audited decathlete

Friday, May 17, 2013

Stem cells recovered from cloned human embryos - KWQC-TV6 ...

By MALCOLM RITTER
AP Science Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes.

A prominent expert called the work a landmark, but noted that a different, simpler technique now under development may prove more useful.

Stem cells can turn into any cell of the body, so scientists are interested in using them to create tissue for treating disease. Transplanting brain tissue might treat Parkinson's disorder, for example, and pancreatic tissue might be used for diabetes.

But transplants run the risk of rejection, so more than a decade ago, researchers proposed a way around that: Create tissue from stem cells that bear the patient's own DNA, obtained with a process called therapeutic cloning.

If DNA from a patient is put into a human egg, which is then grown into an early embryo, the stem cells from that embryo would provide a virtual genetic match. So in theory, tissues created from them would not be rejected by the patient.

That idea was met with some ethical objections because harvesting the stem cells involved destroying human embryos.

Scientists have tried to get stem cells from cloned human embryos for about a decade, but they've failed. Generally, that's because the embryos stopped developing before producing the cells. In 2004, a South Korean scientist claimed to have gotten stem cells from cloned human embryos, but that turned out to be a fraud.

In Wednesday's edition of the journal Cell, however, scientists in Oregon report harvesting stem cells from six embryos created from donated eggs. Two embryos had been given DNA from skin cells of a child with a genetic disorder, and the others had DNA from fetal skin cells.

Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon Health & Science University, who led the research, said the success came not from a single technical innovation, but from revising a series of steps in the process. He noted it had taken six years to reach the goal after doing it with monkey embryos.

Mitalipov also said that based on monkey work, he believes human embryos made with the technique could not develop into cloned babies, and he has no interest in trying to do that. Scientists have cloned more than a dozen kinds of mammals, starting with Dolly the sheep.

The new work was financed by the university and the Leducq Foundation in Paris.

Dr. George Daley, a stem cell expert at Children's Hospital Boston who didn't participate in the work, called the new results "one landmark step in a very long journey" toward creating DNA-matched transplant tissue.

Now, Daley said, scientists must compare the embryo-cloning approach with another technology that reprograms blood or skin cells directly into substitutes for embryonic stem cells. This reprogramming approach is technically simpler and doesn't involve embryos or require the donation of human eggs, and it was widely acclaimed when it was reported in 2007. Its Japanese developer shared a Nobel Prize last year.

But these substitute cells show some molecular differences compared to embryonic ones, which has led to questions about whether they can safely be used for treating patients. So it's essential to compare the cells from the two methods, Daley said.

The new results mean "we have another tool," he said. "We have to learn more about this tool."

Daley said he believed scientists will prefer using the reprogramming approach unless it can be proven "beyond a shadow of a doubt" that embryo cloning produces better cells for treating patients.

Mitalipov said he believed his technique would present a particular advantage for treating patients with a certain type of rare diseases. These are caused by mutations in genes of the mitochondria, the power plants of cells. He noted his technique, unlike the cell-reprogramming approach, would supply tissue with new mitochondrial genes that could replace defective ones. Those new genes would come from the egg.

The Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, director of education for National Catholic Bioethics Center, an independent think tank in Philadelphia, reiterated his opposition to embryo cloning, calling the approach unethical.

"It involves the decision to utilize early human beings as repositories for obtaining desired cells," he said. "You're creating them only to destroy them."

Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley, Calif., said she was glad that Mitalipov doubted the embryos could be used to clone babies. She said the report still provides a good opportunity for the federal government to ban the use of cloning for reproduction.

___

Online:

Journal Cell: http://www.cell.com/

___ Malcolm Ritter can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/malcolmritter

Source: http://www.kwqc.com/story/22259154/stem-cells-recovered-from-cloned-human-embryos

instagram facebook chicago cubs split pea soup recipe the client list yahoo.com/mail baylor april 9

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Bomb plot briefing may undercut DOJ's case for AP records seizure

Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP file

CIA Director John Brennan, shown testifying on Capitol Hill on April 11, testified he conducted a background briefing after the Associated Press reported the Yemen bomb plot in May 2012 to avoid "dangerous questions and speculation."

By Michael IsikoffNational Investigative Correspondent, NBC News

A massive Justice Department investigation into the disclosure by the Associated Press of an ongoing covert operation against an al Qaeda suicide cell in Yemen ? a probe that included a sweeping ?secret subpoena of the press association?s phone records? -- has been justified by U.S. officials on the grounds that the news organization ?put the American people at risk.??

But that assertion by Attorney General Eric Holder could be undermined by the White House?s decision to publicly comment about the operation at the time and reveal details beyond those in the original AP story, according to legal experts and counterterrorism officials.

Within hours after the AP published its May 7, 2012 story, then-White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, currently the director of the CIA, held a background conference call in which he assured television network commentators that?the bomb plot was never a threat to the American public or aviation safety.

The reason, he said, is because intelligence officials had ?inside control? over it.

He later told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he conducted the briefing to avoid ?dangerous questions and speculation? about the operation.

Brennan?s account came after the AP reported what it called ?an intelligence victory for the United States,? saying? intelligence officials had thwarted an ?ambitious plot? by an al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen ?to destroy a U.S. bound airliner? using a refined underwear bomb. ?

U.S. officials say that, when they were first contacted by the AP, they were concerned publication of the story would endanger the life of a British informant who had penetrated the group. AP executives say they agreed to hold their story until they were assured?by government officials that ?national security concerns had passed.?

Brennan?s use of the phrase ?inside control,? a detail not initially included in the AP story,?quickly led U.S. news organizations to?report that the plot had been foiled by an undercover informant.

?The U.S. government is saying it never came close because they had insider information, insider control, which implies that they had somebody on the inside who wasn?t going to let it happen,? Richard Clarke, former White House counterterrorism adviser to Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and who participated on the conference call with Brennan, said on ABC?s ?Nightline? that evening.

NBC?s Chief Justice Correspondent, Pete Williams, did further reporting for Nightly News the next night.? ?It turns out that the bomber was actually an informant cooperating with intelligence services friendly to the United States,? Williams reported.

Bolstering his reporting was an interview with Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

?I want to say that the device was always under control, and that no one in the Unites States was ever at risk because we did have control,? she said.

?The administration?s background statements helped reporters put two and two together and ultimately led to the disclosure that did reveal the existence of an intelligence source,? said Michael Leiter, the former director the National Counter-Terrorism Center under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and now an NBC News counterterrorism analyst. ?That?s not to say that the original leak didn?t also do damage and undermine operations.?

Tommy Vietor, then chief national security spokesman for the White House, disputed the idea that Brennan disclosed sensitive details in his background briefing and said ?it was ?ridiculous? to equate Brennan?s use of the? phrase ??inside control? with having an ?informant.? ?

U.S. officials acknowledge that, after they were contacted by the AP and told it was going to publish the story, they alerted British intelligence, which scrambled to extract the informant and his family from Yemen. But the leak infuriated British officials and strained relations between MI-6, the country?s intelligence service, and the CIA, officials say. Moreover, U.S. national security officials familiar with the matter said the real damage was done by the original leak to the AP because it revealed that the FBI had possession of the bomb. It also ended any chance of using the informant in the future. ?They were going to keep him in there,? said the official.

Still, the willingness of administration officials to publicly comment on the plot could undercut the Justice Department?s position if the AP decides to take any legal action challenging the secret subpoenas.

?It complicates considerably the force of the argument that this disclosure seriously compromised national security,? said Floyd Abrams, a leading First Amendment lawyer who represented the New York Times in?a historic legal? battle over its publication of the Pentagon Papers.

In that case, Abrams noted, the Times successfully argued that much of what the Justice Department had argued was damaging in the papers had already been revealed in public statements by U.S. government officials.

David Schulz, a lawyer for AP, said the news organization is ?exploring all our ?options? for ?legal action to challenge the Justice Department?s?secret subpoena for about two months of AP phone records on 20 separate telephone lines in an effort to identify the leaker.

Related stories

AP, DOJ clash over seriousness of leak that prompted phone records seizure

AP calls government's records seizure a 'massive and unprecedented intrusion'

Among those options, he said, were filing suit for a ?declaratory judgment? that the subpoena had violated its reporters? rights and a demand for a return of the phone records and an order that the Justice Department destroy all copies. In doing so, the AP may cite the comments by Brennan as evidence that the leak did not harm national security in the way that the Department of Justice has asserted, h said.

?We were surprised by the attorney general?s comments yesterday about the potential security threat ?from the leak under investigation,? Schulz said in an email to NBC News. ?The president?s top national security advisor at the time said there was never a risk to air safety, and ?no one in the United States was ever at risk.??These shifting positions show the malleable nature of national security claims, and underscore the need for independent review by a judge when civil rights are infringed to protect against asserted security threats.?

More from Open Channel:

Follow Open Channel from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2bfc1462/l/0Lopenchannel0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A50C150C18280A9530Ebomb0Eplot0Ebriefing0Emay0Eundercut0Edojs0Ecase0Efor0Eap0Erecords0Eseizure0Dlite/story01.htm

meredith vieira prop 8 maria menounos proposition 8 ricky martin larry bird chauncey billups

Egypt militants planned to hit U.S., French embassies

VAJONT, Italy (Reuters) - Lithuanian Ramunas Navardauskas claimed a solo victory on the summit finish of stage 11 at the Giro d'Italia on Wednesday while Italian Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall lead. The Garmin-Sharp rider shook off his closest pursuer, Italian Daniel Oss, to go clear five km from the finish line at Vajont. Oss finished in second place, just over a minute back, with Italian Stefano Pirazzi third. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-militants-planned-hit-u-french-embassies-mena-180830859.html

Indianapolis explosion mike brown bcs rankings jay cutler applebees jeff gordon veterans day

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Hands-on with Nokia JobLens on the Lumia 925: what a way to make a living (video)

We're hoping we won't need to use Nokia's JobLens app for real any time soon, but at the Lumia 925 launch event, we thought we'd at least explore our options. It's essentially a proximity-based job searching tool that, in the lens mode, is much like the CityLens AR app for Lumias, and points you in the direction of your next potential employer using icons on top of the realtime camera view. In another mode, JobLens uses the Here Maps platform to show you a top-down view of openings in your vicinity, and can subsequently direct you to your interview on time. From either views, you can poke at vacancies to see more about the job and share it, email it to yourself, or respond directly with a CV -- various sites populate the in-app listings. The software also integrates with Facebook and LinkedIn so you can hit up your contacts for the inside track. No word on a release date yet, but we imagine it'll coincide with the Lumia 925 launch. As they say, it's who you know that counts, and now we know Matt from Nokia, who treated us to a quick tour of the app in the video after the break.

Update: we've been having trouble with the video -- it works on some devices and not others. It may work for you right now, but if not -- we're working on a fix.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Nokia

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/ALtkmK5Fveo/

Ravi Shankar Geminid meteor shower right to work Clackamas Town Center 12 12 12 Anne Hathaway Wardrobe Malfunction Adrienne Maloof

Quick leads Kings past Sharks 2-0 in opener

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Jonathan Quick made 35 saves in his sixth career playoff shutout, and the Los Angeles Kings opened their second-round series with a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.

Slava Voynov and Mike Richards each had a goal and an assist in the defending Stanley Cup champions' 11th straight victory at Staples Center since March.

With yet another dominant playoff performance by Quick, Los Angeles opened the NHL's fourth all-California playoff series with its fifth straight victory after an 0-2 start to its title defense.

The Kings' Conn Smythe Trophy winner allowed just 10 goals in the six-game first round against St. Louis before frustrating the Sharks, whose superior speed and passing produced nothing.

Antti Niemi stopped 18 shots for the Sharks, who swept Vancouver out of the first round.

Game 2 is Thursday.

Opening a playoff series at home for the first time in 21 years, the Kings got just enough offense from Richards and Voynov, the Kings' promising Siberian defenseman, who had the first multipoint playoff game of his short career.

Quick was on his formidable postseason game all night long, giving nightmares to the Sharks. San Jose scored 15 goals while sweeping third-seeded Vancouver, but Quick stopped every chance while the Sharks largely dominated play, particularly while outshooting Los Angeles 16-4 in the third period.

The Sharks and Kings are meeting in the postseason for the second time in three years, accentuating their already strong in-state rivalry. San Jose eliminated Los Angeles in 2011 on the way to the conference finals, but the Sharks' years of steady excellence were surpassed by the up-and-down Kings when they raised California's second Stanley Cup.

The Kings had not-so-secretly hoped for a second-round Freeway Faceoff with the Anaheim Ducks, who lost to Detroit in seven games ? but the Sharks have the champs' full attention.

Los Angeles beat San Jose 3-2 in both clubs' regular-season finale to finish in fifth place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Sharks.

That's how Los Angeles got home-ice advantage in this series, starting at home in the postseason for the first time since the 1992 opening round against Edmonton.

The Sharks began Game 1 at a furious pace, generating numerous early scoring chances and keeping the Kings on their heels. Quick immediately had to make a handful of remarkable saves before Los Angeles matched the tempo, and Voynov put the Kings ahead with 12.9 seconds left in the first period when he ripped a slap shot through traffic on a rush.

Voynov scored two goals in the opening round against St. Louis, and both were game-winners ? including the clutch overtime score in Game 5 that allowed Los Angeles to finish off the series at home two days later.

Quick turned aside several good Sharks chances in the second period before Los Angeles doubled its lead. Voynov ripped a long shot that redirected off Richards, the Kings' leading postseason scorer with seven points in seven games.

The goal gave the Kings their first two-goal lead of the entire postseason, and the Sharks had their first two-goal deficit of the playoffs.

Shortly after the Kings' first power play early in the third period, the puck ended coming to a complete stop next to Niemi in his crease without the goalie knowing where it was. Scott Hannan dived to knock the puck away with his hand.

NOTES: Sharks RW Marty Havlat missed his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury. ... Jarret Stoll was hit illegally by San Jose's Raffi Torres late in the second period, and Los Angeles' veteran center didn't play in the third.... Kings coach Darryl Sutter coached current Sharks Patrick Marleau, Hannan and Brad Stuart during his tenure in San Jose from 1997-2003. Marleau, the franchise scoring leader, was an 18-year-old rookie on Sutter's first team in San Jose.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/quick-leads-kings-past-sharks-2-0-opener-045220987.html

fafsa branson missouri davy jones dead monkees last train to clarksville tim tebow taylor swift post grad

SkyDrive update brings photo timeline, more efficiency-minded features

Perhaps to celebrate passing the 250 million user mark, SkyDrive is rolling out an update which introduces some nifty time-saving features. Now, you'll be able to view all your photos -- across folders and albums -- in a timeline view, with images grouped by event and date for easy searching. There are also filmstrip and slideshow modes, and, according to Microsoft's Inside SkyDrive blog, photo-upload times have been improved at least twofold. The update brings a few other goodies too: full-resolution camera uploads for all Windows Phone 8 devices worldwide, and new thumbnails for PowerPoint and Word files. The update will begin rolling out today and should make its way to all users within 48 hours.

Filed under: Software, Mobile, Microsoft

Comments

Source: Inside SkyDrive