JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Massmart, the South African unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported a 21 percent drop in first-half profit, hit by costs related to its deal with the world's biggest retailer.
Massmart, the high volume, low margin retailer that sells everything from televisions to groceries, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 321.7 cents in the six months to end-December compared with 407.3 cents a year earlier.
Headline EPS, the primary measure of profit in South African, exclude certain one-off items.
A South African court last year ordered Massmart to double a planned fund to develop local suppliers to 240 million rand to win regulatory approval for Wal-Mart's acquisition.
Wal-Mart paid $2.4 billion for 51 percent of Massmart.
Excluding that cost, the company said headline EPS would have shown single-digit growth, reflecting tight margins from an aggressive cut-price strategy to double market share in food sales.
"As consumer expenditure slowed, we saw increased discounting amongst most retailers and the inevitable fight to hold or gain market share," the company said.
Massmart said last week that first-half earnings would likely drop by as much as 25 percent.
Massmart, South Africa's third-largest retailer by value, is expanding into food retailing, pitting it against dominant grocers such as Shoprite and Pick n Pay.
The Johannesburg-based company aims to take its grocery market share to as much as 20 percent in the next few years from 10 percent now.
Massmart said sales increased 14.7 percent to 36.1 billion rand. It said sales for eight weeks to February 17, increased 11 percent.
"We are concerned that sales growth may be under some pressure for the remainder of the financial year," the company said.
Feb. 27, 2013 ? Scientists are reporting "laboratory resurrections" of several 2-3-billion-year-old proteins that are ancient ancestors of the enzymes that enable today's antibiotic-resistant bacteria to shrug off huge doses of penicillins, cephalosporins and other modern drugs. The achievement, reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, opens the door to a scientific "replay" of the evolution of antibiotic resistance with an eye to finding new ways to cope with the problem.
Jose M. Sanchez-Ruiz, Eric A. Gaucher, Valeria A. Risso and colleagues explain that antibiotic resistance existed long before Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic in 1928. Genes that contain instructions for making the proteins responsible for antibiotic resistance have been found in 30,000-year-old permafrost sediment and other ancient sites. Their research focused on the so-called beta-lactamases, enzymes responsible for resistance to the family of antibiotics that includes penicillin, which scientists believe originated billions of years ago.
They describe using laboratory and statistical techniques to reconstruct the sequences of beta-lactamase proteins dating to Precambrian times, 2-3 billion years ago. The team also synthesized the inferred ancestral enzymes and conducted studies on their stability, structure and function. "The availability of laboratory resurrections of Precambrian beta-lactamases opens up new possibilities in the study of the emergence of antibiotic resistance," the report states. "For instance, it should now be possible to perform laboratory replays of the molecular tape of lactamase evolution and use such replays to probe the molecular determinants of the efficiency of lactamases to adapt to different types of antibiotics." The authors also note that the extreme stability and catalytic features displayed by the 2-3-billion-year-old lactamases suggest that resurrected Precambrian proteins have utility for the biotechnology industry.
The authors and co-authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, NASA Astrobiology Institute, FEDER Funds and the Georgia Institute of Technology.
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Journal Reference:
Valeria A. Risso, Jose A. Gavira, Diego F. Mejia-Carmona, Eric A. Gaucher, Jose M. Sanchez-Ruiz. Hyperstability and Substrate Promiscuity in Laboratory Resurrections of Precambrian ?-Lactamases. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013; 135 (8): 2899 DOI: 10.1021/ja311630a
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Robin Kelly celebrates her special primary election win for Illinois' 2nd Congressional District, once held by Jesse Jackson Jr., Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Matteson, Ill. After a primary campaign dominated by gun control and economic woes, voters chose Kelly over Debbie Halvorson and Anthony Beale, making her the likely replacement for Jesse Jackson Jr., three months after his legal troubles and battle with depression forced the son of the civil rights leader to resign from Congress. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Robin Kelly celebrates her special primary election win for Illinois' 2nd Congressional District, once held by Jesse Jackson Jr., Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Matteson, Ill. After a primary campaign dominated by gun control and economic woes, voters chose Kelly over Debbie Halvorson and Anthony Beale, making her the likely replacement for Jesse Jackson Jr., three months after his legal troubles and battle with depression forced the son of the civil rights leader to resign from Congress. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Robin Kelly celebrates her special primary election win for Illinois' 2nd Congressional District, once held by Jesse Jackson Jr., Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Matteson, Ill. After a primary campaign dominated by gun control and economic woes, voters chose Kelly over Debbie Halvorson and Anthony Beale, making her the likely replacement for Jesse Jackson Jr., three months after his legal troubles and battle with depression forced the son of the civil rights leader to resign from Congress. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale, a Democrat, speaks with election judge Nancy Karen as he casts his vote in Chicago, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in the special primary election to replace former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson in Illinois' 2nd Congressional District. Beale is one of three front-runners in the primary. The others include former state Rep. Robin Kelly and former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson. They were among 14 Democrats and four Republicans in the special primary, but the Democratic winner is expected to sail through the April 9 general election because of the heavily Democratic region. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson casts her vote in Steger, Ill., Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in the special primary election to replace former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson in Illinois' 2nd Congressional District. Halvorson is one of the front-runners in the primary.? The others include former state Rep. Robin Kelly and Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale. They were among 14 Democrats and four Republicans in the special primary, but the Democratic winner is expected to sail through the April 9 general election because of the heavily Democratic region. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Former Illinois state Rep. Robin Kelly, a Democrat, finds a supporter in Yolanda Stratton as she campaigns at an IHOP in Matteson, Ill., on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, on the final day of the special primary election to replace disgraced former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson in Illinois' 2nd Congressional District. Kelly is one of the three front-runners in the primary. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
CHICAGO (AP) ? The newly elected Democratic nominee to replace disgraced former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. vowed to become a leader in the fight for federal gun control and directly challenged the National Rifle Association in her victory speech.
But it remains to be seen if Robin Kelly's primary win Tuesday night in the Chicago-area district, aided by a $2 million ad campaign funded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's super PAC, would fuel the national debate.
Kelly, a former state representative, emerged early as a voice for gun control in the truncated primary season after Jackson resigned in November. She gained huge momentum as Bloomberg's super PAC poured money into anti-gun television ads in her favor that blasted one of her Democratic opponents, former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson, for receiving a previous high rating from the NRA. Kelly supports an assault weapons ban, while Halvorson does not.
"We were on the right side of the issue and our message resonated," Kelly told The Associated Press shortly after her win.
Kelly promised in her victory speech later Tuesday night to fight "until gun violence is no longer a nightly feature on the evening news" and directly addressed the NRA, saying "their days of holding our country hostage are coming to an end."
Bloomberg called Kelly's win an important victory for "common sense leadership" on gun violence, saying in a statement that voters nationwide are demanding change from their leaders.
But other Democratic front-runners accused Bloomberg of buying a race and interfering in the heavily urban district that also includes some Chicago suburbs and rural areas.
"It shows, unfortunately, you can't go up against that big money. ...That's the problem with super PACs," Halvorson, who unsuccessfully challenged Jackson in a primary last year, told the AP. "There is nothing I could have done differently."
Kelly's win all but assures she will sail through the April 9 general election and head to Washington, because the Chicago-area district is overwhelmingly Democratic. The Republican contest, featuring four lesser-known candidates, was too close to call as of Tuesday night, though no Republican has won the district in 50 years.
The race was the district's first wide-open primary since 1995, when Jackson was first elected to Congress in a special election. He resigned in November after a months-long medical leave for treatment of bipolar disorder and other issues, then pleaded guilty this month to misspending $750,000 in campaign money on lavish personal items.
Even with his legal saga playing out in the courts, talk of guns dominated the primary race, which featured 14 Democrats. The election came after Chicago saw its deadliest January in more than a decade, including the fatal shooting of a high-profile honors student just days after she performed at events in Washington to celebrate President Barack Obama's second inauguration.
Political experts and fellow candidates said the super PAC money made all the difference, particularly in an election with a short primary and low voter turnout.
"The money bought Kelly a tremendous among of attention," said Laura Washington, a political analyst in Chicago. "She tapped into a real hard nerve out there in the community. People are really concerned about gun control and violence. She was smart to focus like a laser on that issue."
Bloomberg's entrance into the race became controversial, at least with the candidates and some voters.
The Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent has long taken a vocal stance against guns. He launched his super PAC weeks before the November election and spent more than $12 million to back seven candidates nationwide, including for newly elected Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod, a California Democrat who ousted an incumbent during a race where guns were an issue.
On Tuesday, Kelly told supporters that she would work with Obama and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to get gun control legislation through Congress.
However, gun rights advocates dismissed the notion that Kelly's election and Bloomberg's attention would fuel the debate on gun control.
"This is an aberration," said Illinois State Rifle Association spokesman Richard Pearson. "This shows what you can do with $2 million in an offseason race. He bought the election is the way."
Another Democratic front-runner, Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale, also took issue with the ads, saying people were "extremely upset" that someone from New York was trying to tell people in Illinois how to vote.
"That's what money gets you," he told the AP after conceding late Tuesday. "We earned every vote."
Roughly 14 percent of registered voters came to the polls, an estimate Chicago officials called the lowest turnout in decades. Adding to the problem was a blast of wintry weather Tuesday that snarled traffic, cancelled hundreds of flights and could have kept some voters home.
But those who did make it out indicated that guns, ethics and economic woes were on their minds.
Mary Jo Higgins of Steger, a south Chicago suburb, said she voted for Halvorson because the former congresswoman was "the only Democrat who believes in the Second Amendment."
But Country Club Hills minister Rosemary Gage said she voted for Kelly because she was "standing with (Obama) and trying to get rid of guns."
"It's really bad in Chicago and across the country," Gage said. "Too many children have died."
___
Associated Press writer Sara Burnett contributed to this report.
___
Sophia Tareen can be reached at http://twitter.com/sophiatareen
Boston-based friends and business partners Rishi Palriwala, Afjal Wahidi,?Amit Patel?and?Qais Alkurdi?were first profiled in our Dirty 30 series. Yesterday, they collectively launched Collaperty ? a new social platform incorporating elements of crowdfunding set to revolutionize the way real estate investors connect and fund deals. Investors Beat has the exclusive on the launch.
With the introduction of Facebook and Twitter, social networking has provided people with a new way to connect and the real estate industry is no different. This pool of savvy people are always looking at better ways to collaborate and do business whether that be finding other investors to fund their investments or locating profitable deals.
?The real estate market has always existed, but the need for a platform like this is certainly timely,? says Collaperty co-founder Afjal Wahidi. ?Due to the downward economy, the lack of capital from banks, and the lack of one central infrastructure for real estate enthusiasts to meet, the Collaperty model made sense.?
The website, conceptualized in 2011 and now open to the public, is designed for all real estate enthusiasts, especially those who are looking to expand their business in the US. ?The current U.S. securities law allows the accredited investor community the most access on our platform: from seeing deals to being able to invest in them,? says Wahidi. It is anticipated that the passing of the JOBS Act will allow more investors to play the property game.
?Collaperty?s ability to allow investors to collectively pool funds towards a specific deal stands out the most,? explains Wahidi. ?This breaks down the capital barrier to entry per investor and allows for new investment across property types, giving individuals the opportunity to diversify their portfolio even more.?
The website may be new, but its slew of functions bring promise, incorporating design features from the best ? namely Kickstarter, LinkedIn and AngelList. It allows users to share their investing experience and establish an investor?s credibility through their profile. Collaperty also allows a search for potential deals permitting Sponsors and Investors to invest together, giving you greater control of your property investments. Investors Beat is excited about this launch and we predict that it will change the way property investing is done forever.
Collaperty is holding its official launch party on March 7th in Boston. Investors Beat will be onsite for the exclusive coverage. Stay tuned!
The new network will be the first in Iraq to offer large-scale wireless broadband services, helping in the restoration of the nation's communication infrastructure impacted by the tough times of political unrest.
The network will provide significant support to ongoing efforts to revive the Iraqi economy, bringing levels of connectivity needed for business, public sector and consumer applications.
Kawa Junad, Chairman of Regional Telecom, said:
"Broadband services are the lifeblood of the modern digital economy, but Iraq has been without widely available broadband for more than a decade, in effect cutting off the country, our businesses and our citizens from the rest of the world. The introduction of 4G LTE services in Northern Iraq promises to change that, making a significant contribution to the country's efforts to rejoin the global community."
For the project, Alcatel-Lucent is providing its industry-leading end-to-end 4G LTE solution, including base stations, IP mobile backhaul for 4G LTE and existing 3G CDMA traffic, Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and elements of its platforms, which will allow Regional Telecom to introduce a rich portfolio of advanced IP-based services.
Amr K. El-Leithy Head of Middle East Africa, Turkey and Azerbaijan in Alcatel-Lucent said: "As a world leader in the innovation and delivery of 4G LTE networks, Alcatel-Lucent has the experience and expertise to support service providers in addressing the unique demands and expectations in the communities they serve - and this project with Regional Telecom is a perfect example. Our 4G LTE technology is helping meet customers' data needs in some of the world's busiest mobile broadband networks. At the same time we are also bringing broadband services to underserved regions to help promote economic growth and drive new business opportunities."
As global demand for Internet services continues to rise, Alcatel-Lucent is providing operators such as Regional Telecom with a clear, efficient broadband evolution path. Alcatel-Lucent's innovative lightRadio portfolio is designed with this in mind, and provides a framework for wireless networks that offer lightning fast data speeds while reducing operating costs and power consumption.
Feb. 24, 2013 ? For expectant moms who may contemplate the pros and cons of natural child birth or Caesarian section, a Henry Ford Hospital study suggests that C-section babies are susceptible to developing allergies by age two.
Researchers found that babies born by C-section are five times more likely to develop allergies than babies born naturally when exposed to high levels of common allergens in the home such as those from dogs, cats and dust mites.
The study was presented February 24 at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology annual meeting in San Antonio.
"This further advances the hygiene hypothesis that early childhood exposure to microorganisms affects the immune system's development and onset of allergies," says Christine Cole Johnson, Ph.D., MPH, chair of Henry Ford Department of Health Sciences and the study's lead author. "We believe a baby's exposure to bacteria in the birth canal is a major influencer on their immune system."
Dr. Johnson says C-section babies have a pattern of "at risk" microorganisms in their gastrointestinal tract that may make them more susceptible to developing the antibody Immunoglobulin E, or IgE, when exposed to allergens. IgE is linked to the development of allergies and asthma.
For its study Henry Ford researchers sought to evaluate the role of early exposure to allergens and how this exposure affects the association between C-section and the development of IgE.
Researchers enrolled 1,258 newborns from 2003-2007, and evaluated them at four age intervals -- one month, six months, one year and two years. Data was collected from the baby's umbilical cord and stool, blood samples from the baby's mother and father, breast milk and household dust, as well as family history of allergy or asthma, pregnancy variables, household pets, tobacco smoke exposure, baby illnesses and medication use.
The study was funded by Henry Ford Hospital and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
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Study reveals stem cells in a human parasitePublic release date: 25-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Diana Yates diya@illinois.edu 217-333-5802 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
CHAMPAIGN, lll. From the point of view of its ultimate (human) host, the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni has a gruesome way of life. It hatches in feces-tainted water, grows into a larva in the body of a snail and then burrows through human skin to take up residence in the veins. Once there, it grows into an adult, mates and, if it's female, starts laying eggs. It can remain in the body for decades.
A new study offers insight into the cellular operations that give this flatworm its extraordinary staying power. The researchers, from the University of Illinois, demonstrated for the first time that S. mansoni harbors adult, non-sexual stem cells that can migrate to various parts of its body and replenish tissues. Their report appears in the journal Nature.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 230 million people are in need of treatment for Schistosoma infections every year. Most live in impoverished areas with little or no access to clean water. Infection with the worm (also known as a blood fluke) can lead to damaging inflammation spurred by the presence of the worm's eggs in human organs and tissues.
"The female lays eggs more or less continuously, on the order of hundreds of eggs per day," said U. of I. cell and developmental biology professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Phillip Newmark, who led the study with postdoctoral researcher James J. Collins III.
"The eggs that don't get excreted in the feces to continue the life cycle actually become embedded inside host tissues, typically the liver, and those eggs trigger a massive inflammatory response that leads to tissue damage."
Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of infection, in some cases experiencing delays in growth and brain development as a result of chronic inflammation brought on by the parasites.
The new study began with an insight stemming from years of work on a different flatworm, the planarian, in Newmark's lab. Collins thought that schistosomes might make use of the same kinds of stem cells (called neoblasts in planarians) that allow planarians to regenerate new body parts and organs from even tiny fragments of living tissue.
"It just stood to reason that since schistosomes, like planaria, live so long that they must have a comparable type of system," Collins said. "And since these flatworms are related, it made sense that they would have similar types of cells. But it had never been shown."
In a series of experiments, Collins found that the schistosomes were loaded with proliferating cells that looked and behaved like planarian neoblasts, the cells that give them their amazing powers of regeneration. Like neoblasts, the undifferentiated cells in the schistosomes lived in the mesenchyme, a kind of loose connective tissue that surrounds the organs. And like neoblasts, these cells duplicated their DNA and divided to form two "daughter" cells, one of which copied its DNA again, a process that normally precedes cell division.
"Stem cells do two things," Newmark said. "They divide to make more stem cells and they give rise to cells that can differentiate."
Collins had labeled the cells with fluorescent markers. This allowed him to watch how they behaved. He noted that over the course of a few days, some of the labeled cells migrated into the gut or muscle, to become part of those tissues.
"We label the cells when they're born and then we see what they grow up to become," Collins said. "This is not conclusive evidence that these cells are equivalent to the planarian neoblasts, but it is consistent with the hypothesis that they are."
The researchers went deeper, determining which genes were turned on or off, up or down in the proliferating cells as compared with the non-dividing cells. They identified a gene in the proliferating cells that coded for a growth factor receptor very similar to one found in planarians. When the researchers switched off the parasite's ability to make use of this gene (using a technique called RNA interference in worms grown in the lab), the proliferating cells gradually died out.
"We postulated that these cells are important for the longevity of the parasite," Collins said. "Now we can start asking which genes regulate these cells."
"We started with the big question: How does a simple parasite survive in a host for decades?" Newmark said. "That implies that it has ways of repairing and maintaining its tissues. This study gives us insight into the really interesting biology of these parasites, and it may also open up new doors for making that life cycle a lot shorter."
###
Editor's note: To reach Phillip Newmark, call 217-244-4674; email pnewmark@illinois.edu. To reach Jim Collins, call 217-244-4504; email collinjj@life.illinois.edu.
The paper, "Adult Somatic Stem Cells in the Human Parasite, Schistosoma mansoni," is available online and to the media from the U. of I. News Bureau.
[ | 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.
Study reveals stem cells in a human parasitePublic release date: 25-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Diana Yates diya@illinois.edu 217-333-5802 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
CHAMPAIGN, lll. From the point of view of its ultimate (human) host, the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni has a gruesome way of life. It hatches in feces-tainted water, grows into a larva in the body of a snail and then burrows through human skin to take up residence in the veins. Once there, it grows into an adult, mates and, if it's female, starts laying eggs. It can remain in the body for decades.
A new study offers insight into the cellular operations that give this flatworm its extraordinary staying power. The researchers, from the University of Illinois, demonstrated for the first time that S. mansoni harbors adult, non-sexual stem cells that can migrate to various parts of its body and replenish tissues. Their report appears in the journal Nature.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 230 million people are in need of treatment for Schistosoma infections every year. Most live in impoverished areas with little or no access to clean water. Infection with the worm (also known as a blood fluke) can lead to damaging inflammation spurred by the presence of the worm's eggs in human organs and tissues.
"The female lays eggs more or less continuously, on the order of hundreds of eggs per day," said U. of I. cell and developmental biology professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Phillip Newmark, who led the study with postdoctoral researcher James J. Collins III.
"The eggs that don't get excreted in the feces to continue the life cycle actually become embedded inside host tissues, typically the liver, and those eggs trigger a massive inflammatory response that leads to tissue damage."
Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of infection, in some cases experiencing delays in growth and brain development as a result of chronic inflammation brought on by the parasites.
The new study began with an insight stemming from years of work on a different flatworm, the planarian, in Newmark's lab. Collins thought that schistosomes might make use of the same kinds of stem cells (called neoblasts in planarians) that allow planarians to regenerate new body parts and organs from even tiny fragments of living tissue.
"It just stood to reason that since schistosomes, like planaria, live so long that they must have a comparable type of system," Collins said. "And since these flatworms are related, it made sense that they would have similar types of cells. But it had never been shown."
In a series of experiments, Collins found that the schistosomes were loaded with proliferating cells that looked and behaved like planarian neoblasts, the cells that give them their amazing powers of regeneration. Like neoblasts, the undifferentiated cells in the schistosomes lived in the mesenchyme, a kind of loose connective tissue that surrounds the organs. And like neoblasts, these cells duplicated their DNA and divided to form two "daughter" cells, one of which copied its DNA again, a process that normally precedes cell division.
"Stem cells do two things," Newmark said. "They divide to make more stem cells and they give rise to cells that can differentiate."
Collins had labeled the cells with fluorescent markers. This allowed him to watch how they behaved. He noted that over the course of a few days, some of the labeled cells migrated into the gut or muscle, to become part of those tissues.
"We label the cells when they're born and then we see what they grow up to become," Collins said. "This is not conclusive evidence that these cells are equivalent to the planarian neoblasts, but it is consistent with the hypothesis that they are."
The researchers went deeper, determining which genes were turned on or off, up or down in the proliferating cells as compared with the non-dividing cells. They identified a gene in the proliferating cells that coded for a growth factor receptor very similar to one found in planarians. When the researchers switched off the parasite's ability to make use of this gene (using a technique called RNA interference in worms grown in the lab), the proliferating cells gradually died out.
"We postulated that these cells are important for the longevity of the parasite," Collins said. "Now we can start asking which genes regulate these cells."
"We started with the big question: How does a simple parasite survive in a host for decades?" Newmark said. "That implies that it has ways of repairing and maintaining its tissues. This study gives us insight into the really interesting biology of these parasites, and it may also open up new doors for making that life cycle a lot shorter."
###
Editor's note: To reach Phillip Newmark, call 217-244-4674; email pnewmark@illinois.edu. To reach Jim Collins, call 217-244-4504; email collinjj@life.illinois.edu.
The paper, "Adult Somatic Stem Cells in the Human Parasite, Schistosoma mansoni," is available online and to the media from the U. of I. News Bureau.
[ | 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.
In the middle of this John Harper column lamenting the state of the Mets outfield, we learn what the Mets were trying to do to improve it:
Alderson wouldn?t go into details, but from all indications there was a time in mid-to-late January when he felt strongly that he was going to land either?Justin Upton?or?Michael Bourn.?At that time, according to a club source, the Mets were discussing the possibility of trading Daniel Murphy or even Ruben Tejada, along with some of their younger pitching prospects, to the Diamondbacks for Upton.
In form that was like the Braves? trade for Upton ? major league infielder + pitching prospects for Upton ? but neither Murphy nor Tejada is as good as Martin Prado. Without naming the pitching prospects it?s hard to gauge whether they match up to Randall Delgado. And completely out of the equation is how much grit the these guys have, given the Diamondbacks? grit fetish.
Feb. 25, 2013 ? For decades scientists around the world have attempted to regenerate primary liver cells known as hepatocytes because of their numerous biomedical applications, including hepatitis research, drug metabolism and toxicity studies, as well as transplantation for cirrhosis and other chronic liver conditions. But no lab in the world has been successful in identifying and growing liver stem cells in culture -- using any available technique -- until now.
In the journal Nature, physician-scientists in the Pap? Family Pediatric Research Institute at Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Portland, Ore., along with investigators at the Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research, Utrecht, Netherlands, describe a new method through which they were able to infinitely expand liver stem cells from a mouse in a dish.
"This study raises the hope that the human equivalent of these mouse liver stem cells can be grown in a similar way and efficiently converted into functional liver cells," said Markus Grompe, M.D., study co-author, director of the Pap? Family Pediatric Research Institute at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital; and professor of pediatrics, and molecular and medical genetics in the OHSU School of Medicine.
In a previous Nature study, investigators at the Hubrecht Institute, led by Hans Clever, M.D, Ph.D., were the first to identify stem cells in the small intestine and colon by observing the expression of the adult stem cell marker Lgr5 and growth in response to a growth factor called Wnt. They also hypothesized that the unique expression pattern of Lgr5 could mark stem cells in other adult tissues, including the liver, an organ for which stem cell identification remained elusive.
In the current Nature study, Grompe and colleagues in the Pap? Family Pediatric Research Institute at OHSU Doernbecher used a modified version of the Clever method and discovered that Wnt-induced Lgr5 expression not only marks stem cell production in the liver, but it also defines a class of stem cells that become active when the liver is damaged.
The scientists were able to grow these liver stem cells exponentially in a dish -- an accomplishment never before achieved -- and then transplant them in a specially designed mouse model of liver disease, where they continued to grow and show a modest therapeutic effect.
"We were able to massively expand the liver cells and subsequently convert them to hepatocytes at a modest percentage. Going forward, we will enlist other growth factors and conditions to improve that percentage. Liver stem cell therapy for chronic liver disease in humans is coming," said Grompe.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Oregon Health & Science University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Meritxell Huch, Craig Dorrell, Sylvia F. Boj, Johan H. van Es, Vivian S. W. Li, Marc van de Wetering, Toshiro Sato, Karien Hamer, Nobuo Sasaki, Milton J. Finegold, Annelise Haft, Robert G. Vries, Markus Grompe, Hans Clevers. In vitro expansion of single Lgr5 liver stem cells induced by Wnt-driven regeneration. Nature, 2013; 494 (7436): 247 DOI: 10.1038/nature11826
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
The 7-inch ASUS FonePad unveiled today at MWC 2013 combines the communication features of a smartphone with the entertainment opportunities of a tablet. Find out what specs the ASUS FonePad brings to the table after the break.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to London in his inaugural official trip as Secretary on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Pool, Jacquelyn Martin)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to London in his inaugural official trip as Secretary on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Pool, Jacquelyn Martin)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to London in his inaugural official trip as Secretary on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Pool, Jacquelyn Martin)
FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013 file photo, Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the State Department in Washington. Kerry will make his first overseas trip next week to Europe and the Middle East, but is skipping Israel because that country's government isn't fully formed after recent elections. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
LONDON (AP) ? The U.S. is frantically trying to salvage a Syrian opposition conference set for this coming week that John Kerry plans to attend during his first official overseas trip as U.S. secretary of state.
A senior Obama administration official said Sunday that Kerry has sent his top Syrian envoy to Cairo in hopes of convincing opposition leaders that the Rome conference will be critical to securing additional aid from the United States and Europe.
Some members of the sharply divided Syrian Opposition Council are threatening to boycott Wednesday's meeting.
According to the official, U.S. envoy Robert Ford will say that the conference is a chance for foes of Syrian President Bashar Assad to make their case for new and enhanced aid, and especially to America's new chief diplomat.
The official was not authorized to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
If the meeting with Kerry were to be postponed, the official said the delay would hurt chances for short-term boosts or shifts in Syria policy.
The U.S. is concerned that the same kind of infighting that doomed the Syrian National Council may be hindering the SOC.
In addition to Ford's trip to Cairo, the top U.S. diplomat for the Mideast, Beth Jones, planned to head to Rome on Monday to add her voice to the argument.
Kerry is on a self-described "listening tour" of Europe and the Mideast, chiefly focused on ending the crisis in Syria.
The former Democratic senator from Massachusetts has said he is bringing new ideas to increase the pressure on Assad to leave power and make way for a democratic transition. Violence in Syria has killed at least 70,000 people.
Kerry has not elaborated on those plans, but there is internal debate in the Obama administration about stepping up aid to the rebels, perhaps to include lethal military assistance.
In London, his first stop, Kerry was expected to be asked by the British about the administration's views on Britain's dispute with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. London is looking to Washington to support a referendum next month on the islands' future. Residents are expected to vote widely in favor of remaining part of Britain.
Senior officials traveling with Kerry would not discuss possible outcomes or the vote, and the U.S. position remains that it is up to Britain and Argentina to work out a resolution. Argentina claims the islands as the Islas Malvinas.
Britain asserted control of the South Atlantic islands by placing a naval garrison there in 1833. Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 after Argentina invaded the islands. More than 900 people died, most of them Argentines.
Kerry's nine-nation, 10-day trip will also take him to America's traditional European allies of Germany, France and Italy, along with Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
In addition to Syria, he will focus on conflicts in Mali and Afghanistan, and on Iran's nuclear program.
In Germany, Kerry will discuss trans-Atlantic issues with German youth in Berlin, where he spent time as a child as the son of an American diplomat posted to the divided Cold War city. He also will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the German capital.
In Paris, Kerry plans to discuss France's intervention in Mali.
Despite the numerous Middle East stops. Kerry will not travel to Israel or the Palestinian territories. He will wait to visit them when he accompanies Obama there in March.
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Sarah, who would like a tablet, but only for one week a year. If you're looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
"One week every summer, I go out of town for a convention that I work with. I don't get a lot of downtime, but when I do, I want to stay connected. A laptop's too bulky and a smartphone just won't have the battery life, so is there a way I could rent a tablet with a 3/4G connection for a week at a time? Thanks"
Sarah, you've posed your humble narrator a real head-scratcher here. We've hunted around online, and found some web-based services that at least promise to do what you need. One that we are familiar with is Xcom Global, who will loan you a tablet if you select one of its MiFi plans, but it's a service designed more for international travel than a short hop like yours. We found a few places, including RentOurTablets, RentAComputer and RentFusion -- but we're not qualified to say if any of them are any good. As a consequence, it's time to turn this question over to the Engadget community. If you've got any experience of services that you trust and have used before, chime in and spread a little knowledge this weekend.
The NFL is one of the most popular sports leagues on the planet. Millions of people tune in every week to see their favorite teams go head to head. I mean, even Jets fans still turn on their TV to watch their team play, even after this:
And as online video continues to become more and more popular the NFL has made sure to include streaming to help bolster their fan base even more. It used to be impossible to watch any major sporting event without a television and cable contract, but these last few years, the Super Bowl and even the Olympics have been available online.
According to the NFL communications page, "Last year?s live stream of the Super Bowl in the United States attracted 2.1 million users, making it the most-watched, single-game sports event ever online." And this year will be no different. Not only will the Super Bowl be live streamed, but so will the Wild Card games.
This season's Wild Card race is as tight as ever with so many teams still in the hunt. So the games are set to be pretty epic. The Wild Card Playoff Games will air in a double header on January 5th on NBC. First, it's the AFC with the Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET. Then you can watch NFC's Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers at 8 p.m. ET.
Both of these games will also be available for live streaming online and on your Verizon smartphone.
US Supreme Court set to hear case of farmer using seeds grown from Monsanto's genetically modified seeds. Monsanto won the first round, claiming the farmer violated its patents, but his appeal has won a hearing in the Supreme Court.??
By Jane Wells,?CNBC Reporter / February 15, 2013
A farmer holds Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybean seeds at his family farm in Bunceton, Mo. The Supreme Court is set to hear the case of whether an Indiana farmer can harvest seed from his Monsanto soybean crop, a move the company says violates its patents.
Dan Gill/AP/File
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Say you're a Hollywood studio who spent a couple hundred million dollars on a blockbuster movie. Someone buys it on DVD, and then proceeds to copy the DVD and sell those copies at a profit.
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That would be against the law.
Can you make the same argument about buying patented seeds to grow a crop, and then keeping some of that first crop to reap seeds and grow a second crop? A third?
The United States Supreme Court will decide that in a case involving a 75-year-old farmer from Indiana named Vernon Bowman. Monsanto sued Bowman in 2007, claiming the farmer has for years used seeds reaped from a first crop of Monsanto Roundup Ready soybean seeds to grow another crop.
Monsanto?said that violates its patent, as farmers sign an agreement when they buy the seeds to only use them once. The resulting crop can be sold for things like feed or oil, not to create another generation of seeds.
From Monsanto's perspective, what Bowman has done is like the farming version of Napster. From the farmer's perspective, to force him to buy new seeds every year is a monopoly, and Monsanto's patent should "expire" after the first crop.
Monsanto won in lower court, but Bowman has appealed, and in a move that caught corporate America off guard, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case next Tuesday.
At stake is Monsanto's multi-billion dollar seed industry. The company dominates the soybean seed market with its Roundup Ready seeds, which have been genetically modified so that farmers can spray weed killer on the plants without impacting the soybeans. The seeds are the result of years of development and have helped farmers boost yields, which in turn keeps food prices down.
How long should a company be compensated for something that is difficult to create, but is easy to copy? Monsanto isn't the only party concerned about a potential loss at the Supreme Court.?(Read More:?Syngenta Upbeat for Spring Planting Season)
Filing briefs with the court on behalf of Monsanto is a broad array of industries, from the Business Software Association, representing companies like?Intel?andMicrosoft, to biotech firms, to other soybean farmers who fear the prices of Monsanto seeds could skyrocket, or the company could pull back investing in innovation.
A loss by Monsanto "would effectively eliminate the incentive to discover and develop new genetically-engineered plants," wrote the American Intellectual Property Law Association in a brief.
"We're also talking about DNA sequences used in vaccine development, biofuel reagents such as algae, and also software," said Cathleen Enright of the Biotechnology Industries Organization. She said investors may be less likely to fund research which could reap lower profits. "It can introduce uncertainty into their business models."
Bowman has his own supporters filing briefs on his behalf, including the Center for Food Safety, which wrote about "Monsanto Company's use of U.S. patent law to control the use of staple crop seeds by farmers." A?Facebook?page has been set up and a rally planned for Bowman next Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
Monsanto has already been fighting patent expiration issues in Brazil, now the world's largest soybean producer. The U.S. Supreme Court could decide to let the lower court's ruling stand, overturn it, or send it back for a new trial.?(Read More:?Washington Apple Pickers Miraculously Defeat the Invisible Farm Labor Crisis of 2012)
Perhaps there could be some middle ground, where the patent expires after a second crop, but Enright of the biotechnology group noted that would put grain elevators in the difficult position of having to enforce new policies.
In the meantime, both sides have lawyered up preparing for Tuesday's arguments, a day that Cathleen Enright said her group never expected to happen. "We were surprised."
Are the Indians contenders now after adding to the roster this offseason? Will the Browns go defense with their No. 6 pick? On today's PD Sports Insider, Bud Shaw, Dennis Manoloff and cleveland.com's Glenn Moore talked with Mary Kay Cabot about the Browns and what they could do with the No. 6 pick. Paul Hoynes joined the crew from Arizona and talked about the latest Tribe moves. Hit play on the video to watch the program as the PD Sports Insider team talks about:
You can also download the audio in MP3 format here.
- Which of the spring training invites will make the biggest impact for the Indians?
- Should fans be worried about Jimmy Haslam going back to Pilot/Flying J?
Stay tuned for the next show Thursday, February 21 at 12:30 p.m.
Be sure to like PD Sports Insider on Facebook
About the show: PD Sports Insider airs live every Thursday at noon. Co-hosted by The Plain Dealer's Bud Shaw, Dennis Manoloff and cleveland.com's Glenn Moore, the show features a timely and lively debate of the biggest sports topics of the day and gives readers a chance to interact directly with PD sportswriters and columnists.
Viewers have to the opportunity to ask questions and post comments in a live chat room during the show. They can also their video questions during the week. Fans who miss the live show can watch the archive, available a few hours later.
Published: Thursday February 14, 2013 MYT 8:08:00 AM Updated: Thursday February 14, 2013 MYT 10:42:13 AM
NEW YORK: Newfield Exploration Co said on Wednesday it will seek strategic alternatives for its international offshore oil and gas production assets in Malaysia and China to focus on its U.S. assets.
"This action reflects the confidence we have in our domestic portfolio and the substantial opportunities we see across our liquids-rich domestic resource areas," Chief Executive Lee Boothby said in a statement.
Newfield, based in The Woodlands, Texas, has engaged Goldman Sachs and Co to advise it to explore strategic opportunities for those assets.
Newfield's international assets - primarily offshore oil and natural gas developments in Malaysia and China - contributed nearly 30 percent to total revenue for 2011. The segments contributed 40 percent for the quarter ended Sept. 30.
The company had proved reserves of about 23 million barrels of oil and natural gas liquids in Malaysia and about 20 million barrels in China as of Dec. 31, 2011.
It has a stake in about 925,000 net acres offshore Malaysia and about 290,000 net acres offshore China
The oil and gas producer said on Wednesday it incurred a US$1.5 billion writedown, primarily due to low natural gas prices and the sale of some assets. It also took a a non-cash charge in the quarter ended Dec. 31 for deferred income taxes of about $550 million.
The Woodlands, Texas-based Newfield expects to report a net loss of about $1.2 billion or $8.80 per share for the December quarter. - Reuters
Becky Aikman's book has received lots of praise and press.
Q: You did do a lot of hard-science reporting for the book ? enough to feel confident dismissing what you call "the five bogus stages of grief."
A: The "five stages of grief" were never intended to be about grief, but about dying. More recent studies show that grief comes in waves: intense at first, then you alternate between feeling normal and feeling sad, and gradually over time the waves become less pronounced. I visited the Loss, Trauma and Emotion Lab at Columbia University, and discovered that the true grieving process looks nothing like the long-term, debilitating sadness many people seem to expect. That's why I based the Saturday Night Widows on the idea that getting out into the world with friends who have a sense of humor is helpful. Getting back to normality is helpful. New experiences help, too.
Q: If we have no community in which to grieve, are we grieving alone?
A: Americans are spending more and more time with immediate family, which makes it harder on us when we lose a member of that family. We don't have the broad ties we had in the past. Everyone in my social circle was married, for example, and suddenly I was the odd person out. I wasn't socially active while my husband was sick. [After he died] I felt I had to get out there and forge an entirely new community of people I could have companionship with. It was hard work.
Q: Your strategy was that "together we might find a way to triumph over loss."
A: From the moment I was on my own again, I craved role models for how to live a solo life, so having this group of women [to learn from] was fantastic: We could talk about how we were [each] approaching things, and I could draw from [the] others' approaches to dating again or finding a new place to live.
Mindfulness may be so successful in helping with a range of conditions, from depression to pain, by working as a sort of "volume knob" for sensations, according to a new review of studies from Brown University researchers.
In their paper, published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, the researchers proposed that mindfulness meditation works by enabling a person to have better control over brain processing of pain and emotions.
Specifically, the researchers postulate that mindfulness meditation plays a role in the controlling of cortical alpha rhythms, which have been shown in brain imaging studies to play a role in what senses our bodies and minds pay attention to.
"We think we're the first group to propose an underlying neurophysiological mechanism that directly links the actual practice of mindful awareness of breath and body sensations to the kinds of cognitive and emotional benefits that mindfulness confers," study researcher Catherine Kerr, an assistant professor of family medicine and director of translational neuroscience for the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University, said in a statement.
Previous research has shown that mindfulness meditation could have a positive effect on the brain by increasing the density of the grey matter in the brain's amygdala, which is a brain region known for its role in stress. That study was conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers and published in the journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging in 2011.
And in another study, University of Oregon researchers found that mindfulness meditation -- particularly a kind called integrative body-mind training -- is linked with an increase in the brain's signaling connections (called axonal density), as well as the protective tissue that surrounds the brain's axons.
Tim Loughton is the Member of Parliament for East Worthing and Shoreham, and was Parliamentary Under Secretary for Children and Families from 2010 until 2012. Follow?Tim on Twitter.
Inevitably, this week?s headlines have been dominated by the
controversial vote over gay marriage the media?s delight at being able to trot
out the usual hackneyed clich?s about Tory Party splits. That conveniently
ignores the fact that this was a free vote on a conscience issue and inevitably
Conservative MPs, and indeed those from other parties, will have differing
views and will be accountable to their own constituents.
Lost in the melee of last Tuesday was the Children &
Families Bill unwisely published on the same day.? I say unwisely because it contains some
really good legislation about improving support for getting more children
adopted, shared parental leave and crucially shared parenting. And I
narcissistically say good stuff because it reflects the culmination of issues I believe in passionately and had been
working on for years as Children?s Minister and previously in Opposition.
The groundbreaking clauses on shared parenting confirm that
the Government is to press ahead with changes long discussed by my party which
will add a ?presumption of shared parenting? to the Children Act 1989. This
delivers on a manifesto commitment Conservatives first made in 2005 and I tried
to carry through with amendments to the Children & Adoption Bill in
Opposition in 2006 only to be frustrated by?
the then Labour Government.
Many commentators have lazily referred to the proposed
changes in terms of ?father?s legal rights.? It is important to stress though
that this is not about parent?s rights, neither mother?s nor father?s. It is
about children?s rights and expectations and the responsibilities of both
parents to their child.
All sensible people acknowledges that children do best when they have the fullest possible involvement with both parents either when in a happy family home or after a parental split. Studies show such children are 40% less likely to suffer mental health problems, less likely to become teenage pregnancy statistics and they achieve better at school too. This will not be the same for every child and it in no way takes away from the fantastic job that many single parents of either gender do whether they are single parents by choice or not. But these are the facts.
In over 90% of cases
the resident parent after a split will be the mother. Some fathers will walk
away from responsibilities to their children by choice and need to be pursued.
In the case of a few it may not be safe to remain involved, but for too many their
fervent attempts to remain actively involved during childhood can be frustrated
by a former partner after an acrimonious split. The children become pawns
between warring parents, the court room the combat arena, the taxpayer funds
much of the conflict and everyone loses, not least the children caught in the
middle. At its worst over a quarter of decent parents are completely frozen out
and lose contact with their children within a few years.
Around 90% of separating couples are able to make
arrangements for their children without recourse to the courts though contact
arrangements will often still be problematic. But we need to make sure that
fewer of the 10% who do resort to legal resolution often in very acrimonious
and long drawn out proceedings, do so in the future. I want to see a large
metaphorical warning sign outside of every family court which says that if you
think you can use the court to play winner takes all, to exclude a non-resident
parent out of a relationship with his or her kids altogether, then don?t even
think about it unless there is a welfare threat to the children which can be
clearly demonstrated. Because the presumption is that both parents will be
required and expected to play their full role as parents just as when you had
the children in the first place.
That is what a presumption of shared parenting enshrined in
law is intended to do ? keep more warring parents out of court and persuade
more of them to act like adults in the interests of their children earlier on.
It should also be seen in the context of other ?beefed-up? upstream measures
such as hard to reject mediation, less access to one sided legal aid and better
enforcement measures when contract arrangements are willingly and often
regularly breached. When you learn that last year there were only 53
enforcement orders and hardly ever will a judge resort to the nuclear option of
transferring residency away from a parent serially frustrating contact, then it
is clear how so many dads feel the system is against them.
Of course there will be opponents to such measures as
attested by other less balanced headlines talking about divorced parents rights
putting ?victims of violence at risk.? There are good reasons to keep some
separating parents out of the picture on safety grounds and that is why the
proposals being put forward now are still completely subject to the
?paramountcy principle of the welfare of the child.? That will not stop some of
the regular suspects crying wolf despite the fact that I brought all sides on
this argument round the table in the Department for Education when formulating
the basis of the consultation which reported last year.
Opposition may be particularly vociferous in the Lords where
can be felt the influence of a number of retired senior judges who? invariably resent anything that treads on the
patently buckled toes of their profession?s autonomy in the court room without
having to be ?tainted? by reading what goes on in Hansard. They also need to
justify the huge variations in the way often neighbouring courts deal with
contact arrangements and their breach and not least the amount of time cases
drag on leaving children and non-resident parents drifting farther apart by
default.
Others will point to the Australian experience of shared
parenting which went wrong because it dealt in terms of an ill defined
?meaningful relationship? between parent and child and soon got bogged down in
the minefield of equality of time which resulted in more litigation not less.
But as I have stressed this Government?s shared parenting proposals are about
keeping more parents out of court in the first place rather than fast tracking
them into it.
The working and parenting practices of families who toil
hard enough to stay together have changed greatly over recent decades. Fathers
are, and want to be, more involved. The undeniable benefits of shared parenting
for children even after a split haven?t changed. It is time the law caught up
with that, so let?s not miss this opportunity at long last by wallowing too
long in the fall out of the gay marriage debate when there is other important
work to be done for the sake of our children.
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Public release date: 25-Feb-2013
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Tim Loughton is the Member of Parliament for East Worthing and Shoreham, and was Parliamentary Under Secretary for Children and Families from 2010 until 2012. Follow?Tim on Twitter.