Gene therapy may aid failing hearts

Mar. 25, 2013 ? In an animal study, researchers at the University of Washington show that it was possible to use gene therapy to boost heart muscle function. The finding suggests that it might be possible to use this approach to treat patients whose hearts have been weakened by heart attacks and other heart conditions.

Led by University of Washington (UW) Professor and Vice Chair of Bioengineering Michael Regnier and Dr. Chuck Murry, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Biology and co-director of the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at UW, the study appears online today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Normally, muscle contraction is powered by a molecule, the nucleotide called Adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP). Other naturally occurring nucleotides can also power muscle contraction, but, in most cases, they have proven to be less effective than ATP.

In an earlier study of isolated muscle, however, Regnier, Murry and colleagues had found that one naturally occurring molecule, called 2 deoxy-ATP (dATP), was actually more effective than ATP in powering muscle contraction, increasing both the speed and force of the contraction, at least over the short-term.

In the new PNAS study, the researchers wanted to see whether this effect could be sustained. To do this, they used genetic engineering to create a strain of mice whose cells produced higher-than-normal levels of an enzyme called Ribonucleotide Reductase, which converts the precursor of ATP, adenosine-5'-diphosphate or ADP, to dADP, which, in turn, is rapidly converted to dATP.

"This fundamental discovery, that dATP can act as a 'super-fuel' for the contractile machinery of the heart, or myofilaments, opens up the possibility to treat a variety of heart failure conditions," Regnier said. "An exciting aspect of this study and our ongoing work is that a relatively small increase in dATP in the heart cells has a big effect on heart performance."

The researchers found that increased production of the enzyme Ribonucleotide Reductase increased the concentration of dATP within heart cells approximately tenfold, and even though this level was still less than one to two percent of the cell's total pool of ATP, the increase led to a sustained improvement in heart muscle function, with the genetically engineered hearts contracting more quickly and with greater force.

"It looks as though we may have stumbled on an important pathway that nature uses to regulate heart contractility," Murry added. "The same pathway that heart cells use to make the building blocks for DNA during embryonic growth makes dATP to supercharge contraction when the adult heart is mechanically stressed."

Importantly, the elevated dATP effect was achieved without imposing additional metabolic demands on the cells, suggesting the modification would not harm the cell's functioning over the long-term.

The finding, the authors write, suggest that treatments that elevate dATP levels in heart cells may prove to be an effective treatment for heart failure.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Washington - Health Sciences, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Sarah G. Nowakowski, Stephen C. Kolwicz, Frederick Steven Korte, Zhaoxiong Luo, Jacqueline N. Robinson-Hamm, Jennifer L. Page, Frank Brozovich, Robert S. Weiss, Rong Tian, Charles E. Murry, and Michael Regnier. Transgenic overexpression of ribonucleotide reductase improves cardiac performance. PNAS, March 25, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1220693110

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/F2dumpqeqr0/130326101618.htm

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NZ's Telecom to slash over 1,000 jobs, more cuts to come

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Telecom Corp said it will slash around 16 percent of its workforce to reduce costs by up to NZ$110 million ($92 million), the country's biggest telecommunications group said on Thursday, warning of more to come as it restructures its ailing businesses.

Telecom said it expected to cut full-time employees to 6,300 to 6,600 by mid-year, from 7,530 at the end of 2012, as the firm struggles to compete in the broadband market.

"This is an important step to build a leaner, more agile organization with a competitive cost structure, setting us up to win in the market," Telecom Chief Executive Simon Moutter said in a statement.

The restructuring, which also includes the Australian operations of its Gen-i unit, would incur a one-off cost of NZ$70 million to NZ$80 million in the current fiscal year.

Telecom said this initial exercise would cut its payroll costs by NZ$90 million to NZ$110 million on an annualized basis, pointing to more redundancy in the pipeline.

The phone operator said it is working through the remainder of its strategic change process, with further job cuts and other one-off costs expected.

"Telecom will provide a second update once decisions are taken," the company said.

The move was expected, as Telecom competes in the broadband market with Vodafone, which bought TelstraClear's operations last year.

Telecom shares were up 0.2 percent at NZ$2.325, compared with a 0.3 percent dip in the broader market.

It retained its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization guidance of NZ$1.04 billion-NZ$1.06 billion for the year, excluding the restructuring costs.

(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nzs-telecom-slash-around-1-000-jobs-cut-205958514--finance.html

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Osborne defends austerity, says on right track

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/osborne-defends-austerity-says-track-151139751--business.html

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UN to Temporarily Relocate Some Staff from Syria (Voice Of America)

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Reminder+ Review ? 148Apps ? iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch App ...

Sturdy and dependable, Reminder+ might not be the most exciting or thrilling of apps but it does its required task well.

What Reminder+ lacks in exciting revolutionary behavior, it more than makes up with through sheer practicality.

As the name would suggest, it?s a simple reminder/To Do list app. Users simply tap on a + sign to add either a Place based reminder, an Alarm or Timer. It?s similar functionality to what?s already available but through an attractive interface, Reminder+ is still handy.

For instance, it only takes seconds to easily edit an entry. While adding an alarm or timer is similar to the Stock App, it?s much faster to edit things such as by adding a note or adjusting the time or repeat delay. Repeated alarms can be easily set according to hour, day or even month, all through a quick swipe and tap.

Of course, the really useful feature from Reminder+ is its Location Aware alerts. Users can set up various reminders that will activate once they get to a certain destination. I used it to remind myself to pick up some cinema tickets that I keep forgetting to collect and it worked fine. Similarly, it can be used to remember crucial items or shopping or to check in on work matters once reaching the office. It?s possible to set predefined names with the location, such as Home, Work, School and the Gym, as well as simply do it on a case by case basis. Further options come from the ability to set repeated reminders as well as either remind the user when they arrive or leave a destination.

Admittedly, Reminder+ doesn?t offer anything hugely distinctive. Everything that?s here has been done elsewhere, but it is done in an appealing and attractive fashion. Given that everyone?s work patterns are different, there?s room for different styles of doing things. For those who have yet to settle on their ideal reminder app, this is a worthwhile one to check out.

Posted in: iPhone Apps and Games, Reviews, Utilities

Tagged with: $1.99, Attorno A Me, location aware, Productivity, reminder, reminders, to do, Utilities

Review disclosure: note that the product reviewed on this page may have been provided to us by the developer for the purposes of this review. Note that if the developer provides the product or not, this does not impact the review or score.

Source: http://www.148apps.com/reviews/reminder-review/

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How Clouds Work: The Most Complicated Problem in Climate Change

Predicting how Earth's climate will change in the coming years is a deeply important task for science. It also seems fairly fundamental—they're just clouds! Thing is, cloud dynamics are incredibly problematic, to the point of being unknowable in some instances. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/DLbWfOBLG0I/how-clouds-work-is-the-most-complicated-problem-in-climate-change

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Officials: US training Syrians forces in Jordan

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The United States is training secular Syrian fighters in Jordan in a bid to bolster forces battling President Bashar Assad's regime and stem the influence of Islamist radicals among the country's persistently splintered opposition, American and foreign officials said.

The training has been conducted for several months now in an unspecified location, concentrating largely on Sunnis and tribal Bedouins who formerly served as members of the Syrian army, officials told The Associated Press. The forces aren't members of the leading rebel group, the Free Syrian Army, which Washington and others fear may be increasingly coming under the sway of extremist militia groups, including some linked to al-Qaida, they said.

The operation is being run by U.S. intelligence and is ongoing, officials said, but those in Washington stressed that the U.S. is providing only nonlethal aid at this point. Others such as Britain and France are involved, they said, though it's unclear whether any Western governments are providing materiel or other direct military support after two years of civil war that according to the United Nations already has killed more than 70,000 people.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the program.

Officially, the Obama administration has been vague on the subject of what type of military training it may be providing, while insisting that it is doing all it can ? short of providing weapons to the rebels or engaging in its own military intervention ? to hasten the demise of the Assad family's four-decade dictatorship.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday the U.S. has "provided some logistical nonlethal support that has also come in handy for the Syrian rebels who are, again, fighting a regime that is not hesitating to use the military might of that regime against its own people.

"That is something we're going to continue to work to bring to an end," he told reporters.

It's unclear what effect the training has had in the conflict, which has become a quagmire with Assad's regime unable to snuff out the rebellion and Syria's opposition incapable thus far of delivering any serious blow to the ruling government's grip on Damascus and control over much of the country.

Some of the Syrians the U.S. is involved with are in turn training other Syrians inside the border, officials said.

They declined to provide more information because they said that would go too deep into intelligence matters. Defense Department officials insisted the Pentagon isn't involved with any military training or arms provisions to the Syrian rebels, either directly or indirectly. The CIA declined to comment.

The New York Times reported Monday that the CIA helped Arab governments and Turkey sharply increase their military aid to Syria's opposition in recent months, with secret airlifts or arms and equipment. It cited traffic data, officials in several countries and rebel commanders, and said the airlift began on a small scale a year ago but has expanded steadily to more than 160 military cargo flights by Jordanian, Saudi and Qatari planes landing in Turkish and Jordanian airports.

The training in Jordan, however, suggests the U.S. help is aimed somewhat at enhancing the rebels' capacity in southern Syria, the birthplace of the revolution two years ago when teenagers in the sleepy agricultural outpost of Dara'a scribbled graffiti on a wall and were tossed into jail, spurring Syria's own version of an Arab Spring uprising. Much of the violence since, however, has been in the northern of the country where rebels have scored several military successes after the Assad regime cracked down brutally on peaceful protesters.

Despite months of U.S. and international support to build a cohesive political movement, however, Syria's fractured opposition is still struggling to rally Syrians behind a common post-Assad vision. And the opposition coalition appears as much hampered by its political infighting as its military deficiencies against an Assad regime arsenal of tanks, fighter jets and scud missiles.

The coalition's president, Mouaz al-Khatib, resigned his position on Sunday because of what he described as restrictions on his work and frustration with the level of international aid. He said Monday he would still represent the opposition this week in Doha, where the Gulf state of Qatar will host a two-day Arab League summit starting Tuesday.

Al-Khatib's resignation comes only days after the opposition chose Ghassan Hitto, a long-time Texas resident, to head its interim government after intense wrangling over posts and influence that U.S. officials say has strained the opposition's unity and caused friction among its primary benefactors Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

It's also unclear how al-Khatib's departure will affect the U.S. goal of political negotiations with amenable members of the Assad regime to end the civil war, given the moderate preacher's support for talks. Much of the Syrian opposition rejects such talks.

"He's been a courageous leader," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said of al-Khatib.

"But the bottom line is what we're looking for is unity," Ventrell said. "We continue to support the coalition's vision for a tolerant, inclusive Syria. We want them to continue to work together to implement that vision."

Secretary of State John Kerry travels to Paris on Wednesday to meet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius for talks expected to focus on arming Syrian rebels. The discussions also are expected to touch on the suspected use of chemical weapons in Syria, according to French officials.

U.S. officials say there are strong indications that chemical weapons weren't used in an attack last week in northern Aleppo, over which the regime and the rebels have issued counterclaims.

Washington has said it will support a U.N. investigation.

___

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Lara Jakes in Washington and Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/officials-us-training-syrians-forces-jordan-195149585--politics.html

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