Portugal president says government should stay to tackle crisis

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's President Anibal Cavaco Silva on Sunday ruled out a snap election and said he wanted the centre-right coalition government to stay in place to end a weeks-old political crisis and keep an international bailout on track.

The crisis has threatened to derail Lisbon's planned exit from the EU/IMF bailout, especially after talks on a broader political deal between the two coalition parties and the opposition Socialists collapsed on Friday.

"As the national salvation compromise was impossible to achieve, I consider that the best alternative solution is for the present government to remain in its functions, with reinforced guarantees of cohesion and solidity of the coalition, until the end of its term (in 2015)," the president said.

In a televised address, he said the coalition, which has overcome an internal rift that triggered the crisis in early July, had presented him "guarantees of a solid understanding" on how to successfully complete the bailout program and allow Portugal to return to full market financing.

He did not refer in his speech to a cabinet reshuffle that had been proposed by Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho to resolve the rift in the coalition.

"I think it's a positive decision to calm down investors that removes uncertainty and maintains the drive of meeting the bailout goals," said Rui Barbara, an economist at Banco Carregosa.

"In the eyes of investors, Portugal should return to the situation before the political crisis."

The government has a solid majority in parliament and last week easily defeated a no-confidence motion.

The main ruling Social Democrats (PSD) has said the government will press on with meeting fiscal goals for Lisbon to exit the rescue program by mid-2014 as planned.

The austerity measures pursued under the bailout has stoked the worst recession in Portugal since the 1970s.

(Reporting By Andrei Khalip and Sergio Goncalves, editing by Shrikesh Laxmidas and Gareth Jones)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/portugal-president-says-government-stay-till-end-term-200145052.html

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First Manhattan's point man on Vivus: Doctor and Buffett disciple

By Jessica Toonkel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Dr. Sam Colin was an intern at the Yale School of Medicine, he often gave up the chance to catch a few minutes of sleep between shifts to read the latest investment insights from Warren Buffett.

"I had read everything that Warren Buffett had written up until that point," Colin told Reuters in an interview. "I used to get teased a bit by the other interns."

His medical expertise and fascination with Wall Street ultimately led to a job at investment firm First Manhattan Co. There he has used them to inform a campaign to replace the leadership of Vivus Inc, a drugmaker whose handling of the launch of its diet pill Qsymia angered shareholders.

Qsymia was the first diet drug to reach the U.S. market in more than a decade.

Late Thursday night, First Manhattan won what had become an increasingly bitter proxy battle at Vivus, where it is the largest shareholder with a 9.9 percent stake. First Manhattan gained a six-person majority on a newly reconstituted board and the right to bring in a new chief executive to run the drugmaker.

First Manhattan billionaire founder, David "Sandy" Gottesman, hired Colin fresh from Yale. Now a managing director at the firm, Colin has been leading the charge at Vivus. He waged a previous shareholder battle at Aspect Medical Systems Inc in 2009, and the two battles represent First Manhattan's only forays into activism in nearly 50 years.

First Manhattan, which managed $15 billion as of June 30, is known for the same kind of long-term, value-oriented investment style employed by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. In fact, the firm owned 2.08 percent of Berkshire Hathaway's shares as of last March and Gottesman sits on that company's board.

Some industry watchers have deemed the Vivus proxy battle one of the ugliest fights in biotech, a sector that has been a repeated target for activism from the likes of billionaire Carl Icahn. Colin's replacement team at Vivus includes Alex Denner, formerly Icahn's top lieutenant for biotech proxy fights.

A Vivus spokesman declined to comment for this story.

People who know Colin say that if he feels strongly that the company needs a new direction, it means he has done his homework.

"First Manhattan seems to only take an activist approach as a last resort," said Anthony Cambeiro, whose firm at the time, Downtown Associates, was a fellow investor involved in First Manhattan's last proxy fight. "At the end of the day, the rationale for what they are looking to do has to make sense to folks or else they aren't going to be successful, and they were very good at establishing their case."

LONG-TERM INVESTORS

When Colin first walked into the office of Ed Fritzky in the fall of 1994, the CEO of Seattle-based biotech Immunex Corp expected the meeting to be about an hour as First Manhattan was not even an investor in the company.

Two hours later, Colin was still asking questions, not just about the company's balance sheet and market share, but about its drug development and clinical research.

"I was absolutely amazed at how much Sam knew about our company," Fritzky said. "He asked some of the more insightful and challenging questions that any analyst had ever asked at that point about our drug development programs."

When First Manhattan first took an activist stance in 2009, the target was Aspect Medical, a Norwood, Massachusetts-based company specializing in brain-monitoring technology.

Aspect's revenues had started to decline and its stock fell. The company was planning to spend a lot of money to increase sales and marketing of its technology, leading First Manhattan and other investors to believe Aspect needed a new direction.

In the end, Aspect settled with First Manhattan and replaced three of its nine directors. Five months later the company was sold to healthcare-products maker Covidien Plc for $210 million.

In the latest case, one of Colin's biggest criticisms was that Vivus tried to launch Qsymia, a promising drug that has met with skepticism from some doctors, without the help of a marketing partnership with a major pharmaceutical company. Colin had recommended the move as far back as 2008, when First Manhattan first invested in Vivus.

After talks between the two sides failed in recent days, Vivus accused First Manhattan of sending deliberate misinformation to fellow shareholders. First Manhattan sued Vivus for postponing its annual shareholder meeting by three days, alleging the delay was a tactic to appeal to investors who had given First Manhattan enough votes to gain control of the board.

Calling this "one of the ugliest biotech proxy fights in recent memory," Cowen and Co analyst Simos Simeonidis predicted an outright victory for First Manhattan in shareholder balloting. And he called the proxy fight run by First Manhattan, "a textbook activist campaign run by a non-activist."

But even with First Manhattan's successful campaign behind it, people close to the firm don't expect it to become a regular presence among activist investors.

"It is still more the exception than the rule," said one person familiar with First Manhattan who wished to remain anonymous.

(Additional reporting by Sam Forgione, Bill Berkrot; Editing by Michele Gershberg, Claudia Parsons and Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-manhattans-point-man-vivus-doctor-buffett-disciple-144026824.html

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Turkey's Taksim Square: From tree-hugging to civil war?

Thanassis Stavrakis / AP

A pedestrian walks past a barricade, with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, near Taksim Square in Istanbul on Monday June 10.

By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC News

ISTANBUL, Turkey ? Fatma, a 24-year-old trained nurse, thought ?here we go again? when she learned on Twitter that the Istanbul Municipality had plans to modernize the city?s iconic Taksim Square, which includes one of the few green parks left in the urban sprawl.?

?There was lots of talk about making the square better, but I was very worried,? said Fatma, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. ?We?ve seen the government destroy other parks in Ankara and other cities.?

A few weeks ago, local papers published the plans with no public debate or discussion. But what she saw shocked her. ?They were going to pull out many trees and build this huge shopping mall around the park, covering most of it with concrete!? Fatma said.

The plans included an Ottoman-style military barracks, and a cultural center, including an opera house. If the plans are implemented, the park?s modest forest of trees would be reduced to garden-size.

Fatma rushed to Taksim to join a few friends already sitting-in to protect the trees. At dawn, without warning, riot police attacked her and other sleeping protesters with tear gas and water cannons. Several protesters were injured.

No one could have imagined then that the raid would incite days of rioting and turn a local ?green? issue into a nation-wide protest, killing three and injuring at least 4,000 in some 78 cities.?

Fatma is still in the park, but now she is treating the sick and injured in a makeshift health clinic. ?This is not just any park,? she said. ?It?s a historic park, and it doesn?t need a shopping mall at all.??

Protests that started as an outcry against a local development project in Taksim Square have snowballed into widespread anger against what critics say is the government's increasingly conservative and authoritarian agenda.

But many Turks ? indeed about half the population ? would disagree.

?The Taksim project is good for Turkey and for the people,? said middle-aged Zulfu Aycil, outside a mosque in Kasimpasa, the neighborhood where Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan grew up.

Aycil, who voted for Erdogan?s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the last election two years ago, likes the Taksim redevelopment plan a lot, because it moves all throughways beneath the square, freeing it from Istanbul?s endemic traffic jams.

?Pedestrians will be able to shop more easily and spend more money, and that will help tourism and the economy,? said Aycil, who works in a store near Taksim.?

But the square?s battle lines now go far beyond the initial standoff between local environmentalists and city planners. The riot police?s wanton aggression struck a nerve, and Erdogan is facing his biggest political crisis since coming to power 10 years ago, when he promised to bring Turkey into the 21^st century with trappings of its Ottoman glory days.?

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticizes groups protesting his leadership on Sunday.

Under Erdogan?s leadership, most here agree, Turkey has become an economic success and a force to be reckoned with in the region.? But his construction mania and a series of new laws have angered secular Turks, even as they have pleased his growing power base ? the conservative, Islamist middle-class. ?

?People are fed up with Erdogan?s approach,? said Ali Orcunos, a 64-year-old pensioner who was protesting in Taksim Square with a group younger than his own children. ?Which is 'I decided this, so I will do it this way because the 50 percent who support me want it so; and the other 50 percent don?t count.'??

In recent months Erdogan has imposed restrictions on the sale of alcohol, a drawing down of social security, the separation of boys and girls in primary and secondary schools, and an emphasis on religious ? over national ? holidays.

And after the initial clashes, Erdogan, rather than seek a conciliatory tone, skewered the protesters, calling them looters who were ?arm in arm with terrorists.?

?I was stunned,? said Begum Uzun, one of the protesters on the square. ?I expected Erdogan to say something that would slow down the protest, to be more rational.?

Jim Maceda / NBC News

Zulfu Aycil, a supporter of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, likes the plans for the redevelopment of Taksim Square.

Instead the rioting went viral. ?This went from something small to something huge not just because of the police actions,? explained Fatma, the medic. ?It was more a last-straw reaction by people across Turkey to Erdogan?s arrogance and policies.?

Fatma said the protest is still growing, and that protesters ? who?ve built a tent city in the leafy park inside Taksim Square ? won?t leave until Erdogan and his government resign.? But fellow volunteer medic, Gokhan Safak, 40, disagreed with his colleague.

?I don?t think this protest is going to go anywhere. It will die out,? he said. ?But we?ve already scared Erdogan ? it?s been a wake-up call. And that?s already a victory.?

Perhaps. But Erdogan shows no signs of changing course ? much less resigning. He?s said that the plans for Taksim Square will push through, and he?s now added a mosque as well. ??

During a fiery speech from the top of a bus on Sunday, he condemned the protesters.

Turkish political analyst, Cengiz Aktar, who?s known Erdogan for years, says the AKP leader isn?t capable of backing down.

?Turkey can still turn things around, despite this setback,? he said. ?But unfortunately Erdogan isn?t flexible enough to do that. It?s not his style. He?s acting increasingly like a lonely autocrat, surrounded by yes-men, and no women.?

Jim Maceda / NBC News

A banner saying "You Gassed Us," hangs over a halted construction site in Istanbul's Taksim Square.

Meanwhile, the tunneling under the square ? which began in November ? stopped after protesters barricaded all access roads to Taksim and covered the stalled construction sites with graffiti.

One banner reads, ?You Gassed Us.? And a court injunction filed by protesters has temporarily halted the pulling out of trees at the park.?

Feeling more confident, people are digging in at Taksim. Burnt-out vehicles from the first violent days have been painted over in bright colors.

But analysts like Aktar are more pessimistic. ?This national crisis could turn into a real conflict. A kind of civil war.?

Triggered by a grove of sycamores.

NBC News' Jim Maceda is based in London. He?s on assignment in Turkey.

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Exiled dissidents claim Iran building new nuclear site

PARIS (Reuters) - An exiled opposition group said on Thursday it had obtained information about a secret underground nuclear site under construction in Iran, without specifying what kind of atomic activity it believed would be carried out there.

The dissident National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in 2002 exposed Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and a heavy water facility at Arak. But analysts say it has a mixed track record and a clear political agenda.

In 2010, when the group said it had evidence of another new nuclear facility, west of the capital Tehran, U.S. officials said they had known about the site for years and had no reason to believe it was nuclear.

The latest allegation comes less than a month after the election of a relative moderate, Hassan Rouhani, as Iran's new president boosted hopes for a resolution of the nuclear dispute with the West, and may be timed to cast doubt on any such optimism.

Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and rejects accusations by the United States and Israel that it is seeking the capability to make nuclear weapons.

But its refusal to curb sensitive nuclear activity, and its lack of full openness with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, have drawn tough Western sanctions and a threat of pre-emptive military strikes by Israel.

The NCRI said members of its affiliated People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) inside the country had "obtained reliable information on a new and completely secret site designated for (Iran's) nuclear project".

The NCRI which seeks an end to Muslim clerical rule in Iran, is the political wing of the PMOI, which fought alongside Saddam Hussein's forces in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

The NCRI said the site was located in a complex of tunnels beneath mountains 10 km (6 miles) east of the town of Damavand, itself about 50 km northeast of Tehran. Construction of the site's first phase began in 2006 and was recently completed, it said.

The group released satellite photographs of what it said was the site. But the images did not appear to constitute hard evidence to support the assertion that it was a planned nuclear facility.

A spokesman for the dissidents said he could not say what sort of nuclear work would be conducted there, but that the companies and people involved showed it was a nuclear site. The group named officials it said were in charge of the project.

"The site consists of four tunnels and has been constructed by a group of engineering and construction companies associated with the engineering arms of the Ministry of Defence and the IRGC (Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards force)," the NCRI said.

"Two of the tunnels are about 550 meters (600 yards) in length, and they have a total of six giant halls," its statement added.

Iran said in late 2009 that it planned to build 10 more uranium enrichment sites in addition to its underground Natanz and Fordow facilities, but has provided little additional information.

Refined uranium can provide fuel for nuclear power plants, which is Iran's stated aim, but can also be used to make atomic bombs, which the West fears may be Tehran's ultimate goal.

(Reporting by Nicholas Vinocur and Leigh Thomas; Writing by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exiled-dissidents-claim-iran-building-nuclear-042453029.html

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Rooted Firmware For T-Mobile Samsung Exhibit(Rebranded Samsung Galaxy iii mini)

XDA Developers was founded by developers, for developers. It is now a valuable resource for people who want to make the most of their mobile devices, from customizing the look and feel to adding new functionality. Are you a developer?

Source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2357034&goto=newpost

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Friday Fourplay: Beer Berries, Yogurt Liqueur, Sushi Donuts, and ...

Flavorful World?s Friday Fourplay offers up a bite-sized tidbit of info on each of the four food- and drink-related things we found most interesting each week.

Photo credit: Moonstruck Chocolate Co.

Beer Berries

These candies from Moonstruck Chocolate Company?are not so-named because they possess any alcohol (there is, in fact, no beer in them). To create them, malted wheat berries of the sort used when brewing dark beers get tumbled in dark chocolate. Moonstruck suggests pairing them with a nice stout beer, marking the first of two examples you?ll be getting from Flavorful World today (you lucky goose, you) of ways to combine chocolate with beer. Read on.

Via Tasting Table

Photo credit: Maggie Hoffman / Serious Eats

Yogurt Liqueur

Let?s see if I can make it through this one without any punny, yogurt-themed references to drinking up some cultures. Damn. So close. Anyway, Lucas Bols Amsterdam has released a liqueur made with fresh yogurt. Depending on your tolerance for sugary, dairy-based libations, this product promises either to make your smoothies a bit smoother or offend you horribly. Speaking for myself, the phrase ?Challenge accepted!? springs to mind.

Via Serious Eats

Photo credit: Buzzfeed.com

Sushi Donuts

The day I discovered a cake that cut a thoroughly convincing figure posing as a bowl of ramen was what cemented my knowledge that Japan excels at food catfishing creating impossibly delicious foods that masquerade as other foods. The latest gustatory ?Gotcha!? I?ve uncovered comes to us from Mister Donut, a U.S.-founded, Japan-headquartered franchise whose Thailand?branch is selling donuts visually fashioned after sushi. These ?Sushido? have actually been around a few years, but recently had their popularity surge via Twitter. Viewing the pictures I found over at Buzzfeed, it?s not difficult to see why (he wrote, as a Homer Simpsonesque hunger sound erupted low in his throat?)

Via Buzzfeed

Photo credit: Foodiggity.com

Chocolate Peanut Butter Beer

Sure, its flavor profile sounds like the newest addition to the Three Broomsticks Inn?s beverage menu, but Sweet Baby Jesus! is something else entirely. Unlike our top entry in this week?s FF, this porter brew is, for better or worse, exactly what it sounds like: a beer flavored to taste like peanut butter and chocolate. One can?t help but smile at thought of all the ?You?spilled beer all over my Reese?s Peanut Butter Cup!? vs. ?You dropped your Reese?s Peanut Butter Cup in my beer!? arguments just begging to be played out among drinkers who know where to find this new product of Maryland-based Duclaw Brewing.

Via Foodiggity

*Mention of a product, good, or service in a Friday Fourplay posting should not be interpreted as an endorsement either from Anthony Beal or Flavorful World food and drink blog. Vendors are not notified ahead of time that their products/services will be featured, thus Flavorful World will at the time of posting have had no related interactions with said vendors or any sample of their products/services by which to judge them. As such, we have no idea what these vendors are like to work with, or about the quality of their merchandise and are unqualified to vouch for them as reputable. Our Friday Fourplay lists are posted in the simple spirit of our having come across something that looks and sounds engaging, and thinking that perhaps our readers will think so too; no more, no less. With that in mind, patronize these establishments and vendors at your own risk.

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Source: http://flavorfulworld.com/2013/06/28/friday-fourplay-beer-berries-yogurt-liqueur-sushi-donuts-and-chocolate-peanut-butter-beer/

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Mandela family feud over where he should be buried

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? As Nelson Mandela remained in critical condition in hospital Friday, a family feud over where the 94-year-old former president should be buried went to the courts, according to South Africa's national broadcaster.

Mandela's oldest daughter, Makaziwe, and 15 other family members have pressed a court application to get Mandela's grandson to return the bodies of three of Mandela's children to their original graves in the eastern rural village of Qunu, according to the SABC.

The grandson, Mandla Mandela, acknowledges having reburied the three bodies 20 kilometers (13 miles) away in the Mvezo village, where he plans to create a Mandela shrine, hotel and soccer stadium, according to the South African Press Association.

Grandson Mandla Mandela has until Saturday to respond to the court filing, reports said.

The anti-apartheid leader built his retirement home in Qunu and was living there until his repeated hospitalizations which started at the end of last year. Nelson Mandela attended the burial of his son at the family plot in Qunu in 2005, and it was widely expected that the leader himself will be buried there.

But his grandson exhumed the bodies of Mandela's three children and moved them to nearby Mvezo, which is the former president's birthplace and where the grandson holds authority as chief.

Eldest daughter Makaziwe and other Mandela family members want the family bodies returned to their original graves in Qunu, according to the reports.

The family court struggle came as Mandela's ex-wife said that he had improved in recent days, but remained critical.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela gave the update Friday while speaking to journalists outside Mandela's former home in Soweto.

"I'm not a doctor but I can say that from what he was a few days ago there is great improvement," said Madikizela-Mandela, who is a member of South Africa's Parliament.

Madikizela-Mandela pleaded with the media to "understand the sensitivities and the feeling of the family."

His daughter Makaziwe Mandela was among the family members who arrived at the Pretoria hospital on Friday. The ministers of health and defense also visited, the South African Press Association reported.

Outside the Pretoria hospital on Friday, a man flying a drone-like object with a camera attached was led away by several policemen, adding to an already heightened atmosphere where well-wishers continue to gather to pray for Mandela.

Mandela was taken to the hospital on June 8 to be treated for what the government said was a recurring lung infection. South Africans have held prayers nationwide, and many have left flowers and messages of support outside the hospital as well as his home in Johannesburg.

On Thursday, the office of South African President Jacob Zuma said Mandela's health had improved overnight, and that his condition was critical but stable.

___

Associated Press writer Wandoo Makurdi contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mandela-family-feud-over-where-buried-190835192.html

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Climate Change May Radically Transform Desert Bacteria

Climate change may transform the community of microbes that forms the crucial top layer of soil, known as a biocrust, in deserts throughout the United States, new research suggests.

The study, published today (June 27) in the journal Science, found that one type of bacteria dominates in warm climates, whereas another is more prevalent in cooler areas. Combined with climate models, the findings suggest that the cold-loving bacteria could completely disappear from their current habitats as the climate warms.

That disappearance, in turn, could have unpredictable ripple effects across the entire desert ecosystem, study researchers said, as the biocrusts are important resources for desert plants and help mitigate dust storms. [Photos: Mysterious World of Cryptobiotic Soils]

"For the first time, we have shown that the distribution of microbes is also prone to changes due to global warming," said study co-author Ferran Garcia-Pichel, a microbial ecologist at Arizona State University. "We simply don't know the consequences of this."

Ubiquitous organisms

Throughout the arid regions of the western United States, desert soil is permeated by a cryptic collection of photosynthetic organisms, including microbes, lichens and mosses. These mostly bacterial biocrusts anchor the soil, preventing sandstorms and erosion. They also play a critical role in cycling carbon and providing nitrogen in the soil, which feeds the growth of desert plants.

Yet these soils remained virtually unstudied by researchers.

To get a better picture of these cryptic species, Garcia-Pichel and his colleagues conducted a thorough survey of the microbial constituents in biocrusts at 23 sites throughout the western United States. They found that two species ? Microcoleus vaginatus and M. steenstrupii ? each dominated in different regions.

Hot and cold

M. vaginatus predominated in cooler deserts near the California-Oregon border and in Utah, whereas M. steenstrupii was the main bacteria in the scorching deserts of Arizona, New Mexico and California. The researchers looked at several potential causes for the difference in distribution, such as rainfall and soil composition, but found that temperature was the best predictor of which microbe thrived in each region.

To help confirm that this was the major driver behind the distribution, the team then took the bacteria back to the lab and cultured them at different temperatures. Sure enough, M. steenstrupii flourished in warmer conditions and was more tolerant to extreme heat, while the opposite was true for M. vaginatus.

Next, they looked at global warming models, which predicted that the desert regions in the United States would increase in temperature over the next 50 years. With this projected warming, M. vaginatus could completely disappear from the arid regions of the western United States, the researchers said.

The team realized "this is enough temperature to push one of them out of our map,'" Garcia-Pichel told LiveScience.

Unknown consequences

Unfortunately, so little is known about the mysterious M. steenstrupii that no one is sure how this change will impact desert ecosystems, said Jayne Belnap, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Moab, Utah, who was not involved in the study.

"These are the only game in town to prevent dust storms and erosion, so they're really, really critical parts of this ecosystem," Belnap told LiveScience. "Yet we've never asked the question, 'who's really in there, and what's going to happen there as things shift?'"

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter?and Google+.?Follow?LiveScience?@livescience,?Facebook?&?Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/climate-change-may-radically-transform-desert-bacteria-141321579.html

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Obama's environmental nominee in jeopardy from Senate Republicans

By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made a plea this week for the U.S. Senate to confirm his choice to head the agency that will oversee the core of his new climate change plan, but nominee Gina McCarthy's prospects seem increasingly in doubt.

McCarthy was nominated by Obama in March to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where she is currently the top air quality official.

She has yet to receive a vote in the full U.S. Senate after narrowly being approved by the Senate Committee for the Environment and Public Works on a party-line vote.

In his speech Tuesday laying out a climate action plan, Obama said McCarthy was well qualified for the job and has bipartisan credentials. The Senate should confirm her "without any further obstruction or delay," Obama said.

McCarthy has worked for several Republican governors, including 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts. She was seen by many as a choice that could work with lawmakers from both parties.

But many Republicans are bitterly against proposed new regulations from the EPA on coal-fired power plants and could seek to block McCarthy's confirmation.

"Sad to say, but I think (Obama) may have effectively sacrificed her confirmation," said Manik Roy, vice president for strategic outreach for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

McCarthy has received public support from industry representatives and environmental groups alike for her ability to navigate political divisions.

Roy and other analysts have said opposition to her confirmation has less to do with her and more to do with ideological opposition to regulation.

Republican Senator Roy Blount maintains a hold on her nomination over a river project in his state, while members of the Senate environmental committee continue to press McCarthy and the EPA over the transparency of the agency's emails and the economic analysis that goes into its rulemaking.

Reaction by some Senate Republicans to Obama's climate plan signal a tough fight for McCarthy.

Republican Senator John Barrasso said regulations targeting coal-powered plants will strangle the economy. And he suggested McCarthy had lied when asked at her confirmation hearing in April about the agency's plans to regulate existing power plants.

"The agency is not currently developing any existing source greenhouse gas regulations for power plants," McCarthy told the panel.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Barrasso said, "She has recently reported to the Senate that the things the president is talking about today are things she has known nothing about. So either she was ignorant about what's going on at EPA, a place where she's been an assistant director for the last four years, or she is arrogant.

"Either way, I think this tarnishes her chances of being approved by the Senate, tarnishes her nomination."

Senator Barbara Boxer, the Democrat who chairs the environment panel, told reporters last week that she will lead a public campaign for McCarthy.

Roy said that even if the current acting administrator, Bob Perciasepe, stays on in his role, McCarthy will be able to take the lead on Obama's climate agenda.

Allison Macfarlane, another member of Obama's energy team, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday to a full term as chairwoman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which she has led since July 2012.

(Additional reporting by Douwe Miedema, Editing by Ros Krasny and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-environmental-nominee-jeopardy-senate-republicans-003855744.html

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Phoenix, Las Vegas bake in scorching heat

PHOENIX (AP) ? A blazing heat wave expected to send the mercury soaring to nearly 120 degrees in Phoenix and Las Vegas settled over the West on Friday, threatening to ground airliners and raising fears that people and pets will get burned on the scalding pavement.

The heat was so punishing that rangers took up positions at trailheads at Lake Mead in Nevada to persuade people not to hike. Zookeepers in Phoenix hosed down the elephants and fed tigers frozen fish snacks. And tourists at California's Death Valley took photos of the harsh landscape and a thermometer that read 121.

The mercury there was expected to reach nearly 130 on Friday ? just short of the 134-degree reading from a century ago that stands as the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

"You have to take a picture of something like this. Otherwise no one will believe you," said Laura McAlpine, visiting Death Valley from Scotland.

The heat is not expected to break until Monday or Tuesday.

The scorching weather presented problems for airlines because high temperatures can make it more difficult for planes to take off. Hot air reduces lift and also hurts engine performance. Planes taking off in the heat may need longer runways or may have to shed weight by carrying less fuel.

Smaller jets and propeller planes are more likely to be affected than big airliners, officials said.

The National Weather Service said Phoenix could reach 118 on Friday, while Las Vegas could see the same temperature over the weekend in what would be a record for Sin City. The record in Phoenix is 122.

Temperatures are also expected to soar across Utah and into Wyoming and Idaho, with triple-digit heat forecast for the Boise area. Cities in Washington state that are better known for cool, rainy weather should break the 90s next week.

"This is the hottest time of the year, but the temperatures that we'll be looking at for Friday through Sunday, they'll be toward the top," said National Weather Service meteorologist Mark O'Malley. "It's going to be baking hot across much of the entire West."

The heat is the result of a high-pressure system brought on by a shift in the jet stream, the high-altitude air current that dictates weather patterns. The jet stream has been more erratic in the past few years.

Health officials warned people to be extremely careful when venturing outdoors. The risks include not only dehydration and heat stroke but burns from the concrete and asphalt.

"You will see people who go out walking with their dog at noon or in the middle of the day and don't bring enough water and it gets tragic pretty quickly," said Bretta Nelson, spokeswoman for the Arizona Humane Society. "You just don't want to find out the hard way."

Cooling stations were set up to shelter the homeless as well as elderly people who can't afford to run their air conditioners. In Phoenix, Joe Arpaio, the famously hard-nosed sheriff who runs a tent jail, planned to distribute ice cream and cold towels to inmates this weekend.

Officials said personnel were added to the Border Patrol search-and-rescue unit because of the danger to people trying to slip across the Mexican border. At least seven people have been found dead in the last week in Arizona after falling victim to the brutal desert heat.

In June 1990, when Phoenix hit 122 degrees, airlines were forced to cease flights for several hours because of a lack of data from the manufacturers on how the aircraft would operate in such extreme heat.

US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher said the airline now knows that its Boeings can fly at up to 126 degrees, and its Airbus fleet can operate at up to 127.

While the heat in Las Vegas is expected to peak on Sunday, it's unlikely to sideline the first round of the four-week Bikini Invitational tournament.

"I feel sorry for those poor girls having to strut themselves in 115 degrees, but there's $100,000 up for grabs," said Hard Rock casino spokeswoman Abigail Miller. "I think the girls are willing to make the sacrifice."

___

Carlson contributed in Death Valley, Calif. Also contributing were Robert Jablon in Los Angeles, Julie Jacobson and Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas, Michelle Price in Salt Lake City, Cristina Silva and Bob Christie in Phoenix and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, N.M.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/phoenix-las-vegas-bake-scorching-heat-202602575.html

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Kotaku The Best Games of 2013's Amazing First Six Months | io9 A quick way to make people feel bad a

Kotaku The Best Games of 2013's Amazing First Six Months | io9 A quick way to make people feel bad about their whole lives | Jezebel Nigella Lawson Walks Out On Alleged Domestic Abuser Charles Saatchi | Gawker Here's What Your Newspaper Looks Like When You Fire Your Photographers

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/W2TnqXWvkrQ/kotaku-the-best-games-of-2013s-amazing-first-six-months-609512231

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Applifier's FaceCam, Which Records Mobile Gamers' Reactions While They Play, Comes Out Of Beta

Applifier, which runs a mobile-social gaming network where players can share video playbacks of their virtual feats, is pulling FaceCam, a product using the front-facing camera, out of beta. FaceCam records a person’s gameplay and their facial expressions while they’re playing from the front-facing camera. It sometimes can look a bit awkward (see here) or hilarious, but for some gamers, it’s the most vivid way to share how twitchy a game can be. The Helsinki and San Francisco-based startup incorporated FaceCam into games like NimbleBit’s Nimble Quest and Angry Birds-maker Rovio’s Bad Piggies in the beta. The company says it’s seeing about two minutes of gameplay video shared every minute, with the volume of time growing 750 percent compared to the first quarter of this year. Month-over-month, the company says, the number of minutes shared has grown by more than 25 percent. They didn’t disclose the raw number of videos shared, however. With improvement in data connections, we’re seeing mobile app makers — both in the general consumer space and in gaming — adopt more video features. On the general consumer side, Twitter’s Vine took off on the free charts and accumulated 13 million users as of a few weeks ago, while Instagram launched video last week. In gaming, both the major consoles, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, announced built-in video sharing while Twitch, which stream live match-ups for video gamers, reports 35 million unique viewers a month who watch about 1.5 hours of video play each day on average. Applifier, with its network Everyplay, is looking to replicate that video-sharing experience on mobile platforms. The company has a longstanding network for cross-promoting social games on Facebook, and pivoted (like much of the rest of the industry) to mobile platforms over the last year. Last year, they launched a beta for sharing mobile gaming replays. Then they added front-facing camera options after closing a $4 million second venture round led by Finland’s Lifeline Ventures. They are also backed by MHS Capital, PROfounders Capital, Tekes and Webb Investment Network.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Yqh6cHMC-9o/

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Creator of Vietnam-era lottery draft dies at 88

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP) ? The former federal official who created the lottery for the draft during the Vietnam War has died at age 88.

Curtis Tarr died at his home in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Friday. His daughter, Pam Tarr, said Wednesday that her father died of pneumonia.

Tarr was appointed director of the Selective Service System in 1970, by President Richard Nixon.

Pam Tarr says her father wanted to eliminate an exemption for college students and make the draft more equitable. He instituted a lottery system based on birthdays that were picked on national television.

He later served as under secretary of state for security assistance, with responsibility for military programs with other nations.

Pam Tarr says her father probably would have described the lottery as his greatest responsibility, not his greatest achievement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/creator-vietnam-era-lottery-draft-dies-88-170846646.html

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Texas woman set to be 500th execution in state

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Kimberly McCarthy, who is on death row in Texas for the 1997 killing of a neighbor during a robbery. McCarthy is scheduled to be executed on June 26 and would be the 500th in Texas since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976. (AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice, File)

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Kimberly McCarthy, who is on death row in Texas for the 1997 killing of a neighbor during a robbery. McCarthy is scheduled to be executed on June 26 and would be the 500th in Texas since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976. (AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice, File)

This photo taken May 27, 2008 file photo shows the gurney in Huntsville, Texas, where Texas' condemned are strapped down to receive a lethal dose of drugs. The first execution by lethal injection in Texas occurred in 1982. Since then the state has executed 499 prisoners. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan, File)

In this photo taken June 12, 2013, death penalty opponents gather outside the Huntsville Unit before the execution of confessed killer Elroy Chester in Huntsville, Texas. Chester, convicted of the 1988 the fatal shooting of Port Arthur firefighter Willie Ryman III, was the 499th prisoner to be executed in Texas since 1982. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

FILE - This July 31, 1972 file photo shows the keys of death row and the electric chair at the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 4, 1995 file photo, a group of protesters hold signs outside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Walls Unit, where the death chamber is located, to protest the execution of Harold Joe Lane in Huntsville, Texas. Lane was the 100th convicted killer to be executed since the state resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) ? Texas, the nation's busiest death penalty state, is set to mark a solemn moment in criminal justice Wednesday with the execution of convicted killer Kimberly McCarthy.

If McCarthy is put to death in Huntsville as planned, she would become the 500th person executed in Texas since the state resumed carrying out the death penalty in 1982. The 52-year-old also would be the first woman executed in the U.S. since 2010.

McCarthy's attorney, Maurie Levin, said she has exhausted all efforts to block the execution, after denials by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

"If there was something to appeal, I would," said Levin.

Texas has carried out nearly 40 percent of the more than 1,300 executions in U.S. since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976. The state's standing stems from its size as the nation's second most populous state as well as its tradition of tough justice for killers.

With increased debate in recent years over wrongful convictions, some states have halted the practice entirely. However, 32 states have the death penalty on the books. Still, it's clear the debate over capital punishment has touched Texas, with lawmakers providing more sentencing options for juries and courts narrowing the cases for which death can be sought.

McCarthy faces execution for the 1997 robbery, beating and fatal stabbing of retired college psychology professor Dorothy Booth. Booth had agreed to give McCarthy a cup of sugar before she was attacked with a butcher knife at her home in Lancaster, about 15 miles south of Dallas. Authorities say McCarthy cut off Booth's finger to remove her wedding ring.

Police also had linked two other slayings to McCarthy, a former nursing home therapist who became addicted to crack cocaine.

In her appeals, McCarthy contended prosecutors improperly excluded black jurors and that her lawyers failed to challenge the moves at trial or in early appeals. McCarthy is black, and Booth was white. All but one of the 12 jurors at McCarthy's trial were white.

In January, McCarthy had been moved to a small holding cell a few steps from the Texas death chamber when a Dallas judge moved her execution to April. That timing then was reset for June when Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said he wanted to await the outcome of capital punishment-related bills before lawmakers in Austin.

On Tuesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declined to reconsider its denial a day earlier of McCarthy's appeal, saying her claims should have been raised previously.

Levin, a University of Texas law professor, said because the court's ruling focused on a procedural and not a substantive issue, the case cannot be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The shameful errors that plague Ms. McCarthy's case ? race bias, ineffective counsel and courts unwilling to exercise meaningful oversight of the system ? reflect problems that are central to the administration of the death penalty as a whole. For this to be the emblem of Texas' 500th execution is something all Texans should be ashamed of," Levin said.

McCarthy declined to speak with reporters as her execution date neared.

Anti-death penalty groups planned to protest outside the Walls Unit in Huntsville, where McCarthy is set to receive a lethal injection Wednesday evening.

"The whole world is looking at Texas," said Gloria Rubac, with the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement in Houston.

McCarthy would be the 13th woman nationwide and the fourth in Texas put to death since 1976. In the same period, more than 1,300 men have been executed nationwide, 496 of them in Texas. Virginia is a distant second, nearly 400 executions behind.

Federal statistics show that over the past three decades women account for about 10 percent of convicted murderers. According to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, there were 63 women on death row in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, representing 2 percent of the nation's 3,125 condemned prisoners.

Prosecutors showed that McCarthy stole Booth's Mercedes and drove to Dallas, pawned the wedding ring she had removed from the woman's severed finger for $200 and then went to a crack house to buy cocaine. Evidence also showed she used Booth's credit cards at a liquor store.

Booth's DNA was found on a 10-inch butcher knife recovered from McCarthy's home.

McCarthy blamed the crime on two drug dealers, but there was no evidence either existed.

Blood DNA evidence also tied McCarthy to the December 1988 slayings of 81-year-old Maggie Harding and 85-year-old Jettie Lucas. Harding was stabbed and beaten with a meat tenderizer, while Lucas was beaten with both sides of a claw hammer and stabbed.

McCarthy, who denied any involvement in the attacks, was indicted but not tried for those slayings.

McCarthy is a former wife of Aaron Michaels, founder of the New Black Panther Party, and he testified on her behalf. They had separated before Booth's slaying.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano at http://www.twitter.com/juanlozano70

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-26-Texas-500th%20Execution/id-bada44f9ae704da3820cad79715ec2f6

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Sony announces the Xperia SP M35t, its first TD-LTE device for China Mobile

Announced alongside the Xperia C just now is the TD-LTE version of the Xperia SP (M35t), and naturally, it's headed to China Mobile, which pretty much owns the technology right now. Like before, the device comes with a 4.6-inch 720p plus a touchscreen that works fine with gloves. Additionally, NFC and the iconic illuminating transparent element are still present. Not much was said about the detailed specs, though, so we're not sure if it's the same chipset inside. Again, stay tuned for further announcements.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/25/sony-xperia-sp-m35t-td-lte/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Russian cosmonauts finish up long out for a spacewalk

NASA via AP

In this frame grab from video provided by NASA, two Russian flight engineers perform maintenance on the International Space Station on Monday.

By Miriam Kramer

Two cosmonauts took a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Monday to prepare the orbiting outpost for the arrival of a new Russian laboratory later this year.

Clad in bulky Orlan spacesuits, cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin?spent more than six hours outside the space station?to test automated docking system cables and install equipment in preparation for the arrival of the new Russian Multipurpose Laboratory, a science module slated to launch to the orbiting laboratory by the end of 2013. The spacewalk began at 9:32 a.m. ET.

Yurchikhin and Misurkin successfully tested the docking system cables that will be used to help the new Multipurpose Laboratory module dock itself at the station when it arrives. The spacewalkers also installed cable clamps to hold the cables that will route power and data from the U.S. segment of the space station to the new laboratory module. [See Photos of the Russian Spacewalk]

It wasn't all work and no play for the hard-working cosmonauts.

"Can you make the sun not shine so bright?" one of the spacewalkers joked during the orbital work. "It's shining right in my eyes."

Yurchikhin and Misurkin are part of the space station's six-person?Expedition 36 crew. Their crewmates ? fellow cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, NASA's Chris Cassidy and Karen Nyberg, and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano ? remained inside the International Space Station during the spacewalk.

Misurkin and Yurchikhin were lighthearted during the six-hour, 34-minute excursion. They joked with Russian Mission Control about being hungry, paused occasionally for a photo and commented on the?beauty of the Earth from space.

"I guess we're flying over South America," one of the spacewalkers said at one point. "Gorgeous."

Aside from the new module preparation work, the cosmonauts also replaced a fluid control valve panel on the Zarya module, installed a new science experiment on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory, and retrieved two older experiments.

They installed tethers between handholds to be used by cosmonauts and astronauts on future spacewalks; however, they weren't able to mount all of them in time. The remaining tethers will be installed during a future spacewalk, NASA officials said.

Monday's spacewalk marked the sixth excursion for Yurchikhin, a veteran cosmonaut making his fourth spaceflight. It was the first for Misurkin. Before this spacewalk, Yurchikhin had logged 31 hours and 52 minutes of spacewalking time.

Six more spacewalks are planned for this year, four Russian and two American. The U.S. spacewalks are scheduled to take place on July 2 and 9.

Monday's excursion marked the 169th spacewalk for maintenance and assembly performed on the $100 billion orbiting laboratory. The?International Space Station?was built by 15 countries represented by five space agencies, and construction began in 1998. It has been continuously staffed by rotating crews of astronauts since 2000.

Follow Miriam Kramer on?Twitter?and?Google+. Follow us on?Twitter,?Facebook?and?Google+. Original article on?Space.com.

Copyright 2013?Space.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2dbe36f7/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C250C191173720Erussian0Ecosmonauts0Efinish0Eup0Elong0Eout0Efor0Ea0Espacewalk0Dlite/story01.htm

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Australian TV Reporter Makes Racist Sex Joke, Then Laughs During ...

This is worse than most Ron Burgundy rants!

Australian news reporter Natasha Exelby came under serious scrutiny recently after laughing her way through the reading of super-sad world news!!!

After a light-hearted and flirty segment, she reported on deadly riots in Brazil, an accident killing children in India, and a toddler falling off of a building ? but she laughed her way through the ENTIRE broadcast!

Ch-ch-check out her awkwardly inappropriate gaffes (above)!

Yikes!!! Laughter is a natural human reaction to unbearably stressful situations, but TV anchors are trained to tread delicately!!!

Worse, perhaps, was Natasha calling an Irish guest "one lucky little Leprechaun" while implying she might have sex with him!

She apologized for her poorly timed laughter, but neither bigotry nor sexual solicitation are appropriate for serious news programs!!!

Tags: accident, australiastic, bigotry, broadcast, channel ten news, icky icky poo, inappropriate, natasha exelby, tv news, video

Source: http://perezhilton.com/2013-06-25-australia-news-gaffe-natasha-exelby-inappropriate-laughter-bigotry

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Mutua Madrileña funds IDIBELL and ICO project to improve diagnosis of Lynch syndrome

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Arantxa Mena
comunicacio@idibell.cat
34-932-607-129
IDIBELL-Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute

The Fundacin Mutua Madrilea, in its 10th Call for Aids to Research, has selected a project to improve the diagnosis of Lynch syndrome led by researcher Marta Pineda, from the Hereditary Cancer research group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO). The aid is provided with 33,000 euros and has a duration of two years.

Hereditary predisposition to cancer

Lynch syndrome is a hereditary predisposition to cancer caused by germline mutations in DNA repair genes. Families with Lynch syndrome have a higher risk of developing several types of cancer, especially of colon and endometrium.

Mutational analysis of repair genes often identifies genetic variants of unknown significance, of which we cannot predict its biological significance and clinical consequences. Identification of a variant of unknown significance is an important limitation for proper risk assessment of cancer predisposition. Such variants represent a 30% of the alterations detected in mutational analysis repair genes.

The aim of the project funded by the Fundacin Mutua Madrilea is to study the pathogenicity of the variants identified in repair genes MSH2 and MSH6.

The funding of this project will imply the incorporation of the functional study of these variants in the routine of the Molecular Diagnostic Unit of ICO and a significant improvement in molecular diagnostics of Lynch syndrome.

The determination of the pathogenicity of a variant is essential to help Genetic Counselling Units in doing family counselling and allows predictive studies of risk and prevention measures and an adequate monitoring.

Improvements in diagnosis

On the other hand, together with the announcement of this aid, the researchers of the hereditary cancer group at IDIBELL and ICO, under the direction of Gabriel Capell have published in the Journal of Medical Genetics a study identifying the first PMS2 mutations in Spain. The study also involved the Institute of Medicine and Molecular Oncology of Asturias (IMOMA) and the University of Frankfurt.

Mutational analysis of PMS2 is particularly complex since there are multiple pseudogenes (sequences similar to that of our genes but with no protein expression capacity) that hinder it. The IMOMA uses a special methodology that avoids pseudogenes and identifies mutations in PMS2 in a more reliable way. Subsequently, the functional study of variants of unknown significance made by ICO and the University of Frankfurt has allowed classifying the variants identified in the PMS2 gene.

This exhaustive strategy of molecular study in the genetic analysis of PMS2 gene has allowed the identification of mutations responsible for the syndrome in 69% of the analyzed patients.

###

About us

The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a Spanish leading health research cantre created in 2004 and participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital, the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, and the University of Barcelona. IDIBELL is located at L'Hospitalet de Llobregat-Barcelona, at Biopol'H Space, and is member of the Health Universitat de Barcelona Campus.

Article reference

Borrs E., Pineda M., Cadianos J., del Valle J.,Brieger A., Hinrichsen I., Cabanillas R., Navarro M., Brunet J., Sanjuan X., Musulen E., van der Klift H., Lzaro C., Plotz G., Blanco I. and Capell G. Refining the role of pms2 in Lynch syndrome: germline mutational analysis improved by comprehensive assessment of variants. Journal of Medical Genetics. 10.1136/jmedgenet-2012-101511

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Arantxa Mena
comunicacio@idibell.cat
34-932-607-129
IDIBELL-Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute

The Fundacin Mutua Madrilea, in its 10th Call for Aids to Research, has selected a project to improve the diagnosis of Lynch syndrome led by researcher Marta Pineda, from the Hereditary Cancer research group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO). The aid is provided with 33,000 euros and has a duration of two years.

Hereditary predisposition to cancer

Lynch syndrome is a hereditary predisposition to cancer caused by germline mutations in DNA repair genes. Families with Lynch syndrome have a higher risk of developing several types of cancer, especially of colon and endometrium.

Mutational analysis of repair genes often identifies genetic variants of unknown significance, of which we cannot predict its biological significance and clinical consequences. Identification of a variant of unknown significance is an important limitation for proper risk assessment of cancer predisposition. Such variants represent a 30% of the alterations detected in mutational analysis repair genes.

The aim of the project funded by the Fundacin Mutua Madrilea is to study the pathogenicity of the variants identified in repair genes MSH2 and MSH6.

The funding of this project will imply the incorporation of the functional study of these variants in the routine of the Molecular Diagnostic Unit of ICO and a significant improvement in molecular diagnostics of Lynch syndrome.

The determination of the pathogenicity of a variant is essential to help Genetic Counselling Units in doing family counselling and allows predictive studies of risk and prevention measures and an adequate monitoring.

Improvements in diagnosis

On the other hand, together with the announcement of this aid, the researchers of the hereditary cancer group at IDIBELL and ICO, under the direction of Gabriel Capell have published in the Journal of Medical Genetics a study identifying the first PMS2 mutations in Spain. The study also involved the Institute of Medicine and Molecular Oncology of Asturias (IMOMA) and the University of Frankfurt.

Mutational analysis of PMS2 is particularly complex since there are multiple pseudogenes (sequences similar to that of our genes but with no protein expression capacity) that hinder it. The IMOMA uses a special methodology that avoids pseudogenes and identifies mutations in PMS2 in a more reliable way. Subsequently, the functional study of variants of unknown significance made by ICO and the University of Frankfurt has allowed classifying the variants identified in the PMS2 gene.

This exhaustive strategy of molecular study in the genetic analysis of PMS2 gene has allowed the identification of mutations responsible for the syndrome in 69% of the analyzed patients.

###

About us

The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a Spanish leading health research cantre created in 2004 and participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital, the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, and the University of Barcelona. IDIBELL is located at L'Hospitalet de Llobregat-Barcelona, at Biopol'H Space, and is member of the Health Universitat de Barcelona Campus.

Article reference

Borrs E., Pineda M., Cadianos J., del Valle J.,Brieger A., Hinrichsen I., Cabanillas R., Navarro M., Brunet J., Sanjuan X., Musulen E., van der Klift H., Lzaro C., Plotz G., Blanco I. and Capell G. Refining the role of pms2 in Lynch syndrome: germline mutational analysis improved by comprehensive assessment of variants. Journal of Medical Genetics. 10.1136/jmedgenet-2012-101511

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/ibri-mmf062513.php

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Ouya looks to make a dent in game console market

Julie Uhrman, chief executive of Android game console maker Ouya, is interviewed in New York, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Ouya, that went on sale Tuesday for $99, aims to challenge the dominance of the Xboxes, Nintendos and PlayStations of the world. The launch follows a successful funding campaign through the group-fundraising site Kickstarter, but it's unclear whether the console will enjoy broader success. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Julie Uhrman, chief executive of Android game console maker Ouya, is interviewed in New York, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Ouya, that went on sale Tuesday for $99, aims to challenge the dominance of the Xboxes, Nintendos and PlayStations of the world. The launch follows a successful funding campaign through the group-fundraising site Kickstarter, but it's unclear whether the console will enjoy broader success. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Julie Uhrman, chief executive of Android game console maker Ouya, describes the controller of the new console, during an an interview in New York, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Ouya, that went on sale Tuesday for $99, aims to challenge the dominance of the Xboxes, Nintendos and PlayStations of the world. The launch follows a successful funding campaign through the group-fundraising site Kickstarter, but it's unclear whether the console will enjoy broader success. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Julie Uhrman, chief executive of Android game console maker Ouya, is interviewed in New York, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Ouya, that went on sale Tuesday for $99, aims to challenge the dominance of the Xboxes, Nintendos and PlayStations of the world. The launch follows a successful funding campaign through the group-fundraising site Kickstarter, but it's unclear whether the console will enjoy broader success. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Ouya, maker of a bite-sized game console that runs Google's Android operating system, wants to take a bite out the video game triumvirate of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

The console, which went on sale Tuesday for $100, lets players try games for free before buying them, a selling point Ouya (pronounced oo-yah) CEO Julie Uhrman often makes to underscore that gamers who use consoles made by "the big three" can't test games before they spend as much as $60 to purchase them.

"We are definitely disrupting the console market," Uhrman says. "I mean, there's been no startup that has had a meaningful impact on the market in decades, and we're the first. We offer something different."

So far, Ouya's pitch seems to be working. The underdog console had sold out on Amazon.com and on Target's website by Tuesday afternoon. It is available at other outlets, including Best Buy and GameStop.

The Ouya game cube measures about 3 inches on each side and hooks up to a TV set. The console comes with a single controller. Additional controllers cost $50.

There are nearly 180 games available for Ouya, ranging from the likes of "Crazy Cat Lady" to the more established "Final Fantasy III" from Square Enix. The company says more games are on the way. There are also some non-gaming apps, such as online music service TuneIn Radio.

The games are sold through Ouya's storefront, not Google Play, the app store where people buy games for Android tablets and mobile devices. Pricing is left up to individual game developers; many games are in the single digits. "Final Fantasy" is an exception at $16. Ouya takes a 30 percent cut from the game developers.

While you won't find "Grand Theft Auto IV" or the latest "Call of Duty" among the available titles, there are plenty of others from independent developers whose games may never make it onto the dominant consoles, Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Wii.

"I don't think it's ever really going to challenge the big three, but it offers a lot to the more casual gamer," says Anthony Yacullo, a self-described "gadget geek" from Lawrenceville, N.J. Like thousands of other gamers and game developers, Yacullo already has an Ouya. He contributed at least $95 to the company through crowdfunding website, Kickstarter.

"When I'm out on the road for work and come home, I don't want to play 'Call of Duty," he says. Rather, Yacullo says he looks for games more like the ones on his phone ? except he doesn't want to be staring at his phone.

That's where Ouya comes in. Still, the new console is unlikely to present a serious challenge to high-end consoles coming out from Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. later this year. Ouya lacks recent blockbuster games with high-end graphics. But at a fraction of the price (the Xbox One will cost $500 and the PlayStation 4, $400), it appeals to budget-conscious gamers, gadget geeks and those looking for an alternative to gaming power-trio.

Gartner analyst Brian Blau says the measure of Ouya's success will not be the number of consoles it sells but the amount of money game developers make ?and whether there is a steady stream of new games for the device. What's missing now, he adds, is the big-name video game brands such as Activision and Electronic Arts supporting Ouya.

That could come later.

The project to build the Ouya console launched on Kickstarter last July. On Aug. 9, 2012, Ouya's funding period ended with $8.6 million pledged, more than nine times the original $950,000 goal its creators had set. More than 63,000 people donated, with 12 pledging $10,000 or more.

"We brought it to Kickstarter because we wanted to know if anybody really wanted this," Uhrman says. "We had talked with developers and industry veterans like (video game designer) Brian Fargo and Ed Fries, who is one of the founders, basically, of Xbox, and there was a general feeling that there was a void in the market place for soemthing. But we wanted to validate it."

This May, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Ouya received another $15 million in venture capital funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, other VC firms, and chip maker Nvidia.

Ouya is not the first independent game console to attempt a challenge to the big three console makers. Four years ago, a startup called OnLive launched, offering games streamed over an Internet connection, similar to the way Netflix offers streamed movies and TV shows. OnLive's small game consoles went on sale for $99 in 2010, but they never gained broad appeal or even made a dent in the traditional console market.

Another early backer, Pedro Amador-Gates, thinks Ouya should "not even go after the consoles," but rather appeal to hobbyists and do-it-yourself folks.

"This is like a baby system compared to an about-to-be upgraded gaming system," he says, referring to the Xbox one and the PS4. But, much like it was with the early cell phone games, "it will only get better."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-25-Games-Ouya%20Console%201st%20Ld-Writethru/id-3ba7cff625b948e29b8023f95ff8d794

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