First four iPhone 5 TV ads hit the airwaves

Not that it's really necessary to gin up more enthusiasm for the iPhone 5, but here they go: four television ads for the new phone have hit the airwaves and Apple's YouTube channel. The ads feature a different voiceover actor than previous iPhone spots and have a somewhat jovial tone; the Panorama highlight ad, "Cheese," is particularly cute.

Got a favorite? Let us know. All four ads are embedded below the poll.

[hat tip Macgasm]


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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2012/09/23/first-four-iphone-5-tv-ads-hit-the-airwaves/

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Illumination Consulting adds another skin care label under its umbrella

STARSEEDS Skincare is preparing for its official launch by the end of summer 2012 and has decided to allow Illumination Consulting to take the reins. With a very impressive record of success in developing and launching new skin care companies, this appears to be a perfect match for both companies.

The skin care industry has become highly competitive over the last decade with a strong emphasis on natural skin care companies. Consumers are more aware of the harmful ingredients in cosmetics. Some major brands have received considerable bad press due to this fact and this has opened the door for new companies to enter the market and become successful rather quickly.

STARSEEDS Skincare will immediately begin developing its new product line under the guidance of Illumination Consulting. This skin care business consultant has a well-known reputation for bringing new and exciting skin care companies to the forefront of the industry in relatively short timeframes. Already boasting success for such labels as BIORENEW, HONEYMARK, and TILTH, STARSEEDS expects to make an immediate impact on the skincare industry.

Daniel Green, Vice President of Operations for Illumination Consulting, is very excited about the project and stated, "We love working with skin care brands such STARSEEDS Skincare. Our team understands the market and requirements of the skin care industry very well. Our clients trust us to guide them through the myriad of options out there, the help them understand these better, and to assist them in becoming successful."

The collaboration will begin with a joint venture to develop a logo and product line for STARSEEDS. When the initial stages have been completed, Illumination Consulting will begin developing the company website to promote ecommerce sales. Once the product line and website are ready to launch, Illumination Consulting expects to mount an aggressive Internet and print advertising campaign to make the public fully aware of its presence in this skin care niche.

About: Illumination Consulting is a skin care business consultant specializing in developing and promoting new skin care labels and brands. The company handles all aspects of developing the brand, from logo and website design to product launch to ecommerce development, as well as all print and online advertising, including social media marketing.

Source: http://www.briefingwire.com/pr/illumination-consulting-adds-another-skin-care-label-under-its-umbrella

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Source: http://pdfcast.org/pdf/worldwide-chauffeur-directory-2

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97% Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

"Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry" is an insightful, engaging and inspiring documentary about the activist and famed artist. That having been said, I am sure there are some people who might find it strange that I use the word inspiring for an artist who makes his art from smashing antique vases and pointing his middle finger at landmarks, especially Tiananmen Square.(By the way, does anybody know if there are any photos of his middle finger in front of Yankee Stadium?) I think both are symbolic of how nothing is sacred, especially the Chinese government who he is in a running battle with to gain transparency into the inner workings of its bureaucracy. After they shut down his blog, he went on Twitter and distributed his documentaries for free over the internet. His style is definitely confrontational, as somebody says he reminds him of a hooligan, but in a good way.(As Ani DiFranco once sang, being nice is overrated.) Remember, we are all hooligans, right now. Ai Weiwei's activism hit a critical point when he criticized the treatment of the poor during the 2008 Olympics and the response to the Sichuan earthquake which killed several thousand children in faulty construction that has been compared to tofu. As New Yorker magazine correspondent Evan Osnos points out, Ai Weiwei was initially inspired politically by the Iran Contra hearings when he was living in the United States that sought to hold a government responsible but did not work as well as some of us would have liked. So, instead of the fortune his son would inherit, he will have something much more precious to leave him. Now, if I can only figure out if the cat opening the door is supposed to be a metaphor or just darn cute.

September 4, 2012

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ai_weiwei_never_sorry_2012/

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322 Turkish military officers jailed over coup plot

By Ece Toksabay, Reuters

SILIVRI, Turkey -- A Turkish court sentenced more than 300 military officers to jail on Friday for plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan almost a decade ago, ending a trial that underscored civilian dominance over the once all-powerful military.

The court in Silivri, just west of Istanbul, handed prison terms to 322 serving and retired army officers and acquitted 34, according to court documents seen by Reuters.

Two retired generals and a retired admiral considered the ringleaders of the so-called "Sledgehammer" plot to topple Erdogan in 2003 were given life terms. Their relatives collapsed in tears in the courtroom as the sentences were handed down.

The military has long been the guardian of Turkey's secular establishment, launching three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressuring an Islamist-led government to quit in 1997.

But Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party, which came to power a decade ago, has tamed military influence over policy-making and ministerial appointments as part of efforts to strengthen democracy, while prosecutors have pursued suspected coup-makers through the courts.

"To comment without seeing the reasons for the verdict would be inappropriate. There is an appeals process. What is important for us is that the right decision emerges," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara, as the sentences were being announced.

The ruling has the potential to undermine morale in the military as it battles Kurdish militants in the southeast and faces a growing challenge maintaining security along its southern border with war-torn Syria.

Turkey sends military convoys toward Syrian border

"Turkish soldiers are not just being struck down in Diyarbakir, Sirnak and Bingol, it is actually here where they have been hit," said Colonel Mustafa Onsel, one of the defendants, referring to three southeastern provinces which have seen clashes with Kurdish militants in recent months.

The court said the three sentenced to life would in fact only serve 20 years because they were unsuccessful in their bid to topple the government.

Motivated by revenge?
The "Sledgehammer" conspiracy is alleged to have included plans to bomb historic mosques in Istanbul and trigger conflict with Greece to pave the way for an army takeover.

Prosecutors had demanded 15 to 20-year jail sentences for the 365 defendants, 364 of whom were serving or retired officers.

Everyday more wounded Syrian rebels are brought in to Turkey and treated in border hospitals run by Syrian doctors and volunteers. Medical supplies are in short supply and the hospitals underequipped.?NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.?

Those sentenced to life included retired generals Cetin Dogan and Halil Ibrahim Firtina, and retired admiral Ozden Ornek, considered the ringleaders of the plot.

Those sentenced to 18-year terms included Engin Alan, a retired general elected to parliament as a member of the National Movement Party last year, and Bilgin Baranli, who had been in line to become Air Force commander before his arrest last year.

Sledgehammer is one of a series of trials that has sparked criticism that the government is using the courts to silence political opponents.

Others include the "Ergenekon" case, which involves a web of alleged plots against Turkey's government.

Thousands of people, including journalists, lawyers and politicians, are in jail pending verdicts in trials that human rights groups say raise questions about Turkey's commitment to democratic rights.

Dogan's daughter Pinar Dogan, a lecturer at Harvard University, said her family believed the case was aimed at settling old scores and pointed to reports by experts who said computer documents submitted as evidence appeared doctored.

"Going after those perceived as opposed to this government because of its Islamist leaning is motivated in part by revenge. My father was a retired man with no political clout left," she said.

Turkey: Syria shot down our warplane

"He had no sympathy for this government, but he would never have bombed mosques or shot down planes, never."

The Turkish military is NATO's second-biggest standing force after the United States. Its main domestic challenge has been militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered a terrorist group by Ankara, the United States and European Union.

The past few months have seen some of the heaviest fighting since the PKK took up arms in 1984 with the aim of carving out a Kurdish state. Turkish troops are also serving in Afghanistan, Northern Cyprus and Lebanon as well as at small observation posts set up in the 1990s in Iraq.

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Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/22/14027954-turkey-sentences-322-military-officers-to-jail-over-sledgehammer-coup-plot?lite

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Short Story America Festival is this weekend in Beaufort | TheDigitel ...

On Friday evening, the Opening Reception and Launch Party for Short Story America, Volume Two will start at 6 p.m. at the Old Bay Marketplace Loft downtown. That evening, authors and local readers will share stories with the audience in the Arts Center?s theater. Beaufort-area performers who will read classic and new stories that evening include Margaret Evans, Jeff Evans, Mark Shaffer, Teresa Bruce, Gail Westerfield, Leo Gannon, Pat Connor, Bruce Doneff and Tim Johnston. There will also be readings and an awards reception in the arts center.

Visiting authors will give seminars and workshops on writing and analysis of short stories all day on Saturday, September 22, in the classrooms at USCB?s Center for the Arts in Beaufort. Readings and signings by authors will take place throughout the day in the arts center?s theater, with a chance for discussion of each story with the story?s author.

Friday, September 21st
- Opening Seminar by Eric Witchey 3:00 ? 5:00, Short Story America
(Beaufort Town Center, 2121 Boundary St.)
- Opening Reception 6:00 ? 9:00, Old Bay Marketplace Loft
(Downtown Beaufort)

Saturday, September 22nd
- Readings, Seminars and Book Signings 9:00 ? 5:00, USCB Center for the Arts
- Evening Session and Authors' Reception 5:30 ? 9:00, USCB Center for the Arts

Sunday, September 23rd
- Part Three of Eric Witchey Seminar 1:00 ? 2:00, Short Story America
- Children's Story Hour 2:00 ? 3:00, Center Court Gazebo, Beaufort
Town Center

You can learn more about the event on its website?and more about the local event over at Lowcountry Weekly.

An all-events pass can be pre-purchased for $35.

Here's a phone chat with one author. Her session is Marjorie Brody: ?Out of the Workforce, On to the Page? Saturday Sept 22 at 1 p.m., at the USCB Center for the Arts

Source: http://beaufort.thedigitel.com/inaugural-short-story-america-festival-friday-sund-30493-0920

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Can Romney still win? Of course -- just not the way things are going

This is not where the Romney campaign wanted to be three weeks after Tampa.

The bounce in the polls that President Barack Obama netted coming out of the Democratic National Convention might have vanished by now, as those postconvention bumps tend to do, if not for the bad press that has pelted Republican challenger Mitt Romney nearly every day since the Democrats returned from Charlotte. First, Romney's response to the death of the American ambassador to Libya was widely viewed as inappropriate, even within his party. Just as he was recovering from that stumble, Mother Jones magazine released a leaked video of Romney disparaging the work ethic of 47 percent of Americans.

What everyone wants to know, of course, is whether historians will look back on these episodes as the effective end of Romney's chances at the presidency, to which we answer: Of course not. This is not just because the news media will tire of this story line by the end of the week, though that's part of it. ("Assignment editors: Now is the time to order up those 'Romney's coming back' pieces," one columnist quipped on Tuesday.) Mostly, it is the fact that new information and new story lines will relentlessly pile on for the next 47 days.

As of Thursday morning, Obama leads Romney in the polls 48.3 to 45 percent on Pollster's aggregated average, his largest lead in general election. He has larger leads in several swing states. In our model, which reacts much faster than polls thanks to the influence of the prediction markets, he has gone from just below 60 percent likely to win on the morning of the Republican convention to a 73 percent likelihood in the aftermath of the video.

Likelihood of Victory in 2012 Presidential Election

Sources: Betfair, Intrade, IEM, HuffPost's Pollster, RealClearPolitics

Even though these two lines are redundant?one is just the opposite share of 100 percent from the other?it's the red line that is more important. Romney has a 27 percent likelihood of winning this election, highly non-negligible odds. Here's the important point: If the election were in fact held today, we feel extremely confident that Obama would win. That 27 percent chance represents the odds that Romney can turn around his campaign in the next 47 days, not the odds that he could win at the present moment.

We have said before that Romney's chief opponent is not Obama but Father Time. In that sense, the past 10 days have been most damaging to Romney because they are 10 days he will never get back.

Follow the state-by-state and overall presidential predictions in real time with PredictWise.com.

David Rothschild has a Ph.D. in applied economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Follow him on Twitter @DavMicRot.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/signal/romney-still-win-course-just-not-way-things-164727716.html

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How the sub-Saharan cheetah got its stripes: Californian feral cats help unlock biological secret

ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2012) ? Feral cats in Northern California have enabled researchers to unlock the biological secret behind a rare, striped cheetah found only in sub-Saharan Africa, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the National Cancer Institute and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama. The study is the first to identify a molecular basis of coat patterning in mammals.

The scientists found that the two felines share a biological mechanism responsible for both the elegant stripes on the tabby cat and the cheetah's normally dappled coat. Dramatic changes to the normal patterns occur when this pathway is disrupted: The resulting house cat has swirled patches of color rather than orderly stripes, and the normally spotted cheetah sports thick, dark lines down its back.

"Mutation of a single gene causes stripes to become blotches, and spots to become stripes," said Greg Barsh, MD, PhD, emeritus professor of genetics and of pediatrics at Stanford and an investigator at the HudsonAlpha Institute.

The differences are so pronounced that biologists at first thought that cheetahs with the mutated gene belonged to an entirely different species. The rare animals became known as "king cheetahs," while affected tabby cats received the less-regal moniker of "blotched." (The more familiar, striped cat is known as a mackerel tabby.)

The study will be published Sept. 21 in Science. Christopher Kaelin, PhD, a senior scientist in the Barsh laboratory, is the co-first author; Xiao Xu PhD, from the National Cancer Institute-Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research and the Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology on Endangered Wildlife in Sichuan, China, is the other co-first author. Marilyn Menotti-Raymond, PhD, of NCI-Frederick is the senior author.

Barsh and his lab members have spent decades investigating how traditional laboratory animals such as mice develop specific coat colors. His previous work identified a variety of biologically important pathways that control more than just hair or skin color, and have been linked to brain degeneration, anemia and bone marrow failure. But laboratory mice don't display the pattern variation seen in many mammals.

"We were motivated by a basic question," said Barsh of the turn to the study of big (and little) cats. "How do periodic patterns like stripes and spots in mammals arise? What generates them? How are they maintained? What is their biological and evolutionary significance? It's kind of surprising how little is known. Until now, there's been no obvious biological explanation for cheetah spots or the stripes on tigers, zebras or even the ordinary house cat."

The research relied primarily on DNA samples from feral cats in Northern California captured for sterilization and release, on tissue samples provided by the City of Huntsville Animal Services group, and on small skin biopsies and blood samples from captive and wild South African and Namibian cheetahs. It also hinged on the recent availability of the whole-genome sequence of the domestic cat. (Menotti-Raymond's research focuses on the genomic analysis of the domestic cat to better understand many human diseases.)

"The Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute has long championed the cat as an animal model of human disease," said Menotti-Raymond. "Studying color variation in cats provides the opportunity to uncover new principles of gene action and interaction that may have unexpected applications to understanding developmental and morphologic variation in natural populations, including humans."

Comparing gene sequences of feral cats with different patterns allowed Kaelin and Xu to identify mutations in a gene they dubbed Taqpep associated with the blotched tabby markings: 58 of 58 blotched tabbies had a mutation in each of its two copies of Taqpep, while 51 of 51 mackerel tabbies had a least one unmutated version.

Taqpep encodes a protease normally found in the cell membrane, but that can also be cleaved to allow it to diffuse outside the cell. This ability to float freely and interact with other molecules in the extracellular soup is a key component of a principle called reaction diffusion proposed by the famous computer scientist Alan Turing, PhD, in 1952 as a way to explain how periodic patterns (like stripes and spots) can arise out of randomness.

"Turing realized that, under specific conditions, diffusible 'activator' and 'inhibitor' molecules can self-organize into a variety of periodic patterns," said Barsh. "We are excited about the idea that Taqpep might be an entry point to understand if, and how, reaction-diffusion mechanisms can explain 'how the leopard got its spots.'"

After nailing down Taqpep's role in tabby stripes (and analyzing its sequence in more than 350 other cats of 24 distinct breeds), Kaelin wondered if it might play a similar role in generating and maintaining the spots on wild and captive cheetahs. He obtained blood samples from a king cheetah named Kgosi, a resident of a wildcat education and conservation program in Northern California, and found that Kgosi also had a mutation in Taqpep.

Kaelin next contacted Ann van Dyk, who maintains a cheetah conservation center in South Africa from which all captive king cheetahs, including Kgosi, originate. (Van Dyk was the first to learn, though meticulous breeding records, that the king cheetah pattern is due to a recessive genetic mutation.) Van Dyk obtained DNA samples from all her cheetahs, allowing confirmation that a Taqpep mutation is responsible for the king cheetah pattern.

Mammals aren't the only animals with patterned hair or skin, obviously. Fish, salamanders and some invertebrates also have stripes and spots. However, there is an essential difference. While the non-mammals simply add stripes or spots as they grow to adulthood, mammals keep the same number and pattern by increasing the surface area of the contrasting colors.

"Somehow, cells in the black stripes know they are in a black stripe and remember that fact throughout the organism's life," said Barsh. "We were curious about what's happening at the boundary between light and dark stripes and spots. How do these spots know to grow with an animal?"

When Kelly McGowan, MD, PhD, a senior scientist in Barsh's group, studied fetal cat skin after seven weeks of gestation, she found that the tabby pattern begins to arise only when the hair begins to grow. In other words, there are no apparent differences between the cells themselves -- only in the color of hair they produce. That suggested that the changes in color are due to differences in the levels of expression of certain genes within the cells.

Lewis Hong, a former graduate student in Barsh's lab, used a technique he developed called EDGE to identify changes in gene expression levels between black and yellow areas of cheetah skin (obtained under anesthesia). He found several differences, many associated with a pathway influencing the expression of a gene called Edn3. McGowan found that Edn3 mRNA was produced at the base of the follicles making the black hairs. To test their theory, the researchers collaborated with a group at Florida International University to study a yellow-colored laboratory mouse that had been engineered to express Edn3. The coats of the resulting animals were much darker than their unmodified peers.

"This is very strong evidence that Edn3 is a critical regulator of black versus yellow hair in animals," said Barsh. The researchers hypothesize that expression of Taqpep is required to establish a pattern of stripes or spots in early feline development that is then carried out by Edn3 as the hair grows.

Clearly, not all cats are patterned. In particular, some big adult cats like African lions and mountain lions are distinctive for their lack of color variation even though their cubs are striped. Furthermore, Taqpep mutations are surprisingly common in some non-striped domestic cat breeds like the Abyssinian and the Himalayan.

"We know there's a mutation that suppresses pattern formation in some cats," said Barsh. "We'd like to investigate that mechanism as well."

In addition to Kaelin, Barsh, McGowan and Hong, Stanford researcher and technician Hermogenes Manuel also participated in the study.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the NCI and the HudsonAlpha Institute.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford University Medical Center, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Christopher B. Kaelin, Xiao Xu, Lewis Z. Hong, Victor A. David, Kelly A. McGowan, Anne Schmidt-K?ntzel, Melody E. Roelke, Javier Pino, Joan Pontius, Gregory M. Cooper, Hermogenes Manuel, William F. Swanson, Laurie Marker, Cindy K. Harper, Ann van Dyk, Bisong Yue, James C. Mullikin, Wesley C. Warren, Eduardo Eizirik, Lidia Kos, Stephen J. O?Brien, Gregory S. Barsh, and Marilyn Menotti-Raymond. Specifying and Sustaining Pigmentation Patterns in Domestic and Wild Cats. Science, 2012; 337 (6101): 1536-1541 DOI: 10.1126/science.1220893

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/NNS0W0gDW3s/120920141147.htm

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Scientists uncover mechanism by which plants inherit epigenetic modifications

ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2012) ? During embryonic development in humans and other mammals, sperm and egg cells are essentially wiped clean of chemical modifications to DNA called epigenetic marks. They are then held in reserve to await fertilization.

In flowering plants the scenario is dramatically different. Germ cells don't even appear until the post-embryonic period -- sometimes not until many years later. When they do appear, only some epigenetic marks are wiped away; some remain, carried over from prior generations -- although until now little was known about how or to what extent.

"What we did know," says Professor and HHMI-GBMF Investigator Rob Martienssen, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), "was that epigenetic inheritance -- the inheritance by offspring of chemical "tags" present in parental DNA that modify the expression of genes -- is much more widespread in plants than in animals."

In new research published online September 20 in the journal Cell, Martienssen and colleagues show that genome reprogramming through these epigenetic mechanisms is guided by small RNAs and is passed on to the next generation.

Some DNA is tagged with epigenetic marks

It has long been known that in plants, as the male germline pollen grains develop, they give rise to two sperm cells, and a structure called the vegetative nucleus, also known as the "nurse cell" because it provides energy and nourishment to the sperm cells.

The DNA in germ cells can exist in two dramatically different states: in one, it is very densely packed and essentially inaccessible to the cellular machinery that enables individual genes to be "expressed." In the other, in which the packing is much looser, genes can be expressed. In the latter state, because the genetic material is accessible, it is can also be modified by various chemical groups (two common ones are methyl and acetyl) which tend to attach to the DNA at specific locations.

These chemical tags are called epigenetic marks. The attachment of, for instance, a methyl group to a particular stretch of DNA containing a gene tends to prevent that gene from being accessed by the gene-expression machinery, and thus prevents the gene from being expressed.

Inherited methylation patterns are guided by small RNAs

Probing further into the set of modifications on the DNA in plant pollen grains, Martienssen and colleagues decided to look at the particular set of chemical marks called methyl groups. When they separated out pollen grains in different stages of development they found distinct patterns of the attachment of methyl groups to DNA.

They also noticed the corresponding accumulation of small RNAs, including two classes of so-called short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) -- tiny RNA molecules, 21 or 24 nucleotides in length -- involved in silencing gene expression. These small siRNAs act as guides to where methylation will occur, silencing gene expression.

Previous work by the Martienssen lab and their collaborators, including a team of pollen specialists from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia in Lisbon, Portugal, has shown that these epigenetic mechanisms are important for keeping transposons in check. Also known as "jumping genes" for their ability to be expressed and then re-insert themselves at random into a different area of the genome, transposons are dangerous because they can cause damage to DNA and disrupt genetic function.

In the current study, Martienssen's team discovered that while in sperm, some areas of DNA containing transposons had "lost" methyl groups, and thus had the potential to be expressed, the same stretches of DNA were observed to be methylated in the seed embryo. This was associated with the accumulation of 21 nucleotide long siRNA in the mature pollen and 24 nucelotide long siRNA in the seed embryo. Martienssen speculates that the loss of methylation in the sperm and subsequent re-methylation during fertilization may reflect an ancient mechanism for transposon recognition and silencing.

A second important observation made by the team was of the loss of methylation in "nurse cells." Methylation at these same sites is retained in the associated sperm cells, and, too, is associated with accumulation of 24 nucleotide siRNA. This process results in areas of recurrent epigenetic marking that are pre-methylated in the germline sperm and carried on to the next generation.

"This is what, at least in part, enables plants to inherit acquired traits from prior generations -- something that we mammals can rarely do," Martienssen observes.

Being able to trace the inheritance of traits -- both wanted and unwanted -- in plants, and notably in agricultural crops, is important for farmers. Martienssen predicts that "defining inheritance through epigenetic modifications will influence the ways people think about cross-breeding to select for desired traits." Such traits as resistance to temperature variation in crops have important agricultural and economic implications.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Joseph?P. Calarco, Filipe Borges, Mark?T.A. Donoghue, Fr?d?ric Van?Ex, Pauline?E. Jullien, Telma Lopes, Rui Gardner, Fr?d?ric Berger, Jos??A. Feij?, J?rg?D. Becker, Robert?A. Martienssen. Reprogramming of DNA Methylation in Pollen Guides Epigenetic Inheritance via Small RNA. Cell, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.09.001

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/Ct4l01R-GhQ/120920140150.htm

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International Business Travel Tips, From Business Travelers - Gadling

After posting our 10 Tips For International Business Travel, readers responded with some engaging comments. Chiming in with additional tips that work, their ideas for international business travel have an undeniable common sense. Based on their personal experience, with some lessons learned "the hard way," readers shared not what they heard would be a good idea, but what they did that worked. Take a look and see if you agree.

Bring Local Currency With You
"Take foreign currencies with you," advises Rosie in her comment, adding "In France, you cannot go to a bank to change dollars, you need to go to the Post Office, but they will NOT exchange $100 bills unless they have been verified as genuine by the French Banque de France. And this could take a minimum of 3 weeks. Apparently, a lot of fake $100 bills 'manufactured' in Russia have been floating about."

Notify Credit Card Companies In Advance
Annie recommends, "notifying your credit card company(s) of your itinerary. Also if on a cruise notify them of the name of the line & where they bill from. My card co. did recognize the name of the billing co. & it was really annoying as the card co. doesn't have 24/7 call service. Also check your medical insurance! Medicare participants especially need to check their supplemental as most only cover $10,000 out of the country (except emergencies in Canada)."

Scan Documents, Be Prepared, Know What To Do
"In addition to carrying copies of your documents and cards and leaving a set with family, scan copies to your email account," commented reader brinniewales. "This helps considerably in case everything you are carrying is lost or stolen and/or no one is available at home to respond to your immediate needs. Internet cafes are available around the world, so those copies of documents and cards are just a few clicks away.

If your passport is lost or stolen, and if possible, check the government website to determine the requirements for a replacement passport before going to your embassy or consulate. You may be able to complete the form online and print a completed copy to submit. Photos are necessary so, if necessary (if not taken at the embassy), take the appropriate number (and size) of photos."

Have A Backup Plan and Know The Rules
Lou had a bunch of comments including, "Leave a complete list of the contents of your wallet and valuables home with someone who can immediately report these items to credit card companies, law enforcement, US Customs or insurance companies.

Business travel may require a VISA where tourist does not. Business travel laws and rules vary in most foreign countries. Also items you travel with may be considered for tariff. It's smart to have a letter of invitation from [your] client stating your business."

Better Than An App For That
"Here's a good idea for protecting your valuables and keeping track of your iPhone, your iPad, your laptop and even your camera, keys, luggage and passport," wrote Gordon. "Two years ago, I found Okoban and obtained tracker tags for a free global lost and found service. I put them on all of my valuables."

It paid off in Rome. I left my passport at a restaurant at lunch. That afternoon, I received a text message from Okoban saying that my passport had been found. I did not even know it was missing."

Know Your Cards And Don't Assume
Hanky wanted us to know that he "just returned from Europe a few weeks ago, so my experience is fresh.

  • Be sure you have a credit card that can be used internationally, i.e. Citibank cards in the US are not used in Europe, call for the upgrade at least one month early and they will send a new card that can be used in all locations.
  • Be sure you call all your banks and credit/debit cards to tell them your travel dates, so they don't reject a bill.
  • Be sure you take the appropriate electric converters, we stayed at the Ritz and even they did not (have any to loan)"
Share Your Story, Work The Maps
Reader Joy has multiple suggestions too, advising:
  • Give someone at 'home' your complete itinerary, and numbers where you maybe found.
  • Take foreign money with you, and be ready upon landing to get where you need to be.
  • Do not assume anything, so be prepared. Maps help too. (show and tell cab drivers).
  • Take all medicines with you, in your possession, and not in luggage.

Thanks to all who commented, these are great tips we think others can use too. You lived and learned and we benefit. See more comments at "10 Tips For International Business Travel" or add yours here.

[Flickr photo by _tar0_]

Filed under: Business, Europe, North America, United States, Budget Travel

Source: http://www.gadling.com/2012/09/20/international-business-travel-tips-from-business-travelers/

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