ORLANDO Fla. ? Newt Gingrich says he expects the GOP presidential race to last about six more months ? unless chief rival Mitt Romney drops out.
Polls show Romney is favored to win Tuesday's primary in Florida.
But Gingrich, appearing undeterred by sagging poll numbers, has pledged to stay in the race despite the Florida results. The former House speaker visited a polling station in Orlando Tuesday morning and shook hands with voters.
His campaign also reported Tuesday that it had raised about $5 million in January, more than half of it coming after his win in South Carolina on Jan. 21.
Aides say Gingrich raised about $10 million in the final three months of 2011 ? his largest fundraising haul so far but far behind Romney's $24 million take.
Like many great documentaries, Knuckle was born out of something else. It originally began as a wedding video. Ian Palmer found something so interesting about his guests, he ventured further and discovered the world of Irish travelling bare knuckle boxing. Most specifically he follows the feud between two clans of the same family, The McDonaghs and the Joyces. So after that wedding video, Palmer ended up documenting this feud and these fights for 12 years. This extraordinary amount of time puts the whole thing into perspective about the needlessness and absurdity of violence. Many say the feud goes back 50 years, and yet nobody gives a straight answer as to its origins. People hold grudges and plan rematches 9 years down the line. It becomes obvious that fighting has become an addiction and a way of life for these poor men. They have nothing else to do. When we see the acclaim they receive from their families, it's easy to see why they have been so taken in by aggression. In the first fight James McDonagh says it will be his last, but it's far from it. He seems genuine about his wanting to quit, but he always ends up in another fight. Even the director talks about how he continued filming just for the thrill, and had lost sight of his documentary. Every fight is brutal in that realistic sense, and Palmer clearly paints a vivid picture of this strange world. Aggressive men, but loving husbands and fathers. Fights that are fought for lack of reason, but are controlled and fair with a sense of honour. Knuckle is the kind of film that lures you in with basic blood lust, but gives you a whole lot more.
RIO RICO, Ariz?? Picking her way into the desert brush, Raquel Martinez gathered scores of plastic water bottles tossed in an Arizona desert valley near the Mexico border, often by migrants making a risky trek into the United States across increasingly remote terrain.
"We need more bags ... there's so much trash," said Martinez, one of scores of volunteers helping clean up the dry bed of the Santa Cruz River about 10 miles north of the Mexico border on Saturday.
Trash tossed by thousands of illegal immigrants as they chase the American Dream has been a persistent problem for years in the rugged Arizona borderlands that lie on a main migration and smuggling route from Mexico.
The problem was compounded as immigrants and drug traffickers responded to ramped up vigilance on the U.S.-Mexico border by taking increasingly remote routes, leaving more waste behind in out-of-the way and hard-to-clean areas, authorities say.
"Migants used to follow the washes or follow the roads or utility poles," said Robin Hoover, founder of the Tucson-based non-profit Humane Borders.
"Now they're having to move farther and farther from the middle of the valleys," he added. "They end up making more camp sites and cutting more trails when they do that, and, unfortunately ... leave more trash."
Those making the punishing march carry food, water and often a change of clothes on the trek through remote desert areas that can take several days.
Most is tossed before they pile into vehicles at pickup sites like the one getting attention on the outskirts of Rio Rico, from where they head on to the U.S. interior.
"One of the problems that we are facing is that these sites are becoming more and more remote as law enforcement steps up its efforts," Henry Darwin, director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, said of the flourishing borderland garbage dumps.
"There's probably sites out there that we haven't encountered yet or don't know about because there's a lot of people out in those areas," added Darwin, who gave testimony on the issue to state lawmakers earlier this month.
There are no numbers to show exactly how many would-be migrants or smugglers take the illegal and surreptitious trek across the border into Arizona from Mexico each year.
Only on msnbc.com
Updated 59 minutes ago
1/30/2012 12:42:25 PM +00:00
Romney: Gingrich attacks ?painful to watch?
Updated 114 minutes ago
1/30/2012 11:47:51 AM +00:00
These Super Bowl ads didn't need toilet humor
Fast food goes around-the-clock
After teen hockey injuries, safety push gains support
NBC News poll: Romney leads Gingrich in Fla.
US coupon craze turns to medical care
Meet 'Rosie' and 'Ken': 2 chimps, many experiments
But in an indication of the scale of the migration, federal border police made nearly 130,000 arrests last year in Arizona, where hundreds of Border Patrol agents, miles of fencing and several unmanned surveillance drones have been added in recent years to tighten security along the porous border.
With limited funding for clean up, Arizona environmental authorities draw on volunteers to help in drives like the one near Rio Rico, where an estimated 140 volunteers including residents, community and youth groups took part on Saturday.
Clean up efforts since 2008 by the department of environmental quality have included pulling 42 tons of trash from 160 acres of Cocopah tribal lands in far western Arizona, and clean ups at least seven sites on ranches and public land in areas south of Tucson.
Signs of illegal immigrants and even drug traffickers making the circuitous foot journey abound in the mesquite-studded riverbed near Rio Rico, a vigorous day's walk north of the border.
"I've found about a trillion water bottles," said David Burkett, a lawyer from Scottsdale, who worked up a sweat as he filled his fourth 50-pound trash bag. Nearby are tossed backpacks, food containers, a blanket and a pair of shoes.
He points out that alongside the apparent migrant trash is a large amount of other waste including a couch, kitchen countertops and yard debris, likely tossed by residents and contractors. Still, it is a shock to those living locally.
"We don't realize how bad it is until we come down and see it," said Candy Lamar, a volunteer who lives in sprawling, low density Rio Rico, as she works to pick up trash.
The area getting attention on Saturday lies a few miles from a remote spot where the bodies of three suspected drug traffickers were found shot to death "execution style" last November.
The area is not far from another out-of-the-way spot where Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was shot dead by suspected border bandits in December 2010. Volunteers working on Saturday were aware of the potential hazards.
As she stuffed a blue garbage sack with trash, retiree Sharon Christensen eyed discarded burlap sacking, blankets and cord -- the remains of a makeshift backpack of the type often used by drug traffickers walking marijuana loads up from Mexico.
"It would make me hesitant to come out here on my own, knowing that this kind of activity is going on ... It is a concern, and we need to be mindful," said Christensen, a retiree and hiking enthusiast.
Clean-up organizers liaise with Border Patrol and local police on security, in addition to warning volunteers of potential danger from snakes, scorpions or even bees that can swarm in discarded vehicle tires, and of potential hazards including medical waste and human excrement.
Equipped with gloves, volunteers such as Burkett, the Scottsdale lawyer, were glad to take part on Saturday.
"As an avid outdoors person in Arizona, I spend a lot of time using the desert," he said. "It's important to me personally to take the time to give back."
Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Occupy DC demonstrators protest as they try to block the guest entrance to the Alfalfa Dinner at the Capitol Hilton in Washington on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. An Occupy DC organizer says they have hundreds of protesters lined up outside a prestigious Washington hotel where President Barack Obama, other political leaders and business moguls are meeting tonight. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Occupy DC demonstrators protest as they try to block the guest entrance to the Alfalfa Dinner at the Capitol Hilton in Washington on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. An Occupy DC organizer says they have hundreds of protesters lined up outside a prestigious Washington hotel where President Barack Obama, other political leaders and business moguls are meeting tonight. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama told some jokes and poked a little fun at himself as he addressed the Alfalfa Club dinner, an exclusive annual black-tie get-together of some of the capital's movers and shakers.
The club's sole mission is to put on a steak-and-lobster feast while giving high-powered politicians and business leaders another opportunity to rub elbows and share some laughs. Saturday night's dinner was, as in years past, off limits to reporters.
"It is great to be here tonight, because I have about 45 more minutes on the State of the Union that I'd like to deliver tonight," the president told the gathering, according to excerpts released by the White House.
Among those attending were current and former senators, including John Kerry of Massachusetts and Pat Leahy of Vermont. Former President George H.W. Bush and his son Jeb, a former governor of Florida, were also on the guest list.
"You've heard it from the pundits: 'Obama is cloistered in the White House.' 'He's aloof.' 'He's in the bubble.' 'He's not connecting,'" the president said. "And that's why one of my big goals this year was to get out and be among everyday, ordinary Americans -- like the men and women of the Alfalfa Club."
His appearance at the dinner came at the end of a high profile week for the president, beginning with his address to a joint session of Congress and ending with a three-day tour of five states that included an exchange of words with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.
According to club history, the club is named after the alfalfa because the plant extends its roots far for a drink.
Obama was joined at the dinner, at a hotel near the White House, by his wife, Michelle.
It was the second club dinner the president addressed in four years. He last spoke at the dinner in 2009 but skipped the soiree last year and in 2010.
(Reuters) ? Ford Motor Co reported a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Friday as commodity costs shot up and results from operations outside North America fell short of expectations.
The No. 2 U.S. automaker's losses in Europe nearly quadrupled during the quarter as the economy suffered amid the ongoing debt crisis. Flooding in Thailand led to a loss in Asia, and increased competition blunted profits in South America.
"We saw the external environment deteriorate, and that really affected most regions other than North America," Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth told reporters, "and then we saw slightly greater than we expected impact of commodities, currency and also the Thai floods."
Shares of Ford, which derives the bulk of its revenue from North America, fell more than 5 percent in premarket trading.
Excluding one-time items, Ford's operating profit fell to $1.1 billion, or 20 cents per share, from nearly $1.3 billion, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier.
On that basis, analysts on average were expecting 25 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
"It's been a tough go for Ford," said portfolio manager Gary Bradshaw of Hodges Capital Management of Dallas, which owns Ford shares. "It seems like the company continues to execute, but there are plenty of headwinds."
Besides higher commodity costs, Ford also said it missed expectations because of unfavorable exchange rates.
Profit margins in Ford's automotive business fell to 5.4 percent in 2011 from 6.1 percent in 2010. Commodity costs for the year came to $2.3 billion, up slightly from the company's $2.2 billion forecast.
NOT IMMUNE TO EUROPE
Ford's losses in Europe widened to $190 million in the fourth quarter from $51 million a year earlier. In South America, the company's pretax operating profit fell to $108 million from $281 million.
Ford posted a quarterly loss of $83 million in Asia, compared with a year-earlier profit of $23 million. The company flagged the loss in Asia earlier this month.
Booth said he expected Ford to be "modestly profitable" in Asia in 2012, but he did not provide a forecast for Europe, where he said rivals have piled on incentives to sell vehicles. Ford expects European growth will be tempered by the debt crisis and austerity measures in 2012.
Compared with Detroit rival General Motors, Ford is less exposed to Europe, Jefferies analyst Peter Nesvold said.
"Ford won't be immune to a downturn in Europe, but I think the product lineup is a little bit fresher and a little bit better, and it's a smaller piece of the overall pie," said Nesvold, who has a "buy" rating on Ford. "Europe is less of an anchor for Ford's shares than it is potentially for GM's shares."
For the fourth quarter, Ford reported net income of $13.6 billion, or $3.40 per share, buoyed by a one-time tax-related gain of $12.4 billion. Net income was $190 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier.
The higher net income was the result of an accounting change that Ford said reflects confidence in its long-term profit outlook. The one-time gain resulted in full-year net income of $20.2 billion, the highest since 1998.
(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman, Ben Klayman and Bernie Woodall; Editing by Derek Caney and Lisa Von Ahn)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? A Egyptian military team plans to visit the United States next week as Cairo's crackdown on pro-democracy organizations has called into question the future of U.S. aid to Egypt, American officials said on Friday.
The Egyptian delegation hopes to meet with officials at the State Department and the Pentagon. It will also hold talks on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers will soon consider a new request for aid to Egypt's military, which now runs about $1.3 billion per year, one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Egyptian visit comes after Egypt's military-led authorities pounced on non-governmental organizations, including several funded by the U.S. government, and slapped travel bans on six American staffers including a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former congressman.
Political analysts say the crackdown, along with questions over Egypt's emergency law and security forces' treatment of women protesters, has clouded the outlook for Egypt's fledgling democracy following last year's overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said American officials were pressing Egyptian authorities the crackdown, which she described as "bizarre." The Americans have demanded that Egypt lift travel restrictions placed on a number of foreign NGO staffers.
"We do not have progress since yesterday, I am sorry to report," Nuland said.
The six U.S. citizens work with the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute. Both receive U.S. public funding and are loosely affiliated with the two major political parties in Washington.
"The assertions of the Egyptian government in these cases are that they are subject to a judicial process which is not complete," Nuland said. "Our message back is, 'Complete these formalities and let our people travel as soon as possible.'"
HIGH TENSION
Officials said a detailed Washington schedule for the Egyptian visit was still being worked out, adding that it was a regular staff delegation that was coming at a moment of high tension in the U.S.-Egypt relationship.
Other political sources said the Egyptians were expected to discuss the NGO issue on Capitol Hill, where a number of senators have warned the Egyptians that U.S. aid was at stake if action against the NGOs continues.
"Continued restriction of their activities and harassment of international and Egyptian staff will be looked at with great concern, particularly in light of Egypt's considerable U.S. assistance," 11 senators said in a letter to Egyptian Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi dated January 18.
President Barack Obama spoke with Tantawi on January 20 and stressed the importance of the NGOs, as well as Egypt's deteriorating economic situation and its request for $3.2 billion in support from the International Monetary Fund.
The Obama administration is finalizing its budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which will be presented on February 13 and is expected to include continued assistance for Egypt's military.
Lawmakers imposed conditions on the U.S. assistance given in 2012, requiring Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to certify that the Egyptian government is supporting the transition to a civilian government. That includes holding free and fair elections and implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law.
Clinton can waive this if it is in U.S. national security interests, but must notify Congress that she has done so.
"Those are decisions that are going to have to be made later on in the winter and spring," Nuland said. "These are points that we're obviously making clear to the Egyptians."
Alarm clocks—or alarm phones, if you wish—are a necessity, but that doesn't make me hate them less. During the week, I live and die by a buzzer, but on the weekend, I don't have to listen to no clock. More »
Contact: Lynn Yarris lcyarris@lbl.gov 510-486-5375 DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
In a study that holds major implications for breast cancer research as well as basic cell biology, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a rotational motion that plays a critical role in the ability of breast cells to form the spherical structures in the mammary gland known as acini. This rotation, which the researchers call "CAMo," for coherent angular motion, is necessary for the cells to form spheres. Without CAMo, the cells do not form spheres, which can lead to random motion, loss of structure and malignancy.
"What is most exciting to me about this stunning discovery is that it may finally give us a handle by which to discover the physical laws of cellular motion as they apply to biology," says Mina Bissell, a leading authority on breast cancer and Distinguished Scientist with Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division.
Bissell is a corresponding author of a paper describing this work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), along with Kandice Tanner, a post-doctoral physicist in Bissell's research group. The PNAS paper is titled "Coherent angular motion in the establishment of multicellular architecture of glandular tissues." Other authors were Hidetoshi Mori, Rana Mroue and Alexandre Bruni-Cardoso, also members of Bissell's research group.
Healthy human epithelial cells in breast and other glandular tissue form either sphere-shaped acini or tube-shaped ducts. The cell and tissue polarity (function-enabling spatial orientations of cellular and tissue structures) that comes with the formation of acini is essential for the health and well-being of the breast. Loss of this polarity as a result of cells not forming spheres is one of the earliest signs of malignancy. However, despite all that is known about cell morphogenesis, the fundamental question as to how epithelial cells are able to assemble into spheres that are similar in size and shape to organs in vivo has until now been a mystery.
"We've discovered a novel type of cell motility where single cells undergo multiple rotations and cohesively maintain that rotational motion as they divide and assemble into acini," says Tanner. "We've also demonstrated that this CAMo is a critical function for the establishment of spherical architecture and not simply a consequence of multicellular aggregates. If CAMo is disrupted, the final geometry is not a sphere."
Working with both immortalized and primary human epithelial cells, cultured in a unique 3D gel that serves as a surrogate for the basement membrane (an assay developed by Bissell and colleagues two decades ago), and using 4D live-imaging (3D plus time) confocal microscopy, Tanner, Bissell and their colleagues found that CAMo arises from a centripetal force generated by the flexing of crescent-shaped muscle-like molecules called actomyosin in the cell's cytoskeleton. This centripetal force sets the cell to rotating about an axis. The rotation is slow, barely once an hour, it may run clockwise or counterclockwise, and its axis might shift, but this rotational motion is cohesive. It continues as the cell divides and the subsequent progeny form into acini, bestowing on cells and acini the polarity and the cavity needed for proper form and function.
"Without CAMo, the cells lose their way and do not form structures that allow mammary cells to make and secrete milk," says Tanner. "In order to form a polarized sphere, the cells have to be properly oriented so that certain components are up and certain components are down. The CAMo rotation provides the cells with this orientation."
Bissell is renowned for her pioneering work that elucidated the critical role in breast cancer development played by the extracellular matrix (ECM), a network of fibrous and globular proteins in the microenvironment that surrounds a breast cell. Her experiments have shown that when the nucleus of a breast cell fails to receive the proper biochemical cues and signals from the ECM and other components of the microenvironment,
cells and tissue lose structure, which opens the door to malignancy. The discovery of CAMo now provides an important missing mechanism that facilitates the reception and response of a breast cell to the cues and signals from the ECM.
"In addition to wanting to know how a single cell and its progeny assemble into polar tissue, we also wanted to know whether cellular dynamics are corrupted by malignant transformation," Bissell says. "In this study, we found that malignant cells do not display CAMo but instead become randomly motile and do not form spheres."
In recent research, Bissell and her group demonstrated that through manipulation of the ECM, malignant cells cultured in an ECM enriched with laminin a protein that they had shown induces cell quiescence - can undergo a reversion in which their normal phenotype is restored despite their malignant genome. In this new study, Tanner, Bissell and their colleagues found that when malignant cells cultured in the 3D ECM surrogate gel underwent phenotypic reversion in response to signaling inhibitors, CAMo was restored. When CAMo was restored, the reverted cancer cells formed polarized spheres.
"These results complement our early hypothesis that signaling and support by the ECM when cells are in proper context informs both form and function in cells," Bissell says. "The results also suggest that in response to microenvironmental cues from the ECM, cells execute a program of cytoskeletal movements that dictate different kinds of motilities. We hypothesize that these motilities direct the formation of a given type of tissue and preclude other multicellular geometries. We believe this is a crucial evolutionary phenomena for multicellular organisms."
In this new study, Tanner and Bissell and their colleagues were surprised to observe a significant delay between the second and third round of breast cell divisions in the 3D ECM surrogate gel. This mitotic delay is similar to the mitotic delay that's been observed during human blastocyst formation and is critical for normal embryogenesis. Tanner says the delay is probably necessary for the progeny to acquire sufficient adhesion so that the CAMo can be maintained for the adhere cells. This finding may provide a possible explanation for how the mammary gland reorganizes after each pregnancy and involution.
"Once the cells are sufficiently adhered to one another, they can continue CAMo as a cohesive unit," Tanner says. "We postulate that this cohesive CAMo motility is the mechanism by which the original structure of the breast tissue is restored following lactation and breast feeding."
The next step for the research team will be to study the effects of CAMo from the perspective of the ECM.
"We would like to look at the interaction of the ECM with a single cell as it undergoes CAMo and show the in vivo relevance," Tanner says.
###
This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Program, the National Cancer Institute and the DOE Office of Science.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit www.lbl.gov.
[ | 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.
Contact: Lynn Yarris lcyarris@lbl.gov 510-486-5375 DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
In a study that holds major implications for breast cancer research as well as basic cell biology, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a rotational motion that plays a critical role in the ability of breast cells to form the spherical structures in the mammary gland known as acini. This rotation, which the researchers call "CAMo," for coherent angular motion, is necessary for the cells to form spheres. Without CAMo, the cells do not form spheres, which can lead to random motion, loss of structure and malignancy.
"What is most exciting to me about this stunning discovery is that it may finally give us a handle by which to discover the physical laws of cellular motion as they apply to biology," says Mina Bissell, a leading authority on breast cancer and Distinguished Scientist with Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division.
Bissell is a corresponding author of a paper describing this work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), along with Kandice Tanner, a post-doctoral physicist in Bissell's research group. The PNAS paper is titled "Coherent angular motion in the establishment of multicellular architecture of glandular tissues." Other authors were Hidetoshi Mori, Rana Mroue and Alexandre Bruni-Cardoso, also members of Bissell's research group.
Healthy human epithelial cells in breast and other glandular tissue form either sphere-shaped acini or tube-shaped ducts. The cell and tissue polarity (function-enabling spatial orientations of cellular and tissue structures) that comes with the formation of acini is essential for the health and well-being of the breast. Loss of this polarity as a result of cells not forming spheres is one of the earliest signs of malignancy. However, despite all that is known about cell morphogenesis, the fundamental question as to how epithelial cells are able to assemble into spheres that are similar in size and shape to organs in vivo has until now been a mystery.
"We've discovered a novel type of cell motility where single cells undergo multiple rotations and cohesively maintain that rotational motion as they divide and assemble into acini," says Tanner. "We've also demonstrated that this CAMo is a critical function for the establishment of spherical architecture and not simply a consequence of multicellular aggregates. If CAMo is disrupted, the final geometry is not a sphere."
Working with both immortalized and primary human epithelial cells, cultured in a unique 3D gel that serves as a surrogate for the basement membrane (an assay developed by Bissell and colleagues two decades ago), and using 4D live-imaging (3D plus time) confocal microscopy, Tanner, Bissell and their colleagues found that CAMo arises from a centripetal force generated by the flexing of crescent-shaped muscle-like molecules called actomyosin in the cell's cytoskeleton. This centripetal force sets the cell to rotating about an axis. The rotation is slow, barely once an hour, it may run clockwise or counterclockwise, and its axis might shift, but this rotational motion is cohesive. It continues as the cell divides and the subsequent progeny form into acini, bestowing on cells and acini the polarity and the cavity needed for proper form and function.
"Without CAMo, the cells lose their way and do not form structures that allow mammary cells to make and secrete milk," says Tanner. "In order to form a polarized sphere, the cells have to be properly oriented so that certain components are up and certain components are down. The CAMo rotation provides the cells with this orientation."
Bissell is renowned for her pioneering work that elucidated the critical role in breast cancer development played by the extracellular matrix (ECM), a network of fibrous and globular proteins in the microenvironment that surrounds a breast cell. Her experiments have shown that when the nucleus of a breast cell fails to receive the proper biochemical cues and signals from the ECM and other components of the microenvironment,
cells and tissue lose structure, which opens the door to malignancy. The discovery of CAMo now provides an important missing mechanism that facilitates the reception and response of a breast cell to the cues and signals from the ECM.
"In addition to wanting to know how a single cell and its progeny assemble into polar tissue, we also wanted to know whether cellular dynamics are corrupted by malignant transformation," Bissell says. "In this study, we found that malignant cells do not display CAMo but instead become randomly motile and do not form spheres."
In recent research, Bissell and her group demonstrated that through manipulation of the ECM, malignant cells cultured in an ECM enriched with laminin a protein that they had shown induces cell quiescence - can undergo a reversion in which their normal phenotype is restored despite their malignant genome. In this new study, Tanner, Bissell and their colleagues found that when malignant cells cultured in the 3D ECM surrogate gel underwent phenotypic reversion in response to signaling inhibitors, CAMo was restored. When CAMo was restored, the reverted cancer cells formed polarized spheres.
"These results complement our early hypothesis that signaling and support by the ECM when cells are in proper context informs both form and function in cells," Bissell says. "The results also suggest that in response to microenvironmental cues from the ECM, cells execute a program of cytoskeletal movements that dictate different kinds of motilities. We hypothesize that these motilities direct the formation of a given type of tissue and preclude other multicellular geometries. We believe this is a crucial evolutionary phenomena for multicellular organisms."
In this new study, Tanner and Bissell and their colleagues were surprised to observe a significant delay between the second and third round of breast cell divisions in the 3D ECM surrogate gel. This mitotic delay is similar to the mitotic delay that's been observed during human blastocyst formation and is critical for normal embryogenesis. Tanner says the delay is probably necessary for the progeny to acquire sufficient adhesion so that the CAMo can be maintained for the adhere cells. This finding may provide a possible explanation for how the mammary gland reorganizes after each pregnancy and involution.
"Once the cells are sufficiently adhered to one another, they can continue CAMo as a cohesive unit," Tanner says. "We postulate that this cohesive CAMo motility is the mechanism by which the original structure of the breast tissue is restored following lactation and breast feeding."
The next step for the research team will be to study the effects of CAMo from the perspective of the ECM.
"We would like to look at the interaction of the ECM with a single cell as it undergoes CAMo and show the in vivo relevance," Tanner says.
###
This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Program, the National Cancer Institute and the DOE Office of Science.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit www.lbl.gov.
[ | 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.
Weather Underground Forecast for Thursday, January 26, 2012.
Active weather will spread across much of the East on Thursday as the storm system from eastern Texas lifts northeastward across the Eastern Valleys to the Northern Appalachians. Ample moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will accompany this system and will aid in producing moderate to heavy rainfall and thunderstorms on the northern and eastern edge of this system, from the Central Gulf Coast through the Ohio River Valley and Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast later in the day. Energy from an associated warm front lifting through the Mid-Atlantic will enhance precipitation in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and the Appalachians, while energy from a trailing cold front enhances storms in the Gulf Coast States. There is a slight chance for severe weather development across the central to northeastern Gulf Coast. Damaging wind and isolated tornadoes will be the main concerns with severe storms in these areas. Meanwhile, more light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms will be possible on the back of this system in eastern Texas.
To the north, a few flurries may be possible in the northern Upper Great Lakes as a low pressure system moves eastward through southern Canada. A cold front associated with this low pressure will extend through the nation 1/4's mid-section during the day before dissipating by the evening.
In the West, another wet system will move through the Northwest, bringing rain and high elevation snowfall to areas from the Pacific Northwest and areas of northern California through the Northern Intermountain West and the northern tier of the Central Great Basin. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Wednesday have ranged from a morning low of -4 degrees at Big Piney, Wyo. to a high of 96 degrees at Bonifay, Fla.
DORAL, Fla. ? Republican Newt Gingrich says Mitt Romney's call for self-deportation of illegal immigrants is an "Obama-level" fantasy that is inhumane to long-established families living in America.
The former House speaker ridiculed that part of Romney's immigration policy during a forum Wednesday with the Spanish-language network Univision. Gingrich laughed at the idea and said it wouldn't work.
Romney said during a recent debate that he favors what he calls "self-deportation" over policies that require the federal government to round up illegal immigrants and send them back to their home countries.
Gingrich says Romney's proposal reflects a candidate who lives, in his words, "in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts." That was a jab at Romney's wealth.
Romney was taping his own segment with Univision later Wednesday.
NEW YORK ? A public viewing will be held Friday for singer Etta James, and the Rev. Al Sharpton will eulogize the late legend at a private funeral Saturday.
A statement from Sharpton's representative Tuesday said the funeral will include performances by celebrities, but those names were not announced.
James died last Friday at age 73 after battling leukemia and other ailments, including dementia. She was most famous for her classic "At Last," but over her decades-long career, she became revered for her passionate singing voice.
The public viewing will be held in Inglewood and the funeral will be held in Gardena, both in the Los Angeles area.
The family is asking that any donations be sent to the Philadelphia-based Rhythm & Blues Foundation.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Negotiations to renew a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and jobless benefits for millions more kicked off on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, with both sides optimistic of an agreement despite last year's bitter battles over President Barack Obama's jobs proposals.
The House-Senate talks will focus chiefly on finding ways to finance the $10 billion a month cost of a 2 percentage point cut in Social Security payroll taxes that awards a worker making a typical $50,000 salary a tax cut of about $20 a week. Lawmakers also need to pay for the $45 billion or so cost of renewing jobless benefits for people out of work for more than half a year and the $20 billion a year cost of making sure doctors aren't hit with massive cuts to their Medicare payments.
Negotiators face a Feb. 29 deadline under a temporary measure enacted amid great acrimony just before Christmas.
The daunting challenge facing the negotiators is a cost of roughly $160 billion to extend the tax cut, jobless benefits and Medicare payments through the end of the year.
"We should be able to get it done," said top Senate GOP negotiator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who says last year's failed effort by a congressional deficit panel produced lots of proposals that can be used "offset" the cost of the payroll tax measure. "The Joint Select Committee identified a lot of good offsets and so the opportunity for us to get it done is there."
"It's our job to work together here to make sure this tax cut doesn't expire," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the lead Senate negotiator. "We need to show we can rise above politics for the good of the country."
But given the remarkable dysfunction and acrimony surrounding virtually anything Congress does, there's no reason to assume the talks will go smoothly.
"It's not going to be easy finding these offsets," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a veteran of the deficit supercommittee.
Senate defenders of federal workers ? whose pension benefits and pay increases have been targeted by House Republicans for more than $60 billion in savings over the coming decade ? are signaling they won't go along.
"I don't think it's the forum to take up these on federal workers," said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., whose state is home to many federal workers.
As the same time, Hispanic groups, a key Democratic-leaning voting bloc are battling against a House proposal to raise $9 billion by blocking illegal immigrants from claiming the refundable child tax credit. Key Democrats like Baucus have signaled they could accept the idea, however.
Another question is whether to shorten the eligibility period for extended unemployment benefits down from the current 99 weeks or allow states to test unemployment benefit applicants for drugs, as House Republicans would like. The House measure would shorten the jobless benefits eligibility period to 79 weeks, though the improving job market in most states means that the actual duration of benefits would be 13 or 20 weeks less than that under current law.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the negotiators should also take on dozens of tax breaks for businesses and individuals that expired last year, including a tax credit for business research and development, a deduction for state and local sales taxes and several breaks important to the energy industry. This $30 billion-plus package is a top priority of the capital's powerful lobbying community.
The Federal Reserve plans to introduce changes to its communications policies to the public on Wednesday, making it easier for the central bank to move ahead with another round of asset purchases later this year by helping to explain the need for additional stimulus.
Hot Feature: The Mystery of Wall Street Pay
However, officials have said that it has no plans for further easing so long as the economy continues to recover. The Fed has lately been able to focus on communication in large part because it no longer must devote all of its energy to crisis management. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has waited five years to make these improvements.
Central to the new policies is the plan to publish the predictions of senior Fed officials about the level at which they intend to set short-term interest rates over the next three years, including when they expect to end their commitment to keep rates near zero.? The Fed also will describe the expectations for the management of the central bank?s investment portfolio.
After a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, which will begin Tuesday, the Fed will publish the first forecast, and may also publish a statement describing the its goals for the pace of inflation and level of unemployment, neither of which has ever been formalized.
By being more transparent, the Fed hopes to garner more public support for its policies. But several Fed officials have said they are hesitant to support new efforts to improve growth because they think monetary policy has exhausted most of its power since the last recession began. They have also expressed concern about inflation.
?Steady even if unspectacular growth accompanied by inflation in the neighborhood of 2 percent justifies some reluctance to change, in either direction, the F.O.M.C.?s accommodative policy,? said Dennis P. Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
However, the persistence of high unemployment requires that the Fed keep thinking about doing more, added Lockhart, though Fed officials have made clear that high unemployment in itself is insufficient cause for additional action, at least as long as inflation remains near 2 percent.
Don?t Miss: France, Germany Will Implement Basel III
To contact the reporter on this story: Emily Knapp at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com
Get Your FREE Special Report: 4 Things You Must Know About the US Economy Now!
You Can't Afford to Miss These New Articles:
Do You Want More Profits? Wall St. Cheat Sheet Premium newsletter subscribers have been crushing the markets with winning stock picks.
Click here now for your FREE trial to our acclaimed flagship newsletter:
Alanis Morissette iss one of the pre-eminent singer-songwriters of her generation. In 1995, she took the world by storm, selling more than 33 million copies of her debut album "Jagged Little Pill." On "The Mortified Sessions" (Mon., 8 p.m. EST on Sundance), she revealed that her love of writing began at an early age, reading a poem she wrote as a child.
While her ability to turn a phrase certainly improved over the years, there's something fun about going back to such an early work and seeing how a creative mind developed. Certainly Morissette herself was beside herself with laughter as she read lines like "It feels like you just came out of a pit" and "You might say bad words and get in heck."
Morissette confirmed toward the end of 2011 that she was finishing up work on her eighth studio album, currently untitled. She's made appearances on recent season finales of both "American Idol" and "The X Factor," and will be a guest mentor on "The Voice," maintaining a higher public profile in anticipation of the album's release. It remains to be seen if she can match her earlier sales heights. She even has a planned guest role on "Up All Night."
"The Mortified Sessions" continues Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on Sundance.
TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.
Related on HuffPost:
MONDAY, JANUARY 23: "Gossip Girl"
1? of ?19
"Gossip Girl" (8 p.m. EST, The CW) "Clueless" writer/director Amy Heckerling makes her first foray into TV directing since 2005 for Blair's bachelorette party, as others scheme behind Queen B's back to make it a night to remember. After discovering the truth behind Chuck and Blair's car accident, Nate joins forces with a surprising ally to gather the evidence, while Serena and Dan pretend to be dating again to protect Blair's secret. "Gossip Girl" (8 p.m. EST, The CW) "Clueless" writer/director Amy Heckerling makes her first foray into TV directing since 2005 for Blair's bachelorette party, as others scheme behind Queen B's back to make it a night to remember. After discovering the truth behind Chuck and Blair's car accident, Nate joins forces with a surprising ally to gather the evidence, while Serena and Dan pretend to be dating again to protect Blair's secret.
MONDAY, JANUARY 23: "Gossip Girl"
"Gossip Girl" (8 p.m. EST, The CW) "Clueless" writer/director Amy Heckerling makes her first foray into TV directing since 2005 for Blair's bachelorette party, as others scheme behind Queen B's back to make it a night to remember. After discovering the truth behind Chuck and Blair's car accident, Nate joins forces with a surprising ally to gather the evidence, while Serena and Dan pretend to be dating again to protect Blair's secret. "; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });
A man accused of punishing his 12-year-old daughter by binding her hands and feet with duct tape and sticking her in a dog cage, then threatening to electrify the crate,?was just engaging in "some horseplay"?that "got out of control," his lawyer?says.
Here's what happened, according to a?report from NBC station WLWT of Cincinnati:
The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Office said James Tapke restrained his 12-year-old daughter's hands and feet using?duct tape before placing her in a dog cage on Jan. 10. Then, while his daughter was in the cage, investigators said, Tapke dropped small amounts of water on her face.
According to court papers, the victim was in the cage for about 20 minutes before her 13-year-old brother let her out. When she got out, authorities said, the victim poured water on her father's head and in his ear.
Tapke then bound his daughter again with duct tape and put her back in the dog cage, investigators said, and while she was in the cage, Tapke told his son to go to the garage and retrieve an electrical jump pack so that he could electrify the cage. The girl's brother brought the jump pack and placed it in front of the cage, so his sister could see it.
Tapke never attempted to electrify the cage, but investigators said he told his daughter several times he would.
Tapke then let her out of the cage, and her grandmother helped her with taking off the duct tape, authorities said. During the entire incident, authorities said the girl's brother and her father took pictures of her in the cage.
Her brother posted the pictures on Facebook, investigators said, but the pictures were deleted.
In court on Thursday, Tapke's attorney, Christopher Jackson, said that the entire incident was a joke.
"We believe the evidence will eventually show that this was simply some horseplay that ended up, you know, taking pictures." Jackson said. "It just doesn't look that funny when you see it in pictures ... Maybe not the best joke in the world, but I believe that's what is going to come out later at trial."
"Judge, if this is a joke, it's about the most unfunny joke I've ever heard," said assistant prosecutor Matt Broo.?
Tapke, 41, was charged with child endangering. Bond?was set at $50,000.
The Lying Game was ABC Family?s breakout hit of last summer. Now the show is back with all new episodes and the lovely Allie Gonino, who plays Laurel Mercer, is getting the chance to mix her real life with her reel life. I was fortunate enough to be asked to participate in a Q&A interview with Allie the other day and let me just say she is a fabulous young lady. Seriously there is so much more to this girl then I ever knew and I have such a respect for her. Plus she is unbelievably talented, so you might want to learn as much as you can about her because she is going to be a Hollywood A-lister before you know it. Obviously most of what was talked about had to do with The Lying Game and Allie?s character Laurel. For example the one thing the actress enjoys the most about playing her alter ego is that with every episode and as her storyline develops, Laurel learning new things about life. Allie too is learning new things about life and also about herself. Gonino shared she thinks that playing Laurel is giving her the chance to grow which is [...]
Andre Geim receives the Nobel Prize from Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf (Image: Sipa Press/Rex Features)
Andre Geim shared the Nobel prize in physics in 2010 for his co-discovery of graphene. He is director of the Manchester Centre for Mesoscience & Nanotechnology at the University of Manchester
What makes a good day for you?
There are two things. The first is a good result, one which you sort of expected but that never previously came through. A really great result is always unexpected, and you never believe it. But there is this second-tier result, where you have a marginal expectation and something happens and you feel lucky. The second is when you get a journal paper accepted. It's always a fight. Even our Nobel-acknowledged paper needed significant changes before it was accepted.
Winning a Nobel prize has been known to interrupt the winner's work. How has it affected yours?
Actually, before the Nobel prize I accumulated such inertia that I managed to go through the "prize barrier" relatively unscathed. Our work continues because it is a very hot area. It's very unusual for a Nobel to be given for something which continues to be incredibly hot. One of my colleagues said that when he heard the announcement, he thought to himself: "Oh good, now they'll leave this area for me." Then he saw another of our papers published, and thought: "damn, they're still working on it!"
Besides the Nobel, what else has shaped your career?
I believe a turning point was my first visit to the University of Nottingham in 1990. I was 32. Before that I was tinkering on the fringes of scientific discovery in Russia and felt like I was destined to stay there, whatever I tried. During this first experience at a western lab, with such resources suddenly at my disposal, I realised that I could be in the very thick of research action and that, despite my limited publication record, I was well trained to contribute. There was no going back.
You have worked in many countries. How does the UK compare?
I spent four years in the UK from 1990, before returning in 2000. I like it because it's a very natural environment. I found the US, the Netherlands and practically everywhere else I have worked a bit artificial and occasionally even hypocritical. There's an expectation that you have to smile and behave in a certain manner. Despite the differences between Russia, where I was born, and the UK, there is some common sense of humour. British humour - natural and self-deprecating - is very appealing to me.
You won an Ig Nobel award in 2000 for demonstrating an unusual magnetic effect using a levitating frog. Did you know it would generate such a buzz?
It was always the intention. We wanted to get the message across that everything around us is magnetic and needed to find an image with general appeal. We considered putting spiders, lizards, cockroaches and hamsters into the field. A hamster would have done nicely, but the hole into the apparatus was too small, so we ended up with a tiny frog we found in the biology department.
WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama says his State of the Union address will be a blueprint for an economy that's "built to last" for the middle class.
He says he'll frame Tuesday's night national address to Congress around at least four themes. They are manufacturing, energy, education and what he calls "a return to American values."
The president briefly previewed elements of the speech in a video released by his re-election campaign Saturday to millions of Obama supporters.
Obama is seeking re-election in an atmosphere dominated by economic concerns, and his speech will amount to his vision for a second presidential term.
He says in the video that the nation must build an economy "that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few."
Central themes of the speech will be fairness, opportunity and rewards for hard work.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Vilified on the campaign trail by Republicans, President Barack Obama will stand before the nation Tuesday night with a State of the Union address designed to reframe the election-year debate on his terms, suggesting a stark contrast with his opponents on the economy and promising fairness and help for hurting families.
Obama is expected to offer new proposals to make college more affordable, to ease the housing crisis still slowing the economy, and to boost American manufacturing, according to people familiar with the speech. He will also promote unfinished parts of his jobs plan, including the extension of a payroll tax cut soon to expire.
In essence, this State of the Union is not so much about the year ahead as the four more years Obama wants after that.
Obama's splash of policy proposals will be less important than what he hopes they all add up to: a narrative of renewed American security. Obama will try to politically position himself as the one leading that fight for the middle class, with an overt call for help from Congress, and an implicit request for a second term from the public.
The timing comes as the nation is split about Obama's overall job performance. More people than not disapprove of his handling of the economy, he is showing real vulnerability among the independent voters who could swing the election, and most Americans think the country is on the wrong track.
So his mission will be to show leadership and ideas on topics that matter to people: jobs, housing, college, retirement security.
The White House sees the speech as a clear chance to outline a vision for re-election, yet carefully, without turning a national tradition into an overt campaign event.
On national security, Obama will defend his foreign policies but is not expected to announce new ones on Iran or any other front. He will ask the nation to reflect with him on a momentous year of change, including the end of the war in Iraq, the killing of al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and the Arab Spring protests of peoples clamoring for freedom.
But it will all be secondary to jobs at home.
In a winter season of politics dominated by his Republican competition, Obama will have a grand stage to himself, in a window between Republican primaries. He will try to use the moment to refocus the debate as he sees it: where the country has come, and where he wants to take it.
In doing so, Obama will come before a divided Congress with a burst of hope because the economy ? by far the most important issue to voters ? is showing life.
The unemployment rate is still at a troubling 8.5 percent, but at its lowest rate in nearly three years. Consumer confidence is up. Obama will use that as a springboard.
The president will try to draw a contrast of economic visions with Republicans, both his antagonists in Congress and the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.
The foundation of Obama's speech is the one he gave in Kansas last month, when he declared that the middle class was a make-or-break moment and railed against "you're on your own" economics of the Republican Party. His theme then was about a government that ensures people get a fair shot to succeed.
That speech spelled out the values of Obama's election-year agenda. The State of the Union will be the blueprint to back it up.
Despite low expectations for legislation this year, Obama will offer short-term ideas that would require action from Congress. His travel schedule following his speech, to politically important regions, offers clues to the policies he was expected to unveil.
Both Phoenix and Las Vegas have been hard hit by foreclosures. Denver is where Obama outlined ways of helping college students deal with mounting school loan debt. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Detroit are home to a number of manufacturers. And Michigan was a major beneficiary of the president's decision to provide billions in federal loans to rescue General Motors and Chrysler in 2009.
For now, the main looming to-do item is an extension of a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, both due to expire by March. An Obama spokesman called that the "last must-do item of business" on Obama's congressional agenda, but the White House insists the president will make the case for more this year.
If anything, Republicans say Obama has made the chances of cooperation even dimmer just over the last several days. He enraged Republicans by installing a consumer watchdog chief by going around the Senate, which had blocked him, and then rejected a major oil pipeline project the GOP has embraced.
Obama is likely, once again, to offer ways in which a broken Washington must work together. Yet that theme seems but a dream given the gridlock he has been unable to change.
The State of the Union atmosphere offered a bit of comity last year, following the assassination attempt against Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. And yet 2011 was a year of utter dysfunction in Washington, with the partisanship getting so bad that the government nearly defaulted as the world watched in embarrassment.
The address remains an old-fashioned moment of national attention; 43 million people watched it on TV last year. The White House website will offer a live stream of the speech, promising graphics and other bonuses for people who watch it there, plus a panel of administration officials afterward with questions coming in through Twitter and Facebook.
__
AP deputy director of polling Jennifer Agiesta and Associated Press writer Ken Thomas contributed to this report.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]NEW YORK (AP) ? Apple is launching a new version of its iBooks software, tailored to present vivid, interactive textbooks for elementary and high school students on the iPads.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
Share ] 
Andre Geim receives the Nobel Prize from Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf (Image: Sipa Press/Rex Features)
Geim's levatating frog (Image: Sipa Press/Rex Features)