posting glaciologist

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Gulf of Mexico Storm Threat Sparks Rig Evacuations

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

tony stewart kurt busch kurt busch nba dunk contest 2012 act of valor woody guthrie benson henderson

New York Debuts Pro-Business Pitch With Spike Lee and Robert ...

Some of New York?s most prominent entertainers are associated with new ads aimed at growing business in the state. Governor Andrew Cuomo has just unveiled ?The New New York Works for Business,? campaign, shot by Spike Lee and featuring voiceover work by Robert DeNiro and the song ?Empire State of Mind? by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.

The six commercials, produced by BBDO for Empire State Development, are part of the state?s ?Open for Business? initiative which has received $50 million in marketing funding. A lead spot serves as introduction to the state?s new attitude toward business. It cites early New York accomplishments before admitting the state lost its competitive edge and is now working to regain it. The commercial uses historical black-and-white footage of railways and skyscrapers which transitions into modern color shots of examples of the state?s commitment to technology and its entrepreneurs. Those latter stories are told in four? 30-second vignettes about New York businesses like Fage Greek yogurt; Smith Electric Vehicles, the Global 450 Consortium and BAE Systems. The ads will run across the state and on national TV networks.

In addition to the ?The New New York Works for Business" TV campaign, the state has also launched a new related website offering access to information about business assistance available from New York.

ipo jim rome ufc on fox 2 weigh ins brandi glanville convulsions john tyler chuck

Friday, June 22, 2012

'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' is surprisingly enjoyable

Despite one-note characters, 'Lincoln' is entertaining for those willing to buy into the premise.

By Ben Kendrick,?Screen Rant / June 22, 2012

'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' actor Benjamin Walker (l.) manages to deliver a thoughtful performance as Lincoln despite outrageous escapades.

Stephen Vaughan/20th Century Fox/AP

Enlarge

For moviegoers who are still unfamiliar with author (now screenwriter) Seth Grahame-Smith, the idea of an undead-slaying Honest Abe might seem especially ridiculous ? but that?s only because Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter beat?Grahame-Smith?s other well known horror mashup novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, to the big screen. While?Pride and Prejudice and Zombies continues to languish in preproduction hell, director?Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) managed to bring?Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter to fruition, barely two years after the source material book was first published (in March 2010).

Skip to next paragraph Screen Rant

Screen Rant had a humble start back in 2003 as a place to rant about some of the dumber stuff related to the movie industry. Since then, the site has grown to cover more and more TV and movie news (and not just the dumb stuff) along with sometimes controversial movie reviews. The goal at Screen Rant is to cover stories and review movies from a middle ground/average person perspective.

Private Facebook Data Powering Ads Outside Of Facebook ? Is The World Ready?

Because investors sure are. Facebook's share price jumped up 3.8% to $33.05 today on news that it's now showing its ads on Zynga.com in a revenue sharing partnership. Most amazingly, neither the press nor users seem to be freaking out that their private, personal data is now being used to target them with ads outside of Facebook. That means Mark Zuckerberg waited just long enough, proving he's even smarter than he used to be.

bob beckel anna paquin warren buffett 2012 nfl schedule dishonored april 18 nfl schedule

More than 100 killed in west Libya clashes in a week

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

andrej pejic naomi watts macaulay culkin steve jobs fbi safehouse brown recluse brown recluse

Thursday, June 21, 2012

For Combat Vets, Brain Injury Symptoms Can Last Years

WEDNESDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Lingering symptoms from combat-related traumatic brain injuries -- even "mild" cases -- may persist for years, according to a new study of U.S. veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Veterans were still battling headaches, depression, dizziness and other symptoms up to eight years after their head injury occurred, researchers found.

The study looked at 500 veterans who underwent general health and depression screenings between 2008 and 2011 at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center and were found to have symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury and post-concussion syndrome.

The participants, mostly men, were grouped according to whether their head injury had occurred within the previous two years, three to four years, five to six years, or seven to eight years.

The patients self-rated six symptoms: headache, dizziness, balance problems, poor coordination, difficulty with decisions, and depression.

Whether the injury had occurred two years or eight years earlier made no significant difference in frequency or intensity of symptoms. And the type of injury made no difference.

"There was a tendency for depression to be a bit more common in the five-to-eight [year] group," said study author Dr. James Couch, a professor of neurology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. "So not only does this not go away, which is what we figured we would probably find -- it may tend to get worse."

Traumatic brain injury is considered a hallmark combat injury.

"About two-thirds of the people had primarily blast injuries, and about one-third had injuries related to falls, motor vehicle accidents, and so forth," Couch said. "One of my patients had a rocket hit a balcony right above him, and he was knocked out by the falling pieces of concrete."

Study cases fell on the lower end of the trauma spectrum.

"These are basically mild traumatic brain injuries," Couch said. "'Mild' meaning that that patient did not have lacerations that were severe, did not have a skull fracture, did not require surgery on the head because of the injury."

One expert described the prevalence of mild traumatic brain injury.

"Probably 10 percent to possibly over 20 percent of deployed service members develop [traumatic brain injury]," said Dr. Steven Cohen, a professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. "Amongst those diagnosed with [traumatic brain injury], 40 percent to 50 percent are mild."

Both experts said the persistence of side effects seen in the study is discouraging.

"With almost any medical condition, the longer you have it, the less likely it is that it will ever go away," said Cohen, who works with patients at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

"One good thing: Now the military does a very good job of screening people and getting them treatment," Cohen said. "They all have case managers; they have wounded-warrior centers. I think it's more difficult in reservists and people with mild injuries. Because they end up leaving active duty and they don't have the same support system."

Study author Couch said that "the military's management and handling of these injuries has changed gradually but dramatically over time. In 2002 they'd probably say, 'Oh, you just got your bell rung a little bit; now get back out there.' Now they say, 'You got your bell rung and you're going to have to take off a day or two and we'll reevaluate and see if we can put you back on the line.'"

Physically, today's soldiers are much better protected, he said. "The helmets are far, far ahead of what was being used in World War II or in the Korean War, Vietnam," Couch noted.

He hopes to continue his research with a 10-year controlled, prospective study.

"We need to pair up the traumatic brain injury person with a person who is race-sex-deployment matched, and try to find out what types of problems arise just from being deployed to a high-danger, high-intensity situation where a person's got to be vigilant and highly alert all the time," Couch said.

Cohen said that the long-term prospects of head-injured soldiers warrant study. "Are these people more likely to die?" he said. "We know that people with severe head trauma are more likely to develop certain types of dementia. Not just eight years down the line, but what happens 30 years down the line?"

The study is scheduled for presentation this week at the American Headache Society's annual meeting in Los Angeles. The data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center has more about combat-related traumatic brain injury.

march of dimes james randi wargames blake griffin dunk florida primary full force odd fellows

Misidentified and contaminated cell lines lead to faulty cancer science, experts say

ScienceDaily (June 21, 2012) ? Modern cancer therapies start in cells -- researchers compare cancer samples to healthy cells to discover how cancer is genetically different, and use cell lines to test promising new drugs. However, a University of Colorado Cancer Center study published this week in the journal Gynecologic Oncology shows that due to a high rate of contamination, misidentification and redundancy in widely available cell lines, researchers may be drawing faulty conclusions.

"I've seen faculty and graduate students leave my lab in tears when we discovered the cells on the label weren't the cells they were actually experimenting on," says Christopher Korch, PhD, investigator at the CU Cancer Center and director of the center's DNA Sequencing and Analysis Service, the paper's co-first author. "When you get a cell line, you have to look that gift horse in the mouth -- there's up to a 40 percent chance it's a Trojan horse, not what it says it is."

For example, the cell line known as HES has been widely used as a "normal" model of endometrial cells since its development in 1989. There are literally hundreds of papers that, for example, look for differences between endometrial cancer cells and these supposedly normal HES endometrial cells. Unfortunately, HES is not, in fact, an endometrial cell line. It's another cell line known as HeLa which was first derived from cervical cancer.

"In the past, the technology to check cell lines didn't exist and so you can't really blame past researchers. But today it's cheap, it's easy and the technology is widely available. There's no excuse to experiment on cells without first discovering what you're experimenting on. We've suggested that journals start requiring verification of cell lines as a prerequisite of publishing," says Andrew Bradford, PhD, CU Cancer Center investigator and associate professor in the CU School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the paper's senior author.

"In fact, the process of double-checking a cell line is the same process that Scotland Yard uses to identify murderers based on DNA evidence," says Monique Spillman, MD, PD, CU Cancer Center investigator and assistant professor in the CU School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the paper's co-first author. Here's how it works: You have a sample that you know is endometrial cells from a specific patient and you have a sample that purports to be (but may or may not be!) endometrial cells -- is there a match? If so, you've convicted the suspect cell line. If not, as the team so often found, just as DNA mismatch has exonerated death row inmates, DNA mismatch showing that a cell line doesn't match it's label can call into question perhaps decades worth of research done using the cells.

While a misidentified cell line seems likely due to a SNAFU on the part of a lab assistant with a faulty filing system, there are more ways than clerical error to end up with the wrong label on a sample of cells.

"I see two people working with different cultures in the same hood, or using the same growth medium for the same cultures with the same pipette," Korch says. "And especially HeLa is superwoman -- it can fly." HeLa cells can travel in aerosols and once they land where they shouldn't, they're so adaptive and aggressive that they tend to out compete other cell lines wherever they land -- contamination leads to a quick HeLa takeover and perhaps a vial labeled HES when in fact it's HeLa.

"If you're going to make conclusions about endometrial cancer based on a cervical cancer line, your results are going to be flawed. It's not the same genetic pathways," Spillman says.

With his tongue only somewhat in his cheek, Korch reiterates Spillman's point, saying, "If you're studying prostate cancer with a cervical cancer cell line, you're going to have problems because men with prostates don't tend to have cervixes."

The work of Korch, Bradford, Spillman and colleagues including Twila Jackson builds on earlier work at the CU Cancer Center by investigators Rebecca Schweppe and Bryan Haugen who found 50 percent misidentification or contamination in available thyroid cell lines -- for example, two were melanoma lines and another was a colon cancer line. The recent research finds the same systemic problems with cell lines of widely varying types.

"When you bring new cells into the lab, you need to work meticulously and carefully," says Korch. "You need to put them into quarantine until you know what they are."

Korch is working to put the group's data online, both allowing investigators elsewhere to compare their cell lines to the group's controls, and also to help research groups discover what, if not as labeled, some of the cell lines they tested might be. Again like criminal DNA evidence, it's all about building a database large enough to include a match.

Until then, "People really need to check their cells," says Bradford. "It's just that simple."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

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

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

Journal Reference:

Christopher Korch, Monique A. Spillman, Twila A. Jackson, Britta M. Jacobsen, Susan K. Murphy, Bruce A. Lessey, V. Craig Jordan, Andrew P. Bradford. DNA profiling analysis of endometrial and ovarian cell lines reveals misidentification, redundancy and contamination. Gynecologic Oncology, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2012.06.017

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

north korea frances bean cobain north korea missile launch modesto detroit tigers st louis weather guinea bissau

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Friday, June 22, 2012

Recent posts

Thursday, June 21, 2012