Short-seller Chanos still bearish on PC-makers Dell, HP: CNBC

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager James Chanos told CNBC on Wednesday that he was still betting against the shares of computer-makers Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

Chanos, noted for predicting the downfall of Enron and more recently a vocal bear on the Chinese economy, told CNBC that the "PC (personal computer) business is falling apart" and the industry faces structural problems.

"The real structural issue is these companies are behind the eight-ball," Chanos said. "The secular story has not gone away."

Chanos, who is president and founder of short-selling firm Kynikos Associates, has criticized Hewlett Packard for failing to keep up with competitors in the mobile and cloud computing space.

The hedge fund manager said his roughly $6 billion firm had gotten out of its Dell trade last year, then began to short the stock again in 2013. If a hedge fund manager is short a stock, he believes its price will fall.

"I shorted into the deal," Chanos said, referring to a $24.4 billion deal to take the company private for $13.65 a share.

"I'm puzzled as a financial analyst and a business analyst why this is an attractive deal," he added, noting that Dell's "cash flow is plummeting."

He said his New York-based firm has a small long position in iPad maker Apple Inc, and added he had never shorted that technology company.

Chanos also told CNBC that nutritional supplement company Herbalife is "not a viable business long-term."

Herbalife has been at the center of a war-of-words between two well-known hedge fund managers William Ackman and Carl Icahn, who are short and long the stock respectively.

Chanos, who had a short position in Herbalife in 2012 and closed out position in the fourth quarter, said the "multi-level marketing model is flawed."

(Reporting by Katya Wachtel; Editing by David Gregorio and Bob Burgdorfer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/short-seller-chanos-still-bearish-pc-makers-dell-170158351--sector.html

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'We stand with you and we do not forget'

WACO, Texas (AP) ? President Barack Obama consoled a rural Texas community rocked by a deadly fertilizer plant explosion, telling mourners Thursday they are not alone in their grief and they will have the nation's support to rebuild from the devastation.

"This small town's family is bigger now," Obama said during a memorial service at Baylor University for victims of last week's explosion in nearby West, Texas, that killed 14 and injured 200. Nearly 10,000 gathered to remember the first responders killed in the blast, a crowd more than triple the size of West's entire population of 2,700.

"To the families, the neighbors grappling with unbearable loss, we are here to say you are not alone. You are not forgotten," Obama said to applause. "We may not all live here in Texas, but we're neighbors too. We're Americans too, and we stand with you."

The April 17 explosion left a crater more than 90 feet wide and damaged dozens of buildings, displacing many residents from their homes. The Insurance Council of Texas estimates it caused more than $100 million in damage, and crews were sifting the rubble to search for clues to what caused the explosion or whether foul play was involved.

The blast came about 20 minutes after a fire was reported at West Fertilizer. Ten of those killed were first responders who sped out to the nighttime blaze.

The memorial service honored those first responders and two civilians who tried to fight the fire and were posthumously named volunteer first responders. Among the dead were brothers Douglas and Robert Snokhous, West High School graduates who volunteered together for the town's fire department for more than 13 years.

As Obama spoke, the gymnasium lit up with the flashes of cameras and cellphones, glimmering like stars in the dimly lit room. The president spoke for 16 minutes, quoting scripture and lauding the men whose flag-draped coffins laid before him. "When you got to the scene, you forgot fear and you fought that blaze as hard as you could, knowing the danger," Obama said.

The service opened with a photo slideshow set to country music and projected onto a movie screen. It showed images of the men from their childhood, their weddings and other moments throughout lives filled with children and friends. Mourners were given programs with full-page profiles of each of the victims, describing their lives, their values and their faith.

Both the president and first lady Michelle Obama wiped away a tear as bagpipes sounded "Amazing Grace."

"How does one find such love to be willing to lay down your life so that others may live?" asked Texas Sen. John Cornyn, speaking on behalf of the state's congressional delegation. "This will forever be the legacy of those who ran toward the fire last week."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry eulogized the unpaid first responders, lamenting that each had a personal story and journey that drew to a close too soon.

"These are volunteers. Ordinary individuals blessed with extraordinary courage and a determination to do what they could to save lives," he said. "They're the ones who proudly said 'not on my watch' in the moments immediately following that explosion."

Perry's remarks were followed by video of the victims' grim-faced family members remembering their lives and expressing pride for their heroism. The brother-in-law of Cody Dragoo, another volunteer firefighter, remembered how Dragoo would leave notes for his wife, Patty, when he was traveling, and how he loved hunting and NASCAR.

Obama added his appearance at the memorial service onto a long-planned trip to Texas for Thursday's opening of George W. Bush's presidential library at Southern Methodist University. Bush sent his sympathies in a statement read at the service by Baylor President Ken Starr, the former special prosecutor who investigated President Bill Clinton.

Obama's solemn reflections at the memorial required an abrupt shift in tone by the president, whose morning in Dallas was filled with smiles, music and pageantry as he and the other four living presidents celebrated one of their own. Less than an hour later, Obama was airborne over West, circling the scene of the explosion ? still a harrowing site more than a week after tragedy first touched the small Texas town.

From his helicopter, Obama saw what looked like a massive construction site, with cranes and dozens of vehicles dotting a wide swath of brown earth. Piles of burnt rubble and scorched earth were clearly visible. Obama could also see the school field first responders used as a staging ground.

Obama has made such a trip countless times before, touring damage and consoling survivors of other disasters including Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Sandy and a string of mass shootings. It was just one week ago that Obama was in Boston, offering solace to the nation at a memorial for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, another larger-than-life tragedy that compounded the nation's grief the same week as the explosion in West.

After the service, the president and first lady were planning to visit privately with relatives and friends of firefighters killed in the explosion, the White House said.

Fire trucks and other first responders' vehicles paraded through Waco en route to the ceremony at Baylor's sports arena. The vehicles entered under an archway formed by the ladders from two fire trucks with an American flag hung between them. Many of the mourners wore the uniforms of police, firefighters and paramedics and wiped tears from their eyes.

Brian Crawford, fire chief in the Dallas suburb of Plano, attended with 11 others from his department even though they live 100 miles from West.

"With these unfortunate circumstances, it's time to show we are all a family," Crawford said. "These were our brothers and they paid the price."

As the service drew to a close, a bell was rung once for each victim, reverberating through the hall and setting off a long moment of silence.

Then, with hushed sobs breaking the quiet, a loudspeaker re-enacting a dispatcher's radio identified the victims one by one, calling each firefighter to duty for the last time:

"Until we meet again. Dispatch clear."

___

Associated Press writer Nedra Pickler in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-consoles-families-survivors-texas-blast-191048180.html

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Logitech G19s Gaming Keyboard

Makers PC gaming peripherals are in the unenviable position of having to meet gamer's simultaneous demands for top-of-the-line products and innovative products that offer new and better ways to interact with technology. Finding the balancing point between these two concerns is a tricky business. For example, Logitech G19s gaming keyboard showcases the latest trend, the inclusion of an integrated display, providing a way to track and monitor in-game information or chat with teammates without monopolizing precious screen real-estate. It's an interesting idea we've seen once or twice before, but it's not quite clear whether this will be an improvement that sticks, or a gimmick that fizzles out.

Design
The Logitech G19s made for gamers, and it's evident just from looking at the keyboard. Instead of a plain looking key-covered slab, the keyboard has extra buttons and features sprouting from every spare bit of surface area. In addition to the usual keyboard and numeric pad, you'll find integrated media controls, including a roller knob for volume adjustment. On the left end of the keyboard, you'll find 12 programmable macro buttons to the left of the standard keyboard, similar to those seen on the Editors' Choice Corsair Vengeance K90 or Logitech's own G710+ Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. Each key can be programmed with up to three different macro commands, swappable at the touch of a button.

The keys themselves can be customized, with adjustable backlighting that lets you pick any of 16 million RGB color options. You can also set the backlight color to change when you switch the keyboard into gaming mode. An integrated gaming mode switch disables the Windows key to prevent any accidental keystrokes from pulling you out of your game, and shifts from one mode to another with a sliding switch, so there's no fear of switching modes with mistaken press of a button. Plus, by assigning a different backlight color to the game mode, you'll immediately know which mode you're in.

The keys themselves are molded plastic, coated in a UV coating to protect the keys against fading, with laser etched keycaps and two-colors?while most keys are black, the WASD and arrow keys have a silvery-grey colored keycaps for easier recognition. The keyboard also offers 110-key anti-ghosting, and six-key rollover, which will handle the multiple keystrokes of combos and rapid-fire attacks without stuttering.

The G19s has a plastic chassis, similar to that seen on the recent G710+, but instead of accenting the black plastic with orange, the G19s uses deep blue. On the underside of the keyboard, molded into the plastic chassis, are channels for managing cords for mice or headphones. A detachable wrist rest provides extra support for those who want it, and has a hydrophobic coating to resist smudging. The light plastic construction of the keyboard and wrist rest may not be to everyone's liking, but it wasn't a noticeable issue during my testing.

What was noticeable, however, was the style of key switch. Instead of using mechanical key switches?like those seen on the Corsair Vengeance K90 or the Logitech G710+?the G19s utilizes silicone membrane switches, which provide a markedly different feel. Unlike mechanical switches, which offer crisp tactile feedback, light actuating force, and register a keystroke with only a partial key press, membrane switches have a mushy feel, and require pressing each key all the way down, bottoming out the key well. While this may not be problematic in the short term, it makes for a slower, less comfortable experience, and requiring more effort for each keystroke will have an effect when you're playing League of Legends for three or four hours straight.

Features
The G19s has plenty of gamer-friendly features, but the most notable is the built-in LCD display, what Logitech calls the GamePanel. Through the small display you'll be fed a steady stream of information, from game stats to system data, VOIP information or video playback. The display is built into the keyboard with an adjustable angle hinge, so you can set the angle of the small screen to your liking. It's not the first gaming keyboard we've seen with an integrated display?we've seen similar in the Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. 7 and the Razer DeathStalker Ultimate?but it is by far the most affordable.

The keyboard uses a lot of juice running that display, so the USB cable used to connect it to your PC also includes a connection for an AC power adapter?yes, you'll need to plug your keyboard into a wall outlet. Making up for this fact are two USB pass-thru connections on the keyboard, letting you plug in two additional USB devices without having to snake the cables around to plug into your desktop tower.

Logitech gives you plenty of ways to tweak and customize the G19s, and it does all of this customization through Logitech's Gaming Software 8.45. The downloadable software lets you tweak the lighting, record and edit macros, and select from pre-programmed profiles for a wide range of current games. The software is Windows-only (Windows 8/7/Vista) though, so Mac and Linux gamers are out of luck.

Performance
I tested the G19s keyboard both at work and play, and it was competent in both. As mentioned earlier, the use of membrane switches instead of mechanical does result in a slower, less efficient typing experience, but nothing too egregious?it simply puts the G19s on the same level as any other non-mechanical keyboard.

As a gaming keyboard, the G19s does especially well when the programmable macros are brought into play. MMOs, like World of Warcraft or DOTA 2 are ideal, while first person shooters, with their point and click actions, hardly use them. Recording macros is very simple; simply press the MR (Macro Record) button on the keyboard to begin recording a macro, and press it again to end recording. When tested in game, the performance was decent, but those who rely on rapid-fire attacks and flurries of activity may find themselves slowed by the membrane switches.

The integrated display suffers from the same problem as those on the Razer DeathStalker Ultimate and the Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. 7, namely that the display is out of your immediate field of vision, requiring you to look away from your monitor in order to focus on a smaller image. It seems like several of the major game peripheral companies are experimenting with built-in keyboard displays of late, but it's a niche concept that has yet to really gain traction. Unless you earnestly want that extra display, your money might be better spent on a high-performance keyboard sans screen.

Conclusion
While the Logitech G19s does check off several items on any gamer's checklist, like programmable macros, customizable lighting, and an integrated display. What it's missing, however, keeps it from getting a strong recommendation. The decision to use membrane switches instead of mechanical will turn away many discerning buyers, while the plastic construction and the required AC adapter will put off even those who aren't picky about key-feel. As a result, the Corsair Vengeance K90 remains the Editors' Choice for gaming keyboards, while the slightly more expensive Razer DeathStalker Ultimate is our recommendation for those demanding an integrated display.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/s7zRrkuigT0/0,2817,2418129,00.asp

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Ricin suspect released from federal custody

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) ? A federal official says the man charged with sending poison letters to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a Mississippi judge has been released from jail.

Jeff Woodfin, chief deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service in Oxford, Miss., says Paul Kevin Curtis has been released from custody.

Woodfin says he doesn't know if there were any conditions on the release.

The development comes hours after officials canceled a detention and preliminary hearing on Tuesday.

Curtis was arrested Wednesday at his house in Corinth, Miss., and charged with sending ricin-laced letters to Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker and a Lee County, Miss., judge.

Through an attorney, the 45-year-old Curtis has said he is innocent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-ricin-suspect-released-jail-171027275.html

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Lower coal prices dent Teck profit

(Reuters) - Teck Resources Ltd , Canada's largest diversified miner, reported a 40 percent fall in first-quarter adjusted profit due to lower coal prices, and said economic uncertainty may affect prices and shipments.

On an adjusted basis, the company's earnings fell to C$328 million ($319 million), or 56 Canadian cents per share, from C$544 million, or 93 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue from operations fell about 9 percent to C$2.33 billion. Coal revenue fell by C$138 million as a result of significantly lower coal prices.

Coal prices were down 28 percent from a year ago at $161 per tonne, while copper was down 5 percent, Teck said.

Teck warned in February that demand for coal would be soft through at least the first half of 2013. The company said economic uncertainty in Europe and the United States, along with lower growth rates in emerging markets was hitting demand for its products.

Coal production of 6.2 million tonnes in the first quarter was largely unchanged from a year ago.

The company said it continues to experience volatile markets for its products. It expects total coal sales in the second quarter, including spot sales, to be at or above 6.0 million tonnes.

Teck plans to produce around 24.5 million tonnes of the metallurgical coal in 2013 and 350,000 tonnes of copper.

Net profit attributable to shareholders rose to C$319 million, or 55 Canadian cents per share, from C$258 million, or 44 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier. Profit last year was affected by a $329 million after-tax charge related to the refinancing of a portion of its debt.

($1 = 1.0269 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore and Julie Gordon in Toronto; Editing by Robin Paxton, Sreejiraj Eluvangal)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lower-coal-prices-dent-teck-profit-103336611--finance.html

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Scientists map all possible drug-like chemical compounds: Library of millions of small, carbon-based molecules chemists might synthesize

Apr. 22, 2013 ? Drug developers may have a new tool to search for more effective medications and new materials.

It's a computer algorithm that can model and catalogue the entire set of lightweight, carbon-containing molecules that chemists could feasibly create in a lab.

The small-molecule universe has more than 10^60 (that's 1 with 60 zeroes after it) chemical structures. Duke chemist David Beratan said that many of the world's problems have molecular solutions in this chemical space, whether it???s a cure for disease or a new material to capture sunlight.

But, he said, "The small-molecule universe is astronomical in size. When we search it for new molecular solutions, we are lost. We don't know which way to look."

To give synthetic chemists better directions in their molecular search, Beratan and his colleagues -- Duke chemist Weitao Yang, postdoctoral associates Aaron Virshup and Julia Contreras-Garcia, and University of Pittsburgh chemist Peter Wipf -- designed a new computer algorithm to map the small-molecule universe.

The map, developed with a National Institutes of Health P50 Center grant, tells scientists where the unexplored regions of the chemical space are and how to build structures to get there. A paper describing the algorithm and map appeared online in April in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The map helps chemists because they do not yet have the tools, time or money to synthesize all 10^60 compounds in the small-molecule universe. Synthetic chemists can only make a few hundred or a few thousand molecules at a time, so they have to carefully choose which compounds to build, Beratan said.

The scientists already have a digital library describing about a billion molecules found in the small-molecule universe, and they have synthesized about 100 million compounds over the course of human history, Beratan said. But these molecules are similar in structure and come from the same regions of the small-molecule universe.

It's the unexplored regions that could hold molecular solutions to some of the world's most vexing challenges, Beratan said.

To add diversity and explore new regions to the chemical space, Aaron Virshup developed a computer algorithm that built a virtual library of 9 million molecules with compounds representing every region of the small-molecule universe.

"The idea was to start with a simple molecule and make random changes, so you add a carbon, change a double bond to a single bond, add a nitrogen. By doing that over and over again, you can get to any molecule you can think of," Virshup said.

He programed the new algorithm to make small, random chemical changes to the structure of benzene and then to catalogue the new molecules it created based on where they fit into the map of the small-molecule universe. The challenge, Virshup said, came in identifying which new chemical compounds chemists could actually create in a lab.

Virshup sent his early drafts of the algorithm's newly constructed molecules to synthetic chemists who scribbled on them in red ink to show whether they were synthetically unstable or unrealistic. He then turned the criticisms into rules the algorithm had to follow so it would not make those types of compounds again.

"The rules kept us from getting lost in the chemical space," he said.

After ten iterations, the algorithm finally produced 9 million synthesizable molecules representing every region of the small-molecule universe, and it produced a map showing the regions of the chemical space where scientists have not yet synthesized any compounds.

"With the map, we can tell chemists, if you can synthesize a new molecule in this region of space, you have made a new type of compound," Virshup said. "It's an intellectual property issue. If you're in the blank spaces on our small molecule map, you're guaranteed to make something that isn't patented yet," he said.

The team has made the source code for the algorithm available online. The researchers said they hope scientists will use it to immediately start mining the unexplored regions of the small molecule universe for new chemical compounds.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (P50-GM067082).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Duke University. The original article was written by Ashley Yeager.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Aaron M Virshup, Julia Contreras-Garc?a, Peter Wipf, Weitao Yang, David N. Beratan. Stochastic voyages into uncharted chemical space produce a representative library of all possible drug-like compounds.. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013; : 130402114828001 DOI: 10.1021/ja401184g

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/biochemistry/~3/59XGfriSyDc/130422154945.htm

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Visual Mobile App Builder Tiggzi Relaunches As Appery.io, Adds New Enterprise Features

Exadel’s Tiggzi online mobile app development service for iOS, Android and Windows Phone launched almost exactly a year ago and today, the company is officially rebranding it as Appery.io. The reason for this change, the company told me, is to “reflect the evolution of Appery.io as well as to support where [the] platform is headed. ” The service always stood out from its competition because it focused strongly on connecting apps to existing RESTful APIs, making it more flexible than most similar visual drag-and-drop app building tools on the market. In addition, Appery.io also offers its own set of backend tools for app developers. Existing Tiggzi users and their apps will be automatically migrated to the new system and all existing apps will continue to function. Appery.io will use the same visual editor as Tiggzi.com and most of the major changes have happened on the backend, where the team added a number of new tools and features. In this new incarnation, Appery.io continues to put an emphasis on enterprise and business apps, but there is no reason why you couldn’t also use it to build and text- and data-heavy application for small and medium-sized businesses. For enterprise users, however, the service offers a number of specialized features. The integration with Exadel’s RESTxpress, for example, now makes it easy for developers to securely connect apps to existing enterprise databases (including support for Oracle databases, for example) and business application. The service allows apps to connect to applications that have to be installed behind the firewall and then makes this data available through a REST API for off-premise apps. Support for Salesforce.com and a number of similar enterprise systems is already built into the service. For developers, connecting an app to these APIs should only take a few minutes, thanks to Appery.io’s easy to use interface. Indeed, building apps is pretty easy with Appery.io, though because the tool is definitely meant for professional programmers, there is a bit of a learning curve here. ?Exadel has a broad footprint in the enterprise development space, and we recognize that mobile requires a different approach,? said Exadel CEO Fima Katz in a canned statement today. ?With mobile, customers can?t wait for long development cycles to be completed; agility and time to market are extremely important. With Appery.io enterprises can rapidly innovate and easily onboard developers of all skill levels as all the tools are visual

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/-RLG86Zvusg/

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Air Canada sees wider operating loss, shares plunge

By Susan Taylor

TORONTO (Reuters) - Air Canada said on Monday it expects a wider operating loss in the first quarter, after weather-related flight cancellations, operational challenges and a sizeable impairment charge. Shares fell sharply.

Analysts said the preliminary results, which Canada's largest airline said it announced early so it could share the data with potential lenders, were weaker than they had expected and may suggest slowing revenue and earnings growth.

The Montreal-based airline's more heavily traded class B shares were down 12.7 percent at C$2.62 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, a modest recovery from an earlier fall of 18 percent.

Before the results, Air Canada stock was up some 250 percent in a year, making it vulnerable to bad news, RBC Capital Markets analyst Walter Spracklin said in a note which cut his stock price target to C$3 from C$4.

"This morning's unexpected profit warning is an example of this risk, with the lower-than-expected RASM (revenue per available seat mile) and yields certainly a cause for concern," Spracklin said.

Last week, he downgraded the stock to "sector perform" due to its lofty share price.

The airline, which is scheduled to report its results May 3, estimated first-quarter RASM growth at 1.1 percent. Spracklin said that lags his estimate of a 2.7 percent rise and suggests negative yield, versus his forecast of a 2 percent yield gain.

Air Canada, whose main domestic rival is WestJet Airlines Ltd , expects a first-quarter operating loss of C$106 million ($103 million), deeper than a year-ago loss of C$91 million. The net loss is seen at C$260 million, versus a net loss of C$274 million in the same period last year.

LOWER COSTS

Closely-watched EBITDAR, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and impairment, and aircraft rent, missed expectations, said TD Securities analyst Tim James.

The airline's estimate of C$145 million in first-quarter EBITDAR is down from C$174 million a year earlier, while lagging TD's expectation of C$193 million and the consensus view of about C$173 million, James wrote in a note.

"The shortfall relative to our expectations was mainly due to lower passenger yield and revenue growth, partially offset by lower operating costs," he wrote.

Adjusted costs per available seat mile, excluding fuel, were up an estimated 1.4 percent, below management's previous forecast of a 3-4 percent increase. The improvement was largely due to C$15 million in favorable accrual adjustments and the timing of maintenance, the airline said.

Air Canada said it now sees full-year adjusted costs per available seat mile falling 0.5-1.5 percent, a bigger drop than its previous view of costs that would be flat to down 1 percent.

The results included several one-time charges, which muddied the overall picture.

The airline said it took a C$10 million hit due to severe weather conditions during the quarter, and unfavorable currency-related moves and a higher proportion of leisure passengers over business passengers also hurt results.

The preliminary results also include a C$24 million impairment charge on Airbus A340-300 widebody planes, which the airline subleased in 2007-2008.

BIG DEBT LOAD

The carrier, which estimates its debt at C$3.9 billion as of March 31, has said it was considering options to refinance its debt and pay for five new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft scheduled for delivery over the next two years.

An Air Canada spokesman could not say if the debt financing was aimed at existing debt, new debt, or a combination.

The airline has C$760 million in principal and interest obligations due this year, and aircraft lease payments and capital expenditure-related costs bring total 2013 obligations to C$1.69 billion.

For 2014, the airline has C$1.68 billion in total obligations, rising to C$2.40 billion in 2015 and roughly C$5.86 billion in 2016 and the years beyond.

(Reporting by Susan Taylor and Euan Rocha in Toronto and Krithika Krishnamurthy in Bangalore; editing by Janet Guttsman, Matthew Lewis and Sofina Mirza-Reid)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/air-canada-expects-bigger-first-quarter-operating-loss-102453572--finance.html

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Pizza Hut app comes to Xbox 360, unstoppable force meets immovable gamer

Let's be frank: many dedicated console gamers among us have at least briefly dreamed of ordering food without having to lift our hands from the controller. That's about to be more than a fleeting fantasy for Xbox 360 owners, as Microsoft is launching a Pizza Hut app today for those permanently lodged in the living room. The release puts all of the delivery menu a quick hop away on the Dashboard, including custom orders. Buyers can tempt their friends through Facebook, and there's even Kinect support for greasy-handed customers who'd rather not touch the gamepad (or a napkin, apparently) when requesting a second serving. Microsoft stresses that the Pizza Hut partnership isn't the start of a broad trend toward ordering real products through an Xbox, which is just as well -- our arteries can only take so much inactivity at once.

Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft

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Source: Polygon

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/23/pizza-hut-app-coming-to-xbox-360/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Nexflix $11.99 plan will allow simultaneous streaming on 4 devices

Company is 'shortly adding' new plans for US customers

Netflix subscribers who are liberal about sharing their login information with family and friends may have run into the 2-stream cap before. As of now, Netflix accounts can stream content on 2 devices at the same time; any more, and you'll get denied until someone else stops their online viewing.

Netflix has recognized that some customers need more than the current 2-stream maximum, and are planning to roll out $11.99 plans that will allow for 4 streams at once. Although Netflix thinks the need is there, they expect less than 1% of members to take them up on this new offer. While the numbers don't quite speak to the current need of the new plan, continuation of the company's recent growth could make this a more widely used option in the future.

There is no official date just yet, but if your family falls in the 1% that wants the ability to watch Netflix shows on your Google TV, computer, tablet, and phone all at the same time, these plans should be available very soon.

Source: Netflix, via: The Verge

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Uezh8zkLw8g/story01.htm

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MasterCard Foundation donates US$22.5 million to Educate and ...

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The Honourable Bill Graham, Chancellor of Trinity College, has donated $5 million to the Centre for Contemporary International History.

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In February, U of T reached out to alumni and friends in California who are playing a leading role in the Bay Area?s dynamic innovation economy.

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Backed by eight visionary partners, the Creative Destruction Lab at the Rotman School of Management aims to turn new technologies into profitable businesses.

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U of T researchers have dominated many recent competitions in science and engineering?adding to the University?s disproportionate representation among Canada?s most significant awards.

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The legacy of Canadian visual artist Doris McCarthy, who earned a BA at age 78 and died in 2010 at the age of 100, will continue to thrive at U of T Scarborough.

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The University of Toronto and The W. Garfield Weston Foundation are delighted to announce the 16 inaugural Weston Fellows, recipients of Canada?s most prestigious awards dedicated to international experience at the doctoral level.

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The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program has made an outstanding US$22.5 million gift to the University of Toronto. The gift aims to help educate and develop young scholars from Africa, preparing them to lead change in their communities.

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The Boundless Campaign, with its themes of boundary-crossing opportunity, openness, inclusion, and impact, has resonated strongly with students who see in it a reflection of their own values and aspirations.

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As we mark the first anniversary of Boundless, we see that the campaign and its core themes have taken root across the University?s divisions and within our community of alumni and friends at home and abroad. The result: the campaign recently surpassed $1.18 billion.

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It has been a year of extraordinary momentum since the launch of Boundless: The Campaign for the University of Toronto in November 2011. One year after the official public launch, we have raised more than $1.18 billion.

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The installation of the Honourable Michael Wilson as the 33rd Chancellor of the University of Toronto marked the opening ceremonies of fall Convocation on the morning of November 12, launching a week of celebration for thousands of students, their families and faculty mentors.

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University of Toronto Scarborough launched the largest fundraising campaign in its history with a celebration at Miller Lash House on November 14, 2012.

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On the evening of November 5th, more than 100 students, faculty, volunteers, alumni and friends gathered at U of T?s Faculty of Dentistry to honour student award recipients and to launch the first phase of the Faculty?s $18 million campaign.

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Nearly 400 students, family, donors, friends and faculty gathered to celebrate the launch of the $25-million campaign for U of T?s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the Toronto Reference Library?s Bram and Bluma Appel Salon on Tuesday evening to recognize student achievement through the annual Student Awards Ceremony.

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The Asia-Pacific launch of Boundless: the Campaign for the University of Toronto was celebrated recently at a gala event in Hong Kong.

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The Centre for Jewish Studies has launched a public campaign with a major gift from the Tanenbaum family to enhance its impact as a vital intellectual cornerstone in the heart of Toronto and to complement the efforts to build one of the most vibrant centres for Jewish life in the world.

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Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of donors throughout the institution, the University is pleased to report that its Boundless campaign has reached $1.12 billion as of September 30th.

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George Myhal (BEng 1978) is saying thank-you in a big way for his U of T education with a pace-setting $5-million gift to U of T Engineering?s campaign

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Rosie MacLennan (BPHE 2011) knows how to deliver a top performance, on and off the trampoline. A few short months before winning Canada?s only gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, she was hard at work co-chairing a successful fundraising gala in support of the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

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The New One program got started this fall at New College?celebrating its 50th anniversary this year? with the help of a generous $1-million gift from an outstanding graduate and strong supporter, Richard Rooney (B.A. 1977).

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The University of Toronto Faculty of Law is delighted to announce the largest gift to the law school to date: a generous $10-million lead gift to the Building Campaign from the Honourable Henry N. R. ?Hal? Jackman.

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Looking to the future while celebrating a 160-year tradition, the University of St. Michael?s College launched a $50-million campaign on Sept. 29 in the heart of the historic campus east of Queen?s Park.

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The University of Toronto has launched The Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development (IHD) ? a bold and necessary response to the challenge of providing every child the opportunity to have the best start in life.

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The Munk School of Global Affairs has celebrated the opening of a newly renovated and restored heritage building that doubles the amount of space available to its students, faculty and staff.

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The Faculty of Music heralded an exciting new season of performances, lectures and master classes?and unveiled its campaign to extend the Faculty?s interdisciplinary reach, heighten its international profile and build its infrastructure.

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The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering kicked off their $200-million campaign that will build on our reputation for excellence, and ensure our place among the world?s leading institutions for engineering education, research and innovation.

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The Faculty of Medicine announced its $500-million campaign that will transform health care by training future leaders and putting scientific discovery into action.

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The Rotman School of Management's expansion has officially opened. The new space doubles the amount of teaching, research, study, presentation and special event space.

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Lynd Forguson loved University College, its intimacy, its diversity, its wonderful way of helping young people.

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The University of Toronto has initiated a visionary matching program to boost the financial support available to its undergraduates.

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Students were front and centre as U of T Mississauga unveiled its ambitious $60-million campaign that will prepare the campus for a new era of global leadership and societal impact.

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Victoria University President Paul Gooch helped launch Vic?s ?Imagination Unbound? fundraising campaign during a ceremony at Isabel Bader Theatre.

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The campaign for the Faculty of Arts and Science will strengthen the University?s capacity to prepare global citizens and to meet the most pressing global challenges of the 21st century.

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At the end of January, Boundless: The Campaign for the University of Toronto surpassed $1 Billion in contributions.

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With $17 Million raised, U of T?s Tanz Centre is half-way to its $31 Million Campaign goal. Reaching this milestone is, in large measure, a credit to the tireless work of fundraising co-chairs Mark Tanz (BA 1952 UC) and Lionel Schipper (JD 1956), who also happen to be the Centre?s most generous benefactors.

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More than 200 alumni and friends of the University of Toronto?s Faculty of Law gathered on Nov. 29, 2011 to celebrate the launch of a $53-million building campaign to position Canada's number one law school for a future of boundless leadership, potential and vision.

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Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of benefactors, the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport will open early 2015.

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The following speech was delivered by President David Naylor at the launch event for Boundless: The Campaign for the University of Toronto, on November 20, 2011.

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Nearly 1,000 alumni, friends, students, faculty and staff gathered in Convocation Hall on Sunday, November 20 for a special event marking the start of the public phase of the University?s comprehensive fundraising campaign?the University?s third in the last 30 years.

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Watch the video introducing Boundless, the campaign for the University of Toronto.

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The University of Toronto has unveiled Boundless, the largest fundraising campaign in Canadian university history.

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Source: http://boundless.utoronto.ca/campaign-updates/mastercard-foundation-scholars-program/

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Boston bombing suspects did not have valid handgun licenses

By Jonathan Allen

(Reuters) - The two brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings, who police say engaged in a gun battle with officers early Friday after a frenzied manhunt, were not licensed to own guns in the towns where they lived, authorities said on Sunday.

In the confrontation with police on the streets of a Boston suburb, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were armed with handguns, at least one rifle and several explosive devices, authorities say.

But neither brother appears to have been legally entitled to own or carry firearms where they lived, a fact that may add to the national debate over current gun laws. Last week, the U.S. Senate rejected a bill to expand background checks on gun purchases, legislation that opponents argued would do nothing to stop criminals from buying guns illegally.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed in the shootout with police, would have been required to apply for a gun license with the local police department where he lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

But there is no record of him having done so, according to Cambridge Police Department spokesman Dan Riviello.

Even if he had earlier received a gun license from somewhere outside Cambridge, that license would have to be registered with Cambridge police upon becoming a resident of the city, Riviello said. In Massachusetts, gun licenses are issued by municipal police departments.

"There is no record of him having a license to carry," Riviello told Reuters.

Tsarnaev's younger brother Dzhokhar, 19, who was captured alive on Friday after the manhunt, would have been too young to get a handgun license. Under state law, residents under 21 may only apply for a so-called firearms identification card, which allows the holder to own only rifles that hold 10 rounds or less and shotguns.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had no record of a firearms ID card in Cambridge. The police department in Dartmouth, where Dzhokhar was a student, said they had no record of gun licenses or ID cards for either brother.

Police in nearby New Bedford, where the younger brother may have lived in the past, could not confirm on Sunday whether they had issued Dzhokhar Tsarnaev a firearms ID card.

Federal law enforcement agencies have not confirmed a full tally of the brothers' arsenal.

Within hours of their images being released on Thursday, the two brothers are accused of shooting dead a Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police officer in his car, hijacking at least one car at gunpoint, and of shooting at least one police officer during the gun battle in nearby Watertown.

(Reporting By Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-bombing-suspects-did-not-valid-handgun-licenses-234648018.html

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Boy Scouts? board recommends allowing gay Scouts but not gay leaders (Washington Post)

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How Group Exercise Burns More Calories - Fitness

Working out solo can be more convenient, peaceful, and a great time for self-reflection but those reasons won't do anything to increase your calorie burn. If weight loss and toning up is your main goal, here are some reasons you might want to find a group to sweat along with.

Variety: When we exercise alone, we tend to get in a workout rut, doing the same exact biking loop or toning the same muscles in the same old strength-training routine. When you work out with other people, they open your eyes to exciting ways to sweat it out like new routes you can hike, or more effective ways to tone your glutes. Using your muscles in different ways challenges them more, offering you a better burn while also preventing the dreaded workout plateau.

Friendly competition: If you've ever gotten a taste of rivalry, either from a team sport or seeing if you can do more push-ups than some stranger you see at the gym, you know it's a powerful fuel that can make you work more intensely than you could alone. You can compete openly with a buddy, like seeing who can sprint the fastest to the telephone pole, or you can pick a random person in your Body Pump class and see if you can do more squats than them. Pushing yourself gets your heart pumping faster, your muscles working harder, and in turn burns more calories.

Longer workouts: We've all been on a solo run with the incessant thought, "I just want to be done!" When you're on your own, it's easy to hop off the treadmill whenever you want, but when you're chugging along with other people, throwing in the towel doesn't seem like an option (you wouldn't want to give up in front of everyone!). You're not only more likely to do a full workout when exercising with others, but if they're really serious, you're bound to work out even longer than you would on your own, burning more calories.

Excitement about working out: Solo workouts can get lonely (even with Macklemore pumping in your ear), making you bored and not as energetic to give it your all (or to give it at all). Finding others to sweat with can breathe new life into your workouts because nothing beats the power of working out in a group. You feed off everyone's strength and energy, which inspires you to push harder, and you have fun doing it. And you remember that feeling, which inspires you to slip on that sports bra again and again. You'll end up burning more calories per workout, and if you're motivated to work out more often, you'll in turn burn more calories per week.

Source: http://www.fitsugar.com/How-Group-Exercise-Burns-More-Calories-29581895

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The Globe's front page (Washington Post)

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San Francisco OKs quake retrofitting for at-risk buildings

Some of the most extensive damage and loss of life from recent earthquakes in California have occurred in apartment houses where dwellings sit on top of a ground-level parking garage or a storefront. The shaking undermines the bottom floor, causing the buildings to collapse and in some cases to pancake.

After years of study and debate, San Francisco on Thursday formally adopted a new law requiring owners to retrofit thousands of these so-called wood-frame soft-story buildings, marking the most sweeping seismic regulations in California in years.

City officials estimate the cost of retrofitting will be $60,000 to $130,000 per building.

Structural engineers have long warned that these ubiquitous structures face a particular risk for collapse during a major earthquake because the garage must carry the weight of the apartments above. Efforts at mandatory retrofitting, however, have largely failed both in local city councils and the state Legislature because property owners have balked at the costs.

When the Loma Prieta earthquake rocked the Bay Area in October 1989, the ground floors of several multistory apartment buildings crumbled in San Francisco's Marina District. The shaking sparked fires that devastated neighborhoods.

In January 1994, the Northridge earthquake caused the Northridge Meadows apartment building to collapse. Sleeping residents were crushed in their beds, and 16 died.

After Northridge, the Los Angeles City Council discussed mandatory retrofitting for soft-story apartments. Hal Bernson, the city councilman who proposed it, said in an interview that property owners fought him "tooth and nail." In the end, the proposal died.

Some landlords in Los Angeles remain firmly opposed to the type of retrofitting now required in San Francisco. Dan Faller, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles-based Apartment Owners Assn. of California, said he does not believe the government should force property owners to make upgrades.

"They're telling businesses how to run their business ? after the city has already given approval to the building the way it is and after the owner has purchased the building the way it is. If they want to make a requirement like that, make the city pay for it," Faller said. "Don't pass a law that forces me to spend $100,000 on my building."

Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch Englander applauded San Francisco for its ordinance and said Los Angeles should do the same. But he was skeptical that there was the political support at Los Angeles City Hall.

"I'd love to see that here in Los Angeles, but I just don't think it's a reality," he said. "From a public safety standpoint, it's really critical ? as we are the epicenter oftentimes of ? earthquakes," he said. "The political will won't be there, because of the cost. You'll have landlords and property owners that will oppose it."

San Francisco officials initially faced similar opposition. City officials and property owners worked for years to reach a retrofitting plan.

Ultimately, property owners determined that the retrofitting was worth the cost if it would prevent widespread destruction in the event of a huge earthquake. The law ended up being approved by the Board of Supervisors on an 11-0 vote.

"They knew that we have to do this. And we have to make sure it's mandatory," San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee told reporters Thursday as he signed the ordinance into law, on the 107th anniversary of the great 1906 earthquake. "In order to be a truly resilient city, we must protect our residents and make sure their homes are safe."

More than 55,000 San Francisco residents live in the 3,000 wood-frame soft-story buildings targeted by the ordinance, and the buildings also house 7,000 businesses with 2,000 employees, according to the city. Backers of the law warn of a "Katrina-like" effect if a big quake knocked many of the buildings over.

"We will get back up on our feet much faster if the population remains housed," Supervisor Scott Wiener said. "And frankly, for several decades, San Francisco has been negligent in not doing this. We've been very slow in moving toward a mandate. We tried a voluntary approach and it did not work."

San Francisco's new ordinance applies to wood-frame buildings built before 1978, which are at least three stories tall and have at least five residential units.

Property owners would be given four to seven years to complete the retrofitting after they receive a notice from the city asking for an inspection. Those with a shorter time-frame are buildings that have a particularly high potential for loss of life, such as buildings that house a nightclub, senior citizens or students, or buildings with 15 or more units.

Property owners must pay for the work out of their own pockets or get a loan. But the ordinance says that they can fully pass on the costs of the seismic retrofitting to their tenants ? even those protected by rent control ? over a period of 20 years.

The retrofitting typically involves adding new walls or steel braces to keep the ground story strong so it doesn't crumble when it is hit with side-to-side motion.

Property owners who refuse to comply with the rules could be taken to court by the city attorney's office.

Only two other cities in California have passed mandatory retrofitting rules for wood-frame soft-story buildings ? Santa Monica, which passed its ordinance shortly after the Northridge earthquake in 1994, and the Bay Area suburb of Fremont. A few other cities, including Berkeley, require only a seismic evaluation, and have voluntary retrofitting rules.

San Francisco officials, including former Mayor Gavin Newsom, worked for years to address concerns from property owners and renters.

One stumbling block was whether banks would loan owners the money to perform the upgrades amid the financial crisis. The city worked with community lenders, which agreed to provide loans. Some property owners said they didn't want to take out the loans in their names, so the city is setting up a system in which the loans can be provided in the name of the property and paid back with increased property taxes.

The San Francisco Tenants Union only recently endorsed the mandatory measure after receiving assurances from the Board of Supervisors that it would streamline the process for low-income tenants to receive hardship exemptions to rent increases due to the seismic retrofitting.

Without the exemptions, most tenants could see increases of $8 to $50 in their monthly rent.

Englander, the Los Angeles councilman, said he was skeptical San Francisco's system would work in Los Angeles, in part because he believed there were many more low-income tenants here that could not afford the rent increases.

"That's one of the unfortunate realities, is that it becomes a fiscal issue. And you lose the public safety discussion," Englander said.

ron.lin@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/MYmCa02xzRU/la-me-quake-regulations-20130419,0,1653423.story

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Innovative Design vs. Lean Product Development | Managing in the ...

Posted by Tim Rodgers in Management & leadership, Quality, Product design, Project management.
Tags: management, strategy, process, product development, six-sigma, innovation
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I?ve been very busy focusing on my job search and some self-improvement projects, and unfortunately it?s been harder to find some time to address my accumulated backlog of topics. I regularly follow several group discussions on LinkedIn related to product development and quality, and lately a popular discussion topic is how to inspire innovation in product design.

See for example Wayne Simmons and Keary Crawford ?Innovation versus Product Development? (http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2013/04/12/innovation-versus-product-development/), and?Rachel Corn?s blog ?Is Process Killing Your Innovation?? (http://blog.cmbinfo.com/bid/87795/South-Street-Strategy-Guest-Blog-Is-Process-Killing-Your-Innovation?goback=%2Egde_2098273_member_229196205). The latter post quotes a former 3M vice president who says that Six Sigma killed innovation at 3M, apparently because 3M?s implementation of Six Sigma required ?a full blown business case and even a 5-year business plan to get a new idea off the ground and into production.? The VP wonders: how do you institutionalize innovation without stifling it?

The conventional wisdom seems to be that product design is inherently a creative, right-brain activity that will fail or at least fall short if constrained by process. You can?t make art on a schedule.

I think this is a false conflict. I don?t see any reason why teams shouldn?t be able to conceive new designs within a structured and disciplined product development environment. Obviously the ultimate objective is to get a product to market, so at some point the experimentation must end, doesn?t it?

Six Sigma is about reducing variation. The lean movement is about eliminating waste. I understand that the early stages of product development may be wildly unpredictable and seemingly inefficient. Shouldn?t the latter stages focus on predictable outcomes, standardized processes, fast time-to-market, defect prevention, and efficient production?

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Source: http://timrodgers.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/innovative-design-vs-lean-product-development/

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Workshop: Audience Outreach and Engagement (CDAM 102 ...

Course Series in Arts and Entertainment Administration

Are you interested in gaining business skills in order to advance your career in culture? Ryerson University?s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education can help.

After consulting various industry advisors and identifying a need for practical arts management skills development, The Chang School has developed a Course Series in Arts and Entertainment Administration suitable for arts managers, potential arts managers, and individual artists. This new three-course program has been designed to equip you with entrepreneurial skills combined with the practical knowledge required for supporting and advancing creative work.

The following non-credit course is now open for enrollment (Spring/Summer 2013):

Expanding and enriching the audience experience is vital for the ongoing success of all artistic endeavours, from performing arts groups to visual artists. This course offers ways to address the interchange between the product and the audience; the building of a successful initial experience to develop loyalty to the art and/or event; different kinds of engagement strategies in the digital world; and multiple marketing techniques to cross-cultural and intergenerational audiences.

Instructor: Lorraine Patterson
Duration: 19.5 hours
Fee: $290
Scheduling: Mondays, 6:30?9:30 p.m., May 6?June 24, 2013
Location: Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario

Class sizes are limited, so early enrollment is encouraged. For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca/ce/aeadmin or contact Academic Coordinator Sholem Dolgoy at a.e.a@ryerson.ca.

This entry was posted in Classes / Workshops on April 17, 2013 by TAPA.

Source: http://torontotheatre.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/workshop-audience-outreach-and-engagement-cdam-102-ryerson-universitys-g-raymond-chang-school-of-continuing-education/

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Realtors prepping for National Open House Weekend | Colorado ...

Local real estate agents are preparing for National Open House weekend April 19-20.

Agents all over town participate in the event, which is supported by the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors, every year. Houses listed for sale open up to the public and people have a chance to walk through without making an appointment.

The National Association of Realtors event makes the weekend the busiest open house weekend of the year and an event on most sellers? and homebuyers? radar.

?It was very successful last year,? said Jack Beuse, a broker associate at Paradigm Real Estate and chair-elect of PPAR. ?And we expect it to be even more successful this year.?

He said it?s an opportunity to bring buyers and sellers together and to show off properties to potential buyers.

?I?ll probably be sitting at two different houses on two different days,? he said.

The event kicks off the spring and summer season, which has historically been the busiest time of year for residential real estate sales.

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Source: http://csbj.com/2013/04/16/realtors-prepping-for-national-open-house-weekend/

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Officials: 2nd letter to Senate tested for ricin

By Jethro Nededog LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Andy Cohen has definitely made the best of his programming executive level job at Bravo Media. Aside from becoming the face of the network and hosting its popular late night show, "Watch What Happens Live," he was instrumental in developing and producing the network's flagship "Real Housewives" franchise. The same franchise, by the way, that he famously put a fork in when he announced in 2011 that the network wouldn't be extending the series. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/officials-2nd-letter-senate-tested-ricin-152228462.html

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Putting the Arrest/Suspect Reports in Context (talking-points-memo)

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Nanosponges soak up toxins released by bacterial infections and venom

Monday, April 15, 2013

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego have invented a "nanosponge" capable of safely removing a broad class of dangerous toxins from the bloodstream ? including toxins produced by MRSA, E. coli, poisonous snakes and bees. These nanosponges, which thus far have been studied in mice, can neutralize "pore-forming toxins," which destroy cells by poking holes in their cell membranes. Unlike other anti-toxin platforms that need to be custom synthesized for individual toxin type, the nanosponges can absorb different pore-forming toxins regardless of their molecular structures. In a study against alpha-haemolysin toxin from MRSA, pre-innoculation with nanosponges enabled 89 percent of mice to survive lethal doses.

Administering nanosponges after the lethal dose led to 44 percent survival.

The team, led by nanoengineers at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, published the findings in Nature Nanotechnology April 14.

"This is a new way to remove toxins from the bloodstream," said Liangfang Zhang, a nanoengineering professor at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and the senior author on the study. "Instead of creating specific treatments for individual toxins, we are developing a platform that can neutralize toxins caused by a wide range of pathogens, including MRSA and other antibiotic resistant bacteria," said Zhang. The work could also lead to non-species-specific therapies for venomous snake bites and bee stings, which would make it more likely that health care providers or at-risk individuals will have life-saving treatments available when they need them most.

The researchers are aiming to translate this work into approved therapies. "One of the first applications we are aiming for would be an anti-virulence treatment for MRSA. That's why we studied one of the most virulent toxins from MRSA in our experiments," said "Jack" Che-Ming Hu, the first author on the paper. Hu, now a post-doctoral researcher in Zhang's lab, earned his Ph.D. in bioengineering from UC San Diego in 2011.

Aspects of this work will be presented April 18 at Research Expo, the annual graduate student research and networking event of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

Nanosponges as Decoys

In order to evade the immune system and remain in circulation in the bloodstream, the nanosponges are wrapped in red blood cell membranes. This red blood cell cloaking technology was developed in Liangfang Zhang's lab at UC San Diego. The researchers previously demonstrated that nanoparticles disguised as red blood cells could be used to deliver cancer-fighting drugs directly to a tumor. Zhang also has a faculty appointment at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego have invented a ?nanosponge? capable of safely removing a broad class of dangerous toxins from the bloodstream -- including toxins produced by MRSA, E. coli, poisonous snakes and bees. These nanosponges, which thus far have been studied in mice, can neutralize ?pore-forming toxins,? which destroy cells by poking holes in their cell membranes. Unlike other anti-toxin platforms that need to be custom synthesized for individual toxin type, the nanosponges can absorb different pore-forming toxins regardless of their molecular structures. In a study against alpha-haemolysin toxin from MRSA, pre-innoculation with nanosponges enabled 89 percent of mice to survive lethal doses. Administering nanosponges after the lethal dose led to 44 percent survival. Credit: UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

Red blood cells are one of the primary targets of pore-forming toxins. When a group of toxins all puncture the same cell, forming a pore, uncontrolled ions rush in and the cell dies.

The nanosponges look like red blood cells, and therefore serve as red blood cell decoys that collect the toxins. The nanosponges absorb damaging toxins and divert them away from their cellular targets. The nanosponges had a half-life of 40 hours in the researchers' experiments in mice. Eventually the liver safely metabolized both the nanosponges and the sequestered toxins, with the liver incurring no discernible damage.

Each nanosponge has a diameter of approximately 85 nanometers and is made of a biocompatible polymer core wrapped in segments of red blood cells membranes.

Zhang's team separates the red blood cells from a small sample of blood using a centrifuge and then puts the cells into a solution that causes them to swell and burst, releasing hemoglobin and leaving RBC skins behind. The skins are then mixed with the ball-shaped nanoparticles until they are coated with a red blood cell membrane.

Just one red blood cell membrane can make thousands of nanosponges, which are 3,000 times smaller than a red blood cell. With a single dose, this army of nanosponges floods the blood stream, outnumbering red blood cells and intercepting toxins.

Based on test-tube experiments, the number of toxins each nanosponge could absorb depended on the toxin. For example, approximately 85 alpha-haemolysin toxin produced by MRSA, 30 stretpolysin-O toxins and 850 melittin monomoers, which are part of bee venom.

In mice, administering nanosponges and alpha-haemolysin toxin simultaneously at a toxin-to-nanosponge ratio of 70:1 neutralized the toxins and caused no discernible damage.

One next step, the researchers say, is to pursue clinical trials.

###

University of California - San Diego: http://www.ucsd.edu

Thanks to University of California - San Diego for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127740/Nanosponges_soak_up_toxins_released_by_bacterial_infections_and_venom

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