FILE - In this Monday, Dec., 1, 2008, file photo, an Amazon.com employee grabs boxes off the conveyor belt to load in a truck at their Fernley, Nev., warehouse. Amazon.com Inc. says it is adding 7,000 jobs in 13 states, beefing up staff at the warehouses where it fills orders, and in its customer service division. The company says it will add 5,000 full-time jobs at its U.S. distribution centers, which currently employ about 20,000 workers who pack and ship customer orders. (AP Photo/Scott Sady, File) ( Scott Sady )
Amazon.com said Monday it will hire another 5,000 workers at distribution centers across the country, including its three recently opened California locations.
The hiring spree represents a 25 percent increase in Amazon's warehouse employment. It reflects the e-commerce giant's recent drive to shrink delivery times to customers in major population centers.
Amazon has opened three warehouses in California in the past year, in Patterson, Tracy and San Bernardino, although it isn't clear how many workers they employee. The company has promised to create at least 10,000 jobs in California after settling a nasty fight with state officials over sales tax collection.
For years
File-In this Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 file photo, a view inside the 800,000 sq. ft. Amazon.com distribution and fulfillment center warehouse in Goodyear, Ariz. Amazon.com Inc. says it is adding 7,000 jobs in 13 states, beefing up staff at the warehouses where it fills orders, and in its customer service division. The company says it will add 5,000 full-time jobs at its U.S. distribution centers, which currently employ about 20,000 workers who pack and ship customer orders. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) ( Ross Franklin )
Amazon resisted collecting sales tax in California and most other states, saying it wasn't required to under federal law. When Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill in 2011 requiring Internet retailers to begin collecting the tax from Calfiornia consumers, Amazon fired thousands of in-state "affiliates" -- small businesses and nonprofits that get commissions for referring customers to Amazon. The company also launched a ballot referendum to overturn the new law.
Then the company made a compromise, earning a one-year grace period on collecting the tax. That ended last September, and Amazon has moved ahead on building warehouses in the state.
Amazon has made similar compromises in other states, and opened eight warehouses across the country in the past year. The company's goal is to speed deliveries to frequent customers; it has same-day delivery in big cities like New York and Chicago.
The world's largest online retailer has been spending heavily on order fulfillment, a strategy meant to help the business grow, but one that has also weighed on profit margins. The company said last week that it lost money in the second quarter, even as revenue increased.
Distribution center jobs are also available in Phoenix; Middletown, Del.; Patterson, Indianapolis and Jeffersonville, Ind.; Hebron, Ky.; Breinigsville, Pa.; Charleston and Spartanburg, S.C.; Chattanooga and Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Coppell, Haslet and San Antonio, Texas and Chester, Va.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the Chattanooga facility on Tuesday, according to the White House.
The company is also adding 2,000 jobs in customer service, including full-time, part-time and seasonal. Jobs are available in Winchester, Ky.; Grand Forks, N.D.; Kennewick, Wash. and Huntington, W.Va. Work from home positions are available in Oregon, Washington and Arizona.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - After decades of debate, an influential U.S. panel has endorsed the use of low-dose CT scans to detect lung cancer in high-risk individuals, paving the way for insurance coverage of the test for as many as 10 million smokers and former smokers.
The draft guidelines issued on Monday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force call for annual CT screening of current and former smokers aged 55 to 80 with a history of smoking the equivalent of a pack a day for 30 years, or two packs a day for 15 years. The recommendation applies to those who have quit smoking within the past 15 years.
The panel gave the screening a "B" recommendation, meaning they are at least moderately certain that the benefits of testing outweigh the harms. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to cover preventive services with a grade of "B" or higher.
The recommendations, posted on the task force website, are intended to help prevent some of the 160,000 annual lung cancer deaths in the United States, which exceed the total number of deaths from breast, prostate and colon cancer combined. Smoking is the biggest risk factor for developing lung cancer, resulting in about 85 percent of lung cancers in the United States.
Dr. Michael LeFevre of the University of Missouri in Columbia, who served on the task force, said "getting screened for lung cancer is not an alternative to quitting smoking," but he said screening high-risk smokers can prevent as many as 20,000 deaths a year.
Laurie Fenton Ambrose of the Lung Cancer Alliance, a group that has long advocated for lung cancer screening, said if approved in final form, the guidelines would represent a "profound" and "monumental moment."
The guidelines largely fall in line with recommendations from most major groups of cancer experts, including the American Cancer Society and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
But some doctors worry the rating might lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatment of cancers, in much the same way that widespread screening programs for breast and prostate cancers have done.
PROPOSED GUIDELINES
The proposed guidelines are based on a review of research studies published since 2004, the time of the group's last review. The evidence review was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Some of the strongest evidence came from the National Lung Screening Test, the largest-ever lung cancer screening study that in 2011 found CT screening cuts deaths from lung cancer.
The federally funded trial, which studied 53,000 current or former heavy smokers, found that CT scanning cut lung cancer deaths in high-risk smokers by 20 percent compared to no screening or to chest X-rays, which often miss early-stage cancers.
Dr. Clifford Hudis, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said the draft recommendations reflect the positions of several cancer groups.
"I think they are catching up to the science," said Hudis, adding, "We agree with them."
Of course, using a highly sensitive test like a CT scan to look for early signs of lung cancer will undoubtedly result in high rates of false positives. The NLST found that 320 high-risk smokers had to be screened to prevent one lung cancer death.
Because of that, and the potential risk from annual exposure to radiation from the CT scans, LeFevre stressed that the screening should only be used in the high-risk groups specified by the guidelines.
"We believe the benefits do outweigh the harms in the group we have targeted for screening. We are not sure of that for those of lower risk, either by age or smoking history," he said.
OVERDIAGNOSIS
The National Lung Screening Trial showed that for every five to six lives saved by screening, one person died as a result of post-screening procedures, such as a needle biopsy that collapsed their lung.
Dr. Peter Bach, director of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's Center for Health Policy and Outcomes, who has studied the impact of lung cancer screening said with the new guidelines, "overdiagnosis is guaranteed."
Bach said he hopes doctors will view the "B" rating as an indication that the recommendation was weak. "They are not telling people you have to do it," he said.
LeFevre said it is very important that doctors follow up tests with imaging first, rather than invasive procedures.
"Most of the abnormalities found on CT scan are not cancer, but they do lead to further testing. That is why it is important to limit this to the high-risk group," he said.
Dr. Kenneth Lin, an associate professor of family medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine and formerly on the staff of the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force, said there is still not enough good data on the issue of overdiagnosis, which will make it difficult to counsel patients on whether to have the test or not.
"If a patient came to me asking for screening and if he/she didn't meet the criteria, I'd simply say 'no'," Lin said in emailed comments.
If patients did meet the criteria, Lin said he would press for more details on the patients potential risk for lung cancer and if the patient is still smoking, offer counseling about the need to stop.
"Then I'd explain the uncertainty regarding the harms and only order the test if they expressed a clear preference for it after all that," he said.
What worries LeFevre and others is that some doctors and hospitals will try to profit from screening, which costs a few hundred dollars a test.
"We hope that physicians will not use this recommendation to exaggerate the benefits of screening," he said.
The task force is expected to decide whether to make the recommendation final sometime after August 26 when the public comment period ends.
(This story has been corrected to make it clear that the guidelines were posted on task force website)
In this photo taken Wednesday, May 29, 2013, a Boeing employee uses a flashlight to inspect the underside a Boeing 747 jet being assembled at the company's production plant in Everett, Wash. Boeing reports quarterly earns on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
In this photo taken Wednesday, May 29, 2013, a Boeing employee uses a flashlight to inspect the underside a Boeing 747 jet being assembled at the company's production plant in Everett, Wash. Boeing reports quarterly earns on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Boeing's problems with its 787 have made headlines, but they haven't hurt profits.
It posted a bigger-than-expected second-quarter profit as it ramped up deliveries of commercial planes like its 737 and its 777.
Boeing is in the midst of a boom in airplane orders as airlines in Asia and Latin America expand. It is speeding up production of its 737 as well as the new 787, known as the Dreamliner. Deliveries of all commercial planes rose 13 percent to 169 planes during the quarter.
Deliveries of the 787 were temporarily halted in January when the plane was grounded because of battery problems. But they resumed in May and Boeing delivered 16 of the jets during the quarter. It still expects to deliver at least 60 of the 787s this year ? the same goal it had before the battery problems surfaced.
Boeing's net income rose 13 percent to $1.09 billion, or $1.41 per share. During the same period last year it earned $967 million, or $1.27 per share. Revenue rose 9 percent to $21.82 billion.
The results include costs from pensions. On that basis, analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting a profit of $1.30 per share with revenue of $20.79 billion.
Boeing said that it has finished paying airline customers who had to stop flying their 787s because of the grounding. Boeing didn't say how much it spent, but it wasn't enough to show up in the company's financial results released Wednesday.
Fifty 787s were grounded for almost four months because of problems with their batteries. Several airlines said they wanted compensation. Airlines have to keep making payments on planes whether they're flying or not. The Polish government has said the grounding cost LOT Polish Airlines more than $30 million in lost flights alone.
"There were some instances where we had obligations to customers, and those have all been satisfied," Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney said on a conference call. "We think they are all behind us now," he added.
He also said Boeing is discussing with Ethiopian Airlines the method for repairing a 787 that caught fire while parked at London's Heathrow airport on July 12. The fire appeared to burn through the outside skin of the plane's tail, suggesting that an extensive repair will be needed.
Boeing raised its full-year profit guidance to $6.20 to $6.40 per share ? a dime higher than its old guidance. Once it pays for pension expenses it will earn $5.10 to $5.30 per share. On that basis, analysts are expecting $5.34 per share.
The company now expects revenue of $83 billion to $86 billion, which is $1 billion more than it previously predicted. Analysts were expecting $84 billion.
Revenue from commercial planes rose 15 percent to $13.62 billion, and profits in that segment jumped 20 percent to $1.45 billion. The 787s actually hurt profit margins because they cost more to build than Boeing is collecting, but delivering the planes brings in more revenue.
Things are slower at Boeing's defense arm. Revenue there was flat at about $8.19 billion, although operating profits rose 4 percent to $776 million. Boeing and other defense contractors have had to cope with the automatic federal spending cuts that took effect in the spring.
Boeing Co. shares fell 97 cents to $106.82 in afternoon trading.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]A multinational team of scientists has identified a single gene, called Shell, that regulates yield of the oil palm tree. The fruit and seeds of the oil palm are the source of nearly one-half of the supply of edible vegetable oil worldwide, and provide one of the most promising sources of biofuel.
This isn't a diversion about process. Participative democracy is a key weapon in fighting poverty.
Ed Miliband delivers his speech on the Labour-union link at The St Bride Foundation in London on 9 July. Photograph: Getty Images.
Ed Miliband?s proposed reform of Labour?s trade union funding is the culmination of an argument that?s been simmering for a hundred years. Two weeks ago it boiled over. But it began in 1909 when a notorious House of Lords ruling banned trade union from members automatically donating money to the Labour Party.? The judgement ruled that an automatic "opt-in" was illegal. Just as today, the row around trade unionists opting in or out was linked to MPs? wages (settled at ?400pa by Asquith in 1911). The House of Lords ruling threatened to remove a core source of Labour funding, and many feared for Labour?s survival.?
And so it is today. We are told Miliband risks the historic link between Labour and the trade unions, and that in financial terms, Labour may not survive. The main difference between now and 100 years ago (the House of Lords ruling was overturned in 1913) is that the call for reform comes from the Labour Party leader himself, something unimaginable even in Tony Blair?s day, never mind Keir Hardie?s. These proposals make Tony Blair?s reform of Clause IV look like timid toe-dipping. What began as a little (or a large) local difficulty in Falkirk has, on the leader?s say so, become nothing less than a debate around the nature of politics itself.?
At heart, this isn?t primarily an argument about Labour?s link with the trade unions; it is primarily about Labour?s link with democracy, and whether our internal governance is democratic. Democracy and open politics, allied to social justice, are Labour?s core values. The very first meeting of the Labour Representation Committee, created by the trade unions in 1900, voted by 102 votes to three that "this conference is in favour of working class opinion being represented in the House of Commons." Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, is still in favour of that. So am I. So - I imagine - is everyone else in the party.
McCluskey?s angry response to the Falkirk allegations was to say that Unite simply worked within the rules to select a working class woman as Labour's candidate. Unite ? and Labour ? are right to look for more diverse parliamentarians.? It is a scandal that 60% of the Tory and Lib Dem cabinet that entered Downing Street in 2010 were privately educated (compared to 32% in Labour?s last cabinet). Only 7% of British people are privately educated; in the 21st?century you?d expect the other 93% of us to have a bit more say in running the country.?
Yes I want more trade unionists in Parliament. I?m one of them, I was a full-time trade union regional organiser representing low-paid workers when I became an MP in 1997. But things change: it?s not just Labour that doesn?t have enough working class MPs. Trade unions themselves are not as working class as they used to be. As David Goodhart points out "astonishingly, 52% of union members now have a degree or some other higher education qualification, compared with just 41% of the workforce as a whole. So, in their 150 year history, the unions have moved from being mainly guilds for skilled craftsmen to being mainly guilds for public sector professionals, with a phase in the middle when they also recruited poorer, less skilled workers."
Ironically, it?s the recruitment of low-skilled and low-paid workers where the trade unions and Labour now struggle most. Engaging and recruiting this group is made harder by all sorts of economic, demographic and cultural shifts. But we must engage them, not least because prosperity for the rest, including the squeezed middle ? and success for One Nation ? depends on it. Keir Hardie said that "Socialism offers a platform broad enough for all to stand upon. It makes war upon a system, not upon a class." And here?s the rub: the system, the process, is often as important as politics itself.?
Some say Falkirk is a diversion about process. Who cares about Labour?s selection procedures when 6.5m workers in Britain subsist on poverty pay? Dave Prentis of Unison said in response to Falkirk "the real issues are 2.5m unemployed, families relying on food banks, payday loan sharks, massive cuts to public services." And he?s right. The mistake is to forget that the way we?do?politics impacts on poverty itself; on the number of people in jobs, using food banks, at the mercy of loan sharks.?
At first glance this might seem doubtful. But I spent almost a decade representing the constituency with the highest density of poverty in Britain and I realised that participative democracy is a key weapon in fighting poverty. I saw it with my own eyes. I chaired a project to regenerate the council estate with the highest child mortality rate in Europe, and I saw that if you engage people to find solutions, they rise to the challenge. They set up fresh food co-ops. They acquire new skills. They create new jobs. They give their kids new lives. They become politically active. Many of them escape poverty.?
In a nutshell, participative democracy reaches the parts the welfare state cannot reach: it engages the mind. In time we may find that inclusive governance and active citizenship are more effective in reducing poverty than increasing the top rate of income tax. The Labour Party, of all parties, must be genuinely democratic from the roots up. That is why it is so vital that Ed Miliband presses ahead with these reforms. ?
If machine politics are the death throes of the old order, the old order is nowhere near dead. It?s alive and well on the left and right of the party. I?ve seen it up close in Tower Hamlets. I saw it during the London Mayoral selection (and although it?s not the reason I lost, it?s the reason I nearly didn?t stand; yet surely we want democratic contests, not coronations). I joined the Labour Party when I was 14, and I?ve spent my entire adult life campaigning for the party I love. But here?s what I hate: I hate knowing a contest is stitched up before it?s begun.? Or that a contest is fought where resources are massively unequal.? Most people feel the same.
The challenge for politicians is to re-imagine politics so that it appeals to the many, not the very few. Ed Miliband?s audacious attempt to directly engage millions of trade union members, and to actively persuade them to "opt-in", rather than opt-out, reflects the best of Labour?s values. It?s not the easy path. His audacity would have astonished members of the House of Lords in 1909 who wanted to destroy the Labour Party. Yet the prize will be a democratically robust party, energised and fit for purpose in the 21st century. Labour?s trade union founders would be proud.
Oona King is a Labour peer and?a Diversity Executive at Channel 4. She?was MP for Bethnal Green and Bow from 1997 to 2005
New genetic cause of pulmonary hypertension identifiedPublic release date: 24-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karin Eskenazi ket2116@columbia.edu 212-342-0508 Columbia University Medical Center
Study finds druggable target for rare fatal lung disease
NEW YORK, NY (July 25, 2013) Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) scientists have identified new genetic mutations that can cause pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a rare fatal disease characterized by high blood pressure in the lungs. The mutations, found in the gene KCNK3, appear to affect potassium channels in the pulmonary artery, a mechanism not previously linked to the condition. Cell culture studies showed that the mutations' effects could be reversed with a drug compound known as a phospholipase inhibitor. The study was published today in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
"The most exciting thing about our study is not that we've identified a new gene involved in pulmonary hypertension, but that we've found a drug that can 'rescue' some mutations," said co-senior author Wendy K. Chung, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at CUMC. "In genetics, it's common to identify a gene that is the source of a disease. However, it's relatively rare to find potential treatments for genetic diseases."
PAH is a progressive disorder characterized by abnormally high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, which reduces blood flow from the right side of the heart to the lungs. The heart can compensate by pumping harder, but over time this can weaken the heart muscle and lead to right-sided heart failure. Common symptoms of PAH include shortness of breath, dizziness, and fainting. About 1,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year. The disorder is twice as common in females as in males. There is no cure for PAH and few effective treatments. Most patients with PAH die within 57 years of diagnosis.
Some cases of PAH are caused by inherited genetic defects. Most of these "familial" cases have been linked to mutations in a gene called BMPR2 (bone morphogenetic protein receptor, type II), which was identified simultaneously in 2000 by two independent research teams, one led by the late Robin Barst and Jane Morse, CUMC researchers. However, the majority of cases are idiopathic in origin (of unknown cause). Other forms of PAH can be triggered by autoimmune diseases, congenital heart defects, infections (such as schistosomiasis), and medications (such as the now-banned diet-drug combination commonly known as fen-Phen).
Dr. Chung and her colleagues discovered the new mutations by sequencing the exomes (the portion of the genome that codes information to make proteins) of families with PAH without identified mutations. KCNK3 mutations were found in 3.2 percent of those with familial disease and in 1.3 percent of those with idiopathic PAH.
The team found that the mutations alter the function of potassium channels by reducing the activity of these channels. Potassium channels help maintain the vascular tone of the pulmonary artery and help it respond to low levels of oxygen.
"We were surprised to learn that KCNK3 appears to play a role in the function of potassium channels in the pulmonary artery," said Dr. Chung. "No one had suspected that this mechanism might be associated with PAH." The other gene linked to the disorder, BMPR2, is thought to cause PAH by ultimately promoting growth and multiplication of smooth muscle cells in the pulmonary artery, thereby restricting blood flow.
Dr. Chung also found, working in collaboration with co-senior author, Robert S. Kass, PhD, the Alumni and David Hosack Professor of Pharmacology, chair of the department, and vice dean for research at CUMC, that the effects of the KCNK3 mutations could be reversed with an experimental phospholipase inhibitor called ONO-RS-082. The findings were made in cell cultures. Further study is needed to determine whether treatment with this or other drugs that affect potassium channels might be useful in the treatment of people with PAH, said Dr. Chung.
"KCNK3 mutations are a rare cause of PAH, so I don't want to oversell our findings," said Dr. Chung. "Still, it's exciting that we've found a mechanism that can lead to the disease that is a new, druggable target. It's also possible that targeting KCNK3 may be beneficial for patients who have PAH independent of their KCNK3 genetic status."
###
The paper is titled, "A Novel Channelopathy in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension." The other contributors are: Lijiang Ma, Danilo Roman-Campos, Eric D, Mlanie Eyries, Kevin Sampson, Florent Soubrier, Marine Germain, David-Alexandre Trgout, Alain Borczuk, Erika Berman Rosenzweig, Barbara Girerd, David Montani, Marc Humbert, and James E. Loyd.
The authors declare no financial or other conflicts of interests.
The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 HL060056, P01 HL072058, K23 HL098743, and R01 HL56810) and by a Vanderbilt Clinical and Translational Science Awards (UL1 RR024975) from the National Center for Research Resources.
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org.
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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.
New genetic cause of pulmonary hypertension identifiedPublic release date: 24-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karin Eskenazi ket2116@columbia.edu 212-342-0508 Columbia University Medical Center
Study finds druggable target for rare fatal lung disease
NEW YORK, NY (July 25, 2013) Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) scientists have identified new genetic mutations that can cause pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a rare fatal disease characterized by high blood pressure in the lungs. The mutations, found in the gene KCNK3, appear to affect potassium channels in the pulmonary artery, a mechanism not previously linked to the condition. Cell culture studies showed that the mutations' effects could be reversed with a drug compound known as a phospholipase inhibitor. The study was published today in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
"The most exciting thing about our study is not that we've identified a new gene involved in pulmonary hypertension, but that we've found a drug that can 'rescue' some mutations," said co-senior author Wendy K. Chung, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at CUMC. "In genetics, it's common to identify a gene that is the source of a disease. However, it's relatively rare to find potential treatments for genetic diseases."
PAH is a progressive disorder characterized by abnormally high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, which reduces blood flow from the right side of the heart to the lungs. The heart can compensate by pumping harder, but over time this can weaken the heart muscle and lead to right-sided heart failure. Common symptoms of PAH include shortness of breath, dizziness, and fainting. About 1,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year. The disorder is twice as common in females as in males. There is no cure for PAH and few effective treatments. Most patients with PAH die within 57 years of diagnosis.
Some cases of PAH are caused by inherited genetic defects. Most of these "familial" cases have been linked to mutations in a gene called BMPR2 (bone morphogenetic protein receptor, type II), which was identified simultaneously in 2000 by two independent research teams, one led by the late Robin Barst and Jane Morse, CUMC researchers. However, the majority of cases are idiopathic in origin (of unknown cause). Other forms of PAH can be triggered by autoimmune diseases, congenital heart defects, infections (such as schistosomiasis), and medications (such as the now-banned diet-drug combination commonly known as fen-Phen).
Dr. Chung and her colleagues discovered the new mutations by sequencing the exomes (the portion of the genome that codes information to make proteins) of families with PAH without identified mutations. KCNK3 mutations were found in 3.2 percent of those with familial disease and in 1.3 percent of those with idiopathic PAH.
The team found that the mutations alter the function of potassium channels by reducing the activity of these channels. Potassium channels help maintain the vascular tone of the pulmonary artery and help it respond to low levels of oxygen.
"We were surprised to learn that KCNK3 appears to play a role in the function of potassium channels in the pulmonary artery," said Dr. Chung. "No one had suspected that this mechanism might be associated with PAH." The other gene linked to the disorder, BMPR2, is thought to cause PAH by ultimately promoting growth and multiplication of smooth muscle cells in the pulmonary artery, thereby restricting blood flow.
Dr. Chung also found, working in collaboration with co-senior author, Robert S. Kass, PhD, the Alumni and David Hosack Professor of Pharmacology, chair of the department, and vice dean for research at CUMC, that the effects of the KCNK3 mutations could be reversed with an experimental phospholipase inhibitor called ONO-RS-082. The findings were made in cell cultures. Further study is needed to determine whether treatment with this or other drugs that affect potassium channels might be useful in the treatment of people with PAH, said Dr. Chung.
"KCNK3 mutations are a rare cause of PAH, so I don't want to oversell our findings," said Dr. Chung. "Still, it's exciting that we've found a mechanism that can lead to the disease that is a new, druggable target. It's also possible that targeting KCNK3 may be beneficial for patients who have PAH independent of their KCNK3 genetic status."
###
The paper is titled, "A Novel Channelopathy in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension." The other contributors are: Lijiang Ma, Danilo Roman-Campos, Eric D, Mlanie Eyries, Kevin Sampson, Florent Soubrier, Marine Germain, David-Alexandre Trgout, Alain Borczuk, Erika Berman Rosenzweig, Barbara Girerd, David Montani, Marc Humbert, and James E. Loyd.
The authors declare no financial or other conflicts of interests.
The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 HL060056, P01 HL072058, K23 HL098743, and R01 HL56810) and by a Vanderbilt Clinical and Translational Science Awards (UL1 RR024975) from the National Center for Research Resources.
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org.
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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.
Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) may have decided to hold onto its diamond business, ending more than a year of speculation about a potential sell off, but the diversified miner is not keeping its workforce intact and it is already letting go of 78 people at its Argyle diamond?mine in Australia.
A spokesman for the company, quoted by The West Australian, said the decision was a continuation of Rio?s current focus on costs, drive for improved efficiencies and the planned transition of Argyle to a fully underground mine.
According to the source the measure only affects temporary construction workforce providing administrative, advisory and mining services to the project.
Rio's diamonds unit, which includes a 60% percent stake in Canada?s Diavik mine and 78% in Murowa mine in Zimbabwe, reported a profit loss of $43 million in 2012, down from a $10 million profit in 2011.
However, Rio surprised the market by posting last week a 47% year on year production increase to 4.135 million carats in the second quarter of 2013.
Production at Argyle alone climbed 87% to 3.13 million carats as mining has fully transitioned to higher-grade underground operations.
The NFL and players union are talking again about starting to test for human growth hormone as early as the upcoming season. ?? ? The labor agreement that ended the NFL lockout in 2011 allowed the league to test players for HGH - once the union approved the process. The NFL Players Association says it favors testing, but has reservations about the appeals process. ?? ? Supplemental HGH is a banned substance that is hard to detect and used by athletes for what are believed to be a variety of benefits, whether real or only perceived - such as increasing speed and improving vision. ?? ? Among the health problems connected to HGH are diabetes, cardiac dysfunction and arthritis. ?? ? NFL spokesman Greg Aiello says the discussions are focused "on a full resolution of any remaining issues."
The feeling of freedom that comes from driving down California?s sunny open roads is at risk?and rising gas prices are not to blame. Our investigations show that at least twenty Northern California law enforcement entities as well as the California Highway Patrol track the whereabouts of millions of Californians using automated license plate readers (ALPR), and some apparently even share records with a ?fusion center? connected to the federal intelligence community.
Scanning thousands of plates per minute, ALPR cameras create records of innocent people?s movements that can be held for years. Unfortunately, as the ACLU?s recent report shows, many agencies use ALPR without clear privacy protections for the collected data. Without proper safeguards, license plate readers can be used to identify every car parked near a protest or event, or to collect data about your visits to a doctor?s office, local bar, religious services, and more. We need clear, strong rules to prevent the misuse of ALPRs and the data they collect.
The massive amounts of data collected by a few Northern California police departments show how ALPR data makes it easy to track residents? whereabouts. In Piedmont, a tiny city east of Oakland with about 11,000 residents, the local police department captured 1,641,841 plate scans with one ALPR unit in just one year. South Bay city Milpitas, with only 67,000 residents, collected 4.7 million plate images in slightly more time. On the state?s highways, the California Highway Patrol operates at least 200 cameras, but we don?t even know how much data they have collected. To bring into focus how these large quantities of scans can be used to track cars within a given area, take a look at these maps produced by Berkeley?s ALPR parking enforcement system.
Unfortunately, there are no statewide privacy protections for these records, and many individual law enforcement agencies have no such protections either. In fact, only about half of the 20 agencies we learned use ALPR had a written policy manual at all. Of those agencies with written policies, many allowed the data to be used for all ?legitimate law enforcement business.? Some cities, including Milpitas in the South Bay, do not even keep records of who accesses the ALPR information. In addition, agencies vary wildly in how long they retain ALPR records. Although the Marin County town of Tiburon deletes records after 30 days if not associated with a criminal investigation, cities such as Concord, Elk Grove, and East Palo Alto allow the data to be held for upwards of two years?and Berkeley did not even have a retention policy.
We also found that sensitive ALPR data is shared with other counties and potentially the federal intelligence community through a ?fusion center.? A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Daly City describes an ALPR database shared by a Bay Area fusion center and fifteen Northern California counties. Under the plan, participating counties get continuous access to each other?s data with no clear limits on what it can be used for. By combining records from multiple jurisdictions, this database has the potential to contain extensive records of motorists? travels throughout Northern California. The U.S. Senate concluded in 2012 that fusion centers fail to make us safer, tend to be mismanaged, and needlessly intrude on Americans? privacy, so the suggestion that counties are sharing Californians? data en masse is particularly concerning.
ALPR technology should be used to accomplish specific law enforcement goals, not deployed as a tool for dragnet surveillance. As it stands, lax safeguards on the use of ALPR and the availability of collected data to the federal intelligence system raise substantial privacy concerns. Real safeguards formed through democratic debate can shed light on the technology?s use, and prevent future misuse. The starting point for establishing these safeguards is to have an open discussion with local government and citizens about the risks and benefits of ALPRs. Driving may be a privilege, but privacy is a right.
The ex-wife of Miami Heat star and Chicago native Dwyane Wade sat in the heat outside Daley Center Friday to protest the ongoing bitter custody battle over the couple?s children and what she claims as the fix being in against her.
Siohvaughn Funches-Wade said she was driven to stage the sit-down protest after another week of exasperating court appearances that didn?t favor her. Funches-Wade laid a mat out on the Daley Center plaza, produced a sign that read ?NBA Miami Heat star, mother of his children on the streets? and, with her sister and mother by her side, held court to anyone who would listen about her ongoing legal battle.
?Dwyane Wade is offering to pay only some of what he owes me if I sign an agreement never again to discuss what happened in our marriage or with our children. I refuse,? the ex-wife said. ?I finally told (Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas) Carr I just wanted to end the case and keep my freedom and my voice. I told him I didn?t want anything from Dwyane. The judge demanded the trial continue. I couldn?t believe it.?
Dwyane Wade was awarded custody of his sons Zaire and Zion in 2010 and has paid for his ex-wife?s legal expenses throughout the ensuing court battle; Siohvaughn Funches-Wade has blown through a dozen attorneys so far. Last week, Carr ordered Funches-Wade arrested for appearing late in court. She was also charged last June with two counts of attempted child abduction, two counts of unlawful visitation interference and one count of resisting arrest. Dwyane Wade?s attorney, James B. Pritikin, said in court Monday his client?s position is that Funches-Wade is that ?has issues, and she needs to deal with those issues.?
Below is six minutes of video from Funches-Wade?s protest, via Deadspin.
A long exposure picture shows an Orange County Fire Authority Crew keeping watch in a residential area of Idyllwild, USA, 19 July 2013, as the Mountain Fire burns three km away. Some 6,000 residents of the mountain town of Idyllwild and the surrounding communities some 180 km east of Los Angeles were evacuated.
By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News
Aided by cooler temperatures and rainfall, firefighters in Southern California over the weekend were making tremendous progress battling the so-called Mountain Fire, allowing thousands of residents to return home.
Storms dropped an inch and a half of rain on the blaze Sunday, helping crews contain nearly half of the week-long blaze, officials announced. High humidity and lower temperatures also have assisted crews in more than doubling the containment area from Friday.
Officials on Sunday lifted the mandatory evacuations in place for Idyllwild and Fern Valley, allowing nearly 6,000 people to return to their homes. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department said only residents and business people would be permitted into the area.
?The last 24 hours have been great for the crews on the ground, we?ve been able to make significant improvement along the fire?s edge,? Chris Gaulding, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, told NBC Los Angeles.
Fire officials have also been closely monitoring the threat of thunderstorms in the area that could bring with them dangerous flash floods, lightening and wind.
Seven homes have been destroyed by the wildfire burning in the San Jacinto Mountains, along with more than a dozen other structures. The 42-square mile fire has burned 27, 245 acres.
?I almost cried, because I saw the house here but everything else was just black,? Pablo Pimentel, whose home was spared by the fire,? told NBC Los Angeles.
Late Friday, California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency while filling in for vacationing Gov. Jerry Brown. Nearly 3,400 firefighters have been called in to battle the blaze, along with 30 aircrafts.
And on Sunday, more firefighters from around the state were on the way to help.
It has so far cost $12 million to battle the blaze, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Authorities have said the fire was human-caused, but they wouldn't say whether it was accidental or intentional, according to the Associated Press.
Related:
This story was originally published on Sun Jul 21, 2013 5:01 PM EDT
Drive Assist is an iPhone app developed by Woo.Do. This gorgeous app is available for both iPhone and iPad, and it looks stunning on both devices.
What Drive Assist brings to the table is a full-featured toolkit for making your driving experience better. In addition to acting as a navigational service, this beautiful app also works as a speedometer, weather warning system, and music player for your ideal road trip playlists.
One thing that?s awesome about Drive Assist by Wo.Doo is the fact that you can adjust all kinds of parameters and settings to make this app your own. You can adjust the color scheme, as well as toggle between metric and imperial distance measures. There are options for setting a touch autolock, speed alerts, and even a place to enter your odometer readout.
The real high point here is the overall look of Drive Assist. It?s rare to see an app that?s this polished, elegant, and downright sexy. The interface is easy to navigate, and the app is just so graphically superior to any other app in its class.
I?d be hard-pressed to name another navigation app that looks and works as well as this one does. Moreover, Drive Assist really distinguishes itself with an easy-to-read compass, straightforward weather icons, and constant trip timers. The only downside? Being able to see how much of your total travel time was spent moving versus spent sitting in traffic might make you grouchy about rush hour traffic delays.
There isn?t a person in my social circle who doesn?t use their iPhone or iPad behind the wheel. Whether it?s to control music, plan a route, or track driving habits, we all love to use our iDevices within the confines of our car cockpits. This well-rounded app is a stunner for drivers of all ages. For those about to drive, we salute you.
Review Overview
A beautifully designed app that makes your driving experience more lush and enjoyable than ever before.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - As Sandra Taliaferro prepares to move out of her apartment to make way for redevelopment efforts near Atlantic City's newest casino, she recalls the state of the city when she moved there as a teenager more than 50 years ago.
"You weren't allowed to go across Atlantic past a certain time," said Taliaferro, who is black, explaining that the city remained partly racially segregation.
Modern redevelopment efforts are having a similar effect, she said. "Now it's not race; it's money. You've got your side, and I've got my side of town."
At 66, Taliaferro is one of the main critics of the way the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority has handled plans to overhaul her neighborhood, which sits in the shadows of the year-old Revel Casino-Hotel.
The battle is the latest conflict here in which low-income or middle-class residents believe developers and officials are casting aside their homes like the plastic houses in Monopoly, the board game inspired by Atlantic City real estate.
Linda Steele, president of the NAACP's Atlantic City branch, counts more than 500 housing units that have been cleared since the late 1980s to make way for projects including an outlet mall and convention center - a significant number in a city with 40,000 residents.
Many of the disputes have been local news, but some of the disputes attracted wide attention. In the 1990s, Donald Trump joined residents in a futile attempt to fight an Expressway expansion to serve a casino planned by his rival, Steve Wynn. The road was built, and so was a casino, though not by Wynn; the swanky Borgata is now the most profitable casino in the city. And then there's the case of Vera Coking, a widow who refused to sell her house to Penthouse owner Bob Guccione, prompting him to build the steel skeleton of a building right around it. Trump later tore down that frame to put up his own casino but never prevailed in getting Coking to sell.
The marriage of the casino industry and its host city has been complicated since gambling arrived in 1978. After decades of growth, casino revenue has fallen precipitously since 2007. And the city remains a place where signs of poverty co-exist with symbols of excess - limousines zipping past pawn shops and homeless people - and a poverty rate of 29 percent, even higher than in 1980.
The opening of Revel has inspired plans for the surrounding South Inlet area.
A group that includes Shaquille O'Neal has approval to build a $75 million entertainment complex, and the CRDA is trying to assemble and clear other land to sell to developers. The first step is obtaining about 70 units of housing, mostly in the two-story Vermont Plaza and Metropolitan Plaza apartment complexes. About a third of the families have moved out.
CRDA's executive director, John Palmieri, said there aren't specific plans for how that area might be transformed. "We want to create a neighborhood here," he said. "It's no mystery. It's a beautiful location."
As Revel opened last year, CRDA planned to use its revenue share - 1.25 percent of gambling winnings - to pay for a $50 million bond to buy and clear several blocks. But Revel has struggled, losing money, laying off workers, filing for bankruptcy and changing executive teams.
So CRDA is using a more modest $8.5 million from unrestricted funds to remake the neighborhood and is willing to use its eminent domain powers if owners decline to sell.
Many residents received eviction notices with deadlines to leave by last week, but they can stay longer to find suitable places, said Palmieri, who acknowledges they have a right to be angry.
Palmieri says his organization helps relocate the displaced residents, offering house-hunting help it doesn't have to and paying more for moving and new places than is required. His staff says three tenants who have moved out of South Inlet have used CRDA funding for down payments on homes of their own.
Also, when developers ask for financing or other approvals, CRDA requires that they set aside some housing for lower-income residents.
Taliaferro, retired from a career that included jobs as a casino dealer and bartender, said she understands the reality that upscale stores and houses could help tourism, but she wants the agency to build affordable housing. And she says the CRDA keeps finding her undesirable places in areas infested with rats or crime.
The timing of this redevelopment plan has also been troublesome to some.
After Superstorm Sandy ripped through the coast last year, there aren't enough suitable rental homes, housing advocates say.
Meanwhile, residents say several buildings in the redevelopment area have blue tarps on their roofs to cover holes ripped by the storm. The owners refuse to make repairs with the buildings slated to come down, said Taliaferro, who lives in the Metropolitan Plaza complex.
Tanya Coleman, who lives in the Vermont Plaza complex, said property managers have been unwilling to fix her leaky air conditioner, which is causing mold to grow in her bedroom.
Management companies for both apartment complexes didn't return calls to The Associated Press.
Coleman, a casino dispatcher, has been packing boxes so she's ready to go once the one-bedroom apartment she found is granted a certificate of occupancy.
She'd rather not leave her home of four years, but she doesn't want to stay in its current condition.
"Let's be real," she said. "This is about casinos and making money for them. It isn't about the people that live here."
Several factors can affect driver?s auto insurance quotes. They even are changing between the time you got your auto insurance quotes and the time you determine to buy insurance. If you?re disabled driver you will face obstacles that other drivers do not face.
All companies shout out everywhere that there are no discrimination and all people have equal rights. But the reality isn?t so cheerful. People with disabilities have a lot of problems getting their auto insurance quotes. And some companies even find loopholes in the law to discriminate disabled drivers and give them a higher auto insurance quotes.
It?s proved that it?s difficult to get competitive auto insurance quotes for disabled drivers.
The main reason to increase your insurance quote is your car modification. Unfortunately, it?s one of the most common problem for disabled drivers. As we know, a lot of disabled driver modify their cars to cater for their disabilities. Some insurance companies can consider their modification of car as a reason not to quote. A lot of drivers modify their cars just to make them more attractive or boost their performance. It increases a risk of having a car accident. Some insurance companies abused this loophole in the law and used it to use toward vehicles modified for wheelchair ramps or hand controls, even if it is obviously that these modifications were made for a disabled drive. That?s why disabled drivers have some problems to get a good auto insurance quote.
Commonly disabled drivers modify:
? Ramps ? Tail lifts ? Person and wheelchair hoists ? Adapted controls ? Transfer seats ? Wheelchair Storage etc.
We don?t recommend you try to modify your car by yourself.
Things are changing and now disabled drivers have a lot of different websites where they can choose auto insurance quotes to themselves. The one big problem is to find the right place to do it.
The first steps to get good auto insurance quotes
At first, driver must inform the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) if he has some special conditions or disabilities. It?s a necessary way to get an acceptable auto insurance quote legally. The second important step which we recommend is to consult with your insurance agent to get more information about the problems you will force getting your auto insurance quote.
BEIRUT (AP) ? Mortar shells struck near a major Shiite shrine outside Damascus on Friday, killing its caretaker in an attack that threatens to further escalate sectarian tensions in Syria's civil war, the government and activists said.
State-run news agency SANA said shells fired be rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad landed "in the vicinity" of the revered Sayida Zeinab shrine, killing Anas Roumani, the shrine's administrative director. Several people were wounded in the explosion, SANA said.
Protection of the ornate, golden-domed mosque has become a rallying cry for Shiite fighters backing Assad, raising the stakes in a conflict that is increasingly being fought along sectarian lines.
Lebanese fighters from the militant Shiite Hezbollah group as well as Shiite Iraqi fighters have joined Syrian forces in battling rebels in the suburb that is home to the shrine of Sayida Zeinab, the Prophet Muhammad's granddaughter. The area, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of Damascus, has been engulfed in an offensive by Assad's forces to recapture suburbs held by rebels and areas in the country's strategic heartland.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a wide network of activists on the ground, said the shells struck on the edge of shrine's complex, causing minor damage to its external wall.
Before Syria's civil war, now in its third year, the shrine attracted tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims from around the world. Last year, rebels kidnapped Iranian pilgrims visiting the area, accusing them of being spies. The pilgrims were later released.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has called it "a duty" to protect the shrine, saying that if Syrian rebels destroyed it, that would ignite a sectarian war with no end.
Also Friday, pro-government Kurdish fighters battled al-Qaida-linked rebels in northeastern Syria, the latest in clashes that have killed more than 40 on both sides this week, activists said.
The Kurdish forces, which back Assad, have fought rebels from radical Islamic groups in the northeastern province of Hassakeh and the northern region of Aleppo for months now.
Fighting erupted again on Tuesday and the dead since then have included 15 Kurdish fighters of the pro-government Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, as well as 28 al-Qaida-linked fighters from the Jabhat al-Nusra or Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Britain-based Observatory said.
The Kurdish militiamen captured the oil-rich area of Suweidiyeh and also the town of Ras al-Ayn near the border with Turkey, the Observatory said. It added that Friday's fighting focused mostly on towns and villages near Ras al-Ayn.
Kurds, the largest ethnic minority in Syria, make up more than 10 percent of the country's 23 million people and have seen their loyalties split in the conflict between pro- and anti-Assad groups. The minority is centered in the poor northeastern regions of Hassakeh and Qamishli, wedged in between the borders of Turkey and Iraq. The capital, Damascus, and Syria's largest city, Aleppo, also have several predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods.
In other developments, authorities in Damascus complied with a rebel demand and released several women prisoners, Lebanese officials said Friday.
The release was expected to set the stage for the freeing of several Lebanese Shiite pilgrims held by Syrian rebels since they were abducted in May 2012.
Lebanese security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the women were released on Thursday. The Observatory said 23 women were freed, though there was no confirmation from Damascus.
It was unclear when or why the women were detained. There are tens of thousands of prisoners in Syrian jails, including many political prisoners and Assad opponents.
Lebanese officials have been shuttling between Syria and Turkey to try to mediate the pilgrims' release. In January, rebels freed 48 Iranians in exchange for more than 2,000 prisoners held by Syrian authorities.
More than 93,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict started in March 2011 as largely peaceful protests against Assad's rule. The crisis escalated into a civil war after some opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent.
Also Friday, Lebanese military prosecutors filed charges against six members of the Nusra Front, accusing them of having weapons and explosive devices with the aim of "carrying out terrorist attacks" in Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency said. If convicted, they could face the death sentence, the report said.
Syria's civil war has spilled over to Lebanon on several occasions in the past months, killing scores. Many Lebanese Sunnis support the overwhelmingly Sunni uprising against Assad, while Shiites generally back Hezbollah and the Syrian regime.
The British government said Friday it banned ? effective immediately ? the Nusra Front, a move making membership in the group a criminal offense. The Home Office said it added the group to the government's list of outlawed organizations, a U.K.-wide roster of foreign and domestic terror groups.
Many Western governments have expressed concern that the Syrian conflict is serving as an incubator for Islamist terror. Last week senior British lawmakers warned that jihadists in Syria "currently represent the most worrying emerging terrorist threat to the U.K. and the West."
___
Associated Press writer Zeina Karam contributed to this report.
NEW YORK/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Members of Microsoft Corp's board have held talks with ValueAct Capital Management LP in recent days over the activist shareholder's demands to secure a seat on the company's board, two sources close to the matter said on Friday.
ValueAct, which wants a say in the way the world's largest software company is adapting to the new world of mobile computing, is seeking to nominate a person from its own organization, the sources said.
The news comes as Microsoft had its biggest sell-off in four years, wiping $34 billion off its market value, after quarterly results were hit by weak demand for its latest Windows system and poor sales of its Surface tablet.
San Francisco-based ValueAct, which manages more than $10 billion for clients, owned 33 million Microsoft shares as of March, which is 0.4 percent of total shares outstanding, but it is believed to be buying more.
The fund, co-founded by finance industry veteran Jeff Ubben in 2000, has made a reputation for building stakes in companies and working with management in private to change fundamental strategy. ValueAct's other major holdings include Adobe Systems Inc, Motorola Solutions Inc and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.
In recent months a number of Microsoft's top institutional investors have contacted ValueAct, expressing concern over management execution and strategy, the sources said.
High among the issues in the talks, which the sources described as ongoing, is the apparent lack of succession planning at the top of the company. Steve Ballmer has held the chief executive job since 2000 and shows no signs of relinquishing it.
Ballmer, 57, once remarked that he envisaged staying on until his youngest child goes to college, which would be around 2017 or 2018, but since then he has not publicly addressed the matter.
ValueAct and Microsoft declined to comment. The software company has previously said there is a CEO succession plan in place, but has declined to give details of it.
UNDER PRESSURE
Microsoft's huge stock drop on Friday, prompted by its financial results and a $900 million write-down on the value of unsold Surface tablets, provoked fresh skepticism of Ballmer's new plan to reshape Microsoft around devices and services.
"The recent reorganization does not fix the tablet or smartphone problem," Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund said in a note to clients on Friday. "The devices opportunity just received a $900 million hardware write-off for Surface RT and investors may not even like the idea of wading deeper into this territory."
ValueAct is thought to oppose Microsoft's recent foray into making its own devices.
Microsoft and Ballmer have been the targets of much criticism over the past decade, chiefly for falling behind Apple Inc and Google Inc in the shift toward mobile computing.
The company, however, has not been subjected to much overt protestation from shareholders. The most public challenge came two years ago, when Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn, who made his name warning about Lehman Brothers' financial health before the investment bank's collapse, called for Ballmer to step down.
Microsoft never responded publicly to that call, and the company's board has never indicated any major disapproval with Ballmer's performance, although it did trim his bonus last year for sagging Windows sales and a mistake that led to a massive fine by European regulators.
ValueAct may find it difficult to stir up change at Microsoft, even if it does get a seat on the board, given that co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates has long been a solid supporter of his old friend and colleague Ballmer.
Gates, who founded Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen, still owns about 4.8 percent of the company and is the largest individual shareholder. Ballmer, who is also on the board, owns about 4 percent.
Alongside Gates and Ballmer, seven independent directors make up Microsoft's nine-person board. The lead independent director is John Thompson, a former Symantec Corp and IBM executive.
Microsoft's shares closed down 11.4 percent at $31.40 on Nasdaq on Friday, but recovered slightly to $31.58 in after-hours trading, after the news that board members were in talks with ValueAct.
(Reporting by Nadia Damouni in New York and Bill Rigby in Seattle; Editing by Edward Tobin, Gary Hill, Toni Reinhold)
PATNA, India (AP) ? Soon after they served the daily free lunch they had prepared for dozens of children at a rural Indian school, the two cooks realized something was very wrong. The students started fainting. Within hours, they began dying.
By Thursday afternoon, 23 children between the ages of 5 and 12 had died from eating food laced with insecticide and many others had fallen ill.
Authorities discovered a container of pesticide in the school's cooking area next to the vegetable cooking oil and mustard oil, but it wasn't yet known if that container was the source, according to Amarjeet Sinha, a top official in the state of Bihar, where the tragedy took place.
Some officials have said it appeared that the rice had somehow been tainted with pesticide and might not have been properly washed before it was cooked.
"It's not a case of food poisoning. It's a case of poison in food in a large quantity, going by the instant deaths," Sinha said.
More answers were expected Friday, when a forensic laboratory was to issue the results of its tests on the dead children, the food and the uncooked grain stored by the principal in her house, he said. Police were searching for the principal, who fled after the students started falling sick, Sinha said.
The cooks, Manju Devi and Pano Devi, told The Associated Press that the principal controlled the food for the free daily lunch provided by the government at the school. On Tuesday morning, she gave them rice, potatoes, soy and other ingredients needed to prepare the meal and then went about her business. As the children ate, they started fainting, the cooks said.
The two cooks were not spared either.
Manju Devi, 30, ate some of the food and fainted. Her three children, ages 5, 8 and 13, fell ill as well. All were in stable condition Thursday.
While Pano Devi, 35, didn't eat the tainted food, her three children did. Two of them died and the third, a 4-year-old daughter, was in the hospital.
"I will stop cooking at the school," she said. "I am so horrified that I wouldn't grieve more if my only surviving child died."
Sinha said one of the cooks told authorities that the cooking oil appeared different than usual, but the principal told her to use it anyway. Doctors believed the food contained an organophosphate used as an insecticide, he said.
The free midday meal was served to the children Tuesday in Gandamal village in Masrakh block, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Patna, the Bihar state capital.
Those who survived the poison were unlikely to suffer from any serious aftereffects from the tainted food, said Patna Medical College hospital superintendent Amarkant Jha Amar.
"There will be no remnant effects on them. The effects of poisoning will be washed after a certain period of time from the tissues," Amar said.
Amar said Thursday that the post-mortem reports on the children who died confirmed that insecticide was either in the food or cooking oil. He said authorities were waiting for lab results for more details on the chemicals.
India's midday meal scheme is one of the world's biggest school nutrition programs. State governments have the freedom to decide on menus and timings of the meals, depending on local conditions and availability of food rations. It was first introduced in the 1960s in southern India, where it was seen as an incentive for poor parents to send their children to school.
Since then, the program has been replicated across the country, covering some 120 million schoolchildren. It's part of an effort to address concerns about malnutrition, which the government says nearly half of all Indian children suffer from.
Although there have been complaints about the quality of the food served and the lack of hygiene, the incident in Bihar appeared to be unprecedented for the massive food program.
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has acquired Jeff Chan's horror-thriller "Grace" from Automatik, Oddfellows Entertainment and Colony Pictures.
Chan, who co-wrote the film with Chris Par?, makes his feature directorial debut with the film, having previously directed live-action shorts for Activision's "Call of Duty" franchise.
Automatik's Brian Kavanaugh-Jones ("Sinister") and Oddfellows' Chris Ferguson are producing "Grace," which is shooting in Vancouver.
Alexia Fast, who shared several memorable scenes with Tom Cruise in "Jack Reacher," stars as the title character. The supporting cast includes Alan Dale ("The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"), Lin Shaye ("Insidious"), Alexis Knapp ("Project X"), Joel David Moore ("Avatar") and Clarke Peters ("The Wire").
Seen entirely through the eyes of Grace, an oppressed 18 year-old is tormented by the ungodly forces that plague her.
"Jeff Chan impressed us with his unique vision for 'Grace' and we came on board as soon as we read the script," said Joe Matukewicz, senior VP of acquisitions for SPWA. "This continues SPWA and Stage 6 Films' belief in young, fresh filmmakers and builds upon SPWA's relationship with BKJ from the 'Insidious' franchise."
Colony Pictures' Chan and IM Global CEO Stuart Ford are executive producing. Michael Helfand negotiated the deal on behalf of SPWA.
Chan is repped by ICM Partners, Management 360, and attorneys Karl Austen and Ryan LeVine. Ferguson is represented by Verve.
Kristen Wiig stars in 'Girl' as a playwright who is ordered to live with her mother.
By Peter Rainer,?Film critic / July 19, 2013
'Girl Most Likely' stars (from l. to r.) Matt Dillon, Kristen Wiig, and Darren Criss.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
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In ?Girl Most Likely,? Kristen Wiig plays a New York playwright who goes into an emotional tailspin and ends up, by court order, living with her dread mother in her old family home on the Jersey Shore. Her creepy brother (Christopher Fitzgerald) is also in the house, as is a hunky tenant (Darren Criss) living in her old room. The mother?s boyfriend (Matt Dillon) claims to be a CIA operative.
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In other words, this film suffers, as you can guess from this pr?cis, from quirky-overload. Wiig has never really shone in movies the way she did on ?Saturday Night Live,? perhaps because she?s called upon to be more than a sketch artist. It?s also because her material in the movies has been much less sharp. Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman directed from a script by Michelle Morgan. The whole enterprise comes across like a first draft. Grade: C (Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language.)
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Public release date: 24-Jul-2013
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