Saturday, November 2, 2013

LAX LATEST: Total of 5 people taken to hospitals


LOS ANGELES (AP) — A suspected gunman was in custody following a shooting at Los Angeles airport that killed a TSA officer and wounded other people. This is what AP reporters on the scene Friday are learning about the events unfolding:

___

DETAILS ON INJURIES

Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Armando Hogan says five people were taken to hospitals after the shooting: the gunman, the TSA officer who died, two other people who were shot, and one person with a broken ankle. A sixth person was treated at the scene for ringing in the ears from gunfire.

The TSA said two of the people injured are TSA officers.

___

SHOOTER HAD MORE AMMO

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says the airport shooter was carrying a lot of additional ammunition. "There were more than 100 more rounds," he said.

___

PASSENGERS ON WAY BACK IN

As two terminals reopened, hundreds of passengers pulled rolling suitcases across a road outside the facilities, standing shoulder-to-shoulder across all four lanes. Motorcycle police with megaphones followed slowly behind, trying to herd them onto the sidewalk.

___

HUNDREDS OF FLIGHTS AFFECTED

Airport officials say 746 flights nationwide were affected by the incident. Some 46 were diverted, and others were held at LAX or at the originating airport. Terminal 3, where the shooting occurred, remains closed as the forensics investigation continues.

___

AIRPORT SLOWLY REOPENING

Employees are being let back into two closed terminals, and taxis and buses are again running on a loop through the airport. In addition, the FAA has dropped its "ground stop" order, meaning airliners in other cities are allowed to resume flying to LAX. Nearly 200 flights were cancelled and others were diverted.

___

MORE ON VICTIMS

One of the victims taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center arrived without signs of life, says trauma surgeon David Plurad. Doctors worked for over an hour to try to revive the man, but were unsuccessful. He died from gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen. Another man was shot in the shoulder and is expected to survive.

Another person was released from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The hospitals did not identify the patients, citing privacy issues.

___

SHOOTER'S FATHER WAS CONCERNED

A New Jersey police chief says the suspect had apparently made references to suicide. Pennsville Chief Allen Cummings says Paul Ciancia's father had called him Friday saying another of his children had received a text message from the suspect "in reference to him taking his own life." Cummings says the elder Ciancia, also named Paul, asked him for help locating his son.

___

HOTELS FLOODED WITH TRAVELERS

Travelers by the hundreds have streamed into hotels near LAX. The lobbies of the Sheraton and Radisson at the airport's entrance overflowed onto sidewalks. Ronald Dauzat, owner and headmaster of a Los Angeles private school, was on his way to Berlin for an educational conference. He had resigned himself to spending most of the day at the Sheraton. "I'm dealing with it the best I can," he said. "We just have to wait it out."

___

FIRST TSA OFFICER KILLED

Union and TSA officials say the TSA officer shot at LAX was the first ever killed in the line of duty. J. David Cox Sr., national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, says the officer was one of the behavioral detection officers stationed throughout the airport looking for suspicious behavior.

___

SOURCE: NOTE THREATENED 'TSA AND PIGS'

A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that 23-year-old suspect Paul Ciancia is from New Jersey and was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing a hand-written note that said he "wanted to kill TSA and pigs." The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

___

AT THE HOSPITAL

Three people are being treated at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

A hospital official says one was in critical condition and two were in fair condition. Two were wounded by gunshots and the other suffered other injuries. All are male.

Dr. Lynne McCullough, an emergency medicine physician, says the hospital was capable of taking up to 50 patients. "As it turned out, very thankfully, we received only three" patients, she said.

___

CELEBS AT LAX

James Franco was among the travelers caught up in the chaos. The actor tweeted that "some (expletive) shot up the place." His publicist confirmed Franco was on a flight that landed shortly after the shooting occurred. Singer Nick Jonas tweeted about waiting on board a plane and said he was praying for the victims.

___

SHOOTER IDENTIFIED

Law enforcement officials identify shooting suspect as 23-year-old Paul Ciancia.

___

LATEST ON VICTIMS

The Transportation Security Administration says multiple officers with the agency were shot, one fatally. The agency declined to provide further information, saying additional details would be given by the FBI and police.

___

UNION: SHOOTER NOT TSA AGENT

Tim Kauffman, a spokesman for American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 45,000 TSA screeners, says the airport shooter was not a TSA officer.

___

PARKING LOT SEARCH

Police tell KNX Radio that officers are looking at the hundreds of vehicles in the parking structure near Terminal 3 but weren't sure how the shooter got to the airport.

___

ALERTS

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says it has increased its airport patrols as a precaution in the wake of the LAX shooting. Chief Security Officer Joseph Dunne says the stepped-up patrols are not expected to affect flight operations.

___

BAM, BAM, BAM

Xavier Savant was waiting in the security line at the terminal where the shooting occurred and he and other passengers dropped to the floor in panic. He described it as a "bam, bam, bam" burst of gunfire.

"We just hit the deck. Everybody in the line hit the floor and shots just continued," he said.

He said the shots subsided and people bolted through the metal detectors and ran into the terminal, eventually making their way out to the tarmac.

"My whole thing was to get away from him," said Savant, an advertising creative director in Hollywood who was heading to New York City with his family.

___

HANDS UP

Ben Rosen, 30, was sitting at the Starbucks in Terminal 3 eating oatmeal when he heard gunfire erupt and people start running in all directions and crouching on the floor.

Police arrived with guns drawn and shouted, "This is not a drill, hands up," he said. Everyone raised their hands and were led out of the terminal.

As they were led out, they saw broken glass from a window that looked like it'd been shot out. Rosen left his bag behind.

"It was scary. I've never experienced anything like this before," he said. "I definitely felt underprepared. In retrospect, you have all these fire drills in school but you don't really have gunman drills."

___

DISBELIEF IN TERMINAL

Grant Imahara of the Discovery show "Mythbusters" was in an airport lounge area when he heard gunfire in the terminal and saw police and terrified passengers react. "It was fairly tense, and particularly after we heard the shots ring out, like 'oh my God this is really happening,'" he said.

___

HEROICS

LAX Police Chief Patrick Gannon said actions of responding officers were heroic. "They did not hesitate, they went after this individual, they confronted this individual in our airport," Gannon says.

___

START OF SHOOTING

Gannon says the gunman entered the terminal, pulled a rifle from a bag and began shooting. The gunfire continued at a screening checkpoint before he entered a secured area. Officers took him into custody after a shootout. "As you can imagine, a large amount of chaos took place in this entire incident," he said.

___

SEVEN PEOPLE TREATED

Interim Los Angeles Fire Chief Jim Featherstone says paramedics treated seven people at the scene, and six were taken to hospitals.

___

LONE GUNMAN

Gannon says there was a lone shooter who approached a TSA agent who was checking passenger documents and opened fire.

___

TSA OFFICER KILLED

Tim Kauffman, a spokesman for the American Federation of Government Employees in Washington, confirmed that a TSA officer was killed in the incident at Los Angeles International Airport. He said the union's information comes from their local officials in Los Angeles.

___

AVOID AIRPORT

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti urges public to stay away from the airport for the time being.

___

WAYLAID PASSENGERS

Evacuated passengers were loaded onto buses by the dozens, while others decided to walk off the airport grounds.

People trailing rolling suitcases were seen on the normally quiet streets and sidewalks outside LAX.

Brian Livesay, 44, said when he arrived on a business trip from Atlanta the airport seemed unusually quiet. The film and TV production designer didn't realize there was a problem until he saw heavily armed police on the airport beltway. He decided to walk the 3-or-so miles to the rental car facilities.

"If there was anything moving on four wheels besides a police car, I would be in a cab," he said. "I have a room full of CBS executives waiting for me."

___

HOLDING PATTERN

Flights heading for Los Angeles, which had not yet taken off, were held at their gates by the Federal Aviation Administration. Others in the air — including three JetBlue flights from the East Coast — diverted to other airports.

Flight tracking site FlightAware.com said that as of 11 a.m. Pacific, there were 12 flight cancellations and 132 flight delays in Los Angeles.

Travelers hoping to fly out are unable to reach Los Angeles airport because of road closures.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lax-latest-total-5-people-taken-hospitals-002241663.html
Related Topics: japan earthquake   kenya   harvest moon   nfl   khan academy  

Snowden seeks the world's help against US charges


BERLIN (AP) — The U.S. refused to show any leniency to fugitive leaker Edward Snowden on Friday, even as Secretary of State John Kerry conceded that eavesdropping on allies had happened on "automatic pilot" and went too far.

Snowden made his appeal for U.S. clemency in a letter released Friday by a German lawmaker who met with him in Moscow. In it, the 30-year-old American asked for international help to persuade the U.S. to drop spying charges against him and said he would like to testify before the U.S. Congress about the National Security Agency's surveillance activities.

Snowden also indicated he would be willing to help German officials investigate alleged U.S. spying in Germany, said Hans-Christian Stroebele, a lawmaker with the opposition Green Party and a member of the parliamentary committee that oversees German intelligence.

Stroebele met with Snowden for three hours on Thursday, a week after explosive allegations that the NSA had monitored Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone prompted her to complain personally to President Barack Obama. The alleged spying has produced the most serious diplomatic tensions between the two allies since Germany opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In his one-page typed letter, written in English and bearing signatures that Stroebele said were his own and Snowden's, the American complained that the U.S. government "continues to treat dissent as defection, and seeks to criminalize political speech with felony charges that provide no defense."

"However, speaking the truth is not a crime," Snowden wrote. "I am confident that with the support of the international community, the government of the United States will abandon this harmful behavior."

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki would not respond directly to Snowden's appeal, but said the U.S. position "has not changed."

"Despite recent reports or recent pronouncements from Mr. Snowden, as we've stated many times before, he's accused of leaking classified information, faces felony charges here in the United States and we believe he should be returned as soon as possible, where he will be accorded full due process and protections applicable under U.S. law," Psaki said.

Snowden's father, Lon Snowden, who recently visited his son in Russia and continues to communicate with him, told The Associated Press on Friday that Snowden will not travel to Germany to talk to authorities as long as the U.S. charges remain in place.

"If they want to understand my son's position about Germany, read his letter. It's pretty clear. He is not going to Germany to testify as long as he is indicted by the United States and their position is what it is," the elder Snowden said, adding that his son would prefer to testify before Congress anyway.

"My son would love to come back to the United States but I'm not sure it will be safe for him, even if all charges are dropped," Lon Snowden said. "My advice would be to stay in Russia and move on with his life, and that's what I believe he will do."

Stroebele said Edward Snowden appeared healthy and cheerful during their meeting at an undisclosed location in Moscow. The German television network ARD, which accompanied Stroebele, said the Germans were taken to the meeting by unidentified security officials under "strict secrecy."

Snowden "said that he would like most to lay the facts on the table before a committee of the U.S. Congress and explain them," Stroebele said. The lawmaker, a prominent critic of the NSA's alleged activities, said Snowden "did not present himself to me as anti-American or anything like that — quite the contrary."

Merkel this week sent German officials to Washington for talks on the spying issue. Germany's parliament also is expected to discuss the NSA's alleged spying on Nov. 18.

Snowden's appeal came as Kerry conceded that because of modern technology, some NSA activities had gone too far and were carried out without the knowledge of Obama administration officials.

"The president and I have learned of some things that have been happening, in many ways on an automatic pilot, because the technology is there," Kerry said Thursday, speaking in a video link to an open government conference in London.

"In some cases, some of these actions have reached too far and we are going to try to make sure it doesn't happen in the future," Kerry said, adding that ongoing reviews of U.S. surveillance will ensure that technology is not being abused.

Snowden was granted a one-year asylum in Russia in August after being stuck at a Moscow airport for more than a month following his arrival from Hong Kong. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Snowden got asylum on condition that he wouldn't harm U.S. interests.

Snowden's exact whereabouts in Russia and his activities there have been a mystery, though there has been wide speculation that he is under the control of Russia's security services.

Stroebele was tightlipped about where he met Snowden. The German politician said he had no contact with the German Embassy in Moscow nor with Russian authorities other than a passport control officer — although he did not explain who the security officials mentioned by German television were.

Snowden's lawyer says his client has accepted a technical-support job with a major Russian website but refused to name it.

"He enjoys living in Russia. ... We have opportunities to visit cultural events. We have opportunities to show him our places of interest," attorney Anatoly Kucherena said.

He also said Snowden is studying Russian and has developed some competency in it.

The Russian news site Life News on Thursday published a photo showing Snowden on a boat in the Moscow River with the Christ the Savior Cathedral in the background. It said the photo was taken in September.

"It's him," Kucherena told the AP on Friday.

_____

AP correspondents Vladimir Isachenkov and Jim Heintz in Moscow, Deb Riechmann in Washington, Michael Rubinkam in Pennsylvania, and David Rising and Robert H. Reid in Berlin contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/snowden-seeks-worlds-help-against-us-charges-162138932.html
Tags: Helen Lasichanh   homeland   wes welker   nasdaq   Lady Gaga Applause  

Friday, November 1, 2013

The Fight to Criminalize Early-Term Abortions

RU-486
The raft of new efforts to regulate medication abortions are confusing, and the legal questions surrounding them are even more so.

Newsmakers / Getty Images








In 2011, Oklahoma passed a law making it harder for doctors to prescribe abortion-inducing drugs. Oklahoma’s Supreme Court struck down the law as unconstitutional. Then the Supreme Court agreed to review the case, but asked the Oklahoma court (which had written only a few paragraphs) to clarify why they struck down the law in the first place. This week, the Oklahoma Court explained itself: The state’s effort to regulate abortion-inducing drugs amounted to a total ban on medication abortions. And so it was unconstitutional.











Dahlia Lithwick writes about the courts and the law for Slate. Follow her on Twitter.










One day earlier, a lower court in Texas, looking at a substantially similar (but not identical) effort to regulate medication abortions, upheld the provision, albeit with an exception. If a woman need a nonsurgical abortion to protect her health or life, she can still get it. The raft of new efforts to regulate medication abortions are confusing, and the legal questions surrounding them are even more so. How can we square what happened in Texas with what happened in Oklahoma, and what does it all mean for the future of this type of abortion at the Supreme Court, where the Oklahoma case may be heard in the near future?










The constitutional questions around medication abortions are new and complicated and different from the usual fights we’ve witnessed over surgical abortion and TRAP laws (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers). Medication abortions mainly involve the drug mifepristone, or RU-486. They take place in the first trimester—and that means the state-erected limits are often thinly disguised state efforts to challenge what remains of Roe v Wade. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, signing her state’s bill in May 2011, called it “a critical part of our effort to promote the cause of life.” Gov. Rick Perry has expressly stated that his goal is to make abortion at any stage “a thing of the past.” In effect, these challenges force questions that have been unanswered for years at the court: Is Roe still on safe ground? Are state efforts to force the question back before the high court going to pay off? And what does it mean when courts seem to find it easier to write about the rights of doctors to practice good medicine than the rights of women to receive it?











Is Roe still on safe ground? Are state efforts to force the abortion question back before the high court going to pay off?












Twelve states, including Oklahoma, have some form of medication-abortion regulations on the books. The Oklahoma ban was incredibly poorly drafted, essentially sweeping in any “abortion inducing medication,” which made it easy for the state Supreme Court to see it as a total ban. The other states have been sneakier.










As Linda Greenhouse explained in September, the issue here is not the abortions themselves. The statues revolve around how doctors may prescribe the series of pills that induce them. Only one drug—mifepristone—has been approved by the FDA for inducing abortions, and only for the first nine weeks of pregnancy. But the way doctors use this drug and others related to it has changed in the intervening years. At this point, the most common medication-abortion protocol requires that women take two pills: mifepristone, which terminates the pregnancy, and misoprostol, two days later, which causes the uterus to expel the pregnancy. In most states, women can take the first pill at her doctor’s office and the second pill at home, which helps improve access for poor or rural women who live far from abortion clinics, can’t take off several days from work, and want to terminate as early as possible.










Under the 2011 Oklahoma law, the state required physicians to follow the dosage and procedures only as written on the F.D.A. label. The prohibition on allowing doctors to prescribe the pill in a manner considered "off-label" effectively means that although research and best practices have evolved (as they have for medications approved for cancer and migraines and most other things), physicians must continue to prescribe dosages that are medically outdated. As Amanda Marcotte explained in Slate, since the FDA label was approved, further research has shown that the second pill in the series can safely be taken at home, and that the 600 milligrams of Mifeprex required by the label is too high. Most doctors agree that only 200 milligrams are needed. Finally, as Greenhouse clarified, “While the original F.D.A. label specified that the drugs should be used only up to 49 days of pregnancy, doctors have found the regimen safe and effective for up to 63 days—nine weeks of pregnancy.”










To sum up, the FDA label mandates a protocol that is more cumbersome, expensive, and dangerous for most women. Emily Bazelon explained why FDA reauthorization has not been sought, even though, at this point “96 percent of all medication abortions now involve an evidence-based regimen that departs from the FDA protocol that’s on the label.” That’s why a district court judge in Oklahoma, looking at the restriction, found that limiting physicians to the label requirements was “so completely at odds with the standard that governs the practice of medicine that it can serve no purpose other than to prevent women from obtaining abortions and to punish and discriminate against those women who do.” In other words, he got it. And then he stopped Oklahoma’s law from going into effect.


















Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/oklahoma_says_laws_against_medication_abortions_are_unconstitutional_but.html
Tags: arian foster   Texas A&m   9/11   rafael nadal   alexander skarsgard  

The German Gambit

Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden in Russia, captured in video footage shown on Oct. 31, 2013.

Photo via Reuters








Edward Snowden leaked documents from the National Security Agency in the name of privacy and transparency. He believed that people around the world should know the NSA was spying on them. Now he’s using the anger of those people to protect himself from the U.S. government.











Will Saletan writes about politics, science, technology, and other stuff for Slate. He’s the author of Bearing Right. Follow him on Twitter.










In his first recorded interview with the Guardian, conducted on June 6, Snowden said he had joined the U.S. intelligence community as a naïve patriot. Over the years, he had learned that the government was “misleading all publics, not just the American public, in order to create a certain mindset in the global consciousness.” He had come to regard himself as a citizen of the world, rejecting the NSA’s premise that U.S. intelligence agencies had no duty to respect foreigners’ privacy. “The US Person/foreigner distinction is not a reasonable substitute for individualized suspicion,” Snowden wrote in a Q&A with the Guardian on June 17. Four weeks later, in a July 12 statement at the Moscow airport, he declared,










Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and numerous statutes and treaties forbid such systems of massive, pervasive surveillance. … I believe in the principle declared at Nuremberg in 1945: "Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience. Therefore individual citizens have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring.”











I take Snowden at his word. He believes everyone has a right to privacy. That, above all, is why he has leaked these documents. But he’s also human. From the moment he revealed his identity, he has been pursued by the U.S. government, seeking his extradition and prosecution. His passport has been revoked, blocking his freedom to travel. He knows what happened to Chelsea Manning. To defend himself, Snowden needs friends. He needs governments that are willing to protect him from the U.S.










That’s one reason why Snowden went to Hong Kong in the first place. According to his principal collaborator, journalist Glenn Greenwald, Snowden fled there in part because he believed  that “the Chinese government and the government of Hong Kong will not be simply subservient or complicit in adhering to U.S. dictates regarding what it is that they want to do to him.” Surely that’s why Snowden, while still in Hong Kong, picked China as the first country whose victimization by the NSA he would expose.










Since then, Greenwald and other reporters, armed with Snowden’s files, have exposed NSA surveillance against France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, India, and many other countries. The Germans, in particular, are furious that the NSA tapped the phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel. They plan to investigate exactly what the NSA has done to them over the years. For that, they need Snowden’s help. They want his testimony.










And that, in turn, presents Snowden with an opportunity. On Oct. 31 he wrote a letter to the Germans. In the letter, released this morning, he describes his principles, his audience, and his mission in global terms. “I witnessed systemic violations of law by my government that created a moral duty to act,” he writes. “Citizens around the world as well as high officials—including in the United States—have judged the revelation of an unaccountable system of pervasive surveillance to be a public service.”










Now he needs help from these citizens and officials. “I have faced a severe and sustained campaign of persecution that forced me from my family and home,” he writes. “I am currently living in exile under a grant of temporary asylum.” He concludes,










[M]y government continues to treat dissent as defection, and seeks to criminalize political speech with felony charges that provide no defense. … I am confident that with the support of the international community, the government of the United States will abandon this harmful behavior. I hope that when the difficulties of this humanitarian situation have been resolved, I will be able to cooperate in the responsible finding of fact regarding reports in the media, particularly in regard to the truth and authenticity of documents, as appropriate and in accordance with the law. I look forward to speaking with you in your country when the situation is resolved …









You don’t need NSA software to decipher this message. Snowden is telling the Germans he’ll gladly testify in their investigation—though he’d prefer to do so before the U.S. Congress—but first he needs their help. He needs guarantees that he can fly to Germany, and remain there, under legal protection from extradition. The Germans, armed with his disclosures of U.S. espionage against them, must use that leverage, legally and politically, to stand up to the U.S.










Will they oblige him? I doubt it. But I’ve been wrong about this story before. When Snowden revealed his identity, I thought he was doomed. One man couldn’t escape the global reach and wrath of the U.S. government, could he? But Snowden’s leaks, regardless of his motives, have served him well. They have earned him friends around the world and have turned those friends against the U.S. Now we’ll see whether, for the man himself, it pays off.








Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2013/11/snowden_s_letter_to_merkel_will_germany_grant_him_asylum.html
Tags: breaking bad   Ios 7 Jailbreak  

Syria peace envoy: No talks without opposition


DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The international envoy to Syria called on the divided opposition Friday to overcome differences and agree to attend peace talks with President Bashar Assad's government, warning the negotiations cannot go forward without them.

Lakhdar Brahimi, who wrapped up his five-day visit to Damascus, appeared uncertain about prospects for the meeting expected to take place later this month in Geneva.

The deeply fractured Syrian opposition groups are split on whether to attend the talks. They also disagree over conditions for taking part — from demands that Assad steps down right away to guarantees that he would not be part of a negotiated solution for the country's future. The opposition is also split between Damascus-based groups, who have said they will attend without preconditions, and the exiled opposition, which is more hard-line.

The government has rejected demands that Assad step aside, saying he will stay at least until the end of his term in mid-2014, and will then decide whether to seek re-election. Assad also has said he will not negotiate with armed rebels.

"The Syrian national opposition, armed and unarmed, have all been invited to form a convincing delegation," Brahimi said in Beirut after arriving from Syria. "I am counting on the Syrian people and those who claim to represent the Syrian people to realize the danger of the situation and for all sides to seek to save Syria and to save their country."

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters the aim was to convene the talks "within the month of November."

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said "a great deal is being done" to try to unite the opposition.

"Everybody knows that this is difficult," he said.

Nesirky said Brahimi will meet U.S. and Russian officials in Geneva on Nov. 5 for further discussions. They then will be joined by the other permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China and France, he said. The U.S. and Russia have been pushing for a peace conference in November.

The Syrian opposition is made up of different factions, many of them politicians based in exile — the majority of whom are part of the main umbrella group, the Syrian National Coalition. The rebels themselves are a mix of various groups, from the mainstream Free Syrian Army to the extremist but powerful and effective al-Qaida-linked groups. That's made negotiations difficult.

The push for peace talks came as Syrian troops captured a strategic northern town Friday after weeks of intense battles, pushing rebels from a sprawling military complex believed to store chemical weapons.

The capture of Safira follows recent victories by government forces mainly around the capital Damascus and the embattled northern province of Aleppo where the town is located. Earlier this month, troops captured the nearby town of Khanaser, opening a key road linking the central heartland with Aleppo.

Rebels had been in control of Safira for more than a year.

Government forces also have pushed rebels further from the desert road used to send supplies to government-held areas in the north.

"The main aim of the offensive was to secure the Defense Factories and the second to secure the road used to send army supplies," said an Aleppo-based activist who goes with the name Abu Raed.

"The battle over the Defense Factories is over," said the man, suggesting it would not be possible for rebels to attack the complex after government troops captured Safira.

More than 120,000 people have been killed so far in the war, now in its third year, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Observatory, a Britain-based watchdog that closely monitors the war through a network of activists in the country. The U.N. said in July that 100,000 Syrians have been killed, and has not updated that figure since. Millions of Syrians have fled their homes because of the fighting.

____

Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Edith Lederer contributed to this report from New York.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-peace-envoy-no-talks-without-opposition-122150210.html
Tags: happy halloween   Giraffe   banksy   Angel Dust   Mary Lambert  

Oculus CEO clarifies: one Oculus Rift headed to consumers, supports Android and PC

Despite contrary reports, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe says that only one version of his company's consumer-ready virtual reality gaming headset is planned for launch. "We will be delivering a single Oculus Rift," Iribe tells Engadget. After giving a keynote during GamesBeat 2013 this week, it was ...


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/hBuQgEVgmiw/
Category: Tom Foley   melissa mccarthy   Alice Munro   alyssa milano   mila kunis  

Xbox One will act as a media server and play audio CDs



The Xbox One will stream media from your home network and play audio CDs, Microsoft tells Penny Arcade Report. In that way, the One is much like the Xbox 360. When it comes to MP3 playback, however, it's a little trickier. The Xbox One is a Play To device that supports Redmond's PC and mobile ecosystem, but not much else. This comes just days after Sony released its massive FAQ that said, among other things, that the PlayStation 4 wouldn't do any of the above. If you're looking for a new do-all device for your A/V rack, the Xbox One could be it.


Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/01/xbox-one-dlna-streaming-mp3-playback/?ncid=rss_truncated
Related Topics: Jamie Dornan   iOS 7   Cecily Strong   catherine zeta jones   usain bolt  

Jonas Brothers Pen Open Letter Thanking Fans After Breakup, Give Team Jonas Members New Music


The Jonas Brothers won't be burning up the charts anytime soon. Joe Bro fans across the globe were devastated to learn that the popular family band was breaking up after a 10-year career as Disney recording artists and beyond.


Now the brothers have tried to give back to their diehard fans in an open Facebook letter.  


PHOTOS: The Jonas Brothers through the years


Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas had already confirmed the news on multiple platforms, including their Oct. 30 Good Morning America interview, but in this special Facebook message, they spoke directly to their loyal followers. 


"It is with heavy hearts that we confirm that our time as the Jonas Brothers is over," the group wrote. "This decision has not come lightly, and we know that many of you will be disappointed. The time has come for us to move forward on individual career paths. We have been a band of brothers for 10 years and are now choosing simply to be brothers." 


PHOTOS: Biggest boy bands of all time


After confirming that each of the brothers will continue with their own solo pursuits, the Jonas Brothers gave Team Jonas fans a special surprise. 


"Because you waited so long for new music, we want to honor our Team Jonas fan club members by giving you our final album," they continued. "This digital-only album contains four new studio recordings that would have appeared on our V album (which will now go unreleased). In addition, we're including 10 live tracks that we feel capture the energy and excitement of this past summer's tour."


PHOTOS: Disney stars through the years


Kevin, Joe, and Nick concluded the letter saying, "You will always be the best fans in the world."


Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/jonas-brothers-pen-open-letter-thanking-fans-after-breakup-give-team-jonas-members-new-music-2013111
Similar Articles: Cameron Douglas   Ios 7 Jailbreak   iOS 7 download   blobfish   george zimmerman  

Tech Week That Was: Kids And Screens, NSA And Our Data





A protester appears behind Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, at a hearing of the House intelligence committee this week in Washington.



Alex Wong/Getty Images


A protester appears behind Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, at a hearing of the House intelligence committee this week in Washington.


Alex Wong/Getty Images


Each week, we round up the tech and culture stories from NPR and beyond. Let's do this, folks.


ICYMI


Online and on air, we've started our new effort to report several stories on a single theme during the week. Our first themed week explored kids and technology, with my look at babies and screen time, Steve Henn on the science of video games, Laura Sydell on tracking the social media use of your teens, and Eric Westervelt on iPads in the classroom. The stories are aggregated on this page for you to go back and read, and on Monday, we'll put up a mashcast podcast for you to listen to the kids-and-tech journey as one enjoyable download. Also this week, April Fehling asked you how you deal with the scourge of texting-while-walking, I showed you the new airline safety videos making me smile, I continued reporting on the debacle of HealthCare.gov and we chose the Bulb Flashlight as the weekly innovation.


The Big Conversation


Another major revelation came out this week about the sheer extent of the surveillance state, when The Washington Post reported that the National Security Agency infiltrated a link between Google and Yahoo's data centers to create a back door to collect data from millions of users, without the companies' knowledge. Google and Yahoo both expressed their outrage and by Friday, Senate intelligence committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein came out against the NSA's surveillance of U.S. allies, and Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that perhaps the government had sometimes "reached too far." In Europe, Spain reacted to news that the NSA collected data on 60 million phone calls, in addition to the news about snooping on France and dozens of world leaders. Security expert Bruce Schneier wrote in The Atlantic that this represents the ongoing struggle over control of the Internet.


In tech industry news, Twitter's marching toward its stock market debut, and this week, it made a significant change in its display of users' tweets, showing pictures and Vine's short videos in user timelines by default, without a click. This will make visual ads on Twitter much more prominent, as The New York Times noted, which will help the company serve more mobile ads.


Other Curiosities


The Wall Street Journal: BlackBerry in talks with Facebook about a bid


Could this be a marriage that would benefit both parties?


Los Angeles Times: Is the mysterious barge in San Francisco Bay a secret Google data center?


Water can keep servers cool. The project could be a floating data center, something Google was granted a patent for in 2009 but never built. But CBS San Francisco reported the barge will be used as an exclusive showroom to market Google Glass and other gadgets.


Gawker: 'The Zuckerberg Files' Tracks Everything Mark Zuckerberg Says


A new site logs every public utterance of the Facebook founder and CEO.


Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/11/01/242351644/tech-week-that-was-kids-and-screens-nsa-and-our-data?ft=1&f=1001
Related Topics: Government Shutdown Over   emmy winners   CDOT   nfl   alyssa milano  

GOP Establishment Digs Deep For Alabama Special Election





Republican Dean Young (above) is backed by the Tea Party. He faces Bradley Byrne in a special runoff election Tuesday to fill Alabama's 1st Congressional District seat.



Phillip Rawls and Campaign of Dean Young/AP


Republican Dean Young (above) is backed by the Tea Party. He faces Bradley Byrne in a special runoff election Tuesday to fill Alabama's 1st Congressional District seat.


Phillip Rawls and Campaign of Dean Young/AP


If the Republican establishment doesn't get its preferred candidate in Tuesday's Alabama special congressional runoff election, it won't be for want of an overwhelming cash advantage.


Bradley Byrne, a former head of the state's community college system, has outraised Tea Party favorite Dean Young $689,000 to $260,000, according to the latest Federal Election Commission filings. And Young's total includes $175,000 the real estate developer and political consultant has lent himself, meaning the actual fundraising ratio is more like 8 to 1.


The outside money ratio is also 8 to 1, according to an NPR review of FEC independent expenditure reports. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has, as of Halloween, poured in $199,000 to help Byrne in the final days before next week's runoff, paying for phone calls, emails, Web ads and direct mail pieces.


Young has benefited from $25,000 worth of television ads from Our Voice PAC, a group run by unsuccessful Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle. Angle was the Tea Party favorite who won the GOP nomination in 2010 but then lost to Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid. Her group had previously spent $40,000 helping Young in the days before the Sept. 24 primary election, which helped him finish second in the crowded field and set up Tuesday's runoff.


The election is the first in what could be a series of Republican primaries where establishment money that has traditionally been saved for a general election against a Democrat is instead spent defeating a Tea Party-backed candidate. Big businesses, investors and other traditional GOP allies have become increasingly frustrated with congressional Republicans willing to take confrontational positions to appease their Tea Party faction.


The government shutdown and apparent willingness to breach the nation's debt ceiling last month have led the chamber and other groups to decide to get more actively involved in Republican primaries.


Whether this big money advantage will matter is an open question. There has been little public polling — and polls of low-turnout special elections are notoriously unreliable to begin with. Nonetheless, Byrne's campaign has said it believes the race is close.


Young is a Christian conservative and former campaign aide to Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore. He has accused Byrne of not accepting the Bible as literal truth and has praised Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for leading the push to defund the Affordable Care Act that led to the 16-day government shutdown.


Byrne has accused Young of being more interested in promoting himself than representing the Mobile-area district. He has received the endorsement of much of the city's establishment, including that of the former representative, Jo Bonner, whose resignation from the House in August led to the special election to replace him.


The seat is heavily Republican and the winner of Tuesday's runoff is expected to win the December general election easily.


S.V. Dáte edits politics and campaign finance coverage for NPR's Washington Desk.


Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/11/01/242396143/gop-establishment-digs-deep-for-alabama-special-election?ft=1&f=1001
Tags: Star Trek Into Darkness   djokovic  

Double-pronged attack could treat common children's cancer

Double-pronged attack could treat common children's cancer


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

1-Nov-2013



[


| E-mail

]


Share Share

Contact: Lauren King
lauren.king@icr.ac.uk
020-715-35380
Institute of Cancer Research





A dual-pronged strategy using two experimental cancer drugs together could successfully treat a childhood cancer by inhibiting tumour growth and blocking off the escape routes it uses to become resistant to treatment, finds a new study.


Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, found that combining two separate molecularly targeted therapies could stop processes driving growth in a cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma, a major cause of cancer death in children.


The drugs, called AZD8055 and AZD6244, block two different signalling pathways involved in cancer growth acting like road-blocks on two separate routes that cancers could otherwise use to evade treatment.


The study, published in Clinical Cancer Research today (Friday, 1 November), was funded by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Cancer at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), with additional funding from Cancer Research UK, The Royal Marsden Hospital Charitable Fund and the Chris Lucas Trust.


Rhabdomyosarcoma tumours can form anywhere in the body and resemble primitive muscle tissue. Despite advances in treatment options, there has been little improvement in outcome for patients with rhabdomyosarcoma in decades and they remain difficult to treat.


Previous research has shown that many rhabdomyosarcomas display activity of the PI3 Kinase signalling pathway, which plays a key role in cancer growth. However, blocking this pathway in other cancer types can lead to alternative signalling pathways becoming active to compensate, allowing resistance to treatment to develop.


In this study, scientists at the ICR targeted the PI3 Kinase pathway and a second pathway called MAP Kinase, to assess any compensatory signalling and determine if blocking both pathways could effectively inhibit rhabdomyosarcoma cell growth.


The researchers found that the PI3 Kinase pathway was active in 83% of rhabdomyosarcoma samples from patients, and that 43% of these also showed activation of the MAP Kinase pathway. In experiments on rhabdomyosarcoma cells to block either pathway alone, they saw compensatory signalling through the alternative pathway, suggesting that inhibiting both pathways is an essential approach to treatment, irrespective of whether MAP kinase signalling was initially activated.


The researchers tested rhabdomyosarcomas with drugs known to be effective against the PI3 Kinase and MAP Kinase pathways. When they tried the drugs AZD8055 and AZD6244 separately they saw reduced cell growth and a decrease in levels of markers showing the activity of the signalling pathways. However, compensatory activity was clearly evident.


But when they combined the two drugs they found a synergistic effect, with cell growth reduced to a greater extent than with either treatment alone. They saw similar synergistic results when AZD8055 and AZD6244 were used together in mice with rhabdomyosarcoma tumours, with tumour marker levels reduced to less than 30% of those in controls.


Co-author Dr Janet Shipley, Team Leader in Sarcoma Molecular Pathology at The Institute of Cancer Research, said:

"Rhabdomyosarcoma is the main type of sarcoma to affect children and little improvement has been made recently using conventional treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy - survival rates for some patients with this disease remain bleak. More effective targeted treatment is desperately needed. Our study shows that treating with one or other of these two drugs is not a good strategy but that combining them is a very promising option."


Co-author Dr Jane Renshaw, Senior Scientific Officer at The Institute of Cancer Research, said:

"We found that while most rhabdomyosarcoma tumours seem to have active PI3K signalling, inhibiting this pathway alone isn't enough to be an effective treatment. Cross-talk between the PI3 Kinase and MAP Kinase pathways means that cancer is able to find an alternative route, like traffic finding a way around a road-block. Targeting both pathways using two drugs together stops that compensatory action.


"These two drugs are being tested for use against cancers in adults so the next step will be to progress with clinical trials for children using the dual approach."


Nell Barrie, Cancer Research UK's Senior Science Communication Manager, said:

"Understanding the inner workings of cancer cells is crucial to finding the best ways to tackle the disease. This lab research emphasises the importance of targeting each cancer's weak points and combining drugs to develop more effective treatments which are urgently needed to improve survival for children's cancers like rhabdomyosarcoma. Further research and clinical trials will shed light on whether this promising drug combination could help save more lives."


###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

[


| E-mail


Share Share

]

 


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Double-pronged attack could treat common children's cancer


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

1-Nov-2013



[


| E-mail

]


Share Share

Contact: Lauren King
lauren.king@icr.ac.uk
020-715-35380
Institute of Cancer Research





A dual-pronged strategy using two experimental cancer drugs together could successfully treat a childhood cancer by inhibiting tumour growth and blocking off the escape routes it uses to become resistant to treatment, finds a new study.


Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, found that combining two separate molecularly targeted therapies could stop processes driving growth in a cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma, a major cause of cancer death in children.


The drugs, called AZD8055 and AZD6244, block two different signalling pathways involved in cancer growth acting like road-blocks on two separate routes that cancers could otherwise use to evade treatment.


The study, published in Clinical Cancer Research today (Friday, 1 November), was funded by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Cancer at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), with additional funding from Cancer Research UK, The Royal Marsden Hospital Charitable Fund and the Chris Lucas Trust.


Rhabdomyosarcoma tumours can form anywhere in the body and resemble primitive muscle tissue. Despite advances in treatment options, there has been little improvement in outcome for patients with rhabdomyosarcoma in decades and they remain difficult to treat.


Previous research has shown that many rhabdomyosarcomas display activity of the PI3 Kinase signalling pathway, which plays a key role in cancer growth. However, blocking this pathway in other cancer types can lead to alternative signalling pathways becoming active to compensate, allowing resistance to treatment to develop.


In this study, scientists at the ICR targeted the PI3 Kinase pathway and a second pathway called MAP Kinase, to assess any compensatory signalling and determine if blocking both pathways could effectively inhibit rhabdomyosarcoma cell growth.


The researchers found that the PI3 Kinase pathway was active in 83% of rhabdomyosarcoma samples from patients, and that 43% of these also showed activation of the MAP Kinase pathway. In experiments on rhabdomyosarcoma cells to block either pathway alone, they saw compensatory signalling through the alternative pathway, suggesting that inhibiting both pathways is an essential approach to treatment, irrespective of whether MAP kinase signalling was initially activated.


The researchers tested rhabdomyosarcomas with drugs known to be effective against the PI3 Kinase and MAP Kinase pathways. When they tried the drugs AZD8055 and AZD6244 separately they saw reduced cell growth and a decrease in levels of markers showing the activity of the signalling pathways. However, compensatory activity was clearly evident.


But when they combined the two drugs they found a synergistic effect, with cell growth reduced to a greater extent than with either treatment alone. They saw similar synergistic results when AZD8055 and AZD6244 were used together in mice with rhabdomyosarcoma tumours, with tumour marker levels reduced to less than 30% of those in controls.


Co-author Dr Janet Shipley, Team Leader in Sarcoma Molecular Pathology at The Institute of Cancer Research, said:

"Rhabdomyosarcoma is the main type of sarcoma to affect children and little improvement has been made recently using conventional treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy - survival rates for some patients with this disease remain bleak. More effective targeted treatment is desperately needed. Our study shows that treating with one or other of these two drugs is not a good strategy but that combining them is a very promising option."


Co-author Dr Jane Renshaw, Senior Scientific Officer at The Institute of Cancer Research, said:

"We found that while most rhabdomyosarcoma tumours seem to have active PI3K signalling, inhibiting this pathway alone isn't enough to be an effective treatment. Cross-talk between the PI3 Kinase and MAP Kinase pathways means that cancer is able to find an alternative route, like traffic finding a way around a road-block. Targeting both pathways using two drugs together stops that compensatory action.


"These two drugs are being tested for use against cancers in adults so the next step will be to progress with clinical trials for children using the dual approach."


Nell Barrie, Cancer Research UK's Senior Science Communication Manager, said:

"Understanding the inner workings of cancer cells is crucial to finding the best ways to tackle the disease. This lab research emphasises the importance of targeting each cancer's weak points and combining drugs to develop more effective treatments which are urgently needed to improve survival for children's cancers like rhabdomyosarcoma. Further research and clinical trials will shed light on whether this promising drug combination could help save more lives."


###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

[


| E-mail


Share Share

]

 


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-11/iocr-dac110113.php
Tags: janelle monae   Beyond Two Souls   Seaside Heights   anthony weiner   Madden 25  

Study explains how a job-market system lands couples in the same city

Study explains how a job-market system lands couples in the same city


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

1-Nov-2013



[


| E-mail

]


Share Share

Contact: Sarah McDonnell
s_mcd@mit.edu
617-253-8923
Massachusetts Institute of Technology





Since World War II, women have entered the American workforce in greater numbers than ever before. For married couples, this presents a wrinkle, since it can be hard for both partners to find a desirable job in the same locale.


This issue is particularly pressing in some specialized fields. When doctors graduate from medical school, for instance, they apply for their first jobs through a national clearinghouse in which both job-seekers and institutions express their preferences; a computer program determines the results. That means two-doctor couples are often fearful of not landing in the same geographic location.


Now a paper co-authored by an MIT economist sheds new light on the circumstances in which these job-placement programs can, in fact, accommodate married couples quite well.


"Our results provide justification for the current rules in practice," says MIT economist Parag Pathak, who helped conduct the study to "try to understand how far we are from some kind of optimal system."


In many cases, the answer appears to be: not far at all. If the method used is properly calibrated to the size of the job market, the researchers found, then the clearinghouse should work for nearly everyone, couples included.


Seeing if an ad-hoc system works


The paper, "Matching with Couples: Stability and Incentives in Large Markets," published this month by the Quarterly Journal of Economics, was written by economists Fuhito Kojima and Alvin Roth of Stanford University, along with Pathak. All three scholars work in the field of "market design," where they seek to devise rules bringing desirable outcomes to social systems. The paper blends theory and empiricism, bridging the gap between theoretical work suggesting these medical markets cannot work very well and recent data indicating that many clearinghouses do function quite efficiently.


In medicine, these mechanisms aim to create a set of "stable matching" results for each year's applicant pool that is, job placements in which, after preferences are listed, interviews are conducted, and mutual job decisions are made, there are no remaining pairs of doctors and hospitals who would sooner be matched with each other, but are not.


These job-market clearinghouses are built on a simple theory first formalized in 1962 by mathematicians David Gale and Lloyd Shapely. They designed an influential "deferred acceptance" algorithm showing how prospective market partners could pair off without any preferred matches being ignored. But in the medical job market, that theory breaks down when couples apply for jobs at the same time; the 1962 algorithm depends on everyone making decisions independently.


In medicine, the centralized job-placement system originated in the 1950s, and by the 1970s, it was increasingly common to find married couples entering the medical job market together. As a result, these clearinghouses began to change their mechanisms by the 1990s, allowing married couples to rank preferences for pairs of jobs.


However, "There had never been any real formal basis for those tweaks," says Pathak, an associate professor in MIT's Department of Economics. That meant it was not clear if there were a better system.


Moreover, some previous theoretical work in the field suggested that placing married couples in the same applicant pool as single doctors could make it impossible to find a stable matching. Mathematicians have shown that in some cases, even computing whether a stable matching exists is practically impossible.


"The theoretical results seemed to contradict the actual performance of the real-world markets," Pathak says. Together, Kojima, Pathak, and Roth worked out the assumptions under which it is possible to reconcile the theory with the practice, and used data from the job market for clinical psychologists to test their theory.


Good test results for doctors


The researchers found that in order to find a stable outcome, the job market has to be fairly large; that married couples cannot constitute a large portion of the applicant pool; and that applicants must not rank every residency program.


And while it might seem intuitive that larger job markets will provide better opportunities, the researchers were able to arrive at some specific conclusions: If there are at least 2,000 jobs available in a given area, and if the number of couples equals the square root of the market size, then a stable matching will occur at least 96 percent of the time.


That corresponds with data from the job clearinghouse used by the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) from 1999 to 2007, the researchers found that, on average, there were 3,010 single applicants and 19 pairs of married applicants annually.


Moreover, the APPIC data from those years did not record any instances of two-doctor couples who were unable to land in jobs in a stable outcome. The APPIC numbers also show that only 2 percent of the single applicants have had their preferences affected by the presence of married couples in the market.


In all, the positive prognosis for doctors is that current circumstances are helping their job-market clearinghouses work well. But for his part, Pathak also regards the paper as just one result in the larger scholarly effort to improve the methods employed in actual markets. The motivation of all such studies, he notes, is "coming up with practical solutions to real problems."

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

[


| E-mail


Share Share

]

 


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Study explains how a job-market system lands couples in the same city


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

1-Nov-2013



[


| E-mail

]


Share Share

Contact: Sarah McDonnell
s_mcd@mit.edu
617-253-8923
Massachusetts Institute of Technology





Since World War II, women have entered the American workforce in greater numbers than ever before. For married couples, this presents a wrinkle, since it can be hard for both partners to find a desirable job in the same locale.


This issue is particularly pressing in some specialized fields. When doctors graduate from medical school, for instance, they apply for their first jobs through a national clearinghouse in which both job-seekers and institutions express their preferences; a computer program determines the results. That means two-doctor couples are often fearful of not landing in the same geographic location.


Now a paper co-authored by an MIT economist sheds new light on the circumstances in which these job-placement programs can, in fact, accommodate married couples quite well.


"Our results provide justification for the current rules in practice," says MIT economist Parag Pathak, who helped conduct the study to "try to understand how far we are from some kind of optimal system."


In many cases, the answer appears to be: not far at all. If the method used is properly calibrated to the size of the job market, the researchers found, then the clearinghouse should work for nearly everyone, couples included.


Seeing if an ad-hoc system works


The paper, "Matching with Couples: Stability and Incentives in Large Markets," published this month by the Quarterly Journal of Economics, was written by economists Fuhito Kojima and Alvin Roth of Stanford University, along with Pathak. All three scholars work in the field of "market design," where they seek to devise rules bringing desirable outcomes to social systems. The paper blends theory and empiricism, bridging the gap between theoretical work suggesting these medical markets cannot work very well and recent data indicating that many clearinghouses do function quite efficiently.


In medicine, these mechanisms aim to create a set of "stable matching" results for each year's applicant pool that is, job placements in which, after preferences are listed, interviews are conducted, and mutual job decisions are made, there are no remaining pairs of doctors and hospitals who would sooner be matched with each other, but are not.


These job-market clearinghouses are built on a simple theory first formalized in 1962 by mathematicians David Gale and Lloyd Shapely. They designed an influential "deferred acceptance" algorithm showing how prospective market partners could pair off without any preferred matches being ignored. But in the medical job market, that theory breaks down when couples apply for jobs at the same time; the 1962 algorithm depends on everyone making decisions independently.


In medicine, the centralized job-placement system originated in the 1950s, and by the 1970s, it was increasingly common to find married couples entering the medical job market together. As a result, these clearinghouses began to change their mechanisms by the 1990s, allowing married couples to rank preferences for pairs of jobs.


However, "There had never been any real formal basis for those tweaks," says Pathak, an associate professor in MIT's Department of Economics. That meant it was not clear if there were a better system.


Moreover, some previous theoretical work in the field suggested that placing married couples in the same applicant pool as single doctors could make it impossible to find a stable matching. Mathematicians have shown that in some cases, even computing whether a stable matching exists is practically impossible.


"The theoretical results seemed to contradict the actual performance of the real-world markets," Pathak says. Together, Kojima, Pathak, and Roth worked out the assumptions under which it is possible to reconcile the theory with the practice, and used data from the job market for clinical psychologists to test their theory.


Good test results for doctors


The researchers found that in order to find a stable outcome, the job market has to be fairly large; that married couples cannot constitute a large portion of the applicant pool; and that applicants must not rank every residency program.


And while it might seem intuitive that larger job markets will provide better opportunities, the researchers were able to arrive at some specific conclusions: If there are at least 2,000 jobs available in a given area, and if the number of couples equals the square root of the market size, then a stable matching will occur at least 96 percent of the time.


That corresponds with data from the job clearinghouse used by the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) from 1999 to 2007, the researchers found that, on average, there were 3,010 single applicants and 19 pairs of married applicants annually.


Moreover, the APPIC data from those years did not record any instances of two-doctor couples who were unable to land in jobs in a stable outcome. The APPIC numbers also show that only 2 percent of the single applicants have had their preferences affected by the presence of married couples in the market.


In all, the positive prognosis for doctors is that current circumstances are helping their job-market clearinghouses work well. But for his part, Pathak also regards the paper as just one result in the larger scholarly effort to improve the methods employed in actual markets. The motivation of all such studies, he notes, is "coming up with practical solutions to real problems."

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

[


| E-mail


Share Share

]

 


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-11/miot-seh110113.php
Tags: Real Madrid   mrsa   Brant Daugherty   alice eve   Whitey Bulger  

Pitt treats gum disease by bringing needed immune cells to inflamed tissue

Pitt treats gum disease by bringing needed immune cells to inflamed tissue


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

1-Nov-2013



[


| E-mail

]


Share Share

Contact: Anita Srikameswaran
SrikamAV@upmc.edu
412-720-2058
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences






PITTSBURGH, Nov. 1, 2013 The red, swollen and painful gums and bone destruction of periodontal disease could be effectively treated by beckoning the right kind of immune system cells to the inflamed tissues, according to a new animal study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. Their findings, published this week in the early online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offer a new therapeutic paradigm for a condition that afflicts 78 million people in the U.S. alone.

Periodontal disease currently is treated by keeping oral bacteria in check with daily brushing and flossing as well as regular professional deep cleaning with scaling and root planing, which remove tartar above and below the gum line. In some hard-to-treat cases, antibiotics are given. These strategies of mechanical tartar removal and antimicrobial delivery aim to reduce the amount of oral bacteria on the tooth surface, explained co-author and co-investigator Charles Sfeir, D.D.S., Ph.D., director, Center for Craniofacial Regeneration and associate professor, Departments of Periodontics and Oral Biology, Pitt's School of Dental Medicine.

"Currently, we try to control the build-up of bacteria so it doesn't trigger severe inflammation, which could eventually damage the bone and tissue that hold the teeth in place," Dr. Sfeir said. "But that strategy doesn't address the real cause of the problem, which is an overreaction of the immune system that causes a needlessly aggressive response to the presence of oral bacteria. There is a real need to design new approaches to treat periodontal disease."

In the healthy mouth, a balance exists between bacteria and the immune system response to forestall infection without generating inflammation, said senior author Steven Little, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering. But in many people, a chronic overload of bacteria sets up the immune system to stay on red alert, causing harm to the oral tissues while it attempts to eradicate germs.

"There is a lot of evidence now that shows these diseased tissues are deficient in a subset of immune cells called regulatory T-cells, which tells attacking immune cells to stand down, stopping the inflammatory response," Dr. Little said. "We wanted to see what would happen if we brought these regulatory T-cells back to the gums."

To do so, the researchers developed a system of polymer microspheres to slowly release a chemokine, or signaling protein, called CCL22 that attracts regulatory T-cells, and placed tiny amounts of the paste-like agent between the gums and teeth of animals with periodontal disease. The team found that even though the amount of bacteria was unchanged, the treatment led to improvements of standard measures of periodontal disease, including decreased pocket depth and gum bleeding, reflecting a reduction in inflammation as a result of increased numbers of regulatory T-cells. MicroCT-scanning showed lower rates of bone loss.

"Mummified remains from ancient Egypt show evidence of teeth scraping to remove plaque," Dr. Little noted. "The tools are better and people are better trained now, but we've been doing much the same thing for hundreds of years. Now, this homing beacon for Treg cells, combined with professional cleaning, could give us a new way of preventing the serious consequences of periodontal disease by correcting the immune imbalance that underlies the condition."

Next steps include developing the immune modulation strategy for human trials. In addition to Drs. Sfeir and Little, the research team included Ph.D. candidate Andrew J. Glowacki,, Sayuri Yoshizawa, D.D.S., Ph.D., Siddharth Jhunjhunwala, Ph.D., all of the University of Pittsburgh; and Andreia E Vieira, Ph.D., and Gustavo P. Garlet, D.D.S., Ph.D., of Sao Paulo University, Brazil.

###

The project was funded by National Institutes of Health Grants 1R01DE021058-01 A1, 1R56DE021058-01, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

About the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine

Established in 1896 as an independent institution named the Pittsburgh Dental College, the School of Dental Medicine was incorporated into the University of Pittsburgh in 1905. The school offers a four-year Predoctoral Program leading to a Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree, an International and Advanced Standing Program for graduates of foreign dental schools, and post-graduate residency programs in 10 disciplines. The school of Dental Medicine offers the only dental hygiene certificate program in Pennsylvania affiliated with a major university, in addition to a dental hygiene baccalaureate degree program. The School of Dental Medicine's comprehensive clinical offerings include the new Multidisciplinary Implant Center and the Center for Patients with Special Needs, one of the few centers in the U.S. dedicated to training future dentists to care for patients with disabilities. Recognized for excellence in research, the School of Dental medicine ranked 6th in National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research funding for fiscal year 2011. For more information about the school of Dental Medicine, visit http://www.dental.pitt.edu.

About the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering

The University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering is one of the oldest engineering programs in the United States. The Swanson School has excelled in basic and applied research during the past decade and is in the forefront of 21st century technology, including energy systems, sustainability, bioengineering, microsystems and nanosystems, computational modeling and advanced materials development. Approximately 120 faculty members serve more than 3,200 undergraduate and graduate students in six departments, including bioengineering, chemical and petroleum engineering, civil and environmental engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering and mechanical engineering and materials science. In 2011, the Swanson School was the top-ranked U.S. school in the percentage of doctoral degrees awarded to women in engineering, according to a ranking based on 2010-11 data from the American Society for Engineering.
http://www.upmc.com/media



Contact:

Anita Srikameswaran

Phone: 412-720-2058

E-mail: SrikamAV@upmc.edu

Contact:

Stephanie Stanley

Phone: 412-586-9762

E-mail: StanleySL@upmc.edu


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

[


| E-mail


Share Share

]

 


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Pitt treats gum disease by bringing needed immune cells to inflamed tissue


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

1-Nov-2013



[


| E-mail

]


Share Share

Contact: Anita Srikameswaran
SrikamAV@upmc.edu
412-720-2058
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences






PITTSBURGH, Nov. 1, 2013 The red, swollen and painful gums and bone destruction of periodontal disease could be effectively treated by beckoning the right kind of immune system cells to the inflamed tissues, according to a new animal study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. Their findings, published this week in the early online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offer a new therapeutic paradigm for a condition that afflicts 78 million people in the U.S. alone.

Periodontal disease currently is treated by keeping oral bacteria in check with daily brushing and flossing as well as regular professional deep cleaning with scaling and root planing, which remove tartar above and below the gum line. In some hard-to-treat cases, antibiotics are given. These strategies of mechanical tartar removal and antimicrobial delivery aim to reduce the amount of oral bacteria on the tooth surface, explained co-author and co-investigator Charles Sfeir, D.D.S., Ph.D., director, Center for Craniofacial Regeneration and associate professor, Departments of Periodontics and Oral Biology, Pitt's School of Dental Medicine.

"Currently, we try to control the build-up of bacteria so it doesn't trigger severe inflammation, which could eventually damage the bone and tissue that hold the teeth in place," Dr. Sfeir said. "But that strategy doesn't address the real cause of the problem, which is an overreaction of the immune system that causes a needlessly aggressive response to the presence of oral bacteria. There is a real need to design new approaches to treat periodontal disease."

In the healthy mouth, a balance exists between bacteria and the immune system response to forestall infection without generating inflammation, said senior author Steven Little, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering. But in many people, a chronic overload of bacteria sets up the immune system to stay on red alert, causing harm to the oral tissues while it attempts to eradicate germs.

"There is a lot of evidence now that shows these diseased tissues are deficient in a subset of immune cells called regulatory T-cells, which tells attacking immune cells to stand down, stopping the inflammatory response," Dr. Little said. "We wanted to see what would happen if we brought these regulatory T-cells back to the gums."

To do so, the researchers developed a system of polymer microspheres to slowly release a chemokine, or signaling protein, called CCL22 that attracts regulatory T-cells, and placed tiny amounts of the paste-like agent between the gums and teeth of animals with periodontal disease. The team found that even though the amount of bacteria was unchanged, the treatment led to improvements of standard measures of periodontal disease, including decreased pocket depth and gum bleeding, reflecting a reduction in inflammation as a result of increased numbers of regulatory T-cells. MicroCT-scanning showed lower rates of bone loss.

"Mummified remains from ancient Egypt show evidence of teeth scraping to remove plaque," Dr. Little noted. "The tools are better and people are better trained now, but we've been doing much the same thing for hundreds of years. Now, this homing beacon for Treg cells, combined with professional cleaning, could give us a new way of preventing the serious consequences of periodontal disease by correcting the immune imbalance that underlies the condition."

Next steps include developing the immune modulation strategy for human trials. In addition to Drs. Sfeir and Little, the research team included Ph.D. candidate Andrew J. Glowacki,, Sayuri Yoshizawa, D.D.S., Ph.D., Siddharth Jhunjhunwala, Ph.D., all of the University of Pittsburgh; and Andreia E Vieira, Ph.D., and Gustavo P. Garlet, D.D.S., Ph.D., of Sao Paulo University, Brazil.

###

The project was funded by National Institutes of Health Grants 1R01DE021058-01 A1, 1R56DE021058-01, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

About the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine

Established in 1896 as an independent institution named the Pittsburgh Dental College, the School of Dental Medicine was incorporated into the University of Pittsburgh in 1905. The school offers a four-year Predoctoral Program leading to a Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree, an International and Advanced Standing Program for graduates of foreign dental schools, and post-graduate residency programs in 10 disciplines. The school of Dental Medicine offers the only dental hygiene certificate program in Pennsylvania affiliated with a major university, in addition to a dental hygiene baccalaureate degree program. The School of Dental Medicine's comprehensive clinical offerings include the new Multidisciplinary Implant Center and the Center for Patients with Special Needs, one of the few centers in the U.S. dedicated to training future dentists to care for patients with disabilities. Recognized for excellence in research, the School of Dental medicine ranked 6th in National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research funding for fiscal year 2011. For more information about the school of Dental Medicine, visit http://www.dental.pitt.edu.

About the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering

The University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering is one of the oldest engineering programs in the United States. The Swanson School has excelled in basic and applied research during the past decade and is in the forefront of 21st century technology, including energy systems, sustainability, bioengineering, microsystems and nanosystems, computational modeling and advanced materials development. Approximately 120 faculty members serve more than 3,200 undergraduate and graduate students in six departments, including bioengineering, chemical and petroleum engineering, civil and environmental engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering and mechanical engineering and materials science. In 2011, the Swanson School was the top-ranked U.S. school in the percentage of doctoral degrees awarded to women in engineering, according to a ranking based on 2010-11 data from the American Society for Engineering.
http://www.upmc.com/media



Contact:

Anita Srikameswaran

Phone: 412-720-2058

E-mail: SrikamAV@upmc.edu

Contact:

Stephanie Stanley

Phone: 412-586-9762

E-mail: StanleySL@upmc.edu


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

[


| E-mail


Share Share

]

 


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-11/uops-ptg110113.php
Tags: Eiza González   Derek Medina