Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Wendy's reports lower adjusted profit, revenue up (AP)

DUBLIN, Ohio ? Wendy's Co. says its adjusted earnings fell 29.5 percent in the fourth quarter, while its revenue rose 5.6 percent,

The hamburger chain said Monday its income from continuing operations was $4.3 million in the period ended Jan. 1. That was down from $6.1 million a year ago.

The adjusted number stripped out one-time charges like costs related to selling Arby's and writing down the value of some assets. The company didn't report what net income would be if those charges were factored in.

Earnings were 4 cents per share, in line with the predictions of analysts polled by FactSet. After adjusting for the one-time charges, earnings were 1 cent per share.

Wendy's says revenue rose to $615 million, beating the $613 million predicted by analysts polled by FactSet. More visitors and higher prices helped.

Shares fell 2 percent in early trading to $5.10.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_wendy_s

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Processes leading to acute myeloid leukemia discovered

ScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2012) ? Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have discovered a molecular pathway that may explain how a particularly deadly form of cancer develops. The discovery may lead to new cancer therapies that reprogram cells instead of killing them. The findings are published in a recent paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

The UCSB research team described how a certain mutation in DNA disrupts cellular function in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The researchers were prompted to study this process by another research team's discovery that AML patients have a mutation in a certain enzyme, which was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. The enzyme is a protein called DNMT3A, which leads to changes in how the DNA of AML patients is methylated, or "tagged." Norbert Reich, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSB, was already studying that particular enzyme with his research group, so they began to study the disease process of AML at the cellular level.

Reich explained that tagging is a way of reading DNA at the cellular level. This falls within an area of study called epigenetics, a process that occurs "on top" of genetics. Each person has approximately 200 types of cells, all with the same DNA, and these must be controlled in different ways. "There is an enzyme -- a protein -- that tags DNA and controls which of the genes in your cells, your DNA, gets turned on and off," said Reich. "So you have 20,000 genes, and you have to control them differently in your brain than in your liver."

Reich explained that there is current interest in this broader field of epigenetics as a direction for the treatment of cancer. "There's definitely the idea that this may be a new way of developing therapeutics, because you don't have to kill the cancer cell," said Reich. "Almost every cancer therapy that's out there works on the principle that a cancer cell needs to be killed."

With epigenetics, instead of only having DNA sequence coding for certain genes, there is an epigenetic process, with another layer of information on top of the genetic process. In this case, that information is the tagging by the methyl groups.

"If you really think about it, this is part of the answer as to how your cells can be so different and yet they all have the same DNA," said Reich. "You have the same genome in every one of your cells, but you do not have the same epigenome, which is basically the methylation pattern, the tagging pattern. That is different in every type of your cells. And the way this relates back to cancer, with leukemia, in those patients, the tagging is messed up. The patterns are not correct. Our big contribution to that is we've explained how the mutations in the enzyme could lead to that disruption of the tagging pattern."

The UCSB group developed a test to demonstrate that the mutant enzymes in AML can only work on DNA for short distances. As a result, the precise methylation patterns of a healthy cell are disturbed, resulting in genes being turned on at the wrong place and time, which in turn can initiate the growth of cancerous cells.

The team found that the mutation AML patients have causes a certain complex of four proteins to be disrupted. "The surprise was that the disruption doesn't stop the enzyme from being active; it doesn't stop the enzyme from tagging the DNA," said Reich. "Instead, it stops the way it can do it. Instead of going to your DNA and tagging an entire region of chromosome, it goes there, does one thing, and leaves. That process, that change, is what we see in the AML patients. So we think we have a molecular explanation for this disease."

Reich said that the currently prescribed drug Vidaza works by affecting the same enzyme that is mutated in AML. There is interest in the pharmaceutical industry in developing other therapeutics to target the enzymes responsible for tagging the DNA. These epigenetic inhibitors would reprogram rather than kill the cell.

Traditional cancer therapies use radiation and chemotherapy to remove or kill cancer cells. "The problem with that is that cancer cells are often very subtly different from normal cells," said Reich. "So you have one of the most difficult therapeutic challenges known to man, which is to distinguish between two human cells -- one that's cancerous and one that's not. Instead of killing the cell, the notion is that if you could just reprogram the cell, then it goes back to being normal. You intercept the cancer development. This is still an aspiration; it hasn't been achieved really, but that's what attracts people to the field of epigenetic-based therapies, because of the prospect of not having to kill cells."

Celeste Holz-Schietinger and Douglas Matje, both graduate students working in the Reich lab, are the first and second authors of the paper.

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Journal Reference:

  1. C. Holz-Schietinger, D. M. Matje, M. F. Harrison, N. O. Reich. Oligomerization of DNMT3A Controls the Mechanism of de Novo DNA Methylation. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2011; 286 (48): 41479 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M111.284687

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/UaIf2CQVbWM/120130094349.htm

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Despair, crackdowns breed more violence in Tibet (AP)

BEIJING ? A young man posts his photo with a leaflet demanding freedom for Tibet and telling Chinese police, come and get me. Protesters rise up to defend him, and demonstrations break out in two other Tibetan areas of western China to support the same cause.

Each time, police respond with bullets.

The three clashes, all in the past week, killed several Tibetans and injured dozens. They mark an escalation of a protest movement that for months expressed itself mainly through scattered individual self-immolations.

It's the result of growing desperation among Tibetans and a harsh crackdown by security forces that scholars and pro-Tibet activists contend only breeds more rage and despair.

That leaves authorities with the stark choice of either cracking down even harder or meeting Tibetan demands for greater freedom and a return of their Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama ? something Beijing has shown zero willingness to do.

"By not responding constructively when it was faced with peaceful one-person protests, the (Communist) party has created the conditions for violent, large-scale protests," said Robbie Barnett, head of modern Tibetan studies at New York's Columbia University.

This is the region's most violent period since 2008, when deadly rioting in Tibet's capital Lhasa spread to Tibetan areas in adjoining provinces. China responded by flooding the area with troops and closing Tibetan regions entirely to foreigners for about a year. Special permission is still required for non-Chinese visitors to Tibet, and the Himalayan region remains closed off entirely for the weeks surrounding the March 14 anniversary of the riots that left 22 people dead.

Video smuggled out by activists shows paramilitary troops equipped with assault rifles and armored cars making pre-dawn arrests. Huge convoys of heavily armored troops are seen driving along mountain roads and monks accused of sedition being frog-marched to waiting trucks.

For the past year, self-immolations have become a striking form of protest in the region. At least 16 monks, nuns and former clergy set themselves on fire after chanting for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

China, fiercely critical of the Dalai Lama, says Tibet has been under its rule for centuries, but many Tibetans say the region was functionally independent for most of that time. Anger over cultural and religious restrictions is deepened by a sense that Tibetans have been marginalized economically by an influx of migrants from elsewhere in China.

In a change from the individual protests, several thousand Tibetans marched to government offices Monday in Ganzi prefecture in Sichuan province. Police opened fire into the crowd, killing up to three people, witnesses and activist groups said.

On Tuesday, security forces opened fire on a crowd of protesters in another area of Ganzi, killing two Tibetans and wounding several more, according to the group Free Tibet.

On Thursday in southwestern Sichuan province's Aba prefecture, a youth named Tarpa posted a leaflet saying that self-immolations wouldn't stop until Tibet is free, the London-based International Campaign for Tibet said. He wrote his name on the leaflet and included a photo of himself, saying that Chinese authorities could come and arrest him if they wished, group spokeswoman Kate Saunders said in an email.

Security forces did so about two hours later. Area residents blocked their way, shouting slogans and warning of bigger protests if Tarpa wasn't released, Saunders said. Police then fired into the crowd, killing a a 20-year-old friend of Tarpa's, a student named Urgen, and wounding several others.

The incident, as with most reported clashes in Tibetan areas, could not be independently verified and exact numbers of casualties were unclear because of the heavy security presence and lack of access. The topic is so sensitive that even government-backed scholars claim ignorance of it and refuse to comment.

The government, however, acknowledged Tuesday's unrest, saying that a "mob" charged a police station and injured 14 officers, forcing police to open fire on them. The official Xinhua News Agency said police killed one rioter and injured another.

"The Chinese government will, as always, fight all crimes and be resolute in maintaining social order," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in comments on the incident.

In a commentary Sunday, the nationalist tabloid Global Times repeated accusations that the protests were inspired by Tibetan exile groups and their demands were out of step with the desire for economic development.

Yet, it also conceded that the Dalai Lama retained considerable religious influence over Tibetans, warning this created a dangerous trend of "melding the political and relgious."

The harsh response points to a deep anxiety about the self-immolations, said Youdon Aukatsang, a New Delhi-based member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile.

"They're worried that there is an underground movement in Tibet that is coming to the surface," she said.

Tibetan desperation has been fed both by the harsh crackdown ? security agents reportedly outnumber monks in some monasteries ? along with a deep fear that the Dalai Lama, probably the most potent symbol of Tibet's separate identity, will never return.

The 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate handed his political powers to an elected assembly last year. That was intended to ensure the Tibetan cause would live on after him, but was met with considerable anxiety among many Tibetans who saw it as a sign he was giving up his role as leader of their struggle.

Dibyesh Anand, a Tibet expert at London's University of Westminster, said resistance to Chinese rule is likely to grow more fierce.

"Protests will get more radicalized since the Tibetans in the region see no concession, no offer of compromise, no flexibility coming from the government," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tibet_spiral_of_violence

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

PG&E Fined $16.8M For Shoddy Gas Leak Surveys

SAN FRANCISCO -- State regulators plan to fine Pacific Gas & Electric Co. $16.8 million for failing to perform gas leak surveys in the wake of a deadly pipeline explosion in a San Francisco suburb in 2010.

The California Public Utilities Commission announced the fine Friday, as part of a new citation program that gives its staff oversight muscle to fine natural gas companies for safety problems spotted on their lines.

The Sept. 9, 2010 blast on the transmission line in San Bruno ignited a fireball that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes.

Last year, PG&E self-reported to the commission that the company did not perform pipeline leak surveys in several locations, in violation of state regulations. PG&E has 10 days to pay the fine using shareholder dollars, or appeal.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/pge-fined-millions_n_1238199.html

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Brazilian bikinis burgeon to fit the fat (AP)

RIO DE JANEIRO ? Tall and tan and young and ... chunky?

The Girl From Ipanema has put on a few pounds, and for many sunbathers on Brazil's beaches the country's iconic itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny bikini just doesn't suffice anymore.

A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines.

That's nothing short of a revolution in this most body-conscious of nations, where overweight ladies long had little choice but to hit the beach in comely ensembles of oversized T-shirts and biker shorts.

"It used to be bikinis were only in tiny sizes that only skinny girls could fit into. But not everyone is built like a model," said Elisangela Inez Soares as she sunbathed on Copacabana beach, her oiled-up curves packed into a black size 12 bikini.

"Finally, it seems like people are beginning to realize that we're not all Gisele," said the 38-year-old mother of four, referring to willowy Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

Clothing designer Clarice Rebelatto said her own swimwear-hunting travails prompted her to found Lehona, an exclusively plus-size beachwear line.

"Honestly, the problem went way beyond just bikinis. In Brazil, it used to be that if you were even a little chunky, finding any kind of clothes in the right size was a real problem," said Rebelatto, herself a size 10. "And I thought, `I'm actually not even that big compared to a lot of women out there, so if I have problems, what are they doing?'"

Since its launch in 2010, the line has become a hit.

In brash leopard spots and flower prints not meant for wallflowers, the label's 14 bikini styles aren't what you'd normally associate with plus-size swimsuits. The necklines plunge dramatically. Straps are mere strings. And while the bottoms provide too much coverage to qualify for the famed "fio dental" or "dental floss" category of Brazilian string bikinis, they're significantly more audacious than the standard U.S. cut.

"We're working from the principle that bigger women are just like everyone else: They don't want to look like old ladies, wearing these very modest, very covering swimsuits in just black," said Luiz Rebelatto, Clarice's son and director of Lehona.

He said that recent publicity of the brand and several other new swimwear lines catering to plus sizes has triggered an overwhelming number of calls and e-mails from would-be customers.

"They're all excited and they say, `I've been looking everywhere for a bikini like that. Where can I get one?'" said Rebelatto.

Lehona is currently sold exclusively at big and tall specialty stores throughout Brazil. Its bikinis retail for about 130 reais or $75 ? a relatively high price-point here, but Rebelatto said sales have grown at a galloping pace, though he did not provide any figures.

It's the same story at Acqua Rosa, a conventional swimwear label that added a plus-size line in 2008. Now, plus-size purchases account for more than 70 percent of the brand's total sales, said director Joao Macedo.

It makes sense.

For centuries, large swaths of Brazil were beset by malnutrition, and in 1970, nearly 10 percent of the population in the country's poor, rural northeast region was considered underweight, according to Brazil's national statistics institute.

But the phenomenal economic boom that has lifted tens of millions out of poverty and into the burgeoning middle class over the past decade has also changed the nation's once-svelte physique: A 2010 study by the statistics institute showed that 48 percent of adult women and 50 percent of men are now overweight. In 1985 those figures were 29 percent for women and 18 percent for men.

(Still, there's been no rash of plus-size male swimwear lines, as men here wear Speedo-style suits that don't impinge on big guts.)

Analysts attribute Brazil's rapidly widening girth to changes in nutrition, with chips, processed meats and sugary soft drinks replacing staples like rice, beans and vegetables.

And while the country's elite are widely known to be fitness freaks ? and also among the world's top consumers of cosmetic surgery ? those recently lifted out of poverty and manual labor are becoming increasingly sedentary. A 2008 study showed that barely 10 percent of Brazilian teens and adults exercise regularly.

Still, despite their growing numbers, not everyone is eager to embrace "gordinhas" ? or "little fatties," as chunky women are affectionately known here.

Many high-end bikini-makers have turned a seemingly deliberately blind eye to the burgeoning plus-size market. Rio-based upmarket brand Salinas, for example, offers five sizes, from extra-small through extra-large. But their sizing runs notoriously small and it's hard to imagine anyone over a size 6 actually managing to fit into any of the brand's minuscule two-pieces.

Luis Rebelatto of Lehona chalked it partially up to snobbery.

"Some brands, they don't want their image to be associated with chunky women," he said. "Only the thin, the rich and the chic."

While Brazilians' increasing heft is a public policy preoccupation for the government, growth in the ranks of the overweight population has given them increased visibility in Brazilian society. Extra-wide bucket seats for the obese have been installed in Sao Paulo's metro system, and on Sunday the city will host Brazil's first ever Miss Plus Size beauty contest.

"It used to be that people would stare at me," said Soares, the voluptuous sun-worshiper on Copacabana beach. "Now when I come to the beach I see women who are much bigger than me ? and lots of them are wearing bikinis ? so I'm not self conscious any more.

"God makes some people thin but he made me like this," she said, rubbing down the well-oiled bulge of her stomach and thighs. "So who am I to think that he was wrong?"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_en_ot/lt_brazil_bulging_bikinis

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Steve-O & His Karaoke Show Sued!

Jackass star Steve-O has seemed like he was finally getting his life together lately. Now he is being hit with a pretty nasty lawsuit over an alleged incident that occurred while taping his new show ?Killer Karaoke.? The show has a pretty simple concept behind it: film people while making fools of themselves singing Karaoke. It?s not exactly a prize-winning idea. It?s funny enough to watch horrible singers butcher songs, but they apparently take things to the next level. According to TMZ, the show?s producers spray people with water while they are trying to concentrate on singing. Now a woman named Susanne Ohman is after some serious cash claiming she was seriously hurt because of the craziness. She says that they completely soaked her, which caused her off of a platform. The woman says she injured her ?tibia, patella, ligaments, knee, leg, bones, and injured her muscles, bone, circulatory system, and body.? Wow. Is there anything left off of that list? Now she has filed a lawsuit seeking damages related to the alleged accident. The amount of money she is seeking has not been published yet, but I?m guessing it?s pretty serious business because the injuries she claims to have [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/j_57X2aET-Q/

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Flashback of the Day (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/191907500?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Arquette to guest on 'Cougar Town' finale

Matt Sayles / AP

David Arquette will be joining Courteney Cox on "Cougar Town" for the season finale.

By Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter

David Arquette is taking a trip to "Cougar Town."

ABC confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that the 40-year-old actor will appear alongside wife Courteney Cox (with whom he's been separated from since 2010) on the comedy's season three finale.

More from THR: Ryan Murphy's NBC comedy lands pilot order

Arquette already serves as executive producer of the series alongside Cox under their Coquette Productions banner.

According to TVLine, he'll play a hotel concierge in the season's 15th and final episode, who goes out of his way to help the cul-de-sac crew with anything and everything.

More from THR: 'Spartacus: Vengeance' Preview: 17 things to expect on season 2

"Cougar Town" just received its Feb. 14 premiere date after months of delays. It replaces the short-lived "Work It" on Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m.

Most recently, Arquette competed on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," placing fifth with partner Kym Johnson. He's previously acted alongside Cox in the "Scream" franchise and a 1996 episode of "Friends."

Are you looking forward to seeing the former pair together again on the small screen? Tell us what you think of this casting news on our Facebook page!

More in The Clicker:

Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10253276-david-arquette-to-join-courteney-cox-on-cougar-town-finale

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Jobless claims edge up, but remain at hopeful levels

By Msnbc.com staff and wire

New claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly in the latest week, but remained at levels that point to a slowly improving labor market.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims rose by 21,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 377,000 in the week ended Jan. 21. The four-week moving average, considered a better gauge of labor market conditions, fell 2,500 to 377,500.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 370,000. While last week's rise partially unwound the prior week's sharp decline, claims still held below the 400,000 mark that is usually associated with labor market healing.

Job growth has gained momentum in recent months and the unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent in December.

Still, the labor market recovery has a long way to go, with 23.7 million Americans either out of work or underemployed.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve acknowledged the improvement in the labor market, but noted the jobless rate remained too high.

The?central bank vowed to keep overnight lending rates near zero until at least late 2014 and Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed was still mulling further asset purchases to help foster stronger economic growth.

It forecast the unemployment rate at 8.2 percent to 8.5 percent this year.

The number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid rose 88,000 to 3.55 million in the week ended January 14.

Economists had forecast so-called continuing claims rising to 3.50 million from a previously reported 3.43 million. The continuing claims data covered the survey week for the household survey from which the jobless rate is derived.

Continued claims declined 63,000 between the December and January survey periods.

The number of Americans on emergency unemployment benefits dropped 144,822 to 2.88 million in the week ended January 7, the latest week for which data is available.

A total of 7.64 million people were claiming unemployment benefits during that period under all programs, down 188,612 from the prior week.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/26/10241919-jobless-claims-edge-up-but-remain-at-hopeful-levels

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Millions now manage aging parents' care from afar (AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ? Kristy Bryner worries her 80-year-old mom might slip and fall when she picks up the newspaper, or that she'll get in an accident when she drives to the grocery store. What if she has a medical emergency and no one's there to help? What if, like her father, her mother slips into a fog of dementia?

Those questions would be hard enough if Bryner's aging parent lived across town in Portland, Ore., but she is in Kent, Ohio. The stress of caregiving seems magnified by each of the more than 2,000 miles that separate them.

"I feel like I'm being split in half between coasts," said Bryner, 54. "I wish I knew what to do, but I don't."

As lifespans lengthen and the number of seniors rapidly grows, more Americans find themselves in Bryner's precarious position, struggling to care for an ailing loved one from hundreds or thousands of miles away.

The National Institute on Aging estimates around 7 million Americans are long-distance caregivers. Aside from economic factors that often drive people far from their hometowns, shifting demographics in the country could exacerbate the issue: Over the next four decades, the share of people 65 and older is expected to rapidly expand while the number of people under 20 will roughly hold steady. That means there will be a far smaller share of people between 20 and 64, the age group that most often is faced with caregiving.

"You just want to be in two places at once," said Kay Branch, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska, but helps coordinate care for her parents in Lakeland, Fla., about 3,800 miles away.

There are no easy answers.

Bryner first became a long-distance caregiver when, more than a decade ago, her father began suffering from dementia, which consumed him until he died in 2010. She used to be able to count on help from her brother, who lived close to their parents, but he died of cancer a few years back. Her mother doesn't want to leave the house she's lived in for so long.

So Bryner talks daily with her mother via Skype, a video telephone service. She's lucky to have a job that's flexible enough that she's able to visit for a couple of weeks every few months. But she fears what may happen when her mother is not as healthy as she is now.

"Someone needs to check on her, someone needs to look out for her," she said. "And the only someone is me, and I don't live there."

Many long-distance caregivers say they insist on daily phone calls or video chats to hear or see how their loved one is doing. Oftentimes, they find another relative or a paid caregiver they can trust who is closer and able to help with some tasks.

Yet there always is the unexpected: Medical emergencies, problems with insurance coverage, urgent financial issues. Problems become far tougher to resolve when you need to hop on a plane or make a daylong drive.

"There are lots of things that you have to do that become these real exercises in futility," said Ed Rose, 49, who lives in Boston but, like his sister, travels frequently to Chicago to help care for his 106-year-old grandmother, Blanche Seelmann.

Rose has rushed to his grandmother's side for hospitalizations, and made unexpected trips to solve bureaucratic issues like retrieving a document from a safe-deposit box in order to open a bank account.

But he said he has also managed to get most of the logistics down to a routine.

He uses Skype to speak with his grandmother every day and tries to be there whenever she has a doctor's appointment. Aides handle many daily tasks and have access to a credit card for household expenses. They send him receipts so he can monitor spending. He has an apartment near his grandmother to make sure he's comfortable on his frequent visits.

Even for those who live near those they care for, travel for work can frequently make it a long-distance affair. Evelyn Castillo-Bach lives in Pembroke Pines, Fla., the same town as her 84-year-old mother, who has Alzheimer's disease. But she is on the road roughly half the year, sometimes for months at a time, both for work with her own Web company and accompanying her husband, a consultant for the United Nations.

Once, she was en route from Kosovo to Denmark when she received a call alerting her that her mother was having kidney failure and appeared as if she would die. She needed to communicate her mother's wishes from afar as her panicked sister tried to search their mother's home for her living will. Castillo-Bach didn't think she could make it in time to see her mother alive once more.

"I won't get to touch my mother again," she thought.

She was wrong. Her mother pulled through. But she says it illustrates what long-distance caregivers so frequently go through.

"This is one of the things that happens when you're thousands of miles away," Castillo-Bach said.

Lynn Feinberg, a caregiving expert at AARP, said the number of long-distance caregivers is likely to grow, particularly as a sagging economy has people taking whatever job they can get, wherever it is. Though caregiving is a major stress on anyone, distance can often magnify it, Feinberg said, and presents particular difficulty when it must be balanced with an inflexible job.

"It's a huge stress," she said. "It can have enormous implications not only for someone's quality of life, but also for someone's job."

It can also carry a huge financial burden. A November 2007 report by the National Alliance for Caregiving and Evercare, a division of United Health Group, found annual expenses incurred by long-distance caregivers averaged about $8,728, far more than caregivers who lived close to their loved one. Some also had to cut back on work hours, take on debt of their own and slash their personal spending.

Even with that in mind, though, many long-distance caregivers say they don't regret their decision. Rita Morrow, who works in accounting and lives in Louisville, Ky., about a six-hour drive from her 90-year-old mother in Memphis, Tenn., does all the juggling too.

She has to remind her mother to take her medicine, make sure rides are lined up for doctor's appointments, rush to her aid if there's a problem. She knows her mom wants to stay in her home, to keep going to the church she's gone to the past 60 years, to be near her friends.

"We do what we have to do for our parents," she said. "My mother did all kinds of things for me."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/seniors/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_he_me/us_aging_america_long_distance_caregiving

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'Hangover 3' Stars Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifinakis, And Ed Helms In Negotiations For Salary Increase

The Hollywood Reporter:

Dealmaking on the studio's third installment in the raunchy comedy franchise is wrapping up after dragging on for months due in part to the salary demands of its three stars. Sources close to the negotiations say Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms are asking for $15 million each (against backend) to reprise their roles, and they now are likely to get it.

Read the whole story: The Hollywood Reporter

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/hangover-3-stars-bradley-_n_1231304.html

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Dalglish demands response in cup semi vs. City

By STUART CONDIE

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:23 a.m. ET Jan. 23, 2012

LONDON (AP) -Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish wants a determined response from the players he lambasted for their weekend performances when his team takes on Manchester City on Wednesday for a place in the League Cup final.

Dalglish tore into his players after Saturday's woeful 3-1 loss at relegation-threatened Bolton and demanded a much improved display in the semifinals at Anfield.

With the club just one step away from a first final of any kind since the 2007 Champions League, Dalglish said his players were distracted by the match against City. Now they have the chance to show it was worth it.

"I was annoyed and disappointed, more so about the attitude, the commitment and the approach to the game," Dalglish said. "That wasn't us. All season we've been very complimentary about the way the boys have gone about their work but I don't think you could say that on Saturday. Their approach to the game was poor.

"Whether they had their minds on the next two games, I don't know. But every game we play is a very important game."

Liverpool leads City 1-0 from the first leg and the Anfield crowd is set to be in full voice for the visit of the Premier League leaders.

"Now we will get our minds on the Man City game," Dalglish said. "We have to solve our own problems. What do we do to put it right? Same as we always do: we work."

City is on a high after a dramatic 3-2 win over Tottenham on Sunday, but manager Roberto Mancini is keen for his players to forget about the Premier League for a couple of days and focus on what would be a second cup final in two seasons.

Although City looks to have nudged Spurs out of the title race, Mancini believes his team can further improve.

"His words in the dressing room were very profound," assistant manager David Platt said. "Regardless of the fact that it is a great victory against someone who is up there as well, he is not happy at the gift of a goal and the lapse in concentration to allow it to go in.

"He has made that clear in no uncertain terms."

In the other semifinal, Crystal Palace leads second-tier rival Cardiff 1-0 ahead of their second-leg match on Tuesday.

Cardiff, which is third in the League Championship and challenging for promotion, got a taste of cup final action when the Welsh side lost 1-0 to Portsmouth in the 2008 FA Cup final.

The players want another.

"All of the lads know how much it would mean and we're going to drive on together to try and reach Wembley," Cardiff captain Mark Hudson told the club's website. "We're fully focused on what we need to do and we're going out there to play with freedom and get the result."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Clint Dempsey became the first American to score a hat trick in England's Premier League, helping Fulham rally from a halftime deficit to rout Newcastle 5-2 Saturday.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44031201/ns/sports-soccer/

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Working moms: Looking for more than a paycheck

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Working mothers may be busy, but they like it that way. A recent study of employed moms finds that most would work even if they didn't have to, but they're also looking for new ways to negotiate the demands of mothering and the pressures to be an "ideal" employee.

Unlike earlier research, the study ? published today in the February issue of Gender & Society ? finds that many employed mothers emphasize the benefits they, and their children, receive from their paid work. Both married and single mothers said they found more fulfillment (and gained self confidence) in paid work than in parenting ? and this is an essential reason why they do not stay at home with their children. Most women ? regardless of their class, race/ethnicity, or marital status, said they would work (at least part time) even if they didn't have to. The study was conducted by Karen Christopher, an associate professor of Women's/Gender Studies and Sociology at the University of Louisville.

Over the past several decades, mothers' employment rates have risen sharply. By 2010, approximately two-thirds of North American mothers with young children worked outside of the home. Unlike many previous studies on working mothers, the new research looks at a more diverse, young group of mothers, including women from both Canada and the U.S., as well as women with different racial/ethnic backgrounds, class and marital status. Most women in the study were born between 1970 and 1985. Prof. Christopher interviewed 40 working mothers, each with at least one child under the age of 5; over half the women had two children.

Although the women enjoy their careers, they also place limits on how much they work so that they can remain connected to their children. Many women sought out jobs (even high-powered professionals, such as lawyers) with employers who would not demand that they work overtime or nights on a regular basis. Several women stressed that they only work "reasonable" hours. For example, Jana, an African American nurse with one child, said that she was unwilling to trade in her 8-hour shifts for 10-hour shifts and receive overtime pay. At the same time, whether they were married or single, African-American or white, lower, middle income, or higher income ? almost all of the mothers interviewed by Prof. Christopher said they wanted to work. Prof. Christopher argues that while these moms are not spending intensive amounts of time with their kids, they see themselves as involved parents who are "in charge" of their children's lives.

For these women, a new emphasis on their own needs as people helped supersede any feelings of guilt or ambivalence over working for pay. "About one-third of the 40 employed mothers expressed some ambivalence or guilt over their employment, but most employed mothers justified their paid work by saying it made them more fulfilled people, in addition to better mothers," Prof. Christopher says. "So, these mothers are not only reframing what good mothering entails, they also frame employment in ways different than do earlier studies of mothers."

Some Things Haven't Changed

The paper cites research showing that mothers with male partners still perform about twice as much child care and housework as their partners. In addition, Prof. Christopher suggests that inflexible workplaces and inadequate public policies are constraining North American mothers' (and fathers') ability to combine employment with involved parenting.

###

Sociologists for Women in Society: http://www.socwomen.org/index.php?s=1

Thanks to Sociologists for Women in Society for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116992/Working_moms__Looking_for_more_than_a_paycheck

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Endangered turtle to be tracked in Cambodia (AP)

BANGKOK ? One of the world's most endangered turtles has been released into a Cambodian river with a satellite transmitter attached to its shell to track how it will navigate through commercial fishing grounds and other man-made hazards.

The 75-pound (34-kilogram) southern river terrapin ? one of only about 200 adults remaining in the wild ? waddled into the Sre Ambel river in southwestern Cambodia this past week to the cheers of local residents and conservationists.

The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said the female terrapin was given to the group last year instead of being sold to traffickers who have decimated the country's population of turtles and other species to cater to demand for exotic wildlife in China.

The southern river terrapin, once considered the sole property of Cambodia's kings, only survives in the wilds of Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia, the group said in a statement. The population in the Sre Ambel river is estimated at less than 10 nesting females.

But it said the terrapins there have an excellent chance of recovery because coastal mangrove forests in the region are among the largest and most pristine in Southeast Asia, spanning some 175 square miles (45,000 hectares).

The first-ever satellite monitoring of the species hopes to determine how the turtle will fare among fisherman as well as in areas threatened by sand mining and conversion of mangrove forests into shrimp farms.

A small population of the species was found in 2000 in Sre Ambel after being considered locally extinct for many years.

Following the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1970s which left the country devastated, poor rural dwellers scoured the forests for wildlife, much of which was sold to traders connected to China, where many wild animals ? from turtles to tigers ? are believed to possess medicinal and sex-enhancing properties.

The turtle project is being run by the Wildlife Conservation Society in cooperation with the Cambodian government and Wildlife Reserves Singapore, a zoological enterprise.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_sc/as_cambodia_king_s_turtle

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Steelers QB settles lawsuit alleging '08 rape

(AP) ? Lawyers for Ben Roethlisberger and a woman who accused him of raping her at a Lake Tahoe hotel-casino in 2008 have reached a settlement that ends her civil lawsuit against the Steelers quarterback.

Cal Dunlap, the Reno lawyer representing the woman, told The Associated Press on Friday "the matter has been resolved." He said he had no further comment.

The Reno Gazette-Journal first reported the settlement. It also dismisses claims against Harrah's employees whom the woman had accused of covering up the alleged sexual assault in Roethlisberger's penthouse suite.

Dunlap said in papers filed in Washoe District Court that his client wanted to have the case dismissed because all the parties had reached a resolution of all claims and counterclaims.

The Pittsburgh quarterback's lawyer has had no comment.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-20-Roethlisberger%20Lawsuit-Settled/id-620f54df290944cfa3be85953871cf9b

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Giants top 49ers 20-17 in OT to reach Super Bowl

New York Giants tight end Bear Pascoe, right, celebrates with tight end Jake Ballard after scoring on a six-yard touchdown pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

New York Giants tight end Bear Pascoe, right, celebrates with tight end Jake Ballard after scoring on a six-yard touchdown pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

San Francisco 49ers' Anthony Davis (76) loses his helmet as he scuffles with New York Giants' Michael Boley (59) during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning throws during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

New York Giants' Henry Hynoski (45) is tackled by San Francisco 49ers' Tarell Brown (25) during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

(AP) ? (AP) ? Eli Manning is headed to another Super Bowl with a shot to show the world he belongs in the same breath as Tom Brady.

Manning directed one short, final drive and Lawrence Tynes kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal in sudden death overtime, sending the New York Giants to the Super Bowl with a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game Sunday night.

In another tight one in this decades-old postseason rivalry, both defenses made key stops before New York capitalized on another costly mistake by San Francisco.

Manning and the Giants (12-7) will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis. The last time the teams met for the NFL title, 2008, the Giants ended the Patriots' bid for a perfect season.

Tynes got the Giants there for a second time. He kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime at Green Bay in the 2008 NFC title game that put New York in the Super Bowl on the way to the franchise's third title.

Devin Thomas put the Giants in position. He recovered his second fumble of the game after Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from fill-in return man Kyle Williams, who also fumbled earlier to set up a New York touchdown.

"It's my second NFC championship game, my second game-winner," Tynes said. "It's amazing. I had dreams about this last night. It was from 42, not 31, but I was so nervous today before the game just anticipating this kind of game. I'm usually pretty cool, but there was something about tonight where I knew I was going to have to make a kick. Hats off to Eli, offense, defense. Great win."

Manning went 32 of 58 for 316 yards and two touchdowns in his record fifth road playoff win, New York's fifth in a row overall and fifth out of six.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-22-FBN-NFC-Championship/id-c7966c9bf3fe44d79d3bdbd5fdcd7bcc

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Elusive monkeys caught on camera

One of the world's most endangered primates has been caught on camera by scientists on the island of Borneo.

Using time-lapse recordings to investigate the diversity of the remote Wehea forest, the team were surprised to see an unusual sub-species.

Close analysis confirmed that they had photographed a group of Miller's grizzled langurs.

Fears for the monkeys' future were sparked last year when none were recorded in previously known habitats.

The international team of researchers suggest their evidence could indicate a more optimistic future.

"Our findings confirm that indeed this monkey still lives in the forests of Borneo and we found that its range extends farther inland than scientists had previously thought," said PhD student Brent Loken from Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada.

"This gives us hope that we may still be able to find large enough populations of this monkey to ensure its survival."

The team's findings are published in the American Journal of Primatology.

Populations of Miller's grizzled langurs were first described in Kutai National Park and Sangkulirang Peninsula, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, in 1985.

However, due to habitat loss and hunting, subsequent studies recorded falling numbers of the monkeys in these areas with no activity recorded last year.

Scientists from Indonesia, the Czech Republic, US and Canada worked together to set up hidden cameras so they could learn more about the animals living in the rainforest.

Stunned by the results of their initial camera-trap study, scientists returned to the location to photograph the little-known monkeys in greater detail.

"It was a challenge to confirm our finding as there are so few pictures of this monkey available for study," said Mr Loken.

"The only description of Miller's grizzled langur came from museum specimens. Our photographs from Wehea are some of the only pictures that we have of this monkey."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16640198

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Common substance may fight food poisoning hazard

(AP) ? A substance found in nuts and whole grains may someday help doctors fight the kind of food poisoning that sickened thousands of people in Europe last summer, a study in mice suggests.

While a variety of germs can cause food poisoning, the European outbreak involved a dangerous strain of the bacterium E. coli. It infects people and pumps out a poison called Shiga toxin. Some other bacteria also produce this toxin, which overall causes more than 1 million deaths a year worldwide. The European food poisoning outbreak included about 4,000 people and 50 deaths.

There's no definitive treatment for Shiga toxin. But in Friday's issue of the journal Science, scientists report that they could protect mice against a lethal dose by injecting them with the mineral manganese.

The animals were injected daily, starting five days before they were exposed to the toxin. While untreated mice died within four days, the injected mice remained healthy. The manganese made the toxin vulnerable to being destroyed by cells.

Scientists still need to do more research before they can assess the usefulness of manganese in treating people. Manganese is already approved for medical use and it's inexpensive, they note. So that might make it especially useful in developing countries, where nearly all cases of Shiga toxin poisoning occur, wrote the researchers, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

___

Online:

Science: http://www.sciencemag.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-01-19-US-SCI-Food-Poisoning-/id-5f531e1218c54d5a92c29ab033f4697f

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

GM regains crown as world's top-selling automaker (Reuters)

DETROIT/TOKYO (Reuters) ? General Motors Co (GM.N) regained its title as the world's top-selling automaker in 2011, less than three years after its 2009 taxpayer-funded bankruptcy under the Obama administration.

The Detroit-based automaker's return to the top slot comes as Japanese rival and former No. 1 seller Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) slips in the rankings after an earthquake in Japan and deadly floods in Thailand hampered its production in 2011.

GM said it sold 9.026 million vehicles globally last year, up 7.6 percent from 2010.

Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE), the German company vying to become the world's largest carmaker, finished the year in second place with 8.16 million vehicles sold.

Toyota will publish its final sales results for 2011 later this month but has projected sales of 7.9 million in 2011, down about 6 percent from a year earlier.

The tabulation of global auto sales is not without controversy. Rankings are mostly about bragging rights, but there has been a long-running and robust debate over how to account for vehicles sold through affiliates.

The sales figures released by GM, which was the largest automaker until 2008 when Toyota took its place, include vehicles sold through its joint ventures in China. Some analysts extract those sales from GM's results.

Depending on how the results are tallied, Toyota may have finished the year in third place. However, Toyota would fall to fourth place behind Renault SA (RENA.PA) and its partner Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) if the alliance's sales through Russia's AvtoVAZ (AVAZ.MM) are included.

Including AvtoVAZ, Renault-Nissan sold 8.03 million cars worldwide last year. This includes the 638,000 cars sold by AvtoVAZ, in which Renault owns a minority 25 percent.

The International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, a global trade group based in France, has not yet released its annual ranking of automakers by production.

TOYOTA MOUNTS COMEBACK

Toyota's 2011 worldwide sales tally included listed subsidiaries Daihatsu Motors Co (7262.T) and Hino Motors Ltd (7205.T).

Toyota's sales were hurt by a series of disasters that triggered auto parts shortages and curtailed its vehicle production last year.

But now Toyota is ramping up production to rebuild depleted inventory and will add output capacity in emerging markets such as Brazil and China this year. However, analysts said it also faced stiffer competition as rivals step up their game.

"Toyota's biggest problem is that even without the natural disasters, its sales weren't exactly growing," JP Morgan auto analyst Kohei Takahashi said.

"The ranking is not that important, but they need a convincing strategy to boost their sales," he said, adding that Toyota was behind rivals such as Nissan in rolling out small cars for emerging markets.

Toyota has lagged the sharper sales growth at rivals such as Nissan and Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) because of a relatively slow push into emerging markets as it scrambled to meet runaway demand in mature markets in the past decade.

In a bid to catch up, Toyota is adding factories in Brazil, China, Thailand and elsewhere, aiming to sell half its cars in emerging markets by 2015, up from around 40 percent now.

South Korean sister carmakers Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) and its 34 percent owned Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS) racked up total sales of 6.53 million last year.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman in Detroit, Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/bs_nm/us_gm

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Friday, January 20, 2012

Boehner: Obama Jobs Policies 'Have Made the Economy Worse' (ABC News)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/188223489?client_source=feed&format=rss

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UC Davis investigators achieve important step toward treating Huntington's disease

UC Davis investigators achieve important step toward treating Huntington's disease [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 19-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Charles Casey
charles.casey@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
916-734-9048
University of California - Davis Health System

Stem cells show promise for delivering gene therapy for the currently incurable disease

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) A team of researchers at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures has developed a technique for using stem cells to deliver therapy that specifically targets the genetic abnormality found in Huntington's disease, a hereditary brain disorder that causes progressive uncontrolled movements, dementia and death. The findings, now available online in the journal Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, suggest a promising approach that might block the disease from advancing.

"For the first time, we have been able to successfully deliver inhibitory RNA sequences from stem cells directly into neurons, significantly decreasing the synthesis of the abnormal huntingtin protein," said Jan A. Nolta, principal investigator of the study and director of the UC Davis stem cell program and the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. "Our team has made a breakthrough that gives families affected by this disease hope that genetic therapy may one day become a reality."

Huntington's disease can be managed with medications, but currently there are no treatments for the physical, mental and behavioral decline of its victims. Nolta and other experts think the best chance to halt the disease's progression will be to reduce or eliminate the mutant huntingtin (htt) protein found in the neurons of those with the disease. RNA interference (RNAi) technology has been shown to be highly effective at reducing htt protein levels and reversing disease symptoms in mouse models.

"Our challenge with RNA interference technology is to figure out how to deliver it into the human brain in a sustained, safe and effective manner," said Nolta, whose lab recently received funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to develop an RNAi delivery system for Huntington's disease. "We're exploring how to use human stem cells to create RNAi production factories within the brain."

Huntington's disease affects more than a quarter of a million Americans. The disorder can be passed down through families even if only one parent has the abnormal huntingtin gene. The disease is caused by a mutation in the gene, which is comprised of an abnormally repeating building block of DNA that appears on the fourth chromosome. While the building block pattern normally repeats up to 28 times on the chromosome, too many repeats cause an abnormal form of protein -- known as the huntingtin protein -- to be made. The huntingtin protein accumulates in the brain, causing the disease's devastating progression. Individuals usually develop symptoms in middle age if there are more than 35 repeats. A more rare form of the disease occurs in youth when the abnormal DNA pattern repeats many more times.

The UC Davis research team showed for the first time that inhibitory RNA sequences can be transferred directly from donor cells into target cells to greatly reduce unwanted protein synthesis from the mutant gene. To transfer the inhibitory RNA sequences into their targets, Nolta's team genetically engineered mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which were derived from the bone marrow of unaffected human donors. Over the past two decades, Nolta and her colleagues have shown MSCs to be safe and effective vehicles to deliver enzymes and proteins to other cells. She said finding that MSCs can also transfer RNA molecules directly from cell to cell, in amounts sufficient to reduce levels of a mutant protein by over 50 percent in the target cells, is a discovery that has never been reported before and offers great promise for a variety of disorders.

"Not only is finding new treatments for Huntington's disease a worthwhile pursuit on its own, but the lessons we are learning are applicable to developing new therapies for other genetic disorders that involve excessive protein development and the need to reduce it," said Nolta, who recently received a prestigious Transformative Research Grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how mesenchymal stem cells can transfer microRNA and other factors into the cells of damaged tissues, and how that process can be harnessed to treat injuries and disease. "We have high hopes that these techniques may also be utilized in the fight against some forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) as well as Parkinson's and other conditions."

###

The article, "Examination of mesenchymal stem cell-mediated RNAi transfer to Huntington's disease affected neuronal cells for reduction of huntingtin," was co-authored by Scott D. Olson, now with Texas Medical Center in Houston. Other authors were Amal Kambal, now at Washington University in St. Louis; and Kari Pollock, Gaela-Marie Mitchell, Heather Stewart, Stefanos Kalomoiris, Whitney Cary, Catherine Nacey and Karen Pepper, with the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. Funding for the research was provided by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Team KJ.

UC Davis is playing a leading role in regenerative medicine, with nearly 150 scientists working on a variety of stem cell-related research projects at campus locations in both Davis and Sacramento. The UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures, a facility supported by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), opened in 2010 on the Sacramento campus. This $62 million facility is the university's hub for stem cell science. It includes Northern California's largest academic Good Manufacturing Practice laboratory, with state-of-the-art equipment and manufacturing rooms for cellular and gene therapies. UC Davis also has a Translational Human Embryonic Stem Cell Shared Research Facility in Davis and a collaborative partnership with the Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine at Shriners Hospital for Children Northern California. All of the programs and facilities complement the university's Clinical and Translational Science Center, and focus on turning stem cells into cures. For more information, visit www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/stemcellresearch.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


UC Davis investigators achieve important step toward treating Huntington's disease [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 19-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Charles Casey
charles.casey@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
916-734-9048
University of California - Davis Health System

Stem cells show promise for delivering gene therapy for the currently incurable disease

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) A team of researchers at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures has developed a technique for using stem cells to deliver therapy that specifically targets the genetic abnormality found in Huntington's disease, a hereditary brain disorder that causes progressive uncontrolled movements, dementia and death. The findings, now available online in the journal Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, suggest a promising approach that might block the disease from advancing.

"For the first time, we have been able to successfully deliver inhibitory RNA sequences from stem cells directly into neurons, significantly decreasing the synthesis of the abnormal huntingtin protein," said Jan A. Nolta, principal investigator of the study and director of the UC Davis stem cell program and the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. "Our team has made a breakthrough that gives families affected by this disease hope that genetic therapy may one day become a reality."

Huntington's disease can be managed with medications, but currently there are no treatments for the physical, mental and behavioral decline of its victims. Nolta and other experts think the best chance to halt the disease's progression will be to reduce or eliminate the mutant huntingtin (htt) protein found in the neurons of those with the disease. RNA interference (RNAi) technology has been shown to be highly effective at reducing htt protein levels and reversing disease symptoms in mouse models.

"Our challenge with RNA interference technology is to figure out how to deliver it into the human brain in a sustained, safe and effective manner," said Nolta, whose lab recently received funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to develop an RNAi delivery system for Huntington's disease. "We're exploring how to use human stem cells to create RNAi production factories within the brain."

Huntington's disease affects more than a quarter of a million Americans. The disorder can be passed down through families even if only one parent has the abnormal huntingtin gene. The disease is caused by a mutation in the gene, which is comprised of an abnormally repeating building block of DNA that appears on the fourth chromosome. While the building block pattern normally repeats up to 28 times on the chromosome, too many repeats cause an abnormal form of protein -- known as the huntingtin protein -- to be made. The huntingtin protein accumulates in the brain, causing the disease's devastating progression. Individuals usually develop symptoms in middle age if there are more than 35 repeats. A more rare form of the disease occurs in youth when the abnormal DNA pattern repeats many more times.

The UC Davis research team showed for the first time that inhibitory RNA sequences can be transferred directly from donor cells into target cells to greatly reduce unwanted protein synthesis from the mutant gene. To transfer the inhibitory RNA sequences into their targets, Nolta's team genetically engineered mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which were derived from the bone marrow of unaffected human donors. Over the past two decades, Nolta and her colleagues have shown MSCs to be safe and effective vehicles to deliver enzymes and proteins to other cells. She said finding that MSCs can also transfer RNA molecules directly from cell to cell, in amounts sufficient to reduce levels of a mutant protein by over 50 percent in the target cells, is a discovery that has never been reported before and offers great promise for a variety of disorders.

"Not only is finding new treatments for Huntington's disease a worthwhile pursuit on its own, but the lessons we are learning are applicable to developing new therapies for other genetic disorders that involve excessive protein development and the need to reduce it," said Nolta, who recently received a prestigious Transformative Research Grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how mesenchymal stem cells can transfer microRNA and other factors into the cells of damaged tissues, and how that process can be harnessed to treat injuries and disease. "We have high hopes that these techniques may also be utilized in the fight against some forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) as well as Parkinson's and other conditions."

###

The article, "Examination of mesenchymal stem cell-mediated RNAi transfer to Huntington's disease affected neuronal cells for reduction of huntingtin," was co-authored by Scott D. Olson, now with Texas Medical Center in Houston. Other authors were Amal Kambal, now at Washington University in St. Louis; and Kari Pollock, Gaela-Marie Mitchell, Heather Stewart, Stefanos Kalomoiris, Whitney Cary, Catherine Nacey and Karen Pepper, with the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. Funding for the research was provided by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Team KJ.

UC Davis is playing a leading role in regenerative medicine, with nearly 150 scientists working on a variety of stem cell-related research projects at campus locations in both Davis and Sacramento. The UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures, a facility supported by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), opened in 2010 on the Sacramento campus. This $62 million facility is the university's hub for stem cell science. It includes Northern California's largest academic Good Manufacturing Practice laboratory, with state-of-the-art equipment and manufacturing rooms for cellular and gene therapies. UC Davis also has a Translational Human Embryonic Stem Cell Shared Research Facility in Davis and a collaborative partnership with the Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine at Shriners Hospital for Children Northern California. All of the programs and facilities complement the university's Clinical and Translational Science Center, and focus on turning stem cells into cures. For more information, visit www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/stemcellresearch.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

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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.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uoc--udi011912.php

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