Stocks gain; Dow hits fresh high

JeeYeon Park , CNBC ? ? ? 5 hrs.

Stocks eased off their session highs but finished in positive territory for the second day Tuesday. The Dow touched a fresh intraday high and the S&P 500 traded within 2 points of its all-time peak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average held modest gains after rallying to hit a fresh all-time high at 14,716.46, buoyed by Microsoft and Intel.

Interestingly, the blue-chip index has yet to log a three-day losing streak this year. The last time the Dow went this far into a year without a losing streak of that length was 1976. The Dow ended that year with a 18 percent rally.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also held their gains. If the S&P 500 ends higher, it could mark the end of the "alternation streaks" for the index. The S&P 500 has alternated between gains and losses for the past 14 sessions for the first time ever.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, slid below 13.

Among key S&P sectors, materials rallied, while utilities slid.

Alcoa struggled for direction after the aluminum producer reported an increase in quarterly profit as performance in its alumina and primary metals segments improved despite a tough market, but revenue fell slightly short of estimates. Still Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld told CNBC that he remains "relatively optimistic" that 2013 will be better than 2012 and continues to project 7 percent global demand growth in aluminum.

Alcoa unofficially kicks off this quarter's earnings season, which is expected to be fairly weak.

(Read More: Earnings Season Could Bring 'April Anxiety')

For the first quarter, earnings growth is expected to gain by just 1.6 percent, compared to 6.2 percent last quarter, according to Thomson Reuters. The negative warnings are higher than usual?with 108 negative revisions for S&P 500 companies. Compared to the 23 positive revisions, it is the worst pace in 12 years, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Banking giants JPMorgan and Wells Fargo are slated to post earnings on Friday.

(Read More: Earnings Season Arrives as Data Flash Warning Signs)

First Solar skyrocketed nearly 50 percent after the solar company announced it expects 2013 earnings of between $4 a share and $4.50 a share and revenue of between $3.8 billion and $4 billion, exceeding current Thomson Reuters expectations for $3.51 a share on sales of $3.12 billion. Rivals including Suntech Power and LDK Solar also soared.

Herbalife dipped after being halted for nearly two hours following news that KPMG resigned as auditor for the nutrition, weight management and skin-care products company, according to the New York Times.

Skechers rose after the footwear retailer also announced the resignation of KPMG as its lead auditor. In a statement, Skechers said that the resignation was "due to misconduct by KPMG's lead audit engagement partner on the Skechers account." Shares were briefly halted earlier.

(Read More: Once Shunned, Funds Now Ally With Activist Investors)

JCPenney slumped to lead the S&P 500 laggards after the company said former CEO Myron Ullman will return as the retailer's chief after Ron Johnson was ousted by the board. Ullman will an annual base salary of $1 million. Adding to woes, the company's sales are down more than 10 percent so far in the first quarter versus a year ago, according to Dow Jones.

(Read More: Cramer: Ullman 'Right Choice' for JCP, but 'I Worry')

Disney slipped slightly as the conglomerate readies to lay off 150 people this week, according to sources close to the situation. The job cuts will be predominately in home entertainment, as the company adjusts to industry-wide declines in DVD sales.

Traders will be looking out for clues about the future of quantitative easingthis week, with the Federal Reserve set to release minutes from its last meeting on Wednesday. There are also several appearances by Fed officials this week, including anti-inflation hawk Jeffrey Lacker and Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart on Tuesday.

(Read More: Pimco's Bill Gross: Beware of 'Monetary Red Bull')

U.S. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke overnight on Monday at an Atlanta Fed conference. In a speech that did not directly touch on monetary policy, Bernanke hinted at why the central bank continues to pursue ultra-easy monetary policy.

"The economy is significantly stronger than it was four years ago, although conditions are clearly still far from where we would all like them to be," he said.

Meanwhile, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard told CNBC that he'd be willing to reduce the central bank's massive bond-buying program in "small increments."

The government auctioned $32 billion in 3-year notes at a high yield of 0.342 percent. The bid-to-cover ratio, an indicator of demand, was 3.24.

On the economic front, wholesale inventories logged its biggest decline since September 2011 in February, according to the Commerce Department. Meanwhile, the National Federation of Independent Business reported that business confidence fell again in March.

In Europe, industrial production in the U.K. rose by more than expected in February, diminishing the risk the economy slipped back into recession in the first quarter of 2013.

(Read More: In Effort to 'Rebalance,' Europe Sticks to Austerity)

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew pushed for a growth rather than an austerity agenda during the first day of his two-day visit to Europe. Speaking in Brussels, Lew said that the U.S. had an "immense stake in Europe's health and stability" and called on Europe to boost demand.

China's annual consumer inflation eased to 2.1 percent in March from February's 3.2 percent while producer price deflation deepened, data showed on Tuesday, leaving policymakers room to keep monetary conditions easy and nurture a nascent recovery.

?By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)

? 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved

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Glass Explorer Edition To Ship Within Next Month, Google Confirms

Today during Google Venture’s “Glass Collective” event, Google told us that it hopes to get the Glass hardware into the hands of developers “within the next month.” The exact date for when Google plans to ship the first publicly available versions of Glass remains unknown, but Google has now confirmed to us that it is now very close to shipping the $1,500 devices to developers. Shipping Glass within the next month, of course, makes sense, given that Google will host its annual I/O developer conference in San Francisco from May 15 to 17. Glass will surely take center stage at this event, and if Google wants to get developers excited about the project and talk about (and launch) Glass’ Mirror API during I/O, it needs to get the hardware into the hands of developers soon. Last year, Google allowed I/O attendees to pre-register for Glass, but the company never really reached out to these developers since — except for sending them glass blocks with their wait-list number engraved on it. Google also recently allowed others to compete for the right to be among the first to buy Glass by posting their reasons for wanting Glass on Twitter and Google+. That project, which was going to bring about 8,000 additional early testers into the Glass community, was heavily criticized because it seemed Google (and the company it partnered with for this) just picked people randomly. Google later rescinded some of these invitations. Users who won the right to buy Glass have to pick it up in person in L.A., San Francisco or New York. It’s not clear if developers will have to do the same, but it would make sense for Google to allow developers to pick their kits up at I/O.

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

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Giant John Paul II statute ready for unveiling

CZESTOCHOWA, Poland (AP) ? Workers were putting the finishing touches Tuesday on what its backer says is the world's tallest statue of the late Pope John Paul II.

The 13.8-meter (45.3-foot) white fiberglass figure will tower over the southern Polish city of Czestochowa, home to the predominantly Catholic country's most important pilgrimage site, the Jasna Gora monastery.

Funded by a private investor and put up on private grounds, the Polish-born pontiff appears smiling and stretching his arms to the world. On Tuesday, workers were joining the pieces together and painting them before the official unveiling of the statue Saturday.

Leszek Lyson, who is funding the project, called the pope "a great and good man who has done a lot for the world: ended communism and opened borders in Europe, reached to people in his pilgrimages around the world. His statue "should make everyone stop and think about life."

Its construction comes as the traditionally respected church comes under criticism for its conservative views and as church attendance shrinks.

Born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, southern Poland, John Paul was elected in 1978, a surprise choice from communist eastern Europe. In Poland he is credited with inspiring the Solidarity movement that helped end communism in 1989. His death in 2005 was a time of national mourning.

Lyson said that the unveiling ceremony will mark three years since he saved his son from drowning and is a sign of thanks.

He is also trying to get the statue into Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest of John Paul.

Poland already boasts that it has the world's tallest statue of Jesus, unveiled in 2010 in the western town of Swiebodzin.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/giant-john-paul-ii-statute-readied-unveiling-124018723.html

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Giant John Paul II statute readied for unveiling

CZESTOCHOWA, Poland (AP) ? Workers were putting the finishing touches Tuesday on what its backer says is the world's tallest statue of the late Pope John Paul II.

The 13.8-meter (45.3-foot) white fiberglass figure will tower over the southern Polish city of Czestochowa, home to the predominantly Catholic country's most important pilgrimage site, the Jasna Gora monastery.

Funded by a private investor and put up on private grounds, the Polish-born pontiff appears smiling and stretching his arms to the world. On Tuesday, workers were joining the pieces together and painting them before the official unveiling of the statue Saturday.

Leszek Lyson, who is funding the project, called the pope "a great and good man who has done a lot for the world: ended communism and opened borders in Europe, reached to people in his pilgrimages around the world. His statue "should make everyone stop and think about life."

Its construction comes as the traditionally respected church comes under criticism for its conservative views and as church attendance shrinks.

Born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, southern Poland, John Paul was elected in 1978, a surprise choice from communist eastern Europe. In Poland he is credited with inspiring the Solidarity movement that helped end communism in 1989. His death in 2005 was a time of national mourning.

Lyson said that the unveiling ceremony will mark three years since he saved his son from drowning and is a sign of thanks.

He is also trying to get the statue into Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest of John Paul.

Poland already boasts that it has the world's tallest statue of Jesus, unveiled in 2010 in the western town of Swiebodzin.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/giant-john-paul-ii-statute-readied-unveiling-124018723.html

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5 UN peacekeepers, at least 7 civilians killed in ambush in South Sudan

By Charlton Doki and Nirmala George, The Associated Press

JUBA, South Sudan -- Five United Nations peacekeepers from India, and at least seven civilians, were killed Tuesday when armed rebels opened fire on a convoy in South Sudan.

South Sudan's military spokesman, Col. Philip Aguer, blamed the attack on fighters led by David Yau Yau, a Sudan-backed rebel leader South Sudan's military has battled for months.

The top U.N. envoy in South Sudan, Hilde Johnson, said in a statement that five peacekeepers and seven civilians working with the U.N. mission were killed. She said at least nine additional peacekeepers and civilians were injured and some remain unaccounted for.

Aguer said the attack took place on a convoy traveling between the South Sudanese towns of Pibor and Bor on Tuesday morning.

"Definitely this attack was carried out by David Yau Yau's militia," Aguer said. "They have been launching ambushes even on the SPLA for about six months now," he said, using the acronym for South Sudan's military.

South Sudan ended decades of civil war with Sudan in 2005 and peacefully formed its own country in 2011. But the south is still plagued by internal violence and shaky relations with Sudan. Leaders in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, deny that they are arming Yau Yau.

Syed Akbaruddin, spokesman of India's Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, India, said the convoy, which included 32 Indian soldiers, was attacked by rebels in Gurmukh in the volatile state of Jonglei. He said the casualties are being brought to the capital of South Sudan, Juba, and the injured will be sent to the U.N. mission hospital. The Indian embassy will work with the U.N. to bring the bodies back to India, he said.

India has about 2,200 Indian army personnel in South Sudan. They are in two battalions. One is based in Jonglei and the other is in Malakal, in the Upper Nile, on the border with Sudan.

The Indian embassy said it will inform families before releasing the names of the soldiers killed.

The top U.N. envoy in South Sudan, Johnson, sent condolences to the families of the dead and injured.

Related:

South Sudan prisons in tatters after decades of war

S. Sudan president: Sudan has declared war on us

PhotoBlog: Building South Sudan from scratch

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Insight: Insurers see promise in pay-for-performance health plans

By Caroline Humer

(Reuters) - Insurers and doctors are testing a way to pay for healthcare that has been more common in the corporate suite than the emergency room - paying for better performance, betting it is the key to controlling runaway costs.

Both private insurance plans and Medicare plans in hundreds of locations around the country are using incentives to try to cut healthcare spending and still keep Americans healthy.

After a few years of pilot programs and studies, companies as large as Intel Corp. are offering these plans to employees this year. They believe the programs' tenets - eliminating unneeded tests and following best practices for prescriptions and care - will work.

UnitedHealth Group Inc, Humana Group, Cigna Corp. and others are compensating medical providers if they meet targets in areas such as cancer screening or managing diabetics' cholesterol levels. While robust data is still scant, a study published last year in the Journal of American Medical Association showed these plans - called Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) - can produce savings of 5 percent to 10 percent, which are typically shared between the provider and insurer.

Much of the Affordable Care Act kicks in next year, which has increased the pressure on insurers and providers to provide more services while cutting healthcare costs, which are now 17 percent of the U.S. economy, up from 13 percent in 2000.

Insurers say they will double the number of members in plans based on incentives for care in the next few years.

PRIVATE AND GOVERNMENT PLANS

Large employers, which provide about half of Americans with healthcare plans, are adding these accountable care organizations and other coordinated care initiatives on top of other benefits that focus on prevention. For instance, they are charging smokers more and monitoring employees' health.

About 13 percent of them will have ACOs or similar quality-based contracts with providers by the end of 2014, and 29 percent expect to in the next five years, according to a recent Towers Watson/National Business Group On Health survey.

The U.S. government has several standardized models for ACOs for Medicare, which provides benefits for 50 million Americans, and has so far approved more than 250 ACOs.

In addition to trying to lower costs for individual and small group customers, insurers are creating the plans to hold onto large company business. Healthcare spending cuts and the Affordable Care Act have hit insurers with new taxes and mandatory services while also limiting profits.

"For many of them, that's how they see themselves surviving this transition. They'll have a major role in helping systems improve their care as one of their business lines in addition to insurance, or just paying claims," said Dr. Elliott Fisher, a health policy expert at Dartmouth University's medical school who worked on the study and with the Brookings Institute designed several ACO pilot programs in the private sector.

The plans are just starting, so it is not clear whether all the different designs set up by companies, hospitals and private insurers will produce the savings seen in the more regimented JAMA study, which was based on preset parameters.

"Everyone is rushing to change to a different model, but the results aren't in yet. So when you say what's the success of ACOs to date, the real honest answer is premature," said Dr. Phil Polakoff, a senior managing director in FTI Consulting's corporate finance group.

"TRENDING IN RIGHT DIRECTION"

One of the new programs is in Kentucky. Norton Healthcare, the state's largest hospital system, and Humana Inc., also based there, started an ACO several years ago for their employees as a pilot that it decided to renew this year. Norton aimed to cut what it spent sending its employees to other caregivers.

While neither company provided data on savings to them, saying it was too early for a full analysis of the claims, Humana said its program was "trending in the right direction."

Intel Corp. started its first ACO in January for employees and their families at its Rio Rancho, New Mexico, semiconductor plant. After savings from wellness and prevention initiatives slowed, it wanted to control spending, particularly for its sickest members, who account for about 20 percent of the company's $500 million annual healthcare spending.

Intel's plan includes full coverage of drugs for chronic conditions such as asthma and hypertension and preventive services. Beyond that, it pays more or less depending on how the plan provider, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, meets targets for providing same-day access to care, low cost and patient satisfaction, among other criteria.

Consumer advocates say the focus on quality and improved care is good for patients, but if ACOs limit access to care they could backfire.

"What we would want to ensure is happening is that people have access to the care they need and that all of the appropriate providers are engaged," said Kim Bailey, research director for Families USA in Washington, D.C.

CUTTING COSTS

The JAMA study was based on eight years of data at 10 institutions that took part in the Medicare Physician Group Practice Demonstration pilot and showed that coordinated care cut medical spending by 5 percent to 10 percent. The biggest savings were in lower hospital readmissions and in acute care among people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.

The federal government says its Medicare ACO plans could save up to $940 million over four years. It set 33 measures related to patient safety, preventive health services, at-risk populations and patient experience.

Insurers say they are seeing financial benefits. Aetna Inc, for instance, said hospital admissions have dropped by up to 45 percent in a small Medicare Advantage program - private insurance for seniors - it ran in Maine.

UnitedHealth aims to more than double by 2017 its pay-for-performance medicine, to $50 billion, from $20 billion now.

"Measuring the impact on patients of the commercials ACOs is something we are all interested in doing," Fisher said. "The plans themselves are pretty confident they are doing both - improving care and lowering costs."

(Editing by Ed Tobin, Jilian Mincer and Douglas Royalty; Reporting By Caroline Humer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-insurers-see-promise-pay-performance-health-plans-122905035--sector.html

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Missing hiker: 'I was in a big dream'

ORANGE, Calif. (AP) ? One of two hikers who got lost in the Southern California wilderness last week said Monday she remembers little about her four-day ordeal because she began hallucinating on the first night after the pair finished the three bottles of water they had and darkness fell.

Kyndall Jack, 18, and her friend, Nicolas Cendoya, went missing on March 31 in Cleveland National Forest after wandering off a trail during what they thought would be a short day hike. The pair had picked the hike on the popular Holy Jim Trail almost at random after deciding they wanted to climb to a mountaintop to "touch the clouds," Jack said at a brief news conference.

She said the last thing she remembers is fighting off an animal with Cendoya after darkness fell, but she does not recall how the two got separated or what she did between then and her rescue. She hallucinated she was being eaten by a python, she tried to eat rocks and dirt, and thought that tree twigs were straws from which she could suck water.

"I honestly didn't even know I was missing, I didn't know I was gone, I didn't know anything was going on," she said. "I just thought I was in a big dream."

Jack was plucked by helicopter from a tiny rocky outcropping on a near-vertical cliff Thursday, after searchers followed her cries for help across a canyon and up several dried-up waterfalls. She was severely dehydrated, could not move one arm and complained of shortness of breath and pain in her chest and legs, rescuers said at the time.

Her mouth was so full of dirt the first man to reach her was afraid she would choke if he gave her water.

Cendoya, 19, had been rescued the night before after a volunteer searcher heard him call out from chest-high brush not far from where Jack was found. He was released from the hospital Sunday and the two have since seen each other and tried to make sense of their hallucinations with little luck.

Jack, who was expected to be released late Monday, has frostbite in her left hand and swelling, cuts and bruises on her legs that still make walking difficult.

She sat in a wheelchair and appeared weak during a brief news conference outside the University of Irvine, California Medical Center. The ends of her fingernails were ragged and still coated with dirt and she wore a bandage on one arm, moccasins on her swollen feet and a neon yellow hospital bracelet that said "Fall Risk."

The hike started out well but things quickly went wrong when they left the trail, she recalled.

"We just saw a good place and we were like, 'Oh, we're just going to scale the mountain here," she said.

They realized as darkness fell that they were lost and nowhere near the mountaintop and Cendoya called 911 twice on his dying cellphone.

In the second call, he and Jack can be heard having a tense conversation as the operator tries to determine where exactly they are in the 720-square-mile national forest ? a vast wilderness that runs smack up against the suburban comforts of southeastern Orange County.

"Yeah, we wandered off the trail. We wandered off the trail," Cendoya told the operator. "I don't even know if we'll make it to the morning because we have no water."

At one point, Jack can be heard in the background telling Cendoya there is something moving in the wilderness and at another point, she cries out for help as the operator tells the pair deputies are on foot searching for them.

"We don't hear them, but we screamed and my echo went out for miles," Cendoya says during the nine-minute call.

Jack said Monday that she panicked as the darkness closed in around them. She tried to climb a tree and use her lighter to provide a signal for rescuers, but she dropped it. She thinks she remembers fighting off some type of animal with Cendoya before the two began to slip in and out of consciousness ? but that, too, could have been a dream.

"I started to get like an anxiety attack and I started throwing up and I just lost it. I just went in and out of consciousness after the 911 call," she said.

"We just kept telling each other, 'Don't close your eyes. Don't fall asleep,'" she said.

Jack vaguely remembers "scooting" down a steep embankment ? likely the cliff where she was found ? but she isn't sure when she did that and how she managed to cling to the rocks for so long.

The teen warned other hikers to pack more water and supplies and not stray off the trail.

She also said she'd like to thank two of her rescuers in person: The first reserve sheriff's deputy who reached her and the paramedic who airlifted her to safety in a harness.

Another Orange County reserve sheriff's deputy who participated in the rescue slipped and fell 10 feet, hitting his chest on a rock before falling another 50 feet and hitting his head. He suffered cuts to his head, a punctured lung, broken ribs and other injuries. He was released from intensive care over the weekend and upgraded to fair condition.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/calif-hiker-4-days-missing-felt-dream-234658888.html

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HTC pays price for One delays, reports worst quarterly profit so far in Q1 2013

Instead of reaping the rewards of putting out a lovely new flagship, HTC has just reported its lowest ever profit -- a mere $2.8 million in unaudited net income -- during the first three months of this year. That compares to $173 million in the same quarter of last year, representing a pretty catastrophic fall of around 98 percent. Underlying revenue dropped by a third to $1.4 billion. The reason? The top-end smartphone on which the company's fortunes currently rest, the HTC One, mostly missed its scheduled global arrival date in March due to manufacturing delays, so it effectively didn't exist during the period in question. It has only just become available to pre-order in the US and won't start shipping to customers until April 19th. At this rate, the HTC First -- the manufacturer's second big announcement of the year -- might actually deserve its name.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

Source: Bloomberg, HTC

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/08/htc-financials-q1-2013/

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Thousands walk in Central Park for Colon Cancer awareness | PIX 11

NEW YORK (PIX11)- Thousands of walkers took to Central Park on Sunday, to help raise money and awareness for Colorectal Cancer.

Most of the participants walked the 1.7 mile course in memory of someone close to them who had been affected by the deadly disease.

?We?re here in honor of my dad who died two years ago of colon cancer, we?re doing it as a family,? said walker Daisy Gonzalez.

This is the 10th Anniversary of the Colon Cancer Challenge.
The foundation is hoping to mark the milestone by raising $1 million for research, awareness, prevention and screening efforts.

PIX 11?s Mr. G was on hand to help kick off the festivities.

?Great cause.? We?re healthy fortunately, we?re giving to those who are not, and that?s the way it should work,? said Mr. G.

In 2011 almost 150,000 people were diagnosed with colorectal cancer and almost 50,000 people died due to the disease that same year.

That?s why many walkers say they hope their efforts will encourage more people to get screened, so they can fight against this fatal, yet preventable disease.

?Not everybody knows about it, and unfortunately for my father, he found out too late.? So if we raise awareness, we can help people prevent it,? said walker Carry Leggett.

Source: http://pix11.com/2013/04/07/thousands-walk-in-central-park-for-colon-cancer-awareness/

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10 Things to Know for Monday

Former Taliban militants stand in line, hand-cuffed after turning in their weapons during a ceremony with the Afghan government in Herat, Afghanistan, Sunday, April 7, 2013. About six former Taliban militants from Herat province handed over their weapons as part of a peace-reconciliation program. (AP Photo/Hoshang Hashimi)

Former Taliban militants stand in line, hand-cuffed after turning in their weapons during a ceremony with the Afghan government in Herat, Afghanistan, Sunday, April 7, 2013. About six former Taliban militants from Herat province handed over their weapons as part of a peace-reconciliation program. (AP Photo/Hoshang Hashimi)

FILE -In this Thursday, April 15, 2004, file photo, Designer Lilly Pulitzer, smiles during an interview in her clothing company's Manhattan fashion district offices. Pulitzer, known for her tropical print dresses, died in Florida at 81 on Sunday, April, 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

This undated image provided by James Weitze shows a truck driver taking a self portrait on the road. Weitze satisfies his video fix with an iPhone. He sleeps most of the time in his truck, and has no apartment. To be sure, he's an extreme case and probably wouldn't fit into Nielsen's definition of a household in the first place. But he's watching Netflix enough to keep up on shows like ?Weeds,? ?30 Rock,? ?Arrested Development,? ?Breaking Bad,? ?It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? and ?Sons of Anarchy.? (AP Photo/James Weitze)

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Monday:

1. AFGHANISTAN IS HEATING UP AT CRUCIAL MOMENT

A suicide attack on Americans and a NATO airstrike blamed for children's deaths come as Afghan forces contend with less coalition support.

2. MOURNING FOR A YOUNG US DIPLOMAT

Anne Smedinghoff, slain along with four other Americans, displayed a love of global affairs while growing up outside Chicago.

3. A WARNING FROM NORTH KOREA

A South Korean security official says Pyongyang's notice that it will be unable to guarantee diplomats' safety could be a sign that a missile test is imminent.

4. LA COLD-CASE MURDER PROBE GOES CROSS COUNTRY

Investigators are using DNA to determine if ex-boxer Samuel Little was a serial killer who traveled the US preying on women.

5. THE AMERICANS BROADCASTERS FEAR MOST

It's the "Zero TV" crowd, the growing ranks of viewers watching TV without cable, satellite or antennas.

6. DECISIVE MOMENTS LOOM FOR CONGRESS

Lawmakers return to Washington amid signs of deadlocks loosening on guns and immigration.

7. JESUITS GRAPPLE WITH HAVING ONE OF THEIR OWN AS POPE

Francis could inspire new recruits but could also feel compelled to intervene in the inner workings of the order.

8. HOW ORANGES MADE LILLY PULTIZER A FASHION GIANT

The designer, who died Sunday in Miami, needed to hide juice-stand stains. Sleeveless dresses in colorful prints did the trick.

9. WHERE THE PHONE BOOTHS WILL REALLY TAKE YOU BACK

Punch in 1-855-FOR-1993 on some Manhattan street corners to hear a notable New Yorker recount what life was like 20 years ago.

10. THE WAY RICK PITINO CAN MAKE BASKETBALL HISTORY

If Louisville beats Michigan Monday night, the former Kentucky coach would be the first to win NCAA finals at two schools.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-07-10-Things-to-Know-Monday/id-1535657233994e1c8d146efaa671b3dd

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PFT: Revis not optimistic about trade possibilities

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There?s a common belief that the pending concussion litigation against the NFL ultimately will result only in the lawyers making money.

The so-called expert witnesses likely will, too.

Often overlooked in complex litigation involving esoteric medical knowledge and jargon is the fact that the men and women who have the education and experience to share that knowledge and jargon with a judge and a jury get paid a lot of money.

That reality routinely results in a blurring of ethical lines.? According to Steve Fainaru and Mark Fainaru-Wada of ESPN.com, Dr. Robert Cantu previously served as a senior adviser to the NFL?s Head, Neck and Spine committee ? but he also has consulted with the lawyers who are suing the NFL on behalf of thousands of former players.

?It was an informational session, just like I get paid to give a talk someplace else,? Cantu said of a February 2012 presentation to the lawyers representing the players.? He also justified working for the players suing the league by explaining that the NFL could hire him to serve as an expert witness, which would block from him talking to those suing the league.

?If [the NFL] wanted to put me on their payroll, to defend their case, then I?m not gonna say boo about those issues [to the plaintiffs],? said Cantu, who gets $800 per hour for legal services, $5,000 for depositions, and $8,000 per day for trial testimony.

Cantu?s attitude underscores one of the biggest problems with the litigation industry.? Many experts aren?t necessarily motivated by the pursuit of justice but by the supplementation of their total income with the exorbitant fees they charge.? And since there?s plenty of discretion to be exercised when telling the truth, their testimony often can be molded to help whichever side of a case hires them first.

Here?s a concrete example, for those of you who are still awake.

Eleven years ago, I represented a former employee of a major U.S. low-cost big-box retailer who had been forced to take an alcohol test under circumstances that, as the jury concluded, didn?t justify an invasion of the employee?s privacy rights via the drawing of a blood sample.? The case included testimony from an expert witness who had been hired by the employer to justify the conclusion, based on the blood-alcohol concentration measured by the test, that the employee had indeed been intoxicated at work.

On cross-examination, I confronted the expert witness with a passage from a written report on the issue of blood-alcohol testing.? In the report, the author expressed concern about the reliability of efforts to use blood-alcohol measurements to determine a person?s BAC at an earlier point in time.

I read the sentence to the expert witness, and I asked the expert witness if he agreed with the statement.

He said, ?No.?

So I read it to him again, slowly.? I asked him if he agreed with that statement.

Again, he said, ?No.?

So I handed him the report, showed him the first page of it, and asked him to tell the judge and the jury who had written the report.

The expert witness, after taking a gulp, said his own name.

And that?s pretty much all I ever needed to know about the world of expert witnesses.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/05/revis-not-optimistic-trade-gets-done/related/

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Android this week: Facebook Home phones, software, privacy and fragmentation potential

Another tech giant is building off of Google Android, using the platform to expand its potential influence. Facebook didn?t introduce its own phone, but instead debuted Facebook Home software and a partner handset with HTC. The HTC First has mediocre specifications and will cost $99 with contract on AT&T?s network when it launches on April 12. Facebook Home will appear in the Google Play store that same day, but only for five current Android phones initially.

Will people install it? Out of 622 GigaOm readers that responded to our poll asking that question, 63.02 percent said no, although 21.54 percent said they will at least try it. I certainly will install it, but mainly for work and testing purposes.

Facebook Home will appeal to those who spend more time in Facebook apps than in any others. The home screen shows updates from friends and can easily be liked with a double-tap. The new ChatHeads feature allows for Facebook messages to appear atop any other open app. And it?s easy to navigate to other Facebook apps.

As a Facebook user, it sounds great except for one thing, at least to me: I want my home screen to have information relevant to me and my environment. Things like local weather, my scheduled events, breaking news and such.

Jason Perlow wrote a thought-provoking piece on the potential fragmentation that Facebook Home could bring. I don?t see as huge an issue, however, as Facebook Home is, at least for now, just a launcher. There are numerous launchers and hundreds of launcher themes available on Google Play but they don?t introduce fragmentation. On your own Android phone, you can choose to install and use, install and disable, or simply not install Facebook Home. Even on the HTC First, you can disable the Facebook Home launcher and the phone will revert to the native Android Jelly Bean look and feel.

Perlow notes that if Facebook adds deeper hooks into the Android system, APIs and its own app store, that could cause problems. I agree but think it?s unlikely to happen. The only companies that completely take over an Android phone are the ones that build their own hardware: HTC, Samsung, even Amazon. Even Amazon?s forked version of Android and app store isn?t creating much, if any, of a fragmentation issue for users or developers. We?ll have to see if Facebook Home works out any differently; it?s certainly a situation work watching.

The more immediate issue is one of privacy. My colleague, Om Malik, wrote a fantastic post on greater mistrust of Facebook Home and use of data, so I won?t rehash the privacy concerns. I don?t really see Facebook Home having any greater (or lesser) impact on privacy, however.

Why? Because Facebook already has deep hooks into user data on Android and other devices. Once I can install the Facebook Home software next week, I?ll be looking to see if the launcher has any additional data permissions even though Facebook has already said it won?t. I?ll then compare them to the current app permissions, which include these abilities and more:

• Access to photos and videos
• Both approximate and precise location from the phone?s GPS
• Reading and modifying your contacts, including the ability to see who you contact the most
• Your phone number as well as the recipient phone number when on a voice call; access to full call logs
• Getting a list of all other app/data accounts on your phone

I understand Om?s points on privacy in regards to Facebook. I still use the service, however, I think the bigger privacy issue should be focused on Facebook itself, not Facebook Home; unless I see something new in the permissions when Facebook home arrives.

Source: http://gigaom.com/2013/04/06/android-this-week-facebook-home-phones-software-privacy-and-fragmentation-potential/

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Remote reefs can be tougher than they look

Friday, April 5, 2013

Remote reefs can be tougher than they look Western Australia's Scott Reef has recovered from mass bleaching in 1998.

Isolated coral reefs can recover from catastrophic damage as effectively as those with nearby undisturbed neighbours, a long-term study by marine biologists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) has shown.

Scott Reef, a remote coral system in the Indian Ocean, has largely recovered from a catastrophic mass bleaching event in 1998, according to the study published in Science today.

The study challenges conventional wisdom that suggested isolated reefs were more vulnerable to disturbance, because they were thought to depend on recolonisation from other reefs. Instead, the scientists found that the isolation of reefs allowed surviving corals to rapidly grow and propagate in the absence of human interference.

Australia's largest oceanic reef system, Scott Reef, is relatively isolated, sitting out in the Indian Ocean some 250 km from the remote coastline of north Western Australia (WA). Prospects for the reef looked gloomy when in 1998 it suffered catastrophic mass bleaching, losing around 80% of its coral cover. The study shows that it took just 12 years to recover.

Spanning 15 years, data collected and analysed by the researchers shows how after the 1998 mass bleaching the few remaining corals provided low numbers of recruits (new corals) for Scott Reef. On that basis recovery was projected to take decades, yet within 12 years the cover and diversity of corals had recovered to levels similar to those seen pre-bleaching.

"The initial projections for Scott Reef were not optimistic," says Dr James Gilmour from AIMS, the lead author on the publication, "because, unlike reefs on the Great Barrier Reef, there were few if any reefs nearby capable of supplying new recruits to replenish the lost corals at Scott Reef.

"However, the few small corals that did settle at Scott Reef had excellent rates of survival and growth, whereas on many nearshore reefs high levels of algae and sediment, and poor water quality will often suppress this recovery.

"We know from other studies that the resilience of reefs can be improved by addressing human pressures such as water quality and overfishing," says Dr Gilmour. "So it is likely that a key factor in the rapid recovery at Scott Reef was the high water clarity and quality in this remote and offshore location."

Dr Andrew Heyward, Principal Research Scientist at AIMS, highlights another conclusion from their findings.

"Previously we've tended to factor proximity to other reefs as a key attribute when estimating the resilience of a reef following a major disturbance, but our data suggests that given the right conditions, reefs might do much of the recovery by themselves." This finding could have implications for the management of marine protected areas.

In their publication the team also draws attention to the important role played by climate change in the longer-term prospects for coral reefs, as Prof Morgan Pratchett of CoECRS explains.

"While it is encouraging to see such clear recovery, we need to be mindful of the fact that the coral recovery at Scott Reef still took over a decade. If, as the climate change trend suggests, we start to see coral bleaching and other related disturbances occurring more frequently, then reefs may experience a ratcheting down effect, never fully recovering before they suffer another major disturbance.

"By preventing illegal fishing and enhancing water quality on coral reefs in all regions we will give these reefs a greater capacity to recover from major disturbances."

The highly detailed, long-term data set makes Scott Reef the best studied reef in Australia's Indian Ocean territory. The study provides valuable new perspectives on ecosystem function and resilience of coral reefs situated in the northwest Australia, and in other contexts such as the Great Barrier Reef, and illustrates the importance of AIMS' research collaborations with its industry partners.

###

The paper "Recovery of an isolated coral reef system following severe disturbance", by J. P. Gilmour, L. D. Smith, A. J. Heyward, A. H. Baird and M. S. Pratchett appears online in Science on Friday, 5th April, 2013.

ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies: http://www.coralcoe.org.au/

Thanks to ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127614/Remote_reefs_can_be_tougher_than_they_look

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Fisker fires 75% of workforce; bankruptcy next?

Paul A. Eisenstein , The Detroit Bureau ? ? ? 9 hrs.

About 75 percent of the workforce at troubled battery-car start-up Fisker Automotive has been laid off, a move forced by the firm?s increasing weak financial situation and the mounting fears that without new investors or partners Fisker could be forced into bankruptcy, numerous sources have confirmed.

The move comes only days after U.S. employees reported back after a week-long, unpaid furlough, and less than a month after founder and former Chairman Henrik Fisker resigned over ?several major disagreements? with members of the small carmaker?s senior management team over its ongoing business strategy.

The Detroit Bureau: Mercedes Moving to all 4WD on Performance AMG Cars

"Unfortunately we have reached a point where a significant reduction in our workforce has become necessary," the company said, adding that it was still searching for a strategic partner.

According to sources, the firm is effectively being run by the big gun among its investors, the Silicon Valley-based venture capital fund Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, which has been pressing Fisker to ?conserve cash? and try to line up new investors, partners or buyers.

But efforts to do so have collapsed, according to sources. Several Chinese partners were talking to Fisker as recently as last month, including Dongfeng Motor Corp., based in Wuhan, China, which reportedly had considered purchasing 85% of the U.S. company. Also reportedly in talks was Zheijangg Geely, the Chinese firm that owns Swedish automaker Volvo.

The Detroit Bureau: Stop Daydreaming, Warns Distracted Driving Study

Both Chinese firms have pulled out of the discussions ? though one insider cautioned, ?The Chinese play hardball and may be taking advantage of the situation to get their best deal.?

At this point it is not clear what position is being taken by law firm Kirkland & Ellis, which has been brought in to advise on a possible bankruptcy filing.

Calling the layoffs ?a necessary strategic step in our efforts to maximize the value of Fisker's core assets," just 53 managers were asked to remain with the company following the mass firing of 160 employees on Friday morning at its headquarters in Anaheim, California. The company reportedly will provide no severance payments.

The Detroit Bureau: Battery Cars Suddenly Sparking Consumer Interest

Focusing on the plug-in hybrid niche in the nascent electric vehicle market, the company was founded by two industry veterans, Bernard Koehler and the eponymous Henrik Fisker, a Danish designer who was perhaps best known for his work at Aston Martin. Fisker himself tendered his resignation just last month. He had been increasingly isolated from a management team headed by CEO Tony Posawatz who joined the firm last year after leading the development of General Motors? own plug-in, the Chevrolet Volt.

Even before the official launch of the Fisker Karma in early 2012 the company was running into problems that led the U.S. Department of Energy to freeze most of a $529 million loan intended to help Fisker develop its second, more mass-market model, the Atlantic.

The situation contined to worse as the Karma became subject to several recalls for a variety of problems including a defective fan system that caused one vehicle to burn up. Meanwhile, production of the battery-car at a plant in Finland has been on hold since last autumn.

The Detroit Bureau: Ford Reveals Secret Concepts Behind Next F-Series Pickup

Despite having raised an estimated $1.2 billion from private investors ? and having tapped $193 million before the DoE loan was frozen, Fisker reportedly has just $30 million in available cash at this point. It also is expected to get a settlement of $15 million from its bankrupt battery supplier, the former A123, which was recently sold to a Chinese bidder.

Fisker also faces a $10 payment to the DoE on the outstanding portion of its loan that would be due on April 22.

The Energy Department has come under heat for problems with that program which has seen several other loan recipients, including A123, run into trouble as sales of electric vehicles have lagged well behind early, optimistic forecasts.

In a statement, however, DoE spokeswoman Aoife McCarthy contended that, "Despite Fisker's difficulties, our overall loan portfolio of more than 30 projects continues to perform very well, and more than 90 percent of the $10 billion loan loss reserve that Congress set aside for these programs remains intact.?

Barely a week after U.S. employees were put on a 5-day unpaid furlough, troubled Fisker Automotive has apparently given termination notices to as much as half or more of its staff ? including its entire communications department, several well-placed sources have told TheDetroitBureau.com.

While the latest move appears to be part of a desperate move to conserve dwindling cash resources while searching for new investors or a complete outside acquisition, the situation could be even more dire.

?I would not be surprised to see this leading up to the possibility of a bankruptcy filing,? cautioned a well-connected source with long connections to the battery-car maker. Other Fisker sources said such a move would come as no surprise to them, either.

The mass job cuts are just the latest setback to a once-promising company that had hoped to become a major player in the nascent electric vehicle market. It was founded by two industry veterans, Bernard Koehler and the eponymous Henrik Fisker, a Danish designer who was perhaps best known for his work at Aston Martin.

Copyright ? 2009-2013, The Detroit Bureau

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a63b62c/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cfisker0Efires0E750Eworkforce0Ebankruptcy0Enext0E1B9234245/story01.htm

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Gang member arrested in corrections killing probe

AAA??Apr. 5, 2013?11:48 PM ET
Gang member arrested in corrections killing probe
By STEVEN K. PAULSONBy STEVEN K. PAULSON, Associated Press??

This Friday, April 5, 2013 photo provided by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office shows 47-year-old James Lohr. Lohr, a white supremacist prison gang member, was arrested and another was still being sought for questioning Friday in the death of Colorado's prisons chief as authorities investigated whether the gang had any ties to the killing. (AP Photo/El Paso County Sheriff's Office)

This Friday, April 5, 2013 photo provided by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office shows 47-year-old James Lohr. Lohr, a white supremacist prison gang member, was arrested and another was still being sought for questioning Friday in the death of Colorado's prisons chief as authorities investigated whether the gang had any ties to the killing. (AP Photo/El Paso County Sheriff's Office)

This Friday, April 5, 2013 photo provided by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office shows 47-year-old James Lohr. Lohr, a white supremacist prison gang member, was arrested and another was still being sought for questioning Friday in the death of Colorado's prisons chief as authorities investigated whether the gang had any ties to the killing. (AP Photo/El Paso County Sheriff's Office)

This combo made from photos released by the El Paso County, Colo., Sheriff's office shows Thomas James Guolee, 31, left, and James Franklin Lohr, 47, who are wanted for questioning in the Tom Clements homicide investigation. Lohr is described as 6 feet tall, 160 pounds, with blond hair, brown eyes and several tattoos. Guolee is a 31 year old male described as 5 feet 9 inches tall, 160 pounds, with blond hair, blue eyes and several tattoos. (AP Photo/El Paso Sheriff)

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Colorado Department of Corrections shows paroled inmate Evan Spencer Ebel. A clerical error allowed Ebel, suspected of killing Colorado?s prisons chief, to be released from custody about four years early, officials said Monday, April 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Colorado Department of Corrections, File)

This undated photo provided by the Colorado Department of Corrections shows Thomas Guolee. El Paso County sheriff's Lt. Jeff Kramer said Wednesday, April 3, 2013 that deputies are seeking Guolee, 31, and 47-year-old James Lohr, members of a white supremacist prison gang, in connection with the death of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements. He says their names surfaced during the investigation and the men could be headed to Nevada or Texas. (AP Photo/Colorado Department of Corrections)

DENVER (AP) ? Investigators say they have recovered a gun that was sought after an alleged white supremacist gang member was arrested during the investigation into the killing of Colorado's prisons chiefs.

James Lohr was arrested early Friday after a brief chase in Colorado Springs.

Investigators say surveillance video showed a firearm being thrown from Lohr's vehicle before his arrest and two men spotting it and taking it. Investigators say someone who received the gun turned it in Friday night.

Authorities had said they were looking for Lohr and a fellow 211 Crew prison gang member as persons of interest in the slaying of Tom Clements.

The only named suspect is another 211 member who died after a shootout in Texas.

Lohr was arrested on warrants unrelated to Clements' death.

Associated PressNews Topics: General news, Criminal investigations, Gang-related crime, Correctional systems, Hate groups, Arrests, Law and order, Crime, Violent crime, Discrimination, Human rights and civil liberties, Social issues, Social affairs

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-05-Corrections%20Director%20Killed/id-9c5c11ab9a4f4ae28722fa9e2855dd57

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Groups: Tanzania gov't kicking Maasai off land

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Tanzania's government is preparing to kick Maasai tribesmen off cattle-grazing land near the country's most famous wildlife park and will instead allow a hunting company from the United Arab Emirates to take control of it, groups and community members trying to raise awareness on the issue said Friday.

The reclassification of the land will create a "wildlife corridor" that will prevent the Maasai from accessing lands they've long used, thus destroying their traditional nomadic cattle-herding lifestyle, said Sarah Gilbertz of Survival International, a London-based group that works for the rights of tribal people worldwide.

Tanzania's Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism announced last week that it would not allow Maasai on a 1,500-square-kilometer section of the Loliondo Game Controlled Area "in order to resolve existing conflicts" and "save the ecology" of the Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Loliondo game reserves.

But the groups say that's just an excuse to benefit a hunting company.

"Although the government claims that the land is needed as a corridor for wildlife, the area is leased to the Ortello Business Corporation of the United Arab Emirates to use for trophy hunting," Gilbertz said. Ortello couldn't be reached for comment Friday. Businesses are typically closed on Fridays in the UAE.

The Serengeti is considered to be one of the world's natural treasures. The reserve is a vast plain dotted with acacia trees and watering holes, where wildebeest and zebra gather in huge herds for annual migrations. More than 2 million animals migrate north from Serengeti into Kenya's adjacent Maasai Mara reserve every year.

The Maasai tribes indigenous to the region also use the land to graze cattle and other animals. Robert Kamakia, a Maasai community member who works for an aid group that helps pastoralists, said many meetings have taken place in recent days to try to solve the impasse, but no progress has been made.

"Now the government is organizing to set up the place so that livestock and human activity will be prohibited, and it will be the end of the community here because actually 90 percent of the community are depending on pastoral activity," he said, referring to Maasai who herd cattle and goats.

Ian Bassin, campaign director for the activist group Avaaz, said up to 68,000 Maasai villagers could be driven off the land. The last time the government tried to clear land for Ortello, security forces burned villages and killed tens of thousands of head of livestock, Bassin said.

"This time the villagers say they will vehemently resist the eviction," Bassin said.

Avaaz posted a letter on its website it says is from Maasai elders asking for support to prevent the government from taking over the land. The petition had more than 1.2 million signatures by mid-day Friday.

"The government has just announced that it plans to kick thousands of our families off our lands so that wealthy tourists can use them to shoot lions and leopards. The evictions are to begin immediately," the letter says.

The letter says the government previously tried to carry out the plan, but that international attention forced the government to shelve it. "But the President has waited for international attention to die down, and now he's revived his plan to take our land. We need your help again, urgently," the letter says.

Bassin said that Maasai have deeds showing they are legally entitled to the land the government plans to close off to them.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/groups-tanzania-govt-kicking-maasai-off-land-134348511.html

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Secret Service chief may be latest victim of high-profile hacks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Secret Service said on Thursday it was investigating the claim that new Director Julia Pierson's personal information had been hacked and published on a website, another in a string of such incidents against top officials including first lady Michelle Obama and CIA Director John Brennan.

The information on the website included a Social Security number, phone numbers, and a credit report that includes accounts with The Home Depot, Sears, and Macy's.

It was unclear how much of the data that appeared on www.exposed.re was accurate or who posted it. The website appeared to have information about other government officials and celebrities that had been published online previously at another Internet address, www.exposed.su.

"We are investigating and we are aware of the matter," a Secret Service spokesman said without commenting further.

Pierson was sworn into office on March 27 and is the first woman to head the agency which protects the president.

An FBI spokeswoman said "we're aware of the reports" but she would not say whether the FBI was investigating them.

The Internet domain country code for the island of Reunion is .re, while .su was the domain code for the Soviet Union.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; editing by Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/secret-investigating-hack-directors-information-175903604.html

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Building better blood vessels could advance tissue engineering

Apr. 4, 2013 ? One of the major obstacles to growing new organs -- replacement hearts, lungs and kidneys -- is the difficulty researchers face in building blood vessels that keep the tissues alive, but new findings from the University of Michigan could help overcome this roadblock.

"It's not just enough to make a piece of tissue that functions like your desired target," said Andrew Putnam, U-M associate professor of biomedical engineering. "If you don't nourish it with blood by vascularizing it, it's only going to be as big as the head of a pen.

"But we need a heart that's this big," he added, holding up his fist.

More immediately, doctors and researchers believe figuring out how to grow working blood vessels might offer treatments for diseases that affect the circulatory system such as diabetes. Perhaps the right drug or injection could save patients' feet from amputation.

Putnam and his colleagues have revealed why one of the leading approaches to building blood vessels isn't consistently working: It's making leaky tubes. They also demonstrated how adult stem cells could solve this problem. A paper on the findings is published online in Tissue Engineering Part A, and will appear in a forthcoming print edition.

Today, biomedical researchers are taking two main approaches to growing new capillaries, the smallest blood vessels and those responsible for exchanging oxygen, carbon dioxide and nutrients between blood and muscles or organs.

One group of researchers is developing drug compounds that would signal existing vessels to branch into new tributaries. These compounds -- generally protein growth factors -- mimic how cancerous tumor cells recruit blood vessels.

The other group, which includes the U-M team, is using a cell-based method. This technique involves injecting cells within a scaffolding carrier near the spot where you want new capillaries to materialize. In Putnam's approach, they deliver endothelial cells, which make up the vessel lining and supporting cells. Their scaffolding carrier is fibrin, a protein in the human body that helps blood clot.

"The cells know what to do," Putnam said. "You can take these things and mix them and put them in an animal. Literally, it's as easy as a simple injection and over a few days, they spontaneously form new vessels and the animals' own vasculature connects to them."

But it turns out these vessels don't always thrive. The U-M team aimed to figure out why. In reading previously published findings, Putnam noticed that researchers used "a mishmash of support cells," and the field had paid little attention to which ones work best. So that's where he and his colleagues focused.

In their experiments, they mixed three recipes of blood vessel starter solutions, each with a different commonly used supporting cell type: lung fibroblasts, adult stem cells from fat and adult stem cells from bone marrow. They also made a version with no supporting cells at all. They injected each solution under the skin of mice, and allowed the new blood vessels to form over a period of two weeks. At various points in time, they injected a tracer dye into the animals' circulation to help them see how well the engineered capillaries held blood, and whether they were connected to the animals' existing vessel networks.

The researchers found that the solution with no support cells and the one with the lung fibroblasts produced immature, misshapen human capillaries that leaked. They could tell because the tracer dye pooled in the tissue around the new vessels. On the other hand, the solutions with both types of adult stem cells gave rise to robust human capillaries that kept blood and dye inside them.

The paper notes that one popular method biomedical engineers use to check the success of their efforts -- counting blood vessels -- might not be an ideal measure. The adult stem cell solutions produced fewer blood vessels than the others, in one case less than half. But the vessels they did build were stronger. And upon further analysis, the researchers found evidence that the adult stem cells may be able to differentiate into the kind of mature, smooth muscle cells that support larger blood vessels.

"The adult stem cells from fat and bone marrow both work equally well," Putnam said. "If we want to use this clinically in five to 10 years, I think it's crucial for the field to focus on a support cell that actually has some stem cell characteristics."

Down the road, Putnam envisions that doctors could get these support cells from individual patients themselves -- either from their bone marrow or fat -- and then inject them near the site where the new blood vessels are needed.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Michigan, via Newswise.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Stephanie J. Grainger, Bita Carrion, Jacob Ceccarelli, Andrew J. Putnam. Stromal Cell Identity Influences theIn VivoFunctionality of Engineered Capillary Networks Formed by Co-delivery of Endothelial Cells and Stromal Cells. Tissue Engineering Part A, 2013; 19 (9-10): 1209 DOI: 10.1089/ten.tea.2012.0281

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/hef8laf6iao/130404151954.htm

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As World Meat Consumption Grows, US Appetite Wanes (Voice Of America)

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AstraZeneca buys early-stage U.S. biotech firm

LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca boosted its early-stage pipeline of experimental heart drugs on Wednesday by buying privately held U.S. biotechnology company AlphaCore Pharma, which is developing a new type of cholesterol medicine.

Financial details of the acquisition by the British drugmaker's MedImmune unit were not disclosed.

AstraZeneca's new CEO Pascal Soriot said last month he planned to build up the company's sparse drug pipeline by striking more deals, with cardiovascular and metabolic disease a particular priority.

Cardiovascular and metabolic disease is one of three core therapy areas for AstraZeneca - along with oncology and respiratory/inflammation - but the company currently has few experimental compounds for such conditions.

AlphaCore will help plug the gap, although it will not deliver any marketable products for many years. Its leading drug candidate ACP-501, a genetically engineered liver-derived enzyme called LCAT, only completed Phase I clinical tests last year.

Drugs need to go through three phases of lengthy tests before being approved for sale.

The hope is that ACP-501 will help in the management of cholesterol to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. It could also play a role in a rare, hereditary disorder called familial LCAT deficiency in which the LCAT enzyme is absent.

"As the science in this area continues to evolve, we are committed to exploring unique pathways that could lead to new combination or standalone therapies for patients living with chronic and acute cardiovascular diseases," said MedImmune head Bahija Jallal.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/astrazeneca-buys-early-stage-u-biotech-firm-072422623--finance.html

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