Off-putting characteristics of Japanese adults still living with their parents

By Ken Y-N ( July 1, 2013 at 00:00) ? Filed under Polls, Rankings

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goo Ranking performed a survey looking at what off-putting characteristics there are of single men and women still living with their parents.

Demographics

Between the 2nd and 5th of May 2013 1,088 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.2% of the sample were male, 23.3% in their teens, 24.4% in their twenties, 25.5% in their thirties, and 26.8% in their forties; there was no-one older than 49 in this sample. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

I?m not really sure how to illustrate this ? Japanese houses don?t tend to have basements for these characters to lurk in! A few years ago the buzzword parasite single was doing the rounds to describe people who particularly display characteristic number 2 below.

Ranking result

Q: What off-putting characteristics there are of single men and women still living with their parents? (Sample size=1,088)

Rank	?	Score
1	Mother still buys all their clothes	100
2	They don?t pay a single yen to their parents for board	89.0
3	They can?t decide anything or take actions themselves, but always ask their parents for a decision	86.2
4	They soon quit their job when the first bad thing happens	82.6
5	They can?t get up by themselves in the morning	70.3
6	They can?t do any housework	67.0
7	Their parents, other family members ferry them by car everywhere	65.7
8	They ask their parents for a loan whenever they run out of cash	65.3
9	They don?t help at all at barbeques, other food parties	64.6
10	They don?t have savings	64.4
11	They are ignorant of the cost of living	55.6
12	They don?t look after things	49.4
13	They go bar-hopping every night	48.6
14	They slag off their family	46.6
15	Their parents make their lunchbox	41.3
16	They have enough earnings to live by themselves, but say ?it costs too much money? and won?t quit living at home	37.4
17	They have expensive hobbies	36.9
18	They find everything too much bother	28.1
19	Even though there is a meal waiting for them at home, they visit convenience stores	27.7
20	They only ever talk about their family	27.0

Read more on: goo ranking,single

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhatJapanThinks/~3/Fz3Cjj0MiX0/

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Obama: Mandela a beacon for the power of principle

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) ? President Barack Obama says former South African President Nelson Mandela continues to shine as a beacon of the power of principle and standing up for what's right.

Obama says South Africa's transition from apartheid to a free nation has been a personal inspiration and an inspiration to the world.

He says the recent outpouring of love for the critically ill anti-apartheid icon shows the deep yearning for justice and dignity in the human spirit. He says that yearning transcends class, race and country.

Obama spoke at a joint news conference with South African President Jacob Zuma. The White House says Obama will meet Saturday with Mandela's family but won't visit him in the hospital, in line with the family's wishes.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-mandela-beacon-power-principle-102335578.html

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Woman's statement to Jackson jurors prompt inquiry

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A judge questioned two alternate jurors in the civil trial over Michael Jackson's death after a woman approached them and told them not to award the singer's family any money in the case.

Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos and attorneys on the case questioned the alternates, who said the woman approached them during a break Friday afternoon. Both said the woman told them not to award any money in the case against concert promoter AEG Live LLC.

The alternates said they told the woman she couldn't talk to them, but she persisted for several moments before finally leaving them alone. They described the woman but said they did not see her in the courtroom after testimony concluded Friday.

The alternate jurors said their interaction would not affect their judgment about the case. The judge told them to return to court Monday and report to bailiffs or court staffers if they saw the woman again.

Jackson family attorney Brian Panish said the interaction was jury tampering and is a felony.

Katherine Jackson mother is suing AEG Live over her son's death. The company denies wrongdoing.

The case has five alternate jurors remaining after one had to be dismissed because he is moving out of state.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-28-Jackson-AEG%20Suit-Juror/id-2e83d311af7b41b08aff57347c97b203

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Quinn says pension debt growing at slower pace

CHICAGO (AP) ? Gov. Pat Quinn said Saturday that Illinois' massive pension shortfall will grow at a slower pace of $5 million a day, but the Chicago Democrat continued to pressure legislators to solve the problem, saying "we must stop this bleeding."

The daily growth in the state's unfunded liability ? the cost of benefits it has promised public employees and retirees ? was estimated at $17 million per day for the fiscal year that ends Sunday. Quinn said that number is expected to drop in the next fiscal year in part because the state has made its full pension payment for the past several years. Legislation that curbed pension benefits for newly hired workers also contributed to the decrease.

But in a press release, Quinn said Illinois residents continue to pay "a steep price" for the Legislature's failure to address the $97 billion crisis.

"We must stop this bleeding," he said. "Legislators must work around the clock to put a bill on my desk that erases the pension debt for the greater good of the people of Illinois."

Illinois has the nation's worst state pension crisis, due mostly to years of lawmakers skipping or shorting the annual payment to the state's five public-employee retirement funds. Because of the shortfall, three major credit rating agencies have downgraded Illinois to the lowest credit rating of any state in the nation, and the annual pension payment has grown to about $6 billion ? taking money away from areas such as education and public safety.

Yet legislators have been unable to agree on a solution. After ending their regular legislative session in May with the House and Senate at a stalemate over rival plans, lawmakers voted earlier this month to form a bipartisan committee to try to reach a compromise.

Quinn told the group they had until July 9 to come up with a deal, but several members have said that deadline is unrealistic, and the committee is not expected to meet it. Even if they do, an agreement would still have to get the approval of both chambers of the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

The House has supported legislation backed by Speaker Michael Madigan that would cut retirement benefits across the board. The Senate prefers a plan sponsored by Senate President John Cullerton, and drafted in cooperation with labor unions, that gives workers and retirees a choice in benefits. Madigan said his plan would save the state more money, but Cullerton believes his legislation is the only one that would survive a legal challenge.

Meanwhile, the pension problem has become a political issue for Quinn, who has said he will run for re-election in 2014. In recent weeks four candidates have announced they want his job: state Treasurer Dan Rutherford, venture capitalist Bruce Rauner and state Sen. Bill Brady, all Republicans, and Democrat Bill Daley, the former White House chief of staff.

All four candidates have ripped Quinn for what they say is a lack of leadership on the pension issue.

Quinn has pinned the blame squarely on the Legislature, saying he's made pension reform his top priority and that lawmakers now need to "do their job" and send him a bill to sign.

In his statement Saturday, Quinn's office also boasted that his "responsible fiscal policies" have slowed the growth of Illinois' pension debt.

Source: http://www.pjstar.com/news/x986311025/Quinn-says-pension-debt-growing-at-slower-pace?rssfeed=true

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Vatican monsignor arrested in 20M euro plot

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? A Vatican cleric and two other people were arrested Friday by Italian police for allegedly trying to smuggle 20 million euros ($26 million) in cash into the country from Switzerland by private jet. It's the latest scandal to hit the Holy See and broadens an Italian probe into its secretive bank.

Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, already under investigation in a purported money-laundering plot involving the Vatican bank, is accused of corruption and slander and was being held at a Rome prison, prosecutor Nello Rossi told reporters.

Scarano's arrest came just two days after Pope Francis created a commission of inquiry into the Vatican bank to get to the bottom of the problems that have plagued it for decades and contributed to the impression that it's an unregulated, offshore tax haven.

Francis has made clear he has no tolerance for corruption or for Vatican officials who use their jobs for personal ambition or gain. He has said he wants a "poor" church that is concerned for the world's needy, and he has also noted, perhaps tongue in cheek, that "St. Peter didn't have a bank account."

Prosecutor Rossi said the Swiss operation involved three people, all of whom were arrested Friday: Scarano, a recently suspended accountant in the Vatican's main finance office, Italian financier Giovanni Carenzio, and Giovanni Zito, who at the time of the plot was a member of the military police's agency for security and information.

Rossi detailed a remarkable plot ? uncovered by telephone wiretaps ? in which the three allegedly planned to bring into Italy some 20 million euros in cash that financier Carenzio held in his name in a Swiss bank account without paying customs at the airport, as would be required.

Scarano's attorney, Silverio Sica, said his client was something of a middleman: The 20 million euros belonged to friends who had given the money to Carenzio to invest but wanted it back. The plot would presumably enable them to avoid paying customs fees or having any paper trail of such a large amount of money entering Italy.

Rossi identified the friends as members of the Italian shipping family d'Amico and said that the money was "presumably" being held in Switzerland to avoid paying Italian taxes. An email seeking comment from the family's Rome-based company, the d'Amico Societa di Navigazione SpA, wasn't immediately returned.

According to prosecutors, Zito, the agent, called in sick to his job one day in July 2012, rented a private plane and flew with Carenzio to Locarno, Switzerland. There, Carenzio was supposed to withdraw the cash from his bank account and hand it over to Zito to bring back to Italy. The plan was so detailed there was even to be an armed police escort waiting at the airport to bring the money to Scarano's apartment in Rome, Rossi said.

"This operation was meticulously planned in all its details," Rossi said, noting that Zito was chosen to be the mule specifically because his high-ranking position in the Carabinieri would have enabled him to pass through the airport customs area without being stopped.

The money could have been transported relatively easily because euros are issued in high denominations. If the cash had been withdrawn in the largest denomination ? 500 euro notes ? it would have weighed 44 kilograms (97 pounds) and fit in a suitcase.

But at a certain point in Locarno, the deal fell through and Carenzio made excuses that the bank couldn't come up with the money, Rossi said. He declined to identify the bank.

Zito returned to Rome empty-handed but still demanded from Scarano his fee of 600,000 euros for the operation. Scarano cut him one check for 400,000 euros which he deposited. He gave him a second check for 200,000 euros, but in a bid to prevent the check from being deposited, reported it as missing, the prosecutor said.

That put a block on the check and resulted in Scarano being accused of slander for filing a false report knowing that the check was in Zito's hands, Rossi said.

Scarano, as well as the other two, are also accused of corruption. If they are indicted and convicted, they could face up to five or six years in prison, prosecutors said.

Sica, the lawyer, said Scarano said his client would respond to prosecutors' questions.

The Vatican bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works, or IOR, is cooperating with Italian authorities and its lay board has launched an internal investigation, spokesman Max Hohenberg said.

Rossi, the Italian prosecutor, described the operation as one branch in a "mosaic" of investigations targeting the IOR, which has long been a source of scandal for the Holy See. That said, the Swiss investigation didn't immediately appear to directly involve the IOR.

The checks Scarano wrote to Zito, for example, came from an Italian bank account, prosecutors said. They declined to say if Scarano received any payment for his role in the plot, or if his IOR account was used at all.

Rossi's team of prosecutors in 2010 placed the top two Vatican bank officials under investigation for allegedly violating anti-money laundering norms during a routine transaction involving an IOR account at an Italian bank. They ordered the 23 million euros in the transaction seized. The money was eventually unfrozen but the two men remain under investigation.

Rossi's team is also working with prosecutors in Salerno on a separate money-laundering investigation involving Scarano and his IOR account.

According to Sica, the lawyer, Scarano took 560,000 euros ($729,000) in cash out of his IOR bank account in 2009 and carried it out of the Vatican and into Italy to help pay off a mortgage on his Salerno home.

The money had come into Scarano's IOR account from donors who gave it to the prelate thinking they were funding a home for the terminally ill in Salerno, Sica said.

To deposit the money into an Italian bank account ? and to prevent family members from finding out he had such a large chunk of cash ? he asked 56 close friends to accept 10,000 euros apiece in cash in exchange for a check or money transfer in the same amount. Scarano was then able to deposit the amounts in his Italian account.

The lawyer said Scarano had given the names of the donors to prosecutors and insisted the origin of the money was clean, that the transactions didn't constitute money-laundering, and that he only took the money "temporarily" for his personal use.

The home for terminally ill was never built, though the property has been identified, Sica said.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Scarano was suspended more than a month ago and that the Vatican was taking the appropriate measures to deal with his case. He said the Vatican had confirmed it was prepared to offer its "full cooperation" to Italian investigators.

On Wednesday, Francis named five people to head a commission of inquiry into the Vatican bank's activities and legal status "to allow for a better harmonization with the universal mission of the Apostolic See."

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/vatican-monsignor-arrested-20m-euro-plot-142307395.html

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Labour councillor Dermot Looney elected mayor of South Dublin

Labour Cllr Dermot Looney was elected Lord Mayor of South Dublin at a meeting of South Dublin County Council last night.

He brings to three the number of Labour Party councillors who have been elected to chairmanship or cathaoirleach roles for their respective Dublin local authorities this year.

Cllr Ois?n Quinn became Lord Mayor of Dublin City Council earlier this month and Cllr Carrie Smyth was elected cathaoirleach of D?n Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Action plan

Councillors in the fourth Dublin local authority, Fingal County Council, elected Fine Gael Cllr Kieran Dennison to the role of cathaoirleach last week.

The appointment of all four cathaoirligh marks the final mayoral elections in the term of the current councils. Councillors will face a local election next year along with a plebiscite by Dublin?s citizens on the direct election of a lord mayor.

Mr Looney was elected by a vote of 13 to nine. The 30-year-old from Greenhills works as a primary school teacher in St Dominic?s National School, Tallaght. Cllr Eamon Tuffy (Lab) was elected deputy mayor.

Next week, the three Labour local authority leaders will launch Labour?s Action Plan for Dublin.

The plan will include a strategy to deliver a Dublin-wide cycle network, proposals for schemes in Dublin libraries to promote reading about the capital?s history and heritage, and steps to make Dublin more senior-citizen friendly. The three will also consider the issues surrounding proposals for a directly-elected lord mayor.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Looney said it was ?a hugely challenging time to be involved in local democracy?.

?I want to ensure the citizens of South Dublin are informed and engaged in the work of our council,? he said. He pledged to use social media ?to communicate with new audiences?.

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/labour-councillor-dermot-looney-elected-mayor-of-south-dublin-1.1447943

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Office 365 Is Now A Programmable Service For Rapid App Delivery

Microsoft is offering new capabilities for building business apps with Office 365 and Windows Azure -- part of a larger effort to offer services that can leverage its cloud environment for rapid build out. Rapid delivery was one of the themes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer discussed on the first day at the Build conference.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1ooVLDfiu9U/

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White House Unveils Final Plan on Coverage for Contraception ...

By Steve Reinberg and E.J. Mundell
HealthDay Reporters

FRIDAY, June 28 (HealthDay News) ? The Obama administration on Friday issued what it called final rules that let religious organizations opt out of providing contraception coverage in their health insurance plans, as mandated by the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

The White House said employers at non-profit religious organizations such as houses of worship, hospitals and universities won?t have to offer free access to birth control, but their insurance companies will be made directly responsible for doing so.

Women who request birth control will be able to get it free of co-pays or premiums, as required by the Affordable Care Act. But non-profit religious organizations can refuse to cover birth control, leaving the woman?s insurance company with the responsibility of coverage.

?The health care law helps ensure that millions of women have coverage for critical preventive services without cost sharing,? Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, deputy director of policy and regulation at the Center for Consumer Information, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said during an afternoon news conference.

These services include contraception ?because there are tremendous health benefits for women that come from using contraception,? she said.

Friday?s revised rules are similar to earlier proposed rules, in which houses of worship such as churches can exclude contraceptive coverage from their health plans for their employees and their dependents.

?Today?s announcement reinforces our commitment to respect the concerns of houses of worship and other non-profit religious organizations that object to contraceptive coverage, while helping to ensure that women get the care they need, regardless of where they work,? Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

The revised rule, scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2014, follows more than a year of protests and legal action from Roman Catholics, conservative Protestants and many employers who maintain that the contraception provision in the Affordable Care Act ? the Obama administration?s sweeping 2010 health reform law ? violates their religious beliefs on birth control.

It?s not clear if Friday?s announcement will satisfy opponents of the contraception provision.

On Thursday, a federal appeals court in Denver ruled that Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts chain, can proceed with its challenge to the birth-control mandate and won?t be subject to fines.

The changes offered Friday appear to be the Obama administration?s attempt to satisfy both sides on the issue ? religious leaders who object to providing contraception to employees, and those who wish to see that all women retain free access to birth control.

The White House first found itself embroiled in a political fight with Catholic Church officials after a Jan. 20, 2012, announcement that all religious-affiliated employers, with the exception of churches and other houses of worship, would have to cover free birth control as part of routine preventive care for women. These institutions were given until August 2013 to comply with the rule.

More information

For more on birth control, visit the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

Source: http://news.health.com/2013/06/28/white-house-unveils-final-plan-on-coverage-for-contraception-2/

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It?s Groundhog Day for Fact-Checkers

Patriot Majority USA, a Democratic political action committee, taps the same old playbook from summer 2012, dredging up all-too-predictable Medicare and health care claims in attacking Arkansas Republican Rep. Tom Cotton, a potential 2014 Senate candidate.

The group?s ad, launched with the Senate Majority PAC, claims that Cotton supported a plan that ?essentially ends Medicare? and costs ?some seniors $6,000 more a year.? Sound familiar? We debunked those same distortions from this very same Democratic group last July ? we?re only a week shy of publishing this story on the same day we posted last year?s. The ad also throws in the convoluted claim that Cotton, by voting to repeal the Affordable Care act, was ?voting Congress taxpayer-funded health care for life.?

Cotton, an Army veteran and lawyer who?s a freshman in the House, hasn?t declared his candidacy, but Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor faces a potentially tough reelection race in 2014.

So, the target for Patriot Majority and Senate Majority PAC is new; the tactics, not so much. In fact, as Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post?s Fact Checker, said in writing about this ad, all three major fact-checking organizations (FactCheck.org, PolitiFact.com and The Fact Checker) have previously debunked these claims.

Let?s start with the claim that Cotton was ?voting Congress taxpayer-funded health care for life.? Actually, Cotton cosponsored and voted for a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which requires members of Congress and their staffs to get health insurance through the exchanges created by the law. If the ACA were to be repealed, members of Congress and their staffs would continue to get their health insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, an exchange-like program that offers a choice of many private plans to more than 8 million federal employees and retirees.

In other words, one impact of repealing the law would be that Congress would continue getting health insurance from the FEHB program, which was created in 1959.

It?s true that federal government retirees can continue to receive insurance through the FEHB program as long as they?re eligible for an immediate annuity and were enrolled in the program for at least five years before retirement. And the government pays a good chunk of federal employees? premiums: an average of 72 percent. It?s largely ?taxpayer-funded,? just as most work-based coverage is largely employer-funded. But that?s expected to still be the case once members start getting insurance through the exchanges. There?s concern on Capitol Hill that the transition won?t be that smooth, but congressional staffs are expected to get the same benefits, simply from a different insurance source.

Medicare Memories

As we mentioned, nearly one year ago, we fact-checked the claims that lawmakers supported a plan to ?end Medicare? that would have cost seniors an additional $6,000. (And the claims were old even then ? the ?end Medicare? claim made our ?Whoppers of 2011? list.) The reference is to the budget plan from Rep. Paul Ryan ? but the ?end Medicare? quote is taken out of context, and the $6,000 claim pertains to his plan from 2011. That was before Cotton was even elected.

The ad says Cotton was ?supporting a plan that the Wall Street Journal said essentially ends Medicare,? as the phrase ?essentially end Medicare? and a citation for the Journal pops up on screen. But the April 4, 2011, article said that Ryan?s plan would ?essentially end Medicare ? as a program that directly pays those bills.?

Wall Street Journal, April 4, 2011: The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills.

That?s not the same as saying Ryan?s plan would put an end to a government plan for health insurance for seniors. His plan would have been a big change: He called for a ?premium-support? system, where the government would send payments, like subsidies, to private insurance companies that would compete for seniors? business on a Medicare exchange. He proposed implementing such a system for new beneficiaries beginning a decade in the future. The government would be paying insurance carriers, rather than directly paying health care bills.

While the Democratic claims haven?t changed in two years, Ryan?s plan has. His latest plans called for traditional Medicare to remain an option on his Medicare exchange.

As for the claim about some seniors paying thousands more under the Ryan plan, CBO did find, for the 2011 plan, that seniors with private plans would pay more than they would under the traditional Medicare system, and its analysis indicated that in 2022, a 65-year-old would pay about $6,000 more. The subsidies under that plan were set to increase with the rate of inflation.

But Ryan?s subsequent plans upped the rate of increase. CBO has only said of the latest plan that ?beneficiaries might face higher costs,? but there was no more definitive estimate than that. Patriot Majority, however, hasn?t updated its attacks. It offers the same distortion it pushed a year ago.

The plan Ryan introduced in 2013, and the one Cotton voted in favor of, echoes his 2012 plan. The groups behind the ad point to a Dec. 15, 2011, tweet that Cotton sent from his personal account supporting Ryan?s Medicare plan: ?Medicare needs reform, and @RepPaulRyan has a bipartisan plan to fix it: http://bit.ly/sBZnL4. #ar4 #argop #tcot.? But that?s a reference to the plan Ryan was about to introduce in 2012, as evidenced by the link to a National Review article on that topic.

Here?s hoping there?s no Groundhog Day in the summer of 2014.

? Lori Robertson

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/groundhog-day-fact-checkers-211240505.html

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/sciam/history-of-science

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Study links cardiac hormone-related inflammatory pathway with tumor growth

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

Contact: Anne DeLotto Baier
abaier@health.usf.edu
813-974-3303
University of South Florida (USF Health)

University of South Florida team working to develop new drug delivery systems to treat cancer by blocking signaling receptor

Tampa, FL (June 28, 2013) -- A cardiac hormone signaling receptor abundantly expressed both in inflamed tissues and cancers appears to recruit stem cells that form the blood vessels needed to feed tumor growth, reports a new study by scientists at the University of South Florida Nanomedicine Research Center.

The research may lead to the development of new drugs or delivery systems to treat cancer by blocking this receptor, known as natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPRA).

The findings appeared online recently in the journal Stem Cells.

"Our results show that NRPA signaling by cancer cells produces some molecular factors that attract stem cells, which in turn form blood vessels that provide oxygen and nutrients to the tumor," said the study's principal investigator Subhra Mohapatra, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine. "We showed that if the NPRA signal is blocked, so is the angiogenesis and, if the tumor's blood supply is cut off it will die."

Using both cultured cells and a mouse model, Dr. Mohapatra and her team modeled interactions to study the association between gene mutations and exposure to an inflammatory tissue microenvironment.

The researchers demonstrated that cardiac hormone NRPA played a key role in the link between inflammation and the development of cancer-causing tumors. Mice lacking NPRA signaling failed to induce tumors. However, co-implanting tumor cells with mesenchymal stem cells, which can turn into cells lining the inner walls of blood vessels, promoted the sprouting of blood vessels (angiogenesis) needed to promote tumor growth in NPRA-deficient mice, the researchers found. Furthermore, they showed that NRPA signaling appears to regulate key inflammatory cytokines involved in attracting these stem cells to tumor cells.

Dr. Mohapatra's laboratory is testing an innovative drug delivery system using special nanoparticles to specifically target cancers cells like a guided missile, while sparing healthy cells. The treatment is intended to deliver a package of molecules that interferes with the cardiac hormone receptor's ability to signal.

###

Dr. Mohapatra collaborated with Shyam Mohapatra, PhD, and Srinivas Nagaraj, PhD, both faculty members in the Nanomedicine Research Center and Department of Internal Medicine, on genetic and immunological aspects of the study.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and a Florida Biomedical Research Grant.

Article citation:

"NPRA Signaling Regulates Stem Cell Recruitment and Angiogenesis: A Model to Study Linkage Between Inflammation and Tumorigenesis;" Jaya Mallela, Sowndharya Ravi, Frantz Jean Louis, Bianca Mulaney, Michael Cheung, Ujjwala Sree Garapati, Vignesh Chinnasamy, Chunyan Wang, Srinivas Nagaraj, Shyam S Mohapatra, Subhra Mohapatra; Stem Cells, DOI: 10.1002/stem.1376

USF Health's mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician's Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities.

---

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?

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-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Anne DeLotto Baier
abaier@health.usf.edu
813-974-3303
University of South Florida (USF Health)

University of South Florida team working to develop new drug delivery systems to treat cancer by blocking signaling receptor

Tampa, FL (June 28, 2013) -- A cardiac hormone signaling receptor abundantly expressed both in inflamed tissues and cancers appears to recruit stem cells that form the blood vessels needed to feed tumor growth, reports a new study by scientists at the University of South Florida Nanomedicine Research Center.

The research may lead to the development of new drugs or delivery systems to treat cancer by blocking this receptor, known as natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPRA).

The findings appeared online recently in the journal Stem Cells.

"Our results show that NRPA signaling by cancer cells produces some molecular factors that attract stem cells, which in turn form blood vessels that provide oxygen and nutrients to the tumor," said the study's principal investigator Subhra Mohapatra, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine. "We showed that if the NPRA signal is blocked, so is the angiogenesis and, if the tumor's blood supply is cut off it will die."

Using both cultured cells and a mouse model, Dr. Mohapatra and her team modeled interactions to study the association between gene mutations and exposure to an inflammatory tissue microenvironment.

The researchers demonstrated that cardiac hormone NRPA played a key role in the link between inflammation and the development of cancer-causing tumors. Mice lacking NPRA signaling failed to induce tumors. However, co-implanting tumor cells with mesenchymal stem cells, which can turn into cells lining the inner walls of blood vessels, promoted the sprouting of blood vessels (angiogenesis) needed to promote tumor growth in NPRA-deficient mice, the researchers found. Furthermore, they showed that NRPA signaling appears to regulate key inflammatory cytokines involved in attracting these stem cells to tumor cells.

Dr. Mohapatra's laboratory is testing an innovative drug delivery system using special nanoparticles to specifically target cancers cells like a guided missile, while sparing healthy cells. The treatment is intended to deliver a package of molecules that interferes with the cardiac hormone receptor's ability to signal.

###

Dr. Mohapatra collaborated with Shyam Mohapatra, PhD, and Srinivas Nagaraj, PhD, both faculty members in the Nanomedicine Research Center and Department of Internal Medicine, on genetic and immunological aspects of the study.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and a Florida Biomedical Research Grant.

Article citation:

"NPRA Signaling Regulates Stem Cell Recruitment and Angiogenesis: A Model to Study Linkage Between Inflammation and Tumorigenesis;" Jaya Mallela, Sowndharya Ravi, Frantz Jean Louis, Bianca Mulaney, Michael Cheung, Ujjwala Sree Garapati, Vignesh Chinnasamy, Chunyan Wang, Srinivas Nagaraj, Shyam S Mohapatra, Subhra Mohapatra; Stem Cells, DOI: 10.1002/stem.1376

USF Health's mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician's Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities.

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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/uosf-slc062813.php

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Body of NYC storm victim lay undetected for months

Jake Pearson / AP

A dilapidated trailer sits up on blocks in a trash strewn lot in the Queens borough of New York, Tuesday, June 15, 2013. Thought to be vacant, the trailer went unsearched after Superstorm Sandy flooded the area in late 2012. More than five month after the storm, the partially skeletonized remains of 62-year-old Keith Lancaster were found inside on April 5, 2013.

By David B. Caruso and Jake Pearson, Associated Press

NEW YORK -- In the chaotic days after Superstorm Sandy, an army of aid workers streamed onto the flood-ravaged Rockaway Peninsula looking for anyone who needed help. Health workers and National Guard troops went door to door. City inspectors checked thousands of dwellings for damage. Seaside neighborhoods teemed with utility crews, Red Cross trucks and crews clearing debris.

Yet, even as the months dragged by, nobody thought to look inside the tiny construction trailer rusting away in a junk-filled lot at the corner of Beach 40th Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard.

If they had, they would have found the body of Keith Lancaster, a quiet handyman who appeared to have been using the trailer as a home the night Sandy sent 5 feet of water churning through the neighborhood.

It took until April 5 before an acquaintance finally went to check on the 62-year-old's whereabouts and found his partially skeletonized remains. His body lay near a calendar that hadn't been turned since October and prescription pill bottles last refilled in the fall.

New York City's medical examiner announced this week that Lancaster had drowned, making him the 44th person ruled to have died in New York City because of the storm.

Neighborhood residents described Lancaster as a loner and something of a drifter, and police said he had never been reported missing. No one stepped forward to claim his body from the city morgue, either, after he was finally discovered this spring. He was buried in a potter's field on an island in Long Island Sound, the medical examiner's office said. A police missing-person squad is still trying to identify any relatives.

But in life, he was well liked by some of the people who saw him sweeping sidewalks around the vacant lot where he sometimes slept.

"When we first moved here, he weeded our entire backyard," said Gerald Sylvester, 55, a retired transit worker who lives in a small bungalow just feet from the trailer where Lancaster died.

Sylvester and his wife, Carrie Vaughan, 60, said Lancaster also mended their fence and once fixed an outdoor light at their house ? but he always refused any money for his help. He wouldn't take any food, either, when they offered, and politely declined their invitations to come inside, explaining he didn't like to go into people's houses.

"He didn't talk a lot, but if he knew you, you could have a decent conversation," said Vaughan. "He was very nice. A gentleman at all times."

She said it wasn't entirely clear where he was living. Lancaster, who the family said looked slightly frail, told her he didn't want to settle in one place.

As the storm approached and the neighborhood evacuated, Sylvester said he went looking for Lancaster to see if he wanted to leave with the family, but never found him.

After the Oct. 29 storm, many neighborhood residents were unable to return to their homes. Even today, some buildings remain empty or under repair. Vaughan and Sylvester were away for two months, living in a FEMA-funded apartment, before they came back.

The lot where Lancaster's trailer sat has been vacant for many years and, at just 15 feet wide, is easy to miss. Someone passing by would probably assume, wrongly, that it is the side yard of one of the bungalows that sit next door.

The company that owns the plot, the Master Sheet Co., hasn't paid any property taxes on the parcel for years, according to city records, and it wasn't clear whether anyone associated with the business was aware someone was living on the property. A lawyer for the owners, Robert Rosenblatt, said Wednesday that he wasn't immediately able to reach his clients.

New York City's Office of Emergency Management didn't respond Wednesday to inquiries about the efforts the city had made to locate and identify storm victims, and why they failed to reveal Lancaster's death for so long. The mayor's office also didn't respond to an inquiry.

The lot where Lancaster died remained filled with junk this week, including an old office chair, plastic crates and bottles and stuffed animals. The trailer ? barely big enough to stand in ? is itself filled with trash.

Vaughan said that when her family returned home, she wondered what had become of Lancaster, but never suspected that he had been killed or that his body was in the trailer, which sits on cinder blocks just a few feet from her home.

"He was like a fixture of the community. We were wondering what happened to him," said Vaughan. "We would've taken him with us."

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2de154bd/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C270C191711720Ebody0Eof0Enyc0Estorm0Evictim0Elay0Eundetected0Efor0Emonths0Dlite/story01.htm

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NYC Council passes plans for new police oversight

NEW YORK (AP) ? The most expansive plans in years to impose new oversight on the New York Police Department passed the City Council early Thursday, as lawmakers voted to create an outside watchdog and make it easier to bring racial profiling claims against the nation's largest police force.

Both passed with enough votes to override expected vetoes, marking an inflection point in the public debate and power dynamics that have set the balance between prioritizing safety and protecting civil liberties here.

Proponents see the legislation as a check on a police department that has come under scrutiny for its heavy use of a tactic known as stop and frisk and its extensive surveillance of Muslims, as disclosed in a series of stories by The Associated Press.

"New Yorkers know that we can keep our city safe from crime and terrorism without profiling our neighbors," Councilman Brad Lander, who spearheaded the measures with Councilman Jumaane Williams, said at a packed and emotional City Council meeting that began shortly before midnight and stretched into the early morning. In a sign of the national profile the measures has gained, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous was in the audience, while hip hop impresario Russell Simmons tweeted to urge the measures' passage.

Critics say the measures would impinge on techniques that have wrestled crime down dramatically and would leave the NYPD "pointlessly hampered by outside intrusion and recklessly threatened by second-guessing from the courts," in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's words. He vowed in a statement minutes after the vote to veto the measures and continue urging lawmakers to take his side.

But while it's too soon to settle how the initiatives may play out in practice if they survive the expected veto, they already have shaped politics and perception.

Besides giving ground to complaints that the NYPD hasn't been sensitive enough to civil rights and racial fairness, the legislation has put the three-term mayor and his popular police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, in the uncommon position of possibly losing a high-profile fight on public safety. They have gone to lengths to make their criticisms heard, most recently in a Monday news conference at which Bloomberg envisioned gang members lodging discriminatory-policing complaints and Kelly invoked "al-Qaeda wannabes."

Yet on Wednesday, council members rebuffed those concerns and approved the measures by a wide margin.

"It just became so polarized," said Eugene O'Donnell, a John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor who follows issues related to the NYPD. "(The mayor and commissioner) just dug in their heels, for whatever reason, and they ended up with the City Council coalescing around a pretty dramatic set of steps."

The measures follow on decades of efforts to empower outside input on the NYPD, or at least facets of it. Then-Mayor John Lindsay's efforts to establish an independent civilian complaint board in the 1960s spurred a bitter clash with a police union, which said the panel would hinder policing and mobilized a referendum on it. Voters defeated it.

More than two decades later, private citizens were appointed to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which handles mainly misconduct claims against individual officers. A 1990s police corruption scandal spurred a recommendation for an independent board to investigate corruption; a Commission to Combat Police Corruption was established in 1995, but it lacks subpoena power.

Courts also have exercised some oversight, including through a 1985 federal court settlement that set guidelines for the NYPD's intelligence-gathering. And the City Council has weighed in before, including with a 2004 law that barred racial or religious profiling as "the determinative factor" in police actions, a measure Bloomberg signed.

The new measures are further-reaching than any of that, proponents and critics agree.

One would establish an inspector general with subpoena power to explore and recommend, but not force, changes to the NYPD's policies and practices. Various law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department, have inspectors general.

The other would give people more latitude if they felt they were stopped because of bias based on race, sexual orientation or certain other factors.

Plaintiffs wouldn't necessarily have to prove that a police officer intended to discriminate. Instead, they could offer evidence that a practice such as stop and frisk affects some groups disproportionately, though police could counter that the disparity was justified to accomplish a substantial law enforcement end. The suits couldn't seek money, just court orders to change police practices.

The proposals were impelled partly by concern about the roughly 5 million stop and frisks the NYPD has conducted in the last decade, with more than 80 percent of those stopped being black or Hispanic and arrests resulting less than 15 percent of the time. But proponents also point to the department's spying on Muslims, which has included infiltrating Muslim student groups and putting informants in mosques, as the AP series showed.

The poor, mostly Muslim members of a South Asian advocacy group called Desis Rising Up and Moving "feel the impact of both issues ? surveillance, as Muslims ? and stop and frisk," which is prevalent in a Queens neighborhood where many members live, said Fahd Ahmed, the group's legal director.

Stop and frisk is already the subject of a federal lawsuit brought by four men who claim they were stopped solely because of their race, along with hundreds of thousands of others stopped in the last decade. A judge is considering whether to order reforms to the police policy. City attorneys argued the stops were lawful and not based on race alone.

"(The legislation) can have a tangible effect by virtue of the policy work that will come out of an inspector general's office and by virtue of the accountability that will come out of the profiling bill," said proponent Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "But, also, they will be a statement to the people of New York that we care about fair and just policing."

The NYPD has defended the surveillance and stop and frisks as legal, and critics of the new legislation point to another set of statistics: Killings and other serious offenses have fallen 34 percent since 2001, while the number of city residents in jails and prisons has fallen 31 percent.

"These dangerous pieces of legislation will only hurt our police officers' ability to protect New Yorkers and sustain this tremendous record of accomplishment," Bloomberg said in his statement Thursday.

They could tie the department up in lawsuits and complaints, inject courts and an inspector general into tactical decisions and make "proactive policing by police officers extinct in our city," he said.

If the measures ultimately survive, Bloomberg won't be in City Hall to see much of the outcome. The term-limited mayor leaves office this year.

Democratic mayoral candidates have generally said the practice needs changing. Some Republicans, meanwhile, have embraced the NYPD's view.

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-council-passes-plans-police-oversight-063043528.html

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The Daily Roundup for 06.26.2013

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Filed under: Misc, Microsoft, Google

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/R59S3cPaRLw/

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Improve Concentration At Work: 13 Ways To Focus On The Job

1. Prioritize Tasks

You can improve your focus by tackling the big jobs first and leaving the small stuff till later. Make a list of what tasks are the most important. Your ?A List? might include anything with a deadline of today or tomorrow. The ?B List? would consist of projects needing to be completed next week, while the ?C List? catches loose ends like checking your email. ?If you fail to prioritize tasks, this can lead to organizational and distractibility issues,? says Simon Rego, PsyD, director of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Training Program at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

2. Corral Your Email

Even the most focused individuals can quickly be led astray by the incessant ping-ping-ping of incoming emails. But if a person is already prone to distraction, these incoming signals can derail the whole day. Rather than read email as it comes in all day and night, set aside specific periods of time to do this. ?Most patients find this very useful because we?re almost slaves to always having to be available to emails and phone calls,? says David Loewenstein, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

3. Limit Other Distractions

Persistent voice mails, the 24/7 availability of the Internet, and even casual conversations outside your office can drive you to distraction and away from the work at hand. As with emails, set aside specific times to check and answer voice mail messages. And depending upon what project is the most pressing, you may even consider turning off your computer to eliminate the endless allure of the world wide web. ?If you don?t turn your computer on, you don?t get distracted,? Rego says.

4. Break It Into Bite-Size Chunks

If you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed, this may well be because you?re taking on too much at one time. ?If you feel stressed or anxious, you can assume whatever task is making you feel (this way) is too big,? Rego says. ?Therefore smash it into smaller, more manageable bits.? If you?re anxious about needing to write something before the end of the week, break it down so that you feel more focused. Set realistic goals one day at a time or even one hour at a time.

5. Work In The Same Location

Working at Starbuck?s one day, the library another and your home office yet another will make you super-vulnerable to distracting external stimuli, says Rego. But if you habituate yourself to one place, your mind gets used to the area and can rev up to actually make you want to work. ?Being consistent in your environment and trying to work in the same place at the same time increases your natural tendency to do work in that area,? Rego says.

6. Find A Quiet Place To Work

The ideal would be to have a private office with a door but this isn?t always realistic in today?s world of Dilbert-like cubicles. If your boss isn?t open to giving you your own office, there are ways to minimize distractions even in a small cubicle. If you have to share your space, try to share it with someone who does more computer work than phone work and ask he or she to conduct meetings in other, more open spaces.

7. Set A Timer

Setting a timer to go off at certain intervals can help bring a wandering mind back to the task at hand. ?Have it go off as a cue to ask, ?Is what I?m doing right now one of my important A-List items? Am I on task??? says Rego. If you?re off task, this is a reminder to get back to what you were doing. You can also use a timer to try to gradually extend your attention span, from 10 minutes one week to 12 the next and 14 the next.

8. Declutter Your Workspace

Having a neat, clean work space can help improve organization and focus, but be aware that moving items around on your desk can be a double-edged sword. When cleaning your desk suddenly becomes a priority even with other deadlines looming, that could mean trouble. ?If all of a sudden it?s so important to clean [your] desk, that could be a red herring,? says Rego. ?Call it for what it is ... Be honest with yourself. What is the function of what [you?re] doing right now.?

9. Plan Your Days

Many people with ADHD find they are more efficient and productive if they use a day planner or a personal digital assistant (PDA). A compact PDA is especially useful because it can be carried with you and programmed to send messages and reminders, perhaps a 30-minute ?warning? bell before an upcoming meeting. That way you can make sure you?re prepared and on time. ?You will always have cues that will orient you,? Loewenstein says.

10. Use Relaxation Techniques

?If you have ADHD and are impulsive or distracted, that can become even greater if you are under stress,? says Loewenstein. That?s why it?s so important to take breaks where you can relax, be it just deep breathing, meditation or working with imagery. ?These things will help get people into a very focused state,? says Loewenstein. This way, you can get a sense that everything is not equally urgent and take the time to reassess. Do you need to finish this job now or can it wait? ?It gives people a chance to recalibrate,? he says.

11. Take Notes

Taking notes in a meeting or while you?re on the phone can help you remember items later. You can also use the notes to highlight new items for your A, B and C lists. And there?s another advantage. ?If you have problems processing auditory information in a meeting and become distracted, taking notes is great because you?re processing in another modality,? says Loewenstein.

12. Maintain A Routine

?In general, anything that you can routinize that you know you have to do and it becomes overlearned is very, very good,? Loewenstein says. If ?you?re constantly losing things, that just puts added pressure on your life.? This could be something as simple as putting your house and car keys in the same place every day so you don?t screw up your whole day. ?That?s one less thing that can go wrong,? says Loewenstein.The same goes for your organizer, notebooks, pens and briefcase.

13. Surround Yourself With Organized People

Many successful people with ADHD have one thing in common: They?ve set up the right supports. That means getting really ?together? people around you. ?If you?re a business person, you have to make sure you?re surrounding yourself with people who are really well organized and who like to organize the day,? says Loewenstein. ?Getting the right people around you, particularly if you?re in an executive position, is absolutely invaluable.?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/27/improve-concentration-at-work_n_3479042.html

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Weekend heat wave to bake western US

A construction worker is shown atop a roof at sunrise to beat daytime high temperatures, Thursday, June 27, 2013 in Queen Creek, Ariz. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Dangerously hot temperatures are expected across the Arizona deserts throughout the week with a high of 118 by Friday. (AP Photo/Matt York)

A construction worker is shown atop a roof at sunrise to beat daytime high temperatures, Thursday, June 27, 2013 in Queen Creek, Ariz. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Dangerously hot temperatures are expected across the Arizona deserts throughout the week with a high of 118 by Friday. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Construction workers gather at a new home site at sunrise to beat daytime high temperatures, Thursday, June 27, 2013 in Queen Creek, Ariz. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Dangerously hot temperatures are expected across the Arizona deserts throughout the week with a high of 118 by Friday. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Pre-dawn construction, to beat daytime high temperatures, continues on a new bridge, Thursday, June 27, 2013 in Mesa, Ariz. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Dangerously hot temperatures are expected across the Arizona deserts throughout the week with a high of 118 by Friday. (AP Photo/Matt York)

A construction worker is shown atop a roof at sunrise to beat daytime high temperatures, Thursday, June 27, 2013 in Queen Creek, Ariz. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Dangerously hot temperatures are expected across the Arizona deserts throughout the week with a high of 118 by Friday. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Construction worker Joel Loza puts on his bandana after soaking it in water in an effort to keep cool Thursday, June 27, 2013 in Gibert, Ariz. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Dangerously hot temperatures are expected across the Arizona deserts throughout the week with a high of 118 by Friday. (AP Photo/Matt York)

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? A high pressure system parking over the West is expected to bring temperatures this weekend and into next week that are extreme even for a region used to baking during the summer.

Notoriously hot Death Valley's forecast calls for 129 degrees, not far off the world record of 134 logged there July 10, 1913. The National Weather Service called for 118 in Phoenix, and at least 117 in Las Vegas on Sunday ? a mark reached only twice in Sin City.

"It's brutal out there," said Leslie Carmine, spokeswoman for Catholic Charities, which runs a daytime shelter in Las Vegas to draw homeless people out of the heat and set them up with sunscreen and bottled water.

Meteorologists are calling for highs at or above 112 through Wednesday in Las Vegas, and there isn't even relief when the sun goes down. Sunday night's low is forecast to be 92 degrees ? enough to make for a stuffy stroll down the Strip at whatever hour tourists leave the bar.

Two Elvis impersonators and a performer costumed as the iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign said they still planned to keep up their routine of working the tourist corridor in the broad daylight and turning in for the evenings, heat notwithstanding.

"We'd much rather fight with the sun than fight with the drunk people," Elvis impersonator Cristian Morales said Thursday.

While the Southwest boasts the most alarming temperatures, the heat wave is driving up the mercury all over the West. Western Washington ? better known for rainy coffee shop weather ? should break the 90s early next week, according to the weather service.

Dry southern Utah is forecast to reach higher than 110 degrees, and northern Utah ? which markets "the greatest snow on Earth" ? is also expected to hit the triple digits.

The heat wave is "a huge one," National Weather Service specialist Stuart Seto said. "We haven't seen one like this for several years, probably the mid- to late 2000s."

The system's high pressure causes air to sink and warm, drawing down humidity.

"As the air warms, it can hold more moisture, and so what that does is take out the clouds," Seto said.

While those in the West take to their swimming pools or hunker down indoors during the heat wave, the eastern half of the country is set for normal and below normal temperatures driven by lower pressure.

"There's a balancing act in the atmospheric pressure," said Chris Stachelski, a weather service meteorologist based in Las Vegas.

He noted that an unusual June heat wave that's had Alaskans shedding their polar fleece in favor of bathing suits is part of a separate high-pressure system centered in the Yukon.

The hottest cities in the West are taking precautions to protect vulnerable residents during the sizzle. Police are pleading with drivers not to leave babies or pets in vehicles, and temporary cooling stations are popping up to shelter homeless people and seniors on fixed incomes who hesitate to use the air conditioning.

Officials said extra personnel have been added to the U.S. Border Patrol's Search, Trauma, and Rescue unit as people illegally crossing the border from Mexico into Arizona could succumb to exhaustion and dehydration.

Several bodies of immigrants have been found in the last week in Arizona. Agents in the Tucson sector rescued more than 170 people from the desert during a 30-day stretch in May and June when temperatures were even lower than expected in the coming days.

At low-lying Lake Mead, which straddles the Arizona-Nevada border and is anticipating 120 degrees this weekend, rangers are positioned at trailheads to discourage hikers.

Earlier in June, a group of Boy Scouts hiking in the Colorado River canyon fell victim to soaring heat. Four teenagers and an adult had to be rescued, while a 69-year-old Scout leader died.

___

Associated Press writers Robert Jablon in Los Angeles, Julie Jacobson in Las Vegas, Michelle Price in Salt Lake City and Brian Skoloff in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-27-West%20Heat%20Wave/id-871968acd75749f49c622cdf668201ac

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PFT: Photo shows Hernandez with gun in '09

AP

With more than $5 million still arguably owed to Aaron Hernandez under the contract he signed last August, the Patriots likely will fight to avoid paying him another dime.? The two-front battle relates to the final $3.25 million installment of his $12.5 million signing bonus and guaranteed base salaries for 2013 and 2014.? The guaranteed base salaries total $2.5 million.

As to the signing bonus, the team?s decision to cut Hernandez makes it much more difficult to block the final payment or to recover any of the $8.75 million already issued to Hernandez.? As to the guaranteed salaries, multiple sources have indicated that Hernandez likely will not be entitled to any further payment.

Despite the absence of forfeiture language for the guaranteed salaries, the guarantee applies only to terminations made due to injury, skill (i.e., perceived lack of it), and the salary cap.? Because the Patriots cut Hernandez pursuant to paragraph 11 of the standard player contract, which permits termination of employment when the player ?has engaged in personal conduct reasonably judged by Club to adversely affect or reflect on Club,? the guarantee evaporates.

As we understand it, that?s not merely the team?s position.? The NFLPA, we?re told, agrees with the interpretation.

While this doesn?t prevent Hernandez from filing a grievance aimed at getting the money, it?s a steep uphill climb and, frankly, the least of his concerns.

The more intriguing fight will arise in connection with the unpaid $3.25 million installment of the signing bonus.? That money already has been earned by Hernandez.? But cutting him, the Patriots apparently surrendered any ability to recover the money that has been paid or to keep the portion that hasn?t been paid.

Still, it currently appears that the Patriots will at a minimum force Hernandez to sue for the rest ? and at most try to recover as much of the previously-paid signing bonus as they can.

The problem for Hernandez is that, even though the terms of the labor deal seem to be on his side, the facts can nudge the controversy toward a bad outcome.? The problem for other players is that, if Hernandez loses, a bad precedent will be created for them.

Either way, it appears that the Patriots have enhanced their ability to avoid the guaranteed salaries by cutting Hernandez, even if cutting him makes it harder to avoid paying the final $3.25 million.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/26/photo-emerges-of-hernandez-posing-with-glock-in-2009/related/

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Video game tech used to steer cockroaches on autopilot

June 25, 2013 ? North Carolina State University researchers are using video game technology to remotely control cockroaches on autopilot, with a computer steering the cockroach through a controlled environment. The researchers are using the technology to track how roaches respond to the remote control, with the goal of developing ways that roaches on autopilot can be used to map dynamic environments -- such as collapsed buildings.

The researchers have incorporated Microsoft's motion-sensing Kinect system into an electronic interface developed at NC State that can remotely control cockroaches. The researchers plug in a digitally plotted path for the roach, and use Kinect to identify and track the insect's progress. The program then uses the Kinect tracking data to automatically steer the roach along the desired path.?

The program also uses Kinect to collect data on how the roaches respond to the electrical impulses from the remote-control interface. This data will help the researchers fine-tune the steering parameters needed to control the roaches more precisely.

"Our goal is to be able to guide these roaches as efficiently as possible, and our work with Kinect is helping us do that," says Dr. Alper Bozkurt, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper on the work.

"We want to build on this program, incorporating mapping and radio frequency techniques that will allow us to use a small group of cockroaches to explore and map disaster sites," Bozkurt says. "The autopilot program would control the roaches, sending them on the most efficient routes to provide rescuers with a comprehensive view of the situation."

The roaches would also be equipped with sensors, such as microphones, to detect survivors in collapsed buildings or other disaster areas. "We may even be able to attach small speakers, which would allow rescuers to communicate with anyone who is trapped," Bozkurt says.

Bozkurt's team had previously developed the technology that would allow users to steer cockroaches remotely, but the use of Kinect to develop an autopilot program and track the precise response of roaches to electrical impulses is new.

The interface that controls the roach is wired to the roach's antennae and cerci. The cerci are sensory organs on the roach's abdomen, which are normally used to detect movement in the air that could indicate a predator is approaching -- causing the roach to scurry away. But the researchers use the wires attached to the cerci to spur the roach into motion. The wires attached to the antennae send small charges that trick the roach into thinking the antennae are in contact with a barrier and steering them in the opposite direction.

The paper, "Kinect-based System for Automated Control of Terrestrial Insect Biobots," will be presented at the Remote Controlled Insect Biobots Minisymposium at the 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society July 4 in Osaka, Japan. Lead author of the paper is NC State undergraduate Eric Whitmire. Co-authors are Bozkurt and NC State graduate student Tahmid Latif. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/technology/~3/INaQYtNvF54/130625121233.htm

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Study details cancer-promoting mechanisms of overlooked components in secondhand smoke

June 25, 2013 ? Tobacco smoke, diesel exhaust and oil combustion carry polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons -- PAHs that are known to cause cancer. But of these PAHs, the obviously dangerous high-molecular-weight PAHs like benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) have received the vast majority of research attention. Their low-molecular-weight cousins have been largely overlooked, in part because studies have shown that these compounds alone aren't very successful at mutating genes in cancer-causing ways.

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the journal PLoS One explores two of these low-molecular-weight (LMW) PAHs -- 1-methylanthracene (1-MeA) and 2-methylanthracene (2-MeA) -- and shows that while they don't necessarily cause cancer, 1-MeA promotes conditions that will likely allow cancer to grow.

"There's a big distinction between initiating cancer and promoting it," says Alison Bauer, PhD, CU Cancer Center investigator and assistant professor at the Colorado School of Public Health. Her study showed that in a mouse cell model using a progenitor cell of lung cancer, the LMW 1-MeA promoted inflammation and increased mitogenic pathways, both of which are linked to tumor promotion. 2-MeA, while nearly structurally identical, did not.

"These LMW PAHs have been considered less of a concern," Bauer says, "but we're finding evidence that's not the case. They're not likely initiating the cancer, but it looks as if they could promote it."

Among other effects, Bauer and colleagues found that 1-MeA disrupts communication between cells, affecting the "gap junctions" across which adjoining cells pass information. 1-MeA also upregulates the gene COX2, which has been shown in other studies to create an over-aggressive inflammatory response -- and this inflammation in turn can promote tumor growth.

"There are many different PAHs in secondhand smoke," Bauer says. "Some are obviously dangerous like BaP, which directly mutates genes. Others, like 1-MeA, we known very little about. Think about all these PAHs like chess pieces -- first you have to know how each piece moves and then you can start looking at how they all work together."

Bauer points to these PAH mixtures as the next step in research. Eventually, knowing the effects of these mixtures could help evaluate the risks of different combustion products. The work could also lead to new therapy targets if, perhaps, some of the changes promoted by these LMW PAHs prove preventable or reversible by medicines.

"With smoking rates decreasing, we think this problem is going away, but high levels of secondhand smoke still exist in the U.S., for example in some apartment buildings," Bauer says. "And around the world, in China, Russia, Poland and many other countries, secondhand smoke is still a major issue. Knowing the effects of these LMW PAHs like 1-MeA could help us prevent or treat cancers associated with them."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/k-LDtzBAM60/130625150940.htm

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Snowden mystery deepens: All eyes on airport

Transit passengers eat at a cafe with a TV screen with a news program showing a report on Edward Snowden, in the background, at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Transit passengers eat at a cafe with a TV screen with a news program showing a report on Edward Snowden, in the background, at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Transit passengers check into a hotel at the transit zone in Sheremetyevo,airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

An airport worker passes a TV screen with a news program showing a report on Edward Snowden at Sheremetyevo,airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

A transit passenger takes a photo with a mobile phone in the transit zone at Sheremetyevo,airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Transit passengers rest in the transit zone at Sheremetyevo,airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

MOSCOW (AP) ? Moscow's main airport swarmed with journalists from around the globe Wednesday, but the man they were looking for ? National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden ? was nowhere to be seen. The mystery of his whereabouts only deepened a day after President Vladimir Putin said that Snowden was in the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport.

An Associated Press reporter entered the area Wednesday by flying in from Kiev, Ukraine, and found ordinary scenes of duty free shopping, snoozing travelers and tourists sipping coffee, but no trace of America's most famous fugitive. If Putin's statement is true, it means that Snowden has effectively lived a life of airport limbo since his weekend flight from Hong Kong, especially with his American passport now revoked by U.S. authorities.

Adding to the uncertainty, Ecuador's foreign minister said Wednesday it could take months to decide whether to grant asylum to Snowden and that the Latin American nation would take into consideration its relations with the U.S. when doing so. Speaking during a visit to Malaysia's main city, Kuala Lumpur, Ricardo Patino compared Snowden's case to that of Julian Assange, the founder of anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, who has been given asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.

"It took us two months to make a decision in the case of Assange, so do not expect us to make a decision sooner this time," Patino told reporters.

Snowden, who is charged with violating American espionage laws, fled Hong Kong over the weekend and flew to Russia. He booked a seat on a Havana-bound flight Monday en route to Venezuela, but didn't board the plane. His ultimate destination was believed to be Ecuador.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa shot back at critics on Wednesday, taking special aim at a Washington Post editorial that described him as "the autocratic leader of tiny, impoverished Ecuador" and accused him of a double standard for considering asylum for Snowden while stifling critics at home.

"The shamelessness of the century: Washington Post accuses Ecuador of double standard," Correa said on his Twitter page.

As a contractor for the NSA, Snowden gained access to documents that he gave to the Post and the Guardian to expose what he contends are privacy violations by an authoritarian government.

Correa complained that the international press "has managed to focus attention on Snowden and on those 'wicked' countries that 'aid' him, making us forget the terrible things against the U.S. people and the whole world that he denounced."

The airport zone where Snowden is purportedly staying serves both connecting passengers traveling via Moscow to onward destinations and passengers departing from Moscow who have passed border and security checks.

The huge area unites three terminals: the modern, recently built D and E, and the older, less comfortable F, which dates to the Soviet era. The transit and departure area is essentially a long corridor, with boarding gates on one side and gleaming duty free shops, luxury clothing boutiques and souvenir stores selling Russian Matryoshka dolls on the other. About a dozen restaurants owned by local and foreign chains serve various tastes.

Hundreds of Russian and foreign tourists awaited flights here, some stretched out on rows of gray chairs, others sipping hot drinks at coffee shops or looking out through giant windows as silver-blue Aeroflot planes land and take off.

Business ran as usual at the terminals on Wednesday morning. An Asian girl, about 10 years old, slept peacefully on her father's lap. A middle-aged mother and her teenage daughter tried out perfume samples at a duty free store, while nearby a woman in a green dress picked out a pair of designer sunglasses. A pilot was buying lunch at Burger King.

Putin insisted Tuesday that Snowden has stayed in the transit zone without passing through Russian immigration and is free to travel wherever he likes. But the U.S. move to annul Snowden's passport may have severely complicated his travel plans. Exiting the transit area would either require boarding a plane or passing through border control. Both require a valid passport or other documentation.

Hordes of journalists armed with laptops and photo and video cameras have camped in and around the airport, looking for Snowden or anyone who may have seen or talked to him. But after talking to passengers, airport personnel, waiters and shop clerks, the press corps has discovered no sign of the leaker.

Russian news agencies, citing unidentified sources, reported that Snowden was staying at a hotel in the transit terminal, but he was not seen at the zone's only hotel, called Air Express. It offers several dozen capsule-style spaces that passengers can rent for a few hours to catch some sleep. Hotel staff refused to say whether Snowden was staying there or had stayed there in the past.

"We only saw lots of journalists, that's for sure," said Maxim, a waiter at the Shokoladnitsa diner not far from Air Express. He declined to give his last name because he wasn't allowed to talk to reporters.

The departure and transit area is huge and has dozens of small rooms, some labeled "authorized personnel only," where someone could potentially seek refuge with support from airport staff or security personnel. And security forces or police patrolling the area can easily whisk a person out of sight through back doors or corridors.

There are also a few VIP lounge areas, accessible to business-class passengers or people willing to pay some $20 per hour. Snowden was not seen in those areas.

Sheremetyevo's press service declined to comment on Snowden's whereabouts. A policeman at the airport laughed off a question from an AP reporter about where he might be. "Journalists have searched this place for three days and have found nothing. Was he ever here in the first place?" the policeman asked. He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Hong Kong officials said they allowed Snowden to leave for Moscow because the U.S. government got his middle name wrong in documents it submitted seeking his arrest. Hong Kong immigration records listed Snowden's middle name as Joseph, but the U.S. government used the name James in some documents and referred to him only as Edward J. Snowden in others, Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen said. The U.S. also did not provide his passport number and did not respond to requests for clarification, Yuen said.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks gave a terse update on Snowden earlier on Wednesday, saying in a statement posted to Twitter that he was "well."

WikiLeaks says that one of its staffers, Sarah Harrison, was traveling with Snowden, but the statement gave no indication if the update came from her, from Snowden, or from some other source. WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson did not immediately return a call and a text seeking further comment.

In a conference call with reporters on Monday, Assange said he was limited in what he could say about Snowden due to security concerns. He denied reports that Snowden was spending his time at the airport being debriefed by Russian intelligence officers.

_____

Yoong reported from Kuala Lumpur. Lynn Berry in Moscow and Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-26-NSA-Surveillance/id-d0f1ecbdb3944b33a4e38474c6458f55

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