Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295667955?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, March 31, 2013
Beckham relishing chance to play against Barcelona
By JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 2:00 p.m. ET March 30, 2013
PARIS (AP) - David Beckham says he feels fit enough to start the biggest game in Paris Saint-Germain's recent history when the club takes on Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday.
PSG has not played in the quarterfinals of the competition since 1995, when a 19-year-old Beckham was just breaking into the Manchester United team. That year PSG beat Barca in the quarterfinals.
After joining the French leader in January, Beckham has shown he can keep the pace at age 37. He made an impact as a substitute in Friday night's 1-0 home win against Montpellier, which moved PSG provisionally eight points ahead in the league.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Beckham relishing chance to play against Barcelona
??PARIS (AP) - David Beckham says he feels fit enough to start the biggest game in Paris Saint-Germain's recent history when the club takes on Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51380881/ns/sports-soccer/
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Monte Paschi says lost billions in deposits after Feb scandal
MILAN (Reuters) - Customers' deposits at Italian bank Monte dei Paschi fell by "a few billion euros" after a scandal erupted in February over loss-making derivatives trades at the lender, the bank said in a document posted on its web site on Saturday.
Monte dei Paschi last week reported a higher-than-expected net loss for the whole of 2012 on the back of a rise in provisions for bad loans and 730 million euros in losses on the derivatives trades, which are at the center of a fraud.
But it has yet to make clear what impact the scandal itself had on its first quarter results.
"The illicit nature of the derivatives trades and their consequence on the bank's assets exposed the bank to reputational damage that was immediately translated into...the withdrawal of a few billion euros in deposits," the bank said in a document for shareholders attending its April 29 meeting.
The bank's chief financial officer said after the earnings were released on Thursday that it was "quick in recovering ground in March" on lost deposits in February.
"January started off well...we were somewhat impacted in February but we were quick in recovering ground in March," Bernardo Mingrone told analysts on a conference call.
But he declined to give a forecast on the level of deposits at the end of the first quarter of 2013 or to indicate the outlook for net interest income and loan loss provisions.
(Reporting by Jennifer Clark; editing by Naomi O'Leary and Patrick Graham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/monte-paschi-says-lost-billions-deposits-feb-scandal-164701865--finance.html
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Partisan discord finds roots in toss-up districts
In this photo taken March 25, 2013, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, uses a chart to talk about the U.S. budget deficit during a town hall meeting with constituents in Montgomery, Ohio. Here in the Cincinnati suburbs, where people tend to be polite, one finds seeds of the bitter partisanship that gnaws at Washington, 500 miles away. If any Republican House members might be open to compromise with President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers, Chabot would seem near the top. Yet he toes an unyielding conservative line on virtually every big issue. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
In this photo taken March 25, 2013, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, uses a chart to talk about the U.S. budget deficit during a town hall meeting with constituents in Montgomery, Ohio. Here in the Cincinnati suburbs, where people tend to be polite, one finds seeds of the bitter partisanship that gnaws at Washington, 500 miles away. If any Republican House members might be open to compromise with President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers, Chabot would seem near the top. Yet he toes an unyielding conservative line on virtually every big issue. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
In this photo taken March 25, 2013, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, listens to constituents' questions at a town hall meeting in Montgomery, Ohio. Here in the Cincinnati suburbs, where people tend to be polite, one finds seeds of the bitter partisanship that gnaws at Washington, 500 miles away. If any Republican House members might be open to compromise with President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers, Chabot would seem near the top. Yet he toes an unyielding conservative line on virtually every big issue. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
In this photo taken March 25, 2013, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, takes time after his town hall meeting to answer questions one-on-one with constituents in Montgomery, Ohio. Here in the Cincinnati suburbs, where people tend to be polite, one finds seeds of the bitter partisanship that gnaws at Washington, 500 miles away. If any Republican House members might be open to compromise with President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers, Chabot would seem near the top. Yet he toes an unyielding conservative line on virtually every big issue. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, listens to a question from a constituent during a town hall meeting, Monday, March 25, 2013, in Montgomery, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
MONTGOMERY, Ohio (AP) ? Here in Cincinnati's suburbs, where people tend to be polite, one finds seeds of the bitter partisanship that gnaws at Washington, 500 miles away.
If any Republican House members might be open to compromise with President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers, Rep. Steve Chabot would seem near the top of the list. He comes from an area so politically competitive that he lost his seat in 2008 to a Democrat, then won a rematch two years later. His new, redrawn district is safer, but Mitt Romney's 5-point margin over Obama was hardly a landslide.
Moreover, Chabot readily acknowledges that political compromise is the only way to accomplish anything in a democratic society as divided as the United States.
Yet Chabot toes an unyielding conservative line on virtually every big issue before Congress. He opposes any new taxes, even if they might lead to Democratic concessions on spending for Medicare and Social Security. He sees no need for new gun laws, including broader background checks on buyers.
He wants to overturn Obamacare, despite the president's re-election and the Supreme Court's decision upholding the health care law. He'd like to balance the federal budget in four years without new taxes, an improbable feat that would require extraordinary spending cuts far beyond those now triggering complaints.
Chabot, a former teacher and lawyer who has spent most of his career in politics, fits comfortably and quietly in the House GOP caucus. Outwardly, he's one of its more accommodating, measured members, rejecting the notion that compromise is cowardly or foolish.
"We have divided government in our country," Chabot recently told 75 constituents at one of two town hall meetings he held on a snowy Monday. "Neither side can pass anything on its own. You have to work with the other side."
But Democrats say Chabot and his colleagues have strange notions of compromise, especially on the tax-and-spend issues that preoccupy Congress.
Obama repeatedly says he can't begin to rein in costly entitlement programs dear to liberals such as Medicare and Social Security without Republicans agreeing to new taxes, chiefly on the rich. That's a non-starter for Chabot.
"I think we're already overtaxed," he told the gathering here. If anything, taxes should be cut, he said.
Like most of his House GOP colleagues, Chabot says Obama extracted all the new tax revenue he'll get when he forced Republicans to swallow the year-end "fiscal cliff" deal. It will generate about $620 billion in new revenues over 10 years. That's well below the $1 trillion the Republican House speaker suggested in December as part of a deficit-reduction "grand bargain," which never came to fruition.
"It's pretty hard to get to my right," Chabot said in an interview. It's a boast often heard from House Republicans, many of whom live in fear of losing a primary election to GOP challengers who accuse them of being too cozy with Democrats.
Whether it's because of his strategy or not, Chabot, 60, says he has never had a Republican primary challenger in his congressional career, which began in 1994.
Some might argue that Chabot's popularity with GOP primary voters would free him to edge toward the political center, in search of independent voters who can prove crucial in November general elections. Indeed, his town hall meetings ? in contrast to some that are dominated by flag-waving tea partyers ? drew a smattering of political moderates urging bipartisan cooperation.
Chabot, unfailingly polite and soft-spoken, stuck to positions embraced by his fierier, take-no-prisoners colleagues.
One woman said she supports "responsible gun ownership" and "sensible gun laws." She said she supports background checks on all gun buyers, and restrictions on military-style weapons.
Chabot offered the same reply he gave later to a woman who said the only difference between a free person and a slave "is a gun." He's unlikely to support any new gun laws, Chabot said, because criminals would ignore them, and there are already enough laws on the books.
When a man asked Chabot why he called Obama's 2010 health care law "a takeover" instead of a Supreme Court-backed act of Congress, the congressman replied: "I consider it a government takeover." The only reason it hasn't been overturned, Chabot said, is because "we just don't have the votes."
At an evening town hall meeting in the North Bend suburb of Cincinnati, Bill Groll agreed with Chabot on just about everything. Groll, a retired engineering technician for General Electric, said both parties in Washington should work together to shrink the deficit.
"The Republicans are trying," he said in an interview, "but the Democrats won't let them."
Groll, 62, said there's no need to raise taxes, even if it's the price Democrats demand for slowing the growth of entitlement programs. "Social Security is not really an entitlement," Groll added. "You pay into it. It's like an insurance thing."
As Chabot's hour-long session continued, chances for bipartisan agreements seemed to dim.
"The food stamp program is replete with waste and fraud and abuse," Chabot said, citing programs he says can stand deeper spending cuts. Money spent on public housing, he said, should go toward reducing the deficit.
When a man asked, "is Obama working toward a socialist country?" Chabot replied, "He would say no."
But the United States is becoming more like Europe, the congressman added, so "we're getting pretty close."
___
Follow Charles Babington on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbabington
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013
BBC Study Confirms Tablets' Growing Role In TV Consumption, But Also That TV Remains Supreme
Companies like Google, Twitter and Nielsen -- who respectively make money from digital advertising, want to make a lot more from digital ads, and get paid to provide data to justify ads online and offline -- are putting some significant effort into showing the connection between how consumers watch TV and use their tablets and smartphones to shape that experience in the U.S.. Now the BBC -- via its commercial operations of BBC World News TV and BBC.com -- is also weighing in, with an international study out from BBC World News and BBC.com looking at how news is consumed today. It shows that the role that tablets are playing in TV usage -- which we already knew was strong in the U.S. -- is actually an international phenomenon.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/bb2K2PRm2uc/
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Who?s who in the Prop 8 gay marriage case
On Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the first gay marriage case to ever reach the court, Hollingsworth v. Perry.
The legal battle over California's gay marriage ban began more than four years ago, when a majority of voters backed ballot Proposition 8, which rescinded the right to marry from same-sex couples.
Since then, Prop 8 has been struck down by both a district and federal appeals court as discriminatory, and along the way lost its main legal defender: the government of California. After the district court decision, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to appeal the case further, leaving a coalition of Prop 8 supporters led by a a former state senator to take up the cause.
The Supreme Court could use the case to issue a broad ruling guaranteeing the right to marriage to same-sex couples--or to shut down gay rights advocates' claims of wrongful exclusion from the institution of marriage altogether. The court also may issue a ruling in between these extremes.
As both sides prepare to argue their cause, we take a look at some of the major faces behind the high-profile case.
The plaintiffs:
Two unmarried same-sex couples in California were handpicked by the well-financed campaign against Prop 8 to challenge the gay marriage ban as discriminatory.
Kris Perry, whose last name is featured in the Hollingsworth v Perry case name, and Sandy Stier married in 2004 in San Francisco, but the state Supreme Court invalidated that marriage only six months later.
They have been together for 13 years, and raised four sons together from previous relationships. Perry, 48, told the Associated Press that ?we've lived our lives in this hurry-up-and-wait, pins-and-needles way,? since the case began four years ago.
Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo of Burbank, Calif., also were chosen as plaintiffs after gay rights advocates noticed a YouTube video Katami helped make to respond to gay marriage critics called, ?Weathering the Storm.? A lawyer involved in the case told The Washington Post that they approached ?several couples? about whether they would be interested in in being plaintiffs in the high profile challenge to Prop 8, warning them that their lives could face extra scrutiny if they accepted.
"We honestly think of ourselves as kind of regular, everyday guys," Katami told USA Today. "We're not asking for a special right."
Katami and Zarrillo have been together for 12 years, and hope to get married and have children if their case is successful.
Their attorneys:
The two same-sex couples are represented by Theodore Olson, the former Solicitor General under George W. Bush, and David Boies, a high profile Democratic lawyer. The pair faced off against each other in front of the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, but are now teaming up to try to convince the justices that Prop 8 and gay marriage bans in general are discriminatory. The attorneys have made the broader argument that the government has no reason to exclude people from marriage based on sexual orientation. Olson has 20 minutes to argue their case on Tuesday.
The Prop 8 defenders:
Dennis Hollingsworth, a former Republican state senator from the Temecula area, and other supporters of Proposition 8 took responsibility for defending the ban on gay marriage after the California attorney general declined to appeal the district court?s decision striking it down.
Hollingsworth is a leader of Protect Marriage, a group of supporters of Prop 8 who raise money for its legal defense now that the state has bowed out. The group says it is defending the millions of Californians who voted for Prop 8 from having their voices overruled by the courts.
Their attorney:
Charles Cooper, a former Justice Department official under President Ronald Reagan, has been the lead attorney for Proposition 8 since it was first challenged by gay marriage supporters. Hollingsworth reportedly chose Cooper because he thought his skills as an attorney were on par with Olson?s. Cooper has stressed in his briefs that the Supreme Court should not interfere with states? wishes on gay marriage and argues that the government has legitimate reasons to discourage same-sex couples from marrying. Cooper will have 30 minutes to make his arguments and answer the justices' questions on Tuesday.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/prop-8-gay-marriage-case-085022722--election.html
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Buddhist-Muslim violence spreads in Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ? Anti-Muslim mobs rampaged through three more towns in Myanmar's predominantly Buddhist heartland over the weekend, destroying mosques and burning dozens of homes despite government efforts to stem the nation's latest outbreak of sectarian violence.
President Thein Sein had declared an emergency in central Myanmar on Friday and deployed army troops to the worst-hit city, Meikhtila, where 32 people were killed and 10,000 mostly Muslim residents were displaced. But even as soldiers restored order there after several days of anarchy in which armed Buddhists torched the city's Muslim quarters, the unrest has spread south toward the capital, Naypyitaw.
A Muslim resident of Tatkone, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Meikhtila, said by telephone that a group of about 20 men ransacked a one-story brick mosque there late Sunday night, pelting it with stones and smashing windows before soldiers fired shots to drive them away. Speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, he said he believed the perpetrators were not from Tatkone.
A day earlier, another mob burned down a mosque and 50 homes in the nearby town of Yamethin, state television reported. Another mosque and several buildings were destroyed the same day in Lewei, farther south. It was not immediately clear who was behind the violence, and no clashes or casualties were reported in the three towns.
Edginess over the situation spread Monday to the nation's largest city, Yangon, more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Meikhtila, although no actual unrest was apparent.
Rumors circulated that a busy market called Yuzana Plaza would be burned down, leading many shopkeepers to close for the day. In Mingalartaungnyunt, an eastern suburb of Yangon, more rumors led to additional shop closings and police arrived to secure the area, although no violence took place.
The upsurge in sectarian unrest is casting a shadow over Thein Sein's administration as it struggles to make democratic changes in the Southeast Asian country after half a century of army rule officially ended two years ago this month.
Similar violence that rocked western Rakhine state last year, pitting ethnic Rakhine Buddhists against Rohingya Muslims, killed hundreds and drove 100,000 from their homes.
The Rohingya are widely denigrated as illegal migrants from Bangladesh and most are denied passports as a result. The Muslim population of central Myanmar, by contrast, is mostly of Indian origin and does not face the same questions over nationality.
The emergence of sectarian conflict beyond Rakhine state is an ominous development, one that indicates anti-Muslim sentiment has intensified nationwide since last year and, if left unchecked, could spread.
Sectarian and ethnic tensions are not new in Myanmar, which is also home to small Christian, Hindu and animist minorities.
Muslims account for about 4 percent of the nation's roughly 60 million people, and during the long era of authoritarian rule, military governments twice drove out hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, while smaller clashes had occurred elsewhere. About one third of the nation's population is comprised of ethnic minority groups, and most have waged wars against the government for autonomy.
Analysts say racism has also played a role. Unlike the ethnic Burman majority, most Muslims in Myanmar are of South Asian descent, populations with darker skin that migrated to Myanmar centuries ago from what are now parts of India and Bangladesh.
The latest bloodshed "shows that inter-communal tensions in Myanmar are not just limited to the Rakhine and Rohingya in northern Rakhine state," said Jim Della-Giacoma of the International Crisis Group. "Myanmar is a country with dozens of localized fault lines and grievances that were papered over during the authoritarian years that we are just beginning to see and understand. It is a paradox of transitions that greater freedom does allow these local conflicts to resurface."
"If a democratic state is the nation's goal, they need to find a place for all its people as equal citizens," Della-Giacoma said. "Given the country's history, it won't be easy."
The government has put the total death toll in Meikhtila at 32, and authorities say they have detained at least 35 people allegedly involved in arson and violence in the region.
On Sunday, Vijay Nambiar, the U.N. secretary-general's special adviser on Myanmar, toured Meikhtila, visiting displaced residents and calling on the government to punish those responsible.
Nambiar said he was encouraged to learn that some individuals in both communities had helped each other and that religious leaders were now advocating peace.
Muslims in Meikhtila, which makes up about 30 percent of the city's 100,000 inhabitants, appeared to have borne the brunt of the devastation. At least five mosques were set ablaze from Wednesday to Friday, and most homes and shops burned were Muslim-owned.
Chaos began Wednesday after an argument broke out between a Muslim gold shop owner and his Buddhist customers. Once news spread that a Muslim man had killed a Buddhist monk, Buddhist mobs rampaged through a Muslim neighborhood and the situation quickly spiraled out of control.
Residents and activists said the police did little to stop the rioters or reacted too slowly, allowing the violence to escalate.
One Muslim man in Meikhtila named Aung Thein, whose family has fled, said the situation was still tense there.
People are still threatening Muslims who have attempted to return to their destroyed homes to sift through the rubble and salvage their belongings, he said.
"We only want to return to our homes and rebuild our lives," he said.
___
Associated Press writers Todd Pitman and Grant Peck contributed to this report from Bangkok.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/buddhist-muslim-violence-spreads-myanmar-060529329.html
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R. Kelly loses home in foreclosure sale; Ryan Phillippe finally sells home
This week in celebrity real estate, J.P. Morgan Chase paid $950,000 for R. Kelly?s Illinois foreclosed mansion, actor Ryan Phillippe finally sold his Zen-inspired home and Camille Grammer threw her Malibu estate back on the market.
Report: R. Kelly loses mansion to foreclosure
R&B star R. Kelly?s real estate saga is finally over. J.P. Morgan Chase paid $950,000 for Kelly?s 22,000-square-foot Illinois mansion at an auction on March 18, according to Chicago Real Estate Daily.
The singer-songwriter-producer, whose legal name is Robert S. Kelly, was hit with a $2.9 million foreclosure suit in July 2011 because he had stopped making payments on the Olympia Fields, Ill. home. But after trying to force a loan modification when the home?s appraised value dropped from $5.2 million to $3.8 million in the span of a year, Kelly threw in the towel.
The home, only 30 miles from Kelly?s Chicago hometown, had been listed as a short sale ? first for $1.595 million and most recently for $995,000 ? since 2011. From a jungle-themed swimming pool to a home theater and large, gated driveway, the estate has several celeb-worthy amenities.
Walking away may have been the smartest choice for the artist, who has faced financial difficulties for a few years. As of last summer, Kelly reportedly owed more than $5 million in unpaid taxes, according to documents held by the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. He paid $2.8 million back in 2008 ? the same year he beat a child pornography case ? and more than $1 million in 2011, but still owes a hefty sum.
Ryan Phillippe sells Hollywood home
Ryan Phillippe?s Hollywood Hills estate may promote a peaceful Zen-inspired escape, but the actor has had to face the realities of real estate head-on. After divorcing ?Cruel Intentions? co-star Reese Witherspoon, Phillippe listed his 7,477-square-foot home for $7.45 million in December 2010. However with a steady decline in home prices and a strong recession taking its toll in 2011, the actor learned it wasn?t the best time to sell and removed the listing.
Last summer, the home hit the market again, this time with a $6.995 million price tag. A little over eight months later, Phillippe?s home has sold for $6 million.
The home was built in 1998 and called ?Rising Zen? due to its combination of Asian and modern architecture. The landscaping also adds to the home?s tranquil feel with green foliage creeping up the sides and extending into the foyer. Inside, a sleek modern design provides updated amenities, while ornate accessories add hints of cultural flair.
While the home?s design style is tasteful and subdued, over-the-top amenities have celebrity status written all over them. Highlights include a two-story gym directly off the master suite, a bar surrounded by an in-home aquarium, a koi pond and media room. Not to mention the home has a private ?eco-friendly? pool with sweeping views of downtown L.A.
Camille Grammer?s Malibu Mansion Back on the Market
Not only has Camille Grammer walked away from ?The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,? but the ex-wife of actor Kelsey Grammer is also trying to cut her Malibu ties. The former couple?s mansion is back on the market for $14.995 million, significantly less than its original asking price of $17.5 million last summer.
Meanwhile, the Grammers? longtime Beverly Hills residence recently received a price cut, now wearing an identical price tag of $14.995 million.
Located at 3250 Serra Road, Malibu, Calif. 90265, the Malibu retreat has been owned by the ?Frasier? and Bravo-TV stars since 1998, when they purchased the 4.75-acre property for $4.5 million. While their one-time primary residence in Beverly Hills is luxurious in its own right, the Malibu home is all about location, situated on the prestigious Serra Road hillside.
The grounds play up the location with towering trees, flowering gardens, a private pool, barn and guest house draped over the property. Inside, large french doors open to an outdoor dining area with panoramic views.
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Monday, March 25, 2013
Tito Vilanova back at Barcelona after cancer treatment | The Sun ...
BARCELONA boss Tito Vilanova is set to return to the dugout this week after receiving cancer treatment in America.
Vilanova headed to New York for specialist care in January and is now headling back to Spain.
His club have released a statement welcoming him back to the Nou Camp ahead of Barca's match with Celta Vigo on Saturday.
The statement said: ?FC Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova will return home this week.
?He left on January 21 for treatment in New York and two months later, this week, Vilanova will leave the Big Apple to return to the Catalan capital.
?During his absence, Jordi Roura took the reins of the team and was in constant contact with Vilanova, agreeing all decisions.
?His seat on the bench for the first team is still booked.
?Barca have recovered their leader. Welcome home, Tito.?
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Ideal Home Show ? 2013 | The Guide To Gay Gardening
In addition the Low Cost Living House (a must-see if you?re thinking about reducing your energy bills or have a plot of land and want to build an eco-flat pack house ? I dare to dream), there are several little show gardens on offer. These are small and compact; so perfect if you?re living in a town or city and environment where space is at a premium. Like all show gardens, it?s important to take away?inspiration?rather than trying to re-make the entire look, as it?s often the case with show gardens that they?re just that ? for show, but not necessarily the most feasible backyard gardens.
I love this idea for maximising space and creating some height and structure in a small garden. The deck isn?t that high that it would intrude on neighbours, especially with some well placed fencing, but it does create space underneath. This could be used for planting shady species ? in this setting they had a small pool with moisture and shade loving ferns ? but it could also be a great garden storage area.
For entertaining purposes, the garden on the left is great. With raised beds, the plants will be more manageable and you?ll need to spend less time?gardening, and more time having friends and family over. Meanwhile, solar panels on your shed or garden office?s roof? Ideal?.I could do with that to power my laptop whilst I?m tapping away writing for the many hours of the day.
Another must-see is Anglian Home Improvement?s Only Fools and Horses stand. If you loved a bit of Del-boy and Rodney, you can see a mock up of their famous flat, along with a modern interpretation. There?s even a chance to get snapped pretending you?re in that famous chandelier scene. So, if you?ve got a chance, head down to Earls Court before April 1st, it?s definitely worth a look?you can spoil yourself to champagne and a fish platter too.
Cheers, Anglian!
Source: http://www.theguidetogaygardening.com/?p=2329
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Big moment nears for gay marriage
The Supreme Court will hear arguments this week in two cases that have the potential to transform American society and the status of gays and lesbians in it.
In oral arguments on Tuesday morning the 9 justices will consider whether California?s voter approved ban on gay marriage, Proposition 8, unfairly discriminates against gay people. On Wednesday, they?ll consider whether the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act barring the U.S. government from recognizing same-sex marriages, even in states that allow them, constitutes federal overreach.
Both cases could change the everyday lives of gay people and transform the larger, decades old gay rights movement, which has pursued both a court-based and political strategy to gain more legal protections for gay people. But the California Prop 8 case in particular, called Perry v. Hollingsworth, is considered by both pro and anti-gay marriage camps to be the most important, and potentially sweeping, of the two.
In Perry, there's a possibility that the court could declare that gays and lesbians have a fundamental right to marriage just as heterosexual couples do. Such a decision would send a message from the court that both same sex and heterosexual relationships must be treated equally in the eyes of the law.
?There aren?t many Supreme Court decisions that have the potential to be as transformative,? said Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the University of California Irvine School of Law.
If the court finds a right to marriage for gay people, Chermerinsky said, ?it will matter enormously in the lives of millions of gays and lesbians in terms of their ability to marry and it also would be a very profound statement of the court that gays and lesbians are subject to equal protection under the law.?
John Eastman, a law professor at Chapman University and the chairman for the anti-gay marriage group the National Organization for Marriage, also sees the potential for big, but negative, changes should the court decide to invalidate Prop 8. He says a Supreme Court decision in favor of gay marriage will "forever sever the ties between marriage and children" and discourage heterosexual couples from marrying.
?It's hard to imagine a more compelling interest than the survival of the species," Eastman said of why the government should be able to limit marriage to opposite sex couples. "We would survive in a way, but without the institution of marriage...you commodify children when you take away the intimate family structure.?
Just 40 years ago, the Supreme Court tersely refused to hear a case brought by a gay couple who wanted to get married in Minnesota, writing that that their claim raised no significant legal issue. At the time, legal opinions often treated homosexuality as criminal, sexually deviant behavior rather than involuntary sexual orientation.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, the current court's conservative-leaning swing vote, departed from that tone when he wrote the 2002 Lawrence v. Texas opinion striking down state sodomy laws. Gay people have a right to privacy in their own homes to practice whatever consensual sexual behavior they wish, Kennedy wrote, in a decision that substantially expanded gay rights in the U.S.
Advocates hope that decision may mean Kennedy will side with them on marriage this time around.
No one knows how broadly the justices will rule, but the fact that they voted to take both the DOMA and Prop 8 cases at once signals that at least some of the justices may want to settle the question once and for all, by either affirming gay couples? right to wed or shutting down entirely their constitutional claim to marriage.
California voters passed Prop 8 in 2008, after thousands of same-sex couples had already tied the knot under a state Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage. If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Prop 8, it will be a victory for the traditional marriage movement and will further cement the dozens of state voter-approved gay marriage bans that have passed in the last decade.
Many courtwatchers believe Kennedy and the four liberal justices will band together to take an incremental step that affirms gay marriage only in California or just a handful of states without going so far as to strike down the laws in 41 states that ban same-sex marriage. Such a sweeping move could spark a backlash, and seems unlikely since the justices have several other options open to them.
More modest legal options include striking down Prop 8 on narrow grounds that only affect California or striking down Prop 8 in a way that only affects the eight states, including California, that allow civil unions but not gay marriage. That "eight state" argument is advanced by the Obama administration, which argued in its brief to the Supreme Court that a state has no legitimate interest in offering gay couples all the benefits of marriage in a civil union but withholding the title of marriage.
The justices could also rule that the supporters of Prop 8 don?t have the legal right, or standing, to appeal the lower courts? decision striking down Prop 8, which would make gay marriage legal in California by default. (The defenders of Prop 8 must prove to the justices that they will suffer a direct injury if the gay marriage ban is struck down in order to have standing to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.)
Loyola Law Professor Doug NeJaime said he thinks a limited ruling from the court is most likely.
?Things are accelerating so quickly that it seems like it?s an opportune moment for the court to just be nudging that movement forward rather than making a really decisive move,? NeJaime said, pointing to public opinion polls that show a majority of Americans now support gay marriage. ?Instead they would just be allowing that momentum to continue.?
The strength of the message sent by the court on gay rights also depends on the language of the opinion. Theoretically, the justices could strike down Prop 8 without even mentioning gays and lesbians? rights as a class or substantially addressing their claims that they are being unfairly excluded from the institution of marriage.
If the justices decide the supporters of Prop 8 don?t have the legal standing to appeal the lower courts? decision striking down the ban, they could avoid the controversial issue of same-sex marriage altogether in their opinion.
But even that sort of decision would have a big impact, as gay couples in California?the most populous state in the country?would be allowed to wed. The court would have also decided its first gay marriage case in a way that affirmed gay rights, however narrowly, which would encourage gay rights advocates to continue trying to pass gay marriage on the local level.
?In the specific it would allow them to get married,? Chemerinsky said of a decision that struck down Prop. 8. ?In the more abstract it would say no longer are they regarded by the law as a deviant. They?re regarded as equal human beings under the law. ?
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Nerve mapping technology improves surgery for compressed nerves
Mar. 22, 2013 ? Nerve mapping technology allows surgeons to determine whether surgery has been effective for relieving pressure from compressed nerves, which often function poorly and cause sciatica or pain and weakness in muscles supplied by the nerve.
In a small study involving 42 patients at Henry Ford Hospital, lead author and orthopaedic surgeon Stephen Bartol, M.D., says that mechanomyography, or MMG, is effective with measuring nerve function and determining whether nerves are compressed. MMG, which functions by detecting muscle movement and sending real-time alerts to surgeons, measures the performance of nerves during surgery, thereby reducing the risk of inadequate surgery and eliminating the need for additional surgery.
While encouraged by his findings, Dr. Bartol urged caution that more research is needed involving larger patient populations.
"Traditionally, when we operated on someone who has nerve decompression, we didn't know if we had done enough during the surgery at the time. It was basically wait and see after the patient recovered," Dr. Bartol says. "With the MMG tool we can differentiate between normal and compressed nerves, and gauge the severity of the compression."
The study is being presented Friday at the American Academy of Orthoapedic Surgeons' annual meeting in Chicago.
It is estimated that back pain will affect eight of 10 people in their lifetime, and one-quarter of U.S. adults report having back pain lasting at least one day in the past three months. With the rise in minimally invasive procedures, physicians are craving the need for an effective tool to monitor nerve function during surgery.
Conventionally, surgeons assess nerve decompression using direct visualization or a probe called a Woodson elevator, methods Dr. Bartol describes as "purely subjective" and prone to error. Another method electromyography, or EMG, which monitors the electrical response of muscle, is unreliable because electrical noise in the operating room makes it difficult to quantify nerve responses, Dr. Bartol says.
MMG, Dr. Bartol says, monitors the same physiological effects as EMG but uses smart mechanical sensors that are not susceptible to electrical interference. He says clear signals of muscle movement can be detected at low electrical current thresholds.
In the study, researchers sought to test the electrical threshold of stimulation of 64 nerves in 41 patients by direct contact prior to and after decompression, during which a small portion of bone over the nerve root is removed, enabling the nerve root to heal without hindrance. Stimulation started at 1mA electrical current and gradually increased until an MMG response was achieved.
The findings: ? Prior to decompression, 89 percent of nerves had an elevated median threshold of 4.89mA. ? After decompression, nerves had a median threshold of 2.08mA and 70 percent had normal threshold of 1mA. ? After decompression, all 64 nerves had measurable increases in MMG response. ? After decompression, 98 percent of nerves with abnormal pre-compression values had a drop in threshold greater than 1mA.
Dr. Bartol says these findings show that MMG technology "allows the surgeon to make better decisions in the operating room. Inadequate decompression means patients will continue to experience pain after surgery. Better nerve testing during surgery should translate to better outcomes."
The study was funded by Henry Ford Hospital.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/MYk-pEAVUZA/130323152444.htm
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Sunday, March 24, 2013
Mothers aid military personnel in the names of their fallen sons
They didn't know each other before the war. But loss united them, and friendship helps sustain them.
"Every one of us wants our child to be remembered," said Sue Pollard, who, like her friend Debi Win'E, lost a son in Iraq. "Our main thing is to do things now in our children's names, in order for them to still be remembered."
"I don't know if you have children, but imagine one of them gone," Win'E told me. "I don't need it to be front and center, but I remember my kid."
I met the two mothers at Pollard's house in Foothill Ranch, near Irvine, on the 10th anniversary of the start of the war that took their sons. At 6 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2003, a woman in a military uniform knocked on the front door of this very house.
She can't forget the words they said: "On behalf of a grateful nation, we regret to inform you that your son, Army Spc. Justin W. Pollard, was killed on Dec. 30."
Justin was 21.
Four months later, the same messenger knocked on Win'E's door in Orange to inform her that her son, Army Spc. Trevor A. Win'E, was injured on April 30 and died May 1, 2004.
Trevor was 22.
Sue Pollard and Debi Win'E connected through American Gold Star Mothers, a service organization dating back to World War I, when a star in the window of a home signified a war casualty. Pollard and Win'E are officers in the Saddleback Valley Chapter.
Last week, on the anniversary of the war, commentators questioned every aspect of the U.S. involvement in Iraq.
We were misled by President George W. Bush on weapons of mass destruction, we invaded a country that had nothing to do with the attacks of Sept. 11, and we didn't have a plan beyond the invasion.
I've made all those arguments myself from the beginning, but I still worried about the effect such assessments would have on Pollard and Win'E. I wondered what a mom does with the pain as the years wear on, as anniversaries are marked and as their sons' sacrifices are blamed by so many on a "mistake."
Pollard and Win'E said anniversaries and judgments don't alter what they believe. They live in their own reality, cope as best they can and ignore what they must.
"We've met a lot of people who say, 'Oh, I'm sorry for your son's loss, but we should never have been there,' " Win'E said.
You have to brush it off, said Pollard, who told me she and Win'E share a deep religious faith, along with a belief that their sons died in a just war, trying to make the world a better place. They're proud that, when the nation was attacked and others wondered what to do, their sons stepped up.
Gold Star moms don't share the same beliefs, Pollard said, but political and religious differences are beside the point. She knows a Ventura Gold Star mom whom I've written about a few times who honors her son's valor and sacrifice but believes the war was a monumental blunder that needlessly cost 4,500 American service personnel, along with tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, their lives.
"I find nothing wrong with the way she feels," says Pollard, "and a lot of them out there feel the same way."
When Trevor died, said Win'E, she felt like the "pink elephant in the room" around her friends. So she and several buddies went to a mountain retreat to talk it over.
"I literally sat in the middle of the room with my high school friends, and we did the whole scenario.... They asked questions and we laughed and we cried, and some of them disagreed totally with him being there and other moms agreed.... I think if you make yourself open to that, and say, 'This is who I am, and my kid's dead,' you can begin to move on."
Pollard and Win'E said they have strong support from their husbands and families, but they're grateful for each other too.
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Thursday, March 21, 2013
CPF, PFF, and ATS announce new research grant for pulmonary fibrosis research
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Public release date: 20-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Nathaniel Dunford
ndunford@thoracic.org
American Thoracic Society
Culver City, California March 18, 2013 The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF), the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF), and the American Thoracic Society (ATS)the world's leading professional organization for pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicinetoday announced that the CPF and the PFF will again partner with the ATS to fund pulmonary fibrosis (PF) research. This is the seventh partnership grant between the three organizations.
"We are pleased to once again participate in the partnership grants with the ATS and the CPF. The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation feels that supporting these types of early stage grants can (and has) led to both an improved understanding of the pathophysiology of pulmonary fibrosis and to the development of more effective therapies. We applaud the leadership of the ATS in fostering these types of collaborations," said Daniel M. Rose, MD, Chairman and CEO of the PFF.
"We are honored to again join with ATS and the PFF to support critical research in pulmonary fibrosis," said Mishka Michon, Chief Executive Officer of the CPF. "The CPF is proud to be supporting these research efforts in an economic time of uncertainty regarding federal funding. It is an opportunity for the private sector to fill the gap and demonstrate our continued commitment to finding treatments and a cure for this devastating disease."
The patient organizations will each commit $20,000 per year to co-fund a two-year research grant to be awarded in 2013. The ATS will provide partial funding and management of the grant.
"We cannot advance in the area of pulmonary fibrosis treatment without sophisticated research. The research funded by these grants has helped advance our understanding of pulmonary fibrosis," said Jesse Roman, MD, member of the ATS Scientific Advisory Committee, Chair of PFF Research Advisory Committee, and Chair of Medicine at the University of Louisville. "This important work may lead to new approaches to the treatment of this devastating disease."
Including the 2013 grant, the CPF and the PFF have together supported $1.22 million of research for PF in partnership with the ATS.
"The three way partnership ATS grant provided important support to my research program, allowing significant advancement in the understanding that Semaphorin 7a and alternatively activated macrophages might play in the progression of fibrotic lung disease in IPF. It is our hope that one day these novel findings might translate into new therapies for all patients with pulmonary fibrosis," said Erica Herzog M.D, PhD, Yale University's Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and recipient of a joint grant for her research.
CPF/ATS Partnership Awards through 2011 were granted to:
- Sonye K. Danoff, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University, for her study "VEGF: Marker or Mediator of Lung Injury in Pulmonary Fibrosis?" Her research is currently testing the hypothesis that locally elevated levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the lungs of patients with autoimmune pulmonary fibrosis contribute to disease progression.
- Andrew Tager, MD, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division and at Massachusetts General Hospital, for his study "(LPA) and its Receptor LPA1." His study is investigating the role of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and its cognate receptor LPA1 in lung injury and fibroproliferation following bleomycin treatment.
- Harikrishna Tanjore, PhD, of the Center for Lung Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, for his study "Contribution of EMT to Pulmonary Fibrosis." The study's purpose was to determine the extent to which epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to lung fibrosis and to investigate the role of TGF? in EMT in the lungs.
- Melissa Hunter Piper, PhD, of the Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute at Ohio State University, for her study "MicroRNA Regulation in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)." The study's purpose was to determine whether the loss of the expression of miR-17~92 (microRNA) cluster contributes to the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. PFF/ATS Partnership Awards through 2012 were granted to:
- Anne Holland, PhD, of La Trobe University, for her study "Where Does Pulmonary Rehabilitation Fit in the Management of Pulmonary Fibrosis?" This study will provide patients and doctors with certainty regarding the role and timing of pulmonary rehabilitation in IPF, ensuring best possible outcomes in quality of life and community functioning.
- Anthony Shum, MD of the University of California, San Francisco, for his study "Defining the Molecular Basis of Interstitial Lung Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis." Dr. Shum will take advantage of an exciting new technology called exome sequencing to identify the genes that trigger ILD in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Awarded by the CPF/PFF/ATS Partnership beginning 2009 were:
- Steven Huang, MD, lecturer, University of Michigan Medical School, for his study "The Regulation and Pattern of the DNA Methylome in Pulmonary Fibrosis." The study involves hypermethylation of DNA, an epigenetic process recognized to be important in many diseases though understudied in IPF and genes that may be hypermethylated, and to profile the DNA methylome of fibrotic lung fibroblasts. Also, his study addresses how prostaglandin E2, an antifibrotic lipid mediator, may be able to regulate DNA methylation machinery.
- Erica Herzog, MD, PhD, of Yale University's Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, for her study "Semaphorin 7a and Alternative Macrophage Activation in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis." The research seeks to determine the mechanism through which semaphorin 7a promotes the appearance of M2s and collagen deposition in a mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis and to determine the mechanism through which semaphorin 7a affects the differentiation and activation of M2s obtained from patients with IPF.
- Beiyun Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, of the University of South California's Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care, for her study "Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) Stress Induces Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in Alveolar Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis." The researcher is investigating the hypothesis that ER stress induces EMT in epithelial cells thereby contributing directly to fibrosis. Understanding the mechanisms whereby ER stress contributes directly to fibroblast accumulation in IPF should provide new insights into the causes of pulmonary fibrosis that may in turn offer novel therapeutic strategies for this otherwise fatal disease.
- Philip Simonian, MD, assistant professor of Pulmonary Sciences & Critical Care at the University of Colorado Denver, for his study "Protection from Inflammation-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis by IL-22." The focus of the research is to determine the mechanism by which IL-22 protects against lung fibrosis so that better therapies can be developed that protect patients from the development of pulmonary fibrosis.
- Jia Guo, MD, MS, of the University of Rochester for his study "Fibrocyte Differentiation is Regulated by Yin Yang 1 in Pulmonary Fibrosis." His research team has discovered that a protein called yin yang 1 (YY1) regulates the activity of genes involved in promoting the scarring process and can regulate the production and accumulation of myofibroblasts in lung scarring. The ultimate goal of the research is to develop therapies to interfere with the functions of YY1 as a novel treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other lung scarring diseases.
- Yan Sanders, MD, MS, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham for her study "Epigenetic Regulation of Caveolin-1 by TGF-beta Mediated Signal Pathway in Lung Fibroblasts." Completion of this study will establish epigenetic regulation as one important factor in the pathogenesis of IPF, which may lead to new therapies to reverse this deadly disease.
###
Contacts:
Teresa Barnes
Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis
tbarnes@coalitionforpf.org
303-521-4080
Nathaniel Dunford
American Thoracic Society
212-315-8620
Cara Schillinger
Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
cschillinger@pulmonaryfibrosis.org
888-733-6741
About the ATS/CPF/PFF PF Partnership grant:
The target audience for the 2013 grant will be investigators interested in research that is relevant to pulmonary fibrosis. The focus of the research grant will be programs that have a high likelihood to advance the understanding of pulmonary fibrosis. Applications are encouraged from new faculty members who have a strong link with one or more senior investigator. Applicants may request up to $50,000/year for 2 years for salaries, supplies, or a combination of the two. One of the investigators must be an ATS member at the time of application, and the Principal Investigator must be an ATS member at the time that the grant is awarded. Indirect costs will not be paid to the applicant's institution.
For investigators interested in applying for the CPF/PFF/ATS Partnership Grant, letter of intent grant applications must be submitted by April 10, 2013 at 9 a.m. (E.T.). View the call for applications on the ATS website, at: http://thoracic.org/research/research-program-portfolio/grant-portfolio.php.
About Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF)
Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a lung disorder characterized by a progressive scarringknown as fibrosis and deterioration of the lungs, which slowly robs its victims of their ability to breathe. Approximately 128,000 Americans suffer from PF, and there is currently no known cause or cure. An estimated 50,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. PF is difficult to diagnose and an estimated two-thirds of patients die within five years of diagnosis. Sometimes PF can be linked to a particular cause, such as certain environmental exposures, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, residual infection, or autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma or rheumatoid arthritis. However, in many instances, no known cause can be established. When this is the case, it is called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
About the CPF
The CPF is a 501(3) nonprofit organization, founded in 2001 to accelerate research efforts leading to a cure for pulmonary fibrosis (PF), while educating, supporting, and advocating for the community of patients, families, and medical professionals fighting this disease. The CPF funds promising research into new approaches to treat and cure PF; provides patients and families with comprehensive education materials, resources, and hope; serves as a voice for national advocacy of PF issues; and works to improve awareness of PF in the medical community as well as the general public. The CPF's nonprofit partners include many of the most respected medical centers and healthcare organizations in the United States. With more than 26,000 members nationwide, the CPF is the largest nonprofit organization in the country dedicated to advocating for those with PF. For more information please visit http://www.coalitionforpf.org or call 888-222-8541.
About the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
The mission of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) is to help find a cure for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), advocate for the pulmonary fibrosis community, promote disease awareness, and provide a compassionate environment for patients and their families. The PFF collaborates with physicians, organizations, patients, and caregivers worldwide. December 1-3, 2011 the PFF hosted its first biennial international scientific conference, IPF Summit 2011: From Bench to Bedside, in Chicago; PFF Summit 2013 will be held December 5-7, 2013, in La Jolla, California. For more information visit http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org or call 888-733-6741.
About the American Thoracic Society
The American Thoracic Society (ATS) is a non-profit, international, professional and scientific society for pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. The ATS is committed globally to the prevention and treatment of respiratory disease through research, education, patient care and advocacy. The long-range goal of the ATS is to decrease morbidity and mortality from respiratory disorders and life- threatening acute illnesses in people of all ages. The American Thoracic Society Foundation's Research Program is one way the Society attempts to achieve this goal. For more information please visit http://www.thoracic.org.
[ | 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.
Public release date: 20-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Nathaniel Dunford
ndunford@thoracic.org
American Thoracic Society
Culver City, California March 18, 2013 The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF), the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF), and the American Thoracic Society (ATS)the world's leading professional organization for pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicinetoday announced that the CPF and the PFF will again partner with the ATS to fund pulmonary fibrosis (PF) research. This is the seventh partnership grant between the three organizations.
"We are pleased to once again participate in the partnership grants with the ATS and the CPF. The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation feels that supporting these types of early stage grants can (and has) led to both an improved understanding of the pathophysiology of pulmonary fibrosis and to the development of more effective therapies. We applaud the leadership of the ATS in fostering these types of collaborations," said Daniel M. Rose, MD, Chairman and CEO of the PFF.
"We are honored to again join with ATS and the PFF to support critical research in pulmonary fibrosis," said Mishka Michon, Chief Executive Officer of the CPF. "The CPF is proud to be supporting these research efforts in an economic time of uncertainty regarding federal funding. It is an opportunity for the private sector to fill the gap and demonstrate our continued commitment to finding treatments and a cure for this devastating disease."
The patient organizations will each commit $20,000 per year to co-fund a two-year research grant to be awarded in 2013. The ATS will provide partial funding and management of the grant.
"We cannot advance in the area of pulmonary fibrosis treatment without sophisticated research. The research funded by these grants has helped advance our understanding of pulmonary fibrosis," said Jesse Roman, MD, member of the ATS Scientific Advisory Committee, Chair of PFF Research Advisory Committee, and Chair of Medicine at the University of Louisville. "This important work may lead to new approaches to the treatment of this devastating disease."
Including the 2013 grant, the CPF and the PFF have together supported $1.22 million of research for PF in partnership with the ATS.
"The three way partnership ATS grant provided important support to my research program, allowing significant advancement in the understanding that Semaphorin 7a and alternatively activated macrophages might play in the progression of fibrotic lung disease in IPF. It is our hope that one day these novel findings might translate into new therapies for all patients with pulmonary fibrosis," said Erica Herzog M.D, PhD, Yale University's Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and recipient of a joint grant for her research.
CPF/ATS Partnership Awards through 2011 were granted to:
- Sonye K. Danoff, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University, for her study "VEGF: Marker or Mediator of Lung Injury in Pulmonary Fibrosis?" Her research is currently testing the hypothesis that locally elevated levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the lungs of patients with autoimmune pulmonary fibrosis contribute to disease progression.
- Andrew Tager, MD, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division and at Massachusetts General Hospital, for his study "(LPA) and its Receptor LPA1." His study is investigating the role of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and its cognate receptor LPA1 in lung injury and fibroproliferation following bleomycin treatment.
- Harikrishna Tanjore, PhD, of the Center for Lung Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, for his study "Contribution of EMT to Pulmonary Fibrosis." The study's purpose was to determine the extent to which epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to lung fibrosis and to investigate the role of TGF? in EMT in the lungs.
- Melissa Hunter Piper, PhD, of the Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute at Ohio State University, for her study "MicroRNA Regulation in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)." The study's purpose was to determine whether the loss of the expression of miR-17~92 (microRNA) cluster contributes to the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. PFF/ATS Partnership Awards through 2012 were granted to:
- Anne Holland, PhD, of La Trobe University, for her study "Where Does Pulmonary Rehabilitation Fit in the Management of Pulmonary Fibrosis?" This study will provide patients and doctors with certainty regarding the role and timing of pulmonary rehabilitation in IPF, ensuring best possible outcomes in quality of life and community functioning.
- Anthony Shum, MD of the University of California, San Francisco, for his study "Defining the Molecular Basis of Interstitial Lung Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis." Dr. Shum will take advantage of an exciting new technology called exome sequencing to identify the genes that trigger ILD in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Awarded by the CPF/PFF/ATS Partnership beginning 2009 were:
- Steven Huang, MD, lecturer, University of Michigan Medical School, for his study "The Regulation and Pattern of the DNA Methylome in Pulmonary Fibrosis." The study involves hypermethylation of DNA, an epigenetic process recognized to be important in many diseases though understudied in IPF and genes that may be hypermethylated, and to profile the DNA methylome of fibrotic lung fibroblasts. Also, his study addresses how prostaglandin E2, an antifibrotic lipid mediator, may be able to regulate DNA methylation machinery.
- Erica Herzog, MD, PhD, of Yale University's Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, for her study "Semaphorin 7a and Alternative Macrophage Activation in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis." The research seeks to determine the mechanism through which semaphorin 7a promotes the appearance of M2s and collagen deposition in a mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis and to determine the mechanism through which semaphorin 7a affects the differentiation and activation of M2s obtained from patients with IPF.
- Beiyun Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, of the University of South California's Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care, for her study "Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) Stress Induces Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in Alveolar Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis." The researcher is investigating the hypothesis that ER stress induces EMT in epithelial cells thereby contributing directly to fibrosis. Understanding the mechanisms whereby ER stress contributes directly to fibroblast accumulation in IPF should provide new insights into the causes of pulmonary fibrosis that may in turn offer novel therapeutic strategies for this otherwise fatal disease.
- Philip Simonian, MD, assistant professor of Pulmonary Sciences & Critical Care at the University of Colorado Denver, for his study "Protection from Inflammation-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis by IL-22." The focus of the research is to determine the mechanism by which IL-22 protects against lung fibrosis so that better therapies can be developed that protect patients from the development of pulmonary fibrosis.
- Jia Guo, MD, MS, of the University of Rochester for his study "Fibrocyte Differentiation is Regulated by Yin Yang 1 in Pulmonary Fibrosis." His research team has discovered that a protein called yin yang 1 (YY1) regulates the activity of genes involved in promoting the scarring process and can regulate the production and accumulation of myofibroblasts in lung scarring. The ultimate goal of the research is to develop therapies to interfere with the functions of YY1 as a novel treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other lung scarring diseases.
- Yan Sanders, MD, MS, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham for her study "Epigenetic Regulation of Caveolin-1 by TGF-beta Mediated Signal Pathway in Lung Fibroblasts." Completion of this study will establish epigenetic regulation as one important factor in the pathogenesis of IPF, which may lead to new therapies to reverse this deadly disease.
###
Contacts:
Teresa Barnes
Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis
tbarnes@coalitionforpf.org
303-521-4080
Nathaniel Dunford
American Thoracic Society
212-315-8620
Cara Schillinger
Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
cschillinger@pulmonaryfibrosis.org
888-733-6741
About the ATS/CPF/PFF PF Partnership grant:
The target audience for the 2013 grant will be investigators interested in research that is relevant to pulmonary fibrosis. The focus of the research grant will be programs that have a high likelihood to advance the understanding of pulmonary fibrosis. Applications are encouraged from new faculty members who have a strong link with one or more senior investigator. Applicants may request up to $50,000/year for 2 years for salaries, supplies, or a combination of the two. One of the investigators must be an ATS member at the time of application, and the Principal Investigator must be an ATS member at the time that the grant is awarded. Indirect costs will not be paid to the applicant's institution.
For investigators interested in applying for the CPF/PFF/ATS Partnership Grant, letter of intent grant applications must be submitted by April 10, 2013 at 9 a.m. (E.T.). View the call for applications on the ATS website, at: http://thoracic.org/research/research-program-portfolio/grant-portfolio.php.
About Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF)
Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a lung disorder characterized by a progressive scarringknown as fibrosis and deterioration of the lungs, which slowly robs its victims of their ability to breathe. Approximately 128,000 Americans suffer from PF, and there is currently no known cause or cure. An estimated 50,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. PF is difficult to diagnose and an estimated two-thirds of patients die within five years of diagnosis. Sometimes PF can be linked to a particular cause, such as certain environmental exposures, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, residual infection, or autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma or rheumatoid arthritis. However, in many instances, no known cause can be established. When this is the case, it is called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
About the CPF
The CPF is a 501(3) nonprofit organization, founded in 2001 to accelerate research efforts leading to a cure for pulmonary fibrosis (PF), while educating, supporting, and advocating for the community of patients, families, and medical professionals fighting this disease. The CPF funds promising research into new approaches to treat and cure PF; provides patients and families with comprehensive education materials, resources, and hope; serves as a voice for national advocacy of PF issues; and works to improve awareness of PF in the medical community as well as the general public. The CPF's nonprofit partners include many of the most respected medical centers and healthcare organizations in the United States. With more than 26,000 members nationwide, the CPF is the largest nonprofit organization in the country dedicated to advocating for those with PF. For more information please visit http://www.coalitionforpf.org or call 888-222-8541.
About the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
The mission of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) is to help find a cure for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), advocate for the pulmonary fibrosis community, promote disease awareness, and provide a compassionate environment for patients and their families. The PFF collaborates with physicians, organizations, patients, and caregivers worldwide. December 1-3, 2011 the PFF hosted its first biennial international scientific conference, IPF Summit 2011: From Bench to Bedside, in Chicago; PFF Summit 2013 will be held December 5-7, 2013, in La Jolla, California. For more information visit http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org or call 888-733-6741.
About the American Thoracic Society
The American Thoracic Society (ATS) is a non-profit, international, professional and scientific society for pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. The ATS is committed globally to the prevention and treatment of respiratory disease through research, education, patient care and advocacy. The long-range goal of the ATS is to decrease morbidity and mortality from respiratory disorders and life- threatening acute illnesses in people of all ages. The American Thoracic Society Foundation's Research Program is one way the Society attempts to achieve this goal. For more information please visit http://www.thoracic.org.
[ | 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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/ats-cpa032013.php
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