Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/amare-stoudemire-and-alexis-welch-tie-the-knot/
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Thursday, December 13, 2012
Resurrection of extinct enzymes reveals evolutionary strategy for the invention of new functions
Resurrection of extinct enzymes reveals evolutionary strategy for the invention of new functions
Wednesday, December 12, 2012How does evolution innovate? We exist because our ancestors have had the ability to adapt successfully to changes in their environment; however, merely examining present-day organisms can limit our understanding of the actual evolutionary processes because the crucial events have been masked by the passage of aeons ? what we need is a time machine. Scientists from VIB, KU Leuven, University of Ghent and Harvard have done the next-best thing; by reconstructing DNA and proteins from prehistoric yeast cells, they were able to directly examine the evolutionary forces that have acted over the last 100 million years to shape modern-day enzymes ? biological catalysts that enable organisms to manipulate molecules to their will.
The scientists set out to explore how new genes emerge, how they contribute to the survival of the evolving organism, and how, after a humble start, evolution then refines the function of new genes and hones the efficiency of the enzymes that they encode. One of the richest sources of such new genes is the chance duplication of existing genes. One copy of the gene can then continue to encode the original enzyme, allowing it to perform its original task, while the other is free to change and to perhaps take on a new function; alternatively, the two new enzymes might sub-divide the original task.
Although this pattern of innovation is known to have happened many thousands of times during evolution, the way in which it occurs hasn't been clear. In a paper published December 11 in the online Open Access journal PLOS Biology, Karin Voordeckers, Chris Brown and Kevin Verstrepen from VIB in Leuven, together with Steven Maere from VIB and the University of Ghent, tackled this problem, focusing their attention on the evolution of enzymes that have allowed yeast to exploit changing food sources over the last 100 million years of evolution.
The scientists 'resuscitated' ancestral yeast genes, allowing them to examine the properties of enzymes that existed tens of millions of years ago. The original enzyme originally enabled the yeast cells to survive on a diet of maltose, a common sugar, but duplications of their genes gave rise to new enzymes which opened up the possibility of feeding off other types of sugar in the environment. The resurrection of these enzymes meant that the scientist could build up a detailed picture of their atomic structure and directly determine their ability to break down different types of sugars. Armed with this information, they could work out exactly how the enzymes had changed their specificity and how evolution drove their optimisation.
"We used sequence reconstruction algorithms to predict the DNA sequence of ancestral genes from dozens of present-day DNA sequences. This enabled us to rebuild the corresponding ancestral proteins and compare them with those present today", said Steven Maere.
"We searched very specifically for how the yeast adapted to break down various sources of sugar. We found that the primal gene that codes for the protein for the digestion of maltose ? a sugar in grain ? was copied a number of times during evolution. The DNA of some copies changed slightly, resulting in new proteins that could break down different sugars. By modeling these changes in the corresponding proteins, we now understand how just a few changes in the DNA can lead to the development of a completely new activity in the corresponding proteins", said Karin Voordeckers.
"New functional DNA does not appear out of thin air, but is built up gradually from a copy of an existing segment of functional DNA. By reconstructing a piece of prehistoric DNA that was copied several times during evolution, we were able to investigate in detail which changes occur in each of the copies and gradually lead to new functions. As such, our results provide a unique and detailed view into the molecular details of Darwinian evolution" says Kevin Verstrepen.
The scientists propose that the events observed here in the yeast cell's quest for sugar may reflect a general strategy widely used for innovation in evolution.
###
Public Library of Science: http://www.plos.org
Thanks to Public Library of Science for this article.
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Why Do I Need Renters Insurance? | Bankrate.com
Whether it's a car, home, health or life, everyone will at some point need insurance. With that in mind, Bankrate sat down with some of the top experts in the insurance field to get their thoughts on the industry and what consumers need to know.
Madelyn Flannagan, Vice President of Educational Research and Agent Development, Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America:
Renters today don't typically buy renters insurance and they really need to know that the owner of the home or the apartment that they're living in doesn't cover their personal content and their personal liability. Renters insurance is fairly inexpensive. It can cover everything in your apartment as well as if somebody trips and falls in your apartment. So definitely, renters insurance is highly recommended.
Jim Whittle, Chief Claims Counsel, American Insurance Association:
You are not covering the apartment building, let's say. What you are really covering is liabilities that might occur if somebody would slip and fall on your property, your contents for example or anything down to as I understand it, in most instances, the sheetrock.
One of the ways that people can make sure they have got a good idea of what their contents are is to take a video or to write up a list on a piece of legal pad. Or using a sheet that is already prepared by most insurers that enables you to download it from their website and it enables you to tick off all of your contents. When you are looking through that list afterwards you might say wow that is a really nice piece of furniture. Or that is a really nice painting or this is some very nice jewelry. That may prompt you and you probably should then ask am I covered for these items.
To learn more or shop around for the best insurance rates, visit the insurance section at Bankrate.com.
Source: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/video/insurance/need-renters-insurance.aspx
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012
3 new research units, 1 new clinical research unit
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 12-Dec-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Marco Finetti
marco.finetti@dfg.de
49-228-885-2230
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
From the cultural difference to chronic lymphocytic leukemia
This press release is available in German.
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will fund three new Research Units and one new Clinical Research Unit. This was decided by the DFG Senate during its 2012 December meeting in Bonn. The purpose of the collaborations is to offer researchers the possibility to pursue current and pressing issues in their subject areas and to establish innovative work directions.
Like all DFG Research Units, the new units will be interdisciplinary and span multiple locations. They will pursue methodologically innovative approaches and ask fundamental questions in their respective disciplines.
The three new Research Units will receive approximately 5.3 million euros over the next three years; the DFG will thus fund a total of 189 Research Units. In the initial three-year funding period, the new Clinical Research Unit will receive approximately 2.1 million euros. The DFG is thus currently supporting a total of 31 Clinical Research Units.
The new units in detail (alphabetically sorted by host university):
The software of smartphones, navigation aids or driving assistance systems in cars is constantly evolving due to regular updates and is thus adapting to new situations and applications. The Research Unit "Controlling Concurrent Change (CCC)" will examine the challenges the independent software updates will face due to an increasingly openly interconnected future, and how these challenges can be met. The individual applications compete with each other for sufficient resources, as the integration of a variety of subsystems and applications on a computer platform creates ever more complex structures and relationships. This creates another problem, that is, how to avoid the adverse effects of specific updates or new installations on the whole computer system or other software programmes. The Research Unit will therefore look for ways of how to control the variety of updates of different software applications without side effects, and how to make computer platforms more robust to ensure proper functioning of different software subsystems.
(Spokesperson: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rolf Ernst, Technical University of Braunschweig)
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common type of leukemia in the Western world and characterised by an extremely heterogeneous course of disease. The trigger of CLL, which occurs at a higher age, is assumed to be the result of genetic changes that affect or switch off DNA repair mechanisms and thus also important tumour suppressor genes. The aim of the Clinical Research Unit "Exploiting Defects in the DNA Damage Response for the Treatment of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia" is to examine what changes occur in the DNA repair network at the molecular level that lead to chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The researchers hope that by identifying the molecular "weak points" they will better understand the reasons for the emergence of this form of leukemia. The aim of the research work is to explore new therapies for the disease, which is immune to conventional chemotherapy.
(Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Michael Hallek, University of Cologne)
The Research Unit "Un/doing Differences. Practices of Human Differentiation" will examine how cultural differences among people are created, superimposed or overruled. The study will focus on the boundaries that are drawn along languages, religions as well as ethnic or national characteristics and on the distinctions between individuals of a community. Under what conditions are distinctions made? When are differences actualised or neutralised? And what function does a division in human categories fulfil? The researchers hope to find possible answers to these questions by using a comparative research programme that thematically combines the differentiation cases examined individually in cultural sciences so far and couples empirical observation with analytical description.
(Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Stefan Hirschauer, University of Mainz)
Topics such as rearmament, construction of the welfare state, nuclear power and the peace movement triggered ethical controversies in the "old" Federal Republic between 1949 and 1989 that decisively shaped society. The Research Unit "Protestantism in the Ethical Debates of the Federal Republic of Germany 1949-1989" seeks to determine how and through what institutions Protestantism influenced these ethical discussions or was influenced by them. The aim of the study is to close the research void in the border area of Protestant theology, political science, law and history. The starting point is a programmatically open definition of Protestantism to meet the diverse standpoints of churches and individuals in ethical discussions. With their interdisciplinary approach, researchers intend to reappraise the socio-political contribution of Protestantism in Germany between 1949 and 1989, which has also been influential after German reunification.
(Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Christian Albrecht, University of Munich)
###
Further Information
Media contact:
DFG Press and Public Relations, Tel. 49-228-885-2443, presse@dfg.de.
More detailed information is provided by the spokespersons of the established Research Units.
For information on the DFG Research Units and Clinical Research Units also see: www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/programmes/coordinated_programmes.
[ | 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: 12-Dec-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Marco Finetti
marco.finetti@dfg.de
49-228-885-2230
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
From the cultural difference to chronic lymphocytic leukemia
This press release is available in German.
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will fund three new Research Units and one new Clinical Research Unit. This was decided by the DFG Senate during its 2012 December meeting in Bonn. The purpose of the collaborations is to offer researchers the possibility to pursue current and pressing issues in their subject areas and to establish innovative work directions.
Like all DFG Research Units, the new units will be interdisciplinary and span multiple locations. They will pursue methodologically innovative approaches and ask fundamental questions in their respective disciplines.
The three new Research Units will receive approximately 5.3 million euros over the next three years; the DFG will thus fund a total of 189 Research Units. In the initial three-year funding period, the new Clinical Research Unit will receive approximately 2.1 million euros. The DFG is thus currently supporting a total of 31 Clinical Research Units.
The new units in detail (alphabetically sorted by host university):
The software of smartphones, navigation aids or driving assistance systems in cars is constantly evolving due to regular updates and is thus adapting to new situations and applications. The Research Unit "Controlling Concurrent Change (CCC)" will examine the challenges the independent software updates will face due to an increasingly openly interconnected future, and how these challenges can be met. The individual applications compete with each other for sufficient resources, as the integration of a variety of subsystems and applications on a computer platform creates ever more complex structures and relationships. This creates another problem, that is, how to avoid the adverse effects of specific updates or new installations on the whole computer system or other software programmes. The Research Unit will therefore look for ways of how to control the variety of updates of different software applications without side effects, and how to make computer platforms more robust to ensure proper functioning of different software subsystems.
(Spokesperson: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rolf Ernst, Technical University of Braunschweig)
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common type of leukemia in the Western world and characterised by an extremely heterogeneous course of disease. The trigger of CLL, which occurs at a higher age, is assumed to be the result of genetic changes that affect or switch off DNA repair mechanisms and thus also important tumour suppressor genes. The aim of the Clinical Research Unit "Exploiting Defects in the DNA Damage Response for the Treatment of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia" is to examine what changes occur in the DNA repair network at the molecular level that lead to chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The researchers hope that by identifying the molecular "weak points" they will better understand the reasons for the emergence of this form of leukemia. The aim of the research work is to explore new therapies for the disease, which is immune to conventional chemotherapy.
(Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Michael Hallek, University of Cologne)
The Research Unit "Un/doing Differences. Practices of Human Differentiation" will examine how cultural differences among people are created, superimposed or overruled. The study will focus on the boundaries that are drawn along languages, religions as well as ethnic or national characteristics and on the distinctions between individuals of a community. Under what conditions are distinctions made? When are differences actualised or neutralised? And what function does a division in human categories fulfil? The researchers hope to find possible answers to these questions by using a comparative research programme that thematically combines the differentiation cases examined individually in cultural sciences so far and couples empirical observation with analytical description.
(Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Stefan Hirschauer, University of Mainz)
Topics such as rearmament, construction of the welfare state, nuclear power and the peace movement triggered ethical controversies in the "old" Federal Republic between 1949 and 1989 that decisively shaped society. The Research Unit "Protestantism in the Ethical Debates of the Federal Republic of Germany 1949-1989" seeks to determine how and through what institutions Protestantism influenced these ethical discussions or was influenced by them. The aim of the study is to close the research void in the border area of Protestant theology, political science, law and history. The starting point is a programmatically open definition of Protestantism to meet the diverse standpoints of churches and individuals in ethical discussions. With their interdisciplinary approach, researchers intend to reappraise the socio-political contribution of Protestantism in Germany between 1949 and 1989, which has also been influential after German reunification.
(Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Christian Albrecht, University of Munich)
###
Further Information
Media contact:
DFG Press and Public Relations, Tel. 49-228-885-2443, presse@dfg.de.
More detailed information is provided by the spokespersons of the established Research Units.
For information on the DFG Research Units and Clinical Research Units also see: www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/programmes/coordinated_programmes.
[ | 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/2012-12/df-tnr121212.php
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Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Report: 4 Lebanese killed in Syria-linked fighting
BEIRUT (AP) ? Lebanon's official news agency says four people have been killed in fighting in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between gunmen loyal to opposite sides in Syria's civil war.
The state-run National News Agency says 12 others were wounded in the clashes Sunday. Tripoli has been the scene of frequent sectarian clashes during the Syria civil war.
The fighting has sometimes spilled across Syria's borders, raising concerns of a regional war.
Last week the Lebanese army sent additional troops to Tripoli to try to prevent clashes that followed reports of 17 Lebanese men killed after entering Syria to fight alongside the mostly Sunni rebels. The Syrian rebels are trying to topple President Bashar Assad, whose regime is dominated by Alawites, an offshoot Shiite group.
Tripoli has sizeable Sunni and Alawite communities.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-4-lebanese-killed-syria-linked-fighting-141603631.html
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Thursday, November 1, 2012
Virginia Business - News: ESTATE PLANNING AND TRUSTS
Diane H. Acurso
Burdette Smith & Bish LLC
Fairfax
Michelle Lynn Calhoun
Brigham & Calhoun PC
Williamsburg
Claude W. Carmack
The Carmack Co.
Mechanicsville
Joseph R. Cobbe
Ford, Cobbe & Associates, CPAs, PC
Martinsville
Stephanie L. Cooker
Carmines, Robbins & Co. PLC
Newport News
Richard L. Dail
Cherry, Bekaert & Holland LLP
Virginia Beach
Thomas M. Denson III
Keiter
Glen Allen
Helene H. Downs
Hantzmon Wiebel LLP
Charlottesville
James VanMeter Duty
The Roseline Financial Group LLC
Richmond
Elaine Foster Farmer
Bowling, Franklin & Co. LLP
Fredericksburg
Janet R. Foote
Thompson, Greenspon & Co. PC
Fairfax
David L. Gaver
Watkins Meegan
Vienna
Elaine S. Gibberman
Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP
Newport News
Melvin R. Green
Craver, Green and Co.? PLC
Norfolk
Michael S. Haigh
Witt Mares PLC
Newport News
Nancy Jean Hall
Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer PC
Norfolk
Blaine W. Hegner
Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP
McLean
Shawn Matthew Howard
Thompson, Greenspon & Co. PC
Fairfax
Glenn Matthew Lankford
Hantzmon Wiebel LLP
Charlottesville
Kristen Marie Lavender
Kristen M. Lavender, CPA
Williamsburg
Cynthia Gail Legg
PBGH LLP
Warrenton
Katherine D. McDaniel
Harris, Harvey, Neal & Co. LLP
Danville
Lawrence W. Mckoy
Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP
Glen Allen
Nathan Richard Olansen
Rack & Olansen PC
Virginia Beach
Roger W. Overton
Homes, Lowry, Horn & Johnson Ltd.
Fairfax
Alvin A. Wall
Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer PC
Norfolk
Jack F. Wright Jr.
Anderson & Reed LLP
Roanoke
William A. Young Jr.
Mitchell Wiggins & Co. LLP
Petersburg
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Source: http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/news/article/estate-planning-and-trusts1/321638/
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Video: Minerals similar to Earth found on Mars
>>> well, nassau has compiled a first ever list of minerals found on another planet. the curiosity rover on mars finds the soil on the red planet remarkably similar to the volcanic sand found in hawaii. now, this discovery will help scientists figure out if our neighbor in the solar system could once have supported life.
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