
If the Freelancer Fast 50 report for the end of 2012 tells us anything, it?s that employable skills in the cloud-based world of business are at the center of what hiring managers want.
?The Freelancer Fast 50 report is a fairly unique leading indicator of the online economy,? said Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer.com, which recently released its report after surveying some 261,000 job posted online ? companies in search of new blood.
Let?s look at the main points from the survey?s results.
Top Trends from Q4
Things are changing in the cloud. Internet traffic is up, but social networks are in flux. The online marketplace was anything but consistent, at year?s end.
But the good news about that is that independent workers are scooping up business opportunities, and the numbers and the percentage-shifts are, for the most part, not small.
Here?s what Freelancer?s report tells us about what?s happened.
??Website Hosting: Jobs skyrocketed over 3,300% to 4,059 jobs as businesses moved into the cloud. Many of these jobs involving the transfer of established websites to ?cloud servers, or they were related to companies throwing the switch and making cloud-hosted sites live for the first time.
??Software and Website Jobs:Quality assurance positions soared as eCommerce sites rushed to fortify themselves for holiday season traffic. Q4 saw a spike in software- and website-testing jobs, and software-testing jumped 2,500% to 5,200 jobs. Meanwhile, website-testing saw a 2,055% increase to 3,923 jobs.
??eBay Jobs: After 17 years in the online auction business, eBay rolled out a number of changes to its website and mobile application, including new branding. These changes, in combination with a pivot to a mobile-centric and small-business friendly focus, correlated with eBay jobs gaining 22% (to 1,790 jobs) for the quarter as it diversified its auction house into an e-commerce marketplace.
??Social Media and Internet Marketing:Jobs in this space may be experiencing a moment of contraction, in the wake of platform and search-index changes. According to the New York Times, only 14% of digital advertising budgets are currently allocated to social networking, and social-networking projects declined 5.1% (to 5,820 jobs). Both Facebook ? down 8.4% to 7,186 jobs ? and Twitter, down 6.4% to 2,240 jobs, seemed to feel a pinch. Internet marketing in general was flat ? down 1.4% to 15,244 jobs ? while SEO may still be reeling from the after-effects of Google?s Panda changes (down 3.3% to 10,159 jobs). Some marketers fell back to e-mail marketing, which ticked up 186% to 1,003 jobs.
Those are the numbers, and, of course, what might seem clear from Q4 is always subject to changes in the market place.
What?s currently certain is that most freelance workers with a tech-savvy portfolio are deep in this mix. Whatever the result for individual companies ? those seeking to impose or reinforce their presence in the marketplace ??2013 should still be a time when those seeking work will find it.
AAA??Mar. 12, 2013?3:48 AM ET Body of dead Indian rape defendant given to family AP
The mother of Ram Singh, the man accused of driving the bus on which a 23-year-old student was gang raped in December 2012, cries as she speaks to journalists outside the family's home in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 11, 2013. Indian police confirmed that Ram Singh, one of the men on trial for his alleged involvement in the gang rape and fatal beating of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus committed suicide in an Indian jail Monday, but his lawyer and family allege he was killed. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) INDIA OUT
The mother of Ram Singh, the man accused of driving the bus on which a 23-year-old student was gang raped in December 2012, cries as she speaks to journalists outside the family's home in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 11, 2013. Indian police confirmed that Ram Singh, one of the men on trial for his alleged involvement in the gang rape and fatal beating of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus committed suicide in an Indian jail Monday, but his lawyer and family allege he was killed. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) INDIA OUT
Mangelal Singh, the father of Ram Singh, the man accused of driving the bus on which a 23-year-old student was gang raped in December 2012, speaks to journalists as his mother weeps at the family's home in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 11, 2013. Indian police confirmed that Ram Singh, one of the men on trial for his alleged involvement in the gang rape and fatal beating of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus committed suicide in an Indian jail Monday, but his lawyer and family allege he was killed. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) INDIA OUT
The mother of Ram Singh, the man accused of driving the bus on which a 23-year-old student was gang raped in December 2012, cries as she speaks to journalists inside the family's home in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 11, 2013. Indian police confirmed that Ram Singh, one of the men on trial for his alleged involvement in the gang rape and fatal beating of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus committed suicide in an Indian jail Monday, but his lawyer and family allege he was killed.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup) INDIA OUT
Unidentified relatives of Ram Singh, the man accused of driving the bus on which the 23-year-old student was gang raped in December 2012, walk with Singh's mother outside the family's home in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 11, 2013. Indian police confirmed that Ram Singh, one of the men on trial for his alleged involvement in the gang rape and fatal beating of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus committed suicide in an Indian jail Monday, but his lawyer and family allege he was killed.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup) INDIA OUT
V.K. Anand, lawyer of Ram Singh, a man on trial for the gang rape and fatal beating of a 23-year-old student aboard a New Delhi bus addresses the media outside a hospital in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 11, 2013. Singh committed suicide in an Indian jail Monday, police said, but his lawyer and family allege he was killed. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)
NEW DELHI (AP) ? The body of a man who died in a New Delhi jail while in the midst of a trial for rape has been released to his family after a post-mortem exam.
Journalists outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences saw the body of Ram Singh loaded onto an ambulance and taken away accompanied by his family.
The 33-year-old was found dead in his cell at Tihar Jail early Monday. Authorities say he killed himself, but his family says he was killed.
Singh was on trial for the gang rape and fatal beating of a woman on a New Delhi bus. Four other men and a juvenile remain on trial for the attack, which horrified India.
A magistrate is investigating Singh's death.
Associated Press People, Places and Companies: India
Cathy and Katherine threw a wonderful baby shower for us at my house for the Hale family.? We were once again totally spoiled by everyone's generosity!
All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2012 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2012 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.
Melissa King, the now-former Miss Teen Delaware who resigned after a sex tape emerged featuring a woman who bears her resemblance, is (perhaps unknowingly) enjoying what may be one of the highest sustained search term lookup rates in history.
According to this blogger?s test using Google Trends, ?Melissa King? as a search term out-performs Rand Paul, Miley Cyrus, and even Kate Middleton. Ms. King?s search intensity zoomed from 0 on February 24th, to 75 on February 27th, and then 77 on February 28th. And while her numbers haven?t hit the 100 mark, they have not dipped to below 20 as of this writing on March 8th.
Even Lindsay Lohan, who?s always in the news it seems, thanks to TMZ, is at just an 8 ? though it?s a consistent number. And Paris Hilton? She hovers between 6 and 7.
And if you?re wondering who Melissa King is, this video will help:
The high search performance rate of ?Melissa King? is sustained because of Worldwide search for online copies of her sex tape. Reportedly, a woman who looks like Melissa King, 18, agreed to make a porn tape of her having sex with an unidentified man (the video producers even blurred his face) for money. In the video, the woman who look like King admits that she participates in beauty contests ? a sure-fire connection to Ms. King. When the sex tape surfaced on the blog Gawker, King said it wasn?t her, but resigned from being Miss Teen Delaware.
Melissa King Over Jessica Dorrell
Melissa King?s search numbers are also over that for Jessica Dorrell, the now-former University Of Arkansas student and employee who had an affair with then-Football Head Coach Bobby Petrino, but that?s according to Google?s new search evaluation system; the old one had Dorrell reaching a 100 level. Indeed, the new system reports numbers in the 70s for King, but when the search term time frame is expanded to the last 12 months, it?s rounded to 100, versus 50 for Dorrell.
(And now, when I re-ran the query, the numbers jumped to 98 and 100 for Melissa King, where they were 75 and 77 before ? wild.)
What?s fueling King?s constant celebrity is the seemingly all-too-easy ability to look at the sex tape. I?ve never seen an environment that has allowed this kind of easy access ? but no, I?ll not link to it.
Given that, and this is just a hypothesis, versions of King?s sex tape has been seen about 20 million times Worldwide. The evidence is clear, if you want to gain instant celebrity, make a sex tape. But, all kidding aside, that Melissa King was already a beauty queen and did that, just fueled the demand to see the video all the more.
Just what this says about our society is for discussion, but this blogger prediction made a few years ago that society was going to get tired of seeing this and the search numbers would decrease, has come to be totally wrong thus far.
Stay tuned.
Please donate to Zennie62, so we can add more blog authors and cover more events. Special requests: zennie@zennie62.com
Gartner analysts are examining the key issues facing the BI market during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, which is taking place here through Friday.
"With the increase in information generated, business models need reinvention, and it's increasingly clear that mastering analytics on big data sets will be a key driver for the next economic cycle," said Dan Sommer, principal research analyst at Gartner. "There is still a lot of mileage in the market, but most of it will come from opportunities outside of the IT-department. In the near-term, areas such as in-memory, data discovery and off-the-shelf analytics from software and service providers will drive the trend of business-focussed buying. Longer term, mobility, cloud, social and information will be channels to help unlock a whole new set of users and use-cases."
BI software revenue in MENA is projected to grow to $260m by the end of 2016. BI will remain one of the fastest growing software markets, despite sluggish economic growth in some regions, as organizations continue to turn to BI as a vital tool for smarter, more agile and efficient business.
"As Western Europe is overbought and Eastern Europe stutters, the larger software companies in EMEA are looking at the the Middle East region," Mr. Sommer said. "However, this is a region where the supplier landscape is closely tied to service providers, who also have a key role in vendor selection. The ability to connect to world-class skills is as important as the product."
Big Data
BI efforts flourish with large datasets. The larger the dataset, the easier it is to uncover hidden subtle patterns and trends and, therefore, opportunities that are likely to evade the competition. BI derived from big data is crucial to business competition and will depend on the evolution of BI competencies and data warehouse architectures.
"It's not just traditional BI performed on bigger datasets," said Mr. Sommer. "It also tackles data variety, velocity and complexity. The business requirement to conquer and mine big data is here to stay for most enterprises, and it will increasingly become a C-level priority."
Advanced analytics
While BI serves a distinct purpose for sharing, summarising and manually exploring data and metrics, more advanced analytics can aid and even automate decision-making. Pending a convergence of these capabilities, Gartner advises organizations to consider BI and advanced analytics distinctly from one another, recognizing the advantages and unique use cases of each.
The mainstream organizations are already moving from measuring and describing the past to analysing why things happen. The area of true differentiation will now be predicting what is likely to happen and optimizing what should happen based on an increasingly varied set of data sources and types. The addition of mobile, social and collaborative technologies to advanced analytics tools will give a broader set of users insight for decision making when and where they need it.
"Globally, only one in 10 organizations have mature programmes in place for predictive and prescriptive use-cases. The technology is already there. Lack of skills is the biggest bottleneck for achieving success," said Mr. Sommer
Gartner's forecast for BI software revenue is available in the report "Forecast: Enterprise Software Markets, Worldwide, 2009-2016, 4Q12 Update.
Gartner analysts are examining key industry topics and providing insights at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo.
Those who want to use an unlocked iPhone 5 in the US beyond AT&T have had relatively few places to go for an exodus, T-Mobile and Straight Talk usually being the two carriers on the short list. It's time to add a third: Solavei is now carrying nano-SIMs for its T-Mobile-based virtual network. There's not much mystery to what's involved after that, since you're still getting the singular, all-unlimited $49 plan and no guarantee of 3G when even T-Mobile's own spectrum refarming is still young. If you can live with those potential caveats for the sake of network and contract independence, Solavei is waiting.
South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is ready for the NFL.? But thanks to an NFL rule aimed at protecting the free farm system known as college football, he can?t join the NFL until he is three years removed from high school.
Clowney, who reportedly ran the 40 recently in 4.5 seconds (or maybe it was a 4.19), tells Tom Rinaldi of ESPN that Clowney never considered taking 2013 off to protect his body for the next level.
?My mom was the first person to call me, and was like, ?I hope you ain?t talking about doing nothing crazy like this.?? I?m not gonna do that.? Nobody would like me here in South Carolina,? Clowney said, laughing.
?I?m not leaving school.? I don?t really think I?m taking a big risk.? You can get hurt anywhere.? I can get in a car accident any given day outside of playing football.? I can trip off a curb and tear my ACL.? Anything can happen to you.? It don?t matter where you at you can get hurt.? You can get hurt at your own house, fall, trip and fall.? I?ve been doing this since I was five years old, playing football.? If it?s my time to get hurt, it?s my time to get hurt.? I?m just gonna play like I?ve been playing.?
He?s right, but the normal, everyday risk of injury is slightly higher when playing major college football.? And the point was, is, and will be that, for a guy who isn?t getting paid and who is playing football to ultimately get paid, playing for free when he?s already at a point where he?d enter the NFL at the top of the draft pool creates a grossly unnecessary risk.
We like Clowney?s attitude.? But most kids that age would feel that way.? Clowney, and everyone else in his position, needs someone who understands the real risks to give him objective advice that takes into account the player?s best interests, and no one else?s.
We won?t hold our breath, or any other bodily function, waiting for his head coach to have that conversation with him.? And that?s not a specific rip on Steve Spurrier.
We?d be shocked if any Division I head coach would give advice to a player that makes the coach?s team weaker in the coming season.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Lawmakers are pushing for tougher U.S. financial restrictions on North Korea even as the U.N. Security Council moves closer to a new resolution tightening international sanctions in response to Pyongyang's latest nuclear test.
The U.S. is expected to present a draft resolution to the council Tuesday, after reaching agreement with China following three weeks of deliberations on how to respond to the North's third atomic test, U.N. diplomats said.
That's a sign of Beijing's disapproval of its troublesome ally's behavior and will be welcomed in Washington. The text of the resolution has not been made public, but there has been speculation the U.N.'s most powerful body could move to toughen financial restrictions and cargo inspections, as well as blacklisting more companies and individuals.
Earlier Tuesday, North Korea's military vowed to cancel the 1953 Korean War cease-fire, saying Washington and others are going beyond mere economic sanctions and expanding into blunt aggression and military acts. The Korean People's Army Supreme Command also warned that it will block a communications line at the border village separating the two Koreas.
In the U.S., the foreign affairs panels of both houses of Congress will consider the Obama administration's next policy options to impede Pyongyang's development of missile and nuclear weapons that are increasingly viewed as a direct threat to the United States.
On Tuesday, the Republican-led House foreign affairs panel will examine how criminal activities support North Korea's authoritarian regime. That could buttress the case for leveraging the vast reach of the U.S. financial system to pressure international banks that deal with the North.
North Korea long has been believed to have derived hundreds of millions of dollars a year from criminal activities such as counterfeiting of cigarettes and U.S. currency, drug trafficking and insurance scams. Its sales of missiles and conventional weaponry are also outlawed under existing U.N. resolutions.
Targeted U.S. financial sanctions have been tried before and have had a significant impact but upset China, the North's main source of economic support and the country where it conducts most of its trade and financial transactions. The U.S. wants Beijing to exert more pressure on North Korea, and China's willingness to agree to more U.N sanctions shows its patience is wearing thin. It remains to be seen, however, whether diplomatic action on more sanctions translates into their implementation on the ground.
There is deep frustration in Congress over the international diplomatic efforts aimed at persuading Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for aid. The talks, hosted by China, have been stalled since 2009. A U.S. attempt to offer food aid in exchange for nuclear concessions last year fell flat.
New North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has adopted a confrontational approach toward Washington, although he did deign to meet last week with former professional basketball star Dennis Rodman.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce said that since the Bill Clinton administration, U.S. policy toward North Korea has been a "bipartisan failure" based on the hope that North Korea would do the right thing.
The California Republican said Tuesday's hearing "will identify the best strategy for cutting off North Korea's access to hard currency in order to see real change."
Sung-Yoon Lee, professor of Korea studies at Tufts University, who was scheduled to testify, said the North's "shadowy palace economy" makes the Kim regime vulnerable to actions targeting money laundering. He suggests the Treasury Department require American banks to restrict their dealings with foreign individuals, banks, entities and even entire governments that are linked to North Korea's government.
"The Obama administration has apparently not decided on this approach, but the political climate is conducive to trying something like it," Lee said.
Marcus Noland, an expert on North Korea's economy at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the North's illicit activities continue, although their overall importance for the North's economy has declined as its international trade, particularly with China, has grown sharply. China accounts for 70 percent to 80 percent of North Korea's trade and totaled more than $7 billion in 2011.
In a rough estimate, Noland estimated that arms and illicit exports accounted for just under 10 percent of the merchandise the North traded in 2011, compared with more than 30 percent in 1999, when the economy was at a low point after years of famine. International interdiction efforts have also impeded the illicit trade, he said.
The North's improved financial standing could help explain its recent provocative behavior in conducting rocket and nuclear tests.
"If you are running a surplus and China is in your corner and won't implement U.N. embargos, then you can be provocative," Noland said. "But North Korea is heavily dependent on China, particularly for energy, and if China changes policy and literally cuts off the pipeline, then they're in real trouble."
In 2005, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Banco Delta Asia, a bank in the Chinese territory of Macau which held about $25 million in North Korean funds. Treasury accused the bank of introducing counterfeit notes and laundering funds on behalf of North Korean enterprises linked to weapons of mass destruction programs.
The 2005 action caused a ripple effect among other banks worried about being closed out of the international financial system. Yet the sanction annoyed Beijing ? as well as enraging Pyongyang ? and proved complicated to undo when nuclear negotiations with North Korea finally got back on track.
The U.S. could also target the North's shipping by declaring the country a criminal enterprise, making vessels carrying its goods difficult to insure and subject to search and seizure, Noland said.
____
Associated Press writer Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
Mar. 3, 2013 ? A study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has discovered mutations in two genes that lead to the death of nerve cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and related degenerative diseases.
The same mutation occurred in both genes and led to the abnormal build-up of the proteins inside cells. These proteins play an essential role in normal RNA functioning and have also been linked to cancer, including the Ewing sarcoma, the second most common type of bone cancer in children and adolescents. The finding is the latest in a series of discoveries suggesting degenerative diseases and cancer may have common origins. RNA is the molecule that directs protein assembly based on instructions carried in DNA.
The study also adds to evidence that seemingly unrelated neurodegenerative diseases may involve similar defects in RNA metabolism. Researchers linked the problems to a specific region of the mutated proteins whose normal function was unclear. The study was published today in the advanced online edition of the scientific journal Nature.
"I hope this study helps to build the foundation for desperately needed treatments for ALS and perhaps a broad range of diseases caused by abnormal RNA metabolism," said J. Paul Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., an associate member of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology and senior author of the study. Taylor and James Shorter, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the biochemistry and biophysics department at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, are the study's corresponding authors.
Each year approximately 5,600 people in the U.S. are found to have ALS. The disease is nearly always fatal, often within five years. Patients suffer muscle wasting and paralysis that affects their limbs and trunk as well as their ability to talk, swallow and breathe. There is no cure.
For this project, St. Jude sequenced just the portion of the genome called the exome, which carries instructions for making proteins. Researchers sequenced the exomes of two families affected by rare inherited degenerative disorders that target cells in the muscle, bone and brain. Neither family carried mutations previously tied to ALS or related diseases. The project built on the infrastructure developed by the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital -- Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project, which played an important role in finding the mutations.
Researchers found the families carried a single, previously unknown mutation in a pair of RNA-binding proteins named hnRNPA2B1 and hnRNPA1. The proteins both bind RNA and help regulate its function. When researchers checked for the same mutations in 517 ALS patients they found hnRNPA1 protein mutated in two patients. One patient had the inherited form of ALS. The other ALS patient had no family history of the disease.
The new mutations occurred in a region of the proteins Taylor refers to as a prion-like domain because it has similarities with yeast proteins called prions. Prions are proteins that can alternate between shapes as needed for different functions. "Until recently we did not know these domains existed in humans and now we realize that hundreds of human proteins have them," Taylor said. "We're only beginning to understand their function in human cells."
Researchers showed the prion-like domains are responsible for the shape change that occurs when these proteins convert into slender threads called fibrils. The mutations accelerate fibril formation and recruit normal proteins to form fibrils. This phenomenon called propagation may explain how ALS and related diseases spread throughout the nervous system.
Taylor speculated that the normal function of prion-like domains is to assemble RNAs into temporary structures called granules, which are part of the cell's normal protein production machinery. Granules are normally short lived, and the RNA-binding proteins involved in their formation are recycled. But in cells with hnRNPA2B1 or hnRNPA1 mutation, RNA granules accumulated in the cytoplasm instead of being disassembled. "That's bad news for RNA regulation, which is bad news for those cells," Taylor said.
The study has several important implications, Taylor said. Recognition that the mutations adversely impact regulation of RNA could lead to targeted therapy to correct the problem. The mutation's location in the prion-like domain might also prove significant. Although the mutations in hnRNPA2B1 or hnRNPA1 appear to be rare, hundreds of other RNA-binding proteins have prion-like domains. Taylor said patients with unexplained neurodegenerative diseases may have mutations in these proteins.
The study's first authors are Hong Joo Kim, Nam Chul Kim, Yong-Dong Wang and Jennifer Moore, all of St. Jude; and Emily Scarborough and Zamia Diaz, both of the University of Pennsylvania. The other authors are Kyle MacLea and Eric Ross, both of Colorado State University; Brian Freibaum, Songqing Li, Amandine Molliex, Anderson Kanagaraj and Robert Carter, all of St. Jude; Kevin Boylan, Aleksandra Wojtas and Rosa Rademakers, all of the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla.; Jack Pinkus and Steven Greenberg, both of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; John Trojanowski, Bradley Smith, Yun Li and Alice Flynn Ford, all of the University of Pennsylvania; Bryan Traynor, of the National Institute of Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.; Simon Topp, Athina-Soragia Gkazi, Jack Miller and Christopher Shaw, all of the Institute of Psychiatry, London; Michael Kottlors and Janbernd Kirschner, both of University Children's Hospital Freiburg, Germany; Alan Pestronk and Conrad Weihl, both of the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis; Aaron Gitler, Stanford University School of Medicine; Michael Benatar, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; Oliver King, Boston Biomedical Research Institute, Watertown, Mass.; and Virginia Kimonis, University of California-Irvine.
The research was supported in part by the Packard Foundation, by grants (NS053825, AG032953, DP2OD002177 and NS067354) from the National Institutes of Health, the ALS Association, the Ellison Medical Foundation, a grant (MCB-1023771) from the National Science Foundation and ALSAC.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
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Hong Joo Kim, Nam Chul Kim, Yong-Dong Wang, Emily A. Scarborough, Jennifer Moore, Zamia Diaz, Kyle S. MacLea, Brian Freibaum, Songqing Li, Amandine Molliex, Anderson P. Kanagaraj, Robert Carter, Kevin B. Boylan, Aleksandra M. Wojtas, Rosa Rademakers, Jack L. Pinkus, Steven A. Greenberg, John Q. Trojanowski, Bryan J. Traynor, Bradley N. Smith, Simon Topp, Athina-Soragia Gkazi, Jack Miller, Christopher E. Shaw, Michael Kottlors, Janbernd Kirschner, Alan Pestronk, Yun R. Li, Alice Flynn Ford, Aaron D. Gitler, Michael Benatar, Oliver D. King, Virginia E. Kimonis, Eric D. Ross, Conrad C. Weihl, James Shorter, J. Paul Taylor. Mutations in prion-like domains in hnRNPA2B1 and hnRNPA1 cause multisystem proteinopathy and ALS. Nature, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nature11922
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Biking down to the store to pick up a two liter of soda is one thing. Bombing down a steep street at full speed, throwing all caution to the wind is another, and Marcelo Gutierrez is a pro at it. This is is winning run from the recent Valparaiso Urban Downhill competition, and it's enough to make your palms sweat. Good job Marcelo, but next time I want to see some unicycling. [Reddit] More »
Researchers discover how to shutdown cancer's powerful master proteinPublic release date: 3-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lauren Woods Law2014@med.cornell.edu 646-317-7401 Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell research offers patients hope for new treatments for an aggressive and common lymphoma
NEW YORK (March 3, 2013) -- The powerful master regulatory transcription factor called Bcl6 is key to the survival of a majority of aggressive lymphomas, which arise from the B-cells of the immune system. The protein has long been considered too complex to target with a drug since it is also crucial to the healthy functioning of many immune cells in the body, not just B cells gone bad.
But now, in the journal Nature Immunology, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College report that it is possible to shut down Bcl6 in the cancer, known as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), while not affecting its vital function in T cells and macrophages that are needed to support a healthy immune system.
"The finding comes as a very welcome surprise," says the study's lead investigator, Dr. Ari Melnick, Gebroe Family Professor of Hematology/Oncology and director of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical and Physical Sciences at Weill Cornell.
"This means the drugs we have developed against Bcl6 are more likely to be significantly less toxic and safer for patients with this cancer than we realized," says Dr. Melnick, who is also a hematologist-oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
If Bcl6 is completely inhibited, patients might suffer from systemic inflammation and atherosclerosis. Weill Cornell researchers conducted this new study to help clarify possible risks, as well as to understand how Bcl6 controls the various aspects of the immune system.
DLBCL is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma -- the seventh most frequently diagnosed cancer -- and many of these patients are resistant to currently available treatments.
"Scientists have been searching for the right answer to treat this difficult lymphoma, which, after initial treatment, can be at high risk of relapse and resistant to current therapies," Dr. Melnick says. "Believing that Bcl6 could not be targeted, some researchers have been testing alternative therapeutic approaches. This study strongly supports the notion of using Bcl6-targeting drugs."
In fact, the findings in this study were inspired from preclinical testing of two Bcl6-targeting agents that Dr. Melnick and his Weill Cornell colleagues have developed to treat DLBCLs. These experimental drugs are RI-BPI, a peptide mimic, and the small molecule agent 79-6.
Dr. Melnick says the discovery that a master regulatory transcription factor can be targeted offers implications beyond just treating DLBCL. Recent studies from Dr. Melnick and others have revealed that Bcl6 plays a key role in the most aggressive forms of acute leukemia, as well as certain solid tumors.
Transcription factors are responsible for either inhibiting or promoting the expression of genes, and master regulatory transcription factors are the equivalent of the CPU of a computer their actions regulate thousands of genes in different kinds of cells. For example, Bcl6 can control the type of immune cell that develops in the bone marrow -- playing many roles in the development of B cells, T cells, macrophages and other cells -- including a primary and essential role in enabling B-cells to generate specific antibodies against pathogens.
"When cells lose control of Bcl6, lymphomas develop in the immune system. Lymphomas are 'addicted' to Bcl6, and therefore Bcl6 inhibitors powerfully and quickly destroy lymphoma cells," Dr. Melnick says.
The big surprise in the current study is that rather than functioning as a single molecular machine, Bcl6 instead seems to function more like a Swiss Army knife, using different tools to control different cell types. This multi-function paradigm could represent a general model for the functioning of other master regulatory transcription factors.
"In this analogy, the Swiss Army knife, or transcription factor, keeps most of its tools folded, opening only the one it needs in any given cell type," Dr. Melnick says. "For B cells, it might open and use the knife tool; for T cells, the cork screw; for macrophages, the scissors. The amazing thing from a medical standpoint is that this means that you only need to prevent the master regulator from using certain tools to treat cancer. You don't need to eliminate the whole knife," he says. "In fact, we show that taking out the whole knife is harmful since the transcription factor has many other vital functions that other cells in the body need."
Prior to these study results, it was not known that a master regulator could separate its functions so precisely.
"Now we know we can take out a specific tool -- to shut down a specific part of the protein -- that causes the disease we want to treat."
Researchers hope this will be a major benefit to the treatment of DLBCL and perhaps other disorders that are influenced by Bcl6 and other master regulatory transcription factors.
###
Study co-authors include Dr. Chuanxin Huang and Dr. Katerina Chatzi from the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Weil Cornell Medical College.
The research was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute, The Burroughs Wellcome Foundation and the Chemotherapy Foundation. The research was initially supported by a March of Dimes Scholar Award and facilitated by the Sackler Center for Biomedical and Physical Sciences at Weill Cornell.
The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical and Physical Sciences
The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical and Physical Sciences of Weill Cornell Medical College brings together a multidisciplinary team of scientists for the purpose of catalyzing major advances in medicine. By harnessing the combined power of experimental approaches rooted in the physical and biological sciences, Sackler Center investigators can best accelerate the pace of discovery and translate these findings for the benefit of patients with various medical conditions, including but not limited to cancer.
Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research from bench to bedside, aimed at unlocking mysteries of the human body in health and sickness and toward developing new treatments and prevention strategies. In its commitment to global health and education, Weill Cornell has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the Medical College is the first in the U.S. to offer its M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances -- including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where its faculty provides comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Medical College is also affiliated with the Methodist Hospital in Houston. For more information, visit weill.cornell.edu.
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Researchers discover how to shutdown cancer's powerful master proteinPublic release date: 3-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lauren Woods Law2014@med.cornell.edu 646-317-7401 Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell research offers patients hope for new treatments for an aggressive and common lymphoma
NEW YORK (March 3, 2013) -- The powerful master regulatory transcription factor called Bcl6 is key to the survival of a majority of aggressive lymphomas, which arise from the B-cells of the immune system. The protein has long been considered too complex to target with a drug since it is also crucial to the healthy functioning of many immune cells in the body, not just B cells gone bad.
But now, in the journal Nature Immunology, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College report that it is possible to shut down Bcl6 in the cancer, known as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), while not affecting its vital function in T cells and macrophages that are needed to support a healthy immune system.
"The finding comes as a very welcome surprise," says the study's lead investigator, Dr. Ari Melnick, Gebroe Family Professor of Hematology/Oncology and director of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical and Physical Sciences at Weill Cornell.
"This means the drugs we have developed against Bcl6 are more likely to be significantly less toxic and safer for patients with this cancer than we realized," says Dr. Melnick, who is also a hematologist-oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
If Bcl6 is completely inhibited, patients might suffer from systemic inflammation and atherosclerosis. Weill Cornell researchers conducted this new study to help clarify possible risks, as well as to understand how Bcl6 controls the various aspects of the immune system.
DLBCL is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma -- the seventh most frequently diagnosed cancer -- and many of these patients are resistant to currently available treatments.
"Scientists have been searching for the right answer to treat this difficult lymphoma, which, after initial treatment, can be at high risk of relapse and resistant to current therapies," Dr. Melnick says. "Believing that Bcl6 could not be targeted, some researchers have been testing alternative therapeutic approaches. This study strongly supports the notion of using Bcl6-targeting drugs."
In fact, the findings in this study were inspired from preclinical testing of two Bcl6-targeting agents that Dr. Melnick and his Weill Cornell colleagues have developed to treat DLBCLs. These experimental drugs are RI-BPI, a peptide mimic, and the small molecule agent 79-6.
Dr. Melnick says the discovery that a master regulatory transcription factor can be targeted offers implications beyond just treating DLBCL. Recent studies from Dr. Melnick and others have revealed that Bcl6 plays a key role in the most aggressive forms of acute leukemia, as well as certain solid tumors.
Transcription factors are responsible for either inhibiting or promoting the expression of genes, and master regulatory transcription factors are the equivalent of the CPU of a computer their actions regulate thousands of genes in different kinds of cells. For example, Bcl6 can control the type of immune cell that develops in the bone marrow -- playing many roles in the development of B cells, T cells, macrophages and other cells -- including a primary and essential role in enabling B-cells to generate specific antibodies against pathogens.
"When cells lose control of Bcl6, lymphomas develop in the immune system. Lymphomas are 'addicted' to Bcl6, and therefore Bcl6 inhibitors powerfully and quickly destroy lymphoma cells," Dr. Melnick says.
The big surprise in the current study is that rather than functioning as a single molecular machine, Bcl6 instead seems to function more like a Swiss Army knife, using different tools to control different cell types. This multi-function paradigm could represent a general model for the functioning of other master regulatory transcription factors.
"In this analogy, the Swiss Army knife, or transcription factor, keeps most of its tools folded, opening only the one it needs in any given cell type," Dr. Melnick says. "For B cells, it might open and use the knife tool; for T cells, the cork screw; for macrophages, the scissors. The amazing thing from a medical standpoint is that this means that you only need to prevent the master regulator from using certain tools to treat cancer. You don't need to eliminate the whole knife," he says. "In fact, we show that taking out the whole knife is harmful since the transcription factor has many other vital functions that other cells in the body need."
Prior to these study results, it was not known that a master regulator could separate its functions so precisely.
"Now we know we can take out a specific tool -- to shut down a specific part of the protein -- that causes the disease we want to treat."
Researchers hope this will be a major benefit to the treatment of DLBCL and perhaps other disorders that are influenced by Bcl6 and other master regulatory transcription factors.
###
Study co-authors include Dr. Chuanxin Huang and Dr. Katerina Chatzi from the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Weil Cornell Medical College.
The research was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute, The Burroughs Wellcome Foundation and the Chemotherapy Foundation. The research was initially supported by a March of Dimes Scholar Award and facilitated by the Sackler Center for Biomedical and Physical Sciences at Weill Cornell.
The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical and Physical Sciences
The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical and Physical Sciences of Weill Cornell Medical College brings together a multidisciplinary team of scientists for the purpose of catalyzing major advances in medicine. By harnessing the combined power of experimental approaches rooted in the physical and biological sciences, Sackler Center investigators can best accelerate the pace of discovery and translate these findings for the benefit of patients with various medical conditions, including but not limited to cancer.
Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research from bench to bedside, aimed at unlocking mysteries of the human body in health and sickness and toward developing new treatments and prevention strategies. In its commitment to global health and education, Weill Cornell has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the Medical College is the first in the U.S. to offer its M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances -- including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where its faculty provides comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Medical College is also affiliated with the Methodist Hospital in Houston. For more information, visit weill.cornell.edu.
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Public release date: 13-Mar-2013
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It is the era of the online-market independent.
Melissa King, the now-former Miss Teen Delaware who resigned after a sex tape emerged featuring a woman who bears her resemblance, is (perhaps unknowingly) enjoying what may be one of the highest sustained search term lookup rates in history. 
