Accel Partners is making a big talent announcement today, with former Groupon COO and Yahoo exec Rob Solomon joining the firm as a venture partner. Solomon last served as Accel-backed Groupon's President and COO. As AllThingsD reported, Solomon left the deals company in 2011.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/HFhJYU82urs/
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Public release date: 29-Apr-2013
Share ] Contact: William Raillant-Clark
rw.raillantclark@gmail.com
514-566-3813
University of Montreal
This press release is available in French.
Sperm cell release can be triggered by tightening the grip around the delivery organ, according to a team of nano and microsystems engineers and plant biologists at the University of Montreal and Concordia University. Concordia's nanobiotech team devised a microchip that enabled the University of Montreal biologists to observe what happened when pollen tubes the sperm delivery tools used by plants tried to negotiate a microscopic obstacle course. The pollen tubes were exposed to a series of narrow, elastic openings resulting in a variety of cellular responses. When the opening was too narrow or tight, pollen tube growth stalled. However, the elongating tubes successfully penetrated slightly larger openings. Curiously, the pollen tubes burst and released the sperm cells when passing openings of a particular size relative to the pollen tube width.
The microchip was designed to imitate the mechanical challenges that the female flower tissues place in the path of the rapidly growing pollen tube on its way to the egg cell. Unlike its human counterpart, a microscopic single-cell organ undertakes sperm delivery in plants: a cylindrical protuberance formed by the male gametophyte, the pollen grain. "Similarly to elongated human cells such as neurons, the pollen tubes are tip growing cells that invade other tissues, in this case those of the female flower organs. Unlike those found in humans or other animals, the invasive ability of tip growing cells in plants remain largely unexplored. Our goal was to address this lack of knowledge using pollen tubes, whose invasive life style is the fundamental underpinning of sexual reproduction in flowering plants," said senior co-author Anja Geitmann of the University of Montreal. "Since they are encased in a stiff cellular envelope, plant cells grow and invade differently from animal cells," explained Concordia University senior co-author Muthukumaran Packirisamy. "From a mechanical point of view, the process of pollen tube elongation is similar to that of a balloon catheter used for angioplasty - forces are generated based on the principle of a hydroskeleton, or fluid under pressure. We designed microchannels through which the pollen tubes had to forcefully squeeze in order to continue their elongation."
Microsystems technology was required to undertake this experiment due to the tiny size of pollen tubes and the consequently minute amount of force they exert to accomplish penetration. The pollen tube requires not only an invasive force to overcome the mechanical resistance of the surrounding tissue, but also the protection of the contents that is to be transported, the sperm cells, of which there are exactly two in each tube. It is crucial that the pollen tube remains tubular while winding its way through the pistil, since kinks and collapses of this catheter-like organ prevent the passage of the sperm cells, similar to a blockage in a twisted garden hose. A typical pollen tube can become many centimeters long but is only between 5 and 20 micrometres wide. By way of comparison, a human hair is typically 100 micrometres thick. "To fit the dimensions of this cell, we had to design the microchip with microscopic channels and obstacles that are narrower than the pollen tubes. We used high resolution soft and direct write lithography techniques to produce this micron-sized obstacle course. Furthermore, measuring the pressure that pollen tubes exert requires materials that are just the right consistency not too hard and not too soft. We chose an elastic polymer material, and as the tubes deformed the material at some levels of tightness, we can be certain that the softness was just right. Mechanical modeling allowed us to calculate the forces exerted by these cells. Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) technology allows us to assess cellular behavior much better than the conventional Petri dish," Packirisamy said.
Sexual reproduction in plants is in many ways analogous to human biology. "In order to find its path to the ovule and the egg cell, the pollen tube has to invade a series of female tissues in the receptive flower," Geitmann explained. "The male and the female organs continuously communicate during the process. The female aids the process by lubricating the path, but the male exerts significant force to overcome any residual resistance." The pollen tube must penetrate through a central canal that connects the stigma, or pollen landing platform, to the ovary, the organ that houses the ovules. Upon reaching the ovary, it then passes onto the internal surface of the placenta, finds and enters the opening in the ovule, and finally bursts open when connecting with the egg cell, enabling its fertilization by one of the two sperm cells it delivers. The other sperm cell fertilizes another cell of the female gametophyte to give rise to a tissue that nourishes the growing embryo.
How the timely discharge of the sperm cells is triggered in plants has essentially been unknown. The control of this process is crucial for successful fertilization and seed set, since plant sperm is not motile and must therefore be delivered precisely to its target. A precocious discharge (before the pollen tube reaches the ovule) will not allow the sperm cells to reach the egg, whereas on the other hand, a failure to discharge equally precludes fertilization. "Our findings show that a tight grip around the tube does result in sperm release. This illustrates that plant cells perceive and respond to mechanical stimuli," Geitmann said. "However, the particularities of the cellular responses we observed suggest that other factors, such as protein-based signals, are likely to be in play." The researchers believe that these particularities and the mechanisms that control pollen tube diameter and growth behavior warrant further research. "We're still not sure exactly what causes the sperm cell release from the pollen tube in vivo, but a mechanical trigger might be part of the signaling mechanism," Packirisamy said.
###
About this study:
Amir Sanati Nezhad, Mahsa Naghavi, Muthukumaran Packirisamy, Rama Bhat and Anja Geitmann published "Quantification of cellular penetrative forces using Lab-on-a-Chip technology and finite element modeling" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This study received funding from Fonds de recherche du Qubec Nature et Technologies. Mechanical modeling expertise was contributed by co-author Professor Rama Bhat, Concordia University. The University of Montreal is officially known as Universit de Montral.
[ | 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.
Public release date: 29-Apr-2013 Share ] Contact: William Raillant-Clark
rw.raillantclark@gmail.com
514-566-3813
University of Montreal
This press release is available in French.
Sperm cell release can be triggered by tightening the grip around the delivery organ, according to a team of nano and microsystems engineers and plant biologists at the University of Montreal and Concordia University. Concordia's nanobiotech team devised a microchip that enabled the University of Montreal biologists to observe what happened when pollen tubes the sperm delivery tools used by plants tried to negotiate a microscopic obstacle course. The pollen tubes were exposed to a series of narrow, elastic openings resulting in a variety of cellular responses. When the opening was too narrow or tight, pollen tube growth stalled. However, the elongating tubes successfully penetrated slightly larger openings. Curiously, the pollen tubes burst and released the sperm cells when passing openings of a particular size relative to the pollen tube width.
The microchip was designed to imitate the mechanical challenges that the female flower tissues place in the path of the rapidly growing pollen tube on its way to the egg cell. Unlike its human counterpart, a microscopic single-cell organ undertakes sperm delivery in plants: a cylindrical protuberance formed by the male gametophyte, the pollen grain. "Similarly to elongated human cells such as neurons, the pollen tubes are tip growing cells that invade other tissues, in this case those of the female flower organs. Unlike those found in humans or other animals, the invasive ability of tip growing cells in plants remain largely unexplored. Our goal was to address this lack of knowledge using pollen tubes, whose invasive life style is the fundamental underpinning of sexual reproduction in flowering plants," said senior co-author Anja Geitmann of the University of Montreal. "Since they are encased in a stiff cellular envelope, plant cells grow and invade differently from animal cells," explained Concordia University senior co-author Muthukumaran Packirisamy. "From a mechanical point of view, the process of pollen tube elongation is similar to that of a balloon catheter used for angioplasty - forces are generated based on the principle of a hydroskeleton, or fluid under pressure. We designed microchannels through which the pollen tubes had to forcefully squeeze in order to continue their elongation."
Microsystems technology was required to undertake this experiment due to the tiny size of pollen tubes and the consequently minute amount of force they exert to accomplish penetration. The pollen tube requires not only an invasive force to overcome the mechanical resistance of the surrounding tissue, but also the protection of the contents that is to be transported, the sperm cells, of which there are exactly two in each tube. It is crucial that the pollen tube remains tubular while winding its way through the pistil, since kinks and collapses of this catheter-like organ prevent the passage of the sperm cells, similar to a blockage in a twisted garden hose. A typical pollen tube can become many centimeters long but is only between 5 and 20 micrometres wide. By way of comparison, a human hair is typically 100 micrometres thick. "To fit the dimensions of this cell, we had to design the microchip with microscopic channels and obstacles that are narrower than the pollen tubes. We used high resolution soft and direct write lithography techniques to produce this micron-sized obstacle course. Furthermore, measuring the pressure that pollen tubes exert requires materials that are just the right consistency not too hard and not too soft. We chose an elastic polymer material, and as the tubes deformed the material at some levels of tightness, we can be certain that the softness was just right. Mechanical modeling allowed us to calculate the forces exerted by these cells. Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) technology allows us to assess cellular behavior much better than the conventional Petri dish," Packirisamy said.
Sexual reproduction in plants is in many ways analogous to human biology. "In order to find its path to the ovule and the egg cell, the pollen tube has to invade a series of female tissues in the receptive flower," Geitmann explained. "The male and the female organs continuously communicate during the process. The female aids the process by lubricating the path, but the male exerts significant force to overcome any residual resistance." The pollen tube must penetrate through a central canal that connects the stigma, or pollen landing platform, to the ovary, the organ that houses the ovules. Upon reaching the ovary, it then passes onto the internal surface of the placenta, finds and enters the opening in the ovule, and finally bursts open when connecting with the egg cell, enabling its fertilization by one of the two sperm cells it delivers. The other sperm cell fertilizes another cell of the female gametophyte to give rise to a tissue that nourishes the growing embryo.
How the timely discharge of the sperm cells is triggered in plants has essentially been unknown. The control of this process is crucial for successful fertilization and seed set, since plant sperm is not motile and must therefore be delivered precisely to its target. A precocious discharge (before the pollen tube reaches the ovule) will not allow the sperm cells to reach the egg, whereas on the other hand, a failure to discharge equally precludes fertilization. "Our findings show that a tight grip around the tube does result in sperm release. This illustrates that plant cells perceive and respond to mechanical stimuli," Geitmann said. "However, the particularities of the cellular responses we observed suggest that other factors, such as protein-based signals, are likely to be in play." The researchers believe that these particularities and the mechanisms that control pollen tube diameter and growth behavior warrant further research. "We're still not sure exactly what causes the sperm cell release from the pollen tube in vivo, but a mechanical trigger might be part of the signaling mechanism," Packirisamy said.
###
About this study:
Amir Sanati Nezhad, Mahsa Naghavi, Muthukumaran Packirisamy, Rama Bhat and Anja Geitmann published "Quantification of cellular penetrative forces using Lab-on-a-Chip technology and finite element modeling" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This study received funding from Fonds de recherche du Qubec Nature et Technologies. Mechanical modeling expertise was contributed by co-author Professor Rama Bhat, Concordia University. The University of Montreal is officially known as Universit de Montral.
[ | 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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/uom-mpt042413.php
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Like running out of gas on the final lap, spiking the ball on the one yard line after a Hail Mary, or catching the game-winning run sleeping on his lead at third, there is no worse feeling than losing on account of a premature celebration. The same goes for robo-bums fighting over a battery?you've got to plug in before doing the touchdown dance lest you wind up just as dead as your opponent.
     |
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By Julian Linden
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jason Collins, a veteran center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), announced on Monday that he was gay, breaking one of the final frontiers in U.S. sports and society.
Collins became the first active player from any of the four major U.S. men's professional sports leagues to publicly reveal his homosexuality.
He did so in a first-person account published in Sports Illustrated, saying he had gradually become frustrated with having to keep silent on gay issues. The Boston Marathon bombings this month had convinced him not to wait any more for a perfect moment to come out, he wrote.
"I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' said Collings, who played last season with the Boston Celtics and then the Washington Wizards and is currently a free agent.
"If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."
Reaction to his announcement flooded in swiftly.
Players, administrators and some politicians applauded him for taking a stance. Some hailed it as a landmark day in American civil rights, as important as when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball.
Collins' move came at a time of heated debate over gay rights in the United States, where polls show public opinion is fast moving toward greater acceptance, although a core of social conservatives oppose such change.
In the coming months, the Supreme Court will rule on whether to strike down parts of a federal law that defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman. In 2011, the military repealed a ban on openly gay soldiers.
"Jason's announcement today is an important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community," former U.S. president Bill Clinton said in a statement.
NBA commissioner David Stern said he was proud of Collins.
"Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue," Stern said.
In a country where it is no longer news for politicians and entertainers to be openly gay, the absence of an openly gay male player in any of the major professional sports had become a hot topic.
Sports, which helped play a key role in changing public opinion on racial discrimination, had come to seem out of step with much of the rest of American society.
Collins, who is 34, and who has played with six different teams during his 12 years in the NBA, said he never had any grand plans of being the first openly gay player, but events off the basketball court persuaded him to come out.
He was inspired by last year's gay pride parade in Boston, he said, but delayed making an announcement due to a desire to protect his team, waiting until the end of the regular 2012-2013 season ended. Collins was also prompted by the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings which killed three people and wounded more than 200, he said.
"The recent Boston Marathon bombing reinforced the notion that I shouldn't wait for the circumstances of my coming out to be perfect," he wrote in Sports Illustrated. "Things can change in an instant, so why not live truthfully?
PRAISE FLOODS IN
Kobe Bryant, one of the NBA's greatest players, was among dozens of active players who took to social media to applaud Collins.
"Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don't suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others," Bryant tweeted.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash tweeted: "The time has come. Maximum respect."
There are openly gay players in many top professional leagues in other countries in the world as well as smaller leagues in North America and individual sports.
But there has been no active player from the big four pro men's leagues - the NBA, the National Football League, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball - who had come out until now.
Bill Clinton, whose daughter Chelsea was a classmate of Collins at Stanford University, said he hoped Collins would be treated fairly by everyone.
"I hope that everyone, particularly Jason's colleagues in the NBA, the media and his many fans extend to him their support and the respect he has earned."
MOOD CHANGE
A sense that it was hard for gay athletes to come out had started to change in recent years, and it had seemed like only matter of time until an active male player in one of the big pro leagues said he was gay.
The question came into sharp focus this year around the National Football League (NFL), usually viewed as the most macho of America's pro sports.
In the days leading up to this year's Super Bowl in New Orleans in February, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver told reporters he would not welcome a gay teammate into the locker room.
He later retracted his comments but reports later emerged of NFL teams asking college players about their sexuality at a scouting session, or combine, in February.
This prompted the New York State attorney general to send a letter to the NFL, urging the league to take action and adopt a formal policy on sexual discrimination.
High-profile NFL players, most notably Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo, began advocating for gay rights, and suggested there were a handful of players ready to come out once someone had taken the first step.
(This story has been corrected in the penultimate paragraph to clarify attorney general sought policy on, not of, sexual discrimination)
(Editing by Frances Kerry)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/collins-comes-first-openly-gay-player-top-u-154217963.html
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ROME (AP) ? Italy's new premier says his broad coalition will work to heal the nation's finances while encouraging economic growth.
Enrico Letta is laying out his vision Monday of a pro-European Italy focused on spurring investments and job creation. The center-left leader, who has brought media mogul Silvio Berlusconi's conservatives together in a tense coalition, is seeking support as he faces for confidence votes in Parliament.
Appeasing Berlusconi, Letta said Italians won't have to pay an unpopular property tax this June while a system fairer to the less affluent is devised.
Financial markets have already signaled approval of this apparent end of the months-long political deadlock. Letta says he'll soon go to Brussels, Berlin and Paris to reassure EU allies about Italian economic seriousness.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/itays-pm-nation-stay-pro-europe-144349118.html
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BRANDON, Miss. (AP) ? An ex-martial arts instructor made ricin and put the poison in letters to President Barack Obama and others, the FBI charged Saturday, days after dropping similar charges against an Elvis impersonator who insisted he had been framed.
The arrest of 41-year-old James Everett Dutschke early Saturday capped a week in which investigators initially zeroed in on a rival of Dutschke's, then decided they had the wrong man. The hunt for a suspect revealed tie after small-town tie between the two men and the 80-year-old county judge who, along with Obama and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, was among the targets of the letters.
Dutschke's house, business and vehicles in Tupelo were searched earlier in the week often by crews in hazardous materials suits and he had been under surveillance.
Dutschke (pronounced DUHS'-kee) was charged with "knowingly developing, producing, stockpiling, transferring, acquiring, retaining and possessing a biological agent, toxin and delivery system, for use as a weapon, to wit: ricin." U.S. attorney Felicia Adams and Daniel McMullen, the FBI agent in charge in Mississippi, made the announcement in a news release Saturday.
Dutschke's attorney, Lori Nail Basham, said she had no comment. Earlier this week she said that Dutschke was cooperating fully with investigators and Dutschke has insisted he had nothing to do with the letters. He was arrested about 12:50 a.m. at his house in Tupelo and is expected in court Monday. He faces up to life in prison, if convicted.
He already had legal problems. Earlier this month, he pleaded not guilty in state court to two child molestation charges involving three girls younger than 16. He also was appealing a conviction on a different charge of indecent exposure. He told AP earlier this week that his lawyer told him not to comment on those cases.
The letters, which tests showed were tainted with ricin, were sent April 8 to Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Mississippi judge, Sadie Holland.
Wicker spokesman Ryan Taylor said since the investigation was ongoing, the senator couldn't comment.
The first suspect fingered by the FBI was Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, an Elvis impersonator. He was arrested on April 17 at his Corinth, Miss., home, but the charges were dropped six days later and Curtis, who says he was framed, was released from jail.
The focus then turned to Dutschke, who has ties to the former suspect, the judge and the senator. Earlier in the week, as investigators searched his primary residence in Tupelo, Dutschke told The Associated Press, "I don't know how much more of this I can take."
"I'm a patriotic American. I don't have any grudges against anybody. ... I did not send the letters," Dutschke said.
Curtis' attorney, Christi McCoy, said Saturday: "We are relieved but also saddened. This crime is nothing short of diabolical. I have seen a lot of meanness in the past two decades, but this stops me in my tracks."
Some of the language in the letters was similar to posts on Curtis' Facebook page and they were signed, "I am KC and I approve this message." Curtis' signoff online was often similar.
And Dutschke and Curtis were acquainted. Curtis said they had talked about possibly publishing a book on a conspiracy that Curtis insists he has uncovered to sell body parts on a black market. But he said they later had a feud.
Curtis' attorneys have said they believe their client was set up. An FBI agent testified that no evidence of ricin was found in searches of Curtis' home. Curtis attorney Hal Neilson said the defense gave authorities a list of people who may have had a reason to hurt Curtis and Dutschke came up.
Judge Holland also is a common link between the two men, and both know Wicker.
Holland was the presiding judge in a 2004 case in which Curtis was accused of assaulting a Tupelo attorney a year earlier. Holland sentenced him to six months in the county jail. He served only part of the sentence, according to his brother.
And Holland's family has had political skirmishes with Dutschke. Her son, Steve Holland, a Democratic state representative, said he thinks his mother's only other encounter with Dutschke was at a rally in the town of Verona in 2007, when Dutschke ran as a Republican against Steve Holland.
Holland said his mother confronted Dutschke after he made a derogatory speech about the Holland family. She demanded that he apologize, which Holland says he did.
On Saturday, Steve Holland said he can't say for certain that Dutschke is the person who sent the letter to his mother but added, "I feel confident the FBI knows what they are doing."
"We're ready for this long nightmare to be over," Holland told The Associated Press.
He said he's not sure why someone would target his mother. Holland said he believes Dutschke would have more reason to target him than his mother.
"Maybe he thinks the best way to get to me is to get to the love of my life, which is my mother," Holland said.
___
Associated Press writer Jack Elliott Jr. in Jackson contributed to this report.
___
Follow Mohr at http://twitter.com/holbrookmohr.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/miss-man-charged-suspicious-letters-case-195839113.html
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Public release date: 28-Apr-2013 Share ] Contact: Karolinska Institutet Press Office
pressinfo@ki.se
46-852-486-077
Karolinska Institutet
For the first time, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have managed to obtain detailed images of the way in which the transport protein GLUT transports sugars into cells. Since tumours are highly dependent on the transportation of nutrients in order to be able to grow rapidly, the researchers are hoping that the study published in the scientific magazine Nature Structural & Molecular Biology will form the basis for new strategies to fight cancer cells.
In order to be able to fuel their rapid growth, cancer tumours depend on transporter proteins to work at high speed to introduce sugars and other nutrients that are required for the cell's metabolism. One possible treatment strategy would therefore be to block some of the transporters in the cell membrane which operate as fuel pumps, thus starving out and killing the cancer cells.
One important group of membrane transporters is the GLUT family, which introduces glucose and other sugars into the cell. Glucose is one of the most important energy sources for cancer cells and GLUT transporters have been shown to play a key role in tumour growth in many different types of cancer. In the current study, researchers from Karolinska Institutet have performed a detailed study of the way in which suger transport is executed by the protein XylE, from the Escherichia coli bacterium, whose function and structure is very similar to GLUT transporters in humans. For the first time, the researchers have described the way in which the protein's structure changes between two different conformations when it binds and transports a sugar molecule.
"In showing details of the molecular structure of the region that bind the sugar, our study opens up the opportunities to more efficiently develop new substances that may inhibit GLUT transporters", says Pr Nordlund at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, one of the researchers behind the study. "Information on the structure of the transport protein facilitates the development of better drugs in a shorter time. Such GLUT inhibitors could potentially be used to treat cancer in the future."
The study may be of significance not just to cancer research but also in the field of diabetes. GLUT plays a key role in diabetes since insulin works by activating the uptake of glucose from the blood by means of GLUT transporters in the cell membrane.
GLUT and the studied XylE transporter belong to the very large group of metabolite transporters called the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS), which is important in many diseases and for the uptake of medicines in cells.
"Many aspects concerning molecular mechanisms for the function of GLUT transporters are probably common to many members of the MFS family, which are involved in a broad spectrum of diseases in addition to cancer and diabetes," says Pr Nordlund.
As well as membrane transporters, which have undergone in-depth analysis in the current study, many different membrane proteins pass through the surface membrane of the cells. Their significance to the cell function and the development of drugs has been noted before, not least through the Nobel Prizes that were awarded to researchers who used mechanistic and structural studies to map the function of two other major membrane protein families, G-protein-coupled receptors and ion channels.
###
The current study has been financed by grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and The Danish Council for Independent Research.
Publication: 'Structural basis for substrate transport in the GLUT homology family of monosaccharide transporters', Esben M. Quistgaard, Christian Lw, Per Moberg, Lionel Trsaugues, and Pr Nordlund, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, online 28 April 2013, doi: 10.1038/nsmb.2569. EMBARGOED until Sunday 28 April 2013 at 18:00 UK time / 19:00 CET / 13:00 US ET.
Journal website: http://www.nature.com/nsmb
Contact the Press Office: ki.se/pressroom
Karolinska Institutet a medical university: ki.se/english
[ | 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.
Public release date: 28-Apr-2013 Share ] Contact: Karolinska Institutet Press Office
pressinfo@ki.se
46-852-486-077
Karolinska Institutet
For the first time, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have managed to obtain detailed images of the way in which the transport protein GLUT transports sugars into cells. Since tumours are highly dependent on the transportation of nutrients in order to be able to grow rapidly, the researchers are hoping that the study published in the scientific magazine Nature Structural & Molecular Biology will form the basis for new strategies to fight cancer cells.
In order to be able to fuel their rapid growth, cancer tumours depend on transporter proteins to work at high speed to introduce sugars and other nutrients that are required for the cell's metabolism. One possible treatment strategy would therefore be to block some of the transporters in the cell membrane which operate as fuel pumps, thus starving out and killing the cancer cells.
One important group of membrane transporters is the GLUT family, which introduces glucose and other sugars into the cell. Glucose is one of the most important energy sources for cancer cells and GLUT transporters have been shown to play a key role in tumour growth in many different types of cancer. In the current study, researchers from Karolinska Institutet have performed a detailed study of the way in which suger transport is executed by the protein XylE, from the Escherichia coli bacterium, whose function and structure is very similar to GLUT transporters in humans. For the first time, the researchers have described the way in which the protein's structure changes between two different conformations when it binds and transports a sugar molecule.
"In showing details of the molecular structure of the region that bind the sugar, our study opens up the opportunities to more efficiently develop new substances that may inhibit GLUT transporters", says Pr Nordlund at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, one of the researchers behind the study. "Information on the structure of the transport protein facilitates the development of better drugs in a shorter time. Such GLUT inhibitors could potentially be used to treat cancer in the future."
The study may be of significance not just to cancer research but also in the field of diabetes. GLUT plays a key role in diabetes since insulin works by activating the uptake of glucose from the blood by means of GLUT transporters in the cell membrane.
GLUT and the studied XylE transporter belong to the very large group of metabolite transporters called the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS), which is important in many diseases and for the uptake of medicines in cells.
"Many aspects concerning molecular mechanisms for the function of GLUT transporters are probably common to many members of the MFS family, which are involved in a broad spectrum of diseases in addition to cancer and diabetes," says Pr Nordlund.
As well as membrane transporters, which have undergone in-depth analysis in the current study, many different membrane proteins pass through the surface membrane of the cells. Their significance to the cell function and the development of drugs has been noted before, not least through the Nobel Prizes that were awarded to researchers who used mechanistic and structural studies to map the function of two other major membrane protein families, G-protein-coupled receptors and ion channels.
###
The current study has been financed by grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and The Danish Council for Independent Research.
Publication: 'Structural basis for substrate transport in the GLUT homology family of monosaccharide transporters', Esben M. Quistgaard, Christian Lw, Per Moberg, Lionel Trsaugues, and Pr Nordlund, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, online 28 April 2013, doi: 10.1038/nsmb.2569. EMBARGOED until Sunday 28 April 2013 at 18:00 UK time / 19:00 CET / 13:00 US ET.
Journal website: http://www.nature.com/nsmb
Contact the Press Office: ki.se/pressroom
Karolinska Institutet a medical university: ki.se/english
[ | 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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/ki-moc042613.php
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By Khalid Abdelaziz and Ulf Laessing
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Rebels from Sudan's Darfur region launched a dawn attack on the city of Um Rawaba on Saturday, taking their fight closer to the capital Khartoum, witnesses said.
The attack marks the biggest push by a rebel alliance that is seeking to topple President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Fighting had hitherto been limited mainly to remote regions of Darfur and South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, which border South Sudan.
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which launched an unprecedented assault on Khartoum in 2008, said the rebel alliance stormed Um Rawaba in North Kordofan state, around 500 km (300 miles) south of the capital.
Sudan's army said late in the evening it had restored security in the state's second largest city. It accused insurgents of destroying a power plant, petrol stations and a telecommunications tower.
"The defeated rebels have withdrawn, and the army is continuing to expel elements of the rebels who have run away in different directions," army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid told state news agency SUNA.
JEM spokesman Gibril Adam said forces from the group had only withdrawn from the center of Um Rawaba to the outskirts after Sudanese warplanes had launched air strikes.
The rebels arrived at dawn with 20 trucks in Um Rawaba, an important market for a major Sudanese agricultural export product, gum arabic, residents said.
"People are in a state of panic," said one Um Rawaba resident, asking not to be named.
The rebels then opened fire into the air and looted a market and several commercial banks. JEM's spokesman denied any pillaging by rebels.
"The goal of this attack is to weaken the government to realize our strategic plan to topple the regime," JEM spokesman Adam said.
ROAD REOPENED
The government later said it had reopened the key road between Khartoum and the North Kordofan state capital El-Obeid, which had been blocked by fighting, state governor Mutassim Mirghani Zaki Uddi told the state-linked Sudanese Media Center.
On a separate front, the SPLM-North which is part of the rebel movement attacking Um Rawaba, said it had seized four villages east of Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan state. There was no immediate comment from the army on the statement.
Events outside Khartoum are difficult to verify in the vast African country. Um Rawaba is a two-hour drive from Kosti, Sudan's biggest Nile river port.
JEM forces drove across hundreds of miles of desert to attack the Khartoum suburb of Omdurman in May 2008 and were stopped just short of the presidential palace and army headquarters.
The group was one of two main rebel forces that took up arms against Sudan's government in 2003, demanding better representation for Darfur and accusing Khartoum of neglecting its development.
Khartoum mobilized militias to crush the uprising, unleashing a campaign that Washington and activists described as genocide. Sudan's government denies the charge and accuses the Western media of exaggerating the conflict.
In 2011, JEM teamed up with two other Darfuri groups and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) which took up arms in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states around the time of South Sudan's secession.
They formed the "Sudanese Revolutionary Front", which says it fights to topple Bashir to secure a fairer share of government in a country dominated by three Arab tribes.
Fighters of the SPLM-North sided with southern Sudan during decades of civil war that ended with a peace deal in 2005, which paved the way for South Sudan's formal breakaway in July 2011.
Sudan on Wednesday started peace talks with the SPLM-North after a thaw in relations with South Sudan.
(Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Mike Collett-White)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-attack-city-central-sudan-residents-104705957.html
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REIMS, France (AP) ? A possible gas explosion ripped off the side of a five-story residential building in France's Champagne country on Sunday, killing at least two people and injuring 14 others, officials said. Search teams extracted a victim's body as they pored over the rubble in a hunt for possible survivors.
More than 100 rescue workers, firefighters, sniffer-dog squads and bomb and gas experts rushed to the gutted building in a subsidized housing complex in the city of Reims, east of Paris, officials said. Heaps of debris spilled out of the building onto a grassy esplanade below.
"The explosion of a residential building in Reims is a terrible drama," the office of French President Francois Hollande said in a statement, conveying his condolences to the victims' relatives.
The Interior Ministry also issued a statement saying two people died and 14 people were injured.
"We don't know the cause of the explosion. It was probably due to gas," Reims mayor Adeline Hazan said at the scene. "We know two people are dead ? we don't know their identities yet," she said, adding that the survivors were taken to hospital.
"These are not definite numbers, because we are looking for another two to five people," Hazan said. An official investigation was under way to determine the cause, she said. Authorities insisted that the two people known to have died were adults.
Witnesses described a powerful blast.
"The explosion was very strong, like a sonic boom from a fighter plane. We had been playing football on a field about 30 meters (100 feet) away, and ran to the scene," housing project resident Abdel Kader said. "The building had fallen like a house of cards ... 30 seconds after that we saw a man calling for help, he was on a slab. His legs were caught."
"Later, he died," Abdel Kader, a 27-year-old job seeker who declined to provide his family name, said.
Michel Bernard, the top government official in Reims, said the building dated to the 1960s. About 10 of the 40 or so apartments were affected on the end of the rectangular building, he said.
Late in the day, authorities deployed backhoes to help clear away the rubble.
The precariousness of some buildings has come to light internationally in recent days following the collapse Wednesday of an eight-story building in a suburb of Dhaka, Bangladesh, where at least 362 people have been confirmed to have died. Officials said three floors of the building, which had housed garment factories, had been built illegally.
___
Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this story from Paris.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-killed-french-building-collapse-blast-172341185.html
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Some developers got very angry and threatened to leave?mobile app backend platform Parse?when it was bought by Facebook yesterday. Hoping to capitalize, competitor StackMob has since released a Parse migration tool that makes it easy for devs to import their Parse apps. It’s a cutthroat game, this game of tech. When the Parse acquisition was announced, disgruntled developers flocked to Twitter, Hacker News, and our comments reel. Facebook pledged not to screw up the beloved development platform. While it won’t operate independently like Instagram, Facebook’s hands-off approach to the photo sharing app it bought a year ago should instill some confidence. Facebook’s director of product management Doug Purdy said in his statement about the acquisition that “We?ve worked closely with the Parse team and have seen first-hand how important their solutions and platform are to developers. We don?t intend to change this.” On the phone with me he reiterated that Facebook doesn’t intend to mess with a good thing. Still, developers’ complaints I read centered on two fears: 1. That Facebook would degrade the Parse service, potentially by?promoting?its own social integrations and app install ads too hard, and 2. That Facebook would spy on data coming into Parse, including what types of content people chose not to post to the social network. Wasting little time, Stackmob launched an auto-importer for developers looking to move their apps elsewhere and published a blog post touting its advantages over Parse. StackMob CEO Ty Amell tells me the company had already been tinkering with a Parse importer, but when the acquisition was announced, it finished it up and made it accessible yesterday alongside a step-by-step guide. Then today the company began offering a Python script that turns the multi-step process into a single step. Amell explained to me, “Over the last few months we’ve seen an increase in people coming over from Parse. Once we heard they’d been acquired, we knew there was going to be a lot of backlash and uncertainty from mobile developers.?Facebook has a history of monetizing other people’s users, and charging through ads and other ways to access users. Parse not being independent any more is a pretty large concern for developers.” He says developers had two main questions about the acquisition. 1. Do developers still own their data? 2. What rights to privacy do developers have, and how will Facebook use their data? Amell says “Facebook has some prettySource: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/onh8RGdm-kg/
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Netflix’s “House of Cards” took center stage at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, with an official spoof about the back room jockeying over seat assignments at the coveted press dinner. The clip even gave a big nod to BuzzFeed’s alternative BBQ held during the actual dinner. Despite their admirable popularity, BuzzFeed is not a member of the White House Correspondents Association and didn’t get a table. “A colonoscopy would be cooler than that dinner,” BuzzFeed Editor in Chief, Ben Smith, says to Kevin Spacey’s character. BuzzFeed even got a shoutout from the president himself during his annual stand-up routine: “I remember when BuzzFeed was just something I did in college around 2 a.m.,” said the president in an obvious reference to his pot-smoking college days. Watch the whole routine below: The “House Of Cards” cast was out in full force at DC’s stargazing weekend. There are a lot of entertainers who stroll into town, but Kevin Spacey was the uber-celebrity. Even at Tammy Haddad’s famous Garden Brunch, the A-list crowd couldn’t help but turn heads upon Spacey’s arrival. On top of viewers, “House of Cards” has made Netflix the talk of the town among policymakers, which could be worth more political capital than the $1 million they spent on lobbying last year. It seemed like everyone was happy to talk with Netflix’s representatives, even just as an excuse to dish about the drama and get some inside details about Capitol Hill’s new favorite pastime. Interestingly enough, Netflix’s other original series, “Hemlock Grove,” may be off to a better start in terms of viewers, but doesn’t seem to have the same buzz. An obvious but valuable lesson: influential fans are worth a lot.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Bc-xUn9ca9U/
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Temporary insurance, health insurance plan health also known as medical insurance short term or short-term insurance policy is valid only for a limited period of time. Health insurance is defined as a type of insurance plan for which the insurer covers the medical expenses of the insured when he / she gets sick due to covered, or due to accidents.
Temporary Health Insurance An ideal protection for people who are in jobs, including part-time employees, waiting for permanent health insurance to begin with, attending school or recent graduates, and temporarily without health insurance for any reason.
Provisional timetable provide a person the freedom to choose any doctor or hospital. They also have a duty-free treatment for the individual and the family. A person under the age of 65 and children under 19 or 25 (if full-time student) are eligible to apply for temporary health insurance. The insurer may be a private organization or government organization. Normally, temporary insurance can be purchased for short periods, for example 30 days or up to 360 days.
The important point to remember when considering this type of insurance plan is the insurance should not be seen as an alternative to standard insurance for the long-term. The plan is intended to provide a treatment for unexpected illness or injury. THEN temporary health insurance is exempt from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which means that the plan has no guarantee. Once the limited time for purposes of insurance, the insured may or may not be valid for the purchase of supplemental health insurance, depending on his state of health at that time.
Temporary health insurance plan is a good option for those symbol of a comprehensive insurance plan is not available. So, there are health insurance plan at low cost, that are economically designed for healthy people who are temporarily without health insurance.
Source: http://www.nmfbihop.com/temporary-health-insurance
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook will have surgery to repair cartilage in his right knee and be out indefinitely, dealing a harsh blow to the Oklahoma City Thunder's championship chances.
General manager Sam Presti said Friday that the Thunder had not yet scheduled Westbrook's surgery and would not have an accurate timeline for his return until after the procedure was done. No one would rule out Westbrook's possible return if Oklahoma City keeps advancing in the playoffs, and All-Star teammate Kevin Durant only said his teammates "hope" Westbrook can play again this postseason.
"We're not trying to rush him or bring him back ahead of schedule. We want to make sure he's healthy and his knee is right," Durant said. "That's our only concern with it right now. ... We have to come together as a team and worry about the basketball. All he has to worry about is him getting healthy."
The three-time All-Star was hurt in Game 2 of the Thunder's playoff series against Houston on Wednesday night. Rookie Patrick Beverley lunged for a steal in the second quarter and his hip collided with Westbrook's knee.
Beverley called Westbrook's injury "unfortunate" and said Oklahoma City is still dangerous without him.
"Anyone who knows me knows I don't go out there and try to hurt anybody," Beverley said. "I play at one speed and that's fast. I was just trying to make a play on the ball before they called a timeout and it's just unfortunate."
Coach Scott Brooks claimed after Westbrook missed practice Thursday that Westbrook would be "fine tomorrow," but the team found out differently Friday morning.
"Our team as a whole, we've got a resilient group of guys, a lot of character within that locker room and a group that enjoys playing together and has been through some adversities over the last several years that they've been together. We'd expect them to adjust, come together and have different guys step in and play well collectively," Presti said.
"Once we were able to gather all of the necessary information and everything was accumulated, it was an easy decision for our medical team."
Game 3 is Saturday night in Houston. Westbrook averaged 24 points and seven assists in the first two games, both won by top-seeded Oklahoma City.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin recalled how he was able to return six days after surgery on his meniscus in college at Oklahoma, but his didn't have to be repaired. The Thunder said Westbrook's would be repaired.
"They're still a great team even without him but he's a huge part of their offense," Griffin said. "A great player, so it does leave them a little vulnerable."
One of the most polarizing figures in the league, Westbrook has displayed a quick temper to go along with his lightning-fast drives to the basket and increasingly accurate pull-up jumpers. He's also known for his outlandish fashion sense, often wearing glasses without the lenses and unusual shirts.
Durant said the Thunder appreciate him more for his dedication for the team and because he "gives his all every second he's on the floor."
"A lot of people may not like what he brings to our team. But inside, we love what he does," Durant said. "He's a different player, a different person, but we love what he brings. It's unfortunate that he can't compete at the highest level of basketball, which is the playoffs."
Westbrook smashed his right hand down on the scorer's table after Beverley crashed into him, but he remained in the game Wednesday night although he was clearly hobbling. Presti said Westbrook was allowed to keep playing because he felt comfortable and the team considered the injury action "consistent with a bone bruise."
It came as a surprise when Durant and the rest of the team arrived at the practice facility Friday that Westbrook, who had been seemingly indestructible, would be out.
In his fifth NBA season, Westbrook has never previously missed a game. He had the league's longest active streak of consecutive games played, with 394 straight regular-season games. He also has played in all 45 of Oklahoma City's playoff games, including last year's run to the NBA Finals.
"I think we all know Russell. He obviously wants to play. But at the end of the day, this was a medical decision," Presti said.
Backup Reggie Jackson figures to move into Westbrook's starting spot as the only other player with any significant time playing the point. Oklahoma City traded away former backup point guard Eric Maynor in February, getting only a trade exception and the rights to a Greek player with no NBA experience in return.
James Harden, who used to share some time at the point, is now on the opposite side as an All-Star for Houston.
Veteran Derek Fisher has previously played the point, but has been primarily used as a spot-up 3-point shooter in two stints with Oklahoma City.
Brooks wouldn't divulge his plans for how to replace Westbrook, but said Durant will have to take on even more playmaking duties.
"He's definitely going to have to be a guy that's going to have to handle the ball more. But he has actually for this past year has handled the ball more with that second unit," Brooks said. "He's always been somewhat of our point forward."
In general, the Thunder have avoided major injuries to their core players during their ascent into NBA title contenders. Durant has missed only five games over the past four seasons. His only time out of the lineup this season was the final game of the regular season, when he was healthy.
In total, the Thunder's starters missed only eight combined games all of this season. Westbrook, Durant and Serge Ibaka started every game of the 2011-12 season, and center Kendrick Perkins missed just one.
"Injuries are a part of sports and every team has to deal with them. Now, our team has to come together and make some adjustments," Presti said. "We've got a heck of a group of guys in our uniform, we've got a great coaching staff and it's going to take everybody in the building to pull together as we go forward, and our focus is on Game 3."
___
AP Sports Writers Kristie Rieken in Houston and Teresa M. Walker in Memphis, Tenn., contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thunders-westbrook-needs-knee-surgery-164932446.html
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By Ivonne Hale
Being your own boss can give you tremendous freedom. You can structure your day based on your needs. Juggling tasks between home and work can build pressure so make sure you have a schedule and stick to it. This will keep you on track. If you start to feel overwhelmed, just stop and take a deep breath. Information is knowledge so make sure you research whatever you decide to pursue.
Choosing a path to start an online home based business can be exciting yet a frightening experience. It is very important to get as much information as possible before you start. Especially if you are leaving a full time job in which you get a steady paycheck.
Be creative with your ideas. It may not be easy at first but if you are consistant and don?t give up-you will succeed! Like any other business you set out to start, it takes work and dedication and the will to succeed not matter what you encounter.
There are many different online home based businesses. If you have some talents or passions then turn them into opportunities. For example, making gift baskets, event planning and even medical claims processing services can all be offered through the internet.
For more information about how to start an online home based business, check out the Money Site Labs Review. I?m sure you?ll like it!
Source: http://www.advsecret.com/how-to-build-your-home-based-business/
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Amanda Bynes has joined the not-so-prestigious club of celebrities who have shaved their heads. But instead of buzzing all of her hair, the 27-year-old just lost the sides of her blonde locks for an edgy new look.
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Getty ImagesThe Rams currently hold the Redskins? first-round pick in the 2013 draft, thanks to the RGIII trade.? The Rams may not actually be using that pick.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the selection ?clearly is for sale.?
That Rams, who also have the 16th overall pick, would surely like to trade down and get more picks.? Last year, the combination of coach Jeff Fisher and G.M. Les Snead put together a great draft, thanks to having extra picks.? The more picks, the better the chances of emerging with good players.
Pick No. 22 comes one spot before the Vikings? first of two first-round selections.?? A team that wants a cornerback, receiver, or inside linebacker the Vikings may be targeting could be tempted to jump the line.? Which is precisely why every team creates smokescreens about who they do and don?t want.
Like most round-one trades, don?t expect anything to happen before the Rams are on the clock.? Teams that trade up want a specific player; trading up too early creates the risk that the player won?t be there.
Of course, doing the trade when the team is on the clock entails risk, since there?s a chance one of the two teams won?t be able to call the trade in to the league office.? Unless each team calls the trade in separately, the trade doesn?t happen.? And with only 10 total minutes to get it all done, there?s a chance that cutting it too close could keep the trade from happening at all.
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Posted on: 3:25 pm, April 25, 2013, by John Pepitone, updated on: 04:03pm, April 25, 2013
KANSAS CITY, Kan. ? Almost everybody nowadays looks for products and services first on the internet before making a purchasing decision. That?s why the tech giant Google believes it can drive economic growth in the sunflower state by getting more businesses here online.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says 75 percent of Kansans work for themselves or for a company with less than 10 workers. Remaining competitive means establishing a web presence.
The governor told small business start-ups at Sporting Park that he was surprised to learn that 44 percent of Kansas companies do not have web sites. He says as the state works to make the business climate friendlier for new operations, taking advantage of the super-speed internet that Google offers is a big part of that strategy.
?They are fabulous on that strategy,? Brownback said. ?Because here?s a way for somebody to get into the web 100 times normal speed. And it?s also a chance to discover what?s the new web going to be like. When you have 100 times faster speeds, you get to figure it out here. It?s not everywhere yet.?
Thursday?s program provides a free website, free custom domain name and free web hosting for one year. Classes are teaching small business owners how to optimize their sites for search engines, how to use website analytics and improve online efficiency.
The governor wants everyone in the classes today to be successful and hire other workers.
Source: http://fox4kc.com/2013/04/25/google-helps-small-business-owners-in-kan/
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Life's all work, and work's a chore.Photo by Craig Blankenhorn/FX
When I spoke with Joe Weisberg, creator of The Americans (and brother of Jacob Weisberg, editor in chief of the Slate Group), just before the show launched, I asked why this would be different from all the other spy shows on television. ?A lot of what you see of spies in TV and movies has to do with blowing things up,? he told me. ?In the real world, there?s a lot more recruiting and handling and running agents.? It would be a realistic workplace spy drama, in other words.
This week?s episode put the working conditions of secret agents front and center, and it was kind of depressing.
Elizabeth has hated her supervisor ever since Grannie arranged for the Jenningses to be torture-tested back in Episode 6. Of course, it?s hard to respect your boss after she causes your partner to be beaten and half-drowned and then plays twisted psychological games with you, but Elizabeth?s first reaction upon learning that Grannie had set the whole thing up was to ask if Zhukov had approved the exercise. In other words, her response was that of a disgruntled underling: bitch about middle management instead of questioning the company?s overall strategy. (True, Elizabeth did then beat Grannie?s face to a pulp, which most employees wouldn?t get away with. The KGB?s HR guidelines are flexible that way.)
This week, Elizabeth was at it again, questioning Grannie?s orders and demanding confirmation from Moscow Center. In some ways, it?s the typical, perhaps even inevitable, response of someone who works in a branch office?when things don?t feel right, it?s easiest to assume that the person one rung up the org chart is freelancing. But it?s also a sign that Elizabeth is stuck in a job she?s coming to hate.
Elizabeth can?t move up?or down?the career ladder. Even when, like now, she?s on the outs with all her co-workers, she can?t apply for another position. The only way out of this job is death. (At some point, it seems likely?she swore the same oath Nina took at the beginning of the show. As Arkady told Nina, ?It?s a bond that can never be broken.?) Complaining is her only outlet, and she takes it, especially about Grannie ordering other people to take risks while she sits safely on the sidelines.
Throughout the season, Elizabeth has complained about how passive and soft Americans are. Last week her voice was dripping with contempt when she told Gen. Zhukov, in a flashback, that American children do no chores but instead just play all day while adults watch them. Zhukov told her that play is serious, an important part of learning to read the world, but Elizabeth still doesn?t seem able to relax. Spies have the worst work-life balance in the world; they?re always on duty, but Grannie at least finds relaxation with Ms. Pac-Man, and Philip has fun tossing grapes around with Paige. There?s no joy in Elizabeth?s life.
Stan is just as trapped. He can?t relax at home, can?t talk to his wife and son. He?s happiest at the office or with Nina, a relationship that is sometimes fun but is ultimately all about work: He?s her boss, in a way, but she?s often on top.
It?s the perfect setup for the finale: When things are truly stuck, it takes a hard knock to dislodge them. Judging from the scenes from next week shown at the end of this episode, someone?s work-life balance is about to get seriously upended.
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=16e1786bae7f4891a34c7ef291cb3832
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Camera makers seem to be scrambling to equip their compact models with wireless options, all the better to work with the smartphones that are trying to replace them. Fujifilm's taking a different tack with the 14-megapixel FinePix JZ700 by going for raw performance instead, like 8fps burst shooting and 1080/30p video, both quite rare in low-end compacts. You'll also get an 8x Fujinon lens equivalent to 24-192mm, OIS optical stabilization, a 2.7-inch, 230K-dot LCD, 3200 ISO sensitivity, numerous filters and, interestingly, 200 fps video capture -- though the resolution at that speed isn't specified, and we can imagine it's pretty low. Still, the camera's already hit the streets for around £130 ($200), and we don't know of any other near time-stopping cameras you can grab for that sum.
Filed under: Cameras
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