Former White House spokesman and one of the president?s closest confidantes: Obama for America Campaign adviser, Robert Gibbs. Then, Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN). Finally, our roundtable: former Tennessee congressman, Harold Ford, Jr. (D); columnist for the Wall Street Journal Peggy Noonan; columnist for the Washington Post, E.J. Dionne; and host of CNBC?s Closing Bell, Maria Bartiromo.
ROBERT LEE, Texas (Reuters) ? No one drinks the tap water, which is unbearably briny as the lake dries up.
After one of the hottest summers on record, the lake that is the lone water supply and main recreational draw in this tiny West Texas town is more than 99 percent empty. Robert Lee, which is a two-hour drive east of Midland, has received only about six inches of rainfall this year, half the normal amount.
It is the worst water stitch the town has been in at least since the lake, E.V. Spence Reservoir, was created in the 1960s by damming a portion of the Colorado River.
More water is on the way, but it will only be enough to meet the basic needs of the town of 1,049 and will come at the expense of yet another sizable water rate increase.
Residents are looking forward to improved palatability and a more stable supply because Spence -- which is usually 21 times the size of the entire area of Robert Lee, but now not much bigger than a pond -- withers away.
"It tastes ugly and it stinks," said Delfino Navarro, a mechanic and handyman at a local car dealership, who stood on his browning front lawn on a recent afternoon with a bottle of water in hand. "You can't drink that water or you'll get sick."
Navarro, who has lived in Robert Lee for more than 30 years, said he does not have the means to skip town but he knows of people who are planning to leave or who have left.
After the driest year in state recorded history, most Texas municipalities still have plenty, if less, water. But the plight of Robert Lee has become a reminder of the havoc an extreme or prolonged drought can wreak, as well as how dependent many towns are on rainfall for drinking water and how precarious it is to maintain a healthy supply without it.
"I grew up here and we've always had water situations," said Robert Lee Mayor John Jacobs, 65. "You live in the desert, you're going to be short of water at times and always it would rain and you would get out of it."
Like other West Texas towns, many of which are dependent on surface water supplies that evaporate at a startling rate in hot, dry conditions, Robert Lee has seen its water supply fluctuate over the decades as droughts have come and gone.
"Spence seemed to be a limitless supply," said Kyle Long, who has lived in Robert Lee for more than 30 years. "Just goes to show you that drought can do a lot of things."
The town has suffered from some form of water restrictions for more than two years. Just before summer began, it banned all outdoor water use and asked residents to cut usage.
The lake's only remaining marina shut down this spring. All the boat ramps now lead to dry land -- a cracked-brown moonscape where a few dozen feet of water once stood. The steady stream of out-of-town lake-goers, many who still own upscale homes on the periphery of the reservoir, has dwindled, creating a lag on the town's sales tax revenue.
Herds of feral hogs are beginning to encroach on the lake, which sits a few miles west of town, as all surrounding streams have dried up and there are few people to scare them away. Area ranchers are selling off their herds of cattle. The only thriving grass in town is at the golf course, which uses treated wastewater to irrigate its greens.
The town is planning to build a 12-mile emergency pipeline to the neighboring town of Bronte, which has a healthier reservoir and several wells that produce decent quality water.
But the project is hanging in the balance as the town waits to see whether it will receive millions in financial assistance from the state to cover the bulk of a $9 million project that also includes extensive improvements to the municipal water treatment plant.
The Texas Water Development Board, the state's water planning agency, has until January to approve Robert Lee's application.
Jacobs said the city should have enough water to last through at least January without any rain. But the pipeline project is expected to take 60 days to complete, so he hopes the application is approved before then.
"It's got to come through," Jacobs said of the loan.
Jacobs said the project is only a bare-bones fix. The town also needs to continue searching for the closest and cleanest source of underground water, he said.
Robert Lee is perhaps the most water-strapped municipality in the state. But the situation is not much better elsewhere, mainly in small towns with less diverse or plentiful sources of water and little money in the bank to get new ones.
San Angelo, a town of 93,000, located 30 miles south of Robert Lee, has 22 months of water left. Its main supply, O.H. Ivie Reservoir, which it shares with Midland and Abilene, could go dry by the end of next year if drought persists.
With grim drought predictions, residents in the region are worried. State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon has said Texas will likely be stuck in the holds of drought for another year or longer as La Nina, a periodic weather pattern that causes abnormally dry winters in Texas, has returned.
Ben LaRue, assistant manager at Allsup's, one of two convenience stores in Robert Lee, said if the drought persists, he worries what will happen to local business next year.
Then, LaRue said, "it's really going to hit home."
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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan ? The presidential election in Kyrgyzstan this weekend will be unusually free and democratic by Central Asian standards, but fears are mounting it could fuel ethnic tensions and regional divide.
Sunday's vote in the economically struggling ex-Soviet nation follows the April 2010 violent ouster of former leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev and ethnic violence in which rampaging mobs killed hundreds of minority ethnic Uzbeks in the country's south.
Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished nation of around 5 million people on China's western fringes, is home to both U.S. and Russian military air bases, making its fortunes subject of lively international interest.
Over the two decades since the country gained independence, elections have been purely formal exercises designed to lend a threadbare veil of legitimacy to the ruling elite. Bakiyev and his predecessor, mathematician Askar Akayev, only left office after being literally chased out of it by angry mobs.
President Roza Otunbayeva, a seasoned diplomat who served as ambassador in Washington and London and has been running the country as interim leader since 2010, will step down to make way for the election winner.
None of the three top contenders is likely to garner more than 50 percent of votes in the Oct. 30 election, setting stage for a runoff between the two top vote-getters.
The 55-year-old front-runner Almazbek Atambayev, a wealthy businessman who stepped down as prime minister in September to take part in the election campaign, hopes his efforts to restore economic stability over the past year will aid his chances. Raising pitifully low state salaries and pensions has certainly helped cast him as the welfare candidate.
Atambayev made his fortune in the early 1990s after setting up a printing house churning out Russian translations of Mario Puzo's Godfather series, as well as more controversial fare like Anthony Burgesses' Clockwork Orange and the works of Marquis de Sade.
Kyrgyzstan's economic fortunes are inextricably linked with Russia, where around 500,000 Kyrgyz migrant workers reside, and Atambayev has worked hard to deepen those ties. Otunbayeva, the interim leader, also said Friday that Kyrgyzstan has no choice but to join a Russia-dominated economic bloc and eventually enter a more ambitious alliance envisioned by Moscow.
Recognizing the antipathy engendered by the presence of the U.S. air base, Atambayev has pledged it will be closed by 2014, when the current lease runs out.
For all this, however, Atambayev is to many, first and foremost, distinguished for being from the north ? a fact that may prove decisive in an election that threatens to exacerbate regional antagonisms.
"There's a kind of negative connotation to these elections since they are very decisive. There's definitely the question of south and north present here," said Shirin Aitmatova, a parliamentary deputy with the left-leaning Ata-Meken party.
Indeed, the greatest challenge to Atambayev will come from two staunchly southern politicians ? 44-year old ex-Emergency Services minister Kamchibek Tashiyev and former parliament speaker and top security official Adakhan Madumarov, 46.
Tashiyev's nationalist Ata-Zhurt party stunned observers last year by easily winning the largest share of votes in parliamentary elections. That resounding success came on the back of soaring nationalist sentiments that prevailed in the wake of interethnic clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities in the south that left at least 470 people dead in June 2010 and drove several hundred thousand people from their homes, mostly Uzbeks.
Once in parliament, trained boxer Tashiyev proved a poor team-player and largely gained prominence for his violent physical assaults on fellow party members. Despite his relative lack of campaign financing, he is expected to make a respectable showing.
Ominously, he has warned that an unfavorable result will lead to a robust challenge. In Kyrgyzstan, this often means unruly crowds hitting the streets.
The southern vote will be split between Tashiyev and Madumarov, who has vowed to overturn recent constitutional reforms giving more power to parliament and restore a strong presidency.
Comments made by Madumarov during a televised presidential debate this month, when he spoke about the need to "cut off the tongues and legs" of journalists smearing his reputation, suggest his presidency would mark a rollback to a more authoritarian model of governance.
Even so, Madumarov may hope, despite his strong links to the ousted Bakiyev regime, that he can project a vision of firmness and legality.
"I will never steal from the government's coffers and I will never appoint someone to high office just because we come from the same region, they are my brother, or because they paid me money," he told students at the Kyrgyz Agrarian Institute this week.
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PLAYBOY South Africa is the local edition of PLAYBOY. From local Playmates, writers and interviews, its South Africa's quintessential men's lifestyle magazine. PLAYBOY was founded in 1953, and is the best-selling monthly men's magazine in the world!
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For better or worse, family has a way of putting life in perspective.
When stories started popping up about me coming out on television, one of my sisters was quick to state the obvious and bring me back to reality.
"Why all this attention? It's not like you're Oprah or anything."
True. (But a guy can dream, can't he?)
Here's the back-story:
As I was filling in on ABC World News Now, I complimented Zachary Quinto's "coming out" and joked that I would consider dating him. (Again, a guy can dream, can't he?) Later that morning, I wrote a blog about why I decided to share a little of myself. That afternoon, a few sites started running with the story, leading to a snowball of messages and then some television coverage.
Clearly, name recognition didn't spark the attention. Instead, I think it was the simplicity of the statement and the casual delivery that raised eyebrows. After all, it's not too often you hear a guy-to-guy comment on-air, at least not without a punch line. But how often do we hear a female anchor swoon over George Clooney or a male anchor talk up Hugh Hefner as an idol?
I know some people think those comments, regardless of sexuality, don't belong in a newscast. But an early, early morning show (3 a.m.!) like World News Now allows a little wiggle room for personality; it's part of the DNA. A looser format gives anchors a chance to show more of their personal side. My side, however, is rarely out there for the rest of the world to see.
So why'd I do it? To fulfill a promise I made to myself a few years back.
Like a lot of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, I knew pretty early that I was "different" from everybody else. In grade school, I was an easy target for teasing: a little chunky, glasses, and painfully awkward at sports. So to avoid being someone's prey, I usually ate by myself, hid in the bathroom or stayed in the safety of the classroom during lunch and recess.
To be clear, I had a tremendously supportive family. And when their words of encouragement didn't work, Mom usually stuffed a candy bar in my hand to help me forget about being a little out of place. I learned "comfort food" at an early age.
Throughout high school, I hid from reality, dating girls and knocking down rumors that I was gay. Despite struggling to hide a part of me, high school was a lot of fun. I built solid friendships, gained some confidence and even worked my way into the "cool" cliques.
It wasn't until college that I'd finally had enough of the battle. I was ready to wave the white/rainbow flag and declare my sexuality to the world. The support and love was overwhelming, and it's grown stronger ever since, which is why it's time to finally make good on the vow I made years ago.
As I was growing up, I swore that if I ever enjoyed any kind of visibility or success, I was going to somehow help break down the walls of hate that hold others captive. I was fortunate to be surrounded by loving family and friends, but as we too often hear, not everyone is so lucky.
I'm looking forward to working with Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the "It Gets Better" project. Some might say I'm a little late to the party, so I've got to make up for lost time. Unfortunately, there's plenty of work to be done to show kids it's what inside their hearts that really counts.
I might not be Oprah, but if I can help just one person, I'll have kept my word.
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Follow Dan Kloeffler on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DanKloefflerABC
(Reuters) ? A controversial weapon could be deployed soon in the U.S. fight against the housing crisis as states and top banks near a deal in their dispute over mortgage abuses -- cutting the mortgage debt owed by homeowners.
Five major banks could be required to commit roughly $15 billion to reduce principal balances for struggling homeowners and modify loans in other ways under a proposed deal to settle allegations linked to the "robo-signing" scandal.
That amount would be part of broader sanctions that could total $25 billion, small change for the giants of Wall Street but potentially sowing the seed for a new approach to tackling the housing crisis.
Settlement talks continue with the banks, state attorneys general and some federal agencies over foreclosure shortcuts and other abuses. A deal could be struck within a month, according to people familiar with the matter.
Much of the exact language has yet to be hashed out but it could provide for the first broad use of principal writedowns, something economists and housing advocates say is a drastic but needed step to help set right the housing market.
Investors and the government-controlled mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which own around half of all U.S. mortgages -- have long resisted the idea.
There are concerns it could encourage some borrowers to stop paying in order to qualify for a reduction in their overall mortgage.
Fannie and Freddie's regulator has been wary of allowing principal reductions, doing so would lower the value of the assets held by the taxpayer-supported firms.
More broadly, public anger over the possibility of bailouts for homeowners who got out of their depth in debt is seen as one of the origins of the conservative Tea Party movement.
Given the political sensitivity, the Obama administration has so far trodden carefully to help homeowners. It wants to let more borrowers refinance to lower interest rates and stretch out the terms of loans to reduce monthly payments.
Some officials at the Federal Reserve say the central bank should buy more mortgage debt to bring down borrowing rates.
But those efforts do little to address the underlying problem, that many borrowers owe more than their homes are worth.
Under a potential settlement, the five banks -- Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Ally Financial -- would have to meet dollar targets to reduce principal for underwater borrowers.
"I think it will be a step in the right direction," said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. "The AGs hope this could work as a pilot program, and show how principal reduction could work."
To be sure, the reductions will have limited impact. The deal is unlikely to touch mortgages held by Fannie and Freddie. And according to a back-of-the-envelope calculation, $15 billion in reduction at $50,000 per borrower could reach around 300,000 borrowers, a fraction of the 11 million underwater homeowners.
But a deal may prompt banks to expand the limited principal reduction programs that they have so far directed toward only the riskiest loans in their portfolios.
The settlement could lay the groundwork for a broader program, if Fannie and Freddie are swayed to test it out themselves as an alternative to the costly process of foreclosing on struggling borrowers.
"Fifteen billion (dollars) is a drop in the bucket, but here might well be the very opportunity to conduct an experiment," said Ken H. Johnson, a professor at Florida International University's business school.
PRIOR EFFORTS
One model could be the 2008 settlement between Countrywide, the mortgage lender bought by Bank of America in that year, and state attorneys general. It provided a framework for loan modifications that became the basis for the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program which has so far had only a modest impact.
That deal set up the now widely used "waterfall" approach to trying to lower a borrower's monthly payment through a series of steps that include reducing the interest rate, extending the term of the loan and deferring some principal.
The states are hopeful a settlement on foreclosure abuses could have a similar ripple effect.
Not all states are satisfied with Bank of America's compliance with the 2008 settlement, presaging some concerns that could arise in any new settlement. Nevada and Arizona sued the bank saying it did not honor its obligations and engaged in "deceptive" practices in dealing with distressed borrowers.
Shum Preston, a spokesman for the California attorney general, also said that his office continues to receive complaints from Countrywide borrowers.
But Massachusetts, which last year extracted an additional commitment from Bank of America to reduce around $3 billion in principal on some of its riskiest loans across the country, said the bank had been complying with the settlement.
A spokesman for the attorney general's office in the state, Brad Puffer, said around 2,600 residents have received loan modifications under the settlement, saving some $125 million in mortgage payments, including both principal reductions and other types of modifications.
Bank of America said it had extended 49,000 offers to reduce principal for underwater borrowers nationwide, forgiving almost $3 billion in principal payments, since the agreement.
That settlement, and a similar one by Wells Fargo, were directed at the riskiest loans, leaving largely untouched more traditional mortgages that still deep underwater due to cratering home prices.
Wells says it has provided $4 billion in principal reduction as part of 96,000 modifications completed since the Wachovia acquisition. In addition, since 2010, Wells has participated in a HAMP principal reduction program.
"We're never been here before so we can't look to past experience," said Johnson, the business school professor, "with the added complexity of what foreclosures do to market pricing, some form of principal reduction may be the answer."
(Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha in Washington D.C. and Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
Album is singer's follow-up to F.A.M.E., released earlier this year. By Jocelyn Vena
Chris Brown Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
Chris Brown has already dropped F.A.M.E. this year, and now he's prepping for the release of his follow-up album, Fortune. The singer tweeted some of the titles of the singles on the album, which is expected to drop before year's end.
"Continue requesting WET THE BED [off F.A.M.E.] at ur radio stations. Also, the new singles from FORTUNE are being mixed!" he wrote on Twitter. "STRIP [off his Boy in Detention mixtape] is one of the singles off of FORTUNE so request at RADIO!"
In addition to "Strip," Breezy shared a few more song titles from the album. "I'm also really excited about the release of my single titled 'BIGGEST FAN' produced by the RUNNERS!" he said, before retweeting a message from his production team. "@chrisbrown 'Biggest Fan' is gonna be epic!! And wait till they hear what else we have in the vault together! Ha!"
In other Brown-related news, if Team Breezy can't wait to hear what he's cooking up for Fortune, that's just fine. The singer even tweeted a link to a song he penned for his pal Justin Bieber's Christmas album, Under The Mistletoe. It dropped as more songs off the November 1 release are hitting the Internet, including tracks featuring Mariah Carey and Busta Rhymes.
The track is a melodic R&B jam about making Christmas special for someone you love. "Be my babe this Christmas eve/ Be my holiday/ My dream/ Lay your head on me, I got you babe," he sings on the chorus. "Kissing underneath the tree/ I don't need no presents, girl/ You're everything I need/ Let me give you all of me/ Together on this Christmas Eve."
If it feels like Brown is everywhere these days, that's because he certainly is busy. He's wrapping up his tour next week before he begins work on his next film, "Planet B-Boy," alongside "Lost" star Josh Holloway. As the titles suggest, it's a look inside the world of b-boys and breakdancers.
Contact: Catriona Kelly Catriona.Kelly@ed.ac.uk 44-131-651-4401 University of Edinburgh
A new approach to vaccinating cattle could help farmers worldwide, research suggests
A new approach to vaccinating cattle could help farmers worldwide, research suggests.
Scientists have developed a technique using a harmless parasite which lives in cows but has no effect on their health to carry medicines into the animals' bloodstream.
Researchers created the vaccine by inserting key genetic material from a vaccine into the parasite's DNA. The manipulated parasite is intended to be injected into cattle, where it would continue to thrive in their bloodstreams, releasing small amounts of vaccine slowly over time.
The treatment could offer long-term protection against common conditions such as foot-and-mouth disease or bovine tuberculosis, as well as a range of other diseases.
Scientists say the method could also be adapted to carry medicines as well as vaccines, to deliver drug treatments against common cattle diseases.
It is hoped the approach will help to control or eradicate major cattle diseases. Also, by controlling certain tropical infections, it could transform the economic outlook of poor farmers in Africa, where such conditions are rife.
The research, carried out in collaboration with the Moredun Research Institute with funding from the Wellcome Trust and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, was published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
Professor Keith Matthews of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who led the research, said: "This method has real potential to control a wide range of cattle diseases throughout the world. It is also a fantastic example of how building on many years of basic scientific research can lead to unanticipated economic potential."
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Contact: Catriona Kelly Catriona.Kelly@ed.ac.uk 44-131-651-4401 University of Edinburgh
A new approach to vaccinating cattle could help farmers worldwide, research suggests
A new approach to vaccinating cattle could help farmers worldwide, research suggests.
Scientists have developed a technique using a harmless parasite which lives in cows but has no effect on their health to carry medicines into the animals' bloodstream.
Researchers created the vaccine by inserting key genetic material from a vaccine into the parasite's DNA. The manipulated parasite is intended to be injected into cattle, where it would continue to thrive in their bloodstreams, releasing small amounts of vaccine slowly over time.
The treatment could offer long-term protection against common conditions such as foot-and-mouth disease or bovine tuberculosis, as well as a range of other diseases.
Scientists say the method could also be adapted to carry medicines as well as vaccines, to deliver drug treatments against common cattle diseases.
It is hoped the approach will help to control or eradicate major cattle diseases. Also, by controlling certain tropical infections, it could transform the economic outlook of poor farmers in Africa, where such conditions are rife.
The research, carried out in collaboration with the Moredun Research Institute with funding from the Wellcome Trust and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, was published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
Professor Keith Matthews of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who led the research, said: "This method has real potential to control a wide range of cattle diseases throughout the world. It is also a fantastic example of how building on many years of basic scientific research can lead to unanticipated economic potential."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
EUROPE: Stocks slid after a key meeting between financial ministers scheduled for Wednesday was canceled. The abrupt notice led some investors to believe that a deal to solve Europe's debt crisis may not be as close as originally thought.
EARNINGS: Manufacturing conglomerate 3M cut its 2011 earnings forecast, and U.S. Steel warned that demand for its products could slow. Netflix Inc. plunged 35 percent after the company cut its profit forecast.
RISK OFF: Small company stocks fell far more than the broader market, a sign that investors were shunning assets perceived as being risky. The Russell 2000, an index of small companies, plunged 3 percent, reversing a gain of 3.3 percent Monday.
Fatty acids involved in python heart growth could benefit diseased human heartPublic release date: 27-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Chris Bryant cbryant@ur.ua.edu 205-348-8323 University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Identification of three fatty acids involved in the extreme growth of Burmese pythons' hearts following large meals could prove beneficial in treating diseased human hearts, according to research co-authored by a University of Alabama scientist and publishing in the Oct. 28 issue of Science.
Growth of the human heart can be beneficial when resulting from exercise a type of growth known as physiological cardiac hypertrophy but damaging when triggered by disease growth known as pathological hypertrophy. The new research shows a potential avenue by which to make the unhealthy heart growth more like the healthy version.
"We may later be able to turn the tables, in a sense, in the processes involved in pathological hypertrophy by administering a combination of fatty acids that occur in very high concentrations in the blood of digesting pythons," said Dr. Stephen Secor, associate professor of biological sciences at UA and one of the paper's co-authors. "This could trigger, perhaps, something more akin to the physiological form of hypertrophy."
The research, conducted in collaboration with multiple researchers at the University of Colorado working in the lab of Dr. Leslie Leinwand, identified three fatty acids, myristic acid, palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid, for their roles in the snakes' healthy heart growths following a meal.
Researchers took these fatty acids from feasting pythons and infused them into fasting pythons. Afterward, those fasting pythons underwent heart-rate growths similar to that of the feasting pythons. In a similar fashion, the researchers were able to induce comparable heart-rate growths in rats, indicating that the fatty acids have a similar effect on the mammalian heart.
The paper, whose lead author was Dr. Cecilia Riquelme of the University of Colorado, also showed that the pythons' heart growth was a result of the individual heart cells growing in size, rather than multiplying in number.
By studying gene expression in the python hearts which genes are turned on following feasting the research, Secor said, shows that the changes the pythons' hearts undergo is more like the positive changes seen in a marathon runner rather than the types of changes seen in a diseased, or genetically altered, heart.
"Cyclists, marathon runners, rowers, swimmers, they tend to have larger hearts," Secor said. "It's the heart working harder to move blood through it. The term is 'volume overload,' in reference to more blood being pumped to tissues. In response, the heart's chambers get larger, and more blood is pushed out with every contraction, resulting in increased cardiac performance."
However, the time-frame of this increased heart performance of a python blows away even the most physically-fit distance runner, Secor said.
"Instead of experiencing elevated cardiac performance for several hours with running, the Burmese python is maintaining heightened cardiac output for five to six days, non-stop, while digesting their large meal."
Another interesting finding of the research, Secor said, is even with the increased volume of triglycerides circulating in the snakes after feeding, those lipids are not remaining within the snakes' hearts or vascular systems after the completion of digestion.
"The python hearts are using the circulating lipids to fuel the increase in performance."
Traditionally, mice have been the preferred animal model used to study the genetic heart disease known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, characterized by heart growth and contractile dysfunction. However, the snakes' unusual physiological responses render them more insightful models, in some cases, Secor said.
Pythons are infrequent feeders, sometimes eating only once or twice a year in the wild. When they do eat, they undergo extreme physiologic and metabolic changes that include increases in the size of the heart, along with the liver, pancreas, small intestine and kidney. Three days after a feeding, a python's heart mass can increase as much as 40 percent, before reverting to its pre-meal size once digestion is completed, Secor said.
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Fatty acids involved in python heart growth could benefit diseased human heartPublic release date: 27-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Chris Bryant cbryant@ur.ua.edu 205-348-8323 University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Identification of three fatty acids involved in the extreme growth of Burmese pythons' hearts following large meals could prove beneficial in treating diseased human hearts, according to research co-authored by a University of Alabama scientist and publishing in the Oct. 28 issue of Science.
Growth of the human heart can be beneficial when resulting from exercise a type of growth known as physiological cardiac hypertrophy but damaging when triggered by disease growth known as pathological hypertrophy. The new research shows a potential avenue by which to make the unhealthy heart growth more like the healthy version.
"We may later be able to turn the tables, in a sense, in the processes involved in pathological hypertrophy by administering a combination of fatty acids that occur in very high concentrations in the blood of digesting pythons," said Dr. Stephen Secor, associate professor of biological sciences at UA and one of the paper's co-authors. "This could trigger, perhaps, something more akin to the physiological form of hypertrophy."
The research, conducted in collaboration with multiple researchers at the University of Colorado working in the lab of Dr. Leslie Leinwand, identified three fatty acids, myristic acid, palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid, for their roles in the snakes' healthy heart growths following a meal.
Researchers took these fatty acids from feasting pythons and infused them into fasting pythons. Afterward, those fasting pythons underwent heart-rate growths similar to that of the feasting pythons. In a similar fashion, the researchers were able to induce comparable heart-rate growths in rats, indicating that the fatty acids have a similar effect on the mammalian heart.
The paper, whose lead author was Dr. Cecilia Riquelme of the University of Colorado, also showed that the pythons' heart growth was a result of the individual heart cells growing in size, rather than multiplying in number.
By studying gene expression in the python hearts which genes are turned on following feasting the research, Secor said, shows that the changes the pythons' hearts undergo is more like the positive changes seen in a marathon runner rather than the types of changes seen in a diseased, or genetically altered, heart.
"Cyclists, marathon runners, rowers, swimmers, they tend to have larger hearts," Secor said. "It's the heart working harder to move blood through it. The term is 'volume overload,' in reference to more blood being pumped to tissues. In response, the heart's chambers get larger, and more blood is pushed out with every contraction, resulting in increased cardiac performance."
However, the time-frame of this increased heart performance of a python blows away even the most physically-fit distance runner, Secor said.
"Instead of experiencing elevated cardiac performance for several hours with running, the Burmese python is maintaining heightened cardiac output for five to six days, non-stop, while digesting their large meal."
Another interesting finding of the research, Secor said, is even with the increased volume of triglycerides circulating in the snakes after feeding, those lipids are not remaining within the snakes' hearts or vascular systems after the completion of digestion.
"The python hearts are using the circulating lipids to fuel the increase in performance."
Traditionally, mice have been the preferred animal model used to study the genetic heart disease known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, characterized by heart growth and contractile dysfunction. However, the snakes' unusual physiological responses render them more insightful models, in some cases, Secor said.
Pythons are infrequent feeders, sometimes eating only once or twice a year in the wild. When they do eat, they undergo extreme physiologic and metabolic changes that include increases in the size of the heart, along with the liver, pancreas, small intestine and kidney. Three days after a feeding, a python's heart mass can increase as much as 40 percent, before reverting to its pre-meal size once digestion is completed, Secor said.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The coaster brake, found on beach cruisers and Dutch-style city bikes, has come to the track bike in the form of the Draft Coaster from SE bikes. Or should I say “track bike style“? For the Draft Coaster is anything but track ready. It is heavy (26 pounds or 12 kilos), has a hi-ten steel frame [...]
BERLIN ? The German government plans to shut down 31 military facilities across the country as part of a drive to make the Bundeswehr more effective and professional.
News agency dapd reported that Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere announced the figure after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. He says another 33 facilities will be slimmed down to fewer than 15 people.
The German military currently has nearly 400 facilities.
Germany is moving to shrink the overall size of the military while also increasing the number of soldiers it can deploy in places such as Afghanistan and Kosovo. The country ended conscription earlier this year.
This week?s Sports Illustrated catches up with JaMarcus Russell to find out how the 2007 first overall draft pick views his failed career, now that he?s out of football at age 26. Among the details: Russell feels some ill will toward former coach Tom Cable, thinks his teammates deserve as much blame as he does for the Raiders? problems, and says the reason he had trouble staying awake in team meetings is that he has sleep apnea.
?In the NFL, my first year, I had to be there at 6:30 [a.m.] before practice and be on the treadmill for an hour,? Russell said. ?Then meetings come, I sit down, eat my fruit. We watch film, and maybe I got tired. Coach Flip [quarterback coach John DeFilippo] pulled me aside and said, ?What are you doing for night life?? I said, ?Coach, I?m just chilling.? He said, ?I need to get you checked out.? I did the sleep test, and they said I had apnea.?
The Raiders went 7-18 in the 25 games Russell started, and he says it upsets him that he?s always singled out as the reason the Raiders were losers during his three-year tenure with the club.
?Things weren?t going right, and it felt sometimes like everything fell back on me,? Russell said. ?I take some responsibility, but I was one guy. . . . I may have missed a throw, but I didn?t give up 42 points, I didn?t miss a block.?
Russell also said his coach, Tom Cable, betrayed him by blaming him for the Raiders? problems.
?I stuck my neck out for him,? Russell said of Cable. ?Didn?t complain when he benched me as the starter. Didn?t complain when he called the same plays five damn times. Didn?t [badmouth] him to other coaches. When the [media] asks me, I say, ?He?s a good coach, a good guy.? Then I hear he says I was the worst thing ever happened to the Raiders, if it weren?t for him we?d be in the playoffs??
If Russell thinks this kind of interview is going to rehabilitate his public image, he?s wrong. The best thing Russell could do now is own up to his failings as the Raiders? quarterback. Or say nothing at all.
On October 19th, Apple held a special memorial for Steve Jobs to celebrate his life. In the video, you can watch Tim Cook, Jony Ive, Al Gore and others talk about Steve and see performances by Norah Jones and Coldplay. More »
Before the season started, we noted that the teams in the AFC North appeared to have an easy schedule.
They face the NFC West and AFC South out of division, which looked soft on paper. ?Usually ?on paper? doesn?t translate to reality, but it did this time around.
The NFC West and AFC South are the two worst divisions in football, despite the presence of the 49ers and Texans. ?ESPN?s John Clayton notes that?if the Jaguars lose tonight, the AFC South will have the worst out of division record in football at 5-16. ?The NFC West is next worse at 6-15.
It shouldn?t be a surprise, then, that every team in the AFC North is .500 or better. The division is home to one of the league?s biggest surprises (Cincy) and the worst 3-3 team we can remember. (Cleveland)
On top of that, the AFC North has the top four defenses in the league according to yards allowed. This is what happens when every team in the division gets to play the Seahawks, Jaguars, Colts, Cardinals, and Rams.
What does it all mean?
The AFC North division champion is almost a lock to get a playoff bye and could get the No. 1 seed. ?Second place in the division is very likely to go to the playoffs, and perhaps the Bengals could hang around the wild card race longer than expected.
So much of the NFL comes down to schedule, but it?s rarely talked about. We?ve heard a number of times this year how the Patriots won 11 games with Matt Cassel, but no one mentions how they faced one of the softest schedules in football that year.
It?s not like it?s the fault of the Ravens, Steelers, Browns, and Bengals. These things even out. It?s up to them to take advantage while they can.
Which reminds me: Are you ready for some football tonight? A Monday night blowout!
It's no secret that I have a love/hate?relationship with Siri?? the virtual assistant built into my iPhone 4S?? but even I have to admit that she's a real peach in comparison to an artificial intelligence personality such as HAL 9000 of "Space Odyssey" fame.
That doesn't mean that I wouldn't get a kick out of making her look like that evil AI's nicer sister though. And thanks to the folks at ThinkGeek, I can do just that.
You see, those clever?? and occasionally silly?? individuals have decided to create something they call IRIS 9000.
IRIS 9000 is basically a voice control module for the iPhone 4S. It comes with a buit-in microphone which can pick up your voice from a distance as well as a remote control which can be used to trigger the Siri feature from up to 50 feet away.?Oh, and as a bonus: There's a creepy red "eye" on the accessory which flickers and glows along with Siri's voice.
To see how all that looks in action, take a peek at this video demo:
IRIS 9000 is priced at $59.99 and should become available in early 2012.
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Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.
Take that, Xperia Play. USB gamepads are already supported in Honeycomb, so we had plenty of hope that Android 4.0 -- also lovingly referred to as Ice Cream Sandwich -- would offer the same functionality. We finally have the answer, and it's a resounding yes, courtesy of Google framework engineer Romain Guy's Twitter account. The cool part, though, is that HDMI's playing nice as well. In short, you could hook up an external gamepad to a USB-to-microUSB adapter on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, connect it to your TV and transform your handset into a fancy portable gaming console. It's definitely something we can see developers flock towards, and we'll expect some cool stuff to come out of it. Just in case you thought the Nexus wouldn't let you get anything else done around the house already, this pretty much seals the deal. Move below the break to see a screenshot from the SDK.
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Public release date: 27-Oct-2011
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