Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Cooler weather gives Minn. farmers a break

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Cooler weather has given Minnesota farmers a break from the heat.

In its weekly crops and weather report for Minnesota, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday that statewide, temperatures for the week averaged 6.7 degrees below average.

Despite the cooler weather, 5.9 days were suitable for field work last week.

Drier than normal weather in the southern two-thirds of Minnesota reduced topsoil and subsoil moisture to 26 percent short and 21 percent very short.

North-central Minnesota was the only district in the state with significantly above-average moisture, with more than 2 inches of rain.

Corn conditions declined slightly, to 62 percent good or excellent. Sixty percent of corn was at or beyond the silking stage while corn stalks grew 12 inches to an average height of 71 inches.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cooler-weather-gives-minn-farmers-135546519.html

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Tax Changes Spark Profit-Sharing Dispute Between China and Hollywood

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A dispute over a new Chinese tax has led to a growing profit drain for exported blockbusters.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927999/news/1927999/

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#Flossie creates buzz on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

While Flossie didn?t hit the Islands with the severe weather some were prepared for, the downgraded tropical depression created its own kind of storm on social media.

Twitter?s #Flossie report generated on Tuesday morning shows more than 4,000 tweets were made by 2,169 contributors with 1,988 followers per user. The buzz reached a potential audience of 4.3 million viewers. Check out the breakdown of Flossie tweets here.

People were talking, and not just from Hawaii. Read PBN Editor-in-Chief Kevin Bumgarner?s take on how national media covered the approaching tropical storm.

The conversation extended beyond media coverage and 140-character tweets and into people?s Facebook status reports, Instagram photos, and mobile apps like KITV?s Hurricane Tracker App, which I personally downloaded and quickly became obsessed with checking for hourly updates.

While this level of engagement may seem like overkill to some, others argue it?s better to be safe than sorry. Coralie Matayoshi, CEO of the American Red Cross of Hawaii, talked story with me yesterday as the local chapter was opening emergency shelters statewide and recruiting hundreds of volunteers to ?prepare for the worst, and hope for the best,? as Mayor Kirk Caldwell publicly emphasized on Monday.

Matayoshi pointed out that the role of social media in general is literally life-saving when it comes to natural disasters. Take the deadly tornadoes that hit Oklahoma recently, she said.

?In Oklahoma, people only had 16 minutes to get out of the tornado?s [path]. We have Red Cross apps that you can download, and those saved lives because people were able to get instant notification that a tornado was coming,? she said. ?We?ve had people tell us that their grandma was saved because they were able to get out in time.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bizj_pacific/~3/hBeDUi3vFjg/flossie-creates-buzz-on-twitter.html

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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Weiner speaks out in new ad: 'Quit isn't the way we roll in New York City'

NEW YORK?Anthony Weiner is out with a new ad addressing the sexting scandal that threatens to sink his mayoral campaign in which he reaffirms he has no plans to ?quit? the race.

The minute-long spot, posted Tuesday evening on Weiner?s campaign site, features the former congressman speaking directly to the camera about the state of his mayoral bid.?

You know, sometimes people say to me, 'This campaign is pretty rough. You may want to quit.' I know there are newspaper editors and other politicians that say, ?Boy, I wish that guy Weiner would quit,?? the Democratic mayoral hopeful says in the spot.? ?You don?t know New York. You certainly don?t know me. Quit isn?t the way we roll in New York City. We fight through tough things. We are a tough city.?

The spot was released exactly one week after Weiner admitted that he continued to send sexual messages to women he met online even after he was forced out of Congress for similar online dalliances. His wife, Huma, who joined him in his other campaign ad, is not featured in his latest spot.

Weiner, who looks visibly tired in the ad, insists the race is not about him but ?helping New Yorkers.?

?If someone wants to come out with something embarrassing about you in your private life, you have to talk about that for a little while,? Weiner says. ?But it?s also reminded me that citizens, when they come up to ya, and they want to talk to you about a situation on their block or at their child?s school or something going on at their job site, that?s what this campaign is all about, and I?ll never forget that."

It?s unclear if the campaign is reserving television airtime for the spot. A spokeswoman for Weiner did not respond to a request for comment.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/weiner-in-new-ad---quit-isn-t-the-way-we-roll-in-new-york-city--234436430.html

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The final word on coffee, eggs, salt and oil

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Source: www.stuff.co.nz --- Sunday, July 28, 2013
COFFEE ...

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/8977280/The-final-word-on-coffee-eggs-salt-and-oil

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Kevin Walthers Settles into Dream Job as New Allan Hancock College President

By Gina Potthoff, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @ginapotthoff |

Allan Hancock College was on a list of the top five places in the country where Kevin Walthers wanted to work.

The Texas native had heard about the school?s stellar reputation, and over the years he actually had visited the Santa Maria Valley on several occasions to catch up with friends, who also thought highly of the community college.

Walthers remembered the cool ocean breeze and ? even more noticeable ? the welcoming, friendly people he had met.

On a recent afternoon while sitting in the college?s office of the president, Walthers expressed deep gratitude for having been able to circle back to Hancock?s campus earlier this year when he was selected to lead it.

?The whole culture here is nice,? Walthers told Noozhawk. ?It?s a place I wanted to be. I?m only the fifth president. That?s good.?

Walthers, who most recently served as president of Las Positas College in Livermore, has officially been at the Hancock helm since July 8, after the Board of Trustees sang his praises and finalized his contract in June.

Since then, it?s been a flurry of meet-and-greet with faculty, staff and students, and familiarization with the 93-year-old institution?s four campuses in Santa Maria, Lompoc, Solvang and at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Remembering a person?s name upon a second meeting is considered a small victory as Walthers prepares for the arrival of 11,500 students for fall classes, which begin Aug. 19.

?I?m excited for the students to come back,? he said. ?There?s so much energy.?

Walthers set his sights on Santa Maria after a career that began in Texas as a high school government and economics teacher. His career journey took him to Utah in 1996 and then West Virginia for two years before arriving on the West Coast in the summer of 2011 to lead Las Positas in the East Bay Area.

He said he and his wife, Shannon, have always considered themselves ?Westerners? because she grew up in Colorado and he just outside Dallas before moving from state to state while his father was in the Air Force.

Walthers said he?s just another first-generation college student who decided to pursue a career in education.

His r?sum? includes vice chancellor for administration for the West Virginia Community and Technical College System and the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, as well as executive roles with the Utah State Board of Regents and the College of Eastern Utah.

Having been a community college student himself, Walthers said he wants to ensure students are aware that they have access to any career they desire.

?It?s kind of a pay it forward kind of thing,? he said, noting his grandmother?s emphasis on the importance of getting an education. ?It?s a fun job. We teach them how to learn using specific skills. It?s invigorating to be a part of that.?

Walthers said he hopes to focus attention on strategic planning and student success. What time and attention is left will go toward sharing hobbies with his 10-year-old son, Trey, at their Orcutt home.

The new president?s orientation appears to be finishing up as first-year students begin arriving for an orientation of their own this week.

? Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

Noozhawk's comments are moderated, but by posting here you accept your responsibility to follow our rules as part of Noozhawk's shared online community. Please keep your comments civil and helpful. Don't attack other readers personally, and do not use vulgar, abusive or discriminatory language. Use the "Report Abuse" link if a comment violates these standards or our Terms of Use

Source: http://www.noozhawk.com/article/kevin_walthers_allan_hancock_college_20130728

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Building Collapses During Wedding While The Cameras Are Rolling [Video]

Why not start your week with a building collapse during a wedding in process in Kostroma, Russia? Hit that button to see the billing and cooing of the white doves waiting to be released and then the lovely couple themselves approaching the chapel?only to have their big day stolen by the sudden and unexplained collapse of the huge building across the street.

Boom.

My reading knowledge of Russian is nonexistent, so I?m relying on an MSN Now translation to tell us where this unusual wedding took place.

The footage of the crazy building collapse at just the wrong moment for the arriving wedding party was uploaded on July 27. At the time of writing, it has under 30,000 views.

But it deserves many more. So if it hits your funny bone too, be sure to pass it along.

And if you?re still in need of silly videos, let me list a few more of my recent finds.

Everybody?s loving this video of Johnny Manziel getting soaked in beer and thrown out of a University of Texas frat party in Austin. They have a simple rule for any Aggie, no matter how famous: GTFO.

Genius parakeet Disco has unleashed a new video where he does Monty Python. Admit it. You haven?t lived until you?ve seen a budgie announce, ?Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.?

If your taste runs more toward the macabre, check out these surgeons in Moldova who protested their lack of decent equipment at a children?s hospital by performing surgery on cell phone video with hammer, pliers, and a construction drill. Ouch. I hope the patient was in on the joke.

If you have taken funny or potentially viral video like the building collapse at the wedding, send it to me and maybe we?ll use it.

[wedding dove thumbnail photo by Tischenko Irina via Shutterstock]

Comments

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheInquisitrNews/~3/j21J2J3sCRI/

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Monday, July 29, 2013

Pope Francis returns to Rome after triumphant visit to Brazil

There were violent protests that evening outside the palace of the governor of Rio state, with riot police using tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades to try to disperse a crowd of demonstrators, some of whom expressed anger over the ?35 million cost of the papal visit.

One of the cities that bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics but lost out to Rio was Chicago.

The day after the unrest, a headline in the Chicago Tribune asked "We lost to this?" above pictures of petrol bombs exploding in the streets of Rio.

There were also problems with Rio's creaking transport system ? on Tuesday part of the city's metro broke down due to an electrical fault, stranding thousands of pilgrims trying to reach Copacabana beach for a Mass to kick off World Youth Day, the Catholic festival that was the focus of the Pope's visit.

The metro had to be evacuated, leaving pilgrims scrambling to find buses or taxis to take them to the beach.

The Brazilian authorities had to deal with a further headache caused by unusually heavy winter rainfall, which transformed a site outside the city, meant to have been used for Saturday's prayer vigil and Sunday's Mass, into a quagmire.

At the last minute they switched venues, transferring both events to the much drier, and more spectacular, Copacabana beach.

The Brazilian press are asking hard questions about how much was spent on building a giant altar and other facilities at the Campus Fidei (Field of Faith) site at Guaratiba.

Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio, admitted that the city had "scored closer to zero than ten" over the organisation of the Pope's visit.

Around a million Brazilians took to the streets in June to protest rising living costs and the expense of hosting the World Cup and Summer Olympics, and unless the government can convince them that both are good investments, there could be more trouble.

Brazilian authorities claim they have gained valuable experience from hosting the Pope's visit.

"We have had two big events in a row (the Pope's visit and the Confederations Cup last month) and we have learned from both," said Jose Monteiro, an official in Rio in charge of security at large events.

Planners were "doing their homework" as they look ahead to the World Cup and Olympics, he said.

But the Catholic youth who descended on Rio from around the world were almost unfailingly good-natured and well-behaved.

Although the week was packed with evening events on Copacabana, and despite Rio's reputation for all-night partying and hedonism, there was very little drunkenness and few public order incidents.

Dealing with football fans fuelled by alcohol and national pride could prove another matter.

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/564430/s/2f490c13/sc/2/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Creligion0Cthe0Epope0C10A20A80A980CPope0EFrancis0Ereturns0Eto0ERome0Eafter0Etriumphant0Evisit0Eto0EBrazil0Bhtml/story01.htm

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Friday, July 26, 2013

Study reveals tale of peacock's fan

Lead researcher Jessica Yorzinski explains what the study revealed

Scientists in the US have used eye-tracking cameras to work out exactly what peahens find alluring in a peacock's tail fan.

The male birds grow their trains of iridescent feathers during the mating, or lekking, season, fanning them out and rattling them to attract a mate.

This team of biologists fitted peahens with eye-trackers to find out what they looked at during this display.

Their results are reported in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

The eye-tracking footage revealed how difficult it is to keep a peahen's attention, which helps explain why such a large and elaborately decorated tail fan evolved.

It also gave clues about what a peahen looks for in this tail fan. Side-to-side eye movements suggested that females were gauging the fan's width and that they were most interested in the striking eyespots on the feathers.

Continue reading the main story

Charles Darwin on sexual selection

"I can see no good reason to doubt that female birds, by selecting, during thousands of generations, the most melodious or beautiful males, according to their standard of beauty, might produce a marked effect.

I strongly suspect that some well-known laws with respect to the plumage of male and female birds, in comparison with the plumage of the young, can be explained on the view of plumage having been chiefly modified by sexual selection, acting when the birds have come to the breeding age or during the breeding season; the modifications thus produced being inherited at corresponding ages or seasons, either by the males alone, or by the males and females; but I have not space here to enter on this subject."

Charles R Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1859

The peacock's tail is probably the most famous example of sexual selection - a phenomenon identified by Charles Darwin whereby animals evolve a trait because it is attractive to the opposite sex.

"There are quite a few species that have these elaborate colourful traits that don't serve any survival function," explained Dr Jessica Yorzinski, who carried out this research project while based at the University of California Davis and Duke University in North Carolina.

"[This long train] might actually make it very difficult to get away from a predator."

To find out why the peacock's train is quite so cumbersome and elaborate, the scientists set out to understand what it takes to impress a peahen.

"I wanted to know what it was the females attended to when they were evaluating potential mates," explained Dr Yorzinski.

The researchers trained 12 peahens to wear eye-tracking equipment. This consisted of two tiny cameras on a head mount. One recorded the scene in front of the bird and the other recorded eye movement.

"We were surprised by the results," said Dr Yorzinski.

Rather than looking up at the high crescent of the fan above the peacock's head, the eye-trackers revealed that females looked primarily at the lower portions of the train.

"From the head down was where most of their gaze was directed," said Dr Yorzinski.

"The peahens often looked from side-to-side across the bottom portion of the train, suggesting that they were gauging the width of the train."

'Selective attention'

The experiments showed that females constantly shifted their attention between the environment and the peacock's tail.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

Peacock displaying its tail fan

If females are not alert and focus completely on a displaying male, they may end up as a tiger's dinner?

End Quote Jessica Yorzinski Lead researcher

"It is likely beneficial for them to divide their attention among potential mates and the environment," explained Dr Yorzinski.

"If females are not alert and focus completely on a displaying male, they may end up as a tiger's dinner."

The research suggests that the peacock's tail has had to evolve to eclipse all the other things competing for a female's attention.

It also raised the question of why the tail fans are held so high if the females focus most of their attention on the lower portion.

Dr Yorzinski has an explanation for this too. In their natural habitat in India, the vegetation is very high. "All you can see [of the peacock] is the upper train," she said.

"So we think it's a long-distance signal to the hen."

Prof Tim Birkhead, a bird expert from the University of Sheffield, said the research was "very exciting", adding: "It is a wonderfully novel approach."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23423074#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Drugmakers cheer 'speed lane' for breakthrough therapies

By Toni Clarke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new regulatory pathway could shave years off the traditional drug approval process in the United States, according to some companies whose drugs have been given "breakthrough therapy" designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Speaking at a briefing in Washington to raise awareness of the drug review process, Dr. Jay Siegel, head of global regulatory affairs at Johnson & Johnson, said he expects two years to be knocked off the time it would typically take the FDA to review ibrutinib, the company's experimental cancer drug.

To be granted breakthrough designation, an experimental drug must show early indication of clinical improvement over existing therapies, even if the clinical trial is small. It might apply, for example, to a new type of cancer drug that shows strong early promise.

J&J's ibrutinib, which it is developing with Pharmacyclics Inc, would be the first in a class of oral medicines that block a protein known as Bruton's tyrosine kinase. It is being developed for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma and for patients with mantle cell lymphoma, both cancers of the blood.

Dr. Jeffrey Leiden, the chief executive of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc, who also spoke at the briefing and whose cystic fibrosis drug Kalydeco was given the designation after approval, said his company's experience working with the FDA was dramatically different from the normal drug approval process.

Under breakthrough designation, he said, "everything is on the table" for discussion in order to move the process along as quickly as possible. Communications that might typically take weeks and months, under the breakthrough pathway take minutes.

"We pick up the phone and talk in real time," Leiden said. "It makes the process immeasurably smoother."

The breakthrough pathway was spearheaded by Friends of Cancer Research, a patient advocacy organization. It received bipartisan support in Congress and was signed into law in July 2012. As of July 12, the FDA had received 67 requests for breakthrough designation. It had granted 24 and denied 18.

Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's drugs division, said during the discussion that the breakthrough pathway was designed to accommodate new science, particularly targeted therapies that may work in people with certain genetic mutations. She noted that just because the review process is speeded up there is no guarantee of approval.

In the 1990s, she said, the agency was not seeing drugs whose promise could be detected in early clinical trials.

"We didn't see these therapies in Phase I or II where you said 'bingo,' you've got a likely winner," she said.

Still, there are challenges associated with speeding up a drug's development timeline. For one thing, other nations might not be willing to approve the products based on the FDA's more flexible clinical trial standards under the breakthrough designation.

"Our hope is that foreign regulators will catch up," Siegel said.

Moreover, he said, it is not clear that insurers will pay for drugs if the data do not show improved survival or other clear benefit they are used to seeing when drugs are approved. One task, he said is to figure out "how to bring payors on board."

The panelists did not discuss what happens once a drug reaches the market under the breakthrough designation.

Under a separate pathway known as "accelerated approval" drugs may be approved based on a so-called surrogate endpoint - a measure, such as tumor shrinkage - that might reasonably be expected to confer a clinical benefit such as improved survival.

Companies that win approval for a product under the accelerated approval process are required subsequently to prove through further clinical trials that the surrogate measure does in fact correlate with improved survival or a reduction in disease symptoms.

"A discussion on this topic is reckless if it doesn't discuss the next stage after the drug reaches the market," said Sidney Wolfe, co-founder and senior adviser to Public Citizen's Health Research Group, a watchdog organization that has frequently criticized the FDA for approving, or failing to withdraw, drugs it considers unsafe.

Woodcock said the FDA is now working to develop a mechanism to speed the development of breakthrough diagnostics that can be used in conjunction with new drugs to help identify which patients will respond to a particular therapy.

(This story corrects paragraph 5 to shows Kalydeco was given designation after, not before, approval)

(Reporting by Toni Clarke; Editing by Ros Krasny and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/drugmakers-cheer-speed-lane-breakthrough-therapies-173049177.html

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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Israel police: 2 Gaza rockets hit Israel

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip hit southern Israel on Wednesday but caused no damage or casualties, a police spokeswoman said.

"The rockets landed in the Eshkol region," Luba Samri told AFP, adding that "security forces are searching for their remains".

A lone rocket hit the same area on Sunday, and two hit southern Israel last Thursday, none causing any damage or casualties.

The last incident of cross-border fire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas-ruled Gaza was on June 24, when the Islamic Jihad group fired five rockets at Israel, which retaliated with air strikes.

As the ruling authority in Gaza, Hamas is responsible for ensuring that militant groups respect the terms of a truce brokered by Egypt that ended a major eight-day confrontation with Israel in November.

Source: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=616467

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Your money and Mayor Glover's dog park legal fees...

Since May 24th there's been an item on Shreveport City Council's agenda that would give the approval for Mayor Glover's outside legal council, Ronald?Lattier,?to not only continue being paid but paid for issues covered under general liability.

The dog park and the 3132 issues fall under this category. The problem is are the payments and their timing. Taxpayer money has already been used to pay attorney Ronald Lattier without approval from city council.

Looking at the dog park issue alone, $18,354.00 has been spent on the mayor's legal representation in all matters dog park. Issues for 3132 go back a number of years.

There was an oversight on the city's administrative side. Since 1997 attorney Lattier has been representing the city as outside legal council when it comes to lawsuits involving personal injury and workers' compensation. That's why the city's attorney's office has been asking council to vote and change the legislation to include general liability. This vote and approval is required by the City's charter.

Since June 1st payments have been in hold for the legal fees and will continue to be frozen until council makes a decision. While taxpayer money goes untouched, it's possible the attorney's work goes unpaid.

Source: http://arklatexhomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=343152

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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Japan's Line Passes 200M Global Downloads Of Its Messaging App But Still Isn't Reporting Monthly Actives

Line downloads growthLine continues its apparent growth tear. The mobile messaging app that's extremely popular in its home market of Japan has announced it's passed the 200 million global registered users mark, some two years after launching. Line passed 100 million users back in January. It should be noted that the 200 million figure is not monthly active users but rather refers to app downloads.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/5TDiVf3ErHs/

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Texas Bankers Association founded

On this day in 1885, the Texas Bankers Association, the oldest state bankers' association, was founded at Lampasas Springs (now Lampasas). Leading the promotion that brought thirty-one bankers from twenty-two Texas cities and towns was Frank R. Malone, cashier of the First National Bank in the host town, aided by E. M. Longcope, assistant cashier of the same bank. The banker-delegates convened at the colorful Park Hotel and selected as the organization's first president a Gonzales banker-lawyer, James Francis Miller, member of the United States Congress. Many of the early leaders of the TBA were Confederate veterans. Their chief objective in organizing the association was to promote legislative and regulatory changes for banking, specifically to bring about the repeal of the constitutional restriction against the chartering of state banks. In the 1990s the Texas Bankers Association had over 2,500 members and was headquartered in Austin.

Related Handbook Articles:?

Source: http://www.tshaonline.org/day-by-day/31377

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

California men accused of locking girl in box face new drug charges

By Ronnie Cohen

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two California men accused of holding a teenage girl captive as a sex slave on their marijuana farm and locking her inside an oversized metal toolbox have also been charged with forcing her to help prepare their cannabis crop for illegal distribution.

Federal prosecutors have seized on the case to support their crackdown against a burgeoning network of pot cultivation and dispensaries they say are fronts for large-scale drug traffickers operating under the guise of California's medical marijuana law.

But advocates of more liberalized cannabis laws argued that the case illustrates how law enforcement efforts have failed, while broad legalization and regulation of pot would remove the marijuana trade from its criminal element.

Ryan Balletto, 30, and Patrick Pearmain, 25, were charged in a criminal complaint unsealed late on Monday with conspiring to distribute more than 1,000 illegally grown marijuana plants and with using a minor in connection with their alleged drug ring.

Balletto also was charged with possessing a firearm for drug trafficking.

The two men were arrested in May on state drug charges, as well as false imprisonment, rape and other sex offenses stemming from the captivity of a 15-year-old girl who police said was held against her will on their remote compound in Northern California.

Balletto and Pearmain were slated to appear on Wednesday for a detention hearing in federal court in Eureka, though the pot farm in question was located to the south in rural Lake County.

State charges against the men were dismissed on Friday to allow federal authorities to more quickly pursue their case against the pair, who could face life in prison if convicted.

According to the federal criminal complaint, authorities searching Balletto's 680-acre property in May found three greenhouses with 1,320 marijuana plants and a cache of ammunition and weapons.

Investigators also seized equipment used for sexual bondage and sadomasochism, a rope tied with a noose and a 4-foot-long metal toolbox "altered to imprison a human," the complaint says.

It says the girl told investigators she was twice locked in the box for a total of three days, and Balletto told her she was a "trouper" for not screaming during her confinement.

She told authorities the two men also put her to work cutting cannabis buds and preparing them to be dried.

The girl, who had been reported missing from Los Angeles, has not been publicly identified because she is a minor. She was taken into protective custody when Balletto and Pearmain were arrested.

"Some in our community believe that marijuana grow operations are run by compassionate caregivers interested only in supplying medicine to the sick," U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said in a written statement about the case. "Unfortunately, this case illustrates what we in law enforcement see - marijuana grow operations that include heavily armed, violent individuals motivated by profit, carrying out abuses of vulnerable victims."

Amanda Reiman, a California policy manager for the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance, countered that the public would be better served by lifting the federal prohibition on marijuana and allowing state and local authorities to control cannabis.

"Regulation can help deter folks from getting involved in the illicit market," she said. "What Melinda Haag's really doing is making a call for the taxation and regulation of marijuana."

California was the first of 19 states and the District of Columbia to pass laws approving of marijuana for medical purposes, though the federal government continues to classify pot as an illegal narcotic.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/california-men-accused-locking-girl-box-face-drug-014204326.html

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Apple Reportedly Testing iPad and iPhones With Bigger Screens

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Monday Highlights: Apple fans perk up when the Wall Street Journal reports on a rumor, the latest confirming that Apple is testing large-screen iPhones and iPads suggesting the company is "exploring more ways to draw consumers", reports aplenty in our Apple/Macintosh, and Op/Ed sections; and with earnings on tap for Tuesday, Philip Elmer-DeWitt compiles analysts final estimates, and CNNMoney's David Goldman thinks analysts are bracing for "a fairly miserable past quarter"; but earnings rest on iPhone numbers, and some expect it to be a bright spot; looking ahead to next quarter, Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster believes iPhones will approach 62 million with 12 million coming from the elusive low-cost model; after a weekend of relative silence from Apple on why the Developer Center was down, comes word that a security researcher in the UK is responsible for the breach, informed Apple and offered to help patch, says "meant no harm"?reports in our OS X section; Mactuts+ offers a tutorial for using LyX, "a document processor that uses TeX to render your documents" on OS X; Architosh report on CAD/3D industry's thoughts on the new Mac Pro; Apple's newly bought HopStop, no longer available on Windows Phone, still alive in Google Play store for now; tablets catching up to laptops in Southeast Asia; and with the recently published SIM card flaw, is your iPhone vulnerable?; child racks up $6,131 bill in an iOS game, Apple refunds the purchases after story reported by press; Apple posts support article on setting up and configuring AirPort Express for AirPlay, iTunes; Mike deAgonia at Computerworld posts his "long-term review" of the new 13" MacBook Air, says "there's no real reason to purchase anything but a MacBook Air" if you're shopping for a new slim notebook; and Leap Motion is a new gesture controller allowing you to interact with your Mac, numerous reports in our Reviews section; AllThingsD's Lauren Goode reviews augmented reality apps, asks if they can "move beyond the gimmicks"; Lifehacker presents their list of the best iPad apps for 2013; CBS's MoneyWatch has ideas for you to hide your internet activities from the NSA; Kirk McElhearn has several tips that can help you find and launch your apps like a pro; Ben Bajarin on the recent attention given to tech writers who've switched from iPhone to Android, explains why he's staying with Apple's smartphone.

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"Apple Reportedly Testing iPad and iPhones With Bigger Screens" ABCNews 2:59 PM
  • "Apple testing larger screens for iPhone and iPad, report says"?Los Angeles Times [Paid Membership Required]?10:23 AM
  • "Apple Reportedly Testing iPad and iPhones With Bigger Screens"?ABCNews?2:59 PM
  • "With Apple, Screen Isn't Much of a Saver Investors May Want to Lighten Up on Apple Holdings Should Earnings Surprise Positively"?WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required]?7:03 PM
  • "Could Apple, Samsung be headed toward a settlement?"?USA Today?2:40 PM
  • "Spreadsheet of the day: Final estimates for Apple's Q3 2013/The forecasts of 59 Apple analysts: 38 Wall Street professionals and 21 independents"?Fortune?8:35 AM
  • "Will Apple's latest results be latest letdown? Apple's latest quarterly results are likely to illustrate why investors are clamoring for the maker of the iPhone and the iPad to come out with another trend-setting device."?Associated Press?2:38 PM
  • "For Apple's earnings, it's all eyes on the iPhone: The company will report its fiscal third-quarter results Tuesday, and Wall Street will be looking at the iPhone for a bright spot."?CNET News?8:10 AM
  • "iPhone sales to hit 62 million in fourth quarter, predicts analyst: The low-cost iPhone could add as many as 12 million units to Apple's December quarter results, says Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster."?CNET News?8:37 AM
  • "Slowing iPhone Sales Weigh on Apple"?Bloomberg TV?9:21 PM
  • "iPhone Volume May Surprise"?Forbes?10:23 AM
  • "Federal Circuit to hear Apple-Google cross-appeal of Judge Posner's ruling on September 11, 2013"?Foss Patents?4:18 PM
  • "Apple says 1 billion podcasts subscribed to via iTunes, celebrates with special section"?9 to 5 Mac?7:06 PM
  • "Apple: One billion iTunes podcast subscriptions and counting"?Macworld?7:18 PM
  • "Apple's iTunes Store racks up 1B podcast subscriptions"?AppleInsider?7:48 PM
  • "CAD/3D Industry Responds to Apple's New Mac Pro"?Architosh?8:23 AM
  • "Author Ken Segall Sees 'Major Revamp' From Apple (Audio)"?Bloomberg?8:40 AM
  • "Hopstop for Windows Phone vanishes after Apple buy: The local transit and directions service remains available in the Google Play marketplace, for now at least."?CNET News?8:11 AM
  • "iPhone activations on Verizon grew 41 percent year over year, and analysts seemingly didn't notice"?TUAW?7:17 PM
  • "Report: Three tablets are sold for every four laptops in Southeast Asia"?The Next Web?8:16 AM
  • "Could Your iPhone Be Vulnerable To This Recently Discovered SIM Card Flaw?"?AppAdvice?8:18 AM
  • "12 Successful Tech Executives Who Wake Up Really Early: Steve Jobs was also an early riser, starting his days around 6:00."?Business Insider?8:38 PM
  • "12 Successful Tech Executives Who Wake Up Really Early: Apple CEO Tim Cook can be found in the gym by 5 a.m.."?Business Insider?8:38 PM
  • "Apple Refunds 8-Year-Old's $6,131 Bill For In-App Purchases"?Cult of Mac?8:21 AM
  • "Apple refunds kid's ?4,000 horse addiction"?The Inquirer?8:10 AM
  • "Bell to offer iPad and iPad mini with various data plans"?Canadian Reviewer?6:48 PM
Non-Apple News
  • "A Rising Addiction Among Youths: Smartphones"?WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required]?7:56 PM
  • "Hacking for autism: Apps to help everyone on the spectrum/Developers gather at a weekend hackathon to use natural language processing, Kinect tech, Google Glass, and big data to help people with autism live a more self-sufficient life."?CNET News?8:32 AM
  • "Google Glass meets Comic-Con: At an event where thousands are celebrating futuristic devices, what's the reaction to something real but seems like out of a movie? When it came to Google Glass, everyone loved it."?CNET News?8:32 AM
  • "Thirty-four percent of all TV viewership is now on a device other than a TV set"?AppleDailyReport?8:16 AM
  • "For Social Networks, Dumbphones Still Hold Keys to Growth"?AllThingsD?8:10 AM
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  • "The MacVoices Briefing on the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox Bluetooth Speaker"?MacVoices?2:21 PM
  • "Sean Flaherty talks to Architosh: On BIM and Vectorworks in Asia"?Architosh?8:33 AM
  • "Podcast: ATT Next, Verizon Edge + thoughts on new MacBook Air + Logic Pro X"?Insanely Great Mac?8:12 AM
  • "High Density #2: Tim Bajarin"?asymco?7:55 AM
  • "What are Whirly Word, Candy Crush Saga, Nokia and Microsoft? Addicting games and tech dinosaurs."?The MT Show?7:44 AM
  • "Apple testing 13-inch iPad & bigger iPhone displays, says WSJ"?9 to 5 Mac?8:04 AM
  • "Apple toying with larger iPhone screen and 13" iPad - report"?AppleInsider?7:53 AM
  • "Apple Reportedly Testing Bigger iPhone And iPad Screens, Starting Production On New 9.7' iPad"?TechCrunch?7:47 AM
  • "Apple 'testing larger screens' for bigger iPhone, 13in iPad: The Wall Street Journal says production for Apple's next iPad will begin this month, while iPhone production has already kicked off"?Macworld UK?7:54 AM
  • "Apple testing 13-inch iPad and larger iPhone: WSJ"?The Verge?8:02 AM
  • "iPad Biggie? Apple Testing Larger Screens For iPads, Report Claims"?Digital Trends?8:02 AM
  • "Apple Testing 13-Inch iPad And Larger iPhone Claims Wall Street Journal"?Huffington Post UK?8:23 AM
  • "US Mac sales down 5% year over year in Apple's June quarter, NPD says"?AppleInsider?2:39 PM
  • "U.S. Mac Sales Down in June Despite Introduction of New MacBook Airs"?MacRumors?3:10 PM
  • "Developer Portal Downtime Likely Set To Delay Release Of iOS 7 (Beta 4) ? [Updated]?RazorianFly?7:54 AM
  • "Will iOS 7 Beta 4 Drop on Monday? All Signs Point to Yes"?PadGadget?7:54 AM
  • "Low-Cost iPhone and iPad 5 to Ship in Early September with iPhone 5S Coming Later, No Retina iPad mini in 2013?"?MacRumors?7:19 PM
  • "Updated Apple Store App Set for Tuesday July 23rd, Part of iPhone Sales Push, Will Promote Content Stores"?MacTrast?11:12 AM
  • "iPhone 5S Release Date Nears as Apple Begins Mass Production of LiquidMetal Case, Ramps up IC Chip Orders"?International Business Times?8:11 AM
AppleCare/Helps
  • "MacBook Air (Mid 2013) Wi-Fi Connection Issues Resolved With Software Update"?MacPrices?8:33 AM
  • "Wi-Fi base stations: How to set up and configure AirPort Express for AirPlay and iTunes"?Apple Support?7:53 AM
Price Trackers/Deals
  • "Freeze! For iPhone And iPad Is Temporarily Available For Free (Normally $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?8:11 AM
  • "Retro Dust HD For iPad And Retro Dust For iPhone Are Free Right Now (Previously $1.99/$0.99)"?Apple Sliced?8:11 AM
  • "Roswell Fighter Reloaded For iPhone And iPad Is Free Today (Was $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?8:11 AM
  • "MacBook Air Prices & Sales"?MacPrices?8:33 AM
  • "13" MacBook Pro Prices & Sales"?MacPrices?8:33 AM
  • "PadGadget Daily App Deal ? 10 iPad Apps on Sale"?PadGadget?7:54 AM

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  • "Ahead of Dell Vote, Buyout Group Press Shareholders: Ahead of Wednesday's Vote, Investors Wonder About Possible Sweetened Deal"?WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required]?6:58 PM
  • "If Dell Deal Fails, Look Out Below"?WSJ Blogs?8:55 AM
  • "Dell Takeover Share Price Hits Ceiling as Rivals Falter"?24/7 Wall St.?8:32 AM
  • "Maneuvering Continues For Control of Dell"?Slashdot?8:27 AM
  • "Dell still has Windows 7 PCs, and they're on sale"?CNET Reviews?11:37 AM
  • "Dell Buyout Deal Snapshot: 9 Things To Know"?CRN?9:06 AM
  • "IBM taps ex-Lenovo and services exec to run PureSystems server biz"?The Register?8:35 AM
  • "HP, NEC join forces to develop next-generation x86 servers"?PCWorld?8:33 AM
  • "HP, NEC to develop next-generation x86 servers"?Computerworld?8:33 AM
  • "HP closes StoreVirtual backdoor, slings key"?The Register?8:23 AM
  • "Big change may not be change enough for Microsoft"?Fortune?8:55 AM
  • "Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Plunged To A 3-Month Low After Disappointing Q4 Report"?RTTNews?9:02 AM
  • "Microsoft shares tumble after disappointing financials"?The Inquirer?9:02 AM
  • "Microsoft share of Web devices falls to 25% from 90% in 2009"?Crave @ CNET?8:48 AM
  • "Microsoft drove the bus off the cliff, now it tries to speed up: This is what happens when you don't accept reality"?SemiAccurate?9:03 AM
  • "Why is the SEC Silent on Microsoft?"?TheStreet?8:57 AM
  • "ARM and Oracle to further develop Java, targeting M2M"?newelectronics?9:11 AM
  • "ARM and Oracle Announce Plans to Optimize Java SE for Enterprise and Embedded Markets"?M2M World News?9:11 AM
  • "Oracle and ARM to tweak Java: ARM hopes to encourage the use of Java for both embedded systems and enterprise software"?IDG News Service?3:10 PM
  • "Oracle optimization agreement brightens ARM's enterprise server software horizons"?GigaOM?9:10 AM
  • "Intel Details New Visions for the Data Center"?WSJ Blogs?7:17 PM
  • "Intel to launch low-power version of powerful server chips"?Reuters?7:16 PM
  • "'Broadwell'-based chip to help Intel challenge low-power rivals"?IDG News Service?7:03 PM
  • "Here's why Intel announced a custom silicon business today"?GigaOM?7:48 PM
  • "Advanced Micro Devices' Q2 Computing Solutions Operations, Doubts, And More Leaked Benchmarks"?Seeking Alpha?8:54 AM
  • "AMD Posts Q2 Loss, Expects Profitability in Q3"?The VAR Guy?9:08 AM
  • "AMD is coping with a difficult 2013, should return to profitability courtesy of next-gen consoles"?ITProPortal?9:07 AM
  • "Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) Eyeing Game Consoles to Aid Fuel Future Growth"?Financials Trend?9:07 AM
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Source: http://www.macsurfer.com/redirr.php?u=798491

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50 Chinese soldiers on horses, ponies intrude Indian territory

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Source: news.in.msn.com --- Sunday, July 21, 2013
Chumar sector has always been an area of discomfort for the Chinese troops as this is the only area where they do not have any direct access to the LAC ...

Source: http://news.in.msn.com/national/50-chinese-soldiers-on-horses-ponies-intrude-indian-territory

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Leap Motion Launches 3D Gesture Sensor

For the last three decades, we've primarily interacted with our computers using two devices: the keyboard and mouse. Leap Motion intends to change that. Today the company begins shipping its eponymous 3D gesture control sensor, a black-and-aluminum rectangle the size of a pack of gum that lets you control your computer by waving your hands. The $80 device, winner of a 2012 Breakthrough Product Award, opens up the possibility for completely keyboard- and mouse-free computing. Right now, it's better in specific applications, like the 75 available in Leap's web-based Airspace Store. Where the device truly stands to excel, though, is not alone, but in conjunction with the tried and true inputs we're used to.

The Leap Motion's guts are nothing too fancy?two CMOS sensors and three infrared LEDs?but they provide enough data for the tracking of individual finger movements. The device plugs in via USB and is controlled mainly through Airspace, a program that looks like the Launchpad in Mac OS X and displays all the apps installed in the user's account. Those apps may be why it took so long for the Leap Motion to hit the market?at the end of 2012, it seemed like it was just a few months away. But, Leap CEO Michael Buckwald says, "it takes developers time to build content, and we really only have one chance to do this right."

He also cites "the complexity of the product," which, on the user's end, becomes apparent when getting used to physically using it. Though setup is easy (there basically is no setup), successfully controlling what's on screen is a bit more difficult. Moving a cursor with your fingers may be intuitive?it's essentially what we all do on touchscreens?but doing it in the air takes some practice. For one, there's the Leap's field of vision, which is limited by the power it can draw from USB. The bigger hurdle is getting used to interactions that have been translated, for better or worse, straight from keyboard and mouse inputs. Choosing a button that says "start" in a game, for instance, takes longer than clicking on it with a mouse; you have to hover your finger in just the right position, making sure your hand is almost impossibly steady, for a few seconds, as the program registers you're actually intending to hover your finger in that spot.

Other interactions have been translated more successfully. In the New York Times app, for example, you browse and scroll articles by twirling a finger. In Airbeats, you flap your hands around to hit corresponding (that is, corresponding to your hand's position relative to the Leap) drums and cymbals. And moving the avatar in my favorite game so far, Out of the Blocks, is natural: A glide of the hand forward moves the character forward, a glide right moves the character right, and so on. (That game, by the way, is an abstract, trippy success: The avatar is in a world made of blocks, where some of those blocks are buildings, others are buses, and others are villains to be shot with block-bullets.)

Most of the games in the Airspace Store, like most of the applications in general, are fun for a while but end up feeling like novelties. That's not to say the Leap Motion itself is trivial, just that it'll take some time for developers to figure out how best to incorporate gesture controls into their programs. According to Buckwald, the Leap provides "the potential to democratize the more complex things you can do with a computer." In other words, it'll let more people do more. Take CAD, for instance. Autodesk has made manipulating 3D objects wildly natural on the iPad?the company compares it to sculpting with clay, and it's right?but the same doesn't quite exist on computers yet. The Leap Motion seems an ideal (if not the ideal) way to bring the user experience of molding objects on an iPad to a regular?and more powerful?computer.

What the Leap Motion is not ideal for is everything. You still need a keyboard and mouse, and that's fine, because they're really good at what they do. Likewise, the Leap Motion is really good at what it does: 3D gesture control. Sometimes, 3D gesture control is enough to be the sole input, as in Airbeats. But most of the time, it seems better used as a third input, something that works alongside the keyboard and mouse, making all three better than any single one would be alone.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/tech-news/leap-motion-launches-3d-gesture-sensor-15720350?src=rss

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Gallo Center scientists identify key brain circuits that control compulsive drinking in rats

Gallo Center scientists identify key brain circuits that control compulsive drinking in rats [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Jul-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jeffrey Norris
jeff.norris@ucsf.edu
415-502-6397
University of California - San Francisco

Research could have direct application for treating human drinking problems

A research team led by scientists from the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco has identified circuitry in the brain that drives compulsive drinking in rats, and likely plays a similar role in humans.

The scientists found they could reduce compulsive drinking in rats by inhibiting key neural pathways that run between the prefrontal cortex, which is involved with higher functions such as critical thinking and risk assessment, and the nucleus accumbens, a critical area for reward and motivation.

The authors noted that there are already several FDA-approved medications that target activity in these pathways, thus potentially opening an accelerated track to new treatments for compulsive drinking.

The study describing their finding was published online on June 30 in Nature Neuroscience.

The study was conducted on rats that regularly drank 20 percent alcohol. The rats drank both unmixed alcohol and alcohol mixed with extremely bitter quinine, said senior investigator F. Woodward Hopf, PhD, an assistant adjunct professor of neurology at UCSF.

Hopf explained that this alcohol-quinine solution, which he described as like a vodka tonic without the sugar, is often used as a rodent model of compulsive drinking, or drinking in the face of negative consequences. In rats, he said, the negative consequence is the bitter taste, while in humans who drink compulsively, the negative consequences are profound: people continue to drink despite the potential loss of jobs, marriages, freedom, even their lives.

In the United States, alcoholism is estimated to cost $224 billion per year almost $2 per drink mostly from lost productivity and crime, and leads to 100,000 preventable deaths per year.

The drinking rats showed a notable increase in the NMDA receptor (NMDAR), which lead author Taban Seif, PhD, a Gallo Center researcher, called a molecule that excites the brain. When the rats were injected with an NMDAR blocker, their consumption of quinine-laced alcohol dropped significantly, while regular alcohol use was unaffected. In other words, only the compulsive drinking was affected, said Seif.

The team then focused its research on connections from two specific regions of the rats prefrontal cortex where they had discovered the presence of unusual types of NMDARs: the medial prefrontal cortex, which mediates conflict during decision-making, and the insula, which is critical for self-awareness and feelings. In a non-addict, these brain areas tell you when something is potentially harmful and bad, and to run away as fast as possible, said Hopf. But if youre a compulsive drinker, it seems instead that they give you a comforting pat on the back, in effect telling you its OK to have another drink, nothing to worry about.

Using a technique called optogenetics, the scientists inserted halorhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein, into these areas. They then used fiber-optic cables implanted in the rats brains to send pulses of laser light that activated the halorhodopsin, which in turn inhibited the regions connections to the nucleus accumbens. The researchers found that rats inhibited in this way drank significantly less quinine-laced alcohol, while their intake of regular alcohol solution remained unaffected.

The fact that we reduced the rats compulsive drinking using two different methods an NMDAR blocker and direct inhibition of connections tells us that we have probably identified the right areas, said Hopf.

The next logical step for the research team, said Hopf, would be to work with clinical researchers on an NMDAR blocker trial in human subjects.

What is interesting is that we have a new drug which could perhaps treat compulsive aspects of drinking, said Hopf, but only if you are in conflict about your drinking if you care. Any therapy with NMDAR blockers would need a strong behavioral and cognitive component to make sure the patient stayed mentally engaged.

Seif and Hopf also plan further experimental studies focusing on how the insula drives behavior and connects to other areas of the brain.

###

Co-authors of the paper are Shao-Ju Chang, Jeffrey A Simms, Stuart L. Gibb, PhD, and Jahan Dadgar of the Gallo Center; Billy T. Chen, PhD, and Brandon K. Harvey of the National Institute on Drug Abuse; Dorit Ron, PhD, of the Gallo Center and UCSF; Robert O. Messing, MD, of the Gallo Center and UCSF at the time of the research and currently of the University of Texas at Austin; and Antonello Bonci, MD, of the Gallo Center, UCSF and the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.

The study was supported by funds from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the State of California through UCSF.

The UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center is one of the worlds preeminent academic centers for the study of the biological basis of alcohol and substance use disorders. Gallo Center discoveries of potential molecular targets for the development of therapeutic medications are extended through preclinical and proof-of-concept clinical studies.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

Follow UCSF
UCSF.edu | Facebook.com/ucsf | Twitter.com/ucsf | YouTube.com/ucsf


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


Gallo Center scientists identify key brain circuits that control compulsive drinking in rats [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Jul-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jeffrey Norris
jeff.norris@ucsf.edu
415-502-6397
University of California - San Francisco

Research could have direct application for treating human drinking problems

A research team led by scientists from the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco has identified circuitry in the brain that drives compulsive drinking in rats, and likely plays a similar role in humans.

The scientists found they could reduce compulsive drinking in rats by inhibiting key neural pathways that run between the prefrontal cortex, which is involved with higher functions such as critical thinking and risk assessment, and the nucleus accumbens, a critical area for reward and motivation.

The authors noted that there are already several FDA-approved medications that target activity in these pathways, thus potentially opening an accelerated track to new treatments for compulsive drinking.

The study describing their finding was published online on June 30 in Nature Neuroscience.

The study was conducted on rats that regularly drank 20 percent alcohol. The rats drank both unmixed alcohol and alcohol mixed with extremely bitter quinine, said senior investigator F. Woodward Hopf, PhD, an assistant adjunct professor of neurology at UCSF.

Hopf explained that this alcohol-quinine solution, which he described as like a vodka tonic without the sugar, is often used as a rodent model of compulsive drinking, or drinking in the face of negative consequences. In rats, he said, the negative consequence is the bitter taste, while in humans who drink compulsively, the negative consequences are profound: people continue to drink despite the potential loss of jobs, marriages, freedom, even their lives.

In the United States, alcoholism is estimated to cost $224 billion per year almost $2 per drink mostly from lost productivity and crime, and leads to 100,000 preventable deaths per year.

The drinking rats showed a notable increase in the NMDA receptor (NMDAR), which lead author Taban Seif, PhD, a Gallo Center researcher, called a molecule that excites the brain. When the rats were injected with an NMDAR blocker, their consumption of quinine-laced alcohol dropped significantly, while regular alcohol use was unaffected. In other words, only the compulsive drinking was affected, said Seif.

The team then focused its research on connections from two specific regions of the rats prefrontal cortex where they had discovered the presence of unusual types of NMDARs: the medial prefrontal cortex, which mediates conflict during decision-making, and the insula, which is critical for self-awareness and feelings. In a non-addict, these brain areas tell you when something is potentially harmful and bad, and to run away as fast as possible, said Hopf. But if youre a compulsive drinker, it seems instead that they give you a comforting pat on the back, in effect telling you its OK to have another drink, nothing to worry about.

Using a technique called optogenetics, the scientists inserted halorhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein, into these areas. They then used fiber-optic cables implanted in the rats brains to send pulses of laser light that activated the halorhodopsin, which in turn inhibited the regions connections to the nucleus accumbens. The researchers found that rats inhibited in this way drank significantly less quinine-laced alcohol, while their intake of regular alcohol solution remained unaffected.

The fact that we reduced the rats compulsive drinking using two different methods an NMDAR blocker and direct inhibition of connections tells us that we have probably identified the right areas, said Hopf.

The next logical step for the research team, said Hopf, would be to work with clinical researchers on an NMDAR blocker trial in human subjects.

What is interesting is that we have a new drug which could perhaps treat compulsive aspects of drinking, said Hopf, but only if you are in conflict about your drinking if you care. Any therapy with NMDAR blockers would need a strong behavioral and cognitive component to make sure the patient stayed mentally engaged.

Seif and Hopf also plan further experimental studies focusing on how the insula drives behavior and connects to other areas of the brain.

###

Co-authors of the paper are Shao-Ju Chang, Jeffrey A Simms, Stuart L. Gibb, PhD, and Jahan Dadgar of the Gallo Center; Billy T. Chen, PhD, and Brandon K. Harvey of the National Institute on Drug Abuse; Dorit Ron, PhD, of the Gallo Center and UCSF; Robert O. Messing, MD, of the Gallo Center and UCSF at the time of the research and currently of the University of Texas at Austin; and Antonello Bonci, MD, of the Gallo Center, UCSF and the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.

The study was supported by funds from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the State of California through UCSF.

The UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center is one of the worlds preeminent academic centers for the study of the biological basis of alcohol and substance use disorders. Gallo Center discoveries of potential molecular targets for the development of therapeutic medications are extended through preclinical and proof-of-concept clinical studies.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

Follow UCSF
UCSF.edu | Facebook.com/ucsf | Twitter.com/ucsf | YouTube.com/ucsf


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/uoc--gcs072213.php

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