Apr. 29, 2013 ? There is a perception in some tech circles that older programmers aren't able to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, and that they are discriminated against in the software field. But a new study from North Carolina State University indicates that the knowledge and skills of programmers actually improve over time -- and that older programmers know as much (or more) than their younger peers when it comes to recent software platforms.
"We wanted to explore these perceptions of veteran programmers as being out of step with emerging technologies and see if we could determine whether older programmers are actually keeping up with changes in the field," says Dr. Emerson Murphy-Hill, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper on the research. "And we found that, in some cases, veteran programmers even have a slight edge."
The researchers looked at the profiles of more than 80,000 programmers on a site called StackOverflow, which is an online community that allows users to ask and answer programming questions. The site also allows users to rate the usefulness of other users' questions and answers. Users who are rated as asking good questions and providing good answers receive points that are reflected in their "reputation score." The higher an individual's reputation score, the more likely it is that the user has a robust understanding of programming issues.
For the first part of the study, the researchers compared the age of users with their reputation scores. They found that an individual's reputation increases with age, at least into a user's 40s. There wasn't enough data to draw meaningful conclusions for older programmers.
The researchers then looked at the number of different subjects that users asked and answered questions about, which reflects the breadth of their programming interests. The researchers found that there is a sharp decline in the number of subjects users weighed in on between the ages of 15 and 30 -- but that the range of subjects increased steadily through the programmers' 30s and into their early 50s.
Finally, the researchers evaluated the knowledge of older programmers (ages 37 and older) compared to younger programmers (younger than 37) in regard to relatively recent technologies -- meaning technologies that have been around for less than 10 years.
For two smartphone operating systems, iOS and Windows Phone 7, the veteran programmers had a significant edge in knowledge over their younger counterparts. For every other technology, from Django to Silverlight, there was no statistically significant difference between older and younger programmers.
"The data doesn't support the bias against older programmers -- if anything, just the opposite," Murphy-Hill says.
The paper, "Is Programming Knowledge Related To Age?," will be presented May 18 at the 10th Working Conference on Mining Software Repositories, sponsored by IEEE and ACM in San Francisco, Calif. Lead author of the paper is Patrick Morrison, a Ph.D. student at NC State.
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Pastures are beginning to turn green following warm weather and sunshine in South Dakota.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in its weekly crop report that the spring-like conditions resulted in 1.7 days suitable for fieldwork. Activities included caring for livestock and preparing for spring planting.
Winter wheat conditions were rated 16 percent very poor, 35 percent poor, 43 percent fair, 6 percent good and 0 percent excellent.
Calving was 77 percent complete and lambing was 85 percent complete.
Cattle and calf conditions were rated as 1 percent very poor, 6 percent poor, 29 percent fair, 57 percent good, and 7 percent excellent.
Contact: Kelly Goss
913-422-6846
kelly.goss@merck.com
Contact: Carol Ferguson, Investor Relations
908-423-4465
carol.ferguson@merck.com
Merck
Now available to the US veterinary market
SUMMIT, NJApril 29, 2013 Merck Animal Health today announced that Vetsulin (porcine insulin zinc suspension), the only FDA-approved insulin for use in both dogs and cats is now available to veterinarians throughout the United States. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in dogs and cats ranges from one in 1001 to one in 500, 2 and the number of dogs diagnosed with the disease has tripled during the past 30 years.3 Today, along with proper diet and exercise, Vetsulin plays an important role in successfully managing diabetes in both dogs and cats.
"We are pleased that Vetsulin is again available in the U.S. market; offering our customers the same product benefits that veterinarians worldwide have relied on for the past 20 years," said Christopher Pappas, D.V.M., Director, Technical Services, Merck Animal Health. "At Merck Animal Health, we are committed to providing our full support to veterinarians as they manage the health of dogs and cats living with diabetes."
While only 50 percent of dogs used to survive the first 60 days following a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, today, dogs receiving the proper treatment have the same expected lifespan as a non-diabetic dog of the same age and gender. 3 With effective treatment, lifestyle changes and monitoring, a diabetic cat also can have the same expected life span as a non-diabetic cat of the same age.
Getting the disease under control is paramount to survival. In a study of dogs treated with Vetsulin, adequate glycemic control was achieved in an average of 81 percent of dogs, 4 and in a pivotal U.S. study of diabetic cats, Vetsulin reduced all major diabetes indicators to within normal range by day 60 of treatment.5,6
Merck Animal Health is committed to supporting veterinarians in the ongoing treatment of their patients, including making diabetes professionals available to answer questions. An in-depth website (http://www.vetsulin.com) provides tools for both veterinarians and pet owners to make monitoring blood glucose levels easier. A wide variety of pet owner educational materials also can be found on the website, including downloadable guides from step-by-step instructions for giving an insulin injection to a management monitoring sheet to keep track of a pet's progress.
Vetsulin should not be used in dogs or cats known to have a systemic allergy to pork or pork products. Vetsulin is contraindicated during periods of hypoglycemia. Keep out of reach of children. As with all insulin products, careful patient monitoring for hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia is essential to attain and maintain adequate glycemic control and prevent associated complications. Overdosage can result in profound hypoglycemia and death. The safety and effectiveness of Vetsulin in puppies and kittens, breeding, pregnant, and lactating dogs and cats has not been evaluated. See package insert for full information regarding contraindications, warnings, and precautions.
###
About Merck Animal Health
Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside the United States and Canada, is the global animal health business unit of Merck. Merck Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest ranges of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services. Merck Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. Merck Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit http://www.merck-animal-health.com.
Merck forward-Looking Statement
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Merck's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; Merck's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of Merck's patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.
Merck undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in Merck's 2012 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov).
Nelson RW. Canine diabetes mellitus. In: Ettinger SJ, Feldmen EC, eds. Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Saunders; 2010: 1782-1796.
Reusch C. Feline diabetes mellitus. In: Ettinger SJ, Feldmen EC, eds. Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Saunders; 2010: 1796-1816.
Fleeman, Linda; Rand, Jacqueline (2005). Beyond Insulin Therapy: Achieving Optimal Control in Diabetic Dogs". Centre for Companion Animal Health, School of Veterinary Science, the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Graham PA, Nash AS, McKellar QA. Pharmacokinetics of a porcine insulin zinc suspension in diabetic dogs. J Small Animal Prac. 1997; 38 (10); 434-438.
Data on file, Merck Animal Health.
Vetsulin (porcine insulin suspension) Freedom of Information Summary, Millsboro, DE; Intervet Inc; 2008.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Kelly Goss
913-422-6846
kelly.goss@merck.com
Contact: Carol Ferguson, Investor Relations
908-423-4465
carol.ferguson@merck.com
Merck
Now available to the US veterinary market
SUMMIT, NJApril 29, 2013 Merck Animal Health today announced that Vetsulin (porcine insulin zinc suspension), the only FDA-approved insulin for use in both dogs and cats is now available to veterinarians throughout the United States. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in dogs and cats ranges from one in 1001 to one in 500, 2 and the number of dogs diagnosed with the disease has tripled during the past 30 years.3 Today, along with proper diet and exercise, Vetsulin plays an important role in successfully managing diabetes in both dogs and cats.
"We are pleased that Vetsulin is again available in the U.S. market; offering our customers the same product benefits that veterinarians worldwide have relied on for the past 20 years," said Christopher Pappas, D.V.M., Director, Technical Services, Merck Animal Health. "At Merck Animal Health, we are committed to providing our full support to veterinarians as they manage the health of dogs and cats living with diabetes."
While only 50 percent of dogs used to survive the first 60 days following a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, today, dogs receiving the proper treatment have the same expected lifespan as a non-diabetic dog of the same age and gender. 3 With effective treatment, lifestyle changes and monitoring, a diabetic cat also can have the same expected life span as a non-diabetic cat of the same age.
Getting the disease under control is paramount to survival. In a study of dogs treated with Vetsulin, adequate glycemic control was achieved in an average of 81 percent of dogs, 4 and in a pivotal U.S. study of diabetic cats, Vetsulin reduced all major diabetes indicators to within normal range by day 60 of treatment.5,6
Merck Animal Health is committed to supporting veterinarians in the ongoing treatment of their patients, including making diabetes professionals available to answer questions. An in-depth website (http://www.vetsulin.com) provides tools for both veterinarians and pet owners to make monitoring blood glucose levels easier. A wide variety of pet owner educational materials also can be found on the website, including downloadable guides from step-by-step instructions for giving an insulin injection to a management monitoring sheet to keep track of a pet's progress.
Vetsulin should not be used in dogs or cats known to have a systemic allergy to pork or pork products. Vetsulin is contraindicated during periods of hypoglycemia. Keep out of reach of children. As with all insulin products, careful patient monitoring for hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia is essential to attain and maintain adequate glycemic control and prevent associated complications. Overdosage can result in profound hypoglycemia and death. The safety and effectiveness of Vetsulin in puppies and kittens, breeding, pregnant, and lactating dogs and cats has not been evaluated. See package insert for full information regarding contraindications, warnings, and precautions.
###
About Merck Animal Health
Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside the United States and Canada, is the global animal health business unit of Merck. Merck Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest ranges of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services. Merck Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. Merck Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit http://www.merck-animal-health.com.
Merck forward-Looking Statement
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Merck's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; Merck's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of Merck's patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.
Merck undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in Merck's 2012 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov).
Nelson RW. Canine diabetes mellitus. In: Ettinger SJ, Feldmen EC, eds. Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Saunders; 2010: 1782-1796.
Reusch C. Feline diabetes mellitus. In: Ettinger SJ, Feldmen EC, eds. Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Saunders; 2010: 1796-1816.
Fleeman, Linda; Rand, Jacqueline (2005). Beyond Insulin Therapy: Achieving Optimal Control in Diabetic Dogs". Centre for Companion Animal Health, School of Veterinary Science, the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Graham PA, Nash AS, McKellar QA. Pharmacokinetics of a porcine insulin zinc suspension in diabetic dogs. J Small Animal Prac. 1997; 38 (10); 434-438.
Data on file, Merck Animal Health.
Vetsulin (porcine insulin suspension) Freedom of Information Summary, Millsboro, DE; Intervet Inc; 2008.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
Have you ever wondered just how many times you can click together a pair of LEGO bricks before they break? Probably, but until now, no one was curious enough to actually build a machine to find out.
Phillipe Cantin, following that inscrutable urge to create and test that drives so many inventors, made a crude but effective LEGO-assembling machine in his spare time. With it, he demonstrates that LEGO blocks, while extremely resilient, are not immortal.
The device repeatedly put together and pulled apart a pair of the 2x3 LEGO bricks for more than a week straight. By the time the blocks finally failed, they had gone through 37,112 repetitions.
Cantin explained in a follow-up video that the bricks were from the '70s and had already seen some use; this was by design, and he plans to test bricks from the ensuing decades and the present as well to see if there's any variation in durability.
But he won't be using the same machine; "I want to build a new rig that will be much better, much faster to do the assembly," he said in the video. Hopefully the next few months will bring further information on the topic, and the secrets of the LEGO life cycle will be elucidated at last.
via Arduino Blog
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
BERLIN (AP) ? Rabbits scamper over quiet runways. Only the call of a crow disturbs the silence around a gleaming, empty terminal that should be humming with the din of thousands of passengers.
Willy Brandt International Airport, named for Germany's famed Cold War leader, was supposed to have been up and running in late 2011, a sign of Berlin's transformation from Cold War confrontation line to world class capital of Europe's economic powerhouse. Instead it has become a symbol of how, even for this technological titan, things can go horribly wrong.
After four publicly announced delays, officials acknowledged the airport won't be ready by the latest target: October 2013. To spare themselves further embarrassment, officials have refused to set a new opening date.
The saga of Berlin's new airport has turned into a national joke and a source of humiliation for a people renowned for being on time. Yet it is just the highest profile in a string of big-ticket projects ? including a concert hall in Hamburg, railway tunnels in Munich and Leipzig, a subway line in Cologne and a Stuttgart underground train station ? that have been plagued by huge cost overruns and delays.
The airport fiasco presents a staggering picture of incompetence.
German media have tracked down a list of tens of thousands of technical problems. Among them: Officials can't even figure out how to turn the lights off. Thousands of light bulbs illuminate the gigantic main terminal and unused parking lots around the clock, a massive energy and cost drain that appears to be the result of a computer system that's so sophisticated it's almost impossible to operate.
Every day, an empty commuter train rolls to the unfinished airport over an eight-kilometer-long (five-mile) stretch to keep the newly-laid tracks from getting rusty, another example of gross inefficiency. Meanwhile, hundreds of freshly planted trees had to be chopped down because a company delivered the wrong type of linden trees; several escalators need to be rebuilt because they were too short; and dozen of tiles were already broken before a single airport passenger ever stepped on them.
The airport itself points to problems with the fire safety system as the immediate cause of the delays: The fire safety system incorporates some 75,000 sprinklers, but computer programming glitches mean it's not clear whether all of these sprinklers would spray enough water during a fire. And the system's underground vent system, designed to suck away smoke, isn't working. Here, again, technology's getting in the way: It's so advanced that technicians can't figure out what's wrong with it.
Critics say that the difficulties with handling today's complex technology have been compounded by hasty, negligent work due to the intense time pressures.
Underlying these problems appears to be a culture of political dishonesty.
"Many politicians want prestigious large-scale projects to be inseparably connected with their names," said Sebastian Panknin, a financial expert with the Taxpayer's Association Germany. "To get these expensive projects started, they artificially calculate down the real costs to get permission from parliament or other committees in charge."
In addition to that, politicians at the city, state and federal levels then often come with extra demands once construction is underway, which leads to expensive modifications. In the case of the Berlin airport, said Pankin, there were about 300 ad hoc change requests by politicians which created an explosion of costs and several delays ? among them a last-minute wish to expand the terminal to include a shopping mall.
"The airport is a classic example of the incompetence of our politicians," said Sven Fandrich, a 28-year-old Berliner who works for an insurance company. "We've seen this happen with many big infrastructure projects in Germany. Nobody feels responsible. The politicians are more concerned about winning the next elections than devoting their service to the people."
Hamburg's concert hall was to have opened by 2010. Instead it's nowhere near complete and costs have more than doubled to 575 million euros. It's now due to open in 2016.
Construction on Cologne's North-South subway line began in 2004. After cost overruns and a collapse that killed two people in 2009, officials say the entire line may not be open until 2019. Costs have soared from 780 million to 1.08 billion euros.
In Leipzig, the city tunnel for commuter trains was expected to open in 2009. Construction is still not finished, and costs have jumped from 572 million to 960 million euros.
Of all the bungled projects, the Berlin airport is the biggest embarrassment.
The initial plan foresaw building a stately airport that would be financed by private investors and replace the city's two Cold War airports ? Tegel in former West Berlin and Schoenefeld in what was the communist east.
After a series of disputes with private investors, the city, state and federal governments eventually took over the airport project. In 2006, costs were estimated at 2 billion euros, but after four delays, the figure spiked to 4.4 billion euros.
Companies like Air Berlin, Germany's second biggest carrier, have been severely affected by the delays and are suing for lost revenues. Small businesses like coffee shops, restaurants, retail stores or bus operators ? who had already hired staff and invested in new stores at the airport ? are facing bankruptcy.
Twitter users asked the mayor to "please open this gate," playing off President Ronald Reagan's famous 1987 appeal to Moscow to "tear down" the Berlin Wall.
And by the time the airport finally opens, it may face a new headache.
Some aviation experts are warning that by its inauguration date, the airport will already be too small to handle the rising number of passengers. The nearly 3.9 million square foot (360,000 square meter) airport complex was designed to handle 27 million passengers. But the existing two city airports handled 25 million passengers last year ? and the city keeps attracting more visitors every year.
"The airport is too expensive, too small and too much behind time," said aviation expert Dieter Faulenbach da Costa, who recently caused a stir when he proposed that the airport ought to be torn down.
In an effort to salvage the mess, Hartmut Mehdorn, the hardnosed former boss of the German railway system with a reputation for turning around failing corporations, was named chief executive of the airport in early March.
"The whole world says: it's not possible at all," Mehdorn said when he took over. "I say: It should be possible.
Hindrances to women?s sexual health abound from state to state. Lengthy and expensive arguments over abortion and women?s contraception seem par for the course in politics today, with the crux of many a conservative leader?s campaign strategy revolving around eradicating Planned Parenthood.
But amid the debates over morality and choice, there stood yesterday, one small victory. A federal judge ordered that Plan B One-Step, otherwise known as emergency contraception, must be made available over-the-counter, to all ages, without a prescription, or any other restrictions, starting within the next 30 days.
The FDA still has the option of appealing that ruling, though whether or not they will is up for debate.
?
?
At a public news conference, Dr. Cora Collette Breuner, a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital, declared the judge's ruling made her proud "as a woman and as a doctor and as a mother of three children.? She also said, "This statement and this ruling are long overdue and especially welcome by all of us at the American Academy of Pediatrics.?
According to The New York Times, Plan B One-Step had been available to women under the age of 17 through a prescription only. Users above the age requirement could purchase it without a prescription, but the contraception is still kept behind the pharmacist?s counter, where an ID is required to obtain it.
In some states like Washington and Illinois, pharmacists with religious objections are still allowed to refuse to sell Plan B One-Step to any customer if they so choose.
But this latest ruling, should it go unappealed by the FDA, would mean that those who stand behind the pharmacy counter would no longer be the gatekeepers of morning-after contraception. Boxes of it could be freed from the confines of the pharmacy and released to their new home, presumably on a shelf in the same aisle as the feminine hygiene products.
In her public statement, Annie Tummino, lead plaintiff in the case, and the coordinator of National Women?s Liberation, said that's been her aim all along: ?The morning-after pill should be available to females of all ages, on the shelf at any convenience store, just like aspirin or condoms. Women and girls should have the absolute right to control our bodies without having to ask a doctor or a pharmacist for permission.?
Surprisingly, in 2011 the FDA itself had also recommended Plan B One-Step sold without a prescription or other restrictions. The agency determined after a 10-month review that the drug was safe, even for younger users.
But that decision was shot down at the time by Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, for what many are calling a thinly-veiled political maneuver to secure President Obama?s reelection in 2012.
In fact, Judge Edward R. Korman, who rendered this week?s ruling, called Sebelius? past objection to Plan B, ?arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.?
Though the FDA could still appeal Judge Korman's ruling, proponents seem hopeful that won't be the case in light of the agency's previous determination that the product is safe.
That means in 30 days time, the U.S. could finally join 63 other nations who offer emergency contraception without a prescription, including the United Kingdom, France, Denmark and Ghana.
Are you hopeful that emergency contraception will make it the pharmacy aisles, or do you expect that it will face further opposition? Let us know in the Comments.
Related Stories on TakePart:
? Ob-Gyns: Sell 'The Pill' Over the Counter
? Free Birth Control Means Drastic Drop in Unplanned Pregnancies
? New York City Public Schools Go to Plan B
A Bay Area native, Andri Antoniades previously worked as a fashion industry journalist and medical writer.??In addition to reporting the weekend news on TakePart, she volunteers as a webeditor for locally-based nonprofits and works as a freelance feature writer for?TimeOutLA.com. Email Andri | @andritweets?| TakePart.com
Antibody evolution could guide HIV vaccine developmentPublic release date: 4-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nancy Ambrosiano nwa@lanl.gov 505-667-0471 DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 4, 2013Observing the evolution of a particular type of antibody in an infected HIV-1 patient, a study spearheaded by Duke University, including analysis from Los Alamos National Laboratory, has provided insights that will enable vaccination strategies that mimic the actual antibody development within the body.
The kind of antibody studied is called a broadly cross-reactive neutralizing antibody, and details of its generation could provide a blueprint for effective vaccination, according to the study's authors. In a paper published online in Nature this week, the team reported on the isolation, evolution and structure of a broadly neutralizing antibody from an African donor followed from the time of infection.
The observations trace the co-evolution of the virus and antibodies, ultimately leading to the development of a strain of the potent antibodies in this subject, and they could provide insights into strategies to elicit similar antibodies by vaccination.
Patients early in HIV-1 infection have primarily a single "founder" form of the virus that has been strong enough to infect the patient, even though the population in the originating patient is usually far more diverse and contains a wide variety of HIV mutations. Once the founder virus is involved in the new patient's system, the surrounding environment stimulates the HIV to mutate and form a unique, tailored population of virus that is specific to the individual.
The team, including Bette Korber, Peter Hraber, and S. Gnanakaran, of Los Alamos National Laboratory, led by Barton Haynes of Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, with colleagues at Boston University, the National Institutes of Health, and other institutions as part of a large collaboration, showed that broadly neutralizing antibodies developed only after the population of viruses in the individual had matured and become more diverse.
"Our hope is that a vaccine based on the series of HIV variants that evolved within this subject, that were together capable of stimulating this potent broad antibody response in his natural infection, may enable triggering similar protective antibody responses in vaccines," said Bette Korber, leader of the Los Alamos team.
###
The research, "Co-evolution of a broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibody and founder virus,"
is at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12053.html online.
This study was supported by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and by intramural National Institutes of Health (NIH) support for the NIAID Vaccine Research Center, by grants from the NIH, NIAID, AI067854 (the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology) and AI100645 (the Center for Vaccine Immunology-Immunogen Discovery). Use of sector 22 (Southeast Region Collaborative Access team) at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, under contract number W-31-109-Eng-38.
About Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company and URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and global security concerns.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
Antibody evolution could guide HIV vaccine developmentPublic release date: 4-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nancy Ambrosiano nwa@lanl.gov 505-667-0471 DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 4, 2013Observing the evolution of a particular type of antibody in an infected HIV-1 patient, a study spearheaded by Duke University, including analysis from Los Alamos National Laboratory, has provided insights that will enable vaccination strategies that mimic the actual antibody development within the body.
The kind of antibody studied is called a broadly cross-reactive neutralizing antibody, and details of its generation could provide a blueprint for effective vaccination, according to the study's authors. In a paper published online in Nature this week, the team reported on the isolation, evolution and structure of a broadly neutralizing antibody from an African donor followed from the time of infection.
The observations trace the co-evolution of the virus and antibodies, ultimately leading to the development of a strain of the potent antibodies in this subject, and they could provide insights into strategies to elicit similar antibodies by vaccination.
Patients early in HIV-1 infection have primarily a single "founder" form of the virus that has been strong enough to infect the patient, even though the population in the originating patient is usually far more diverse and contains a wide variety of HIV mutations. Once the founder virus is involved in the new patient's system, the surrounding environment stimulates the HIV to mutate and form a unique, tailored population of virus that is specific to the individual.
The team, including Bette Korber, Peter Hraber, and S. Gnanakaran, of Los Alamos National Laboratory, led by Barton Haynes of Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, with colleagues at Boston University, the National Institutes of Health, and other institutions as part of a large collaboration, showed that broadly neutralizing antibodies developed only after the population of viruses in the individual had matured and become more diverse.
"Our hope is that a vaccine based on the series of HIV variants that evolved within this subject, that were together capable of stimulating this potent broad antibody response in his natural infection, may enable triggering similar protective antibody responses in vaccines," said Bette Korber, leader of the Los Alamos team.
###
The research, "Co-evolution of a broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibody and founder virus,"
is at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12053.html online.
This study was supported by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and by intramural National Institutes of Health (NIH) support for the NIAID Vaccine Research Center, by grants from the NIH, NIAID, AI067854 (the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology) and AI100645 (the Center for Vaccine Immunology-Immunogen Discovery). Use of sector 22 (Southeast Region Collaborative Access team) at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, under contract number W-31-109-Eng-38.
About Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company and URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and global security concerns.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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Discover Video today announced DEVOS 3.0, a new media management and video streaming system for private and public enterprises. DEVOS 3.0 breaks the barrier in price, features, and flexibility for a complete hybrid video distribution system that can be used inside the firewall and on the public Internet simultaneously.?? Not only does it manage and deliver live and on-demand video and multimedia, but it also includes digital signage, a unique video priority alert system, Roku integration, and more.
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?DEVOS 3.0 is perfect for enterprises that need to distribute live and on-demand media efficiently and securely to employees, students, partners, and customers?, said Rich Mavrogeanes, president and CEO of Discover Video. ?In our modern mixed desktop-and-mobile world, DEVOS 3.0 combines the best features of web services like YouTube with world-class live streaming, any-platform delivery, set top boxes, Digital Signage, ?and Priority Alert.?
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DEVOS 3.0 key features include:?
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Hybrid enterprise and cloud video streaming for traffic load balancing and reach
World-class multi-screen user interface
Live and On-demand delivery to virtually all computers, TV monitors, Roku? boxes, tablets, iPhone?, iPad?, Android and other devices
Full enterprise Active Directory integration
Digital Signage and Priority Video Alert at no additional cost
Content curation from YouTube, iTunes, and other popular content systems
Simple creation and management of specific channels by user
Integrated DropBox for ultra-easy publishing
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For schools, businesses, and government the DEVOS 3.0 system provides a private portal with the ability to customize viewing pages and content, while providing detailed statistics.?? It can be purchased as both an on premises server or Cloud service.? For larger organizations a hybrid approach permits fine tuning live and on-demand video distribution, eliminating any network bottlenecks.
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A bonus for schools and universities is the Priority Alert feature, extensively used by the U.S. military.? Within seconds, a live or recorded video message can be sent to thousands of network connected computers without end user action, notifying them of impending emergencies, storms or major announcements.? ?The DEVOS 3.0 Digital Signage feature, which displays HD quality live or recording video, text, or web pages on large monitors, is also integrated with Priority Alert.
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DEVOS is the first private video system to incorporate the popular, inexpensive Roku set top box into the proposition. The entire live and on-demand video library can be viewed on a under $100 box, making it extremely easy to deploy video everywhere. ???
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The DEVOS applications include distance learning/lecture capture at colleges and universities, flipping the classroom or morning announcements in K-12 schools, video training and executive broadcasts in businesses, and government meeting distribution in towns, cities, states, and federal agencies.? It can also be used to delivery live video feeds from security IP cameras located anywhere.
Apr. 3, 2013 ? Ad?lie penguins may actually benefit from warmer global temperatures, the opposite of other polar species, according to a breakthrough study by an international team led by University of Minnesota Polar Geospatial Center researchers. The study provides key information affirming hypothetical projections about the continuing impact of environmental change.
Researchers from the United States and New Zealand used a mix of old and new technology studying a combination of aerial photography beginning in 1958 and modern satellite imagery from the 2000s. They found that the population size of an Ad?lie penguin colony on Antarctica's Beaufort Island near the southern Ross Sea increased 84 percent (from 35,000 breeding pairs to 64,000 breeding pairs) as the ice fields retreated between 1958-2010, with the biggest change in the last three decades. The average summer temperature in that area increased about a half a degree Celsius per decade since the mid-1980s.
The first-of-its-kind study was published today in PLOS ONE, a leading peer-reviewed scientific journal. The research affirms models published in 2010 projecting how south polar penguins will respond to changed habitat as Earth's atmosphere reaches 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a point that is rapidly approaching.
The study showed that available habitat for Ad?lie penguins on the main portion of the Beaufort colony, on the south coast, increased 71 percent since 1958, with a 20 percent increase from 1983-2010. The extent of the snow and ice field to the north of the main colony did not change from 1958-1983, but then retreated 543 meters from 1983-2010.
In addition to the overall population growth, researchers saw an increase in population density within the colony as it filled in what used to be unsuitable habitat covered in snow and ice. They also found that the emigration rates of birds banded as chicks on Beaufort Island to colonies on nearby Ross Island decreased after 2005 as available habitat on Beaufort increased, leading to altered dynamics of the population studied.
"This research raises new questions about how Antarctic species are impacted by a changing environment," said Michelle LaRue, the paper's co-author and research fellow at the Polar Geospatial Center in the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering. "This paper encourages all of us to take a second look at what we're seeing and find out if this type of habitat expansion is happening elsewhere to other populations of Ad?lie penguins or other species."
Penguin expert and study co-author David Ainley, a lead author of an earlier study, agreed that this study gives researchers important new information.
"We learned in previous research from 2001-2005 that it is a myth that penguins never move to a new colony in large numbers. When conditions are tough, they do," said Ainley, a senior marine wildlife ecologist with H.T. Harvey and Associates, an environmental consulting company in California. "This study at Beaufort and Ross Islands provides empirical evidence about how this penguin attribute will contribute to their response to climate change."
Ad?lie penguins are common along the southern Antarctic coast. They are smaller than their Emperor penguin counterparts standing about 46 to 75 cm (18 to 30 inches) when upright and weighing about 4.5-5.4 kg (10-12 pounds). The Ad?lie penguin lives only where there is sea ice but needs the ice-free land to breed. Breeding pairs produce on average one chick per year and return to the same area to breed if conditions haven't changed.
To determine changes in available nesting habitat in this study, researchers gathered aerial photos during the penguin incubation period in 1958, 1983 and 1993 and high-resolution satellite images from 2005 and 2010. Researchers overlaid the images exactly, lining up rocks and other geographical landmarks. They studied guano (penguin feces and urine) stains to determine the available habitat.
In the future, researchers plan to use additional satellite imagery to look at other Ad?lie penguin populations to help understand the dynamics and environmental factors that influence regional populations.
"This study brought together researchers from different academic disciplines who all contributed their expertise," LaRue said. "We had people who study climate change, spatial analysis, and wildlife population dynamics. This is how good science leads to results."
In addition to LaRue and Ainley, other researchers involved in the study included Matt Swanson, a graduate student researcher at the University of Minnesota Polar Geospatial Center; Katie M. Dugger from Oregon State University; Phil O'B. Lyver from Landcare Research in New Zealand; Kerry Barton from Bartonk Solutions in New Zealand; and Grant Ballard from PRBO Conservation Science in California.
The study was primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Minnesota.
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Journal Reference:
Michelle A. LaRue, David G. Ainley, Matt Swanson, Katie M. Dugger, Phil O?B. Lyver, Kerry Barton, Grant Ballard. Climate Change Winners: Receding Ice Fields Facilitate Colony Expansion and Altered Dynamics in an Ad?lie Penguin Metapopulation. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (4): e60568 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060568
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Some Firefox releases have more noticeable changes than others. We'd say that the newly finalized Firefox 20 is firmly in that first camp. The new release gives desktop users a Safari-like download manager that pops out from the toolbar, making it possible to check on a big download without anything so ungainly as a separate window. Also new are more refined approaches to private browsing that can open a new window (on the desktop) or tab (on Android) for those extra-personal, secretive... gift-shopping sessions, according to Mozilla. Whether or not you believe that euphemism, there's no doubt that Android users receive their own specific treat through support for lower-end ARMv6 phones, including relative oldies like the HTC Legend and Samsung Galaxy Q. Hit the source links to stay current with Firefox, no matter how innocuous your intentions might be.
Apr. 1, 2013 ? When companies put a human face on their brand, the public usually responds positively. This advertising approach has brought us alarm clocks with sleepy faces and color-coated chocolate candies with legs and arms.
But a new study, published online ahead of print in the Journal of Marketing, finds there is a greater backlash by the public when a product branded with human characteristics fails.
Lead author Marina Puzakova, an assistant professor of marketing at Oregon State University, said even though consumers can tell a camera designed with human characteristics such as little eyes and legs isn't a person, the very act of humanizing a product can be a powerful tool.
"Somehow, now the product seems alive and mindful, and therefore can be perceived as having intentions and its own motivations to act in a certain way," Puzakova said. "This perception of intentions can be extremely strong -- consumers now see the brand as performing bad intentionally and therefore consumers develop more negative sentiments toward the brand."
Puzakova conducted five experiments with products that had experienced negative publicity. As a general procedure, participants saw advertisements of both existing and fictitious products, where "human" characteristics, such as arms, legs, or facial-like features were manipulated. Then Puzakova showed participants news reports about how the product had failed in some way, not lived up to its advertising claim, or did not function based on consumer expectations.
In every instance, participants reported that they had stronger negative reactions to the products that were given human characteristics, also known as "brand anthropomorphization."
"Brand anthropomorphization can be a very powerful advertising tool, so I am definitely not saying that companies shouldn't use it," Puzakova said. "However, they need to be aware that when they imbue their products with human-like characteristics, any backlash when something goes wrong could be stronger."
Puzakova's study found that the strength of negative reactions depended on consumer personality differences as well. Based on a personality test she gave participants, she found that people who believe in "personality stability," or that personality traits are always the same and don't change over time, tended to have stronger negative feelings towards anthropomorphized brands.
"Broadly speaking, men tend to believe in personality stability more than women, and seniors as well," Puzakova said. "Also, some cultures tend to believe in this more than others. This can be important for advertisers to know, depending on who their target market is.
Having a deeper knowledge about their target markets, companies can also design their advertising communications tailored for different types of consumers. For example, marketers may want to emphasize flexibility and change in an ad campaign in order to reverse negative attitudes by male consumers, who tend to believe in personality stability.
Puzakova's research also has a lesson for companies whose brands fail because of a product malfunction.
"As consumers who believe in stability of personality traits react to product failures more negatively, our research finds that companies need to provide either monetary compensation or give away coupons," Puzakova said. "Offering a public apology is not enough. For instance, companies that have a humanized brand marketed heavily towards seniors may need to be prepared to generously compensate those consumers if something goes wrong."
The bottom line, Puzakova said, is companies need to know their audience and the possible dangers of humanizing a brand when a product malfunctions. It can be a powerful advertising tool, but if the product fails in some way, the damage control could be costly and timely.
Hyokjin Kwak of Drexel University and Joseph Rocereto of Monmouth University contributed to this study.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Oregon State University.
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Journal Reference:
Marina Puzakova, Hyokjin Kwak, Joseph F Rocereto. When Humanizing Brands Goes Wrong: The Detrimental Effect of Brand Anthropomorphization Amid Product Wrongdoings. Journal of Marketing, 2013; DOI: 10.1509/jm.11.0510
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Conservation biologist Kent Redford talks about the issues facing the intersection of synthetic biology and conservation biology and a conference that starts April 9th called "How will synthetic biology and conservation shape the future of nature?"
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Conservation biologist Kent Redford, recently of the Wildlife Conservation Society and now with Archipelago Consulting, talks about the issues facing the intersection of synthetic biology and conservation biology. He organized a conference that starts April 9th at Clare College in Cambridge, England, called ?How will synthetic biology and conservation shape the future of nature??
Redford is a co-author of a paper in the journal PLoS Biology [Kent H. Redford, William Adams and Georgina M. Mace, Synthetic Biology and Conservation of Nature: Wicked Problems and Wicked Solutions] that frames the issues the conference will begin to address.
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Public release date: 29-Apr-2013
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