Feb. 28, 2013 ? Ecologists have evidence that some endangered primates and large cats faced with relentless human encroachment will seek sanctuary in the sultry thickets of mangrove and peat swamp forests. These harsh coastal biomes are characterized by thick vegetation -- particularly clusters of salt-loving mangrove trees -- and poor soil in the form of highly acidic peat, which is the waterlogged remains of partially decomposed leaves and wood. As such, swamp forests are among the few areas in many African and Asian countries that humans are relatively less interested in exploiting (though that is changing).
Yet conservationists have been slow to consider these tropical hideaways when keeping tabs on the distribution of threatened animals such as Sumatran orangutans and Javan leopards, according to a recent Princeton University study in the journal Folia Primatologica. To draw attention to peat and mangrove swamps as current -- and possibly future -- wildlife refuges, Katarzyna Nowak, a former postdoctoral researcher of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton, compiled a list of 60 primates and 20 felids (the large-cat family that includes tigers and leopards) known to divide their time between their natural forest habitats and some 47 swamp forests in Africa and Asia.
Because swamp forests often lack food sources, fresh water and easy mobility, few mammals are exclusive to these areas, Nowak reported. Consequently, conservation groups have not intensely monitored the animals' swamp use.
But the presence of endangered cats and primates in swamp forests might be seriously overlooked, Nowak found. About 55 percent of Old World monkeys -- primates such as baboons and macaques that are native to Africa and Asia -- take to the swamps either regularly, seasonally or as needed. In 2008, the Wildlife Conservation Society reported that the inaccessible Lake T?l? swamp forest in the Republic of the Congo was home to 125,000 lowland gorillas -- more than were thought to exist in the wild. Among big cats, the Bengal tiger, for instance, holds its sole ground in Bangladesh in the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.
Life in the swamps can still be harsh for some animals. Species such as the crab-eating macaque and fishing cat can adapt somewhat readily to a life of swimming and foraging for crustaceans. Meanwhile, Zanzibar's red colobus monkey -- driven to coastal mangroves by deforestation -- can struggle to find the freshwater it needs, as Nowak reported in the American Journal of Primatology in 2008. Such a trend could result in local extinction of the red colobus nonetheless, she said.
Nowak concludes that swamp forests beg further exploration as places where endangered species such as lowland gorillas and flat-headed cats have preserved their numbers -- and where humans could potentially preserve them into the future.
The paper, "Mangrove and Peat Swamp Forests: Refuge Habitats for Primates and Felids," was published in the journal Folia Primatologica.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Princeton University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
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Journal Reference:
Katarzyna Nowak. Mangrove and Peat Swamp Forests: Refuge Habitats for Primates and Felids. Folia Primatologica, 2012; 83 (3-6): 361 DOI: 10.1159/000339810
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.
Maximize your kitchen's storage space with this clever spatula and serving tongs multipurpose tool known as the Chef2. Made from food-grade plastic it can withstand temperatures up to 428 degrees fahrenheit, and of course can be used to stir, flip, scrape, lift, turn, and serve a meal. More »
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R - La.) accused President Obama of playing "political theater" by warning that looming across-the-board spending cuts set to go into effect on Friday will have a devastating impact on the government's ability to function and provide for the nation's most vulnerable, saying the cuts can be made in ways that are less damaging.
"The reality is that this is just part of political theater, part of the campaign," Jindal told Politics Confidential following a luncheon at the White House for the National Governors Association. "He's trying to scare the American people. He's trying to distort the impact."
The White House released a report Sunday night detailing the state-by-state impact of the cuts known as 'the sequester'; the report says that just in Jindal's state of Louisina, 1,730 fewer children will receive vaccines, while $488,000 will be cut from a nutrition assistance programs that provides meals to seniors, among other cuts.
But Jindal says the president could cut the $85 billion required by sequestration without impacting programs like these.
"Your job as the chief executive is to outline to Congress how you would prioritize these reductions, and you can cut $85 billion and protect critical services," says Jindal, calling on the president. "Every governor has done that. Since I've been a governor, I've done that."
Jindal continued on to say that the president could save tens of billions of dollars by delaying the implementation of new programs that haven't gone into effect yet instead of the cuts outlined in the White House's Sunday report.
To hear more of Jindal?s interview, including why he won?t compromise on tax increases, check out this week?s Politics Confidential.
ABC's Alexandra Dukakis contributed to this episode.
While CEOs in corner offices nationwide may well consider the brief list of activist investors that follows to be a rogues? gallery, anyone who dismisses these four as nothing but troublemakers is missing the point entirely.
Carl Icahn: One of the original agents provocateur of activist investing, Icahn made his name as a ?corporate raider? back in the 1980s before venturing into the more nuanced world of the activists. His targets have included Texaco, Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) and Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) and his personal fortune is estimated to be north of $14 billion. Right now, his investments include Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), which is struggling with troubled asset sales, low natural gas prices and the legacy of conflicts of interest involving former CEO Aubrey McClendon, and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), the movie rental business working to recast itself in the digital streaming age.
Bill Ackman: Icahn believes Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) is a viable business; Ackman thinks it?s a pyramid scheme. The smackdown between the two titans made for great CNBC television, but Harvard MBA Ackman has earned kudos from his peers for his tenacity in chasing down the problems at the heart of muni bond insurance firm MBIA (NYSE:MBI). Like other activists, his conviction that he is right doesn?t always translate into bottom-line profits: He lost money on Target (NYSE:TGT) and is seeing big losses on his outsize position in JC Penney (NYSE:JCP).
David Einhorn: The 1991 Cornell grad (seen in photo above) made his name with his prescient call on Lehman Brothers, but had spent several years training to be a gadfly. He?s placed a big bet on the ultimate demise of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ:GMCR), but not all of his positions have proved as lucrative. For instance, a position in BioFuel Energy (NASDAQ:BIOF), an ethanol producer, has done little to boost returns for investors in hisGreenlightCapital funds. Still, his comments that he is openly shorting a company like Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) can be the kiss of death.
Daniel Loeb: This verbose veteran of the activist wars has been quieter of late than he was in the 1990s, when he would file multi-page letters to corporate management teams with the SEC, laying out their alleged misdeeds and missteps one after another. More recently, his activism has been less public, but in restructuring companies like Delphi Automotive (NYSE:DLPH) it?s clear that the same basic principles ? how a company can be run more efficiently and profitably ? still guide him. More recently, he?s been outspoken about Yahoo, which as of year-end accounted for more than a quarter of the nearly $5.5 billion he manages.
Editor's Note: This article by Suzanne McGee originally appeared on The Fiscal Times.
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I'm writing this blog after facilitating a retreat for YPO where most of the participants were 20-somethings. I was inspired by their strong intentions to be successful in all aspects of their lives. I was also touched by the incredible amount of pressure, expectations, confusion, and anxiety that they were experiencing. Embarking on the decade where they feel like they have to "figure it all out" felt incredibly overwhelming to them.
I totally get it -- because that is how I felt in my 20s. I believed that I was supposed to have a plan for my entire life, and put an extraordinary amount of pressure on myself. I was able to create a lot of external results, but it cost me a lot of joy, peace, play, and presence during my twenties.
As I taught and guided them this weekend, I also reflected upon my own 20-something experience, which was a very challenging decade for me. As I look back with gratitude and compassion, there are many things I want to tell my 20-something self. Here are some of the things I would say to her:
Please don't be so hard on yourself.
Be gentle.
Speak to yourself in more loving and encouraging ways. Your inner dialogue is the most powerful voice you hear. Turn down the volume of the critic so the voice of your inner knowing gets louder.
Smile. A lot.
You are doing the best you can. Always looking for ways to be more, better or different is NOT the formula for success.
You think it is motivating you to create results, but it is completely exhausting.
Look for what inspires you rather than what drives you. Allow your curiosity to lead you.
You know that guy you are obsessed about getting to like you? In five years you won't even remember his name.
You know that job you are devastated about not getting? There is a way better opportunity coming around soon.
Don't wait for fear to go away before you go after something you want. Being scared is natural. You'll become more courageous each time you feel fear and do it anyway.
Stop comparing yourself to others, it is preventing you from seeing and discovering your own unique gifts and what you are here to express to the world. Know that the qualities you admire in others are the qualities you need to recognize and nurture inside yourself.
Your parents are people too, with issues and triggers. They are getting used to having an adult child, just as you are getting used to being an adult.
You are going to get over your heartbreak. I know it feels so painful right now. Cry all your tears, get it out, and then let it go. Take the lessons you learned and move forward. You will love and be loved again. And you will be so grateful for your heartache because it taught you so much about love.
Take leaps of faith -- even when you don't know where you are going to land. You are going to develop so much courage and trust in yourself as you take risks. It's okay not to be 100 percent sure -- 51 percent sure is enough to take the leap.
Be of service. Have a generous heart. That is how you make a difference in the world.
Enjoy your body. Stop obsessing about it. Stop trying to make it into some perfect image of what you think it should be. You look fantastic, take lots of pictures and wear bikinis more often.
"No" is a complete sentence. You don't need to follow it with justifications and apologies.
The decisions you are making are not all forever decisions. I know you feel so much pressure to figure it all out right now and everything feels like a major decision. It's not. Choose what feels the best for right now and trust you will learn from each choice you make.
You will find your passion and purpose. Everything that you are going through now is a piece of the puzzle. Just because you don't know how the puzzle comes together yet doesn't mean it's not being assembled.
Sometimes figuring out what you want is a process of elimination. Let yourself experiment and try different things. It's okay to change your mind, and the only way you'll know if something is a fit is if you try it.
Cultivate your friendships. They will become the family you get to choose. Find friends who will grow with you, and let go of the friendships that have reached their expiration date.
List the things you are grateful for every day.
Nurture your relationship with a higher power. Spend time in the silence and get to know the divine. You are not separate.
What other people think of you is none of your business. People are always going to judge you. So what!? It's impossible to please everyone or be liked by everyone. Be you, the real you, not the version you think you need to be for others.
You are enough. You are perfect just the way you are.
Ask for help and support. You do not have to figure everything out on you own, and you are not supposed to have everything figured out right now. It's okay not to know how, what, when, where and why.
Take compliments.
You are doing the best you can. And so is everyone else.
Enjoy the moment. Your mind is always in the future. Stop living in when/then's. Be here now and have fun. This is a time in your life where you can be a bit selfish and focus on what makes you happy.
Forgive -- yourself and anyone else you are holding judgments against.
You are not alone. So many other people feel the same way you do. Be willing to be vulnerable.
Rejection is God's protection. You can't always get what you want, but you do always get what you need -- just not in the form or on the timeline you may have expected.
Each step is moving you forward, even if you feel like you are moving backward.
Breathe. Slow down. Take your time. It all works out. Your dreams come true and there are magical surprises is store. Life is amazing now, and it gets even better!!
You are loved. I love you.
From your 30-something self, Christine
For more by Christine Hassler, click here.
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Classifying different kinds of malware is notoriously hard, but crucial if computer defences are to keep up with the ever-evolving ecosystem of malicious programs. Treating computer viruses as biological puzzle could help computer scientists get a better handle on the wide world of malware.?
Ajit Narayanan and Yi Chen at the Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, converted the signatures of 120 worms and viruses into an amino acid representation. The signatures are more usually presented in hexadecimals - a base-16 numbering system which uses the digits 0 to 9 as well as the letters a to f - but the amino acid "alphabet" is better suited to machine-learning techniques that can analyse a piece of code to figure out whether it matches a known malware signature.
Generally, malware experts identify and calculate the signatures of new malware, but it can be hard for them keep up. While machine learning can help, it is limited because the hexadecimal signatures can be different lengths: Narayanan's team found that using machine learning to help classify the hexadecimal malware signatures resulted in accuracy no better than flipping a coin.
But some techniques used in bioinformatics for comparing amino acid sequences take differing lengths into account. After applying these to malware, Narayanan's average accuracy for classifying the signatures automatically using machine learning rose to 85 per cent.
Biology might help in other ways too. Narayanan notes that if further study shows malware evolution follows some of the same rules as amino acids and proteins, our knowledge of biological systems could be used to help fight it.
The explosions, which injured scores of market goers, come amid ongoing tensions in India over its recent execution of convicted terrorist Mohammad Afzal Guru.
By Arthur Bright,?Staff writer / February 21, 2013
Fire fighters extinguish a fire at the site of an explosion in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad February 21, 2013. Two bombs placed on bicycles exploded in a crowded market-place in Hyderabad on Thursday, and the federal home minister said at least 11 people were killed and 50 wounded.
Reuters
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A pair of bicycle bombs rocked a crowded marketplace in Hyderabad today, killing at least 11 people and injuring scores more in the southern Indian city of 6.8 million, a major hub for information technology where Microsoft and Google have a large presence.
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Arthur Bright is the Europe Editor at The Christian Science Monitor.? He has worked for the Monitor in various capacities since 2004, including as the Online News Editor and a regular contributor to the Monitor's Terrorism & Security blog.? He is also a licensed Massachusetts attorney.
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Reuters reports that India has gone on high alert after the explosions, which local television stations report may have killed up to 15 people and wounded at least 50.?The last major bomb attack in India was a blast in September of 2011 outside the high court in New Delhi that killed 13 people.
"Both blasts took place within a radius of 150 meters," federal Home (Interior) Minister Sushil Shinde told reporters, adding the explosives were placed on bicycles parked in the crowded marketplace. "Eight people died at one place, three at the other."
The explosions come less than two weeks after India hanged a Kashmiri man for a militant attack on the country's parliament in 2001 that had sparked violent clashes.
Witnesses told Reuters they heard at least two explosions in the Dilsukh Nagar area of Hyderabad just after dusk but there could have been more.
The Hindustan Times reports that Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters that "it was too early to say anything" about whether it was a terrorist attack, but that the government was investigating. But the Times notes that the country had already been on alert for attacks due to the recent execution of Mohammad Afzal Guru, a convict in the 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament.
The Monitor reported earlier this month that Mr. Afzal Guru's death sentence, though handed down in 2002, was carried out on Feb. 9 without advance warning, and appears to involve a significant political impetus.
The execution is being seen by analysts as the ruling Congress party?s way of regaining public confidence in the wake of several corruption scandals and protests over the recent Delhi gang-rape. Political commentator Seema Mustafa says the sudden decision to execute Afzal Guru, after years of dilly-dallying, is part of a Congress party effort?to improve its position for the 2014 general elections. ?The Congress in its usual cynical manipulation of the votes is trying to eat into the majority constituency with this action,? she says.
Executions had become more rare up until [that of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in the 2008 Mumbai attacks] ? the first in India in eight years. Like Kasab's hanging in November, Azfal Guru's?came just ahead of a parliament session. ?I would just say it's extremely tragic if Indian democracy is going to survive on executing someone or the other before every Parliament session,? says lawyer Vrinda Grover. Congress party spokesman?Abhishek Manu Singhvi called such suggestions about the timing "irresponsible and childish."
The execution led to days of protest in Kashmir, where Afzal Guru was from.
Top 10 ways biotechnology could improve our everyday lifePublic release date: 25-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lan Yoon hlyoon@kaist.ac.kr 82-423-502-295 The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Daejeon, Republic of Korea, February 25, 2013The Global Agenda Council on Biotechnology, one of the global networks under the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is composed of the world's leading experts in the field of biotechnology, announced today that the council has indentified "ten most important biotechnologies" which could help meet rapidly growing demand for energy, food, nutrition, and health. These new technologies, the council said, also have the potential to increase productivity and create new jobs.
The ten technologies were initially proposed at the WEF's Summit on the Global Agenda 2012 held on November 12-14, 2012 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and later confirmed at the World Economic Forum that took place in Davos, Switzerland, on January 23-27, 2013.
"The technologies selected by the members of the Global Agenda Council on Biotechnology represent almost all types of biotechnology. Utilization of waste, personalized medicine, and ocean agriculture are only a few examples of the challenges where biotechnology can offer solutions," said Sang Yup Lee, Chair of the Global Agenda Council on Biotechnology and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He also added that "the members of the council concluded that regulatory certainty, public perception, and investment are the key enablers for the growth of biotechnology."
These ideas will be further explored during "Biotechnology Week" at the World Economic Forum's Blog from Monday, 25 February, 2013. The full list follows below:
Bio-based sustainable production of chemicals, energy, fuels and materials
Through the last century, human activity has depleted approximately half of the world's reserves of fossil hydrocarbons. These reserves, which took over 600 million years to accumulate, are non-renewable and their extraction, refining and use contribute significantly to human emissions of greenhouse gases and the warming of our planet. In order to sustain human development going forward, a carbon-neutral alternative must be implemented. The key promising technology is biological synthesis; that is, bio-based production of chemicals, fuels and materials from plants that can be re-grown.
Engineering sustainable food production
The continuing increase in our numbers and affluence are posing growing challenges to the ability of humanity to produce adequate food (as well as feed, and now fuel). Although controversial, modern genetic modification of crops has supported growth in agricultural productivity. In 2011, 16.7 million farmers grew biotechnology-developed crops on almost 400 million acres in 29 countries, 19 of which were developing countries. Properly managed, such crops have the potential to lower both pesticide use and tilling which erodes soil.
Sea-water based bio-processes
Over 70% of the earth surface is covered by seawater, and it is the most abundant water source available on the planet. But we are yet to discover the full potential of it. For example with halliophic bacteria capable of growing in the seawater can be engineered to grow faster and produce useful products including chemicals, fuels and polymeric materials. Ocean agriculture is also a promising technology. It is based on the photosynthetic biomass from the oceans, like macroalgae and microalgae.
Non-resource draining zero waste bio-processing
The sustainable goal of zero waste may become a reality with biotechnology. Waste streams can be processed at bio-refineries and turned into valuable chemicals and fuels, thereby closing the loop of production with no net waste. Advances in biotechnology are now allowing lower cost, less draining inputs to be used, including methane, and waste heat. These advances are simplifying waste streams with the potential to reduce toxicity as well as support their use in other processes, moving society progressively closer to the sustainable goal of zero waste.
Using carbon dioxide as a raw material
Biotechnology is poised to contribute solutions to mitigate the growing threat of rising CO2 levels. Recent advances are rapidly increasing our understanding of how living organisms consume and use CO2. By harnessing the power of these natural biological systems, scientists are engineering a new wave of approaches to convert waste CO2 and C1 molecules into energy, fuels, chemicals, and new materials.
Regenerative medicine
Regenerative medicine has become increasingly important due to both increased longevity and treatment of injury. Tissue engineering based on various bio-materials has been developed to speed up the regenerative medicine. Recently, stem cells, especially the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), have provided another great opportunity for regenerative medicine. Combination of tissue engineering and stem cell (including iPS) technologies will allow replacements of damaged or old human organs with functional ones in the near future.
Rapid and precise development and manufacturing of medicine and vaccines
A global pandemic remains one of the most real and serious threats to humanity. Biotechnology has the potential to rapidly identify biological threats, develop and manufacture potential cures. Leading edge biotechnology is now offering the potential to rapidly produce therapeutics and vaccines against virtually any target. These technologies, including messenger therapeutics, targeted immunotherapies, conjugated nanoparticles, and structure-based engineering, have already produced candidates with substantial potential to improve human health globally.
Accurate, fast, cheap, and personalized diagnostics and prognostics
Identification of better targets and combining nanotechnology and information technology it will be possible to develop rapid, accurate, personalized and inexpensive diagnostics and prognostics systems.
Bio-tech improvements to soil and water
Arable land and fresh water are two of the most important, yet limited, resources on earth. Abuse and mis-appropriation have threatened these resources, as the demand on them has increased. Advances in biotechnology have already yielded technologies that can restore the vitality and viability of these resources. A new generation of technologies: bio-remediation, bio-regeneration and bio-augmentation are being developed, offering the potential to not only further restore these resources, but also augment their potential.
Advanced healthcare through genome sequencing
It took more than 13 years and $1.5 billion to sequence the first human genome and today we can sequence a complete human genome in a single day for less than $1,000. When we analyze the roughly 3 billion base pairs in such a sequence we find that we differ from each other in several million of these base pairs. In the vast majority of cases these difference do not cause any issues but in rare cases they cause disease, or susceptibility to disease. Medical research and practice will increasingly be driven by our understanding of such genetic variations together with their phenotypic consequences.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Top 10 ways biotechnology could improve our everyday lifePublic release date: 25-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lan Yoon hlyoon@kaist.ac.kr 82-423-502-295 The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Daejeon, Republic of Korea, February 25, 2013The Global Agenda Council on Biotechnology, one of the global networks under the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is composed of the world's leading experts in the field of biotechnology, announced today that the council has indentified "ten most important biotechnologies" which could help meet rapidly growing demand for energy, food, nutrition, and health. These new technologies, the council said, also have the potential to increase productivity and create new jobs.
The ten technologies were initially proposed at the WEF's Summit on the Global Agenda 2012 held on November 12-14, 2012 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and later confirmed at the World Economic Forum that took place in Davos, Switzerland, on January 23-27, 2013.
"The technologies selected by the members of the Global Agenda Council on Biotechnology represent almost all types of biotechnology. Utilization of waste, personalized medicine, and ocean agriculture are only a few examples of the challenges where biotechnology can offer solutions," said Sang Yup Lee, Chair of the Global Agenda Council on Biotechnology and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He also added that "the members of the council concluded that regulatory certainty, public perception, and investment are the key enablers for the growth of biotechnology."
These ideas will be further explored during "Biotechnology Week" at the World Economic Forum's Blog from Monday, 25 February, 2013. The full list follows below:
Bio-based sustainable production of chemicals, energy, fuels and materials
Through the last century, human activity has depleted approximately half of the world's reserves of fossil hydrocarbons. These reserves, which took over 600 million years to accumulate, are non-renewable and their extraction, refining and use contribute significantly to human emissions of greenhouse gases and the warming of our planet. In order to sustain human development going forward, a carbon-neutral alternative must be implemented. The key promising technology is biological synthesis; that is, bio-based production of chemicals, fuels and materials from plants that can be re-grown.
Engineering sustainable food production
The continuing increase in our numbers and affluence are posing growing challenges to the ability of humanity to produce adequate food (as well as feed, and now fuel). Although controversial, modern genetic modification of crops has supported growth in agricultural productivity. In 2011, 16.7 million farmers grew biotechnology-developed crops on almost 400 million acres in 29 countries, 19 of which were developing countries. Properly managed, such crops have the potential to lower both pesticide use and tilling which erodes soil.
Sea-water based bio-processes
Over 70% of the earth surface is covered by seawater, and it is the most abundant water source available on the planet. But we are yet to discover the full potential of it. For example with halliophic bacteria capable of growing in the seawater can be engineered to grow faster and produce useful products including chemicals, fuels and polymeric materials. Ocean agriculture is also a promising technology. It is based on the photosynthetic biomass from the oceans, like macroalgae and microalgae.
Non-resource draining zero waste bio-processing
The sustainable goal of zero waste may become a reality with biotechnology. Waste streams can be processed at bio-refineries and turned into valuable chemicals and fuels, thereby closing the loop of production with no net waste. Advances in biotechnology are now allowing lower cost, less draining inputs to be used, including methane, and waste heat. These advances are simplifying waste streams with the potential to reduce toxicity as well as support their use in other processes, moving society progressively closer to the sustainable goal of zero waste.
Using carbon dioxide as a raw material
Biotechnology is poised to contribute solutions to mitigate the growing threat of rising CO2 levels. Recent advances are rapidly increasing our understanding of how living organisms consume and use CO2. By harnessing the power of these natural biological systems, scientists are engineering a new wave of approaches to convert waste CO2 and C1 molecules into energy, fuels, chemicals, and new materials.
Regenerative medicine
Regenerative medicine has become increasingly important due to both increased longevity and treatment of injury. Tissue engineering based on various bio-materials has been developed to speed up the regenerative medicine. Recently, stem cells, especially the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), have provided another great opportunity for regenerative medicine. Combination of tissue engineering and stem cell (including iPS) technologies will allow replacements of damaged or old human organs with functional ones in the near future.
Rapid and precise development and manufacturing of medicine and vaccines
A global pandemic remains one of the most real and serious threats to humanity. Biotechnology has the potential to rapidly identify biological threats, develop and manufacture potential cures. Leading edge biotechnology is now offering the potential to rapidly produce therapeutics and vaccines against virtually any target. These technologies, including messenger therapeutics, targeted immunotherapies, conjugated nanoparticles, and structure-based engineering, have already produced candidates with substantial potential to improve human health globally.
Accurate, fast, cheap, and personalized diagnostics and prognostics
Identification of better targets and combining nanotechnology and information technology it will be possible to develop rapid, accurate, personalized and inexpensive diagnostics and prognostics systems.
Bio-tech improvements to soil and water
Arable land and fresh water are two of the most important, yet limited, resources on earth. Abuse and mis-appropriation have threatened these resources, as the demand on them has increased. Advances in biotechnology have already yielded technologies that can restore the vitality and viability of these resources. A new generation of technologies: bio-remediation, bio-regeneration and bio-augmentation are being developed, offering the potential to not only further restore these resources, but also augment their potential.
Advanced healthcare through genome sequencing
It took more than 13 years and $1.5 billion to sequence the first human genome and today we can sequence a complete human genome in a single day for less than $1,000. When we analyze the roughly 3 billion base pairs in such a sequence we find that we differ from each other in several million of these base pairs. In the vast majority of cases these difference do not cause any issues but in rare cases they cause disease, or susceptibility to disease. Medical research and practice will increasingly be driven by our understanding of such genetic variations together with their phenotypic consequences.
###
[ | E-mail | 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.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The TV series "Duck Dynasty" is coming between Morrissey and Jimmy Kimmel.
The singer and animal rights activist says he canceled his appearance Tuesday on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" because "Duck Dynasty" cast members will be on the talk show.
Morrissey says he can't perform on a show with what he called people who "amount to animal serial killers."
A&E's "Duck Dynasty" reality show follows a Louisiana family with a business selling duck calls and decoys.
A&E did not immediately respond to requests for comment from it and the Robertson family.
A person familiar with the Kimmel show's plans confirmed that Morrissey was to appear. The person lacked authority to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The person says Morrissey's performance will be rescheduled.
ABC says the Churchill band will perform Tuesday on Kimmel's show but declined comment on the switch.
___
Reach AP Television Writer Lynn Elber at http://www.twitter.com/lynnelber .
The Libyan government wants a professional standing army, but the many militias still on the streets are too good at their job to be replaced with a fledgling, inexperienced military.
By Maggie Fick,?Correspondent / February 24, 2013
Libyan National Congress President Mohammed Magarief (second r.) shakes hands with officers of the Libyan National Army during a graduation ceremony for students of military academies in Tripoli February 20.
Ismail Zitouny/Reuters
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In the seventeen months since Muammar Qaddafi was killed, Libya has made building an army a top national priority. But progress toward achieving this goal has been slow at best, with an official admitting that he does not even know how many soldiers are currently in the army.
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Public statements by senior Libyan leaders suggest that there is little disagreement over the notion that the country desperately needs a functioning military to ensure a peaceful transition ??and a clean break from the Qaddafi legacy of a weak army dwarfed by powerful brigades loyal to the autocrat?s sons. However, political will alone hasn't been enough to effect serious reforms.?
The decrepit, near nonexistent, state of the army two years after Libyans rose up against Qaddafi is a symbol of the interim government?s failure to begin developing institutions to guide Libya?s path toward a democratic state.?The hurdles to building an army reflect the broader struggles facing Libya as it seeks to define its national identity in the wake of 42 years of a regime based solely on the whims of one man.?
Over the past year, Libyan authorities have largely entrusted the revolutionaries who overthrew Qaddafi with the task of maintaining security across the country, punting on the responsibility of building new army and police forces. Militia fighters in a rainbow of uniforms?? not soldiers or police officers???remain the predominant public face of security in Tripoli and in other cities and towns throughout the country.
Absent a strong central command to manage the conduct of the thousands of local militias participating in security provision, many of the militias that overthrew Qaddafi remain intact and continue to operate outside the confines of law.??
The ?revolutionary legitimacy? of the local brigade members and their leaders far outweighs that of Qaddafi-era army officials.
In some cases, the government has authorized the creation of semi-formal umbrella groups for the militias like the Libyan Shield Forces; in others, local militias simply govern themselves.?
'In name only'
When Prime Minister Ali Zeidan took office last October, he declared that building professional army and police forces was his highest priority. But in the case of the army in particular, this goal remains out of reach.
Some Libyans describe it as existing ?in name only.? Many soldiers who served during Muammar Qaddafi?s rule and remained on the autocrat?s side during the 2011 uprising either were killed, fled the country, or have attempted to conceal their past loyalties in order to avoid persecution.
This raises the question of who exactly remains in the army. When asked to estimate how many soldiers there are, Giuma Sayeh, the head of the defense committee for the temporary General National Congress elected in July told The Christian Science Monitor he had ?no idea.?
Meanwhile, militia fighters remain as well-armed as soldiers. Research by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey found that in Misurata, Libya?s third-largest city and the scene of some of the fiercest battles of the 2011 uprising turned civil war, revolutionary brigades control more than 90 percent of the city?s weapons.
"The primary security challenge facing Libya is how to transform a decentralized revolutionary force ? which is made up of hundreds if not thousands of separate units ? into state security structures that have democratic checks and balances,? says Brian McQuinn, an Oxford University doctoral student who has been studying Libyan armed groups since Qaddafi?s fall and is the author of a recent Small Arms Survey report on the same topic.?
Mr. McQuinn says that Libyan leaders are grappling with the need to build a new national army while also recognizing the importance of?accommodating?the many local groups of revolutionary fighters "who?sacrificed a great deal."
As for the efficacy of the current security arrangements ? overlapping and parallel forces operating independently of each other ? McQuinn expressed a widely held view: "What is the alternative at this point?"
Impossible task
Army chief of staff Yussef al-Mangush, a former colonel in Qaddafi?s army who retired from the army just before the revolution began, was appointed by the interim cabinet early last year and is now facing mounting opposition from GNC members.
?We are trying to nominate another chief of staff,? Mr. Sayeh
"He has tried to do something, but he is not capable because he is weak," he added, criticizing his management skills but stopping short of any comments about the colonel?s past role in Qaddafi?s regime.
Army chief of staff Yussef al-Mangush is in the unfortunate position of being increasingly unpopular among parliamentarians for his failure to make quick progress, while at the same time being tasked by the government with an ever-growing raft of responsibilities.
"People are calling for his dismissal but he keeps getting handed more responsibilities," says a Western official in Libya who spoke on condition of anonymity.? "Land, air, naval forces, border security. In theory he is powerful, but he is working with the shells of institutions."
Analysts say that aside from facing the tall task of rebuilding these institutions, al-Mangush is also grappling with the demands of powerful local militia commanders, few of whom are interested in ceding power to his authority.
Who can serve?
With Libya focused on?building new institutions, both in the security sector and elsewhere, and with the constitution-drafting process yet to begin, the question of who will be permitted to lead this process is being decided by the congress. In Tripoli this week, the 200-member General National?Congress is debating a draft of the Political Isolation Law, which will specify which Libyan citizens are ineligible to run for political office based on their past service of the Qadaffi government over 42 years.
Activists say the law is too expansive and will prevent many Libyans who had no choice but to serve in the government from playing a role in the building of the new state.
?We have educated people from the [former] navy, army, and air force,? says Sayeh. ?To be honest, some were with Qaddafi and they escaped, they are now outside the country. But some [from the former army] were clearly against Qaddafi under the table,? he says, expressing concern that experienced officers who could help lead the new armed forces would be prevented from doing so if the bill passes.
Revolutionaries who are still manning checkpoints and performing security duties on behalf of the state ?should go back to their jobs or be trained in military academies," he says.
A government program offering such choices to the tens of thousands of young Libyans who played roles in the revolution could be an appealing alternative to holding on to their weapons and their positions of local power.
Until such a program is created, however, the structure of security forces in Libya may continue to model that of the highly decentralized revolution.?
The current reality is a glaring reminder that although Libyans rose up in unison to bring down Qaddafi, there is less unity of purpose when it comes to the hard work of managing the country while it remains awash in arms and rife with militias that are not eager to return to civilian life.
Army Col. Leland Holland would sometimes talk about his 444-day hostage ordeal in Iran ?like it was a good old fish story,? says his son, John. But other times, recalling how he was beaten with rubber hoses and telephone books, he?d get angry. The memory of picking a lock with a paper clip, making his way to the roof, and breathing fresh air could bring him to tears. ...
'Living history' comes to Augusta armory's outdoors show
AUGUSTA -- Gomer sizes up the throw and nudges the boy in a few inches. He takes a tomahawk and hands it to the lad, who takes it, lifts it over his shoulder past his ear, and uncoils the throw, launching the small ax to the waiting pine slab. It sticks.
7:58 PM
Bill would prevent murderers from voting
AUGUSTA -- Rep. Gary Knight thinks convicted murderers should not be allowed to vote while they are in prison, so he's sponsoring a measure to change the Maine Constitution.
Toxic mice air drop: The US government is about target invasive brown tree snakes in Guam by bombing the island with dead mice laced with?acetaminophen, which is toxic to the reptiles.
By Eric Talmadge,?Associated Press / February 22, 2013
A Brown Tree Snake is held by a US Department of Agriculture wildlife specialist at Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. The US government is planning to drop toxic mice from helicopters to battle the snakes, an invasive species that has decimated Guam's native bird population.
Eric Talmadge/AP
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Andersen Air Force Base, Guam
Dead mice laced with painkillers are about to rain down on?Guam's?jungle canopy. They are scientists' prescription for a headache that has caused the tiny U.S. territory misery for more than 60 years: the brown tree snake.
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Most of?Guam's?native bird species are extinct because of the snake, which reached the island's thick jungles by hitching rides from the South Pacific on U.S. military ships shortly after World War II. There may be 2 million of the reptiles on?Guam?now, decimating wildlife, biting residents and even knocking out electricity by slithering onto power lines.
More than 3,000 miles away, environmental officials in Hawaii have long feared a similar invasion ? which in their case likely would be a "snakes on a plane" scenario. That would cost the state many vulnerable species and billions of dollars, but the risk will fall if?Guam's?air-drop strategy succeeds.
"We are taking this to a new phase," said Daniel Vice, assistant state director of U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services in Hawaii,?Guam, and the Pacific Islands. "There really is no other place in the world with a snake problem like?Guam."
Brown tree snakes are generally a few feet (1 meter) long but can grow to be more than 10 feet (3 meters) in length. Most of?Guam's?native birds were defenseless against the nocturnal, tree-based predators, and within a few decades of the reptile's arrival, nearly all of them were wiped out.
The snakes can also climb power poles and wires, causing blackouts, or slither into homes and bite people, including babies; they use venom on their prey but it is not lethal to humans.
The infestation and the toll it has taken on native wildlife have tarnished?Guam'simage as a tourism haven, though the snakes are rarely seen outside their jungle habitat.
The solution to this headache, fittingly enough, is acetaminophen, the active ingredient in painkillers including Tylenol.
The strategy takes advantage of the snake's two big weaknesses. Unlike most snakes, brown tree snakes are happy to eat prey they didn't kill themselves, and they are highly vulnerable to acetaminophen, which is harmless to humans.
The upcoming mice drop is targeted to hit snakes near?Guam's?sprawling Andersen Air Force Base, which is surrounded by heavy foliage and if compromised would offer the snakes a potential ticket off the island. Using helicopters, the dead neonatal mice will be dropped by hand, one by one.
U.S. government scientists have been perfecting the mice-drop strategy for more than a decade with support from the Department of Defense and the Department of the Interior.
To keep the mice bait from dropping all the way to the ground, where it could be eaten by other animals or attract insects as they rot, researchers have developed a flotation device with streamers designed to catch in the branches of the forest foliage, where the snakes live and feed.
Experts say the impact on other species will be minimal, particularly since the snakes have themselves wiped out the birds that might have been most at risk.
"One concern was that crows may eat mice with the toxicant," said William Pitt, of the U.S. National Wildlife Research Center's Hawaii Field Station. "However, there are no longer wild crows on?Guam. We will continue to refine methods to increase efficiency and limit any potential non-target hazards."
The mouse drop is set to start in April or May.
Vice said the goal is not to eradicate the snakes, but to control and contain them. Just as the snakes found their way to?Guam, they could stow away on a ship, or more likely the cargo hold of an airplane, and begin breeding on other islands around the Pacific or even the U.S. West Coast.
That "snakes on a plane" scenario has officials in Hawaii on edge. The islands of Hawaii, like?Guam, lack the predators that could keep a brown tree snake population in check.
Native Hawaiian birds "literally don't know what to do when they see a snake coming," said Christy Martin, a spokeswoman for the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, a partnership of Hawaii government agencies and private organizations.
A 2010 study conducted by the National Wildlife Research Center found brown tree snakes would cause between $593 million and $2.14 billion in economic damage each year if they became established in Hawaii like they are on?Guam. Power outages would cause the most damage, followed by a projected decline in tourism. The cost of treating snake bites would account for a small share.
"Once we get snakes here, we're never going to be able to fix the situation," Martin said.
Though the snakes are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea,?Guam?is much closer to Hawaii and its snake population is much more dense, meaning it is the primary threat for snake stowaways.
So far,?Guam's?containment seems to be working. Only a few brown tree snakes have ever been found in Hawaii, and none over the past 17 years.
"If we continue doing what we are doing, the chance of success is very high," Vice said. "If what we are doing stops, I think the possibility of the snakes getting to Hawaii is inevitable."
___
AP writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report from Honolulu.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian officials said on Sunday a Palestinian detainee who died in an Israeli prison was tortured before his death, but Israel said autopsy findings were preliminary and inconclusive.
The death of 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat in an Israeli jail on Saturday and a hunger strike by four inmates have flared tension across the occupied West Bank, where stone-throwing protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers on Sunday.
The Palestinian autopsy findings could further fuel unrest that has surged in the Palestinian Territories weeks before U.S. President Barack Obama is due to visit the region. Israel demanded the Palestinian Authority restore calm to the area.
Palestinian Minister of Prisoners Issa Qaraqea said Jaradat died as result of torture. The Palestinian Authority state pathologist was present at the autopsy on Jaradat's body, which was carried out in Israel.
"There were marks of torture on the back, marks of torture on the chest, a deep wound on the upper side of the shoulder, wounds alongside the spine and marks of torture underneath the skin," Qaraqea said, based on the Palestinian doctor's basic findings.
But Israel's Health Ministry said the injuries found in the autopsy could have been caused by the medical emergency team's efforts to resuscitate Jaradat.
It listed bruising on Jaradat's shoulder, chest and two elbows, as well as fractures in two of his right ribs.
"These initial findings are not enough to determine the cause of death," the Health Ministry said, adding that further test results were not yet in. An Israeli police spokesman said the investigation into Jaradat's death was still ongoing.
The Prisons Authority said on Saturday that Jaradat had not been on a hunger strike and had been examined by an Israeli doctor during an interrogation on Thursday.
Some 3,000 prisoners held a one-day fast on Sunday in protest of Jaradat's death, which Israel initially said was caused by a heart attack.
FUNDS
Israel demanded the Palestinian Authority stem the surge in protests but a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave no indication the Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, would issue any call for calm, and blamed Israel for the rise in unrest.
"Israel has conveyed to the Palestinian Authority an unequivocal demand to calm the territory," an Israeli government official said, adding the message was delivered by one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top aides.
As an apparent incentive to Palestinian leaders to intervene, Israel pledged to proceed with this month's transfer to the Authority of around $100 million in tax revenues that it collects on its behalf.
Israel began withholding the funds, money the Palestinian Authority badly needs to pay public sector salaries, after Abbas secured U.N. de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood in November.
In the latest clashes, hundreds of Palestinian protesters, in several towns and villages in the West Bank, hurled stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
There were no reports of serious injuries in the confrontations, after a wave of violent protests last week in solidarity with the four hunger-striking prisoners.
Some 4,700 Palestinians are in Israeli jails, many of them convicted of anti-Israeli attacks and others detained without trial. Palestinians see them as heroes in a statehood struggle, and the death of any of the hunger-strikers would likely trigger widespread violence.
Prisoners affiliated with Hamas, the Islamist militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, issued a call for a new Palestinian uprising.
OBAMA AGENDA
Abbas said in an Israeli television interview three months ago he would not allow a third armed Intifada to break out and that Palestinians would pursue their cause peacefully.
Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli Defense Ministry official, questioned whether the protests were just a tactical move by the Palestinians to draw international attention before Obama's visit to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan.
But he added, in an Israel Radio interview: "Things can get out of control."
Netanyahu has said Iran's nuclear program would top the agenda of his meetings with Obama, but that the talks also would deal with Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts stalled since 2010.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior Abbas aide, said Israel's treatment of prisoners and anti-Palestinian violence by Jewish settlers were "the cause of the deterioration".
The first Palestinian uprising began in 1987 and ended in 1993, when the Oslo interim peace accords were signed.
The second Intifada broke out in 2000 after the failure of talks on a final peace settlement. Over the following seven years, more than 1,000 Israelis died, half of them in suicide attacks mostly against civilians, and more than 4,500 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces.
(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta, Nidal al-Mughrabi, Noah Browning Ari Rabinovitch and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jon Hemming)
MALE (Reuters) - Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed on Saturday left the Indian High Commission, his party said, after taking refuge for 11 days to avoid arrest on charges related to his presidency.
The government has said he no longer faces arrest.
Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically elected leader, left office last year in contested circumstances. He entered the Indian High Commission, or embassy, in the capital on February 13 as police tried to arrest him in connection with a court case.
During his refuge in the embassy Nasheed called for the formation of a caretaker government to ensure free and fair presidential polls in the Indian Ocean archipelago, scheduled for September.
He was greeted on Saturday by hundreds of his party supporters, who cheered him with his nickname "Anni," and surrounded him before he came before the media.
"I've come out with the understanding I will be able to conduct peaceful political activity and my social life," he told reporters.
"I believe that even on issues that we disagree on, we can reach a compromise with the Maldivian government."
His supporters say he was ousted last February in a coup in the Maldives, a major tourist destination. They have clashed with police outside the diplomatic mission and near the entrance of the country's main high security zone since he took refuge.
Nasheed's decision comes after an Indian delegation led by Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs held a series of meeting with the officials of the Maldives government.
The Indian High Commission in Colombo said in a statement Nasheed "entered the Indian Mission in Male on 13 February 2013 on his own volition and had similarly decided to leave on his own."
"FREE AND FAIR TRIAL"
A court ordered Nasheed's arrest after he missed a February 10 court appearance in a case relating to accusations that he illegally detained a judge during the last days of his administration, which also forced the regime change.
If Nasheed is found guilty in the case, he could be barred from standing in a presidential election on September 7. His party says the trial is an attempt to exclude him from the contest and has challenged the court's legitimacy.
"The government has nothing to do with Nasheed's court case," Imad Masood, presidential spokesman, told Reuters.
"We will ensure a free and fair as well as an inclusive election. But it is the Prosecutor General who should decide whether a person could contest in the election."
The presidential spokesman has said that Nasheed's arrest warrant has ceased, but he still faces a court hearing.
Nasheed says he was forced from power at gunpoint after opposition protests and a police mutiny. A national commission last August said the toppling of his government was not a coup, but a transfer of power that followed the constitution, a ruling that triggered several days of demonstrations.
The Maldives held its first free elections in 2008. Nasheed defeated Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had ruled for 30 years and was accused by opponents and international human rights groups of running the country as a dictator.
(Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal in COLOMBO; Writing by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Due to a chain of events that I can't rightly remember, I embarked on a journey today; I began to plow through a wondrous Spotify playlist featuring all the tracks from "Now That's What I Call Music" albums 1-45, in order. Tonic's "If You Could Only See" is but one of the hidden treasures the frankly mammoth playlist contains. More »
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SALEM - Some Salem junior high teachers unhappy with the science textbooks available used today's technology to create their own books for use on the iPad tablets in their classrooms.
Known as iBooks, the instructional creations incorporate videos, interactive 3-D images and even the capability for sample questions and quizzes the students can use as part of the education process.
"They felt they could create something that was better than what was being offered out there," Salem Schools Superintendent Tom Bratten said.
The iBooks also incorporate the new state standards schools are required to teach so lessons can focus on what students need to learn. All districts must have the new standards in place by 2015, but Bratten said they've already been using most of them since last year.
Eighth grade science teacher Ruth Baker, seventh grade science teacher Amie Cochran and intervention specialist and technology liaison Nicole Rothbauer explained what they did to board members during their meeting Thursday night, equipping them with iPads so they could see the iBooks and their capabilities first-hand.
The three of them each put 50 to 90 hours of their own time into the project over the summer, with Rothbauer learning how to use a Mac computer to help write the iBooks and Baker and Cochran working on the content. To date, they have three iBooks completed which they're already using in the classrooms and have two more nearly completed. They have a couple more iBooks they want to work on this summer.
"When we've used them in the classroom, I've never seen the students so engaged. It's a wonderful experience," Cochran said.
Baker explained that students can go at their own pace, they can get definitions of terms and learn through the visuals available.
Cathy Sanor, Director of Curriculum and Federal Programs at the district, said Rothbauer has shared what she learned through the writing program with other teachers and they're working on their own iBooks for use in the classrooms as a teaching tool. Junior High Principal Sean Kirkland praised the teachers for what they've done and board member Brad Myers said these are the types of efforts the public doesn't see that teachers do in their off hours.
Mary Ann Greier can be reached at mgreier@salemnews.net
While CEOs in corner offices nationwide may well consider the brief list of activist investors that follows to be a rogues? gallery, anyone who dismisses these four as nothing but troublemakers is missing the point entirely.
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Public release date: 25-Feb-2013
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