French court approves Noriega extradition (AP)

PARIS ? A French court ruled Wednesday that former dictator Manuel Noriega can be extradited to Panama to serve time for past crimes, more than 20 years after being ousted and arrested in a U.S. invasion.

The elderly former Panamanian strongman hasn't seen his homeland in more than two decades, years he spent behind bars in Florida, on drug charges, and France, for money laundering. His lawyer said he could be in Panama as soon as Thursday.

Panama wants Noriega returned to serve prison terms handed down after he was convicted in absentia for embezzlement, corruption and murder. There's a chance that because of his age ? he's in his 70s ? he may get to serve out his time under house arrest.

"God Bless you," Noriega told the French appeals court that announced the extradition approval Wednesday. "God bless my family, God bless my enemies, God bless France."

"I want to return to Panama and prove my innocence," he said, through an interpreter.

The decision comes after months of legal procedures focused on a man whose complicated past has kept judicial officials in three countries busy for years.

France's prime minister, Francois Fillon, now needs to sign an administrative decree allowing for Noriega to be transferred.

"If Panama wants to do this very quickly, it will send a military plane, and as of tomorrow night, he could be in Panama City," Olivier Metzner, a lawyer for Noriega, told reporters in Paris Wednesday.

Panama's Foreign Secretary Roberto Henriquez told a news conference in Panama later Wednesday that five Panamanian officials ? guards, foreign ministry employees and a doctor ? will travel to France to bring back Noriega. He said Panama expects Noriega will return in tourist class on a commercial flight.

Henriquez said appropriate security measures would be taken. "He is a highly sensitive prisoner ... he has both followers and adversaries."

"We will take measures to ensure the physical welfare of Noriega ... during the transfer and upon his arrival in Panama," he said. In an apparent reference to Noriega's health, Henriquez said "We must not forget that this is a prisoner with special conditions."

Friends and foes alike feared that Noriega might die in a French prison ? notably Panamanians who fought against human rights abuses during his 1983-1989 regime. They want to see him face justice at home.

Noriega, a one-time CIA asset who lorded over Panama from 1983 to 1989, turned into an embarrassment for the U.S. after he sidled up to Colombia's Medellin drug cartel and turned to crime.

In the waning days of the Cold War, Noriega was seen by U.S. President Ronald Reagan's administration as a pivotal ally against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. But he eventually fell out with Washington.

In late 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered an invasion to oust Noriega. The dictator holed up in the Vatican Embassy, and U.S. forces blasted it with incessant loud rock music until he surrendered in January 1990.

Taken to Miami, he was accused of helping the Medellin cartel ship tons of cocaine into the United States. Jurors convicted him in 1992 on eight of 10 charges, and he was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

After his U.S. sentence ended, he remained in legal limbo in Miami from 2007 to 2010, when France sought his extradition to face money laundering charges. He was convicted in Paris and sentenced to seven years behind bars.

In Panama, he is accused of murdering opponents including Moises Giroldi, a military commander who led a failed rebellion two months before the U.S. invasion, and Hugo Spadafora, whose decapitated body was found on the border with Costa Rica in 1985.

Panama's government and judicial authorities have been closely monitoring the French proceedings.

Noriega "is going to go to jail when he arrives in Panama," President Ricardo Martinelli has said, while adding "the law does say that a citizen who is over 70 years old can be granted the privilege of house arrest."

"That's not necessarily going to happen ? but it's something the judge has to decide," Martinelli told reporters last week.

The extradition was rendered especially complex because the United States, as the country that authorized Noriega's initial transfer to France, had to give its consent for him to be shipped onward to Panama.

In the meantime, Noriega has grown feeble, his lawyers say. His exact age isn't clear.

In Panama, political analyst Jose Blandon said Noriega has to come home "to ask for forgiveness to the people for the things he did. He is an old man with serious health problems, but he has to face justice."

Sociologist Marco Gandasegui said that Noriega's return is a step forward for the country to finish processing that period in the country's history.

"Noriega's return will probably have more meaning emotionally than politically," he said. "Emotionally in the sense that we will be able to put into balance what happened 22 years ago (the U.S. invasion), politically I doubt the ex-general could have an impact since now Panamanians have other worries."

___

Associated Press writer Juan Zamorano contributed from Panama City.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_noriega

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Ants Beware! Spider Protected by Burglar-Proof Web (LiveScience.com)

Just as a homeowner might adopt a large dog with an equally large bark to protect his or her property, a certain orb spider makes a similar investment to protect its web, according to new research that finds this arachnid uses a chemical in its web silk to repel ant burglars.

"Ants are often found in webs of some web-building spiders, but they are rarely observed foraging in webs of orb-web spiders, though ants are potential predators," study researcher Daiqin Li, at the National University of Singapore, told LiveScience in an email.

"There must be other mechanisms of protection of ant invasion. One possibility might be some chemicals that could deter/repel ants."

Ant deterrent

To figure out what was chasing the ants away, the researchers collected wild orb-web spiders (Nephila antipodiana) and analyzed their silk for chemicals. They found one, called 2-pyrrolidione, present in the silk strands that ants seemed to avoid in the lab, including the widespread Pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis) and two others. Even when tempted with a free tasty snack, the ants wouldn?t cross the silk strands that had been coated with this deterrent.

"Golden orb-web spiders produce a chemical in their web silk that deters ant invasion, which adds chemical defense to the impressive properties of spider silk, already known to be strong, elastic and adhesive," Li said.

The researchers also discovered that young spiders don't need to make this chemical, because their silk is too thin for even tiny ants to cross. Larger juveniles and adult spiders make the ant-deterrent to stop ants from invading their homes and their web, their fresh-caught prey and even the spiders themselves.

Chemical threat

The researchers aren't sure how the spiders make this chemical (whether they add it to their silk or paint it on later), or how it works. The chemical isn't what scientists call "volatile," so it doesn't produce a smell. The ants could be "tasting" the compound, because they only avoid the silk after they come into contact with it, but will stay in the vicinity even after that contact.

"The orb spider is potentially vulnerable to attack from groups of ants while sitting in its web waiting for prey, so the chemical defense in web silk may have evolved to not only protect the spider, but to reduce the time and energy that would otherwise be required to chase away invading ants," study researcher Mark Elgar, from the University of Melbourne, said in a statement.

They've also found similar chemicals in other spider silks, which indicates this type of chemical deterrent could be widespread in spiders. Interestingly, the same 2-pyrrolidione compound has been seen in glands of the ant Crematogaster sjostedti ? the same glands that make chemicals that signal a warning to other ants. The spiders could be mimicking these chemical warning signals.

The study was published today (Nov. 22) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter @microbelover. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111122/sc_livescience/antsbewarespiderprotectedbyburglarproofweb

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Survey suggests iPad users want more magazines on tablet (Appolicious)

Back when Apple first rolled out its subscription setup for publications in the iTunes App Store, there was quite a bit of initial enthusiasm. Despite some issues with the policy at first, it seemed like most publishers were seeing the iPad (and other tablets like it) as a big new revenue stream for an industry that had been struggling for years producing primarily in print and on the web.

It has been about six months since that subscription policy was enacted. Some publishers, such as Conde Naste, have embraced the iPad with many magazines and have seen a big boost in subscriptions, while others have kept things a little more calm and made only a few issues or publications available for Apple?s juggernaut mobile device. But according to a new survey from by the Association of Magazine Media, a publishing trade group, it seems people who read magazines and other publications on their iPads would like to be reading even more on their devices.

AllThingsD has the story, in which the survey finds that some two-thirds of people reading magazines, newspapers and similar publications on tablets and e-readers expect to be reading even more of those kinds of publications on their tablets in 2012. Of those, 63 percent say they want more publications available on their devices. The survey also found about 46 percent of users are consuming more publications in general, both in print and on tablets. The majority of magazines and other publications are consumed on the iPad, AllThingsD writes, though the survey was targeted at all tablets and e-readers.

The survey focused on 1,009 people who were ?pre-screened? for owning the right kinds of mobile devices ? tablets and e-readers ? and for using magazine apps on those tablets. As AllThingsD writes, the very fact that the survey has been conducted says something about the mobile industry in general and the mobile publishing industry in particular. Up until just recently, there weren?t enough people in both of those categories to accurately conduct a study, an Association of Magazine Media spokesman said.

The information gleaned from the survey paints a pretty rosy picture of the future of the magazine business, but it also shows that Apple?s bid to handle subscriptions on its mobile device has paid off pretty well. That the survey even exists shows, apparently, that lots of iPad customers are reading magazines on their tablets. And as the survey data demonstrates, many of them wish there was more to read.

Magazine and newspaper publishers have been struggling for years with the transition into a digital age. Print subscriptions are declining, while making strong revenues from the Internet has proven extremely difficult. It seems that at least part of the bridge between the two, and to keeping publications making money in the face of new technology, might consist of mobile devices like the iPad.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_appolicious_com_articles10268_survey_suggests_ipad_users_want_more_magazines_on_tablet/43673153/SIG=13984rreq/*http%3A//www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/10268-survey-suggests-ipad-users-want-more-magazines-on-tablet

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Malaysian Prime Minister launches company for supply of biomass from oil palm

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 21-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Joshua Brown
joshua@might.org.my
60-383-157-940
Malaysian Industry?Government Group for High Technology

A new company launched Monday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will ensure the sustainable supply of palm biomass for the production of high value chemicals and by-products for energy generation through coordinated collection and aggregation.

MYBIOMASS Sdn. Bhd. was launched as part of the Malaysian Biomass Initiative (MBI), a program of the Prime Minister's Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC), and is expected to contribute substantial revenue to national income from industrial chemical, product manufacturing and green chemical sectors.

MYBIOMASS will enter into partnership agreements to support development of downstream technology for the production of high value chemicals and by-products for energy generation, creating opportunities for research institutes, technology companies and other downstream players.

Early partners of MYBIOMASS include the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) and Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation Sdn. Bhd., or Biotech Corp. Potential early participation from FELDA and Sime Darby is expected for the aggregation of biomass feedstock.

MIGHT co-chairs the secretariat for GSIAC, which over sees MBI. Biotech Corp. is expected to play a key role in providing industry linkages to downstream companies.

"This program will capitalize on Malaysia's existing strength in the oil palm industry and untapped opportunities from biomass for technological and economic gains that will create high value jobs and sustainable income for the country," said Puvaneswari Ramasamy, newly appointed Managing Director of MYBIOMASS.

"The launch of MYBIOMASS marks a significant milestone in the development of sustainable biomass feedstock supply and is expected to make a substantial contribution to the production of high value green chemicals for local and international downstream users particularly in pharmaceutical, materials and energy industries," she added.

As the focal point for biomass feedstock aggregation and supply MYBIOMASS will act as a long-term purchaser of oil palm biomass and bring forward the biomass to market for further optimization of the resources by moving it into higher value processes.

###



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 21-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Joshua Brown
joshua@might.org.my
60-383-157-940
Malaysian Industry?Government Group for High Technology

A new company launched Monday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will ensure the sustainable supply of palm biomass for the production of high value chemicals and by-products for energy generation through coordinated collection and aggregation.

MYBIOMASS Sdn. Bhd. was launched as part of the Malaysian Biomass Initiative (MBI), a program of the Prime Minister's Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC), and is expected to contribute substantial revenue to national income from industrial chemical, product manufacturing and green chemical sectors.

MYBIOMASS will enter into partnership agreements to support development of downstream technology for the production of high value chemicals and by-products for energy generation, creating opportunities for research institutes, technology companies and other downstream players.

Early partners of MYBIOMASS include the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) and Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation Sdn. Bhd., or Biotech Corp. Potential early participation from FELDA and Sime Darby is expected for the aggregation of biomass feedstock.

MIGHT co-chairs the secretariat for GSIAC, which over sees MBI. Biotech Corp. is expected to play a key role in providing industry linkages to downstream companies.

"This program will capitalize on Malaysia's existing strength in the oil palm industry and untapped opportunities from biomass for technological and economic gains that will create high value jobs and sustainable income for the country," said Puvaneswari Ramasamy, newly appointed Managing Director of MYBIOMASS.

"The launch of MYBIOMASS marks a significant milestone in the development of sustainable biomass feedstock supply and is expected to make a substantial contribution to the production of high value green chemicals for local and international downstream users particularly in pharmaceutical, materials and energy industries," she added.

As the focal point for biomass feedstock aggregation and supply MYBIOMASS will act as a long-term purchaser of oil palm biomass and bring forward the biomass to market for further optimization of the resources by moving it into higher value processes.

###



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/migf-mpm112111.php

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McDonald's, Target drop egg supplier

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2007 file photo, a McDonald's restaurant is seen in San Jose, Calif. McDonald's Corp. said Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 it has dropped a Minnesota-based egg supplier after an animal rights group released an undercover video of operations at the egg producer's farms in three states. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2007 file photo, a McDonald's restaurant is seen in San Jose, Calif. McDonald's Corp. said Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 it has dropped a Minnesota-based egg supplier after an animal rights group released an undercover video of operations at the egg producer's farms in three states. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? McDonald's and Target dropped one of the nation's largest egg suppliers after an animal rights group released an undercover video of the egg producer's farms in three states.

McDonald's Corp. said Friday it had dropped Sparboe Farms as a supplier after a video by the group Mercy for Animals showed cases of animal cruelty at five facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. Target Corp. soon followed, saying it would pull eggs from the Litchfield, Minn.-based company off its shelves.

"Having been made aware of the unacceptable conditions in the company's egg laying facilities, effective immediately, Target will discontinue its business relationship with Sparboe Farms," Minneapolis-based Target said in a statement late Friday.

Sparboe produces 300 million eggs a year, in regular, liquid, frozen and dried form, and ships them to restaurants and stores across the country. The company's Vincent, Iowa, plant had billed itself as the sole fresh egg supplier to every McDonald's west of the Mississippi River.

McDonald's officials say Sparboe was a "significant" supplier and that it was unclear when, or if, the company would work with the Golden Arches again. Sparboe's Iowa facility produced 2 million eggs a day, seven days a week.

That changed Friday when images shot by Mercy for Animals showed a worker swinging a bird around by its feet, hens packed into cramped cages, male chicks being tossed into plastic bags to suffocate and workers cutting off the tips of chicks' beaks.

"The behavior on tape is disturbing and completely unacceptable. McDonald's wants to assure our customers that we demand humane treatment of animals by our suppliers," Bob Langert, McDonald's vice president for sustainability, said in a statement.

The nation's largest retailer ? Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ? also bought Sparboe eggs and has been demanding that suppliers treat their chickens humanely for years. Wal-Mart said it stopped working with Sparboe six weeks ago and that its decision had "nothing to do with animal welfare concerns," said Dianna Gee, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. She declined to discuss why Sparboe was dropped.

McDonald's and other fast-food chains and grocery stores have been studying how chickens are caged and cared for in its egg farms. The Humane Society has persuaded several national food outlets, including Burger King, Costco Wholesale, Denny's and Wendy's/Arby's Group, to buy at least some of their eggs from producers that allow hens to roam.

McDonald's and Target's moves also followed a warning letter to Sparboe Farms dated Wednesday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that said inspectors found "serious violations" at five Sparboe facilities of federal regulations meant to prevent salmonella. The warning said eggs from those facilities "have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have become contaminated with filth, or whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health."

McDonald's eggs were safe because they were cooked thoroughly, and none of its operations will be affected by Sparboe, company spokeswoman Lisa McComb said Saturday. About 27 million Americans eat at McDonald's each day.

Sparboe Companies LLC said Saturday it would create a task force to review the company's food safety and animal care.

Beth Sparboe Schnell, Sparboe Farms' president and owner, said the company was "shocked and deeply disturbed" by the video and that an internal investigation identified four employees "who were complicit in this disturbing activity." They were fired this month.

She also reassured customers that there is "absolutely no food safety concern or any recall of any Sparboe Farms products. Sparboe Farms egg and egg products are safe to eat."

Sparboe also said it has made management changes, taken corrective actions sought by the FDA, and begun retraining all barn workers in proper animal care procedures.

McDonald's said the suspension of its business dealings with Sparboe was not temporary but refused to say that it would never work with Sparboe again.

"We're not going to turn around in a month and work with them again," McComb said. "But we would never say never."

In the case of one U.S. fishery that did not use "sustainable methods" in its farming, McDonald's ended its business relationship for eight years before the company "completely turned around its practices," McComb said.

Sparboe describes itself as the fifth-largest shell egg producer and marketer in the United States, operating seven processing plants supported by 33 egg-laying and pullet production sites in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. The company says it serves retail, wholesale and foodservice customers in 26 states.

Sparboe spokesman Lyle Orwig said Friday the company has a "zero tolerance policy" for any animal abuse or cruelty. He said all employees are trained by a veterinarian and work with a crew leader who also has been trained.

"If he (the crew leader) sees anything, he would automatically correct it if he sees someone doing something wrong," Orwig said.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's said the "most alarming actions on video" didn't happen at Sparboe's facility in Vincent, Iowa, which supplied its restaurants, but they violated the standards the company sets for its suppliers. McDonald's also insisted the food it serves is safe.

McDonald's said it got Sparboe eggs via Cargill Inc., which said it was suspending Sparboe as a supplier.

"We will not tolerate mistreatment of animals anywhere in our supply chain," Chris Roberts, president of Cargill Kitchen Solutions, said in a statement. He also said the issues the FDA raised "warrant additional review by Cargill."

Tim Loesch, a spokesman for Wayzata-based Cargill, declined to say how many eggs Sparboe supplied it or how much the company was paid. Orwig said it was too soon to tell what effect the loss of McDonald's business would be.

"Right now our focus is making sure that we are compliant with everything and get to the bottom of how it could have happened," Orwig said.

Mercy for Animals isn't satisfied with McDonald's decision to stop accepting eggs from Sparboe, said Matt Rice, the group's director of operations.

"These are company-wide, policy-level abuses," Rice said. "There's a culture of cruelty and neglect at McDonald and its suppliers."

McDonald's said it is participating in a three-year study that compares traditional versus cage-free hen housing systems, but Rice said the company continues to get most of its eggs from hens in battery cages that hold a lot of birds in cramped conditions.

"McDonald's is simply sidestepping the issue now. It's time McDonald's requires all of its suppliers to un-cage hens and finally give these animals the basic freedom to spread their wings, to walk and engage in other natural behaviors," he said, noting that McDonald's has already switched to cage-free eggs in Europe.

Mercy for Animals conducted its investigation from May 23 to Aug. 1, Rice said. The group got its people hired at the farms and sent them in wired with hidden cameras, he said. They "documented daily abuses that would shock and horrify most Americans yet are largely considered standard and acceptable to the egg industry," he added.

Orwig, the Sparboe spokesman, said the undercover taping was troubling because company employees sign a code of conduct that they will report any abuses immediately to a supervisor. In this case, he said, there were no reports.

The video was first aired Friday on ABC's Good Morning America.

___

Online:

Mercy for Animals video site: http://www.mcdonaldscruelty.com

Sparboe Farms response site: http://www.sparboeupdate.com

FDA letter: http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm280413.htm

____

Kravitz contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-19-McDonald's-Egg%20Supplier/id-5b3a05de41b64b5ab172d49235ac745e

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Pockriss, writer of 'Itsy Bitsy' bikini song, dies (AP)

HARTFORD, Conn. ? Lee Pockriss, who wrote pop hits such as "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" for an eager, youthful post-World War II generation, has died in Connecticut after a long illness. He was 87.

His wife, Sonja Pockriss, confirmed his death. She said Friday he died at home in Bridgewater on Tuesday.

Pockriss, who also worked in musical theater, co-wrote several songs with Paul Vance, including "Catch a Falling Star" in 1957.

In a 2006 interview, Vance called "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" ? about a shy young woman in a skimpy bathing suit ? a "money machine."

He estimated that he made several million dollars from the song, which was recorded by 16-year-old teen idol Brian Hyland, surged to No. 1 on the Billboard charts in August 1960 and has been pop culture staple ever since.

The song has been used in such movies as "Sister Act 2" and "Revenge of the Nerds II" and was more recently revived in a yogurt commercial.

Vance's death was erroneously reported in 2006. An Ormond Beach, Fla., man named Paul Van Valkenburgh who claimed to have written the song under the name Paul Vance had instead died.

Vance, the lyricist in the partnership with Pockriss, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that Pockriss was an exceptional composer.

"He was a very talented composer, a great composer, the opposite of me," he said. "He knew music inside out. I don't know one note of music."

Vance, 82, said he read the lyrics to "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" to Pockriss over the phone. Pockriss was immediately enthusiastic, he said.

"Lee, I said I have an idea," he recalled. "He went crazy. By the time he got to my office he had 90 percent of the tune written."

The two men first met in 1957 at a music publisher's office as Vance said he pitched his first song, "Catch a Falling Star."

Vance, who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., said Pockriss also worked in musical theater and wrote the music for the 1963 Broadway show "Tovarich," for which Vivien Leigh won the Tony Award for best actress in a musical.

Pockriss was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Jan. 20, 1924, his wife said.

He served as a cryptographer, writing in code to guide Army Air Force planes over the Pacific during World War II, she said.

He studied musicology at New York University with the modernist composer Stefan Wolpe, she said.

Pockriss was versatile, broadening his formal education in music with an ability to improvise, Sonja Pockriss said. That talent was in demand for live TV in the 1950s and '60s and helped him land gigs on top programs starring Jack Paar, Milton Berle and Martha Raye, she said.

"He ran from one studio to another," his wife said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111118/ap_en_mu/us_obit_pockriss

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Analysis: US overtures may lure Myanmar from China (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The first visit to Myanmar in a half-century by the top U.S. diplomat opens a door for that nation's military-dominated government to reduce its international isolation and dependence on a staunch but mistrusted ally: China.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Myanmar, also known as Burma, on Dec. 1-2, to meet with government and opposition leaders. It is the culmination of a two-year effort to engage with a repressive regime the U.S. had long shunned.

Washington hopes to encourage further democratic reform rose after Myanmar staged elections last year that ushered in a government of civilians, albeit dominated by a military structure that had directly ruled the country since 1962.

The new government also freed and began high-level talks with Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Obama administration's diplomatic overtures have a strategic intent, too, of seeking to expand U.S. ties in economically vibrant Southeast Asia as a counter to the growing influence of China.

China has been an all-weather friend to its southern neighbor, Myanmar, and its ruling generals. After a bloody 1988 crackdown on democracy protesters that heralded Myanmar's descent into pariah status, China provided diplomatic support, investment and weaponry, while Western nations imposed tough economic, trade and political sanctions.

Despite that backing, Myanmar's fiercely nationalistic leaders have an ingrained suspicion of China and are wary of becoming in thrall to another power. They have sought to balance China's influence by building ties with a neighbor to the west, India.

"Burma has always been uncomfortable with both of those relationships and wants to balance them with others," said Priscilla Clapp, who served as the top U.S. diplomat in the country between 1999 and 2002. "That's the choice they are making now."

She said that many of the older generation of army officers that now hold senior positions in the government first gained their military experience fighting insurgents who once controlled large tracts of the vast country's north, backed by China under then-ruler Mao Zedong.

China has long since ended that support. And its economic footprint has grown in the past two decades, particularly in the north of the country, through investments and exploitation of natural resources, such as oil, gas, minerals and timber.

The Chinese influence has bred resentment among the wider population, said Aung Din, a former political prisoner in Myanmar and now executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma.

Probably the single most significant decision made by the new government of President Thein Sein has been to suspend work on a massive, China-backed hydropower dam in northern Kachin State that would have yielded major revenues from electricity exports.

Thein Sein said the project, which would have flooded an extensive area and disrupted the flow of the nation's main Irrawaddy River, was against the will of the people.

His decision also sent a powerful signal at a time the U.S. was making energetic efforts to engage Thein Sein's government: Myanmar was not beholden to China.

Myanmar will have to do more to get what it really wants from Washington: the lifting of sanctions.

That would require the approval of Congress, where some influential lawmakers have strong personal interest in restoring democracy to Myanmar. The country will first need to fully reconcile with Suu Kyi, release its political prisoners and make peace with ethnic insurgents.

In the meantime, the Obama administration can reward progress with significant gestures.

Clinton's visit, the first by a U.S. secretary of state since John Foster Dulles in 1955, is a diplomatic boost to Thein Sein and rewards the tentative reforms he has initiated so far that could yet face resistance from hard-liners in the military establishment.

Clinton's visit also should strengthen the hand of Suu Kyi, who gave her green light for the trip and whose approval will be key to further U.S. steps to deepen ties with the government.

Even if Myanmar's government unclenches its fist to meet the extended hand that the Obama administration says it is offering, do not expect lightning political change.

Washington has welcomed the decision of Suu Kyi's party to contest coming by-elections after unfair regulations were amended. But even if it should fare well, her party will have limited leverage. The military-proxy party controls nearly 80 percent of the seats.

____

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Matthew Pennington covers U.S.-Asian affairs for The Associated Press.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111119/ap_on_an/us_us_myanmar_analysis

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What bacteria don't know can hurt them

Friday, November 18, 2011

Many infections, even those caused by antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, resist treatment. This paradox has vexed physicians for decades, and makes some infections impossible to cure.

A key cause of this resistance is that bacteria become starved for nutrients during infection. Starved bacteria resist killing by nearly every type of antibiotic, even ones they have never been exposed to before.

What produces starvation-induced antibiotic resistance, and how can it be overcome? In a paper appearing this week in Science, researchers report some surprising answers.

"Bacteria become starved when they exhaust nutrient supplies in the body, or if they live clustered together in groups know as biofilms," said the lead author of the paper, Dr. Dao Nguyen, an assistant professor of medicine at McGill University.

Biofilms are clusters of bacteria encased in a slimy coating, and can be found both in the natural environment as well as in human tissues where they cause disease. For example, biofilm bacteria grow in the scabs of chronic wounds, and the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. Bacteria in biofilms tolerate high levels of antibiotics without being killed.

"A chief cause of the resistance of biofilms is that bacteria on the outside of the clusters have the first shot at the nutrients that diffuse in," said Dr. Pradeep Singh, associate professor of medicine and microbiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, the senior author of the study. "This produces starvation of the bacteria inside clusters, and severe resistance to killing."

Starvation was previously thought to produce resistance because most antibiotics target cellular functions needed for growth. When starved cells stop growing, these targets are no longer active. This effect could reduce the effectiveness of many drugs.

"While this idea is appealing, it presents a major dilemma," Nguyen noted. "Sensitizing starved bacteria to antibiotics could require stimulating their growth, and this could be dangerous during human infections."

Nguyen and Singh explored an alternative mechanism.

Microbiologists have long known that when bacteria sense that their nutrient supply is running low, they issue a chemical alarm signal. The alarm tells the bacteria to adjust their metabolism to prepare for starvation. Could this alarm also turn on functions that produce antibiotic resistance?

To test this idea, the team engineered bacteria in which the starvation alarm was inactivated, and then measured antibiotic resistance in experimental conditions in which bacteria were starved. To their amazement, bacteria unable to sense starvation were thousands of times more sensitive to killing than those that could, even though starvation arrested growth and the activity of antibiotic targets.

"That experiment was a turning point," Singh said. "It told us that the resistance of starved bacteria was an active response that could be blocked. It also indicated that starvation-induced protection only occurred if bacteria were aware that nutrients were running low."

With the exciting result in hand, the researchers turned to two key questions. First does the starvation alarm produce resistance during actual infections? To test this the team examined naturally starved bacteria, biofilms, isolates taken from patients, and bacterial infections in mice. Sure enough, in all cases the bacteria unable to sense starvation were far easier to kill.

The second question was about the mechanism of the effect. How does starvation sensing produce such profound antibiotic resistance?

Again, the results were surprising.

Instead of well-described resistance mechanisms, like pumps that expel antibiotics from bacterial cells, the researchers found that the bacteria's protective mechanism defended them against toxic forms of oxygen, called radicals. This mechanism jives with new findings showing that antibiotics kill by generating these toxic radicals.

The findings suggest new approaches to improve treatment for a wide range of infections.

"Discovering new antibiotics has been challenging," Nguyen said. "One way to improve infection treatment is to make the drugs we already have work better. Our experiments suggest that antibiotic efficacy could be increased by disrupting key bacterial functions that have no obvious connection to antibiotic activity."

The work also highlights the critical advantage of being able to sense environmental conditions, even for single-celled organisms like bacteria. Cells unaware of their starvation were not protected, even though they ran out of nutrients and stopped growth. This proves again that, even for bacteria, "what you don't know can hurt you."

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University of Washington: http://www.uwnews.org

Thanks to University of Washington for this article.

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