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Thursday, January 31, 2013
DSMB recommends continuation of CTI?s OPAXIO Phase 3 trial on ovarian cancer
Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) (NASDAQ and MTA: CTIC) today announced that the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) informed CTI that an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) recommended continuation of the GOG-0212 Phase 3 clinical trial of OPAXIOTM (paclitaxel poliglumex) as maintenance therapy in ovarian cancer with no changes following a planned interim survival analysis. CTI remains blinded to the interim analysis results. GOG-0212 is the largest maintenance study in this setting, having enrolled approximately 1,000 of the planned 1,100 patients. Enrollment is expected to be completed in 2013.
The trial is being conducted and managed by the GOG, which is one of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) funded cooperative cancer research groups focused on the study of gynecologic malignancies.
"This is an important milestone for our OPAXIO clinical development program and potentially for women with advanced ovarian cancer," noted Steve Benner , M.D., Chief Medical Officer of CTI. "GOG-0212 seeks to address an important question on the role OPAXIO may play in maintenance therapy for ovarian cancer and potentially other solid tumors."?
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Crafted
You know how they say you have to make your own path in life? Well its not like that here. We dont have a choice on who we are and where we go in life, no that decision belongs to the Leaders. In the past war was all you would see for weeks.......
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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Crafted?. Anything posted here will also show up there.Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.hey guy's hope you enjoy this RP but pls follow the character sheet and story
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Tennis coach values success in all phases of life
In order to thrive as a student athlete, one must seek excellence in all aspects of life, both on the court and off.
Perhaps no one realizes this better than WSU Women?s Tennis Head Coach Lisa Hart who successfully turned her competitive and academic career into a decade-long coaching tenure with the Cougars.
Hart first picked up a racket at around six or seven years old. She fell in love with the sport after her brother, Brian, let her tag along to play tennis.
Hart hit her stride at Sunnyside High School where she became a three-time State champion with All-American honors during her sophomore season.
She played tennis collegiately at Nebraska where she was the 1995 Big Eight Freshman of the Year, a two-time all-conference team selection, and ultimately became one of the school?s winningest women?s tennis players.
Her 74 career singles victories as a senior earned her No. 3 on the school?s career victories record board. She went on to win the Big 12 Conference?s No. 2 singles title.
In addition to her impressive playing statistics, she received the Intercollegiate Tennis Association?s (ITA) Cissie Learie Sportsmanship Award for the Central Region and the Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship and Leadership Award during her time at Nebraska.
Hart graduated from Nebraska with a bachelor?s degree in elementary education and earned a master?s in education with an emphasis in physical education and sports studies.
Hart knew that coaching tennis was precisely what she wanted to do to make the most of her experience and education.
?I love teaching and coaching involves a great deal of it,? she said. ?Coaching allowed me to combine the best of both worlds in my love and passion for both the sport of tennis and teaching.?
Hart was also an exemplary student, earning academic all-conference selections three times and first-team academic All-Big 12 honors her senior year.
Leading by example, Hart makes sure her players realize their own academic potential and reach their on-court abilities.
In each of the last six seasons, the Cougars have received the ITA All-Academic team award.
?It?s a testament to their work ethic and how much time they put into their work both on the court and in academics,? said Hart. ?They strive to not only win matches but to get top marks in the classroom. They?re really good kids.?
Having recorded 109 victories and trips to the NCAA Championships in 2008 and 2012, there?s no denying that Coach Hart has made a positive impact on the Cougar tennis program.
She said she enjoys her job every day and is motivated to shape her young women into great athletes and all-around people.
?I love coaching at the collegiate level because of the progress you can watch and help with. There is so much growing that happens when a young athlete comes in here at 18 and leaves when they?re 22 not only on the court but also in their lives,? Hart said.
Hart says she is really excited about and proud of this year?s squad and sees big things for WSU tennis both now and in the immediate future.
?We expect to make the Sweet 16 this year. We made the round of 32 last year so the team collectively wants to go at least one more step.?
Luckily for Cougar sports fans, Hart seems to be the perfect fit for WSU tennis and looks to be right at home here in Pullman, where she resides with her husband John, and two young children.
She has been revered for her dedication to the community during her time leading the Cougars including being a four-time recipient of the Community Service Award by the United States Tennis Association.
?I grew up in eastern Washington and absolutely love Pullman so I always wanted to get back to this area,"Hart said."To combine big-time athletics in the Pac-12 with a town like Pullman is quite frankly a dream job.?
Source: http://dailyevergreen.com/read/tennis-coach-values-success-in-all-phases-of-life
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013
New look at cell membrane reveals surprising organization
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 28-Jan-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Anne Stark
stark8@llnl.gov
925-422-9799
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
LIVERMORE, CALIF. A new way of looking at a cell's surface reveals the distribution of small molecules in the cell membrane, changing the understanding of its organization.
A novel imaging study by researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the University of Illinois and the National Institutes of Health revealed some unexpected relationships among molecules within cell membranes.
Their findings provide a new way of studying cell structure and ultimately its function.
Led by Mary Kraft of the University of Illinois, Peter Weber of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Joshua Zimmerberg of the National Institutes of Health, the team published their findings in the online version of the Jan. 28 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Cells are enveloped in a semi-permeable membrane that acts as a barrier between the inside and outside of the cell. The membrane is mainly composed of a class of molecules called lipids, which are small and easily perturbed when tracked.
"Lipids have multiple functions serving as both membrane structure and signaling molecules, so they regulate other functions inside the cell," Kraft said. "Therefore, understanding how they're organized is important. You need to know where they are to figure out how they're performing these regulatory functions."
Previous cell membrane research suggested that lipids in the membrane assemble into patches, called domains, which differ in composition. But the challenge of direct observation has limited research into how lipids are organized in the membrane, and how that organization affects cell function.
In the new study, the team used an advanced, molecule-specific imaging method developed at Lawrence Livermore that allowed the researchers to look at the membrane itself and map a particular type of lipid on mouse cell membranes. The researchers at University of Illionoi fed lipids labeled with rare stable isotopes to the cells and then imaged the distribution of the isotopes with high-resolution imaging mass spectrometry at LLNL.
Called sphingolipids (sfing-go-lipids), these molecules are thought to associate with cholesterol to form small domains about 200 nanometers across. The direct imaging method revealed that sphingolipids do form domains, but not in the way the researchers expected.
The domains were much bigger than results from prior experiments. The 200-nanometer domains clustered together to form much larger, micrometer-sized patches of sphingolipids in the membrane.
"We were amazed when we saw the first images of the patches of sphingolipids across the cell surface," said Peter Weber, who directed the team at Lawrence Livermore. "At the start, we weren't sure if our imaging mass spectrometry method would be sensitive enough to detect the labeled lipids, let alone what we would see."
When the researchers looked at cells that were low on cholesterol thought to play a key role in lipid aggregation they were surprised to find that the lipids still formed domains. But disruption to the cell's structural scaffold seemed to dissolve the lipid clusters.
"We found that the presence of domains was somewhat affected by cholesterol but was more affected by the cytoskeleton the protein network underneath the membrane," Kraft said. "The central issue is that the data is suggesting that the mechanism that's responsible for these domains is much more complicated than initially expected."
In addition, the new study found that sphingolipid domains were incompletely associated with a marker protein that researchers have long assumed lived where sphingolipids congregated. This means that data collected with imaging techniques that target this protein are not as accurate in representing sphingolipid distribution as previously thought.
"Our data is showing that if you want to know where sphingolipids are, look at the lipid, don't infer where it is based on other molecules," Kraft said, "and now there's a way to directly image them."
The researchers plan to use the direct-imaging method in conjunction with other more conventional methods, such as fluorescence, to further determine the organization of different kinds of molecules in the membrane, their interactions and how they affect the cell's function. They plan to begin by targeting cholesterol.
"Cholesterol abundance is important. You change that, you tremendously change cell function," Kraft said.
###
Other Livermore researchers include Ian Hutcheon and Kevin Carpenter.
The LLNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund supported this work. Co-author Joshua Zimmerberg directed research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory provides solutions to our nation's most important national security challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 28-Jan-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Anne Stark
stark8@llnl.gov
925-422-9799
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
LIVERMORE, CALIF. A new way of looking at a cell's surface reveals the distribution of small molecules in the cell membrane, changing the understanding of its organization.
A novel imaging study by researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the University of Illinois and the National Institutes of Health revealed some unexpected relationships among molecules within cell membranes.
Their findings provide a new way of studying cell structure and ultimately its function.
Led by Mary Kraft of the University of Illinois, Peter Weber of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Joshua Zimmerberg of the National Institutes of Health, the team published their findings in the online version of the Jan. 28 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Cells are enveloped in a semi-permeable membrane that acts as a barrier between the inside and outside of the cell. The membrane is mainly composed of a class of molecules called lipids, which are small and easily perturbed when tracked.
"Lipids have multiple functions serving as both membrane structure and signaling molecules, so they regulate other functions inside the cell," Kraft said. "Therefore, understanding how they're organized is important. You need to know where they are to figure out how they're performing these regulatory functions."
Previous cell membrane research suggested that lipids in the membrane assemble into patches, called domains, which differ in composition. But the challenge of direct observation has limited research into how lipids are organized in the membrane, and how that organization affects cell function.
In the new study, the team used an advanced, molecule-specific imaging method developed at Lawrence Livermore that allowed the researchers to look at the membrane itself and map a particular type of lipid on mouse cell membranes. The researchers at University of Illionoi fed lipids labeled with rare stable isotopes to the cells and then imaged the distribution of the isotopes with high-resolution imaging mass spectrometry at LLNL.
Called sphingolipids (sfing-go-lipids), these molecules are thought to associate with cholesterol to form small domains about 200 nanometers across. The direct imaging method revealed that sphingolipids do form domains, but not in the way the researchers expected.
The domains were much bigger than results from prior experiments. The 200-nanometer domains clustered together to form much larger, micrometer-sized patches of sphingolipids in the membrane.
"We were amazed when we saw the first images of the patches of sphingolipids across the cell surface," said Peter Weber, who directed the team at Lawrence Livermore. "At the start, we weren't sure if our imaging mass spectrometry method would be sensitive enough to detect the labeled lipids, let alone what we would see."
When the researchers looked at cells that were low on cholesterol thought to play a key role in lipid aggregation they were surprised to find that the lipids still formed domains. But disruption to the cell's structural scaffold seemed to dissolve the lipid clusters.
"We found that the presence of domains was somewhat affected by cholesterol but was more affected by the cytoskeleton the protein network underneath the membrane," Kraft said. "The central issue is that the data is suggesting that the mechanism that's responsible for these domains is much more complicated than initially expected."
In addition, the new study found that sphingolipid domains were incompletely associated with a marker protein that researchers have long assumed lived where sphingolipids congregated. This means that data collected with imaging techniques that target this protein are not as accurate in representing sphingolipid distribution as previously thought.
"Our data is showing that if you want to know where sphingolipids are, look at the lipid, don't infer where it is based on other molecules," Kraft said, "and now there's a way to directly image them."
The researchers plan to use the direct-imaging method in conjunction with other more conventional methods, such as fluorescence, to further determine the organization of different kinds of molecules in the membrane, their interactions and how they affect the cell's function. They plan to begin by targeting cholesterol.
"Cholesterol abundance is important. You change that, you tremendously change cell function," Kraft said.
###
Other Livermore researchers include Ian Hutcheon and Kevin Carpenter.
The LLNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund supported this work. Co-author Joshua Zimmerberg directed research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory provides solutions to our nation's most important national security challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/dlnl-nla012813.php
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Climate change blamed for Australia's extreme weather
The east coast of Australia has been drenched by floods and torrential rains, even as recent bush fires affecting much of the country continued to burn. Four people are known to have died as Australians get a further taste of extreme weather that is predicted to become more common as the planet warms.
The deluge came as a storm that started as tropical cyclone Oswald just north of Australia was dragged south over most of the east coast by a low-pressure system extending all the way to New South Wales, says Richard Wardle of the Bureau of Meteorology in Queensland. As it hit land, Oswald lost its cyclone status but remained a "vigorous" storm, Wardle says.
With no low-pressure zone further east to pull Oswald out to sea, the storm stayed over land, moving slowly south and dumping huge amounts of rain on coastal communities. Bundaberg, a town in Queensland, experienced its worst-ever flood as the storm lingered nearby for nearly 24 hours, leading to the evacuation of 7500 people from their homes. In Brisbane, the floods were almost as bad as those that devastated the city two years ago.
Climate change to blame
In Queensland and New South Wales, the deluge arrived while the bush fires that broke out two weeks were still smouldering. At the time, the Bureau of Meteorology said that the exceptionally hot, dry weather that led to the fires was "consistent" with climate change. Experts are now drawing the same conclusions about the rains.
"The frequency of more intense events is going to increase. Droughts, heatwaves and ? in northern Australia ? rainfall events and tropical cyclones are going to be more intense," says Jon Nott of James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, who researches extreme weather events.
Nott says that more intense rainfall in the tropics and subtropics is one of the things we can expect with global warming. The connection between tropical cyclones and climate change is complicated: fewer cyclones are expected, but the ones that strike will be more severe. They could also become 20 per cent wetter.
Nott points out that Australia might be experiencing a "double whammy" of climate change and natural variability, driving wetter conditions. One natural pattern, the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation, affects circulation in the Pacific, and reverses every 20 or 30 years. It flipped about five years ago for the first time since 1977, bringing warmer waters to Australia's east coast. "During those phases, Queensland sees more flooding, more rainfall, and more landfalling tropical cyclones," Nott says. Climate change will only compound the effects of such patterns, he says.
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'Mama' Effects Test Is The Scariest Movie Of 2013
Both critics and audiences embraced "Mama," the Guillermo del Toro-produced ghost story with mommy issues, in a way that few horror movies have in recent years. Some of the credit undoubtedly has to go to the team that created the creature Mama, a mix of computer effects and good ol' fashioned practical work from actor [...]
Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/01/28/mama-effects-test/
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Monday, January 28, 2013
CSHL neuroscientists pinpoint location of fear memory in amygdala
Public release date: 27-Jan-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Edward Brydon
ebrydon@cshl.edu
516-367-8455
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Fear responses based on experience are encoded in a circuit in the central amygdala
Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. A rustle of undergrowth in the outback: it's a sound that might make an animal or person stop sharply and be still, in the anticipation of a predator. That "freezing" is part of the fear response, a reaction to a stimulus in the environment and part of the brain's determination of whether to be afraid of it.
A neuroscience group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) led by Assistant Professor Bo Li Ph.D., together with collaborator Professor Z. Josh Huang Ph.D., today release the results of a new study that examines the how fear responses are learned, controlled, and memorized. They show that a particular class of neurons in a subdivision of the amygdala plays an active role in these processes.
Locating fear memory in the amygdala
Previous research had indicated that structures inside the amygdalae, a pair of almond-shaped formations that sit deep within the brain and are known to be involved in emotion and reward-based behavior, may be part of the circuit that controls fear learning and memory. In particular, a region called the central amygdala, or CeA, was thought to be a passive relay for the signals relayed within this circuit.
Li's lab became interested when they observed that neurons in a region of the central amygdala called the lateral subdivision, or CeL, "lit up" in a particular strain of mice while studying this circuit.
"Neuroscientists believed that changes in the strength of the connections onto neurons in the central amygdala must occur for fear memory to be encoded," Li says, "but nobody had been able to actually show this."
This led the team to further probe into the role of these neurons in fear responses and furthermore to ask the question: If the central amygdala stores fear memory, how is that memory trace read out and translated into fear responses?
To examine the behavior of mice undergoing a fear test the team first trained them to respond in a Pavlovian manner to an auditory cue. The mice began to "freeze," a very common fear response, whenever they heard one of the sounds they had been trained to fear.
To study the particular neurons involved, and to understand them in relation to the fear-inducing auditory cue, the CSHL team used a variety of methods. One of these involved delivering a gene that encodes for a light-sensitive protein into the particular neurons Li's group wanted to look at.
By implanting a very thin fiber-optic cable directly into the area containing the photosensitive neurons, the team was able to shine colored laser light with pinpoint accuracy onto the cells, and in this manner activate them. This is a technique known as optogenetics. Any changes in the behavior of the mice in response to the laser were then monitored.
A subset of neurons in the central amygdala controls fear expression
The ability to probe genetically defined groups of neurons was vital because there are two sets of neurons important in fear-learning and memory processes. The difference between them, the team learned, was in their release of message-carrying neurotransmitters into the spaces called synapses between neurons. In one subset of neurons, neurotransmitter release was enhanced; in another it was diminished. If measurements had been taken across the total cell population in the central amygdala, neurotransmitter levels from these two distinct sets of neurons would have been averaged out, and thus would not have been detected.
Li's group found that fear conditioning induced experience-dependent changes in the release of neurotransmitters in excitatory synapses that connect with inhibitory neurons neurons that suppress the activity of other neurons in the central amygdala. These changes in the strength of neuronal connections are known as synaptic plasticity.
Particularly important in this process, the team discovered, were somatostatin-positive (SOM+) neurons. Somatostatin is a hormone that affects neurotransmitter release. Li and colleagues found that fear-memory formation was impaired when they prevent the activation of SOM+ neurons.
SOM+ neurons are necessary for recall of fear memories, the team also found. Indeed, the activity of these neurons alone proved sufficient to drive fear responses. Thus, instead of being a passive relay for the signals driving fear learning and responses in mice, the team's work demonstrates that the central amygdala is an active component, and is driven by input from the lateral amygdala, to which it is connected.
"We find that the fear memory in the central amygdala can modify the circuit in a way that translates into action -- or what we call the fear response," explains Li.
In the future Li's group will try to obtain a better understanding of how these processes may be altered in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other disorders involving abnormal fear learning. One important goal is to develop pharmacological interventions for such disorders.
Li says more research is needed, but is hopeful that with the discovery of specific cellular markers and techniques such as optogenetics, a breakthrough can be made.
###
"Experience-dependent modification of a central amygdala fear circuit" is published online in Nature Neuroscience on January 27, 2013. The authors are: Haohong Li, Mario A. Penzo, Hiroki Taniguchi, Charles D. Kopec, Z. Josh Huang, and Bo Li. The paper can be obtained online at doi:10.1038/nn.3322.
The research described in this release was supported by the US National Institutes of Health, the Dana Foundation and NARSAD (the Brain and Behavior Foundation).
About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Founded in 1890, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. CSHL is ranked number one in the world by Thomson Reuters for impact of its research in molecular biology and genetics. The Laboratory has been home to eight Nobel Prize winners. Today, CSHL's multidisciplinary scientific community is more than 360 scientists strong and its Meetings & Courses program hosts more than 12,500 scientists from around the world each year to its Long Island campus and its China center. Tens of thousands more benefit from the research, reviews, and ideas published in journals and books distributed internationally by CSHL Press. The Laboratory's education arm also includes a graduate school and programs for undergraduates as well as middle and high school students and teachers. CSHL is a private, not-for-profit institution on the north shore of Long Island. For more information, visit www.cshl.edu.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 27-Jan-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Edward Brydon
ebrydon@cshl.edu
516-367-8455
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Fear responses based on experience are encoded in a circuit in the central amygdala
Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. A rustle of undergrowth in the outback: it's a sound that might make an animal or person stop sharply and be still, in the anticipation of a predator. That "freezing" is part of the fear response, a reaction to a stimulus in the environment and part of the brain's determination of whether to be afraid of it.
A neuroscience group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) led by Assistant Professor Bo Li Ph.D., together with collaborator Professor Z. Josh Huang Ph.D., today release the results of a new study that examines the how fear responses are learned, controlled, and memorized. They show that a particular class of neurons in a subdivision of the amygdala plays an active role in these processes.
Locating fear memory in the amygdala
Previous research had indicated that structures inside the amygdalae, a pair of almond-shaped formations that sit deep within the brain and are known to be involved in emotion and reward-based behavior, may be part of the circuit that controls fear learning and memory. In particular, a region called the central amygdala, or CeA, was thought to be a passive relay for the signals relayed within this circuit.
Li's lab became interested when they observed that neurons in a region of the central amygdala called the lateral subdivision, or CeL, "lit up" in a particular strain of mice while studying this circuit.
"Neuroscientists believed that changes in the strength of the connections onto neurons in the central amygdala must occur for fear memory to be encoded," Li says, "but nobody had been able to actually show this."
This led the team to further probe into the role of these neurons in fear responses and furthermore to ask the question: If the central amygdala stores fear memory, how is that memory trace read out and translated into fear responses?
To examine the behavior of mice undergoing a fear test the team first trained them to respond in a Pavlovian manner to an auditory cue. The mice began to "freeze," a very common fear response, whenever they heard one of the sounds they had been trained to fear.
To study the particular neurons involved, and to understand them in relation to the fear-inducing auditory cue, the CSHL team used a variety of methods. One of these involved delivering a gene that encodes for a light-sensitive protein into the particular neurons Li's group wanted to look at.
By implanting a very thin fiber-optic cable directly into the area containing the photosensitive neurons, the team was able to shine colored laser light with pinpoint accuracy onto the cells, and in this manner activate them. This is a technique known as optogenetics. Any changes in the behavior of the mice in response to the laser were then monitored.
A subset of neurons in the central amygdala controls fear expression
The ability to probe genetically defined groups of neurons was vital because there are two sets of neurons important in fear-learning and memory processes. The difference between them, the team learned, was in their release of message-carrying neurotransmitters into the spaces called synapses between neurons. In one subset of neurons, neurotransmitter release was enhanced; in another it was diminished. If measurements had been taken across the total cell population in the central amygdala, neurotransmitter levels from these two distinct sets of neurons would have been averaged out, and thus would not have been detected.
Li's group found that fear conditioning induced experience-dependent changes in the release of neurotransmitters in excitatory synapses that connect with inhibitory neurons neurons that suppress the activity of other neurons in the central amygdala. These changes in the strength of neuronal connections are known as synaptic plasticity.
Particularly important in this process, the team discovered, were somatostatin-positive (SOM+) neurons. Somatostatin is a hormone that affects neurotransmitter release. Li and colleagues found that fear-memory formation was impaired when they prevent the activation of SOM+ neurons.
SOM+ neurons are necessary for recall of fear memories, the team also found. Indeed, the activity of these neurons alone proved sufficient to drive fear responses. Thus, instead of being a passive relay for the signals driving fear learning and responses in mice, the team's work demonstrates that the central amygdala is an active component, and is driven by input from the lateral amygdala, to which it is connected.
"We find that the fear memory in the central amygdala can modify the circuit in a way that translates into action -- or what we call the fear response," explains Li.
In the future Li's group will try to obtain a better understanding of how these processes may be altered in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other disorders involving abnormal fear learning. One important goal is to develop pharmacological interventions for such disorders.
Li says more research is needed, but is hopeful that with the discovery of specific cellular markers and techniques such as optogenetics, a breakthrough can be made.
###
"Experience-dependent modification of a central amygdala fear circuit" is published online in Nature Neuroscience on January 27, 2013. The authors are: Haohong Li, Mario A. Penzo, Hiroki Taniguchi, Charles D. Kopec, Z. Josh Huang, and Bo Li. The paper can be obtained online at doi:10.1038/nn.3322.
The research described in this release was supported by the US National Institutes of Health, the Dana Foundation and NARSAD (the Brain and Behavior Foundation).
About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Founded in 1890, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. CSHL is ranked number one in the world by Thomson Reuters for impact of its research in molecular biology and genetics. The Laboratory has been home to eight Nobel Prize winners. Today, CSHL's multidisciplinary scientific community is more than 360 scientists strong and its Meetings & Courses program hosts more than 12,500 scientists from around the world each year to its Long Island campus and its China center. Tens of thousands more benefit from the research, reviews, and ideas published in journals and books distributed internationally by CSHL Press. The Laboratory's education arm also includes a graduate school and programs for undergraduates as well as middle and high school students and teachers. CSHL is a private, not-for-profit institution on the north shore of Long Island. For more information, visit www.cshl.edu.
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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/cshl-cnp012613.php
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Mass funeral held in Egypt after riots kill 37
PORT SAID, Egypt (AP) ? Tens of thousands of mourners poured into the streets of the restive Egyptian city of Port Said on Sunday for a mass funeral for most of the 37 people killed in rioting a day earlier, chanting slogans against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
Violence erupted briefly when some in the crowd fired guns and police responded with volleys of tear gas, witnesses said. State television reported 110 were injured.
"We are very worried about what may happen after the burial," said local youth activist Rasha Hamouda, noting the city was fraught with tension.
There was also a funeral in Cairo for one of two policemen killed in the Port Said violence a day earlier. Several policemen grieving for two colleagues heckled Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the force, when he arrived for their funeral, according to witnesses. The angry officers screamed at the minister that he was only at the funeral for the TV cameras ? a highly unusual show of dissent in Egypt, where the police force maintains military-like discipline.
Ibrahim hurriedly left and the funeral proceeded without him.
The violence in the city, about 140 miles northeast of Cairo, broke out on Saturday after a court on Saturday convicted and sentenced 21 defendants to death for their roles in a mass soccer riot in a Port Said stadium on Feb. 1, 2012 that left 74 people dead. Most of those sentenced to death were local soccer fans from Port Said. The 21 were convicted on murder charges and the court is to rule on the remainder of the 73 defendants in March.
The riots stemmed mostly from animosity between police and die-hard Egyptian soccer fans, known as Ultras, who have become highly politicized. The Ultras frequently confront police and were also part of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's regime two years ago.
They were also at the forefront of protests against the military rulers who took over from Mubarak and are now again on the front lines of protests against the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, the country's first freely elected leader.
Mourners chanted "There is no God but Allah," and "Morsi is God's enemy" as the funeral procession made its way through the city after prayers for the dead at the city's Mariam Mosque. Women clad in black led the chants, which were quickly picked up by the rest of the mourners.
There were no police or army troops in sight. But the funeral procession briefly halted after gunfire rang out. Security officials said the gunfire came from several mourners who opened fire at the Police Club next to the cemetery.
A witness said the police responded to the gunfire with volleys of tear gas. The witness and the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation in the city on the Mediterranean at the northern tip of the Suez Canal.
Survivors and witnesses of the Port Said soccer melee blame Mubarak loyalists for the violence, saying they had a hand in instigating the killings. The troubles erupted after Port Said's home team Al-Masry beat Cairo's Al-Ahly 3-1. Some witnesses said "hired thugs" wearing green T-shirts and posing as Al-Masry fans led the attacks.
Other witnesses said at the very least, police were responsible for gross negligence in the soccer violence, which killed 74 people, most of them Al-Ahly fans.
Anger at police was evident in Port Said, home to most of the 73 men accused of involvement in the bloodshed.
The trial was in Cairo and Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid did not give his reasoning when he handed down the guilty verdicts and sentences for 21 defendants. Executions in Egypt are usually carried out by hanging.
Verdicts for the remaining 52 defendants, including nine security officials, are to be delivered on March 9. Some have been charged with murder and others with assisting the attackers. All the defendants ? who were not present in the courtroom Saturday for security reasons ? can appeal the verdict.
In Port Said on Sunday, army troops backed by armored vehicles staked out positions at key government facilities to protect state interests and try to restore order.
The military issued a statement urging Port Said residents to exercise restraint and protect public property, but also warning that troops would deal "firmly" with anyone who "terrorizes" citizens or infringes upon the nation's security and stability.
Rioters on Saturday attacked the prison where the defendants were being held and tried to storm police stations and government offices around the city. Health officials say at least 37 people were killed, including two policemen, in rioting on Saturday.
The clashes in Port Said were the latest in a bout of unrest across the country that has left a total of 48 people dead since Friday. That death toll includes 11 people killed in clashes between police and protesters marking the second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew Mubarak after nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule.
Clashes broke out in Cairo for the fourth straight day on Sunday, with protesters and police near central Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 2011 uprising. Police fired tear gas while protesters pelted them with rocks.
The clashes show how turmoil was deepening in Egypt nearly seven months after Morsi took office. Critics say Morsi has failed to carry out promised reforms of the judiciary and police, and claim little has improved in the two years since the uprising.
At the heart of the rising opposition toward Morsi's government is a newly adopted constitution, which was ratified in a nationwide referendum.
Opponents claim the document has an Islamist slant. It was drafted hurriedly by the president's allies without the participation of representatives of liberals and minority Christians on the panel that wrote the charter.
Protesters on the streets this past week demanded the formation of a national unity government, early presidential elections and amendments to disputed clauses in the constitution.
Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which he hails, counter that the opposition was seeking to overturn the results of democratic and free elections. The Brotherhood, a well-organized and established political group in Egypt for decades, has emerged as by far the most powerful force in post-Mubarak Egypt.
As the situation in Port Said spiraled out of control Saturday, police disappeared from the city's streets, residents and security officials said, staying put in their camps, police stations and the city's security headquarters.
The military then dispatched troops to the city, taking up positions at vital state facilities, including the local power and water stations, the city's main courthouse, the local government building and the city prison. Navy sailors were guarding the local offices of the Suez Canal company.
Navy vessels were escorting merchant ships sailing through the international waterway, a vital income earner for Egypt's beleaguered economy. Military helicopters were flying over the canal to ensure the safety of shipping, according to Suez Canal spokesman Tareq Hassanein.
Residents said Port Said was quiet overnight except for intermittent bursts of gunfire. The city was still on edge early Sunday ? but streets were largely deserted, stores were closed for the second successive day, and some hotels asked guests to leave, fearing more violence.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mass-funeral-held-egypt-riots-kill-37-134608043--spt.html
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5 Ways to Enhance Your Relationship Every Day | World of ...
The everyday ? filled with its supposedly inconsequential interactions and circumstances ? is actually quite consequential when it comes to romantic relationships.
That?s because relationships are cumulative, said Nikki Massey-Hastings, Psy.D, a psychotherapist who specializes in couples. ?Each seemingly insignificant daily interaction with one?s partner builds upon the interactions from yesterday, last week, and last year? for better or worse.?
A couple with a history of loving interactions and success solving daily problems is more likely to have a securely attached relationship, Massey-Hastings said.
And that?s a great thing. Couples with a secure attachment are able to rely on each other, turn to each other for comfort and traverse potentially tough times, she noted.
In other words, positive daily interactions create buffers against future challenges.
Take parenting, for instance. One of Massey-Hastings?s clients told her: ?We finally had dinner and watched a movie last night for the first time since we brought the baby home. At the end of our night, we smiled at each other and said ?see you in 3 months! Miss you.??
This couple was able to joke about their situation because they had years of wonderful interactions and success dealing with mundane problems like decorating their bedroom and deeply emotional ones like figuring out treatments for their autistic son, she said.
Silvina Irwin, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist who also works with couples, described relationships as ?living bonds.? According to Irwin, ?without regular tending and attention, [the relationship] will wither and suffer.?
But you might be worried that working on your relationship is another time-consuming task to heap on an already overflowing pile of responsibilities. However, as Irwin said, ?tending to your relationship can be woven into the fabric of your everyday life with a little extra thought and intention.?
Below, she and Massey-Hastings share five suggestions for enhancing your relationship every day.
1. Create connection-boosting rituals.
?Create a meaningful way to connect that meets both partners? needs for connection that you can count on each day,? Massey-Hastings said. For instance, when she was just beginning her career, she and her husband would eat dinner together almost every night.
But then her schedule changed, and that was no longer possible. ?One week of this shift and we were both in tears ? we didn?t realize how much that ritual structured our time to connect,? she said. So they revised their routine. Today, they have a snack when she gets home.
?Eating together and talking about the day, for couples and for families, is a very powerful ritual of connection,? she said.
Rituals don?t need to be elaborate, either. It could be something as simple as rubbing each other?s feet every night, which Massey-Hastings and her husband also do. It?s a minute but meaningful ritual they look forward to, she said.
If you have kids, you can create rituals after they?re in bed. For instance, Massey-Hastings works with a couple who cuddles in bed for 30 minutes after putting their child to bed.
2. Be affectionate when you say hello or goodbye.
?A time that lends itself naturally to acknowledging your bond is around moments of separation and reunions,? said Irwin, who also leads workshops for couples. She suggested asking yourself: ?Do I hug and kiss my partner when we greet each other or say goodbye??How about in the evening when we say goodnight??
If you?ve been together for a long time, you might not. But this can contribute to ?couples feeling more like roommates than lovers,? she said. Whether it?s a hug, kiss or touch, daily physical attention can greatly enhance your relationship.
3. Let your partner know they?re on your mind.
Send your partner a text, leave a loving note or give them a quick call during the day, Irwin said. As she noted, these seemingly small gestures communicate an important message: ?You matter to me.? ?This can be especially meaningful when folks work long hours or experience prolonged periods of separation,? she said.
4. Acknowledge how much your partner means to you.
Let your partner know the things they do or say that are meaningful to you, Irwin said. Maybe your partner gives you a massage every night or cracks a joke after you?ve had a tough day at work. Maybe they make you coffee every morning or always wash the dishes after you cook dinner.
?[This] shows that you aren?t taking your partner for granted, and lets them know that they make a difference in your life,? she said. ?A wonderful positive spiral that can ensue when we take a moment to point out the way we appreciate our partner,? she added.
5. Check in with each other.
?Make it an intention to slow down, make eye contact, sit near each other, touch one another and check in,? Irwin said. Even just asking your partner ?How are you?? is a beautiful way to bond.
?These conversations bring a significant point of connection in couples? sometimes-busy, seemingly parallel lives.?It?s saying to each other ?In our crazy lives, the person I want to talk with at the end of the day is you!?? she said.
Relationships certainly take work. But nourishing your partnership every day isn?t painstaking. Instead, it gives you the opportunity to build your bond. Plus, helping your relationship blossom on a daily basis helps you cope better as a couple with the inevitable challenges of life.
Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. is an Associate Editor at Psych Central and blogs regularly about eating and self-image issues on her own blog, Weightless.Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. (or subscribe to their feed).
????Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 28 Jan 2013
????Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
APA Reference
Tartakovsky, M. (2013). 5 Ways to Enhance Your Relationship Every Day. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 28, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/28/5-ways-to-enhance-your-relationship-every-day/
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Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/28/5-ways-to-enhance-your-relationship-every-day/
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Sunday, January 27, 2013
Fears grow that Libya is incubator of turmoil
FILE - In this Tuesday Feb. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan militias from towns throughout the country's west parade through Tripoli, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad. (AP Photo/ Abdel Magid Al Fergany, File)
FILE - In this Tuesday Feb. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan militias from towns throughout the country's west parade through Tripoli, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad. (AP Photo/ Abdel Magid Al Fergany, File)
FILE -- In this Friday, Sept. 14, 2012 file photo, a Libyan follower of Ansar al-Shariah Brigades chants as he carries the Brigades flag, with Arabic writing that reads, "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger, Ansar al-Shariah," during a protest in front of the Tibesti Hotel, in Benghazi, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan military guards check one of the U.S. Consulate's burnt out buildings during a visit by Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif, not shown, to the U.S. Consulate to express sympathy for the death of the American ambassador, Chris Stevens and his colleagues in the deadly attack on the Consulate last Tuesday, September 11, in Benghazi, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad.(AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
FILE --In this Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012 file photo, graffiti on one of the city walls calls on people to stop random firing of weapons making the point that when a bullet goes up it also comes down and can injure or kill people, in Benghazi, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
FILE -- In this Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 file photo, Libyan civilians watch fires in the Ansar al-Shariah Brigades compound, after hundreds of Libyans, Libyan Military, and Police raided the Brigades base, in Benghazi, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. Fears are growing that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad.
The possibility of a Mali backlash was underlined the past week when several European governments evacuated their citizens from Libya's second largest city, Benghazi, fearing attacks in retaliation for the French-led military assault against al-Qaida-linked extremists in northern Mali.
More worrisome is the possibility that Islamic militants inspired by ? or linked to ? al-Qaida can establish a strong enough foothold in Libya to spread instability across a swath of North Africa where long, porous desert borders have little meaning, governments are weak, and tribal and ethnic networks stretch from country to country. The Associated Press examined the dangers in recent interviews with officials, tribal leaders and jihadis in various parts of Libya.
Already, Libya's turmoil echoes around the region and in the Middle East. The large numbers of weapons brought into Libya or seized from government caches during the 2011 civil war against Gadhafi are now smuggled freely to Mali, Egypt and its Sinai Peninsula, the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad. Jihadis in Libya are believed to have operational links with fellow militant groups in the same swath, Libyan fighters have joined rebels in Syria and are believed to operate in other countries as well.
Libyan officials, activists and experts are increasingly raising alarm over how Islamic militants have taken advantage of the oil-rich country's weakness to grow in strength. During his more than four-decade rule Gadhafi stripped the country of national institutions, and after his fall the central government has little authority beyond the capital, Tripoli. Militias established to fight Gadhafi remain dominant, and tribes and regions are sharply divided.
In the eastern city of Benghazi, birthplace of the revolt that led to the ouster and killing of Gadhafi, militias espousing an al-Qaida ideology and including veteran fighters are prevalent, even ostensibly serving as security forces on behalf of the government since the police and military are so weak and poorly armed. One such militia, Ansar al-Shariah, is believed to have been behind the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in the city that killed four Americans, including the ambassador. Since then, militants have been blamed for a wave of assassinations of security officers and government officials.
Earlier this month, former Libyan leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil warned the militant threat extends to efforts to establish a state that can enforce rule of law.
"Libya will not see stability except by facing them," he told a gathering videotaped by activists and aired on Libyan TV. "It is time to either hold dialogue or confront them." He listed 30 officials and police officers assassinated in Benghazi the past year.
The Mali drama illustrates how the threat bounces back and forth across the borders drawn in the Sahel, the region stretching across the Sahara Desert. Libya and Mali are separated by Algeria, but the two countries had deep ties under Gadhafi. Thousands of Tuaregs moved from Mali to Libya beginning in the 1970s, and many joined special divisions of Gadhafi's military where they earned higher salaries than they would have at home.
As Gadhafi was falling in 2011, thousands of heavily armed Tuareg fighters in southern Libya fled to northern Mali. The Tuareg are an indigenous ethnic group living throughout the Sahel, from Mali to Chad and into Libya and Algeria.
The fighters, led by commander Mohammed Ag Najem, broke the Mali government's hold over the north and declared their long-held dream of a Tuareg homeland, Azawad. But they in turn were defeated by Islamic militants, some linked to al-Qaida's branch in North Africa, who took over the territory and imposed rule under an extreme version of Shariah, or Islamic law. This month, as militants moved south, France launched its military intervention to rescue the Mali government, conducting airstrikes against militants.
In retaliation, militants seized an oil complex in eastern Algeria, prompting a siege by Algerian forces that killed dozens of Western hostages and militants.
The militant group that carried out the Algeria hostage taking, in turn, had help from Libyan extremists in the form of smuggled weapons and "organizational ties," the group's leader, Moktar Belmoktar said.
"Their ideological and organizational connection to us is not an accusation against a Muslim but a source of pride and honor to us and to them," Belmoktar, the one-eyed Algerian founder of the Masked Brigade, said of the Libyans in an interview with The Mauritanian newspaper in mid-December. "Jihadists in al-Qaida and in general were the biggest beneficiaries of the Arab world uprisings, because these uprisings have broken the chains of fear ... that the agent regimes of the West imposed."
He urged Libyan militants not to submit to calls by the Tripoli government to hand over their weapons, saying their arms are "the source of their dignity and their guarantee of security."
With pressure building on Mali's Islamists, Libya provides a possible alternative haven for jihadis, said Scott Stewart of the global intelligence group Stratfor.
"It is a very good place to operate if you are an extremist," he said. "There are fault lines and divisions ... The central government has very little authority outside Tripoli. This is very conducive environment for Jihad to thrive."
They already have a free rein in Benghazi.
"Libya became a heaven for them," Col. Salah Bouhalqa, a leading military commander in Benghazi, said of al-Qaida. "The Westerners are fearful that what happened in Algeria will take place in Libya. And here, just like Mali and Egypt and Iraq, these groups have extensions."
Some extremists say they are determined to shape the new Libya. Youssef Jihani, a member of Ansar Shariah in Benghazi, vowed that he and other jihadis would not accept a return to the days when they were jailed and executed under Gadhafi's rule. He told the AP in Benghazi late last year that the toppling of Gadhafi would not have been possible without the strength of jihadi fighters who he said joined the uprising to ensure an "Islamic state of Libya, where Shariah rule is implemented."
The bearded young man said he lay down his weapons last year. But he said he would take arms up again if Libya's next constitution doesn't make a clear reference to rule by Islamic law or if secular politicians hold power and try to rein in jihadis.
Jihani proudly said he believes in al-Qaida and supports its slain leader Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. He said that during Libya's civil war in 2011, he killed a captured soldier from Gadhafi's army after discovering 11 video clips on his mobile phone showing soldiers raping women and men. Jihani said he ordered the soldier to dig his own grave, then severed his head with a knife.
"I wish I could behead him 11 times," he said. His story could not be independently confirmed.
Stewart, of Stratfor, also pointed to a concern that al-Qaida could make inroads among Libya's impoverished and alienated Tuareg.
Living in mud-brick slums or camps in the deserts of southwestern Libya, most Tuaregs were never given citizenship under Gadhafi's rule, though he used their fighters as mercenaries, and now they suffer not only from poverty but from the disdain of Libyans who see them as Gadhafi loyalists.
For centuries, Tuareg ran caravan routes across the Sahara, carrying gold and other valuables. Now they're known for smuggling weapons and drugs. In slums around the towns of Sabha and Owbari, they sleep next to livestock in shacks with corrugated metal roofs, with webs of electric cables dangling from poles overhead and garbage-filled streets.
Libya's new leadership has largely shunned them. The Tuareg's four members in parliament were removed because of ties to Gadhafi's regime, leaving them without a political voice. The Tuareg contend they were exploited by Gadhafi, along with all other Libyans.
"Gadhafi's rule left behind a breeding ground for terrorism by depriving people of their rights and education .... After all the promises, we thought we will live in heaven, but kids here die from scorpion bites," said Suleiman Naaim, a Tuareg rights activist, told the AP in Owbari.
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