Clumps of ?-synuclein protein in nerve cells are hallmarks of many degenerative brain diseases, most notably Parkinson's disease.
"No one has been able to determine if Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, hallmark pathologies in Parkinson's disease can be degraded," says Virginia Lee, PhD, director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
"With the new neuron model system of Parkinson's disease pathologies our lab has developed recently, we demonstrated that these aberrant clumps in cells resist degradation as well as impair the function of the macroautophagy system, one of the major garbage disposal systems within the cell."
Macroautophagy, literally self eating, is the degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular bits and pieces by a compartment in the cell called the lysosome.
Lee, also a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and colleagues published their results in the early online edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry this week.
Alpha-synuclein (?-syn ) diseases all have clumps of the protein and include Parkinson's disease (PD), and array of related disorders: PD with dementia , dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. In most of these, ?-syn forms insoluble aggregates of stringy fibrils that accumulate in the cell body and extensions of neurons.
These unwanted ?-syn clumps are modified by abnormal attachments of many phosphate chemical groups as well as by the protein ubiquitin, a molecular tag for degradation. They are widely distributed in the central nervous system, where they are associated with neuron loss.
Using cell models in which intracellular ?-syn clumps accumulate after taking up synthetic ?-syn fibrils, the team showed that ?-syn inclusions cannot be degraded, even though they are located near the lysosome and the proteasome, another type of garbage disposal in the cell.
The ?-syn aggregates persist even after soluble ?-syn levels within the cell are substantially reduced, suggesting that once formed, the ?-syn inclusions are resistant to being cleared. What's more, they found that ?-syn aggregates impair the overall autophagy degradative process by delaying the maturation of autophagy machines known as autophagosomes, which may contribute to the increased cell death seen in clump-filled nerve cells. Understanding the impact of ?-syn aggregates on autophagy may help elucidate therapies for ?-syn-related neurodegeneration.
###
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/
Thanks to University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
Hi there. It's the end of the week, and we're sure you're sick of working, so we're going to help make the rest of your day bearable. For the next hour, the entire Giz staff will be hovering around this thread, willing to shoot the shit about whatever your little hearts desire. What do you all want to talk about? More »
Mate choice is a key factor in the evolution of new animal species. The choice of a specific mate can decisively influence the evolutionary development of a species. In mice, the attractiveness of a potential mate is conveyed by scent cues and ultrasonic vocalizations. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Pl?n investigated whether house mice (Mus musculus) would mate with each other even if they were from two populations which had been separated from each other for a long time period. To do this, the researchers brought together mice from a German population and mice from a French population. Although to begin with all the mice mated with one another randomly, the hybrid offspring of French and German parents were distinctly more choosy: they showed a definite preference for mating with individuals from their father's original population. According to the researchers, this paternal imprinting accelerates the divergence of two house mouse populations and thus promotes speciation.
In allopatric speciation, individuals of a species become geographically isolated from each other by external factors such as mountains or estuaries. Over time, this geographic separation leads to the sub-populations undergoing various mutations, and thus diverging genetically. Animals from the two different sub-populations can no longer successfully reproduce, so two new species evolve.
To find out what role partner selection plays in such speciation processes, Diethard Tautz from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology and his colleagues conducted a comprehensive study on house mice ? the classic model organisms of biology. "To investigate whether there are differences in the mating behaviour of the mice in the early stages of speciation, we caught wild house mice in southern France and western Germany. The two populations have been geographically separate for around 3,000 years, which equates to some 18,000 generations," says Diethard Tautz. Due to this geographical separation, the French and German mice were genetically different.
The Pl?n-based researchers created a semi-natural environment for their investigations ? a sort of "Playboy Mansion" for mice. The research enclosure was several square meters in size and was divided up using wooden walls, "nests" made out of plastic cylinders, and plastic tubes. It also featured an escape tube with several entrances, which led into a cage system nearby. "We constructed the enclosure in such a way that all animals had unimpeded access to all areas, but thanks to the structural divisions were also able to create their own territories or retreat into nests," explains Tautz. "The escape tube was a control element. If the mice retreated to it only very seldom ? as was the case in our experiment ? then we could be sure there was no overpopulation in the central enclosure."
In this central enclosure, the French and German mice had both time and space to mate with each other and reproduce. "At first, all the mice mated with each other quite randomly. But with the first-generation offspring, a surprising pattern emerged," says Tautz. When the first-generation hybrid offspring of mixed French and German parentage mated, they showed a specific preference for pure-bred mates whose "nationality" was that of their father only. "There must be some kind of paternal influence that prompts the hybrid mice to choose a mate from a specific population, namely that of their father," concludes the biologist, based on the results of his study. "This imprinting must be learned, however, meaning that the animals must grow up in the presence of their fathers. This was not the case for the original mice, which were kept in cages for a time after being caught."
"We know that mice use ultrasonic vocalizations to communicate with each other and that particularly in the case of male mice these vocalizations can reveal signals of individuality and kinship. We believe that, like birdsong, the vocalizations of the males have a learned component and a genetic component," says Tautz. Therefore, French and German mice really could "speak" different languages, partly learned from their fathers, partly inherited from them. Individual mice thus have a mating preference for mice that speak the same language as they do.
The French and German mouse populations had evidently been geographically separated long enough for preliminary signs of species differentiation to be apparent as regards mating preferences. In addition, another aspect of mating behavior also sped up the speciation process.
Although mice have multiple mates, the researchers found evidence of partner fidelity and inbreeding. The tendency to mate with relatives fosters the creation of genetically uniform groups. When both occur together, this accelerates the speciation process.
In a next step, Diethard Tautz wants to find out whether the vocalizations of the mice play the decisive role in paternal imprinting, or if scent cues are also involved. Furthermore, the biologist wants to identify the genes that are involved in mate selection.
###
Inka Montero, Meike Tesche and Diethard Tautz: "Paternal imprinting of mating preferences between natural populations of house mice (Mus musculus domesticus)", Molecular Ecology (2013), doi: 10.111/mec.122271;
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft: http://www.mpg.de
Thanks to Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Nelson Mandela is making "steady progress" while being treated for a recurring lung infection and he had a full breakfast on Friday, South African authorities said.
The office of President Jacob Zuma released a statement in which it said the former president and anti-apartheid leader was in good spirits after being taken late Wednesday to a hospital in the capital, Pretoria.
"The doctors report that he is making steady progress. He remains under treatment and observation in hospital," the statement said.
"We would like to repeat our appeal for the media and the public to respect the privacy of Madiba and his family," it said, using Mandela's clan name, a term of affection.
It is 94-year-old Mandela's third trip to a hospital since December. At that time, he spent three weeks in a hospital in Pretoria, where he was treated for a lung infection and had a procedure to remove gallstones. Earlier this month, he was hospitalized overnight for what authorities said was a successful, scheduled medical test.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been particularly vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his 27-year imprisonment for fighting white racist rule in his country.
President Barack Obama said Thursday he was concerned about Mandela's health, but noted he was as strong physically as he has been in leadership and character. Obama said he was sending his thoughts and prayers to Mandela, and he described him as a hero and an inspiration who gave everything to his people.
Zuma's office said Thursday that doctors were acting with extreme caution because of the advanced age of Mandela, who has become increasingly frail in recent years.
Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president in 1994, is a revered figure in his homeland, which has named buildings and other places after him and uses his image on national bank notes.
SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines (AP) ? Devotees in villages in the northern Philippines took part in a bloody annual ritual to mark Good Friday, a celebration that mixes Roman Catholic devotion and Filipino folk beliefs and sees some reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The crucified devotees spent several minutes nailed to crosses in Pampanga province while thousands of tourists watched and took photos of the spectacle, which the church discourages. Earlier in the day, hooded male penitents trudged through the province's villages under the blazing sun while flagellating their bleeding backs with makeshift whips. Others carried wooden crosses to dramatize Christ's sacrifice.
Devotees undergo the hardships in the belief that such extreme sacrifices are a way to atone for their sins, attain miracle cures for illnesses or give thanks to God.
Alex Laranang, a 58-year-old vendor who was the first to be nailed to a cross Friday, said he was doing it "for good luck and for my family to be healthy."
It was the 27th crucifixion for sign painter Ruben Enaje, 52, one of the most popular penitents from San Pedro Cutud village. He began his yearly rite after surviving a fall from a building.
Enaje screamed in pain as men dressed as Roman soldiers hammered stainless steel nails into his palms and feet. A wireless microphone carried his voice to loudspeakers for everyone watching to hear.
His cross was raised and he was hanged there for several minutes under the searing afternoon sun before the nails were pulled out and he was taken on a stretcher to a first aid station.
"It's intriguing and fascinating what makes people do something like this, how you can believe so much that you make yourself suffer to that extent," said Dita Tittesass, a tourist from Denmark.
Remigio de la Cruz, the chief of San Pedro Cutud village, explained that the practice began in his village in the 1950s.
Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, told the church-run Radio Veritas that the practice is "not the desire of Jesus Christ."
"We are aware that this has been practiced long before ... but we still hope that this will not be done any more," he said. "We should all concentrate on prayers."
_____
Associated Press writer Oliver Teves contributed to this from Manila.
Gene discovery may yield lettuce that will sprout in hot weatherPublic release date: 28-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Patricia Bailey pjbailey@ucdavis.edu 530-752-9843 University of California - Davis
A team of researchers, led by a University of California, Davis, plant scientist, has identified a lettuce gene and related enzyme that put the brakes on germination during hot weather a discovery that could lead to lettuces that can sprout year-round, even at high temperatures.
The study also included researchers from Arcadia Biosciences and Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, India.
The finding is particularly important to the nearly $2 billion lettuce industries of California and Arizona, which together produce more than 90 percent of the nation's lettuce. The study results appear online in the journal The Plant Cell.
"Discovery of the genes will enable plant breeders to develop lettuce varieties that can better germinate and grow to maturity under high temperatures," said the study's lead author Kent Bradford, a professor of plant sciences and director of the UC Davis Seed Biotechnology Center.
"And because this mechanism that inhibits hot-weather germination in lettuce seeds appears to be quite common in many plant species, we suspect that other crops also could be modified to improve their germination," he said. "This could be increasingly important as global temperatures are predicted to rise."
Most lettuce varieties flower in spring or early summer and then drop their seeds a trait that is likely linked to their origin in the Mediterranean region, which, like California, characteristically has dry summers. Scientists have observed for years that a built-in dormancy mechanism seems to prevent lettuce seeds from germinating under conditions that would be too hot and dry to sustain growth. While this naturally occurring inhibition works well in the wild, it is an obstacle to commercial lettuce production.
In the California and Arizona lettuce industries, lettuce seeds are planted somewhere every day of the year even in September in the Imperial Valley of California and near Yuma, Ariz., where fall temperatures frequently reach 110 degrees.
In order to jump-start seed germination for a winter crop in these hot climates, lettuce growers have turned to cooling the soil with sprinkler irrigation or priming the seeds to germinate by pre-soaking them at cool temperatures and re-drying them before planting methods that are expensive and not always successful.
In the new study, researchers turned to lettuce genetics to better understand the temperature-related mechanisms governing seed germination. They identified a region of chromosome six in a wild ancestor of commercial lettuce varieties that enables seeds to germinate in warm temperatures. When that chromosome region was crossed into cultivated lettuce varieties, those varieties gained the ability to germinate in warm temperatures.
Further genetic mapping studies zeroed in on a specific gene that governs production of a plant hormone called abscisic acid known to inhibit seed germination. The newly identified gene "turns on" in most lettuce seeds when the seed is exposed to moisture at warm temperatures, increasing production of abscisic acid. In the wild ancestor that the researchers were studying, however, this gene does not turn on at high temperatures. As a result, abscisic acid is not produced and the seeds can still germinate.
The researchers then demonstrated that they could either "silence" or mutate the germination-inhibiting gene in cultivated lettuce varieties, thus enabling those varieties to germinate and grow even in high temperatures.
###
Other researchers on the study were: Post-doctoral researcher Heqiang Huo and staff researcher Peetambar Dahal, both of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences; Keshavulu Kunusoth of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, India; and Claire McCallum of Arcadia Biosciences, which provided the lettuce lines with variants of the target gene to help confirm the study's findings.
Funding for the study was provided the U.S. Department of Agriculture - National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Science Foundation.
About Arcadia Biosciences
Based in Davis, Arcadia Biosciences is an agricultural technology company focused on the development of agricultural products that improve the environment and enhance human health. Arcadia's agronomic traits, including NUE, Water Efficiency, Salt Tolerance, Heat Tolerance and Herbicide Tolerance, are all aimed at making agricultural production more economically efficient and environmentally sound. Arcadia's health technologies and products create healthier nutritional ingredients and foods with lower cost of production. For more information, visit http://www.arcadiabio.com.
About UC Davis
For more than 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has more than 33,000 students, more than 2,500 faculty and more than 21,000 staff, an annual research budget of nearly $750 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science. It also houses six professional schools Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.
Media contact(s):
Kent Bradford
Seed Biotechnology Center
530-752-6087 kjbradford@ucdavis.edu
Jeff Bergau
Arcadia Biosciences
312-217-0419 jeff.bergau@arcadiabio.com
Pat Bailey
UC Davis News Service
[ | 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.
Gene discovery may yield lettuce that will sprout in hot weatherPublic release date: 28-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Patricia Bailey pjbailey@ucdavis.edu 530-752-9843 University of California - Davis
A team of researchers, led by a University of California, Davis, plant scientist, has identified a lettuce gene and related enzyme that put the brakes on germination during hot weather a discovery that could lead to lettuces that can sprout year-round, even at high temperatures.
The study also included researchers from Arcadia Biosciences and Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, India.
The finding is particularly important to the nearly $2 billion lettuce industries of California and Arizona, which together produce more than 90 percent of the nation's lettuce. The study results appear online in the journal The Plant Cell.
"Discovery of the genes will enable plant breeders to develop lettuce varieties that can better germinate and grow to maturity under high temperatures," said the study's lead author Kent Bradford, a professor of plant sciences and director of the UC Davis Seed Biotechnology Center.
"And because this mechanism that inhibits hot-weather germination in lettuce seeds appears to be quite common in many plant species, we suspect that other crops also could be modified to improve their germination," he said. "This could be increasingly important as global temperatures are predicted to rise."
Most lettuce varieties flower in spring or early summer and then drop their seeds a trait that is likely linked to their origin in the Mediterranean region, which, like California, characteristically has dry summers. Scientists have observed for years that a built-in dormancy mechanism seems to prevent lettuce seeds from germinating under conditions that would be too hot and dry to sustain growth. While this naturally occurring inhibition works well in the wild, it is an obstacle to commercial lettuce production.
In the California and Arizona lettuce industries, lettuce seeds are planted somewhere every day of the year even in September in the Imperial Valley of California and near Yuma, Ariz., where fall temperatures frequently reach 110 degrees.
In order to jump-start seed germination for a winter crop in these hot climates, lettuce growers have turned to cooling the soil with sprinkler irrigation or priming the seeds to germinate by pre-soaking them at cool temperatures and re-drying them before planting methods that are expensive and not always successful.
In the new study, researchers turned to lettuce genetics to better understand the temperature-related mechanisms governing seed germination. They identified a region of chromosome six in a wild ancestor of commercial lettuce varieties that enables seeds to germinate in warm temperatures. When that chromosome region was crossed into cultivated lettuce varieties, those varieties gained the ability to germinate in warm temperatures.
Further genetic mapping studies zeroed in on a specific gene that governs production of a plant hormone called abscisic acid known to inhibit seed germination. The newly identified gene "turns on" in most lettuce seeds when the seed is exposed to moisture at warm temperatures, increasing production of abscisic acid. In the wild ancestor that the researchers were studying, however, this gene does not turn on at high temperatures. As a result, abscisic acid is not produced and the seeds can still germinate.
The researchers then demonstrated that they could either "silence" or mutate the germination-inhibiting gene in cultivated lettuce varieties, thus enabling those varieties to germinate and grow even in high temperatures.
###
Other researchers on the study were: Post-doctoral researcher Heqiang Huo and staff researcher Peetambar Dahal, both of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences; Keshavulu Kunusoth of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, India; and Claire McCallum of Arcadia Biosciences, which provided the lettuce lines with variants of the target gene to help confirm the study's findings.
Funding for the study was provided the U.S. Department of Agriculture - National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Science Foundation.
About Arcadia Biosciences
Based in Davis, Arcadia Biosciences is an agricultural technology company focused on the development of agricultural products that improve the environment and enhance human health. Arcadia's agronomic traits, including NUE, Water Efficiency, Salt Tolerance, Heat Tolerance and Herbicide Tolerance, are all aimed at making agricultural production more economically efficient and environmentally sound. Arcadia's health technologies and products create healthier nutritional ingredients and foods with lower cost of production. For more information, visit http://www.arcadiabio.com.
About UC Davis
For more than 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has more than 33,000 students, more than 2,500 faculty and more than 21,000 staff, an annual research budget of nearly $750 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science. It also houses six professional schools Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.
Media contact(s):
Kent Bradford
Seed Biotechnology Center
530-752-6087 kjbradford@ucdavis.edu
Jeff Bergau
Arcadia Biosciences
312-217-0419 jeff.bergau@arcadiabio.com
Pat Bailey
UC Davis News Service
[ | 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.
Exquisitely well made. Includes drawstring pouch and padded headphones case. Supremely comfortable to wear. Inspiring design. Spacious. Vented rear padding. Water resistant.
Cons
Pricey. Only available in one color.
Bottom Line
Crumpler's royal laptop knapsack, called Vegetable From Within the Mountain, lives up to the company's first-rate reputation. Though expensive, this minimalistic bag for 13-inch laptops strikes the perfect balance of form and function for the understated tech-savvy crowd.
By Jill Duffy
Crumpler has quickly become one bag-making company whose work I truly admire. Every bag is designed exquisitely in both form and function for a particular type of consumer. Its bags aren't cheap, but that's practically the only negative thing I have to say about them. One of its newer styles, called Vegetable From Within the Mountain ($145 direct), lives up to Crumpler's reputation and may be my favorite new release from the company this year. From afar, this blue knapsack looks decidedly too simplistic, but up close, it strikes the perfect balance of style and curiosity for the intentionally understated tech-savvy individual with a 13-inch laptop. ?
The Vegetable's inspiring design starts with lightweight yet rugged material in solid colors: a deep royal blue outside, which contrasts with an energetic turquoise inside. A single pink dot on one external zipper perks up the otherwise solemn look. And thicker black fabric from the back of the bag wraps underneath the bottom to better protect the Vegetable when you set it on the ground.
Three bonuses come included: a turquoise drawstring pouch (intended for gym shoes, although infinitely functional for other bag organization tricks), a spring-loaded pink key clasp with a rubber water bottle holder, and a black-and-pink-accented padded headphone case. All told, the bag measures 17.7 by 13.4 by 9.4 inches (HWD) and weighs a scant 1.57 pounds when empty. What's more, the Vegetable expands handily to 915 cubic inches. What couldn't you fit in that space?
The Vegetable suits minimalists to a tee. The interior has a padded laptop section for 13-inch notebooks or tablets, with a wide Velcro closure, and on the front of that is a half-sized zippered pouch where you can tuck away various charging cords and cables. One more pouch adorns the outside of the bag skirted off to the side (it's the one with the fleck-of-pink zipper toggle). And that's it for pockets, pouches, and enclosures?enough for everything you need, and nothing wasted.
Wearing the two-shoulder-strapped Vegetable around town on foot and bicycle, it felt extremely comfortable on my back. The fabric feels rugged. The bag added no perceptible weight to my load. The shoulder straps adjusted to easily fit my gangly arms and narrow shoulders.
As I mentioned, I've fallen in love with the Crumpler line, and price would be the only thing to hold me back from gushing any further about this bag. After all, $145 is no small chunk of change, so you've got to really love the look of this bag before committing to it. The attention to detail couldn't be more thorough, though. Even main zipper is protected by a hood of fabric that folds back so it never gets caught. All that earns the Vegetable From Within the Mountain our Editors' Choice. A slightly lower priced Crumpler model that I also love, and which also earned our Editors' Choice, is the Crumpler Arnold Heist Tablet Bag ($105, 4.5 stars). Another alternative that we loved and which holds up to 15-inch notebooks is the hundred-dollar Booq Mamba Daypack (4.5 stars, Editors' Choice)?. And if the mountainous blue of the Vegetable doesn't strike your hardcore note, or you have a massive laptop, try the edgy Chrome Citadel Laptop Bag ($190, 4 stars), designed to withstand the turmoil of urban bicycling with any size notebook inside.
By Jill DuffyAnalyst, Software
Jill Duffy is an analyst in the software, Internet, and networking team, specializing in productivity software, iOS, and apps and gadgets for health and fitness. She writes the weekly Get Organized column, with tips on...
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Amanda Knox has been ordered to stand a re-trial over the 2007 killing of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia. Knox said the news that the Italian court had overturned the acquittals of her and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder was “unfair” and “painful”. The family of the victim, Meredith Kercher, has admitted ...
Windows Phone owners can finally enjoy all the benefits of Uber and order cabs on demand through their own native app. The basic features are all present, just presented in the stark color blocks and straight lines Microsoft favors. You'll need to have either version 7.5 or 8 of the OS installed to download the app and, of course, you'll need to live in a city where the service is available to take advantage. The expansion to Windows Phone follows last week's quiet debut on BlackBerry (which the company only announced today), though it's currently only available on older devices and not compatible with BlackBerry 10. It was also just last week that Uber launched a redesigned Android client that was rebuilt from the ground up with improved performance, Foursquare integration and a fare estimator. It seems like Uber is looking to establish an insurmountable lead in the market before any competitors get any grand ideas.
Many mothers in the U.S. start infants on solid foods -- including peanut butter, meat, and french fries -- earlier than experts recommend, and half of them do so with their doctor's support, according to new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study found that 40.4 percent of U.S. mothers interviewed from 2005 to 2007 said they introduced solid foods to infants before they were 4 months old -- that represents an increase of about 29 percent from earlier studies, the researchers reported today in the journal Pediatrics.
Read this story on www.medpagetoday.com.
More than half of the mothers (55 percent) cited a doctor's advice as one of the reasons for introducing solids before 4 months.
"With multiple sources of information on infant feeding and care from healthcare providers, family, friends, and media, specific information on the timing of solid food introduction may be conflicting and not necessarily sensitive to the needs of mothers," the authors said.
Among mothers who introduced solid foods earlier than 4 months, the mean age of the children at introduction was 11.8 weeks, and 9.1 percent of early introducers gave solids to infants younger than 4 weeks, they added.
The authors noted that if they factored in the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) 2012 feeding recommendation to avoid giving solid foods until 6 months, 92.9 percent of their analytic sample would have been "early introducers."
Solid foods included dairy {other than milk) such as yogurt, soy foods (other than soy milk) such as tofu, infant cereals and starches, fruits and vegetables, french fries, meat and chicken, fish, peanut butter or nuts and sweets.
Introducing solids early may increase the risk of some chronic diseases, the authors noted, including diabetes, obesity, eczema, and celiac disease.
17 Scary Allergy Triggers
The study used monthly 7-day food-frequency questionnaires throughout infancy to pinpoint infant age when solid food was introduced, and to classify whether the child was breastfed only, given only formula, or both at the time of solid-food incorporation.
Besides doctor's advice, other reasons cited for starting solid foods before 4 months included:
"My baby was old enough" (88.9 percent)
"My baby seemed hungry a lot of the time" (71.4 percent)
"My baby wanted the food I ate" (66.8 percent)
"I wanted to feed my baby something in addition to breast milk or formula" (64.8 percent)
"It would help my baby sleep longer at night." (46.4 percent)
Among early introducers, 52.7 percent exclusively formula-fed their infants; 50.2 percent mixed formula with breastfeeding, and 24.3 percent only breastfed.
Younger, unmarried, less educated, and Women Infants and Children (WIC) recipients were more likely to introduce solids, the authors said. Women who had delivered more than one child comprised 70.9 percent of early introducers. Only 29.1 percent of early introducers were first-time mothers.
The AAP recommends babies be exclusively breastfed for their first 6 months and that breastfeeding be maintained throughout the first year.
Pals Little Mix dish about 1D's goofy side before the boys dropped the video's alternate version Tuesday. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Kelly Marino
Harry Styles and Zayn Malik in One Direction's Kiss You Alternate Version" Photo: Columbia Records
Breach and Clear was a hidden gem at PAX East 2013. This upcoming indie tactical combat game for Android and iOS promises deep strategic gameplay and high customizability in a free to play format. Players guide an elite police force through tense scenarios where even the slightest wrong move can have deadly consequences. The early build we played at PAX ran really well, considering how early in development it is. Some of the guys working at Gun Media on this title have done some fine AAA games, including Call of Duty, which bodes well for the final product.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? U.S. home prices rose in January at the fastest annual pace since June 2006, just before the housing bubble burst. The gain shows the housing recovery is strengthening ahead of the all-important spring buying season.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index climbed 8.1 percent in the 12 months ending in January. That's up from a 6.8 annual gain in December. Prices rose in all 20 cities. Eight markets posted double-digit increases, led by a 23.2 percent gain in Phoenix. Prices rose 17.5 percent in San Francisco and 15.3 percent in Las Vegas, one of the nation's hardest hit markets during the crisis.
Prices rose in 11 of 20 cities on a month-over-month basis. The monthly numbers are not seasonally adjusted and reflect the slower winter buying period.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index covers roughly half of U.S. homes. It measures prices compared with those in January 2000 and creates a three-month moving average. The January figures are the latest available.
Home prices nationwide are still 29 percent below their peak reached at the height of the housing bubble in August 2006. They are only back to where they were in August 2003.
Still, steady price increases should help make the housing recovery sustainable and add to economic growth. Higher home prices encourage more people to buy before prices rise further.
"Over time, persistently rising house prices also boost household wealth, make lenders more willing to lend because the asset they're underwriting is appreciating, and ease pressure on local government budgets that get revenue from property taxes," Jonathan Basile, director of economics at Credit Suisse, wrote in a research note.
Other recent reports have shown a strengthening recovery in housing, helped by near-record-low mortgage rates. Construction of single-family homes rose in February at the fastest pace in 4 ? years. Sales of previously owned homes rose last month to their fastest pace in more than three years.
More Americans are putting their houses on the market, suggesting they believe the housing market will continue to strengthen.
The number of available homes for sale rose 10 percent last month, the first monthly gain since April. Even with the gain, the inventory of homes for sale was still 19 percent below a year ago.
Investment in housing, including home construction, contributed to the nation's economic growth last year for the first time since 2005; from 2006 through 2011, a drop in housing investment dragged economic growth down.
Ted Danson's daughter Kate will star as a lawyer on an April 3 episode, the actress said. According to one report, Ted Danson's daughter will encounter the 'CSI' team after the group finds a serial killer.
By Molly Driscoll,?Staff Writer / March 25, 2013
Ted Danson (l.)'s daughter Kate (r.) will appear in an April episode of 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.'
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Enlarge
Ted Danson?s daughter Kate will appear on an episode of her father?s show ?CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,? this April.
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According to Kate Danson, she plays a lawyer who goes up against the CSI team when they?ve made a misstep. A Hollywood Gossip report stated that the incident occurs after a body is found in a rainforest and the team goes to a serial killer?s hideout.
?I was really fortunate to get to work with him on CSI,? she told WENN,??It was so much fun. We never worked together like that. We did a short film together but nothing professional until now, so it was really great going head to head with him? I come pretty hard at my dad and dig into him, which was a lot of fun to play.?
Her episode will air April 3, the actress said.
?I'm hoping it will be a recurring character,? she said.
As previously reported, ?CSI? was recently renewed by its network, CBS, for another season and Danson is signed on for another two years.?
Kate Danson is credited as appearing in the 1989 movie ?Cousins,? which starred her father as a wedding guest named Larry and for which Kate Danson is cryptically credited as ?Wedding Killer Listener.? The actress has also guested on shows such as the 2008 TV series ?Raising the Bar? and the show ?The Protector? as well as the 2010 short film ?The Dinner Party.? She appeared with her stepmother, actress Mary Steenburgen, in a 2011 comedy short titled ?Keepin? It Real Estate? and stars in a short film titled ?Three Forms of Insomnia.?
Danson joined ?CSI? in 2011 and stars as D.B. Russell, a night shift supervisor. The actor was nominated for and won multiple awards for his role as bar owner Sam Malone on the TV series ?Cheers? and for his guest turn on the FX series ?Damages,? respectively.
The previous discussion had stated that the next entry in this series would cover the surface control system. Before delving into the surface controls, an understanding of how the surface and subsea systems communicate with each other should be understood.
The Umbilical Link
The link that connects the surface controls with the subsea electronics is the MUX umbilical cable. Along with the necessary power being supplied from the surface to the subsea electronics, the MUX cable contains copper conductors that are used to provide a communications link.
The GE/Hydril systems (for the most part) utilize a form of serial Modbus protocol in order to communicate between the surface and subsea components. There are a few GE/Hydril systems and systems from other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that also utilize a fiber link between the surface and subsea components. There is also a system that was being developed that utilizes an acoustic link as the primary means of communicating between the surface and subsea components.
Each means of communicating between surface and subsea components has its advantages and detractions.
The acoustic option has a major advantage of not requiring a physical connection between surface and subsea but suffers in speed of communications. Typical acoustic link speeds are 4800/9600 baud. This limits the amount of data that can be sent back and forth.
The copper option has been the mainstay in this industry. It has proven reliable, and had adequate bandwidth capabilities. But, as operators and contractors begin requiring more data to be sent back and forth, the fiber solution is becoming the option of choice.
The fiber option has large bandwidth capabilities that allow for extra data such as video to be shared between surface and subsea. Fiber typically has had issues with cable failures, however this is improving as operators and the industry as a whole become more aware of its additional maintenance and operating requirements.
For this discussion, as there are more copper systems in use, we will concentrate on the serial communications solution and in particular the GE/Hydril version.
SEMs, Pods and Control
The subsea components are the blue and yellow pods with each pod containing redundant subsea electronic modules (SEMs): SEM A & SEM B. Each pod (blue/yellow) is connected to the surface via separate MUX umbilical cables with each cable providing communication conductors for both SEM A & B. Each SEM provides independent command and control capabilities for the subsea blowout preventer (BOP) stack. Thus as long as one SEM on one pod is functioning and there is sufficient hydraulic supply, the surface has control of the subsea BOP stack.
The SEM by itself does not perform any control functions on its own other than to monitor subsea sensors such as pressure transducers, solenoid currents, angle inclinometers, etc. The SEM will not operate any functions (energize solenoids) unless commanded to do so from the surface. The SEM will also not send any sensor data to the surface unless commanded to do so from the surface.
Master and Standby Explained
The surface control system is in charge and will constantly poll the subsea SEM for sensor data as well as constantly send the commanded state (on/off) of all solenoids. Since there are two SEMs per pod and both SEMs should not be energizing and de-energizing solenoids concurrently, the surface will tell each SEM whether it is in a Master role or a Standby role. Each pod will have a Master and a Standby SEM.
Both SEMs within a pod will be sent the commanded state (on/off) of all solenoids, however only the Master SEM will actually energize/de-energize the solenoids. The Standby SEM will save the solenoid commanded states so when it becomes Master it can immediately place all the solenoids in the correct on/off state. Since the Master/Standby role is sent from the surface, if the Master were to fail the Standby SEM will remain in Standby role until commanded to change roles from the surface. The surface system might have logic in place to detect a Master SEM failure and immediately command the Standby SEM to become Master, however the SEM will not change roles on its own.
Hopefully by now you can see that the SEM does nothing unless told to do so from the surface.
Poll Cycles
Once it establishes communications with a SEM, the surface control system will constantly be communicating with that SEM. The surface goes into a poll cycle where each poll cycle consists of sending commands and retrieving data. The poll cycle will be different depending on whether the SEM is in Master or Standby role. Once a poll cycle is completed the next poll cycle is immediately started. Thus constant communications are occurring between the surface and a SEM.
The Master SEM poll cycle consists of sending command states and master/standby role and retrieving digital data (solenoid states: armed/fired/over current), analog data, accumulator data, and error data. The analog data consists of high priority analogs (pressure transducers) and low priority analogs (solenoid currents, voltages, electronic riser angle data, temperature/water monitor data, ground fault data, etc.).
The high priority analogs are retrieved every poll cycle and the low priority analogs are retrieved every 10 poll cycles. The separation of high and low priority analog data is to reduce the demand placed on the bandwidth. Even though the bandwidth is better than the acoustic solution, it is limited and much lower than that achieved with fiber. The accumulator data is the flow meter counts.
The Standby SEM poll cycle consists of sending command states and master/standby role and retrieving error data.
The data packets that are transmitted back and forth between the surface and SEM are encoded typically with some sort of cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error-detecting code to prevent erroneous commands being sent to the SEM and corrupted data being retrieved from the SEM.
Another safety measure is provided to prevent erroneous commands from being sent to the SEM. Each function that is operated from the surface requires first an Arm (prepare to energize solenoid) command to be sent to the SEM and Arm state confirmed back from the SEM before the actual Fire (energize solenoid) command is sent.
Now that you know what is subsea and how the surface and subsea systems communicate, in the next discussion we should be ready to begin looking at the surface MUX BOP control system.
BANGKOK (AP) -- The multibillion-dollar trade in illegal wildlife ? clandestine trafficking that has driven iconic creatures like the tiger to near-extinction ? is also threatening the survival of great apes, a new U.N. report says.
Endangered chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos are disappearing from the wild in frightening numbers, as private owners pay top dollar for exotic pets, while disreputable zoos, amusement parks and traveling circuses clamor for smuggled primates to entertain audiences.
More than 22,000 great apes are estimated to have been traded illegally over a seven-year period ending in 2011. That's about 3,000 a year; more than half are chimpanzees, the U.N. report said.
"These great apes make up an important part of our natural heritage. But as with all things of value, great apes are used by man for commercial profit and the illegal trafficking of the species constitutes a serious threat to their existence," Henri Djombo, a government minister from the Republic of Congo, was quoted as saying.
The U.N. report paints a dire picture of the fight to protect vulnerable and dwindling flora and fauna from organized criminal networks that often have the upper hand.
Apes are hunted in their own habitats, which are concentrated in central and western Africa, by sophisticated smugglers who transport them on private cargo planes using small airstrips in the African bush. Their destination is usually the Middle East and Asia.
In countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Lebanon, great apes are purchased to display as show pieces in private gardens and menageries.
In Asia, the animals are typically destined for public zoos and amusement parks. China is a main destination for gorillas and chimpanzees. Thailand and Cambodia have recorded cases of orangutans being used for entertainment in "clumsy boxing matches," the report said.
Lax enforcement and corruption make it easy to smuggle the animals through African cities like Nairobi, Kenya, and Khartoum, Sudan, which are trafficking hubs. Bangkok, the Thai capital, is a major hub for the orangutan trade.
Conditions are usually brutal. In February 2005, customs officials at the Nairobi airport seized a large crate that had arrived from Egypt. The crate held six chimpanzees and four monkeys, stuffed into tiny compartments. The crate had been refused at the airport in Cairo, a well-known trafficking hub for shipment to the Middle East, and returned to Kenya. One chimp died of hunger and thirst.
The proliferation of logging and mining camps throughout Africa has also increased the demand for primate meat. Adults and juveniles are killed for consumption, and their orphans are captured to sell into the live trade. Villagers also pluck primates out of rural areas to sell in the cities.
Humans also have been encroaching upon and destroying the primates' natural habitats, destroying their forest homes to build infrastructure and for other purposes. That forces the animals to move into greater proximity and conflict with people.
Sometimes animals are even the victims of war.
Arrests are rare largely because authorities in Africa, where most great apes originate, do not have the policing resources to cope with the criminal poaching networks. Corruption is rampant and those in authority sometimes are among those dealing in the illegal trade. Between 2005 and 2011, only 27 arrests were made in Africa and Asia.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) regulates the trade of animals and plants to ensure their survival. Under the agreement, trade in great apes caught in the wild is illegal. But traffickers often get around that by falsely declaring animals as bred in captivity.
The orangutan is the only great ape found in Asia. One species, the Sumatran orangutan, is critically endangered, with its population having dropped by 80 percent over the last 75 years. Their numbers are in great peril due to the pace of land clearance and forest destruction for industrial or agricultural use.
The report estimates that nearly all of the orangutan's natural habitat will be disturbed or destroyed by the year 2030.
"There are no wild spaces left for them," said Douglas Cress, a co-author of the report and head of a U.N. sponsored program that works for the survival of great apes. "There'll be nothing left at this rate. It's down to the bone. If it disappears, they go, too."
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MUSCAT, Oman (AP) ? International rights groups and others are hailing Oman's decision to pardon all activists jailed for offending the nation's ruler or joining protests.
The move by Oman's leader, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, runs counter to widening social media crackdowns by other Gulf Arab states.
Dozens of people have been charged in recent months across the Gulf for blogs, Twitter messages and other posts deemed insulting to rulers or threats to state security.
Amnesty International on Sunday called Oman's decision a positive step and urged authorities to further lift restrictions on freedom of expression. The Omani Lawyers Association also praised the blanket pardon announced last week.
The prisoners were expected to be freed beginning Sunday. No figures were given, but dozens have been jailed on Internet- or protest-linked charges since early 2011.
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, salutes the crowd, upon his arrival to Karachi airport, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ended more than four years in self-exile Sunday with a flight to his homeland, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, salutes the crowd, upon his arrival to Karachi airport, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ended more than four years in self-exile Sunday with a flight to his homeland, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, center, surrounded by guards, upon his arrival to Karachi airport, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ended more than four years in self-exile Sunday with a flight to his homeland, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, center, nominated for Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, waves as he arrives to brief members of the media in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Pakistan's election commission has chosen a former high court chief justice Khoso nominated by the country's outgoing ruling party to serves as caretaker prime minister in the run up to a historic national election this spring. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistani police officers stand guard outside the room of Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, not pictured, nominated for Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Pakistan's election commission has chosen a former high court chief justice Khoso nominated by the country's outgoing ruling party to serves as caretaker prime minister in the run up to a historic national election this spring. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, nominated for Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, talks to media in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Pakistan's election commission has chosen a former high court chief justice Khoso nominated by the country's outgoing ruling party to serves as caretaker prime minister in the run up to a historic national election this spring. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) ? Former President Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan on Sunday after more than four years in exile, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants.
The journey from Dubai to the southern port city of Karachi was intended as the first step in his goal of rebuilding his image after years on the political margins. But the former military strongman was met by no more than a couple thousand people at the airport, who threw rose petals and waved flags emblazoned with his image ? a small turnout by the standards of Pakistani politics and a testament to how much his support in the country has fallen since he was pushed from power in 2008.
Musharraf struck a defiant tone when he spoke to his supporters outside a terminal at the airport, saying he had proved those people wrong who said he would never return after he failed to follow through on previous promises. He also said he was not cowed by a threat by the Pakistani Taliban to kill him.
"I'm not scared. I'm only afraid of God," Musharraf told his supporters. "For the sake of my country, wherever I need to go, I will go."
Since the former general stepped down in the face of mounting discontent, Pakistan's civilian leadership has struggled with a sinking economy, resilient Islamic extremist factions and tensions with Washington over drone strikes and the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Musharraf represents a polarizing force that could further complicate Pakistan's attempt to hold parliamentary elections in May and stage its first transition from one civilian government to another.
He is viewed as an enemy by many Islamic militants and others for his decision to side with America in the response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. On Saturday, the Pakistani Taliban vowed to mobilize death squads to send Musharraf "to hell" if he returns.
Also Saturday, militants launched a suicide car bomb attack against a military check post in the country's northwest tribal region, killing 17 soldiers, the army said.
Musharraf's supporters, including elements of the military and members of Pakistan's influential expatriate communities, consider him a strong leader whose voice ? even just in parliament ? could help stabilize the country.
Musharraf also faces legal charges, including some originating from the probe of the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who also spent time in self-imposed exile in Dubai before returning.
The flight from Dubai came after several failed promises to return in recent years. Musharraf announced in early March that he would lead his party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, in May elections.
Musharraf met briefly with reporters in Dubai before heading to the airport wearing a white shalwar kameez ? the traditional loose-fitting outfit in Pakistan ? and sandals from the country's Peshawar region near the Afghan border. He mingled with supporters aboard the plane on the way to Karachi, as some of them chanted slogans for his party.
Musharraf tweeted that he was "thrilled to be back home" soon after he landed in Karachi. But there were moments of tension among his supporters when security forces whisked him away in a convoy of about a dozen vehicles, raising concerns he was being detained for the legal charges against him. It turns out he was simply being shifted to a different terminal, and his supporters had to wait over two hours before he came out to address them.
The former president plans to spend a few days at a hotel in Karachi, where he and his team will hash out their plan for the upcoming election, said spokeswoman Saima Ali Dada. He will then travel to Islamabad. Meanwhile, his legal team will meet to decide the best way to respond to the charges against him.
"He is hoping for the best," said Dada.
Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup and was forced out of office in 2008 amid growing discontent over his rule and the threat of impeachment by the country's two most powerful political parties. He has since lived in Dubai and London.
His decision to return was given a boost last week when a Pakistani court granted him pre-emptive bail ? essentially preventing his immediate arrest ? in three cases in which he's implicated, including Bhutto's death. He now has 10 days to appear in court. He has dismissed the various charges as baseless.
His return comes as Pakistan seeks for the first time to hand power from one elected government to another.
On Sunday, the country's election commission appointed a former high court chief justice nominated by the country's outgoing ruling party to serve as caretaker prime minister in the run-up to the election. The commission chose Mir Hazar Khan Khoso out of four nominees, two submitted by the recently ruling Pakistan People's Party and two by the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N.
Khoso served as the chief justice to the high court in southwest Baluchistan province and also briefly served as the acting governor of the province.
The election comes as the country is struggling with rolling blackouts, rising inflation and widespread security problems.
On Saturday, the Pakistan Taliban released a video threatening to unleash suicide bombers and snipers against Musharraf if he comes back. One of the two people speaking in the video was Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistani air force officer convicted in an attack against Musharraf. The Taliban broke Rashid out of prison last year, along with nearly 400 other detainees.
"The mujahedeen of Islam have prepared a death squad to send Pervez Musharraf to hell," said Rashid, who spoke in the video in front of a group of about 20 militants holding rifles. "We warn you to surrender yourself to us. Otherwise we will hit you from where you will never reckon."
Musharraf had been expected to address supporters at a gathering Sunday in Karachi near the mausoleum of Pakistan's founding father Mohammed Ali Jinnah. But police decided to cancel his permit because of a "very serious threat," said Tahir Naveed, the deputy inspector general of Karachi police. He said Musharraf would be provided with an armored vehicle to protect him. Banners and billboards welcoming Musharraf back to Pakistan lined the street from the airport.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Musharraf came under intense pressure from the U.S. to back the Americans in the coming war in Afghanistan and cut off ties with the Taliban, which he did. For that, militants as well as many other Pakistanis saw him as carrying out the American agenda in Pakistan.
He's also vilified by militants for ordering the 2007 raid against a mosque in downtown Islamabad that had become a sanctuary for militants opposed to Pakistan's support of the war in Afghanistan. At least 102 people were killed in the weeklong operation, most of them supporters of the mosque.
Militants tried to kill Musharraf twice in December 2003 in Rawalpindi, where the Pakistani military is headquartered. First they placed a bomb intended to go off when his convoy passed by. When that didn't work, suicide attackers tried to ram his motorcade with explosives-laden vehicles. The president was unhurt but 16 others died.
In addition to the Bhutto case, Musharraf also faces charges resulting from investigations into the killing of Akbar Bugti, a Baluch nationalist leader who died in August 2006 after a standoff with the Pakistani military. In another case, he's accused of illegally removing a number of judges including the chief justice of the supreme court.
___
Santana reported from Karachi, Pakistan. Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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Public release date: 28-Mar-2013
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By Jill Duffy 
Amanda Knox has been ordered to stand a re-trial over the 2007 killing of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia. Knox said the news that the Italian court had overturned the acquittals of her and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder was “unfair” and “painful”. The family of the victim, Meredith Kercher, has admitted ...
"My baby was old enough" (88.9 percent) 
