New agent improves kidney transplant survival in mice, likely to speed replacement of other organs

Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
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Contact: Cody Mooneyhan
cmooneyhan@faseb.org
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Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

New research in the FASEB Journal describes a novel antibody that blocks inflammation that leads to transplant rejection: 'Toll-like' receptors are its target

New research published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) details a new antibody, called "OPN-305" that may significantly improve survival outcomes for those receiving donated kidneys and other organs. OPN-305 works by preventing inflammation triggered by oxygen deprivation in the donated organ, allowing for better recovery after transplantation. Specifically, it binds to sensors on transplant tissue, called "toll-like receptors" or "TLR-2," in the circulating blood and turns off signals that provoke inflammation. In addition, the compound is likely to extend the life of a donated organ after it has been transplanted.

"Although the work was carried out with kidney transplants, it is likely that other types of transplants could benefit. Other common types of organ transplants, needed for liver or heart or lung disease, are also vulnerable to damage induced by the transplant procedure, especially where there has been a long period of cold storage without a normal blood supply," said Steven H. Sacks, study author from the MRC Centre for Transplantation at King's College School of Medicine in London. "For other medical conditions such as stroke and heart attack, where the blood flow to vital organs is blocked, it is highly possible that this new treatment may also make recovery more complete."

Sacks and colleagues made this discovery using two groups of mice receiving kidney transplants. The first was treated with OPN-305 and the second was given an irrelevant agent. The group treated with the OPN-305 showed good recovery of function in the transplanted organ, whereas the control treatment had no effect and the animals developed severe organ damage. Researchers say a clinical trial design using a similar antibody for use in human patients is underway.

"This new antibody is exciting because it basically increases the 'shelf life' of organs that are critically needed for transplantation," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. "Since it is directed against molecules that regulate inflammation, OPN-305 is likely to extend the lifespan of any other transplanted organs. Although human trials have not yet begun, this work identifies TLR's as targets for drugs to reduce inflammation and organ rejection."

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Receive monthly highlights from the FASEB Journal by e-mail. Sign up at http://www.faseb.org/fjupdate.aspx. The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) is published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and is the most cited biology journal worldwide according to the Institute for Scientific Information. In 2010, the journal was recognized by the Special Libraries Association as one of the top 100 most influential biomedical journals of the past century. FASEB comprises 26 societies with more than 100,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. Celebrating 100 Years of Advancing the Life Sciences in 2012, FASEB is rededicating its efforts to advance health and well-being by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy.

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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: 31-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Cody Mooneyhan
cmooneyhan@faseb.org
301-634-7104
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

New research in the FASEB Journal describes a novel antibody that blocks inflammation that leads to transplant rejection: 'Toll-like' receptors are its target

New research published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) details a new antibody, called "OPN-305" that may significantly improve survival outcomes for those receiving donated kidneys and other organs. OPN-305 works by preventing inflammation triggered by oxygen deprivation in the donated organ, allowing for better recovery after transplantation. Specifically, it binds to sensors on transplant tissue, called "toll-like receptors" or "TLR-2," in the circulating blood and turns off signals that provoke inflammation. In addition, the compound is likely to extend the life of a donated organ after it has been transplanted.

"Although the work was carried out with kidney transplants, it is likely that other types of transplants could benefit. Other common types of organ transplants, needed for liver or heart or lung disease, are also vulnerable to damage induced by the transplant procedure, especially where there has been a long period of cold storage without a normal blood supply," said Steven H. Sacks, study author from the MRC Centre for Transplantation at King's College School of Medicine in London. "For other medical conditions such as stroke and heart attack, where the blood flow to vital organs is blocked, it is highly possible that this new treatment may also make recovery more complete."

Sacks and colleagues made this discovery using two groups of mice receiving kidney transplants. The first was treated with OPN-305 and the second was given an irrelevant agent. The group treated with the OPN-305 showed good recovery of function in the transplanted organ, whereas the control treatment had no effect and the animals developed severe organ damage. Researchers say a clinical trial design using a similar antibody for use in human patients is underway.

"This new antibody is exciting because it basically increases the 'shelf life' of organs that are critically needed for transplantation," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. "Since it is directed against molecules that regulate inflammation, OPN-305 is likely to extend the lifespan of any other transplanted organs. Although human trials have not yet begun, this work identifies TLR's as targets for drugs to reduce inflammation and organ rejection."

###

Receive monthly highlights from the FASEB Journal by e-mail. Sign up at http://www.faseb.org/fjupdate.aspx. The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) is published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and is the most cited biology journal worldwide according to the Institute for Scientific Information. In 2010, the journal was recognized by the Special Libraries Association as one of the top 100 most influential biomedical journals of the past century. FASEB comprises 26 societies with more than 100,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. Celebrating 100 Years of Advancing the Life Sciences in 2012, FASEB is rededicating its efforts to advance health and well-being by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy.

---

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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/2012-01/foas-nai013112.php

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Zynga Accused Of Ripping Off Another Competitor?s Game

Last week, the developers at NimbleBit (makers of iOS Game of the Year, Tiny Tower) accused Zynga of copying them with its new game, Dream Heights. Now, it's happening again. This time, the accusation comes from Buffalo Studios, which says that the gaming giant copied its flagship title Bingo Blitz with its launch of Zynga Bingo.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/SJZt675RiRQ/

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Egyptians move to reclaim streets through graffiti

In this Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 photo, Egyptian women walk past graffiti depicting a military tank on a wall under a bridge in Cairo, Egypt. In May, Mohamed Fahmy, known in the graffiti world as Gazneer, made one of Cairo's largest and longest surviving pieces of street art under a bridge used by taxi drivers to urinate. It was an image of a military tank pointed toward a boy on a bike who, rather than carrying a traditional bread delivery, was carrying the city on his head. It was a symbolic reference to youth who care for the nation and are heading toward a collision with Egypt's military rulers. On his blog, Ganzeer wrote: "Our only hope right now is to destroy the military council using the weapon of art." (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

In this Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 photo, Egyptian women walk past graffiti depicting a military tank on a wall under a bridge in Cairo, Egypt. In May, Mohamed Fahmy, known in the graffiti world as Gazneer, made one of Cairo's largest and longest surviving pieces of street art under a bridge used by taxi drivers to urinate. It was an image of a military tank pointed toward a boy on a bike who, rather than carrying a traditional bread delivery, was carrying the city on his head. It was a symbolic reference to youth who care for the nation and are heading toward a collision with Egypt's military rulers. On his blog, Ganzeer wrote: "Our only hope right now is to destroy the military council using the weapon of art." (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

In this Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 an Egyptian girl, left, posts an art piece made by Sad Panda, unseen, on a wall as flower vendors prepare a bouquet outside their shop in Cairo, Egypt. Taking control of the streets was critical for the thousands of Egyptians who eventually overthrew their authoritarian leader nearly one year ago, but the battle for freedom of expression continues to be fought by graffiti artists who support the country's military rulers and those who want them to relinquish power. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

In this Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 photo, a man walks past graffiti depicting the Egyptian military in Cairo, Egypt. Taking control of the streets was critical for the thousands of Egyptians who eventually overthrew their authoritarian leader nearly one year ago, but the battle for freedom of expression continues to be fought by graffiti artists who support the country's military rulers and those who want them to relinquish power. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

In this Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 photo, a man cleans a side walk as graffiti is shown on the wall with Arabic writing from top left to top right that reads, "the answer and the other answer, we will not forget these dates, the people will still revolt, raise the revolutionary flag, hit Tantawy, the revolution will bring justice, we are for Tahrir, " in Cairo, Egypt. Taking control of the streets was critical for the thousands of Egyptians who eventually overthrew their authoritarian leader nearly one year ago, but the battle for freedom of expression continues to be fought by graffiti artists who support the country's military rulers and those who want them to relinquish power. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

In this Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011 photo, two boys look through concrete blocks built by Egyptian military with Arabic writing that reads, "freedom," near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. Taking control of the streets was critical for the thousands of Egyptians who eventually overthrew their authoritarian leader nearly one year ago, but the battle for freedom of expression continues to be fought by graffiti artists who support the country's military rulers and those who want them to relinquish power. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

CAIRO (AP) ? The conflict between Egypt's ruling military and pro-democracy protesters isn't just on the streets of Cairo, it's on the walls as well, as graffiti artists from each side duel it out with spray paint and stencils.

Earlier this month, supporters of the ruling generals painted over part of the largest and most famous antimilitary graffiti pieces in the capital.

The military's supporters then made a 15-minute video using footage posted by two young men stenciling pro-revolution graffiti and wearing Guy Fawkes masks, the grinning face made famous by the movie "V for Vendetta". In an attempt mock the revolutionary street art, the military supporters declared in their video, "The police, military and people are one hand," and, "The military is a red line."

They posted the video online, calling themselves the "Badr Battalion" and describing themselves as "distinguished Egyptian youth who are against the spies and traitors that burn Egypt."

It was an ironic turnabout, with backers of the authorities picking up the renegade street art medium of revolutionary youth.

During the regime of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt had almost no graffiti on the walls of its cities. But when the uprising against Mubarak's rule erupted a year ago, there was an explosion of the art.

Taking control of the streets was critical for the thousands of Egyptians who eventually overthrew the country's authoritarian leader. The battle continues to be fought by graffiti artists who support the country's military rulers and those who want them to relinquish power.

Since Mubarak's fall on Feb. 11, graffiti is everywhere in Cairo and other cities, proclaiming the goals of the revolution and mocking the regime. Graffiti artists have continued to work, using walls, buildings, bridges and sidewalks as a canvas to denounce the generals who took power after Mubarak as new dictators and to press the revolution's demands.

Usually anti-military graffiti has a short lifetime before it is quickly painted over or defaced with black spray paint. And just as quickly the artists put up more.

The graffito that pro-military supporters painted over had survived remarkably long. Mohamed Fahmy, known by his pseudonym Ganzeer, put it up in May under a bridge. It depicts a military tank with its turret aimed at a boy on his bike who balances on his head one of the wooden racks that are traditionally used to deliver bread ? though instead of bread, he's carrying a city. It was a symbolic reference to revolutionary youth who care for the nation, heading into a collision with the generals.

Quickly after it was partially stenciled over, a new graffiti was up, depicting the country's military leader as a large snake with a bloody corpse coming out of his mouth.

Graffiti has turned into perhaps the most fertile artistic expression of Egypt's uprising, shifting rapidly to keep up with events. Faces of protesters killed or arrested in crackdowns are common subjects ? and as soon as a new one falls, his face is ubiquitous nearly the next day.

The face of Khaled Said, a young man whose beating death at the hands of police officers in 2010 helped fuel the anti-Mubarak uprising, even appeared briefly on the walls of the Interior Ministry, the daunting security headquarters that few would dare even approach in the past.

Other pieces mock members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the council of generals that is now in power, or figures from Mubarak's regime.

When a police officer was captured on an Internet video shooting at the eyes of protesters during clashes, his image immediately dotted walls, urging people to find the "Eye-Sniper."

State television is another frequent target because it has become the mouthpiece for the military's proclamations that protesters are vandals, thugs and part of a plot to throw Egypt into chaos. One graffito shows the word "Occupy" written in the shape of the State TV building. Stickers plastered on walls show the words "Go down to the street" emerging from a television set, a message to the so-called "Couch Party," people who sit and watch the protests on TV.

"It's about a message in the street. It reaches the poor, the rich, the trash collector, the taxi driver," graffiti artist Karim Gouda said. "Most of these people are away from the Internet and the social networking world so it's a way to reach them."

Not everyone is receptive. Gouda said he was accosted by residents as he put up posters depicting a rotting face with the words "open your eyes before it's too late" in the impoverished Cairo district of Sayeda Zeinab. They accused him of trying to create civil strife and of trying to encourage Egypt's Christian minority to take over from the Muslim majority. Such accusations about activists were rife at the time after an October protest by Christians in Cairo, which was crushed by soldiers, killing more than 20.

The residents tore down Gouda's posters and chased him out of the neighborhood.

Under Mubarak's nearly 30-year rule, political expression on the streets was repressed by his powerful police forces. Once every five years, parliamentary elections would see the country littered with posters for elections that always favored the ruling party. Billboards advertising a lifestyle that only a privileged few could afford for companies whose owners were often closely affiliated with the regime towered over the sprawling slums of Cairo, a bustling city of some 18 million people.

"It's liberating to see," blogger Soraya Morayef said of the proliferation of street art.

Morayef, who has dedicated her blog Suzeeinthecity to documenting graffiti artists' work, said the street art reflects what happened in the whole country.

"The fear barrier was broken," she said.

___

Soraya Morayef's blog on graffiti: http://suzeeinthecity.wordpress.com/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-ML-Egypt-Graffiti/id-1d2064e70e664ed9b906547847adb72c

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Frenchman killed in armed robbery in Red Sea resort (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? A Frenchman was killed when armed men raided a currency exchange office Saturday in the Egyptian tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea, security officials and the French embassy said.

South Sinai Governor General Khaled Fouda told Reuters that a German national had also been wounded but was in a stable condition in hospital.

The French embassy confirmed a Frenchman had been killed without giving further details.

Sharm el-Sheikh is on the Sinai Peninsula, home to many popular tourist resorts. However, many people own weapons in inland areas of the peninsula, and analysts say the region has become more lawless since an uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak last year.

(Reporting by Yusry Mohamed in Ismailia; Writing and additional reporting by Edmund Blair in Cairo; editing by David Stamp)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/wl_nm/us_egypt_france

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Tight-fisted mortgage lenders pressure home sales

By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer

Home prices have fallen by a third since 2006, creating tremendous bargains for home buyers. Mortgage rates are at rock-bottom lows, making houses more affordable than they have been in decades. Yet home sales last year fell to the lowest levels since the government began keeping records in 1963.

One big reason: mortgage bankers have gotten a lot choosier about approving loans, according to a report by Goldman Sachs economists Hui Shan and Jari Stehn. By some measures, they're pickier than they were before the housing boom took off.?

With anecdotal evidence showing that home mortgages are harder to get, the economists crunched Federal Reserve data to show just how much tighter lending standards have become. Using the results of the Fed's survey of loan officers, the report found that lending standards rose sharply after the mortgage market collapsed and the financial system imploded in 2008. Since the recession ended in 2009, lenders haven?t eased their tight grip on mortgage money.

Part of the reason is that there?s less money available to lend. During the housing boom, as brokers produced a flood of new mortgages, Wall Street bankers churned out a torrent of mortgage-backed bonds for investors waiting to snap them up. That market has all but vanished; 90 percent of new mortgages written today are backed by the government. ??

The new mortgage pipeline also has slowed because it is clogged with paperwork. These days, you?ll have to fill out many more forms and produce a lot more documentation, on average, just to get your loan considered.

The percent of loans that required ?full documentation? declined steadily from 2000 through 2006, hitting a low of less than 60 percent. Those ?no-doc? loans were a big part of the reason mortgage bankers made the bad underwriting decisions that created the mortgage mess. Today, nearly 90 percent of mortgage applications require full documentation. That?s much higher than the pre-bubble level.

You?ll also have to show a much higher credit score than you did in the go-go days of the housing boom. In a separate report, Mortgage Marvel, an online mortgage-shopping website, analyzed data from more than 700,000 mortgage applications filed last year and found that the average FICO score was 730. That?s a significant jump from the days when borrowers with scores in the high 500s were routinely steered to high-cost subprime loans.

Applications with highest credit scores concentrated in California, Oregon, Wisconsin, District of Columbia and Hawaii, the company said. The states with the lowest credit scores were Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia, Louisiana? and Oklahoma.

{"contentId":"10252614","totalVotes":"8306"}

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Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10252614-tight-fisted-mortgage-lenders-pressure-home-sales

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How to Get to the Seafloor Without Holding Your Breath [Design]

Before we had ALVIN—or proper submarines for that matter—the best way to get to the seafloor was by using a diving bell. Originally made from recycled church bells, these diving apparatuses protected their passengers from the murky depths in a bubble of air. Our friends at Oobject have assembled nine of the best. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JYrbLGiprig/

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Vucetich Discusses Long-Running Predator-Prey Study

Melissa Block speaks with John Vucetich, a wildlife ecologist from Michigan Technological University who is leading the wolf-moose winter study at Isle Royale National Park. The park is located in the northwest corner of Lake Superior. The study is in its fifth decade.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/01/26/145923400/vucetich-discusses-long-running-predator-prey-study?ft=1&f=1007

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More retail centers installing electric vehicle charging stations

"Charge it" may soon have new meaning at shopping malls and retail centers across the country.

As sales of electric cars begin to pick up, retailers nationwide are installing electric vehicle charging stations in their parking lots so customers can plug in and juice up their vehicles while browsing inside.

Leading the way is drugstore chain Walgreen Co., which is installing chargers at about 800 stores nationwide, including about 100 Southland locations.

Macy's Inc. is installing chargers at a handful of department stores in San Diego. Kohl's Corp. is undertaking a pilot program to equip 33 stores nationwide with charging stations, and Best Buy said it will test them at 12 locations, including San Diego and Los Angeles.

Retailers view the chargers as a good investment for the future, a way to one-up competitors and burnish a green reputation. Although adoption of electric cars has been tepid so far ? only about 17,000 sold in the U.S. last year ? many retail chains are hoping to win goodwill with eco-conscious, high-income customers by offering an amenity that very few actually need yet.

California leads the nation with about 89,000 registered electric cars on the road last year, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

One roadblock for electric car sales has been the need for drivers to regularly recharge the batteries and the limited number of public places to do so.

There's even a term for it: "range anxiety," or the fear of getting stranded on the road with no outlet in sight. Only 5,084 public chargers are scattered around the country, and more than a quarter of them are in California, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Retailers are moving quickly to fill that void. And, for now, most are providing electricity for free.

At Walgreen "we said, 'Let's lead in this area," said Menno Enters, the Deerfield, Ill., drugstore chain's director of energy and sustainability. "We're all about convenience, and many of our stores are located around commuter routes. We realized that Walgreens was ideally situated to implement a strategy for electric chargers."

If the electric car movement takes off, Walgreen is hoping to snatch sales from nearby gas stations that "seek the same convenience-type customers," Enters said.

In the last three months, furniture giant Ikea has equipped five California stores along with a store in Portland, Ore., and one in Seattle with charging stations. Additional chargers are coming to locations in East Palo Alto, Calif., and Tempe, Ariz.

The Swedish retailer doesn't track how often the stations are used, but the chargers have been conversation pieces, said Ikea spokesman Joseph Roth.

"You can just stand and watch folks driving by in the parking lot. They see the space and you can kind of see that 'oh wow, that's kind of neat' look on their faces," Roth said. "We view it as another aspect of the shopping experience."

Whether shoppers think so is up for debate.

At an Ikea in Covina during a recent weekend, most shoppers walked into the store with nary a glance at the three chargers planted squarely in front of an entrance in the parking garage.

Although she's a frequent patron of the store, Jennifer Ingalls, 48, said she's never noticed the stations.

"I'm all for green, but that doesn't make me want to shop here more," said the 48-year-old human resources assistant. "I'm a big truck fan myself."

Retailers usually get most of the costs covered with subsidies by partnering with a handful of companies such as ECOtality and Coulomb Technologies that specialize in installing and supporting charging stations. These companies have in turn received money ? millions of dollars, in some cases ? from the Energy Department to build up an infrastructure that encourages increased use of electric vehicles.

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/1FGNUSkgK0k/la-fi-retail-electricity-charging-20120126,0,3933441.story

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After solar flare, massive storm speeds Earthward

A solar flare Sunday triggered an outburst of solar material that should hit Earth Tuesday. The disturbance could lead to voltage swings on some power lines, as well as stronger northern lights.

An outburst from the sun late Sunday night is bathing Earth in the most powerful solar-radiation storm in six years.

Skip to next paragraph

The radiation storm is the first act of an event that will crescendo Tuesday, when the brunt of the outburst ? called a coronal-mass ejection ? arrives at Earth. It could trigger a disturbance of Earth's magnetic field, leading to voltage swings in long-distance power transmission lines as well as the appearance of the northern lights as far south as New York.

The current radiation storm?? rated an S3, or strong, on a scale of 1 to 5 ? could damage satellite hardware and present an increased risk of radiation exposure to passengers flying at high altitudes across polar routes, say space-weather specialists. These risks, however, are expected to be manageable. ?

The outburst, which occurred at 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Sunday, marks the second major solar eruption in three days.

Sunday's event began with a moderate solar flare that was "nothing special" on its own, says Doug Biesecker, a solar physicist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo.

But the flare triggered the release of billions of tons of energetic particles from the sun's atmosphere.?This coronal-mass ejection (CME) is hurtling toward Earth at 4 million miles an hour, "by far the fastest CME directed at the Earth during the current solar cycle," Dr. Biesecker says.?

CMEs are vast clouds of protons, electrons, as well as heavy atomic nuclei formed in the nuclear fusion reactions that power the sun.

This CME's unusually high speed is accelerating some of its protons to nearly the speed of light, and they are arriving in quantities not seen since May 2005.

The resulting radiation storm could cause some hardware or onboard software glitches for satellite operators. And radio communications at high latitudes, as well as navigation-satellite accuracy for high-precision uses, could suffer some degradation for the duration of the radiation storm.?

A geomagnetic storm Tuesday could further affect satellites.

For satellite operators, geomagnetic storms have a Janus-like quality. If strong enough, they can produce voltages on a satellite's exterior that can be powerful enough to arc and cause damage. And the storms can increase the atmosphere's drag on satellites, causing them to lose altitude.

But such storms also can increase drag on space junk that can pose a risk to satellites, sending more of it to burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

This week's geomagnetic storm also could bring auroras to viewers farther south than usual.

Biesecker says the storm may reach a level that could render auroras visible as far south as Idaho and New York, and perhaps even Illinois and Oregon if the CME's intensity is large than estimated.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/fEXHPw7btaM/After-solar-flare-massive-storm-speeds-Earthward

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Summary Box: J&J 4Q profit drops almost 90 percent (AP)

PROFIT PLUNGE: Johnson & Johnson's net income dropped nearly 90 percent to $218 million, due to $2.9 billion in charges for recalls, product liability, litigation and an acquisition. But after an unprecedented two years of declining sales, they rose last quarter by 4 percent.

RECALL UPDATE: Most of the McNeil Consumer Healthcare products that have been absent from stores due to repeated recalls should return by midyear, with the rest by year's end.

PROFIT FORECAST: J&J expects sales to rise from $65 billion last year to about $68 billion in 2012, and earnings per share to climb from $3.49 to about $5.10.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_johnson___johnson_summary_box

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Evidence found for oldest popcorn in South America

They may not have had television sets, but ancient Peruvians did share one part of our movie-watching culture: popcorn. Researchers have found evidence that societies living along the coast of Peru were eating the air-filled snack about 1,000 years earlier than previously estimated ? even predating the use of ceramic pottery.

Corn husks, stalks, cobs and tassels (pollen-producing flowers on corn) dating from 6,700 to 3,000 years ago were unearthed at Paredones and Huaca Prieta, two sites on Peru's northern coast, by American and Peruvian researchers.

"The evidence was unearthed during the past three years," study researcher Dolores Piperno, curator of New World archaeology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and emeritus staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, told LiveScience.

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The characteristics of the corncobs suggest that the sites' ancient inhabitants prepared and ate corn in several ways, including making corn flour and popcorn.

The researchers also found corn microfossils containing starch grains and phytoliths, which are microscopic particles formed by plants and mainly composed of silicon dioxide. The Peruvian popcorn is the oldest macrofossil evidence for popcorn in South America. Despite the presence of these corn products, corn was still not an important part of the ancient people's diet, the researchers said.

"Corn was first domesticated in Mexico nearly 9,000 years ago from a wild grass called teosinte," Piperno said in a statement. "Our results show that only a few thousand years later, corn arrived in South America, where its evolution into different varieties that are now common in the Andean region began."

Piperno added, "This evidence further indicates that, in many areas, corn arrived before pots did, and that early experimentation with corn as a food was not dependent on the presence of pottery."

Studying the subtle changes and evolution of corn characteristics is challenging because corncobs and kernels don't preserve well in the humid, tropical forests between Central and South America, which held the primary dispersal routes for the crop after it first left Mexico about 8,000 years ago, according to the researchers.

"Because there is so little data available from other places for this time period, the wealth of morphological information about the cobs and other corn remains at this early date is very important for understanding how corn became the crop we know today," Piperno said.

"The oldest evidence anywhere for what is likely a popcorn comes from the region where maize was domesticated in southwest Mexico, and is based on microfossil ? phytolith and starch grain ? data," Piperno said.

The study was published Jan. 17 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

You can follow LiveScience writer Remy Melina on Twitter@remymelina. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter@livescience? and onFacebook.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46076352/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Maldives vice president ashamed by judge's arrest (AP)

MALE, Maldives ? The Maldives vice president said Saturday that he is "ashamed and totally devastated" that the government in which he is a member has arrested a criminal court judge in violation of his freedom from arbitrary arrest.

In a clear indication of divisions within President Mohamed Nasheed's government, Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan blogged that he wondered if the struggles that freed the nation from a 30-year autocracy had been wasted.

"The most important and most precious dividend from the democracy struggle in Maldives has been freedom from fear. It is the knowledge that no one of us will be dragged out of our beds in the middle of the night and taken to an undisclosed location," Waheed wrote.

"The moment we deny this freedom from one person, we deny that freedom for all."

The military arrested Criminal Court Chief Justice Abdulla Mohamed on Monday after he ordered the release of a government critic detained without a warrant. He is still being held on an island the military uses for training in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The country's Supreme Court and the prosecutor general have called for Mohamed's release and the arrest has triggered street protests. The government accuses the judge of corruption and political bias.

A defiant Nasheed speaking to hundreds of his supporters Saturday justified the military's action, saying disputes such as the one with Maldives' judiciary are common in new democracies and the military plays a big role in resolving them.

He explained the arrest came only after the Judicial Service Commission, mandated to examine the conduct of judges, failed to take action on his complaints against Mohamed and that it was not to hurt him personally.

"As the democratically elected president of the Maldives, I will do anything to uphold the constitution," he said.

Both Nasheed and Waheed were leading pro-democracy campaigners before being elected to office in the country's first multiparty election in 2008.

"We have just witnessed the first possible violation since the dawn of democracy in our country. I cannot understand why this is not an issue for everyone in this country," Waheed said, adding that the country's youth and the educated are not taking an interest in the issue.

The arrest has sparked regular street protests which have been broken up by police using tear gas.

Maldives journalists have accused the government of intimidation and threats against those reporting on the political dispute and the judge's arrest.

The government has also accused opposition protesters of destroying public property, attacking journalists and vandalizing the home of a minister.

The Maldives Human Rights Commission said it has visited the arrested judge at the military facility and that he is in good health and has not been subjected to any degrading treatment. But the commission expressed concerns about the arrest and detention of the judge without access to a lawyer and also the arrest of two opposition politicians during a protest on Friday.

Maldives is known for its idyllic resorts for upmarket tourists.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_as/as_maldives_politics

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Why it's hard to predict where failed Russian craft will fall

Phobos-Grunt launched toward Mars on Nov. 8, but it failed to leave low-Earth orbit. Reentry into Earth's atmosphere could happen anywhere from Sunday morning to Monday night, according to current estimates.

Where will the remains of Russia's derelict Phobos-Grunt tumble back to Earth?

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That's this weekend's 5-billion-ruble question as space agencies and other satellite trackers around the world try to gauge when and where the spacecraft is likely to begin its fiery descent into Earth's atmosphere.

Estimates on when reentry starts range from about 11:20 a.m., Eastern time, on Sunday to 8 p.m. Monday. But they can change several times a day, lending forecasting efforts an air of confusion.

The uncertainty highlights the challenge in forecasting a track for an object no one can control, specialists say. And it underscores a need for a freer flow of more accurate information on satellite positions and tracks to avoid collisions that would add to the space junk already on orbit, others add.

For its part, Phobos-Grunt appears highly unlikely to add to the space-junk problem. Nor is it deemed much of a threat to people on the ground.

Phobos-Grunt launched Nov. 8. The mission aimed to return soil samples from Mars' moon Phobos. The spacecraft also carries a small Chinese probe designed to orbit Mars and gather data on its atmosphere. And it is acting as cosmic sherpa for a small experiment sponsored by the Planetary Society in Pasadena, Calif. The experiment is designed to test whether microbes could survive a prolonged trip from one planet to another housed, in this case, in an artificial meteoroid. The meteoroid was to have returned to Earth along with soil samples from Phobos.

Phobos-Grunt failed to leave low-Earth orbit as planned, however. Efforts to communicate with the 13.5-metric ton craft failed, leaving ground controllers with no way to guide it on a predictable path to a controlled reentry.

Initially, concerns centered mainly on whether the craft's tanks bearing 11 tons of toxic fuel could survive the plunge and then present a hazard to people on the ground.

But engineers with Russia's space agency Roscosmos and with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have calculated that the aluminum fuel tanks will burst before the craft falls below about 60 miles in altitude, allowing the fuel to dissipate harmlessly.

"This, combined with a relatively low dry mass of just 2.5 tons, means Phobos-Grunt is not considered to be a high-risk entry object," said Heiner Klinkrad, who heads the European Space Agency's Space Debris Office, in a statement released Jan. 12.

Still, tracking the craft is important, notes Joshua Horwood, a research scientist with Numerica Corp., a company based in Loveland, Colo., that develops orbital tracking and forecasting software for the US military, in addition to other forms of specialized computer-based tools for civilian aerospace and biomedical clients.

In addition to the need to know where and when a spacecraft will end up after reentry, information on where an uncontrolled craft may be headed next is vital to other satellite operators, who may need to move their craft out of the way. But forecasting the track of an uncontrollable craft ? especially one in low-Earth orbit, or between 100 and 800 miles up ? is fiendishly difficult, Dr. Horwood says.

Even in low-Earth orbit, he notes, the significantly thinned atmosphere can exert drag on a spacecraft, slowing it and allowing Earth's gravity to tug it out of an intended orbit. The sun's activity can change the atmosphere's density with altitude, increasing or decreasing drag.

In this case, the drag is acting on a very irregularly shaped craft, which makes its effect very hard to calculate, Horwood says.

Working backward from the most recent observation of a derelict's position to reconstruct an orbit from past observations is no problem, he adds. But drag and other issues can throw curves into projections of where in the sky one can next expect to spot the object.

"We're not dealing with cannonballs here," he quips.

Still, one potential benefit from Russia's woes is that the information gained from tracking Phobos-Grunt could help improve track-forecasting models, Horwood says.

Indeed, the international community is doing that now.

The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, made up of representatives from 12 national space agencies, is using Phobos-Grunt's problems as an opportunity to figure out more-accurate ways of estimating the reentry time and place for incoming spacecraft.

Then again, the estimates are only as good as the data that feed them. The best data come from the United States, Russia, and Europe. But while the US cooperates with space agencies in alerting them to possible hazards to their craft, it keeps the most accurate of its tracking information under wraps.

Some data need to be held close to the vest for national-security reasons, acknowledges Brian Weeden, a former Air Force officer who was deeply involved in the US military's efforts to track objects in space.

"But we think there is a batter balance" that can be struck in making more accurate information publicly available, says Mr. Weeden, currently the technical advisor to the Secure World Foundation, which advocates the sustainable use of near-Earth space.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/YHVvqM_FEOw/Why-it-s-hard-to-predict-where-failed-Russian-craft-will-fall

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$400 Adapter Lets Your Sony NEX Gaze Through Canon Lenses [Photography]

The number of lenses available for mirrorless pro compact snappers is dwarfed by those available for Canon SLRs. But there's no reason to feel inferior now that Conurus' Canon EF lens adapter for Sony's NEX cameras is finally available. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/OjFo6lqARUM/400-adapter-lets-your-sony-nex-gaze-through-canon-lenses

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IBM 4Q earnings beat estimates, revenue falls shy (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? IBM Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings handily beat Wall Street's expectations on Thursday, helped by higher revenue and profit margins in the technology icon's lucrative software and services segments.

The results and IBM's stronger-than-expected outlook for this year sent IBM's stock up more than 2 percent after hours. The company offered a welcome sign of stability amid the global economic turmoil that's prompting worries about a slowdown in technology spending by businesses and governments, who are IBM's customers.

One sore spot was revenue, which fell short of analyst expectations; the rise in software and services revenue wasn't enough to offset a decline in hardware. Also, the stronger dollar is squeezing overseas revenue.

IBM earned $5.49 billion, or $4.62 per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That's up 4 percent from $5.26 billion, or $4.25 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $4.71 per share, easily surpassing analysts' expectations of $4.61 per share.

Revenue grew 2 percent to $29.49 billion from $29.02 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected slightly higher revenue of $29.7 billion.

IBM said currency shifts since its last quarterly report in October lowered fourth-quarter revenue by about $300 million. The deepening economic crisis in Europe, along with the continuing weakness in the U.S. economy and signs of a slowdown in emerging markets are prompting worries about global companies like IBM.

But IBM has long said its long-term contracts insulate it from economic swings, and its full-year forecast is bright. IBM expects adjusted earnings of at least $14.85 per share, above the $14.77 per share that analysts are predicting.

New CEO Ginni Rometty said IBM is "well on track" toward its long-term goal of hitting at least $20 per share in adjusted earnings in 2015 ? a rare example of a long-term earnings target disclosed publicly by a such a large company.

Revenue rose at two of IBM's three largest divisions ? software by 9 percent and services by 3 percent. Hardware revenue fell 8 percent. In the third quarter, IBM's services revenue grew 8 percent, its software revenue climbed 13 percent and its hardware revenue rose 4 percent.

By geography, IBM said revenue from the Americas grew 3 percent in the fourth quarter. Revenue from Europe, the Middle East and Africa combined was up 1 percent and revenue from Asia increased 2 percent.

IBM said its new contract signings were $20.4 billion in the fourth quarter, slightly above analysts' expectations. The company's services backlog at the end of the year was $141 billion, up by $4 billion from the end of the third quarter. Services backlog refers measures the value of work under contract that the company expects to book as revenue in future quarters.

For all of 2011, IBM earned $15.86 billion, or $13.06 per share, up 7 percent from $14.83 billion, or 11.52 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $13.44 per share, above analysts' expectations of $13.36 per share.

Revenue was $106.92 billion, up 7 percent from $99.87 billion in 2010. Wall Street was expecting $107.08 billion.

The Armonk, N.Y.-based company's stock rose $4.53, or 2.5 percent, to $185.05 after hours. The stock had closed down 55 cents at $180.52.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_hi_te/us_earns_ibm

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Oil above $101 on hopes IMF to curb Europe crisis

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) ? Oil rose above $101 a barrel Thursday in Asia after the IMF promised to raise lending to mitigate a worsening financial crisis in Europe. Stronger U.S. economic data also gave oil a lift.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 66 cents at $101.25 a barrel at late afternoon Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 12 cents to end at $100.59 on Wednesday.

"Trading has been choppy but the market recovered on news that the IMF will boost its lending capacity for Europe," said Natalie Robertson, commodities analyst with ANZ Banking Group in Melbourne.

The International Monetary Fund estimated countries around the world would need about $1 trillion in loans over the coming years and said it aimed to increase its financial firepower by around $500 billion so it can give out new loans.

The IMF has put up about a third of the financing for Europe's bailouts over the past two years, but there are growing worries that non-European countries will also need more help given the worsening economic outlook.

Robertson said prices were also supported by the American Petroleum Institute's report Wednesday showing an unexpected drop in crude inventory last week. The government is expected to release its weekly data later Thursday.

Strong U.S. housing figures, an improvement in U.S. manufacturing activity in December and increased orders and production also buoyed crude prices, she said.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch predicted limited upside, with crude prices to average $101 a barrel this year. it cited weak oil global demand after the International Energy Agency cut its forecast for oil demand growth to 1.1 million barrels a day, down from an earlier estimate of 1.3 million barrels a day.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 0.9 cent to $3.02 per gallon and gasoline futures rose 0.5 cent to $2.83 per gallon. Natural gas fell 3.7 cents to $2.43 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-19-Oil%20Prices/id-c641af923d394b66844f23d4d2e7bb9a

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Young to Fuel Entergy's Nuclear Communications

? ? ? ? ? O'Dwyer's PR Magazine ? Jan. '12 PR Buyer's Guide and Crisis Comms. Magazine O'Dwyer's magazine, now in its 25th year, is the #1 publication for PR and marketing communications pros....Subscribe today Each month, a different area of PR is examined. If you'd like to submit a profile of your firm, contact editor jon.gingerich@odwyerpr.com or you can use our online form. ? 2012 Editorial Calendar: January, PR Buyer's Guide/Crisis Comms. February, Environmental PR & Public Affairs March, Food & Beverage PR April, Broadcast Media Services & Social Media PR May, PR Firm Rankings June, Multicultural/Diversity PR July, Travel & Tourism PR August, Prof. Svcs. PR & Financial/Investor Rels. September, Beauty & Fashion PR October, Healthcare & Medical PR November: Technology PR December: Sports & Entertainment PR ? ? PR Firm Rankings ? Top PR Firms - 2011 Rankings: 1. Edelman, NY - $521,969,675 2. APCO Worldwide, D.C. - $113,400,000 3. Waggener Edstrom, Wash. - $111,910,000 4. Ruder Finn, NY - $97,059,000 5. Text 100, San Fran. - $46,700,000 6. WCG, San Fran. - $37,008,000 7. MWW Group, NJ - $34,798,000 8. Qorvis Communications, DC - $29,713,320 9. ICR, CT - $26,514,0009. 10. Schwartz Comms., Mass. - $25,210,803 ? Ranking of 151 Top PR Firms and Agencies ? Submit your firm to be ranked by O'Dwyer's ? Top PR Firms By Specialty: ? Top PR Firms By Location: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

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NEED HELP? john@odwyerpr.com Subscribe to O'Dwyer's website | Editorial Contacts | Order O'Dwyer Publications | Advertising Info | Contact O'Dwyer's | Terms and Conditions Copyright ? 1998-2012 J.R. O'Dwyer Company, Inc. 271 Madison Ave., #600, New York, NY 10016; Tel: 212/679-2471 or Toll Free: 866/395-7710

Source: http://www.odwyerpr.com/blog/index.php?/archives/3877-Young-to-Fuel-Entergys-Nuclear-Communications.html

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Hacker says to release full Norton Antivirus code on Tuesday (Reuters)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) ? A hacker who goes by the name of "Yama Tough" threatened Saturday to release next week the full source code for Symantec Corp's flagship Norton Antivirus software.

"This coming Tuesday behold the full Norton Antivirus 1,7Gb src, the rest will follow," Yama Tough posted via Twitter.

In the past week Yama Tough has released fragments of source code from Symantec products along with a cache of emails. The hacker says all the data was taken from Indian government servers.

(Reporting By Frank Jack Daniel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/security/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120116/wr_nm/us_symantec_hacker

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An MRI-Powered Robot Can Swim Through Your Guts [Health]

If you've ever had the pleasure of experiencing endoscopy, you'll think there must be a better way to check out your insides than having a camera shoved up your ass. Now there is, and it's robotic! More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/nhqvt7pCiiE/an-mri+powered-robot-can-swim-through-your-guts

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Bridesmaids Scene-Stealers Wilson Phillips Launch Reality Show for TV Guide Network (omg!)

The Wilson Phillips cameo at the end of producer Judd Apatow's comedy Bridesmaids was perfect timing for the band, who is now attempting a comeback with a new album and a reality show for TV Guide Network, Wilson Phillips: Still Holding On, which premieres on Sunday, April at 9/8c.

"We got a random phone call from Judd Apatow's people," bandmate Chynna Phillips told reporters at the network's winter previews on Saturday. "We just thought it was a real honor, and we love Judd Apatow's movies and thought he was hysterical, so we wanted to be a part of it. But we had absolutely no idea the impact our one baby cameo was going to have in this film. We were pretty taken aback and excited that it gave our careers the boost, the shot in the arm that we needed."

TV Guide Network orders more Hollywood Girls Night, Wilson Phillips: Still Holding On

The group, which also includes sisters Carnie and Wendy Wilson, has reunited to record a comeback album, which will drop on April 3. The album will cover songs originally sung by their famous musician parents --? Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas.

Still Holding On is an eight-episode reality series that follows their journey back to fame, and in preview clips the three are seen bickering as much as singing. "The dynamics have always been exactly the same," Wendy Wilson said about the on-screen fighting. "We love each other no matter what. There's friction and there's fighting, but we fight like sisters."

The group has had previous individual experience with reality shows. Phillips was eliminated fairly early in the 13th season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars, Wendy Wilson appeared on Supernanny, and Carnie Wilson famously participated in Wife Swap, with less-than-flattering results. "It's all about editing, sweetie," Carnie told a reporter who asked about her experience on the show. "They can only fit so much material in 44 minutes. I really feel they misrepresented my husband, because he is a very hands-on father. We're passing down an incredible foundation for our children that I wish that I had as a child. I couldn't be more proud of my parenting style or my husband's."

Check out the rest of today's news

The three women are quick to defend their parenting skills, given that their own parents' lifestyles didn't make for the most ideal childhoods. "I think it inspires you when you come from an unconventional background to be a grounded mother and parent," Wendy Wilson explained.

Phillips added, "We're definitely not passing the doobies to our kids. That ain't happening."

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_bridesmaids_scene_stealers_wilson_phillips_launch_reality_show020800610/44182480/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/bridesmaids-scene-stealers-wilson-phillips-launch-reality-show-020800610.html

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