The UC Santa Barbara men?s tennis team, which on Sunday became the first No. 5 seed to win the Big West Conference Tournament, will travel to Malibu on Friday, May 10 to play 11th-seeded Pepperdine in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, it was announced Tuesday.
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UCSB head coach Marty Davis was pretty sure that his Gauchos would go to one of three sites for the first round: Pepperdine, USC or UCLA.
?This is the best draw,? Davis said. ?This is the draw we were hoping for, not because it is an easy draw, but because the other options were the No. 1 seed (UCLA) or a team that has won the last four championships (No. 4 seeded USC). We haven?t seen Pepperdine in a couple of years, but I?m encouraged by the fact that they were pushed by BYU, a team we beat last year, so this is best case scenario.?
The Gauchos? march to the Big West title last weekend at Indian Wells, included three upsets in four days. In the opener, they defeated fourth-seeded Hawaii by a score of 4-2. In the second round, UCSB knocked out the top-seeded team, UC Irvine, 4-1, and in Sunday?s championship match handed third-seeded Pacific a 4-2 defeat. Each of the three teams that the Gauchos defeated in the league tournament had beaten them in the preceding two weeks.
Santa Barbara, which has won eight Big West Conference crowns, will be appearing in its 10th NCAA Tournament and first since 2009. It will be the seventh time that a Davis-led Gaucho team will appear in the postseason.
UCSB will enter NCAA play with an overall record of 12-13. Pepperdine is 24-5.
The winner of the match between the Gauchos and Waves will play a second round match against the winner of LSU-Stanford on Saturday, May 11.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? The description of a shuttered abortion clinic as a "house of horrors" is a "political press fabrication," a lawyer for a doctor charged with killing four babies allegedly born alive there said Monday.
Authorities say Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, ran a clinic where desperate women sought late-term abortions they could not get elsewhere. And he got rich doing so, prosecutors said, making millions of dollars over a 30-year career.
Gosnell is charged with killing four babies allegedly born alive and in the overdose death of a 41-year-old patient.
During closing arguments Monday, defense attorney Jack McMahon showed photographs of a relatively neat waiting room and other areas in Gosnell's clinic, saying that pictures don't lie.
He said the clinic wasn't perfect but it wasn't the criminal enterprise that prosecutors claim. The district attorney has called it a "house of horrors."
McMahon said he's not backing down from his opening remarks that the case is an elitist and racist prosecution against Gosnell, who is black.
Prosecutors say Gosnell killed viable babies born alive after putting a steady stream of often low-income, minority women through labor and delivery. Former employees have testified that Gosnell taught them to "snip" babies' necks after they were delivered to "ensure fetal demise."
"Why would you cut a baby in the back of the neck unless you were killing them?" Assistant District Attorney Ed Cameron argued last week, as he asked a judge to send all seven first-degree murder charges to the jury.
Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart, though, threw out three of those counts for lack of evidence they were viable, born alive and then killed.
Gosnell is also charged in the overdose death of a patient, 41-year-old refugee Karnamaya Mongar, of Woodbridge, Va.
The jury must now weigh the five murder counts, along with lesser charges that include racketeering, performing illegal abortions after 24 weeks, failing to observe the 24-hour waiting period and endangering a child's welfare for employing a 15-year-old in the procedure area.
McMahon has argued that there were no live births at the clinic, and he found some support from a prosecution witness, Philadelphia's top medical examiner. Dr. Sam Gulino, who examined 47 aborted fetuses stored in freezers at the clinic, said he could not definitively say if any had taken a breath because the lung tissue had deteriorated.
The prosecution's other evidence to support the live birth argument comes from former employees, who testified that they saw aborted babies move, breathe or even cry. McMahon challenged them on cross-examination, questioning whether they had instead seen post-mortem spasms.
"You have to have definite, voluntary movement," McMahon argued.
The jury has seen a graphic photograph of some of the aborted babies and a worker testified that Gosnell joked that one was so big "it could walk to the bus."
Lynda Williams, Adrianne Moton and Sherry West, all untrained clinic workers, and unlicensed doctor Stephen Massof have each pleaded guilty to third-degree murder charges and testified against Gosnell. And four others have pleaded guilty to lesser charges, including Gosnell's wife, Pearl.
Gosnell did not testify, but could take the stand in the penalty phase if he is convicted of first-degree murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Prosecutors say Gosnell is a misogynist for the way he treated female patients while the inner-city doctor described himself as an altruist in a 2010 interview with the Philadelphia Daily News.
"I wanted to be an effective, positive force in the minority community," Gosnell said.
Also on trial is former clinic employee Eileen O'Neill, 56, of Phoenixville. She is charged with theft for allegedly practicing medicine without a license.
O'Neill's lawyer said in his closing arguments that prosecutors failed to prove their case against her.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court has rejected Alabama's appeal to revive portions of a state immigration law, including a section that made it a crime to harbor people who are living in the country illegally.
The justices on Monday left in place a federal appeals court ruling that blocked parts of the law. Justice Antonin Scalia voted to hear the state's appeal.
The law's purpose was to reduce the "number of illegal aliens" in Alabama
The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said immigration law primarily is the responsibility of the federal government and that the state lacked the authority to enforce the challenged provisions. The appeals court ruling followed last year's Supreme Court ruling that blocked some parts of Arizona's immigration law.
It's easy to forget that almost nothing you eat was grown remotely near you and plenty of it wasn't even grown recently. And for that miracle of modern day life, we have gigantic metal plates, frozen to subzero temperatures to thank. Or at least that's how it all started.
The miracle/curse of frozen food dates back thousands of years, but it's only a (relatively) recent stroke of applied design genius that let us have it all the time, everywhere. MinuteEarth explains. Now finish your peas before you dig into that ice cream. [YouTube]
Estrella Manuel, 2, holds an American flag in her mouth during a news conference in Miami Wednesday, June 17, 2009. Roughly 150 children are suing President Barack Obama to halt the deportations of their parents until Congress overhauls U.S. immigration laws. The U.S.-born children say their constitutional rights are being violated because they, too, will likely have to leave the country if their parents are forced to leave. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Memorial dedicated to the children of the Paris Vel D'Hiv round-up
French former President Jacques Chirac looks at photographs of victims, on January 27, 2011 in Orleans, central France, during the unveiling of a memorial dedicated to the children of the Paris Vel D'Hiv round-up, as part of a worldwide souvenir day. On July 16 and 17, 1942, some 13,000 Jews were detained and taken to the Velodrome d'Hiver cycling stadium near the Eiffel Tower, where they spent a week in appalling conditions, before being deported to Nazi concentration camps. AFP PHOTO/ALAIN JOCARD (Photo credit should read ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/GettyImages)
Deportations From Greece
Migrants on a police bus in central Athens, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. Greek police say officers have begun an operation to arrest and deport illegal migrants from the center of the capital and along the country
Flying Kites In Memory Of Orphans Deported To Treblinka
Members of the Israeli youth movement HaMachanot HaOlim fly kites in memory of Janusz Korczak on August 5, 2012 during an event marking 70 years since the deportation to Treblinka of Korczak, Stefa Wilczynska, and the children of their orphanage, from the Warsaw Ghetto at the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem. On August 5, 1942, the Nazis rounded up Korczak, Wilczynska and the 200 children of the orphanage. He and Stefa never abandoned the children, even to the very end. Korczak, Wilczynska and the children were sent to Treblinka, where they were all murdered. AFP PHOTO/GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/GettyImages)
Hamas leader holds a portrait of arrested Islamist leader
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya holds a portrait of Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the radical wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel, during a protest in Gaza City on July 5, 2011, after the controversial Arab-Israeli Islamist leader was arrested in London for entering the country despite a government ban and now faces deportation from Britain. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)
Remembering Deportation Of Chechens
A woman holds a poster showing President Putin's portrait drawn as a razor wire during anti-Putin rally in Moscow, 23 February 2005, during Democtraic Union party's protest action for the 61th anniversary of Stalin's deportation of Chechens to Siberia and Kazakhstan. AFP PHOTO/ ALEXANDER NEMENOV. (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/GettyImages)
Suspected FARC Member Deported From Ecuador
Edilson Castro Lopez, center, a suspected member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, is escorted by police officers, after arriving in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. Castro was deported from Ecuador where he was captured Saturday. Castro Lopez was in Ecuador negotiating an arms deal for the FARC, according to police chief, Gen. Jose Roberto Leon. (AP Photo)
Iraqi and Iranians protest in the Iraqi city of Baquba
Iraqi and Iranians protest in the northeastern Iraqi city of Baquba, the capital of the province of Diyala, on November 18, 2011, calling on the government to have the residents of the Ashraf camp deported and the camp closed. Iraq has served a virtual 'death warrant' on some 3,400 Iranian dissidents exiled in a camp north of Baghdad, the head of the European parliament's delegation for relations with Iraq said. Camp Ashraf was set up when Iraq and Iran were at war in the 1980s by the People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) and was later placed under US control until January 2009, when US forces transferred security for the camp to Iraq. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)
People place flowers in Vilnius honoring memory of people deported by Soviet forces
People place flowers in Vilnius on June 14, 2011 on a cattle wagon used to deport people from Lithuania to Siberia on June 14, 1941. The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on June 14 honoured the memory of tens of thousands of their citizens deported by Soviet forces exactly 70 years ago during World War II. In nationwide commemorations that only became possible after Soviet rule ended in 1991, leaders said the 43,000 victims of June 14, 1941 must never be forgotten. AFP PHOTO / PETRAS MALUKAS (Photo credit should read PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP/Getty Images)
Remembering The Mass Deportations From The Warsaw Ghetto
People attach colourful ribbons with the names of Jewish children on the fence of a former Jewish orphanage during ceremonies in Warsaw on July 22, 2012 marking the 70th anniversary of the start of Nazi Germany's mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to the death camp of Treblinka. AFP PHOTO / WOJTEK RADWANSKI (Photo credit should read WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP/GettyImages)
Members of the English Defence League
Members of the English Defence League (EDL) chant holding placards calling for the deportation of radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada at opposing Unite Against Facism protesters as they gather outside the Home Office in central London on April 17, 2012. British authorities on April 17 arrested Abu Qatada, who is accused of ties to late Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, as they resumed efforts to deport him to Jordan. The UK government has been trying to extradite the 51-year-old Jordanian since 2005 arguing that he is a threat to national security, but British and European courts have repeatedly thwarted its efforts on human rights grounds. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)
Chinese police excort a group of suspects deported from Indonesia
Chinese police excort a group of suspects (in black hoods) deported from Indonesia upon their arrival at the airport in Beijing on June 11, 2011. Indonesia deported 76 Chinese nationals who were among hundreds rounded up across Asia in connection with an alleged massive online fraud. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)
A boy born in Israel to a foreign worker
A boy born in Israel to a foreign worker, holds a letter in Hebrew addressed to Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu asking him not to be deported during a protest against a possible deportation of their families from Israel outside Prime Minister Netanyahu's residency in Jerusalem on February 21, 2012 organized by the NGO Israeli Children. Under an August 2010 cabinet decision, foreign workers with children could obtain residency rights if the child had come here before age 13, lived here at least five years, was either in school or about to enter first grade, and spoke Hebrew fluently, on condition that the parents initially entered Israel legally. Last week the Population, Immigration and Borders Authority (PIBA) began informing foreign workers and their children whether they have the right to stay in Israel or will face deportation in the next month. AFP PHOTO/GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)
Indonesians Deportations
Rep. Rush Holt, D-NJ, addresses a gathering of Indonesian immigrants at the Reformed Church of Highland Park Friday, April 6, 2012, in Highland Park, N.J. The church has granted sanctuary to a number of Indonesian Christian immigrants with final orders of deportation. Holt was speaking in favor of a bill by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, to try and reopen their cases. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Supreme Court considers SB1070
Tuulia Lowe protests against SB1070 and immigration deportations Wednesday, April 25, 2012, in San Francisco. Supreme Court justices strongly suggested Wednesday that they are ready to allow Arizona to enforce part of a controversial state law requiring police officers to check the immigration status of people they think are in the country illegally. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
South Sudanese Refugee Deported From Israel
South Sudanese refugee Samuel Akue 30, carries his suitcases on June 11, 2012, in the Mediterranean city of Tel Aviv, as he prepares for his deportation by Israeli authorities. Israeli authorities rounded up dozens of migrants slated for deportation, most of them Africans from South Sudan, as the government weighs tough penalties against Israelis who help illegal aliens. AFP PHOTO/JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/GettyImages)
President Obama Speaks On Homeland Security's Announcement About Deportations
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 15: Members of CASA de Maryland gather in front of the White House to celebrate the Obama Administration's announcement about deportation of illegal immigrants June 15, 2012 in Washington, DC. Obama said the administration will stop deporting undocumented immigrants who had come to the U.S. when they were at a young age. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Immigration Rights Activists Protest Possible Deportation Of Bangladeshi Student
POMPANO BEACH, FL - OCTOBER 25: (L-R) Frida Ulloa, Felipe Mato and Raul Gil and others hold a sign reading, ' Education Not Deportation'' as they stand in front of the Broward Transitional Center on October 25, 2011 in Pompano Beach, Florida. The group was protesting the possible deportation of Shamir Ali, a 25-year-old born in Bangladesh, who they say would be a candidate for the DREAM Act if it was made into a federal law. The DREAM Act bill would provide legal status to some undocumented young people. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Honduran migrants deported from the United States
Honduran migrants deported from the United States walk on a tarmac of Toncontin Airport in Tegucigalpa upon their arrival on December 23, 2011. The 134 migrants are part of the 40.000 Hondurans, including men, women and children, that have been deported from the US this year. AFP PHOTO/Orlando SIERRA (Photo credit should read ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images)
Drug trafficker Hector Buitriago
Colombian police custody Colombian drug trafficker Hector Buitriago, aka Martin Llanos, upon his arrival at the antinarcotics police air base after his deportation from Venezuela, in Bogota on February 9, 2012. AFP PHOTO/Luis Acosta (Photo credit should read LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images)
Immigrants and working families march to stop deportations on May Day
Immigrants and working families march to demand legalization for all immigrants and to stop deportations and the attacks on workers in Los Angeles, California on May 1, 2011. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)
126 Guatemalans Arrive Back Home
Some of 126 deported Guatemalans wait for his turn to be registered by migration authorities upon arrival at the Air Force base in Guatemala City from the US Luisiana state on July 26, 2012. The United States deported 23,136 Guatemalans between January and July, a historical record that exceeds 28.3 % expulsions registered during the same period last year, according to records of the General Directorate of Migration of Guatemala. JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/GettyImages
Berlin Marks 70th Anniversary Of Jewish Deportations
BERLIN, GERMANY - OCTOBER 18: A young woman arrives to lay a rose at the Gleis 17 (Track 17) memorial on the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Jews from Berlin to concentration camps during World War II on October 18, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. On October 18, 1941, the Nazis began deporting Jewish residents of Berlin by rail to concentration camps, including to Theresienstadt and later to Auschwitz. In all approximately 56,000 Berlin Jews were deported and killed between 1941 and 1945, and today a memorial at Track 17, the original platform from which many Jews were crowded into freight cars for deportation, lists the dates, origins, destinations and numbers of Jews transported. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Immigrant Mother Of American Children Faces Deportation
DENVER, CO - MAY 23: Mexican immigrant Jeanette Vizguerra loads her children into her car after a meeting at the Mexican consulate in her fight against deportation hearings on May 23, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. She is scheduled for a final hearing July 13 at Denver's Federal Courthouse. Just one of millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States, Vizguerra is a small business owner of a janitorial service as well as an community organizer for immigration rights. She first came to Colorado from Mexico City with her husband 14 years before, and they now have three American-born children. Two years ago she was stopped by a traffic policemen for driving with expired tags and was taken to jail when she could not prove she was in the country legally. Vizguerra has been out on bail during lengthy court proceedings, but now faces the real possibility that she will be deported back to Mexico and separated from her family in the United States. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Romanian Roma victim of deportation during World War II
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MIHAELA RODINA Romanian Roma victim of deportation during World War II, Marin Safta, 89, holds an old picture of him with his wife as he recounts on January 23, 2012 the widely forgotten tragedy in Bucharest. The deportation of thousands of Roma by Romanian marshal Ion Antonescu is an indelible stigma for the victims 70 years on, survivors and analysts say. Holocaust victims are commemorated across the world on January 27, declared an International Day of Rememberance. In May 1942, Romania's Antonescu ordered the deportation of 'nomad, idle and criminal Gypsies' (Roma) in order to 'cleanse villages and cities of poor or dangerous people.' Some 25,000 Roma, out of a total of 208,000 registered, were deported to Transdniestr, a formerly Soviet region that was at the time controlled by the Romanian pro-Nazi authorities. AFP PHOTO DANIEL MIHAILESCU (Photo credit should read DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images)
There's now a way to make "protein origami" ? self-assembling shapes made of twisted molecular strands? a new study reveals.
The technology builds upon the advances of DNA origami, a technique that has been used to build box shapes, DNA scissors and other materials. Now, bioengineers have produced a single-stranded coil of protein that spontaneously sprang into a pyramid shape. While just an early demonstration, the technique could someday be used to make vehicles for drug delivery or to catalyze reactions.
"It is a piece of great work in the field of programmed biomacromolecular self-assembly," said chemist Chengde Mao of Purdue University in Indiana, who was not involved in the study. "The beauty of the strategy is its simplicity." [Biomimicry: 7 Clever Technologies Inspired by Nature]
Proteins are the molecular building blocks that carry out a host of vital functions in cells. They are composed of long chains known as polypeptides, which coil and fold to form complex 3D structures.
The idea with protein origami is to create rigid segments that can self-assemble in a modular fashion, like LEGO bricks. The segments are "smart" materials, because they contain all the information for the final structure inside them.
For the bricks, researchers designed well-studied structures called "coiled-coil segments" ? a combination of two or more helices that intertwine. They then made a chain of 12 of these segments stitched together on flexible hinges, which self-assembled into a pyramidlike shape known as a tetrahedron. Each edge of the tetrahedron was bounded by two of the segments.
"The shape is completely different from anything natural," said senior study author Roman Jerala, a synthetic biologist at the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Jerala and his colleagues confirmed the tetrahedron's formation using several kinds of microscopy. Each tetrahedron was only about 5 nanometers on an edge, about one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair.
Right now, it's just a proof of principle, Jerala told LiveScience. But ultimately, protein origami could be used to encapsulate drugs, for instance, to allow their controlled release. Or these structures could act as catalysts for reactions, much like enzymes in living cells.
Creating similar shapes using DNA origami is cheaper and easier to handle than proteins, said Paul Rothemund of Caltech, who was not involved in the study. But protein origami lets you make them much finer. "Making structures out of DNA is like building molecular structures out of DUPLO blocks [giant LEGOs]," Rothemund said, but? "working with proteins, on the other hand, is sort of like working with adult LEGOs ? they have a much smaller intrinsic resolution."
Scientists have created small objects out of proteins before, but these had to be symmetrical shapes, Jerala said. Using protein origami, "we can take natural elements and do something completely different that does not exist in nature," Jerala said. "Nature just didn?t explore all the possibilities."
The findings were detailed today (April 28) in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitterand Google+.?Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.
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It's after 1am on a Saturday night in Manhattan, and there are still hundreds of people at our Disrupt NY Hackathon. The dedication of the attendees trying to build a cool product in less than 24 hours is both impressive and slightly disturbing. To capture some of the energy, Drew Olanoff and I took a walk around the venue at around 11pm, as the pizza and beer arrived to give the teams a late-night boost. We watched quick demos of a few cool projects, assessed the quality of the inescapable caffeine, and capped things off with an impromptu game of basement dodgeball.
NBC has officially renewed the beloved drama starring Lauren Graham, Dax Shepard, Peter Krause, Monica Potter, Craig T. Nelson and more for a fifth season.
"Parenthood" consistently saw strong ratings during Season 4, with its premiere bringing in 5.48 million viewers in September and the finale racking 4.87 million in January. Season 5 received a 22-episode order, up seven episodes from last year.
Mae Whitman, who plays Amber on the series, tweeted about the renewal on Friday afternoon.
"Everybody at the network has been so positive about the show and I think that they are fans of the show themselves and they really, creatively, loved the direction it went this year, so that?s really good," Katims said at Paleyfest in March. "I also know that the ratings are not what anybody would dream for them to be, but they?re definitely moving in the right direction for us and for the network. We?re pretty happy there too. So I?m hopeful."
The network also renewed "Revolution," "Law & Order SVU," "Chicago Fire" and "Grimm."
Check out how the "Parenthood" cast, along with other celebs, reacted to the "Parenthood" renewal below.
... POTOMAC FALLS Va. April 25 2013 /PRNewswi...The agreement solidifies a development partnership which allows Kindst...Kindstar Founder and CEO Dr. Shiang Huang Tom Richards TessArae President an...
POTOMAC FALLS, Va., April 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --?TessArae?, LLC and Kindstar Global, the largest esoteric reference laboratory in China, have signed a collaboration agreement for the development of a pan-ethnic carrier screen for the Chinese population.? The assay, which will be run in Kindstar's laboratories in China, employs TessArae's targeted sequencing development platform and proprietary bioanalysis software.?
The agreement solidifies a development partnership which allows Kindstar to leverage TessArae's design expertise to create and market its own Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) specific to the Chinese market.? TessArae's development platform combines a highly multiplexed amplification strategy with a standard Affymetrix microarray protocol.? Results are delivered as genomic sequence, automatically generated and analyzed by TessArae's GeneCipher? algorithms.
Kindstar Founder and CEO, Dr. Shiang Huang said in a statement, "TessArae's development platform is a unique and valuable tool that provides Kindstar near immediate access to key markets with clinically appropriate, sequence-driven diagnostics. ??Kindstar is able to capture revenue faster at less cost by partnering with TessArae in the expansion of our test menu."
Dr. Tom Richards , TessArae President and CEO, commented "TessArae's development platform grants our partners the combined benefits of two worlds: the efficiency and predictability of microarrays with the rich specificity of genetic sequencing.? As a result, they can develop market-specific genetics assays much more quickly than alternative approaches.? We are excited to partner with Kindstar in bringing their vision of recessive disease testing to the Chinese market."
1. Chinese Scientists Zhen-Yi Wang and Zhu Chen Awarded 7th Annual Szent-Gyorgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research 2. NanoLogix Instructs Third-Party to Prepare US FDA Submittals and is Granted US and Chinese Patents 3. Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. Provides Largest Corporate Gift in Science Museum of Virginias History 4. MRIGlobal, DHMRI Align in Strategic Collaboration 5. - Unigene Secures Financing to Extend Operating Runway in Conjunction with Strategic Reorganization - 6. VG Life Sciences, Inc. Secures Two-Year Funding Commitment and Administrative Support from MedBridge, LLC 7. Nabsys Secures $20 Million Series D Financing to Support Launch of Semiconductor-Based Single-Molecule Platform for Genomic Analysis 8. Unisense FertiliTech A/S Secures an Additional 20 Million USD in New Capital Investment 9. lifeIMAGE Announces No-Cost Service for Hospitals to Give Patients Secure Access to Medical Imaging, Pledges Support for the Blue Button Initiative 10. Blue Marble Biomaterials Secures Distribution Agreement with SAFC 11. Turning smartphones into secure and versatile keys
For all the hullabaloo about Skype coming to BlackBerry 10, there wasn't much to show at the Z10's launch beyond a logo. We've got more to work with today -- sort of. A preview version of Skype has indeed popped up in BlackBerry World with voice, video and instant messaging like we've seen on otherplatforms. However, no one in the general public can actually use it yet: the app requires BlackBerry 10.1, which won't reach the market until the Q10 ships to Brits and Canucks. That leaves Americans and Z10 owners in the lurch for a few weeks, although they can at least see the light at the end of the VoIP tunnel.
Allegany College's forestry department honored for environmental stewardshipPublic release date: 25-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amy Pelsinsky apelsinsky@umces.edu 410-330-1389 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award honors outstanding contributions to environmental education
FROSTBURG, MD (April 25, 2013) In honor of outstanding contributions to environmental education in Western Maryland, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory has selected the Forestry Technology Program at Allegany College as recipient of its 2013 Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award. Beginning with eight students in 1968, the program has grown to produce 580 graduates who are helping to manage our natural resources, as well as making contributions to the health of our urban forests.
"From monitoring natural and man-made hazards, to exercising good forest management, the Forestry Technology Department at Allegany College is training the next generation of men and women responsible for conserving the great outdoors," said Dr. Ray Morgan, Acting Director of the Appalachian Laboratory.
The Forest Technology Program faculty being honored includes retired faculty Glenn O. Workman, Chair of the Sciences Division who spearheaded the program in 1968; William L. Cones, the first Director of the Forestry Program who introduced a more "hands on" approach to the curriculum and sought initial recognition by the Society of American Foresters in 1970; and Rex Harper, the second full-time forester to teach in the program. Today, Science Department Chair John Jastrzembski, Program Coordinator Steve Resh, Professor Jim Howell, and Forestry Technician Marie Perrin Miller have been guiding the forestry curriculum into the 21st century.
The Forestry Program is accredited by the Society of American Foresters (SAF), and is one of only 22 accredited programs in North America. Most recently, Forest Technology students collected data in Savage River State Forest for a project in conjunction with Frostburg State University and the Maryland State Department of Natural Resources. The project is part of the long-term monitoring (20+ years) of forest stands severely impacted by infestations of European Gypsy moths. Graduates find careers as arborists, forest rangers and technicians, resource managers, wildfire specialists, and soil conservationists.
The award honors the memory of Richard A. Johnson, a well-known orthopedic surgeon in the Allegany County area. He passed away in 1990, leaving a legacy of a caring and dedicated physician, family man, and naturalist. The Appalachian Laboratory honors his memory through its promotion of environmental education in Western Maryland and the people who excel in its practice.
The Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award provides $2,000 to support further environmental education activities. The endowment supporting the award was made possible through the generous support of Allegheny Power, NewPage Corporation, Alliance Resource Partners (Mettiki Coal), and numerous other donors over the past decade. Generous sponsors of this year's program include AES Warrior Run, Mettiki Coal, NewPage Paper, Allegany College, Savage River Lodge, Deep Creek Cellars, and numerous friends.
Founded in 1961, the Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, Maryland is one of five research centers that make up the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The lab focuses its research on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, how they function in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and how human activity may influence their health and sustainability on local, regional and global scales.
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UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science unleashes the power of science to transform the way society understands and manages the environment. By conducting cutting-edge research into today's most pressing environmental problems, we are developing new ideas to help guide our state, nation, and world toward a more environmentally sustainable future through five research centersthe Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, the Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, and the Maryland Sea Grant College in College Park. http://www.umces.edu
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Allegany College's forestry department honored for environmental stewardshipPublic release date: 25-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amy Pelsinsky apelsinsky@umces.edu 410-330-1389 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award honors outstanding contributions to environmental education
FROSTBURG, MD (April 25, 2013) In honor of outstanding contributions to environmental education in Western Maryland, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory has selected the Forestry Technology Program at Allegany College as recipient of its 2013 Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award. Beginning with eight students in 1968, the program has grown to produce 580 graduates who are helping to manage our natural resources, as well as making contributions to the health of our urban forests.
"From monitoring natural and man-made hazards, to exercising good forest management, the Forestry Technology Department at Allegany College is training the next generation of men and women responsible for conserving the great outdoors," said Dr. Ray Morgan, Acting Director of the Appalachian Laboratory.
The Forest Technology Program faculty being honored includes retired faculty Glenn O. Workman, Chair of the Sciences Division who spearheaded the program in 1968; William L. Cones, the first Director of the Forestry Program who introduced a more "hands on" approach to the curriculum and sought initial recognition by the Society of American Foresters in 1970; and Rex Harper, the second full-time forester to teach in the program. Today, Science Department Chair John Jastrzembski, Program Coordinator Steve Resh, Professor Jim Howell, and Forestry Technician Marie Perrin Miller have been guiding the forestry curriculum into the 21st century.
The Forestry Program is accredited by the Society of American Foresters (SAF), and is one of only 22 accredited programs in North America. Most recently, Forest Technology students collected data in Savage River State Forest for a project in conjunction with Frostburg State University and the Maryland State Department of Natural Resources. The project is part of the long-term monitoring (20+ years) of forest stands severely impacted by infestations of European Gypsy moths. Graduates find careers as arborists, forest rangers and technicians, resource managers, wildfire specialists, and soil conservationists.
The award honors the memory of Richard A. Johnson, a well-known orthopedic surgeon in the Allegany County area. He passed away in 1990, leaving a legacy of a caring and dedicated physician, family man, and naturalist. The Appalachian Laboratory honors his memory through its promotion of environmental education in Western Maryland and the people who excel in its practice.
The Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award provides $2,000 to support further environmental education activities. The endowment supporting the award was made possible through the generous support of Allegheny Power, NewPage Corporation, Alliance Resource Partners (Mettiki Coal), and numerous other donors over the past decade. Generous sponsors of this year's program include AES Warrior Run, Mettiki Coal, NewPage Paper, Allegany College, Savage River Lodge, Deep Creek Cellars, and numerous friends.
Founded in 1961, the Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, Maryland is one of five research centers that make up the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The lab focuses its research on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, how they function in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and how human activity may influence their health and sustainability on local, regional and global scales.
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UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science unleashes the power of science to transform the way society understands and manages the environment. By conducting cutting-edge research into today's most pressing environmental problems, we are developing new ideas to help guide our state, nation, and world toward a more environmentally sustainable future through five research centersthe Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, the Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, and the Maryland Sea Grant College in College Park. http://www.umces.edu
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TORONTO/MONTREAL (Reuters) - Two men charged with an alleged al Qaeda-backed plot to derail a Canadian passenger train made their first court appearances on Tuesday, and the lawyer for one said his client would fight the charges vigorously.
Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal face charges that include conspiring with each other "to murder unknown persons ... for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group."
They were arrested on Monday in separate raids after what police said was a joint Canada-U.S. investigation that started in the middle of last year after a tip from a member of the Muslim community.
Officers detained Jaser at his home, a semi-detached house in a north Toronto neighborhood, and arrested Esseghaier at a McDonald's restaurant at Montreal's main train station.
Canadian police said the plot involved a passenger train route in the Toronto area, and that there had been no immediate threat to rail passengers or to the public.
U.S. officials said that the suspects were believed to have worked on a plan involving blowing up a trestle on the Canadian side of the border as the Maple Leaf, Amtrak's daily connection between Toronto and New York, passed over it.
They said investigators on both sides of the border were trying to establish if the suspects had associates in the United States, especially in New York City. One source said Esseghaier, in particular, was believed to have made several trips to the United States. CBC Television said Canadian police had tracked him for a year, including on a visit to a conference in Mexico.
IN CUSTODY
Jaser, heavily bearded and wearing a black cap, was remanded in custody after a brief hearing in Toronto. Media were barred from giving details of Jaser's hearing under a publication ban requested by his lawyer.
"He denies the allegations and he will vigorously defend them," said the lawyer, John Norris, who has represented Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr, as well as Asad Ansari, one of a group of Toronto-area men charged in 2006 with planning attacks on Canadian targets.
Norris would not disclose Jaser's nationality, saying the publication ban precluded discussing Jaser's personal circumstances. He said Jaser has been a resident of Canada for 20 years.
Norris questioned the timing of the arrests, given a statement by police that the suspects posed no imminent threat. He noted that the arrest coincided with debate in Canada over a vote that would revive parts of the anti-terrorism act, which is supported by the Conservative government.
"The timing of the arrest is a bit of a mystery," he said.
DENYING THE CHARGES
Outside the courtroom, a middle-aged man and a woman in a cream-colored hijab identified themselves as members of Jaser's family, but would not answer questions.
With them were two younger men, and two women in full black niqab face veils, who fled when confronted with a throng of reporters, photographers and television crews.
Neighbors of Jaser told Reuters that he mostly kept to himself and attended a Masjid al-Faisal, a mosque in a refashioned house a short walk from his home.
"He was a normal attendee. If he's coming he says 'salaam' to us and we say 'salaam' to him. Nothing more special, nothing more unusual, nothing more abnormal," said Rana Khan, a congregant at the mosque. His alleged involvement in a plot was "a very, very shocking news for all of us over here."
Esseghaier, a Tunisian-born doctoral student at a Montreal-area university, was flown to Toronto on Monday, but was quickly returned to Montreal to meet a legal requirement that he appear in a Quebec court within 24 hours of his arrest.
Bearded and bespectacled and wearing a shabby blue-and-black winter jacket, handcuffs and leg shackles, he told the judge there that conclusions had been drawn from facts and words "that are only appearances."
A spokeswoman for the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique near Montreal confirmed to Reuters that Esseghaier was a doctoral student at the research institute.
At the hearing he was remanded in custody, and federal prosecutor Richard Roy said he expected Esseghaier to be flown back to Toronto later on Tuesday for a court appearance there.
Esseghaier represented himself at the hearing, which was not covered by a publication ban.
Canadian authorities have linked the two men to al Qaeda factions in Iran. But they said there was no indication of Iranian state-sponsorship of the plan, which police described as the first known al Qaeda-backed plot on Canadian soil.
DEATHS OR INJURIES FORESEEN
"Had this plot been carried out, it would have resulted in innocent people being killed or seriously injured," Royal Canadian Mounted Police official James Malizia said on Monday.
Iran had some senior al Qaeda figures under a form of house arrest in the years following the September 11, 2001, attacks, but there has been little to no evidence to date of joint attempts to execute violence against the West.
However, a U.S. government source said Iran is home to a little-known network of alleged al Qaeda fixers and "facilitators" based in the city of Zahedan, very close to Iran's borders with both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Iran reacted angrily to being tied to the arrests. Canada last year severed diplomatic ties over what it said was Iran's support for terrorist groups, as well as its nuclear programmed and its hostility towards Israel.
"No shred of evidence regarding those who've been arrested and stand accused has been provided," Iranian Foreign Minister spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, according to the Mehr news agency.
(Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp and Mark Hosenball; Writing by Cameron French; Editing by Janet Guttsman and David Storey)
(This story is refiled to exclude 'with each other' from quotation marks in second paragraph)
Farrah Abraham obviously isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but the former “Teen Mom” star used horrible judgement when she brought her three-year-old daughter along to negotiate the sale of her porn tape at the Vivid Entertainment offices. Farrah also had her father along for the meeting as she tries to find the best ...
The 35th annual exhibition, Progressions, celebrates the artistic accomplishment and unique vision of Vancouver Island University Art and Design students in the Visual Arts, Interior Design and Graphic Design programs.
Juried by Art and Design faculty and curated by art and design students, Progressions showcases the quality and breadth of artistic expression across the three programs in the upper and lower campus Gallery (Bldg. 330), Department of Art and Design (Bldg. 325), and Theatre Department (Bldg. 310).
Interior Design students exemplify their skills showcasing elegant floor plans and unique spatial design solutions for corporate, business and non-profit sectors in the lobby of the Malaspina Theatre, building 310. Graphic Design students present their visual problem solving and design solutions through typography, illustration, layout, digital media and photography in the hallways and classrooms on the 2nd floor of the Art and Design building 325. Upper-level Visual Art students display a broad range of media including ceramics, digital and mixed media, painting, photography and sculpture in the upper and lower campus Nanaimo Art Gallery, building 330.
Progressions 2013 shows from April 22 to May 11 with the opening reception on Tuesday, April 23. Doors open at 6:00pm, and the awards ceremony will begin at 6:30pm in the Malaspina Theatre (Bldg. 310), followed by an exhibition of student work in the Department of Art and Design (Bldg. 325), and the campus Nanaimo Art Gallery (Bldg. 330). Refreshments will be served.
Everyone is welcome to the event, including all VIU students,
faculty, family, friends, and community members.
For further information, contact Ellen McCluskey (ellen.mccluskey@viu.ca)
Since 9/11, a debate has raged over whether the conflict with al Qaida and other jihadists should be treated more as a war or a crime. Now the same dispute is roiling over the fate of Dzhokar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old ethnic Chechen and naturalized American who was captured by authorities in Boston Friday night after a dramatic day-long pursuit. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in a series of tweets, argued that Tsarnaev, one of two suspects in the fatal Boston Marathon bombings, should be treated as an enemy combatant and tried in a military tribunal.
In fact, that?s very unlikely to happen, not least because in the nearly 12 years since 9/11, U.S. authorities have failed to figure out precisely how to reconcile the suspension of legal rights for ?enemy combatants? with the Constitution. ?The military commissions are in a state of near-total collapse right now. The idea that you would take this kid from Boston and send him down there is laughable,? says Scott Horton, a human-rights lawyer based in New York.
By suspending Tsarnaev?s Miranda rights under the so-called ?public safety? exemption for more than a day or so, U.S. and Boston authorities are also taking a slight risk of tainting his prosecution?one that should be fairly open and shut -- in the same way other prosecutions under military tribunals have been damaged. ?Everything is being tainted by the intelligence community,? which has sought to gain evidence through extra-constitutional means that have sometimes included harsh interrogation, says Horton. ?It?s been given a free hand to do things.?
U.S. officials say they are concerned with other threats, perhaps including plots involving other bombs, that Tsarnaev might know about, but that is difficult to square with the declaration Friday night that the public was out of danger.
It is also not known what might have motivated Tsarnaev and his older brother, 26-year-old Tamarlan, to allegedly commit these acts. A series of postings on social media sites indicate that Tamarlan might have become somewhat radicalized by Islamist teachings, perhaps during a visit to Russia when he might have seen his father living in Makhachkala,?Dagestan, a city infused both with jihadist groups and counterterrorism apparatus set up by Russia?s FSB, or intelligence service. But Tamarlan was killed in a shootout with police, and authorities may well find that his seriously wounded younger brother was mainly following the elder Tsarnaev?s lead.
Graham, a former Air Force lawyer, posted a statement on his his Facebook page saying "it is absolutely vital the suspect be questioned for intelligence gathering purposes. We need to know about any possible future attacks which could take additional American lives," ? "The least of our worries is a criminal trial which will likely be held years from now."
Actually, with a huge array of detainees seemingly permanently under detention at Guantanamo, their fates undecided, and the rules for trying them still undetermined, the nature of Tsarnaev?s trial is a fairly significant issue.
TOKYO/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Apple Inc marketing chief Phil Schiller let slip during last August's courtroom battle with Samsung that when setting forecasts for new iPhones, the inside joke was that people should assume sales would equal all previous versions combined.
That quip, uttered in front of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's trial lawyers and the media, no longer rings true as Apple appears to be losing a once vice-like grip on its supply chain and Wall Street.
Suppliers and investors are struggling to gauge demand for the iconic smartphone as Samsung and up-and-coming rivals grab market share. Indications of reduced shipments now send shares in Apple and its component-makers into a tailspin. And criticism that innovation has stalled after the death of its legendary co-founder Steve Jobs 18 months ago is hurting sentiment in a stock that closed the week below $400 for the first time since December 2011.
Sources at several Asian suppliers, which for years basked in the glow of Apple's success and enjoyed stock gains even on rumors they might be among the select group of companies to sell components to Apple, told Reuters this week about ever-moving deadlines and said they were trying to reduce their reliance on the company.
An Apple supply chain source in Japan said those in the industry often jokingly refer to the company as "Poison Apple" because of its hard-to-meet high standards and low price expectations.
"'Apple can do no wrong' can only work until Apple does wrong," said Roger Kay, president of researcher and consultancy Endpoint Technologies Associates. "It's like the rubber band effect. The more you stretch it, the more snap you get coming back."
Apple reports quarterly results on Tuesday and declined to comment for this story. It has consistently said it focuses on making the best products - its iPhones remain the industry gold standard - and avoids discussing product strategy.
CEO Tim Cook stressed on the last quarterly earnings conference call that it's difficult to paint a complete picture of its production process from "a few data points".
Supplier sources in Japan and Taiwan, home to dozens of Apple suppliers, said they initially expected mass-production of the next iPhone to begin in June.
That date may have begun to slip beyond June, the sources said. The phone, widely referred to as the iPhone 5S, is expected to include new features such as a fingerprint sensor. A supply chain source in Taiwan said Apple was trying to find a coating material that did not interfere with the fingerprint sensor, and this may be causing a delay.
In addition to the 5S, suppliers say Apple is also developing a cheaper model, which can appeal to lower-income buyers in growth markets such as China and India. A supplier source in Japan told Reuters small-scale production of display panels will begin in May, ramping up to mass production in June.
Both phones will use the same 4-inch screen, but the cheaper version will probably not include the new fingerprint technology and sport a cheaper plastic casing, the sources said.
SPECULATE AT WILL
Wild rumors plague every new iPhone launch. But this year much of the blogger and industry speculation has centered on whether demand for the iPhone is waning as an increasing number of consumers choose alternatives, including phones from Samsung - now the world's biggest seller of cell phones - and those produced by other adopters of Google Inc's Android software.
Apple, the former darling of Main and Wall Street, rode a seven-fold increase in its stock price in the four years to September 2012. So Apple fans watched with increasing consternation as the shares fell 44 percent since then, shedding some $280 billion in market value along the way.
That fall was mirrored in the smartphone arena. In 2012, Samsung became No.1 in the global market with a 30.3 percent share, knocking off Apple - which had a 19.1 percent share - partly by flooding the market with cheaper devices. For the fourth quarter, Apple's share of the global smartphone market fell to 21.8 percent from 23 percent a year earlier, according to research firm IDC.
The erosion of Apple's industry and market supremacy over the past year may embolden carrier partners and suppliers, analysts say. That could mean tougher negotiations over component costs and the subsidies carriers pay to stock iPhones.
To be sure, Apple had a record 2012 in sales and profit. Its iPads lead the tablet market, and its Mac computers continue to outperform in a shrinking PC market. Analysts also say slowing growth is inevitable for a company its size.
But its recent stock-market descent has unnerved many investors struggling to get a read on what Apple's numbers could look like on Tuesday - just days away from when Samsung begins selling a new Galaxy S4 smartphone with a sharper screen and plethora of software-enhanced features.
Look no further than Cirrus Logic Inc. The chipmaker, with just $700 million in revenue, precipitated an 8 percent drop in Apple's share price over Wednesday and Thursday when it warned of reduced forecasts from one customer, widely assumed to be Apple. The warning spooked investors because Cirrus Logic relies on Apple for more than 90 percent of its sales.
Shares in Apple suppliers across the globe, including chipmaker Qualcomm, South Korea's LG Display Co Ltd and Japan's Toshiba Corp, declined as a result.
On Tuesday, Apple is expected to report a mere 8 percent increase in revenue in its fiscal second quarter, among the weakest showings in years, according to average analysts' estimates. And net earnings are expected to inch up just 2 percent as the intensifying competition compresses its margins.
Some say Apple's current market malaise is a re-balancing from the years when the stock was celebrated as a sure-fire bet.
The market became "irrational" about Apple with some analysts floating a $1,000 target price a year ago, said one hedge fund manager focused on the technology sector. Investors should have taken note when Apple missed revenue expectations in each of the past three quarters, said the manager, who declined to be identified.
"The market is not being irrational with Apple today," he said. "The market was being irrational with Apple last year, when they kept taking the stock price higher."
(Additional reporting by Mari Saito in Tokyo and Poornima Gupta in San Francisco; Editing by Edwin Chan and Emily Kaiser)
It's after 1am on a Saturday night in Manhattan, and there are still hundreds of people at our Disrupt NY Hackathon. The dedication of the attendees trying to build a cool product in less than 24 hours is both impressive and slightly disturbing. To capture some of the energy, Drew Olanoff and I took a walk around the venue at around 11pm, as the pizza and beer arrived to give the teams a late-night boost. We watched quick demos of a few cool projects, assessed the quality of the inescapable caffeine, and capped things off with an impromptu game of basement dodgeball.
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Farrah Abraham obviously isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but the former “Teen Mom” star used horrible judgement when she brought her three-year-old daughter along to negotiate the sale of her porn tape at the Vivid Entertainment offices. Farrah also had her father along for the meeting as she tries to find the best ...