Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle is pushing for federal leaders to put tighter restrictions on who can buy guns ? and what types of guns they can buy.
Tuesday, the mayor signed a letter that?s being sent to President Barack Obama and members of Congress from hundreds of other city leaders from around the country. It pushes for mandated criminal background checks on all gun sales and also for getting more military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines out of circulation.
?While there is no law that can prevent every act of violence, we can and must do more to ensure that we keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals and assist our law enforcement officers in providing for the safety of our public,? Suttle said.
It never fails. No matter where you're sitting in relation to the last open wall outlet at the cafe, your computer's charging cord is always just a bit too short. Luckily, a new prototype cable developed at North Carolina State University will let you plug in, even if the outlet's in the next room. More »
Dec. 20, 2012 ? For all their promise, solar cells have frustrated scientists in one crucial regard -- most are rigid. They must be deployed in stiff, often heavy, fixed panels, limiting their applications. So researchers have been trying to get photovoltaics to loosen up. The ideal: flexible, decal-like solar panels that can be peeled off like band-aids and stuck to virtually any surface, from papers to window panes.
Now the ideal is real. Stanford researchers have succeeded in developing the world's first peel-and-stick thin-film solar cells. The breakthrough is described in a paper in the December 20th issue of Scientific Reports.
Unlike standard thin-film solar cells, the peel-and-stick version from Stanford does not require any direct fabrication on the final carrier substrate. This is a far more dramatic development than it may initially seem. All the challenges associated with putting solar cells on unconventional materials are avoided with the new process, vastly expanding the potential applications of solar technology.
Thin-film photovoltaic cells are traditionally fixed on rigid silicon and glass substrates, greatly limiting their uses, says Chi Hwan Lee, lead author of the paper and a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering. And while the development of thin-film solar cells promised to inject some flexibility into the technology, explains Xiaolin Zheng, a Stanford assistant professor of mechanical engineering and senior author of the paper, scientists found that use of alternative substrates was problematic in the extreme.
"Nonconventional or 'universal' substrates are difficult to use for photovoltaics because they typically have irregular surfaces and they don't do well with the thermal and chemical processing necessary to produce today's solar cells," Zheng observes. "We got around these problems by developing this peel-and-stick process, which gives thin-film solar cells flexibility and attachment potential we've never seen before, and also reduces their general cost and weight."
Utilizing the process, Zheng continues, researchers attached their solar cells to paper, plastic and window glass among other materials.
"It's significant that we didn't lose any of the original cell efficiency," Zheng said.
The new process involves a unique silicon, silicon dioxide and metal "sandwich." First, a 300-nanometer film of nickel (Ni) is deposited on a silicon/silicon dioxide (Si/SiO2) wafer. Thin-film solar cells are then deposited on the nickel layer utilizing standard fabrication techniques, and covered with a layer of protective polymer. A thermal release tape is then attached to the top of the thin-film solar cells to augment their transfer off of the production wafer and onto a new substrate.
The solar cell is now ready to peel from the wafer. To remove it, the wafer is submerged in water at room temperature and the edge of the thermal release tape is peeled back slightly, allowing water to seep into and penetrate between the nickel and silicon dioxide interface. The solar cell is thus freed from the hard substrate but still attached to the thermal release tape. Zheng and team then heat the tape and solar cell to 90?C for several seconds, then the cell can be applied to virtually any surface using double-sided tape or other adhesive. Finally, the thermal release tape is removed, leaving just the solar cell attached to the chosen substrate.
Tests have demonstrated that the peel-and-stick process reliably leaves the thin-film solar cells wholly intact and functional, Zheng said. "There's also no waste. The silicon wafer is typically undamaged and clean after removal of the solar cells, and can be reused."
While others have been successful in fabricating thin-film solar cells on flexible substrates before, those efforts have required modifications of existing processes or materials, noted Lee. "The main contribution of our work is we have done so without modifying any existing processes, facilities or materials, making them viable commercially. And we have demonstrated our process on a more diverse array of substrates than ever before," Lee said.
"Now you can put them on helmets, cell phones, convex windows, portable electronic devices, curved roofs, clothing -- virtually anything," said Zheng.
Moreover, peel-and-stick technology isn't necessarily restricted to thin-film solar cells, Zheng said. The researchers believe the process can also be applied to thin-film electronics, including printed circuits and ultra thin transistors and LCDs.
"Obviously, a lot of new products -- from 'smart' clothing to new aerospace systems -- might be possible by combining both thin-film electronics and thin-film solar cells," observed Zheng. "And for that matter, we may be just at the beginning of this technology. The peel-and-stick qualities we're researching probably aren't restricted to Ni/SiO2. It's likely many other material interfaces demonstrate similar qualities, and they may have certain advantages for specific applications. We have a lot left to investigate."
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) ? The Palestinians said Tuesday that all of the U.N. Security Council members except the United States will condemn Israel's recent announcements of new settlement construction which are making a two-state solution more difficult to achieve.
Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said the 14 other council members will tell reporters after the council's monthly Mideast meeting on Wednesday that continuing settlement activity is illegal and must be stopped.
The United States delivered a rare blunt rebuke to Israel, its top Mideast ally, on Tuesday for its new settlement construction, but Mansour said the Obama administration won't approve a Security Council resolution or statement.
He said there is near global unanimity against Israel's actions, pointing to the 169-6 vote in the General Assembly Tuesday on a non-binding resolution condemning settlement activities by Israel and demanding their immediate cessation.
"Unfortunately, one powerful country with veto power does not want the Security Council to act accordingly," Mansour said. "Therefore, the 14 other countries in the Security Council, in their own creative way, will make their position clear, collectively or separately, to the media outside the chamber on Wednesday."
He said the four West European council members ? Germany, France, Britain and Portugal ? would issue a statement of condemnation, followed by India speaking on behalf of the Nonaligned Movement of mainly developing countries, and other council members likely including South Africa, Russia and China.
"Therefore one can say 14 versus 1 is the reality of the Security Council in condemning Israel settlement activity ? although the one is also condemning," Mansour said.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced plans to build thousands of homes in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in response to the U.N. General Assembly's decision last month to upgrade the Palestinians' status to a nonmember observer state. On Monday, he said Israel will push forward with plans to build 1,500 apartments in east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland accused Israel of engaging in a "pattern of provocative action" that runs counter to the government's commitment to peace. She said settlement activity only puts the goal of peace "further at risk" and urged both Israel and the Palestinians to halt all provocations and take steps to revive long-stalled peace talks.
Her comments came as the United States grows increasingly frustrated with the Israelis, who continue to announce new settlement activity and take other measures to punish the Palestinians for the U.N. vote recognizing the state of Palestine, despite U.S. calls for restraint.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Tuesday called all Israeli settlements "illegal under international law."
He urged Israel to reverse its latest expansion plan in east Jerusalem, warning that if implemented "it would make a negotiated two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, very difficult to achieve."
The European Union, Israel's biggest trading partner, has been increasingly vocal in its criticism of new settlements just as Israel is gearing up for general elections next month. In an unprecedented move, a string of European governments summoned their local Israeli ambassadors to lodge protests following the Israeli settlement announcements.
Wednesday's expected statement by key European countries on the U.N.'s most powerful body would be a symbolic, but nonetheless high-profile show of displeasure with the Israelis.
Israel's Netanyahu has been unshaken by the criticism, and on Tuesday he vowed to continue building in east Jerusalem. "Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Israel, and we will continue to build there. A united Jerusalem expresses a wide national agreement," he said in the northern Israeli town of Acre.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the idea of taking action at the United Nations only lowers the chances of renewing peace talks, and he insisted the only way to advance negotiations is "to weigh on the Palestinians and convince them to return to the negotiating table."
"Fiddling with U.N. resolutions will take us the opposite way," he added. "So it's their choice to make, a step forward or two steps backward."
Despite its vocal frustration, the United States has repeatedly blocked Security Council condemnation of Israeli settlements.
Almost exactly a year ago, the four West European nations issued a statement critical of Israeli settlements at the Security Council. They and the other 10 members pointed a finger at the United States for blocking any condemnation of Israel's accelerated settlement construction.
That scenario is likely to be repeated on Wednesday.
The United States also vetoed a U.N. resolution in February 2011 that would have condemned "illegal" Israeli settlements and urged an immediate halt to all settlement building. The 14 other Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution.
The General Assembly decision recognized a Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. That annexation that has not been recognized internationally.
Israel rejects a return to the 1967 lines and accused the Palestinians of bypassing negotiations with the U.N. bid.
Peace talks have been frozen for four years, in large part because of the settlement issue. The Palestinians refuse to negotiate while Israel expands its settlements, which are now home to more than 500,000 Israelis.
Netanyahu has rejected calls to halt settlement construction, saying that a partial freeze he imposed in 2009 and 2010 failed to restart substantive negotiations. He says talks should resume without any preconditions.
Israeli officials have brushed off the international criticism as either unfair or by portraying it as a disagreement among friends. But officials say the increasingly frosty relations with Europe are a cause for concern.
___
Keaten reported from Paris. Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Juergen Baetz in Berlin and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Auto-immune disease: The viral route is confirmedPublic release date: 19-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rozen Le Panse Rozen.lepanse@upmc.fr 33-014-077-8127 INSERM (Institut national de la sant et de la recherche mdicale)
Why would our immune system turn against our own cells? This is the question that the combined Inserm/CNRS/ Pierre and Marie Curie University/Association Institut de Myologie have strived to answer in their "Therapies for diseases of striated muscle", concentrating in particular on the auto-immune disease known as myasthenia gravis. Through the project known as FIGHT-MG (Fight Myasthenia Gravis), financed by the European Commission and coordinated by Inserm, Sonia Berrih-Aknin and Rozen Le Panse have contributed proof of the concept that a molecule imitating a virus may trigger an inappropriate immune response, causing muscular function to deteriorate. These results have been published in Annals of Neurology, accessible on line.
Myasthenia, a rare auto-immune disease
Myasthenia gravis is a rare auto-immune disease (5,000 to 6,000 patients in France) that produces muscular weakness and exhaustion. It generally affects the facial muscles first, and may then become generalised through the muscles of the limbs or the respiratory muscles, causing respiratory distress.
This is due to the production of circulating auto-antibodies that block the acetylcholine receptors (RACh), these neurotransmitters being necessary for transmitting the motor nerve signal to the neuro-muscular junction.
Could a viral infection be the origin of myasthenia?
Myasthenia is a multi-factorial disease in which environmental factors seem to play a key triggering role. Viral infections are suspected but it is hard to prove the role of a virus in triggering the condition. In fact, diagnosis of myasthenia is often made months, or even years, after the actual start of the illness when the virus is no longer detectable, even though the signature left by the virus is visible long after the infection.
Proof of the concept of a viral origin contributed by researchers
Under the European FIGHT-MG project, the team of researchers managed to decode the trigger for the illness by using a molecule that mimics the RNA double viral strand (Poly(I:C)).
To do this, they concentrated on the organ that plays a central role in the disease the thymus. It is in this gland located in the thorax that the T-lymphocytes mature, these being the key players in immune response that are normally programmed to avoid the development of any auto-immunity.
The researchers were thus able to show in vitro that the Poly(I:C) was capable of specifically inducing an over-expression of RACh through thymal epithelial cells, while activating three proteins (the "toll-like" receptor 3 (TLR3), the protein kinase R (PKR) and interferon-beta (IFN-)); it is this last that produces inflammation in the thymus.
At the same time, they analysed pathological thymus glands of myasthenia sufferers in whom they observed over-expression of these same three proteins in the immune system, characteristic of a viral infection.
Finally, the researchers also managed to identify the same molecular changes in the thymus glands of mice, after they had been injected with Poly(I:C). After a prolonged injection period, they also observed a proliferation in the mice of B anti-RACh cells, the presence of auto-antibodies blocking the RACh receptors and clinical signs synonymous with the muscular weakness found in myasthenia. These original results show that molecules that mimic a viral infection are capable of inducing myasthenia in the mouse, something that had never been demonstrated before.
This set of papers published in the Annals of Neurology provides proof of the concept that a viral infection can cause inflammation of the thymus and lead to the development of auto-immune myasthenia.
The next stages of the research will consist in determining which exogenous virus this may be or whether it is a case of the abnormal activation of an anti-viral response by endogenous molecules.
FIGHT-MG (Fighting Myasthenia Gravis) a European collaboration making giant leaps forward
The FIGHT-MG project seeks to determine the genetic and environmental risk factors associated with the occurrence of the illness and its development. The project aims also to identify the key immunological molecules associated with its appearance, and to study the pathogenic mechanisms at the neuromuscular junction, establish new diagnostic tests, as well as new treatments (cellular treatments, immuno-regulatory treatments, immuno-absorption of pathogenic auto-antibodies and other pharmacological treatments).
"When one is working on a rare disease, it is essential to work through networking, so as to be able to share our facilities and resources to promote fundamental and clinical research. It is also crucial to communicate permanently with patient associations. It is this combination that enables us to take giant steps in the treatment of rare conditions," explains Sonia Berrih-Aknin.
###
FIGHT-MG : http://www.fight-mg.eu/
FIGHT-MG started in December 2009 and will last for four years, with a total budget of about six million euros funded by the European Union (FP7). The project involves 12 partners based in seven European countries:
The 12 partners:
Inserm (coordinator), France: http://www.inserm.fr/
Hellenic Pasteur Institute (HPI), Greece: http://www.pasteur.gr/?lang=en
Open University of Israel (OUI), Israel: http://www-e.openu.ac.il/
Fondazione Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta" (INNCB), Italy: http://www.istituto-besta.com
Oslo University Hospital (OUS), Norway: http://www.oslo-universitetssykehus.no/omoss/english/Sider/side.aspx
Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center (HMO), Israel: http://www.hadassah-med.com/
Israel Institute of Technology (TECHNION), Israel: http://www1.technion.ac.il/en
University of Paris 6 Pierre and Marie Curie (UPMC), France: http://www.upmc.fr/
University of Basel (UNIBAS), Switzerland: http://www.unibas.ch/
ProteoSys (PSY), Germany: http://www.proteosys.com/
Genopolis Consortium for Functional Genomics (GENOPOLIS), Italy: http://www.genopolis.it/
INSERM TRANSFERT SA (IT), France: http://www.inserm-transfert.fr/fr/
The "Myasthenia" team
The "Myasthenia" team, headed by Sonia Berrih-Aknin joined the Institute of Myology directed by Professor T. Voit, just over a year ago in order to get closer to the reference centre for neuromuscular diseases run by Prof B. Eymard, at the Piti-Salptrire Hospital in Paris. The Institute of Myology is an international center of expertise on the muscle and its diseases, a member of the Institute of Biotherapy of rare diseases created by the AFM-Telethon. The Sonia Berrih-Aknin's team is interested in the etiological and physio-pathological mechanisms of myasthenia and innovative treatments that could improve patients' quality of life.
Even though winning a European project is very competitive, this team has exceptionally been granted three other projects since 2001, and was responsible for their coordination. Sonia Berrih-Aknin was the coordinator of the "Mechanisms of Myasthenia" project (2001-2005) under FP5, the MYASTAID (2006-2010) project under le cadre du FP6, as well as the Euromyasthenia Project (2006-2009) through the European Public Health Directorate. These projects brought a total of more than fifty teams of clinicians, researchers and associations of sufferers in Europe.
Inserm www.inserm.fr
The "French National Health and Medical Research Institute" (Inserm), created in 1964, is a public body of a scientific and technical nature, under the dual auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Health.
Its researchers are involved in the study of all types of illness, from the commonest to the rarest, through their biological, medical and health of the population research.
With a budget of 905 million euros for 2011, Inserm supports some 300 laboratories installed throughout French territory. The teams contain a total of about 13,000 researchers, engineers, technicians and administrators.
Inserm is a member of the "Alliance nationale pour les sciences de la vie et de la sant", founded in April 2009 with the CNRS, the CEA, the Inra, the Inria, the IRD, the Institut Pasteur, the Confrence des Prsidents d'Universit (CPU) and the Confrence des directeurs-gnraux de centres hospitaliers rgionaux et universitaires. This alliance is part of the policy of reforming the research system so as to better coordinate the role of the various entities involved and to reinforce the position of French research in this sector through coordinated planning.
Inserm is Europe's leading European project instigator, with 28 projects coordinated by the Institute as part of the FP7 scheme.
Source
"Implication of dsRNA signalling in the etiology of autoimmune myasthenia gravis"
Perrine Cufi1, MSc, Nadine Dragin, PhD1*, Julia Miriam Weiss, PhD1*, Pilar Martinez-Martinez, PhD2, Marc H. De Baets, MD, PhD2, Rgine Roussin, MD 3, Elie Fadel, MD3, Sonia Berrih-Aknin, PhD1 and Rozen Le Panse, PhD1
1 Combined Research Unit - CNRS UMR7215/INSERM U974/UPMC UM76/AIM - Thrapie des maladies du muscle stri, Groupe hospitalier Piti-Salptrire, 105 Boulevard de l'Hpital, 75651 PARIS Cedex 13 - France.
2 Department of Neuroscience, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 50, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
3 Dpartement de Chirurgie cardiaque des cardiopathies, Hpital Marie Lannelongue, 92350 Le Plessis Robinson, France.
* These authors contributed equally to this work.
Annals of Neurology
DOI: 10.1002/ana.23791
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Auto-immune disease: The viral route is confirmedPublic release date: 19-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rozen Le Panse Rozen.lepanse@upmc.fr 33-014-077-8127 INSERM (Institut national de la sant et de la recherche mdicale)
Why would our immune system turn against our own cells? This is the question that the combined Inserm/CNRS/ Pierre and Marie Curie University/Association Institut de Myologie have strived to answer in their "Therapies for diseases of striated muscle", concentrating in particular on the auto-immune disease known as myasthenia gravis. Through the project known as FIGHT-MG (Fight Myasthenia Gravis), financed by the European Commission and coordinated by Inserm, Sonia Berrih-Aknin and Rozen Le Panse have contributed proof of the concept that a molecule imitating a virus may trigger an inappropriate immune response, causing muscular function to deteriorate. These results have been published in Annals of Neurology, accessible on line.
Myasthenia, a rare auto-immune disease
Myasthenia gravis is a rare auto-immune disease (5,000 to 6,000 patients in France) that produces muscular weakness and exhaustion. It generally affects the facial muscles first, and may then become generalised through the muscles of the limbs or the respiratory muscles, causing respiratory distress.
This is due to the production of circulating auto-antibodies that block the acetylcholine receptors (RACh), these neurotransmitters being necessary for transmitting the motor nerve signal to the neuro-muscular junction.
Could a viral infection be the origin of myasthenia?
Myasthenia is a multi-factorial disease in which environmental factors seem to play a key triggering role. Viral infections are suspected but it is hard to prove the role of a virus in triggering the condition. In fact, diagnosis of myasthenia is often made months, or even years, after the actual start of the illness when the virus is no longer detectable, even though the signature left by the virus is visible long after the infection.
Proof of the concept of a viral origin contributed by researchers
Under the European FIGHT-MG project, the team of researchers managed to decode the trigger for the illness by using a molecule that mimics the RNA double viral strand (Poly(I:C)).
To do this, they concentrated on the organ that plays a central role in the disease the thymus. It is in this gland located in the thorax that the T-lymphocytes mature, these being the key players in immune response that are normally programmed to avoid the development of any auto-immunity.
The researchers were thus able to show in vitro that the Poly(I:C) was capable of specifically inducing an over-expression of RACh through thymal epithelial cells, while activating three proteins (the "toll-like" receptor 3 (TLR3), the protein kinase R (PKR) and interferon-beta (IFN-)); it is this last that produces inflammation in the thymus.
At the same time, they analysed pathological thymus glands of myasthenia sufferers in whom they observed over-expression of these same three proteins in the immune system, characteristic of a viral infection.
Finally, the researchers also managed to identify the same molecular changes in the thymus glands of mice, after they had been injected with Poly(I:C). After a prolonged injection period, they also observed a proliferation in the mice of B anti-RACh cells, the presence of auto-antibodies blocking the RACh receptors and clinical signs synonymous with the muscular weakness found in myasthenia. These original results show that molecules that mimic a viral infection are capable of inducing myasthenia in the mouse, something that had never been demonstrated before.
This set of papers published in the Annals of Neurology provides proof of the concept that a viral infection can cause inflammation of the thymus and lead to the development of auto-immune myasthenia.
The next stages of the research will consist in determining which exogenous virus this may be or whether it is a case of the abnormal activation of an anti-viral response by endogenous molecules.
FIGHT-MG (Fighting Myasthenia Gravis) a European collaboration making giant leaps forward
The FIGHT-MG project seeks to determine the genetic and environmental risk factors associated with the occurrence of the illness and its development. The project aims also to identify the key immunological molecules associated with its appearance, and to study the pathogenic mechanisms at the neuromuscular junction, establish new diagnostic tests, as well as new treatments (cellular treatments, immuno-regulatory treatments, immuno-absorption of pathogenic auto-antibodies and other pharmacological treatments).
"When one is working on a rare disease, it is essential to work through networking, so as to be able to share our facilities and resources to promote fundamental and clinical research. It is also crucial to communicate permanently with patient associations. It is this combination that enables us to take giant steps in the treatment of rare conditions," explains Sonia Berrih-Aknin.
###
FIGHT-MG : http://www.fight-mg.eu/
FIGHT-MG started in December 2009 and will last for four years, with a total budget of about six million euros funded by the European Union (FP7). The project involves 12 partners based in seven European countries:
The 12 partners:
Inserm (coordinator), France: http://www.inserm.fr/
Hellenic Pasteur Institute (HPI), Greece: http://www.pasteur.gr/?lang=en
Open University of Israel (OUI), Israel: http://www-e.openu.ac.il/
Fondazione Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta" (INNCB), Italy: http://www.istituto-besta.com
Oslo University Hospital (OUS), Norway: http://www.oslo-universitetssykehus.no/omoss/english/Sider/side.aspx
Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center (HMO), Israel: http://www.hadassah-med.com/
Israel Institute of Technology (TECHNION), Israel: http://www1.technion.ac.il/en
University of Paris 6 Pierre and Marie Curie (UPMC), France: http://www.upmc.fr/
University of Basel (UNIBAS), Switzerland: http://www.unibas.ch/
ProteoSys (PSY), Germany: http://www.proteosys.com/
Genopolis Consortium for Functional Genomics (GENOPOLIS), Italy: http://www.genopolis.it/
INSERM TRANSFERT SA (IT), France: http://www.inserm-transfert.fr/fr/
The "Myasthenia" team
The "Myasthenia" team, headed by Sonia Berrih-Aknin joined the Institute of Myology directed by Professor T. Voit, just over a year ago in order to get closer to the reference centre for neuromuscular diseases run by Prof B. Eymard, at the Piti-Salptrire Hospital in Paris. The Institute of Myology is an international center of expertise on the muscle and its diseases, a member of the Institute of Biotherapy of rare diseases created by the AFM-Telethon. The Sonia Berrih-Aknin's team is interested in the etiological and physio-pathological mechanisms of myasthenia and innovative treatments that could improve patients' quality of life.
Even though winning a European project is very competitive, this team has exceptionally been granted three other projects since 2001, and was responsible for their coordination. Sonia Berrih-Aknin was the coordinator of the "Mechanisms of Myasthenia" project (2001-2005) under FP5, the MYASTAID (2006-2010) project under le cadre du FP6, as well as the Euromyasthenia Project (2006-2009) through the European Public Health Directorate. These projects brought a total of more than fifty teams of clinicians, researchers and associations of sufferers in Europe.
Inserm www.inserm.fr
The "French National Health and Medical Research Institute" (Inserm), created in 1964, is a public body of a scientific and technical nature, under the dual auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Health.
Its researchers are involved in the study of all types of illness, from the commonest to the rarest, through their biological, medical and health of the population research.
With a budget of 905 million euros for 2011, Inserm supports some 300 laboratories installed throughout French territory. The teams contain a total of about 13,000 researchers, engineers, technicians and administrators.
Inserm is a member of the "Alliance nationale pour les sciences de la vie et de la sant", founded in April 2009 with the CNRS, the CEA, the Inra, the Inria, the IRD, the Institut Pasteur, the Confrence des Prsidents d'Universit (CPU) and the Confrence des directeurs-gnraux de centres hospitaliers rgionaux et universitaires. This alliance is part of the policy of reforming the research system so as to better coordinate the role of the various entities involved and to reinforce the position of French research in this sector through coordinated planning.
Inserm is Europe's leading European project instigator, with 28 projects coordinated by the Institute as part of the FP7 scheme.
Source
"Implication of dsRNA signalling in the etiology of autoimmune myasthenia gravis"
Perrine Cufi1, MSc, Nadine Dragin, PhD1*, Julia Miriam Weiss, PhD1*, Pilar Martinez-Martinez, PhD2, Marc H. De Baets, MD, PhD2, Rgine Roussin, MD 3, Elie Fadel, MD3, Sonia Berrih-Aknin, PhD1 and Rozen Le Panse, PhD1
1 Combined Research Unit - CNRS UMR7215/INSERM U974/UPMC UM76/AIM - Thrapie des maladies du muscle stri, Groupe hospitalier Piti-Salptrire, 105 Boulevard de l'Hpital, 75651 PARIS Cedex 13 - France.
2 Department of Neuroscience, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 50, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
3 Dpartement de Chirurgie cardiaque des cardiopathies, Hpital Marie Lannelongue, 92350 Le Plessis Robinson, France.
* These authors contributed equally to this work.
Annals of Neurology
DOI: 10.1002/ana.23791
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - The women's basketball team at Mission College expected the bleachers to be full and the hecklers ready when its newest player made her home court debut.
In the days leading up to the game, people had plenty to say about 6-foot-6-inch, 220-pound Gabrielle Ludwig, who joined the Lady Saints as a mid-season walk-on and became, according to advocates, the first transsexual to play college hoops as both a man and a woman.
Coach Corey Cafferata worried the outside noise was getting to his players, particularly the 50-year-old Ludwig.
A pair of ESPN radio hosts had laughed at her looks, referring to her as "it." And online threats and anonymous calls prompted the two-year college to assign the Navy veteran of Operation Desert Storm a safer parking space next to the gym and two police guards.
Last week, Ludwig gathered her 10 teammates at practice and offered to quit. This was their time to shine, she told the group of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds. She didn't want to be a distraction for the team. The other women said if Ludwig, whom they nicknamed "Big Sexy" and "Princess," didn't play, they wouldn't either.
Didn't she know she was the glue holding the team together?
"Then let's just play basketball," she replied solemnly, looking each teammate in the eye.
A lifelong basketball lover, Ludwig has been helping coach and working out with the Saints since the beginning of the school year, but she only received conference clearance to compete on the last day of November. She took the court as No. 42 the next day, scoring three points on four free throws in about seven minutes of play. Last weekend, during her first home game, she scored eight points in 11 minutes, Facebook friend requests from the opposing team - and not a single heckle.
"I got exactly what I always wanted, just to fit in and be normal like everyone else," Ludwig said.
The story of how she ended up in a basketball uniform again would inspire comparisons to "The Natural" or other tales of middle-aged redemption were it not for gender. Introduced to the sport as an impressively tall 7th grade boy, she played on her high school team as Robert John Ludwig, then one season at a community college on Long Island in New York. After she dropped out, her court appearances were limited to pickup games.
The basketball bug returned 12 years ago, when her daughter from her second marriage, then 7, started playing youth basketball and Ludwig signed on as her coach. Ludwig kept coaching other people's children when her daughter moved on to high school and still works with hundreds of middle school girls every year.
Her transition from a male coach to a female coach five years ago raised questions, but parents generally accepted her decision warmly, she said. So did the women she played with in a couple of intramural leagues.
What the naysayers do not know, she said, is that Ludwig is not the same player she was as a 24-year-old male. She has less muscle and height, because of female hormones she takes. And at her age, she has to work to keep up.
"Yeah, I hit with a little more punch down low, but that's because I weigh 220 pounds, but I am not the only 220 woman out there," she said. "It's different now. My body has changed, my strength has changed, my attitude has changed."
While coaching a youth game on the Mission court last year she met Cafferata. They kept in touch, and when Ludwig half-jokingly asked if he had a spot for her, he said he might.
"The only thing I had to do is talk to my potential teammates and say, 'Hey, do you have room for me? This is where I am, this is where I've been, and I really love this game. Can I play with y'all?' And it was a resounding, 'Hell yeah!'"
Cafferata is tactful when asked whether Ludwig's size and former gender give the Saints an unfair advantage. A self-described champion of underdogs - his roster includes a player who is deaf and others with learning disabilities - the coach is rooting for Ludwig all the way. But to become a starter, she will need to work on endurance and speed.
"Gabrielle has earned a spot on this team," he said. "She practices hard. She runs hard. She is no different from anyone on the team - she is a great, coachable player."
As someone living as a woman and taking female hormones since 2007, Ludwig was eligible to play in the NCAA. Transgender student athletes who have taken medication to suppress testosterone for a year may compete on women's teams under a policy adopted last year.
The California Community College Athletic Association had another hoop for Ludwig. Because its rules base gender on a student's birth certificate, she would need a new one. Ludwig, who had sex reassignment surgery over the summer, petitioned a judge and obtained her papers on Nov. 30.
Ludwig, who turns 51 this month, acknowledged that part of her motivation for playing women's basketball was to be a role-model for transgender youth. She finds hope, if not gratification in the temporary suspensions ESPN radio hosts Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin received this week because of the remarks they made about her. But she wants her court accomplishments - not her gender change - to draw comments.
"If men think that women's basketball is easy, let them spend a day out here and get their butt kicked," she said.
Mission College Athletic Director Mike Perez was all for Ludwig playing. He admires her for working a fulltime professional job - as a systems engineer for a pharmaceutical company - while carrying a full course load in computer administration. He also has seen the way her young teammates look up to Ludwig "and not just because she's tall."
"I could tell that one, she was a person of substance and two, somebody who was really sincere about what they were trying to do," Perez said. "Many people have different views, but the most important view is she ... has a right to be on this basketball team."
Teammate Amy Woo, 19, said Ludwig has brought a maternal influence, helping the team keep problems in perspective.
"We all love her," Woo said. "If someone is going to talk against her, they are talking against all of us because it's like she is part of a family."
San Francisco firefighters were called to rescue a man who got stuck in his chimney just before midnight Monday in his Pacific Heights neighborhood.
Fire crews were called to the man's?apartment where they found the man inside the chimney. It took about an hour to pull him out.
It's unclear why he was in the chimney of his apartment building, which is seven stories high. NBC Bay Area spoke to a dispatcher who said that police may have been trying to contact the man, and that he may have tried to hide in the chimney.
Firefighters at the scene said their crews had to break out special equipment and bust out some chimney bricks to remove the man.
The man was taken to the hospital, where hospital staff said he was decent shape.
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Public release date: 19-Dec-2012
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