Galaxy Note gets LTE turned on in South Korea, ready to cross the Pacific? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Japan has got its first taste of an LTE smartphone, and this one's Galaxy-flavored. Oh yes, Samsung's Galaxy S II LTE has made an appearance on NTT DoCoMo, running on the Japanese carrier's next-generation Xi network and promising top download speeds of around 37.5Mbps. The latest member to the carrier's top-drawer Next series will set you back around $260 (¥20,000) on a two-year contract. DoCoMo is aiming to reach the hands of 30 million customers by 2015, with another as-yet unnamed several more 4G devices already penned for release before the end of the year. Perhaps the pair of data-loving handsets will help to fill that iPhone-shaped hole in the carrier's phone catalog.
Update: Contrary to the Asahi Shimbun report, it looks like both the Fujitsu Arrows X LTE F-05D and the LG Optimus LTE will cosy up on the new high-speed network before the end of the year.
Samsung Galaxy S II LTE arrives in Japan, NTT DoCoMo offers up its first course of 4G phones originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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VERIA, Greece (AP) ? The Robin Hoods in this northern Greek town sport rubber gloves, fuses and orange stickers.
Nearly two years of pay cuts, job cuts and tax hikes have pummeled living standards in debt-crippled Greece and the country is facing record unemployment and a fourth year of recession in 2012. On a personal level, that means many in Veria can't pay for basic necessities such as electricity and end up getting cut off from the grid.
That's where the "Citizens of Veria" activists step in.
The group illegally reconnects needy households back to the electric grid in a direct challenge to the country's dominant power provider, the Public Power Corporation.
"By cutting off power, (PPC) punishes young children, elderly people and generally those who can't cope without it," said activist Nikos Aslanoglou. "We decided that we had to reconnect them. We're not hiding, everybody knows who we are."
He says the group has so far reconnected dozens of households, particularly in the villages and small towns outlying Veria.
Greece sank into a financial crisis in 2009 after it emerged that authorities had been falsifying financial data for years. The fallout from that blocked the country's access to bond markets. Greece only escaped bankruptcy with a euro110 billion ($147 billion) international rescue loan in May 2010, and when that was not enough, a second, euro130 billion ($174 billion) rescue deal that awaits final approval.
In return, the government has promised to slash bloated budget deficits through harsh austerity measures.
As jobs become rarer and worse-paid, many in this northern farming region are falling through a weakening social safety net. In the village of Agia Marina, 9 miles (15 kilometers) from Veria, activists recently reconnected the house of a disabled, 34-year-old single mother, who lives with four of her five children.
As they left, they placed an orange sticker on the electricity meter that reads: "Citizens of Veria. Social solidarity. We are reconnecting the power."
The woman's eldest daughter, a 19-year-old student, said before the activists came her siblings ? aged from 6 to 18 ? had to study by candlelight or with oil lamps in an unheated house.
"Our only income is a euro400-euro500 ($535-$668) welfare payment every two months," said the student, Vasso. "PPC disconnected us because we owed them money, and we were left in the dark for about a month, but then some gentlemen came and reconnected us. Now we have heating again."
She didn't want her full name used because she was afraid authorities would track down her family.
What the activists are doing is illegal and can be punished by more than ten years' imprisonment depending on the size of the outstanding bills, although in most cases sentences do not exceed five years.
"Greek law treats the theft of electricity like any other common theft," University of Thessaloniki law professor Lambros Margaritis said.
Undeterred, a three-strong activist team recently reconnected a house in the small town of Meliki, where a 54-year-old woman lives with her two unemployed sons in their thirties. Working deftly, it took them 15 minutes.
"We're not stealing, the electricity consumption is recorded," Aslanoglou said. "The poor houseowners can't face consequences, it's us who do the reconnecting."
Hence the stickers.
Veria activists claim their campaign is catching on in other parts of the country ? particularly since the introduction in September of a deeply resented new property tax levied through power bills. People who can't pay the new tax face losing their power supply.
That prospect has enraged even PPC employees, who staged a sit-in at a company office in Athens to disrupt the collection of the new emergency tax.
While the Veria municipal authority says have-nots should not be disconnected over the new tax, Mayor Haroula Ousountzoglou says the activists are going too far.
"What the group is doing may be very romantic, it is, however, dangerous," Ousountzoglou told the AP. "PPC just goes and cuts off the electricity again, and imposes additional charges."
In cases of repeated illegal reconnection, homeowners can also face prosecution ? or have their link severed at the nearest electricity pole, a drastic move that activists are powerless to counter.
PPC public relations officer Kimon Stergiotis warned that the company is determined to protect its interests.
"To illegally reconnect cut power links poses severe threats to the life and property of unsuspecting citizens," he said. "In any case, PPC will use the law to its utmost severity."
Ousountzoglou said her town has about 330 families on a welfare program that sometimes includes assistance in paying power bills.
"But our funds are constantly dwindling, and I keep making the rounds of local firms to ask for contributions," she added.
The Veria mayor has threatened to sue PPC if people who really can't pay the property tax are left without power.
"We told them we're not joking," she said. "PPC can't behave like that to needy people."
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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates?? A state security court in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday sentenced five activists who have campaigned for political freedoms in the oil-rich Gulf federation to prison terms of up to three years.
The UAE has faced an outcry from rights groups over the trials, which were held in the country's highest court that normally tries terrorism suspects and has no recourse for appeal.
The UAE has not been hit by the Arab Spring unrest that has spread across much of the rest of the Middle East, including neighboring Bahrain. But the activists' trial appears to reflect Abu Dhabi's strategy of snuffing out any sign of dissent that could pose a challenge to the tight political controls in country.
Story: In unprecedented step, Arab League sanctions SyriaOnly on msnbc.com
The three-judge panel sentenced one prominent blogger, Ahmed Mansour, to three years in prison. The others received two-year jail terms, including Nasser bin Gaith, an economist who has lectured at the Abu Dhabi branch of Paris' Sorbonne university. Bin Gaith also served as a legal adviser to the UAE's armed forces until April, when he was taken into custody from his Dubai home by federal security agents.
"I am disappointed," said defense lawyer Mohammed al-Roken. "The fact there is no appeal is very worrying since it does not meet all standards of fair trial."
The five were arrested in April after signing an online petition demanding political reforms, including a parliament selected by open elections. The charges included insulting the country's top leadership, endangering national security, inciting people to protest and urging them to boycott elections.
Political activity is severely restricted in the UAE, an alliance of seven semiautonomous states, each ruled by a hereditary sheik. There are no official opposition groups in the country and political parties are banned.
In an unprecedented move for the politically quiescent country, 130 people in March signed a petition demanding constitutional and parliamentary changes, free elections and a more equitable distribution of the country's oil wealth.
The five defendants have reportedly been on hunger strike for two weeks. They did not attend the sentencing Sunday. Since the trial began in June, the defendants only attended the first, closed-door hearing where they all pleaded not guilty. They've boycotted the proceedings since because the presiding judge had refused to consider their request to be released on bail.
After Sunday's verdict, dozens of men gathered in front of the court in a state-organized rally.
"Justice has been served," said Thabet al-Qaissieh, 29-year old businessman from Abu Dhabi. "I respect any decision of our nation's court. Were they pronounced innocent, I'd be the first to welcome them outside. But they have been convicted and the punishment is fair."
Only one relative of a defendant attended Sunday's hearing. Khalifa al-Nuaimi, bin Gaith's nephew, told reporters his family had hoped the court would "recognize his innocence" and order his release.
"This is a great shock to our family," al-Nuaimi told reporters outside the court. "This is unexpected and a very harsh judgment." Minutes later, al-Nuaimi was attacked by a government supporter, who punched him in the face amid a heavy police presence around the court.
The UAE marks its 40th anniversary of independence next week and some demonstrators suggested the activists could receive a presidential pardon. But the defendants have previously rejected the idea of a pardon unless it was accompanied by the entire case being thrown out.
Samer Muscati, a researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, called the proceedings "fundamentally unfair."
"It is highly disturbing that after almost eight months in jail, these men get to spend more time locked up on these ridiculous charges," he said.
The current federal parliament serves as an advisory body. Its 40 members are either directly appointed by the ruling sheiks or chosen by group citizens hand-picked according to tribal and regional ties by the rulers to vote.
The last such election ? only the second since the country's foundation ? was held in September. The electoral pool was significantly expanded and while the 129,000 voters still represent a fraction of the nearly 2 million Emiratis, the decision was seen as a concession by the rulers, under pressure from demands for reforms around the region.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45452696/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 24, 2011) ? A collaborative European study led by LMU researchers has shown that ABCC9, a known genetic factor in heart disease and diabetes, also influences the duration of sleep in humans. This function is evolutionarily conserved as knock-out of the gene reduces the duration of nocturnal sleep in fruitflies.
Legend has it that Napoleon never needed more than four hours of sleep at a stretch. Others only feel fully rested after 10 hours between the sheets. Clearly, individuals vary with respect to how much sleep they need. Indeed, sleep duration is influenced by many factors. Apart from seasonal and other variables, age and sex play a role, as does one's sleep-wake cycle or chronotype, i.e. whether one is a lark (early to bed, early to rise) or the converse, an owl. An international team of researchers led by LMU chronobiologists Professor Till Roenneberg and Dr. Karla Allebrandt has now identified the first genetic variant that has a significant effect on sleep duration and is found frequently in the general population. The variant was discovered in the course of a so-called genome-wide association study, in which the researchers scanned individual genomes for variations that were correlated with sleep patterns.
More than 4000 people from seven European populations, from countries as diverse as Estonia and Italy, took part in the project, and filled out a questionnaire designed to assess their sleeping habits. Analysis of the genetic and behavioral data revealed that individuals who had two copies of one common variant of the gene ABCC9 generally slept for a significantly shorter period in an undisturbed environment than did persons with two copies of the other version. The gene ABCC9 codes for the protein SUR2, which forms the regulatory component of a potassium channel in the cell membrane. This ion channel acts a sensor of energy metabolism in the cell. "It is particularly intriguing that functional studies have shown that the protein plays a role in the pathogenesis of heart disease and diabetes," says Dr. Karla V. Allebrandt, first author on the new study and a chronogeneticist at LMU Munich.
"So apparently the relationships of sleep duration with metabolic syndrome symptoms can be in part explained by an underlying common molecular mechanism." The ABCC9 gene is evolutionarily ancient, as a similar gene is present in fruitflies. Fruitflies also exhibit sleep-like behavior. In collaboration with scientists from the Leicester University, the team blocked the function of the ABCC9 homolog in the fly nervous system, the duration of nocturnal sleep was shortened. In mammals, the gene is active in various tissues, including the heart, the skeletal muscles and the brain, as well as in parts of the pancreas. "It is very encouraging for us that ABCC9 also affects the nocturnal sleep period in flies," says Roenneberg. "This tells us that the genetic control of sleep duration may well be based on similar mechanisms in a wide range of highly diverse species."
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Wootton Bassett's main street was once the main route for a local air base's hearses and now the community is finding new ways to support the troops. NBC News' Duncan Golestani reports.
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IMDB Rating: Into the Abyss (2011) - IMDb
Genre: Documentary
Director: Werner Herzog
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Stars: Jason Burkett, Werner Herzog and Michael Perry
Trailer: 'Into the Abyss' Trailer - YouTube
Spoken language: English
Texted language (subtitles): English/Spanish
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Conversations with death row inmate Michael Perry and those affected by his crime serve as an examination of why people - and the state - kill.
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Egyptian Army soldiers stand guard atop a concrete block barricade on the street between Tahrir Square and the interior ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. Police and protesters demanding that Egypt's ruling military council step down are observing a truce after five days of deadly street battles in which dozens have died. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Egyptian Army soldiers stand guard atop a concrete block barricade on the street between Tahrir Square and the interior ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. Police and protesters demanding that Egypt's ruling military council step down are observing a truce after five days of deadly street battles in which dozens have died. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
In this Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011 photo, an Egyptian riot police officer aims his rifle at a man near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. Police and protesters demanding that Egypt's ruling military council step down are observing a truce after five days of deadly street battles in which dozens have died. (AP Photo/Tahsin Bakr)
A boy looks at Egyptian Army soldiers standing guard atop a concrete block barricade on the street between Tahrir Square and the interior ministry in Cairo, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. Police and protesters demanding that Egypt's ruling military council step down are observing a truce after five days of deadly street battles in which dozens have died. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Protesters sleep in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. Police and protesters demanding that Egypt's ruling military council step down are observing a truce after five days of deadly street battles in which dozens have died. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
A woman protester attempts to dismantle a barbed wire barricade, newly erected by the Egyptian army, near Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. International criticism of Egypt's military rulers is mounting after five days of clashes between police and protesters demanding the generals relinquish power immediately. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's military rulers rejected protester demands for them to step down immediately and said Thursday they would start the first round of parliamentary elections on time next week, despite serious unrest in Cairo and other cities.
The ruling military council insisted it is not the same as the old regime it replaced, but the generals appear to be on much the same path that doomed Hosni Mubarak nine months ago ? responding to the current crisis by delivering speeches seen as arrogant, mixing concessions with threats and using brutal force.
So far it's working no better than it did under the former leader.
Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, seething over the military's perceived failings over the past nine months, say they will not leave the iconic plaza until the generals step down in favor of a civilian presidential council, a show of resolve similar to that which forced Mubarak to give up power in February after nearly three decades.
"What we want to hear is when they are leaving," said Tahrir protester Khaled Mahmoud on hearing of an apology offered by the military for the deaths of nearly 40 protesters since Saturday. "The ouster of the marshal is only a matter of time," he added, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who was Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years before he succeeded him in February.
"There will be no postponement in the election," said Maj. Gen. Mamdouh Shaheen, one of two members of the ruling military council who spoke at a televised news conference on Thursday. "The election will be held on time with all of its three stages on schedule."
The two generals said the throngs in Tahrir do not represent the whole of Egypt and warned of chaos if the council was to immediately step down, language similar to Mubarak's scare-mongering while trying to cling to power in the face of the 18-day uprising against his rule.
The two generals ? Shaheen and Maj. Gen. Mukhtar el-Malla ? also said that parliamentary elections would start on time Monday and that a new prime minister to replace Essam Sharaf would be picked before the vote.
News reports that were not yet officially confirmed said Kamal el-Ganzouri, who served as prime minister under Mubarak in the 1990s, has been approached by the military as a possible candidate for prime minister. State television showed footage of el-Ganzouri meeting with Tantawi. If confirmed, el-Ganzouri would replace Essam Sharaf, whose government resigned this week.
Tahrir Square, meanwhile, was quieter Thursday after five days of intense clashes. Police and protesters agreed to a truce negotiated by Muslim clerics at the scene. At the same time, soldiers built barricades from metal bars and barbed wire to separate the protesters and the police on streets-turned-battlefields leading from Tahrir to the nearby Interior Ministry.
Protesters formed a series of human chains on the those streets to prevent anyone from violating the truce or approaching flashpoint areas close to the police lines. The truce came into force around 6 a.m. and was holding by nightfall.
The two generals from the ruling council who spoke attempted a revision of recent history to fend off calls for the military to step down.
They said their legitimate claim to power came when troops were warmly welcomed by Egyptians at the time they took over the streets from the discredited police early in the anti-Mubarak uprising. The legitimacy of their rule was reinforced by the overwhelming endorsement Egyptians gave to constitutional amendments they proposed and put to a referendum in March, they said.
"Consequently, it will be a betrayal of the people's trust if the military council was to relinquish power now," Shaheen said. "History will not kindly remember that."
El-Mallah, addressing the same news conference, said the military respected the views of the Tahrir protesters, but they did not represent the whole of Egypt.
"We will not relinquish power because a slogan-chanting crowd said so. ... Being in power is not a blessing. It is a curse. It's a very heavy responsibility."
Activists blame the military council for the country's persistently tenuous security and its growing economic woes, along with a host of other failings.
They say the council has been secretive, issuing cryptic decrees, cracking down on critics and seeking to discredit groups behind the anti-Mubarak uprising and turn the public against them. It has put at least 12,000 civilians on trial before military tribunals and is accused of torturing detainees.
The military's standing as the nation's most upright institution was dealt a heavy blow by clashes during a Coptic Christian protest on Oct. 9 in which 27 people died, most of them Christians. Video showed soldiers running down demonstrators with armored vehicles. The military tried to deny its troops opened fire or intentionally ran over protesters, blaming the violence on Christians and "hidden hands."
A coalition of more than 20 youth groups and political parties, responding to the comments made by Shaheen and el-Mallah, accused the military of spreading "misinformation" and pledged to continue their sit-in until it transfers power to a "national salvation" government to oversee elections for a new parliament and president.
"We are determined to protect our (January) revolution," they said in a statement that also disputed the assertion by the two generals that the March referendum gave legitimacy to the military's rule.
The military has been Egypt's most powerful institution since army officers seized power in a 1952 coup that toppled the monarchy. All four presidents since then hailed from military background. Taking the reins from Mubarak on Feb. 11 gave the military the opportunity to directly rule Egypt for the first time since the early 1950s, something that critics often cite to explain their political inexperience.
With Mubarak under arrest and being tried on crimes punishable by death, Tantawi and his generals would be loath to step down under pressure and leave themselves vulnerable to legal proceedings by the next administration. Additionally, stepping down would inflict lasting damage to the military's standing, although that has already been hurt by the scathing criticism and ridicule they already have endured on the streets and in the independent press.
Perhaps as a precaution against such a prospect, the generals have been trying to win immunity for the armed forces against civilian oversight and to enshrine a role for themselves in the next constitution as guardians of the nation. The bid was seen as one of the final straws that sent people out onto the streets again, convinced the military was trying to grab and cling to power.
The military has countered the criticism with implicit threats, frequently using the patriotism card and insisting that they have no wish to stay in power beyond the election of a new president before the end of June 2012.
"O glorious people of Egypt, our only loyalty in the armed forces is to you and the soil of Egypt," Tantawi told the nation this week in a televised address. "Criticism directed at the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (the formal name of the military's ruling council) aims at weakening our will and mandate and seeks to undermine the great trust between the people and their armed forces," said Tantawi, whose address bore a striking resemblance to speeches given by Mubarak during the January-February uprising.
The two generals also praised the police for what they said was their restraint and said they have every right to defend themselves, but acknowledged they made mistakes while handling the protesters. They said nothing about witness reports that members of he military police also battled protesters alongside the hated police in the latest clashes.
They appeared to try to drive a wedge between the protesters, addressing those camping out in Tahrir square as "honorable" while criticizing others who battled the police for five days on nearby side streets.
The military, said the two generals, would return to their barracks if only Egyptians voted in favor of that move in a referendum or when an elected civilian administration was in place. The idea of holding a referendum on the military immediately stepping down was first floated by Tantawi on Tuesday.
The military's defiance in the face of popular opposition to its rule comes as more and more protesters in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt blame the army and the much hated police equally for the death of nearly 40 protesters since the clashes broke out on Saturday. At least 2,000 others have been wounded. The military is also accused of remaining loyal to Mubarak, having put him under arrest and on trial only when large protests pressured them to do so.
"The army is now operating like the police, a tool of suppression," said protester Mayada Khalaf. "With all these lies from the army, it is like they are sticking their tongues out at us."
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BEIRUT (Reuters) ? The Syrian government ignored Arab powers' moves to halt its crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising on Friday and more opposition supporters and military personnel were killed in unrelenting violence.
The Syrian military said 10 personnel, including six pilots, were killed in an attack on an air force base and that the incident proved foreign involvement in the eight-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
Government forces shot dead at least four demonstrators in the capital Damascus who were appealing for foreign intervention to stop the crackdown, activists said. Two other civilians were killed in raids on their homes, they said.
Earlier on Friday, a deadline set by the Arab League for Syria to sign a deal allowing peace monitors into the country expired without any government response. Turkey meanwhile said it could no longer tolerate any more bloodshed.
More than 3,500 people are estimated by the United Nations to have been killed since March, the majority of them civilians gunned down as they took to the streets of Syrian towns and cities to call for an end to Assad's rule.
Under the Arab League initiative, Syria agreed to withdraw troops from urban centers, release political prisoners, start a dialogue with the opposition and allow in monitors.
The bloodshed did not stop and Arab foreign ministers said in Cairo on Thursday that unless Syria agreed to the monitors, they would consider imposing sanctions including halting flights, curbing trade and stopping deals with the central bank.
The League extended the deadline after it expired on Friday , saying they would wait until the day's end before deciding what to do.
OBLIQUE
The announcement of the air force attack appeared to be an oblique response.
"An armed terrorist group undertook an evil assassination plot that martyred six pilots, a technical officer and three other personnel on an air force base between Homs and Palmyra," a military spokesman said on state television.
"This confirms the involvement of foreign elements and their support of these terrorist operations in an effort to weaken the fighting capabilities of our forces," he said.
The account fits the government narrative that it is facing an armed insurrection by trouble-makers backed by its enemies, rather than a largely peaceful pro-democracy movement inspired by the Arab Spring revolts which toppled the rulers of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya this year.
A Syrian opposition member told Reuters the attack was an ambush on a military bus near Furqlous, 35 km (22 miles) southwest of Homs.
"Furqlous is a military region and it is not difficult for an insurgent guerrilla force to chose targets there," he said.
State television also showed pictures of thousands of people demonstrating in central Damascus "expressing their rejection of the Arab League decision against Syria."
In neighboring Turkey, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he hoped the Syrian government would give a positive response to the Arab League plan.
"If it doesn't, there are steps we can take in consultation with the Arab League," he said. "I want to say clearly we have no more tolerance for the bloodshed in Syria.."
The stepped-up pressure followed a French proposal for "humanitarian corridors" to be set up through which food and medicine could be shipped to alleviate civilian suffering.
But some a measure of comfort for Assad came from longtime ally Russia, China and other countries, who expressed opposition to sanctions and warned against a foreign military intervention.
"At the current stage, what is needed is not resolutions, not sanctions, not pressure, but internal Syrian dialogue," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in Moscow.
Lukashevich said Russia supported the Arab League's call for a halt to the violence but that "radical opposition" groups with foreign support shared the blame. Outside military intervention was "absolutely unacceptable."
After a meeting in Moscow on Thursday, diplomats from Russia, China and the other three emerging-market BRICS countries -- Brazil, India and South Africa - also warned against foreign intervention without U.N. backing.
AIDING CIVILIANS
A Western diplomatic source said the French plan, with or without approval from Damascus, could link Syrian civilian centers to the frontiers of Turkey and Lebanon, to the Mediterranean coast or to an airport.
Its aim would enable transport of humanitarian supplies or medicines to civilians.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the plan fell short of a military intervention but acknowledged that humanitarian convoys would need armed protection.
"Of course...by international observers, but there is no question of military intervention in Syria," he said.
The Arab League suspended Syria's membership two weeks ago, while this week the prime minister of Turkey - a NATO member with the military wherewithal to mount a cross-border operation - told Assad to quit and said he should be mindful of the fate of other fallen dictators.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition group, said at least 47 people were killed in Syria on Thursday, including 16 soldiers and 17 army deserters, mostly around the city of Homs and Rastan to the north.
Alongside the mainly peaceful protests, armed insurgents have increasingly attacked military targets in recent weeks. Officials say 1,100 members of the security forces have been killed since the outbreak of uprising.
(Reporting by Erika Solomon and Khaled Yacoub Oweis; Writing by Angus MacSwan)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/wl_nm/us_syria
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Public release date: 23-Nov-2011
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Collaborations between Johns Hopkins and National Taiwan University researchers have successfully manipulated the life span of common, single-celled yeast organisms by figuring out how to remove and restore protein functions related to yeast aging.
A chemical variation of a "fuel-gauge" enzyme that senses energy in yeast acts like a life span clock: It is present in young organisms and progressively diminished as yeast cells age.
In a report in the September 16 edition of Cell, the scientists describe their identification of a new level of regulation of this age-related protein variant, showing that when they remove it, the organism's life span is cut short and when they restore it, life span is dramatically extended.
In the case of yeast, the discovery reveals molecular components of an aging pathway that appears related to one that regulates longevity and lifespan in humans, according to Jef Boeke, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology, genetics and oncology, and director of the HiT Center and Technology Center for Networks and Pathways, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
"This control of longevity is independent of the type described previously in yeast which had to do with calorie restriction," Boeke says. "We believe that for the first time, we have a biochemical route to youth and aging that has nothing to do with diet." The chemical variation, known as acetylation because it adds an acetyl group to an existing molecule, is a kind of "decoration" that goes on and off a protein in this case, the protein Sip2 much like an ornament can be put on and taken off a Christmas tree, Boeke says. Acetylation can profoundly change protein function in order to help an organism or system adapt quickly to its environment. Until now, acetylation had not been directly implicated in the aging pathway, so this is an all-new role and potential target for prevention or treatment strategies, the researchers say.
The team showed that acetylation of the protein Sip2 affected longevity defined in terms of how many times a yeast cell can divide, or "replicative life span." The normal replicative lifespan in natural yeast is 25. In the yeast genetically modified by researchers to restore the chemical modification, life span extended to 38, an increase of about 50 percent.
The researchers were able to manipulate the yeast life span by mutating certain chemical residues to mimic the acetylated and deacetylated forms of the protein Sip2. They worked with live yeast in a dish, measuring and comparing the life spans of natural and genetically altered types by removing buds from the yeast every 90 minutes. The average lifespan in normal yeast is about 25 generations, which meant the researchers removed 25 newly budded cells from the mother yeast cell. As yeast cells age, each new generation takes longer to develop, so each round of the experiment lasted two to four weeks.
"We performed anti-aging therapy on yeast," says the study's first author, Jin-Ying Lu, M.D., Ph.D., of National Taiwan University. "When we give back this protein acetylation, we rescued the life span shortening in old cells. Our next task is to prove that this phenomenon also happens in mammalian cells."
###
The research was supported by the National Science Council, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Liver Disease Prevention & Treatment Research Foundation of Taiwan, and the NIH Common Fund.
Authors on the paper, in addition to Boeke and Lu, are Yu-Yi Lin, Jin-Chuan Sheu, June-Tai Wu, Fang-Jen Lee, Min-I Lin, Fu-Tien Chian, Tong-Yuan Tai, Keh-Sung Tsai, and Lee-Ming Chuang, all of National Taiwan University; Yue Chen and Yinming Zhao, both of the University of Chicago; and Shelley L. Berger, Wistar Institute.
On the Web:
Boeke lab: http://www.bs.jhmi.edu/MBG/boekelab/
http://www.cell.com
Media Contacts: Maryalice Yakutchik; 443-287-2251; myakutc1@jhmi.edu
Audrey Huang; 410-614-5105; audrey@jhmi.edu
Vanessa McMains; 410-502-9410; vmcmain1@jhmi.edu
[ | 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: 23-Nov-2011 Share ] Contact: Audrey Huang
audrey@jhmi.edu
410-614-5105
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Collaborations between Johns Hopkins and National Taiwan University researchers have successfully manipulated the life span of common, single-celled yeast organisms by figuring out how to remove and restore protein functions related to yeast aging.
A chemical variation of a "fuel-gauge" enzyme that senses energy in yeast acts like a life span clock: It is present in young organisms and progressively diminished as yeast cells age.
In a report in the September 16 edition of Cell, the scientists describe their identification of a new level of regulation of this age-related protein variant, showing that when they remove it, the organism's life span is cut short and when they restore it, life span is dramatically extended.
In the case of yeast, the discovery reveals molecular components of an aging pathway that appears related to one that regulates longevity and lifespan in humans, according to Jef Boeke, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology, genetics and oncology, and director of the HiT Center and Technology Center for Networks and Pathways, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
"This control of longevity is independent of the type described previously in yeast which had to do with calorie restriction," Boeke says. "We believe that for the first time, we have a biochemical route to youth and aging that has nothing to do with diet." The chemical variation, known as acetylation because it adds an acetyl group to an existing molecule, is a kind of "decoration" that goes on and off a protein in this case, the protein Sip2 much like an ornament can be put on and taken off a Christmas tree, Boeke says. Acetylation can profoundly change protein function in order to help an organism or system adapt quickly to its environment. Until now, acetylation had not been directly implicated in the aging pathway, so this is an all-new role and potential target for prevention or treatment strategies, the researchers say.
The team showed that acetylation of the protein Sip2 affected longevity defined in terms of how many times a yeast cell can divide, or "replicative life span." The normal replicative lifespan in natural yeast is 25. In the yeast genetically modified by researchers to restore the chemical modification, life span extended to 38, an increase of about 50 percent.
The researchers were able to manipulate the yeast life span by mutating certain chemical residues to mimic the acetylated and deacetylated forms of the protein Sip2. They worked with live yeast in a dish, measuring and comparing the life spans of natural and genetically altered types by removing buds from the yeast every 90 minutes. The average lifespan in normal yeast is about 25 generations, which meant the researchers removed 25 newly budded cells from the mother yeast cell. As yeast cells age, each new generation takes longer to develop, so each round of the experiment lasted two to four weeks.
"We performed anti-aging therapy on yeast," says the study's first author, Jin-Ying Lu, M.D., Ph.D., of National Taiwan University. "When we give back this protein acetylation, we rescued the life span shortening in old cells. Our next task is to prove that this phenomenon also happens in mammalian cells."
###
The research was supported by the National Science Council, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Liver Disease Prevention & Treatment Research Foundation of Taiwan, and the NIH Common Fund.
Authors on the paper, in addition to Boeke and Lu, are Yu-Yi Lin, Jin-Chuan Sheu, June-Tai Wu, Fang-Jen Lee, Min-I Lin, Fu-Tien Chian, Tong-Yuan Tai, Keh-Sung Tsai, and Lee-Ming Chuang, all of National Taiwan University; Yue Chen and Yinming Zhao, both of the University of Chicago; and Shelley L. Berger, Wistar Institute.
On the Web:
Boeke lab: http://www.bs.jhmi.edu/MBG/boekelab/
http://www.cell.com
Media Contacts: Maryalice Yakutchik; 443-287-2251; myakutc1@jhmi.edu
Audrey Huang; 410-614-5105; audrey@jhmi.edu
Vanessa McMains; 410-502-9410; vmcmain1@jhmi.edu
[ | 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/2011-11/jhmi-hst112311.php
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) ? New Zealand police Wednesday began searching four media organizations three days before national elections to seize evidence related to a recording of Prime Minister John Key that he says was illegally obtained.
Police say the search warrants will be executed Wednesday and Thursday. They are seeking copies of the recorded conversation between Key and an ally, interviews with the cameraman who recorded it and footage from the scene. Warrants are being issued at two television networks, a newspaper and a radio broadcaster.
The contents of the Nov. 11 recording have yet to be made public. Key's political opponents say they believe the recording contains embarrassing political statements by the prime minister.
After the cameraman handed a copy of the recording to the Herald on Sunday newspaper, Key and his governing National Party suggested the recording had been covertly orchestrated and compared the newspaper's tactics to those used at the notorious, defunct British tabloid News of the World.
But the Herald on Sunday's editor, Bryce Johns, said the newspaper didn't know anything about the recording until the cameraman turned it over. He said Key has been successful in his twin aims of diverting attention from what he says on the tape and ensuring it doesn't come out until after the election.
"He set out to paint the newspaper as the bad guy, and that's so far from the truth it's difficult to reconcile," Johns said.
Johns said police served a warrant Wednesday and the newspaper handed over all the material asked for. He declined to elaborate. He said the newspaper considered publishing the recording when it first got the tape, but it had to weigh that against its legal and ethical obligations and instead chose to wait.
The recording was taken after an event staged for media at an Auckland cafe. Key asked reporters to move away while he chatted one-on-one with Act party candidate John Banks.
Cameraman Brad Ambrose left a cloth pouch that contained a recording device on the table. Ambrose has said in media interviews that he left the device inadvertently in the confusion of the media scrum and hadn't intended to record the conversation.
This week, Ambrose asked a High Court judge to rule the conversation as public, given its venue and backdrop. But the judge on Wednesday declined to rule one way or the other, saying she didn't want to impede a police investigation.
The controversy doesn't seem to be affecting Key's chances of re-election. Polls indicate he and his party could win the most lopsided election in decades.
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By msnbc.com news services
NEW YORK ? Stock indexes fell Tuesday after the U.S. government lowered its estimate of economic growth in the third quarter. Higher borrowing costs for Spain also renewed worries about Europe's debt crisis.
Hewlett-Packard Co. sank 2.8 percent, dragging down the Dow Jones industrial average. H-P lowered its earnings forecast for the 2012 fiscal year after the market closed Monday. The tech giant said it was being "cautious," citing Europe's debt crisis and weak consumer spending.
The Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the July-September period, down from its initial estimate of 2.5 percent. Economists had expected the figure to remain unchanged.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 53.51 points, or 0.46 percent, at 11,493.80. The Dow had been down as many as 113 points shortly before noon. After H-P, aluminum maker Bank of America Corp. had the biggest fall among the 30 stocks in the index, 2 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 4.93 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,188.05. Both the Dow and S&P briefly turned slightly higher in early afternoon trading.
The S&P has lost 5.2 percent over the past week on worries that Spain could get dragged into Europe's debt crisis and as Congress neared a deadlock over cutting the U.S. budget deficit.
The Nasdaq composite dipped 1.86 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,521.28.
The Dow plunged 249 points Monday as a congressional committee failed to reach a deal to cut budget deficits. The congressional impasse raised fears that rating agencies might lower the U.S. government's credit rating if Congress tries to circumvent the automatic spending cuts that are supposed to occur in the event of an impasse. Some Republicans have said they would try to block cuts to defense spending.
"Markets are looking for clarity, and you didn't get that from the super-committee," says Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities. "There's no reason to believe the economy is going to get stronger."
Across the Atlantic, there were more signs of trouble in Europe's debt crisis. Spain was forced to pay sharply higher interest rates in an auction of short-term debt. The higher rates suggest that investors are still skeptical that the country will get its budget under control despite a new, center-right government coming to power this week.
Investors have been worried that Spain could become the next country to need financial support from its European neighbors if its borrowing rates climb to unsustainable levels. Greece was forced to seek relief from its lenders after its long-term borrowing rates rose above 7 percent on the bond market. The rate on Spain's own benchmark 10-year bond is dangerously close to that level, 6.58 percent.
In other trading, Netflix Inc. sank 3.6 percent. The online video rental company said it raised $400 million from selling debt and stock as it tries to recover from a consumer backlash following price hikes.
Campbell Soup Co. sank 5.5 percent after reporting a 5 percent drop in net income. The company said price increases were not enough to offset lower volume in its soup and beverage businesses.
Medtronic Inc. rose 4.8 percent. The world's largest medical device maker reported higher-than-expected earnings and reaffirmed its full-year earnings outlook.
Associated Press contributed to this report.?
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Walmart
Many Black Friday circular ads, such as Walmart's, can already be viewed online.
Whether you're already in line for a Black Friday sale or still figuring out what you'll do with Thursday's leftover turkey, now's a good time to review the best offers of this shopping season. We're here to help with handpicked tech deals.
A few things to note:
Got all that? Great! Here are some of our favorite deals for Black Friday 2011.
We will be updating this list in the days and hours before Black Friday, so feel free to check back often.
Televisions:
I aimed to pick a variety of size options here and definitely kept value in mind. Samsung came out as one of the best bets for this shopping season?? as far as TVs go, at least.
Gaming:
If you're looking for a gaming console, you should probably make Walmart one of your stops on Black Friday. It's got some of the better overall deals.
Monitors:
After carefully interrogating friends and colleagues about their monitor choices, I've realized that Acer's the crowd favorite due to its reputation and value. And there are definitely a handful of those monitors to be found on sale come Friday.
Desktops:
It's rough to make recommendations when it comes to desktops simply because individual priorities differ a great deal when it comes to these particular gadgets, so I went with a handful of decent deals for the average shopper.
Laptops:
Like desktops, laptops are a finicky topic when it comes to Black Friday shoppers. I decided to select a product I'd recommend personally?? the MacBook Air?? and two low cost solutions.
Cameras:
A DSLR and a low-cost point-and-shoot. What more could you ever want to pick up in the camera department on Black Friday?
Tablets:
There's no getting around it?? the tablet category was a popularity contest.
Cellphones:
While some other options are listed, your best bet when it comes to cellphones on Black Friday is Amazon. Nearly every phone you can think of is available for just a penny ??assuming you sign a two-year service agreement ??and you get a bonus $100 gift card.
GPS devices:
A solid GPS device, a lifetime of maps, and a decent price? No brainer.
Software
OfficeMax is one of the spots with the best software deals on Friday, so head there if you're looking to feed your computer some new apps.
Miscellaneous odds and ends:
Dyson products. On sale. This doesn't happen often, folks. Take advantage of it.
Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.
Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/22/8929998-the-best-tech-deals-this-black-friday
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Singer Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees on Wednesday said he is on the road to recovery after being "very unwell" in recent days, and he thanked fans for their support in a message posted on his website.
"I wish to thank my family, friends and fans and the many thousands of people who do not know me but have enjoyed Bee Gees music and have wished me well," wrote Gibbs.
"I have been very unwell and am now on the road to recovery, and your prayers and wishes are a great tonic to me," the singer added.
The message comes after British media outlets in recent days reported that Gibb, 61, was battling liver cancer. Several of his representatives, however, either declined to confirm those reports to Reuters or were unavailable to comment.
Last month, he was hospitalized for abdominal pain and was treated for colon inflammation. After being released by doctors, he issued a statement saying he planned to return to work, according to media reports at the time.
Gibb is one of the surviving members of the Bee Gees, a band he formed with his twin brother Maurice and younger brother Barry in the 1960s, and achieved international success with hits such as "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart," "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever."
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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A helicopter pilot who was helping to install a Christmas tree crashed when the chopper's blades got stuck in cables attached to the scaffolding. The pilot and ground crew are doing just fine. NBC?s Savannah Guthrie reports.
>>> you are looking at a dramatic accident in new zealand zealand. a helicopter pilot helping to install a christmas tree crashed when the chopper's blades got stuck in cables attached to the scaffolding. the pilot and dpround crew are fine today.
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45422691/
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