NDC ? VIRGINIA CONGRATULATES FORMER PRESIDENT J.J.RAWLINGS & CADRES: The Members and the Executives of the Natio... Source: http://twitter.com/modernghanaweb/statuses/152327279933001728
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This frame grab from video shows Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaking during a campaign stop at Elly's Tea and Coffee in Muscatine, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Robert Ray)
This frame grab from video shows Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaking during a campaign stop at Elly's Tea and Coffee in Muscatine, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Robert Ray)
Republican Presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. waves after making a campaign stop at the Nodaway Diner, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, in Greenfield, Iowa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry laughs during a campaign stop at the Westside Conservative Club breakfast,Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, in Urbandale, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Look out for some wacky results in the race for delegates in the Republican presidential primaries and caucuses. There might even be a state or two where the second-place candidate gets the most delegates, starting with Tuesday's caucuses in Iowa.
New GOP rules require states that hold nominating contests before April to award delegates proportionally. That usually means a candidate who gets 40 percent of the vote gets 40 percent of the delegates. But not always.
The rules give states a lot of leeway to define proportional, and some states have been pretty creative. For example, in Ohio, the candidate who gets the most votes in each congressional district wins three delegates. Ohio has 16 congressional districts based on the latest census, so 48 delegates will be awarded this way.
An additional 15 delegates will be awarded proportionally, based on statewide results. Candidates must get at least 20 percent of the statewide vote to qualify for these delegates. Under this system, it is possible in a close race for a candidate to narrowly win the most congressional districts ? and the most delegates ? but come in second in the overall statewide vote, said Bob Bennett, a member of the Republican National Committee from Ohio.
Early on, battles over small numbers of delegates won't get much attention because candidates are more concerned about winning contests and building momentum. But if the race continues into late spring, like the 2008 battle between Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, delegate totals become much more important.
A tight race could draw a lot of scrutiny over obscure issues like this: If you qualify for 7.5 delegates under a proportional allocation, do you round up to eight or round down to seven? (In Ohio and other states you round up to eight. In Nevada, which is holding GOP caucuses Feb. 4, party officials are still working on those details.)
"All these rules are important in close races," Bennett said. "If you have a blowout, a sure winner, they don't matter as much."
In most national polls, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are the front-runners for the GOP nomination. In Iowa, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas also is polling well, raising the possibility of a split vote.
The Iowa caucuses on Tuesday begin the process in that state that will result in 25 delegates being selected for the national convention. At the caucuses, voters will cast ballots in a presidential straw poll, and those results will get the most attention on election night.
Caucus-goers also will elect delegates to county conventions, who in turn will elect delegates to congressional district conventions and the state party convention in June. These are the conventions where delegates to the GOP national convention in Tampa, Fla., are selected.
Each of the four congressional districts will elect three delegates to the national convention. They will also appoint two members to a slate committee, which will choose 13 additional delegates. The slate is voted on at the party's state convention in June.
The system puts a premium on getting the most votes in individual congressional districts. If a candidate's supporters can control a congressional district convention, they can choose national delegates and slate committee members who support their candidate.
In a tight, three-way race, it is possible for a candidate to narrowly win two of the four congressional districts ? putting him or her in position to win the most delegates ? but come in second in overall votes statewide.
"The delegates are going to reflect the division within the party itself," said John Ryder, a member of the Republican National Committee from Tennessee who chaired the panel that wrote the new proportional rule. "The end result is nobody comes out of a proportional state with a clear mandate, unless of course they do, which would only happen if a candidate generates commanding support among Republican voters."
A total of 2,286 delegates are slated to attend the Republican National Convention in August, and 1,144 will be needed to claim the nomination, according to the Republican National Committee. No candidate can reach that total before April, though a dominant front-runner could build a commanding lead by then.
In the meantime, the primary calendar is full of quirks. South Carolina (Jan. 21), and Florida (Jan. 31), will award all their delegates to the candidate who gets the most votes, even though they are holding their contests before April. Both states already lost half their delegates for holding early contests, so the state parties decided to make them winner-take-all. The RNC says there are no additional penalties for violating the proportional rules.
Michigan's plan for awarding delegates is very similar to Ohio's. But Michigan, which holds its primary Feb. 28, lost half its delegates because it scheduled its primary before March 6, also known as Super Tuesday. GOP rules allow only four states to hold nominating contests before Super Tuesday: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. And those states weren't supposed to schedule contests before February.
Michigan started with 59 delegates, but now has only 30. Nevertheless, party officials plan to award 56 delegates based on the primary (the other three will be the state's RNC members), and simply reduce each candidate's total by half. That poses several problems: Half of 56 isn't quite 30, and what if a candidate wins 25 delegates? Do they get 12 or 13? GOP rules don't allow fractions of delegates.
"We'll work that out once we get closer to choosing the delegates who will go," said Matt Frendewey, spokesman for the Michigan Republican Party.
___
Lauren Johnert, Associated Press deputy manager for election research and quality control, contributed to this report.
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Leftover celery teams up with chicken, carrots, tomato paste, and rice to become Minestra del Sedano, a satisfying meal in a bowl.
One of the things that bugs me about cooking is buying a fresh ingredient for a recipe, using only a little and later finding the withering remains in the fridge. It happens a lot with fresh herbs, I?m ashamed to admit. But for some reason, the thing that galls me the most is throwing out the wilted carcass of a stalk of celery from which I?ve only used a rib or two.
Skip to next paragraph Terry BoydTerry Boyd is the author of Blue Kitchen, a Chicago-based food blog for home cooks. His simple, eclectic cooking focuses on fresh ingredients, big flavors and a cheerful willingness to borrow ideas and techniques from all over the world. A frequent contributor to the Chicago Sun-Times, he writes weekly food pieces for cable station USA Network's Character Approved Blog. His recipes have also appeared on the Bon App?tit and Saveur websites.
So recently, after using a couple of ribs of celery from a fresh stalk for a pot of chili, I was determined to use up the rest of it. My first thought was celery soup. Doing a quick online search, I mostly found various pur?ed versions. I?m sure they?re lovely, but I was in the mood for soup with chunks of stuff in it.
Then I came across a recipe for minestra del sedano, Italian celery soup, posted by my friend Lydia at Soup Chick. It called for about twice the celery I had on hand and fewer other ingredients (no chicken or carrots, for instance). I?m guessing with my tinkering, I?ve actually veered a good distance from true Italian celery soup. But I used up all the celery I had on hand, and we ate well that night. Again, not a holidayworthy meal, but a good one. Happy holidays, everyone. Eat well.
Italian Celery Soup
?Serves 3 to 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
?3 slices of bacon, cut crosswise into matchsticks
?1 medium onion, chopped
?1 large carrot, diced
?1 stalk celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (5 to 6 cups)
?2 tablespoons tomato paste
?2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
?2 cups water (plus more, if needed)
?2 bay leaves
?1 piece of rind from a Parmesan cheese wedge (optional)
?3 boneless skinless chicken thighs, chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)
?1/2 cup uncooked white rice
?salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
?freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Heat oil in a lidded Dutch oven over a medium flame. Add bacon, onion and carrot and toss to combine and coat with oil. Cook until onion begins to soften, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, heat broth and water together in a separate pan. (This is a trick I picked up from Lydia?you don?t have to wait for cold or room temperature broth to heat up when added to the soup pot if you do this.) Gradually add hot broth mixture to soup pot and add Parmesan rind and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer soup, covered, for 20 minutes.
Add chicken and rice and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Be generous with the pepper, another tip from Lydia.
Ladle into individual bowls and top with grated Parmesan. Serve with a crusty bread.
Related post: Cherry Orange Loaf Cake
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of food bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by The Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own and they are responsible for the content of their blogs and their recipes. All readers are free to make ingredient substitutions to satisfy their dietary preferences, including not using wine (or substituting cooking wine) when a recipe calls for it. To contact us about a blogger, click here.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/h5kt8yBX0YQ/A-simple-Italian-celery-soup
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WASHINGTON ? The U.S. economy will grow faster in 2012 ? if it isn't knocked off track by upheavals in Europe, according to an Associated Press survey of leading economists.
Unemployment will barely fall from the current 8.6 percent rate, though, by the time President Barack Obama runs for re-election in November, the economists say.
The three dozen private, corporate and academic economists expect the economy to grow 2.4 percent next year. In 2011, it likely grew less than 2 percent.
The year is ending on an upswing. The economy has generated at least 100,000 new jobs for five months in a row ? the longest such streak since 2006.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits has dropped to the lowest level since April 2008. The trend suggests that layoffs have all but stopped and hiring could pick up.
And the economy avoided a setback when President Barack Obama signed legislation Friday extending a Social Security tax cut that was to expire at year's end. But Congress could agree only on a two-month extension.
The economists surveyed Dec. 14-20 expect the country to create 177,000 jobs a month through Election Day 2012. That would be up from an average 132,000 jobs a month so far in 2011.
Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital, says the U.S. economy remains vulnerable to an outside shock. A big threat is the risk that Europe's debt crisis will trigger a worldwide credit freeze like the one that hit Wall Street in late 2008.
A shock to the U.S. economy, he says, might not be as dangerous if it were growing at a healthier 4 percent to 5 percent annual pace. But when growth is stuck at 2 percent or 3 percent, a major global crisis could stall job creation and raise unemployment.
Beyond Europe, troubles in other areas could also upset the U.S. economy next year, the economists say. Congressional gridlock ahead of the 2012 elections and unforeseen global events, like this year's Arab Spring protests, could slow the U.S. economy. Three economists said rising nuclear tensions with Iran are a concern.
Even without an outside jolt, the economists expect barely enough job creation in 2012 to stay ahead of population growth and the return of discouraged workers into the labor force.
"I just don't know if it's going to be enough to bring the unemployment rate down," says Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers.
The AP economists expect the unemployment rate to be stuck at a recession-level 8.4 percent when voters go to the polls in November. Unemployment was 8.6 percent in November.
A majority (56 percent) of the economists say the economy will get a lift from Federal Reserve policies. The Fed has said it plans to keep short-term interest rates near zero through at least mid-2013 if the economy remains weak. The central bank also has begun a campaign to try to push down mortgage rates and other long-term interest rates through next June.
Those surveyed also think the economy is strong enough to withstand higher oil prices. At near $100 a barrel, oil prices are up 10 percent from a year ago. But only two of the economists AP surveyed expect the higher prices to slow the economy "a lot."
The economists expect the European economy to shrink 0.5 percent in 2011 ? and fall into a recession. Europe is slowing as heavily indebted countries slash spending and banks exposed to government debt curtain lending.
Among the gravest fears is that a major country like Italy will default on its debt, wiping out some banks with large holdings of European government bonds. A worldwide credit crunch like the one that followed the 2008 failure of Lehman Bros could follow.
Twenty-one of the economists listed Europe as a threat to the U.S. economy next year.
"If it were a big enough downturn, given the size of Europe, it could bring the world economy down into recession," says Allen Sinai, president of Decision Economics.
But overall, the economists see only an 18 percent chance that Europe's debt troubles will cause a recession in the United States.
The economists are divided over which one step European policymakers should take now to bolster the 17-country eurozone.
More than one-fourth say the European Central Bank should aggressively try to lower the borrowing costs of the Italian and Spanish governments by buying their bonds.
Nearly one-fifth say European countries should jointly issue "Eurobonds" to help finance weaker countries.
And 17 percent say European governments should slash spending.
Still, the economists expect European policymakers to find a way to prevent the crisis from escalating into a global financial panic.
If Europe can stabilize its economies, the U.S. stock markets would rally sharply, economists say, and prospects for U.S. economic growth would brighten.
"Europe appears to be the only real impediment to keeping this recovery from happening," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economics.
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While record low fatality rates indicate that today?s cars are safer than ever, the latest crash test results confirm that some models still do a better job than others at protecting their occupants in a serious collision.
Thanks in large part to advancements in automotive engineering and mandated safety features like airbags and electronic stability control (along with stricter seatbelt and impaired/distracted driving laws) traffic fatalities have dropped by 25 percent over the last five years. Unfortunately they still accounted for a total of 32,788 deaths in 2010 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Nowhere is choosing the safest auto available more important than when shopping for a small car, where every advantage is essential. That?s because the laws of physics dictate that, all else being equal, a smaller and lighter vehicle will tend to fare worse in a crash than a larger and heavier model. Compacts and subcompacts are becoming increasingly popular among cash-strapped buyers and empty nesters looking to downsize their rides; J.D. Power and Associates says they?re on pace to outsell midsize entries for the first time in nearly two decades.
Forbes.com slideshow: Safest small cars for under $20,000
Fortunately, those shopping for a small car for themselves or younger members of the family will find a burgeoning selection of models from which to choose that are rated as ?Top Safety Picks? by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). To qualify, a car must garner top scores across the board for performance in front, side, rollover and rear-end crashes based on ratings determined by the IIHS? evaluations. Vehicles are classified in each category on a basis of ?good,? ?acceptable,? ?marginal? or ?poor? performance.
?For the second year running a record number of models qualify as Top Safety Picks,? says IIHS president Adrian Lund. ?It?s tough to win, and we commend auto manufacturers for making safety a top priority.?
For testing a car?s crashworthiness in a frontal collision, the IIHS performs ?offset barrier? tests at 40 mph, using average-size male test dummies. Here, only part of a vehicle?s front end hits a deformable barrier, which simulates the front of another vehicle. This test is said to provide a good indication of how well a vehicle?s structure will be maintained in a crash to protect its occupants, particularly against injuries to the lower extremities.
Forbes.com: The best cars for the buck
The IIHS? side-impact test approximates the front end of a full-size pickup truck or SUV striking the passenger?s side of a vehicle at 31 mph. The potential for injuries are measured using test dummies that approximate a small female or adolescent child. The IIHS uses smaller dummies here because its data suggests that women are more likely than men to suffer serious head injuries in a side impact collision.
Rollover protection ratings are based on roof crush tests. To earn a ?Good? rating here, a vehicle?s roof must be able to withstand a force of four times its own weight before reaching five inches of crush depth. The IIHS estimates that such roofs reduce the risk of serious and fatal injury in single-vehicle rollovers by about 50 percent compared with those that merely meet the federal minimum requirement for crush resistance.
While deaths from rear-end crashes are relatively low they?re one of the most common causes for whiplash-type neck injuries, which result from the sudden jerking forward of an occupant?s head and torso. The IIHS simulates rear-end collisions using a combination of static measurements and active crash-dummy testing to determine how well the vehicles? seats and head rests support their occupants in a rear-end collision at 20 mph.
Forbes.com: Cars that can run for over 200,000 miles
The IIHS? list of Top Safety Picks among small cars with sticker prices that start at under $20,000 (including destination charges) has grown to 20 selections for 2012, up from just 12 a year ago. Newly added recommendations this year include the Chevrolet Sonic, Fiat 500, Ford Focus, Honda Fit and Insight, Hyundai Elantra, Scion xD and Toyota Yaris. Click on the gallery link to see the full list and photos of the IIHS? Top Safety Picks in this class.
Forbes.com: The most anticipated cars of 2012
Forbes.com: The best used cars for the money
Forbes.com: Most successful cars for 2011
? 2011 Forbes.com
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45791196/ns/business-forbes_com/
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'Speculation that Israel has nuclear weapons deters Iran' ??
| President Peres says that mystery, rumors surrounding Dimona nuclear facility serves as a powerful deterrent against Israel's enemies: "Iran is very dangerous, but there is no need to get hysterical." | Breaking News |
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Source: http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?rid=202164541&cat=c08dd24cec417021
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Rapper Heavy D died of natural causes likely attributed to remaining seated on a long flight across the Atlantic Ocean, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said Tuesday.
The self-proclaimed "overweight lover" of hip hop, who became one of rap's top hit makers with a combination of humor and positivity, collapsed outside his Beverly Hills home on Nov. 8. The 44 year-old rapper, whose real name was Dwight Arrington Myers, died later at a hospital.
Coroner's office spokesman Craig Harvey said Tuesday that weight and a transcontinental jet flight were contributing factors.
The cause of death was pulmonary embolism and deep leg vein thrombosis. He also had arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Rapper's death underscores danger of sitting on long flights"Mr. Myers had recently returned from England to Los Angeles and we believe thrombosis was a result of his ride across the Atlantic," Harvey said Tuesday.
"Mr. Myers weight and preexisting heart condition may have exacerbated the issue," Harvey said.
Harvey recommends that travelers move around a plane and often stretch their legs to avoid the condition.
"Moving about the cabin and being aware of thrombosis," Harvey said. "It's a subject that's been out there for several years now. It's a real condition that can affect people who spend a lot of time sitting in a position."
Heavy D became one of the genre's most integral stars in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His hit "The Overweight Lover's in the House" played up his hefty frame.
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45798022/ns/today-entertainment/
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Not everyone is cut out to work for a startup. It involves a lot of hustling, a lot of nail-biting, pizza-eating, sleeping at your desk, tears, failure, confusion, and on and on. And wearing your startup's t-shirt. All the time. That being said, it can also be extremely rewarding and, with all the cash flying around Silicon Valley (and beyond), aspiring entrepreneurs are flocking to startups. So, say you're one of those people who is champing at the bit to go work for a startup, what do you do next? Well, you can try this, or in the event you're not quite ready to grow a mustache, you can check out things startups should know when looking for top talent, and, hey, Justin Kan has written about how to get a job at a startup even if you don't have a lot of experience. But what about the programmers and developers out there looking to work at startup? Is no one thinking about them?!? Today, we're offering a small slice of holiday cheer with the help of Monetate, which has put together an infographic that offers a few tips for programmers who are looking to toss their talents into the startup ring.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/WMdgUIAQJ2c/
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ATLANTA -- The Atlanta suburb of Smyrna plans to fuel some of its city trucks with a mix that includes biodiesel, which is repurposed cooking oil the city plans to collect from dozens of restaurants that fry food.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://bit.ly/sZWyAM) that Smyrna joins at least two other Georgia cities - Roswell and Tybee Island - in using Department of Energy federal stimulus funds to start and run biodiesel programs for their fleets.
Ann Kirk, executive director of Keep Smyrna Beautiful, said her city's program will begin in January. It was modeled on a program in Hoover, Ala.
Kirk said it will be phased in as supplemental fuel for the city's fleet, with the idea that eventually some of the city's trucks will run entirely on the repurposed cooking oil.
Source: http://www.macon.com/2011/12/26/1839109/ga-towns-aims-to-fuel-trucks-with.html
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Debt consolidation loans for poor credit has change into a helpful financial instrument utilized by many People to manage their bank card debts. A bad credit score debts are brought on by default in bank card payments which have grown in to a huge sum. A consolidated weak credit loan allows a person to deal with all the gathered debts in an organized and manageable way. Utilizing of debt consolidation loans for bad credit report is a approach of coping with all of the bad debt combined into one single debt.
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Source: http://financethatauto.com/2011/12/26/debt-consolidation-loans-for-bad-credit-4/
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[Posted by Karl]
In the lexicon of Rick Perry, ?Oops!?
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry failed to submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the Virginia primary ballot, state GOP officials said Friday evening.
Perry?s campaign told state election officials it had submitted 11,911 signatures, but a Virginia Republican familiar with the situation said that the Texas governor did not submit the required 10,000.
***
They have not examined Gingrich?s signatures yet, but expected to do so by late Friday night.
Candidates had until 5 p.m. to collect 10,000 signatures from across the state, including 400 from each congressional district.
Things may not be looking much better for Newt, who submitted only 11,050?signatures.? Bachmann, Huntsman, and Santorum failed to submit any signatures, potentially leaving this as a Mitt Romney vs Ron Paul matchup.? Do we all get to point and laugh at those who claim organization doesn?t matter any more?? The practical effect, as GOP fundraiser/consultant Nathan Wurtzel notes, is that the Virginia primary will drop in relevance relative to other contests that day, which will not help GOP efforts to win this swing?state in the general election.
Update: The issues in qualifying for the Virginia ballot are well-known.? Via Philip Klein?s Twitter feed, Stacy Cline notes that in 2007, ?the Giuliani campaign had a full-time lawyer devoted almost entirely to qualifying for the VA ballot? and Team Rudy spent an entire weekend checking to make sute they had enough signatures from each district.? Virginia GOP officials tell John McCormack there is not a write-in line on the ballot.? Klein will be shocked if Newt qualifies.
Update 2: Looks like Newt?s in, making Perry look even worse.
Update 3: Patterico commenter SarahW tweets that she got a robocall to come down and sign a petition? on the day before the robocall. Oops.
Update 4:? Newt Gingrich has also been DQed from the VA primary.? He promises an aggressive write-in campaign.? It may also be futile, if John McCormack?s source was correct ? and, given the circumstances, we might credit some anonymous state party official over Gingrich until definitively proven otherwise.
Update 5: Yep, looks like there?s no write-in for Virginia primaries.?IIRC, the GOP has minimal control over the state legislature? could they amend the law to allow write-ins?? I do not even know if the legislature is in session, but I would think there could be discussion, as?it would benefit the state and?national party to have a more competitive primary. (I presume the fear is that in a year like this, Dems could flood the GOP primary for Obama.)
?Karl
Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5661873134&f=378
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House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is followed by reporters after holding a news conference on the payroll tax cut on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is followed by reporters after holding a news conference on the payroll tax cut on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., gestures during a news conference on the payroll tax cut on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., left, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., hold a news conference on the payroll tax cut on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., gestures during a news conference on the payroll tax cut on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., during a news conference on the payroll tax cut on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Their isolation complete, House Republicans on Thursday caved to demands by President Barack Obama, congressional Democrats and fellow Republicans for a short-term renewal of payroll tax cuts for all workers.
After days of wrangling that even House Speaker John Boehner acknowledged "may not have been politically the smartest thing in the world," the Ohio Republican abruptly changed course and dropped demands for immediate holiday season talks with the Senate. The breakthrough probably spares workers a hit in their paychecks that would have kicked in Jan. 1.
Boehner said he expects both House and Senate to pass a new bill by Sunday that would renew the tax break while congressional negotiators work out a longer-term measure that would also extend jobless benefits for millions of Americans and prevent doctors from absorbing a big cut in Medicare payments.
The developments were a clear win for Obama. The payroll tax cut was the centerpiece of his three-month campaign-style drive for jobs legislation.
"Because of this agreement, every working American will keep his or her tax cut - about $1,000 for the average family," Obama said in a statement. "That's about $40 in every paycheck. And when Congress returns, I urge them to keep working to reach an agreement that will extend this tax cut and unemployment insurance for all of 2012 without drama or delay."
The House and Senate could approve the legislation as early as Friday by voice votes.
The GOP retreat ends a tense standoff in which Boehner's House Republicans came under great pressure to agree to the short-term extension passed by the Senate on Saturday. The speaker was open to the idea, But rank and file Republicans revolted and the House instead insisted on immediate talks.
Just hours before he announced the breakthrough, Boehner had made the case for a year-long extension.
But the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, instead urged the House to accept the outlines of the Senate legislation. Resolve was crumbling among tea party-backed Republicans, too.
"I don't think that my constituents should have a tax increase because of Washington's dysfunction," said freshman Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis.
"An 'all or nothing' attitude is not what my constituents need now," Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., wrote in a letter to Boehner. "We are now in a position...that requires Republicans to not only demand a willingness to compromise, but to offer it as well."
On a conference call, Boehner informed his colleagues that it was time to yield.
"He said there comes a time when you've got to move on, and this is the time," said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., paraphrasing Boehner's comments during the conference call, which he said lasted only three or four minutes. "I'm making my decision right now."
The rapid-fire developments underscored the urgency of the search for resolution when Americans deeply disapprove of Congress and are struggling to make it in an economy slowly recovering from recession. Politics also played a significant role: The standoff put Republican presidential candidates in an awkward position less than two weeks before the Iowa caucuses that begin the nomination process, on the cusp of the 2012 elections.
In competing news conferences and statements earlier, all sides sought to avoid blame should taxes go up Jan. 1, just as Americans begin paying holiday bills. House Republicans in particular were facing fire from GOP establishment figures incensed that they would risk losing the tax cut issue to Democrats at the dawn of the presidential and congressional election year.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/mEsbs92gOPU/
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LONDON (Reuters) ? A collection of Princess Diana's dresses will go on display at London's Kensington Palace to coincide with the completion of a 12 million pound ($18.8 million) renovation to her former home.
The display, entitled "Diana," will open on March 26 and run until September as part of a permanent exhibition at Kensington Palace dedicated to Queen Victoria.
The news follows an announcement that Prince William and his brother Prince Harry have decided to use their late mother's apartment for charity events and receptions. William's wife Catherine will also use the apartment for charity events.
William and Catherine also plan to move into another area of the palace next year after extensive renovations are completed.
The exhibition will showcase some of Diana's most famous dresses, including a black taffeta floor-length gown worn for her first public appearance at the Royal Opera House in 1981 and designed by the same makers of her wedding dress.
The David and Elizabeth Emanuel frock, which was sold at auction last year for 192,000 pounds, has never been displayed in public before and will sit alongside an ivory dress designed by Catherine Walker, which Diana wore for a Vanity Fair photo-shoot by Mario Testino in 1997 and a fuchsia and purple silk sari, worn to a dinner held for the King of Thailand in 1988.
"We have carefully selected this collection of exquisite dresses to illustrate to visitors Diana's evolving style and the important role fashion played in creating her public image," Kensington Palace curator Deirdre Murphy said in a statement.
"Kensington Place is an ideal setting to showcase these gowns - the atmosphere of the display will be truly magical."
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(Created by Li-mei Hoang)
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PYONGYANG, North Korea ? Mourning centers have been set up in towns and villages across North Korea in a stepped-up show of public grief Friday over the death of leader Kim Jong Il, but attention and allegiances were already clearly shifting to his young son.
Scenes of dramatic mass mourning have been a daily occurrence in Pyongyang since Kim's death was announced on Monday. Thousands of North Koreans ? including heir Kim Jong Un and other top officials ? have poured into a funeral palace in the capital to view his body or bow before his portrait.
By Friday, mourning stations had also been established in provincial, city and county seats, and at institutions and enterprises across the country.
"The sorrow at the loss of our leader is tremendous. But we would not stay in grief only," Sok Kil Nam, a 24-year-old worker at the Chollima Steel Complex in the city of Nampho, told The Associated Press. He added: "As long as we have great comrade Kim Jong Un, the cause of the respected General Kim Jong Il will go on, so we continue working, not leaving our work sites."
North Korea's official media have been quick to feature the younger Kim in coverage of the mourning ? a strong indication that the country's leadership is behind installing the 20-something son as Kim Jong Il's successor and the public face of the nation.
Officials in Seoul and Washington, after initial jitters over possible instability, are calling the transition so far a smooth one. There have been no outward signs of unrest on the streets or unusual troop movements along the borders.
"We continue to monitor and assess the situation and continue normal operations for stability and security in the region," said Cmdr. Ron Steiner, a spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, which is based in Japan.
The North, however, remains highly sensitive to what it sees as outside threats.
One North Korean media outlet known for being particularly strident in its commentary slammed South Korea for putting its military on a heightened alert level after Kim's death, calling it an "insult" that derides the dignity of a nation in mourning.
The government-run website, Uriminzokkiri, also said the fate of the relations between the two Koreas depends on how the South deals with requests from its civilians to visit the North to pay respects to Kim.
"We are watching the attitude of the South Korean government," it said.
It said Pyongyang will accept anyone from South Korea hoping to pay respects to Kim Jong Il and that routes by both air and land will be opened. North Korea has said through its other media that foreign delegations would not be allowed in to attend the official funeral for Kim on Dec. 28-29.
Keenly aware of the sensitivities, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has sought to assure Pyongyang that his country was "not hostile," despite putting its front-line troops on alert since Kim's death was announced. On Friday, the presidential Blue House announced it had lifted an emergency mode for all government workers except those involved in security and foreign affairs.
Even so, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Choi Boh-seon said his government remains "firm" in its position not to allow civilians to visit North Korea to pay respects to Kim Jong Il, except the bereaved families of former President Kim Dae-jung and former Hyundai Asan chairman Chung Mong-hun.
Kim met with Kim Jong Il in 2000 in Pyongyang in the first summit meeting between the two Koreas. Chung led a joint tourism project with North Korea that yielded much-sought hard currency for Pyongyang until its suspension in 2008.
In a parliamentary hearing, South Korean Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said Seoul is open to dialogue with the North, if that would be constructive.
"I hope the emergence of the new leader will lead North Korea to move in the right direction and enhance the livelihoods of the North Korean people," Yu said.
Asked if Seoul considers Kim Jong Un as successor to Kim Jong Il, Yu only said his government is "closely monitoring the issue."
Communication between the United States and North Korea also still appears open as the North continues its official 11-day mourning period. But the State Department said it wasn't expecting any meeting with the North Koreans this week, and little contact before the mourning period ends Dec. 29.
In a strong endorsement of the young Kim, the North's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun has urged the country to "rally, rally and rally behind great comrade Kim Jong Un and faithfully uphold his leadership."
It called him "the outstanding leader of our party, military and people and a great successor."
South Korea's intelligence agency has told Parliament members that an ad hoc committee in which Kim Jong Un is a vice chairman is expected to handle key state affairs before he formally becomes the country's leader.
The agency predicts Kim Jong Un's aunt Kim Kyong Hui, a key Workers' Party official, and Jang Song Thaek, her husband and a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, will play larger roles supporting the heir, according to a lawmaker who spoke to the AP.
___
Reporting from Pyongyang by Associated Press Television News senior video journalist Rafael Wober and reporter Pak Won Il. AP writers Eric Talmadge, Foster Klug, Hyung-jin Kim and Sam Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee contributed to this story.
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THURSDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) -- The recent recession took a toll on parent-child ties, with parents who were under financial strain reporting that they felt less connected to their kids and kids saying they were less likely to act with generosity, a new study finds.
Researchers from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Brigham Young University analyzed data from a survey done in 2009 and then again a year later of about 500 families in the Seattle area about their feelings of depression, economic stress and family relationships.
The families were mostly white, middle- to upper-middle-class and college educated. The children were young adolescents, aged 10 to 14.
From one year to the next, parents who reported increasing financial pressure were also more likely to report symptoms of depression, according to the study. In turn, depressed parents were more likely to report feeling less connected and less close with their child.
Likewise, parental financial strain and depression also affected the children. Children whose parents were struggling were less likely to say they volunteered, helped their friends or their families, found enjoyment in doing small favors for others, or tried to cheer up people who were feeling blue -- a group of positive behaviors researchers call "pro-social behaviors."
"The effects of the economic strain are present and having an impact on families that we consider middle-class and upper-middle-class," said lead study author Gustavo Carlo, currently a professor of human development and family studies at the University of Missouri. "These are families you'd think maybe aren't feeling the effects of the economic crisis in the way that other communities are, or that might have access to resources that other families might not have easy access to."
And the families interviewed were from the Seattle area, which wasn't even as hard hit during the downturn as other regions of the country, Carlo added. "One can only imagine how these effects are being felt by families in areas where the communities have really suffered tremendously from the economic situation," he said.
The study appears online and in the December print issue of the Journal of Research on Adolescence.
To be sure, not every parent experiencing economic strain will become anxious and depressed, said Velma McBride Murry, a professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.
"If you enter this situation having an increased vulnerability to depression and anxiety, economic strain elevates it, or sets it off to where you are more likely to experience greater devastation than people who are much more mentally stable," Murry said.
But the current study adds to a large body of evidence that cuts across income levels and racial and ethnic groups and shows that economic stress can have a "cascading effect" on the whole family, Murry said. When under financial stress, parents who are used to being able to give their children a cellphone or new clothes suffer mentally when they can no longer do so. As money worries mount -- they're not sure they can pay the mortgage, or the utility bill, or a medical expense that comes in -- parents can become overwhelmed, irritable, short-tempered, depressed and withdrawn.
"Then it erodes communication in the family, and reduces the connectedness that parents have with their children," Murry said.
The kids feel it, too, and their attitudes and behavior can also suffer. Prior research has shown that the kids aren't bothered by the loss of the material goods -- the new cellphone or the clothes -- but by the impact it's having on their family, she added.
"Prior studies have found that kids will say, 'it's not the stuff that I miss. I miss my relationship with my parents. That has shifted and the environment in my family has shifted,'" Murry said.
Parents who are feeling economically strained and depressed should seek out emotional support, whether it's from family and friends, their church or from a mental health professional, Carlo urged.
"They may have to pay some extra attention to work on the quality of the relationship with their child," he said.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more on depression.
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PARIS ? The exiled son of the toppled shah of Iran said Thursday he plans to ask the United Nations to bring Iran's supreme leader before the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.
Reza Pahlavi is among exiles working for regime change in Iran. He said at a Paris news conference that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei must be held responsible for the executions, jailing and torture of political dissidents.
Pahlavi said he will submit a complaint about Khamenei to the five permanent U.N. Security Council members along with a report of the cleric's alleged crimes that will be constantly updated.
Pahlavi's father, the late Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, was ousted in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that installed a clerical hierarchy. The ultimate leader of the government running the country now is Khamenei.
Iran has not ratified the Rome statute that established the International Criminal Court, the world's permanent war crimes tribunal, known as the ICC. It is therefore not subject to the court's jurisdiction ? unless the Security Council decides to step in and refer Iran to the court as it did in the case of Libya.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, asked about Pahlavi's announcement, said "citizens around the world are learning to request the court's intervention."
"In this sense, I think it's great to show people who are looking for justice. Now they know how to do it. We are providing a new institution to the world, to make the world better," Ocampo told a news conference in New York.
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Social networking began as a confusing mess for many growing companies. Since then, teams of web developers, internet service providers and engineers have simplified the experience through web apps, smart phone applications and user-friendly APIs.
Now the process of marketing your business through social media is easier than ever. This ease of use, however, has turned out to be a double-edged sword. With many one-touch solutions for creating social networking profiles, the web has become cluttered with a mess of business-related social media accounts blasting massive volumes of sporadic marketing messages.
This is a serious problem for any company with long-term social media marketing ambitions. Recent studies done by the Altimeter Group showed that companies with more than 1000 employees averaged over 39 Twitter accounts, 31 blogs and nearly 30 Facebook accounts or pages. What this equates to is patchy distribution of content and inconsistency in the image of a brand, resulting in mixed feelings from a business?s customers.
It is a common misconception that a company?s organizational architecture should be reflected in their social media campaign. That is, every department and every product will get its own Twitter and/or Facebook page, etc.
The sad realization is that a business?s web presence becomes separated into several, hard-to-follow, fragmented online communities. If your social media strategy is flooded with unnecessary accounts, you may eventually lose your captive audience. It is important to remember that nobody can manage several dozen pages simultaneously without exhausting unnecessary amounts of effort. As a result, many pages will become dormant, customer engagement will tank, and your online marketing strategy will suffer as a result. From a very practical viewpoint, some internet service providers may not be able support massive amounts of digital content.
Instead, your company?s online marketing campaign should implement a strict social media policy, one that outlines exactly what warrants the creation of a new social media page. You should also consider the amount and types of resources required to operate and maintain each social media account. If you?re able to minimize your social media strategy in terms of shear account volume, the costs of managing these accounts will go down, and your efforts will be more effective in the long-run.
Every social media campaign needs to identify a clear link and interaction structure. Effective link structure lets you clearly establish and assign significance of each individual social media account.
It?s important to do this as quickly and as efficiently as possible. This lets you map out a plan to gauge how you can best serve each micro-community associated with each social media account.
This also opens the door to assigning value to content as it relates to other pages. As you set this plan in motion, you can then re-purpose content across your multiple social media pages (text, video, infographics and tweets). As the social web becomes more cluttered with useless content, the practice of implementing good link structure technique will be social media?s saving grace.
Finally, after consolidating all necessary social media accounts and putting a solid structure into place for linking and liking, it?s time to plan content. Many companies believe that just like in advertising, sheer volume equals success. The problem with publishing lots of content constantly, is that at some point, audiences will get sick of you.
Carefully planning content publishing initiatives is the best way to keep from burning out an audience and maintaining appeal. Many companies setup an editorial calendar, not unlike what magazines, newspapers and trade publications use. Simple, scheduled, and consistent messages will always reflect a business better than sheer volume. How does your social media campaign reflect your business?
* * *
Note: Photos courtesy of smemon and thecampbells via FlickR Creative Commons.
Source: http://soshable.com/social-media-reflection/
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CHICAGO ? Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd was locked up in federal custody Thursday as his stunned teammates learned he had been charged with trying to set up a drug-dealing network following his arrest with more than a pound of cocaine.
U.S. Magistrate Young Kim ordered Hurd held until at least Friday while prosecutors and defense attorneys work out bond details before he is sent to Texas to face charges.
The handcuffed Hurd declined to comment on the charges. Asked before the hearing if he was still a member of the Bears, he said: "As far as I know." He shook his head when asked if he had talked to anyone on the team.
"Sam intends to fight these charges, and we intend to defend him fully," said high-profile defense attorney David Kenner, one of Hurd's lawyers. "We have complete confidence in him."
Kenner told The Associated Press that he and partner Brett Greenfield had not evaluated all of the information in the case. But Kenner ? who successfully defended rapper Snoop Dogg against murder charges ? said he had other cases where the evidence appeared to be stacked against his client.
"They start off looking terrible, and then we end up with `not guiltys,'" Kenner said.
Kenner and Greenfield said they expected Hurd to be released from custody Friday.
Hurd, 26, was arrested Wednesday night after meeting with an undercover agent at a Chicago restaurant, according to a criminal complaint that says the player was first identified as a potential drug dealer over the summer as the NFL lockout was coming to an end.
Hurd told the agent that he was interested in buying five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week to distribute in the Chicago area, the complaint said. He allegedly said he and a co-conspirator already distribute about four kilos of cocaine every week, but their supplier couldn't keep up with his demands. A kilogram is about 2.2 pounds.
Hurd told the agent "his co-conspirator is in charge of doing the majority of the deals" while he focused on "higher-end deals," the complaint said.
He agreed to pay $25,000 for each kilogram of cocaine and $450 a pound for the marijuana, according to the charges, and then said he could pay for a kilo of cocaine after "he gets out of practice." He walked out of the restaurant with the package and was arrested.
The criminal complaint was filed in Texas, where the U.S. attorney said Hurd faces up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine if convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine, or half a kilogram.
Hurd's agent, Ian Greengross, did not return messages seeking comment. The NFL said it was looking into the incident while the NFL Players Association declined to comment.
Coach Lovie Smith said the arrest was a disappointment and a "total surprise," adding that Hurd was still a member of the Bears for now.
"Sam wasn't in meetings this morning and that's how from there of course we started searching trying to find out why a player wouldn't be here," Smith said. "There was no tipoff, didn't know it was coming."
Smith said there was no reason to believe Hurd had problems when the Bears signed him before the season.
"No issues, no reason. I'm in shock over it. I never saw it coming," Smith said. "But just like I think I know most of you, you don't really know what people do once you're not with them. But I know that anyone we bring through here, we've had an extensive search to find out everything, if there is something out there, and that wasn't the case. There was nothing we knew about Sam."
Hurd, a San Antonio native who played college ball at Northern Illinois, spent five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and is in his first stint with the Bears. He has contributed mostly on special teams, playing in 77 games overall with six starts and two career touchdowns. He has played in 12 games this year, catching eight passes for 109 yards.
The complaint says an informant tipped off authorities in Texas in July, leading to an investigation in which an unidentified acquaintance of Hurd's "negotiated" for approximately five kilograms of cocaine on the player's behalf. The acquaintance wanted to buy the drugs quickly to take it to a "northern destination that same day," the complaint said.
The Bears reached a three-year deal with Hurd this summer that was reportedly worth up to $5.15 million, including a $1.35 million signing bonus and base pay this season of $685,000.
The deal was announced on July 29 ? the day after federal authorities say he had agreed to a "consensual interview" with Homeland Security investigators over $88,000 in cash that had been seized in a car he owned in the Dallas area. The money was inside a canvas bag that authorities said was covered in a plant-like material that tested positive for "properties of marijuana."
The acquaintance told authorities that Hurd "routinely leaves large amounts" of money in his vehicles, while Hurd said the money was indeed his and that he had given the car to his acquaintance, a car shop employee, for maintenance and detail work.
Hurd showed authorities a bank statement he said showed he had withdrawn $88,000 from his account, but authorities said it did "not reflect the transactions and amounts" he claimed.
Teammates said they couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"It's a situation that you don't, I don't, want anybody to be in, especially a close friend, a teammate that I've been playing with now for four or five years," said wide receiver Roy Williams, who played with Hurd in Dallas before being reunited on the Bears this year. "Especially a guy from Texas with a wife and a daughter. ... I know it has to be tough for him because he has his family."
Linebacker Brian Urlacher said it's sad for Hurd, who he called a good teammate and good guy. But he said it won't affect the team's play.
"Football-wise it's not going to be an issue," Urlacher said. "We'll go out there and practice like we do every day and hopefully put it behind us when Sunday gets here."
In 2009, four years into his NFL career, Hurd established a charitable organization, Running with the Hurd, aimed at mentoring kids. The organization sponsored a football camp in the South Texas city of Harlingen last year.
Hurd's sister, Jawanda Newsome, told the San Antonio Express-News in 2008 that her brother was paying to fix up their parents' home as well as covering his younger brother's junior college tuition. She said she worried about her brother because he was so prone to give his money away.
Newsome told the newspaper Thursday she is hoping people will refrain from speculating about her brother's case.
"We need to see what the outcome is," she said. "He has a lawyer. I hope San Antonio doesn't lose its trust in Sam. We are praying for a positive outcome, because we don't yet know hard-core facts either."
Linebacker Lance Briggs said the Bears were going to focus on practice and Sunday's home game against Seattle.
"You hate to see this happen to anyone. That's just it. We all make mistakes," Briggs said. "You don't go through a football season without distractions. Distractions are expected. This is a game where we're professionals and you have to approach it that way.
"There's a sports side, there's a business side and then there's a personal side. And, when it comes to business as a professional, you have to take care of business."
___
AP Sports Writer Rick Gano in Lake Forest, Ill., and AP writers Danny Robbins and Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this report.
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CANBERRA, Australia?-- And now a word from the Aussie communications minister ?
Unfortunately for Stephen Conroy, the word that came out Tuesday on live television, right before a popular afternoon children?s show, was decidedly less than G-rated, AAP reported via the Sydney Morning Herald.
Answering a question at the National Press Club in Canberra about investment risk in Australia, Conroy said: "If a tax goes up, God, that is sovereign risk. But if a tax goes down, f---ing fantastic." He quickly added: "Excuse me."
Conroy is the minister in charge of Australia?s broadcasting standards. A spokeswoman for the Australian Communications and Media Authority was not aware of any complaints, AAP reported.
The children?s show that was up next? The animal show ?Meerkat Manor.?
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Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have demonstrated that a growth hormone, PDGF-BB, and the blood protein EPO are involved in the development of cancer tumours and that they combine to help the tumours proliferate in the body. These new preclinical findings offer new potential for inhibiting tumour growth and bypassing problems of resistance that exist with many drugs in current use. The results are published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine.
Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, and is one of the most important research fields in the treatment of such diverse conditions as cancer, metastases, obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and chronic inflammation. The process is also important in healthy individuals for wound healing, the menstrual cycle and other normal processes. Professor Yihai Cao and his team are researching into angiogenesis and its links to cancer and other diseases, and in the present study show the significant role played by a growth factor, PDGF-BB.
"It's a member of the PDGF family and significantly contributes to blood vessel development, which is one of the characteristic signs of cancer, says Professor Yihai Cao. Our preclinical findings suggest that PDGF-BB causes systemic effects in the body, which is to say that rather than being active locally it goes into the blood and interferes with the function of several organs so that the entire body is affected."
Their studies are carried out on mice, and in the present study they were able to show that when the growth factor PDGF-BB binds to its receptors, it stimulates the blood protein EPO (Erythropoietin), which, in turn, controls the production of red blood cells, that provide more oxygen for tumor growth and metastasis.
"EPO has several functions," says Professor Yihai Cao. "It produces more blood and stimulates angiogenesis, and we have revealed the underlying mechanism. It also stimulates tumour angiogenesis by directly stimulating the proliferation, migration and growth of endothelial cells and their ability to form the so-called epithelial tube. PDGF-BB promotes the stimulation of extramedullary haematopoiesis, enlargement of the liver and spleen, which increases oxygen perfusion and protection against anaemia." The introduction of PDGF-BB in mice thus boosts erythropoietin production and the haematopoietic parameters. In addition, EPO may directly act on tumor cells to promote their growth and metastasis.
"We believe that the increase in EPO might be responsible for tumoural resistance to anti-angiogenetic drugs, which only target PDGF ligands. The combination of drugs targeted at both PDGF and EPO has potential superior therapeutic benefits and might circumvent today's serious resistance problems," says Professor Yihai Cao, adding that they will continue to study mouse models and explore opportunities for clinical studies on patients.
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Karolinska Institutet: http://info.ki.se/ki
Thanks to Karolinska Institutet for this article.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115720/Blood_protein_EPO_involved_in_origin_and_spread_of_cancer
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