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Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The Best Deals in Tech
Monday, December 3, 2012
Master regulator of skin development discovered
ScienceDaily (Dec. 2, 2012) ? The surface of your skin, called the epidermis, is a complex mixture of many different cell types -- each with a very specific job. The production, or differentiation, of such a sophisticated tissue requires an immense amount of coordination at the cellular level, and glitches in the process can have disastrous consequences. Now, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a master regulator of this differentiation process.
"Disorders of epidermal differentiation, from skin cancer to eczema, will affect roughly one-half of Americans at some point in their lifetimes," said Paul Khavari, MD, PhD. "Understanding how this differentiation occurs has enormous implications, not just for the treatment of disease, but also for studies of tissue regeneration and even stem cell science." Khavari is the Carl J. Herzog Professor and chair of the Department of Dermatology.
Khavari and his colleagues have found that, like a traffic cop motioning cars to specific parking spaces in a large, busy lot, a newly identified molecule called TINCR is required to direct precursor cells down pathways toward particular developmental fates. It does so by binding to and stabilizing differentiation-specific genetic messages called messenger RNAs. Blocking TINCR activity, the researchers found, stopped the differentiation of all epidermal cells.
"This is an entirely unique mechanism, which sheds light on a previously invisible portion of the regulation of this process," said Khavari, who is also a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute and chief of the dermatology service at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. He is the senior author of the research, published online Dec. 2 in Nature. Former Stanford postdoctoral scholar Markus Kretz, PhD, is the first author. Kretz is now an assistant professor of biology at the University of Regensburg in Germany.
Surprisingly, this coordinator extraordinaire is not a protein. (Proteins have traditionally been thought to be the primary movers and shakers in a cell, although that view is now changing somewhat.) Instead, it belongs to a relatively new, and increasingly influential, class of regulatory molecules called long, non-coding RNAs, or lncRNAs. These molecules are so named because they do not carry instructions to make proteins. They are also longer than other regulatory RNAs known as microRNAs.
But even among lncRNAs, TINCR, and its role in epidermal differentiation, is unique.
"This work revealed a new role for regulatory RNAs in gene activation -- by stabilizing select messenger RNA transcripts," said co-author Howard Chang, MD, PhD, professor of dermatology. "This finding highlights the ability of regulatory RNAs to fine-tune gene expression."
The researchers identified the molecule by looking for RNAs that are more highly expressed in differentiating epidermal cells called keratinocytes than in progenitor cells. They found that levels of TINCR (short for "terminal differentiation-induced non-coding RNA") expression were 150 times greater in the keratinocytes. But to figure out what TINCR was doing, they had to develop two new assays: one to help researchers identify interactions between RNA molecules, and another to suss out interactions between a regulatory RNA and its protein partners. Such techniques will become increasingly important as researchers continue to identify the critical regulatory roles played by RNA molecules.
"These long, non-coding RNAs don't have recognizable, classic motifs like proteins do," said Khavari. "And yet, we really need to know with what other molecules they may be physically interacting to truly understand their biological roles."
The first approach, which the researchers termed RIA-Seq, couples an RNA interaction assay with a deep-sequencing technique to identify RNA partners of TINCR. Using RIA-Seq, the researchers found that TINCR and its RNA partners -- many of which encode instructions for proteins essential to the differentiation process -- share a common, short sequence that mediates their binding.
"These conserved, complementary motifs may help TINCR pair up with and stabilize its partner messenger RNAs," said Khavari. "In this way, TINCR may serve as a scaffold for many mRNAs involved in epidermal differentiation."
The second approach used a grid, or microarray, of 9,400 human proteins to which the researchers exposed TINCR. One of the proteins, termed STAU1, bound strongly to TINCR. STAU1 had not previously been implicated in epidermal differentiation, but the researchers found that blocking its activity prevented differentiation in a manner similar to blocking TINCR.
"This effect is quite specific for epidermal tissue," said Khavari, "and it suggests that nature has evolved a simple mechanism to control the tissue-specific expression of a large number of genes. We'd like to understand more about this TINCR-STAU1 complex to get a better idea of how it acts at a biochemical level."
In addition to identifying a unique role for a new lncRNA in epidermal differentiation, Khavari and Chang said they are excited to have developed new tools to understand how these regulatory RNAs function in the cells. "This really helps substantially expand our tool kit that we can use to analyze how RNAs and proteins interact," said Khavari.
Other Stanford researchers involved in the study include senior scientists Zurab Siprashvili, PhD, and Kun Qu, PhD; graduate students Ci Chu, Dan Webster, Ashley Zehnder, Ryan Flynn, Abigail Groff, Grace Kim and Jennifer Chow; and postdoctoral scholars Carolyn Lee, MD, PhD, Ross Flockhart, PhD, Robert Spitale, PhD, and Grace Zheng, PhD.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford University Medical Center.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Markus Kretz, Zurab Siprashvili, Ci Chu, Dan E. Webster, Ashley Zehnder, Kun Qu, Carolyn S. Lee, Ross J. Flockhart, Abigail F. Groff, Jennifer Chow, Danielle Johnston, Grace E. Kim, Robert C. Spitale, Ryan A. Flynn, Grace X. Y. Zheng, Subhadra Aiyer, Arjun Raj, John L. Rinn, Howard Y. Chang and Paul A. Khavari. Control of somatic tissue differentiation by the long non-coding RNA TINCR. Nature, 2012 DOI: 10.1038/nature11661
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.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/uwSMmCyjsBo/121202164434.htm
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Enter now to win the iPhone, iPad, or iPad of your dreams from iMore!
Have you been dreaming of a new iPhone 5 for Christmas? An iPad or iPad mini for Hanukkah? And iPod touch for Festivas?
Well you're in luck! Every week for the next four (4) week we're going to be giving you a chance to win the iOS device of your dreams! (Technically four (4) $350 U.S. Apple Store gift certificate for you to buy (or put towards) whichever Apple device or devices you wish!)
You can enter each contest, each week, for a total of 4 chances to win! And entering this week couldn't be simpler:
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/RekTYsODEik/story01.htm
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CDC: Flu season starts early, could be a bad one
NEW YORK (AP) ? Flu season in the U.S. is off to its earliest start in nearly a decade ? and it could be a bad one.
Health officials on Monday said suspected flu cases have jumped in five Southern states, and the primary strain circulating tends to make people sicker than other types. It is particularly hard on the elderly.
"It looks like it's shaping up to be a bad flu season, but only time will tell," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The good news is that the nation seems fairly well prepared, Frieden said. More than a third of Americans have been vaccinated, and the vaccine formulated for this year is well-matched to the strains of the virus seen so far, CDC officials said.
Higher-than-normal reports of flu have come in from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. An uptick like this usually doesn't happen until after Christmas. Flu-related hospitalizations are also rising earlier than usual, and there have already been two deaths in children.
Hospitals and urgent care centers in northern Alabama have been bustling. "Fortunately, the cases have been relatively mild," said Dr. Henry Wang, an emergency medicine physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Parts of Georgia have seen a boom in traffic, too. It's not clear why the flu is showing up so early, or how long it will stay.
"My advice is: Get the vaccine now," said Dr. James Steinberg, an Emory University infectious diseases specialist in Atlanta.
The last time a conventional flu season started this early was the winter of 2003-04, which proved to be one of the most lethal seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths. The dominant type of flu back then was the same one seen this year.
One key difference between then and now: In 2003-04, the vaccine was poorly matched to the predominant flu strain. Also, there's more vaccine now, and vaccination rates have risen for the general public and for key groups such as pregnant women and health care workers.
An estimated 112 million Americans have been vaccinated so far, the CDC said. Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older.
On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.
Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.
A strain of swine flu that hit in 2009 caused a wave of cases in the spring and then again in the early fall. But that was considered a unique type of flu, distinct from the conventional strains that circulate every year.
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Online:
CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cdc-says-us-flu-season-starts-early-could-210937461.html
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Syrian forces pound Damascus suburbs, flights to resume
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces pounded rebel-held suburbs around Damascus with fighter jets and rockets on Sunday, opposition activists said, killing and wounding dozens in an offensive to push rebels away from the airport and stop them closing in on the capital.
The army struck hard after a week of rebel advances, including the capture of two military bases near the capital. Rebels had been planning to push into central Damascus from their strongholds on the outskirts and fighting in the past week has been fierce.
Activists said heavy rocket fire struck towns close to the Damascus airport road, where rebels and the army had been locked in three days of clashes. Some described constant shelling, similar to carpet bombing, in towns like Beit Saham.
"It was frightening because it was the first time we heard continuous shelling. Really powerful explosions, one after the other, were shaking the area. I could see fire coming up from the town," said Samir al-Shami, from the opposition's Syrian Youth Union, speaking by Skype.
"This was the worst day in those people's lives."
In a sign the government had regained some control over the airport, EgyptAir said it was resuming flights to Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo on Monday after a three-day halt in which Damascus airport was effectively closed due to unrest. The airline's head said conditions were stable.
No comment was immediately available from Emirates Airline, which had also suspended its flights indefinitely.
The army's assaults appear to have staved off a rebel advance into central Damascus so far. But neither side has gained ground in recent days, and fighting continued along the outskirts of the city despite heavy shelling by Assad's forces.
But rebels said the area around Damascus airport was not secure, with clashes still erupting along the road. It is difficult to verify opposition reports because the government restricts media access into Syria.
Other activists said the road was in army hands but the area was still unstable due to fighting in nearby towns like Beit Saham, about 1 kilometer away.
"No one controls that road. The army has tanks along the road, but the whole area is exposed to rebel attacks and they could fire on it any time," said one, asking not to be named.
DEADLY ROCKET ATTACKS
Rocket attacks on Sunday killed at least 10 in the town of Deir al-Asafir, 12 km east of Damascus, activists said. Video published by activists from the town showed at least five bodies, one of them a young boy and one an elderly man. The other bodies were wrapped in blood-spattered white sheets.
Syrian security officials and diplomatic sources say the army's goal is to push rebels back and seal off central Damascus from the surrounding suburbs where the opposition is dominant.
Rebels say they want to control the airport because the army has used it to bring in weapons. Western intelligence reports earlier this year said that Iran, Assad's main backer, had been using civilian aircraft to fly military equipment and personnel through Iraqi airspace into Syria.
U.S. officials say the arms flow into Syria has continued due to Iraqi reluctance to check flights, according to a New York Times article. It said only two inspections had occurred since Iraq agreed to a U.S. request in September and that Iran may have been tipped off about the searches.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told reporters in Baghdad on Sunday there was no such request.
"There is no ability to inspect all planes destined to Syria and there was no U.S. request to inspect all aircrafts because they know that this is not possible," he said.
Lebanese troops clashed with Syrian rebels on the border between the two countries on Sunday in what a security source called the first such incident between Lebanon's army and the rebels.
The clash occurred when a Lebanese border patrol spotted the rebel fighters along the border and the rebels opened fire to prevent the patrol from approaching, said a Lebanese military source. He said there were no casualties.
CAR BOMBINGS
In Syria's central city of Homs, a car bomb killed at least 15 people and wounded 24 on Sunday, Syria's state news agency SANA said. It said the blast in the city's Hamra district also damaged many nearby residential buildings. The government and the opposition traded blame for the blast.
There has been a rise in the number of car bombs around the country. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists across Syria, reported four car bombs on Saturday.
The group gave a preliminary death toll for Sunday's fighting of 140.
Violence has risen in Syria particularly since rebels began to contest Assad's control around the capital and Aleppo, Syria's largest city, but foreign powers remain deadlocked.
Western countries support the opposition but Russia, Syria's main arms supplier, and China have blocked three U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning Assad and reject sanctions.
Assad, whose family has ruled Syria autocratically for four decades, says he is fighting off radical Islamist militants funded by the West and Gulf Arab countries.
State television on Sunday said the army was "eliminating al Qaeda terrorists" in the rebel stronghold of Daraya, a suburb on the southern outskirts of Damascus from which mortar shells have been fired into the capital.
Rebel spokesman Abu Nidal said the army had entered one side of the suburb but that the rebels were still in control of the rest of the area.
(Additional reporting by Suadad al-Salhy in Baghdad; Editing by Roger Atwood)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-bombed-opposition-open-peacekeepers-000135777.html
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Sunday, December 2, 2012
UK finance boss: Debt-cutting slower than expected
LONDON (AP) ? Britain's Treasury chief has acknowledged that the government is not meeting its self-imposed economic targets, but insists he will not waver from his policy of tax hikes and spending cuts.
George Osborne said Sunday that the government has set goals of cutting debt as a share of national income by 2015/16, and of balancing the current budget.
He admitted "it is taking longer to deal with our debts, but we are making progress."
He told BBC television that "to turn back now would be a complete disaster."
Osborne said he would introduce new tax measures for the rich in a fall budget statement on Wednesday.
Critics say the government's austerity policy has failed to kick-start the economy, which has been through two periods of recession since 2008.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-finance-boss-debt-cutting-slower-expected-110504268--finance.html
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ZP Heller: A Generation Free of AIDS?
We may be witnessing the beginning of the end for AIDS. A recent report from UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, reveals a more than 50 percent decline in new HIV infections in 25 low- and middle-income countries over the last decade. Thirteen of those countries are located in sub-Saharan Africa, where this global epidemic continues to plague the population.
This remarkable news comes just in time for World AIDS Day, December 1, and as we reach the 1,000-day deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goal regarding HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. UNAIDS claims that ending the AIDS epidemic is "entirely feasible," due primarily to enhancing people's access to drugs that treat the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS.
"The pace of progress is quickening," said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidib? in a press release. "What used to take a decade is now being achieved in 24 months."
HIV Prevention Rises, While AIDS-Related Deaths Decline
According to the UNAIDS report, there were 700,000 fewer new HIV infections globally in the last decade. HIV-prevention efforts have been most successful among children. In fact, the sharpest reduction in new HIV infections around the world -- approximately two-thirds between 2009 and 2011 -- has been among newborns. New infections among children in general declined by 43 percent from 2003-2011.
"It is becoming evident that achieving zero HIV infections in children is possible," said Sidib?. "I am excited that far fewer babies are being born with HIV. We are moving from despair to hope."
In addition, UNAIDS contends that in sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS-related deaths have plummeted by more than one-third in the last six years. Meanwhile, the number of people who receive antiretroviral treatment has jumped 59 percent in the last two years, and there has been a 63 percent increase worldwide in access to HIV treatment during that period.
The report also maintains that approximately 8 million people were receiving antiretroviral treatment by the end of 2011 -- a number that is up 20 percent since 2003. However, the UN's targeted goal is to treat 15 million people by 2015.
Achieving an AIDS-Free Generation
Sidib? cautioned that although we are making historic progress in combating this global epidemic, much more must be done to achieve an AIDS-free generation by 2015.
There were an estimated 34 million people living with HIV at the end of 2011; approximately half of them were unaware of their HIV status. Despite a 20 percent decline in new infections over the last decade, there were still 2.5 million new infections last year, along with 1.7 million deaths due to AIDS-related causes. Over 70 percent of those new cases came from sub-Saharan Africa, where approximately one in every 20 adults is infected.
In particular, HIV/AIDS continues to have a disproportionate impact on women and children. HIV/AIDS is said to be the chief cause of death for women of reproductive age worldwide. Yet UNAIDS estimates that 60 percent of low- and middle-income countries do not allocate sufficient resources for women and girls in their national HIV responses.
Instead, there is rampant gender inequality, often accompanied by violence or the threat of violence, which prevents women from accessing HIV prevention, treatment, and care services. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why the UN Population Fund recently described access to contraception and family planning as a "universal human right."
Beyond the numbers, people living with HIV are often stigmatized, becoming victims of discrimination and gross injustice. To that end, UNAIDS recently appointed Nobel peace prize winner and Member of Parliament Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a Global Advocate for Zero Discrimination.
"It is a great honor to be chosen as a champion for people who live on the fringes of society and struggle every day to maintain their dignity and basic human rights. I would like to be the voice of the voiceless," said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She will work to remove the stigma that often intimidates people and precludes them from seeking HIV treatment.
For more on how you can help in the fight against AIDS, please visit www.unfoundation.org/features/world-aids-day.html.
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Follow ZP Heller on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@zpheller
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zp-heller/a-generation-free-of-aids_b_2220140.html
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