BOSTON (AP) ? In May of 2011, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, then a senior at a prestigious high school, was awarded a $2,500 scholarship from the city of Cambridge, Mass., to pursue higher education. Now, Tsarnaev is on the run, described as "armed and dangerous" and suspected of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Two brothers, one now dead, one alive and at large. After hours of only grainy images of two men in baseball caps to go on, a portrait gradually started emerging Friday of the men suspected in the attack.
Tsarnaev, 19, and his older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed during a violent night in Cambridge, had been living together on Norfolk Street in Cambridge. An uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., told The Associated Press that the men lived together near Boston and have been in the United States for about a decade. They came from the Russian region near Chechnya, which has been plagued by an Islamic insurgency stemming from separatist wars.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's page on the Russian social networking site Vkontakte says he attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, graduating in 2011, the year he won the scholarship, which was celebrated with a reception at City Hall, according to a news release issued at the time. Before moving to the United States, he attended School No. 1 in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic in Russia's North Caucasus that has become an epicenter of the Islamic insurgency that spilled over from Chechnya. On the site, he describes himself as speaking Chechen as well as English and Russian. His world view is described as "Islam" and he says his personal goal is "career and money."
Tsarnaev appeared in the video released by authorities on Thursday, identified as Suspect Number 2, striding down a sidewalk, unnoticed by spectators who were absorbed in the race. He followed Tamerlan by about 10 feet. He wore what appeared to be a gray hoodie under a dark jacket and pants, and a white baseball cap facing backward and pulled down haphazardly.
Tamerlan was stockier, in khaki pants, a light T-shirt, and a dark jacket. The brim of his baseball cap faced forward, and he may have been wearing sunglasses.
According to the website spotcrime.com, Tamerlan was arrested for domestic violence in July 2009, after assaulting his girlfriend.
He was an amateur boxer, listed as a competitor in a National Golden Gloves competition in 2009.
NEW DELHI (AP) ? Bollywood starKareena Kapoor says the portrayal of women in Indian cinema is changing and increasingly film directors are creating more meaningful roles for them.
Kapoor says Bollywood has begun portraying women in a more positive manner. Women's "roles are being written by new and young directors and they are showing that we are not just objects of desire," she said.
For the most part women lead subservient lives in India, and Bollywood's portrayal of women is no different. In most Indian films, the female lead's job is to pout and make the male protagonist look good.
Kapoor was speaking on New Delhi Television channel on Monday after receiving NDTV's "Entertainer of the Decade" award. She has acted in more than 50 films since joining the film industry in 2000.
Apr 15 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $4,139,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,137,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,442,389 4. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,100,469 5. Steve Stricker $1,935,340 6. Phil Mickelson $1,764,680 7. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 8. Jason Day $1,659,565 9. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 10. Keegan Bradley $1,430,347 11. Charles Howell III $1,393,806 12. John Merrick $1,375,757 13. Russell Henley $1,331,434 14. Michael Thompson $1,310,709 15. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 16. Bill Haas $1,271,553 17. Billy Horschel $1,254,224 18. ...
Apr. 16, 2013 ? A team of Virginia Tech researchers has succeeded in transforming cellulose into starch, a process that has the potential to provide a previously untapped nutrient source from plants not traditionally though of as food crops.
Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, led a team of researchers in the project that could help feed a growing global population that is estimated to swell to 9 billion by 2050. Starch is one of the most important components of the human diet and provides 20-40 percent of our daily caloric intake.
The research was published this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Cellulose is the supporting material in plant cell walls and is the most common carbohydrate on earth. This new development opens the door to the potential that food could be created from any plant, reducing the need for crops to be grown on valuable land that requires fertilizers, pesticides, and large amounts of water. The type of starch that Zhang's team produced is amylose, a linear resistant starch that is not broken down in the digestion process and acts as a good source of dietary fiber. It has been proven to decrease the risk of obesity and diabetes.
This discovery holds promise on many fronts beyond food systems.
"Besides serving as a food source, the starch can be used in the manufacture of edible, clear films for biodegradable food packaging," Zhang said. "It can even serve as a high-density hydrogen storage carrier that could solve problems related to hydrogen storage and distribution."
Zhang used a novel process involving cascading enzymes to transform cellulose into amylose starch.
"Cellulose and starch have the same chemical formula," Zhang said. "The difference is in their chemical linkages. Our idea is to use an enzyme cascade to break up the bonds in cellulose, enabling their reconfiguration as starch."
The new approach takes cellulose from non-food plant material, such as corn stover, converts about 30% to amylose, and hydrolyzes the remainder to glucose suitable for ethanol production. Corn stover consists of the stem, leaves, and husk of the corn plant remaining after ears of corn are harvested. However, the process works with cellulose from any plant.
This bioprocess called "simultaneous enzymatic biotransformation and microbial fermentation" is easy to scale up for commercial production. It is environmentally friendly because it does not require expensive equipment, heat, or chemical reagents, and does not generate any waste. The key enzymes immobilized on the magnetic nanoparticles can easily be recycled using a magnetic force.
Zhang designed the experiments and conceived the cellulose-to-starch concept. Zhang and Virginia Tech visiting scholar Hongge Chen are the inventors of the cellulose-to-starch biotransformation, which is covered under a provisional patent application. Chun You, a postdoctoral researcher from China at Virginia Tech, and Chen conducted most of the research work.
Support for the current research comes from the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. Additional resources were contributed by the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Biodesign and Bioprocessing Research Center, the Shell GameChanger Program, and the U.S. Department of Energy BioEnergy Science Center, along with the Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences, Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the Department of Energy. Chen was partially supported by the China Scholarship Council.
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Journal Reference:
C. You, H. Chen, S. Myung, N. Sathitsuksanoh, H. Ma, X.-Z. Zhang, J. Li, Y.- H. P. Zhang. Enzymatic transformation of nonfood biomass to starch. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1302420110
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.
Boston Marathon bombs believed packed in pressure cookers
BOSTON (Reuters) - Authorities suspect whoever perpetrated the Boston Marathon attacks carried heavy bombs made from pressure cookers in nylon bags or backpacks to launch the worst bombings on U.S. soil since security was stepped up following the September 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks. The twin blasts on Monday killed three people including an 8-year-old boy and injured 176 others, some of whom were maimed by bombs packed with ball bearings and nails. Seventeen victims remained in critical condition.
Pakistan bears brunt of Iranian earthquake, 35 killed
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck a border area of southeast Iran on Tuesday killing at least 35 people in neighboring Pakistan, destroying hundreds of houses and shaking buildings as far away as India and Gulf Arab states. Communications with the sparsely-populated desert and mountain region were largely cut off, making it difficult to assess Iranian casualties. But an Iranian provincial governor later said there were no reports of deaths there so far.
Venezuela accuses opposition of plotting coup, seven dead
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President-elect Nicolas Maduro accused the opposition on Tuesday of planning a coup against him after seven government supporters were killed in clashes over his disputed election victory. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles wants a full recount of votes from Sunday's election after official results showed a narrow victory for Maduro, who is late socialist leader Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor.
At least nine killed in blast at Pakistan election rally
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - At least nine people were killed and more than 50 wounded on Tuesday when a suicide bomber attacked an election rally for a party opposed to Pakistan's Taliban movement, police said. The blast struck a gathering called by senior politicians of the Awami National Party (ANP) in the northwestern city of Peshawar ahead of the May 11 general elections.
Ivory Coast wants surveillance drones to replace U.N. troops
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council should consider deploying surveillance drones in Ivory Coast to aid the world body's peacekeeping mission in the west African country, Ivory Coast's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday, echoing a recommendation by the U.N. chief. Ivory Coast U.N. Ambassador Youssoufou Bamba told the 15-member council that surveillance drones should be deployed to offset any planned cuts to the peacekeeping force in the world's biggest cocoa producer.
Britain stages grand funeral for "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher
LONDON (Reuters) - London will stage its biggest political funeral in almost half a century on Wednesday when Britain's governing elite join the Queen and global leaders to bid farewell to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, better known as the "Iron Lady". In an event comparable to that of Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965, Thatcher's coffin will be carried atop a horse-drawn gun carriage through streets lined with admirers, and some detractors, from parliament to the city's most famous cathedral.
Brahimi eyes new U.N. envoy role in Syria, dropping Arab League: envoys
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N.-Arab League Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi hopes to revamp his role as an international peace mediator in the Syrian conflict as a United Nations envoy without any official link to the Arab bloc, U.N. diplomats said on Tuesday. Brahimi has become increasingly frustrated with the league's moves to recognize the Syrian opposition, which he feels has undermined his role as a neutral mediator, diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Quake of 6.8 magnitude recorded off Papua New Guinea: USGS
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 was recorded off the remote northern coast of Papua New Guinea at a depth of about 8 km (5 miles) on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said in a statement there was no threat of a widespread tsunami from the quake, although it warned that earthquakes of that size could generate destructive tsunamis within 100 km (60 miles) of the epicenter.
Serbian U.N. official blasts "intimidation" over justice meeting
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Serbian president of the U.N. General Assembly accused his critics on Tuesday of trying to intimidate and pressure him into canceling a special meeting on international criminal justice that the United States and other nations boycotted. The meeting last week was set up by former Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, who is serving as president of the 193-nation assembly, a largely ceremonial but high-profile post. Critics of the event said Jeremic organized it as an excuse to attack the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia - an allegation Jeremic rejected.
Plea deal talks under way for U.S. soldier accused in Iraq killings: lawyer
SEATTLE (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier charged with killing five fellow servicemen in 2009 at a military counseling center in Iraq is seeking a plea deal with Army prosecutors that would spare him from facing the death penalty, his lawyer told Reuters on Tuesday. Army Sergeant John Russell, under confinement at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, is accused of going on a shooting frenzy at Camp Liberty, adjacent to the Baghdad airport, in an attack his lawyers have insisted stemmed from combat stress.
The climate governs the seasonal activity of vegetation; humankind influences it. In the humid mid-latitudes, temperature is the largest influencing factor for plant growth. In predominantly dry areas, however, it is the availability of water and in the high latitudes incident solar radiation. Without a doubt, humankind also has a modifying impact on the ecosystem. Satellites have been recording how the vegetation on the Earth's surface is changing since the 1980s. Within the last thirty years, for instance, vegetation activity has increased in the northern hemisphere but declined in the southern hemisphere. Until recently, it was not possible to quantify the extent to which climate variability, human activity or a combination of the two factors were responsible for this.
An interdisciplinary team headed by geographers Rogier de Jong, Michael Schaepman and mathematician Reinhard Furrer from the University of Zurich, however, has now developed a model together with Dutch colleagues that can illustrate the influences of human activity and climate variability on vegetation separately. To this end, they used satellite data on the vegetation increase or decline from the last thirty years, climate measurements and models, and data on the kind of land cover. The scientists demonstrate that around 54 percent of the changes in global vegetation activity can be attributed to climate variability.
Over 30 percent of the changes caused by human activity
"The majority of the changes ? more than 30 percent overall ? were caused by human activity," explains de Jong, a postdoctoral student at the University of Zurich's Remote Sensing Laboratories (RSL). Vegetation activity primarily declined south of the Sahel region, such as in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and in the Congo. "We assume that this was caused by clear cutting, the transformation of rainforest into plantations or changes in agriculture in general," explains de Jong. Around ten percent cannot be explained fully by climatology or human activity. "We suspect that this is due to unexplained effects of the interactions between humans and the climate," says Head of the RSL Michael Schaepman.
Schaepman and his team will pursue these interactions further under the newly created research priority program "Global Change and Biodiversity" at the University of Zurich.
###
de Jong, R., Schaepman, M.E., Furrer, R., de Bruin, S., & Verburg, P. (2013). Spatial Relationship between Climatologies and Changes in Global Vegetation Activity. Global Change Biology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12193
de Jong, R., Verbesselt, J., Zeileis, A., & Schaepman, M.E. (2013). Shifts in Global Vegetation Activity Trends. Remote Sensing, (5) (3), 1117-1133, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs5031117
University of Zurich: http://www.uzh.ch
Thanks to University of Zurich for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
Apr 15 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $4,139,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,137,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,442,389 4. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,100,469 5. Steve Stricker $1,935,340 6. Phil Mickelson $1,764,680 7. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 8. Jason Day $1,659,565 9. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 10. Keegan Bradley $1,430,347 11. Charles Howell III $1,393,806 12. John Merrick $1,375,757 13. Russell Henley $1,331,434 14. Michael Thompson $1,310,709 15. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 16. Bill Haas $1,271,553 17. Billy Horschel $1,254,224 18. ...
JCI early table of contents for April 15, 2013Public release date: 15-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jillian Hurst press_releases@the-jci.org Journal of Clinical Investigation
Researchers untangle molecular pathology of giant axonal neuropathy
Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is a rare genetic disorder that causes central and peripheral nervous system dysfunction. GAN is known to be caused by mutations in the gigaxonin gene and is characterized by tangling and aggregation of neural projections, but the mechanistic link between the genetic mutation and the effects on neurons is unclear. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Robert Goldman and colleagues at Northwestern University uncover how mutations in gigaxonin contribute to neural aggregation.They demonstrated that gigaxonin regulates the degradation of neurofilament proteins, which help to guide outgrowth and morphology of neural projections. Loss of gigaxonin in either GAN patient cells or transgenic mice increased levels of neurofilament proteins, causing tangling and aggregation of neural projections. Importantly, expression of gigaxonin allowed for clearance of neurofilament proteins in neurons. These findings demonstrate that mutations in gigaxonin cause accumulation of neurofilament proteins and shed light on the molecular pathology of GAN.
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Robert Goldman
Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL, USA
Phone: 312-503-4215; E-mail: r-goldman@northwestern.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/66387?key=fbb27aa987681b6b9d6a
Resistance is futile: researchers identify gene that mediates cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer
Platinum compounds, such as cisplatin and carboplatin, induce DNA cross-linking, prohibiting DNA synthesis and repair in rapidly dividing cells. They are first line therapeutics in the treatment of many solid tumors, but cancer cells frequently develop resistance to these drugs. Mechanisms of resistance typically include reduced platinum uptake and increased platinum export. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Anil Sood and colleagues at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center identified a cellular membrane protein, ATP11B, that mediates cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer cells. They found that ATP11B expression was correlated with higher tumor grade in human ovarian cancer samples and with cisplatin-resistance in human ovarian cancer cell lines. Further, loss of ATP11B restored the sensitivity of ovarian cancer cell lines to cisplatin and reduced ovarian tumor growth in mice. These findings suggest that ATP11B could serve as a therapeutic target to overcome cisplatin resistance.
TITLE: ATP11B mediates platinum resistance in ovarian cancer
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Anil Sood
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
Phone: 713-745-5266; Fax: 713-792-7586; E-mail: asood@mdanderson.org
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/65425?key=1b568a84b2ed6f3104ee
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
TITLE: RNA binding protein PCBP2 modulates glioma growth by regulating FHL3
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Xiaozhong Peng
Institute of Basic Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine,Chinese Acad, Beijing, CHN
Phone: 0086-010-65296434; E-mail: peng_xiaozhong@163.com
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/61820?key=1198455a7ca0e03c53ba
TITLE: IL-33 dependent induction of allergic lung inflammation by Fc?RIII signaling
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Anne Sperling
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Phone: 773-834-1211; Fax: 773-702-4736; E-mail: asperlin@uchicago.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/63802?key=032761d160603a5e9093
TITLE: WNT signaling underlies the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain in rats
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Xue-Jun Song
Parker University Research Institue, Dallas, , USA
Phone: 9734386932 EXT 7144
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/65364?key=b983094cb01c7ee80e34
TITLE: Defective telomere elongation and hematopoiesis from telomerase-mutant aplastic anemia iPSCs
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Cynthia E. Dunbar
NIH, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
Phone: 301 496 1434; Fax: 301-496-8396
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67146?key=2d1d1346d4a5bb96bb80
TITLE: Opposing chemokine gradients control human thymocyte migration in situ
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Ellen Robey
University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone: 510-642-8669
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67175?key=ea0f0474c71bcec79110
TITLE: GM-CSF contributes to aortic aneurysms resulting from SMAD3 deficiency
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Jiahong Xia
Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and, Wuhan, CHN
Phone: 0086-13971038472; Fax: 0086-27- 85726337; E-mail: jiahong.xia@mail.hust.edu.cn
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67356?key=481605675f72b402a894
TITLE: Mer receptor tyrosine kinase is a novel therapeutic target in melanoma
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Douglas Graham
Univ of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
Phone: 303-724-4006; Fax: 303-724-4015; E-mail: doug.graham@ucdenver.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67816?key=c3beb1f407a41392c648
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
JCI early table of contents for April 15, 2013Public release date: 15-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jillian Hurst press_releases@the-jci.org Journal of Clinical Investigation
Researchers untangle molecular pathology of giant axonal neuropathy
Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is a rare genetic disorder that causes central and peripheral nervous system dysfunction. GAN is known to be caused by mutations in the gigaxonin gene and is characterized by tangling and aggregation of neural projections, but the mechanistic link between the genetic mutation and the effects on neurons is unclear. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Robert Goldman and colleagues at Northwestern University uncover how mutations in gigaxonin contribute to neural aggregation.They demonstrated that gigaxonin regulates the degradation of neurofilament proteins, which help to guide outgrowth and morphology of neural projections. Loss of gigaxonin in either GAN patient cells or transgenic mice increased levels of neurofilament proteins, causing tangling and aggregation of neural projections. Importantly, expression of gigaxonin allowed for clearance of neurofilament proteins in neurons. These findings demonstrate that mutations in gigaxonin cause accumulation of neurofilament proteins and shed light on the molecular pathology of GAN.
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Robert Goldman
Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL, USA
Phone: 312-503-4215; E-mail: r-goldman@northwestern.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/66387?key=fbb27aa987681b6b9d6a
Resistance is futile: researchers identify gene that mediates cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer
Platinum compounds, such as cisplatin and carboplatin, induce DNA cross-linking, prohibiting DNA synthesis and repair in rapidly dividing cells. They are first line therapeutics in the treatment of many solid tumors, but cancer cells frequently develop resistance to these drugs. Mechanisms of resistance typically include reduced platinum uptake and increased platinum export. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Anil Sood and colleagues at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center identified a cellular membrane protein, ATP11B, that mediates cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer cells. They found that ATP11B expression was correlated with higher tumor grade in human ovarian cancer samples and with cisplatin-resistance in human ovarian cancer cell lines. Further, loss of ATP11B restored the sensitivity of ovarian cancer cell lines to cisplatin and reduced ovarian tumor growth in mice. These findings suggest that ATP11B could serve as a therapeutic target to overcome cisplatin resistance.
TITLE: ATP11B mediates platinum resistance in ovarian cancer
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Anil Sood
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
Phone: 713-745-5266; Fax: 713-792-7586; E-mail: asood@mdanderson.org
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/65425?key=1b568a84b2ed6f3104ee
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
TITLE: RNA binding protein PCBP2 modulates glioma growth by regulating FHL3
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Xiaozhong Peng
Institute of Basic Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine,Chinese Acad, Beijing, CHN
Phone: 0086-010-65296434; E-mail: peng_xiaozhong@163.com
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/61820?key=1198455a7ca0e03c53ba
TITLE: IL-33 dependent induction of allergic lung inflammation by Fc?RIII signaling
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Anne Sperling
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Phone: 773-834-1211; Fax: 773-702-4736; E-mail: asperlin@uchicago.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/63802?key=032761d160603a5e9093
TITLE: WNT signaling underlies the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain in rats
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Xue-Jun Song
Parker University Research Institue, Dallas, , USA
Phone: 9734386932 EXT 7144
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/65364?key=b983094cb01c7ee80e34
TITLE: Defective telomere elongation and hematopoiesis from telomerase-mutant aplastic anemia iPSCs
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Cynthia E. Dunbar
NIH, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
Phone: 301 496 1434; Fax: 301-496-8396
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67146?key=2d1d1346d4a5bb96bb80
TITLE: Opposing chemokine gradients control human thymocyte migration in situ
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Ellen Robey
University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone: 510-642-8669
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67175?key=ea0f0474c71bcec79110
TITLE: GM-CSF contributes to aortic aneurysms resulting from SMAD3 deficiency
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Jiahong Xia
Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and, Wuhan, CHN
Phone: 0086-13971038472; Fax: 0086-27- 85726337; E-mail: jiahong.xia@mail.hust.edu.cn
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67356?key=481605675f72b402a894
TITLE: Mer receptor tyrosine kinase is a novel therapeutic target in melanoma
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Douglas Graham
Univ of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
Phone: 303-724-4006; Fax: 303-724-4015; E-mail: doug.graham@ucdenver.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67816?key=c3beb1f407a41392c648
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
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A dramatic turn of events in the ongoing story of U.S. carrier consolidation: Dish Network is launching a $25.5 billion bid for number-three carrier Sprint, amounting to $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock. If successful, the deal would effectively snatch Sprint out of the hands of Japanese carrier Softbank, which in October announced that it would pay $20.5 billion for a 70% stake in Sprint.
Unusual suspect: Scientists find 'second fiddle' protein's role in Type 2 diabetes
Friday, April 12, 2013
A team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center has found that a protein long believed to have a minor role in type 2 diabetes is, in fact, a central player in the development of the condition that affects nearly 26 million people in the United States alone and counts as one of the leading causes of heart disease, stroke and kidney, eye and nerve damage.
Working with mice, the scientists discovered that a protein called EPAC2 ? deemed a second-fiddle player up until now ? is actually an important regulator of insulin that appears to work by nudging insulin-secreting cells of the pancreas to ramp up production of the sugar-regulating hormone when the body needs it most. Until now, EPAC2 was suspected of playing a merely supporting role as a signaling molecule, but scientists remained uncertain why and how that mattered, if at all.
The results of the federally funded research, described online April 11 in the journalDiabetes, also suggest EPAC2 could provide an important new target for treatment to restore pancreatic cell function, the researchers say. Current diabetes treatments halt disease progression at best and focus on controlling symptoms and averting complications, so therapies that actually reverse the disease are badly needed.
"Drugs that precision-target failing pancreatic cells and restore or boost their function have become the holy grail of diabetes research. We believe that our finding establishes a pathway to do just that," says lead investigator Mehboob Hussain, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and a metabolism expert at the newly formed Johns Hopkins Diabetes Institute.
The researchers say several experimental compounds known to alter EPAC2 are now lined up for testing in diabetic animals, but caution that their findings remain far from human application.
Type 2 diabetes stems from the failure of beta cells ? members of a family of hormone-secreting pancreatic cells known as islets of Langerhans ? to keep up with the body's demand for insulin. Insulin regulates blood sugar by transporting glucose from the blood into organs and tissues for fuel or storage. The body normally releases extra insulin when blood sugar levels surge after eating, but repeated or continued overeating and high-fat diets put added demand on the pancreas to churn out more insulin to keep up with constantly high blood sugar levels. The chronically overworked beta cells eventually slow down their insulin output until it ceases altogether. Insulin deficiency causes abnormal buildup of glucose in the blood and the body's inability to deliver it as fuel to organs and tissues. This, the researchers say, is the essence of diabetes.
Working with mice whose pancreatic cells were missing the EPAC2 signaling molecule, the researchers found that lean, healthy mice regulated their blood sugar levels even in the absence of EPAC2. Short-term surges in food consumption did not affect the mice's ability to regulate their blood sugar, but when the mice were put on a high-fat diet for a month, they developed a condition similar to human diabetes. At the same time, a group of overfed, pudgy mice with intact EPAC2 managed to control blood sugar levels without a problem. In other words, EPAC2 remained dormant and played no role in insulin production under normal conditions, but emerged as a critical factor when the fat mice needed more insulin to control their surging blood sugar levels. This finding led the scientists to believe EPAC2 is an important fail-safe mechanism unlocked only during abnormal conditions.
"It is as if during these extreme conditions, the body calls upon EPAC2 as backup to help it balance insulin supply and demand," Hussain says.
The study further reveals that EPAC2 is critical because it acts as a link in a signaling cascade that culminates in the release of insulin by pancreatic cells. Comparing EPAC2-deficient and normal pancreatic cells under a microscope, the investigators found that the EPAC2-deficient cells were unable to regulate calcium, a well-known catalyst that triggers the release of insulin into the blood. EPAC2 functioned as calcium's gatekeeper, the researchers say. In its absence, calcium did not reach the critical mass needed to initiate the release of insulin.
The researchers say it remains unclear whether type 2 diabetes damages EPAC2 directly or whether EPAC2 can coax the cells to crank out extra insulin only for so long and eventually gives up. Either way, Hussain says, targeting EPAC2 with drugs could ratchet up the beta cells' dwindling insulin production and nip, or even reverse, diabetes at its root.
Type 2 diabetes is the predominant form of the disease, accounting for more than 90 percent of all diabetes diagnoses. It is commonly associated with diet and lifestyle. Previously seen mostly in middle-aged and older adults, type 2 diabetes is now increasingly diagnosed in younger people and children, a phenomenon fueled by growing obesity rates, experts say.
Thanks to Johns Hopkins Medicine for this article.
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Apr. 10, 2013 ? The same material that formed the first primitive transistors more than 60 years ago can be modified in a new way to advance future electronics, according to a new study.
Chemists at The Ohio State University have developed the technology for making a one-atom-thick sheet of germanium, and found that it conducts electrons more than ten times faster than silicon and five times faster than conventional germanium.
The material's structure is closely related to that of graphene -- a much-touted two-dimensional material composed of single layers of carbon atoms. As such, graphene shows unique properties compared to its more common multilayered counterpart, graphite. Graphene has yet to be used commercially, but experts have suggested that it could one day form faster computer chips, and maybe even function as a superconductor, so many labs are working to develop it.
Joshua Goldberger, assistant professor of chemistry at Ohio State, decided to take a different direction and focus on more traditional materials.
"Most people think of graphene as the electronic material of the future," Goldberger said. "But silicon and germanium are still the materials of the present. Sixty years' worth of brainpower has gone into developing techniques to make chips out of them. So we've been searching for unique forms of silicon and germanium with advantageous properties, to get the benefits of a new material but with less cost and using existing technology."
In a paper published online in the journal ACS Nano, he and his colleagues describe how they were able to create a stable, single layer of germanium atoms. In this form, the crystalline material is called germanane.
Researchers have tried to create germanane before. This is the first time anyone has succeeded at growing sufficient quantities of it to measure the material's properties in detail, and demonstrate that it is stable when exposed to air and water.
In nature, germanium tends to form multilayered crystals in which each atomic layer is bonded together; the single-atom layer is normally unstable. To get around this problem, Goldberger's team created multi-layered germanium crystals with calcium atoms wedged between the layers. Then they dissolved away the calcium with water, and plugged the empty chemical bonds that were left behind with hydrogen. The result: they were able to peel off individual layers of germanane.
Studded with hydrogen atoms, germanane is even more chemically stable than traditional silicon. It won't oxidize in air and water, as silicon does. That makes germanane easy to work with using conventional chip manufacturing techniques.
The primary thing that makes germanane desirable for optoelectronics is that it has what scientists call a "direct band gap," meaning that light is easily absorbed or emitted. Materials such as conventional silicon and germanium have indirect band gaps, meaning that it is much more difficult for the material to absorb or emit light.
"When you try to use a material with an indirect band gap on a solar cell, you have to make it pretty thick if you want enough energy to pass through it to be useful. A material with a direct band gap can do the same job with a piece of material 100 times thinner," Goldberger said.
The first-ever transistors were crafted from germanium in the late 1940s, and they were about the size of a thumbnail. Though transistors have grown microscopic since then -- with millions of them packed into every computer chip -- germanium still holds potential to advance electronics, the study showed.
According to the researchers' calculations, electrons can move through germanane ten times faster through silicon, and five times faster than through conventional germanium. The speed measurement is called electron mobility.
With its high mobility, germanane could thus carry the increased load in future high-powered computer chips.
"Mobility is important, because faster computer chips can only be made with faster mobility materials," Golberger said. "When you shrink transistors down to small scales, you need to use higher mobility materials or the transistors will just not work," Goldberger explained.
Next, the team is going to explore how to tune the properties of germanane by changing the configuration of the atoms in the single layer.
Lead author of the paper was Ohio State undergraduate chemistry student Elizabeth Bianco, who recently won the first place award for this research at the nationwide nanotechnology competition NDConnect, hosted by the University of Notre Dame. Other co-authors included Sheneve Butler and Shishi Jiang of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Oscar Restrepo and Wolfgang Windl of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
The research was supported in part by an allocation of computing time from the Ohio Supercomputing Center, with instrumentation provided by the Analytical Surface Facility in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Ohio State University Undergraduate Instrumental Analysis Program. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office, the Center for Emergent Materials at Ohio State, and the university's Materials Research Seed Grant Program.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University. The original article was written by Pam Frost Gorder.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Elisabeth Bianco, Sheneve Butler, Shishi Jiang, Oscar D. Restrepo, Wolfgang Windl, Joshua E. Goldberger. Stability and Exfoliation of Germanane: A Germanium Graphane Analogue. ACS Nano, 2013; : 130326123449003 DOI: 10.1021/nn4009406
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A notorious Rockefeller impostor has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a man whose bones were found buried beneath a California home.
Christian Gerhartsreiter was tried 28 years after the disappearance of newlyweds John and Linda Sohus in a heavily circumstantial cold case. Much of the prosecution's evidence focused on the strange behavior of the man who adopted many names including Clark Rockefeller. He masqueraded as an heir to the fabled oil fortune for 20 years.
The verdict was reached Wednesday after the jury deliberated about a day.
Authorities said Gerhartsreiter was a German immigrant who lived another life long ago, occupying a guest cottage at the home of Sohus' mother in the ritzy suburb of San Marino. He was known then as Chris Chichester and intimated he was of royal lineage. He joined the church, befriended residents and told some he was a film student.
A friend said Linda Sohus once described the tenant in the cottage owned by John's mother as "creepy" and said she and her husband never spoke to him.
The town folk didn't connect him with the disappearance of the Sohus couple in 1985, but shortly after they vanished, so did he.
No trace of Linda has been found but John's bones were unearthed during excavation of a swimming pool at the San Marino property in 1994. With no clues, the mystery went cold again.
But across the country, a man variously known as Chris Crowe, Chip Smith and Clark Rockefeller was inventing new lives for himself.
This impostor wormed his way into high society and talked his way into important jobs. He married a wealthy woman and controlled her funds, but his identity unraveled when he kidnapped their daughter during a custody dispute. She testified that he became increasingly paranoid when police begin inquiring about him.
When he was unmasked, he became the subject of magazine articles, true crime books and TV movies that sought to explore his bizarre story and get to the heart of the man behind the pseudonyms.
The resulting publicity led California authorities to revisit the Sohus disappearance. They realized the man in custody in Boston was not an heir to the Rockefeller fortune but was the man who had lived in San Marino decades ago.
Already serving time for the kidnapping of his young daughter in a Boston custody dispute, Gerhartsreiter was close to the end of his sentence and headed for freedom when the murder charge changed that. After a quarter century, authorities believed they had linked him to the disappearance of his old neighbor, Sohus.
Defense attorneys suggested that Linda Sohus, not their client, killed her husband. But no motive was offered for her or Gerhartsreiter to have killed the young man.
Prosecutors filled in the blanks of the defendant's whereabouts during the decades of his disappearance. But some details were unlikely ever to be explained.
He chose not to testify in his own defense and much of the trial testimony came from people now hobbled by age who knew him in San Marino as Chris Chichester, a stranger with a murky past.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran announced two key nuclear-related projects on Tuesday that expand the country's ability to extract and process uranium, which can be enriched for reactor fuel but also potentially for atomic weapons.
The development came just days after another round of talks with world powers seeking to limit Tehran's atomic program ended in a stalemate.
Iran already has uranium mines and the ability to turn the raw ore into a material called yellowcake, which is the first step in the enrichment chain. But the new facilities ? the country's largest uranium mine and processing facility ? give Tehran more self-sufficiency over the raw materials and underscore Iran's drive to expand its nuclear capacities even as world powers press for concessions.
Iran and the six-nation group ? the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany ? remain stalemated after the latest round of talks last week over efforts to rein in Iran's nuclear program. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said the "door was still open" for a negotiated pact with Iran, but urged Tehran's leaders to take the first steps to address international concerns that they could seek nuclear weapons.
Iran says it only wants nuclear reactors for electricity and medical applications. Iranian authorities have demanded that world powers acknowledge the country's right to enrich uranium and ease U.N. and Western sanctions.
"President (Barack) Obama could not be more clear: Iran cannot have and will not have a nuclear weapon," Kerry said on Tuesday following talks in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose nation has warned it could consider military options against Iranian nuclear sites.
"We are open to negotiation," Kerry added. "But it is not open-ended, endless negotiation. It cannot be used as an excuse for other effort to try to break out with respect to a nuclear weapon."
Tuesday's announcement of the new uranium sites suggests Iran intends to follow through with pledges to expand its nuclear capabilities in defiance of sanctions and other diplomatic pressures.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the start of symbolic start of operations through a video conference for Iran's National Day of Nuclear Technology, which marks the anniversary of the first time Iran enriched uranium in 2006.
Ahmadinejad also reiterating past proclamations that Iran has "gone nuclear" and the U.S. and its allies cannot stop Iran's progress on what the country calls peaceful atomic development.
State TV simultaneously showed ceremonies at Iran's biggest uranium mine at Saghand and a uranium ore concentrate production plant in Ardakan, both in central Iran.
Neither site represents breakout technology for Iran, which already has smaller uranium mines and processing facilities. But it gives Iran greater control in making the raw materials for enrichment to nuclear fuel and, potentially, for warhead-grade material.
Saghand consists of an open pit with a deep mine reached by two shafts. The mine has a capacity of 132,000 tons of uranium ore per year.
The Ardakan Yellowcake Production Plant is Iran's industrial-scale facility that turns ore into concentrate, also known as yellowcake, the feedstock for enrichment.
Ahmadinejad defiantly said Iran has already achieved proficiency in nuclear technology, which is now "in the hearts, minds and elbows of our scientists."
"You could not block our access to nuclear technology when we didn't have it. How can you take it from our hands now that we have it?" he said, addressing the West. "Iran has gone nuclear. Nobody will be able to stop it ... Cooperation with Iranian nation is the best solution for you."
___
Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran and Bradley Klapper in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Nobody loves posing for ridiculous photos more than Russia's president, but it's this completely spontaneous image that is sure to be keeper in his iconic collection.?Vladimir?Putin is in Germany today, where he was greeted by the usual gang of topless protesters?that seem to be following him around lately. One in particular, got pretty close to Putin and his host, German Chancellor Angel Merkel, but the man was unfazed. As usual.
A new yacht launched Friday by L?rssen, the German luxury boatbuilder, is now the largest motor yacht in the world. It's name is Azzam, and at 590 feet long, it has officially bumped Roman Abramovich's yacht ? the 536-foot Eclipse ? from its number one ranking.
L?rssen won't comment on the ownership. But industry sources say the owner is likely the royal family of Abu Dhabi.
L?rssen will say that the boat was "without the a doubt the most challenging yacht that has ever been built." Aside from its sheer size, Azzam had to be super-fast and able to ply shallow waters "while providing luxurious and sophisticated accommodation to its guests."
For speed, the boat is powered by jets rather than propellers. It's got 94,000 horsepower under the hood. And it hit a top speed of 30 knots, which is about 30 percent faster than most mega-yachts. "It's like a 590-foot jet ski," said one executive involved in the project.
There are no immediate descriptions available of the interior, though we know it's in the hands of French interior designer Christophe Leoni, who's using a "turn of the century Empire style." Nor do we have critical details on the number of Jacuzzis, rotating beds or helicopter pads. But the main salon, at 95 feet long by 60 feet wide has no pillars dividing the space.
Read more: Russian Billionaire's Yacht Makes Waves in NYC
So think Napoleon, if he had a megayacht and $600 million to spend.
Azzam will go through sea trials later this summer and will officially launch sometime in the fall.
From a purely financial standpoint, saving payments for a higher inflation rate makes sense. But that line of thinking neglects several key things.?
By Trent Hamm,?Guest blogger / April 8, 2013
A sold sign is posted in front of a home for sale in Mariemont, Ohio last month. Hamm argues that waiting to make mortgage payments because of inflation isn't necessarily an idea that will save significant money.
AL Behrman/AP/File
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The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds ? we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money.
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My brother has argued with me that I shouldn?t make any extra payments on our mortgage because we?re losing money over the long term by making early payments. He says that with inflation at 3% and our money able to earn 1% at minimum in a savings account and more if we do other things, we?re losing money by making early payments on our 3.75% mortgage. What do you think?
From a purely financial perspective, your brother does have a good point. However, your brother?s case has a bunch of implied assumptions that don?t necessarily apply to your situation.
First, let?s look at the math of the situation. Let?s say that you get a raise at work that equals the rate of inflation. Since your mortgage payment stays the same (assuming it?s a fixed rate mortgage), that means that your mortgage payment will take up a smaller and smaller percentage of your income over time. With the percentages expressed by your brother, your mortgage payment will take up only about a third as much of your income by percentage during the last year of your mortgage compared to the first year of your mortgage.
Want real numbers? Let?s say your monthly mortgage payment is $1,000 and you bring home $30,000 a year. Right now, you?re paying $12,000 a year in mortgage payments, which is 40% of your take-home pay. Each year, though, you?re getting a 3% raise. After ten years, you?re making a little over $40,000 a year, dropping your mortgage payments down to only 30% of your take-home pay. After twenty years, you?re bringing home around $54,000 per year, dropping your mortgage payments down to about 22% of your take-home pay. During the last year of your mortgage, you?re bringing home $72,800 per year, making your mortgage payments around 16% of your take-home pay.
The argument against early payments is that at the point where mortgage payments make up 40% of your take-home pay, it doesn?t make sense to pay even more just so that you eliminate payments at a later date where the payment is only taking up 16% of your take-home pay.
That?s a pretty powerful argument. It forgets a few things, though.
First, it assumes your income steadily increases at the rate of inflation or better. The truth of the matter is that wage growth isn?t keeping up with inflation in most industries and, in many industries, wages are actually seeing negative growth.
Most Americans can?t rely on the idea that their wages will routinely go up. That?s just not reality for the majority of people out there. Yes, there are people who are smart and work hard and have an entrepreneurial bent and a big pile of transferable skills who can keep increasing their wages, but that?s not something you can plan on unless you?re exhibiting confidence bordering on arrogance.
Second, it assumes that you can earn a sizeable steady return from a small investment. If you have $500,000 sitting in the bank, you can probably find some ways to invest it that can earn a nice return on that money, better than the 4% or so return you might get from other things. It?s much harder to do that with $1,000 in the bank.
Most Americans do not have the capital on hand to buy a rental property. Many Americans struggle to have an emergency fund. With an extra mortgage payment, a person can get a steady 3.75% return (in the mortgage example above) from every single dollar they pay ahead on their mortgage.
Third, it assumes an inflation rate. The Consumer Price Index, which is likely the best tool for estimating inflation, has only touched 3% once in the last several years and is usually around 1.5 to 2%. Some people debate whether CPI is a good measure of inflation and some argue for other rates, but CPI is a pretty solid benchmark for inflation.
Inflation does vary over time, but we?re currently in a period of very low inflation. Most inflation-based arguments rely on an inflation rate of at least 3% for people to make financial moves based on the inflation rate.
Finally, it assumes inflexibility. If you?re in a position where inflation is at 5% and savings accounts are paying a 6% return, it makes a lot of sense to put money into a savings account and make minimum payments on a 3.75% mortgage. On the other hand, when we?re in the position we?re at now, with savings accounts paying 1% and inflation somewhere around 2%, you?re going to want different solutions. Just because you choose to make early payments now doesn?t mean you can?t choose to do something differently later on.
In the end, the decision to make early mortgage payments or invest in something else is a minor point compared to the real issue. As long as you are spending less than you earn, you?re getting ahead. If you?re spending $100 less than you?re earning each month, you blow away any investment returns you might get on that $100 by instead figuring out how to spend $150 less than you earn each month. Spending less than you earn is the real key to financial success, regardless of how you invest it.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on www.thesimpledollar.com.
HANNOVER, Germany (AP) ? Germany's leader has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Kremlin needs to encourage civil society as well as push for technological modernization, underlining tensions as Putin seeks to bolster economic ties with a visit to a major trade fair.
Putin's trip to the central German city of Hannover highlights Russia's interest in developing foreign trade, including further business ties with Germany. The two leaders were touring the fair on Monday.
At the opening of the event on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said real modernization is enhanced by a strong civil society. Germany's ties with Russia have been strained lately by the Kremlin's heavy-handed response to opposition groups and pressure on non-governmental organizations.
Merkel said Germany was ready to help Russia diversify its economy, pointing to innovation, research and training as key points.
"We are convinced that this can best succeed if there is an active civil society," she said. "We must intensify this discussion ... and also give nongovernmental organizations ? the many groups that we in Germany know as motors of innovation ? a good chance in Russia."
A law approved last year in Russia requires all NGOs that receive funds from abroad and engage in vaguely defined political activities to register as "foreign agents," a term invoking Cold War-era spying connotations.
Leading Russian NGOs have pledged to boycott the bill. Putin responded by ordering wide-ranging checks of up to 2,000 NGOs across the country to check their compliance with the law. Among others targeted were two German think-tanks ? the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which is aligned with Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, linked to the opposition Social Democrats.
"I would have liked clearer words from the chancellor," Claudia Roth, a leader of Germany's opposition Greens, told ARD television. Roth said Russian NGOs face "repression ... defamation, discrediting and criminalization, and that simply requires very, very clear words."
By Megan Davies and Steve Gutterman MOSCOW, April 6 (Reuters) - Russia criticised Western moves to expand a planned United Nations probe into chemical weapons in Syria and compared it to the build-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Russia, which has used its clout as a veto-wielding Security Council state to blunt Western pressure on Syria, says the U.N. probe announced last month should focus on Syrian government allegations rebels used chemical arms near Aleppo. Western countries want two additional rebel claims about the use of such arms investigated as well. The Syrian opposition says President Bashar al-Assad's government carried out all three alleged chemical attacks. In a pointed statement, Russia's Foreign Ministry on Saturday voiced anger over a letter in which it said the U.N. Secretariat told the Syrian government it intended to broaden the investigation beyond the incident in late March near Aleppo.
It said the U.N. Secretariat was seeking overly broad access for investigators to facilities and individuals in Syria and wanted to use aircraft for transportation. "This approach brings to mind the line taken over an investigation into the presence of chemical weapons in Iraq, which was based on deliberately false data and led to well-known consequences," it said, referring to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. "We cannot fail to draw the conclusion that under pressure from certain states, the U.N. Secretariat is taking an unconstructive and inconsistent position that in essence undermines the investigation (into the incident near Aleppo)," it said, without mentioning U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by name. Last month, Russia accused Western nations of trying to use the investigation to push Assad from power and said the probe might be biased unless Russian and Chinese experts were part of the team of investigators. Russia says that it does not intend to prop up Assad but that his departure from power must not be a precondition for a political solution to the conflict. More than 70,000 people have been killed during Syria's two-year conflict. (Reporting by Megan Davies and Steve Gutterman; Editing by Jason Webb)
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A dramatic turn of events in the ongoing story of U.S. carrier consolidation: Dish Network is 
