Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/302591310?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Syrian prime minister escapes bombing in Damascus
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? Syria's prime minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in the heart of the heavily defended capital Monday, state media said, laying bare the vulnerability of President Bashar Assad's regime.
The bombing, which killed several other people, highlights an accelerating campaign targeting government officials, from mid-level civil servants to the highest echelons of the Syrian regime.
State television said Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was not hurt in the bombing, which struck his convoy as it drove through the posh Mazzeh neighborhood ? home to embassies, government officials and business elites with close ties to the regime. Footage of the scene broadcast on state TV showed the charred hulks of cars and the burnt-out shell of a bus in a street littered with rubble.
The attack on al-Halqi punctuated a series of attacks on government officials in recent weeks. On April 18, gunmen shot dead the head of public relations at the Ministry of Social Affairs while he dined at a Mazzeh restaurant. A day later, a Syrian army colonel was killed in Damascus, and five days after that a bomb killed an official from the Electricity Ministry.
Then there are the larger attacks that have shaken the regime to its core.
Last month, a suicide bombing at a Damascus mosque killed Sheik Mohammad Said Ramadan al-Buti, a leading Sunni Muslim preacher and outspoken supporter of Assad. That followed a blast last July that killed four top regime officials, including Assad's brother-in-law and the defense minister, at the Syrian national security building in the capital.
Eager to assure the public that al-Halqi survived Monday's attack, the state-run Al-Ikhbariya station said the prime minister attended a regular weekly meeting with an economic committee immediately after the bombing. The station broadcast video of al-Halqi sitting at a table with several other officials.
Later, in its evening news program, state TV showed video of al-Halqi denouncing the attack, calling it a "terrorist and criminal act" and wishing the wounded a speedy recovery.
A government official said two people were killed and 11 wounded in the blast, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group put the death toll at five, including two of al-Halqi's bodyguards and one of the drivers in his convoy.
The government official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements to reporters.
The bombings and assassinations are part of the wider violence wracking Syria as the nation's conflict enters its third year. The crisis began with largely peaceful anti-government protests in March 2011, but has since morphed into a civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people, according to the United Nations.
State TV quoted Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi as saying that targeting al-Halqi, who is in charge of carrying out a political program to end the nation's crisis, shows that some in the opposition "reject a political solution."
Al-Halqi, who was appointed prime minister in August after his predecessor defected, heads a ministerial committee charged with holding a dialogue with opposition groups. The initiative is part of efforts to implement a peace plan, including a national reconciliation conference, that Assad outlined in a speech in January.
The proposal, however, has never gotten off the ground. The political opposition abroad says it will not accept anything less than Assad's departure, and roundly dismissed the president's plan as a political ploy. The myriad rebels fighting on the ground ? without a unified command ? have also rejected talks with the government as long as Assad is in power.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday's attack, but bombings like the one that struck the prime minister's convoy have been a trademark of Islamic radicals fighting in the rebel ranks, such as the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra.
While the rebels have wrested much of northern Syria from the regime in the past year, the government hold on Damascus is firm and regime forces have been on the offensive recently in the capital's suburbs and in the countryside near the border with Lebanon. In the northwest, regime troops recently opened up a key supply road to soldiers fighting in the embattled city of Aleppo.
As the regime has sought to shore up its strategic position, it has come under allegations of using chemical weapons on at least two occasions dating back to December.
The U.S. said last week that intelligence indicates the Syrian military has likely used sarin, a deadly nerve agent, echoing similar assessments from Israel, France and Britain. Syria's rebels accuse the regime of firing chemical weapons on at least four occasions, while the government denies the charges and says opposition fighters have used chemical agents in a bid to frame it.
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his appeal to Syria to allow a team of experts into the country "without delay and without any conditions" to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use. He added that he takes seriously a recent U.S. intelligence report which indicates Syria has twice used chemical weapons.
The Assad government has asked for a U.N. investigation, but wants it to be limited to an incident near Aleppo in March. Ban has pushed for a broader investigation, including a December incident in the central city of Homs.
A U.N. team of experts has already begun gathering and analyzing available evidence, but Ban said onsite activities are essential if the U.N. is to establish the facts and "clear all the doubts."
Meanwhile, a new jihadi group calling itself the Ahrar al-Bekaa Brigades announced its formation and warned the pro-Syrian Lebanese militant Hezbollah group to stop intervening in the Syrian civil war or face attacks in Lebanon.
According to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks Islamist extremist messages, the statement was distributed on anti-Assad Facebook pages Sunday.
In the statement, the previously unheard of group claims that Hezbollah is acting on Iran's orders to "slaughter" the Syrian people. It pledged to prevent Hezbollah's intervention "with all means and ways, even if we have to move the fight to the inside of the Lebanese territory."
The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah is known to be backing regime fighters in Shiite villages near the Lebanon border against the mostly Sunni rebels fighting to topple Assad. The Syrian opposition accuses Hezbollah of taking part in the Syrian military crackdown.
___
Lucas reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue, Zeina Karam and Barbara Surk contributed from Beirut.
___
Follow Ryan Lucas on Twitter at www.twitter.com/relucasz
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-prime-minister-escapes-bombing-damascus-200854833.html
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The iPhone Is One of the Best Android Phones You Can Buy
The addition of Google Now
The Android Experience
Let's be clear right up front; if you want a top-flight, pure Android phone, you should be looking at the Galaxy S4 or Nexus 4 or HTC One, full stop. Not only do they?and a few other flagship handsets?feature powerful hardware, they're also equipped with Jelly Bean, Google's last major Android update. They're wonderful, you would enjoy them.
But those phones represent a lonesome minority, an elite advanced guard that most existing Android handsets may never join. Only 25 percent of Android devices run Jelly Bean, which means that only one in four can access Google Now.
And most older phones will never get promoted. And even if they do, individual app updates?even for Google products?can take forever
By contrast, today's addition of Google Now to Google Search means that any phone running iOS 6?which means every iPhone back to and including 2009's 3GS?has access to one of Android's marquee features.
And that's just Google Now. There are 25 Google iPhone apps available in the iOS App Store today. Nearly all of them have been updated in the last three months, and the ones you use the most?Gmail, Google Maps, Chrome, etc?are kept up as up to date as their Android counterparts. They work in harmony, too; trying to find directions in Google Now will open Google Maps instead of Apple's mediocre alternative. And as long as you're signed in with your Google account, what you do on one device carries over to any other.
Combine that interwoven goodness with the iPhone's exquisitely chamfered, super-lightweight body, and you've got yourself quite a package. To the extent that the Android experience is the Google experience, you really can't do much better.
What's Missing
There's more to Android than just Google apps, of course. The iOS desktop experience is far more rigid than what you'll find on even the clunkiest Froyo device. And while iOS notifications go a long way towards the seamless integration of Google services, you still can't get anything approaching the customizability Android provides with stock iOS.
But even that objection is largely surmountable. Jailbreaking an iPhone doesn't give you the same godlike powers as rooting an Android device, but it does let you continue to use App Store apps (like Google's) and make the phone look and feel like your own. Or like? Android
The other big drawback is that some Google apps on iOS will lag behind, say, the latest Nexus release on certain features. But at least you can be more confident that you'll get them eventually.
What a Google Wants
The fact is, Google still doesn't ultimately care what device you're using its services on, just so long as you're using them. That's not going to change any time soon. Openness is baked into all of Google's services. Whereas iMessage's one true aim is to keep you bottled up inside iOS forever, Google has built Drive, Mail, and all of its other pillars to be as platform-neutral as possible. The more people using Google, the more highly relevant ads the company can serve.
And while the iPhone has always benefited from that to some degree?especially since Mountain View took charge of its iOS apps
What that means for you?since iOS updates bring so many legacy devices along with them?is that you can have more faith that an iPhone you buy today will get future Google bells and whistles than the vast majority of currently available Android phones.
Again, by all means, get an HTC One or a Galaxy S4. But do it for the design or the skin or the camera or the features. If it's Google you're looking for, you might just want to swing by the nearest Apple Store.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-iphone-is-one-of-the-best-android-phones-you-can-bu-484580304
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Monday, April 29, 2013
First Data names JPMorgan executive Bisignano as CEO
MADRID, April 28 (Reuters) - Malaga kept up their push for a possible return to the Champions League next season with a 2-1 win at home Getafe that lifted them to fifth in La Liga on Sunday. Striker Roque Santa Cruz headed them in front just before halftime and defender Weligton doubled the lead with another header, this time from a corner, two minutes after the re-start. Getafe pulled one back with a close-range volley from Juan Valera in the 70th minute and Manuel Pellegrini's side endured some nervy moments near the end as they missed a number of chances to settle the game. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-data-names-jpmorgan-executive-bisignano-ceo-201829452.html
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For subway station devastated by Sandy, road to recovery just beginning
Craig Ruttle for NBC News
Corrosion and oxidation are being repaired in the signal relay room the South Ferry subway station in lower Manhattan, devastated by flooding in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The station is being repaired with damage done to all components of the infrastructure, especially the electrical system.
By Carlo Dellaverson, Digital Producer, NBC News
When the gleaming South Ferry subway terminal in Lower Manhattan opened in 2009, it came with a vast concourse filled with public art installations of wrought iron and smoked glass, polished white walls?and a hefty $500 million price tag.
The cost of rehabilitating it from the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy? At least $600 million?though a full assessment of the damage hasn?t even been done yet.
?It?s a complete gut job,? said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz. ?Every component of the station needs to be replaced.??
As communities rebuild and residents return to their homes, dozens of workers at the South Ferry station are taking the very first steps toward getting the station back online, starting with scrubbing mold from virtually every surface. Before the storm, 30,000 people passed through South Ferry each day, shuttling between Staten Island and Manhattan and around the labyrinthine streets of New York?s financial district.
Now, the stillness of the station is unsettling. The 90-foot platform sits empty, with strings of construction bulbs lighting two tracks and tunnel walls still covered with debris and dirt from the storm. Drywall and tiles have been ripped up by construction workers to expose the film of mold that quickly built up in the dark, humid space after the storm hit six months ago. The air is thick and pungent.
Craig Ruttle / AP file (top), Cr
Joseph Leader (top) of the MTA shines a flashlight on standing water inside the South Ferry 1 train station in lower Manhattan on Oct. 31, in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Six months later, Leader (bottom) descends the stairs toward the track in the same station.
But the greatest damage inflicted from Sandy is not visible. The salty ocean water that flooded the station eighty feet below street level corroded nearly every piece of equipment in the space, adding considerably to the cost of recovery.
Over 700 relay components ? devices critical to the signaling systems of trains ? were destroyed. A separate room of signaling equipment at the end of the platform flooded to the ceiling and is now a ?complete loss,? said Joseph Leader, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority?s chief maintenance officer, who is overseeing the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the station.
Leader was actually the first person to see the damage from Sandy?s storm surge. On the morning after the storm passed late last October, Leader entered the station and saw ?just a trickle? of water coming down the stairs, he said.
?I thought our barriers held and that we were doing good,? he said, referring to the makeshift barricades ?sandbags and plywood -- the MTA constructed at the street-level entrances of certain exposed stations.
But as Leader ventured further, he realized the surge had breached the main station entrance. ?Water was coming up the steps at me from the platform level, lapping at my feet,? he said. The entire subway "tube" was filled to the brim; 14 million gallons of seawater had to be pumped out before officials could even get a look at the destruction.
South Ferry was designed to be the last stop on a busy line that follows Broadway as it snakes through Manhattan as well as a connector to another main subway artery and the Staten Island Ferry. The original station, which opened in 1905, was much maligned for a layout quirk that only allowed five of ten subway cars to open at the platform; inattentive straphangers who neglected to move to one of the cars with open doors were forced to take the ?loop? back uptown one stop to exit.
Craig Ruttle / Craig Ruttle for NBC News
The subway map, with mold spreading up from the bottom, can be seen on the platform after being under water at the damaged South Ferry subway station in lower Manhattan. The station is being repaired with damage done to all components of the infrastructure, especially the electrical system.
While the new South Ferry station addressed many of the engineering problems that existed at the old station, the possibility that a 14-foot storm surge could take it offline in the span of a few hours was not accounted for.
The MTA says it is now ?considering all options? that would mitigate the effects of a similar or even lesser surge as it rebuilds South Ferry, along with other vulnerable parts of its city-wide network (Sandy also wiped out an entire above-ground section of a subway line in the Rockaway section of Queens that is yet to be reopened). New York Governor Andrew Cuomo laid some of these ideas out in his State of the State speech earlier this year, calling for subway stations to adopt ?closing vents?roll down doors? inflatable bladders,? and repeating his refrain that ?there is a 100 year flood every two years now? as reason to invest in infrastructure improvements.
One of the options under consideration involves letting subway tunnels and stations flood in a storm ? but only after workers have removed valuable pieces of equipment and taken them to higher ground. This use of ?modular infrastructure" allows critical gear to be packed up like suitcases and brought to higher ground so it can be ?plugged right back in? after the pumps have removed the water from tunnels and stations, Leader said.
?Can you stop every ounce of water that comes into the system? Theoretically yes,? Leader said. ?But is it feasible? Probably not.?
Footing the bill, at least in part, will be the feds. The MTA has received $1.2 billion to date in federal funding as part of the $51 billion Sandy relief bill signed by President Obama in January. It is asking for billions more (the total hit to New York?s transit system from Sandy is estimated to be $5 billion). The MTA plans a bifurcated approach to how that money is spent: partially for repairs to damaged infrastructure in places like South Ferry, and partially toward making long-term improvements that would harden and protect the system in future storms. ?
Craig Ruttle for NBC News
Joseph Leader of MTA holds an example of cable damaged by sea water in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, typical of damage found at South Ferry subway station.
?As we work to bring our system back to normal, we must also make the necessary investments to protect this 108-year old system from future storms. We must rebuild smarter. The South Ferry subway station is a perfect example,? said MTA Chief Executive Thomas Prendergast.
Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who specializes in urban economics and infrastructure, cautions that federal money is ?apt to disappear quickly in cost overruns? and that the MTA should carefully examine precisely how it can apply the aid to projects that will keep the system from suffering catastrophic damage in the next storm, and not on ?complex and untested mitigation efforts? that may not work.
?Otherwise, this ?free money? from the feds doesn?t end up being free at all, and taxpayers end up on the hook,? Gelinas said.?
The MTA recently reopened the old South Ferry station, which was entombed next to the new terminal after its grand opening four years ago ? the first time the authority has ever brought a decommissioned station back into use, Leader said. Engineers knocked down a wall between the two stations to allow passengers to get to the old platform area through the new entrance. It?s a way to reestablish subway service to the area, however imperfect. ?We?re building a new station within a new station,? Joe Leader said. ?It?s going to take a while.?
Until that monumental task is completed, commuters in Lower Manhattan will need to reacquaint themselves with a once-familiar phrase thought to be relegated to history:
?You must be in the first five cars to exit at South Ferry.?
MTA Video Release: Hurricane Sandy - South Ferry and Whitehall St Station Damage.
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Bangladesh united in grief over a failed rescue from collapsed factory
Many hundreds have been rescued so far. But a fire broke out today amid the rubble of the collapsed building, ending hopes of saving a known survivor named Shahinur.
Rescue workers search Sunday for survivors in the remains of a collapsed garment factory in Bangladesh.
Wong Maye-E/AP
EnlargeShe was the last person located and known to still be alive inside a garment factory building that collapsed last week in Bangladesh. But before rescuers could save Shahinur, who went by only one name, a fire broke out in the rubble today and the woman who captured the attention of the nation perished. The death toll now stands at 378.
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Bangladesh is passing through one of its gloomiest national moments. Civilians extending help in the rescue effort were anxiously looking forward to Shahinur?s rescue, as were those away from the site, who remained glued to television and mobile phones.
Firefighters made three foxholes in the area where Shahinur was stuck and almost managed to get her out. In the meantime, public hope for her rescue led the army to hold off on its plans this morning to start using heavy equipment to clear more of the rubble, according to Masudur Rahman Akand, a deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defense.
When the fire broke out, the failure brought tears to the eyes of many. With the fourth day of search and rescue coming to a close, victims are reluctant to give up hope, and a nation remains, for a time, united in grief and anger.?
According to information provided by relatives of those who worked in the factories, about 761 persons are still missing. A security guard rescued last night has said that a person on the seventh floor of the squeezed building was still alive.
?There could be few more people still surviving inside the wreckage,? says a local journalist present at the site.
However, preparations are underway to begin the second phase of recovery by using cranes and other heavy equipment. ?According to our estimates possibly there is no more persons alive,? says a lieutenant colonel with the Bangladesh Army. ?With [only] light equipment we cannot remove all the rubble.?
The rescue efforts have transfixed Bangladeshis, overshadowing the Shahbag protests that began in February to insist on tough punishments for Islamist leaders who committed war crimes during the 1971 war for independence. The protests spawned a broader secular movement, and touched off political tensions about the role of Islam in politics.?
For now, those tensions have receded. Bangladeshis from all walks of life, besides extending their support to the rescue efforts, are largely united in calling for the maximum punishment for the owner of the building and the factory owners ??for what many call a ?mass murder.?
Despite instructions to keep the building closed on Tuesday after an inspection team comprising of engineers identified cracks, the building owner kept it open. Factory owners threatened they would dock workers' pay unless they went to work.
Bangladesh?s elite crime busting agency Rapid Action Battalion on Sunday arrested Sohel Rana, owner of Rana Plaza ? the eight-story commercial complex ? that housed five factories, a few shops, and a private bank. Mr. Rana was arrested from Benapole, one of the border crossings Bangladesh shares with India.?
?All agencies were alerted about Rana. We were finally able to arrest him,? said Mukhlesur Rahman, director general of the Rapid Action Battalion. He had traveled to more than one district in the last four days, he added.?
Bangladesh police have also arrested four of the owners of the five factories: Mahmudur Rahman Tapas of New Wave Bottoms, Bazlus Samad Adnan of New Wave Styles, Aminul Islam of Phantom Apparels and Phantom Tac Limited, and Anisur Rahman of Ether Tex.
Yet political disagreements are already on the horizon. Bangladesh?s right-wing opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has called for a countrywide shutdown on May 2, protesting the deaths at Savar.
A BNP official noted that the day of the factory collapse, the party had called for a nationwide general strike, or hartal, on unrelated matters. Abdul Moyeen Khan, standing committee member of the BNP, implied that workers in the cracked building were forced to come to work in a political bid to prove that people defied the hartal.?
?Work was called off the day cracks were identified. What turned so important for the workers to gather during a?hartal?? he said.?You must have noticed that several survivors said that they were threatened that their pay will be docked.?
The government is now faced with trying to manage anger from a second major factory disaster within the past half year. In November, a fire broke out in a factory on the outskirts of the capital, killing more than 100 people.
So far, the government has highlighted the rescue efforts as a major success, with as many as 2,400 rescued. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said: ?This has perhaps never happened in the history that so many lives were rescued after such a disaster.?
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Mapping of cancer cell fuel pumps paves the way for new drugs
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tiD8MtMpp7dbymXuoNZmwTLkoNy4GyMB6jKZk_TIg52M6Kt6QPFz1QXCfcdoNYeCTefDLOKG-S0DLEtT9aec_O6CDqqwQB5nCqYczxHYc=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 28-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Karolinska Institutet Press Office
pressinfo@ki.se
46-852-486-077
Karolinska Institutet
For the first time, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have managed to obtain detailed images of the way in which the transport protein GLUT transports sugars into cells. Since tumours are highly dependent on the transportation of nutrients in order to be able to grow rapidly, the researchers are hoping that the study published in the scientific magazine Nature Structural & Molecular Biology will form the basis for new strategies to fight cancer cells.
In order to be able to fuel their rapid growth, cancer tumours depend on transporter proteins to work at high speed to introduce sugars and other nutrients that are required for the cell's metabolism. One possible treatment strategy would therefore be to block some of the transporters in the cell membrane which operate as fuel pumps, thus starving out and killing the cancer cells.
One important group of membrane transporters is the GLUT family, which introduces glucose and other sugars into the cell. Glucose is one of the most important energy sources for cancer cells and GLUT transporters have been shown to play a key role in tumour growth in many different types of cancer. In the current study, researchers from Karolinska Institutet have performed a detailed study of the way in which suger transport is executed by the protein XylE, from the Escherichia coli bacterium, whose function and structure is very similar to GLUT transporters in humans. For the first time, the researchers have described the way in which the protein's structure changes between two different conformations when it binds and transports a sugar molecule.
"In showing details of the molecular structure of the region that bind the sugar, our study opens up the opportunities to more efficiently develop new substances that may inhibit GLUT transporters", says Pr Nordlund at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, one of the researchers behind the study. "Information on the structure of the transport protein facilitates the development of better drugs in a shorter time. Such GLUT inhibitors could potentially be used to treat cancer in the future."
The study may be of significance not just to cancer research but also in the field of diabetes. GLUT plays a key role in diabetes since insulin works by activating the uptake of glucose from the blood by means of GLUT transporters in the cell membrane.
GLUT and the studied XylE transporter belong to the very large group of metabolite transporters called the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS), which is important in many diseases and for the uptake of medicines in cells.
"Many aspects concerning molecular mechanisms for the function of GLUT transporters are probably common to many members of the MFS family, which are involved in a broad spectrum of diseases in addition to cancer and diabetes," says Pr Nordlund.
As well as membrane transporters, which have undergone in-depth analysis in the current study, many different membrane proteins pass through the surface membrane of the cells. Their significance to the cell function and the development of drugs has been noted before, not least through the Nobel Prizes that were awarded to researchers who used mechanistic and structural studies to map the function of two other major membrane protein families, G-protein-coupled receptors and ion channels.
###
The current study has been financed by grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and The Danish Council for Independent Research.
Publication: 'Structural basis for substrate transport in the GLUT homology family of monosaccharide transporters', Esben M. Quistgaard, Christian Lw, Per Moberg, Lionel Trsaugues, and Pr Nordlund, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, online 28 April 2013, doi: 10.1038/nsmb.2569. EMBARGOED until Sunday 28 April 2013 at 18:00 UK time / 19:00 CET / 13:00 US ET.
Journal website: http://www.nature.com/nsmb
Contact the Press Office: ki.se/pressroom
Karolinska Institutet a medical university: ki.se/english
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 28-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Karolinska Institutet Press Office
pressinfo@ki.se
46-852-486-077
Karolinska Institutet
For the first time, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have managed to obtain detailed images of the way in which the transport protein GLUT transports sugars into cells. Since tumours are highly dependent on the transportation of nutrients in order to be able to grow rapidly, the researchers are hoping that the study published in the scientific magazine Nature Structural & Molecular Biology will form the basis for new strategies to fight cancer cells.
In order to be able to fuel their rapid growth, cancer tumours depend on transporter proteins to work at high speed to introduce sugars and other nutrients that are required for the cell's metabolism. One possible treatment strategy would therefore be to block some of the transporters in the cell membrane which operate as fuel pumps, thus starving out and killing the cancer cells.
One important group of membrane transporters is the GLUT family, which introduces glucose and other sugars into the cell. Glucose is one of the most important energy sources for cancer cells and GLUT transporters have been shown to play a key role in tumour growth in many different types of cancer. In the current study, researchers from Karolinska Institutet have performed a detailed study of the way in which suger transport is executed by the protein XylE, from the Escherichia coli bacterium, whose function and structure is very similar to GLUT transporters in humans. For the first time, the researchers have described the way in which the protein's structure changes between two different conformations when it binds and transports a sugar molecule.
"In showing details of the molecular structure of the region that bind the sugar, our study opens up the opportunities to more efficiently develop new substances that may inhibit GLUT transporters", says Pr Nordlund at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, one of the researchers behind the study. "Information on the structure of the transport protein facilitates the development of better drugs in a shorter time. Such GLUT inhibitors could potentially be used to treat cancer in the future."
The study may be of significance not just to cancer research but also in the field of diabetes. GLUT plays a key role in diabetes since insulin works by activating the uptake of glucose from the blood by means of GLUT transporters in the cell membrane.
GLUT and the studied XylE transporter belong to the very large group of metabolite transporters called the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS), which is important in many diseases and for the uptake of medicines in cells.
"Many aspects concerning molecular mechanisms for the function of GLUT transporters are probably common to many members of the MFS family, which are involved in a broad spectrum of diseases in addition to cancer and diabetes," says Pr Nordlund.
As well as membrane transporters, which have undergone in-depth analysis in the current study, many different membrane proteins pass through the surface membrane of the cells. Their significance to the cell function and the development of drugs has been noted before, not least through the Nobel Prizes that were awarded to researchers who used mechanistic and structural studies to map the function of two other major membrane protein families, G-protein-coupled receptors and ion channels.
###
The current study has been financed by grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and The Danish Council for Independent Research.
Publication: 'Structural basis for substrate transport in the GLUT homology family of monosaccharide transporters', Esben M. Quistgaard, Christian Lw, Per Moberg, Lionel Trsaugues, and Pr Nordlund, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, online 28 April 2013, doi: 10.1038/nsmb.2569. EMBARGOED until Sunday 28 April 2013 at 18:00 UK time / 19:00 CET / 13:00 US ET.
Journal website: http://www.nature.com/nsmb
Contact the Press Office: ki.se/pressroom
Karolinska Institutet a medical university: ki.se/english
[ | 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/2013-04/ki-moc042613.php
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
What type of pet would you recommend for my circumstances? | The ...
Issue:
I live in an apartment in a college town where most pets that can?t be kept in a terrarium, aquarium or cage are not allowed. With these restrictions in mind what good pets would you recommend?
(If the pet doesn?t make a lot of mess and doesn?t smell I might consider keeping it even if it breaks the lease agreement.)
Question :
What type of pet would you recommend for my circumstances?
Best Solver (Answer):
Answer by andreea
a cat..
Rating: 5 like it? Reviewed by Master on In What type of pet would you recommend for my circumstances?
Source: http://www.thebestsolver.com/what-type-of-pet-would-you-recommend-for-my-circumstances.html
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Fire extinguished at Marathon Detroit refinery
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A fire on Saturday night at a Detroit crude oil refinery that forced the partial evacuation of the town of Melvindale, Michigan, has been extinguished, said a spokesman for the plant's owner, Marathon Petroleum Corp.
No injuries were reported at the refinery from the blaze in a tank containing wastewater from the refining process, said Marathon spokesman Shane Pochard.
"We're working with Melvindale police to return residents to their homes," Pochard said. "That has not yet been completed."
Melvindale Police Sergeant Michael Welch said the evacuation order was canceled before all the residents of a square mile (2.6 square km) of the Detroit suburb could be evacuated. He did not know how many residents were affected.
The blaze broke out about 6 p.m. EDT and was extinguished at about 8 p.m.
"As far as I know, the refinery is still operating normally," Pochard said.
Pochard and Welch said air monitoring in Melvindale showed the air in the community was within acceptable levels.
The tank contained what is called sour water, which includes hydrogen sulfide and ammonia from crude oil refining. The pollutants have to be stripped from the water before it can be reused or sent to an outside wastewater system.
Marathon's Detroit refinery is the only one in the state and can refine up to 106,000 barrels of crude oil a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fire-extinguished-marathon-detroit-refinery-no-injuries-005303527.html
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Actavis settles OxyContin lawsuit with Purdue
(Reuters) - Generic drugmaker Actavis Inc said it had settled a patent lawsuit with Purdue Pharma related to Actavis' generic version of the abuse-deterrent formulation of Purdue's painkiller OxyContin.
Under the agreement, Actavis will be licensed to market a specified number of bottles of its generic OxyContin beginning January 1, 2014.
Actavis expects the agreement to represent more than $100 million in combined gross profit in 2014 and 2015, but the other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
If Actavis is unable to get U.S. regulatory approval for its generic OxyContin prior to September 1, 2014, it will be permitted to launch a specified number of bottles of an authorized generic version of Purdue's abuse-deterrent product beginning in October 2014.
OxyContin had U.S. sales of about $2.8 billion for the 12 months ending January 31, 2013, according to IMS Health, Actavis said in a statement.
Actavis, formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals, announced on Thursday it had settled a lawsuit with Shire Plc, related to a generic version of Shire's drug, Intuniv, to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The drugmaker changed its name from Watson after buying Actavis as part of its strategy to expand in international markets and offer more specialty drugs.
(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Sreejiraj Eluvangal)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/actavis-settles-oxycontin-lawsuit-purdue-140455635.html
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
Utah's Fossil Finds Describe an Ancient World
Brian Switek, Author, "My Beloved Brontosaurus", Science writer, author of 'Laelaps' blog at National Geographic
Brooks Britt, Associate Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, Brigham Young University
Randall Irmis, Curator of Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Utah, Assistant, Professor, Geology & Geophysics, University of Utah
Once upon a time, giants roamed the planet ? many of them in what is now Utah. A panel of paleontology experts describes some of the state's ancient treasures, from massive long-necked sauropods to the Utahraptor, a predator that would put those in Jurassic Park to shame.
Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/04/26/179224933/utahs-fossil-finds-describe-an-ancient-world?ft=1&f=1007
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Davone Bess Traded: Dolphins Trade Wide Receiver To Browns
No. 1: Chiefs Pick Eric Fisher
Tackle Eric Fisher from Central Michigan stands with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected first overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
No. 2: Jaguars Pick Luke Joeckel
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 25: Luke Joeckel (R) of the Texas A&M Aggies greets NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after Joeckel was picked #2 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 25, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
No. 3: Dolphins Pick Dion Jordan
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 25: Dion Jordan of the Oregon Ducks reacts after he was picked #3 overall by the Miami Dolphins in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 25, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
No. 4: Eagles Pick Lane Johnson
Lane Johnson, from Oklahoma, speaks during a news conference after being selected fourth overall by the Philadelphia Eagles during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
No. 5: Lions Pick Ezekiel Ansah
Ezekiel Ansah, from Brigham Young, stands with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, left, and Barry Sanders after being selected fifth overall by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
No. 6: Browns Pick Barkevious Mingo
Barkevious Mingo from LSU speaks during a news conference after being selected sixth overall by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
No. 7: Cardinals Pick Jonathan Cooper
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 25: Jonathan Cooper of North Carolina Tar Heels stands with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (L) as they hold up a jersey on stage after Cooper was picked #7 overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 25, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
No. 8: Rams Pick Tavon Austin
Tavon Austin, from West Virginia, stands with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected eighth overall by the Saint Louis Rams in the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
No. 9: Jets Pick Dee Milliner
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 25: Dee Milliner (R) of the Alabama Crimson Tide greets NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after Milliner was picked #9 overall by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 25, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
No. 10: Titans Pick Chance Warmack
Alabama's Chance Warmack attends a news conference after being selected 10th overall by the Tennessee Titans during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
No. 11: Chargers Pick D.J. Fluker
D.J. Fluker, from Alabama, holds up a team jersey after being selected 11th overall by the San Diego Chargers in the first round of the NFL football draft, Tuesday, April 23, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)
No. 12: Raiders Pick D.J. Hayden
Tori Hayden, left, reacts as her son D.J. Hayden from Houston, right, receives a phone call from the Oakland Raiders telling him he was selected 12th overall in the NFL football draft at his house in Missouri City, Texas. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Cody Duty)
No. 13: Jets Pick Sheldon Richardson
Sheldon Richardson, from Missouri, holds up a team jersey after being selected 13th overall by the New York Jets in the first round of the NFL Draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
No. 14: Panthers Pick Star Lotulelei
Star Lotulelei receives a kiss from his wife Fuiva, who holds their daughter Pesatina, 1, after being selected 14th overall by the Carolina Panthers during an NFL football draft party at their home, Thursday, April 25, 2013, in South Jordan, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
No. 15: Saints Pick Kenny Vaccaro
Safety Kenny Vaccaro, right, from Texas, stands with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, center, and Markell Gregoire, 13, a patient at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, after Vaccaro was selected 15th overall by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
No. 16: Bills Pick E.J. Manuel
Quarterback E.J. Manuel from Florida State stands with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected 16th overall by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
No. 17: Steelers Pick Jarvis Jones
Jarvis Jones, the top 2013 NFL draft prospect from Georgia, is interviewed after the unveiling of a ?Smokehouse BBQ Chicken" statue in his likeness, right, to announce his official Subway's Famous Fan title on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 in New York.
No. 18: 49ers Pick Eric Reid
Eric Reid, from Louisiana State, stands with his daughter and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected 18th overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
No. 19: Giants Pick Justin Pugh
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 23: Justin Pugh of Syracuse in action during the 2013 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 23, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
No. 20: Bears Pick Kyle Long
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 23: Kyle Long of Oregon participates during the 2013 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 23, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
No. 21: Bengals Pick Tyler Eifert
Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert runs a drill during the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
No. 22: Falcons Pick Desmond Trufant
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 26: Desmond Trufant of Washington works out during the 2013 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 26, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
No. 23: Vikings Pick Sharrif Floyd
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 25: Sharrif Floyd of the Florida Gators holds up a jersey on stage after he was picked #23 overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 25, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
No. 24: Colts Pick Bjoern Werner
Florida State's Bjoern Werner addresses a news conference after being selected by the Indianapolis Colts during the first round of the NFL Draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013 at Radio City Music Hall in New York.(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
No. 25: Vikings Pick Xavier Rhodes
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 25: Xavier Rhodes of the Florida State Seminoles holds up a jersey on stage after he was picked #25 overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 25, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
No. 26: Packers Pick Datone Jones
PASADENA, CA - NOVEMBER 17: Defensive end Datone Jones #56 of the UCLA Bruins celebrates his teams 38-28 victory over the USC Trojans at the Rose Bowl on November 17, 2012 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
No. 27: Texans Pick DeAndre Hopkins
Football wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins makes a catch during Clemson Pro Day on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)
No. 28: Broncos Pick Sylvester Williams
North Carolina's Sylvester Williams (92) flexes his muscles after dropping North Carolina State's James Washington for a 3-yard loss in the third quarter of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Robert Willett) MANDATORY CREDIT
No. 29: Vikings Pick Cordarrelle Patterson
Tennessee's Cordarrelle Patterson addresses a news conference after being selected by the Minnesota Vikings during the first round of the NFL Draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
No. 30: Rams Pick Alec Ogletree
Georgia's Alec Ogletree celebrates after being selected by the Rams in the first round on the NFL Draft at his draft party on Thursday, April 25, 2013. He was 30th overall pick.(AP Photo/Atlanta Journal Constitution, Johnny Crawford)
No. 31: Cowboys Pick Travis Frederick
Wisconsin linebacker Travis Frederick holds up a rubber bracelet that says "I'm In & I'm On" to show he's ready for the game, during a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. Wisconsin is scheduled to play Stanford in the Rose Bowl NCAA college football game in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year's Day. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
No. 32: Ravens Pick Matt Elam
FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2013 file photo, Florida defensive back Matt Elam runs a drill during the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis. Baltimore Ravens general manager and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome hopes to fill out the team's roster this weekend by making the most of 12 draft picks. There?s a good chance the Ravens could select Elam. It?s even more difficult to guess what will occur in the later rounds. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/27/davone-bess-trade-dolphins-browns_n_3167063.html
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Forced exercise may still protect against anxiety and stress
Apr. 25, 2013 ? Being forced to exercise may still help reduce anxiety and depression just as exercising voluntarily does, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Past studies have shown that people who exercise are more protected against stress-related disorders. And scientists know that the perception of control can benefit a person's mental health. But it has been an open question whether a person who feels forced to exercise, eliminating the perception of control, would still reap the anxiety-fighting benefits of the exercise.
People who may feel forced to exercise could include high school, college and professional athletes, members of the military or those who have been prescribed an exercise regimen by their doctors, said Benjamin Greenwood, an assistant research professor in CU-Boulder's Department of Integrative Physiology.
"If exercise is forced, will it still produce mental health benefits?" Greenwood asked. "It's obvious that forced exercise will still produce peripheral physiological benefits. But will it produce benefits to anxiety and depression?"
To seek an answer to the question Greenwood and his colleagues, including Monika Fleshner, a professor in the same department, designed a lab experiment using rats. During a six-week period, some rats remained sedentary, while others exercised by running on a wheel.
The rats that exercised were divided into two groups that ran a roughly equal amount of time. One group ran whenever it chose to, while the other group ran on mechanized wheels that rotated according to a predetermined schedule. For the study, the motorized wheels turned on at speeds and for periods of time that mimicked the average pattern of exercise chosen by the rats that voluntarily exercised.
After six weeks, the rats were exposed to a laboratory stressor before testing their anxiety levels the following day. The anxiety was quantified by measuring how long the rats froze, a phenomenon similar to a deer in the headlights, when they were put in an environment they had been conditioned to fear. The longer the freezing time, the greater the residual anxiety from being stressed the previous day. For comparison, some rats were also tested for anxiety without being stressed the day before.
"Regardless of whether the rats chose to run or were forced to run they were protected against stress and anxiety," said Greenwood, lead author of the study appearing in the European Journal of Neuroscience in February. The sedentary rats froze for longer periods of time than any of the active rats.
"The implications are that humans who perceive exercise as being forced -- perhaps including those who feel like they have to exercise for health reasons -- are maybe still going to get the benefits in terms of reducing anxiety and depression," he said.
Other CU-Boulder authors include Katie Spence, Danielle Crevling, Peter Clark and Wendy Craig. All the authors are members of Monika Fleshner's Stress Physiology Laboratory in the Department of Integrative Physiology.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Colorado at Boulder, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Benjamin N. Greenwood, Katie G. Spence, Danielle M. Crevling, Peter J. Clark, Wendy C. Craig, Monika Fleshner. Exercise-induced stress resistance is independent of exercise controllability and the medial prefrontal cortex. European Journal of Neuroscience, 2013; 37 (3): 469 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.12044
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Instapaper Was Just Bought By the Same Company That Bought Digg (Updated)
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Did Concussions Make Him Do It?
Tamerlan Tsarnaev (left) fights Lamar Fenner during the 201-pound division boxing match at the Golden Gloves National Tournament of Champions in 2009 in Salt Lake City.
Photo by Glenn DePriest/Getty Images
Last Friday, former amateur boxer and presumed Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev perished in a firefight with police. On Saturday, his corpse got tossed into the fight over the effects of head injuries in professional sports.
A pair of neurosurgeons at Boston University, Robert Stern and Robert Cantu, told the Boston Globe that Tsarnaev's brain should be studied for signs of damage, analogous to the sort they've identified in former NFL athletes and others who have sustained repeated hits to the head. Neither researcher wants to say that chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, caused Tsarnaev to commit an act of terrorism. But neither wants to say it didn't. "Is it possible that some changes might have gone on in his overall functioning due to his boxing and potentially related brain disease? Yes, anything is possible," said Stern, firing off and answering a flurry of rhetorical questions. "Am I suggesting [the CTE test for Tsarnaev] because I think he has the disease? No. But would it lead to a complete picture? Yes."
Cantu was a little more direct: "I hope to God they do the special testing."
What's the rationale for believing that Tsarnaev's brain might be caked with neurofibrillary tangles? Stern, Cantu, and their colleagues at BU have argued that the disease?which can only be diagnosed at autopsy?affects behavior and cognition while its victims are still alive. To work out a "clinical picture" of these effects, the BU team has interviewed the families and friends of deceased athletes, asking them how their loved ones might have changed before their death. Using this approach, the researchers concluded that people who end up with a CTE diagnosis have often suffered from depression, apathy, irritability, rage, impaired judgment, poor impulse control, and suicidal tendencies.
If Tamerlan Tsarnaev did sustain this sort of damage from his years as an amateur boxer, it might explain the recent changes in his personality and ideology. In the past few years, he's said to have quit drinking, smoking, and boxing, and made a rather abrupt shift toward radical Islam. In 2009, he was arrested on charges of domestic assault and battery against his girlfriend, and there's been speculation (though no evidence at this point) that he might have been involved in a gruesome triple murder on Sept. 11, 2011.
Yet Stern and Cantu have acknowledged that the bombing of the marathon appears to be the product of careful planning and forethought?exactly the skills that are most impaired in the clinical picture of CTE. One also wonders how all this violent rage and disinhibition might have induced Tsarnaev to give up boxing. Did the suspect's brain get so mashed up that he could no longer control his impulse to quit the sport that injured him?
Even if Tsarnaev's brain did test positive for neurodegenerative disease, it would be impossible to draw any substantive conclusions. People can act impulsively even when they haven't been conked in the noggin, and they can get depressed or fly into a violent rage. The symptoms associated with CTE correspond to other problems, too, such as drug and alcohol abuse. While it's possible that CTE causes or contributes to addiction, it could also be unrelated.
We've come to think of CTE as a condition associated with suicide, not homicide. I have my doubts about both connections, but there are certainly more examples of the former than the latter. The wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and son with some apparent forethought over a three-day span that ended with his suicide in 2007, and he was later found to have the signs of CTE. A Slate piece from 2007 explored the possibility that undocumented, on-field brain injuries could have contributed to O.J. Simpson?s alleged murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend. (He was, of course, acquitted on those charges.)
For all this, neurologists and neuropsychologists have not yet reached a reasonable consensus on the behavioral effects of CTE, and the clinical picture described by the researchers in Boston is almost certainly biased by the cases that they happen to observe. A family would be much more likely to donate a loved one's brain to Stern and Cantu's group?CTE can only be diagnosed posthumously at this point, though that could change?if that loved one killed himself or otherwise exhibited unusual behavior before his death. Meanwhile, someone who had CTE but led a normal life, with normal moods and normal impulse control, would never even be diagnosed.
A further bias comes from the fact that the BU team has made a point of pursuing donor brains from the athletes whose deaths were the most spectacular and disturbing?people like Dave Duerson (who fired a shotgun at his chest) and Derek Boogaard (who overdosed on painkillers). Those high-profile donations attract attention to both the researchers in Boston and the issue of head injuries in sports. But they also tempt inferences of cause and effect on the basis of extreme circumstances.
Should Tsarnaev's brain turn out to be diseased, his case would provide the most extreme anecdote of all. Would it offer any kind of explanation, though? We already know that boxing affects the brain. A study published in 2012 found that fighters who had been in the sport for at least six years showed reduced brain volume when imaged with magnetic resonance. Professional fighters also struggle with their impulse control in laboratory experiments. And for a 2010 report, researchers tested boxers on their sense of smell using an expensive and well-validated neurological testing tool known as "Sniffin' Sticks." The athletes had trouble detecting odors as a group, and the ones who sparred with more heavily padded gloves smelled more effectively than the ones who didn't.
That's to be expected, given that the goal in every boxing match is to inflict at least a modicum of head trauma on your opponent. But the data on these deficits do not suggest we're living in a cartoon world where getting bopped on the head can change your personality and make a decent guy engage in acts of evil. The neurologists in Boston look for signs of CTE in lots of tragic deaths involving former athletes. An autopsy of Tsarnaev?s brain would add another anecdote to their portfolio, but a mass of tangled proteins inside a terrorist?s head wouldn't tell us why he might have thought to kill civilians, nor could it help us grasp the risks of the disease.
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=54d4df705a9d06fb317704fd247e20b7
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Glenn Beck conspiracy theory: What's his evidence?
Glenn Beck conspiracy theory: A Saudi national was involved in the Boston Marathon attack, Glenn Beck alleges. US officials reject the notion and dismiss the 'evidence' as so much bureaucratic paperwork.
Fox News host Glenn Beck speaks in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2010.
Chris Keane/Reuters/File
EnlargeGlenn Beck has spent lots of time in recent days alleging that the Boston Marathon bombing was carried out by a conspiracy that revolved around a shadowy Saudi national questioned by police in a Boston hospital in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.
Skip to next paragraph Peter GrierWashington Editor
Peter Grier is The Christian Science Monitor's Washington editor. In this capacity, he helps direct coverage for the paper on most news events in the nation's capital.
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OK, is he just winging it here, or does the ex-Fox, now-independent radio and Internet video host have any real evidence for this charge?
He says he does, unsurprisingly. On his show Wednesday morning Mr. Beck produced a document that he claimed is an official US ?event report? showing that the Saudi in question is a bad, bad man who was on a no-fly list and already subject to visa revocation.
What he didn?t mention is that Fox News reporter Bret Baier has already looked into this whole alleged Saudi conspiracy, including the document Beck deemed so revealing, and concluded that there was no there there, to paraphrase writer Gertrude Stein?s jibe about Oakland.
It?s ?false and misleading? to use the internal document on the Saudi?s immigration status as evidence of the man?s involvement in the bombings, according to US officials quoted by Mr. Baier in a Fox video blog on April 23.
?The FBI says the Saudi [in question] was just a victim of the terrorist attack,? said Baier.
OK, let?s rewind a bit to clarify this, shall we?
In the immediate aftermath of the Boston tragedy, many media outlets reported that law enforcement officials were interrogating an injured Saudi man who had been seen running from the site of the bombs. Authorities that evening searched his residence in suburban Revere.
Officials later reported that this Saudi was a student and an innocent spectator who had been injured by the blasts and was trying to escape along with many other people on the Marathon route.
Although the man?s name has been reported by some media outlets, Decoder won?t be using it, so as to not further publicize the identity of someone police say did nothing wrong.
Since then Glenn Beck has continued to link the Saudi to the bombing and to terrorism in general. He has charged that the man was in the US on a student visa that had expired and that he will be deported by US immigration for security reasons. He has gone so far as to speculate that a Saudi national may have been an Al Qaeda control agent who recruited the Tsarnaev brothers to carry out the Boston attacks.
Then on Wednesday Beck dropped his other shoe, revealing what he said was important new evidence in the case.
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