Deal reached for stopping spike in milk prices

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The top leaders in both parties on the House and Senate Agriculture committees have agreed to a one-year extension of the 2008 farm bill that expired in October, a move that could head off a possible doubling of milk prices next month.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow indicated that the House could vote on the extension as early as Sunday evening, though House leaders have not yet agreed to put it on the floor. In addition to the one-year extension that has the backing of the committees, the House GOP is also considering two other extension bills ? a one-month extension and an even smaller bill that would simply extend dairy policy that expires Jan. 1.

Expiration of those dairy programs could mean higher prices at the grocery store within a few weeks. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Americans face the prospect of paying $7 for a gallon of milk if the current dairy program lapsed and the government returned to a 1948 formula for calculating milk price supports.

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday afternoon that Republican leaders had not decided how they would proceed on the farm extension. Boehner has pushed back on passage of a new five-year farm bill for months, saying there were not enough votes to bring it to the House floor after the House Agriculture Committee approved it in July. The Senate passed its version of a farm bill in June.

The prospect of the higher milk prices has motivated some action. The bipartisan extension also includes disaster assistance to farmers affected by a lingering drought this year, along with extensions to other farm programs that expired in October.

Instead of just extending current dairy policy, the extension bill includes an overhaul of dairy programs that was in both the Senate and House committee bills. The new dairy programs include a new, voluntary insurance program for dairy producers. Those who choose that new program would also have to participate in a market stabilization program that could dictate production cuts when oversupply drives down prices ? an idea that hasn't gone over well with Boehner.

In July, he called the current dairy program "Soviet-style" and said the new program would make it even worse. Large food companies that process and use dairy products have backed Boehner, saying the program could limit milk supplies and increase their costs.

Stabenow blamed Boehner for getting to the point where an extension is the only option. "The lack of action by the House Republican leadership has put us in a situation where we risk serious damage to our economy unless we pass a temporary extension," she said.

One of the reasons Boehner has balked at bringing up a farm bill is disagreement in his caucus over how much money should be cut from food stamps, which make up roughly 80 percent of the half-trillion-dollar bill's cost over five years. House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., has unsuccessfully pushed his leadership for months to move on the legislation despite the disagreement over food aid.

On Sunday, Lucas said he hoped the extension would pass both chambers quickly as GOP leadership mulled their options.

"It is not perfect, no compromise ever is, but it is my sincere hope that it will pass the House and Senate and be signed by the president by January 1," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-12-30-Fiscal%20Cliff-Farm%20Bill/id-10be38d0ee4a4b9b8fbedaf182e86024

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Did Human Ancestors "Walk" Up Trees? [Video]

Twa man in Uganda "walking" up a tree to forage; image courtesy of Nathaniel Dominy

A new study suggests that we might be thinking about tree climbing in our recent ancestors all wrong.

The traditional idea that our ancestors descended from the trees and gradually?and exclusively?began walking upright might be a gross over simplification. Fossil evidence from early hominins suggests that adaptations for tree climbing, such as long arms and fingers, coexisted with adaptations for upright walking, such as an arched foot and humanlike hips. Eventually, these upper-body climbing adaptations vanished and we became the adept striders that we are today. But just because our ancestors seemed to be adapting to bipedal walking, does that mean they left behind a path into the trees?

Some researchers have tried to answer this question not by looking at fossils but rather by looking at modern human hunter-gatherers. Indigenous groups often climb trees to gather food without relying on chimp-like branch-climbing or supportive equipment. And though they?re not as good at climbing as chimpanzees, neither are they all that much worse?deaths from falls are only marginally higher (6.6 percent compared to 4 percent) in some studies of frequent tree climbers.

New research on hunter-gatherer groups in Uganda and the Philippines, conducted by a team based at Dartmouth, found that these people are using their two feet to ascend straight up a small tree?s trunk. These findings suggest that other earlier hominins that were adapted for upright walking might also have used their upright anatomy to ascend into the trees?perhaps much more often that we would have previously expected.

The researchers, led by Vivek Venkataraman, a graduate student at Dartmouth, studied two Ugandan groups?the Twa, who are hunter-gatherers, and the nearby Bakiga, who are farmers?and two Philippine groups?the Agta, who are hunter-gatherers, and the Manobo, who are farmers. Both groups of hunter-gatherers consume locally collected honey as an important part of their diets. Both groups climb trees to gather the honey, and many individuals start climbing at a young age. To ascend the trees, the climbers wrap their arms around the tree trunk at head-level, then, placing one foot in front of the other, the climbers advance upward to the honey source; in a sense, they ?walk? up trees.

This tree-based foraging appears to alters these individuals? feet, ankles and legs to be much more adept at this form of locomotion. Using ultrasound imaging, the researchers found that the muscle fibers of the people who regularly climbed trees were drastically different than the fibers of those who did not. Thanks to longer calf muscle fibers, climbers could flex their ankles more than 45 degrees toward their shins?much farther forward than most non-climbing humans can, and closer to that of a chimpanzee foot flexion. If individuals began climbing trees as children, it would give them years to develop this soft-tissue trait.

The skeletal features of the climbers? feet looked no different from a foot from someone that has spent their life walking the plains?or the sidewalks of New York City (and in fact, people who spend decades wearing high heels experience a shortening of the calf muscle fibers).

This functional, soft-tissue shift suggests that upright-walking human ancestors, such as Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), may have been quite capable of ascending into the trees in this fashion. And she would have had plenty of incentive to do so, the researchers noted, including foraging, escape and perhaps even just finding a safe place to rest. The findings were published online December 31 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ?Au. afarensis might be expected to climb on tree trunks and near the central core of trees, rather than within a fine-branch niche,? as other extant primates do today, the researchers noted.

?Our findings challenge the persistent arboreal-terrestrial dichotomy that has informed behavioral reconstructions of fossil hominins,? the researchers wrote. The finds, they suggested, also ?highlight the value of using modern humans as models for inferring the limits of hominin arboreality.?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=4e31270b955b26074b159b5606529bfb

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Nigerian forex reserves up 34.4 pct yr-on-yr by December 24

New York State Assemblyman Sean M. Ryan announced this week that he?s proposing tougher animal abuse penalties. The legislation, which is being called, ?Phoenix?s Law,? is named for a Jack Russell Terrier who was burned alive by two teenagers in October. ?Phoenix? lived through the ordeal, but is still in a Buffalo animal hospital recovering from burns and broken bones.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nigerian-forex-reserves-34-4-pct-yr-yr-140823129--finance.html

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Mantra takes the stage as arts and entertainment partners

Mantra forges a relationship with The Mousetrap company: Sales Manager Beau Keller and Sales/Marketing Executive Michelle Doyle Jones with members of?The Mousetrap Company.

As any touring performer knows, moving interstate for work means packing your suitcase for several months (or years!) and living in what is known in the industry as ?Company Accommodation?. Making a new apartment your home away from home every few months is not the easiest of tasks, but Mantra Hotels are planning on helping artists across the nation do just that as they forge partnerships with major Arts and Entertainment industry brands.

The most recent partnership is with the acclaimed Diamond Anniversary Australasian Tour of The Mousetrap,?which opened in Brisbane last?night.

The show?s production team, cast and crew will make Mantra South Bank their home throughout the season at QPAC?s Playhouse Theatre just as they did at?Mantra on the Park in Melbourne and Mantra on Northbourne in Canberra during their seasons in the southern capitals.

?The Mantra Apartment properties provide a great opportunity for our companies to feel as much at home as possible as they tour the country? said Producer Louise Withers, praising the partnership for benefitting the company both commercially and personally.

Mantra?s Beau Keller who heads up the Sport & Entertainment sales portfolio, told AussieTheatre that the Mantra Arts Partnerships began several years ago, but that his personal interest in the arts has helped develop the idea into a more solid?model.

?Mantra have always been supportive of touring shows around Australia? he?said.

?I guess since I have come on board the fact that I love theatre and seeing shows helps because I have been able to break down the correct door and speak to the right people to get the accommodation partnerships contracts all started.?

Keller explained that while the main partnership involve Mantra accommodating cast and crew and management team, they also assist with ?in kind? marketing of the?shows.

?For The?Mousetrap we have porters, key wallets and book marks all printed and distrubuted through the regions hotels well in advance of the show, as well as other inside hotel features such as tv showing ads for the shows?, he?said.

To date, Mantra Hotels have provided full sponsorship, marketing and accommodation partnerships with major productions such as, MAMMA MIA!, Hairspray, the English National Ballet and Global Creatures? How To Train Your Dragon.

The relationship with Global Creatures will continue in 2013 when Mantra will accommodate cast and crew for War Horse and King Kong. Other cast and crew accommodation partnerships have also been forged with Cirque du Soleil, Moonshadow and Annie the Musical?in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra. With hotels located in all capital cities, Mantra is well placed to accommodate national touring productions.

?Mantra hopes to become the 1st choice for current producers and directors to use us as accommodation provider when they are putting together tours around Australia because our hotels are perfect for long stay guests?, Keller said.

Mantra?s Arts and Entertainment partnerships don?t end with the performers and crew ? as official accommodation partner for The Mousetrap,?Mantra is also offering Brisbane theatre goers?ticket and accommodation packages.

The Mousetrap will play at The Playhouse, QPAC until 20 January

Visit themousetrap.com.au for more details and tickets

Visit mantra.com.au for accommodation packages

Erin has written 1,041 articles on AussieTheatre

Read more articles by Erin James

Source: http://aussietheatre.com.au/news/mantra-takes-the-stage-as-arts-and-entertainment-partners/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mantra-takes-the-stage-as-arts-and-entertainment-partners

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New York: N.Y. agencies told to cut building energy use

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African Union chief heads to C.A.R.

The head of the African Union arrived in the Central African Republic Sunday as tensions mounted between the government and rebels there, an official said.

Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi, who chairs the regional body, met with the Central African Republic's president, said Margaret Vogt, a U.N. special representative.

The talks come amid lingering unrest in the inland African nation.

Rebels, angry with the government, have staged attacks in recent days. And the volatile situation has spurred demonstrations in Bangui, the country's capital and largest city.

Government authorities set an 8 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) curfew Sunday, said Josue Binoua, the minister of territorial administration and decentralization.

Rebels and government officials are scheduled to meet early this week for talks in Gabon, on Africa's western coast, Binoua said. He did not specify the date when the discussions would begin.

Amid fears of more violence, officials from various nations take steps to protect their citizens and interests in the Central African Republic.

France deployed 180 troops from Gabon to Bangui overnight to protect French citizens in the Central African Republic's capital, said Col. Thierry Burkhard, a spokesman for France's defense ministry.

U.S. President Barack Obama wrote a letter Saturday to Congress informing them that about 50 U.S. troops were sent to Chad on Thursday "to support the evacuation of U.S. embassy personnel and U.S. citizens from the Central African Republic."

Rebels were reported earlier last week to be about 190 miles from Bangui. But there's been a lull in rebel attacks in recent days.

Source: http://www.4029tv.com/news/money/technology/African-Union-chief-heads-to-C-A-R/-/8897246/17949486/-/6mgpfm/-/index.html?absolute=true

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Strath For Cash tipped for success in Never A Quarrel ? Bet With ...

Strath For Cash tipped for success in Never A Quarrel ? Bet With Coral Sprint

Strath For Cash has got a great chance of causing an upset in the Never A Quarrel ? Bet With Coral Sprint at Romford in England on Friday, December 28, 2012. Her opponents are not in dominant form right now, so she will be fancying her chances in the Grade OR competition.

Since the overall distance to cover for all participants will be just 225 metres, it will be important for them to display solid speed. Attack will be the only option to finish strongly at the end of the day.

If any of the participants end up making a mistake, it could hurt their chances of winning the race. Therefore, everyone will have to be focussed from the start until the end.

No one can be declared as the outright favourite to succeed, so the competition is going to be a close one at Romford. The spectators will definitely enjoy this situation, as they have a chance of witnessing a thrilling battle, which is going to kick off at 19:31 GMT.

The triumphant greyhound will be awarded a cash prize of ?175, so all of them will be giving their best shot for a victory.

Looking at the overall distance to cover, it is clear that the starting positions will be important. The one who gets struck in crowd will lose a lot of time and eventually the race too.

Therefore, the bookmakers have given the highest odds of victory to Billymatt, who has been slotted in trap number six. He has been given a general starting price of 7 to 4, so the punters will be looking to risk a lot of bets on him.

However, the M. Wiley?s trained dog is not carrying a decent momentum right now, as he finished fourth in his most recent outing in this class. He will have to come out with an improved run in order to claim the sprint.

Compared to him, Strath For Cash will be more confident right now, as she is carrying the winning momentum.

The J. Reynolds? trainee will enter the race from the fifth trap, which will be the only concern for her at the end of the day.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer?s and do not reflect bettor.com?s official editorial policy.

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Strath-For-Cash-tipped-for-success-in-Never-A-Quarrel-Bet-With-Coral-Sprint-a211560

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DirecTV Genie whole-home DVR review

We're very happy that 2012 ended up being the year of whole-home DVRs. We reviewed Dish Network's Hopper earlier this year and now we've spent some quality time with DirecTV's Genie -- can't say we expected the cute names. Capable of serving up to eight rooms in your house (but only four at once), the Genie system works with a variety of setups, including being built into some newer Samsung TVs. Only available as part of DirecTV service, the Genie can be had for free by some new DirecTV customers who are willing to sign a term agreement and select the right package, and available to existing customers as an upgrade for $300 depending on the circumstances. If DirecTV didn't already have you at five tuners, 1TB and up to eight rooms, then click through for a full rundown on the latest the original direct satellite broadcast TV provider has to offer.

Gallery: DirecTV Genie whole-shome DVR

Continue reading DirecTV Genie whole-home DVR review

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Comment - The 919 Local Business Network

For the first lunch talk of the New Year, we will have the privilege of hearing from Pat Howlett, Founder of the Inside919 business network. The title of his talk will be "Stop Setting Goals."

Ever wonder why the typical "Goal Setting" Strategies don't work for you?

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About Pat Howlett

Pat Howlett is passionate about Local Micro Businesses and Solo-professionals. He's launching locally focused business networks across the United States and believes strongly that any REAL economic recovery will come from the local grassroots businesses of our country not from government programs, corporation incentives or labor union growth.

Small local businesses across America can do more by connecting and working together than they can do alone.

Source: http://inside919.ning.com/xn/detail/2082090%3AComment%3A865375?xg_source=activity

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Leaked BlackBerry 10 slides show video calling and screen sharing for BBM

BBM

Research in Motion (RIMM) recently updated its BlackBerry Messenger application to include free Wi-Fi calling. With the release of BlackBerry 10 just around the corner, RIM is looking to add even more features to its flagship messaging app. Slides from a purported internal BlackBerry 10 presentation?that were originally posted on the CrackBerry forums suggest that the company is planning to update?BBM to include video calling and screen-sharing capabilities. A second slide highlights a task manager application called BlackBerry Remember,?which is believed to be the replacement for RIM?s native Tasks app. Additional slides from the presentation can be viewed below.

[More from BGR: Google names 12 best Android apps of 2012]

[More from BGR: Samsung looks to address its biggest weakness in 2013]

This article was originally published by BGR

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leaked-blackberry-10-slides-show-video-calling-screen-215054450.html

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Sudan's Bashir dances at first rally since surgery

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir danced, waved his walking stick and delivered a defiant speech on Thursday at his first rally since undergoing surgery in Saudi Arabia and withstanding what officials called an attempted coup.

Diplomats and Sudanese bloggers have speculated about the 68-year-old veteran leader's health after he appeared less frequently in public in recent months.

He did not attend an economic conference in Khartoum on November 27, the kind of event he has used in the past to attack a U.S. trade embargo on the country.

On Thursday, Bashir opened a new oilfield in western Sudan which the government hopes will mitigate the loss of crucial oil reserves since South Sudan seceded last year.

"To the enemies of Sudan who said that Sudan would collapse after the loss of oil to the South, we say our livelihood does not come from America or Israel or Europe but from God," he told thousands of cheering people gathered at the Hadida oilfield in the Darfur region.

Over his 23 years in power, Bashir has weathered armed rebellions, soaring inflation, years of U.S. trade sanctions, an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court and student protests as well as the secession of the south last year.

He has faced popular discontent over an economic crisis and divisions within his ruling circle. The government arrested former spy chief Salah Gosh and twelve others last month, accusing them of trying to stage a coup.

He had an operation on his vocal cords in Qatar in August and went to Saudi Arabia in November for what officials described as minor surgery.

The televised speech on Thursday lasted less than ten minutes, shorter than previous ones, but Bashir also performed his trademark celebratory dance for the first time in several months.

He did not refer directly to the alleged coup attempt.

"Let's leave the conflicts and problems because conflicts only make our enemies stronger... Let's sit down together and solve all problems," said Bashir.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sudans-bashir-dances-first-rally-since-surgery-130330598.html

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Over 17 million tablets and phones opened on Christmas

5 hrs.

Devin Coldewey , NBC News

Christmas day this year saw record numbers of devices coming online ? over 17 million of them, according to app analytics company Flurry. And that's not counting the ones that stayed offline.

Flurry identifies new devices as "activated" when?one of thousands of tracked apps is launched, and the company claims that this amounts to about 90 percent of all devices ? note that this is different from "activating" your new phone on a wireless carrier.

With so many tablets and smartphones on the market right now, perhaps it's not surprising that numbers should be so high. The iPad Mini, Nexus 10?and Kindle Fire all combine the latest hardware with a gift-friendly price.

By Flurry's measure, 17.4 million iOS and Android devices were activated Christmas day worldwide ? more than any other day in history by a good margin.?December saw about 4 million devices activated every day, which is about twice what December 2011 had, and Christmas day last year had only 6.8 million activations.

Flurry didn't provide a breakdown of how many of those millions were Android and how many were iOS ? and with competition fiercer than ever, it's difficult to speculate (although based on recent reports, it's likely that iOS has a solid?lead).

A second study by Mixpanel found that more than half of Internet traffic on Christmas was from mobile devices (much more than the week before), so clearly those millions of gifted tablets and phones were being put to use. Mixpanel put the traffic breakdown as 44 percent Android and 54 percent iOS, but that's of all the devices Mixpanel?saw, not just the ones opened on Christmas.

More complete numbers (including best-selling devices) will likely be released by retailers and manufacturers in the next few weeks ? perhaps at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBCNews Digital. His personal website is?coldewey.cc.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/over-17-million-tablets-phones-unboxed-christmas-analysts-1C7753892

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First genome sequence of Chinese plum provides important resource for fruit improvement

Dec. 27, 2012 ? A Chinese research team, led by Beijing Forestry University, BGI, Beijing Lin Fu Ke Yuan Flowers Co., Ltd, and other institutes, has completed the first genomic sequence of Prunus mume, known as mei. This work is extremely important for the deeper understanding of Rosaceae evolution and provides an invaluable resource for the improvement of fruit trees.

The latest study was published online December 27 in Nature Communication.

As one of the longest-lived flowering fruit trees, the P. mume was domesticated in China more than 3,000 years ago. It belongs to Rosaceae, the third most economically important plant family in temperate regions, and is characterized by high nutrition, medical value, and tolerance to low temperature in winter. Writers and artists have extolled the beauty of its flowers, and the blossom is considered to be the symbol of Chinese national spirit. The availability of P. mume genome will open a new way for better decoding the mysteries of this fascinating tree.

The plantation technique that makes P. mume so diverse--the artificial grafting--also makes their genomes difficult to assemble. In this study, researchers sequenced the genome of P. mume, a wild species from Tibet in China, using a robust approach integrated with next-generation sequencing (NGS) and whole-genome mapping (WGM) technologies. Then they constructed a high-density genetic map by applying restriction-site-associated DNA (RAD) marker strategy that further improves the quality of the genomic reference. Through all the efforts, researchers yielded the ~237Mb P. mume reference genome.

The poor phylogenetic resolution of the Rosaceae suggests rapid evolution within the family. In this study, the evolutionary analysis of P. mume genome demonstrated that there was no recent whole-genome duplication (WGD) event happened after the differentiation between P. mume and Malus x domestica (apple). However, the triplicated genomic arrangement was found in the P. mume genome by paleo-history analysis in Prunus.

Supported by the genomic data of apple and strawberry (Fragaria vesca), researchers successfully reconstructed nine ancestral chromosomes of Rosaceae family, and analyzed the chromosome fusion, fission and duplication history in three major subfamilies, including genera Prunus, Malus and Fragaria. Through analysis, they hypothesized that at least 11 fissions and 11 fusions occurred in P. mume from the nine common ancestral chromosomes. For apple, at least one WGD and five fusions took place to reach the 17-chromosome structure, compared with 15 fusions for strawberry to affect the 7-chromosome structure.

P. mume is one of the first trees that bloom in early spring, blooming even below 0?. In this study, researchers investigated the genetic characteristics underlying the mechanisms related to acclimate to cold weather and release itself from dormancy. They found that dormancy-associated MADS-box transcription factors (DAM) family and C-repeat-binding transcription factors (CBF) were two important factors related with flowering dormancy.

As the saying goes, "Plum blossom incense from the cold weather," P. mume always has a special fragrance in winter. To understand its mechanism of floral scent, researchers identified a series genes related to the biosynthesis of volatile compounds, such as benzyl alcohol acetyltransferase (BEAT) gene. They supposed the expansion of the BEAT gene family might increase the content of benzyl acetate and therefore induces the special fragrance of P. mume.

The disease resistance related-genes may benefit the future breeding improvement. In this study, researchers found many related genes expanded tremendously in the P. mume genome, such as leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase (LRR-RLK) genes, the nucleotide-binding site-coding resistant gene (NBS-coding R gene), and pathogenesis-related (PR) gene families. It was reported that PR proteins could mediate plant defence against pathogenic constraints and the general adaptation to stressful environments. Most PR gene families in P. mume were expanded notably especially PR10, suggesting their expansion might be related to the response of P. mume to salt, drought and fungal infection in roots and leaves.

Wenbin Chen, Project Manager of BGI, said, "The P. mume genome lays a solid foundation for identification of important economic traits, and provides a valuable resource for P. mume breeding and other Rosaceae species studies. The work here also brings a new approach for further exploring the biosynthesis of floral scent and regulation mechanism of early blooming in endodormancy, and other comparative genomics studies on Rosaceae species."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BGI Shenzhen, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Qixiang Zhang, Wenbin Chen, Lidan Sun, Fangying Zhao, Bangqing Huang, Weiru Yang, Ye Tao, Jia Wang, Zhiqiong Yuan, Guangyi Fan, Zhen Xing, Changlei Han, Huitang Pan, Xiao Zhong, Wenfang Shi, Xinming Liang, Dongliang Du, Fengming Sun, Zongda Xu, Ruijie Hao, Tian Lv, Yingmin Lv, Zequn Zheng, Ming Sun, Le Luo, Ming Cai, Yike Gao, Junyi Wang, Ye Yin, Xun Xu, Tangren Cheng, Jun Wang. The genome of Prunus mume. Nature Communications, 2012; 3: 1318 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2290

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/KXS6HDyZXdQ/121227142951.htm

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Video interviews - Filmmakers experience at BIFF 2012 - The Film ...

Bahamas International Film Festival
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The Bahamas International Film Festival is dedicated to providing the local community and International visitors with a diverse presentation of films from around the world. educational programs, and forums for exploring the future of cinema.

Immediately following it's ninth annual festival scheduled for Dec 6 - 9, 2012 the Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) will travel to Eleuthera for a continuation of this year's celebration to be known as The Best of the Fest Eleuthera. During its visit to Harbour Island and Governor?s Harbour, a full program of films and festivities will be offered for the enjoyment of visiting Filmmakers, guests and local residents. The schedule of events to be held Dec. 10 ? 14, includes Opening Night Film and Welcome Reception at Coral Sands Resort, daily film screening at Seagrapes, Harbour Island and the Globe Princess Theater in Governor?s Harbour and Closing Night Film and Farewell Party. Visiting Filmmakers will be on hand for panel discussions, seminars and training sessions.

Source: http://www.filmfestivals.com/blog/bahamas_international_film_festival_dailies/video_interviews_filmmakers_experience_at_biff_2012

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Egypt approves new constitution drafted by Mursi allies

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian voters overwhelmingly approved a constitution drafted by President Mohamed Mursi's allies, results announced on Tuesday showed, proving that liberals, leftists and Christians have been powerless to halt the march of Islamists in power.

Final elections commission figures showed the constitution adopted with 63.8 percent of the vote in the referendum held over two days this month, giving Mursi's Islamists their third straight electoral victory since veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a 2011 revolution.

Opposition groups had taken to the streets to block what they see as a move to ram through a charter that mixes politics and religion dangerously and ignores the rights of minorities.

Mursi says the text - Egypt's first constitution since Mubarak's fall - offers enough protection for minorities, and adopting it quickly is necessary to end two years of turmoil and political uncertainty that has wrecked the economy.

"I hope all national powers will now start working together now to build a new Egypt," Murad Ali, a senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, told Reuters.

"I see this as the best constitution in Egypt's history."

In a sign that weeks of unrest have taken a further toll on the economy, the government ordered new restrictions on foreign currency apparently designed to prevent capital flight. Leaving or entering with more than $10,000 cash is now banned.

Two years since waves of unrest broke out across the Middle East and North Africa - sweeping away long-entrenched rulers in Tunisia, Libya and Yemen as well as Egypt - well-organized Islamist parties have emerged as the main beneficiaries.

Urban secularists and liberals who were behind the revolts complain that their success has been hijacked.

"We need a better constitution," said Khaled Dawood, an opposition spokesman. "It does not represent all Egyptians."

Mursi's opponents say the new constitution could allow clerics to intervene in lawmaking, while offering scant protections to minorities and women. Mursi dismisses those criticisms, and many Egyptians are fed up with street protest movements that have prevented a return to normality.

Immediately after the announcement, a small group of protesters set tires on fire and blocked traffic near the central Tahrir square, the cradle of Egypt's uprising, but there were no immediate signs of violence or major demonstrations.

Washington, which provides billions of dollars a year in military and other support for Egypt and regards it as a pillar of security in the Middle East, called on Egyptian politicians to bridge divisions and on all sides to reject violence.

"President Mursi, as the democratically elected leader of Egypt, has a special responsibility to move forward in a way that recognizes the urgent need to bridge divisions," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said. He noted that many Egyptians had voiced "significant concerns" over the constitutional process.

WORSENING ECONOMY

The government says its opponents are worsening the economic crisis by prolonging political upheaval. It has pledged to impose unpopular tax increases and spending cuts to win a loan package from the International Monetary Fund.

The ban on travelling with more than $10,000 in cash followed a pledge by the central bank to take unspecified measures to protect Egyptian banks. Some Egyptians have begun withdrawing their savings in fear of more restrictions.

"I am not going to put any more money in the bank and neither will many of the people I know," said Ayman Osama, father of two young children.

He said he had taken out the equivalent of about $16,000 from his account this week and planned to withdraw more, adding that he had also told his wife to buy more gold jewellery.

The "yes" vote paves the way for a parliamentary election in about two months, setting the stage for another battle between surging Islamists and their fractious opponents.

The final result, announced by the election commission, matched - to the last decimal place - an earlier unofficial tally announced by Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.

But the opposition said it was disappointed - it had appealed for the result to be amended to reflect what it described as major vote violations during the two-round vote.

Officials said there were no violations serious enough to change the result significantly. "We have seriously investigated all the complaints," said judge Samir Abu el-Matti of the Supreme Election Committee. The final turnout was 32.9 percent.

SENSE OF CRISIS

The referendum has sharpened painful divisions in the Arab world's most populous nation and a growing atmosphere of crisis has gripped Egypt's polarized society.

Anxiety about the economy deepened this week when Standard and Poor's cut Egypt's long-term credit rating. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil told the nation of 83 million on Tuesday the government was committed to fixing the economy.

"The main goals that the government is working towards now is plugging the budget deficit, and working on increasing growth to boost employment rates, curb inflation, and increase the competitiveness of Egyptian exports," he said.

The referendum follows Islamist victories in parliamentary and presidential elections, representing a decisive shift in a country at the heart of the Arab world where Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood was suppressed for generations by military rulers.

However, secularist and liberal opposition members hope they can organize better in time for the next parliamentary vote.

Hossam El-Din Ali, a 35-year-old newspaper vendor in central Cairo, said he agreed the new constitution would help bring some political stability but like many others he feared the possible economic austerity measures lying ahead.

"People don't want higher prices. People are upset about this," he said. "There is recession, things are not moving. But I am wishing for the best, God willing."

(Additional reporting by Patrick Werr, Tamim Elyan, Ahmed Tolba and Marwa Awad; Writing by Maria Golovnina)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egyptians-fret-over-economy-rancorous-vote-constitution-125308309.html

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markroperess: Best SEO tips: Travel And Leisure Resorts

If you are planning to embark on a luxury cruise voyage, then do not hesitate any more. As much as it may look like just an ordinary leisure outing, at the end of it all you will have developed great and lasting friendship with your cruising partners. It is from such friendships that you get to learn very many things that you never knew.

During your journey, you will be overjoyed to spend some time in the travel and leisure resorts which offer marvelous services and delicacies. As you cruise all over the fabulous ports and any other place that the cruise ship sails, you should not be worried of where you will sleep or eat. Almost all travel and leisure resorts operate all day and night long. Other than the mega cruise liners, there also exist a number of various types of ships that are of different sizes. Despite the big craze of travelling in the big ships, the smaller cruise ships are better when it comes to inland waterways navigation. This makes it very simple to view historic landmarks and cities.

Travel and leisure resorts offer some good place to relax after all the days site seeing and travelling. If you choose to travel on a larger cruise, they organize one or two shore excursions at every port of call. You get to go for one excursion in the morning hours, and the other one in the afternoon then from there you get your time to rest at any of the travel and leisure resorts. After the first excursion, all people gather back at the travel and leisure resorts for a sumptuous lunch buffet.

Although travel and leisure resorts also offer dinner, you might always miss it on the days that you go out for an afternoon excursion and come back late at night or early evening. However, you should not miss out on any adventure just because of one meal or two. The travel and leisure resorts are always open and all of them offer very good and high quality meals. Sometimes, you can even explore the city, an island, town, or other landmarks and tourist attractions on your own provided you get to the ship on time or else, it will sail without you.

Do not forget that your vacation time is limited. You should distribute your time effectively so that you do not spend too much time in the travel and leisure resorts at the expense of shore excursions. The other very important thing that you should not forget to carry with you is the travel guide book. Without this book, you may end up lost or you may never know where certain sites are found. Some travel and leisure resorts have these guides but they cannot allow you to leave with them. Similarly, you can also carry a camera which you will use to take photos and videos. You should therefore make sure that the memory card is big enough to store all those images and videos.

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Source: http://amyplund517.blogspot.com/2012/12/travel-and-leisure-resorts.html

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Source: http://markroperess.blogspot.com/2012/12/best-seo-tips-travel-and-leisure-resorts.html

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The Note's Must-Reads for Monday December 24, 2012

The Note's Must-Reads are a round-up of today's political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com

Compiled by ABC News' Carrie Halperin, Amanda VanAllen and Jordan Mazza

FISCAL CLIFF

The Hill's Vicki Needham: " Business groups grow frustrated over impasse in 'fiscal cliff' talks" Business leaders are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in talks to head off billions in looming tax hikes and spending cuts they say will harm the nation's economy. Concern increased among business groups following the failure of House Republicans to round up enough votes to pass their "Plan B" bill that would have stopped tax increases on anyone making $1 million a year or less. LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Patrick O'Connor and Peter Nicholas: "How 'Cliff' Talks Hit The Wall" Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama called Friday for a return to negotiations to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, a day after talks cratered in a very public fashion when Republicans abandoned House Speaker John Boehner's backup plan. LINK

The New York Times' Jonathan Weisman: " Search for Way Through Fiscal Impasse Turns to the Senate " With little more than a week for lawmakers to avert huge tax increases and spending cuts, attention is turning from the gridlocked House to the Senate, where some Republicans on Sunday endorsed President Obama's call for a partial deal to insulate most Americans from the tax increases but defer a resolution on spending. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, both Republicans, implored Senate leaders to reach an accommodation with Mr. Obama when Congress returns on Thursday, even if that meant that taxes would go up for those with high incomes and that spending cuts would be put off. LINK

Politico's Mackenzie Weinger: " Media finds fiscal cliff a steep climb" The fiscal cliff could very well send some in the media over the edge. For journalists and pundits, the fiscal cliff has been a nearly all-encompassing political story in D.C.'s post-election media landscape. LINK

USA Today's Susan Davis: "Questions and answers about the dreaded 'fiscal cliff'" President Obama and congressional leaders are struggling to come up with a long-term deficit reduction plan to avert the year-end "fiscal cliff" when all of the George W. Bush-era tax rates expire and $1.2 trillion in unpopular spending cuts over a decade begin. The combined economic effect of the two could send the U.S. economy back into a recession. A number of other laws, including a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits, are also scheduled to expire at the end of the year unless Washington acts. The president and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, have been unable to bridge the partisan divide over taxes and spending cuts, and Boehner's alternative effort to avert the cliff failed to muster enough GOP support to pass. LINK

GOP

The Los Angeles Times' Paul West and David Lauter: " Republican rifts mean more gridlock, obstacles for Obama" In the days immediately after President Obama's reelection victory, White House officials hoped that in a second term he might have better relations with congressional Republicans. The "fever will break," more than one Obama aide forecast. LINK

The New York Daily News' Bill Hutchinson: " US Sen. Crapo of Idaho arrested, charged with DUI" Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, who has claimed he abstains from alcohol because of his Mormon faith, was busted on drunk- driving charges Sunday after Virginia cops saw him blow a red light. Crapo, 61, was arrested in Alexandria, Va., at 12:45 a.m. when he failed a field sobriety test, said police spokesman Jody Donaldson. LINK

GUN CONTROL

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos: "Grover Norquist: Obama and Democrats Using Newtown for 'Political Purposes'" National Rifle Association board member and president of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist said on Sunday that President Obama and Democrats are politicizing the Newtown tragedy by pushing for gun control. LINK

The Washington Times' David Sherfinski: " NRA chief: Enforce the existing gun laws" The National Rifle Association does not plan to support any new gun control measures in the wake of the shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn., the head of the organization said Sunday, arguing that the government should vigorously enforce laws already on the books and reiterating the group's push for more armed guards in schools as part of the solution. LINK

The Washington Post's Philip Rucker and Sari Horwitz: "On gun control, Obama's record shows an apparent lack of political will - until now" The survivors of a gun rampage in Tucson came to Washington in August with a simple message for the Obama administration: Do something - anything - to stop the violence. One was a nurse shopping for Brussels sprouts who rushed to do triage after then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) was shot outside a supermarket. LINK

Bloomberg's Jonathan D. Salant and John Hechinger: " NRA Opposition Toughens Fight Over Gun Laws After Newtown" Wayne LaPierre's dismissal yesterday of stricter gun limits presages a national policy struggle between his National Rifle Association and President Barack Obama, who is promising to make the issue a priority. NRA Chief Executive Officer LaPierre instead recommended arming school guards as a response to the Dec. 14 Connecticut school shooting that killed 20 children and six adults, meaning any effort to pass new gun-control laws must overcome opposition from an organization with longstanding clout in Congress. LINK

ABC NEWS VIDEOS

"President Obama Nominates Sen. John Kerry for Secretary of State" LINK

BOOKMARKS The Note: LINK The Must-Reads Online: LINK Top Line Webcast (12noon EST M-F): LINK ABC News Politics: LINK The Political Punch (Jake Tapper): LINK George's Bottom Line (George Stephanopoulos): LINK Follow ABC News on Twitter: LINK ABC News Mobile: LINK ABC News app on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad: LINK

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/notes-must-reads-monday-december-24-2012-075352132--abc-news-politics.html

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The Challenge of Raising a Family | DisabilityLiving.ca

Most people would agree with the idea that raising a family is a challenge in many ways. There is always a financial aspect to having children, as well as an emotional, relational, social, and educational aspect. There is no doubt that even the most healthy, well-off parents in the world have their fair share of struggles when it comes to raising a family.

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This week Disability Living is blogging about parents with disabilities. What we are finding is that many people are unaware of individuals with disabilities? parenting capabilities. In fact, some are ignorant of the idea that people with disabilities could even be parents, thinking parenting would be too difficult for them. The truth is, parenting is difficult for all people, able-bodied or disabled.

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What parenting challenges do people with disabilities face?

While everybody has some trouble navigating the waters of parenthood, individuals with disabilities may have specific difficulties. Just a few of these disability-specific challenges that are sometimes faced by parents who have limitations are:

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? ?Physical exertion?

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? Doing daily household tasks

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? Transporting family members to school, work, etc.

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? ?Participating in school events?

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? Communicating with family members

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? Making enough money

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As you can imagine, some of these difficulties could also affect people who are able-bodied. Still, a few of these challenges are exclusive to those with disabilities (transportation-related issues and physical exertion, for example).

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What are the unique victories experienced by parents with disabilities?

Parents with disabilities face unique struggles when it comes to raising a family, but they also experience unique victories. For example, children who have a parent with a disability are often very compassionate, resourceful, and open-minded. Also, parents with disabilities, often those who are unable to have a traditional job, may have more time to spend at home with family members.

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What?s it like to be a parent who has a disability?

Are you a parent with a disability? If yes, great! We?d love to hear the unique struggles and victories you?ve faced as you have raised your family while having a disability. Leave a comment on this blog post and share with us today!

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Sources:

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http://womenshealth.gov/illnesses-disabilities/parenting/parents-with-disabilities.cfm

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Image made available by photon_de on Flickr through Creative Commons License.

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*Please note: All research for this article is compiled from direct and third party sources. Mention of programs, organizations and companies does not imply support of The National Benefit Authority. ?Pictures are for creative purposes only; they are not intended to sell or promote products for the NBA and belong to the accredited individual, organization or company.

Let?s Talk About It

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What is the most rewarding aspect of parenting with a disability?

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What is the most challenging thing about being a parent who has a disability?

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Source: http://www.disabilityliving.ca/disability-canada-challenge-raising-family/

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The Outlook for Steady State Economics in 2013 | Peak Oil News ...

The Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE) has been the leading organization in advancing the steady state economy as a policy goal for nearly ten years. Maybe that?s not saying much, because CASSE has been the only organization focused on advancing the steady state economy. But times, they are a-changin?. Others are sure to come onboard as climate change, biodiversity loss, supplies shocks and other formidable problems are all traced back to too much economic growth. Too much production and consumption of goods and services in the aggregate. Too much population and per capita consumption. Too much GDP. Too much economic activity for the planet and its polities to take.

Predicting the future is risky business. It?s usually unnecessary and there?s a lot of credibility at stake. But it seems perfectly reasonable to predict that, soon, more organizations will start explicitly advocating the steady state economy as the sustainable alternative to economic growth.

For example, after decades of warning readers about the increasing human pressures on waning natural resources, why wouldn?t the Worldwatch Institute start advancing the steady state economy along with CASSE? The Institute?s flagship annual publication, the State of the World, can hardly avoid a focus on economic growth (as the problem) and the steady state economy (the solution) much longer. Avoiding the topic would be like the American Cancer Society avoiding the effects of smoking.

There are also signs that the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, which graduates more ecological economics students than any other academic institution, will be taking an active role in advancing the steady state economy. There?s nothing wrong with academia weighing in on policy matters after abundant academic analysis has been performed. Who wouldn?t want the input of a medical school on the effects of tobacco, or the input of a physics department on nuclear power? Serious analysis of the alternatives to economic growth, such as occurs at graduate schools, should be brought into public circulation by those same graduate schools and other academic units qualified to do so.

How about political parties? Some Green parties already endorse the CASSE position on economic growth, and a few have adopted the steady state economy in their policy platforms, but surely they and other small parties will start emphasizing the steady state economy more in their campaigns. Only those policies that have substantial emphasis in small-party affairs will graduate to mainstream political affairs. I believe Green and other parties will unite increasingly around the steady state economy as the primary policy for environmental protection, economic sustainability, national security and international stability.

These organizations and many, many others will find social and political space to move, given CASSE?s long-running efforts to raise public awareness of the steady state economy as the sustainable alternative to growth. The nearly 10,000 signatures on the CASSE position on economic growth is ample evidence that people are ready to hear the message and respond affirmatively.

Sure, 10,000 is a tiny number relative to the global population. But savvy analysts will note that CASSE has been a tiny NGO with hardly any paid staff and yet has procured these signatures on a statement that packs a lot of depth, density and nuance into its 18 clauses. It?s not like the National Rifle Association, for example, with millions of dollars at its disposal to get millions of already onboard members to sign a shallow statement about opposing a simple gun control proposal. People have to take a few minutes to read and digest the CASSE position; many of them have never even heard the phrase ?steady state economy? before. Some of the most prominent signatories took years to think about the CASSE position prior to signing.

The ?CASSE 10,000? may not have the political clout of a million-member march, but given the details (tiny resources, thoughtfulness of position), 10,000 is an indicator that there is plenty of political support in the United States and worldwide for recognizing limits to growth and the need for a steady state economy. It?s safe now for the likes of Worldwatch, the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, the Gund Institute, institutes for public policy, political parties, Tea parties, and thousands of other organizations to get explicit in advancing the steady state economy. There?s no partisanship in the way. They can move beyond simple microeconomic analysis, such as valuing ecosystem services, and get to the big policy picture of macroeconomics. Once there, they can speak in plain language about the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection, and they can call for a steady state economy instead of resorting to vague notions of a ?green economy or some other type of ?new economy.?

No one at CASSE ever thought the mission of advancing the steady state economy as a policy goal with widespread public support would be successful in a short amount of time. Indeed most of us at CASSE see it is a lifetime project. It?s a profound paradigm shift we?re pursuing and the lack of CASSE funding is not surprising. Meanwhile other organizations that have garnered funding for decades, for different purposes, may already have the connections to get support for advancing the steady state economy, too. Good! As long as they don?t resort to ?green growth,? ?dematerializing? the economy, or magically reconciling the fundamental conflict between economic growth and environmental protection with technological progress, they will find favor among the growing masses of supporters of steady state economics.

The Daly News

Source: http://peakoil.com/consumption/the-outlook-for-steady-state-economics-in-2013/

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Nutrient-sensing enzymes key to starvation response and survival in newborn mammals

Dec. 23, 2012 ? In the perilous hours immediately after birth, a newborn mammal must survive the sudden loss of food supply from its mother. Under normal circumstances, newborns mount a metabolic response to ward off starvation until feeding occurs. This survival response involves a process of controlled breakdown of internal energetic sources known as autophagy. Although autophagy has been well documented, the key mechanistic regulators of autophagy in vivo have remained poorly understood.

Whitehead Institute researchers have discovered that a family of nutrient-sensing enzymes, dubbed Rag GTPases, modulates the activity of the mTORC1 protein complex, whose inhibition is essential for autophagy and survival in newborns. The finding, reported this week in the journal Nature, emerges from the lab of Whitehead Member David Sabatini, whose earlier in vitro studies showed that mTORC1 (for "mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1") senses the presence of vital amino acids via interactions with Rag GTPases.

To assess the impact of this Rag GTPase-mTORC1 relationship in mammals, the lab generated mice genetically altered to continually express an active form of the GTPase RagA and compared them with wild-type mice. In normal mice, RagA is activated in the presence of nutrients, and turns on the mTORC1 pathway, which regulates organismal growth in response to nutrient availability. If the mice are deprived of nutrients, RagA is switched off, deactivating mTORC1 and initiating autophagy to tide the animal over until the next feeding. However, in the altered mice, RagA's continuous activity keeps mTORC1 active, despite a dearth of available nutrients. Instead of mTORC1 triggering autophagy, the animals' metabolisms remain unchanged, resulting in nutritional crisis and death.

"What happens to a newborn animal with the RagA enzyme always on is pretty shocking," says Sabatini, who is also a professor of biology at MIT and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator. "A normal neonate animal within an hour after birth responds to that condition, but one with its RagA stuck 'on' doesn't, and it dies. It basically has a huge energetic and nutritional crisis because it can't make the adaption."

These striking results stunned Alejo Efeyan, a postdoctoral researcher in the Sabatini lab, and first author of the Nature that describes this work.

"We were surprised that there was no inhibition of this pathway independent of RagA -- that there is no backup system," says Efeyan. "And that RagA is a more global nutrient sensor that goes beyond its known function as an amino acid sensor."

RagA's role as an amino acid sensor had been established in cultured cells by the Sabatini lab. Yet when Efeyan compared nutrient levels in fasting newborn RagA-active mice with those of fasting pups with normal RagA, not only amino acids were reduced in RagA-active animals, also glucose levels were dangerously low. The animals were unable to "sense" either of these reductions, so autophagy failed to initiate in the RagA-active pups, which all died within hours of birth.

This newly identified function for RagA suggests much remains unknown about the cell biology of nutrient sensing, an area of research that Sabatini and his lab continue to investigate.

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (R01CA129105, R01 CA103866 and R37 AI047389), the American Federation for Aging, Starr Foundation, Koch Institute Frontier Research Program, the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Human Frontiers Science Program, the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research, and the LAM Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. The original article was written by Nicole Giese Rura.

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Journal Reference:

1. Alejo Efeyan, Roberto Zoncu, Steven Chang, Iwona Gumper, Harriet Snitkin, Rachel L. Wolfson, Oktay Kirak, David D. Sabatini, David M. Sabatini. Regulation of mTORC1 by the Rag GTPases is necessary for neonatal autophagy and survival. Nature, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nature11745

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/eZMrrYeKRbs/121223152414.htm

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