How 2-million-year-old ancestor moved: Sediba's ribcage and feet were not suitable for running

Apr. 11, 2013 ? Researchers at Wits University in South Africa, including Peter Schmid from the University of Zurich, have described the anatomy of a single early hominin in six new studies. Australopithecus sediba was discovered near Johannesburg in 2008. The studies in Science demonstrate how our 2-million-year-old ancestor walked, chewed and moved.

The fossils discovered four years ago in Malapa near Johannesburg show a mixture of primitive features of australopiths and advanced features of later human species. The researchers led by Prof Lee Berger of Wits University are therefore of the opinion that the new species is currently the best candidate for a direct ancestor of our own genus Homo. Researchers are now presenting new studies, including those of Peter Schmid, who taught and did research at the University of Zurich until he retired. Also involved were UZH students Nakita Frater, Sandra Mathews and Eveline Weissen.

Schmid has described the remains of Au. sediba's thorax. "They show a narrow upper ribcage, as the large apes have such as orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas," says Peter Schmid. The human thorax on the other hand is uniformly cylindrical. Along with the largely complete remnants of the pectoral girdle, we see the morphological picture of a conical ribcage with a raised shoulder joint, which looks like a permanent shrug. The less well-preserved elements of the lower thorax on the other hand indicate a slim waist, similar to that of a human being.

Conical ribcage makes it difficult to swing arms when walking

The narrow upper thorax of apes enables them to move the shoulder blade, which is important for climbing and brachiation in trees. Its conical shape makes it difficult, however, to swing their arms when walking upright or running, plus they were a similar length to an ape's. This is why Schmid assumes that Au. sediba was not able to walk or run on both feet as well as humans. "They probably couldn't run over longer distances, especially as they were unable to swing their arms, which saves energy," says Schmid.

An examination of the lower extremities shows a heel, metatarsus, knee, hips and back, which are unique and unprecedented. Sediba must have walked with feet turned sharply inwards. This inward turn distinguishes it from other australopiths. The conclusion to be drawn is that our early ancestors were able to move around in a different way.

Arms for climbing and brachiation

Au. sediba was an experienced climber. This is shown by the remains of the upper arm, radius, ulna, scapula, clavicle and fragment of sternum found in Malapa. These clearly belong to a single individual, which is unique in the entire previously known fossil record of the earliest hominins. With the exception of the hand bones described above, the upper extremity is exceptionally original. Au. sediba, like all the other representatives of the Australopithecus genus, had arms that were suitable for climbing as well as possibly for brachiation. Perhaps this capability was even more pronounced than has been assumed for this genus hitherto.

Differences from Australopithecus afarensis

Based on the dental crowns the researchers assume that Au. sediba does not belong phylogenetically to the eastern African australopiths but is closer to Au. africanus and thus forms a southern African sister group. This has an impact on our modern understanding of the evolution of early hominins from the late Pliocene. As such, Au. sediba and maybe even Au. africanus were not descended from Au. afarensis.

The lower jaw of the female skeleton was also examined along with previously unknown incisors and premolars. As noted already on the skull and other areas of the skeleton, the mandibular remains show similarities with other australopiths. They differ, however, in size and shape as well as in ontogenetic growth changes of Au. africanus. These results support the hypothesis that Au. sediba is taxonomically different from Au. africanus. In the relevant differences the parts of the lower jaw appear most to resemble those representatives of early Homo.

An analysis of the cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral region of the spinal column shows that Au. sediba had the same number of lumbar vertebrae as modern man. The strong hollow back suggests that he was more advanced in this area than Au. africanus and may be more likely compared with Homo erectus.

The new studies show a unique image of a human species with a mosaic-like physique. Some body parts are similar to those of earlier and others to those of later hominins. "The numerous similarities with Homo erectus suggest that Au. sediba represents the most appropriate early form of the genus Homo," says Peter Schmid. The previous candidates are too fragmentary to be capable of occupying this position.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Zurich.

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Journal Reference:

1. P. Schmid, S. E. Churchill, S. Nalla, E. Weissen, K. J. Carlson, D. J. de Ruiter, L. R. Berger. Mosaic Morphology in the Thorax of Australopithecus sediba. Science, 2013; 340 (6129): 1234598 DOI: 10.1126/science.1234598

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/FUOvbYTlEEs/130411142942.htm

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Real Estate Site Calls Sacramento the 4th Nerdiest City in US - KTXL

Cosplayers at the SacAnime convention.

SACRAMENTO-

?Nerd? isn?t necessarily the insult it once was.

Comic book movies regularly?dominate the box office, ?Star Wars? references are a normal part of our cultural lexicon, video game releases have turned into blockbuster events and professional athletes seem to be dressing more and more like Steve Urkel.

Sacramento was named the country?s fourth nerdiest city in a blog posted Wednesday on real estate site Movoto.

The survey was put together by a number of factors: People per comic book store, video game store and science museum, the number of ?nerdy? conventions and the distance to the nearest Renaissance faire.

According to that criteria, Atlanta, Ga. is the nerdiest and Denver, Colo. rounded out the top 10. The only other California city in the list is San Jose, coming in at number nine.

Curiously, San Diego, the home of the San Diego (duh) Comic Con, is absent from the list.

Sacramento came in seventh in Movoto?s list of the top cities for gamers. It?s clear that, at least according to Movoto, that the Force is with the River City.

Read Movoto?s full blog post here.

Source: http://fox40.com/2013/04/10/real-estate-site-calls-sacramento-the-4th-nerdiest-city-in-u-s/

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Quake hits near Iran's nuclear city Bushehr, 37 dead

By Yeganeh Torbati and Marcus George

DUBAI (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck close to Iran's only nuclear power station on Tuesday, killing 37 people and injuring 850 as it destroyed homes and devastated two small villages, Iranian media reported.

The 6.3 magnitude quake totally destroyed one village, a Red Crescent official told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), but the nearby Bushehr nuclear plant was undamaged, according to Iranian officials and the Russian company that built it.

"Due to the intensity of this earthquake, this tragedy has deepened and we have seen the destruction of many homes in the region, the deaths of 37 people and more than 850 injured," the governor of Bushehr province, Fereydoun Hassanvand, told Mehr news agency.

Many houses in rural parts of the province are made of mud bricks, which have been known to crumble easily in quake-prone Iran. Some 700 homes were destroyed, Hassanvand said.

Across the Gulf, offices in Qatar and Bahrain were evacuated after the quake, whose epicenter was 89 km (55 miles) southeast of the port of Bushehr, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The early afternoon shock was also felt in financial hub Dubai.

The Russian company that built the nuclear power station, 18 km (11 miles) south of Bushehr, said the plant was unaffected.

"Personnel continue to work in the normal regime and radiation levels are fully within the norm," Russian state news agency RIA quoted an official at Atomstroyexport as saying.

Iran informed the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency that there was "no damage to the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and no radioactive release from the installation", an agency statement said.

One Bushehr resident said the quake shook her home and the homes of her neighbors but they were not damaged.

"We could clearly feel the earthquake," Nikoo, who asked to be identified only by her first name, said. "The windows and chandeliers all shook."

While initial fears about nuclear fallout receded, nearer the epicenter the rescue efforts ramped up into the night in search of survivors and to feed and house hundreds of residents who were traumatized by at least 16 aftershocks.

A Red Crescent official told ISNA that 20 people had been saved by rescue teams searching through the rubble.

Reports in Iranian media spoke of landslides destroying buildings and crowds gathering in the town of Dashti from outlying areas in search of help. Military officials said army and police units had been deployed to maintain order.

Water and electricity lines were severed and communities stayed in the streets because of the threat from aftershocks.

Iran's most powerful authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, offered his condolences to the victims and urged authorities to extend all efforts to save lives and help the afflicted.

Tuesday's quake was much smaller than the 9.0 magnitude one that hit Japan two years ago, triggering a tsunami that destroyed back-up generators and disabled the Fukushima nuclear plant's cooling system. Three of the reactors melted down.

Iran is the only country operating a nuclear power plant that does not belong to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, negotiated after the 1986 nuclear disaster in Chernobyl which contaminated wide areas and made 160,000 Ukrainians homeless.

Western officials and the United Nations have urged Iran to join the safety forum.

REPEATED WARNINGS

Tehran has repeatedly rejected safety concerns about Bushehr - built in a highly seismic area - that began operations in September 2011 after decades of delays.

Iran sits on major fault lines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes in recent years, including a 6.6 magnitude quake in 2003 which flattened the southeastern city of Bam and killed more than 25,000 people. In August more than 300 people were killed when two quakes struck the northwest.

A report published last week by U.S. think-tanks Carnegie Endowment and the Federation of American Scientists said that "ominously" the Bushehr reactor sits at the intersection of three tectonic plates.

"Iran's sole nuclear power plant is not at risk of a tsunami similar in size to the one that knocked out the electricity and emergency cooling systems at Fukushima. But, repeated warnings about the threat of earthquakes for the Bushehr nuclear plant appear to have fallen on deaf ears," the report said.

The quake happened on National Nuclear Technology Day when Iran's leaders celebrate the technological advances they say will reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels, leaving more of its abundant oil for export.

Israel, Gulf Arab states and many Western countries fear Tehran is seeking a nuclear weapons capability and the Islamic Republic is under international sanctions aimed at forcing it to curb some of its atomic work.

Iran denies it wants nuclear arms and says its atomic work is for electricity generation and other peaceful uses.

(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl in Vienna, Regan Doherty in Doha, Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Michael Roddy and Jon Hemming)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/6-3-magnitude-quake-strikes-near-irans-nuclear-123722902.html

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Lithuania taxman uses Google Maps to find dodgers

FILE - An undated file photo provided by Google shows one of their street mapping cars. The moment Google Maps Street View was rolled out in Lithuania earlier 2013, tax authorities were ready. Sitting in the comfort of their own officers, tax inspectors used the free Internet program for a virtual cruise around the streets of some of Lithuania?s large cities, uncovering dozens of alleged tax violations involving housing construction and property sales. Darius Buta, spokesman for the State Tax Inspectorate, said Wednesday April 10, 2013 that authorities have identified 100 homeowners and 30 construction companies as suspected tax dodgers thanks to Google Maps Street View. (AP Photo/Google, file)

FILE - An undated file photo provided by Google shows one of their street mapping cars. The moment Google Maps Street View was rolled out in Lithuania earlier 2013, tax authorities were ready. Sitting in the comfort of their own officers, tax inspectors used the free Internet program for a virtual cruise around the streets of some of Lithuania?s large cities, uncovering dozens of alleged tax violations involving housing construction and property sales. Darius Buta, spokesman for the State Tax Inspectorate, said Wednesday April 10, 2013 that authorities have identified 100 homeowners and 30 construction companies as suspected tax dodgers thanks to Google Maps Street View. (AP Photo/Google, file)

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) ? As soon as Google Maps Street View was rolled out in Lithuania earlier this year, tax authorities were ready.

Sitting in the comfort of their own offices, inspectors used the free Internet program for a virtual cruise around the streets of some of the Baltic country's big cities, uncovering dozens of alleged tax violations involving housing construction and property sales.

They identified 100 homeowners and 30 construction companies as suspected tax dodgers thanks to Street View, finding homes where they shouldn't be and other suspicious activity, Darius Buta, spokesman for the State Tax Inspectorate, said Wednesday.

"Our inspectors track these buildings on the Internet, and if a violation seems obvious, they visit the sites. This saves lots of time and resources," Buta said.

Lithuanian officials said they were unaware of any other country where revenue collectors had used Google's Street View, saying they didn't draw on anyone else's experience. Still, tax authorities across the world are turning to high-resolution maps, online databases, and social media in a bid to catch out cheats.

In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service has said it would be cross-referencing information from taxpayers' Facebook and Twitter accounts if their returns threw up any red flags.

In Britain, tax officials have revealed they are using Web crawling software to trawl auction websites for undeclared sales, while in Greece authorities have been using satellite imagery to locate undeclared swimming pools in wealthy neighborhoods.

Among the tax cheats caught in Lithuania were a couple in Kaunas, Lithuania's second largest city, who didn't register the sale of buildings and avoided 240,000 litas ($91,000) in taxes, said Vaimaira Jakiene, the coordinator of the new program.

Another couple declared a sale of land but didn't mention a new house built on the property that was sold via a separate deal, said Jakienie. They are looking at a tax bill of 130,000 ($50,000), she added.

Tax officials said they planned to use Street View to take a peek at properties purchased from dubious construction companies over the past two years.

Google has had scrapes with European governments over Street View, with the Germans and French in particular concerned that the company's practice of deploying camera-mounted cars and bicycles to collect images and information for the application intrudes on privacy.

But the Lithuanian revenue agency dismissed any claims that its new approach violated privacy rights.

"We conducted precise legal consultations. There are no rights violations," Buta said, added that tax authorities also discussed privacy and security concerns with Google officials in Lithuania.

Human rights advocates in the Baltic state seemed to agree.

"We do not see violations here since inspectors use the Google application only to look at suspicious places ? then they visit them," said Karolis Liutkevicius, a lawyer at the Human Rights Monitoring Institute in Vilnius. "If they were using it as the sole tool, then it could possibly be qualified as a violation. But in this case it's just using a modern resource."

_____

Associated Press writer Raphael Satter contributed to this report from London.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-04-10-EU-Lithuania-Google-Maps/id-1348ce253ec74ab6b8606e3ca581a761

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Austin next city for ultra-fast Google Fiber

FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2010 file photo, the Google logo is displayed outside Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Google executives and Texas Gov. Rick Perry are expected Tuesday, April 9, 2013 to name tech-savvy Austin as the second city where the search giant will offer its ultra-fast home Internet service. Last summer, Kansas City became the first metro area in the U.S. to receive Google Fiber. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2010 file photo, the Google logo is displayed outside Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Google executives and Texas Gov. Rick Perry are expected Tuesday, April 9, 2013 to name tech-savvy Austin as the second city where the search giant will offer its ultra-fast home Internet service. Last summer, Kansas City became the first metro area in the U.S. to receive Google Fiber. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? Google Inc. picked tech-savvy Austin on Tuesday as the next city where the search giant will wire homes with ultra-fast Internet connections, but did not say how much customers will pay or when the fiber-optic experiment might expand elsewhere in the U.S.

Austin and Kansas City are the only places to get Google Fiber ? a broadband service 100 times faster than the competition and an alternative to cable or satellite TV providers.

The rollout is an expensive undertaking and gamble for Google, which must first build costly new broadband pipelines that can handle "gigabit" speeds. Google hopes the rollout will drive innovation and pressure phone and cable companies to improve its networks, since Google benefits when people spend more time online.

Google expects Austin homes to begin receiving Google Fiber in mid-2014.

"Equipping them with a gigabit network will allow them to build new kinds of applications and services that will help write the next chapter in the story of the Internet," said Milo Medin, Google's vice president of Access Services who heads up Google Fiber.

What Austin residents will pay is not yet known. Medlin said the prices will likely be "roughly" similar to what Google charges in Kansas City, where customers pay $70 a month for a gigabit connection. For another $50, customers there can also receive a cable TV-like service that offers a channel line-up featuring mainstays such as ESPN, Nickelodeon, FOX News and MTV.

Some popular channels remain unavailable on Google Fiber, including HBO and AMC.

Medin would not say when Google might announce another city to receive its sought-after network. Google says more than 1,100 cities applied starting in 2010, and some used gimmicks or elaborate videos in hopes of outshining the competition. Topeka even informally renamed itself to "Google, Kansas."

Kansas City wound up prevailing, and Google began signing up residents there last year. By the end of 2013, Google expects that 180 neighborhoods that were selected for service based on demand will be completed.

The $70 fee in Kansas City is more than what cable or phone companies charge for basic Internet service, but the service is also much faster. "Gigabit" speeds, or 1,000 megabits per second, are generally unavailable from other companies. One exception is the city-owned electric utility in Chattanooga, Tenn., which has pulled its own fiber and sells gigabit service for $350 per month.

However, it's expensive to pull optical fiber compared with using existing phone and cable lines to provide Internet service. Verizon Communications Inc. is the only major U.S. telecommunications company to have connected homes directly to fiber. Some Wall Street analysts have estimated that project, which has cost $23 billion, is not paying off.

Kansas City residents can sign up with Google for a slower, standard Internet connection at no monthly fee for a one-time cost of $300. Medlin said Austin homeowners will also be offered free standard broadband.

Google made the announcement in a sleek and trendy downtown warehouse building, where a giant video board greeted guests with "Hello, Austin. Goodbye, loading bars."

Gigabit customers are unlikely to notice substantial difference with basic activities, such as Web surfing or email. Higher speeds are most desirable for uploading, creating online backups and playing video that doesn't buffer ? what Google calls "instantaneous Internet."

Google has not revealed how much the company is spending to build gigabit networks. A report this week from analysts at Bernstein Research put the cost at $84 million for Google to pass through 149,000 homes in Kansas City.

The authors of that report were skeptical that Google Fiber made financial sense to be expanded to a large portion of the U.S.

"In the end the effort would have limited impact on the global trajectory of the business," the Bernstein report concluded.

___

Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-04-09-Google%20Fiber-Texas/id-4536746ace4f4904babaf6f0132d0530

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Barricaded gunman releases one of five firefighter hostages in Ga.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - A gunman who barricaded himself in a home in Georgia on Wednesday with five firefighters as hostages has released one of his captives, officials said.

The firefighters were taken hostage after they responded to a home in Suwanee, about 35 miles northeast of Atlanta, on what was believed to be a medical call, police and fire officials said.

"There was no indication that they would meet with someone who was hostile," said Tommy Rutledge, spokesman for the Gwinnett County Fire Department.

The hostage-taker has since allowed one of the firefighters to leave in order to move a fire truck away from the front of the home, Rutledge said.

"We're not getting any word that any of our firefighters have been injured," he said.

Rutledge said the firefighters had alerted their dispatch center about the incident, but he could not say whether they were still in contact with officials.

Television footage of the scene showed a well-groomed neighborhood of two-story homes filled with police cars and fire engines. Residents were not being allowed in or out of the neighborhood, which they described in television reports as quiet.

(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins and David Beasley; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/five-firefighters-taken-hostage-gunman-georgia-home-police-212913159.html

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'DWTS' reveals latest cut ? and Maks' return

ABC

Lisa Vanderpump's time in the ballroom with pro Gleb Savchenko has ended.

By Drusilla Moorhouse, TODAY contributor

Lisa Vanderpump didn't quit "Dancing With the Stars" -- she was voted out.

Considering how ill she was -- she fainted during practice and was vomiting in her trailer during most of Monday's performance show -- many believed that the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star would withdraw like Dorothy Hamill did in week one. ?

But she remained, and was the last star standing alongside Victor Ortiz when host Tom Bergeron asked to "cue the dramatic music" (such a card, that guy). The pro boxer will continue to fight for the mirror ball trophy, while Lisa and partner Gleb Savchenko are leaving the ballroom.

While her family (including Giggy) applauded from the audience, Lisa insisted she was leaving on a high note.

"Just to be included with this (wonderful) group of people," she told co-host Brooke Burke-Charvet, "I'm really happy. It's been six long weeks -- boy, has it taken its toll. It's been the hardest thing I've ever done."

"I was given a gift dancing with (Gleb)," she added. "He's been so patient. ?I'd like to thank my castmates -- they've been amazing and made it so much fun."

ABC shook things up by declaring six couples safe -- including "Bachelor" star Sean Lowe and Peta Murgatroyd -- in the first third of the show. Before the last commercial break, Tom revealed that comedian D.L. Hughley and Cheryl Burke were also safe. Then underdog Andy Dick and his partner, Sharna Burgess, were quickly plucked from the trio of couples in jeopardy. ?

The first "safe" couple, Aly Raisman and Mark Ballas, were also selected to perform an encore of their Monday dance. (Len Goodman joked that he'd coached the Olympic gymnast all day on how to improve her backflip.)

Other standouts of Tuesday's results show:

• Brooke's baffling dress, the inspiration for hundreds of Twitter jokes about her "thong" necklace. (If it were a two-hour show, maybe "Brooke's thong" would have its own Twitter account.)

• Blind dancer Brilynn Rakes' beautiful performance with Derek Hough.

• Anna Trebunskaya returning to dance with Val Chmerkovisky during Jennifer Lopez and Andrea Bocelli's duet.

• Peta Murgatroyd and Tony Dovolani performing while Brad Paisley sang "Southern Comfort Zone" (not "Accidental Racist").

• Val dancing with Karina Smirnoff. Maybe not a highlight, but still enjoyable because of their awkward pairing.

Next week will introduce a brand new theme: Len's side-by-side challenge! Each couple will have to dance alongside returning pros including Maks Chmerkovisky, Chelsie Hightower, Tony Dovolani and Tristan MacManus.

Did the right dancer go home? Tell us on our Facebook page!

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Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/04/09/17676945-lisa-vanderpump-eliminated-from-dancing-with-the-stars?lite

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Gambling nun pleads guilty to theft from New York churches

By Jonathan Allen

(Reuters) - A Roman Catholic nun with an admitted gambling addiction faces up to six months in prison for stealing about $128,000 from two churches where she worked in western New York, prosecutors and her attorney said on Tuesday.

Sister Mary Anne Rapp, 68, pleaded guilty on Monday to grand larceny in Orleans County, just west of Rochester, New York. In addition to time in prison, she will make partial restitution of the stolen money, prosecutors said. Sentencing is scheduled for July 1.

Rapp admitted to stealing money from two churches to fund a gambling addiction from 2006 to 2011, according to the county's district attorney.

"She's extremely remorseful, and she's done what she can now to address the underlying problem," her attorney James Harrington said.

He said she underwent treatment for gambling addiction after being confronted about the missing money following an audit requested by a new pastor for the two churches in 2011.

The two churches - St. Mark's in Kendall and St. Mary's in Holley - lie about 8 miles apart in upstate New York, near the shore of Lake Ontario.

Rapp used some of the money to gamble at a casino in Niagara Falls, New York, which is about 60 miles to the west, he said.

"No one's above the law," Joseph Cardone, the Orleans County District Attorney said. "You certainly can't prey on parishioners of a church who give money in support of their cause."

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gambling-nun-pleads-guilty-theft-york-churches-224339427.html

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Engineered T cells kill tumors but spare normal tissue in an animal model

Monday, April 8, 2013

The need to distinguish between normal cells and tumor cells is a feature that has been long sought for most types of cancer drugs. Tumor antigens, unique proteins on the surface of a tumor, are potential targets for a normal immune response against cancer. Identifying which antigens a patient's tumor cells express is the cornerstone of designing cancer therapy for that individual. But some of these tumor antigens are also expressed on normal cells, inching personalized therapy back to the original problem.

T cells made to express a protein called CAR, for chimeric antigen receptor, are engineered by grafting a portion of a tumor-specific antibody onto an immune cell, allowing them to recognize antigens on the cell surface. Early first-generation CARs had one signaling domain for T-cell activation. Second-generation CARs are more commonly used and have two signaling domains within the immune cell, one for T-cell activation and another for T- cell costimulation to boost the T cell's function.

Importantly, CARs allow patients' T cells to recognize tumor antigens and kill certain tumor cells. A large number of tumor-specific, cancer-fighting CAR T cells can be generated in a specialized lab using patients' own T cells, which are then infused back into them for therapy. Despite promising clinical results, it is now recognized that some CAR-based therapies may involve toxicity against normal tissues that express low amounts of the targeted tumor-associated antigen.

To address this issue, Daniel J. Powell Jr., PhD, research assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and director of the Cellular Therapy Tissue Facility, developed an innovative dual CAR approach in which the activation signal for T cells is physically dissociated from a second costimulatory signal for immune cells. The two CARs carry different antigen specificity -- mesothelin and a-folate receptor. Mesothelin is primarily associated with mesothelioma and ovarian cancer, and a-folate receptor with ovarian cancer.

Powell likens this dual CAR approach to having two different gas pedals, one for starting the immune system and a second for revving it up. Dual CAR T cells are more selective for tumor cells since their full activity requires interaction with both antigens, which are only co-expressed on tumor cells, not normal tissue.

Dual CAR T cells showed weak cytokine production against target cells expressing only one tumor-associated antigen in lab assays, similar to first-generation CAR T cells bearing the CD3 activation domain only, but demonstrated enhanced cytokine production upon encountering natural or engineered tumor cells expressing both antigens, equivalent to second-generation CAR T cells with dual, but unseparated signaling.

In a mouse model of human ovarian cancer, T cells with the dual-signaling CARs persisted at high numbers in the blood, accumulated in tumors, and showed potent anti-cancer activity against human tumors. Dual CAR T cells were equivalent to second-generation CAR T cells in activity against tumors bearing two antigens. However, the dual-signaling CAR T cells did not react vigorously with normal tissue expressing one antigen while second- generation CAR T cells did.

"This new dual-specificity CAR approach can enhance the therapeutic efficacy of CAR T cells against cancer while minimizing reactivity against normal tissues," says Powell.

Their findings have been published in the inaugural issue of Cancer Immunology Research, the newest journal from the American Association for Cancer Research.

###

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/

Thanks to University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127628/Engineered_T_cells_kill_tumors_but_spare_normal_tissue_in_an_animal_model

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WhatsApp claims rumors of its Google death have been greatly exaggerated

Over the weakened rumors ran rampant that popular cross-platform messaging service WhatsApp was in Google's cross-hairs, and that a buyout might be imminent. Not so, says WhatsApp's head of business development, Neeraj Arora. According to Liz Gannes of AllThingsD:

[WhatsApp] is not holding sales talks with Google.

Google has bought, and in some cases killed, popular services before, and likely will again. WhatsApp has been the subject of buyout rumors before, including by Facebook (who ultimately bought their competitor, Beluga), and likely will again. In an increasingly connected world, a cross-platform communication service is valuable, and Whatsapp becoming to GTalk what Sparrow became to Gmail or Snapseed became to whatever Google finally does with photos, certainly isn't inconceivable.

Mega corporations, including Apple, buying independent software and services companies, sometimes for talent or technology rather than current products, sometimes just to reduce competitive pressures, is why we can't always have and keep nice internet things.

Of course, a relatively low-level denial means almost nothing in a world where CEO's tell us they're not doing something right up until the moment they do it. So keep your rumor drawer ever-so-slightly ajar for the next few weeks. And in the meantime, let me know -- do you care if Google, or someone else, buys WhatsApp?

Source: AllThingsD

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/gUSP0HgsEik/story01.htm

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Families lobby on gun bill, Dems face key decision

President Barack Obama hugs Newtown, Conn., family members after speaking at the University of Hartford in Hartford, Conn., Monday, April 8, 2013. Obama said that lawmakers have an obligation to the children killed and other victims of gun violence to act on his proposals. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama hugs Newtown, Conn., family members after speaking at the University of Hartford in Hartford, Conn., Monday, April 8, 2013. Obama said that lawmakers have an obligation to the children killed and other victims of gun violence to act on his proposals. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Obama holds his hand to his ear during a visit to the University of Hartford, in Hartford, Conn., Monday, April 8, 2013. Obama visited the school to highlight gun control legislation and to meet with the families of victims from the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Mark and Jackie Barden, parents of 7 year-old Daniel, left, walk with Nelba Marquez-Greene, mother of 6 year-old Ana, center, and an unidentified woman from Air Force One to waiting White House vans after landing at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Monday, April 8, 2013 with President Barack Obama and other families who lost relatives in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Obama was returning from Hartford, Conn., where he spoke at the University of Hartford, near the state capitol where last week the governor signed into law some of the nation's strictest gun control laws. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

President Barack Obama stands in the door of Air Force One, top right, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Monday, April 8, 2013 with families who lost relatives in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Obama was returning from Hartford, Conn., where he spoke at the University of Hartford, near the state capitol where last week the governor signed into law some of the nation's strictest gun control laws. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? As Senate Democrats approach a key decision on gun legislation, relatives of victims of the Connecticut school shootings mounted a face-to-face lobbying effort Tuesday in hopes of turning around enough lawmakers to gain a Senate floor vote on meaningful gun restrictions.

The families were meeting privately with senators Tuesday. They had breakfast with Vice President Joe Biden at his residence in the Naval Observatory, according to an administration official not authorized to speak publicly about the private meeting.

President Barack Obama's gun control proposals have hit opposition from the National Rifle Association and are struggling in Congress, nearly four months after the issue was catapulted into the national arena by December's slaying of 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Conn.

Conservatives say they will use procedural tactics to try preventing the Senate from even considering firearms restrictions, headlined by background checks for more gun buyers and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Democrats criticized Republicans anew for trying to prevent a gun debate, a move that will take a hard-to-achieve 60 votes to overcome. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stood on the Senate floor before a poster-sized photo of a white picket fence with 26 slats, each bearing the name of one of the Newtown victims.

"We have a responsibility to safeguard these little kids," said Reid, D-Nev. "And unless we do something more than what's the law today, we have failed."

On Monday, Obama pressed the issue at the University of Hartford, just 50 miles from Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School, where the killings occurred.

"If you want the people you send to Washington to have just an iota of the courage that the educators at Sandy Hook showed when danger arrived on their doorstep, then we're all going to have to stand up," the president said.

The administration was continuing its efforts to pressure Republicans, with Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder making remarks Tuesday at the White House, joined by law enforcement officials.

Senate Democrats are approaching decision time on whether they should try to get Republican support for expanding background checks for firearms sales or will follow the shakier path of pursuing the cornerstone of Obama's gun control effort on their own.

Democrats were holding a lunchtime meeting Tuesday to assess whether Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., had reached an acceptable compromise ? or had a realistic chance of getting one ? with Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. Party leaders were giving Manchin until later Tuesday to complete the talks, and a decision by Democrats seemed likely in the next couple of days.

An agreement between the two senators, both among the more conservative members of their parties, would boost efforts to expand background checks because it could attract bipartisan support. Abandoning those negotiations would put Democrats in a difficult position, making it hard for them to push a measure through the Senate and severely damaging Obama's gun control drive.

In a preview of the Senate's debate, 13 conservative Republicans delivered a letter Monday to Reid. They promised to try blocking lawmakers from beginning to consider the measure, a procedural move that takes 60 votes to curtail, a difficult hurdle in the 100-member chamber.

The conservatives, who included Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said the Democratic effort would violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms, citing "history's lesson that government cannot be in all places at all times, and history's warning about the oppression of a government that tries."

"Shame on them," Reid responded as he brought Democratic gun legislation to the Senate floor, though debate did not formally begin.

Georgia's Sen. Johnny Isakson, a conservative Republican, said Tuesday on "CBS This Morning" that "the issue on background checks is how far they go and whether they violate rights of privacy." But he also said he believes the issue "deserves a vote up or down" in the Senate.

Reid could try beginning Senate debate on legislation that has already been approved by the Judiciary Committee. It would extend the background check requirement to nearly all gun purchases, strengthen laws against illegal firearms purchases and modestly boost aid for school safety.

If Reid does that, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will join conservatives' efforts to prevent the measure from being debated, McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said.

In hopes of enhancing the prospects for Senate approval, Reid has been hoping a bipartisan deal could be struck. There are 53 Senate Democrats and two independents who lean toward them, meaning GOP support ultimately will be needed to reach 60 votes to move ahead.

Manchin has been hoping for a deal with Toomey that would expand the requirement to sales at gun shows and online while exempting other transactions, such as those between relatives and those involving private, face-to-face purchases.

Currently, federal background checks are required for sales by licensed gun dealers but not for other transactions. The system is aimed at preventing criminals, people with severe mental health problems and others from getting firearms.

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., has also continued working for a bipartisan deal. Kirk, though, is considered too moderate to bring other GOP senators with him.

___

Eds: Associated Press reporter Nedra Pickler contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-09-Gun%20Control-Congress/id-3ea221397c5f4c22a32f547c96efd426

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Tin nanocrystals for the battery of the future

Apr. 8, 2013 ? More powerful batteries could help electric cars achieve a considerably larger range and thus a breakthrough on the market. A new nanomaterial for lithium ion batteries developed in the labs of chemists at ETH Zurich and Empa could come into play here.

They provide power for electric cars, electric bicycles, smartphones and laptops; nowadays, rechargeable lithium ion batteries are the storage media of choice when it comes to supplying a large amount of energy in a small space and light weight. All over the world, scientists are currently researching a new generation of such batteries with an improved performance. Scientists headed by Maksym Kovalenko from the Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry at ETH Zurich and Empa have now developed a nanomaterial which enables considerably more power to be stored in lithium ion batteries.

The nanomaterial is composed of tiny tin crystals, which are to be deployed at the minus pole of the batteries (anode). When charging the batteries, lithium ions are absorbed at this electrode; while discharging, they are released again (see box). "The more lithium ions the electrodes can absorb and release -- the better they can breathe, as it were -- the more energy can be stored in a battery," explains Kovalenko.

Uniform crystals

The element tin is ideal for this: every tin atom can absorb at least four lithium ions. However, the challenge is to deal with the volume change of tin electrodes: tin crystal becomes up to three times bigger if it absorbs a lot of lithium ions and shrinks again when it releases them back. The scientists thus resorted to nanotechnology: they produced the tiniest tin nanocrystals and embedded a large number of them in a porous, conductive permeable carbon matrix. Much like how a sponge can suck up water and release it again, an electrode constructed in this way can absorb lithium ions while charging and release them when discharging. If the electrode were made of a compact tin block, this would practically be impossible.

During the development of the nanomaterial, the issue of the ideal size for the nanocrystals arose, which also carries the challenge of producing uniform crystals. "The trick here was to separate the two basic steps in the formation of the crystals -- the formation of as small as a crystal nucleus as possible on the one hand and its subsequent growth on the other," explains Kovalenko. By influencing the time and temperature of the growth phase, the scientists were able to control the size of the crystals. "We are the first to produce such small tin crystals with such precision," says the scientist.

Larger cycle stability

Using uniform tin nanocrystals, carbon, and binding agents, the scientists produced different test electrodes for batteries. "This enables twice as much power to be stored compared to conventional electrodes," says Kovalenko. The size of the nanocrystals did not affect the storage capacity during the initial charging and discharging cycle. After a few charging and discharging cycles, however, differences caused by the crystal size became apparent: batteries with ten-nanometre crystals in the electrodes were able to store considerably more energy than ones with twice the diameter. The scientists assume that the smaller crystals perform better because they can absorb and release lithium ions more effectively. "Ten-nanometre tin crystals thus seem to be just the ticket for lithium ion batteries," says Kovalenko.

As the scientists now know the ideal size for the tin nanocrystals, they would like to turn their attention to the remaining challenges of producing optimum tin electrodes in further research projects. These include the choice of the best possible carbon matrix and binding agent for the electrodes, and the electrodes' ideal microscopic structure. Moreover, an optimal and stable electrolyte liquid in which the lithium ions can travel back and forth between the two poles in the battery also needs to be selected. Ultimately, the production costs are also an issue, which the researchers are looking to reduce by testing which cost-effective base materials are suitable for electrode production. The aim is to prepare batteries with an increased energy storage capacity and lifespan for the market, in collaboration with a Swiss industrial partner.

How lithium ion batteries work

In lithium ion batteries, the energy is stored in the form of positively charged lithium atoms (ions) that are found at the minus pole in a charged battery. If energy is taken from the battery, negatively charged electrons flow from the minus pole to the plus pole via the external circuit. To balance the charge, positively charged lithium ions also flow from the minus pole to the plus pole. However, these travel in the electrolyte fluid inside the battery. The process is reversible: lithium ion batteries can be recharged with electricity. In most lithium ion batteries these days, the plus pole is composed of the transition metal oxides cobalt, nickel, and manganese, the minus pole of graphite. In more powerful lithium ion batteries of the next generation, however, elements such as tin or silicon may well be used at the minus pole.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by ETH Zurich. The original article was written by Fabio Bergamin.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Kostiantyn Kravchyk, Loredana Protesescu, Maryna I. Bodnarchuk, Frank Krumeich, Maksym Yarema, Marc Walter, Christoph Guntlin, Maksym V. Kovalenko. Monodisperse and Inorganically Capped Sn and Sn/SnO2Nanocrystals for High-Performance Li-Ion Battery Anodes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013; 135 (11): 4199 DOI: 10.1021/ja312604r

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/biochemistry/~3/EVV_Zc2w5Aw/130408123254.htm

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West sees enough substance for Iran talks to continue

By Justyna Pawlak

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - World powers believe there are enough grounds to keep talking to Iran about its disputed nuclear program, a senior Western diplomat said on Monday, even though the latest round of negotiations made little apparent progress.

"There is enough substance for these negotiations to continue," the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters. "I would not expect a breakdown."

At a meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Friday and Saturday, the six nations - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - tried to persuade Iran to give up its most sensitive uranium-enrichment work to allay concerns that Tehran is seeking the means to make atom bombs.

Iranian negotiators did not accept the offer - coupled with a pledge of modest relief from crippling economic sanctions - and the two sides failed to even agree to meet again.

But Western diplomats are at pains to show that diplomacy will continue, in part to avoid escalating tensions with Israel which has threatened to bomb Iranian nuclear sites if negotiations and sanctions fail to force it to change course.

They are wary, however, of fuelling criticism that Iran may be playing them for time. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday the negotiation process could not go forever.

"We are clear talks for (the sake of) talks are not acceptable," the senior diplomat added.

Some Western diplomats have said that while the two sides failed to bridge their differences in the decade-old dispute in Almaty, there was some optimism because of the apparent willingness of Iranian negotiators to engage in detailed discussions of their proposal.

Iran denies having any military intentions and says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity and for medical purposes. It wants the international community to recognize its right to enrich uranium and lift major economic sanctions.

The powers argue international rules apply only to countries that subject their nuclear work to stringent oversight by the United Nations, something Iran refuses to do.

Following the failure of Almaty talks, the six powers are seeking to reassess their approach to persuade the Iranian side to agree. In the coming days, the issue will come up during a meeting of foreign ministers of Group of Eight countries, which include all the six powers except China.

The EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who oversees diplomatic contacts with Iran on behalf of the six nations, will also discuss plans for further engagement with Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili in the coming days.

Iran's presidential election in June also fuels uncertainty abroad over Tehran's short-term approach to the nuclear dispute.

In Brussels, the senior diplomat said a lack of clarity on presidential candidates, for example, clouded the understanding of Iran's domestic politics.

"The internal power struggle has an impact on negotiations," the diplomat said. "The internal tensions have an influence on a process such as negotiations but we don't even know who the candidates will be."

(Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/world-powers-see-enough-substance-iran-talks-continue-163009487.html

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Kerry mourns 'selfless, idealistic' US diplomat

In this photo released by the Turkish Prime Minister's Press Office, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and US Secretary of State John Kerry shake hands as they pose for cameras before a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Kerry is in the Middle East, his third trip to the region in two weeks, in a fresh bid to unlock long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. And in Istanbul, the first leg of a six-nation trip that goes on to Europe and East Asia, Kerry will coordinate with Turkey's Prime Minister and other Turkish officials on efforts to halt the violence in neighboring Syria's civil war.(AP Photo/Kayhan Ozer, Turkish Prime Minister's Press Office, HO)

In this photo released by the Turkish Prime Minister's Press Office, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and US Secretary of State John Kerry shake hands as they pose for cameras before a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Kerry is in the Middle East, his third trip to the region in two weeks, in a fresh bid to unlock long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. And in Istanbul, the first leg of a six-nation trip that goes on to Europe and East Asia, Kerry will coordinate with Turkey's Prime Minister and other Turkish officials on efforts to halt the violence in neighboring Syria's civil war.(AP Photo/Kayhan Ozer, Turkish Prime Minister's Press Office, HO)

This image made from AP video shows the scene moments after a car bomb exploded in front the PRT, Provincial Reconstruction Team, in Qalat, Zabul province, southern Afghanistan, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Six American troops and civilians and an Afghan doctor were killed in attacks on Saturday in southern and eastern Afghanistan as the U.S. military's top officer began a weekend visit to the country, officials said.(AP Photo via AP video)

US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a news conference with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, unseen, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Kerry is in the Middle East, his third trip to the region in two weeks, in a fresh bid to unlock long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. And in Istanbul, the first leg of a six-nation trip that goes on to Europe and East Asia, Kerry will coordinate with Turkey's Prime Minister and other Turkish officials on efforts to halt the violence in neighboring Syria's civil war.(AP Photo)

An Afghan policeman stands guard on the roof of a house in the outskirts of Kabul, Saturday, April 6, 2013. NATO says a blast in Afghanistan has killed four coalition service members and two civilians working with the alliance. The blast from a roadside bomb occurred Saturday in southern Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Jawad Jalali)

ISTANBUL (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday railed against the "cowardly" terrorists responsible for the attack that killed five Americans in Afghanistan, including a "selfless, idealistic" young diplomat on a mission to donate books to students.

In the deadliest day in eight months for the United States in the war, militants killed six Americans in separate attacks Saturday, the violence occurring hours after the U.S. military's top officer arrived in Afghanistan for consultations with Afghan and U.S.-led coalition officials.

The last American diplomat killed on the job was Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya. Stevens and three other American died in an attack Sept. 11 in Benghazi, Libya. No one has yet been brought to justice.

Kerry, in Turkey for meetings with the country's leaders, said 25-year-old Anne Smedinghoff of Illinois had assisted him when he visited Afghanistan two weeks ago. She served as his control officer, an honor often bestowed on up-and-coming members of the U.S. foreign service.

At a news conference with Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, Kerry described Smedinghoff as "a selfless, idealistic woman who woke up yesterday morning and set out to bring textbooks to school children, to bring them knowledge."

"Anne and those with her," Kerry said, "were attacked by the Taliban terrorists who woke up that day not with a mission to educate or to help, but with a mission to destroy. A brave American was determined to brighten the light of learning through books, written in the native tongue of the students she had never met, whom she felt it incumbent to help."

Kerry said Smedinghoff "was met by a cowardly terrorist determined to bring darkness and death to total strangers. These are the challenges that our citizens face, not just in Afghanistan but in many dangerous parts of the world ? where a nihilism, an empty approach, is willing to take life rather than give it."

The attack also killed three U.S. service members, a U.S. civilian who worked for the U.S. Defense Department and an Afghan doctor when the group was struck by an explosion while traveling to a school in southern Afghanistan, according to coalition officials and the State Department.

Another American civilian was killed in a separate attack in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said in a statement.

It was the deadliest day for Americans since Aug. 16, when seven U.S. service members died in two attacks in Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban insurgency. Six were killed when their helicopter was shot down by insurgents and one soldier died in a roadside bomb explosion.

Officials said the explosion Saturday came just as a coalition convoy drove past a caravan of vehicles carrying the governor of Zabul province to the event at the school.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility and said the bomber was seeking to target either a coalition convoy or the governor.

Kerry said the terrorists only "strengthened the resolve of the nation, the diplomatic corps, the military, all resources determined to continue the hard work of helping people to help themselves."

He said "America does not and will not cower before terrorism. We are going to forge on, we're going to step up. ... We put ourselves in harm's way because we believe in giving hope to our brothers and sisters all over the world, knowing that we share universal human values with people all over the world ? the dignity of opportunity and progress," the Obama administration's top diplomat said.

"So it is now up to us to determine what the legacy of this tragedy will be. Where others seek to destroy, we intend to show a stronger determination in order to brighten our shared future, even when others try to darken it with violence. That was Anne's mission," he added.

The deaths brought the number of foreign military troops killed this year to 30, including 22 Americans. A total of six foreign civilians have died in Afghanistan so far this year, according to an AP count.

The Taliban have said civilians working for the government or the coalition are legitimate targets, despite a warning from the United Nations that such killings may violate international law.

In earlier remarks Sunday to U.S. consulate workers, Kerry said that "folks who want to kill people, and that's all they want to do, are scared of knowledge. They want to shut the doors and they don't want people to make their choices about the future. For them, it's you do things our way, or we throw acid in your face or we put a bullet in your face," he said.

Kerry described Smedinghoff as "vivacious, smart, capable, chosen often by the ambassador there to be the lead person because of her capacity."

He said "there are no words for anyone to describe the extraordinary harsh contradiction for a young 25-year-old woman, with all of her future ahead of her, believing in the possibilities of diplomacy to improve people's lives, making a difference, having an impact" to be killed, Kerry said.

Smedinghoff previously served in Venezuela.

"The world lost a truly beautiful soul today," her parents, Tom and Mary Beth Smedinghoff, said in a statement emailed to The Washington Post.

"Working as a public diplomacy officer, she particularly enjoyed the opportunity to work directly with the Afghan people and was always looking for opportunities to reach out and help to make a difference in the lives of those living in a country ravaged by war," they said. "We are consoled knowing that she was doing what she loved, and that she was serving her country by helping to make a positive difference in the world."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-07-Kerry-Afghanistan/id-8893b4ddac404b0dba900bc7eaa65b39

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Sony's 4K TVs Will Be Surprisingly Affordable?in That They Cost Less than a Car

The $25,000 pricetag attached to Sony's 84-inch UltraHD set—the one that's been haunting your dreams since CES—may put that super-sized set out of your financial reach but that doesn't mean everything 4K is prohibitively expensive. In fact, Sony's new 55- and 65-inch sets are downright inexpensive (by comparison) and will be available for pre-order by the end of the month. More »

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Financial hub Luxembourg under increased scrutiny

BRUSSELS (AP) ? As the European Union's wealthiest country, Luxembourg could have been forgiven for thinking that it would never find itself on the bloc's financial risk list.

With just half a million people living on a tiny patch of lush land nestled between Belgium, France and Germany, Luxembourg is as tranquil as a buzzing financial center gets. Still, some of Europe's regulators and politicians have started wondering aloud whether its banks might be holding the 17-nation eurozone's next ticking bomb.

Following the chaotic bailout for Cyprus last week, European officials have been drawing worrying comparisons between the two countries' oversized financial industries.

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, cautioned on Thursday that "the recent experience shows that countries where the banking sector is several times bigger than the economy are countries that, on average, have more vulnerabilities."

"Financial shocks hit these countries stronger, simply because of the size of their banking sector."

The increased scrutiny has taken Luxembourg's government by surprise and put it on the defensive. It has rejected calls to shrink its country's main source of wealth to a more manageable size, claiming that its banking industry is much more secure than Cyprus's and any crackdown would not only harm its own economy but that of the wider eurozone.

Cyprus was forced to seek a bailout from its eurozone partners after its once-thriving banking industry collapsed. The country couldn't afford to bail out its financial sector which, thanks to massive deposits of foreigners, had grown to eight times the size of its economy. The 10 billion euro ($13 billion) rescue loan package comes with tough austerity measures attached, as well as a brutal shrinking of the banking industry and significant losses for savers with deposits larger than 100,000 euros.

In comparison, the balance sheets of the banks in Luxembourg have swollen to about 22 times the country's annual economic output of 44 billion euros ? making it Europe's richest country per capita. The country is also the world's second-largest center for investment funds, with about 3,800 funds holding assets worth ?2.5 trillion ($3.2 trillion) ? about 55 times the country's gross domestic product. It has 141 banks based there, with five of them domestic institutions and the remainder being mainly divisions of foreign banks.

"There are no parallels between Cyprus and Luxembourg, and we don't allow any parallels to be forced on us," Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said last week. "Cyprus is a special case; other financial hubs in Europe don't have these problems."

Luxembourg also has relatively little debt, so it could afford to borrow to bail out the odd bank. But if it faced a widespread problem, it might not be able to cope.

"One does not want to imagine what would happen if the whole banking sector were to derail," said lawmaker Joachim Poss, the deputy caucus leader of Germany's Social Democrats, the country's main opposition party.

If things in Luxembourg's financial sector were to go wrong, the country might not get help from its eurozone partners so easily. For one thing, it won't be able to say it wasn't warned.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the plain-spoken chairman of the bloc's 17 finance ministers, warned other countries with outsized banking sectors to "deal with it before you get in trouble."

"Strengthen your banks, fix your balance sheets, and realize that if a bank gets in trouble the response will no longer automatically be we'll come and take away your problems."

Stung by the comparison with Cyprus and concerned for the future of its banking industry, Luxembourg's leaders have begun to fight back. They have accused EU officials, and Germany in particular, of bullying smaller countries and seeking to "strangulate" its financial industry ? which represents 27 percent of the country's annual economic output, a third of the tax revenues and employs 20 percent of the workforce.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, representing Europe's biggest economy, openly wondered last month whether a business model relying too heavily on banks can still be seen as viable after the Cyprus debacle. That immediately prompted an outcry in Luxembourg.

"Germany does not have the right to define the business models for other countries in the EU," said Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.

Luxembourg's government says its financial sector "acts as an important gateway for the euro area by attracting investments, thus enhancing the eurozone's competitiveness as a whole while being effectively supervised".

The government rejects the idea of looking at the size of its financial sector only in relation to its GDP.

"What matters are primarily two aspects: while the first aspect touches on the quality and solidity of the financial sector, the second element relates the size of the financial sector not to a national economy but to the euro area or single market as a whole," it said.

Until January, Luxembourg was mostly shielded from criticism and wielded much greater influence in the EU as its tiny size would normally allow, because long-time Prime Minister Juncker chaired the Eurogroup of finance ministers.

Overall, the International Monetary Fund reported last year that Luxembourg's banks were healthy and well-capitalized. The banks registered in the country are mostly subsidiaries of foreign banks. This means that the danger associated with domestic banks making risky bets abroad ? which caused havoc in Cyprus ? is avoided.

Still, the IMF urged Luxembourg to strengthen financial sector oversight and develop bank resolution plans.

"The banking sector's main risk is its exposure to foreign parent banks," according to the IMF's most recent country report, which added that "further efforts are needed to clarify the roles of its supervisory authority and central bank".

But Luxembourg's Finance Minister Luc Frieden said its financial sector is not in danger, because it would be up to the foreign banks or their governments to bail out their subsidiaries in the country.

"In a case of emergency, it is first of all up to the parent companies and their governments to help, that reduces the burden for Luxembourg," he was quoted as telling German Sunday paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

The success of Luxembourg's financial sector was initially fueled by lax regulation, secrecy and low taxes. This made it a popular tax haven and money-laundering spot. The country later changed many of its laws following pressure by its European partners. But critics say the financial industry still lacks the necessary transparency.

"The name Luxembourg always comes up when companies try to move profits across borders, through the so-called aggressive tax planning, to avoid paying taxes," said the president of the German tax inspectors' association, Thomas Eigenthaler. "It lacks transparency and quite often there's nothing we can do about it."

Luxembourg rejects those charges and says it complies with all relevant laws. But on that front too, the pressure is increasing.

In the wake of the publication of details on wealthy people's offshore bank accounts by several international media this week, some of which included references to shell companies based in Luxembourg, Frieden is now signaling the country's willingness to agree for the first time to automated information exchanges with other countries' tax authorities.

"Unlike in the past, we no longer strictly reject that idea. We want a strengthened cooperation with the foreign tax authorities," he was quoted as telling Germany's FAS newspaper.

The heat could come off Luxembourg once the EU's banking union is up and running. Under that plan, the European Central Bank will have central oversight of all European banks, accompanied by a common bank resolution mechanism and a joint bailout fund. That would reduce the risk on a single country of propping up an outsized banking sector. But the plan won't take effect before next year at the earliest, with many details have yet to be hammered out.

Until then, Luxembourg will have to resign itself to increased scrutiny ? as made clear again in the warning issued by ECB chief Draghi.

"I think countries ought to learn from the present experience and should follow this advice, namely run both, the country and the banking system much more conservatively," he said.

"In fact, you realize that a country has a wrong business model only when a crisis arises," Draghi said.

___

Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/financial-hub-luxembourg-under-increased-scrutiny-062545564--finance.html

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Kansas set to enact sweeping anti-abortion law

By Kevin Murphy

KANSAS CITY, Kansas (Reuters) - Kansas lawmakers sent the governor a sweeping anti-abortion bill that bans Planned Parenthood from providing sex education materials in schools and defines life as beginning at conception.

The 70-page bill passed 90-30 in the Kansas House of Representatives late on Friday night after easily clearing the Senate earlier in the day. Governor Sam Brownback, a Republican strongly against abortion, was expected to sign it.

Opponents of the measure say it contains numerous provisions that limit a woman's right to an abortion.

Advocates said it mainly codifies existing practices while helping women make more informed choices.

"This fulfills the legislative intent to create a pro-life state," said Kathy Ostrowski, legislative director of Kansans for Life, an anti-abortion group.

The Kansas bill is the latest in a national fight that has seen lawmakers in several states pass new restrictions on abortion in the past two years.

Those have included laws approved in recent weeks in North Dakota and Arkansas that are seen as direct challenges to the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 legalizing abortion.

The Kansas bill prohibits use of public funds, tax preferences or tax credits for abortion services.

The bill also requires abortion clinics to provide printed material about the fetus' stages of development, a link to websites, material and organizations that help pregnant women, and an explanation of legal responsibilities for an unborn child.

The bill bars school districts from letting abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood offer, sponsor or furnish course materials or instruction on human sexuality or on sexually transmitted diseases.

The bill defines life as beginning at fertilization, but does not ban abortion from that point. Several other states are considering so-called "personhood" measures that seek to enshrine life-at-conception in state constitutions. Such measures have failed in the past when put to a referendum of voters, most recently in Mississippi.

(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Greg McCune and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kansas-senate-passes-abortion-restrictions-014146445.html

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