Brain tumor cells killed by anti-nausea drug

Mar. 19, 2013 ? New research from the University of Adelaide has shown for the first time that the growth of brain tumors can be halted by a drug currently being used to help patients recover from the side effects of chemotherapy.

The discovery has been made during a study looking at the relationship between brain tumors and a peptide associated with inflammation in the brain, called "substance P."

Substance P is commonly released throughout the body by the nervous system, and contributes to tissue swelling following injury. In the brain, levels of substance P greatly increase after traumatic brain injury and stroke.

"Researchers have known for some time that levels of substance P are also greatly increased in different tumor types around the body," says Dr Elizabeth Harford-Wright, a postdoctoral fellow in the University's Adelaide Centre for Neuroscience Research.

"We wanted to know if these elevated levels of the peptide were also present in brain tumor cells, and if so, whether or not they were affecting tumor growth. Importantly, we wanted to see if we could stop tumor growth by blocking substance P."

In laboratory studies for her PhD, Dr Harford-Wright found that levels of substance P were greatly increased in brain tumor tissue.

Knowing that substance P binds to a receptor called NK1, Dr Harford-Wright used an antagonist drug called Emend? to stop substance P binding to the receptor. Emend? is already used in cancer clinics to help patients with chemotherapy-induced nausea.

The results were startling.

"We were successful in blocking substance P from binding to the NK1 receptor, which resulted in a reduction in brain tumor growth -- and it also caused cell death in the tumor cells," Dr Harford-Wright says.

"So preventing the actions of substance P from carrying out its role in brain tumors actually halted the growth of brain cancer.

"This is a very exciting result, and it offers further opportunities to study possible brain tumor treatments over the coming years."

This research has been funded by the NeuroSurgical Research Foundation (NRF), which is celebrating 50 years of supporting neurosurgical research in Australia and at the University of Adelaide.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/WOfozMV30n8/130319124221.htm

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Rumblefish, Soundtrack Licensing Partner To YouTube And Others, Buys Catalogik To Improve Music Search

A note of consolidation in the world of digital music: Rumblefish, a company that works with the likes of YouTube, Amazon, Vimeo, Facebook and Slideshare to let users add licensed soundtracks to their digital creations, is today announcing the acquisition of Catalogik, a platform to help find and monitor the use of specific digital tracks.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Se_p0qRsNho/

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Alloy has potential for electronics in oil, gas and geothermal wells

Mar. 19, 2013 ? An alloy that may improve high-temperature electronics in oil and geothermal wells was really a solution in search of a problem.

Sandia National Laboratories first investigated the gold-silver-germanium alloy about 15 years ago as a possible bonding material in a new neutron tube product. But a design change forced Sandia to shelve the material, said Paul Vianco, who has worked in soldering and brazing technology at Sandia for 26 years.

Then a few years ago, researchers working on other projects with applications inside a well, referred to as downhole, asked Sandia's geothermal group to develop electronics to monitor well conditions in field operations. Circuit boards placed downhole in oil and geothermal wells must withstand high temperatures and pressures, excessive vibrations and other extreme environments.

The gold-silver-germanium alloy is suitable for those conditions, Vianco said.

It's technically a solder, but it's at the upper limits for what's considered a solder -- materials that melt at no higher temperature than 450 degrees Celsius (842 degrees Fahrenheit), Vianco said. The American Welding Society deems materials that melt at higher temperatures as brazing filler metals.

Sandia fills niche in downhole uses

The alloy's potential for downhole electronics gives Sandia a unique niche, Vianco said.

Most brazing processes occur at a peak temperature above about 700 degrees C, while most soldering occurs below 350 degrees C, leaving high-temperature electronics few filler materials from which to choose.

"So there's this no man's land in which the only materials that are available are aluminum-based brazing alloys that melt at about 600 degrees C," Vianco said. But aluminum-based alloys are difficult to process for electronics.

In addition, the gold-silver-germanium alloy is lead-free, making it environmentally friendly for geothermal work in countries such as Iceland, which, like the rest of Europe, is moving away from materials that contain lead. The alloy's fundamental mechanical and processing properties also are nearly fully characterized. That's important because it saves about two years of development that would be required to establish how well the alloy makes a reliable solder joint, Vianco said.

"All that's done," he said. "We have the preliminary work completed that allows us to consider this material for a range of applications, including downhole electronics."

Alloy developed from earlier work

The alloy originally was developed from the gold-germanium system, which has traditionally been a die attachment material used in microelectronics packaging. But a higher melting temperature was required for the neutron tube application, so Vianco and colleagues John J. Stephens, now deceased, and F. Michael Hosking, now retired, added silver and adjusted the concentrations to reach a near-uniform melting point for the alloy.

"It was so close to brazing that we didn't think that there would be much interest in the electronics industry until the option came up for downhole applications," Vianco said.

He is now seeking funds to develop the material to a prototype stage for geothermal and oil and gas well tools. "We really think it is a material that's suitable for these higher temperature applications," Vianco said. "In this no man's land of filler metal technology, there are really not a lot of options out there other than lead-containing alloys. Companies are exploring lead-bearing solders, albeit begrudgingly so."

When interest in downhole applications arose, Vianco and his colleagues needed to pull together information on the alloy from the mid-1990s. They resurrected the data and re-evaluated it, and Vianco wrote a paper assessing its properties.

That wasn't as easy as it might sound.

"Photographs were all on film; we had to scan these pictures into an electronic format. Documents and presentations were in unusable formats or archived on software that is no longer supported by the labs.

So everything was brought up to a level that is compatible with current computer resources," Vianco said.

Paper compiled research data

The paper, "Ag-Au-Ge Alloys for High Temperature Geothermal and Oil Well Electronics Applications," won the Best of Proceedings category in the Surface Mount Technology Association International 2012 Best Papers conference announced in January. Vianco will receive the award at SMTA's meeting in October in Fort Worth, Texas.

He wrote the paper largely to compile the data in case interest developed within the oil, gas and geothermal industries, and hadn't planned to submit it for publication. But SMTA International, aware of Sandia's leadership role in soldering technology, asked the labs to provide a paper for a session on alternative solders for electronic applications, so Vianco submitted it.

He believes Sandia might be able to use the gold-silver-germanium alloy as a joining material in high-precision components.

The paper and the publicity surrounding the award have raised awareness of the alloy and the growing need for high-temperature materials to support downhole electronics, Vianco said.

"This is how tech transfer works the best -- publish the material and let the folks who have the need become aware of it and then work with their specific applications," he said.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/technology/~3/y3ofB9z_n48/130319202400.htm

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GOP's Rand Paul, Dems' Luis Gutierrez in step on immigration reform

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D) and Sen. Rand Paul (R), in separate forums Tuesday, struck common ground on some of the thorniest issues surrounding immigration reform. Is a bipartisan deal close?

By David Grant,?Staff writer / March 19, 2013

Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill., speaks on Capitol Hill, last Wednesday during a mock hearing on immigration reform following a national bus tour.

Susan Walsh/AP

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In the immigration reform debate now under way in Washington, Democrats and Republicans are taking a steady march in one direction: toward one another.

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On Tuesday morning, a leading Democratic advocate of immigration reform said his party would not require a special path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, in keeping with a key Republican demand.

At nearly the same moment some two blocks away, a 2016 Republican presidential contender and tea party favorite embraced legal status and?potential citizenship for the nation?s 12 million undocumented people, which have been Democratic desires for more than a decade.

That's not to say the immigration reform debate is over ? far from it.

But when Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D) of Illinois, a Chicago progressive who got himself arrested outside the White House [last year?] protesting Arizona?s tough immigration law, and Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky, a heartthrob of the conservative activist set and heir to the Paul family libertarian fame, stake out common ground on immigration reform??That?s saying something.

Senator Paul joined a list of [a handful of? a dozen?] GOP immigration reformers who say they?re willing to provide a pathway to legal status for 12 million illegal immigrants, provided it's paired with enhanced border security and no unique path to American citizenship.

The response from Representative Gutierrez, a key House negotiator on the issue???I?m willing to take yes for an answer,? he said.

Gutierrez, who crafted ill-fated bipartisan legislation on immigration reform during the tenure of President George W. Bush, tucked into questions from reporters at a Monitor breakfast just down the street from where Senator Paul at the same time launched into the immigration reform debate during a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Their similarities are what spoke loudest.

Paul says his plan brings the undocumented ?out of the shadows, lets them normalize their existence, it lets them become [taxpayers]."

"If they want to become citizens," he said on a conference call after his speech, "I?m open to debate as to what we do to move forward. I think the way that moves forward is they get in line like everybody else. Exactly how that works, and the logistics of all this, is still open to how we move it forward.?

What some Republicans fear is that this will be ?exactly how that works?: Democrats will lead Republicans to the edge of "amnesty" (as anti-immigration partisans call it) before opting to deep-six a compromise bill, blame the GOP for failure to produce legislation, and rally Hispanic voters, who helped to shellack Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, to their side.?

?Even if you came up with a decent immigration bill,? says former GOP Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio, who retired in 2010, ?my fear would be that in that instance somebody over in the Democratic caucus would try to out-Hispanic the Hispanics.?

Gutierrez, who two decades ago became the first Latino elected to Congress from Illinois, could be Suspect A in doing just that. His fiery demeanor and long attention to immigration reform have helped him to build deep ties and respect in the immigration advocacy community.

But Gutierrez said on Tuesday that?s simply not what Democrats want to happen. Democrats and Republicans are almost in synch on the first portion: Both want a pathway to legal status for as long as a decade before anyone in the US illegally would be able to become a citizen.?But he also went a step further, saying Democrats won?t insist on a "special pathway to citizenship? for the undocumented, a request that has been a rallying cry of liberal advocates.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/VLUhNFo-0T4/GOP-s-Rand-Paul-Dems-Luis-Gutierrez-in-step-on-immigration-reform

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AdvSecret.com Online Reputation Recovery And Damage ...

Nowadays, the very first channel persons head to when searching for information regarding a particular product or service will be the Web. For business owners, this is a very crucial factor: the info about your corporation that individuals can glean on the World Wide Web will influence whether your enterprise will continue to blossom and succeed in the future or not. A single positive news release can definitely help enhance business operation, but a scathing rant coming from a disappointed buyer can damage a corporation and eventually result in its demise. As such, it?s very essential for businesses, whether big or small, to secure their image on the Net or perhaps hire reputation repair authorities to aid them fix any kind of difficulties.

There are several approaches to stop vicious groups from hurting your company name online. The first is by making your own page. An official website is really useful in safeguarding your online reputation since this can serve as an outlet for issuing official information regarding the company; this implies that other groups will not be able to create news which can be possibly damaging to a company, giving company owners more control over the type of news that is disseminated on the World Wide Web. Aside from providing businessmen more control over the kind of news dispersed on the net, an official page is likewise the best place to release official statements regarding problems that concern the firm. This stops other parties from making untrue and detrimental statements and attributing these to the company.

Needless to say, owning an official site isn?t ample to protect the enterprise?s standing online. Company owners must also ensure that their websites continue to be on the top of search engine results pages. The reason is that search engines are the very first places consulted by Internet users for news. More often than not, users tend to look at only the first few results pages ? if your web page isn?t among those, then it?s unlikely that Web surfers will visit it.

Making it on the top of search engine results pages can be carried out through a number of means. One method is by frequently posting news articles and also other content on your very own site. This aids generate backlinks that help boost website ranking and at the same time also helps build competence in the industry. Eventually, regular news releases help form trust among viewers.

In addition to consistently updating the website with brand new content, an additional method to avert brand problems is by engaging followers in social network sites. These sites not merely permit organizations to respond to questions coming from their target audience ? these are also useful source of info regarding the performance of the business and the caliber of their goods and services.

Reputation restoration is perfect for businesses that depend highly on the net for their victory. This sort of assistance can help them set up a good foundation.

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Source: http://www.advsecret.com/online-reputation-recovery-and-damage-protection-for-business-owners/

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Valve's Joe Ludwig on the uncertain future of virtual reality and partnering with Oculus

It's a beautiful late winter day in Bellevue, Wash. Instead of enjoying the outdoors, I'm sitting in a rectangular white room with three programmers, surrounded by three walls covered in augmented reality markers. Not that I'm complaining: Valve Software's Joe Ludwig, the programmer in the room who most resembles a member of Anthrax, is walking me through his company's latest work in the world of virtual reality. It's the first anyone outside of Valve will see of the company's VR efforts thus far.

As it turns out, the software company is working with Oculus VR to port the tremendously popular free-to-play first-person shooter, Team Fortress 2, to the upcoming Rift development kit. The free update, dubbed "VR Mode," is the latest benchmark in Valve's ongoing hardware initiative. "We think that both augmented and virtual reality are going to be a huge deal over the next several years," Ludwig tells us.

Gallery: Valve - Team Fortress 2 VR Mode and Joe Ludwig

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Software, HD

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/GaUajY4MSVE/

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Kia concept car 'Provo' reminds some of IRA terror

This undated image made available by Kia Motors Corp shows Kia's new concept car, Provo. The car is designed to provoke comment. But to many across Ireland, the name sounds too much like a celebration of terrorism. Lawmakers from Northern Ireland formally appealed Tuesday, March 5, 2013 for the South Korean car maker to junk the name of its planned super-mini sports coupe because "Provo'' is the nickname for the dominant branch of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, the Provisional IRA. Kia insists the name is supposed to suggest "provocative,'' not IRA bombings and shootings. The car prototype has been unveiled for the International Geneva Motor Show and is years away from production. (AP Photo/Kia Motors Corp.)

This undated image made available by Kia Motors Corp shows Kia's new concept car, Provo. The car is designed to provoke comment. But to many across Ireland, the name sounds too much like a celebration of terrorism. Lawmakers from Northern Ireland formally appealed Tuesday, March 5, 2013 for the South Korean car maker to junk the name of its planned super-mini sports coupe because "Provo'' is the nickname for the dominant branch of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, the Provisional IRA. Kia insists the name is supposed to suggest "provocative,'' not IRA bombings and shootings. The car prototype has been unveiled for the International Geneva Motor Show and is years away from production. (AP Photo/Kia Motors Corp.)

DUBLIN (AP) ? Kia's new concept car, the Provo, is designed to provoke comment. But to many across Britain and Ireland, the name sounds like a celebration of terrorism.

British lawmakers appealed Tuesday in the House of Commons for the South Korean car maker to junk the name of its planned mini sports coupe because "Provo" is the street name for the dominant branch of the outlawed Irish Republican Army. The Provisional IRA killed nearly 1,800 people during its failed 1970-1997 campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom.

Kia insisted the Provo ? an experimental prototype unveiled this week for the International Geneva Motor Show and years away from production ? was named to suggest "provocative," not IRA bombings and shootings. And in a follow-up statement, Kia said it would be certain not to market any future car as a Provo in the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland.

"I accept that this was a mistake made by the company and I know that their decisive action will be welcomed by many people, in Northern Ireland and beyond, whose lives have been affected by the murderous actions of the Provisional IRA," said Gregory Campbell, a British lawmaker for the main Northern Ireland party, the Democratic Unionists.

Not everybody took the matter as sternly as Campbell. The idea of a car called the Provo going on sale in Belfast sparked a rapid-fire battle of Ulster wits across the Internet.

On an Irish news aggregator called the Broadsheet, posters noted that the car's detailing was in orange, the favored color of the British Protestant majority. "Does my bomb look big in this?" asked one. Another noted the car needs no satellite navigation system, because the car "already knows where you live."

Kia is hardly the first automaker to stumble when picking model names that don't sound stupid worldwide.

In Spanish, Chevy's Nova meant "doesn't go," Mazda's LaPuta translated as "the whore," and the Nissan Moco as "booger."

The Honda Fitta raised eyebrows across much of Scandinavia, where the word refers to women's private parts. When Toyota launched the MR2, they soon found saying those letters and numbers in French made it sound as though the car smelled of excrement.

And of course, to the military-minded or excessively nervous, Kia's own corporate name suggests "killed in action."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-03-05-Ireland-Kia-Terror/id-c7847cacc551430ca3ac1560ee952e0c

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