Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...
Last year Facebook tested out and then launched Facebook Exchange ads in its right-hand column, a way for advertisers to market themselves to users based on those users' online browsing habits, using a cookie-based real-time bidding platform. Those ads have proven to be some of Facebook's strongest performing ad units, so now it's taking them a step further, with an alpha test to extend FBX ads into the desktop News Feed, the place where users spend most of their time on the social network.
Contact: Anita Srikameswaran SrikamAV@upmc.edu 412-578-9193 University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
Bringing scientists a step closer to new treatments for diabetes, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and The Mount Sinai Medical Center have discovered a novel mechanism that regulates the replication of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The findings were recently published online ahead of print in Diabetes, a journal of the American Diabetes Association.
Regenerating beta cells to restore insulin production has moved to center stage in the quest for therapies for both Type 1 and 2 diabetes, said lead author Nathalie Fiaschi-Taesch, Ph.D., assistant professor, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Pitt School of Medicine.
"Ideally, we would be able to do this by collecting cells from donor pancreatic tissue and growing them in the lab or better yet, giving a patient a pill to stimulate their own beta cells to replicate," she said. "In the past, this has proven to be very challenging. Our findings provide new insights into how one may be able to do this. "
After a 2009 paper in which a team led by Dr. Fiaschi-Taesch and Andrew F. Stewart, M.D., formerly of Pitt and now Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine and director of the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, successfully induced human beta cells to replicate in the lab by elevating the level of a protein called cdk-6. In two current reports in Diabetes, they continued to examine the workings of the cell cycle proteins involved in the replication machinery.
What they found surprised them. Scientists had assumed the proteins resided in the cell's nucleus, where they could act upon genes and molecules to stimulate or in the case of beta cells, prevent cell replication. Their experiments showed that the cell cycle proteins were actually in the cell's cytoplasm, the fluid around the nucleus and contained within the cell membrane.
"It's like looking under the hood of a car for the engine and instead finding all the parts scattered around the back seat: it's no wonder the car won't go," Dr. Stewart explained. "Now we have to find ways to get those parts hooked up and back under the hood so that they can once again function as the engine that drives beta cell replication."
Increasing levels of cdk-6 led that molecule and other key (or critical) cell cycle proteins to move into the nucleus to foster replication, but in the quiescent or non-replicating cell, the only ones that remained in the nucleus were inhibitors of replication. Understanding how and why those inhibiting proteins block replication could in turn lead to ways to block their activity, providing a novel approach for reviving beta cell regeneration, Dr. Fiaschi-Taesch said.
Dr. Stewart noted that the relocation of cell cycle proteins outside the nucleus in the beta cell might hold true for other kinds of cells.
"It makes me curious about whether we can turn replication back on in other cells that aren't known to regenerate, such as neurons," he said. "I'd also like to know why these proteins continue to be produced by the quiescent cell if they aren't playing a role in cell replication."
In the second Diabetes paper, the team described the intracellular localization of all the cell cycle proteins in the beta cell, a biochemical atlas that could guide other researchers.
###
Co-authors include Jeffrey W. Kleinberger, B.S., Fatimah Salim, B.S., Ronnie Troxell, B.S., Rachel Wills, B.S., Mansoor Tanwir, M.D., Gabriella Casinelli, B.S., Amy E. Cox, M.D., and Karen K. Takane, Ph.D., Harish Srinivas, Ph.D., all of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Pitt School of Medicine; and Donald K. Scott, Ph.D., of Mount Sinai Medical Center.
The project was funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, though grants U-01 DK 089538, R-01 DK55023, R56 DK065149 and T32-07052; the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; the American Diabetes Association, and the University of Pittsburgh.
About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support.
Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www.medschool.pitt.edu.
About Mount Sinai
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Established in 1968, the Icahn School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States, and is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report.
The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and by U.S. News & World Report and whose hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.
For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org, or find us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Anita Srikameswaran SrikamAV@upmc.edu 412-578-9193 University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
Bringing scientists a step closer to new treatments for diabetes, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and The Mount Sinai Medical Center have discovered a novel mechanism that regulates the replication of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The findings were recently published online ahead of print in Diabetes, a journal of the American Diabetes Association.
Regenerating beta cells to restore insulin production has moved to center stage in the quest for therapies for both Type 1 and 2 diabetes, said lead author Nathalie Fiaschi-Taesch, Ph.D., assistant professor, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Pitt School of Medicine.
"Ideally, we would be able to do this by collecting cells from donor pancreatic tissue and growing them in the lab or better yet, giving a patient a pill to stimulate their own beta cells to replicate," she said. "In the past, this has proven to be very challenging. Our findings provide new insights into how one may be able to do this. "
After a 2009 paper in which a team led by Dr. Fiaschi-Taesch and Andrew F. Stewart, M.D., formerly of Pitt and now Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine and director of the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, successfully induced human beta cells to replicate in the lab by elevating the level of a protein called cdk-6. In two current reports in Diabetes, they continued to examine the workings of the cell cycle proteins involved in the replication machinery.
What they found surprised them. Scientists had assumed the proteins resided in the cell's nucleus, where they could act upon genes and molecules to stimulate or in the case of beta cells, prevent cell replication. Their experiments showed that the cell cycle proteins were actually in the cell's cytoplasm, the fluid around the nucleus and contained within the cell membrane.
"It's like looking under the hood of a car for the engine and instead finding all the parts scattered around the back seat: it's no wonder the car won't go," Dr. Stewart explained. "Now we have to find ways to get those parts hooked up and back under the hood so that they can once again function as the engine that drives beta cell replication."
Increasing levels of cdk-6 led that molecule and other key (or critical) cell cycle proteins to move into the nucleus to foster replication, but in the quiescent or non-replicating cell, the only ones that remained in the nucleus were inhibitors of replication. Understanding how and why those inhibiting proteins block replication could in turn lead to ways to block their activity, providing a novel approach for reviving beta cell regeneration, Dr. Fiaschi-Taesch said.
Dr. Stewart noted that the relocation of cell cycle proteins outside the nucleus in the beta cell might hold true for other kinds of cells.
"It makes me curious about whether we can turn replication back on in other cells that aren't known to regenerate, such as neurons," he said. "I'd also like to know why these proteins continue to be produced by the quiescent cell if they aren't playing a role in cell replication."
In the second Diabetes paper, the team described the intracellular localization of all the cell cycle proteins in the beta cell, a biochemical atlas that could guide other researchers.
###
Co-authors include Jeffrey W. Kleinberger, B.S., Fatimah Salim, B.S., Ronnie Troxell, B.S., Rachel Wills, B.S., Mansoor Tanwir, M.D., Gabriella Casinelli, B.S., Amy E. Cox, M.D., and Karen K. Takane, Ph.D., Harish Srinivas, Ph.D., all of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Pitt School of Medicine; and Donald K. Scott, Ph.D., of Mount Sinai Medical Center.
The project was funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, though grants U-01 DK 089538, R-01 DK55023, R56 DK065149 and T32-07052; the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; the American Diabetes Association, and the University of Pittsburgh.
About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support.
Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www.medschool.pitt.edu.
About Mount Sinai
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Established in 1968, the Icahn School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States, and is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report.
The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and by U.S. News & World Report and whose hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.
For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org, or find us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Boxwood Hill?s understated elegance yields to comfort in the kitchen, where an antique pastry table serves as an center island. Baskets under the island keep kitchen essentials neatly stowed away. The brick floor and pieces from Merida?s art collection add warmth.
By Carol Sorgen Photography. By J. Brough Schamp.
Jamie Merida took a circuitous route to finding his life?s work and the house that captured his heart, but today, he?s just where he wants to be, professionally and personally, and couldn?t be happier.
The son of accomplished fine artists who also ran a gallery and antiques business, Merida grew up in Belgium and Kentucky?which probably goes a long way in explaining his eclectic design sensibilities?but initially took a different path, training to be a concert pianist and earning his degree in music from the prestigious Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.
?But by the time I graduated from Peabody, I didn?t want to look at a piano,? Merida chuckles now. He switched gears, began a graduate program in business at Johns Hopkins University, decided to become an entrepreneur and managed several pizza shops in Baltimore to learn the business??That was nuts!??and worked in public relations.? None of it ?took? and when his parents needed a hand with their art and antiques business, he returned home and there found his way back to his aesthetic roots.
After one too many traveling antiques shows, though, Merida was ready to settle down. He bought a home in Salisbury, and in 1997, opened Bountiful, his once-small home furnishings boutique that through the years has ?morphed? into an 18,000-square-foot full-service showroom and design center that draws clients from the entire East Coast. ?Some people are just born to sell,? says Merida, by way of explaining his success. ?If there?s one thing I know how to do, it?s to buy things someone else wants to buy.?
The front-to-back entrance hall sets the tone for the rest of the house. The pair of antique Russian tables that flank the living room door hold antique Grand Tour bronzes and African art. The heart pine floor extends into the dining room and up the custom milled staircase.
A dozen years ago, Merida?s loyal?and ever-growing?customers began to request his help with their interior design projects.? At the time, the shop had no design studio and he no formal interior design training.? But, intrigued and flattered, he decided to see what he could make of it.
Today, Merida?s design portfolio features high-end homes and vacation residences in Maryland, Virginia, Florida, New York, Idaho, and Europe.? His growing roster of commercial work includes the Tidewater Inn and The Inn at 202 Dover in Easton, as well as the popular Eastern Shore restaurants Scossa and The Colosseum.
?Responding to a broad range of client needs really is exciting,? Merida says.? ?You can never coast when you?re faced with new design challenges all of the time.?
The living room showcases Boxwood Hill?s original hand-carved, figured moldings and baseboards, 12-inch dentil crown molding, and built in cabinetry. Merida painted all of Boxwood Hill?s millwork a high gloss white to create a dramatic backdrop to his art collections and furniture.
One of his biggest challenges?or perhaps more accurately, opportunities?has been the design of his own home,? Boxwood Hill, which he purchased in 2005.
?I wasn?t really looking for a new house,? Merida recalls, but after seeing a magazine advertisement, he called his realtor and they went for a drive?crossing county lines from Talbot to Caroline. ?We came up the long driveway and I turned to my realtor and said, ?If there?s a house at the end of this, I?ll take it.??
Sited on seven acres on the crest of a hill looking over the Choptank River, Boxwood Hill is a classic Tidewater Colonial that looks as if it has centuries of history behind it.? To the contrary, it was, in fact, built in the mid-1960s by Caroline County furniture-maker and historian Buck Adams, who built the house by hand and by himself, taking five years to complete the job.
Boxwood Hill sits at the top of a mile long lane that snakes through seven acres of woodland, punctuated by hundreds of azaleas and rhododendron. Over 50 huge boxwoods frame the walkways and extensive gardens.
Adams, who had created historic installations at the Smithsonian, was a stickler for authenticity. ?The story goes,? says Merida, ?that he even built a kiln on the property to fire hand-formed bricks.? Whether that was, in fact, true, the rest of the 2,400-square-foot house reflects Adams?s attention to detail,? from hand-carved, figured molding, woodwork, and cabinetry, to formal rooms that feature 12-inch dentil crown molding and deep baseboards, to built-in cabinets, heart pine floors, and a fireplace in every room.
Only two owners had lived at Boxwood Hill before Merida moved in, and the home had been maintained ?to within an inch of its life,? says Merida. That didn?t mean, though, that he didn?t want to make the house more functional for himself and his partner, Frenchman and former pastry chef-turned-joint and spine therapist Vincent Bochin.
The gazebo, like the main house, overlooks the headwaters of the Choptank River. Brightly colored upholstered furniture makes it the perfect spot for relaxing on balmy days.
The bathrooms and brick-floored kitchen?which features a reproduction antique French pastry table as a center island, stainless steel appliances, high-gloss antique-white painted cabinets, and White Diamond granite countertops?underwent a thorough upgrading, but in the rest of the house, much of Merida?s work was cosmetic.? ?In a sense, it?s a hard house to work with because the architecture dictates what you can do,? says Merida. ?When you have a chair rail in every room, for example, there?s only so large a painting you can put above it!?
Though Merida could easily have turned the interior of the home into a reflection of its formal exterior, that was never his intention. ?This isn?t a stage set,? he says. It is rather, first and foremost, a home for himself and Bochin, their three rescued pets?two Old English Sheepdogs and a cat?and the many friends they entertain (at a dining table that seats no more than eight, so dinners are always on an intimate scale).
Because he?s surrounded by color all day long, Merida has kept to a subtle, almost monochromatic color palette at home, with shades of taupe, pale blue, and antique white providing visual flow among the rooms.
Shades of taupe, brown, and antique white make the master bedroom both masculine and restful. French Empire chests flank the bed, which is dressed with custom bedding from Bountiful, Merida?s award-winning home furnishings store. The bench is covered with an antique Kilim rug.
The subdued tones also serve as an effective backdrop for Merida?s collection of fine art, bronzes, African masks, antique furniture (much of it given to him by his parents)?and the baby grand piano that has followed him wherever he goes since he was 14.
?I don?t buy much myself,? Merida says, calling himself a ?spare collector.?
?I?m not a cluttered person,? he continues. And though there are a variety of styles?from abstract expressionist to Southeast Asian art?co-mingling in a period house, ?Somehow, it all works,? says Merida. ?My taste is diverse, but there is continuity.?
Upstairs, a former maid?s room situated under the eaves is now used for guests (there is also a 600-square-foot one-bedroom guest house on the property). The master suite consists of two large rooms?a bedroom and a library?overlooking the river and a stream, as well as a newly remodeled master bath.
Merida is still tinkering with the home. His next project is designing a family room, located off the kitchen, which will take advantage of the home?s gracious views.
But overall, Merida feels that he has hit his stride both at work and at home. Professionally, he is enthusiastic about his shop, his growing design portfolio, the interior design book he is writing, and his regular appearances on NPR?s show, ?Boomer Babes.? ?Now that I have found my niche, I want to explore every aspect of it,? he says.
And what better place to do that than in the private space he has created for himself and his family. Simply put, he says, ?This is a happy house.?
SANAA, Yemen (AP) ? Yemini security officials say clashes in the south between al-Qaida and pro-government fighters have killed nine.
The officials said Sunday that pro-government fighters recaptured the town of Batis, north of the city of Jaar in Abyan province, after three days of fighting that left six militants and three pro-government militiamen dead. Seven were wounded and 11 al-Qaida members were captured.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the army supported the pro-government militia known as Popular Committees in the fighting.
The U.S. considers Yemen's al-Qaida branch as the terror group's most dangerous offshoot. Washington helped Yemeni troops with airpower and advisers during last year's offensive to drive the militants out of large areas they seized during the political turmoil related to Yemen's 2011 uprising.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ? Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested "normalization" of ties with Israel would take time, hinting that Turkey wanted to ensure the victims of a flotilla raid were compensated and Israel remained committed to the easing of restrictions of goods to Gaza before relations are restored between the two nations.
Erdogan's comments on Sunday came days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Turkish leader to apologize for the botched raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010 that killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American. Erdogan accepted the apology and both leaders said they would begin the work of restoring full relations.
But in a public address Sunday, Erdogan suggested there would be no quick restoration of ties.
"We have said: 'an apology will be made, compensation will be paid and the blockade on Palestine will be lifted. There will be no normalization without these," he said. "Normalization will happen the moment there is an implementation. But if there is no implementation, then I am sorry."
The statement was largely seen as effort to ease concerns of his religious and pro-Palestinian support base. Erdogan has won praise both at home and the Arab world for his criticism of Israel and for breaking off ties with the Jewish state over the flotilla raid.
Turkey and Israel were once strong allies but relations began to decline after Erdogan, whose party has roots in Turkey's Islamist movement, became prime minister in 2003. Erdogan has embarked on a campaign to make Turkey a regional powerhouse in an attempt to become a leading voice in the Muslim world, distanced from Israel.
Animosity increased after the flotilla incident and ambassadors were later withdrawn. Netanyahu had previously refused to apologize, saying Israeli soldiers acted in self-defense after being attacked by activists.
Israel lifted most restrictions on the import of goods into Gaza following the flotilla incident and only restrictions on some construction materials and most exports remain in effect.
During Friday's conversation between the two leaders, Netanyahu said Israel had substantially lifted the restrictions on the entry of civilian goods into Gaza and the Palestinian territories and this would continue as long as "calm prevailed."?
But Israeli military officials have taken to punishing Gaza residents for breaches of a November truce. Since Thursday, in response to militant rocket fire from the territory, all movement through a civilian crossing between Gaza and Israel was cancelled, except for humanitarian cases. Gaza fishermen had their permitted fishing territory restricted and a commercial goods-crossing was shut down, according to Israeli rights group, Gisha.
An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the restrictions.
Netanyahu said Saturday concerns over Syria's chemical weapons stockpile were the motivating factor in restoring ties with Turkey. He said the two countries, which border Syria, needed to communicate with each other over the issue.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday he would be willing to shake hands with his Turkish counterpart "soon," saying friendly ties were in both countries' interest.
"I can think of a thousand reasons why Turkey and Israel should be friends. I cannot find one reason why they shouldn't be friends," Peres said in an interview with Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper. His comments were provided by Peres' office.
He said Israel's real threat is a nuclear Iran. "Turkey and Iran are like day and night," he said.
Responding to a longstanding Turkish demand that Israel rid itself of its suspected nuclear weapons, Peres hinted at the existence of nuclear weapons in the country, which Israel has never officially confirmed.
"Once the Middle East will be free from threat, there won't be any need for nuclear weapons. Israel is a country which is being threatened with destruction. Turkey is a country nobody is threatening," Peres said.
Meanwhile, Erdogan said he plans to travel to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank "within the month, in April."
__
Associated Press writers Diaa Hadid and Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem contributed.
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Public release date: 26-Mar-2013
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