NEW YORK (AP) ? A pair of encouraging economic reports helped propel the stock market up in early trading on Monday.
Wages and spending rose in the U.S. last month, and pending home sales hit their highest level in three years.
Shortly after 10:30 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was up 62 points at 14,775, a gain of 0.4 percent.
The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes reached the highest level since April 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors. Back then, a tax credit for buying houses had lifted sales.
In other trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose nine points to 1,591, or 0.6 percent. The S&P 500 is just two points below the record high close of 1,593 it reached April 11.
The Nasdaq composite rose 30 points at 3,309, or 0.9 percent.
Before the market opened the government reported that Americans' spending and income both rose 0.2 percent last month.
Moody's and Standard & Poor's parent company McGraw-Hill surged following news that the ratings agencies settled lawsuits dating back to the financial crisis that accused them of concealing risky investments. McGraw-Hill gained 6 percent to $54.80, while Moody's jumped 10 percent to $61.02, the biggest gain in the S&P 500.
Eaton Corp. gained 5 percent to $61.31 after reporting that its quarterly net income jumped, beating Wall Street's estimates. The results were helped by its acquisition of Cooper Industries, an electrical equipment supplier.
In the market for government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 1.65 percent. That's down from 1.67 percent late Friday.
Inmates move between cell blocks at San Quentin State Prison (Yelp)?Not recommended.? When it comes to a firsthand prison review, do you need to know anything from than that?
Believe it or not, that was the actual review from a Yelp user named ?Ticha B.? who reviewed California?s San Quentin State Prison. And for the record, she only gave it one star.
And as it turns out, Ticha is far from alone. The Washington Post has written a story about the phenomenon of prison reviews showing up on the site Yelp, which allows users to literally review any business, destination, or even prison, with a standard address.
?I think the reviews are actually helpful for bail bondsmen, attorneys, family members ? a lot of people, actually,? attorney Robert Miller told the Post. In fact, Miller has written several reviews himself, though with the distinct advantage of being on the outside of a prison cell.
The Post notes that inmates have reviewed six prisons in the Washington Metro area.
Across the country, not many of the nation?s ?worst prisons? have received formal reviews for the site. For example, you won?t have any luck finding a detailed description of the services offered at the nation?s only supermax facility, ADX Florence in Colorado. ADX is home to some of the nation?s most dangerous convicted felons, including the Unabomber, Ted Kaczinsky.
Interesting, there appears to be a scarcity of reviews for what are considered some of the nation?s Luxury Prisons.
However, San Quentin does not suffer from a lack of attention, with 35 reviews at the time of this article?s publishing.
The reviews come from a variety of individuals, some who have taken tours of the facility and those who claim to have spent time behind its bars. Overall, the site receives an average of 2.5 stars out of five.
"This is not a place you wanna end up,? writes Yelp user Scott D (2 stars), who says he spent four days in San Quentin when he was a teenager as part of California?s ?Scared Straight? program. ?Not all big bad & scary like the movies make it, but cold, damp and miserable with really sh***y food.?
Of course, there is no way to verify if these reviews come from actual inmates or just Yelp users with way too much time on their hands. For their part, Yelp refused to publicly comment on the article.
Arlington County Sheriff Beth Arthur said she was suspicious of some of the Washington, DC area reviews. In particularly, one reviewer praised the availability of juice boxes at one facility, which Arthur said is factually inaccurate.
?I thought, ?Wait a minute, I don?t understand what she?s talking about,? ? Arthur told the Post. ?I almost thought she meant the old facility, but this one has been here 20 years.?
However, there?s a potential upside to these reviews as well. For example, the Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Office says they regularly review allegations of abuse posted to the site.
?Every allegation we get, we investigate,? Stephen Whitmore, spokesman for Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, told the Post. ?But this Yelp phenomenon I find curious,? Whitmore said. ?Jail isn?t a restaurant. It isn?t seeing a movie. You?re doing time for committing a crime.?
?It helps elevate consciousness of the problems and brings transparency and oversight to a system that isn?t used to being transparent,? Miller added. ?That?s a very valuable tool.?
Though as Baca noted, it?s very strange to see the occasional positive review for a detention facility.
User Dylan D. gave a 3 star review of San Quentin, writing in part, ?I heard that the kitchen used local farms and put great thought in to their seasonally changing menu and the service was not exactly friendly but 'efficient.'?
Who they got: Round 1: D.J. Hayden, CB, Houston. Round 2: Menelik Watson, OT, Florida State. Round 3: Sio Moore, LB, Connecticut. Round 4: Tyler Wilson, QB, Arkansas. Round 6: Nick Kasa, TE, Colorado. Round 6: Latavius Murray, RB, UCF. Round 6: Mychal Rivera, TE, Tennessee. Round 6: Stacy McGee, DT, Oklahoma. Round 7: Brice Butler, WR, San Diego State. Round 7: David Bass, DE, Missouri Western.
Where they hit: Hayden, who survived a freakish life-threatening internal injury suffered in November, could be the Raiders? top cornerback in short order. With the second-rounder acquired from Miami, the Raiders added Watson, a tackle prospect with upside. Moore is a good scheme fit, and Wilson could prove a very good value if he plays to his best collegiate form.
Where they missed: The Raiders didn?t draft a defensive lineman until Round Six. There?s playing time to be had for ends Bass and Jack Crawford (2012 fifth-rounder) and tackles McGee and Christo Bilukidi (2012 sixth-rounder) behind the Raiders? veteran starters, but Oakland could use a little more help at both line positions. In McKenzie?s defense, the Raiders have numerous needs, and on first analysis, he did quite well to add talent and depth in this draft.
Impact rookies: Given the state of the Raiders? roster, all 10 drafted rookies have a chance to make the team, and several could earn game-day snaps of consequence in Year One, so we?re going to cast a slightly wider net than usual here.
Hayden has the best shot to start. He should compete with Tracy Porter and Mike Jenkins right off the bat. Moore is also a player to watch; the Raiders have revamped their LB corps this offseason but don?t have any standouts. A talented fresh face has a chance to make an impact early at this position. Watson?s best opportunity to start in 2013 is at right tackle, but that?s no sure thing, given his lack of experience.
Rivera is a potential sleeper, given the Raiders? lack of a clear-cut top target at tight end after the departure of Brandon Myers. And then we come to Wilson. Matt Flynn will get first run at the starting job. Wilson will have to be a quick study to challenge Flynn and Terrelle Pryor. However, it?s not out of the realm of possibility.
Long-term prospects: Give McKenzie credit ? this roster has improved at numerous positions compared to where it stood earlier in the spring. In the best-case scenario for the Raiders? Class of 2013, these three things happen: 1) Hayden is a starter-caliber player from the get-go; 2) Watson and Wilson build on their potential; 3) the Day Three picks other than Wilson provide solid depth, with one or two panning out better than Oakland expected.
Make no mistake: the Raiders have a lot of catching up to do in the AFC West. However, there?s vast opportunity for some young players to seize some key roles. The Raiders have to hope more than a few rise to the occasion.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As he nears the end of a dozen years as director of the FBI, Robert Mueller finds himself defending the agency over its handling of two high-profile cases. It is a familiar spot for the low-key ex-Marine.
At the request of President Barack Obama, Mueller stayed on for two years beyond the job's 10-year term to help stabilize law enforcement's fight against domestic and international threats to U.S. security. Recent events - the bombing at the Boston Marathon and ricin-laced letters sent to Obama and a U.S. senator - have left Mueller dealing with suggestions that agency missteps may have added to the damage.
Mueller, 68, who is scheduled to leave office in early September, has endured many congressional attacks against his agency's performance. While he is not universally praised on Capitol Hill, he has won enough bipartisan support to be considered a success.
Tellingly, it was a target of the 2001 anthrax letters - Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont - who told Mueller at a 2008 hearing that he seriously doubted the findings of the FBI's long and complicated anthrax investigation. But three years later, Leahy as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman helped Mueller win a two-year extension of his term.
The FBI chief gets far milder treatment than some other prominent members of the 0bama administration, such as U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. She came under heavy fire from Republicans for remarks she made after the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi in which four Americans were killed, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
In Washington, where making enemies is easy, Mueller wins high scores from members of Congress for his competence, even as he guided a vast expansion of FBI powers since the hijacked plane attacks of September 11, 2001.
"I believe he is well liked, even though I find fault with a lot of his policies, or how he does things," Senator Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview. "I think he's well intentioned ... it's kind of difficult for me to criticize him even when there is a screw-up," Grassley added.
This month, the FBI has faced fresh assaults over its failure to spot the potential danger from Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a suspect in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings, after Russia asked the bureau to investigate him two years ago. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a police shootout and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, has been charged in the bombings that killed three people and injured more than 200.
Two senior Republican lawmakers complained Tamerlan Tsarnaev was yet another in a series of cases in which a person investigated by the agency had later taken part in attacks.
Soon after the Boston bombings, the FBI accused an Elvis impersonator of sending letters containing ricin to Obama and other officials, only to quickly drop the charges for a lack of evidence.
Mueller and his leadership team have briefed members of Congress about the cases, but further inquiries are likely.
"I think he is ready to go home. He has had 12 years," said Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee. He praised Mueller, who was first nominated to the job by a Republican president, George W. Bush.
"He has had some major issues to confront, including 9/11, then Russian and China threats, cyber threats," he said.
Some lawmakers say that despite the Boston blasts, the FBI thwarted other plots in recent years, including one to bomb New York's subway system. They also note that there was an arrest within days of the Boston bombing.
"I thought they (the FBI) did fabulous in getting to the bottom of the Boston bombing, but as great as that was, it was embarrassing to bring in a guy who had nothing to do with the ricin mailings," said Representative Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican who serves on the Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of the FBI.
Mueller's office did not comment, although Mueller has praised the work of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies for the arrest of the Boston bombing suspect.
LOW PROFILE?
Some think Mueller's secret to success has been keeping a low profile in a town where many people are constantly angling to get attention. Mueller, while doing a lot of closed-door briefings for leaders, does not talk much to the media.
"I think he has been successful because he hasn't been a press hog," Grassley said.
Mueller, a former Justice Department official, was nominated for the top FBI job in 2001 and took office days before the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
When Obama asked Mueller to stay on, some Senate Republicans initially balked. One, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, came around after Mueller met with him to discuss the bureau's handling of a Kentucky case.
Mueller fielded heavy criticism from his earliest days in office.
After the 9/11 attacks, politicians from both parties questioned how the FBI had missed several warning signs of the hijackings, such as a memo from a Phoenix agent about Middle Eastern men taking flight lessons.
The anthrax case led to criticism because the bureau focused for so long on the wrong man, a mistake that ultimately cost the government millions of dollars in settling a lawsuit.
The FBI finally concluded that Army scientist Bruce Ivans was responsible for the anthrax attacks, but he killed himself before charges were brought.
In 2008, Leahy, then the Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told Mueller he did not believe the FBI finding that Ivans was solely responsible. Leahy said he thought others had to be involved.
Mueller reorganized the FBI to expand its analytical capability and improve its intelligence collection. He also beefed up its bioterrorism capabilities.
He has been praised for resisting some parts of the expansion of domestic surveillance under Bush.
Grassley said Mueller had not always been as responsive as possible to the senator's letters or "as protective of whistleblowers as he should be."
But he said there should not be another extension as director for Mueller, no matter how well liked he may be.
The purpose of the law limiting the director's term "is to make sure we don't get into this J. Edgar Hoover syndrome, that one guy is so indispensable," Grassley said, referring to the former FBI director of almost four decades. "We don't want to get caught in that syndrome again."
(Reporting By Susan Cornwell; Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Peter Cooney)
So I have known this girl for 7 weeks, I met her on facebook because she was one of my friends best friends. We started talking on status and the next thing I know we are both flirting with each other, we starting talking on messages and I asked her if she wanted to met with me so we could see each over for the first time.
It went really well and the other 5 dates as well, one date for every week but these last to weeks we haven't been able to meet up which I am finding upsetting and I think not seeing each other is starting to affect the relationship badly. She has started talking less, her answers are shorter, it is hard/impossible to keep a conversation going with her and I just get the feeling she isn't interested anymore.
I don't want to be over reacting but I am starting to think she doesn't want to be in a relationship with me anymore, I haven't lost interest in her at all but I do find it hard to get her to open up to me. I just don't know what to do, I want to meet up with her again but it would have to be next Saturday because of college. I am worried if I ask though that she will not want/able to come.
Can anyone please tell me what I should do! I know I am going to have to talk to her about it but I am seriously thinking that if I do she is going to break up with me Please help!!
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Although LG jumped into the deep end of the online services pool when it launched LG Cloud last year, it didn't have much to brag about when access was limited to South Korea, Russia and the US. The company is about to broaden its horizons considerably -- it now plans to deploy LG Cloud to more than 40 additional countries before the end of May. While the electronics giant hasn't outlined its plans on a nation-by-nation basis, it's planning a truly worldwide expansion that should include Asia, Europe and Latin America. If your Optimus G Pro and brand new TV aren't already syncing their media in perfect harmony, there's a good chance that they will within a month's time.
SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) ? Crews bored deeper Friday into the wreckage of a garment-factory building that collapsed two days earlier, hoping for miracle rescues that would prevent the death toll from rising much higher, as angry relatives of the missing clashed with police.
Some of those trapped under fallen concrete in the Rana Plaza building were still alive, rescue workers said, but they were so badly hurt and weakened that they will need to be extricated within a few hours if they are to survive.
Brig. Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing rescue operations, said the death toll at the Rana Plaza building had reached 290, and that 2,200 people have been rescued. The garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside it when it collapsed Wednesday.
Hundreds of rescuers, some crawling through the maze of rubble, spent a third day working amid the cries of the trapped and the wails of workers' relatives gathered outside the building, which housed numerous garment factories and a handful of other companies.
Police cordoned off the building site, pushing back thousands of bystanders and relatives, after rescue workers said the crowds were hampering their work.
Clashes erupted between relatives of those still trapped and police officers, who used batons to disperse the mobs. Police said 50 people were injured in the clashes.
"We want to go inside the building and find our people now. They will die if we don't find them soon," said Shahinur Rahman, whose mother is missing.
An army rescue worker, Maj. Abdul Latis, said he found one survivor still trapped under concrete slabs, surrounded by several bodies. At another place in the building, four survivors were found pinned under the debris, a fire official said.
The rescue workers said they were proceeding very cautiously inside the crumbling building, using their hands, hammers and shovels, to avoid more injuries to trapped survivors and avoid further collapses.
Police say cracks in the building had led them to order an evacuation of the building the day before it fell, but the factories ignored the order.
A military official, Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy, told reporters that search and rescue operations would continue until at least Saturday.
"We know a human being can survive for up to 72 hours in this situation. So our efforts will continue non-stop," he said.
Some people have been pulled out of the wreckage alive, though severely weakened, more than a day after the collapse.
Forty people had been trapped on the fourth floor of the building until rescuers reached them Thursday evening. Twelve were soon freed, and crews worked to get the others out safely, said Brig. Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing rescue operations. Crowds at the scene burst into applause as survivors were brought out.
The odor of decaying bodies at the site of the collapse, in the Dhaka suburb of Savar, is a constant reminder that many garment workers were not so lucky.
Thousands of workers from the hundreds of garment factories across the Savar industrial zone and other nearby industrial areas have taken to the streets to protest the collapse and poor safety standards.
Local news reports said protesters had smashed dozens of vehicles at one strike Friday. Most of the other protests were largely peaceful.
The disaster is the worst ever for Bangladesh's booming and powerful garment industry, surpassing a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve the country's worker-safety standards.
Instead, very little has changed in Bangladesh, where wages, among the lowest in the world, have made it a magnet for numerous global brands.
U.S. suspects Syria used chemical weapons, wants proof
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad had probably used chemical weapons on a small scale in the country's civil war, but insisted that President Barack Obama needed definitive proof before he would take action. The disclosure created a quandary for Obama, who has set the use of chemical weapons as a "red line" that Assad must not cross. It triggered calls from some hawkish Washington lawmakers for a U.S. military response, which the president has resisted.
Boston bombing suspect moved to prison from hospital: officials
BOSTON (Reuters) - Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been moved to a prison at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, from the hospital where he had been held since his arrest a week ago, the U.S. Marshals Service said on Friday. The 19-year-old ethnic Chechen, who was badly wounded in an overnight shootout last week with police hours after authorities released pictures of him and his older brother, also a suspect, had previously been held at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where some of the victims were also being treated.
Italy's Letta moves forward to shape government
ROME (Reuters) - Italian prime minister-designate Enrico Letta held talks with other political figures on Friday on forming a coalition government but said differences with former premier Silvio Berlusconi's center-right party still needed to be resolved. Berlusconi said he was confident the remaining issues between rival parties could be sorted out.
South Korea to pull all workers from industrial zone in North
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will pull out all remaining workers from a jointly run industrial zone in North Korea, it said on Friday, after Pyongyang rejected a call for formal talks to end a standoff that led to operations being suspended. The decision to remove about 170 people from the Kaesong factory park located just north of the armed border deepens a conflict between the two Koreas and puts at risk their last remaining channel of exchange that resulted from their breakthrough 2000 summit and a bid to improve ties.
Dozens rescued but Bangladesh building toll soars towards 300
DHAKA (Reuters) - Rescuers pulled dozens of survivors from the rubble of Bangladesh's worst industrial accident on Friday, but the death toll rose towards 300 after the collapse of a building housing factories that made low-cost garments for Western brands. Almost miraculously, 62 people trapped beneath the rubble since the eight-storey building collapsed on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, on Wednesday were rescued alive overnight, police and government officials said.
Death toll in Nigeria shootout with Islamist militants reaches 25
KADUNA (Reuters) - Twenty-five people were killed in a clash between Nigerian security forces and suspected Islamist Boko Haram militants who robbed a bank and attacked a police station in northeastern Yobe state, police said on Friday. The military had earlier said seven people were killed in the shootout on Thursday.
Thirty-eight feared dead in Russian psychiatric hospital fire
RAMENSKY, Russia (Reuters) - Thirty-eight people were feared dead after a fire raged through a psychiatric hospital north of Moscow early on Friday, killing some patients in their beds and trapping others behind barred windows. The fire, which raised questions about the care of psychiatric patients in Russia, swept through a single-storey building at the hospital, a collection of wood and brick huts that was home to people sectioned by Russian courts.
Egypt's Pope says Islamist rulers neglect Copts
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Christians feel sidelined, ignored and neglected by Muslim Brotherhood-led authorities, who proffer assurances but have taken little or no action to protect them from violence, Coptic Pope Tawadros II said. In his first interview since emerging from seclusion after eight people were killed in sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians this month, the pope called official accounts of clashes at Cairo's Coptic cathedral on April 7 "a pack of lies".
Capriles to challenge Venezuela election in court
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Thursday he will challenge President Nicolas Maduro's narrow election victory in the courts and that an audit of the vote being prepared by electoral authorities risked being "a joke." Maduro, the hand-picked successor of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, won the April 14 vote by less than 2 percentage points. The opposition says there were thousands of irregularities in the election and that their figures show Capriles won.
Canada train plot suspect traveled to Iran: U.S. officials
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Investigators believe one of two suspects charged in Canada with plotting to blow up a railroad track carrying passenger trains traveled to Iran within the past two years, U.S. law enforcement and national security officials said on Thursday. Chiheb Esseghaier, a Tunisian-born doctoral student, traveled to Iran on a trip that was directly relevant to the investigation of the alleged plot, the officials said.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant grimaces after being injured during the second half of their NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Friday, April 12, 2013, in Los Angeles. The Lakers won 118-116. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant grimaces after being injured during the second half of their NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Friday, April 12, 2013, in Los Angeles. The Lakers won 118-116. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
NEW YORK (AP) ? A headache for his coach, Kobe Bryant's tweets during a Lakers playoff game were a hit at the NBA office.
Bryant has since decided to stop, saying the focus should be on his team, and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday he missed Bryant's online commentary.
"I thought it was fascinating," Silver said at a meeting of Associated Press Sports Editors.
Unable to sit on the Lakers' bench after his season-ending torn Achilles, Bryant appeared to spend most of their 91-79 Game 1 loss to San Antonio on Sunday online, offering some pointed analysis of what he was seeing.
Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni later called Bryant a "fan" when asked about the tweets during the game, which Bryant laughed off when he heard it.
"His coach said, he's a fan now, that's what fans do," Silver said.
NBA players are prohibited from posting on social media from 45 minutes before games until they have finished their media responsibilities afterward. Silver doesn't think that rule needs to be expanded to cover players such as Bryant.
"I don't think we need a leaguewide rule, I think that's a team decision," Silver said. "I mean, assuming that the player is not on the bench. There's an absolute league rule if the player is on the bench, but I mean for a player who's injured who is not sitting on the bench, I think that's a team decision. That should be a team decision as to whether a player should be tweeting."
Bryant made the decision himself after his tweets became perhaps a bigger story than anything that happened on the court.
"To tweet or not to tweet.. I CHOOSE not 2," he wrote Monday. "Focus should be on the team not my insight."
In what will be news of interest to both the Lakers and the Spurs, Commisioner David Stern said there still remains no interest in removing fouls away from the ball ? the original "Hack-a-Shaq" ? but does expect the league to revisit the idea of resting healthy players.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has used intentional fouling against Shaquille O'Neal and current Lakers center Dwight Howard, another notoriously poor free throw shooter, as a way to slow the opposing offense. League president Joel Litvin said owners and the Competition Committee felt that abolishing the strategy, which does slow games down, would be "rewarding a guy who can't shoot free throws."
Popovich has also liberally rested healthy Spurs and drew the ire of Stern and a $250,000 fine earlier this season when he did it in Miami, sending key players such as Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili home before the end of a road trip.
LeBron James sat out some games after the Heat clinched the best record in the league, and New York's Carmelo Anthony didn't play in the final week of the regular season.
"I think we're going to have to come to grips somehow with the issue of resting players," Stern said. "We have to recognize both sides of that issue, in terms of not telling a coach how to manage his lineup while at the same time trying to deliver to our fans what they've come to expect.
"Historically, when you're resting a 36-year-old player or a player with a history of injuries, that's fine. But when that player gets to be 26 and it's a wholesale sort of an elimination of rosters for a game, that's less about resting and more about something else going on, and we're going to have to come to grips with that at some point. Or at least, Commissioner Silver will."
Stern is scheduled to retire Feb. 1 and Silver will replace him.
___
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Apr. 25, 2013 ? A protein known to be a key player in the development of Parkinson's disease is able to enter and harm cells in the same way that viruses do, according to a Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study.
The protein is called alpha-synuclein. The study shows how, once inside a neuron, alpha synuclein breaks out of lysosomes, the digestive compartments of the cell. This is similar to how a cold virus enters a cell during infection. The finding eventually could lead to the development of new therapies to delay the onset of Parkinson's disease or halt or slow its progression, researchers said.
The study by virologist Edward Campbell, PhD, and colleagues, was published April 25, 2013 in the journal PLOS ONE.
Alpha-synuclein plays a role in the normal functioning of healthy neurons. But in Parkinson's disease patients, the protein turns bad, aggregating into clumps that lead to the death of neurons in the area of the brain responsible for motor control. Previous studies have shown that these protein aggregates can enter and harm cells. Campbell and colleagues showed how alpha synuclein can bust out of lysosomes, small structures that collectively serve as the cell's digestive system. The rupture of these bubble-like structures, known as vesicles, releases enzymes that are toxic to the rest of the cell.
"The release of lysosomal enzymes is sensed as a 'danger signal' by cells, since similar ruptures are often induced by invading bacteria or viruses," said Chris Wiethoff, a collaborator on the study. "Lysosomes are often described as 'suicide bags' because when they are ruptured by viruses or bacteria, they induce oxidative stress that often leads to the death of the affected cell."
In a viral or bacterial infection, the deaths of such infected cells may overall be a good thing for the infected individual. But in Parkinson's disease, this same protective mechanism may lead to the death of neurons and enhance the spread of alpha-synuclein between cells in the brain, Campbell said. "This might explain the progressive nature of Parkinson's disease. More affected cells leads to the spread of more toxic alpha-synuclein aggregates in the brain," Campbell said. "This is very similar to what happens in a spreading viral infection."
Campbell stressed that these studies need to be followed up and confirmed in other models of Parkinson's disease. "Using cultured cells, we have made some exciting observations. However, we need to understand how lysosomal rupture is affecting disease progression in animal models of Parkinson's disease and, ultimately, the brains of people affected by Parkinson's disease. Can we interfere with the ability of alpha-synuclein to rupture lysosomes in these settings? And will that have a positive effect on disease progression? These are the questions we are excited to be asking next."
Jeffrey H. Kordower, PhD, professor of neurological sciences, professor of neurosurgery and director of the Research Center for Brain Repair at Rush University Medical Center, said the study "is an important finding by a group of investigators who are beginning to make their impact in the field of Parkinson's disease. This paper adds to the growing concept that alpha-synuclein, a main culprit in the cause of Parkinson's disease, can transfer from cell to cell. This paper elegantly puts a mechanism behind such a transfer. The findings will help shape the direction of Parkinson's disease research for years to come."
Campbell and Wiethoff are assistant professors in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Other co-authors are David Freeman (first author), Rudy Cedillos, Samantha Choyke, Zana Lukic, Kathleen McGuire, Shauna Marvin, Andrew M. Burrage and Ajay Rana of Loyola's Stritch School of Medicine; Stacey Sudholt of Missouri School of Medicine; and Christopher O'Connor of North Central College in Naperville, Il.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Loyola University Health System, via Newswise.
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Journal Reference:
David Freeman, Rudy Cedillos, Samantha Choyke, Zana Lukic, Kathleen McGuire, Shauna Marvin, Andrew M. Burrage, Stacey Sudholt, Ajay Rana, Christopher O'Connor, Christopher M. Wiethoff, Edward M. Campbell. Alpha-Synuclein Induces Lysosomal Rupture and Cathepsin Dependent Reactive Oxygen Species Following Endocytosis. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (4): e62143 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062143
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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.
Spanish group patents an automatic suture system for colon cancer operationsPublic release date: 25-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: SINC info@agenciasinc.es 34-914-251-820 FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
The Spanish research centre Innotex has developed a device that enables automatic suturing of the large intestine after being sectioned during cancer colon surgery. The novelty of the system, called Insewing, is that it allows the use of absorbable suture material instead of metallic staples which are currently used and could cause intestinal stiffness and obstruction.
Two American companies have shown interest in a development of the Innotex group, based in the Innovation and Technology Centre at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (CIT UPC). "This is a device that enables automatic suturing of the large intestine after being sectioned during cancer colon surgery and it is done with conventional absorbable suture material," as explained to SINC by Jos Antonio Tornero, promoter of research at Innotex and project co-ordinator.
According to Tornero, Innotex has requested the Spanish patent for its system, named Insewing, and is in the process of extending it to other countries. They hope to obtain funding for this by reaching an agreement with the American companies in the medical equipment sector, whose identity is still confidential.
"The Insewing system can be applied in a surgical procedure, known as anastomosis, which is defined as the joining of two ends of tubular tissue. It can be large or small intestine, oesophagus etc., but our device is developed for the large intestine. It will have application in a great number of colon cancer operations in which it is necessary to cut a section of the intestine at the location of the tumour and then join the two sectioned ends," the Project Manager adds.
Options
One of the two options, when performing this operation, is for the surgeon to sew the ends of the sectioned intestine by hand. "Manual suturing is very reliable. It is done with an absorbable suture material that disappears after a few weeks and the intestine is well joined together and fully elastic. However, as Tornero explains, "hand sewing is very difficult".
In addition, it has to be done by an experienced surgeon and it is very time-consuming, more than the time being dedicated to the rest of the intervention steps. It is known that the risk increases proportionate to the time a patient remains anesthetised and therefore the joining is done by manual procedure in very few cases.
In fact, approximately 90% of these sutures are not done by hand, but by using a device that puts two rows of metallic staples to join the sectioned intestine. "Stapling is faster, but causes a section of the intestine to become stiff due to the metallic staples". This results in a narrowing of the intestine and may cause intestinal obstructions in a fairly high percentage.
Automatic suturing with absorbable material
Tornero and his team set out to develop a device that enables automatic suturing of the large intestine with absorbable material, which is used in surgery, made from a copolymer which is called polyglycolic acid. This suture is the same type used by surgeons to sew by hand and it disappears in a few weeks without trace.
"Our objective is to combine the advantages of hand sewing with the speed of the stapler so that the intestine is elastic and looks untouched and there is no stiff section," Tornero adds.
The idea for Insewing was developed almost 10 years ago by Francesc Soler Giralt, a laboratory technician at UPC, and now retired. According to Tornero, there was interest from some companies, but they were unwilling to provide funding until there was a prototype. The project has been dormant all this time, despite there being an initial patent for proof of concept at UPC.
However, the project was revived in 2010 thanks to the submission to qualify for funding from the European project ECHORD, within the seventh framework programme for small robotic projects.
In this project, Innotex has participated with the Institute for Organisation and Control of Industrial Systems at UPC, led by Ral Suarez, which has developed the electronic and control elements, and with the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, which has provided advice and review from a medical point of view.
Experimentation with a pig's intestine
Thanks to funding provided by ECHORD, of 300,000 euros, Innotex and its partners have been able to develop the full prototype and carried out the first tests on a dead pig's intestine.
"It's a very human-like tissue in viscosity, consistency and thickness and the tests have been very satisfactory. Manuel Lpez Cano, the surgeon at Vall d'Hebron who supervised the tests, made a very positive assessment," Tornero says.
The sealing requirements are very high. "The suture has to be completely sealed from the inside outwards because any leaks could cause a risk of infection and very serious immediate problems," he adds.
The co-ordinator points out that there is still some way to go before it can come onto the market, "about four or five years". After testing on dead tissue, tests will be carried out in vivo with laboratory pigs and then with humans.
According to Tornero, Innotex employs 60 people and integrates all the textile research excellence at UPC.
The second most common cancer in women and the third in men
Colon cancer is the second most common cancer in women, after breast cancer, and the third in men, after lung and prostate cancer. According to the OMC, it is closely related to age and more prevalent in Europe and the United States. In these areas there are 1.5 million cases a year.
Approximately half of the cases of colon cancer end up requiring an intervention of anastomosis, which is currently carried out by manual sewing or with staples and to which the device developed by Innotex can be applied.
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Spanish group patents an automatic suture system for colon cancer operationsPublic release date: 25-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: SINC info@agenciasinc.es 34-914-251-820 FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
The Spanish research centre Innotex has developed a device that enables automatic suturing of the large intestine after being sectioned during cancer colon surgery. The novelty of the system, called Insewing, is that it allows the use of absorbable suture material instead of metallic staples which are currently used and could cause intestinal stiffness and obstruction.
Two American companies have shown interest in a development of the Innotex group, based in the Innovation and Technology Centre at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (CIT UPC). "This is a device that enables automatic suturing of the large intestine after being sectioned during cancer colon surgery and it is done with conventional absorbable suture material," as explained to SINC by Jos Antonio Tornero, promoter of research at Innotex and project co-ordinator.
According to Tornero, Innotex has requested the Spanish patent for its system, named Insewing, and is in the process of extending it to other countries. They hope to obtain funding for this by reaching an agreement with the American companies in the medical equipment sector, whose identity is still confidential.
"The Insewing system can be applied in a surgical procedure, known as anastomosis, which is defined as the joining of two ends of tubular tissue. It can be large or small intestine, oesophagus etc., but our device is developed for the large intestine. It will have application in a great number of colon cancer operations in which it is necessary to cut a section of the intestine at the location of the tumour and then join the two sectioned ends," the Project Manager adds.
Options
One of the two options, when performing this operation, is for the surgeon to sew the ends of the sectioned intestine by hand. "Manual suturing is very reliable. It is done with an absorbable suture material that disappears after a few weeks and the intestine is well joined together and fully elastic. However, as Tornero explains, "hand sewing is very difficult".
In addition, it has to be done by an experienced surgeon and it is very time-consuming, more than the time being dedicated to the rest of the intervention steps. It is known that the risk increases proportionate to the time a patient remains anesthetised and therefore the joining is done by manual procedure in very few cases.
In fact, approximately 90% of these sutures are not done by hand, but by using a device that puts two rows of metallic staples to join the sectioned intestine. "Stapling is faster, but causes a section of the intestine to become stiff due to the metallic staples". This results in a narrowing of the intestine and may cause intestinal obstructions in a fairly high percentage.
Automatic suturing with absorbable material
Tornero and his team set out to develop a device that enables automatic suturing of the large intestine with absorbable material, which is used in surgery, made from a copolymer which is called polyglycolic acid. This suture is the same type used by surgeons to sew by hand and it disappears in a few weeks without trace.
"Our objective is to combine the advantages of hand sewing with the speed of the stapler so that the intestine is elastic and looks untouched and there is no stiff section," Tornero adds.
The idea for Insewing was developed almost 10 years ago by Francesc Soler Giralt, a laboratory technician at UPC, and now retired. According to Tornero, there was interest from some companies, but they were unwilling to provide funding until there was a prototype. The project has been dormant all this time, despite there being an initial patent for proof of concept at UPC.
However, the project was revived in 2010 thanks to the submission to qualify for funding from the European project ECHORD, within the seventh framework programme for small robotic projects.
In this project, Innotex has participated with the Institute for Organisation and Control of Industrial Systems at UPC, led by Ral Suarez, which has developed the electronic and control elements, and with the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, which has provided advice and review from a medical point of view.
Experimentation with a pig's intestine
Thanks to funding provided by ECHORD, of 300,000 euros, Innotex and its partners have been able to develop the full prototype and carried out the first tests on a dead pig's intestine.
"It's a very human-like tissue in viscosity, consistency and thickness and the tests have been very satisfactory. Manuel Lpez Cano, the surgeon at Vall d'Hebron who supervised the tests, made a very positive assessment," Tornero says.
The sealing requirements are very high. "The suture has to be completely sealed from the inside outwards because any leaks could cause a risk of infection and very serious immediate problems," he adds.
The co-ordinator points out that there is still some way to go before it can come onto the market, "about four or five years". After testing on dead tissue, tests will be carried out in vivo with laboratory pigs and then with humans.
According to Tornero, Innotex employs 60 people and integrates all the textile research excellence at UPC.
The second most common cancer in women and the third in men
Colon cancer is the second most common cancer in women, after breast cancer, and the third in men, after lung and prostate cancer. According to the OMC, it is closely related to age and more prevalent in Europe and the United States. In these areas there are 1.5 million cases a year.
Approximately half of the cases of colon cancer end up requiring an intervention of anastomosis, which is currently carried out by manual sewing or with staples and to which the device developed by Innotex can be applied.
###
[ | 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.
(Releads, adds Sheikh Mohammed's comments, Dubai dateline) DUBAI/LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Godolphin are to close the Newmarket stable of trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni while dope tests are carried out on all racehorses in his care after 11 tested positive for steroids, Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said on Wednesday. "There can be no excuse for any deliberate violation," Sheikh Mohammed, also Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, said in a statement sent to Reuters. ...
(Reuters) - Emergency Medical Services Corp, the largest U.S. provider of ambulance services, has selected underwriters for a $750 million initial public offering, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The Greenwood Village, Colorado-based company, backed by private equity firmClayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC, has selected Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Barclays Plc and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to lead the deal, which may come during the third quarter, the sources said.
The people declined to be identified because the information is not public.
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice declined to comment. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Barclays and Emergency Medical Services could not be immediately reached for comment.
Private equity firms in recent months have been aggressively trying to exit their portfolio companies as the U.S. equity markets have rebounded. Companies which have recently gone public including SeaWorld Entertainment Inc , Taylor Morrison Home Corp and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd .
A deal would bring EMSC back to the stock market just two years after it was taken private. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice acquired EMSC in 2011 for $2.9 billion. It also assumed $300 million of the company's debt.
EMSC was founded in 2005 when Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp acquired medical transportation company American Medical Response and physicians services provider EmCare and merged the two. EMSC went public that same year.
EMSC reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortization of $404.7 million in 2012, up from $345.4 million in 2011.
(Reporting by Olivia Oran and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market briefly dropped, then recovered, after the Associated Press' Twitter account was hacked and a fake tweet about an attack on the White House was posted.
The AP released the following statement at 1:12 p.m.: "The (at)AP twitter account has been hacked. The tweet about an attack at the White House is false. We will advise more as soon as possible."
The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 150 points after the fake Twitter posting, then quickly recovered.
We've seen plenty of the Radeon HD 7990 in action with Battlefield 4, but it's taken AMD a little while to furnish us with full specs and pricing for its in-house reference design. Now that all the info is here, in the run-up to commercial availability in two week's time, it's finally possible to judge the pros and cons of what is arguably a very niche product. Read on past the break and we'll do just that.
Nokia's injunction yesterday has now been made a little more concrete. The Amsterdam district court has handed down a 10-month ban on STMicroelectronics selling its high-amplitude mics to anyone other than the Finnish phone maker. The same dual-membrane microphone is used in both the Lumia 720 and the HTC One, but Nokia (which co-developed and designed the component) had signed a 12-month exclusivity deal with the chipmaker -- a deal that STMicroelectronics apparently thought was only six months long.
According to All About Phones NL, the ruling won't halt sales of One devices already out there, with the court stating that HTC was "blameless" and that it couldn't have known about the contract between Nokia and STMicroelectronics. In short, you'll still be able to buy HTC's flagship in the Netherlands with those dual high-amp mics in tow -- at least for now. We've reached out to both companies for comment, but it's shaping up to be another parts supply woe for HTC's new smartphone.
Update: We've just heard from HTC on this, and its response is largely the same as yesterday's:
"HTC is disappointed in the decision. We are consulting with STM and will decide whether it is necessary to explore alternative solutions in due course. In the meanwhile, we do not expect this decision to have any immediate impact on our handset sales."
Quarterback Matt Flynn has already been guaranteed something with the Oakland Raiders that he never received while with the Seattle Seahawks last year.
The right to be named the team?s starting quarterback.
Even though Flynn likely thought he?d win the starting job last year with the Seahawks after signing a three-year deal with the team last offseason, head coach Pete Carroll never said that would be the case.
Carroll said Flynn would have to compete with Tarvaris Jackson, and later on rookie Russell Wilson, for the starting job and that he wasn?t going to be handed the job. When the offseason work and training camp began, it was Jackson that was taking the first-team snaps in practice with the team. Flynn would earn the starts for Seattle in their first two preseason games before Wilson supplanted Flynn as the starter for the regular season.
But Flynn already has a leg up in Oakland. According to Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie has named Flynn the starting quarterback as offseason workouts are set to begin. McKenzie said Flynn would have to compete with Terrelle Pryor and any quarterback the Raiders may select in the draft this week but it?s more that he was given in Seattle.
McKenzie was with Flynn in Green Bay for the only two starts he?s made in his NFL career and feels he can be a solid quarterback in the league.
?Two things that I feel are important and that?s presence, as far as leadership and knowing how to move a team down the field, and knowing how to do it,? McKenzie said.
?He has all the intangibles and I think he can play the position. He can throw the ball. I think he?s going to be a solid quarterback. Now how good can he be? We?ll figure that out, but I think he?s got a chance to be a good, solid quarterback.?
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Public release date: 25-Apr-2013
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