Feds: 'Meterological March madness' mostly random

[ [ [['beyond the incredible personal tragedy', 3]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/stand-ground-laws-not-just-gop-policy-records-053103956.html', '[Related: \?Stand your ground\? laws not just GOP policy\, records show]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['I went out on to my porch and heard a bang', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/dozens-killed-in-russian-plane-crash-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/87/b870130db8e1341aaa3e3f4a2aefcfcd.jpeg', '500', ' ', '(AP Photo/Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations press service)', ], [ [['Afghan security forces and police killed three', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/H9BcJE', '[Related: Bales\' wife on his alleged shooting: \'He would not do that\']', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['looking for fireworks between the opposing camps', 16]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSvEsj', '[RELATED:\?It?s going to be a circus\?: Activists begin protests outside Supreme Court]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 8]], 'http://yhoo.it/GE6jSh', '[RELATED: Obama\?s health care law passed 2 years ago, but where are we now\?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Witnesses said the gunman pulled up on a black scooter', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GzwOIW', '[Related: New York police tighten security at Jewish sites]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['test Zimmerman for alcohol or drugs', 11]], 'http://yhoo.it/Gzn6VF', '[Related: White House says Trayvon Martin is local issue]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Oikos University', 8]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/deadly-oakland-university-shooting-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120402/shooting.jpg', '450', ' ', 'REUTERS/Reuters TV/KNTV/Handout', ], [ [['Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GUovUP', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/61/261d2c36bccf0971c2734a4d4398aa5a.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP/David Goldman', ], [ [['Can you create commerce in order to regulate it', 9]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSgtu8', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/78/778e2416573870cd705774e92403447d.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP/Charles Dharapak', ], [ [['associated with such a small earthquake', 4]], 'http://yhoo.it/GTco9z', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/0/b4/0b493c1a47b6e3f97f8f48a2b251d7d4.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger', ], [ [['Fox News host Geraldo Rivera sparked outrage', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GKMVTk', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/7c/27c7367bc512d233ae1790b320a5e92c.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['The charges signed against Bales include', 1]], 'http://yhoo.it/wZT5zV', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/a0/7a07c51b2aa0f39b1a23355046d13870.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP Photo/DVIDS\, Spc\. Ryan Hallock\, File', ], [ [['George Zimmerman, if I had a son', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/thousands-protest-fla-teen-death-1332387124-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/03/22/d761a49f3fcc99080a0f6a70670053cd-jpg_150905.jpg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

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Michael Hamelin on crafting a firewall maturity model ? Tufin Blog

Last week, Tufin?s Chief Security Architect, Michael Hamelin, had an article appear online in Computer Technology Review called ?Crafting a Firewall Maturity Model.?? Click here to view the article on line, and the full text is below.? Stay tuned for more from Michael!

Crafting a Firewall Management Maturity Model

by Michael Hamelin

Over the years, many have proclaimed the death of the firewall, but it has yet to happen. In fact, with the advent of next-generation firewalls and the availability of mature solutions that automate firewall management, the firewall is undergoing something of a renaissance.

If you have ever looked at a firewall rule and wondered how it got there, or have been afraid to delete or modify a firewall rule because you were concerned you might break something ,then you might want to think about elevating your organization?s firewall management efforts to a higher level.

Regardless of whether you have one or 100 firewalls, creating a repeatable, sustainable process for firewall management can bring immediate time and cost savings and improve an organization?s ability to manage its network security risk and compliance posture. The maturity model below can help. The stages are based on evaluating how almost 1,000 companies have improved firewall management within their organizations ? where they started, how they moved forward, and how they measured their own improvement.

Because these stages should apply to any business of any size in any industry, there is no finite set of requirements to advance from one stage to the next. The idea is that you can use this model to help gauge where your organization sits on the firewall management maturity curve and how to move it along.

Stage One: Immature

At the lowest end of the scale are companies with no method to the madness. Changes are made as they come, and the process is mostly, if not completely, manual. For example, suppose a company pushes out seven new rules and changes to 30 objects within existing rules; mistakes could be not only explosive but also difficult and time consuming to correct. How do you know you?re in this bucket? Well, if you answer ?yes? to more than three of scenarios listed below, then chances are you?re at level one and you can benefit dramatically from process improvements.

  • You look up a change and have no idea why it was done or who did it.
  • You look at a rule and wonder how it got there.
  • Team members don?t know why rules are on the firewall.
  • Everyone is afraid to make a change to anything that exists.
  • Every new rule is added to the top of your rule base.
  • Firewalls are slow ? rule bloat causes the device to take a long time to install a policy.
  • You/your team spend a lot of time making sure changes work.
  • A noticeable number of changes need to be redone.
  • You are afraid to acknowledge what is not being done.

Stage Two: Emerging:

Emerging companies are those that are starting to put some structure and reporting around their firewall monitoring and change management efforts. Process automation is already underway and those involved are interested in making improvements.

Instead of wondering why a change was made or what might happen if they delete or move a rule, firewall admins at emerging companies spend their time determining if a new access request should be met by changing an existing rule instead of crafting a new rule, or if changes can be grouped by service or destination.

Emerging companies are likely to be using Excel and/or Word to manage changes. With some degree of audibility, they have visibility into metrics such as how many new rules, new objects, changed rules and modified objects occur during each change window. While they have much less security and compliance exposure than immature companies, they can still benefit from additional process automation. Here are some signs you are at this stage:

  • Too much time is spent looking up data in spreadsheets.
  • Documentation is messy and filled with errors.
  • While there is more confidence around implementing changes, there are still concerns that deleting rules will break something.
  • Optimization is welcomed ? it?s understood that rule bloat is simply the nature of having mature systems and it?s a good thing to start streamlining them.
  • Attention is given to change management processes ? since ticketing systems don?t account for the details for firewall changes, admins start to track them themselves.

Stage Three: Mature:

For the most part, mature companies have already implemented three things:

1)?? An automatic system for monitoring configuration changes with accountability info. Basic items such as who made each change on every firewall and when they made it are documented and auditable. Firewall rules can be automatically analyzed for risk and compliance, and the benefits of automation are quantifiable ? at least anecdotally.

2)?? An optimization strategy. Teams are in maintenance mode, as opposed to undertaking a major initiative to clean out the rule bases, and have the people, process and technology resources needed to execute.

3)?? Automated or semi-automated firewall change management processes. There are set change windows and an established (ideally automated) workflow process for change management that includes risk and compliance analysis for any given change request.

Firewall administrators at mature companies have made significant strides on the operations side and are focused on fine-tuning? ? especially when it comes to change management. However, despite process automation, they still lack business context. There is little or no communication with the business units, which is why change management is still difficult.

Stage Four: Highly Mature:

Highly Mature organizations have successfully implemented structure around their firewall operations and change management efforts. Instead of looking at the risk stemming from a single firewall, teams are assessing the risk posed by groups of firewalls, risk per zone, etc., and spending less time per change. All the details surrounding where to place a change in the rule base are automated and executed within established change windows, and changes on a firewall are automatically reconciled with ticketing systems.

The time and motivation exists to assess change management processes for business risk.? Firewall administrators see themselves not just as engineers but also as contributors to the business. As a result, they are better equipped to respond to business changes via new compliance ands risk-related rules or processes.

For example: A business decides it is going to start processing credit cards and the firewall team should be able to understand how that will impact them. Where do they need to store the Personally Identifiable Data (PII)? How will they protect it? When should they start with quarterly PCI audits?

Other signs you have arrived at stage four:

  • Firewall audits are fully automated, and no longer dreaded.
  • You start hearing terms like ?continuous compliance? used regularly.
  • You can easily communicate about progress and improved integrity of systems.
  • Because there has been positive feedback, teams are motivated to communicate improvements.

Highly mature companies understand the impact IT can have on the business. Investments in IT Security, unlike most other areas of IT, are not intended to generate revenue and, as a result, in some organizations are perceived as a financial black hole. However, firewalls are core technology, and with the advent of next-generation firewalls are just as relevant now as they were 15 years ago, if not more so.

Sometimes, good business simply involves applying common sense. In other words, why invest in a new set of less proven security technologies when you can dramatically improve the performance of and ROI on an existing investment? Investing in firewall management can deliver transformative results ? especially if yours is a stage one organization ? and can set the standard for how IT Security can and should function within a business context.

So why wait?

Michael Hamelin is the Chief Security Architect at Tufin Technologies (Burlington, MA). www.tufin.com

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Unemployed personal loans: simply handle financial issue!

Are you currently not having any job in your hand? Do not worry! You will get back to your normal life very soon! And, in the meanwhile, for financial assistance, you may apply for unemployed personal loans. These loans are mainly designed to help borrowers who are going through unfavorable financial days! These loans are open for both tenants and homeowners.

?

Unemployed personal loans fall into two major categories ? secured and unsecured. Both the categories have their own advantages and disadvantages! If secured loans are based on collateral, then interest rates are low. On the other hand, if unsecured loans are collateral-free, then interest rates are high. It?s totally up to you that with which type of loans you would like to move ahead! For secured forms, real estate, automobile etc.

may act as collateral.

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You may utilize amount obtained through unemployed personal loans for financing various needs, including ? debt consolidation, home improvements, vehicle purchase, debt management, business, covering wedding expenses, going on vacations, and so on. ?

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In Loans for Unemployed, approved amount is dependent on the type of loan services selected, requirements, present situation, ability to repay the borrowed amount, and few other factors. You are free to make repayment as per your convenience! Several benefits like underpayments, overpayments, and payment holidays, are available.

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All sorts of credit holders are welcomed in unemployed personal loans! Issues like defaults, bankruptcy, arrears, insolvency, CCJs, due payments etc. are also acceptable. But, credit may affect interest rates!

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Most easy and hassle free means of applying is the online mode of application! Online process will help in saving lot of valuable time. This process will also help in getting faster response from lender. You just need to follow few simple steps! First of all, you need to do some research, and compare different rate quotes. Secondly, you need to select the most appropriate deal. And, finally, you need to apply for the selected deal. Hardly few minutes are going to be consumed in filling an online application form. Through unemployed personal loans, you will get required funds as soon as approval process is completed!

Source: http://business.ezinemark.com/unemployed-personal-loans-simply-handle-financial-issue-7d352e0c1a69.html

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Chinese construction industry occupies a great place in Africa's ...

In the 1970s, China's financing and construction of a 1,870 km-long railway giving landlocked Zambia access to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam was a monument to Business Chinese online and solidarity with Africa in a previous era. In a flush of post-colonial exuberance, Africa was undergoing a construction boom. The China that built the railway in Africa in the 1970s is a distant shadow of the China of today that routinely builds railways, roads, ports and other infrastructure in various parts of the world.

In the 2000s, as the size of China's economy in quick succession surpassed that of Italy, France, the UK, and Germany, China's energy consumption expanded four times faster than expected to 16% of global demand in 2006.Instead of a boom of new steel and concrete, Africa experienced decades of lost growth. In 2008, the World Bank estimted that access to the most basic services in Africa increased only modestly between the early 1990s and the early 2000s, and only slightly in the last decade. Electricity, for example, is still available to little more than 20% of Africa's total population, and piped water to just 12%.Yet now a new China with vastly different priorities and strategic outlook is back in Africa, where it is instrumental in Africa's new construction boom that is reshaping the business landscape on the continent. In contrast to its piecemeal interaction with African countries in previous decades,Business Chinese now comprehensively engaged with almost all of Africa's 54 countries - lending money, providing aid, trading, investing, and more than all else: building infrastructure and extracting resources. This over-simplified description of China's business in Africa goes to the heart of how Africa's business landscape is changing under the influence of a new superpower hungry for natural resources and well-suited to provide Africa with something it is sorely in need of: infrastructure.

Along with the US and emerging economies such as Brazil and India, China's imports from Africa are as expected characterised by a disproportionate share of oil and minerals. China's trade with Africa has as a result been very lucrative for resource-rich African countries, and these African commodity suppliers have become crucial suppliers for China. South Africa is China's only African trade partner from which it imports substantial amounts of products that are not resources, while China's leading suppliers of oil (Angola), Learn mandarin online Manganese (South Africa), chromium (South Africa), cobalt (the DRC), and platinum (South Africa) are all African.In 2011,Janpan earthquake, China contributed amount of people and finance, and also machinery such as excvavtors, cranes, jaw crushers, impact crushers, belt conveyors and so on. Africa is now China's largest market in terms of contract revenue with 41.1%, even more than Asia with 36%. Similar to Chinese trade and investment in Africa, the revenue of Chinese contractors is highly concentrated in a few resource-rich countries.

Source: http://phpfox2templates.modules2buy.com/tclovechinese/blog/chinese-construction-industry-occupies-a-great-place-in-africa-s-business/

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Major networking opportunity

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Mar-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Mary Todd Bergman
contactpress@ebi.ac.uk
44-122-349-4665
European Molecular Biology Laboratory - European Bioinformatics Institute

The IMEx Consortium brings interactomes to light

Like people bustling around busy cities, the thousands of molecules inside our cells are constantly interacting with each other: turning each other on or off, working together, splitting up and networking. Understanding the countless ways in which they do so is a major challenge in biology, but it is fundamental to understanding life. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and colleagues in the International Molecular Exchange (IMEx) consortium are rising to the challenge by offering researchers a freely available set of experimental interaction data that can be queried from a single interface. Reporting in Nature Methods, IMEx partners describe the advantages of their service and invite others to join the effort.

To make it easier to create a picture of an organism's 'interactome' the interactions between all of its molecules IMEx partners have been working since 2004 to create a one-stop-shop for interaction data. A single standard for curating protein interaction data now makes it much simpler for scientists to identify which protein interactions are supported by the strongest evidence.

"There are over 100 interaction databases available, but none of them holds enough information to describe the interactome of any organism," explains Sandra Orchard of the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) in the UK. "In addition to the problem of repeated data entries in these databases, only around 1% of the 151 million binary pairs available are reliable data from published experimental work." The remaining data are theoretical, or the product of text mining; as such, they are far less dependable.

"We've now made it easier to find information about proteins that interact with a given molecule, and to compare new experimental results with publicly available, curated experimental data," says Gianni Cesareni of the University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' in Italy.

"IMEx web services now display curated, experimental data from several reputable resources so that a clearer picture of interactions between proteins can begin to emerge," says Henning Hermjakob, head of Proteomics Services at EMBL-EBI. "We are in effect optimising the return on public investment in interaction databases by co-ordinating global annotation efforts. We are certainly looking forward to having more curated data resources join the consortium."

###

IMEx partners currently include DIP (the Database of Interacting Proteins at UCLA in the US), I2D (at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Canada), InnateDB (Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia in Canada and the Teagasc Bioscience Department in Ireland), IntAct (at EMBL-EBI); MatrixDB (at CNRS / Lyon1 University in France), MINT; Molecular Connections (in Bangalore, India); MPIDB (at the J. Craig Venter Institute in the US); observer BioGRID (the Biological General Repository for Interaction Datasets) and the most recent member, the Swiss-Prot group from the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, representing the UniProt consortium. IMEx is an outcome of PSIMEx, which is funded under the Health Theme of the European Commissions Seventh Framework Programme.

Explore IMEx at www.imexconsortium.org



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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.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Mar-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Mary Todd Bergman
contactpress@ebi.ac.uk
44-122-349-4665
European Molecular Biology Laboratory - European Bioinformatics Institute

The IMEx Consortium brings interactomes to light

Like people bustling around busy cities, the thousands of molecules inside our cells are constantly interacting with each other: turning each other on or off, working together, splitting up and networking. Understanding the countless ways in which they do so is a major challenge in biology, but it is fundamental to understanding life. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and colleagues in the International Molecular Exchange (IMEx) consortium are rising to the challenge by offering researchers a freely available set of experimental interaction data that can be queried from a single interface. Reporting in Nature Methods, IMEx partners describe the advantages of their service and invite others to join the effort.

To make it easier to create a picture of an organism's 'interactome' the interactions between all of its molecules IMEx partners have been working since 2004 to create a one-stop-shop for interaction data. A single standard for curating protein interaction data now makes it much simpler for scientists to identify which protein interactions are supported by the strongest evidence.

"There are over 100 interaction databases available, but none of them holds enough information to describe the interactome of any organism," explains Sandra Orchard of the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) in the UK. "In addition to the problem of repeated data entries in these databases, only around 1% of the 151 million binary pairs available are reliable data from published experimental work." The remaining data are theoretical, or the product of text mining; as such, they are far less dependable.

"We've now made it easier to find information about proteins that interact with a given molecule, and to compare new experimental results with publicly available, curated experimental data," says Gianni Cesareni of the University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' in Italy.

"IMEx web services now display curated, experimental data from several reputable resources so that a clearer picture of interactions between proteins can begin to emerge," says Henning Hermjakob, head of Proteomics Services at EMBL-EBI. "We are in effect optimising the return on public investment in interaction databases by co-ordinating global annotation efforts. We are certainly looking forward to having more curated data resources join the consortium."

###

IMEx partners currently include DIP (the Database of Interacting Proteins at UCLA in the US), I2D (at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Canada), InnateDB (Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia in Canada and the Teagasc Bioscience Department in Ireland), IntAct (at EMBL-EBI); MatrixDB (at CNRS / Lyon1 University in France), MINT; Molecular Connections (in Bangalore, India); MPIDB (at the J. Craig Venter Institute in the US); observer BioGRID (the Biological General Repository for Interaction Datasets) and the most recent member, the Swiss-Prot group from the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, representing the UniProt consortium. IMEx is an outcome of PSIMEx, which is funded under the Health Theme of the European Commissions Seventh Framework Programme.

Explore IMEx at www.imexconsortium.org



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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.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/embl-mno032812.php

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Penn research points to new way of preserving fertility for boys undergoing cancer treatment

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Mar-2012
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Contact: Evan Lerner
elerner@upenn.edu
215-573-6604
University of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA Treatments for childhood cancers are increasingly successful with cure rates approaching 80%, but success often comes with a downside for the surviving men: the cancer treatments they received as boys can leave them sterile as adults. Now, a research team led by Ralph Brinster of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine has completed a 14-year experiment that gives hope for a technique that could restore their fertility.

Brinster is the Richard King Mellon Professor of Reproductive Physiology at Penn Vet and was recently awarded the National Medal of Science for his lifetime of research on the genetics of the mammalian germline, the cells that give rise to sperm and eggs.

In his most recent research, Brinster collaborated with fellow members of the Department of Animal Biology at Penn Vet, with members of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine and with the Penn Bioinformatics Core.

Their study was published in the journal Human Reproduction.

For males, fertility begins with spermatogonial stem cells, which are present at birth, embedded in the basement membrane of the testes' seminiferous tubules. As a boy approaches puberty, these cells begin to make daughter cells that eventually become sperm. While they normally continue this process throughout a post-pubescent man's life, factors like radiation and chemotherapy drugs can destroy them, rendering him sterile.

About 1 in 3 boys surviving childhood cancer will be in danger of having severely decreased fertility as an adult; as many as 1 in 5,000 men of reproductive age currently suffer this serious quality-of-life problem as a result. Adult men who undergo cancer treatment that might damage their fertility can preemptively freeze their sperm, an option not available to pre-pubescent boys. But if a sample of a boy's spermatogonial stem cells could be extracted and preserved before cancer treatment and re-implanted after the boy reached adulthood, this fertility problem could be circumvented.

"There are a number of places, including at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia," Brinster said, "that are already freezing cells for patients to use later, with the expectation that the necessary culture system and implantation techniques will be developed. A logical question for patients to ask is, How do we know that, after 10 years or more of being stored, these cells are any good? That's what our study addresses."

The techniques for extracting these cells and re-implanting them have been developed, so a critical question for researchers was whether spermatogonial stem cells could survive the decade-plus period they might need to remain frozen.

Fortunately, Brinster had a large collection of cryopreserved spermatogonial stem cells stored in the mid-'90s. The collection consisted mostly of cells taken from mice but included a small number of rat, rabbit and baboon samples. Between their age and variety, these samples represented an important resource to address questions regarding long-term cryopreservation of spermatogonial stem cells, before the technique could be used in humans.

After being thawed, the spermatogonial stem cells of rabbits and baboons were labeled with a fluorescent dye so that the researchers could track where in the testes they would eventually migrate and embed once they were implanted in mice. This was a critical step for the rabbit and baboon cells, which lacked appropriate experimental recipients; once implanted in mice, the studies showed that the cells migrated correctly and embedded in the recipient testes' basement membrane, indicating their viability.

A complete functional test could only be done for the mouse spermatogonial stem cells, as they could be implanted into mice and tested to see if they could produce sperm, and whether that sperm could lead to healthy offspring. After demonstrating that the cryopreserved cells implanted in the right region of the testes and underwent normal spermatogenesis, the researchers extracted the sperm and successfully fertilized eggs in vitro.

One of the recipient mice was also placed with females and successfully sired offspring. The offspring resulting from eggs fertilized in vitro as well as those resulting from natural mating all produced normal appearing young. Most importantly, the offspring arising from the cryopreserved spermatogonial stem cells appeared free of genetic damage.

This experiment clearly points in the right direction for the feasibility of a similar fertility treatment in humans.

"Human and animal spermatagonial stem cells have been successfully frozen for short periods of time, but this is completely different," Brinster said. "Here we had cells frozen for over a decade that implanted in the right place and made sperm, and that sperm made offspring without apparent genetic defects."

###

In addition to Brinster, the research was conducted by research associates Xin Wu, Shaun M. Goodyear and Mary R. Avarbock of the Department of Animal Biology at Penn Vet; graduate student Lara K. Abramowitz and professor Marisa S. Bartolomei of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine; and John W. Tobias, director of the Penn Bioinformatics Core.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, the Institute of General Medicine and the Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.



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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.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Mar-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Evan Lerner
elerner@upenn.edu
215-573-6604
University of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA Treatments for childhood cancers are increasingly successful with cure rates approaching 80%, but success often comes with a downside for the surviving men: the cancer treatments they received as boys can leave them sterile as adults. Now, a research team led by Ralph Brinster of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine has completed a 14-year experiment that gives hope for a technique that could restore their fertility.

Brinster is the Richard King Mellon Professor of Reproductive Physiology at Penn Vet and was recently awarded the National Medal of Science for his lifetime of research on the genetics of the mammalian germline, the cells that give rise to sperm and eggs.

In his most recent research, Brinster collaborated with fellow members of the Department of Animal Biology at Penn Vet, with members of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine and with the Penn Bioinformatics Core.

Their study was published in the journal Human Reproduction.

For males, fertility begins with spermatogonial stem cells, which are present at birth, embedded in the basement membrane of the testes' seminiferous tubules. As a boy approaches puberty, these cells begin to make daughter cells that eventually become sperm. While they normally continue this process throughout a post-pubescent man's life, factors like radiation and chemotherapy drugs can destroy them, rendering him sterile.

About 1 in 3 boys surviving childhood cancer will be in danger of having severely decreased fertility as an adult; as many as 1 in 5,000 men of reproductive age currently suffer this serious quality-of-life problem as a result. Adult men who undergo cancer treatment that might damage their fertility can preemptively freeze their sperm, an option not available to pre-pubescent boys. But if a sample of a boy's spermatogonial stem cells could be extracted and preserved before cancer treatment and re-implanted after the boy reached adulthood, this fertility problem could be circumvented.

"There are a number of places, including at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia," Brinster said, "that are already freezing cells for patients to use later, with the expectation that the necessary culture system and implantation techniques will be developed. A logical question for patients to ask is, How do we know that, after 10 years or more of being stored, these cells are any good? That's what our study addresses."

The techniques for extracting these cells and re-implanting them have been developed, so a critical question for researchers was whether spermatogonial stem cells could survive the decade-plus period they might need to remain frozen.

Fortunately, Brinster had a large collection of cryopreserved spermatogonial stem cells stored in the mid-'90s. The collection consisted mostly of cells taken from mice but included a small number of rat, rabbit and baboon samples. Between their age and variety, these samples represented an important resource to address questions regarding long-term cryopreservation of spermatogonial stem cells, before the technique could be used in humans.

After being thawed, the spermatogonial stem cells of rabbits and baboons were labeled with a fluorescent dye so that the researchers could track where in the testes they would eventually migrate and embed once they were implanted in mice. This was a critical step for the rabbit and baboon cells, which lacked appropriate experimental recipients; once implanted in mice, the studies showed that the cells migrated correctly and embedded in the recipient testes' basement membrane, indicating their viability.

A complete functional test could only be done for the mouse spermatogonial stem cells, as they could be implanted into mice and tested to see if they could produce sperm, and whether that sperm could lead to healthy offspring. After demonstrating that the cryopreserved cells implanted in the right region of the testes and underwent normal spermatogenesis, the researchers extracted the sperm and successfully fertilized eggs in vitro.

One of the recipient mice was also placed with females and successfully sired offspring. The offspring resulting from eggs fertilized in vitro as well as those resulting from natural mating all produced normal appearing young. Most importantly, the offspring arising from the cryopreserved spermatogonial stem cells appeared free of genetic damage.

This experiment clearly points in the right direction for the feasibility of a similar fertility treatment in humans.

"Human and animal spermatagonial stem cells have been successfully frozen for short periods of time, but this is completely different," Brinster said. "Here we had cells frozen for over a decade that implanted in the right place and made sperm, and that sperm made offspring without apparent genetic defects."

###

In addition to Brinster, the research was conducted by research associates Xin Wu, Shaun M. Goodyear and Mary R. Avarbock of the Department of Animal Biology at Penn Vet; graduate student Lara K. Abramowitz and professor Marisa S. Bartolomei of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine; and John W. Tobias, director of the Penn Bioinformatics Core.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, the Institute of General Medicine and the Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.



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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/uop-prp032812.php

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IIC Program Paves the Way for New Business Ethics Codes in the ...

March 27, 2012:

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IIC Program Paves the Way for New Business Ethics Codes in the Caribbean

FINPYME Integrity program promotes regional exchange in Latin America and the Caribbean
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Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago ? On March 27 and 28, 2012, the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) marked the successful completion of the pilot phase of an innovative program promoting business ethics and anti-corruption practices in the Caribbean private sector.

The two-day meeting showcased highlights and lessons learned from the FINPYME Integrity program, which was launched in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Jamaica in September 2011. Since its inception, the program has helped some 50 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Caribbean to implement codes of business ethics and conduct.

As part of the pilot program, training materials were developed and local partner organizations conducted group workshops and in-house training exercises with companies looking to make headway on their anti-corruption agenda.

?With the FINPYME Integrity initiative, the IIC has renewed its commitment to promoting transparency in SMEs across Latin America and the Caribbean,? noted Jacques Rogozinski, the IIC?s general manager. ?The program has raised awareness on the importance of ethical business and will continue to encourage cross-border integration. We are looking forward to future collaborations with our FINPYME Integrity partners in the region.?

The IDB?s representative in Trinidad and Tobago, Michelle Cross Fenty, added: ?FINPYME Integrity provides a wonderful opportunity for SMEs in Trinidad and Tobago and the entire Caribbean region to improve their business systems and standards of governance. This is truly a win-win situation, as improvements in business culture can be expected to improve competitiveness and enhance financial performance.?

Among the companies participating in the initiative was Trinidad Aggregate Products Ltd., a local manufacturer of ceramic tiles and building materials. According to that company?s finance manager, Ravi Seereeram, ?FINPYME Integrity has broadened our understanding of the depth, scope, and impact of business ethics. We now have the necessary tools to implement our own business ethics strategy, which we will continue to monitor and improve on, ensuring ethical standards at our company and maximum returns for all stakeholders.?

The IIC has been a driving force behind anti-corruption measures in the private sector since it signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Economic Forum?s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative in 2007. The experiences from the FINPYME Integrity pilot phase will be incorporated into a business ethics manual, which will become available online later this year as a train-the-trainer toolkit.

About the IIC

The IIC is a multilateral financial institution that is a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group. The IIC?s mission is to promote the economic development of its regional member countries by encouraging the establishment, expansion, and modernization of private enterprises, particularly those that are small and medium in size. It does so by providing financing (in the form of equity investments, loans, guarantees, and other instruments) and advisory services to private enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2011, the IIC reached US$1.48 billion in assets and approved 71 operations channeling US$464.7 million to SMEs in the region. For more information on the IIC?s activities, visit www.iic.org.

Contact Information
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Rebeca S?nchez de Tagle White

rebecast@iadb.org

+1 (202) 623-3636

in Washington, D.C.

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Sylvia Szankay (press)

sylviasz@iadb.org

+ 1 (202) 623-3878

in Washington, D.C.

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Source: http://www.news.gov.tt/index.php?news=10648

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Construction Business and Jobs Offered

Becoming a Construction Industry Professional

The variety of job positions among construction companies is plenty. There are engineers, architects, designers, accounting personnel, etc. There is an abundance of job seekers in the construction field. These jobs appeal particularly to most of today?s fresh graduates.

The popularity of construction jobs is not only confined to a certain area, but is spread throughout various places. One of the requisites of a construction career is that you have to be the all-around type of employee. Nowadays, job openings in the construction industry, just like any other industries, are posted online and you might be able to an opportunity in there. Outside of your locality, there maybe a construction company or companies seeking workers that you might find appealing.

People who are work in this industry perform responsibilities outside of mere construction. For example, a person who is designated as construction manager could have other duties and responsibilities as well. He has to see to it that there is coordination and balance between the site workers and various other tasks both outdoor and indoor. He may be in charge of other sensitive tasks that could include watching over the budget, attending to pending project matters and timetables; all of which are necessary for the company?s efficiency and success. In other words, a construction manager is delegated with plenty of major responsibilities.

Construction manager is only one of the many job possibilities. There is a range of options from entry level construction jobs, to There is a diversity of job opportunities ranging from clerical or administrative to the construction managerial levels. In the midst of a wide variety of job positions, finding one that you are most qualified at is relatively difficult. On the other hand, there are some useful tools that can assist you in finding the most suitable job, which could be verbally, through the Internet, the periodicals, and others. Actually, there are some websites that are entirely dedicated to the construction industry where you can quickly and easily search for construction employment opportunities.

These websites bring construction jobs which match your professional qualifications. There are a few sites that provide a career data bank where you can submit your job profile qualifications. You will also be able to find assistance when it comes to other information within the construction business in these sites.

Did you know that the construction industry is made up of professionals having different levels of knowledge and skills? Many professionals and businesses are working in conjunction with the rest of the construction staff in a variety of projects and contracts. In reality, it is not correct to refer to those who are in the construction industry as merely ?construction workers? because a lot of them belong to the higher echelon of professionals in terms of intellect and expertise. On the other hand, it is not safe to assume that finding a job in this industry that is commensurate to your qualifications and skills is always easy.

Enter Emerald State Drywall contractors into Ask.com; do you find the thing you need? Next time you search click here, you?ll observe that these hyperlinks are what you really required!

Source: http://www.theinternetbusinessblog.com/construction-business-and-jobs-offered.html

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Kentucky Fair Board president announces retirement

by AP

WHAS11.com

Posted on March 22, 2012 at 8:12 PM

?? LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Harold Workman, whose job status as president of the Kentucky Fair Board has been in question, has announced he is retiring at the end of the year.

?? Workman has been involved in controversies recently over the firing of the general manager of the KFC Yum Center and reports that he had fallen into disfavor among some board members.

?? The Courier-Journal (http://cjky.it/GGbWMT) reports the board also suffered a revenue drop in recent years with the razing of the Executive Inn, closure of Kentucky Kingdom and move of the University of Louisville basketball teams from Freedom Hall to the Yum Center.

?? Workman, fair board president and CEO since 1993, makes $249,260 a year, according to a state database. His contract was set to expire at the end of June.

Source: http://www.whas11.com/community/blogs/political-blog/Kentucky-Fair-Board-president-announces-retirement-143908686.html

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