37.5 hours per week, including some evening hours and Saturday rotation
QUALIFICATIONS:
Requires a Master?s Degree in Library Science from an ALA accredited program. Requires at least three years of professional library experience in a public library setting. Circulation and/or reference experience is preferred. Previous branch library supervisory experience is desirable. In exceptional instances, specialized education, training and/or experience may be substituted for part of the educational requirement. Ability to interpret community needs and interests, and to translate them into relevant library service. Ability to work effectively with a diverse population. Ability to lead and to direct staff. Ability to set goals with staff, to implement progressive disciplinary action when needed, to motivate staff, to maintain morale, to provide direction, and to support organizational goals. Broad background and knowledge of library techniques, bibliographic resources, and current popular materials. Ability to meet problems easily and to deal with them effectively. Ability to resolve customer complaints/issues. Excellent communication skills, orally and in writing. Commitment to excellent customer service. Maturity. Tact. Patience. Resourcefulness. Initiative. Familiarity with computer technology and current library technology. Adaptability and dependability to work well in a team situation. Flexibility in emergency staffing situations.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
* Physically able to operate a variety of machinery and equipment, including office equipment such as computers, calculators, copiers, facsimile machines, CD/DVD players
* Ability to stand or sit for extended periods of time to use computer workstations, including keyboard and visual display terminal * Strength to push or pull a loaded book cart which can weigh in excess of 100 pounds on level floor and up ramp, to lift or maneuver onto cart loads of up to 50 pounds, and to carry cartons of books * Must be able to pay close attention to details and concentrate on work * Requires the ability to compare and/or judge the readily observable, functional, structural or compositional characteristics (whether similar or divergent from obvious standards) of data or things * Time management ability to set priorities in order to meet assignment deadlines * Sufficient clarity of speech and hearing or other communication capabilities, with or without reasonable accommodation, which permit effective communication * Sufficient vision or other powers of observation, with or without reasonable accommodation, to permit employee to read books and patron requests * Sufficient manual dexterity, with or without reasonable accommodation, which permits the employee to type and record library files * Sufficient personal mobility and physical reflexes, with or without reasonable accommodation, which permits the employee to re-shelve library materials and work at public service desks
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
? Works in assigned areas, including office areas, training rooms, library locations, as necessary
? Normal office exposure to noise, stress and interruptions
? Attends and participates in continuing educational programs designed to keep abreast of changes in profession
DUTIES:
? Directs all activities in the branch and supervises all staff assigned to the branch. Responsible for preparation of staff schedules and work assignments.
? Trains new branch staff members, acquainting them with library and branch routines and procedures. Participates on search committees to hire new staff. Reviews and evaluates staff performance at periodical intervals.
? Directs development and maintenance of branch collections. Selects adult materials. Supervises materials budget for all adult and children?s branch materials. Ensures that the total branch collection reflects the needs of the community.
? Plans programming for the branch.
? Provides oversight of branch exhibits and displays.
? Provides services to branch users, including reader?s advisory, reference, and functions related to circulation (checkouts, check-ins, reserves, renewals, fine assessment and collection, running of reports and compilation of statistics)
? Assists as needed in the Technology Center and in the children?s area.
? Instructs patrons as needed, especially in the use of the on-line catalog and about available on-line resources.
? Oversees the branch building and reports needed repairs and servicing.
? Maintains good public relations with organizations and service groups in the branch neighborhood to help them derive the full benefit of the services offered by the library.
? Attends regular department head and branch manager meetings. Is a resource for other branch managers.
? Any other duties required for the good of the branch and the library.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to person essential functions.
SALARY: $67,876 to $81,412 in seven steps
DEADLINE: February 21, 2013 at 5pm
APPLY TO:
City of Cambridge Personnel Department, Room 309 795 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Please send 2 copies each of cover letter & resume Fax: 617-349-4312 employment@cambridgema.gov
Excerpt from: Scivantage Extends Mobile Brokerage Platform and Launches New Investment Apps for Android and iPhone
JERSEY CITY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scivantage?, an independent financial technology provider with proven expertise in online brokerage, tax and portfolio reporting and wealth management applications, announced today the launch of its new HTML5-based mobile brokerage platform, Investor Mobile, and ...
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) ? The weather needs a new calendar. It?s acting like April even though we are deep into winter.
This afternoon temperatures reached the upper 60?s in advance of a cold front so strong that it could pull warmth to that level into the area.
Tonight the warm and cold air fight it out, with our area on the receiving end of heavy rain and strong, gusty winds.
A flash flood watch for an inch or more of rain covers Pennsylvania and a high wind warning for gusts between 40 and 60 mph covers New Jersey and Delaware.
Loose objects could become missiles in the wind and the recently frozen ground and waterways could flood from runoff.
By sunrise, it?s a whole other story.
The weather and calendar match, temperatures will fall through the 30?s, the winds will blow to about 45 mph and we await an even colder Friday with a moisture starved clipper system hoping to drop a few snow flurries.
TROY, N.Y.?? Watson, the supercomputer famous for beating the world's best human "Jeopardy!" champions, is going to college.
IBM is announcing Wednesday that it will provide a Watson system to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the first time the computer is being sent to a university. Just like the flesh-and-blood students who will work on it, Watson is leaving home to sharpen its skills. Course work will include English and math.
"It's a big step for us," said Michael Henesey, IBM's vice president of business development. "We consider it absolutely strategic technology for IBM in the future. And we want to evolve it, of course, thoughtfully, but also in collaboration with the best and brightest in academia."
Watson is a cognitive system that can process massive amounts of data, including natural language. To beat "Jeopardy!" champions in 2011, it was fed the contents of encyclopedias, dictionaries, books, news dispatches and movie scripts. For its medical work, it takes in medical textbooks and journals. After it takes in data, Watson can provide information like a "Jeopardy!" answer, a medical diagnosis or an estimate of financial risk.
IBM, which provided a grant to RPI to operate Watson for three years, sees it as a way to help it boost the computer's cognitive capabilities.
Artificial intelligence researchers at RPI want to do things like improve Watson's mathematical ability and help it quickly figure out the meaning of new or made-up words. They want to improve its ability to handle the torrent of images, videos and emails on the Web, the sort of unstructured information that is overwhelmingly fueling the data boom.
For Selmer Bringsjord, who heads RPI's department of cognitive science, getting a crack at Watson is like a car aficionado being tossed the keys to a souped-up Lamborghini. Bringsjord said he and his graduate students could potentially focus on providing Watson with a deeper understanding of the structure of sentences and how dialogues unfold.
"If I can make a tiny, tiny contribution in that direction, given how historic the system is, I'd be very happy and I think my graduate students would be as well," Bringsjord said.
The original Watson remains at IBM's Research Headquarters in Westchester County, about 100 miles south of the school. RPI has hardware fully dedicated to running the system's software at its supercomputing center in the Rensselaer Tech Park near the school. RPI's version of Watson has 15 terabytes of memory, enough to store a massive library. It will allow 20 users to access the system at once.
IBM has worked collaboratively with other outside institutions on Watson, such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, New York-based Citigroup Inc. and the Cleveland Clinic. But this is the first time hardware fully dedicated to running the Watson software is being installed at a college.
Officials with IBM and RPI say Watson's college tenure also will prepare RPI students for jobs in cognitive science and "big data," a field where demand is quickly outpacing supply. John Kolb, RPI's chief information officer, said he would like the next generation of the school's technology graduates "to help IBM take Watson to the next level."
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
CAIRO/BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Egypt's Islamist president on Wednesday to open a dialogue with all political forces in the crisis-ridden Arab country after a week of violence that has killed more than 50 people.
President Mohamed Mursi flew to Germany to try to convince Europe of his democratic credentials, but in a sign of the political tensions back home, he restricted his trip to a few hours and canceled a planned Paris leg.
"One thing that is important for us is that the line for dialogue is always open to all political forces in Egypt, that the different political forces can make their contribution, that human rights are adhered to in Egypt and that of course religious freedom can be experienced," Merkel told Mursi at a joint news conference.
The Egyptian leader, who has faced months of protests by liberal and youth groups opposed to a new Islamic constitution, replied that dialogue was possible and that Egypt would be a state based on the rule of law, not run by the military.
But he refused to give a commitment sought by the opposition to form a national unity government, saying that would be for the new parliament to decide after elections expected in April.
Two more protesters were shot dead before dawn near Cairo's central Tahrir Square on the seventh day of what has become the deadliest wave of unrest since Mursi took power in June.
The army chief warned on Tuesday that the state was on the brink of collapse if Mursi's opponents and supporters did not end street battles that have marked the two-year anniversary of the revolt that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Mursi is due to return to Cairo later in the day.
Near Tahrir Square on Wednesday morning, dozens of protesters threw stones at police who fired back teargas, although the scuffles were brief.
"Our demand is simply that Mursi goes, and leaves the country alone. He is just like Mubarak and his crowd who are now in prison," said Ahmed Mustafa, 28, a youth who had goggles on his head to protect his eyes from teargas.
Opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei called for a meeting of the president, ministers, the ruling party and the opposition to halt the violence. But he also restated the opposition's precondition that Mursi first commit to seeking a national unity government.
Mursi's critics accuse him of betraying the spirit of the revolution by keeping too much power in his own hands and those of his Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement banned under Mubarak which won repeated elections since the 2011 uprising.
Mursi's supporters say the protesters want to overthrow Egypt's first democratically elected leader. The unrest has prevented a return to stability ahead of parliamentary elections due within months, and worsened an economic crisis that has seen the pound currency tumble in recent weeks.
The worst violence has been in the Suez Canal city of Port Said, where rage was fuelled by death sentences passed against soccer fans for deadly riots last year. Mursi responded by announcing on Sunday a month-long state of emergency and curfew in Port Said and two other Suez Canal cities.
Protesters have ignored the curfew and returned to the streets. Human Rights Watch called for Mursi to lift the decree.
Mursi was keen to allay the West's fears over the future of the most populous Arab country in his meetings with Merkel and powerful industry groups in Berlin.
"DISTURBING IMAGES"
"We have seen worrying images in recent days, images of violence and destruction, and I appeal to both sides to engage in dialogue," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a radio interview on Wednesday ahead of Mursi's arrival.
Germany's "offer to help with Egypt's transformation clearly depends on it sticking to democratic reforms", he added.
Germany has praised Mursi's efforts in mediating a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza after a conflict last year, but became concerned at Mursi's efforts to expand his powers and fast-track a constitution last year.
Berlin was also alarmed by video that emerged in recent weeks showing Mursi making vitriolic remarks against Jews and Zionists in 2010 when he was a senior Brotherhood official. Germany's Nazi past and strong support of Israel make it highly sensitive to anti-Semitism.
Mursi's past anti-Jewish remarks were "unacceptable", Westerwelle said. "But at the same time President Mursi has played a very constructive role mediating in the Gaza conflict."
Asked about those remarks at the news conference with Merkel, Mursi said they had been taken out of context and he was not against the Jewish faith.
Egypt's main liberal and secularist bloc, the National Salvation Front, has so far refused talks with Mursi unless he promises a unity government including opposition figures.
"Stopping the violence is the priority, and starting a serious dialogue requires committing to guarantees demanded by the National Salvation Front, at the forefront of which are a national salvation government and a committee to amend the constitution," ElBaradei said on Twitter.
Those calls have also been backed by the hardline Islamist Nour party - rivals of Mursi's Brotherhood. Nour and the Front were due to meet on Wednesday, signaling an unlikely alliance of Mursi's critics from opposite ends of the political spectrum.
Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagy dismissed the unity government proposal as a ploy for the Front to take power despite having lost elections. On his Facebook page he ridiculed "the leaders of the Salvation Front, who seem to know more about the people's interests than the people themselves".
German industry leaders see potential in Egypt but are concerned about political instability.
"At the moment many firms are waiting on political developments and are cautious on any big investments," said Hans Heinrich Driftmann, head of Germany's Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
Mursi's supporters blame the opposition for preventing an economic recovery by halting efforts to restore stability. The opposition says an inclusive government is needed to bring calm.
(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad in Cairo, Stephen Brown and Gernot Heller in Berlin and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Giles Elgood and Paul Taylor)
President Barack Obama speaks about immigration reform Tuesday in Las Vegas. (Isaac Brekken/AP)The White House on Wednesday blamed the devastation from Superstorm Sandy and disruptions from deep scheduled spending cuts for the surprise 0.1 percent drop in gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2012. It was the first such contraction since early 2009 when the country was in the grips of the Great Recession.
The chairman of President Barack Obama?s Council of Economic Advisers, Alan Krueger, said in a post on the official White House blog that the bad news came ?amid signs that Hurricane Sandy disrupted economic activity and Federal defense spending declined precipitously, likely due to uncertainty stemming from the sequester.?
That law will slash some $1.2 trillion in spending over 10 years by targeting domestic and defense programs with across-the-board cuts. Obama and Republicans in Congress have been starkly at odds over how best to replace the sequester with less disruptive debt-battling measures. The president has said spending cuts must be paired with tax revenue increases, something Republicans oppose.
Meanwhile, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell renewed the GOP?s calls for spending cuts on the Senate floor on Wednesday, urging a look into ?the dark corners that often evade real scrutiny? on a mission to make government programs more efficient and scrap those that don?t work.
?We need to root out waste, which will serve as the first real test of Democrats? seriousness in this debate,? he said.
McConnell added, ?Why is the federal government funding Chinese studies on pig manure, and research into the smoking habits of Jordanian college students and reality TV shows in India? Are Democrats prepared to cut this kind of waste?"
Krueger took pains to defend Obama?s first-term economic record, stressing that ?over the last fourteen quarters, the economy has expanded 7.5 percent overall,? and touting private sector growth, investment and consumption. Over all of 2012, the economy grew 2.2 percent. And economists largely agreed with the White House's take on the impact of Sandy and spending cuts.
?Federal defense purchases declined at an annual rate of 22.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, the largest quarterly decline in 40 years,? Krueger said. ?The decline in government spending across all levels reduced real GDP by 1.33 percentage points in the quarter.?
Sandy also played a role, Krueger said, notably by disrupting trade, ?although a precise estimate of the effect of the hurricane on GDP is not available.?
Krueger also warned Congress against dealing the economy any ?self-inflicted wounds.?
1. ?With more A/E/C and CRE professionals working from home, simplicity comes from the Internal Revenue Service with new home office deduction regulations effective for the 2013 tax year ? not for the 2012 taxes being filed now. Instead of the 49 line depreciation calculation with utility and maintenance apportionments, home offices may be calculated as $5/SF, with a maximum of $1,500 per year allowed.
Major Sales
2. ?In Tucson, the Arizona Daily Star reports CRE activity this month has been accelerating with more than $33M in sales closing. Some of the larger deals include:
College Town apartments, 1300 E. Fort Lowell. College Town Tucson LLC, Phoenix, paid $10.5M to acquire the complex from MCS711 College Town Tucson, LLC, Phoenix.
Montecito condominiums, 5751 N. Kolb Rd. Montecito Ventana LLC, Corona, Calif., is the new owner, paying $3.6M to Veranda at Ventana Investments, Nashville, Tenn., to buy the condo complex.
Los Arboles Mobile Home Park, 17200 S. Villita Rd., Sahuarita. The community sold was by Los Arboles Community LLC, Tucson, for $3.2M to Los Arboles Community #2 LLC, Tucson.
Krebs Engineers, 7740 N. Business Park Dr. Krebs Engineers (a division of FLSmidth Krebs Inc.)is moving into a new, larger location after paying $2.3M to PDM Real Estate Investment LLC, Tucson.
?
3. ?Two commercial properties?one a 119K SF office building, the other an adjoining 2.8 acre undeveloped commercial parcel?were picked up ViaWest Group for $13.2M. The 82 percent leased West 101 Business Center, 95th Ave. and McDowell Rd., Phoenix, includes tenants Maricopa County, ITT Educational Services, Inc., and Aetna. Eastdil Secured represented seller, Carlson Real Estate Company LLLP, Minneapolis, MN. CBRE is handling leasing.
4. ?REITs are buying up single-tenant commercial plots for portfolio investors.
5. ?Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co., Daytona Beach, Fla., a publicly traded REIT paid $5M for a 35K SF ($145/SF) building leased to a Big Lots! store at Arrowhead Towne Center, Bell Rd. and 75th Ave., Glendale. Colliers International, which handled the deal for CTL, says the 3.6-acre site sold for a premium above the typical $91/SF Phoenix area retail price.
6. ?Eight industrial properties in Chandler sold for a combined $4.8M ($88/SF) to CJV, LLC, Costa Mesa, Calif. The consolidated 54K SF include Westech 10 Corporate Center and 1920 E. University Dr.Lee & Associates represented sellers CC Prop, LLC on the former property and University & Perry LLC for the latter. Westech has three free-standing buildings (36K SF), and sold for $3.2M ($88/SF). The University Dr. property was for part of an industrial condo, 18K SF, selling for $1.6M ($88/SF).
7. ?The Virginia Financial Building, 301 E. Virginia Ave., Phoenix, sold for $2.1M ($68/SF) to Canadian investor, Continental Group. The four-story office building has 31.2K SF of Class B office space. Colliers International handled the deal for the 100 percent occupied building.
Major Leases
8. ?Zipps Sports Grill is coming to downtown Tempe and leasing 6.2K SF in Centerpoint on Mill, Mill Ave. at University Dr. The eatery is the newest tenant for the DMB project. The Hanover Co., Houston, Tex., picked up the residential component from DMB for a mid-rise apartment adjoining the Zipps site (ABEX, December 11th).
9. ?No Anchovies, a Tucson sports and pizza bar, is eyeing expansion into the old Cactus Moon location, 5470 E. Broadway. The second location for the eatery is pending approval of a liquor license by the city council on February 12. The new restaurant will be 12K SF, but its final approval faces concerns with the council over the owner?s past history with Tucson stemming from violent 2001 incident at a club he owned.
Closures and Foreclosures
10. An improving economy has put 29 people out of work and will close the Department of Economic Security?s Phoenix call center. The facility, opened to handle the increased load of unemployment filings, is no longer needed, according to DES. The closure comes as a result of reduced federal funding, which pays 100 percent of unemployment claim processing administration costs (AZCentral premium content).
11. ?Savers retail store, 1683 E. Florence Blvd., Casa Grande, closed January 16th, following a year of poor sales. The consignment store is back to its Tucson and Tempe locations. The community donation center is also closed. The store is part of a Bellevue Wash.-based chain of consignment outlets.
12. ?Wittman?s Speedworld may be shut down over a combination of issues including nonpayment of rent to State Land Department, failure to provide insurance, and erecting buildings on the site without permits. The operator is suing the county over the building permit issues saying it has no authority for development on state-owned land. The next court hearing is February 1. The county has fined the owners $50K with a $750/day fine accruing effective January 28. Among the various non-permitted structures are bleachers for 5K-7K spectators and grading and drainage activities without an engineered set of plans (AZCentral premium content).
As you chatter on your smartphone, the death toll rises?almost 7 million birds are killed each year when they fly into communication towers that make cellphone conversations possible. Worse, the towers often kill birds that are already rare. So says a study in the journal Biological Conservation. [Travis Longcore et al, Avian mortality at communication towers in the United States and Canada: which species, how many, and where?] For example, tower impacts kill more than 2,000 yellow rails per year. That's roughly 9 percent of the total population. Ninety-seven percent of all birds killed are songbirds, especially warblers. The red-eyed vireo suffers some of the biggest losses, some 581,000 deaths annually, though that represents less than 1 percent of its population. The Southeast and Midwest lead the country in tower-bird collisions. That's because these regions have the largest concentrations of the tallest towers, up to 900 feet high. While all of the more than 80,000 communication towers in North America cause problems, the roughly 1,000 tallest towers cause 70 percent of the bird deaths, luring birds to their doom with red warning lights that are always on. A partial solution is relatively simple: replacing the always-on red lights with blinking ones could cut the deaths by as much as 70 percent. Otherwise, Twitter could have a monopoly on tweets. ?David Biello [The above text is a transcript of this podcast]? Yellow rail and red-eyed vireo sounds courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news. ? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.
Dealing with anger and its repercussions can be very challenging. Unaware of how to handle irritating and stressful situations may be a reason for many fits of anger and rage. Most people, with the exception of young children perhaps, recognize their problem with uncontrollable anger. Although there are many anger management activities which would enable them to better cope with confrontational situations, some people are uneducated regarding these techniques and activities.
There are many anger management activities individuals can practice or participate in when attempting to cope with daily feelings of anger. One activity which is recommended for anger management is exercise. Exercise has been proven to have a positive impact on an individual?s mood. Exercise helps an individual to decrease any negative feelings they might be experiencing. An effect anger management activity might be as simple as going for a walk or jog in the park. Visiting the gym to work out of taking part in their favorite sport may work well for an individual as an anger management activity. Taking a hike or spending a few hours in the beauty of nature would definitely allow a person to clear their head and release tension. Outdoor anger management activities would surely create an environment of serenity.
Anger management activities such as attending a support group, camp or retreat would certainly help people who are experiencing difficulties controlling their anger. One positive aspect of attending anger management activities such as there is the individual would see first hand that their problem is not unique, that it is shared by plenty of other people. Being able to share with people in similar situations might be the key to anger management for some individuals. Sharing would likely provide hope through success stories. In anger management activities such as these, people are forced to deal with their anger issues through various activities group sessions and one on one consults.
Anger management activities for children
Anger management activities are recommended when dealing with children who are coping with anger issues. A child is unlikely to respond well to group sessions and perhaps even become bored with one on one consults. Finding activities which are interesting and even challenging may be a better alternative. Kids enjoy fun and games. Designing anger management activities which are enjoyable yet beneficial would be so much more effective than forcing a child to sit down with an anger management counselor. Worksheets, coloring pages, individual games as well as interactive games would be accepted much better by children than a trip to the psychiatrist. When children are involved, it is essential to approach the problem carefully. Being overbearing will not go over well with kids. When considering anger management activities for kids, it is essential to be mindful that they are only children and the approach is important.
When considering anger management activities, an individual ought to choose one which they find interesting and enjoyable. Sticking a person in an unfamiliar setting may create feelings of anger which is not the intention of anger management activities. Finding an activity that works should be the key focus.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Jan. 28, 2013 ? A popular dog treat could be adding more calories than pet owners realize, and possibly be contaminated by bacteria, according to a study published this month by researchers at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and the University of Guelph.
The treat in question: the "bully" or "pizzle stick." The American and Canadian researchers analyzed the caloric density and bacterial contamination of these popular items, made from the uncooked, dried penis of a bull or steer. They also administered a survey to pet owners to assess their knowledge of these treats.
The study, published in the January 2013 issue of the Canadian Veterinary Journal, examined 26 bully sticks purchased from retailers in the United States and Canada and made by different manufacturers.
A random subset of the 26 bully sticks was tested for caloric content. These bully sticks tested contained between nine to 22 calories per inch, meaning the average six inch stick packed 88 calories--nine percent of the daily calorie requirements for a 50-pound dog, and 30 percent of the daily calorie requirements for a 10-pound dog.
"While calorie information isn't currently required on pet treats or most pet foods, these findings reinforce that veterinarians and pet owners need to be aware of pet treats like these bully sticks as a source of calories in a dog's diet," said Lisa M. Freeman, DVM, PhD, DACVN, professor of nutrition at TCSVM who is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition.
Freeman was first author on the paper. Co-authors were J. Scott Weese, professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph, and Nicol Janecko, a research associate at the Canadian university.
"With obesity in pets on the rise, it is important for pet owners to factor in not only their dog's food, but also treats and table food," Freeman added.
All 26 treats were tested for bacterial contaminants. One (4 percent) of the sticks was contaminated with Clostridium difficile; one (four percent) was contaminated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics; and seven (27 percent) were contaminated with Escherichia coli, including one tetracycline-resistant sample.
The number of treats sampled was small and not all of these bacterial strains have been shown to infect humans. However, the researchers advise all pet owners to wash their hands after touching such treats, as they would with any raw meat or raw meat diets. The very young, elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised and other high-risk individuals should avoid all contact with raw animal-product based treats and raw meat diets, note the scientists.
To learn more about veterinarian and pet owner perceptions of dog foods and treats, the research team developed a 20-question Web-based survey. The survey was posted online for public participation for 60 days and all responses were anonymous. It was completed by 852 adults from 44 states and six countries. Most respondents were female dog owners.
"We were surprised at the clear misconceptions pet owners and veterinarians have with pet foods and many of the popular raw animal-product based pet treats currently on the market," said Freeman. "For example, 71 percent of people feeding bully sticks to their pets stated they avoid by-products in pet foods, yet bully sticks are, for all intents and purposes, an animal by-product."
Another surprising finding was the large number of people who did not know what bully sticks actually were. A higher proportion of veterinarians (62 percent) were able to correctly identify the source of bully sticks as bull penis compared to general respondents (44 percent). Twenty-three percent of the respondents fed their dogs bully sticks.
Further research with a larger sample size is needed to determine whether the calorie content and contamination rate found in this study is representative of all bully sticks, or other types of pet treats, according to the authors.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Tufts University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Lisa M. Freeman, Nicol Janecko, J. Scott Weese. Nutritional and microbial analysis of bully sticks and survey of opinions about pet treats. Canadian Veterinary Journal, January 2013
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.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China tested emerging military technology aimed at destroying missiles in mid-air after an initial test in 2010, state media said on Sunday, in a move that will unnerve its neighbors.
A brief report by the official Xinhua news agency said the military carried out a "land-based mid-course missile interception test within its territory".
"The test has reached the pre-set goal," the report quoted an unnamed Defence Ministry official as saying. "The test is defensive in nature and targets no other country."
It did not specify whether any missile or object had been destroyed in the test.
"Although no other detailed information about the test was released from the military authorities, weapon system experts said such a test could build shield for China's air defenses by intercepting incoming warheads such as ballistic missiles in space," the report added.
People's Liberation Army officials and documents in recent years have said developing anti-missile technology is one focus of defense spending, which has grown by double-digits over many years.
The latest flexing of China's maturing military hardware comes as Beijing is involved in increasingly bitter territorial disputes in the East China Sea with Japan and in the South China Sea with several Southeast Asian nations.
Beijing says its military spending is for defensive purposes and the modernization of outdated forces.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
If you were to poll gamers at large and ask them what they felt were the worst things about the Wii, chances are you'd hear "waggle" and "bad minigame collections" pretty frequently. In fact they often went hand in hand, and Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade is trying its hardest to make sure both of things carry over into the Wii U generation. We can only hope that they don't.
Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade ? it just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? ? is, as you might guess, a collection of short games that you can play with up to three friends. You might also guess that the games would revolve around an "obstacle" theme, but you'd be wrong; many of them are standard rounds of target practice, hide and seek, or, erm, picking the balloon with the number two on it after the game tells you to pick the balloon with the number two on it. That last one's not much of a game really, but there you go.
The collection is given a sort of theme park approach, with the games broken up into smaller, unlockable areas. Again, you'd expect the space area to contain space-themed games and the Western area to host games with a cowboy flair but by and large everything is just thrown at the wall with no regard for where it lands, and there's no telling what you'll encounter where. Fortunately, we guess, whatever you encounter will be reliably awful, so there's that to look forward to.
The games are hosted by a dead-eyed teddy bear with a stare so cold and creepy that we were constantly on edge for that inevitable moment when he'd pull out a knife. Half of his face is frozen in a bizarre semblance of what we can only assume is the developer's attempt at "'tude", while the other half just passively smiles. This, combined with the fact that his lips don't move when he talks, makes it seem like we've walked in on the bear in the middle of a massive coronary that's doomed to go untreated.
The entire package feels like a holdover from the previous generation; none of the graphics come anywhere near the capabilities of Nintendo's newest console, and the Wii U GamePad barely factors in at all, with each of the games requiring instead a Wii Remote and, often, Nunchuk. This means Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade plays identically to every other poorly-responsive, uninteresting, lazily slapped together mini-game collection you've been doing your best to avoid since 2006.
Every game supports four players; if there are fewer human players than that, the CPU will fill the void. Human players can enter any name for themselves that they like, but oddly the game also requires you to choose a separate name for the bear to call you by. This is because the developers only gave the bear a limited bank of audio files from which to draw, so you may tell the game that your name is William, but then you'll have to choose whether it calls you Chano or Shamus or Julio instead. It's bizarre to say the least.
In each game you'll compete against the other three for points. This nearly always involves waggling as quickly as possible, but sometimes it can rely on maneuvering crosshairs around the screen instead. No game is any more complicated than that, and it often feels as though the developer went out of its way to assign the most frustrating control schemes possible. Some games, for instance, are races that see you hopping from platform to platform. Despite the fact that each player has a perfectly good D-Pad and A button to use, Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade requires you to thrust the Wii Remote in the direction you wish to jump. Not that it cares where you actually thrust; it's a crapshoot whether or not the game will ever recognise your input. It's a needless and mandatory use of the least reliable control scheme possible, which is pretty much par for the course here.
The Wii U GamePad only comes into play during the bonus rounds. The rest of the time it features the glass-eyed bear glowing creepily at you and loudly narrating minor gameplay developments without moving his mouth. During the bonus rounds the winner of the previous game spins a roulette wheel, which determines what the bonus game will be. Here the GamePad is used differently than the Wii Remotes, but it's certainly no more fun, and it really does feel like a tacked on addition to what's essentially a low budget Wii cash-in.
The sound effects are beyond terrible, as the four players on-screen avatars laugh and hoot and holler over each other throughout every event, turning everything into a clamorous, cluttered aural monstrosity. The bear barks meaningless platitudes about every minor thing that happens ? from a player grabbing a coin to a player not grabbing a coin ? and while you're not likely to come away from this game feeling fulfilled you're more or less guaranteed a headache.
We'd like to close on a positive note of some kind, but we genuinely can't. This is an absolutely terrible game, and you don't want it. Trust us.
As clunky and poorly considered as its title, Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade is awful. Relying entirely on the shallow and repetitive waggle that should have died along with Wii, there's absolutely no reason to recommend this obnoxious, screaming, clattering monstrosity at all. It's mindless entertainment at its worst, but, on the bright side, it might be the perfect way to cure your childrens' burgeoning video game addiction.
Under pressure from his wife and grandchildren, the former GOP congressman will renege on a public pledge to smoke marijuana, which he made after losing a bet on Colorado's pot-legalization initiative on Election Day.
Tancredo, a conservative Republican who has been out of Congress since 2009, supported Colorado's Amendment 64, which legalized marijuana in his home state when it passed on election day. Tancredo said he had never smoked marijuana and that he did not condone its use, but argued that the government shouldn't tell adults what they can or can't ingest.
The former congressman never thought it would pass. "I thought it would take at least one more time around to do it," Tancredo told ABC News last week. He made a bet with film producer Adam Hartle, who was in Colorado to make a film on the pot measure, agreeing to smoke marijuana if it became legal.
Recently, Tancredo said he would make good on the bet, agreeing to inhale "just a puff" with Hartle, leaving the filmmaker to handle the marijuana procurement. On Friday, he even suggested Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper should join in.
But that made a lot of people unhappy, including Tancredo's family, and now the former congressman says he won't do it.
"My wife is absolutely-she's pissed," Tancredo told ABC News last week. "Oh man, she is not happy."
Neither were his conservative backers.
"My conservative friends just believe what I'm doing is encouraging people to smoke it," Tancredo said. "I don't think people should. That decision is up to an individual. An adult, in this society, is not something the government should have any control over."
Finally, on Friday night, Tancredo cracked under pressure from his grandchildren.
They were "very upset with grandpa," Tancredo told ABC News, and for him, that was it.
"Will have to welch. Political heat is one thing. Am use to that," Tancredo wrote in an email. "Heat from my family is quite another."
As fun as planning for anything happening Michael Crabtree Jersey to your vehicle may seem, it is actually a crucial explanation to get started on buying your car insurance now, even when you use a plan previously. Yet another thing is price ranges fall a good deal, so that you can have far better protection for a greater selling price. These tips beneath can assist you start looking.
Theft of your own motor vehicle aspects in when insurance providers calculate your premium. For those who have an auto security alarm or system set up on your vehicles, you might are in position to drastically lower your superior since these protect against theft and aide within the recovery of taken autos, making you less of an accountability.
In case you are striving to reduce your car insurance plan, you might want to consider investing in a diverse vehicle one that is known as far better to generate and has some additional safety measures. Having these two stuff Michael Crabtree Jersey will make it less likely that one thing bad will occur for your auto, that will reduce your insurance premiums.
Purchase automobile insurance from the internet. Some companies will charge you much less if you apply on-line as there is much less over head concerned. The process is also computerized, so the organization does not have to pay for as much to get your details processed. This means 5-10 % cost savings to suit your needs.
In case you have a sparkly new auto, you won?t want to drive Michael Crabtree Jersey close to with all the proof a fender bender. So your automobile insurance on the new automobile ought to include crash insurance plan at the same time. Doing this, your vehicle will stay looking good for a longer time. Nevertheless, do you really cherish that fender bender if you?re driving a classic beater? Since suggests only require liability insurance, and also, since collision is pricey, once your auto grows to the ?I don?t treatment that much the actual way it appears, just how it pushes? period, decrease the crash and your automobile insurance repayment lowers dramatically.
Make sure to establish your car insurance payments up for payment every single 6 months, not month-to-month. In most cases, insurance firms will cost some amount of money much more for people people that shell out their premiums monthly. It really fees the corporation Michael Crabtree Jersey more in handling and administrative time, so choose the low-price solution and save your money.
When retaining lower the expense of vehicle insurance, guard your no-statements document. For those who have many years of automobile insurance with the same company and you will have not necessary to submit any promises, stay away from submitting a small assert. The increase in your rates are often more costly than merely within the small state problems from pocket.
Individuals are usually offered plenty of discount rates in terms of car insurance. If you?re an individual hunting to spend less over a coverage, look at occupant college student special discounts. These discounts are for college kids who use only their vehicles throughout the vacations, holidays and summer time. You can save some a lot of money using this Michael Crabtree Jersey discount.
While planning something bad to occur to your auto was fascinating, you must feel better you are aware how to accomplish it. You may now use your recently received expertise sometimes to purchasing a fresh plan or seeking to change your old automobile insurance insurance policy out for a greater, less costly one.
Get hold of all types of cheap Michael Crabtree Jersey straight away with easy-to-take delivery service, safe and sound checkout & first class support services from recognized Patrick Willis Jersey store.
Related posts:
Auto Insurance Michael Crabtree Jersey Methods For Decreasing Your Price And Increasing Your Insurance coverage
Strategies Michael Crabtree Jersey Which Will Bring Your Car Insurance Business To The Next Level
Automobile Insurance Michael Crabtree Jersey Plan Because of For Revival? Read through The Following Tips Initial.
Be Sure To Michael Crabtree Jersey Receive The Auto Insurance You Require
Questions On Michael Crabtree Jersey Automobile Insurance? Here Are The Replies
Tagged as: Colin Kaepernick Jersey, Michael Crabtree Jersey, Womens Authentic Jersey
Early last year I began to see the investors tiptoe back into the real estate market. Like tap dancers, they started slowly and then finished the year with a grand finale. Now, they are clogging, Bristol stomping and performing Riverdance all over the city.
Don?t believe me?? Just try to buy a fixer-upper in Petworth or in the northern and eastern sections of Columbia Heights.
Now that potential profit margins are nearing obscene levels again, lots of people are anxious to invest in the D.C. market. Not all are seasoned investors. Some may want to buy a property to rent out, some may want a distressed property to fix and resell and others may simply want a home to live in that they can put their personal imprint on over time.
The challenge in helping the small-scale investors is that they may be unprepared for the competition they face and the money required to add real estate to their portfolios. As with any other transaction, having a real estate agent by and on your side is extremely important, but even we have no crystal ball to say for sure whether a particular investment will be profitable.
To illustrate the market competition, here is some information taken from the Metropolitan Regional Information System (MRIS), our area?s multiple listing database, for properties sold in 2012.
A three-bedroom, 1.5-bath row house on New Hampshire Avenue near the Georgia/Petworth Metro generated a lot of interest. The home had been foreclosed upon and was in reasonably good shape, with a large footprint and a basement ready to be finished. The bank listed it for $345,000 in June. The final sales price 37 days later?? $515,000!
Want to start a bit lower to allow for multiple offers and still stay within your budget? Of the eight homes listed for $250,000 or less in eastern Columbia Heights, 25 percent sold at the list price and 75 percent sold above the list price. Two stood out from among the rest, one in the 600 block of Harvard Street, which sold for 20 percent over list and the clear winner, one on the same block of Newton Place that sold for more than 36 percent above its list price.
Perhaps a one-bedroom, one-bath condo to rent to others is your desire: less maintenance, fewer headaches, easy to obtain a tenant if it?s located near a Metro, right? In Dupont Circle, expect to pay the list price, an average of $345,000 for 750 square feet or less. In Capitol Hill, not as condo-oriented as other parts of the city, you may get a bargain at 99.5 percent of list prices averaging about $327,000 for a similar size unit.
Whatever your preference, buying property as an investor can be a bit tricky nowadays given the tightening of the mortgage market. This is one area where cash truly is king, not to get a bargain as much as to beat the competition, leaving our hopeful homeowner with his pre-approved FHA 203K renovation loan in the dust.
Without a surplus of cash, financing your purchase can be tricky too.? A down payment of 10-25 percent will get you most any condo, but what about those of you who are looking to purchase and renovate a row house? Depending on its condition, it may not be eligible for traditional financing, so you may need to look to alternative, ?hard money? lenders, friends and family, or personal loans, not only for the purchase, but for the renovation and holding costs as well.
Still game? Then consult with your agent about current rents and sales in the area you are interested in before you buy. Allow for cost overruns, vacancy rates and more time than you think you will need for each task on your to-do list. If you do your homework, understand the requirements and pitfalls and surround yourself with trusted advisers, you may soon be boot scootin? gleefully down 14th Street.
Valerie M. Blake is with Prudential PenFed Realty, an independently owned and operated broker member of BRER Affiliates, Inc. Reach her at 202-246-8602 or Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are registered service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc. and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.? Used under license with no other affiliation with Prudential.? Equal Housing Opportunity.
On Friday 18th of January pupils from across Yorkshire and the Humber were invited to take part in a pilot event called ?Play with Languages ? using Languages in Computer Games? at The University of Hull. As the name suggests, the main focus of the day was to motivate pupils and showcase how computer games can be played in different languages and how there are many careers which languages can lead on to, including the gaming world.
30 Year 10 pupils from three schools attended the event: Sydney Smith School, Beverley Grammar School and Bridlington School. The day commenced with a lively introduction from Kerry Dobson, Co-Director of Routes into Languages Yorkshire and The Humber, and then pupils were split into two French groups.
The first language session of the day introduced pupils to computer specific language and technical jargon when using a keyboard and computer. Then they were introduced to RuneScape, the popular fantasy game, which they would be using and playing throughout the day. They got stuck into building their own fantasy characters practising language specific descriptions for hair, clothes, body parts and accessories. They also learnt how to describe enemies and use arms to help them in their game quest, such as spells. Then it was the lunch break which gave the students an opportunity to take a campus tour and they got a glimpse into student life here at the University of Hull.
The second session of the day focused on writing descriptions of their fantasy characters and looking at the game from a French angle. The last part of the day was used to let the pupils have a ?treat? and play the game in English.
The day was a great success as pupils gave very positive feedback and commented that the day had be ?Excellent?,? ?Fun? and even ?Interesting?! Plans are in progress to repeat the event at a later date. Happy gaming!
Claire Barber is Project Manager at Routes into Languages Yorkshire and The Humber, University of Hull
Games Event Flyer a4-1
About Angela Gallagher-Brett
I am a language education specialist and learning developer working at the LLAS Centre for languages, linguistics and area studies at the University of Southampton and at SOAS, University of London.This is my personal website where I share my reflections on language learning and educational research and policy. This entry was posted in languages, universities, schools, Outreach and tagged Creativity, Gaming. Bookmark the permalink.
Whether you're looking for a better hotel room, airplane seat or rental car, Nilou Motamed of Travel + Leisure shares her tips to have you traveling in style.
By Travel + Leisure
There are simple things you can do to increase your chances of getting an upgrade on your next flight, hotel stay or even when you rent a car.
1. Choose your frequent-flier program carefully When picking an airline frequent-flier program, it can pay to choose an airline that isn't headquartered in your city (there will be fewer elite passengers to compete with for an upgrade).
2. Check in later Check in to your hotel late in the day; they're more likely to give you an upgrade if it looks like a better room will otherwise sit empty.
3. Stay at a new hotel Staff are more likely to want to woo new guests and spread good word of mouth. You could also think about staying at a large hotel ? large hotels with tons of rooms offer a better chance of getting you upgraded.
Also from Travel + Leisure: The best new hotels
4.?Take advantage of online resources Priceline.com has a service called Hotel Freebies that shows a range of perks that hotels are offering, including free upgrades.
5. Give a reason It helps if you give a hotel a reason to upgrade you. You can tell them that you're there for a special occasion. Also, make sure they know if you are a member of the hotel's loyalty club.
Courtesy Adrian Weinbrecht/cultura/Corbis
Travel + Leisure recommends just asking for an upgrade, providing a reason or just being nice might help, among other tips.
6. Inquire about partnerships Let the hotel know if you have any memberships such as AAA or AARP. And, ask if they have other partnerships ? they may have some affiliations you might not expect that could work in your favor. Occasionally, hotels partner with airlines in ways that benefit you, too.
7. Just ask Surprisingly, sometimes you just have to ask, especially with car rentals. They often have more economy rental reservations than they have vehicles and are eager to hand out upgrades.
8. Write a note Before you arrive, write a note to the hotel?s manager letting the hotel know how excited you are about your upcoming stay ? and why it's important to you. Sharing your enthusiasm about the property via your Twitter and Facebook accounts could help too.
9. Be nice It doesn't hurt to be nice when flying. Upgrades can be discretionary, so get the gate agent or flight attendant on your side.
10. Track award seats If you are looking to cash in miles for an upgrade, ExpertFlyer's Flight Alert service will track a given flight for you and let you know when an award seat becomes available. The site's?Seat Alert service tracks flights to let you know when better seats become available in your category ? an aisle, window or even a premium seat.
Researchers discover new mutations driving malignant melanoma Public release date: 24-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Bill Schaller william_schaller@dfci.harvard.edu 617-632-5357 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
BOSTONTwo new mutations that collectively occur in 71 percent of malignant melanoma tumors have been discovered in what scientists call the "dark matter" of the cancer genome, where cancer-related mutations haven't been previously found.
Reporting their findings in the Jan. 24 issue of Science Express, the researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute said the highly "recurrent" mutations occurring in the tumors of many people may be the most common mutations in melanoma cells found to date.
The researchers said these cancer-associated mutations are the first to be discovered in the vast regions of DNA in cancer cells that do not contain genetic instructions for making proteins. The mutations are located in non-protein-coding DNA that regulates the activity of genes.
This non-coding DNA, much of which was previously dismissed as "junk," accounts for 99 percent of a cell's genome. A large number of oncogenic mutations in cancer have been identified in the past several decades, but all have been found within the actual genetic blueprints for proteins.
"This new finding represents an initial foray into the 'dark matter' of the cancer genome," said Levi Garraway, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber and the Broad and the article's senior author.
"In addition, this represents the discovery of two of the most prevalent melanoma gene mutations. Considered as a whole, these two TERT promoter mutations are even more common than BRAF mutations in melanoma. Altogether, this discovery could cause us to think more creatively about the possible benefits of targeting TERT in cancer treatment or prevention."
The mutations affect a promoter region a stretch of DNA code that regulates the expression of a gene adjacent to the TERT gene. TERT contains the recipe for making telomerase reverse transcriptase, an enzyme that can make cells virtually immortal, and is often found overexpressed in cancer cells. A promoter region of DNA controls the rate of a gene's transcription the copying of its DNA recipe into a message used by the cell to manufacture a protein.
"We think these mutations in the promoter region are potentially one way the TERT gene can be activated," said Franklin Huang, MD, PhD, co-first author of the report along with Harvard MD-PhD student Eran Hodis, of Dana-Farber and the Broad Institute.
To investigate the mutation's effect, the researchers hooked the mutant TERT promoter to a gene that makes luciferase a light-emitting protein. They observed that the mutant promoter increased the production of luciferase in laboratory cell lines. In the same way, the scientists presume, the mutant promoter in human pigmented skin cells can send the TERT gene into overdrive, potentially contributing to the development of melanoma.
The mutations were discovered when the scientists sifted through data from whole-genome sequencing of malignant melanoma tumors. Unlike "whole-exome" searches that examine only the protein-coding DNA of a cell's genome, whole-genome searches scan all of the DNA, including the non-coding regions.
In analyzing whole-genome data, the investigators discovered the two somatic, or not-inherited, mutations in 17 of 19 (89 percent) of the tumors. Next, they sequenced a larger number of melanoma tumors and found that the two mutations were present in 71 percent of tumors in total.
The researchers said the same mutations are present in cell lines from some other malignancies, and that preliminary evidence showed they might be unusually common in bladder and liver cancers. They also noted that the discovery of these important mutations in DNA previously not linked to cancer-causing alterations highlights the value of whole-genome searches of tumor DNA.
###
Other authors include Mary Jue Xu, a student at Harvard Medical School; Gregory V. Kryukov, PhD, of the Broad; and Lynda Chin, MD, of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (T32 CA009172, T32GM07753, DP2OD002750, and R33CA126674), the Mittelman Family Fellowship, the American Cancer Society, the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, the Melanoma Research Alliance, and the Starr Cancer Consortium.
About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a principal teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and is among the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. It provides adult cancer care with Brigham and Women's Hospital as Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center and it provides pediatric care with Boston Children's Hospital as Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center. Dana-Farber is the top ranked cancer center in New England, according to U.S. News & World Report, and one of the largest recipients among independent hospitals of National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health grant funding. Follow Dana-Farber on Twitter: @danafarber or Facebook.
About the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was founded in 2003 to empower this generation of creative scientists to transform medicine with new genome-based knowledge. The Broad Institute seeks to describe all the molecular components of life and their connections; discover the molecular basis of major human diseases; develop effective new approaches to diagnostics and therapeutics; and disseminate discoveries, tools, methods and data openly to the entire scientific community.
Founded by MIT, Harvard and its affiliated hospitals, and the visionary Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Broad Institute includes faculty, professional staff and students from throughout the MIT and Harvard biomedical research communities and beyond, with collaborations spanning over a hundred private and public institutions in more than 40 countries worldwide. For further information about the Broad Institute, go to www.broadinstitute.org.
[ | 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.
Researchers discover new mutations driving malignant melanoma Public release date: 24-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Bill Schaller william_schaller@dfci.harvard.edu 617-632-5357 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
BOSTONTwo new mutations that collectively occur in 71 percent of malignant melanoma tumors have been discovered in what scientists call the "dark matter" of the cancer genome, where cancer-related mutations haven't been previously found.
Reporting their findings in the Jan. 24 issue of Science Express, the researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute said the highly "recurrent" mutations occurring in the tumors of many people may be the most common mutations in melanoma cells found to date.
The researchers said these cancer-associated mutations are the first to be discovered in the vast regions of DNA in cancer cells that do not contain genetic instructions for making proteins. The mutations are located in non-protein-coding DNA that regulates the activity of genes.
This non-coding DNA, much of which was previously dismissed as "junk," accounts for 99 percent of a cell's genome. A large number of oncogenic mutations in cancer have been identified in the past several decades, but all have been found within the actual genetic blueprints for proteins.
"This new finding represents an initial foray into the 'dark matter' of the cancer genome," said Levi Garraway, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber and the Broad and the article's senior author.
"In addition, this represents the discovery of two of the most prevalent melanoma gene mutations. Considered as a whole, these two TERT promoter mutations are even more common than BRAF mutations in melanoma. Altogether, this discovery could cause us to think more creatively about the possible benefits of targeting TERT in cancer treatment or prevention."
The mutations affect a promoter region a stretch of DNA code that regulates the expression of a gene adjacent to the TERT gene. TERT contains the recipe for making telomerase reverse transcriptase, an enzyme that can make cells virtually immortal, and is often found overexpressed in cancer cells. A promoter region of DNA controls the rate of a gene's transcription the copying of its DNA recipe into a message used by the cell to manufacture a protein.
"We think these mutations in the promoter region are potentially one way the TERT gene can be activated," said Franklin Huang, MD, PhD, co-first author of the report along with Harvard MD-PhD student Eran Hodis, of Dana-Farber and the Broad Institute.
To investigate the mutation's effect, the researchers hooked the mutant TERT promoter to a gene that makes luciferase a light-emitting protein. They observed that the mutant promoter increased the production of luciferase in laboratory cell lines. In the same way, the scientists presume, the mutant promoter in human pigmented skin cells can send the TERT gene into overdrive, potentially contributing to the development of melanoma.
The mutations were discovered when the scientists sifted through data from whole-genome sequencing of malignant melanoma tumors. Unlike "whole-exome" searches that examine only the protein-coding DNA of a cell's genome, whole-genome searches scan all of the DNA, including the non-coding regions.
In analyzing whole-genome data, the investigators discovered the two somatic, or not-inherited, mutations in 17 of 19 (89 percent) of the tumors. Next, they sequenced a larger number of melanoma tumors and found that the two mutations were present in 71 percent of tumors in total.
The researchers said the same mutations are present in cell lines from some other malignancies, and that preliminary evidence showed they might be unusually common in bladder and liver cancers. They also noted that the discovery of these important mutations in DNA previously not linked to cancer-causing alterations highlights the value of whole-genome searches of tumor DNA.
###
Other authors include Mary Jue Xu, a student at Harvard Medical School; Gregory V. Kryukov, PhD, of the Broad; and Lynda Chin, MD, of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (T32 CA009172, T32GM07753, DP2OD002750, and R33CA126674), the Mittelman Family Fellowship, the American Cancer Society, the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, the Melanoma Research Alliance, and the Starr Cancer Consortium.
About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a principal teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and is among the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. It provides adult cancer care with Brigham and Women's Hospital as Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center and it provides pediatric care with Boston Children's Hospital as Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center. Dana-Farber is the top ranked cancer center in New England, according to U.S. News & World Report, and one of the largest recipients among independent hospitals of National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health grant funding. Follow Dana-Farber on Twitter: @danafarber or Facebook.
About the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was founded in 2003 to empower this generation of creative scientists to transform medicine with new genome-based knowledge. The Broad Institute seeks to describe all the molecular components of life and their connections; discover the molecular basis of major human diseases; develop effective new approaches to diagnostics and therapeutics; and disseminate discoveries, tools, methods and data openly to the entire scientific community.
Founded by MIT, Harvard and its affiliated hospitals, and the visionary Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Broad Institute includes faculty, professional staff and students from throughout the MIT and Harvard biomedical research communities and beyond, with collaborations spanning over a hundred private and public institutions in more than 40 countries worldwide. For further information about the Broad Institute, go to www.broadinstitute.org.
[ | 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.
Vote! 
1. ?With more A/E/C and CRE professionals working from home, simplicity comes from the Internal Revenue Service with new home office deduction regulations effective for the 2013 tax year ? not for the 2012 taxes being filed now. Instead of the 49 line depreciation calculation with utility and maintenance apportionments, home offices may be calculated as $5/SF, with a maximum of $1,500 per year allowed.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 24-Jan-2013
Share ]