Which teams do you expect to advance to the Final Four next weekend?
Will it be Pitino?s Cardinals, or Donovan?s Gators heading to New Orleans next weekend? Saturday?s live NCAA basketball games begin at 4:30PM EST with a matchup in the West Region. The second game on Saturday?s schedule will take place at 7:05PM EST and pits the two top seeds of the East region against one another.
These two games will determine two of the men?s college basketball teams that will move on to the Final Four in New Orleans next weekend.
Public release date: 25-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rachel Champeau rchampeau@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2270 University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences
Finding may help develop new treatments for infectious diseases, cancer
UCLA researchers pinpointed a new mechanism that potently activates T-cells, the group of white blood cells that play a major role in fighting infections.
Published March 25 online in Nature Medicine, the team specifically studied how dendritic cells, immune cells located at the site of infection, become more specialized to fight the leprosy pathogen known as Mycobacterium leprae. Dendritic cells, like scouts in the field of a military operation, deliver key information about an invading pathogen that helps activate the T-cells in launching a more effective attack.
It was previously known that dendritic cells were important for a strong immune response and the number of such cells at an infection site positively correlated with a robust reaction. However, until now it was poorly understood how dendritic cells become more specialized to address specific types of infections.
The researchers found that a protein called NOD2 triggers a cell-signaling molecule called interleukin-32 that induces general immune cells called monocytes to become specialized information-carrying dendritic cells.
“This is the first time that this potent infection-fighting pathway with dendritic cells has been identified, and demonstrated to be important in fighting human disease,” said the study’s first author Mirjam Schenk, postdoctoral scholar, division of dermatology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
In conducting the study, scientists used monocytes taken from the blood of healthy donors and leprosy patients and incubated the cells with the pathogen M. Leprae or specific parts of the mycobacteria, known to trigger NOD2 and TLR2, both associated with immune system activation.
Scientists wanted to investigate how these proteins might trigger mechanisms that turn on different immune receptors that recognize specific parts of the microbe in an infection. The NOD2 interleukin-32 pathway was the most effective and caused monocytes to develop into dendritic cells that carry critical information about the pathogen to the T-cells.
The team studied the gene expression profiles of the protein-triggered pathways and then also examined how the monocytes of leprosy patients responded to NOD2. Scientists found that NOD2 worked to induce moncytes to dendritic cells in tuberloid leprosy, a milder infection that is more easily contained. The NOD2 pathway was inhibited and could not be activated in lepromatous leprosy, which is more serious and causes widespread infection throughout the body.
“We were surprised to find the high potency of the dendritic cells in triggering certain specific T-cell responses, which may be useful in developing new therapeutic strategies for infectious diseases and cancer,” said senior investigator Dr. Robert Modlin, UCLA’s Klein Professor of Dermatology and chief of dermatology at the Geffen School of Medicine.
Leprosy, one of the world’s oldest known diseases, is a chronic infectious disease that affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, the upper respiratory tract and the eyes and can lead to disfigurement of the hands, face and feet. In 2008, approximately 249,000 new cases of leprosy were reported worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
Modlin adds that leprosy is a good model to study immune mechanisms in host defense since it presents as a clinical spectrum that correlates with the level and type of immune response of the pathogen.
The next stage of research will involve trying to further understand how to manipulate the innate immune system to induce a potent immune response in human infections and possibly for cancer immunotherapy as well.
###
The study was funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. (Grant numbers: RO1s AI022553, AR040312 and AI047868.)
Additional authors include: Stephan R Krutzik, Peter A Sieling, Delphine J. Lee, Rosane M. B. Teles, and Maria Teresa Ochoa from the Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; Genhong Cheng, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; Evangelia Komisopoulou and Thomas G. Graeber, Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, Institute for Molecular Medicine, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, California NanoSystems Institute, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, UCLA; Euzenir N. Sarno, Department of Mycobacteriosis, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Thomas H. Rea, Department of Dermatology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California and Soohyun Kim, Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Seoul Korea.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 25-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rachel Champeau rchampeau@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2270 University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences
Finding may help develop new treatments for infectious diseases, cancer
UCLA researchers pinpointed a new mechanism that potently activates T-cells, the group of white blood cells that play a major role in fighting infections.
Published March 25 online in Nature Medicine, the team specifically studied how dendritic cells, immune cells located at the site of infection, become more specialized to fight the leprosy pathogen known as Mycobacterium leprae. Dendritic cells, like scouts in the field of a military operation, deliver key information about an invading pathogen that helps activate the T-cells in launching a more effective attack.
It was previously known that dendritic cells were important for a strong immune response and the number of such cells at an infection site positively correlated with a robust reaction. However, until now it was poorly understood how dendritic cells become more specialized to address specific types of infections.
The researchers found that a protein called NOD2 triggers a cell-signaling molecule called interleukin-32 that induces general immune cells called monocytes to become specialized information-carrying dendritic cells.
“This is the first time that this potent infection-fighting pathway with dendritic cells has been identified, and demonstrated to be important in fighting human disease,” said the study’s first author Mirjam Schenk, postdoctoral scholar, division of dermatology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
In conducting the study, scientists used monocytes taken from the blood of healthy donors and leprosy patients and incubated the cells with the pathogen M. Leprae or specific parts of the mycobacteria, known to trigger NOD2 and TLR2, both associated with immune system activation.
Scientists wanted to investigate how these proteins might trigger mechanisms that turn on different immune receptors that recognize specific parts of the microbe in an infection. The NOD2 interleukin-32 pathway was the most effective and caused monocytes to develop into dendritic cells that carry critical information about the pathogen to the T-cells.
The team studied the gene expression profiles of the protein-triggered pathways and then also examined how the monocytes of leprosy patients responded to NOD2. Scientists found that NOD2 worked to induce moncytes to dendritic cells in tuberloid leprosy, a milder infection that is more easily contained. The NOD2 pathway was inhibited and could not be activated in lepromatous leprosy, which is more serious and causes widespread infection throughout the body.
“We were surprised to find the high potency of the dendritic cells in triggering certain specific T-cell responses, which may be useful in developing new therapeutic strategies for infectious diseases and cancer,” said senior investigator Dr. Robert Modlin, UCLA’s Klein Professor of Dermatology and chief of dermatology at the Geffen School of Medicine.
Leprosy, one of the world’s oldest known diseases, is a chronic infectious disease that affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, the upper respiratory tract and the eyes and can lead to disfigurement of the hands, face and feet. In 2008, approximately 249,000 new cases of leprosy were reported worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
Modlin adds that leprosy is a good model to study immune mechanisms in host defense since it presents as a clinical spectrum that correlates with the level and type of immune response of the pathogen.
The next stage of research will involve trying to further understand how to manipulate the innate immune system to induce a potent immune response in human infections and possibly for cancer immunotherapy as well.
###
The study was funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. (Grant numbers: RO1s AI022553, AR040312 and AI047868.)
Additional authors include: Stephan R Krutzik, Peter A Sieling, Delphine J. Lee, Rosane M. B. Teles, and Maria Teresa Ochoa from the Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; Genhong Cheng, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; Evangelia Komisopoulou and Thomas G. Graeber, Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, Institute for Molecular Medicine, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, California NanoSystems Institute, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, UCLA; Euzenir N. Sarno, Department of Mycobacteriosis, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Thomas H. Rea, Department of Dermatology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California and Soohyun Kim, Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Seoul Korea.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
CA Modern Home Contractors Marina Del Rey California 90292
Marina Del Rey California 90292
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Is your business one which offers FMCG products or general services to a mass market? Do you tweet and Facebook? No? Perhaps, is your business one which offers a service at a highly professional level? Do you have a LinkedIn profile? Do your staff members have profiles too?
If any of these questions, terms or profile types seem like strange and foreign words to you, as a business owner, you should be concerned. The digital era has taken over, and with a firm grip on the business world ? growing daily ? if you fall behind, you may never catch up!
So what?s the 411? What do you need to do to stay afloat in the online space, as opposed to finding yourself drowning in a sea of terms that you hear constantly, and never understand? First and foremost, you need to understand the basics. The best thing you can do is take a course ? something that introduces you to what?s happening, what?s available and how you can get involved. But in the meantime, here are some brief insights to get you started.
1. Social media profiles
As a professional, your LinkedIn profile is your new business card ? of course you?ll still need the real ones, but this professional networking site will mean your name, company and number can be in the hands of not only domestic contacts, but international ones. Many businesses now uphold some sort of social media presence ? and what they select as their network depends largely on what sort of business they are. If they market to a mass audience, or their product is more socially based, the likes of FaceBook is quite popular. Larger corporations or professional services companies tend to favour LinkedIn.
2. Social media for customer service
What is perhaps one of the most interesting developments in the digital space is the use of social media tools for superior customer services. Many big service companies, especially the major telcos, now use online tools to track mentions of their brand name in Twitter, and then use their own Twitter account to respond. For example, if a customer heads online and comments that their phone hasn?t arrived yet and is late, the customer service team spots the mention and swoops in with a great answer and immediate action.
3. Blogs and forums
Generally now a part of your website, blogs and forums enable further two way dialogue between you and your clients/consumers ? improving your relationship! Blogs have changed the face of business, as many professional services firms especially have moved towards positioning as a ?thought leader?, providing free insights and information in their blogs, improving their service for current and prospective clients. This action also firmly ensures they are viewed as a legitimate authority in their area.
4. Online customer service
Ever called your phone provider and then waited on the line for half an hour of elevator music? Frustrating? Many large service providers ? especially travel sites ? have now added a new layer to their customer service, online chat. Now you can click a button, wait your turn (without call charges) and then simply type or speak your question to a waiting customer service rep using an online chat system similar to MSN messenger.
5. The best results
Finally, one of the ways many people find their service providers now is through internet research. For this reason, it serves you well to be at the top of the results list when users type in a relevant keyword. Search engine optimisation and advertising will improve your results and your bottom line.
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FILE – In this Jan. 25, 2012 file photo, the U.S. Supreme Court Building is seen in Washington. The health insurance industry is spending millions to carry out President Barack Obama?s health care overhaul, essentially betting that the law or major parts of it will survive Supreme Court scrutiny. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE – In this Jan. 25, 2012 file photo, the U.S. Supreme Court Building is seen in Washington. The health insurance industry is spending millions to carry out President Barack Obama?s health care overhaul, essentially betting that the law or major parts of it will survive Supreme Court scrutiny. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The nation’s big insurers are spending millions to carry out President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul even though there’s a chance the wide-reaching law won’t survive Supreme Court scrutiny.
It’s not that health insurers want to bet big that the court will uphold the Affordable Care Act. It’s that they can’t afford not to. It will take at least several months and lots of resources for insurers to prepare to implement key elements of the law, which includes a controversial requirement that most Americans have health insurance by 2014.
WellPoint Inc., the nation’s second-largest health insurer with 34 million members, has said it will spend $100 million this year on technology upgrades to meet the law’s requirements. Aetna Inc., third-largest U.S. health insurer with more than 18 million members, says it expects to spend $50 million this year in part to upgrade software and computers.
Even smaller insurers like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a private company with 4 million members, are spending big. This year, the company, which employs 7,000 people, plans to add about 100 employees and spend nearly $20 million.
The law calls for big changes in the number of people receiving coverage, what must be covered and who pays for it, so insurers that don’t prepare until after the court’s ruling, expected in late June, will run short on time, said Kirk Roy, vice president of national health reform with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
“Waiting is too big a business risk for any insurer,” said Roy, who was promoted to his current job shortly after the overhaul became law in 2010.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the law for three days starting Monday. Among other options, the justices could uphold the law, strike it down completely or get rid of some provisions.
Insurers will be paying particular attention to arguments over two key provisions. One is the so-called individual mandate that requires most people to carry health insurance by 2014 or pay penalties. Of equally high interest is the requirement that insurers cover everyone who applies even if they have a pre-existing condition, like diabetes, which can produce high medical costs.
The two mandates are important cogs in the law’s push to expand coverage through health insurance exchanges set up by federal and state regulators. These exchanges will be mostly online marketplaces, where individuals and small business employees can go to comparison shop for insurance policies. Insurers are spending money to figure out how to set prices for their coverage on these exchanges, which will vary by state and require changes like the inclusion of subsidies to help people pay for coverage.
Much of the money insurers are spending is paying for a close look at how to set premiums high enough to cover the expected increase in claims from people with pre-existing diseases, but not so high that healthy customers are scared off. That includes research into how many people with chronic conditions will need expensive prescriptions or how their customers will use health care.
“There’s an awful lot of work that goes into preparing those kinds of analyses,” said Sheryl Skolnick, an analyst at CRT Capital Group, an institutional broker and dealer. “One should not do that in a rush because making a mistake could literally be fatal to the health plan.”
Even though these changes wouldn’t take effect for a couple years, insurers are preparing now because they’ll need to have their plans ready several months before then. They will have to submit plans to regulators and then wait for a review and approval, the timing of which will vary by state. Additionally, they will need time to advertise the plans before customers will be able to start signing up in October 2013.
Insurers also have to prepare for more pressing deadlines. For instance, the overhaul requires for them to create benefits summaries by September that make it easier for consumers to compare coverage. The summaries will give consumers details like a plan’s deductible or the annual amount a patient pays out of pocket for care before insurance coverage kicks in. They’ll also give examples for how the plan would cover events like childbirth.
The forms aim to make insurance shopping easier, but they pose a headache for the industry, said Karen Ignagni, CEO of the trade association America’s Health Insurance Plans. That’s because the summaries will have to be adjusted, depending on the plan, to account for varied pharmacy benefits or provider networks. An insurer with 50,000 different small business customers would likely have to design thousands of different forms.
“It’s not a simple matter of creating a computer program,” Ignagni said.
If the health care law is altered or thrown out, some money spent this year would have to be written off. For instance, insurers won’t need computer programs that interact with state-based exchanges or marketplaces.
But not all the money would be wasted. Roy, with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, says the overhaul has compelled insurers to make it easier for customers to understand their coverage and how much it costs ? a valuable change whether or not the law is upheld.
“Generally people tell all of the insurance industry, ‘Your stuff’s complicated and confusing … make that simpler,’” he said. “That’s absolutely something that we’re working on.”
The overhaul also encourages insurers to invest in improving the quality of care and ultimately reducing costs. Market forces also encourage this: Health care costs are still growing faster than inflation and worker wages, and employers that provide coverage need help narrowing that gap.
“The forces that led us to the need for health care reform are not going away,” said Les Funtleyder, health care portfolio manager with Miller Tabak, an institutional trading and asset management firm. “If not (the Affordable Care Act), there is going to be something else that replaces this.”
SAN FRANCISCO, March 21 – Hewlett Packard Co will merge its printer and PC businesses, combining two of its largest divisions as Chief Executive Meg Whitman tries to jumpstart growth at the technology company.
The combined unit, with $65 billion in annual sales, will account for about half the company’s revenue and be headed by PC chief Todd Bradley, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Reuters had reported on the plans on Tuesday.
Wall Street cautiously welcomed the move as one that will simplify HP’s notoriously complex structure. But some analysts said it remains to be seen whether Whitman can revive growth at the $120 billion corporation, which has seen its shares slide over the past two years.
HP’s move will “facilitate decision-making and improve productivity,” but the issues around growth and margin expansion will take more time to resolve, said UBS analyst Um Maynard, who cut his 12-month target price on HP’s stock to $26 from $30.
“While we believe there may be synergies, we believe they may be modest,” Maynard added.
The company is also planning to unify other functions, such as marketing and communications, across the business to promote a stronger brand and improve efficiency.
HP, the largest U.S. technology company by revenue, is trying to keep its core personal computing business profitable as competition from mobile devices erodes sales. The company is trying to transform itself into a major enterprise computing provider.
HP, often mentioned in accounts of the founding of Silicon Valley, has been through its share of turmoil in past years.
Shareholders on Wednesday ratified a slate of 11 directors at an annual meeting in Santa Clara, but repeatedly questioned why HP could not be more like crosstown rival Apple Inc, which is now the most valuable company in the world.
One shareholder even suggested HP open its own stores.
Whitman asked for patience.
“We have some real financial challenges,” Whitman said. “It took us a while to get where we are and it will take us a while to get out.”
She also covered the challenges and performance of all the business units, particularly printing and services. She defended the decision to merge the PC and printing as the a way of getting the cost structure working more efficiently.
“Turning services around is going to be a longer term journey,” she said.
PRIOR ATTEMPTS
HP previously had a combined PC-printing unit under former CEO Carly Fiorina, but the two were split under Mark Hurd, who was ousted from the company in 2010.
HP also considered for months last year a proposal to sell or spin off its PC arm, known as the personal systems group. That followed an announcement that it would get out of the business of making tablets with the failure of its TouchPad.
But after Whitman’s predecessor, Leo Apotheker, was also ousted in September, the company abandoned the idea and deemed personal computers to be central to its overall strategy.
While HP still leads the market in PC sales, growth in that division has been dwindling as mobile usage takes off.
HP had a share of about 16 percent of the global PC market at the end of 2011, down sharply from 19.4 percent a year before, according to research firm IDC. By contrast, rivals Lenovo Group Ltd and Dell Inc have both expanded their market share worldwide, with Lenovo now close to HP’s lead with a 14 percent share of PC sales.
Bradley will be overseeing by far the largest division within HP, while the current chief of the printing group, three-decade HP veteran Vyomesh Joshi, will step down.
The reorganization sets the stage for a multi-year turnaround. But prior HP CEOs have attempted similar moves with limited success, JPMorgan analyst Mark Moskowitz noted. He called for HP to reassess a potential sale of the two businesses.
“There is the possibility that the company could be cleaning up the businesses ahead of a potential spin-off or divesture of the assets,” Moskowitz said.
“While it is good to see HP rolling up its sleeves, we think investors may have been better served by a sale of the PC/printing businesses now versus down the road.”
(Additional reporting by Nicola Leske; editing by Edwin Chan editing by Andre Grenon)
A Realistic Dark Modern Super Hero/ Super Villain Tale
Brief Story
The sun beats down into an abandoned warehouse, where the dust is rising from the lack of upkeep. You slowly open your eyes, suffering from a terrible migraine that feels as though your head will just split into two. Even though the pain is great, you manage to look around. Six other’s are finally opening their eyes to the sun which has now full invaded through the windows of the building. The others seem to also be in pain, moaning from the affliction. You have never seen any of these people in your life, they are new to you entirely. You feel another pain begin to grow within you, a pain that is now forcing its way out. Others are also trembling from the pain, you clench your fist’s then realize that there is something inside that was clearly not there in the beginning… You keep telling yourself everything is okay. Deep inside you know it to be false. Don’t fight with the urge, it will consume you. Feel yourself change, and embrace the metamorphosis.
Main Points
[*] You play one of the seven, who have mysteriously awoken. With no memory of what happened to you, or what has been done to you, the struggle is just beginning. [*] Play either a Hero or a Villain. Choose to work together, then betray …or go your separate ways from the start, fate will tie the seven back to one another. [*] Create your own abilities/condition for your character, what makes him/her different from the other six? [*] How gray the line gets, depends on your characters morality. Does your character kill a threat to prevent deaths or just to feel the pleasure of the death? [*] A story help steer, major plot decisions will be made by the players , the GM will only help guide.
Character sheet
Name : Age : Sex : Eye Color : Facial Features : Physical Distinctions: Height : Weight : Clothing : Personality Pro’s : Personality Flaws : ( 3 at least please ) The Change : (What is different from your character opposed to the six others? Please plan it now, and have your character discover it later.)
Rules [*]This is a realistic, modern, super hero/villain tale. While deciding the change, please keep in mind that the powers should be balanced, have their own pro’s and con’s. [*] Any Over the top powers, please just don’t even use them. The key here is that the characters are not invincible against adversaries. [*]Contribute to the story, but also allow others the same courtesy. [*]Post only on your turn, which we will decide when the roster is filled. This will prevent over posting, and leaving other players behind. [*] Compromise with the other players, do not try to control every little detail. Just as I am giving the players the ability to see where this story is heading, I expect you to meet others on some kind of middle ground. [*] Posts must be at least two paragraphs in length. That is the minimum, on a normal basis, I want 4 – 5 paragraphs per post. [*]Correct use of grammar is appreciated and looked on with gratitude, little mistakes are fine though. As long as we can pick up the basic Idea, your fine.
How to join
Send me a PM with the character profile, sample of your role playing, why you want to participate, and how you believe you could contribute.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]You need to be cautious of internet marketing companies that make promises of what they can do without first asking you what you need. Internet marketing is about how you can make money online, not about wasting your …
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[unable to retrieve full-text content]Do you care about your health? Read physical therapy to find out good health ideas. Subscribe to Health and Fitness ? Physical Therapy RSS Feed · Subscribe to Health and Fitness ? Physical Therapy Comments · … Continue reading →
SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? China will make the yuan more flexible in either direction and recent reforms to make the currency more market-oriented have begun to achieve some results, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday. The comments probably do not signal … Continue reading →
Apple this week pledged to issue a fix for an iOS vulnerability that could let hackers remotely control iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. “Apple takes security very seriously, we’re aware of this reported issue and developing a fix that will … Continue reading →
Some businesses come, some businesses go. Life is a cycle where the fittest often survives. The very same may be said a fact in enterprise. You have to be prepared for every thing when managing your business. Excellent fortune is … Continue reading →
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Public release date: 25-Mar-2012
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