Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=2d4a4caa49ef4914972dce98b991cfa5
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Saturday, December 31, 2011
Judge Blocks California?s Low-Carbon Fuel Standard
[unable to retrieve full-text content]By granting a preliminary injunction, the judge dealt a blow to the state?s much-touted effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
The less Israel says about Syria, the better...
The Syrian armed forces? brutal attempt to crush the popular uprising against President Bashar Assad?s regime ? which has reportedly claimed over 6,000 lives ? has evoked widespread but silent sympathy in Israel.
However, there has been no public discussion of emergency medical aid or any other form of humanitarian assistance, and rightly so.
Any step that might imply support for either side in the yearlong conflict could be misconstrued as evidence of active involvement.
If Israel were to help the Free Syrian Army or its civilian supporters in the hope that they might opt for peace if they were to overthrow the Damascus regime, Syrian propagandists could charge that the Israelis were behind the uprising.
On the other hand, if Israel were to back Assad because he has abided by the cease-fire agreement instituted under the aegis of the UN after the Six Day War 44 years ago, his political longevity might be rendered that much shorter.
All that the Israelis can do at this stage is to keep abreast of developments across their northeastern border. This indeed is being done day in and day out in the local press and on TV and radio.
The biggest danger is that Assad could find a pretext for a military assault against Israel, in a desperate attempt to shift his rebellious public?s attention away from its criticism of his leadership to the historical enmity against the Jewish state.
If Assad were overthrown or fled Syria with his immediate family there are several political scenarios that could come into play.
First, this could be followed by a nationwide purge of Assad?s supporters, especially those who belong to his minority Alawite Islamic sect. That prospect stiffens the resistance to the political opposition. The pro-Assad establishment and the component remnants of the once-pervasive Ba?ath party also have a vested interest in preserving the regime.
Iran is another factor in Assad?s favor. The Islamic Republic does want to lose its closest Middle Eastern ally. Assad?s downfall might have dangerous repercussions inside Iran and therefore could undermine the existence of the Teheran regime.
(?)Assad?s fall also would be a major setback to such militant Islamic organizations as Lebanon?s Hezbollah and the Gaza Strip?s Hamas and other extremist Palestinian groups. This is because Syria has been a major conduit for Iran?s arms shipments to its Lebanese allies. Such a change would end the use of Damascus as the the headquarters of Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Hezbollah, which has tens of thousands of surface-to-surface missiles that were airlifted to Syria and transferred to southern Lebanon for deployment just across Israel?s northern border, would lose this major supply conduit.
In the meantime, there has been serious concern that Hezbollah agents would seize much of Syria?s arsenal in the event that Assad?s regime were to collapse. Hezbollah could go on to provoke a new military showdown with Israel, if only to rally Israel?s foes in Syria to its side.
The above article was published in jpost.com on December 29th, 2011 (22:30).
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Source: http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=347784
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South Africa vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test day 3 at Cape Town
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jacktech_it: Sony #PlayStation 3 ? solo a met? del suo ciclo di vita. Significa che la #PS4 tarder? ancora ad arrivare? http://t.co/bBG7ogm8
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Award for Architects India
ArchiDesign Group is the most trusted platform for making an inroad into the hearts of architects, designers and other infrastructure and building industry professionals.
This movie is part of the collection: Community Video
Audio/Visual: sound
Keywords: ArchiDesign Group; ArchiDesign Awards; Architecture Awards; Best Architects India. Architecture and Design
Individual Files
| Format | Size | |
| AwardForArchitectsIndia_files.xml | Metadata | [file] |
| AwardForArchitectsIndia_meta.xml | Metadata | 790.0 B |
Source: http://www.archive.org/details/AwardForArchitectsIndia
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Friday, December 30, 2011
Molecule ties itself in a complex knot
Chemists synthesize a five-crossing structure
Web edition : Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Chemists have tangled themselves a complicated knot: a molecule whose 160 atoms loop over one another like a five-pointed star.
The molecule?s design, called a pentafoil, is the most complex knot synthesized from building blocks other than DNA. Knowing how to make a pentafoil, its discoverers say, could lead to ways to make materials lighter, stronger or more flexible than before.
?By knowing how to design types of knots, hopefully we can optimize these properties,? says David Leigh, a chemist at the University of Edinburgh. He and his colleagues report the new knot in the January issue of Nature Chemistry.
The simplest knot is the ?unknot,? a loop that doesn?t cross over itself. The next simplest ? a ?trefoil,? with three crossing points ? was first made out of a molecule in 1989. Leigh?s team decided to take things a step further and aim for the five-crossing pentafoil.?
The scientists took negatively charged chloride ions and added ingredients such as positively charged iron ions and long chains of carbon and other atoms, then chemically programmed the whole thing to assemble itself. Five of the chains looped over one another and hooked up, along with five irons, with each chloride to create the pentafoil.
This molecule turns out to be interesting for more than just its shape, Leigh says. ?The pocket where the chloride ion sits turns out to be a perfect fit, and if you remove it, the molecule is desperate to bind chloride back in there,? he says. So the molecule could be used as a sensor to help detect chlorine in its surroundings, he says.
Building bigger knots could also help scientists uncover general rules of knotted molecules. Rubber, for instance, gets much of its stretchiness from knots within its polymer chains.
But given that mathematicians know of more than 6 billion kinds of knots, chemists still have a long way to go.
Found in: Chemistry and Molecules
Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/337201/title/Molecule_ties_itself_in_a_complex_knot
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Video: A mentor and a mother rolled into one
We'll focus on?efforts to help veterans find?jobs and deal with health and family problems. "One of the great blessings in my life has been the exposure I've received to the military?active duty, in the field and veterans,"?says Brian Williams. "They are America?s genuine heroes, and it's a privilege to use our platforms at NBC News to honor all that they have done."
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40153870/vp/45810067#45810067
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Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sony Apologizes! Unveil PlayStation Network Attack Details! PS3 Users Get FREE Stuff!
My WEBSITE: adrianisentech.blogspot.com YouTube Main Channel: www.youtube.com YouTube 2nd GAME Channel: www.youtube.com Third Viral Video Channel: www.youtube.com Twitter: twitter.com Subscribe for more videos! Thanks. 
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What exactly Is Lifestyle Insurance coverage? | cshlhockey.net
What is Life Insurance Settlement? What Is Life Insurance And How Does Life Insurance Work? What Is Life Insurance And How Does Life Insurance Work?
Just what Is Life Insurance policy?
The world nowadays can be a somewhat unsafe position. Accidents can happen anywhere, as part of your place of work, whilst on holiday and in many cases inside the basic safety of your very own house. If you need a peace of mind of not having to be troubled about what would happen for you along with your loved ones just after fate dealt you using an accident that leads to you for being disabled after which worrying of not getting in a position to generate up to earlier than to purchase your costs or your medical charges, then an insurance plan policy is that which you want. There are numerous differing types of insurance plan businesses that have policies that could be customised to suit each lifestyle. An insurance plan policy is perfect for that keep at your house mom or maybe the youthful, ambitious and upwardly cellular. They?d no more want to worry of any accidents that could transpire as they live their lives.
In its most primary type, a Everyday living insurance policy could well be defined like a agreement involving an insurance policy company (the Insurer) along with the coverage holder by which the Insurer would shell out a predetermined quantity of cash to the beneficiary upon the demise of the person who is insured. Based over the contract, the policy could also involve lump sum repayments within the event of essential or terminal ailments. In return, the coverage holder would concur to create payments in monthly installments or in full lump sums. Your everyday life as well as your overall health is usually a priceless source and owning an insurance policy that demonstrates that is essentially the most vital investment in your daily life.
An important facet of having a good monumental everyday living insurance plan should be to get in contact with the firms that market them. Some of the insurance plan companies are known to get choosing agents who might not have your well being and basic safety in brain, often looking to offer low cost policies using an extraordinary array of economic jargon to make sure that they may create a dwelling off their marked up charges, so do be to the lookout for them. Being a would-be policy holder, you would also require to know on (and also have the correct to learn) what lifestyle incidents you might be insured on, what exceptions the coverage has and also to know if they also have a very ?deposits only? daily life financial savings program, in any other case generally known as an Investment Policy, that might be connected on major on the standard insurance policy policy.
The money that might be set aside monthly could increase in fascination year on calendar year, along with the sum would increase indefinitely until eventually you?re feeling that it truly is time for you to shut the account and consider out the dollars in the monumental daily life insurance plan account, which might, as most insurance policy agents would advise, most likely be 25 to 30 years from now, leaving you by using a very good plenty of nest egg for you to retire on and not having to get worried about money and acquiring a position effectively into your twilight many years.
Source: http://www.cshlhockey.net/what-exactly-is-lifestyle-insurance-coverage/
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Gospel Theatre Talk w/Cast of Once A Church Boy... - Dec 26,2011
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karachi_news: Pakistan's military dismisses talk of a coup as politics heat up http://t.co/CJwP0sRD
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Pakistan's military dismisses talk of a coup as politics heat up tf.to/UZyS 
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Apple launches full iTunes Match website, FAQ, video
Includes complete setup guide
Apple's iTunes Match, an add-on service that makes most users' entire iTunes music library available to their other devices for an annual $25 fee, now has its own dedicated website that includes a walk-through video, setup guide, product description and Frequently Asked Questions column. The site may be part of an effort to combat user confusion over what exactly the service offers and to more formally separate it from the company's free iCloud service.
The idea behind iTunes Match is two-fold: it solves the problem of making ever-increasing music libraries available in full on portable devices, and it also offers the option for users to upgrade the quality of songs purchased or ripped at lower MP3 qualities up to 256kbit AAC format (which includes the ability to store artwork and lyrics inside the music file) as part of the annual fee. The service will upgrade songs regardless of where the original song comes from, given those who have some pirated music in their collection an opportunity to "get legal" and upgrade the quality at the same time.
The $25 annual fee allows for up to 25,000 non-iTunes-purchased songs to be available "in the cloud," which can be downloaded on demand to any mobile device using the same iTunes account via Wi-Fi or 3G. The process of making the music available in the cloud generally only takes a few minutes, since iTunes Match (unlike other services from Google and Amazon the offer a similar service) doesn't require much if any uploading: songs are identified through a scan of the users' library and instantly "credited" if iTunes has the same song. Only those songs that iTunes doesn't already have or can't identify are uploaded, potentially saving many days of time and bandwidth in the case of large collections.
User confusion seems to center around the idea that iCloud -- which is free -- keep backup copies of songs purchased by users from the iTunes Store, and those songs are available for re-downloading at any time. But the iTunes Match service goes beyond that by matching the entire iTunes library, and having a built-in facility within iTunes on mobile devices or other computers for instantly adding any song not already present to the library.
Because the song is downloaded to the device rather than streamed, the song can be re-played without re-downloading, saving data charges for 3G users (3G users can turn off the "download over 3G" option if they wish). Songs purchased through iTunes do not count against the 25,000-song limit, meaning collections available in via iCloud could be virtually unlimited in size.
The FAQ on the page clarifies some finer points, such that up to 10 devices are supported on any one iTunes account, and that music playlists are synced across devices. The column addresses one of the most common questions by explaining that iCloud will stream songs or download them depending on which button users press, but that mobile devices will download only (and start playing almost instantly). Apple TV of course can only stream music. The company also advises that while users do not have to use their iCloud account with iTunes Match, in order for the service to work properly they should use whichever AppleID is associated with the majority of their music purchases.
The video walkthrough can be seen on the iTunes Match website.
Source: http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=20844dae201e04a196a044775d76fb50
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Washington recalibrates its relations with Pakistan; U.S. officials confront sharply restricted ties in fighting terrorism
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Asia stocks lower after weak US economy indicators
BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stock markets are mostly lower in holiday-thinned trading Monday after weak U.S. indicators dulled optimism about prospects for the world's biggest economy.
Several markets are closed including Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia and New Zealand. Oil traders are also on holiday.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index was up 1.1 percent at 8,489.66 while South Korea's Kospi was down 0.4 percent at 1,860.10.
China's Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.3 percent to 2,197.93. The Philippines' benchmark was slightly higher. Taiwan's index was lower.
Figures showing that U.S. consumer spending and personal income rose by a modest 0.1 percent in November were below market expectations. The headline 3.8 percent increase in durable goods orders last month masked a decline in a crucial investment measure, benefiting from big orders for Boeing aircraft.
The data offset some of the optimism in markets about the U.S. economy following a run of largely positive indicators. Since Thursday, investors have taken heart from figures showing that the number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. unexpectedly fell 4,000 last week to 364,000, the lowest level since April 2008.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 124.35 points, or 1 percent, to 12,294 on Friday in quiet pre-holiday trade. The Nasdaq composite index gained 19.19 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,618.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 11.33 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,265.33.
In currencies, the euro was little changed at $1.3055. The dollar was down 0.1 percent at 77.97 yen.
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Kim Jong Il's heir meets with SKorean delegation (AP)
PYONGYANG, North Korea ? North Korea's next leader burnished his diplomatic skills Monday, welcoming a private South Korean mourning delegation as state media revealed a new title that gives Kim Jong Un authority over political matters.
Kim Jong Un has rapidly gained prominence since the death of his father Kim Jong Il on Dec. 17, and his brief meeting with a group led by a former South Korean first lady and a prominent business leader shows Seoul that he is assured in his new role.
State media have showered Kim with new titles. On Saturday, the North referred to him as "supreme leader" of the 1.2 million-strong armed forces and said the military's top leaders had pledged their loyalty to him. On Monday, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper described him as head of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party ? a post that appears to make him the top official in the ruling party.
On Monday, a South Korean delegation stood in a line on a red carpet and bowed silently during their visit to the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where Kim Jong Il's body is lying in state in a bier surrounded by flowers and flanked by an honor guard.
Kim Jong Un gave the South Koreans his thanks after they expressed condolences and sympathy, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. Seoul's Unification Ministry confirmed the meeting in a statement but didn't elaborate.
The lead delegates were the widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who engineered a "sunshine" engagement policy with the North and held a landmark summit with Kim Jong Il in 2000, and Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, whose late husband had ties to the North.
Their meeting with Kim Jong Un could be intended to push South Korea to pursue previously agreed upon cooperative projects that would give North Korea much-needed aid, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, which is in South Korea.
Footage from AP Television News in North Korea earlier showed the South Koreans being greeted by North Korean officials during a stop at a factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong. North Korea sent delegations to Seoul when the women's husbands died.
Monday's meeting appeared to be Kim Jong Un's first reported meeting with South Koreans since his father's death.
The Kim family has extended its control over the country of 24 million people to a third generation with Kim Jong Un, who is in his late 20s and was revealed last year as his father's choice among three sons for successor.
Kim Jong Il, who ruled North Korea for 17 years, wielded power as head of three main state organs: the Workers' Party, the Korean People's Army and the National Defense Commission. His father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, remains the nation's "eternal president" long after his 1994 death.
Kim Jong Un was named a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party last year, but was expected to ascend to new military and political posts while being groomed to become the next leader.
Monday's reference to his new title was in commentary in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Workers' Party, urging soldiers to dedicate their lives "to protect the party's Central Committee headed by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un." Rodong Sinmun has also called on the people to become "eternal revolutionary comrades" with Kim Jong Un, "the sun of the 21st century."
The language echoed slogans used years ago to rally support for Kim Jong Il, and made clear the son is quickly moving toward leadership of the Workers' Party, one of the country's highest positions, in addition to the military.
North Korea refers to Kim Il Sung as the "sun" of the nation and his birthday is celebrated as the "Day of the Sun," and state media have sought to emphasize Kim Jong Un's role in carrying out the Kim family legacy throughout his succession movement.
His titles are slight variations of those held by his father, but appear to carry the same weight. It was unclear whether the nation's constitution had been changed to reflect the transfer of leadership as when Kim Jong Il took power after his father's death.
Mourning continued, meanwhile, despite frigid winter weather, in the final days before Kim Jong Il's funeral is set to take place Wednesday and a memorial Thursday.
People continued lining up Monday in central Kim Il Sung Square, where a massive portrait that usually features Kim Il Sung has been replaced by one of Kim Jong Il, to bow before his smiling image and to lay funereal flowers. Heated buses stood by to give mourners a respite from the cold, and hot tea and water were distributed from beverage kiosks.
___
Associated Press writers Foster Klug, Hyung-jin Kim and Jiyoung Won in Seoul, South Korea, and AP Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee, contributed to this report. Follow AP's Korea coverage at twitter.com/newsjean and twitter.com/APKlug.
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Anti-Putin protests draw tens of thousands (AP)
MOSCOW ? Tens of thousands of Russians jammed a Moscow avenue Saturday to demand free elections and an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule, in the largest show of public outrage since the protests 20 years ago that brought down the Soviet Union. Gone was the political apathy of recent years as many shouted "We are the Power!"
The demonstration, bigger and better organized than a similar one two weeks ago, and smaller rallies across the country encouraged opposition leaders hoping to sustain a broad protest movement ignited by a fraud-tainted parliamentary election on Dec. 4.
The enthusiasm also cheered Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader who closed down the Soviet Union on Dec. 25, 1991.
"I'm happy that I have lived to see the people waking up. This raises big hopes," the 80-year-old Gorbachev said on Ekho Moskvy radio.
He urged Putin to follow his example and give up power peacefully. If Putin stepped down now, he would be remembered for the positive things he did, Gorbachev said. The former Soviet leader, who has grown increasingly critical of Putin, has little influence in Russia today.
But the protesters have no central leader and no candidate capable of posing a serious challenge to Putin, who intends to return to the presidency in a March vote. In a fair election, the veteran Communist Party leader would pose the strongest threat, and he has joined the Kremlin in disparaging the protests.
Even at Saturday's rally, some of the speakers were jeered by the crowd. The various liberal, nationalist and leftist groups that took part appear united only by their desire to see "Russia without Putin," a popular chant.
Putin, who gave no public response to the protest Saturday, initially derided the demonstrators as paid agents of the West. He also said sarcastically that he thought the white ribbons they wore as an emblem were condoms. Putin has since come to take their protests more seriously, and in an effort to stem the anger he has offered a set of reforms to allow more political competition in future elections.
Kremlin-controlled television covered Saturday's rally, but gave no air time to Putin's harshest critics.
Estimates of the number of demonstrators ranged from the police figure of 30,000 to 120,000 offered by the organizers. Demonstrators packed much of a broad avenue, which has room for nearly 100,000 people, about 2.5 kilometers (some 1.5 miles) from the Kremlin, as the temperature dipped well below freezing.
A stage at the end of the avenue featured banners reading "Russia will be free" and "This election Is a farce." Heavy police cordons encircled the participants, who stood within metal barriers, and a police helicopter hovered overhead.
Alexei Navalny, a corruption-fighting lawyer and popular blogger, electrified the crowd when he took the stage. He soon had the protesters chanting "We are the power!"
Navalny spent 15 days in jail for leading a protest on Dec. 5 that unexpectedly drew more than 5,000 people and set off the chain of demonstrations.
Putin's United Russia party lost 25 percent of its seats in the election, but hung onto a majority in parliament through what independent observers said was widespread fraud. United Russia, seen as representing a corrupt bureaucracy, has become known as the party of crooks and thieves, a phrase coined by Navalny.
"We have enough people here to take the Kremlin," Navalny shouted to the crowd. "But we are peaceful people and we won't do that ? yet. But if these crooks and thieves keep cheating us, we will take what is ours."
Protest leaders expressed skepticism about Putin's promised political reforms.
"We don't trust him," opposition leader Boris Nemtsov told the rally, urging protesters to gather again after the long New Year's holidays to make sure the proposed changes are put into law.
He and other speakers called on the demonstrators to go to the polls in March to unseat Putin. "A thief must not sit in the Kremlin," Nemtsov said.
The protest leaders said they would keep up their push for a rerun of the parliamentary vote and punishment for election officials accused of fraud, while stressing the need to prevent fraud in the March presidential election.
Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov was among those who sought to give the protesters a sense of empowerment.
"There are so many of us here, and they (the government) are few," Kasparov said from the stage. "They are huddled up in fear behind police cordons."
The crowd was largely young, but included a sizable number of middle-aged and elderly people, some of whom limped slowly to the site on walkers and canes.
"We want to back those who are fighting for our rights," said 16-year-old Darya Andryukhina, who said she had also attended the previous rally.
"People have come here because they want respect," said Tamara Voronina, 54, who said she was proud that her three sons also had joined the protest.
Putin's comment about protesters wearing condoms only further infuriated them and inspired some creative responses. One protester Saturday held a picture montage of Putin with his head wrapped in a condom like a grandmother's headscarf. Many inflated condoms along with balloons.
The protests reflect a growing weariness with Putin, who was first elected president in 2000 and remained in charge after moving into the prime minister's seat in 2008. Brazen fraud in the parliamentary vote unexpectedly energized the middle class, which for years had been politically apathetic.
"No one has done more to bring so many people here than Putin, who managed to insult the whole country," said Viktor Shenderovich, a columnist and satirical writer.
Two rallies in St. Petersburg on Saturday drew a total of 4,000 people.
"I'm here because I'm tired of the government's lies," said Dmitry Dervenev, 47, a designer. "The prime minister insulted me personally when he said that people came to the rallies because they were paid by the U.S. State Department. I'm here because I'm a citizen of my country."
Putin accused the United States of encouraging and funding the protests to weaken Russia.
Putin's former finance minister surprised the protesters by saying the current parliament should approve the proposed electoral changes and then step down to allow new parliamentary elections to be held. Alexei Kudrin, who remains close to Putin, warned that the wave of protests could lead to violence and called for establishing a dialogue between the opposition and the government.
"Otherwise we will lose the chance for peaceful transformation," Kudrin said.
Kudrin also joined calls for the ouster of Central Election Commission chief Vladimir Churov.
Putin has promised to liberalize registration rules for opposition parties and restore the direct election of governors he abolished in 2004. Putin's stand-in as president, Dmitry Medvedev, spelled out those and other proposed changes in Thursday's state-of-the nation address.
Gorbachev, however, said the government appears confused.
"They don't know what to do," he said. "They are making attempts to get out of the trap they drove themselves into."
____
Associated Press writers Nataliya Vasilyeva and Jim Heintz contributed to this report.
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Monday, December 26, 2011
A South Florida Family Is Suing Over Rights To "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town"
?You've probably never heard of J. Fred Coots, but damned if his ditty hasn't been blowing up your car radio for the past month. Way back in 1934, Coots co-wrote a little tune called "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" -- a track that cracks the ten most played songs worldwide almost every year and has been covered by everyone from Bing Crosby to Green Day.
Like a lot of artists from his era, though, Coots signed away rights to the song to a big record label, EMI, which controls a large share of the profits from those millions of holiday radio plays. Coots's surviving relatives, who have called South Florida home since the late '80s, filed a federal lawsuit here just in time for Christmas to try to wrest back the rights to his masterwork.
"EMI has chosen to ignore our family's rights. I don't want to say it's because of greed, but this song makes them a lot of money," says Patricia Bergdahl, one of Coots's grandchildren.
Coots was born in Brooklyn in 1897 and made his name as a Vaudeville musician before writing Broadway show tunes. He eventually penned more than 700 songs, including standards such as "A Precious Little Thing Called Love."
But it was his holiday tune about Santa knowing "whether you've been bad or good" that struck the longest-lasting chord. For Coots's descendents, the song became a piece of family pride at every school Christmas gathering and seasonal mall trip.
"Once I was old enough to understand that my grandfather wrote it, it was great," Bergdahl says. "It's one of the greatest Christmas songs written."
Which means it's also valuable. Coots signed away distribution rights in 1934 and renewed the deal now owned by EMI in 1961. His heirs tried to terminate the agreement in 2004 and again in 2007, but EMI claims he also renewed it in 1981, giving the label rights until 2029.
Bergdahl and her relatives say that's bogus and he never renewed in the '80s (Coots died in 1985). EMI's press office didn't return Riptide's calls for comment.
"This isn't about preventing anyone from performing the song," she says. "All along, my grandfather wanted his family to control the song, but he didn't quite know how to go about doing it. We just want the rights to his work."
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
Source: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2011/12/a_south_florida_family_is_suin.php
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Knicks edge Celtics 106-104 on Anthony foul shots (AP)
NEW YORK ? Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points, including a pair of free throws with the game tied and 16 seconds left, and the New York Knicks survived a seesaw season opener Sunday to beat the Boston Celtics 106-104.
Amare Stoudemire added 21 points and Toney Douglas had 19 for the Knicks, who led by 17 in the first half, trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter, then pulled out a thrilling Christmas victory in the delayed opener to the 2011-12 season.
Rajon Rondo had 31 points and 13 assists, nearly leading the Celtics back without an injured Paul Pierce. But Kevin Garnett missed a jumper just before the buzzer, the kind of shot Boston always seems to make against the Knicks.
Brandon Bass had 20 points and 11 rebounds in his Celtics debut, and Ray Allen added 20 points.
Garnett finished with 15 points. He and Allen had a sleepy Christmas start, with Rondo keeping the Celtics in the game until they got going in the second half.
But it wasn't enough against the Knicks, who withstood a potentially serious knee injury to first-round pick Iman Shumpert to beat the team that swept them out of the first round of last season's playoffs.
Pierce has a bruised right heel but hopes he can return Tuesday when the Celtics visit the Miami Heat.
Even without him, the Celtics fought back to tie it at 69 on Rondo's layup midway through the third quarter. They surged ahead by eight going into the final period after Bass scored the final six points, then extended it to 89-79 on Bass' jumper to open the fourth.
Anthony tied it at 100 on a 3-pointer with 3:25 to play, and it stayed tight until he was fouled on a drive with 16.3 seconds left, making both for a 106-104 lead. Rondo grabbed the rebound of Marquis Daniels' potential go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Celtics a final chance, but Garnett was off on a jumper, then appeared to shove the Knicks' Bill Walker away.
Coming off their first winning season in a decade, the Knicks added a defensive presence by signing Tyson Chandler away from the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks and have loftier expectations than they've seen in years. The original NBA schedule had them opening against Miami, but instead they got a chance to see if they've closed the gap against the team they hope to unseat atop their division.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers even compared the Knicks to the Lakers because of the length along their front line with Chandler in between Stoudemire and Anthony. Though the Celtics won all eight meetings last season, the Knicks have been listed some places as the favorites in the Atlantic Division, which the Celtics have ruled since their Big Three came together in 2007.
"It's possible. Right now, anybody could win the division. Everybody knows how optimism kicks in before the season starts, but then once reality sets in after the first month of the season, we'll see," Pierce said before the game. "But it's definitely a possibility. I mean, they have the talent, but we have the talent, too, So I can see that."
D'Antoni was careful to keep the expectations low, saying the limited amount of practice time before the season started means it could be a few weeks before all the new players are used to each other. The Knicks won't even have one, Baron Davis, for a while as he recovers from a herniated disc in his back.
Shumpert was expected to be a key until then, but he sprained a right knee ligament in the second half.
The Celtics are a changed team as well, with the retirement of Shaquille O'Neal and the season-ending loss of Jeff Green for surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm. And they will face questions about how their veteran core can navigate the tight 66-game schedule.
But the acquisition of Bass from Orlando for Glen Davis paid immediate dividends, as he showed a nice midrange jumper when he wasn't busy keeping balls alive on the glass.
The first game since renovations began at Madison Square Garden included the usual cast of celebrities such as Alicia Keys, Chris Rock and John McEnroe, and some new confusion, as at least one Celtics player had to ask how to get to the court from the new visitors' locker room.
The Knicks led 34-23 after one and extended it to 49-32 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the half on a pair of free throws by Chandler. But the Celtics shot 62 percent in the quarter, getting it back into single digits before New York took a 62-52 lead into halftime.
Notes: Rivers said Pierce may come off the bench when he does return, since he's had only one practice so far. ... The Knicks were without Mike Bibby, who dressed but didn't play because of a sore back. Reserve Jared Jeffries was lost during the game to a sore right calf. ... Stoudemire provided pregame breakfast to MSG staff in appreciation of the support in his first season with the team.
___
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Wives in ads, kids on the bus as GOP voting nears (AP)
CONCORD, N.H. ? Mitt Romney's wife gushes about his silly side and devotion to their five sons and 16 grandchildren. Rick Santorum's college-age daughter opines online about missing the campus coffee shop and chats with friends about their Friday night plans. Jon Huntsman's daughters generate much-needed buzz for him with a joint Twitter account and online videos, including at least one that went viral.
Days away from voting in the Republican presidential race, the path to the nomination is quickly becoming a crowded family affair with spouses and offspring pitching in and doing far more than just smiling from the sidelines.
Ann Romney, Anita Perry and Callista Gingrich are starring in new TV ads for the husbands they've loyally campaigned for. Romney extols her husband's character and says "to me that makes a huge difference" in a candidate. Perry tells the "old-fashioned American story" of how she and her husband were high school sweethearts who had to wait until he was done flying airplanes around the world for the Air Force before they could marry. Callista Gingrich wishes the nation a Merry Christmas "from our family to yours" in Gingrich's new holiday-themed TV ad.
Candidate kids, including those born to Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul, are helping, too, acting as surrogates, strategists and, in some cases, sounding boards for parents competing for the right to challenge President Barack Obama next fall.
Such involvement can be a huge asset to the presidential hopefuls, typically in highlighting a politician's softer side.
But the relatives are hardly polished public speakers who agree with everything their loved one says or does, and their slip-ups, potential conflicts and backgrounds can have consequences for the candidates.
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
Japan to ask Myanmar to join bilateral pact: Kyodo (Reuters)
TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japan's foreign minister will suggest that Myanmar enter negotiations on a bilateral investment accord when he holds talks with the country's top officials next week, Kyodo News reported Sunday.
The talks would mark another step as Myanmar gradually reconnects with the rest of the world after decades of tight military rule.
A series of reforms have been initiated by President Thein Sein aimed at pushing for the lifting of decades of Western sanctions and attracting much-needed foreign investment in the country formerly known as Burma.
Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba is traveling to Myanmar Sunday to meet his counterpart, Wunna Maung Lwin, as well as the president next week.
In Naypyitaw, Gemba will discuss the investment accord, which would promote cross-border investment and allow trade disputes to be settled under international frameworks, Kyodo said, citing a government source.
Gemba will also meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and will likely invite her to visit Japan in the near future, Kyodo said.
Gemba's visit is the first by a Japanese foreign minister in nine years.
In a landmark step, U.S. President Barack Obama decided last month to open the door to expanded ties, saying he saw potential for progress in a country until recently seen as an isolated military dictatorship firmly aligned with China.
That decision was followed soon after by a visit to Myanmar by U.S. Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton, during which Myanmar's new civilian government pledged to forge ahead with political reforms and re-engage with the global community.
(Reporting by Mari Saito)
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Cruise takes quiet Christmas with $26.5M 'Mission'
Actor Tom Cruise attends the U.S. premiere of "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Monday, Dec. 19, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)
Actor Tom Cruise attends the U.S. premiere of "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Monday, Dec. 19, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Tom Cruise's latest mission has won a holiday weekend that's shaping up with some silent nights at movie theaters as business continues to lag.
Studio estimates Sunday placed Cruise's "Mission: Impossible ? Ghost Protocol" a solid No. 1 with $26.5 million domestically over its first weekend in full release. The movie raised its total to $59 million since it started a week earlier in huge-screen cinemas and expanded nationwide last Wednesday, and distributor Paramount estimated that revenues will reach $72.7 million by Monday.
Cruise's fourth "Mission" flick was a bright spot over a Christmas weekend filled with so-so tidings for Hollywood, whose usually busy holiday stretch since Thanksgiving has been a bust.
Generally well-reviewed movies from Steven Spielberg ("The Adventures of Tintin"), David Fincher ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") and Cameron Crowe ("We Bought a Zoo") ? with casts that include Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Daniel Craig ? opened with modest to weak results.
Despite predictions from studio executives that 2011 could be a record-setter that would finish with a bang, domestic revenues remained stuck at a sluggish pace that has lingered all year.
Hollywood should finish the year with $10.1 billion domestically, down 4.5 percent from 2010, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
The picture gets worse taking into account higher ticket prices, which mean Hollywood brings in fewer fans for each dollar spent. Actual domestic attendance for 2011 will close out at about 1.27 billion, down 5.3 percent from the previous year's and the lowest head count since 1995, when admissions totaled 1.26 billion.
"Thank God 2011 is almost over, because we've had a real rough run here at the end of the year," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "We always count on the holiday season to give us a big boost at the end of the year, and it just didn't happen.
"These admission numbers this year just tell me that we maybe have to set our sights a little lower in terms of attendance every year."
Since peaking at a modern high of 1.6 billion in 2002, domestic movie admissions have been on a general decline since.
Studio executives always insist that slow times result from weak films, but on paper, the strong lineup Hollywood presented this year should have had fans lining up in huge numbers. Pretty good films are out there this holiday season, yet blockbuster expectations fizzled, a sign that people might be skipping a trip to the theater in favor of home-viewing, video games or the countless other entertainment options their gadgets now offer.
Rising ticket prices, particularly the extra few dollars it costs to see 3-D films, also could be causing a backlash among fans.
With "Ghost Protocol" climbing toward the $100 million mark, it's a return to box-office form for Cruise, who had been Hollywood's most-dependable earner for two decades until he turned off fans with odd antics in his personal life six years ago.
"Ghost Protocol" will be Cruise's first top-billed $100 million hit since 2006's "Mission: Impossible III." He had a supporting role in 2008's $100 million comedy hit "Tropic Thunder," which was headlined by Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black.
Even with a No. 1 debut, "Ghost Protocol" still was a shadow of its predecessors. The first three "Mission: Impossible" movies ranged from $45 million to $58 million over opening weekend, but those installments opened at the start of the busy summer season.
As of Friday, "Ghost Protocol" also had brought in a healthy $118 million overseas.
Downey's "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" fell from No., 1 to No. 2 in its second weekend with $17.8 million. The family sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" dropped from second to third with $13.3 million.
Both sequels trail well behind the business their predecessors did. "A Game of Shadows," from Warner Bros., lifted its domestic haul to $76.6 million, while 20th Century Fox's "Chipwrecked" pushed its receipts to $50.3 million.
The weekend's newcomers failed to light up the box office, too. Fincher and Craig's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" from Sony was No. 4 with $13 million, Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" from Paramount was No. 5 with $9.1 million and Crowe, Damon and Johansson's "We Bought a Zoo" from 20th Century Fox was No. 6 with $7.8 million.
"Dragon Tattoo" raised its total to $21.4 million since opening Tuesday night, while "Tintin" lifted its take to $17.1 million since debuting Wednesday.
European literary exports "Dragon Tattoo," adapted from Stieg Larsson's Swedish best-seller, and "Tintin," based on Belgian artist Herge's storybook classics, are finding a lukewarm reception among U.S. crowds.
"Dragon Tattoo" has been a sensation among U.S. readers yet failed to challenge "Mission: Impossible" and the other established franchises at the top of the box office.
Beloved by generations of readers overseas, "Tintin" launched internationally two months ahead of its U.S. release. But the blockbuster global attention, with nearly $250 million already in the bank from foreign markets, did not translate to crowds in the United States.
The calendar made it a tough weekend for Hollywood, with Christmas Eve ? always a slow night for movie-going ? falling on Saturday, usually the best day of the week at theaters.
Christmas Day typically is a strong one for movies, as fans squeeze in a film between unwrapping presents and sitting down to family dinners.
Two big holiday releases ? Spielberg's World War I epic "War Horse" and Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock's Sept. 11 drama "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" ? opened Christmas Day, but estimates on their revenues will not be available until Monday.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Mission: Impossible ? Ghost Protocol," $26.5 million.
2. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," $17.8 million.
3. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," $13.3 million ($20.1 million international).
4. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," $13 million.
5. "The Adventures of Tintin," $9.1 million.
6. "We Bought a Zoo," $7.8 million ($1.1 million international).
7. "New Year's Eve," $3 million.
8. "Arthur Christmas," $2.7 million ($9.7 million international).
9. "Hugo," $2.03 million.
10. "The Muppets," $2 million ($500,000 international).
___
Online:
http://www.hollywood.com
http://www.rentrak.com
___
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
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Congress punts hard payroll tax work to 2012 (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama signed into law a two-month payroll tax cut extension on Friday, capping a year of fierce partisan combat over taxes and spending that will resume in January and play heavily in the 2012 elections.
The Senate and the House of Representatives, by voice votes in chambers nearly emptied for the holidays, passed a $33 billion (21 billion pounds) bill to keep the payroll tax rate at 4.2 percent through February. It had been scheduled to increase on January 1 to 6.2 percent. Obama swiftly signed the bill.
"We have a lot more work to do," the president said at the White House. "This continues to be a make-or-break moment for the middle class ... There are going to be some important debates next year."
Obama heads to vacation in Hawaii with an important political win in his portfolio after he and fellow Democrats prevailed in the message war by backing lower taxes for middle-class Americans in the midst of a fragile economic recovery.
The battle took a toll on House Republicans led by Speaker John Boehner, who were forced to make an embarrassing retreat and agree to a short-term deal Thursday after getting hit by critics on all sides, include their colleagues in the Senate.
The temporary fix lets lawmakers lower the curtain, for now, on a year of political deadlock that in the end produced only a series of inconclusive truces. The fiscal policy debate is set to rage straight through the 2012 election season and beyond.
While Congress is on a long winter break now and does not return to full swing until late January, newly appointed negotiators are expected to begin work soon on figuring out how to pay for extending the payroll tax cut through 2012.
Republicans have sought a continued freeze on federal worker pay and cuts in Medicare benefits for the wealthy. Democrats have rejected both ideas while proposing a surtax on the wealthy to cover the extension's cost. Republicans reject this.
Both sides have been open to cutting federal workers' pension benefits. There also were last-minute Senate negotiations last week on possibly ending some tax breaks for the wealthy, such as a small one involving corporate jets.
Minutes after the bipartisan deal was passed by Congress, the bickering that has come to dominate Capitol Hill resumed.
Republican Representative Tom Price, a leader of House conservatives, immediately criticized the short-term extension, calling it a "two-month punt" and saying it would not have been needed if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Obama had "been willing to do their job today."
'NOTHING OFF THE TABLE'
In a sign that the battle is far from over, Reid signaled that Democrats could renew their push for a surtax on wealthier Americans. Democrats had dropped that demand during the year-end negotiations that produced the two-month deal.
"There is nothing off the table," he said.
Obama scored a victory in the payroll tax struggle over Tea Party conservatives in the House who tried to block the two-month extension. They backed down on Thursday in the face of bipartisan criticism, but they are not going away.
Representative Tim Huelskamp, a first-term Republican, said on CNN that he was disappointed with Republican leadership caving in to pressure and accepting the two-month deal.
Next year could be a rough one for Boehner, the top House Republican, said Norm Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
Boehner spent 2011 having to negotiate with many of his own party members on just about every major piece of legislation.
Now that House Republicans have had to go along with Democrats in the payroll tax debate, "the idea that this group of angry Tea Party Republicans, who feel betrayed, now will go along or that Boehner will be more capable of defying them is a little bit wrong-headed," Ornstein said.
Meanwhile, Democrats might be emboldened, believing "they've learned to play poker," he added.
Patrick Griffin, associate director Of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, said House Republicans "overplayed their hand. How they interpret that lesson will be very interesting."
Any edge conferred on Democrats might be short-lived, however. The 2012 election cycle is just set to kick off with the Iowa Republican presidential caucus on January 3 and a long road lies ahead until voters go to the polls in November.
The payroll tax funds the Social Security retirement pension system. If it had been allowed to rise, the increase would have hit the wallets of 160 million working Americans.
The $33 billion needed to pay for the two-month extension will be raised by increasing fees charged by housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for guaranteeing mortgages.
Analysts said the fee hike, which investors will likely pass along to borrowers, could raise financing costs for mortgages, but probably not enough to slow a housing market recovery.
Unemployment benefits set to expire soon were extended as well, while cuts in payments to doctors who treat patients in the government-backed Medicare health insurance program for the elderly were postponed, under the bill signed by Obama.
Also included in it was a Republican initiative aiming to force the administration into fast approval of an oil pipeline opposed by environmentalists and many Democrats. The provision gives Obama 60 days to either approve TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Gulf of Mexico facilities in Texas, or declare it not in the national interest.
Obama wants more time to evaluate the environmental impact of routing the pipeline through sensitive areas of Nebraska. The White House has said that if pushed for a decision within 60 days, the administration would be forced to reject the project.
Not extending the payroll tax cut, analysts warned, could have jeopardized the recovery, even risking another recession.
The modest two-month fix drew fire from some businesses that said it will complicate payroll processing and tax planning.
The payroll situation "could get more confusing," said Robert Gard, an accountant with Gard and LaFreniere LLC in Alpharetta, Georgia. If the tax is not extended at the end of February, businesses will need to reprogram software, he said.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Rachelle Younglai, Patrick Temple-West, Margaret Chadbourn and Ayesha Raschoe. Writing by Kevin Drawbaugh; editing by Mary Milliken)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111223/pl_nm/us_usa_taxes
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Possible cure for leukemia found in fish oil
ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2011) ? A compound produced from fish oil that appears to target leukemia stem cells could lead to a cure for the disease, according to Penn State researchers.
The compound -- delta-12-protaglandin J3, or D12-PGJ3 -- targeted and killed the stem cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, in mice, said Sandeep Prabhu, associate professor of immunology and molecular toxicology in the Department of Veterinary and Medical Sciences. The compound is produced from EPA -- Eicosapentaenoic Acid -- an Omega-3 fatty acid found in fish and in fish oil, he said.
"Research in the past on fatty acids has shown the health benefits of fatty acids on cardiovascular system and brain development, particularly in infants, but we have shown that some metabolites of Omega-3 have the ability to selectively kill the leukemia-causing stem cells in mice," said Prabhu. "The important thing is that the mice were completely cured of leukemia with no relapse."
The researchers, who released their findings in the current issue of Blood, said the compound kills cancer-causing stem cells in the mice's spleen and bone marrow. Specifically, it activates a gene -- p53 -- in the leukemia stem cell that programs the cell's own death.
"p53 is a tumor suppressor gene that regulates the response to DNA damage and maintains genomic stability," Prabhu said.
Killing the stem cells in leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, is important because stem cells can divide and produce more cancer cells, as well as create more stem cells, Prabhu said.
The current therapy for CML extends the patient's life by keeping the number of leukemia cells low, but the drugs fail to completely cure the disease because they do not target leukemia stem cells, said Robert Paulson, associate professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences, who co-directed this research with Prabhu.
"The patients must take the drugs continuously," said Paulson. "If they stop, the disease relapses because the leukemia stem cells are resistant to the drugs."
Current treatments are unable to kill the leukemia stem cells, Paulson said.
"These stem cells can hide from the treatment, and a small population of stem cells give rise to more leukemia cells," said Paulson. "So, targeting the stem cells is essential if you want to cure leukemia."
During the experiments, the researchers injected each mouse with about 600 nanograms of D12-PGJ3 each day for a week. Tests showed that the mice were completely cured of the disease. The blood count was normal, and the spleen returned to normal size. The disease did not relapse.
In previous experiments, the compound also killed the stem cells of Friend Virus-induced leukemia, an experimental model for human leukemia.
The researchers focused on D12-PGJ3 because it killed the leukemia stem cells, but had the least number of side effects. The researchers currently are working to determine whether the compound can be used to treat the terminal stage of CML, referred to as Blast Crisis. There are currently no drugs available that can treat the disease when it progresses to this stage.
The researchers, who applied for a patent, are also preparing to test the compound in human trials.
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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111222103112.htm
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