Food for Thought? - Scotland Food and Drink

Daniel Millard (10), Oran McKenna (10), Richard Lochhead MSP, Kylah Munro (10) and Freya Main (10), P6 pupils at Hopeman Primary School

Around 2,000 pupils from more than 120 schools across Scotland will soon be up to their elbows in enzymes, iodising ice cream and building jelly towers thanks to the launch of an exciting new science pack.

Date:

Tue, 04 Dec 2012

Source:

Liddell Thomson

Science on the Menu is an interactive food science kit jammed with goodies providing primary school science clubs and their teachers with all they need for exciting hands-on experiments using food and drink.?

Launched by Young Engineers & Science Clubs Scotland, a Scotland-wide programme run by the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, Science on the Menu was unveiled yesterday at Hopeman Primary School in Moray by local MSP Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment ? whose department supported SCDI with funding the science investigation kits.?

Speaking at the launch Richard Lochhead MSP said: ?Using Science to educate young people about Scotland?s food and drink is vital for Scotland?s Economy. We need even more young people with the skills, knowledge and enthusiasm for science. The food and drink manufacturing sector employs around 50,000 people in Scotland so we are hopeful that the Science on the Menu packs will feed the curiosity and imagination of the next generation of food technologists and entrepreneurs.??

Melanie Riddell of the Young Engineers & Science Clubs Scotland said; ?The packs include a wide range of teaching aides such as chemicals and colourings that make problem solving fun, helping children to learn about food and drink and hopefully making science subjects more engaging.??

She added: ?It?s also good to use products from Scotland?s larder as a great way to fuel the imagination of children to the many Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) careers open to them in the food and drink sector?.?

The Young Engineers and Science Club has a network of over 650 clubs throughout Scotland, from Orkney to Dumfries with a membership of more than 12,000 school children. The Clubs are supported by the Scottish Government and as well as many private sector sponsors.?

Source: http://www.scotlandfoodanddrink.org/news/article-info/4103/food-for-thought%E2%80%A6science-on-the-menu-for-scottish-schools.aspx

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Notre Dame vs. Alabama: Star power, power football

NEW YORK (AP) ? On one side, a blossoming dynasty from the college football capital of the Deep South. On the other, the sport's most famous team, trying to reclaim its place among the elite.

Notre Dame and Alabama bring star power and power football to the BCS championship.

The matchup became official Sunday night when the final standings were released and, to no one's surprise, the Fighting Irish were first and the Crimson Tide was second.

The one bit of drama on college football's selection Sunday was whether Northern Illinois could be this year's BCS buster. The Huskies got in, getting a spot in the Orange Bowl against Florida State, taking a bid away from Oklahoma and sparking heated debate about a system that never fails to tick off fans in some way.

As for the main event in the penultimate Bowl Championship Series, there was little controversy: No. 1 Notre Dame against No. 2 Alabama in Miami on Jan. 7.

The Irish clinched their spot a week ago in Los Angeles by completing a perfect season against rival Southern California.

Alabama earned its spot Saturday, beating Georgia 32-28 in a thrilling Southeastern Conference title game.

The program that coach Paul Bryant turned into an SEC behemoth in the 1960s and 70s, winning five national championships and sharing another during his tenure, is again dominating college football with a modern-day version of the Bear leading the way in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide are on the verge of one of the great runs in history. Alabama would become the first team to repeat as champs since the BCS was implemented in 1998, and it would be the 11th time a team has won consecutive AP titles since the poll started in 1936. Alabama is already one of seven programs to repeat. The Tide has done it twice. Notre Dame is another.

Alabama also won the 2009 BCS championship under Saban. The last team to win three major national titles in four seasons was Nebraska, which went back-to-back in 1994 and '95 and finished No. 1 in the final coaches' poll in 1997.

In a world full of spread-the-field, hurry-up offenses, Alabama is a bastion of traditional football.

The Tide put its no-frills muscle on display Saturday, mashing Georgia with 350 yards rushing, most impressively when Alabama trailed 21-10 in the second half and you might have expected the Tide to open up its passing game.

Eddie Lacy, listed at a conservative 220 pounds, went for 181 against the Bulldogs to up his season total to 1,182 with 17 touchdowns. T.J. Yeldon, at 216 pounds, provides more speed with his punch. The freshman has run for 1,000 yards and scored 12 touchdowns.

But this is no 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Both backs average over 6 yards per carry, behind an offensive line anchored by All-American center Barrett Jones. And quarterback AJ McCarron has thrown for 26 touchdowns with only three interceptions.

The Tide has been more potent offensively this season than last to make up for a defense that has slipped, but only a bit. Alabama leads the nation in total defense (246 yards per game) and is second in points allowed (10.7 per game). Linebackers Adrian Hubbard, Nico Johnson, CJ Mosley and Trey Depriest average 242 pounds.

When Brian Kelly was hired at Notre Dame three years ago, he looked at Alabama and the SEC, which has won six straight BCS titles, and decided the Irish needed to play like that.

Kelly built his reputation and winning teams at previous stops on fast-paced spread offenses. In South Bend, Ind., he has put the fight back in the Irish, who have won eight AP national titles ? only Alabama has as many ? but none since 1988.

Notre Dame has allowed the fewest touchdowns in the country (10) and is sixth overall in total defense (286 yards per game). The face of the Irish isn't a strong-armed quarterback or speedy ball carrier. It's middle linebacker Manti Te'o, a 255-pound offense wrecker with a nose for the ball. The senior has seven interceptions and is a likely Heisman finalist.

Te'o, along with 300-pound linemen Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix, have formed a red-zone wall for the Irish. Late goal-line stands highlighted victories against Stanford and USC.

While nurturing redshirt freshman Everett Golson, Kelly has leaned on Notre Dame's running game, which averages 202 yards. Alabama averages 224 on the ground.

If Notre Dame, making its first appearance in a BCS championship, is going to break the SEC's strangle hold on the crystal ball trophy, the Irish will try to beat 'Bama at its own game.

And Kelly will try to uphold a Notre Dame tradition, by winning a national title in his third season as coach. Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Lou Holtz all won it all in Year 3 playing in the shadows of the Golden Dome.

Notre Dame will try to become the first team since BYU in 1984 to start the season unranked and win a national title.

Expect plenty of fans to be watching. With the popularity of both programs, the second-to-last BCS title game is expected to be the highest rated ever.

In two years, college football switches to a four-team playoff to determine its champion. No doubt fans of Florida (11-1), Oregon (11-1), Stanford (11-2) and Kansas State (11-1) wish they could push the start date up on that, but for the most part there isn't much griping about this championship matchup.

Notre Dame is the only undefeated team that is eligible ? thanks to Ohio State's NCAA sanctions ? and Alabama is the champion of the league that has produced the last half-dozen national champs.

Roll Tide or return to glory? To be determined in South Florida.

___

AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

___

Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphdrussoap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/notre-dame-vs-alabama-star-power-power-football-215332107--spt.html

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Pretty Little Liars, The Lying Game: ABC Family Series Return ...

ABC Family tells us that the second season of The Lying Game will debut on January 8th, preceded by the first of the 11 remaining episodes of the third season of Pretty Little Liars. The latter has already been renewed for a third season.

ABC FAMILY?S ?NIGHT OF LIES? RETURNS WITH THE MIDSEASON PREMIERE OF ?PRETTY LITTLE LIARS? AND THE SEASON TWO PREMIERE OF ?THE LYING GAME,? AIRING TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, STARTING AT 8:00 PM ET/PT ON ABC FAMILY

Premieres Follow an All-Day Marathon of ?The Lying Game? on December 31st From 11:30 AM ? 5:30 PM And an All Day ?Pretty Little Liars? Marathon On January 8th from 11:00 AM ? 7:00 PM ET/PT

Burbank, CA (December 3, 2012) ? The new year starts off with a bang when ABC Family?s original series ?Pretty Little Liars? and ?The Lying Game? return with more deceptions and drama in all new episodes starting on Tuesday, January 8th.

In the mid-season premiere of ?Pretty Little Liars,? entitled ?She?s Better Now,? airing Tuesday, January 8th (8:00 ? 9:00 PM ET/PT), Radley Sanitarium has given Mona a clean bill of health and she is headed back to the halls of Rosewood High, much to the Liars? dismay. With their former tormentor now back in their everyday life, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer take very different views of the ?new? Mona. She made their lives a living hell? Is she really cured? And what other secrets could she be holding onto? It?s up to Mona to prove to the Liars if she has changed or not.

The ?lies? continue in the Season Two premiere of ?The Lying Game,? entitled ?The Revengers,? airing Tuesday, January 8th (9:00 ? 10:00 PM ET/PT). Alec is in jail following his arrest for Derek?s murder, but he still manages to unnerve Emma, who is desperate for answers. Rebecca and Sutton?s mother-daughter bonding consists of formulating their plans for the Mercer family, which contradicts Emma and Laurel?s plan to reunite Ted and Kristin. Meanwhile, Mads goes looking for trouble, and meets a mysterious new guy in town.

?Pretty Little Liars? is produced by Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television and is executive-produced by I. Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick, Leslie Morgenstein and Joseph Dougherty. The series stars Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Tyler Blackburn, Holly Marie Combs, Lucy Hale, Ian Harding, Laura Leighton, Chad Lowe, Shay Mitchell, Janel Parrish and Sasha Pieterse.

?The Lying Game? is produced by Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television, and is executive-produced by Charles Pratt Jr., Leslie Morganstein, Gina Girolamo, and Fred Gerber. The series cast includes Alexandra Chando, Andy Buckley, Charisma Carpenter, Allie Gonino, Alice Greczyn, Blair Redford, and Helen Slater, with guest star Adrian Pasdar. Guest stars in ?The Revengers? include Christian Alexander, Tyler Christopher, Ryan Rottman, and Yara Martinez.

Part of the Disney/ABC Television Group, ABC Family is distributed in over 97 million homes. ABC Family features programming reflecting today?s families, entertaining and connecting with adults through relatable programming about today?s relationships ? told with a mix of diversity, passion, humor and heart. ABC Family?s programming is a combination of network defining original series and original movies, quality acquired series and blockbuster theatricals. Emmy(R) Award-winning ABCFamily.com provides a variety of interactive entertainment and community features, from rich, fan-centric programming ? including blogs, viewing parties, webisodes, full episodes of the network?s hit programming, along with sneak peek exclusive previews and behind-the-scenes clips. ABC Family is also the destination for annual Holiday events with ?13 Nights of Halloween? and ?25 Days of Christmas.? ABC Family. A New Kind of Family.

Source: http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/pretty-little-liars-the-lying-game-abc-family-series-return-january-8th-25867/

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Utilizing Local Search Engine Optimization Increases Business

By Henry Gapinet

Local search engine optimization is different from SEO that functions on a national or global basis. The results accessed are all located within the geographical area the business serves. Products and services online are sold around the world. However, those such as wedding planners and restaurants are accessed for the searcher wanting the services performed in their immediate area. It would be of no benefit for a person living in Sacramento to hire a wedding planner from New York.

The search engines used are specialized. They access a different database that includes only businesses in the area. The results will include type of business, address and phone number. They will also include exact location in comparison to the rest of the city or state. This is useful to a business that functions on a statewide basis, for example.

Keywords, business-specific terminology and location will be targeted. Since SEO is highly successful in promoting a business, it is important to be included in the results of the local searches. Being on the first page of those results is a distinct advantage.

SEO puts the name of a business higher up on the page of results someone gets when using one of the major browsers. This is statistically advantageous because people typically call one of the first businesses that appear. That is called ranking and has been widely used since the mid 1990s.

In 1912 focused searches became a new form of SEO. Some examples of these kinds of searches are image, video and vertical searching. The local searching is now becoming the norm used by businesses that work in a specified area.

SEO consultants provide service guaranteed to place a business at the top of the results page. For example, ranking as number one, two or three. Their knowledge of how to achieve these business-building results is a conglomeration of analysis of HTML and other coding, how the indexing systems of search engines function and increasing the number of links to a website. These are referred to as backlinks and the more a site has, the more prominent it becomes. These high rankings are what businesses pay local search engine optimization experts to attain.



About the Author:


When you wish to find out about local search engine optimization, you can view related website for more info on local SEO services. Check out this homepage about local SEO packages by clicking on http://pageinvasion.com/ now.

Source: http://internetbiz-usalife.blogspot.com/2012/12/utilizing-local-search-engine.html

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Cuba pushes swap: its spies for jailed American contractor

In what could be the setting for a gripping thriller, Cuba and the U.S. are reportedly locked in a standoff this weekend, with the fate of an American contractor hanging in the balance. NBC's Michael Isikoff reports.

By Michael IsikoffNBC News

It seems straight out of a Cold War spy movie. A group of Cuban undercover agents sneak into the U.S. and set up a secret pro-Castro network in south Florida ? receiving instructions in code through late night radio transmissions from handlers in Havana. But the FBI gets wind, tails the agents, intercepts their messages and busts them, sending the agents off to federal prison, their ringleader for life.

Today, the story of those spies -- called La Red Avispa, or the Wasp Network ? rolled up by the feds 14 years ago is barely known in the United States. But its members, now? known as the Cuban Five, are national heroes in Cuba ? the subjects of mass demonstrations, their pictures on billboards and? posters ? and their petitions for freedom are championed around the world by Nobel Prize winners, celebrities like Danny Glover, even former President Jimmy Carter.

And they may now prove key to the tense impasse between Havana and Washington over the fate of jailed American contractor Alan Gross, arrested three years ago Monday for distributing sophisticated satellite equipment to Cuba?s tiny Jewish community and later sentenced to 15 years in prison for ?acts against the independence and/or territorial integrity of the state.? (Gross says he was only bringing Internet access to Cuba.)


While the U.S. is demanding that Cuba release Gross, who visitors say is angry and frail, having lost 110 pounds in prison, Cuban officials say they are willing to do so only if President Barack Obama will? release the Cuban agents.

?I understand what Mr. Gross is going through,? Gerardo Hernandez, 47, the Cuban Five ringleader, said in an exclusive interview with NBC News in October at his current home --a federal prison outside Victorville, Calif. ?I understand his sufferings and that of his family. ? If an agreement can be reached, to stop the sufferings of six families, then I welcome it.?

The idea of a swap?the release of Gross for Hernandez and his confederates among the Cuban Five ? faces legal and political hurdles.

NBC News

A billboard in Cuba shows the Cuban Five -- Gerardo Hern?ndez, Antonio Guerrero, Ram?n Laba?ino, Fernando Gonz?lez, and Ren? Gonz?lez.

An Obama administration official told NBC News that the ?imprisonment of Alan Gross, an international development worker, is not comparable in any way to that of the five Cuban agents,? noting that the Cubans were afforded their ?due process rights? and convicted of serious crimes.

Cuban Five ringleader Gerardo Hernandez

Members of Congress have denounced Cuba for holding Gross ?hostage? to the release of the Cuban Five. ?The Castro regime has no regard for human rights or international law,? said Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and frequent critic of the Castro regime. ?The Cuba Five should serve their sentences for spying.?

And Hernandez, who sports a trim goatee and displays a hearty laugh despite 14 years in prison,? might not make the ideal candidate for a pardon or commutation from Obama ? a precondition for a swap to take place. Asked if he regretted any of his actions, he smiled and said, ??I regret that I got caught.? In a follow up phone interview, Hernandez readily acknowledged that ?we violated some U.S. laws? ? mainly failing to register as foreign agents with the U.S. Justice Department. ?We came here with fake passports. Fake identities.? ?But, he added, ?We act out of necessity.,?

As Hernandez and Cuban officials tell it, the Cuban Five was not sent to spy on the U.S. government. In fact, the members weren?t accused of stealing any U.S. secrets (although they were convicted of conducting surveillance of U.S. military bases.) Instead, the mission of the Wasp Network, they say, was to infiltrate? anti-Castro exile groups in South Florida who Havana suspected of plotting terrorist attacks inside Cuba. Among those attacks: the notorious bombing of Cubana Flight 455 over the Caribbean in 1976, killing 73 passengers (including teenage members of a Cuban? national fencing team)? as? well as a string of hotel bombings in Havana in? 1997 that killed an Italian businessman and were believed to have been aimed at disrupting Cuba?s nascent tourist industry.???

?Cuba doesn?t have drones to neutralize the terrorists abroad,? said Hernandez. ?They need to send people to gather information and protect the Cuban people from these terrorist actions. ? I think it?s the same feeling that Americans have that defend their country and love their country when they go to infiltrate al-Qaida and send information here to avoid the terrorist acts. And the U.S. has to understand that Cuba has been involved in the war against terrorism for 50 years.?

Alan Gross in an undated family photo, left, and in 2012, after losing 110 pounds while imprisoned in Cuba.

While admitting his role in spying on anti-Castro exiles ??I would do it again,? he said -- Hernandez adamantly denies the most serious charge against him: conspiracy to commit murder. His conviction on that count, which has earned him a life sentence, was based on his alleged complicity in the February 1996 shoot-down by a Cuban fighter jet of two Cessna planes flown by members of the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue, killing four men.

The anti-Castro group had provoked Cuba by dropping anti-government leaflets over Havana. At the trial of the Cuban Five, prosecutors introduced messages between Hernandez and his controllers in Havana suggesting he had prior knowledge of the shoot-down. But Hernandez insists that prosecutors misinterpreted the messages and he knew nothing that wasn?t already public.

?No, sir, absolutely not,? Hernandez replied when asked if he knew in advance about the incident. ?All I knew was what everybody knew: that Brothers to the Rescue through the years has violated many times Cuban air space, that there have been 16 diplomatic notes from Cuba complaining over that situation.?

/

Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly

Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba?s National Assembly (the Parliament) and a longtime Castro confidante, said this week in Havana that ?the Cuban government publicly, front page in our papers, months before that incident had warned that we are not going to allow any more intrusions into our air space. ? The order, the decision (to shoot down the planes) came from the highest level. Fidel Castro himself had said that publicly, that he was responsible for that decision.?

U.S. Appeals Court Judge Phyllis Kravitch of Atlanta concluded in 2008 that prosecutors never proved their case tying Hernandez to a plot to shoot down the planes, but she was outvoted two to one and his conviction on the murder conspiracy charge was upheld. Now Hernandez and his lawyers are appealing on another ground: that hundreds of thousands of dollars in secret ?U.S. government payments to anti-Castro journalists in Miami -- newly discovered through Freedom of Information Act requests ?inflamed the Miami community against the Cuban Five and made it impossible for them for them to get a fair trial. The payments were mostly made for appearances on Radio Marti, a TV and radio operation funded by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent agency that oversees international broadcasting sponsored by the U.S. government.

Slideshow: Castro through the years

In court papers, lawyers for the Cuban Five have cited articles by some of the journalists, including one that denounced the ?genocidal character? of Castro?s regime and another that speculated that the real purpose of the Wasp Network was to introduce ?chemical or bacteriological weapons? into south Florida. ?This information was spread throughout the Miami area and helped inflame the community against these guys,? said Martin Garbus, Hernandez? lawyer. ?It was total madness. ? When the case was brought, the anti-Castro feeling in the Miami area was at a fevered pitch.?

Keystone / Getty Images

Ever since U.S.-backed Cuban President Fulgencio Batista was forced from power by rebels led by Fidel Castro in 1958, the relationship between the two nations has been fraught with difficulties.

U.S. prosecutors dismiss as ?implausible? and ?unfounded? the idea that the Radio Marti payments were part of a U.S. government effort to influence the jury in the Cuban Five case.

??The jury (in the case) was carefully selected, following a searching voir dire (jury selection process) that the appellate court deemed a high model for a high-profile case, and that the trial comported with the highest standards for fairness and professionalism,? wrote Caroline Heck Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney in Miami, in a court filing in July asking a judge to reject Hernandez? motion for a hearing into the payments to the journalists. She also noted, as federal prosecutors have repeatedly done when the issue has come up, that ?no Cuban-Americans ? the audience (Hernandez) hypothesizes as the target of the government campaign he imagines?served on the jury.?

Unless Hernandez can somehow persuade a court to reopen his case ?? or barring a prisoner swap with Gross -- he would seem to have few options. ?

Rene Gonzalez, another member of the Cuban Five who was not convicted of the conspiracy-to-commit-murder charge, was released from federal prison on probation late last year, but has not yet been allowed to return home to Cuba to live.

/

Adriana Perez, wife of imprisoned Cuban agent, Gerardo Hernandez

The Cubans are doing their best to ratchet up the pressure. Just as Judy Gross has launched a public relations campaign in the United States to free her husband, appearing at a National Press Club press conference on Friday, this week the Cubans made Hernandez wife, Adriana, available for an interview with NBC News. A chemist in the food industry in Havana, she wept as she described the pain of separation from her husband ? and how it has left her unable to bear children. ?Every detail, every single moment reminds me of him,? she said. ?I believe there are many people in the U.S. and the American people as a whole, who could convey to President Obama that there is a woman here suffering.?

Hernandez, too, says missing his wife is the hardest part of his life in prison. And he has few illusions about his prospects of being freed. ?The only thing I know for sure with me is that I have two life sentences and live with that every day,? he said. ?And to keep your sanity and your mind, you have to be realistic. But I would be dishonest to say that I don?t have hope. ?

Michael Isikoff is NBC News' national investigative correspondent; NBC News Producer Mary Murray also contributed to this report.

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    Source: http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/01/15602211-cuba-pushes-swap-its-spies-jailed-in-us-for-american-contractor-held-in-havana?lite

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    X-ray analysis deciphers master regulator important for skin cancer

    ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2012) ? With the X-ray vision of DESY's light source DORIS, a research team from Hamburg and Iceland has uncovered the molecular structure of a master regulator central to the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma. The results, published in the scientific journal Genes & Development, throw new light on the workings of the so-called Microphthalmia-associated Transcription Factor MITF, that is not only connected to skin cancer, but also to a variety of hereditary diseases where the production of the skin pigment melanin is disturbed, and to certain aspects of ageing.

    "Our data could provide a rational basis for the development of tailor-made drugs targeting MITF," explains first author Vivian Pogenberg from the Hamburg branch of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).

    Melanoma is a malignant tumor of the cells that produce the skin pigment melanin, the melanocytes. It is not the most common form of skin cancer but the one with the greatest death toll by far: about 3 out of 4 skin cancer related deaths are caused by melanoma. Important for the development of melanoma are malfunctions of the Microphthalmia-associated Transcription Factor MITF. Transcription factors regulate which part of the DNA is read and transcribed into a blueprint for a protein within the cell. Only few parts of the DNA are active in each cell, and this activity also changes with time. MITF for instance activates the cell's machinery to turn the amino acid tyrosine into the pigment melanin.

    But MITF also makes stem cells turn into melanocytes in the first place and controls cell proliferation and death in these cells. That's why MITF is called a master regulator. In fact, it also has functions in other cell types like mast cells of the immune system and bone eating osteoclasts. Mutations in MITF not only play a role in the development of skin cancer, but also cause severe genetic diseases like the Tietz and Waardenburg syndromes that lead to deafness, skin and hair pigmentation defects, abnormal eye anatomy and altered vision. The transcription factor also plays a role in our hair turning grey with age and other age-related pigmentation alterations.

    The researchers crystallised MITF in the lab and x-rayed them with DORIS. Crystals scatter X-rays in characteristic ways and produce diffraction patterns from which the structure of the crystal -- and here MITF -- can be reconstructed. The analysis revealed unexpected molecular insertions that give MITF a unique kink. MITF forms a dimer with a long coiled-coil protein "zipper," and the kink in this zipper limits MITF's ability to bind to other transcription factors. The team could also identify structural changes caused by a number of MITF mutations known to lead to particular coat colours in mice and to Tietz or Waardenburg syndrome in humans. The different forms of MITF were supplied by the University of Iceland, where the lab of Eir?kur Steingr?msson hosts a comprehensive MITF library. Steingrimsson also provided his expertise in cell biology and genetics to support the structural data produced in Hamburg.

    Thanks to the structural information from DORIS the team could also investigate the binding site of MITF to the DNA at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. The analysis revealed for instance that the eponymous mutation (the one leading to white coats and small eyes -- or microphthalmia -- in mice) causes structural changes in the MITF that prevents it from binding to the DNA. Other mutations also affect the binding site to the DNA, making MITF bind to the wrong genes. "Ultimately the goal will be to fully understand how MITF functions to evaluate how it can be targeted for potential treatment," says Matthias Wilmanns, a group leader at EMBL Hamburg. "One way would be, for instance, to design molecules that specifically stop MITF dimerisation in melanocytes," explains Pogenberg. "Or, on an alternative route, a different custom made molecule could stop the recognition of DNA by MITF."

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    Story Source:

    The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY.

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


    Journal Reference:

    1. Vivian Pogenberg et al. Restricted leucine zipper dimerization and specificity of DNA recognition of the melanocyte master regulator MITF. Genes & Development, 2012 DOI: 10.1101/gad.198192.112

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

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

    Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/7fEo_wBSeR4/121201085919.htm

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    Geoscientists cite 'critical need' for basic research to unleash promising energy resources

    ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2012) ? Developers of renewable energy and shale gas must overcome fundamental geological and environmental challenges if these promising energy sources are to reach their full potential, according to a trio of leading geoscientists.?

    Their findings will be presented on? Dec. 4 at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco."There is a critical need for scientists to address basic questions that have hindered the development of emerging energy resources, including geothermal, wind, solar and natural gas, from underground shale formations," said Mark Zoback, a professor of geophysics at Stanford University. "In this talk we present, from a university perspective, a few examples of fundamental research needs related to improved energy and resource recovery."

    Zoback, an authority on shale gas development and hydraulic fracturing, served on the U.S. Secretary of Energy's Committee on Shale Gas Development. His remarks will be presented in collaboration with Jeff Tester, an expert on geothermal energy from Cornell University, and Murray Hitzman, a leader in the study of "energy critical elements" from the Colorado School of Mines.

    Enhanced geothermal systems

    "One option for transitioning away from our current hydrocarbon-based energy system to non-carbon sources is geothermal energy -- from both conventional hydrothermal resources and enhanced geothermal systems," said Zoback, a senior fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford.

    Unlike conventional geothermal power, which typically depends on heat from geysers and hot springs near the surface, enhanced geothermal technology has been touted as a major source of clean energy for much of the planet.

    The idea is to pump water into a deep well at pressures strong enough to fracture hot granite and other high-temperature rock miles below the surface. These fractures enhance the permeability of the rock, allowing the water to circulate and become hot.

    A second well delivers steam back to the surface. The steam is used to drive a turbine that produces electricity with virtually no greenhouse gas emissions. The steam eventually cools and is re-injected underground and recycled to the surface.

    In 2006, Tester co-authored a major report on the subject, estimating that 2 percent of the enhanced geothermal resource available in the continental United States could deliver roughly 2,600 times more energy than the country consumes annually.

    But enhanced geothermal systems have faced many roadblocks, including small earthquakes that are triggered by hydraulic fracturing. In 2005, an enhanced geothermal project in Basel, Switzerland, was halted when frightened citizens were shaken by a magnitude 3.4 earthquake. That event put a damper on other projects around the world.

    Last year, Stanford graduate student Mark McClure developed a computer model to address the problem of induced seismicity.

    Instead of injecting water all at once and letting the pressure build underground, McClure proposed reducing the injection rate over time so that the fracture would slip more slowly, thus lowering the seismicity. This novel technique, which received the 2011 best paper award from the journal Geophysics, has to be tested in the field.

    Shale gas

    Zoback also will also discuss challenges facing the emerging shale gas industry. "The shale gas revolution that has been under way in North America for the past few years has been of unprecedented scale and importance," he said. "As these resources are beginning to be developed globally, there is a critical need for fundamental research on such questions as how shale properties affect the success of hydraulic fracturing, and new methodologies that minimize the environmental impact of shale gas development."

    Approximately 30,000 shale gas wells have already been drilled in North America, he added, yet fundamental challenges have kept the industry from maximizing its full potential. "The fact is that only 25 percent of the gas is produced, and 75 percent is left behind," he said. "We need to do a better job of producing the gas and at the same time protecting the environment."

    Earlier this year, Zoback and McClure presented new evidence that in shale gas reservoirs with extremely low permeability, pervasive slow slip on pre-existing faults may be critical during hydraulic fracturing if it is to be effective in stimulating production.

    Even more progress is required in extracting petroleum, Zoback added. "The recovery of oil is only around 5 percent, so we need to do more fundamental research on how to get more hydrocarbons out of the ground," he said. "By doing this better we'll actually drill fewer wells and have less environmental impact. That will benefit all of the companies and the entire nation."

    Energy critical elements

    Geology plays a surprising role in the development of renewable energy resources.

    "It is not widely recognized that meeting domestic and worldwide energy needs with renewables, such as wind and solar, will be materials intensive," Zoback said. "However, elements like platinum and lithium will be needed in significant quantities, and a shortage of such 'energy critical elements' could significantly inhibit the adoption of these otherwise game-changing technologies."

    Historically, energy critical elements have been controlled by limited distribution channels, he said. A 2009 study co-authored by Hitzman found that China produced 71 percent of the world's supply of germanium, an element used in many photovoltaic cells. Germanium is typically a byproduct of zinc extraction, and China is the world's leading zinc producer.

    About 30 elements are considered energy critical, including neodymium, a key component of the magnets used in wind turbines and hybrid vehicles. In 2009, China also dominated the neodymium market.

    "How these elements are used and where they're found are important issues, because the entire industrial world needs access to them," Zoback said. "Therefore, if we are to sustainably develop renewable energy technologies, it's imperative to better understand the geology, metallurgy and mining engineering of these critical mineral deposits."

    Unfortunately, he added, there is no consensus among federal and state agencies, the global mining industry, the public or the U.S. academic community regarding the importance of economic geology in securing a sufficient supply of energy critical elements.

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    Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/2At9BnYrPds/121130222247.htm

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