Windows 8.1 is a bunch of small changes that make for a big improvement over Windows 8. You can read our full review here, but Windows 8.1 doesn't really hit home until you use it, or at least see it in action.
Rather than spread the news in an interview or through a press release, "Girls" creator Lena Dunham took to her Instagram account Wednesday to announce the return date for her acclaimed HBO dramedy. Along with the phrase "We're comin' right back #GIRLS," Dunham posted a selfie photo that reads "1/12/14 10 p.m. EST" scrawled (possibly in lipstick) on a mirror.
Cringe Your Way Through the Biggest WTF Moments of Girls' Season Two
The show's third season has been highly anticipated for months, partially due to shake-ups within the cast. Christopher Abbott (who played Marnie's on-again, off-again love interest, Charlie) left the series back in April following creative struggles with Dunham. Michael Zegen ("Boardwalk Empire", "The Walking Dead") signed on back in June and — perhaps in response to criticism of the show's almost entirely white cast — Danielle Brooks ("Orange Is the New Black") will join the season as well. "I will be the first black woman to be on 'Girls,'" Brooks said in an interview with Ebony, "so that's exciting for me."
Despite its many controversies, "Girls" has earned consistently strong reviews in its first two seasons. The series earned five Emmy nominations at this year's ceremony, including nods for outstanding directing for a comedy series (for Dunham) and outstanding comedy series.
Though the show won't be back on TV until January, HBO recently gave fans a taste of the third season with this promotional teaser.
LONDON – The stock of U.K. TV group ITV on Thursday set its latest all-time high after a bullish analyst report recommended it to investors.
Liberum Capital analyst Ian Whittaker raised his fair value target on the stock, whose possible further upside industry observers have been discussing in recent weeks.
ITV shares have had a strong run-up this year and have hit all-time highs as the company, led by CEO Adam Crozier, has continued to diversify its business beyond advertising revenue. The firm's growing TV production business is a key part of that trend.
ITV shares rose in early Thursday trading, going as high as $3.10 (1.93 pounds), a new all-time high.
While some analysts have said there might be limited further upside in ITV's stock, Whittaker on Thursday maintained his "buy" rating on it. He also raised his fair value target from $3.70 (2.30 pounds) to $4.10 (2.55 pounds).
"Feedback from the media buying space suggests increased momentum in U.K. TV advertising for the second half of 2013 and into 2014," the analyst wrote in a report. "We upgrade adjusted earnings per share forecasts by 5.5 percent for fiscal year 2014, respectively."
He also boosted his 2013 ITV TV ad growth forecast from 2.6 percent to 3.4 percent.
Next year, ad results should be boosted by the World Cup in Brazil and improving economic growth, Whittaker argued. "ITV is in an excellent position to take share," he wrote. "It will show the World Cup given its excellent ITV1 audience performance year-to-date and the weakness of main rival Channel 4."
In addition, "retransmission revenues offer substantial upside not reflected in forecasts," Whittaker said. He estimates ITV earnings could get a boost of around $160 million (£100 million) from retransmission payments from pay TV operators, which are only starting to emerge as a possible new revenue stream in the U.K.
New York City’s iconic (and sometimes terrifying) manhole covers haven’t changed in decades, but they may be about to gain a whole new purpose—as charging stations for electric cars and trucks.
In a recent interview, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi ruminated about a future play date between her son, Lorenzo, and Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's daughter, North. Might we add these two to our list of celebrity kids we wish would date in the future?
Many Ultrabook fans have pined for Lenovo's Yoga 2 Pro given its blend of a 3,200 x 1,800 display, long battery life and a slim profile. Those people can finally act on their impulses, as Lenovo has quietly started selling the 13-inch folding convertible. For the $1,049 base price, buyers get a silver gray variant with a Haswell-based 1.7GHz Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB solid-state drive. An orange model normally costs $1,399 (currently $1,149), although that also includes a 1.6GHz Core i5, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Be sure to shop around before you pick up the new system, however. Best Buy is currently selling an entry-level Yoga 2 Pro for $1,000, and there's a chance you'll find similar bargains elsewhere.
Every corner of the world's oceans — from pole to pole and sea surface to seafloor — will undergo chemical changes associated with global climate change by 2100, jeopardizing the livelihoods of billions of people who subsist on marine ecosystems, according to a new study.
Previous studies addressing the effects of climate change on future ocean health have tended to focus on the effects of increased temperature and acidity on marine ecosystems. However, other oceanic conditions — including dissolved oxygen and productivity, or the abundance of tiny plant-like organisms that form the base of the marine food web — also play an important role in overall ocean health. As is the case on land, marine animals need oxygen and plant-life to survive. [Video: Humans Hit the Oceans Hard]
A team of 29 international scientists based at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, have now developed more comprehensive projections of future ocean health, which take into account temperature, acidity, dissolved oxygen and productivity. To develop these projections, the researchers compiled more than 80,000 existing modeled maps of oceanic change, many of which informed the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
The team found that mangrove and coral reef ecosystems near the tropics will likely experience the smallest cumulative change by 2100, whereas cetaceans (the group of mammals that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises), as well as pinnipeds (such as seals and walruses) will face the largest amount of change.
"We already knew that coral reefs are very susceptible to temperature change, and our models show that they are going to be impacted the least," study co-author Camilo Mora, a researcher at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, told LiveScience. "So you can imagine what it's going to be like for other ecosystems."
The team used the compiled maps to estimate the impact these changes will have on coastal human populations whose livelihoods depend on marine resources.
Researchers considered two different climate change scenarios: one in which humans significantly cut back carbon dioxide emissions and, as a result, global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase from the current 440 parts per million (ppm) to just 550 ppm; and one in which humans continue emitting carbon dioxide at the current rate, under a scenario known as "business as usual," which the IPCC projects will result in an atmospheric carbon dioxide accumulation of 900 ppm by the end of the century. (Parts per million is an indicator of the concentration of a chemical in, for example, air. So in this case, 440 ppm means that there are 440 molecules of carbon dioxide in every million molecules of air.)
Under the 550-ppm scenario, the team estimated that 1.4 billion people would face considerable local oceanic change by 2100. Of those people, 690 million will live in countries with medium to high ocean dependence — a metric the researchers developed of the extent to which a society's jobs, revenue and food depend on the ocean.
Under a business-as-usual scenario, 2 billion people will face considerable oceanic change by 2100, with 1.12 billion of them living in countries with medium to high dependence on the ocean. Of those 2 billion people, 870 million will live in low-income countries with few resources to adapt to the projected changes.
The team notes that these estimates are rough, and that the specific ways in which ecosystems and communities adjust to change will remain largely unknown until the changes unfold.
Mora likens this uncertainty to the uncertainty of falling off of a ladder: Some sort of injury is inevitable, but the exact body part or degree of injury remains unpredictable until a person hits the ground.
"Systems are very complex," Mora said. "You can't tell what species are going to go extinct, or the response of a specific species, but you can expect these changes to be quite massive."
The researchers hope to continue synthesizing new data as it becomes available, in order to continue honing the precision of their predictions.
The new findings are detailed today (Oct. 15) in the journal PLOS Biology.
Follow Laura Poppick on Twitter. Follow LiveScience on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Original article on LiveScience.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
MOSCOW -- The Russian production company Luxema Film has signed a deal with Singapore’s Shortman Films to co-produce two features, including a new project from Hong Kong director Tsui Hark.
The shooting of the comedy Russian Bride and the 3D horror The Villa, from Hark, is scheduled for next year.
“We have always been looking for co-production projects,” Mikhail Stenin, general director of Luxema Film, told The Hollywood Reporter. “We are looking to diversify our markets.”
According to Stenin, each of the films will have a budget of about $3 million, but for The Villa, it could go up. The Russian and Singaporean companies are to invest equally in both projects.
The filming of Russian Bride, directed by Singapore’s Nazrin Khairunan, is scheduled to begin next February and the release is tentatively scheduled for fall 2014. The movie is expected to be released in Russia, Singapore and other Asian markets.
The Villa, directed by Hark, is to start filming next summer in China, and the movie is aimed primarily for the Chinese market.
As of Monday, after 16 days on release, Hark's latest film, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, had grossed $88.7 million in China, making it the ninth highest grossing Chinese film of all time.
Stenin said that both films are to feature American television stars, and casting is currently in progress.
• Charlie Hunnam doing what he does best. [LaineyGossip]
• Keyshia Cole is 32, Ginuwine is 43, Emeril Lagasse is 54, Tito Jackson is 60, Penny Marshall is 70 and Linda Lavin (Alice) is 76 years old. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday
NEW YORK -- Neil Patrick Harris is already licking his lips at the prospect of returning to Broadway next spring.
The How I Met Your Mother star on Tuesday unveiled the poster art on his Twitter account for the upcoming production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the cult musical in which he will play the title role of an East German transgender rocker searching for love and completeness in America.
The image shows Harris in lascivious glam-rock mode, looking like he just stepped out of Velvet Goldmine, with green glitter eye makeup and iridescent lime lips.
Written by John Cameron Mitchell, with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, the 1997 musical was a long-running Off Broadway hit. Mitchell originated the title role on stage, and later directed and starred in the 2001 New Line movie adaptation.
Directed by Michael Mayer, the Broadway production will begin previews March 29 at the Belasco Theatre, with an official opening set for April 22.
Mayer won a Tony Award for best direction of a musical in 2007 for Spring Awakening. His other Broadway credits include the Green Day musical American Idiot, Thoroughly Modern Millie and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.
Harris' last appearance in a Broadway show was in the Tony-winning 2004 revival of Stephen Sondheim and JohnWeidman's musical Assassins. Prior to that, he was seen as the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret and in the David Auburn play Proof.
He has served four times as host of the Tony Awards, Broadway's top honors, winning three Emmys for Outstanding Special Class Program.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Fitch credit rating agency has warned that it is reviewing the U.S. government's AAA credit rating for a possible downgrade, citing Thursday's looming deadline to increase the nation's borrowing limit.
Fitch has placed the U.S. credit rating on negative watch, a step that would precede an actual downgrade. The agency said it expects to conclude its review within the next six months.
Fitch says it expects the debt limit will be raised soon, but adds, "the political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default."
Fitch is one of the three leading U.S. credit ratings agencies, along with Standard & Poor's and Moody's. S&P downgraded U.S. long-term debt to "AA" in August 2011.
Microsoft's forthcoming update to its Windows Phone 8 operating system will support larger screen sizes, an indication the company wants to jump on the phablet bandwagon. It's "a good and correct move," said ABI Research's Michael Morgan. "Phablets are higher price-point items, and Microsoft won't have to worry about finding the low end, which it can't play at."
Microsoft on Monday announced its third update to Windows Phone 8.
It will support bigger, higher-resolution screens, paving the way for WinPho 8 devices with 5- and 6-inch 1080p HD touchscreens that will have six Live Tiles across instead of four.
There will also be a host of new features.
Simultaneously, Microsoft has launched the Windows Phone Preview for developers.
"Support for larger-screen phones closes a gap in the range of devices running Microsoft platforms," Rob Sanfilippo, a research vice president at Directions on Microsoft, told TechNewsWorld.
What the WinPho8 Update Adds
The Windows Phone 8 GDR 3 update will offer a bigger Start screen.
Built-in apps and Hubs for email, photos and people, as well as music and videos will be scaled up to leverage the larger screen.
WinPho 8 GDR 3 will support the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, following in the footsteps of Samsung and LG, which are using it in their latest flagship Android smartphones.
Microsoft has added Driving Mode, which will silence the phone and send out automatic responses to messages to reduce distraction when a user is driving. This comes two years after T-Mobile launched its Drive Smart app on Android smartphones.
Other new features include screen rotation lock, better storage management, WiFi access out of the box, and improved connections for Bluetooth accessories.
Reaching Out to Devs
Windows Phone Preview for Developers, launched Monday, will give devs early access to WinPho updates so they can verify their apps work with them.
Participants have to own developer-unlocked smartphones, be registered Windows Phone Store developers, or be registered Windows Phone App Studio developers.
Microsoft "certainly continues to pursue developers to create and publish Windows Phone apps," Sanfilippo said. The program "will get developers early access to the OS update, which will help them ensure existing apps work with the update and create new apps that take advantage of the latest features."
Users' Reception for GDR3
Reactions to Microsoft's blog post about WinPho8 GDR3 were mixed.
Although the release garnered some praise, one commenter signed in as "jhp2025" claimed to have bought a pair of Windows Phones and given them away, saying Android offered more freedom.
A number of questions were raised: when VPN support would be included; why WiFi WPS was not included; whether the Facebook-chat bug would be fixed in GDR3. The lack of Xbox movies drew complaints.
Commenter "slaythoven" pointed out that Windows Phone 7 Build 7003 had orientation lock, which is in WinPho 8 GDR3, and asked why Microsoft had removed it.
Nixing the Negativity
Microsoft announced a Windows Phone Enterprise pack earlier this year that is expected to be available in early 2014 and is supposed to enable VPN support, Directions on Microsoft's Sanfilippo said.
"Windows 8.1 offers new VPN features, so it's clear that Microsoft has been giving attention to VPNs to ensure its products work well for users that need to connect to work environments," he added.
Microsoft probably delayed moving to the Snapdragon 800 because "end customers are mostly unaware of the processors in their devices so it's not a big marketing payoff," explained Sanfilippo.
The View From 28,000 Feet
Microsoft's making GDR3 workable on larger screens is "a good and correct move," Michael Morgan, senior analyst at ABI Research, told TechNewsWorld.
"This might be more of a push for Nokia than it is for Microsoft," he speculated. "I hear Nokia is working on a phablet."
The phablet market is "continuing to grow at a very strong rate," Morgan said. "Phablets are higher price-point items, and Microsoft won't have to worry about finding the low end, which it can't play at."
NBCUniversal is reorganizing its ad sales division around content areas -- entertainment, live programming, lifestyle and digital video -- the company said Tuesday. The new structure also will unite the sales and marketing teams under a client solutions group.
The move comes on the heels of NBCUniversal's first upfront selling season with broadcast, cable and digital properties united under one umbrella that was spearheaded by NBCUni ad sales president Linda Yaccarino, the former Turner ad sales exec tapped by NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke to integrate the company's sales efforts. The new structure is designed to further address the changing needs of media buyers in a multiplatform, on-demand content universe.
“In an effort to maximize the power and potential of our portfolio, now we are putting in place the strategic leaders who will continue to position us for growth and provide opportunities for our customers like no other media company can,” Yaccarino said in a statement. “In a world of growing fragmentation and as scale has become more and more elusive, we’ve clustered our networks to capitalize on the strength of our assets. Also, I’m excited to expand our creative marketing offerings by developing a new center of marketing excellence and innovation for our clients.”
The reorganization means that several executive vps in the ad sales unit will be taking on expanded roles, while they will continue to report to Yaccarino. Dan Lovinger will oversee the ad sales entertainment group with oversight of the combined advertising sales for NBC, USA, Syfy and WWE. Seth Winter will oversee live programming ad sales, which includes news and sports. Laura Molen will oversee the ad sales lifestyle group, leading sales for Bravo, Oxygen, E!, Esquire, Cloo and Chiller. Scott Schiller will expand his role to include digital ad sales with oversight of the NBC News Group’s digital ad sales on an interim basis as well as digital entertainment ad sales. And Alison Tarrant will head up the client solutions group.
Yaccarino and her sales team touted the one-stop-shopping advantage during at NBCUniversal – which includes 17 cable networks and more than 50 digital properties including Fandango and DailyCandy – at the upfront selling bonanza last spring. The bundled approach meant that NBC did not finish writing most of its upfront deals until the end of July; networks typically conclude dealmaking by the July 4 weekend. But the broadcast network secured $2.1 billion in upfront commitments on a little more than 80 percent of its fall inventory, a 20 percent year-over-year increase with CPM (cost per thousand viewers) increases in the 7 to 8 percent range. NBC is the No. 1 network for the first three weeks of the new season among adults 18-49, the demographic most sought by advertisers. That performance is once again due in no small part to the strength of The Voice and Sunday Night Football, while the network's new series have been a mixed bag.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The African Union will not allow a sitting head of state to be prosecuted by an international tribunal, the chairman of the continental body said Saturday, in a clear reference to the trial that is about to begin at the International Criminal Court against Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is accused of crimes against humanity.
The decision was unanimous, said Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn at the close of a one-day heads of state summit, attended by Kenyatta and Sudan President Omar al-Bashir— who is wanted by The Hague-based war crimes tribunal.
"We have agreed no charge shall be commenced, or continued, before any international court or tribunal against any serving head of state or government or anybody acting or entitled to act in such a capacity ... during his or her term in office," he said.
African countries accuse the ICC of disproportionately targeting African leaders. The international court has indicted only Africans so far though half of the eight cases the court is prosecuting were referred to the court by African governments.
Hailemariam said African leaders decided to set up a contact group of the executive council composed of five members including Kenya to consult with the United Nations Security Council, in particular its five permanent members and raise concerns of the AU in its relationship with the ICC, Hailemariam said.
The contact group will ask for Kenyatta's case to be deferred before his trial begins on November 12, saidTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the chairman of the Executive Council of the African Union and Ethiopia's foreign minister.
A deferral according to laws governing ICC is a one year postponement, he said. The Security Council is the only body which can request the court to defer the case for one year, Tedros said.
If a deferral is not granted then they will ask for a postponement of Kenyatta's trial and if that is not granted then African leaders have decided that Kenyatta should not appear before the court until their request is granted, he said.
Kenyatta faces crimes against humanity charges for Kenya's 2007-08 postelection violence in which more than 1,000 people died.
Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto and broadcaster Joshua Sang also have been charged with crimes against humanity. Their trials, which began last month, continued Friday.
Kenya's parliament last month voted to withdraw from the ICC. Kenya requested the convening of the special African Union summit.
Before the summit political insiders in Kenya's government said that African countries may decide to sever ties with the ICC in solidarity with Kenya.
Kenya Foreign Minister Amina Mohammed denied that Africa is trying cut ties with the ICC but said that the continent, whose countries make a large percentage of members of the ICC, wants its concerns heard.
If Kenyatta decides not to attend his trial, Kenya could become politically isolated and be sanctioned. But in the wake of the Sept. 21 mall attack in Kenya by Somali terrorists in which more than 60 people died in the upscale mall, international repercussions may be lighter because of Kenya's importance to the West as a counterterrorism partner.
New imaging technique can identify breast cancer subtypes and early treatment response
Public release date: 15-Oct-2013 [
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Contact: Jeremy Moore jeremy.moore@aacr.org 215-446-7109 American Association for Cancer Research
PHILADELPHIA An optical imaging technique that measures metabolic activity in cancer cells can accurately differentiate breast cancer subtypes, and it can detect responses to treatment as early as two days after therapy administration, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"The process of targeted drug development requires assays that measure drug target engagement and predict the response (or lack thereof) to treatment," said Alex Walsh, a graduate student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. "We have shown that optical metabolic imaging (OMI) enables fast, sensitive, and accurate measurement of drug action. Importantly, OMI measurements can be made repeatedly over time in a live animal, which significantly reduces the cost of these preclinical studies."
Human cells undergo extensive chemical reactions called metabolic activity to produce energy, and this activity is altered in cancer cells. When cancer cells are treated with anticancer drugs, their metabolic activity changes. OMI takes advantage of the fact that two molecules involved in cellular metabolism, called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), naturally emit fluorescence when exposed to certain forms of light. In this way, OMI generates distinct signatures for cancer cells with a different metabolism and their responses to drugs.
Walsh and colleagues used a custom-built, multiphoton microscope and coupled it with a titanium-sapphire laser that causes NADH and FAD to emit fluorescence. They used specific filters to isolate the fluorescence emitted by these two molecules, and measured the ratio of the two as "redox ratio."
When they placed normal and cancerous breast cells under the microscope, OMI generated distinct signals for the two types of cells. OMI could also differentiate between estrogen receptor-positive, estrogen receptor-negative, HER2-positive, and HER2-negative breast cancer cells.
Next, the researchers tested the effect of the anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab on three breast cancer cell lines that respond differently to the antibody. They found that the redox ratios were significantly reduced in drug-sensitive cells after trastuzumab treatment but unaffected in the resistant cells.
They then grew human breast tumors in mice and treated some of these with trastuzumab. When they imaged tumors in live mice, OMI showed a difference in response between trastuzumab-sensitive and -resistant tumors as early as two days after the first dose of the antibody. In comparison, FDG-PET imaging, the standard clinical metabolic imaging technique, could not measure any difference in response between trastuzumab-sensitive and -resistant tumors at any time point in the experiment, which lasted 12 days.
"Cancer drugs have profound effects on cellular energy production, and this can be harnessed by OMI to identify responding cells from nonresponding cells," said Walsh. "We are hoping to develop a high-throughput screening method to predict the optimal drug treatment for a particular patient."
Importantly, OMI can be used on tissues freshly excised from patients but, with further development, it could be incorporated in endoscopes for live imaging of human cancers, according to the investigators.
###
This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Follow the AACR on Twitter: @AACR
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org
About the American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 34,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients, and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight of team science and individual grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit http://www.AACR.org.
To interview Alex Walsh, contact Dagny McMillin at 615-936-7245 or dagny.stuart@vanderbilt.edu. For other inquiries, contact Jeremy Moore at jeremy.moore@aacr.org or 215-446-7109.
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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.
New imaging technique can identify breast cancer subtypes and early treatment response
Public release date: 15-Oct-2013 [
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Jeremy Moore jeremy.moore@aacr.org 215-446-7109 American Association for Cancer Research
PHILADELPHIA An optical imaging technique that measures metabolic activity in cancer cells can accurately differentiate breast cancer subtypes, and it can detect responses to treatment as early as two days after therapy administration, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"The process of targeted drug development requires assays that measure drug target engagement and predict the response (or lack thereof) to treatment," said Alex Walsh, a graduate student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. "We have shown that optical metabolic imaging (OMI) enables fast, sensitive, and accurate measurement of drug action. Importantly, OMI measurements can be made repeatedly over time in a live animal, which significantly reduces the cost of these preclinical studies."
Human cells undergo extensive chemical reactions called metabolic activity to produce energy, and this activity is altered in cancer cells. When cancer cells are treated with anticancer drugs, their metabolic activity changes. OMI takes advantage of the fact that two molecules involved in cellular metabolism, called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), naturally emit fluorescence when exposed to certain forms of light. In this way, OMI generates distinct signatures for cancer cells with a different metabolism and their responses to drugs.
Walsh and colleagues used a custom-built, multiphoton microscope and coupled it with a titanium-sapphire laser that causes NADH and FAD to emit fluorescence. They used specific filters to isolate the fluorescence emitted by these two molecules, and measured the ratio of the two as "redox ratio."
When they placed normal and cancerous breast cells under the microscope, OMI generated distinct signals for the two types of cells. OMI could also differentiate between estrogen receptor-positive, estrogen receptor-negative, HER2-positive, and HER2-negative breast cancer cells.
Next, the researchers tested the effect of the anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab on three breast cancer cell lines that respond differently to the antibody. They found that the redox ratios were significantly reduced in drug-sensitive cells after trastuzumab treatment but unaffected in the resistant cells.
They then grew human breast tumors in mice and treated some of these with trastuzumab. When they imaged tumors in live mice, OMI showed a difference in response between trastuzumab-sensitive and -resistant tumors as early as two days after the first dose of the antibody. In comparison, FDG-PET imaging, the standard clinical metabolic imaging technique, could not measure any difference in response between trastuzumab-sensitive and -resistant tumors at any time point in the experiment, which lasted 12 days.
"Cancer drugs have profound effects on cellular energy production, and this can be harnessed by OMI to identify responding cells from nonresponding cells," said Walsh. "We are hoping to develop a high-throughput screening method to predict the optimal drug treatment for a particular patient."
Importantly, OMI can be used on tissues freshly excised from patients but, with further development, it could be incorporated in endoscopes for live imaging of human cancers, according to the investigators.
###
This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Follow the AACR on Twitter: @AACR
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org
About the American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 34,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients, and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight of team science and individual grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit http://www.AACR.org.
To interview Alex Walsh, contact Dagny McMillin at 615-936-7245 or dagny.stuart@vanderbilt.edu. For other inquiries, contact Jeremy Moore at jeremy.moore@aacr.org or 215-446-7109.
[
| 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.
It's been just over a year since the nail-biter of a day when Felix Baumgartner jumped out of a shimmering weather balloon 127,852 feet in the air and reached a top speed of Mach 1.25. And now you can watch it from his point of view—and several others. Fair warning: it's still nerve-wracking. It feels like he's going to miss Earth. [Red Bull Stratos]
BARUERI, Brazil -- Fabio Maldonado won two consecutive fights in the UFC for the first time after his split decision victory over Joey Beltran at UFC Fight Night 29, and he believes that is enough for him to face a higher-ranked opponent next.
"I would like to fight Chael Sonnen, who I’m a big fan of, or James Te Huna, who is a great striker," Maldonado told the media on Wednesday. "Many people think that Chael Sonnen is a bad match-up for me, that he would take me down, but I believe I could beat him. I believe I can beat him. And against Te Huna, I’m a better striker and I can do well against him."
Maldonado is 3-3 in the UFC, but he said his UFC record should be 5-1 since he disagrees with the judges in his decision losses to Kyle Kingsbury and Igor Pokrajac.
"I’m far from being a champion, far from the title shot, but I’m getting better," he said. "I could have done better today. (Beltran) was happy just to get beaten. He wasn’t fighting, and he thinks he won? Are you crazy? You did nothing, man. It was not a beat down, but you didn’t win it. Do you think you’re going to knock me out by kneeing my thigh?"
"MMA is a mix of styles, but you can’t score points if you’re holding your opponents close to the fence," he continued. "It’s a mistake from the judges. My only loss in the UFC was to Glover Teixeira. I didn’t lose the other fights. I know I still have a lot to improve, but Glover was the only one who defeated me in the UFC."
After a 15-minute brawl with Beltran, Maldonado revealed he hid a knee injury to fight in Barueri, Sao Paulo.
"I tried to hide it. I even used makeup to hide an injury in my right knee," he said. "My team wanted me to pull off the card, but I wanted to fight here."
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LONDON (AP) ? The rally in global stock markets fizzled out on Friday, two days after the U.S. Federal Reserve buoyed sentiment by keeping its monetary stimulus program in place.
The Fed this week unexpectedly decided to keep its asset purchase program on hold. The program was instituted during the 2008 financial crisis to increase the flow of money available for loans to push down interest rates and spur growth.
The lower interest rates have proved a boon for stock markets, so the move buoyed sentiment.
But investors are wondering whether the Fed's move was just a small delay. St. Louis Fed president James Bullard told Bloomberg that it's possible the Fed will reduce its bond-buying at its next meeting in October, depending on what economic data show. That nudged markets lower.
Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.4 percent to close at 6,596.43 while Germany's DAX edged down 0.2 percent to 8,675.73. France's CAC-40 ended almost 0.1 percent lower at 4,203.66.
On Wall Street, with Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.3 percent at 15,583.32 while the S&P 500 was down the same rate to 1,717.35.
Trading throughout Asia was muted, largely due to public holidays. Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia were closed.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index gave up early gains to close 0.2 percent lower at 14,742.42. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4 percent to 5,276.70. Benchmarks in Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore fell. India's benchmark Sensex dropped 2.2 percent to 20,203.96 after the country's central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates in a bid to lower inflation.
Besides keeping an eye on the Fed, investors will also likely focus on political fighting between the White House and Congress over the approaching debt ceiling. It must be raised by Oct. 1 to avoid a government shutdown. Failure to do so could lead to the first-ever national default in U.S. history.
Market volatility will increase as the deadline approaches, said Evan Lucas of IG in Melbourne, Australia.
"This is the next key thing," Lucas said. "A lot of people are looking for a reason to sell."
Benchmark oil for October delivery was down $1.07 to $105.32 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.68 to close at $106.39 a barrel on Thursday.
In currencies, the euro was down 0.1 percent to $1.3520, while the dollar was flat at 99.43 yen.
Connect To Learn is a similar collaboration that leverages the power of ICT to bring quality education to students everywhere.
Internet access was officially declared a right by the UN in 2011, eight years after the World Summit Information Society first met in 2003. Among their goals was to address the global digital divide; to "improve access to information and communication infrastructure and technologies as well as to information and knowledge; build capacity; increase confidence and security in the use of ICTs; create an enabling environment at all levels; develop and widen ICT applications." Despite this, a decade later, 68% of the world does not have access to internet.
Corruption as an Impediment to Internet Access
Almost all of Africa's 54 economies are characterized by mismanagement of funds. It's no secret that even in resource-rich countries like Nigeria, Mozambique, Kenya, and Uganda, while the government rakes in billions of dollars, many are still living in abject poverty. Governments fail to fulfill their obligations to the people. Healthcare, education, adequate shelter, and food are out of reach for many of Africa's populace.
The institutionalized corruption that impedes technologization covertly impedes the right to internet access and freedom of expression, allowing the government to use rhetoric that promotes human rights while simultaneously blocking them.
At the other end of the spectrum, overt internet censorship, such as website and blog censorship in Ethiopia and Uganda's threatening to block social media sites over protesting high fuel and food prices are justified by vague claims about state security, or the stand-by "It's not African" excuse that is often heard when change threatens existing power structures.
In an interview, Paul Kimumwe of Article 19, an NGO focused on freedom of expression, said that internet access is hindered by fears of state leaders: "Many governments in Africa feel threatened that people will have access to information; they will able to be informed and put governments under pressure to be to be more democratic. Our governments don't want to be held accountable. Their main point is to make sure that info does not flow from one person to another."
Is Internet a Human Right?
While it may seem frivolous to consider the right to internet access a necessity given all of the other problems facing Africa, Jovan Kurbalija argues that "human rights activists view Internet governance from the perspective of freedom of expression, privacy, and other basic human rights."
The argument that Africa should focus on more "important" issues is problematic for a few reasons. Firstly, changes happen concurrently, which is why states have different ministries devoted to transportation, roads and highways, sanitation, women and children's affairs, health, and education.
Secondly, although there are disproportionate levels of poverty throughout the continent, Africa is not solely characterized by poverty. The working class, the middle class, and the elite are all parts of society, and it's unrealistic to ask that everyone wait until hospitals are built in every corner of their respective countries before being able to access internet that comes at a reasonable cost and functions at a reasonable speed.
Thirdly, internet access itself is an educational tool that can enhance development- children who learn how to use internet at school, for example, have many more opportunities than those who don't. On a continent where teachers are often on strike, internet access would be an advantage to students in need of information.
Political Expression
Regardless of disagreements on whether or not internet access should be considered a human right, it can be used to realize people's civil and political rights. The Arab Spring was sparked by internet activism.
This year, Malaysia's election saw civil society bypass traditional media, which is owned by the state, to use social media to gain support for the opposition. Despite the election's disappointing outcome, for the first time in over 50 years, there was a viable opposition to Malaysia's Barisan Nasional party.
According to Kurbalija, "A basic set of Internet-related human rights includes privacy; freedom of expression; the right to receive information; various rights protecting cultural, linguistic and minority diversity; and the right to education." Not only is internet access a right in and of itself, it helps promote freedom of expression and information.
Despite all the impediments, internet activism has begun to take root in Africa. Women's groups, LGBT activists, and whistleblowers have used the internet to communicate with others, both activists and non-activists alike worldwide.
Freedom of expression, the right to life, and liberty are not "Western" rights, they are human rights. The work of African civil society, such as Ugandan LGBT organization Smug, women's groups that campaign against FGM, and those who work to put a stop to human trafficking are all indicative of a growing grassroots respect for human rights throughout the continent.
Those who stand in the way of internet access impede the realization of a continent where democracy, education, and freedom of expression are valued.
While the future of internet access is unforeseen, Kimumwe is hopeful that the within the next 20 years, internet access and the rights that come with it will be achieved: "Many governments that are feeling threatened right now are not expected to be around in the next 20 years. Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, are all experiencing new dynamics. When there is change, there are some benefits that trickle through, so we are hoping for that."
Doreen Akiyo Yomoah is a freelance writer and blogger.
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