Saturday, December 31, 2011

Kremlin keeps its cool: Russian rally for jailed activist ends peacefully

Hundreds gathered in central Moscow today for an unauthorized rally to demand freedom for jailed activist Sergei Udaltsov. Despite a heavy police presence, it unfolded without incident.?

Hundreds of Russians gathered on Moscow's central Pushkin Square Thursday evening to demand freedom for Sergei Udaltsov and other "political prisoners" being held by authorities for protesting against allegedly fraudulent parliamentary elections.

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They managed to avoid a crackdown by ranks of heavily-armored riot police by keeping the event within the confines of a permitted "meeting with Duma deputies" and eschewing the open slogans and banners that would make it a forbidden "protest rally."

The main reason for the meeting was the continuous detention of Mr. Udaltsov, a left-wing street organizer who has been re-arrested three times since being picked up for "jaywalking"?in Moscow on election day almost a month ago.

Over 2,000 people signed a Facebook pledge to attend the meeting but only a few hundred braved the freezing temperatures, massed police, and an explicit warning from Moscow authorities that the rally had been banned.

"We do not want to commit any illegal actions, but authorities didn't allow us to discuss this issue in public, either in the form of a rally or in the form of a picket," says Ilya Ponomaryov, a Duma deputy with the left-wing A Just Russia party and one of the organizers.?"So we have chosen to go with the format of public meeting with Duma deputies, because under the law this format doesn't require explicit permission from the authorities."

Mr. Ponomaryov and Communist Party deputies Alexander Yuschchenko and Oleg Smolin?presided over the tense gathering, under the stares of massed police. They eventually opened the floor to other participants to address the crowd.?Some say they fear for the life of Udaltsov, who staged a hunger strike to protest his pre-emptive arrest and has been hospitalized under heavy police guard?for much of the past three weeks.

On Tuesday a Moscow judge postponed his appeal on a previous arrest, and ordered him to remain in custody for at least another 10 days.

"Udaltsov's case has nothing to do with the law. I am here to protest against this situation," says protester Natalya Chernysheva. "I feel as if the same thing could happen to any of us. We need to come to such meetings as long as it is still possible, in the hope that maybe things will change."

The meeting broke up peacefully after a couple of hours. Some said the fact that police did not move in to make arrests, as they often do, was a hopeful sign for the future.

"I feel that it's everyone's duty to support political prisoners," says Yana Chabovskaya, a teacher. "I don't share Udaltsov's political views, but I support his right to have them. We have to go on fighting for those rights, and if we come out in large enough numbers it will make it much more difficult for them to arrest us."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/O8IjaaVzvbI/Kremlin-keeps-its-cool-Russian-rally-for-jailed-activist-ends-peacefully

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2011: The Year In Tech

2011Okay, last workday of the year. It's nostalgia time. Let's take a quick glance in the rearview mirror at the year in Tech, before we speed forward again in 2012. There were defining moments, epic battles, new product introductions, and major corporate screw-ups. Mobile and social drove many of the changes in tech, and we've certainly gone through our own major transition here at TechCrunch (but I'll save that for another post).?Below is our list of 11 events in tech that made 2011 memorable.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1ook1A3nugM/

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Chinese New Year in Canada

Chinese New Year 2011 Date:

This year, Chinese New Year is February 3, 2011. It is celebrated at the same time in Canada as in China.

What is the 2011 Animal Sign?

2011 will ring in the Year of the Rabbit.

Chinese New Year Celebrations in Canada:

Canada has a significant Chinese population, with major cities like Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto featuring bustling Chinatowns.

Across Canada, every January / February - although the date changes year to year - we celebrate Chinese New Year with parades (see parade photos), performances and food.

Cities in Canada will often have a Chinese community or cultural centre; check these for related events. You may also try tourism websites for events.

Chinese New Year, Vancouver, British Columbia:

Chinese New Year, Calgary, Alberta:

  • The Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre offers a 3-day celebration of Chinese New Year that culminates in a gala evening that includes the Dragon and Lions Dance.

Chinese New Year, Ottawa, Ontario:

  • No Shen Yun Performing Arts: 2011 World Tour is scheduled for 2011.
  • Last year, the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra presented Chinese New Year Celebrations.
  • Check local Chinese community centers for events.

Chinese New Year, Toronto, Ontario:

Chinese New Year, Montreal, Quebec:

Find Your Chinese Zodiac Sign and Learn More about Chinese New Year :

Source: http://gocanada.about.com/od/eventsfestivalsholid3/p/chinese_newyear.htm

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Tech's biggest misfires of 2011

The past 12 months have been a boon of technological innovation, particularly in the world of mobile devices, where top companies have been waging an arms race for the top of the smartphone and tablet hills. Not everything has been smooth sailing, however -- 2011 has also been dotted by delays, false starts, security breeches and straight up technological turf outs. Check out some of the lowlights from the year that was after the break.

Continue reading Tech's biggest misfires of 2011

Tech's biggest misfires of 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/oAzPyhreL-s/

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Health Tip: Use Medications Safely (HealthDay)

(HealthDay News) -- If your child isn't feeling well and needs an over-the-counter medication recommended by your pediatrician, the American Academy of Family Physicians offers these safety guidelines:

  • Make sure the medicine treats only your child's symptoms, nothing more.
  • Make sure any caregivers know the correct timing, dosage and type of medication your child needs.
  • Always read the medication's label and follow directions carefully.
  • Keep medications stored in their original packaging, so you can easily refer to instructions.
  • Never give cough and cold medication to a child younger than age 4 or aspirin to anyone younger than age 18.
  • Don't combine medications unless your child's pediatrician says it's OK to do so.
  • Don't give any adult medication to a child.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/meds/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111223/hl_hsn/healthtipusemedicationssafely

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France ponders removing risky breast implants (AP)

PARIS ? Emmanuelle Maria's breasts were burning and globules of silicone gel were protruding into her armpits. Her implants had exploded inside her. Yet her doctors, she says, told her nothing was wrong.

Now, she wants the French government to tell 30,000 women to get their implants removed ? at the state's expense ? to call attention to their risks and save others from potential pain and indignity.

Prompted by calls from implant wearers and leading doctors, French health authorities are considering a drastic and unprecedented move: recommending mass surgery to rid the country of a type of breast implant that investigators say was secretly made with cheap industrial silicone whose medical dangers remain unclear.

Governments around Europe are hanging on France's decision Friday. Tens of thousands more women in Britain, Italy, Spain and other European nations are walking around with the same pre-filled implants, made by the now-defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP.

Health officials from several European countries held a conference call Wednesday to discuss the implants, Portugal's Director-General of Health, Dr. Francisco Jorge, told The Associated Press. European Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent said no decisions were made, but France informed the others of the situation.

The main concern in France is the risk of rupture ? more than 1,000 of the 30,000 such implants in France have burst, according to the French health safety agency AFSSAPS ? and uncertainty over what risks the suspected industrial silicone gel could pose when it leaks inside the body.

Meanwhile, eight cases of cancer among women with the implants, including one who died in November, have crystallized concerns and heightened pressure on the government to take action. Friday's government decision will depend partly on guidance from the French National Cancer Institute.

The implants in question were not sold in the U.S., where concerns about silicone gel implants overall led to a 14-year ban on their use. Silicone implants were brought back to the market in 2006 after research ruled out cancer, lupus and some other concerns.

In Britain, the law firm Hugh James solicitors said it is acting for over 250 women with PIP implants who are trying to sue clinics that provided the surgery. In a statement, the firm said the news have been worrying to its clients, many of whom "have already suffered terrible problems as a result of their implants," including ruptures and leakages.

Still, British health authorities say they see no reason so far to have the French-made implants systematically removed, and have said that there is not enough evidence of a link between silicone implants and cancer. Italy's Health Ministry is holding a meeting Thursday to discuss the French-made implants.

Experts from the French Health Ministry will meet Friday to decide what to recommend for women who have the implants. The implants were taken off the market last year after French authorities discovered the company misreported the type of silicone used.

Plastic surgeon Maurice Mimoun of Paris' Saint Louis Hospital said a rupture could leak the silicone gel internally. That in turn could require surgery on other parts of the body to remove it.

"The problem is that these implants are made with a gel that we don't know," he said in an interview. "Once these implants are removed, the story is not over ... we don't know" if there might be other consequences, he said.

Mimoun has recommended that the government push for implant removals, but insisted that the operations needn't be carried out in haste.

Women have filed more than 2,000 legal complaints since the implants were recalled last year, and an investigation into officials at PIP is under way. Investigators suspect the company used cheaper industrial silicone instead of silicone meant for medical use in the implants, cutting costs by up to euro1 million ($1.3 million) a year.

The company has suspended its activities and is being liquidated. Its phones are no longer functioning and emails sent to its staff were not answered.

Implant wearer Maria described wanting new breasts to improve her self-image after an adolescence troubled by a bone disease that left her covered in scars.

She was given the PIP silicone implants in 2007, and started developing burning pains in early 2010. She consulted her surgeon and another specialist he recommended. "They told me, 'There's nothing wrong,'" she recounted.

She then went to two other doctors who confirmed that both implants had burst. She had them removed, and at her own expense, had two new ones implanted ? made by another company.

"The product is dangerous. They told us there was nothing toxic," she told The Associated Press by telephone from her office in La Seyne-sur-Mer in southern France ? the same town where PIP was based.

She accused the company and surgeons of "playing Russian roulette with the health of others."

Tina, a retired Frenchwoman who had her PIP implants removed earlier this year, didn't experience any pain when they ruptured, but said she now worries about what might have leaked into her body in the months she lived unwittingly with the burst implants.

"It's time for surgeons to admit that these implants pose special risks. What we need is a bit of humanity," she said, embarrassed by her ignorance of the dangers and frustrated that doctors didn't warn her about the PIP implants after they were recalled last year.

She didn't want her last name used because some people in her entourage do not know that she had her breasts augmented.

Recommending implant removal for all 30,000 Frenchwomen with these artificial breasts would impose substantial costs to France's state health care system and pose logistical challenges in finding enough surgeons to perform the operations.

The French health system does not pay for cosmetic breast implants, which make up the majority of breast operations, but government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse said state health care would pay for implant removal operations "if it involves a health and public safety emergency."

It is unclear, however, whether the state would pay for replacement implants. About 40,000 women in Britain are believed to have the PIP implants as well. Britain's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said its own testing had found no evidence of toxicity in the PIP implants and no evidence to suggest that women should have them removed.

But the agency said in a statement it "will consider any new evidence which comes to light as a priority."

The British Association for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons said the expected announcement by French medical authorities was "a precautionary measure."

"Surgeons will be in contact with any patient who has received this type of implant if any action is required," it said. "If women are worried or believe that their implants may have ruptured, they should contact their implanting surgeon."

The Italian Health Ministry says it is monitoring the "possible health risks linked to the PIP implants signaled by the French authorities" and it has convened a meeting of its top level health experts for Thursday.

Portugal's General Directorate for Health estimates 1,500-2,000 Portuguese women had the implants and is advising them to visit their doctor for a checkup, Jorge said.

In Denmark, authorities says less than 100 women had these breast implants and the Danish Medicines Agency is in close contact with French authorities.

The French company used to sell saline-filled implants in the United States but its authorization was revoked after a re-evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000, mainly because of what the FDA deemed incomplete studies.

___

Lauran Neergaard in Washington, Jill Lawless and Sylvia Hui in London, Frances D'Emilio in Rome, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Ciaran Giles in Madrid, Jan Olsen in Copenhagen contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_he_me/eu_france_breast_implants

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Friday, December 23, 2011

To Prevent Theft: Car Seat Identifies Drivers Sitting Down

Picture 2A group of researchers at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology in Tokyo has developed a car seat [JP, PDF] that can identify drivers when sitting down. The trick is that the system measures the pressure people apply on the seat through a set of 360 sensors. Each sensor is measuring pressure by its own and sends the information to a laptop, which aggregates the information to show key data like the highest value of pressure, area of contact on the seat (see below), and other factors. According to its makers, the system was able to identify drivers with 98% accuracy during experiments.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/4QiVa-RvJzc/

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Total Recall: Best Joel Silver Productions

We count down the best-reviewed work of the Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows producer.

Joel Silver

This weekend, Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law return to theaters in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, reuniting the duo that sleuthed up more than $520 million in worldwide box office receipts during their 2009 debut. But it isn't just Robert and Jude who deserve credit for all this blockbuster detecting -- there's a whole team behind Hollywood's latest incarnation of Holmes and Watson, including director Guy Ritchie and screenwriters Kieran and Michele Mulroney (not to mention the characters' creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). But today, we're here to pay tribute to someone else: Joel Silver, a co-producer on the Holmes franchise and someone whose instinct for developing major movie hits has made him one of the industry's most sought-after talents for the last 30 years. You know his name, you've seen it on the credits of countless films, and now it's time to take a look at some of the most critically successful of the bunch. It's time for Total Recall!


70%

Over 100 years after he made his debut on the printed page, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective got the big budget Joel Silver treatment in the aptly titled Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Jr. as the intrepid sleuth and Jude Law as his faithful sidekick Watson. Joined by Rachel McAdams as the mysterious Irene Adler and assisted by Guy Ritchie's action-heavy direction, Holmes made solving 19th-century mysteries cool again -- and entertained critics such as Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Republic, who wrote, "Playing literature's greatest detective as a sort of self-loathing action hero, Downey has an absolute blast. And thanks to his performance in Sherlock Holmes, so do we."


73%

The famously cantankerous Alan Moore disavowed the Hollywood version of his graphic novel, taking issue with the way the Wachowski-produced V for Vendetta used the political subtext of the book -- which was written in the 1980s -- to frame an argument against neoconservatism. And Moore probably had a point, too -- but as hard as it is to begrudge an author his criticism of an adaptation of his work, it's also easy to understand why the gripping, stylish Vendetta was a critical and commercial hit when it reached theaters in early 2006. James McTeigue's direction is at its most thrilling here, and the Wachowskis' script manages to incorporate thought-provoking themes with good old-fashioned action. And then there was Natalie Portman, who had her head shaved on camera for her role as Evey Hammond, the ordinary citizen driven to vigilantism by a totalitarian political regime (as well as some remarkably persuasive speeches from a masked, yet still utterly charismatic, Hugo Weaving). V for Vendetta was so dark, and so unapologetically political, that it's still a little hard to believe it was a $100 million-plus hit -- but it certainly didn't hurt that it provoked eloquent praise from critics like Jonathan R. Perry of the Tyler Morning Telegraph, who wrote, "V screams loudly and long, with visceral, kinetic fury and with style to burn. It's so brazen, it's kind of brilliant."


74%

Four years after The Matrix earned $463 million at the box office, Silver and the Wachowskis got the band back together for The Matrix Reloaded, in which Neo (Keanu Reeves) starts getting to the bottom of the conspiracy that has enslaved humanity -- and introduces audiences to the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) and Persephone (Monica Bellucci). Though it didn't offer quite as many paradigm-shifting thrills as the original, Reloaded outgrossed the first installment by a few hundred million -- and impressed critics like Colin Covert of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who wrote, "For sheer exhilarating spectacle, The Matrix Reloaded is the film to beat this year."


76%

Like any great blockbuster producer, Silver knows how to smell a hit -- and during the 1980s, that scent was Eau de Schwarzenegger. Silver and Ahnuld teamed up twice during the decade, and the results -- Commando and Predator -- are among any action fan's favorites from the era. Here, Schwarzenegger must lead a team of tough-as-nails soldiers into the jungle on what's believed to be a rescue mission for prisoners of war -- but which quickly turns out to be a bloody fight against a dreadlocked interstellar hunter (played to perfection by the late, lamented Kevin Peter Hall). Silver's pictures from the period tended to follow a certain formula, but at this point, familiarity hadn't yet bred contempt -- and anyway, if Predator lacks a surplus of moving parts, it does what it's supposed to with cool precision. "It achieves a sort of sublime purity," sighed an appreciative Tim Brayton for Antagony & Ecstacy. "It is Action Movie, nothing more and nothing less."


80%

After the immense success of 1987's Lethal Weapon, and the enduring popularity of the buddy cop genre it helped define, it came as no surprise to anyone when a sequel surfaced two years later. What was shocking, however, was just how much fun Lethal Weapon 2 turned out to be. Boasting further opportunities for Gibson to test the limits of action-hero funny business as nutty LAPD sergeant Martin Riggs, some of the nastiest bad guys in any late 1980s action thriller, and rapid-fire comic relief in the form of Joe Pesci, the second Weapon flew in the face of conventional wisdom by scoring with filmgoers and critics alike. In fact, some preferred it to the original -- including scribes like Brian Orndorf, who called it "One of the finest examples of the genre, and, in my humble estimation, one of the greatest sequels put to film. Perhaps deranged hyperbole, but rarely does a follow-up outgun the original film as swiftly as Lethal 2 does."


84%

There's no surefire way for an actor to guarantee that any given project will be a hit at the box office, but having Joel Silver attached certainly doesn't hurt a movie's chances for success. As evidenced by most of the other entries on this list, Silver is mostly known for his commercial instincts -- which is why 2005's Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, a skewed noir comedy directed and adapted by Shane Black (The Last Boy Scout) came as such a pleasant surprise for critics. Downey, who worked with Silver on 2003's Gothika, is squarely in his wheelhouse here, starring as a two-bit hood who repeatedly breaks the fourth wall as he stumbles from one circumstance (accidentally landing a movie role) to another (discovering a murder mystery) while trading quips with the private investigator (Val Kilmer) who's helping him research his character. Kiss Kiss saw only limited release during its brief theatrical run, but it earned high praise from the likes of the Washington Post's Desson Howe, who called it "the first movie since 1994's Pulp Fiction not just to understand movie violence as a pop cultural form... but to play it like a virtuoso violinist."

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924140/news/1924140/

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Insight: Stem cell therapy poised to come in from the cold (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? A rogue surgeon injects stem cells from a fetus into a sick man's brain. The cells morph and form body parts. When the man dies, the pathologist finds cartilage, skin and bone clumped in his brain.

The scene is not from a horror movie; it happened to Max Truex, a former Olympic runner who suffered from Parkinson's disease. The case sent a chill through the scientific community when it came to light 15 years ago and typifies some of the hurdles researchers have faced while trying to bring stem cell therapies to the market.

Now, it appears, their efforts are closer than ever to paying off.

Dozens of adult stem cell treatments are moving through clinical trials and showing early success, raising hopes that some could reach the market within five years.

"It will only take a few successes to really change the field," said Gil Van Bokkelen, chief executive of Athersys Inc and chairman of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. "As you see things getting closer and closer to that tipping point, you're going to see a frenzy of activity take place."

Many of the trials focus on heart disease and inflammatory conditions, some of the biggest markets in medicine. The cells used are derived from adult tissue such as fat, or bone marrow, thereby circumventing the ethical concerns raised by the use of cells derived from embryos.

Data for the most part remains early, but as more results emerge, pharmaceutical companies are beginning to take note.

"A lot of big companies are looking to place bets on some Phase II products once that data has been confirmed," said Paul Schmitt, managing partner at venture capital firm Novitas Capital. "Even now they're attending all the medical meetings and talking to all the stem cell companies."

Venture funds like Novitas are taking different approaches to playing the emerging field. Novitas invested $4 million in Amorcyte Inc, a company recently acquired by NeoStem Inc that is developing a treatment for heart disease. It is sticking to that investment for now.

By contrast, Aspire Capital Partners LLC is investing more broadly in the hope that one success will offset the inevitable failures.

"My philosophy in the stem cell space is that it's very difficult at this point to pick the winners and losers," said Steven Martin, managing member at Aspire. "We believe that over time there will be some very significant clinical progress, and valuations will improve, but we're still a long way from an approved therapy."

In the meantime, he said, "we are willing to be patient because we think the upside is tremendous."

GROWING INTEREST

Aastrom Biosciences Inc recently presented promising results from a mid-stage trial of its treatment for patients with critical limb ischemia, a disease in which blood flow to the extremities is restricted, at the American Heart Association's annual meeting. A mid-stage trial from Australia's Mesoblast Ltd showed its stem cell product reduced the rate of heart attacks and the need for artery clearing procedures by 78 percent.

"We're actually developing products now," said Timothy Mayleben, chief executive of Aastrom, which is using cells derived from a patient's own bone marrow to develop treatments for cardiovascular disease. "For the first time you are starting to see data being presented at major medical meetings."

Mesoblast has attracted more interest from investors than most. In late 2010, Cephalon Inc took a 20 percent stake in the company, which now has a market value of $2 billion -- far greater than any other pure play company in the space. Cephalon was bought this year by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd..

"Mesoblast gets this out-sized valuation by being a standard bearer in a risky field that everyone feels has a lot of promise," said Raghuram Selvaraju, an analyst at Morgan Joseph TriArtisan.

Shire Plc said in May it planned to establish a new regenerative medicine business, and kick-started it with the $750 million purchase of Advanced BioHealing Inc, which makes a skin substitute for treating diabetic foot ulcers.

Pfizer Inc, Johnson & Johnson and Roche Holding AG are members of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, a nonprofit group that promotes awareness of the field. Pfizer has a regenerative medicine unit and a partnership with Athersys. But their projects are small.

"Big pharma companies will be more interested in investing once they see data in hundreds of patients," said Schmitt.

Once that happens, there will be a land rush, he said, just as there was with monoclonal antibodies, genetically engineered molecules such as Roche's breast cancer drug Herceptin and Abbott Laboratories' rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira.

"Monoclonal antibodies were a missionary effort for many years, all through the eighties and nineties," Schmitt said. "They were called silver bullets, and eventually those bullets turned to gold."

According to GBI Research, the market for monoclonal antibodies was worth $15.6 billion in 2010 and is expected to reach $31.7 billion by 2017.

Stem cell therapy, which once promised to deliver cures for everything from Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's to spinal cord injury, has followed a similar path of enthusiasm followed by disappointment.

"There was a lot of hype around the industry early on and the industry failed to live up to that hype," said Aastrom's Mayleben.

Now stem cell therapy is gaining credibility again as real clinical data begins to emerge.

"From an investor standpoint, the time lines are long, but the opportunity to transform medicine and science is unlike anything else out there," said Aspire's Martin.

MASTER CELLS

The promise of stem cells, which have been used for 40 years in bone marrow transplants, lies in their ability to repair tissue, reduce inflammation, regulate the immune system, and respond to calls for help from multiple places inside the body. Stem cells are the body's master cells - blank slates that renew themselves and mature into specific cell types in the heart, muscle and other organs.

Embryonic stem cells are uniquely capable of differentiating into every type of mature cell in the body, and were long viewed as the most promising for regenerating tissue.

But harvesting stem cells from embryos requires the destruction of the embryo itself, a process opposed by conservative Christian groups. Moreover, their endless capacity to divide can lead to the formation of teratomas, or stem cell cancers.

Recently, Geron Corp, the world's leading embryonic stem cell company, said it could no longer fund its stem cell work and would focus on developing cancer drugs. It closed its trial for spinal cord injury.

Unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells have a more limited capacity to differentiate, but appear able to reduce inflammation and promote blood vessel formation. Furthermore, they can respond to damage in the body in a flexible and dynamic way, offering advantages over traditional drugs.

"They seem to be preprogrammed to act some way in tissue repair, not to form an organ or a tissue," said Douglas Losordo, head of stem cell research at Baxter International Inc, which is developing cell therapies for heart disease. "The cells that we use are very effective at stimulating the formation of new blood vessels, but if I wanted to make a brain cell out of those cells they would not be very good at it."

These are the type of stem cell treatments, delivered by infusion, injection or catheter, that are being developed today.

Some companies, such as Celgene Corp, Pluristem Therapeutics Inc, Athersys and Mesoblast are developing so-called allogeneic products designed to be sold with the ease and scale of a traditional pharmaceutical. Cells are taken from a single donor, expanded, frozen and shipped for use in thousands of people.

"We wanted to create a product that everyone could receive and not have to match every donor to every recipient," said Robert Hariri, chief executive of Celgene's Cellular Therapeutics unit.

Aastrom, Baxter, NeoStem and Cytori Therapeutics Inc use cells taken from a patient's own body in what is known as an autologous transfer. This personalized approach eliminates the risk that the cells will be rejected.

"There are going to be dividing lines in the industry between autologous and allogeneic and there are some indications where one will be better than the other," said Jason Kolbert, head of business development at NeoStem.

"It may be that immediately following a heart attack you would want to use an allogeneic therapy to limit the damage in those first few hours, and then follow up after day five with an autologous product like ours."

Different types of stem cell are being used for different diseases. Cytori is developing a heart disease product derived from fat cells, for example, while Celgene is using placental cells for Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis therapies.

Fetal cells are also being explored. Neuralstem Inc, for example, is developing treatments for neurological disorders from an aborted fetus and is in the early stages of testing a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known also as Lou Gehrig's disease.

"I think Neuralstem is one to watch," said Aspire's Martin.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

As cell therapies move further through clinical trials, companies will need more money, and funding is scarce. Aastrom's shares have fallen 37 percent since reaching a year high of $3.47 in June as investors brace for another dilutive capital-raising effort.

Companies with credible partners will likely have an advantage. Athersys has a partnership with Pfizer; Cytori has a partnership with General Electric Co; Pluristem has a partnership with United Therapeutics Corp. Celgene, which makes cancer drug Revlimid, has resources of its own.

Yet even if companies remain afloat long enough to bring a product through late-stage clinical trials, it is unclear what regulators like the Food and Drug Administration will require in order to approve them.

Some believe the regulatory hurdles for treatments derived from a patient's own cells will be lower than those where the cells come from donors, since there is less risk of cell rejection. However, no clear pathway has yet been established.

"We need a clear, consistent and rigorous regulatory framework," said Athersys's Van Bokkelen "The FDA is actually willing to provide lots of guidance and assistance to sponsors, if you just ask them."

(Reporting by Toni Clarke in Boston and Deena Beasley in Los Angeles; Editing by Michele Gershberg, Edward Tobin and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/biotech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111205/hl_nm/us_insight_stem_cell_therapy

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Bachmann On Immigration: Deport All The Undocumented

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) insisted on Saturday night that as president she would see to it that every undocumented immigrant in the country be deported.

Speaking at a Fox News forum hosted by Mike Huckabee, the Minnesota Republican was fairly broad in describing how she would round up and ship out of the country the 10 to 12 million people living here without documentation. But the implication was that she would empower government agents to do the deed.

"[I]t would be enforcement: Enforcement both at the border but also by the [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents. Right now the ICE agents -- those are the agents in the interior of the country who are tasked with enforcing the law -- they are not enforcing them and we also have sanctuary cities now where they don't enforce the laws on deportation. I think that what we simply need to do is to start enforcing the laws which we are not doing and begin the process of deportation," she said.

Prior to explaining how she would execute her deportation policy, Bachmann argued that undocumented citizens cost the country $113 billion every year. Asked by The Huffington Post where the congresswoman got her statistics, a Bachmann spokesperson pointed to a press release from the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

In coming out for 100 percent deportation, Bachmann is deliberately contrasting herself with Newt Gingrich, who argued that it would be impractical if not inhumane to rip families and communities apart. A recent Pew study showed that roughly two-thirds of all the undocumented immigrants in the United States have been in the country for 10 or more years.

"I agree, this is the thorniest and most difficult issue in dealing with illegal immigration," conceded Bachmann. "What about deportation? I believe we should uphold the laws of the land, which does include deportation. How do we pay for it? The American taxpayer."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/03/bachmann-immigration-deport-undocumented-_n_1127533.html

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Hrithik wears director?s cap again

After having assisted his father in films like “Karan Arjun” and ?Koyala”, B?town hunk Hrithik Roshan has stepped behind the camera once again. This time for his superhero flick ?Krissh2? in which he features as the male protagonist as well. Rakesh Roshan confirmed the reports saying Hrithik has been seriously involved in this project and [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newslatest/~3/heUy_IxQV6w/10117.html

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Detroit police search for girl, 2, in carjacking (Providence Journal)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/169122445?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Iraq PM: Green Zone bomb was assassination attempt

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is seen during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. Iraq's prime minister says a bombing in the Green Zone earlier this week was an assassination attempt against him. During an interview with The Associated Press Saturday, Nouri al-Maliki said the parliament building or speaker also could have been targets but preliminary information suggests the bombers were trying to get him. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is seen during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. Iraq's prime minister says a bombing in the Green Zone earlier this week was an assassination attempt against him. During an interview with The Associated Press Saturday, Nouri al-Maliki said the parliament building or speaker also could have been targets but preliminary information suggests the bombers were trying to get him. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

(AP) ? Iraq's prime minister said Saturday that a bombing earlier this week inside Baghdad's Green Zone was an assassination attempt against him, but he defended the nation's armed forces and said the breach did not signal a deterioration in security.

During an interview with The Associated Press, Nouri al-Maliki said the building housing the legislature or the parliament speaker also could have been targets but that preliminary information suggested the bombers were trying to get him.

"The preliminary intelligence information says that the car was due to enter parliament and stay there and not to explode. It was supposed to explode on the day I entered parliament," said al-Maliki, who was not in or near the parliament building when the bomb actually went off.

Monday's blast inside the central Baghdad zone, which is supposed to be one of Iraq's most secure areas, has raised new concerns about whether Iraqi forces are able to protect the country when the U.S. military leaves by the end of the year.

At the time of the explosion, officials said they did not know if it was the result of rocket or mortar fire into the Green Zone or a bomb, and it was unclear if anyone was being targeted specifically.

The Baghdad military spokesman, Qassim al-Moussawi, said late Friday that al-Maliki was the target. He said the driver of the vehicle tried to join a convoy of other vehicles going into the parliament grounds but was turned back by officials at the checkpoint because he didn't have proper identification. The driver then drove to the parking lot just opposite the parliament entrance, and the vehicle exploded seconds later.

Al-Maliki said the bomb had likely been assembled inside the Green Zone and was not very powerful.

A body was found near the wrecked car, but authorities were still trying to determine the person's identity and whether he was the bomber or a bystander, officials have said. Two other people were wounded.

Al-Maliki played down any suggestion that the attack, in an area that is also home to the U.S. Embassy as well as many Iraqi government institutions, demonstrated any weakness in security ahead of the U.S. military withdrawal. All American forces are to be out of the country by the end of this month.

"I don't think that this says something about the security situation in the country. Such breaches can happen in any country or anywhere," the prime minister said.

"It was a very simple operation," he said. "I cannot see in this operation any indication of a security deterioration in Iraq."

He blamed al-Qaida in Iraq and Saddam Hussein's Baath Party for the violence.

"They are opposing me, the parliament speaker and the parliament and the whole political process, so whomever the victim of their operation will be, it is a victory for them," he said.

The prime minister said he had previously shared information with the parliament speaker, Osama al-Nujaifi, that there might be an attempt to kill one of them at the parliament and that he advised the parliament speaker to exercise caution.

Al-Maliki said Iraqi security forces were still looking for at least four people believed to have played a role in the plot.

Meanwhile, rioters attacked dozens of liquor stores, a massage parlor and hotels after being stirred up by fiery sermons in a predominantly Kurdish city in north Iraq, police officials said Saturday.

The Kurdish-ruled north was spared much of the violence that engulfed the rest of the country from 2003 to 2008, but there have been several outbreaks of unrest against the rule of the two main secular-leaning parties.

The region also is home to a range of Islamist groups, including organizations involved in mainstream politics as well as smaller, more radical networks.

Friday's rampage began after midday prayers in the town of Zakho, some 300 miles (475 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. Thirty people were injured, according to hospital official Imad Barwari.

The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

In retaliation for the initial rioting, angry crowds then attacked offices belonging to a Kurdistan-based Islamist party, officials said.

Police on Saturday also arrested a leader of Kurdistan's largest Islamist opposition party, which has denied any connection to the attacks.

___

Associated Press writers Bushra Juhi in Baghdad and Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-03-Iraq/id-27be647d14fa4e5782668949e4642f81

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

How to unlock iPhone 3G & 3GS on iOS 5 and 5.0.1

If you’ve updated your iPhone 3G or 3GS to iOS 5 or 5.0.1 and lost your unlock we can help you get it back. The actual jailbreak will be tethered but you’ll still be able to unlock and continue using your device in the mean time until an untethered...


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Nl7XcCJgbk8/story01.htm

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Apple II drum sequencer surfaces for chiptune composers

No, this isn't a recycled news item from the 1980s -- it's 2011, and MJ Mahon and 8 Bit Weapon have just announced the release of the Apple II DMS Drummer, a wavetable-based drum sequencer for Apple II-era machines. The monophonic synth reproduces eight drum sounds like bass, snare, rim shot, hand clap, tom, hat open, hat closed and "lazer," along with a sequencer that lets you plug in up to 16 drum patterns across 256 slots. Seems like just the thing for chiptune composers hankering for a way to make authentic eight-bit drum tracks using vintage Apple hardware. System requirements call for an Apple IIe, IIc, IIc+ or IIgs with 80-column capability and a 5.25-inch floppy drive -- you know, pretty modern stuff. A limited demo version is available, but if that doesn't satisfy, you can either buy it on a floppy for $14.95 or download a .dsk disk image for $9.95. Oh, and neither require a time-traveling DeLorean to go back to 1985.

[Thanks, Seth]

Apple II drum sequencer surfaces for chiptune composers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/apple-ii-drum-sequencer-surfaces-for-chiptune-composers/

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Friday, December 2, 2011

The Library Phantom Returns!

He? She? It? Whoever it is, the Phantom Sculptor is suddenly back!

As I recently reported, somebody has been dropping glorious little paper sculptures into libraries and museums all over Edinburgh, Scotland, and we've just heard (thank you, alert reader Paul Smith) that there are now three more.

And they will be the last.

In mid-November, someone at the Scottish Poetry Library spotted a fresh, handwritten entry in the guest book, which said "I've left a little something for you," at the shelf marked "Women's Anthologies X."

When they went to check, there were three objects on the shelf. The first, a cap that could fit on a small head, was fashioned to look like a wren, head pointing forward, the back a puffed up haze of feathers.

?

The feathers, as documented by photographer Chris Scott, are exquisitely fashioned.

...then alongside the cap, was a pair of gloves with the pale markings of a bumble bee

And, finally, alongside the cap and gloves, whoever it is that makes these things, left an explanatory note, which revealed first, that she is a woman, ("Some even thought it was a 'he'!...As if!"), that she is not, as many thought, an artist who specializes in sculpting books ("this was the first time"), that these sculptures were thank you gestures "in support of special places," and that she had no intention of revealing her identity and anyway, newspaper readers across Edinburgh were happy "not to know...which was the point, really."

She also mentioned that this was the "last" sculpture she would do, the last of 10, and therefore it seemed only right to put it in the Poetry Library, where she had started.

Wait a second! Did she say 10? As of mid-November there had been 7 surprise sculptures found in Edinburgh. Counting the new one, that's 8. What happened to the other two? Had they been ignored, or worse, thrown away?

Everybody told everybody else to take a look...and, very quickly, (whew)...up they popped. Turns out the phantom had made a new deposit at the National Museum of Scotland. It was hard to notice at first, because viewed from the binding, this book had a suspicious little tail peeking through...

But when you turned it around, there, peeking out of pages was an adorably ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex.

And over at the Writer's Museum ? it's not clear how long it had been there ? was a sculpture propped atop the donations box in the Robert Louis Stevenson room. It was a street scene, with birds, people, cobblestones, all under a dangling moon hanging in the sky.

Ten gifts. All accounted for. And that, it seems, is the end of our story. Somebody who chose and whose neighbors chose to never identify spent the spring, summer and fall expressing her thanks for the continuing existence of libraries, museums and books in Scotland, "a tiny gesture," she called it.

Tiny, yes, but also, in its way, very grand.


For a picture-rich version of this tale, go to This is Central Station, an Edinburgh-based website that features many more photos (shared here, but they've got many more of them) from photographer Chris Scott.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/11/29/142910393/the-library-phantom-returns?ft=1&f=1007

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