NEW YORK (AP) ? Two threatening letters containing traces of the deadly poison ricin were sent from Louisiana to Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York and his gun-control group in Washington, officials said.
The anonymous letters were opened in New York on Friday at the city's mail facility in Manhattan and in Washington on Sunday at an office used by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the nonprofit started by Bloomberg, police said Wednesday.
Chief New York Police spokesman Paul Browne said preliminary testing indicted the presence of ricin in both letters but that more testing would be done. He said the threats contained references to the debate on gun laws and an oily pinkish-orange substance.
The postal workers' union, citing information it got in a Postal Service briefing, said the letters bore a Shreveport, La., postmark.
The mayor didn't respond to questions about the letters Thursday morning as he arrived for and left a speech to the Real Estate Board of New York.
The billionaire mayor has emerged as one of the country's most potent gun-control advocates, able to press his case with both his public position and his private money.
The people who initially came into contact with the letters showed no symptoms of exposure to the poison, but three officers who later examined the New York letter experienced minor symptoms that have since abated, police said.
Browne would not comment on what specific threats were made or where the letters were postmarked. He also wouldn't say whether they were handwritten or typed and whether investigators believe they were sent by the same person.
"In terms of why they've done it, I don't know," Bloomberg said at an event Wednesday night.
One of the letters "obviously referred to our anti-gun efforts, but there's 12,000 people that are going to get killed this year with guns and 19,000 that are going to commit suicide with guns, and we're not going to walk away from those efforts," said Bloomberg, adding that he didn't feel threatened.
The letters were the latest in a string of toxin-laced missives. In Washington state, a 37-year-old was charged last week with threatening to kill a federal judge in a letter that contained ricin. About a month earlier, letters containing the substance were addressed to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a Mississippi judge. A Mississippi man was arrested in that case.
Federal officials and NYPD were investigating. Browne would not say whether the letters were believed to be linked to any other recent ricin cases.
Police said the letter in Washington, D.C., was opened by Mark Glaze, the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. He was working out of the offices of The Raben Group, a Washington lobbying firm where he keeps an office. Glaze happened to open the letter while sitting outside over the Memorial Day weekend, said the firm's founder, Robert Raben.
"I'm very concerned about our employees and co-workers and clients," Raben said by phone Wednesday, adding that the firm would do whatever needed to ensure safety. "I'm sorry that we live in a world in which people do such awful things. Thank God, right now, everybody's physically fine."
A mayor's spokesman also speaking for the nonprofit said he had no comment.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans. Symptoms can include difficulty breathing, vomiting and redness on the skin depending on how the affected person comes into contact with the poison.
Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which now counts more than 700 mayors nationwide as members. It lobbies federal and state lawmakers, and it aired a spate of television ads this year urging Congress to expand background checks and pass other gun-control measures after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. The background check proposal failed in a Senate vote in April, and other measures gun-control advocates wanted ? including a ban on sales of military-style assault weapons ? have stalled.
Separately, Bloomberg also has made political donations to candidates who share his desire for tougher gun restrictions. His super PAC, Independence USA, put $2.2 million into a Democratic primary this winter for a congressional seat in Illinois, for example. Bloomberg's choice, former state lawmaker Robin Kelly, won the primary and the seat.
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Associated Press Writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? New revelations that China used cyberattacks to access data from nearly 40 Pentagon weapons programs and almost 30 other defense technologies have increased pressure on U.S. leaders to take more strident action against Beijing to stem the persistent breaches.
The disclosure, which was included in a Defense Science Board report released earlier this year, but is only now being discussed publicly, comes as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel heads to Southeast Asia, where he will discuss the escalating cyberthreat with counterparts from a number of area nations.
While officials have been warning for years about China's cyber espionage efforts aimed at U.S. military and high-tech programs, the breadth of the list underscored how routine the attacks have become. And, as the U.S. looks to grow its military presence in the Asia Pacific, it heightens worries that China can use the information to blunt America's military superiority and keep pace with emerging technologies.
"It introduces uncertainty on how well the weapons may work, and it means we may have to redo weapons systems," said James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "If they know how it works precisely, they will be able to evade it and figure out how to better beat our systems."
A chart included in the science board's report laid out what it called a partial list of 37 breached programs, which included the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense weapon ? a land-based missile defense system that was recently deployed to Guam to help counter the North Korean threat. Other programs include the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, and the hybrid MV-22 Osprey, which can take off and land like a helicopter and fly like an airplane.
The report also listed another 29 broader defense technologies that have been compromised, including drone video systems and high-tech avionics. The information was gathered more than two years ago, so some of the data is dated and a few of the breaches ? such as the F-35 ? had actually already become public.
The details of the breaches were first reported by The Washington Post.
According to a defense official, the report is based on more than 50 briefings that members of the board's task force received from senior leaders in the Pentagon, the State Department, the intelligence community, national laboratories and business. The official was not authorized to discuss the report publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials have been far more open about discussing the China cyberattacks over the past year or two, beginning with a November 2011 report by U.S. intelligence agencies that accused China of systematically stealing American high-tech data for its own national economic gain. The Pentagon, meanwhile, in its latest report on China's military power, asserted publicly for the first time that Beijing's military was likely behind computer-based attacks targeting federal agencies.
"In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the U.S. government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military," said the report, which was released earlier this month.
In Beijing on Wednesday, Assistant Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang did not directly address the allegations, but said that China opposes all hacking and referred to an agreement with the U.S. to form a cybercrime working group.
Cybersecurity experts have for some time been urging the U.S. government to use sanctions or other punishments against China for the breaches.
The benefits to the cyber espionage are high and the costs are low, said Shawn Henry, former cyber director at the FBI and now president of CrowdStrike Services, a security technology company.
"There is no cost, there are no sanctions, no diplomatic actions, no financial disincentives," said Henry, adding that the U.S. intellectual property losses are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. He said that the U.S. needs to have a discussion with Chinese leaders about "what the red lines are and what the repercussions will be for crossing those red lines."
U.S. leaders, including President Barack Obama, however, have instead been using the bully pulpit to increase pressure on the Chinese to confront the problem. Obama is expected to raise the issue with China's new leader Xi Jinping during a summit next month in Southern California.
Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said Tuesday that the Pentagon maintains "full confidence in our weapons platforms," adding that the department has taken a number of steps to strengthen its network defenses and monitor for threats.
Defense contractors, meanwhile, declined to say whether their systems had been breached. But recent filings to shareholders indicate these companies see intrusions as a serious risk to their business, particularly when they must rely on third-party suppliers.
In its most recent annual report, Lockheed Martin ? a primary contractor on missile defense programs ? told shareholders that prior cyberattacks "have not had a material impact on our financial results," and that it believed its security efforts were adequate.
However, suppliers and subcontractors have "varying levels of cybersecurity expertise and safeguards and their relationships with government contractors, such as Lockheed Martin may increase the likelihood that they are targeted by the same cyber threats we face," according to the 2012 report.
In a statement emailed to reporters on Tuesday, Lockheed Martin said it has made "significant investments" in cybersecurity and that the company was trying to secure its supply chain given that "program information resides in a large cyber ecosystem."
Similar risk disclosures to shareholders have been made recently by Northrop Grumman, Boeing and Raytheon. For example, Northrop Grumman wrote in its 2012 annual report that cyber intrusions "could damage our reputation and lead to financial losses from remedial actions, loss of business or potential liability."
Company spokesman Randy Belote on Tuesday declined to say whether Northrop Grumman's systems had been breached, citing company policy. But, he added, "the number of attempts to breach our networks (is) increasing at an alarming rate."
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Associated Press writer Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
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Follow Lolita C. Baldor at https://twitter.com/lbaldor
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) ? Firefighters took advantage of a lull in winds on Tuesday to try to gain ground against a forest fire in mountains northwest of Santa Barbara, as crews elsewhere in Southern California chased a new fire north of Los Angeles and sought to increase containment of a rural San Diego County blaze.
The Santa Barbara County blaze erupted Monday in Los Padres National Forest, carving its way through 2.8 square miles of dry chaparral, oak and pine. It was only 10 percent contained, and the forecast later in the day was for wind gusts of up to 40 mph, Santa Barbara County fire Capt. David Sadecki said.
More than 550 firefighters, supported by a dozen aircraft, were on the lines about 10 miles northwest of downtown Santa Barbara.
At the fire's height, thousands of campers and day visitors scrambled out of the forest on the Memorial Day holiday. The fire also prompted the evacuation of about 50 homes, mainly cabins and vacation rentals, but residents were expected to return Tuesday evening.
The fire, which remained under investigation, fire burned two vehicles and a U.S. Forest Service garage.
Winds were calm through midday Tuesday, and the blaze was moving eastward along the Santa Ynez Mountains northwest of Santa Barbara.
Crews were concerned, however, that a wind change could push the fire south toward the scenic coastal city, Sadecki said.
"It's an out-of-control wildfire so it is a threat. There's a lot of dry vegetation in its path," Sadecki said. "It's still spring ? it's not even summer ? and it's burning like it's August or September."
The fire was burning in the vicinity of Paradise Road, which meanders along the north side of the Santa Ynez Mountains. Santa Barbara and neighboring communities sit on the other side of the coastal range, which rises quickly from near the Pacific shoreline to peaks topping 3,000 feet.
Despite its bucolic setting, the area 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles has seen terrible wildfires, including a 1990 blaze that destroyed 641 structures, most of them homes. The summer of 2007 was marred by a gigantic fire that erupted on July 4 and burned for months.
A new blaze flared just before noon Tuesday near the Magic Mountain theme park and Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles. It quickly consumed 55 acres of brush.
Hundreds of Los Angeles County firefighters responded with air support and quickly had 80 percent of the blaze contained.
At the south end of the state, a fire in the wilderness in San Diego County scorched 980 acres of dry brush but was not a threat to homes or buildings.
The blaze southeast of Julian was sparked Sunday and was 70 percent contained. Fire officials were investigating whether it was set intentionally.
Back when Acer unveiled the Iconia A1 tablet, it slipped out an upgrade to its starter Iconia B1 series, the B1-710. That refresh has at last surfaced in the US -- through the FCC, anyway. The 7-inch, WiFi-toting slate has cleared the FCC's approval process with its subtle design tweaks and doubled 1GB of RAM in tow. Unfortunately, Americans aren't much closer to actually buying one. While Canadians may get a turn when we've spotted a (currently unconfirmed) $230 Acer Canada listing, the new B1 is primarily bound for Europe. It should cost £110 / €129 (about $166) for the WiFi model's June release, and £129 / €179 (between $195 and $230) for a 3G-equipped B1-711 edition arriving in July.
Update: The Canadian listing now appears to be an A1, not the B1 we saw earlier.
May 28, 2013 ? A new study on prostate cancer describes a novel class of drugs developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers that interrupts critical signaling needed for prostate cancer cells to grow.
In men with advanced prostate cancer, growth of cancer cells depends on androgen receptor signaling, which is driven by androgens, such as testosterone. To thwart tumor growth, most patients with advanced prostate cancer receive drugs that block the production of androgen or block the receptor where the androgen binds. Unfortunately, such treatments invariably fail and patients die of prostate cancer with their androgen receptor signaling still active and still promoting tumor growth.
In the new study, available online at Nature Communications, a team of researchers led by Dr. Ganesh Raj, associate professor of urology at UT Southwestern, found that they could disrupt androgen receptor signaling using a novel class of drugs called peptidomimetics. This therapeutic agent consists of an engineered small protein-like chain designed to mimic peptides that are critical for androgen receptor function. The peptidomimetic agents block the activity of the androgen receptor even in the presence of androgen by attacking the protein in a different spot from where the androgen binds.
"We are hopeful that this novel class of drugs will shut down androgen receptor signaling and lead to added options and increased longevity for men with advanced prostate cancer," said Dr. Raj, the senior author of the study.
Dr. Raj compared the action that takes place to a lock and key mechanism. In prostate cancer, the androgen receptor (lock) is activated by the androgen (key) resulting in a signal that causes prostate cancer proliferation. In advanced prostate cancer, despite drugs targeting either the lock (androgen receptor) or the key (androgen production), there can be aberrant keys that open the lock or mutated locks that are always open, resulting in cancer cell proliferation. Instead of trying to block the lock or the key, peptidomimetics uncouple the lock and key mechanism from the proliferation signal. Thus, even with the androgen receptor activated, the prostate cancer cells do not receive the signal to proliferate and do not grow.
The researchers tested their drug in mouse and human tissue models. The novel drug proved non-toxic and prevented androgen receptor signaling in cancer cells. The response is highly promising and suggests that peptidomimetic targeting of prostate cancer may be a viable therapeutic approach for men with advanced disease.
Further testing is needed before a drug could move to Phase 1 clinical trials that involve human participants.
"Most drugs now available to treat advanced prostate cancer improve survival rates by three or four months," Dr. Raj said. "Our new agents may offer hope for men who fail with the current drugs."
These findings represent the development of a first-in-class agent targeting critical interactions between proteins. Other cellular and disease processes eventually could also be targeted with peptidomimetics, the scientists said.
Pandora Radio, one of the most recognized names among streaming music services, has undergone two major changes designed to improve the overall user experience. The most obvious change is the new Pandora Premiere feature, which lets you stream entire select albums before they hit stores. The second, and not-so-obvious, alteration is Facebook integration that sees the music service posting "Recent Activity" updates whenever you "Like" or listen to a song. Comprised of Music Genome Project-powered Web service and several mobile apps, the free Pandora Radio (also available as a $36 per year Pandora One premium service) continues as one of the leaders in the streaming audio space, despite missing a few features that its rivals possess.
Design and Interface You begin the musical journey by keying in the name of an artist or song, which causes Pandora Radio to populate a station. The slightly-revamped music player showcases album art as a small square, with lyrics, and song and artist information located just south of it. Below the song and artist information feature ?Buy? and "Share" icons. ?Buy? lets you purchase the track from Amazon MP3 or iTunes; ?Share? lets you share either the station or track with your Facebook or Twitter friends. Joining the pair is the new "Publish" button, which lets you set up Pandora to post listening and "Like" information to your Facebook page's "Recent Activity" field. When Facebook friends click on the song title, they're taken to that tracks Pandora page where they can build a new channel around that piece (they can't, unfortunately, stream that song on-demand). Facebook is represented on the Pandora side, too. You can also see what your Pandora-loving friends are listening to by clicking ?Music Feed.
The Music Genome Project and Customization Pandora Radio's artist recommendations were excellent in my testing. Creating a station based on Jimi Hendrix led to similar classic rock artists such as Led Zeppelin and Cream, but it tossed me a curveball in the form of Steve Wonder?s Superstition?an odd selection for a classic rock station. Another small gripe: The service lacks Slacker Radio's niche genre stations such as one-hit wonders and video games. Certainly, they aren?t necessities; they cater to a niche audience, but the option is a nice one. You can also manually browse genres by clicking the search box, which causes a ?Browse Genres? link to appear.?
Pandora Radio also lets you customize your stations, but it's not quite as thorough as Slacker Radio's method. Clicking "Add Variety" lets you enter additional artists to further seed Pandora Radio's artist selection algorithm. Slacker Radio, however, has a more flexible selection process that displays a long list of similar bands, letting you designate artists from them as favorites. You can approximate Slacker's approach by clicking on a station you created on the left-hand side of Pandora Radio's main screen, and then choosing "Edit Station Details." You can?t, however, play songs on demand or build playlists.
I previously dinged Pandora for opening lyrics pages in separate tabs?but no more. Lyrics now exist on the same page as the other song information. Mousing over the album art opens a menu that informs you why the station is playing a particular track, and even let you move the track to another station if you have one created?very cool.? When I heard a track from Willie Mitchell, an artist I wasn't familiar with, I clicked "Why," which gave me the reasons why this track was selected.
Pandora used to place limitations on the amount of free music that you can listen to, due to its deal with the RIAA?40 hours of free music per month. Now, you can listen to ?unlimited? music, which is really 320 hours. If you come up against that extraordinary high listening wall, you?ll be contacted by the company for potential abuse. You can't rewind or repeat songs, but you can skip six tracks per hour?typical of free streaming audio sites. You can also tell the system whether or not you like a given track?valuable feedback that Pandora Radio folds back into its recommendation algorithms for future choices. Users with free accounts will hear frequent audio ads.
Pandroa Premieres is the service's latest addition and it's one truly unique in the streaming music space. By searching "Pandroa Premieres" or visiting pandora.com/premieres, you can find select albums that you can stream in their entirety before they hit stores. At the time of this writing, John Fogerty's "Wrote a Song for Everyone" and Laura Marling's "Once I Was an Eagle" were the two Pandora Premiere albums available.
Upgrading to the $36 per year Pandora One (it's cheaper than Slacker Radio's $47.88 Slacker Radio Plus premium edition) lets you skip an unlimited number of tracks per day (you?re still limited to six per hour, though), skin the interface, download a desktop app, and enjoy ad-free, 192 Kbps listening experience.
Sound Quality Pandora Radio streamed crisp over my home and office network connections. Unless you're a true audiophile, Pandora Radio's sound quality should satisfy, especially when the audio is pumped through a phone or desktop speaker. However, donning a pair of Sony MDR revealed that Pandora Radio didn't sound as full as Slacker Radio. The low-end sounds were a bit tinny on Pandora. Music is interspersed with the occasional audio ad, but I found these more tolerable than Jango Radio's ads (which covered a large portion of the screen as songs played). I also encountered large 30 second video ads which took me out of music listening mode when they appeared.
Should You Listen to Pandora Radio? Pandora Radio may not have niche stations or on-demand streaming but it's a satisfying streaming audio service that's available on numerous devices. Slacker Radio remains our Editors' Choice among streaming music services for its on-demand playback and playlists, but Pandora?s customization options, Pandora Premiere feature, and decent sound quality make it worth a listen.
New alliance for European excellence and competitiveness in life sciencesPublic release date: 28-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Laia Cendr?s laia.cendros@crg.eu 34-933-160-237 VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)
European research centers in life sciences gather to foster excellence in research, share knowledge, and influence policy
Tomorrow, at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), in Barcelona, directors and staff from ten top European research institutes will kick off a new alliance, called EU-LIFE, that will promote European research. The mission of EU-LIFE is to foster excellence, share knowledge, and influence policies in life sciences. Partners in EU-LIFE are renowned research centers that operate with similar principles of excellence, external reviews, independence, competiveness, and internationality. During difficult economic times and within a highly competitive international research landscape, they believe that they can join forces to better address complex questions, thereby contributing to pushing European science forward.
Why are we often not able to attract top students from the US? Why do many of our junior talents leave to other continents and don't return?", reflects Luis Serrano, director of the Centre for Genomics Regulation (CRG, Spain) and one of the co-founders of this initiative. "There are many excellent research institutes in Europe. By increasing our international visibility through EU-LIFE, we aim to raise awareness for European science. Instead of working independently, we want to coordinate our efforts to create added value for Europe. We envision, for example, to agree on common standards for Ph.D. and postdoctoral recruitment and training programmes, and to organize joint scientific events for young scientists.
During the official launch of EU-LIFE tomorrow, at the CRG, Fabienne Gautier, Head of Unit of the European Research Area at the European Commission, will discuss how a network like EU-LIFE can be a key player in fostering European excellence and competitiveness in research. During the meeting, more than 60 EU-LIFE members will actively work to define concrete actions needed to reach their ambitious goals. Specific working groups will brainstorm, share best practice, and design joint activities in technology transfer, international collaboration, translational research, science communication, competitive funding, recruitment, and training. The meeting will be an intensive and rewarding exercise to start building ties across institutes, countries, cultures, and areas of expertise.
Current partners of this association are the co-leaders CRG and VIB (Belgium), the Institut Curie (France), the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Netherlands), the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine; MDC, Berlin-Buch (Germany), Istituto Europeo di Oncologia (Italy), Instituto Gulbenkian de Cincia (Portugal), the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria), CEITEC (Czech Republic), and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (Finland).
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FACTS & FIGURES OF THE NETWORK (data at the end of 2012)
Total number of scientists and support personnel: 7,039
Total number of publications: 2,551
Total number of running coordinated EU-Projects: 59
Total number of running ERCs: 75
EU-Life website: http://www.eulife.eu
MEMBERS COUNTRY DIRECTOR
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
http://www.crg.eu
Spain - Luis Serrano
VIB
http://www.vib.be
Belgium - Jo Bury & Johan Cardoen
Institut Curie
http://www.curie.fr
France - Claude Huriet (president)
Daniel Louvard (director of the research centre)
The Netherlands Cancer Institute
http://www.nki.nl/Research/
The Netherlands - Ren Medema
Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine
http://www.mdc-berlin.de
Germany - Walter Rosenthal
Istituto Europeo di Oncologia
http://www.ieo.it
Italy - Pier Giuseppe Pelicci
Instituto Gulbenkian de Cincia
http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt
Portugal - Jonathan Howard
CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
http://www.cemm.oeaw.ac.at
Austria Giulio - Superti-Furga
Central European Institute of Technology
http://www.ceitec.eu
Czech Republic - Markus Dettenhofer
Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland
http://www.fimm.fi/
Finland - Olli Kallioniemi
ABOUT THE CENTRE FOR GENOMIC REGULATION (CRG)
The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) is an international biomedical research institute of excellence whose mission is to discover and advance knowledge for the benefit of society, public health and economic prosperity.
The CRG believes that the medicine of the future depends on the groundbreaking science of today. This requires an interdisciplinary scientific team focused on understanding the complexity of life from the genome to the cell to a whole organism and its interaction with the environment, offering an integrated view of genetic diseases.
The CRG is a unique centre in Spain, based in an innovative organization research model. Group leaders at the CRG are recruited internationally and receive support from the centre to set up and run their groups. An external Scientific Advisory Board, made up of 12 world leaders in the different areas, evaluates them. The result of evaluations conditions the future of the CRG scientists, no matter whether they have open-ended or time-limited contracts. This ensures the mobility and the renewal of the workforce.
ABOUT VIB
VIB is a non-profit research institute in life sciences. About 1,300 scientists conduct strategic basic research on the molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the functioning of the human body, plants, and microorganisms. Through a close partnership with four Flemish universities ? UGent, KU Leuven, University of Antwerp, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel ? and a solid funding program, VIB unites the forces of 76 research groups in a single institute. The goal of the research is to extend the boundaries of our knowledge of life. Through its technology transfer activities, VIB translates research results into products for the benefit of consumers and patients and contributes to new economic activity. http://www.vib.be
ABOUT THE INSTITUT CURIE
The Institut Curie is a foundation of public interest, which combines the largest French oncology research center and two state-of-the-art hospitals. This hospital structure has pioneered many treatments. It is a center of excellence for the treatment of breast cancer, pediatric tumors and ocular tumors, and it disseminates medical and scientific innovations in France and abroad.
Founded in 1909 on a model devised by Marie Curie and still at the cutting edge: "from fundamental research to innovative treatments", the Institut Curie has 3,200 researchers, physicians, clinicians, technicians and administrative staff.
For more information: http://www.curie.fr
ABOUT THE NETHERLANDS CANCER INSTITUTE
The Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital (NKI-AVL) was established on October 10, 1913; one hundred years ago. The founders wanted to build a cancer institute 'where patients suffering from malignant growths could adequately be treated and where cancer and related diseases could be studied'. So from the start we have taken a comprehensive approach to cancer.
Nowadays, the Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital accommodates approximately 550 scientists and scientific support personnel, 53 medical specialists, 180 beds, an out-patients clinic with 30,600 visits, six operating theaters, and eleven irradiation units. It is the only dedicated cancer center in the Netherlands, officially accredited as Comprehensive Cancer Center by the OECI, and it maintains an important role as national and international center of scientific and clinical expertise, development and training.
The three major areas of research are fundamental, clinical and translational research. A thorough understanding of the basic processes in cells is the foundation for understanding cancerous cells. The laboratory covers all major areas of cancer research, with special emphasis on cell-based screens, mouse tumor models, cell biology, structural biology and epidemiology. The institute coordinates and participates in many clinical trials; most of these studies of potential new treatments such as combinations of chemostatics, radiotherapy and/or surgery. Results obtained from fundamental research are translated into clinical applications as part of our translation research program.
From the day the NKI-AVL was established, close collaboration between scientists and clinicians was seen as an essential element in fighting cancer. Having a laboratory and hospital under one roof in a single independent organization with an open and collaborative atmosphere has led to many important discoveries and improved therapies.
ABOUT THE MAX DELBRCK CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE
The Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch was founded in 1992 to build the bridge between basic molecular research and clinical research. It is one of 18 research institutions of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, the largest research organization in Germany. Under the umbrella of molecular medicine, MDC scientists focus on the research of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, cancer as well as on diseases of the nervous system. Currently, 1 620 employees work at the MDC. Among the employees are also 468 guests from 56 countries. In recent years the MDC has developed into an internationally recognized research institute. In 2010 it ranked 14th on the Thomson Reuters list of the world's "top twenty" best research institutions in the field of molecular biology and genetics.
http://www.mdc-berlin.de
ABOUT THE ISTITUTO EUROPEO DI ONCOLOGIA (IEO)
The foundations of EIO strategies are: the centrality of the patient, the main importance of prevention, quick transfer of research results from laboratory to clinical research, increasingly earlier diagnoses, and increasingly conservative therapies with a focus on the quality of life.
Our institute devotes much attention to technology updates and to the development of new technologies. Since these activities demand ample investments and critical mass, IEO has decided to join efforts with IFOM (Firc Institute of Molecular Oncology) together they created a Consortium dedicated to the development of new technologies in the fields of Structural and Functional Genomics (Cogentech). The main areas of intervention are: DNA Services, Microarrays, Model Organisms, Molecular Pathology Unit, Mass Spectrometry Unit, Protein Chemistry Unit, Imaging Unit and Crystallization Unit. To accelerate translational research and to create an active interface between the basic research programs of the IFOM-IEO Campus and IEO clinical activities, IEO has launched a Molecular Medicine Program, whose laboratory activities are located within the IEO hospital building. We expect this new initiative to facilitate the rapid translation of the recent developments of Genomic Sciences into novel approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
In addition to its intense research activity, in collaboration with the University of Milan and the University of Naples, the campus has established three PhD programs at the European School of Molecular Medicine Foundation (SEMM). These are the Molecular Medicine Programme, the Medical Nanotechnology Programme and the Foundations and Ethics of the Life Sciences Programme. The school enrols over 150 PhD students from around the world. The laboratories of the Department of Experimental Oncology in the new site, adjacent to the IFOM research institute (the FIRC Institute for Molecular Oncology), represent one of the largest European centres for cancer research (the IFOM-IEO Campus), with 24,000/m2 and 450 researchers. The IFOM-IEO Campus was created with the aim of developing and applying genomic research to the field of oncology, providing a substantial contribution to the rapid translation of emerging scientific knowledge into new strategies for the prevention and treatment of tumors.
ABOUT THE INSTITUTO GULBENKIAN DE CINCIA (IGC)
The Instituto Gulbenkian de Cincia (IGC) is an international life science research center in Portugal. Established by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the IGC's mission is to carry out biomedical research and training. The IGC acts as a host institution to international research groups, providing state-of-the-art research facilities in a stimulating and autonomous environment. The IGC runs several ambitious graduate training programs and a dedicated outreach and public engagement in science program. More information at http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt.
ABOUT THE CeMM RESEARCH CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE OF THE AUSTRIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
CeMM is a young, international, independent and interdisciplinary Research Center in Molecular Medicine, situated on the campus of the Medical University and the General Hospital in the heart of Vienna. "From the clinic to the clinic": driven by medical needs, CeMM integrates basic research and clinical expertise to pursue innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. The work of 13 research groups with about 150 scientists focuses on cancer, inflammation and immune disorders. The goal of CeMM is to assist in preparing the predictive, preventive and personalized medicine of the future, and to be a training and teaching center for a new generation of researchers in molecular medicine. According to a survey from "The Scientist" CeMM is ranked as the best European place to work in Academia 2012. http://www.cemm.oeaw.ac.at
ABOUT THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (CEITEC)
CEITEC is a scientific centre in the fields of life sciences, advanced materials and technologies whose aim is to establish itself as a recognized centre for basic as well as applied research. CEITEC offers a state-of-the-art infrastructure and great conditions to employ excellent researches. We are a consortium whose partners include the most important universities and research institutes in Brno, Czech Republic: Masaryk University, Brno University of Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Institute of Physics of Materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno and the Veterinary Research Institute. We work closely with the Region of South-Moravia and the City of Brno to help increase the innovative capacity of the region. http://www.ceitec.eu
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND (FIMM)
FIMM is an international research institute in Helsinki focusing on human genomics and personalized medicine. FIMM is hosted by the University of Helsinki and is part of the Nordic EMBL Partnership in Molecular Medicine. FIMM integrates molecular medicine research, technology center and biobanking infrastructures "under one roof" and thereby promotes translational research and adoption of personalized medicine in health care. FIMM researchers are involved in studying the medical impact of genome information from the Finnish population, development of individualized cancer medicine, as well as novel image-based molecular diagnostics. FIMM technology centre and biobanking infrastructures provide research services for local, national and international customers. The infrastructures operated by FIMM are networked with European ESFRI infrastructures BBMRI, EATRIS, ELIXIR and EU Openscreen. In 2012, FIMM had a staff of 185 and an annual budget of 14 million euros, with competitive external funding accounting for 70% of the budget. http://www.fimm.fi/en/.
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New alliance for European excellence and competitiveness in life sciencesPublic release date: 28-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Laia Cendr?s laia.cendros@crg.eu 34-933-160-237 VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)
European research centers in life sciences gather to foster excellence in research, share knowledge, and influence policy
Tomorrow, at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), in Barcelona, directors and staff from ten top European research institutes will kick off a new alliance, called EU-LIFE, that will promote European research. The mission of EU-LIFE is to foster excellence, share knowledge, and influence policies in life sciences. Partners in EU-LIFE are renowned research centers that operate with similar principles of excellence, external reviews, independence, competiveness, and internationality. During difficult economic times and within a highly competitive international research landscape, they believe that they can join forces to better address complex questions, thereby contributing to pushing European science forward.
Why are we often not able to attract top students from the US? Why do many of our junior talents leave to other continents and don't return?", reflects Luis Serrano, director of the Centre for Genomics Regulation (CRG, Spain) and one of the co-founders of this initiative. "There are many excellent research institutes in Europe. By increasing our international visibility through EU-LIFE, we aim to raise awareness for European science. Instead of working independently, we want to coordinate our efforts to create added value for Europe. We envision, for example, to agree on common standards for Ph.D. and postdoctoral recruitment and training programmes, and to organize joint scientific events for young scientists.
During the official launch of EU-LIFE tomorrow, at the CRG, Fabienne Gautier, Head of Unit of the European Research Area at the European Commission, will discuss how a network like EU-LIFE can be a key player in fostering European excellence and competitiveness in research. During the meeting, more than 60 EU-LIFE members will actively work to define concrete actions needed to reach their ambitious goals. Specific working groups will brainstorm, share best practice, and design joint activities in technology transfer, international collaboration, translational research, science communication, competitive funding, recruitment, and training. The meeting will be an intensive and rewarding exercise to start building ties across institutes, countries, cultures, and areas of expertise.
Current partners of this association are the co-leaders CRG and VIB (Belgium), the Institut Curie (France), the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Netherlands), the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine; MDC, Berlin-Buch (Germany), Istituto Europeo di Oncologia (Italy), Instituto Gulbenkian de Cincia (Portugal), the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria), CEITEC (Czech Republic), and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (Finland).
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FACTS & FIGURES OF THE NETWORK (data at the end of 2012)
Total number of scientists and support personnel: 7,039
Total number of publications: 2,551
Total number of running coordinated EU-Projects: 59
Total number of running ERCs: 75
EU-Life website: http://www.eulife.eu
MEMBERS COUNTRY DIRECTOR
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
http://www.crg.eu
Spain - Luis Serrano
VIB
http://www.vib.be
Belgium - Jo Bury & Johan Cardoen
Institut Curie
http://www.curie.fr
France - Claude Huriet (president)
Daniel Louvard (director of the research centre)
The Netherlands Cancer Institute
http://www.nki.nl/Research/
The Netherlands - Ren Medema
Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine
http://www.mdc-berlin.de
Germany - Walter Rosenthal
Istituto Europeo di Oncologia
http://www.ieo.it
Italy - Pier Giuseppe Pelicci
Instituto Gulbenkian de Cincia
http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt
Portugal - Jonathan Howard
CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
http://www.cemm.oeaw.ac.at
Austria Giulio - Superti-Furga
Central European Institute of Technology
http://www.ceitec.eu
Czech Republic - Markus Dettenhofer
Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland
http://www.fimm.fi/
Finland - Olli Kallioniemi
ABOUT THE CENTRE FOR GENOMIC REGULATION (CRG)
The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) is an international biomedical research institute of excellence whose mission is to discover and advance knowledge for the benefit of society, public health and economic prosperity.
The CRG believes that the medicine of the future depends on the groundbreaking science of today. This requires an interdisciplinary scientific team focused on understanding the complexity of life from the genome to the cell to a whole organism and its interaction with the environment, offering an integrated view of genetic diseases.
The CRG is a unique centre in Spain, based in an innovative organization research model. Group leaders at the CRG are recruited internationally and receive support from the centre to set up and run their groups. An external Scientific Advisory Board, made up of 12 world leaders in the different areas, evaluates them. The result of evaluations conditions the future of the CRG scientists, no matter whether they have open-ended or time-limited contracts. This ensures the mobility and the renewal of the workforce.
ABOUT VIB
VIB is a non-profit research institute in life sciences. About 1,300 scientists conduct strategic basic research on the molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the functioning of the human body, plants, and microorganisms. Through a close partnership with four Flemish universities ? UGent, KU Leuven, University of Antwerp, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel ? and a solid funding program, VIB unites the forces of 76 research groups in a single institute. The goal of the research is to extend the boundaries of our knowledge of life. Through its technology transfer activities, VIB translates research results into products for the benefit of consumers and patients and contributes to new economic activity. http://www.vib.be
ABOUT THE INSTITUT CURIE
The Institut Curie is a foundation of public interest, which combines the largest French oncology research center and two state-of-the-art hospitals. This hospital structure has pioneered many treatments. It is a center of excellence for the treatment of breast cancer, pediatric tumors and ocular tumors, and it disseminates medical and scientific innovations in France and abroad.
Founded in 1909 on a model devised by Marie Curie and still at the cutting edge: "from fundamental research to innovative treatments", the Institut Curie has 3,200 researchers, physicians, clinicians, technicians and administrative staff.
For more information: http://www.curie.fr
ABOUT THE NETHERLANDS CANCER INSTITUTE
The Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital (NKI-AVL) was established on October 10, 1913; one hundred years ago. The founders wanted to build a cancer institute 'where patients suffering from malignant growths could adequately be treated and where cancer and related diseases could be studied'. So from the start we have taken a comprehensive approach to cancer.
Nowadays, the Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital accommodates approximately 550 scientists and scientific support personnel, 53 medical specialists, 180 beds, an out-patients clinic with 30,600 visits, six operating theaters, and eleven irradiation units. It is the only dedicated cancer center in the Netherlands, officially accredited as Comprehensive Cancer Center by the OECI, and it maintains an important role as national and international center of scientific and clinical expertise, development and training.
The three major areas of research are fundamental, clinical and translational research. A thorough understanding of the basic processes in cells is the foundation for understanding cancerous cells. The laboratory covers all major areas of cancer research, with special emphasis on cell-based screens, mouse tumor models, cell biology, structural biology and epidemiology. The institute coordinates and participates in many clinical trials; most of these studies of potential new treatments such as combinations of chemostatics, radiotherapy and/or surgery. Results obtained from fundamental research are translated into clinical applications as part of our translation research program.
From the day the NKI-AVL was established, close collaboration between scientists and clinicians was seen as an essential element in fighting cancer. Having a laboratory and hospital under one roof in a single independent organization with an open and collaborative atmosphere has led to many important discoveries and improved therapies.
ABOUT THE MAX DELBRCK CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE
The Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch was founded in 1992 to build the bridge between basic molecular research and clinical research. It is one of 18 research institutions of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, the largest research organization in Germany. Under the umbrella of molecular medicine, MDC scientists focus on the research of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, cancer as well as on diseases of the nervous system. Currently, 1 620 employees work at the MDC. Among the employees are also 468 guests from 56 countries. In recent years the MDC has developed into an internationally recognized research institute. In 2010 it ranked 14th on the Thomson Reuters list of the world's "top twenty" best research institutions in the field of molecular biology and genetics.
http://www.mdc-berlin.de
ABOUT THE ISTITUTO EUROPEO DI ONCOLOGIA (IEO)
The foundations of EIO strategies are: the centrality of the patient, the main importance of prevention, quick transfer of research results from laboratory to clinical research, increasingly earlier diagnoses, and increasingly conservative therapies with a focus on the quality of life.
Our institute devotes much attention to technology updates and to the development of new technologies. Since these activities demand ample investments and critical mass, IEO has decided to join efforts with IFOM (Firc Institute of Molecular Oncology) together they created a Consortium dedicated to the development of new technologies in the fields of Structural and Functional Genomics (Cogentech). The main areas of intervention are: DNA Services, Microarrays, Model Organisms, Molecular Pathology Unit, Mass Spectrometry Unit, Protein Chemistry Unit, Imaging Unit and Crystallization Unit. To accelerate translational research and to create an active interface between the basic research programs of the IFOM-IEO Campus and IEO clinical activities, IEO has launched a Molecular Medicine Program, whose laboratory activities are located within the IEO hospital building. We expect this new initiative to facilitate the rapid translation of the recent developments of Genomic Sciences into novel approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
In addition to its intense research activity, in collaboration with the University of Milan and the University of Naples, the campus has established three PhD programs at the European School of Molecular Medicine Foundation (SEMM). These are the Molecular Medicine Programme, the Medical Nanotechnology Programme and the Foundations and Ethics of the Life Sciences Programme. The school enrols over 150 PhD students from around the world. The laboratories of the Department of Experimental Oncology in the new site, adjacent to the IFOM research institute (the FIRC Institute for Molecular Oncology), represent one of the largest European centres for cancer research (the IFOM-IEO Campus), with 24,000/m2 and 450 researchers. The IFOM-IEO Campus was created with the aim of developing and applying genomic research to the field of oncology, providing a substantial contribution to the rapid translation of emerging scientific knowledge into new strategies for the prevention and treatment of tumors.
ABOUT THE INSTITUTO GULBENKIAN DE CINCIA (IGC)
The Instituto Gulbenkian de Cincia (IGC) is an international life science research center in Portugal. Established by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the IGC's mission is to carry out biomedical research and training. The IGC acts as a host institution to international research groups, providing state-of-the-art research facilities in a stimulating and autonomous environment. The IGC runs several ambitious graduate training programs and a dedicated outreach and public engagement in science program. More information at http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt.
ABOUT THE CeMM RESEARCH CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE OF THE AUSTRIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
CeMM is a young, international, independent and interdisciplinary Research Center in Molecular Medicine, situated on the campus of the Medical University and the General Hospital in the heart of Vienna. "From the clinic to the clinic": driven by medical needs, CeMM integrates basic research and clinical expertise to pursue innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. The work of 13 research groups with about 150 scientists focuses on cancer, inflammation and immune disorders. The goal of CeMM is to assist in preparing the predictive, preventive and personalized medicine of the future, and to be a training and teaching center for a new generation of researchers in molecular medicine. According to a survey from "The Scientist" CeMM is ranked as the best European place to work in Academia 2012. http://www.cemm.oeaw.ac.at
ABOUT THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (CEITEC)
CEITEC is a scientific centre in the fields of life sciences, advanced materials and technologies whose aim is to establish itself as a recognized centre for basic as well as applied research. CEITEC offers a state-of-the-art infrastructure and great conditions to employ excellent researches. We are a consortium whose partners include the most important universities and research institutes in Brno, Czech Republic: Masaryk University, Brno University of Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Institute of Physics of Materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno and the Veterinary Research Institute. We work closely with the Region of South-Moravia and the City of Brno to help increase the innovative capacity of the region. http://www.ceitec.eu
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND (FIMM)
FIMM is an international research institute in Helsinki focusing on human genomics and personalized medicine. FIMM is hosted by the University of Helsinki and is part of the Nordic EMBL Partnership in Molecular Medicine. FIMM integrates molecular medicine research, technology center and biobanking infrastructures "under one roof" and thereby promotes translational research and adoption of personalized medicine in health care. FIMM researchers are involved in studying the medical impact of genome information from the Finnish population, development of individualized cancer medicine, as well as novel image-based molecular diagnostics. FIMM technology centre and biobanking infrastructures provide research services for local, national and international customers. The infrastructures operated by FIMM are networked with European ESFRI infrastructures BBMRI, EATRIS, ELIXIR and EU Openscreen. In 2012, FIMM had a staff of 185 and an annual budget of 14 million euros, with competitive external funding accounting for 70% of the budget. http://www.fimm.fi/en/.
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Wednesday, May 29, 2013 11:00 am - 2:00 pm, Ackerman Union Venue
UCLA Travel Study
See below for additional information.
Admission
Free and open to the UCLA community.
Contact
Summer Session & International Education (310) 825-4995 ieo@international.ucla.edu
Additional Information
Summer Travel Study programs utilize location as both laboratory and classroom to leverage the unique opportunity of integrating cities and cultures to enhance curriculum.
Come meet with us at Ackerman Union to learn more about this unique opportunity!
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto listens to a reporter's question during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto listens to a reporter's question during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, second right, walks off after a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, center in background, speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
TOKYO (AP) ? An outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce sex crimes, but defended another inflammatory remark about Japan's use of sex slaves before and during World War II.
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who is also the co-head of an emerging nationalistic party, said his remarks two weeks ago rose from a "sense of crisis" about cases of sexual assaults by U.S. military personnel on Japanese civilians in Okinawa, where a large number of U.S. troops are based under a bilateral security treaty.
"I understand that my remark could be construed as an insult to the U.S. forces and to the American people" and was inappropriate, he said at a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Tokyo. "I retract this remark and express an apology."
Hashimoto had created an uproar with comments to journalists two weeks ago about Japan's modern and wartime sexual services. They added to recent anger in neighboring countries that suffered from Japan's wartime aggression and have complained about the lack of atonement for atrocities committed during that time.
Hashimoto said on May 13 that on a recent visit to the southern island of Okinawa, he suggested to the U.S. commander there that the troops there "to make better use" of the legal sex industry. "If you don't make use of those places you cannot control the sexual energy of those tough guys," he said.
He also said that Japan's wartime practice of forcing women from across Asia but mostly from South Korea and China to work in front-line brothels was necessary to maintain discipline and provide relaxation for soldiers.
He didn't apologize for those comments Monday, and insisted that Japan's wartime government did not systematically force girls and women into prostitution.
"If only Japan is blamed because of the widely held view that the state authority of Japan was intentionally involved in the abduction and trafficking of women, I will have to inform you that this view is incorrect," he said.
Hashimoto also urged the government to clarify Japan's landmark apology in a 1993 statement by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, and clearly state that Japan's government did not systematically force women into prostitution for its wartime military. Hashimoto has previously supported the view by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government denying official proof of coercion but open to further investigation.
Before taking office in December Abe had advocated revising the Kono statement, but has said recently he stands by that statement and won't revise it.
He said the murkiness of the Kono statement has contributed to longstanding disputes between Japan and South Korea. "We should bring an end to irrational debate."
Hashimoto did call the use of so-called comfort women an "inexcusable act that violated the dignity and human rights of the women, in which large numbers of Korean and Japanese were included."
Still, he claimed he had been quoted out of context to say that he personally believed that the use the system was necessary. He was trying to say that armed forces of nations around the world "seem to have needed women" in past wars and also violated women's human rights during wartime.
Singling out Japan was wrong, as this issue also existed in the armed forces of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the former Soviet Union during World War II, he alleged, without elaborating.
"Based on the premise that Japan must remorsefully face its past offenses and must never justify the offenses, I intended to argue that other nations in the world must not attempt to conclude the matter by blaming only Japan and by associating Japan alone with the simple phrase of 'sex slaves' or 'sex slavery,'" Hashimoto said in the statement.
Hashimoto said any forms of sexual exploitation of women at conflict, whether it is commercial or military run, is inexcusable.,
Historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from the Korean Peninsula and China, were forced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers in military brothels. While some other World War II armies had military brothels, Japan is the only country accused of such widespread, organized sexual slavery.
Hashimoto, 43, has become well-known in recent years for his outspokenness. Last year, he formed a conservative party, the Japan Restoration Party, with former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, a strident nationalist. The party is now an opposition party in the parliament.
The British Sky Broadcasting Group has removed their Android apps (Sky News, Sky Go, Sky+ and Sky Wi-Fi) from Google Play because of concerns that the Syrian Electronic Army has hacked the apps. Sky is advising users to delete the apps while they respond to the problem.
UPDATE: All Sky's Android apps were hacked and replaced... please uninstall it, And we will let you know when it will be available
The Syrian Electronic Army often targets news organizations like BBC, CBS, NPR and even The Onion, but seems to prefer spreading rumors and propaganda to malware. Still, without further information about the hack it makes sense to be cautious. [The Verge, The Next Web]
May 27, 2013 ? You are sitting on your couch flipping through TV channels trying to decide whether to stay put or get up for a snack. Such everyday decisions about whether to "stay" or to "go" are supported by a brain region called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is part of the prefrontal cortex. Neuroscientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have now identified key circuit elements that contribute to such decisions in the ACC.
CSHL Associate Professor Adam Kepecs and his team today publish results that, for the first time, link specific brain cell types to a particular behavior pattern in mice -- a "stay or go" pattern called foraging behavior. The paper, published online in Nature, shows that the firing of two distinct types of inhibitory neurons, known as somatostatin (SOM) and parvalbumin (PV) neurons, has a strong correlation with the start and end of a period of foraging behavior.
Linking specific neuronal types to well-defined behaviors has proved extremely difficult. "There's a big gap in our knowledge between our understanding of neuron types in terms of their physical location and their place in any given neural circuit, and what these neurons actually do during behavior," says Kepecs.
Part of the problem is the technical challenge of doing these studies in live, freely behaving mice. Key to solving that problem is a mouse model developed in the laboratory of CSHL Professor Z. Josh Huang. The mouse has a genetic modification that allows investigators to target a specific population of neurons with any protein of interest.
Kepecs' group, led by postdocs Duda Kvitsiani and Sachin Ranade, used this mouse to label specific neuron types in the ACC with a light-activated protein -- a technique known as optogenetic tagging. Whenever they shone light onto the brains of the mice they were recording from, only the tagged PV and SOM neurons responded promptly with a 'spike' in their activity, enabling the researchers to pick them out from the vast diversity of cellular responses seen at any given moment.
The team recorded neural activity in the ACC of these mice while they engaged in foraging behavior. They discovered that the PV and SOM inhibitory neurons responded around the time of the foraging decisions -- in other words whether to stay and drink or go and explore elsewhere. Specifically, when the mice entered an area where they could collect a water reward, SOM inhibitory neurons shut down and entered a period of low-level activity, thereby opening a 'gate' for information to flow in to ACC. When the mice decided to leave that area and look elsewhere, PV inhibitory neurons fired and abruptly reset cell activity.
"The brain is complex and continuously active, so it makes sense that these two types of inhibitory interneurons define the boundaries of a behavior such as foraging, opening and then closing the 'gate' within a particular neural circuit through changes in their activity," says Kepecs.
This is an important advance, addressing a problem in behavioral neuroscience that scientists call "the cortical response zoo." When researchers record neural activity in cortex during behavior, and they don't know which type of neurons they are recording from, a bewildering array of responses is seen. This greatly complicates the task of interpretation. Hence the significance of the Kepecs team's results, for the first time showing that specific cortical neuron types can be linked to specific aspects of behavior.
"We think about the brain and behavior in terms of levels; what the cell types are and the circuits or networks they form; which regions of the brain they are in; and what behavior is modulated by them," explains Kepecs. "By observing that the activity of specific cell types in the prefrontal cortex is correlated with a behavioral period, we have identified a link between these levels."
LONDON (AP) ? British police on Saturday arrested three more suspects in connection with the savage killing of an off-duty soldier that has raised fresh concerns about terrorism.
Scotland Yard said counter-terrorism officers arrested two men, aged 24 and 28, at a residential address in southeast London. A third man, 21, was arrested separately on a London street at the same time.
Police said they used a stun gun on two of the suspects. All three were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.
Officers have already detained several others in connection with the murder of 25-year-old soldier Lee Rigby, who was hit with a vehicle then repeatedly stabbed with knives while walking outside the Royal Artillery Barracks in the Woolwich, south London, on Wednesday afternoon.
The horrific scenes were recorded on witnesses' cellphones, and a video has emerged in which one of the two suspects made political statements and warned of further violence as the dead soldier lay on the ground behind him.
The two main suspects, aged 22 and 28, were shot by police who arrived at the scene minutes later. They are under guard in two separate hospitals.
Three other people were arrested Thursday in connection with the probe. Two women were released without charge, and a 29-year-old man has been bailed pending further questioning.
Another man was arrested on suspicion of unspecified terrorism offenses late Friday immediately after he gave a BBC interview detailing the background of one of the main suspects. The man, identified by the BBC as Abu Nusaybah, was arrested on BBC premises and remains in custody.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew herself up in car near a police building in Russia's Dagestan region on Saturday, injuring 11 policemen and passers-by, Russian media reported.
Dagestan, an ethnically mixed, mostly Muslim region between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, has become the most violent province in the North Caucasus, where insurgents say they are fighting to carve out an Islamic state out of southern Russia.
The bomb was detonated after police stopped the car to check the driver's documents, some 100 meters from the regional police ministry in the center of Makhachkala, the regional capital.
Police sources told local media the only person killed was the bomber, whom they identified as the former wife of two militants. It is not unusual for women to carry out suicide bombings in the region. They are often the widows of militants.
Two policemen injured in the blast were in a critical condition, police said, with nine other people requiring hospital treatment.
There has been a surge in violence in the region in recent weeks. The latest attack comes days after two car bombs in Makhachkala killed four people and injured dozens more on Monday.
At least 405 people were killed in Dagestan in violence linked to the insurgency last year, according to the Caucasian Knot website, which tracks developments in the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered law enforcement authorities to ensure insurgents do not attack the 2014 Winter Olympics next February in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, which is close to the North Caucasus.
(Reporting by Jason Bush; Editing by Alison Williams)
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Public release date: 28-May-2013
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