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NEWS
Mar 15, 2009 23:59:20 GMT 4
Post by towhom on Mar 15, 2009 23:59:20 GMT 4
Cheney: Obama detainee policies make US less safeYahoo News March 15, 2009news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090315/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheneyWASHINGTON – Former Vice President thingy Cheney said Sunday that Americans are less safe now that President Barack Obama has overturned Bush terrorism-fighting policies and that nearly all the Republican administration's goals in Iraq have been achieved. "There is no prospect" that Iraq will return to producing weapons of mass destruction or supporting terrorists, Cheney asserted, "as long as it's a democratically governed country, as long as they have got the security forces they do now and a relationship with the United States." Fulfilling campaign pledges, Obama has suspended military trials for suspected terrorists and announced he will close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as overseas sites where the CIA has held some detainees. The president also ordered CIA interrogators to abide by the U.S. Army Field Manual's regulations for treatment of detainees and denounced waterboarding, part of the Bush program of enhanced interrogation, as torture. Asked on CNN's "State of the Union" if he thought Obama has made Americans less safe with those actions, Cheney replied, "I do." "I think those programs were absolutely essential to the success we enjoyed of being able to collect the intelligence that let us defeat all further attempts to launch attacks against the United States since 9/11," Cheney said. "I think that's a great success story. It was done legally. It was done in accordance with our constitutional practices and principles," he said. "President Obama campaigned against it all across the country. And now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack." Some Democratic lawmakers and other administration critics have denounced those and other Bush programs, such as warrantless surveillance, as counterproductive and illegal. In defending these policies established by President George W. Bush following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Cheney said he had seen a report itemizing specific attacks that had been stopped because of the intelligence gathered through those programs. "It's still classified. I can't give you the details of it without violating classification, but I can say there were a great many of them," he said. Cheney said the U.S.-led invasion on March 19, 2003 (March 20, Iraq time) has led to democratic elections, a constitution and the defeat of al-Qaida in Iraq, and undermined Iran's efforts to influence events in Iraq. "We have succeeded in creating in the heart of the Middle East a democratically governed Iraq, and that is a big deal, and it is, in fact, what we set out to do," he said. Asked if he was declaring "mission accomplished" — those words graced a banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln that heralded Bush's overly optimistic declaration on May 1, 2003, that major combat operations had ended in Iraq — Cheney replied: "I wouldn't use that, just because it triggers reactions that we don't need." He added: "But I would ask people — and the press, too — to take an honest look at the circumstances in Iraq today and how far we've come." In a wide-ranging interview, Cheney also: - Agreed that Obama had inherited "difficult" economic circumstances but rejected efforts to blame the Bush administration.
"We are in the midst of a worldwide economic period of considerable difficulty here," he said. "It doesn't do just to go back and say, 'Well, George Bush was president and that is why everything is screwed up,' because that is simply not true." - Contended that Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Democrats with top positions on congressional banking committees, blocked Bush administration efforts to reform lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "I think the collapse of those two institutions, as much as anything, contributed to the financial difficulties we've been living with since," he said.
- Worried that Obama was using the economic crisis "to justify a massive expansion in the government and much more authority for the government over the private sector, and I don't think that's good."
- Dismissed criticism from some conservatives that Obama is taking on too much and too quickly.
- Criticized Obama's choice for ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, as lacking experience in the region. Cheney said he didn't support Hill's work in dealing with North Korea on nuclear issues during the Bush administration.
- Called his former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby "an innocent man" who deserved a pardon from Bush. The issue of pardoning Libby was a subject of intense disagreement with Bush at the close of his presidency, Cheney said.
Libby was convicted of perjury and obstructing justice in the investigation of the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Bush commuted Libby's sentence and saved him from serving time in prison, but Libby remains a convicted felon. Just thought I would post this for comic relief...
Richard, Richard, Richard...
We are aware that you let Scooter take the fall for you; the "expansionism" is a figment of your imagination - it's regulatory overhaul and enforcement - to counter the impacts of a "previous" administration's mishandling and mismanagement of the already bloated and/or understaffed governmental agencies; and your reference to the intelligence gathering (both "legal" and illegal - because they were illegal until you scampered around behind the scenes to add the legalese after you already had the programs in place and operating...duhhhh) - is this the same intelligence gathering you did that "identified" the alleged WMD in Iraq which landed our military in the Middle East (overtly speaking...)?
CNN would have been better off programming a memorial segment to honor the passing of the creator of Bozo the Clown - who provided many of us with hours of entertainment and brought smiles to our hearts.
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NEWS
Mar 16, 2009 3:32:57 GMT 4
Post by nodstar on Mar 16, 2009 3:32:57 GMT 4
Hi Everyone ... I would like to take this opportunity to WELCOME all the new members that have joined in the last few days .. A lot of the names I recognize from Project Avalon and EDO .. The usual EDO rules apply here . Be polite, be thoughtful and post accordingly, and HAVE FUN. ;D If you have joined our forum to indulge in wars of words or opinions, or to create drama and trouble THIS FORUM IS NOT FOR YOU !!! That said I look forward to your contributions Best Wishes Nodstar* Forum Admin and Moderator
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NEWS
Mar 16, 2009 4:18:20 GMT 4
Post by towhom on Mar 16, 2009 4:18:20 GMT 4
Northeast US to suffer most from future sea riseYahoo News Sunday, March 15, 2009 2:04 pm ETnews.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090315/ap_on_re_us/sci_northeast_sea_riseWASHINGTON – The northeastern U.S. coast is likely to see the world's biggest sea level rise from man-made global warming, a new study predicts. However much the oceans rise by the end of the century, add an extra 8 inches or so for New York, Boston and other spots along the coast from the mid-Atlantic to New England. That's because of predicted changes in ocean currents, according to a study based on computer models published online Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience. An extra 8 inches — on top of a possible 2 or 3 feet of sea rise globally by 2100 — is a big deal, especially when nor'easters and hurricanes hit, experts said. "It's not just waterfront homes and wetlands that are at stake here," said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, who wasn't part of the study. "Those kind of rises in sea level when placed on top of the storm surges we see today, put in jeopardy lots of infrastructure, including the New York subway system." For years, scientists have talked about rising sea levels due to global warming — both from warm water expanding and the melt of ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica. Predictions for the average worldwide sea rise keep changing along with the rate of ice melt. Recently, more scientists are saying the situation has worsened so that a 3-foot rise in sea level by 2100 is becoming a common theme. But the oceans won't rise at the same rate everywhere, said study author Jianjun Yin of the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies at Florida State University. It will be "greater and faster" for the Northeast, with Boston one of the worst hit among major cities, he said. So, if it's 3 feet, add another 8 inches for that region. The explanation involves complicated ocean currents. Computer models forecast that as climate change continues, there will be a slowdown of the great ocean conveyor belt. That system moves heat energy in warm currents from the tropics to the North Atlantic and pushes the cooler, saltier water down, moving it farther south around Africa and into the Pacific. As the conveyor belt slows, so will the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic current. Those two fast-running currents have kept the Northeast's sea level unusually low because of a combination of physics and geography, Yin said. Slow down the conveyor belt 33 to 43 percent as predicted by computer models, and the Northeast sea level rises faster, Yin said. So far, the conveyor belt has not yet noticeably slowed. A decade ago, scientists worried about the possibility that this current conveyor belt would halt altogether — something that would cause abrupt and catastrophic climate change like that shown in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow." But in recent years, they have concluded that a shutdown is unlikely to happen this century. Other experts who reviewed Yin's work say it makes sense. "Our coastlines aren't designed for that extra 8 inches of storm surge you get out of that sea level rise effect," said Jonathan Overpeck, director of an Earth studies institute at the University of Arizona. While Boston and New York are looking at an additional 8 inches, other places wouldn't get that much extra rise. The study suggests Miami and much of the Southeast would get about 2 inches above the global sea rise average of perhaps 3 feet, and San Francisco would get less than an extra inch. Parts of southern Australia, northern Asia and southern and western South America would get less than the global average sea level rise. This study along with another one last month looking at regional sea level rise from the projected melt of the west Antarctic ice sheet "provide a compelling argument for anticipating and preparing for higher rates of sea level rise," said Virginia Burkett, chief scientist for Global Change Research at the U.S. Geological Survey. Burkett, who is based in Louisiana, said eventually New Englanders could be in the same "vulnerability situation" to storms and sea level rise as New Orleans. There are many computer simulations currently being run using data from a large number global institutions. All of them are coming up the same results - sea level rise, great ocean conveyor belt slow down and/or shut down and catastrophic weather changes.
This may not happen in my lifetime, however, it is not a legacy I care to leave to those who will follow.
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NEWS
Mar 16, 2009 5:18:03 GMT 4
Post by towhom on Mar 16, 2009 5:18:03 GMT 4
Insurers portray self as part of health care fix Instead of opposing government plans, position themselves as partnersMSNBC updated 6:59 p.m. ET, Sun., March. 15, 2009www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29707894/WASHINGTON - The health insurance industry is working on a transformation that could come right out of "Extreme Makeover." Long cast as villains for denying coverage or refusing to pay for treatment, insurers now are representing themselves as indispensable partners in health care overhaul. [Note: They're as "dispensable" as the pills the drug Pharms push - let's be clear on that. So let's "dispense" with the rhetoric and clean up the mess also known as the private high cost health care insurers.]In their pitch to lawmakers, the companies say they are in a unique position to help improve quality and root out waste, saving money so everyone can be covered. [Note: Yep, you're in a "unique position, all right. You're right out front...right next to AIG, Citicorp, Bank of America, etc.]"They are making inroads," said John Rother, public policy director for AARP. "They are getting past the rhetoric and starting to talk about more concrete ideas for improving quality and getting value." [Note: John, the only reason they're "getting past the rhetoric" is due to the push from majority of the population who have had it with the high costs associated with private health care insurance and those who are uninsured.]In a big change from three or four years ago, insurers are writing bigger campaign checks to Democrats, now the party of power in Washington. The insurance industry gave $10.7 million to Democratic candidates for federal office in the 2006 elections, according to OpenSecrets.org. Last year, it was $20.7 million.The stakes are high. [Note: Hence the big campaign donations...]If the industry's pitch succeeds, insurers will be guaranteed many more customers. The industry wants all people in the United States to be required to carry medical coverage, with government providing financial help for those who cannot afford it. Even if insurers end up making less per customer because of anticipated consumer safeguards, they still could come out ahead. But if the overhaul that President Barack Obama has promised goes against them, insurers could find themselves trying to compete against a new government-run health plan offering cut-rate premiums to middle-class families.That's exactly what many liberal Democrats want, and Obama hasn't taken the option off the table. "No one is naive enough to believe that insurers aren't going to have problems with parts of this," Rother said. "But they are pushing back in a rather quiet way." [Note: The fact that they're pushing back says it all...And just "who" are they pushing, might I ask? The recipients of the campaign donations, perhaps? We might want to check that out...]Said Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans and the industry's top strategist in Washington: "We understand we need to come to the table with very specific solutions." Ignagni is hedging her bets by building ties to groups such as small businesses, whose conservative outlook and grass- roots clout could be crucial. [Note: Let's talk about some of these "very specific solutions" - high spend-down deductibles, limited coverage, lifetime and segment policy caps, etc...These may be your ideas, but they aren't realistic and are still unaffordable. In addition, your "small business administrator training" includes buzz words like "full in network care coverage" when none of the in network primary care physicians are accepting new patients, unstated procedures not covered under the "clinical trial" category - and you would be horrified to see the extremely LONG list of "clinical trial procedures", etc. The bottom line is you're not interested in saving lives, you're interested in saving money.]Yet the industry has won a measure of respect from some longtime adversaries. "I have seen very few groups, including the insurance industry, that are willing to exercise the nuclear option and torpedo reform," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a liberal advocacy group. "They have participated in a good faith manner." [Note: They have participated in good faith to protect their profit margin...]Others on the left are not convinced. "Private insurance is the problem," said Carmen Balber of Consumer Watchdog, a California-based group. "Individuals can't afford to be forced into buying private insurance." If insurers have come to see government as a partner, that's not as strange as it may seem. Employer coverage has dwindled in recent years, but government programs for older people, children and the poor have grown into a vital business. The Medicare prescription drug benefit is delivered by private insurers. Also, about 10 million older people are signed up in Medicare managed care plans. Many states operate their Medicaid programs through private insurers. The same goes for the federally backed State Children's Health Insurance Program. Government programs "are a significant contributor to growth for us," said Angela Braly, chief executive of Wellpoint, which covers 35 million people in 14 states. "We think we can be a significant part of the solution for the uninsured." Insurance companies can do more than just pay claims, Braly said. They can use the data in their files to monitor whether doctors and hospitals are providing the right level of care — not too little, not too much.For example, a soon-to-be released study by Wellpoint looks at treatment of back pain, a condition that costs roughly as much as cancer or diabetes to treat. Most back pain clears up in about six weeks, and national guidelines recommend postponing surgery and sophisticated imaging tests. But the study found that 35,000 patients had imaging tests and an additional 1,000 had surgery before the six weeks were up. Potential savings over a 12-month period: $23.6 million. In the future, insurers could use such findings to cajole doctors into changing the way they practice. [Note: "Cajole" or "gifts"?]"We think we can play a central role in delivering value," said Braly. [Note: I "think" you don't want to lose the golden eggs...]Wellpoint says such studies don't always endorse the low-tech option. Its research also found that a costly medication for multiple sclerosis was worth the investment, because it helped patients avoid relapses. But there's concern that insurers and government could one day use such studies to deny coverage for expensive new treatments and diagnostic tests. [Note: This is already occurring. The denials outweigh the approvals in the private sector health care industry. Furthermore, the people reviewing the claims are NOT MEDICALLY TRAINED. They simply follow in-house guidelines. My former brother-in-law was suffering from chest pains and went to an emergency room. A series of stress tests were ordered. His non-medically trained HMO claim handler not only denied coverage of the tests, but forced the hospital to release him, citing no hospital coverage would be extended beyond the emergency room treatment. The cardiologist threatened legal action - that got the HMO's legal department and manager of the claim unit's attention. He received a letter one month later authorizing the tests the cardiologist performed without the HMO's approval. Had he not done that, my brother-in-law would be dead.]It's hard to tell whether the industry's makeover will work. So far, the Obama administration doesn't seem to be sold. While Obama invited Ignagni to the White House health care summit, he's also asking Congress to slash payments to private insurance plans in Medicare. Far from being efficient, Obama says the plans get 14 cents more on the dollar than it costs to care for older people in the traditional program. [Note: The Veterans Administration doesn't mince words with the drug Pharms - they buy in bulk and name the terms - take it or leave it. Why not introduce this bargaining strategy to the Medicare and Medicaid programs...]You want this to work - then change the coverage currently given to the "Hill of Beans". That will get them on track. You want health care that provides quality coverage at an affordable price? Then I suggest you get to work, beaners...
Lose the funders and lobbyists while you're at it.
And on a side note, beaners:
I noticed you haven't bothered to address the annual raises you accorded yourselves. What's up with that? You expect us to tighten our belts and yet you award yourselves your raises and scream at everyone else...uh huh.
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NEWS
Mar 16, 2009 9:40:26 GMT 4
Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Mar 16, 2009 9:40:26 GMT 4
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NEWS
Mar 16, 2009 9:43:02 GMT 4
Post by nodstar on Mar 16, 2009 9:43:02 GMT 4
Hi Everyone .. Thankyou to all of you who have PM'd me in the last 24 hours ... Your questions about Dan's recent announcement and the questions about what this means for the current timeline we are on, are both pertinent and worthy of answers. I am NOT PRIVY to information about the recent events, Dan will, in good time make HIS OWN statement, and I'm not gonna rush him .. ;D In the meantime you can read the posts at our flagship forum www.neweaglesforum.proboards107.com/index.cgiin the Major Announcement Thread and the Announcement Thread To those good people who have Pm'd me .. Please be patient .. I'll reply as time allows ASAP . Best Wishes ;D Nodstar*
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NEWS
Mar 16, 2009 16:23:03 GMT 4
Post by towhom on Mar 16, 2009 16:23:03 GMT 4
Alaska's Mount Redoubt rumbles once againYahoo News Mon Mar 16, 4:31 am ETnews.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090316/ap_on_re_us/alaska_volcanoANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska's Mount Redoubt is rumbling again and geologists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory increased the official alert level to orange, the stage just before eruption. A significant eruption did not appear imminent, geologists said Sunday, but they cautioned that conditions could evolve rapidly. The 10,200-foot Redoubt Volcano is about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage. Ash from the volcano could harm engines and is especially dangerous for aircraft. Ash blown to cities also can cause respiratory problems. Residents of south-central Alaska have kept a close eye on Redoubt since the observatory on Jan. 25 warned that an eruption could occur at any moment. The alert level was downgraded last week after nearly two months. Just after 1 p.m. Sunday, however, seismic activity picked up again. "We got a return of this stuff we call volcanic tremors," said geologist Chris Waythomas. "Think of the phenomenon that produces sound in an organ pipe." Instead of sound waves in a pipe, geologists detect movement of magma within cracks and fractures of the mountain that resonates and produces a distinct signal. "We think it's associated with the hydrothermal system there. It's being reinvigorated," Waythomas said. The tremors lasted about four hours and then settled down. An observatory flight Sunday reported that a steam and ash plume rose as high as 15,000 feet above sea level and produced minor ash fall on the upper south flank of the mountain. Later reports indicated the plume had changed into mostly steam. Ash emission had not been seen before, Waythomas said, and until samples are taken, geologists will not know whether it's new magma or, more likely, old ground-up material from previous episodes. Other signs that a volcano could erupt are deformities in the landscape and the mix of gases escaping from vents on the side of the mountain. Alaska volcanos typically explode and shoot ash upward, sometimes to 50,000 feet, high into the jet stream. An eruption of Redoubt on Dec. 15, 1989, sent ash 150 miles away into the path of a KLM jet, stopping its engines. The jet dropped more than two miles before the crew was able to restart engines and land safely at Anchorage.
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NEWS
Mar 16, 2009 16:37:49 GMT 4
Post by towhom on Mar 16, 2009 16:37:49 GMT 4
What scents did the ancient Egyptians use?Researchers in Bonn aim to recreate a 3,500-year-old scentEurekAlert Public Release: 15-Mar-2009www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/uob-wsd031309.phpPharaoh Hatshepsut was a power-conscious woman who assumed the reins of government in Egypt around the year 1479 B.C. In actual fact, she was only supposed to represent her step-son Thutmose III, who was three years old at the time, until he was old enough to take over. But the interregnum lasted 20 years. "She systematically kept Thutmose out of power", says Michael Höveler-Müller, the curator of Bonn University´s Egyptian Museum. Hatshepsut´s perfume is also presumably a demonstration of her power. "We think it probable that one constituent was incense – the scent of the gods", Michael Höveler-Müller declares. This idea is not so wide of the mark, as it is a known fact that in the course of her regency Haptshepsut undertook an expedition to Punt – the modern Eritrea, and the Egyptians had been importing precious goods such as ebony, ivory, gold, and just this incense, from there since the third millennium B.C. Apparently the expedition brought back whole incense plants, which Hatshepsut then had planted in the vicinity of her funerary temple. World Premier with an interesting ResultThe filigree flacon now under examination by the researchers in Bonn bears an inscription with the name of the Pharaoh. Hence it was probably once in her possession. The vessel is exceptionally well preserved. "So we considered it might be rewarding to have it screened in the University Clinic´s Radiology Department", Höveler-Müller explains. "As far as I know this has never been done before". This world premier will now in all probability be followed by another one: "The desiccated residues of a fluid can be clearly discerned in the x-ray photographs", the museum´s curator explains. "Our pharmacologists are now going to analyse this sediment". The results could be available in a good year´s time. If they are successful, the scientists in Bonn are even hoping to "reconstruct" the perfume so that, 3,500 years after the death of the woman amongst whose possessions it was found, the scent could then be revitalised. Hatshepsut died in 1457 B.C. Analysis of the mummy ascribed to her showed that the ruler was apparently between 45 and 60 years of age at the end of her life; that she was also overweight, and suffering from diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis and arthritis. Obviously for reasons of security, she was laid to rest in the tomb of her wet nurse. In 1903, over 3,300 years later, the famous Egyptologist Howard Carter stumbled upon the two mummies. However, more than 100 years were to pass before the Pharaoh´s corpse could be identified using DNA and dental analysis in the year 2007. Thutmose III, incidentally, appears not to have shed a single tear for his step-mother, as during his reign he had every image destroyed which showed her as ruler, and which could have belonged to her.
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NEWS
Mar 16, 2009 16:44:25 GMT 4
Post by 41n350e on Mar 16, 2009 16:44:25 GMT 4
Please, please, please.
I hope those of us here are "getting" what is happening right now.
Pursuant to the Tau IX-6 treaty (we ALL know what that is) the Eagles Disobey website with stand in abeyance for 72 hours....
PLease tell me that everyone here now KNOWS that the EDO team obviously exists or functions as a component of this very, very important treaty. Please tell me that everyone gets it that this 3-day meeting is certainly under way right now. This is why Dan Burisch needs all of us to show the "others" that there is much untapped positive energy here on this wretched, this beautiful little planet.
I am mustering every last ounce of whatever it is I have that I can channel to those present at that meeting--- to show all concerned how effective DAN and the team have been in enlightening the masses about the way things really are.
I had no idea.
I had no idea how closely tied to things the EDO website is. I do now.
EVERYBODY.....PRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
41
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NEWS
Mar 16, 2009 16:49:49 GMT 4
Post by 41n350e on Mar 16, 2009 16:49:49 GMT 4
I hope Dr. Burisch gets to hear from an old friend.
41
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Mar 16, 2009 17:35:36 GMT 4
Post by towhom on Mar 16, 2009 17:35:36 GMT 4
Important new model shows how proteins find the right DNA sequencesEurekAlert Public Release: 16-Mar-2009www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/uu-inm031609.phpResearchers at Uppsala University and Harvard University have collaboratively developed a new theoretical model to explain how proteins can rapidly find specific DNA sequences, even though there are many obstacles in the way on the chromosomes. The findings are being published today in the scientific journal Nature Physics. In living cells, DNA-binding proteins regulate the activity of various genes so that different cells carry out the right tasks at the right time. For this to work, the DNA-binding proteins need to find the right DNA site sufficiently quickly. The research team behind the new study has previously succeeded in determining that it takes only a few minutes for an individual protein molecule to look through the millions of nearly identical binding alternatives and find the right place to bind. This is nevertheless slower than what is predicted by the established theoretical model for how DNA-binding proteins find their way to the proper place by alternating between diffusing in the cell cytoplasm and along DNA strands. "By also taking into consideration the fact that there are many obstacles in the way when proteins are to diffuse along DNA strands, we can now calculate more exactly how long it takes them to find their way," says Johan Elf, associate professor of molecular biotechnology at the Center for Bioinformatics. Besides offering a more precise prediction regarding the time needed to find the right site on DNA, the new theoretical model explains why there is an optimal total concentration of DNA-binding proteins. If there were more, it would simply be impossible for them to find a binding place in a reasonable time, since the proteins would be in each other's way. If there were fewer it would go slower as well, since not enough proteins would be searching. Finally, the new model provides an explanation why so many DNA-binding proteins also bind auxiliary binding sites close to the regulatory site, thus forming DNA loops. It turns out that this can shorten the time to find the right sites. "This more detailed understanding of gene regulation is important, since it can ultimately provide a better understanding of diseases that occur as a result of problems in the control functions of cells, such as in cancer" says Johan Elf. The researchers behind the study are Gene-Wei Li, Otto G. Berg, and Johan Elf
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NEWS
Mar 16, 2009 22:22:03 GMT 4
Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Mar 16, 2009 22:22:03 GMT 4
I hope Dr. Burisch gets to hear from an old friend. 41 No not an Old friend Actually Quite a "YOUNG" Friend 52,000+ years Young ;D ;D ;D
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NEWS
Mar 17, 2009 4:29:16 GMT 4
Post by ubleck on Mar 17, 2009 4:29:16 GMT 4
f**k richard cheney. he's a loser. i don't care what he thinks he is. he's a loser.
the one true thing about timelines...those aware of their mechanisms cannot be aware of all human paths. that is the law. for every gift another gift is taken away. a single path can change any line. this is called the muchinfuch effect. its what drove baron munchasen madly badly.
we go, and will always go, from novelty upwelling (rennasiance) to novelty downwelling (darkages)
so far.
so we turn a corner. all it really is is rennasaince (sp) for a muchly extended period of tyme. given enough concordance in the group mind of humanity it could border on a fair percentage of eternity.
eden waits. it is already here. always has been. all the plants. and most of the animules are already fully engaged. the group mind of humanity meanders about trying to decide how it will manage things it will never manage so humanity does not become archtypical without much wailing and weeping histronics...
ask jung.
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NEWS
Mar 17, 2009 5:26:24 GMT 4
Post by towhom on Mar 17, 2009 5:26:24 GMT 4
Scripps research scientists 'watch' as individual alpha-synuclein proteins change shapeDance by protein linked to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases reveals unprecedented twists and turnsEurekAlert Public Release: 16-Mar-2009www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/sri-srs031609.phpIn an Early Edition publication of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this week, the researchers demonstrate the "alpha-synuclein dance" – the switching back and forth of the protein between a bent helix and an extended helix as the surface that it is binding to changes. Such shape shifting has rarely been so directly observed in proteins like alpha-synuclein [One in a family of structurally related proteins that are prominently expressed in the central nervous system. Aggregated alpha-synuclein proteins form brain lesions that are hallmarks of some neurodegenerative diseases (synucleinopathies)], which are known to be unfolded in isolation, says the study's senior investigator Ashok Deniz, an associate professor at The Scripps Research Institute. "We are intrigued to see such complex behavior," he says. "It is interesting that with just a single binding partner, the protein can undergo so many dramatic shape transitions, and that the whole process is reversible." In the past, scientists believed that proteins, as directed by their genes, fold themselves into defined three-dimensional structures that dictate their function. But more recently, a class of proteins known as "intrinsically disordered proteins" have been identified, which are functional, despite the fact that they are often unfolded. Alpha-synuclein is such a protein. Mutations in the gene that produces alpha-synuclein have been linked to early-onset Parkinson's disease, and in sporadic, common Parkinson's disease, the protein can accumulate into so-called Lewy bodies inside nerve cells. The protein is also found in the amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease, and in other forms of neurological disease. To learn more about alpha-synuclein, the Scripps Research team decided to study the shape of single proteins. To do this, they used a technique they helped develop, which is known as single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), to look at how the protein folds when it binds to different molecules. This technique, which Deniz calls a "molecular ruler," measures light emitted from fluorescent dyes that are attached to amino acids in the protein. The measured light provides information about molecular distances, hence revealing the protein's shape. By observing shapes of individual proteins rather than averaging data over a large number of them, the team was able to better map and resolve shape complexity in the system. To coax the protein to change shapes, the researchers increased the concentration of a soapy solution that mimics the lipids found in different nerve cell membranes in the brain. Alpha-synuclein is known to bind to membranes on nerve cells, and lipids are a large component of those membranes. At a low concentration, the "lipid" molecules remained separate but at higher concentration, small and then larger blobs of molecules form. The shape of the alpha-synuclein kept pace – the extended helix could latch onto lipid-mimics as monomers or in a large cylinder-shaped blob, whereas the bent helix wrapped itself around smaller lipid-mimic balls or could create formations with lipid-mimic monomers. "Others have found the protein to be in a bent helix or in an extended helix, but what we are showing here directly is that the shape can actively change," Deniz says. "It starts off in an unfolded state, and as we increase the concentration of the lipid mimics, the protein reacts to what is in effect a different binding partner, even though it is the same small molecule at different concentrations. It switches back and forth into different states. "This is perhaps the most complex protein folding-binding system that has been studied to date using single-molecule FRET," he says. This ability of alpha-synuclein to be switched into alternative shapes could play a significant role in regulating formation of disease-related aggregates, as well as enabling its function. Hence, one next step for the research team is to figure out which form of alpha-synuclein may accelerate formation of the types of protein aggregates found in Alzheimer's disease plaque and in Parkinson's disease Lewy bodies. Using single-molecule methods to directly construct binding-folding maps (as in the current work) will be a critical component of this future effort, and also should be widely applicable to other intrinsically disordered or amyloid-forming proteins. Co-authors of the paper, "Interplay of á-synuclein binding and conformational switching probed by single molecule fluorescence," include first authors Allan Chris M. Ferreon and Yann Gambin, and Edward A. Lemke – all of The Scripps Research Institute.
This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and postdoctoral fellowships from the NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the La Jolla Interfaces in Science (funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
About The Scripps Research Institute The Scripps Research Institute is one of the world's largest independent, non-profit biomedical research organizations, at the forefront of basic biomedical science that seeks to comprehend the most fundamental processes of life. Scripps Research is internationally recognized for its discoveries in immunology, molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, neurosciences, autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases, and synthetic vaccine development. Established in its current configuration in 1961, it employs approximately 3,000 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, scientific and other technicians, doctoral degree graduate students, and administrative and technical support personnel. Scripps Research is headquartered in La Jolla, California. It also includes Scripps Florida, whose researchers focus on basic biomedical science, drug discovery, and technology development.
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NEWS
Mar 17, 2009 5:41:22 GMT 4
Post by towhom on Mar 17, 2009 5:41:22 GMT 4
Microscope Reveals How Bacteria “Breathe” Toxic MetalsOhio State University Monday, March 16, 2009researchnews.osu.edu/archive/bactmetal.htmCOLUMBUS, Ohio -- Researchers are studying some common soil bacteria that “inhale” toxic metals and “exhale” them in a non-toxic form. The bacteria might one day be used to clean up toxic chemicals left over from nuclear weapons production decades ago. Using a unique combination of microscopes, researchers at Ohio State University and their colleagues were able to glimpse how the Shewanella oneidensis bacterium breaks down metal to chemically extract oxygen. The study, published online this week in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, provides the first evidence that Shewanella maneuvers proteins within the bacterial cell into its outer membrane to contact metal directly. The proteins then bond with metal oxides, which the bacteria utilize the same way we do oxygen. The process is called respiration, and it’s how living organisms make energy, explained Brian Lower, assistant professor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at Ohio State. We use the oxygen we breathe to release energy from our food. But in nature, bacteria don’t always have access to oxygen. “Whether the bacteria are buried in the soil or underwater, they can rely on metals to get the energy they need,” Lower said. “It’s an ancient form of respiration.”“This kind of respiration is fascinating from an evolutionary standpoint, but we’re also interested in how we can use the bacteria to remediate nasty compounds such as uranium, technetium, and chromium.” The last two are byproducts of plutonium. The United States Department of Energy is sponsoring the work in order to uncover new methods for treating waste from nuclear weapons production in the 1960s and ‘70s. Shewanella is naturally present in the soil, and can in fact be found at nuclear waste sites such as the Hanford site in the state of Washington, Lower explained. With better knowledge of the bacterium’s abilities, scientists might one day engineer a Shewanella that would remediate such waste more efficiently. “For instance, if you could enhance this bacterium’s ability to reduce uranium by having it make more of these key proteins, that could perhaps be one way to clean up these sites that are contaminated,” he said. The danger at such waste sites is that the toxic metals are soluble, and so can leak into the local water supply. But these bacteria naturally convert the metals into an insoluble form. Though the metals would remain in place, they would be stable solids instead of unstable liquids. For this study, Lower and his colleagues used an atomic force microscope (AFM) to test how the bacterium responded to the metallic mineral hematite. An AFM works somewhat like a miniaturized phonograph needle: a tiny tip dangles from a cantilever above a surface that’s being studied. The cantilever measures how much the tip rises and falls as it’s dragged over the surface. It can measure features smaller than a nanometer (billionth of a meter), and detect atomic forces between the probe tip and the surface material. They combined the AFM with an optical microscope to get a precise map of the bacteria’s location on the hematite. Though the bacteria are very small -- several hundred thousand of them could fit inside the period at the end of a sentence -- they are still thousands of times bigger than the tip of an AFM probe. So the microscope was able to slide over the surface of individual bacteria to detect protein molecules on the cell surface and in contact with the metal. The researchers coated their probe tip with antibodies for the protein OmcA, which they suspected Shewanella would use to “breathe” the metal. Whenever the probe slid over an OmcA protein, the antibody coating would stick to the protein. By measuring the tiny increase in force needed to pull the two apart, the researchers could tell where on the bacteria surface the proteins were located. The microscope detected OmcA all around the edges of the bacteria, wherever the cell membrane contacted the hematite -- which suggests that the protein does indeed enable the bacteria to “breathe” hematite. The protein was even present in a gelatinous ooze that was seeping from the bacteria. This suggests that Shewanella might create the ooze in order to obtain energy from a wider portion of the metal than it can directly touch, Lower said. In the future, he and his partners want to test their new microscope technique on other types of cells. They also want to test whether Shewanella produces OmcA on the cell surface when exposed to uranium and technetium. Lower’s coauthors on the paper hail from Corning, Inc.; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Austria; Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland; and Umeå University, Sweden.
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