Booker Washington Community Center board looking to regroup

BELOW: About the center

ROCKFORD ? Booker Washington Community Center board members say they?re willing to expand the board?s membership and enact other reforms to ensure the neighborhood center recovers from its financial troubles.

The 97-year-old community center is an oasis of education and recreation programs for hundreds of youth and adults in southwest Rockford. It may be in jeopardy. The community center laid off Director Robert King this week. He and several other employees haven?t been paid since mid-March.

Rock River Training Corp. pulled its program funding a few years ago and the United Way of Rock River Valley did not renew funding for the Booker Washington Center for the fiscal year that begins Monday.

Leaders of both those organizations this week said that while the center provides many essential services for Rockford?s African-American community, its board has failed to demonstrate accountability for the funds it receives. United Way President and CEO Paul Logli suggested the board rewrite its bylaws and governance procedures and recruit new members with management and financial skills necessary to run a nonprofit agency.

Aprel Prunty, the board?s secretary, said the board is open to those ideas.

?We?re not closing the door on anything,? she said. ?We need to consider anything that?s going to improve the quality of Booker Washington Center.?

Prunty and fellow board member Sidella Hughes are running day-to-day operations at the community center until a proper reorganization plan is in place. The six-member board of directors met Friday to begin those discussions. But it?s too early to say what direction the board will take or what reforms it might adopt, Hughes said, before the meeting.

For now, the board is focused on Bookerfest, the agency?s annual celebration, scheduled for July 19-21 at the community center, 524 Kent St. The community center still owes Rockford Area Venues & Entertainment Authority $13,000 for staging last year?s festival at Davis Park.

?If we want to keep this center open, people have to help us keep it open,? Hughes said. ?If you want to help with Bookerfest, we need people to buy an ad, give us a sponsorship, have a booth, volunteer. The community has to work with us.?

Theresa Davenport believes the opposite is true. Booker must work with the community, she said, because board members can?t save Booker by themselves.

?I think they want to help the black community in Rockford, but right now, with this board, it?s about control and some of these board members have been there for so long,? Davenport said. ?They need new people, young people, business-minded people, that can take this to the next level. But I don?t think this board really wants that.?

Davenport worked for Ceasefire, a nonviolence initiative under the wing of Booker Washington Center that has faced its own funding troubles. The community center has paid the salaries and expenses of its Ceasefire affiliate in recent months, expecting that the Chicago Ceasefire office or state funding would provide reimbursement.

The reimbursements haven?t come. Davenport said the community center still owes her six payroll checks. She?d been working for free and recently accepted another paid position at the community center ? a coordinator for the center?s youth summer camp.

Davenport spent Friday shuttling kids from Booker Washington Center to a tour of Rockford?s Ethnic Heritage Museum and then a hayride at Lockwood Park. She supervised an afternoon arts and crafts session, and was told before she went home that her contract was up and her services are no longer needed.

?A lot of the parents who picked their kids up today have already told me that because Mr. King is gone, they?re pulling their kids out of Booker,? she said. ?So this was the last day for a lot of kids, too.?

What will it take for the board to right the ship?

?We can?t tell you right now,? Hughes said. ?Let us get a clear picture of what we?re looking at.?

Isaac Guerrero: 815-987-1361; iguerrero@rrstar.com; @isaac_rrs

Booker Washington Community Center
Mission: To provide an environment that promotes the quality of life, values, and the welfare of the people of our community through education, art, recreational and cultural programs, and to promote learning and sharing within the greater multi-cultural community.

Address: 1005 S. Court St., Rockford

Board of Directors: President Dan Lewandowski, Treasurer Sidella Hughes, Secretary Aprel Prunty, and members Willie Ashford, Lloyd Hawks and Rev. Frank Jefferson.

Fiscal 2011 revenue: $609,294*

Fiscal 2011 expenditures: $459,164*?

*Note: Booker Washington Center operates on a July through June 30 fiscal year. The revenue and expense figures noted above are from the agency?s fiscal 2011 Form 990, the agency?s most recent financial document on file with the Internal Revenue Service.

Source: http://www.rrstar.com/updates/x853679345/Booker-Washington-Community-Center-board-looking-to-regroup?rssfeed=true

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Lionel Richie: My own songs saved me

Celebs

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper TODAY

14 hours ago

NBC

Lionel Richie says his own songs helped him.

Many people have turned to music at sad times in their lives. Singer Lionel Richie is no different -- except the music he turned to was his own.

Richie told the U.K. Mirror that in the 1990s, he was going through a divorce and fighting depression

"Then a friend said to me: ?Lionel, I have some inspirational tapes I want you to listen to,'" Richie recalled to the newspaper. "He handed me my own songs with certain ones underlined and I started listening to my lyrics ? this time from the point of view of someone who needed that message.

?I used to look out into the audience and wonder why that guy was crying to one of my songs and now I get it -? it just hits something in your core," Richie said.

The singer also admitted that he wasn't always there for daughter Nicole when she was growing up. ?When Nicole was young I was trying to become Lionel Richie," the singer said. "I wasn?t there as much as I should have been. ... These days we are incredibly close and I am a very proud grandfather. She?s a wonderful mother.?

Richie will start his first U.S. tour in a decade this fall. "I have never had a job in my life," he told the Mirror. "This is still my hobby and I want to use the gift for good."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/lionel-richie-my-own-songs-saved-me-depression-6C10488483

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Skylar Neese Case: Teen Murdered By Two Closest Friends,

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/skylar-neese-case-teen-murdered-by-two-closest-friends/

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Beneath NYC's ground zero, a museum takes shape

NEW YORK (AP) ? Gray dust blankets everything in the subterranean halls of the unfinished National September 11 Memorial & Museum. But while the powder may look ominously like the ash that covered lower Manhattan after the terrorist attacks, this time it is a product of rebirth, not destruction.

After a yearlong construction shutdown because of a funding dispute, and additional months of cleanup following a shocking flood caused by Superstorm Sandy, work has been racing ahead again at the museum, which sits in a cavernous space below the World Trade Center memorial plaza that opened in 2011.

About 130 workers are at the site each day and there is much left to be done, but officials with the museum said the project is on track to open to the public in the spring of 2014.

Some of the museum's most emotion-inspiring artifacts already are anchored in place.

Tears rolled down Anthoula Katsimatides' cheeks Thursday as she toured halls holding a mangled fire truck, strangely beautiful tangles of rebar and the pieces of intersecting steel known as the Ground Zero Cross.

"It makes me sad," said Katsimatides, whose brother John died at the trade center. But it's also inspiring, said Katsimatides, who sits on the museum's board. "Seeing it come to fruition is pretty intense."

Work on the museum was halted for nearly a year, starting in the fall of 2011, because of a money fight between the memorial foundation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center site.

In retrospect, that slowdown was a blessing. Shortly after the two sides worked out their differences, Superstorm Sandy sent the Hudson River thundering through lower Manhattan and filled the museum cavern with 7? feet of water.

The flood destroyed interior walls and electrical circuits, but the construction delay meant that hundreds of artifacts and exhibits that might have been in the museum still hadn't been fabricated or were sitting safely in storage. There was minor flash rusting to one of the fire trucks that had already been lowered into the space, but the damage was repaired by conservators and isn't noticeable today, said National September 11 Memorial & Museum President Joseph Daniels.

Today there is no sign that there was ever a flood. Daniels said there has been "almost indescribable" progress on construction since the storm.

Structural work appears mostly complete on the glass pavilion and wide staircase and ramp visitors will use to descend into the museum, past two towering "tridents" that once helped form the distinctive base of the twin towers. Once silvery, the columns were stripped bare by the fires on 9/11 and are now the color of rusted, raw steel.

From a mezzanine, patrons will be able to peer into a deep, nave-like hallway nicknamed the South Canyon. The hall's high western wall will eventually be covered with a multitude of notes and letters of support that people around the world sent to New York after the attacks.

"They continue to send things. It's amazing," Katsimatides said. "That outpouring of support is one of the things that got the 9/11 families through."

Further down the ramp, visitors come to a platform overlooking an even more massive cavern bordered by the slurry wall, a 70-foot-tall, steel-studded concrete slab originally built to keep the Hudson River from flooding the trade center construction site.

In the hall's center stands the last steel column removed from ground zero during the cleanup operation. Recovery workers covered the pillar with their signatures before it was carried away, and visitors will get a chance to leave their own mark on another big piece of steel near the museum's exit ? though their autographs will be captured by a computerized touch screen and projected on the slurry wall, rather than left in ink on metal.

Throughout the museum, curators have hung pieces of steel that were bent and twisted into striking shapes, including one sheet of metal that now appears to ripple like a flag and a huge girder bent by the impact of the aircraft hitting the towers.

Many of them look like sculptures.

"In a strange way, they are like pieces of art," Katsimatides said. But Daniels added that they weren't chosen for their beauty, but to explain what happened at the site on 9/11.

A few design elements of the museum are still under discussion.

When visitors descend to the very bottom of the museum ? where, in some places, they will be able to view the very bedrock that the towers once rested upon ? they will enter a hall with a large wall bearing an inscription from Virgil. "No day shall erase you from the memory of time."

Behind that wall will sit a special mausoleum, off limits to the general public, containing the unidentified remains of hundreds of 9/11 victims. Most of the interior walls of the museum have the look of bare concrete, as a constant reminder of the site's location within the old trade center foundation. But Daniels said the museum's designers are talking about possibly cladding this wall in a different material, or a different color, to separate it from the rest.

"It's a special place. Do we need something to distinguish it?" he said.

The bulk of the work remaining to be completed will revolve around installing the museum's exhibits, which will include many artifacts, including a wall made up of portraits of all 2,983 victims and a room where visitors will be able to call up video presentations that tell a story about each of them.

"The idea is to learn about the lives that they lived, not just the deaths that they died," Daniels said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/beneath-nycs-ground-zero-museum-takes-shape-072748254.html

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Kristen Bell proposes to Dax Shepard via Twitter

Celebs

Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

7 hours ago

Christopher Polk / Getty Images file

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell.

That didn't take long. Just a short time after the Supreme Court struck down a key portion of the Defense of Marriage Act, which will change the ability of same-sex couples to marry in much of the United States, one straight couple appears to have decided to make it official.

"Veronica Mars" star Kristen Bell immediately jumped on Twitter after the decision came down and asked the father of her child, "Parenthood" star Dax Shepard, to marry her.

The two have been public about their decision to wait to wed until same-sex couples in the United States can marry, and appear to not want to wait even a day longer than they have to. They have been engaged since late 2009, and their daughter Lincoln arrived in March.

Very shortly thereafter, Dax accepted the proposal (well, he accepted it in a now-deleted Tweet that read "F--- yes!!!!!!" but then put up a slightly tempered version (below).

There's been no official confirmation that the two are now making wedding plans, but for now it appears both are on the same page: Celebrating the end of DOMA and looking forward to their new united lives together.

Other straight couples in Hollywood have taken the same stance over the years, so it's possible there may be a small flood of these unions in the coming months -- most notably, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Though the pair have hinted at marriage plans in the years since, Pitt told Esquire in 2006 that "Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/kristen-bell-proposes-twitter-dax-shepard-6C10467522

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PFT: Ex-Brown Walcott pleads not guilty

AP

Adam Jones is willing, and eager to tell anyone who will listen he?s not the same man who was once known as Pacman.

But that doesn?t mean he?s a finished product.

The NFL didn?t flinch from having him come to the Rookie Symposium as a speaker after his June 10 arrest for misdemeanor assault for an incident outside a bar, and Jones said that it?s evidence that maturity is not a one-step process.

During an interview with FOXSports.com?s Alex Marvez and Jim Miller on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Jones called that incident ?one hiccup.?

?Me being confronted or touched with a particular object, that?s an area I have to work on,? Jones said. ?If it had been anything else, I probably would have walked away. But when I?m being physically touched ?

?Nothing happens overnight. I?ve made a lot of changes. I don?t go out to the places I used to. I don?t hang with the people I used to hang with. The only thing I can control is what I?m doing in the community. Being a great father at home. My fianc?e is very happy. I?m good with my teammates. I?m not out getting drunk all through the night. I?m not out at 3 or 4 in the morning. If you recall, the incident happened at 10:15. I didn?t have a drink. The young lady that was in the party was drinking.?

Of course, learning to step away from potentially dangerous situations is exactly the kind of thing the league?s trying to teach its rookies this week.

Jones said he mostly avoids his hometown of Atlanta, where too many friends and family members still refer to him by his old nickname.

?It?s not that I can?t handle it. But the crowd I used to hang with, they?re still doing the same things and don?t have anything to lose,? Jones said. ?When I was hanging with them and doing the things they were doing, there was nobody there to tell me, ?No, Pac. You shouldn?t go in the strip club tonight. No, Pac. It isn?t cool that you want to fight that dude.? With time, you grow. . . .

?Everybody when I?m in Atlanta wants to come to my house to get in the pool and drink liquor. I?m not with that. The last time I went home there was no liquor at my house. If you are coming over here, don?t bring liquor ? period. But people have to live and learn and want to do better. I?m a true believer in that.?

Jones has a powerful message to share. If he can put his words into practice, and stay out of the headlines for the wrong reasons, the message gains strength.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/27/ausar-walcott-pleads-not-guilty-to-attempted-murder/related/

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Brain Cancer Hunger for Amino Acids Makes It More - BioSpace

6/25/2013 7:29:57 AM

Get the latest biotech news where you want it. Sign up for the free GenePool newsletter today!

An enzyme that facilitates the breakdown of specific amino acids makes brain cancers particularly aggressive. Scientists have discovered this in an attempt to find new targets for therapies against this dangerous disease. To fuel phases of fast and aggressive growth, tumors need higher-than-normal amounts of energy and the molecular building blocks needed to build new cellular components. Cancer cells therefore consume a lot of sugar (glucose A number of tumors are also able to catabolize the amino acid glutamine, an important building block of proteins. A key enzyme in amino acid decomposition is isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH). Several years ago, scientists discovered mutations in the gene coding for IDH in numerous types of brain cancer. Very malignant brain tumors called primary glioblastomas carry an intact IDH gene, whereas those that grow more slowly usually have a defective form.

Hey, check out all the research scientist jobs. Post your resume today!

Source: http://www.biospace.com/news_story.aspx?StoryID=300966&full=1

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Obama To Lay Out Broad Plan To Address Climate Change

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Obama To Lay Out Broad Plan To Address Climate Change
For the first time, the government plans to limit how much carbon dioxide existing power plants can put into the air. It's a key element of the president's plan, but it's also unclear how aggressive the restrictions will be.

Source: NPR
Posted on: Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013, 8:07am
Views: 9

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128765/Obama_To_Lay_Out_Broad_Plan_To_Address_Climate_Change

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Vatican no-show: Pope Francis skips gala concert, shocking cardinals

The day before the concert, Pope Francis said bishops should be 'close to the people' and not have 'the mentality of a prince.'?

By Philip Pullella,?Reuters / June 25, 2013

Archbishop Rino Fisichella (r.) faces the empty papal throne as he reads a message from Pope Francis before a RAI National Symphony Orchestra concert, directed by conductor Juraj Valcuha of Slovakia, in Paul VI hall at the Vatican, on June 22, 2013.

Giampiero Sposito / Reuters

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A last-minute no-show by Pope Francis at a concert where he was to have been the guest of honor has sent another clear signal that he is going to do things his way and does not like the Vatican high life.

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The gala classical concert on Saturday was scheduled before his election in March. But the white papal armchair set up in the presumption that he would be there remained empty.

Minutes before the concert was due to start, an archbishop told the crowd of cardinals and Italian dignitaries that an "urgent commitment that cannot be postponed" would prevent Francis from attending.

The prelates, assured that health was not the reason for the no-show, looked disoriented, realizing that the message he wanted to send was that, with the Church in crisis, he - and perhaps they - had too much pastoral work to do to attend social events.

"It took us by surprise," said one Vatican source on Monday. "We are still in a period of growing pains. He is still learning how to be pope and we are still learning how he wants to do it."

"In Argentina, they probably knew not to arrange social events like concerts for him because he probably wouldn't go," said the source, who spoke anonymously because he is not authorized to discuss the issue.

The picture of the empty chair was used in many Italian papers, with Monday's Corriere della Sera newspaper calling his decision "a show of force" to illustrate the simple style he wants Church officials to embrace.

Since his election on March 13, Francis, the former cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, has not spent a single night in the opulent and spacious papal apartments.

He has preferred to live in a small suite in a busy Vatican guest house, where he takes most meals in a communal dining room and says Mass every morning in the house chapel rather than the private papal chapel in the Apostolic Palace.

The day before the concert, Francis said bishops should be "close to the people" and not have "the mentality of a prince."

On Saturday, while the concert was in progress in an auditorium just meters (yards) away, Francis was believed to be working on new appointments for the Curia, the Vatican's troubled central administration.

The administration was held responsible for some of the mishaps and scandals that plagued the eight-year reign of Pope Benedict before he resigned in February.

Francis inherited a Church struggling to deal with priests' sexual abuse of children, the alleged corruption and infighting in the Curia, and conflict over the running of the Vatican's scandal-ridden bank.

Benedict left a secret report for Francis on the problems in the administration, which came to light when sensitive documents were stolen from the pope's desk and leaked by his butler in what became known as the "Vatileaks" scandal.

The Vatican source said he expected Francis to make major changes to Curia personnel by the end of the summer.

Anger at the mostly Italian prelates who run the Curia was one of the reasons why cardinals chose the first non-European pope for 1,300 years.

The key appointment will be the next secretary of state, sometimes referred to as the Vatican's prime minister, to succeed the Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who has been widely blamed for the failings of the Curia.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Word Count: 573

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Yk1FY5YYzUw/Vatican-no-show-Pope-Francis-skips-gala-concert-shocking-cardinals

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Halle Berry to testify on Calif. paparazzi bill

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? Actress Halle Berry is scheduled to testify on Tuesday in favor of California legislation that would limit the ability of paparazzi to photograph the children of celebrities.

The hearing before the Assembly Committee on Public Safety is set for midmorning, although it's not clear exactly when Berry is expected to speak.

Berry has tangled with paparazzi. In April, she shouted and cursed at photographers at Los Angeles International Airport, telling them to get away from her young daughter, the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/14mCKMV ).

The bill by state Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, would change the definition of harassment to include photographing or recording a child without the permission of a legal guardian, by following the child or guardian's activities or by lying in wait.

It also increases the penalties for people convicted of such behavior. The first conviction would require imprisonment of at least 10 days, up from the current five days.

The goal is also to protect the children of public officials, including judges and law enforcement, said Greg Hayes, spokesman for the senator.

Opponents, including The Motion Picture Association of America, said it infringes on free speech.

Jim Ewert, general counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, told the Times the bill could criminalize legitimate news gathering.

"It's what journalists do," he said. "They take pictures."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/halle-berry-testify-calif-paparazzi-bill-141529450.html

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Meatless Monday: Portobello and cumin spiced eggplant burgers

Mushrooms instead of bread as a 'bun' for your burger? It may sound crazy, but mushrooms work great as a gluten-free alternative, and the possibilities for fillings and topping are endless.

By France Morissette and Joshua Sprague,?Beyond the Peel / June 24, 2013

Maybe you've heard of using mushrooms instead of meat as a 'burger,' but what about using mushrooms as the bun? Try filling your 'bun' with eggplant, another grilled veggie, or even a beef or lamb patty.

Beyond the Peel

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How does a person make up for a week of mac and cheese, popcorn for dinner, and brownies??With veggies of course. Lots and lots of veggies.

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Beyond The Peel

Cookbook author, France Morissette, and her husband Joshua Sprague believe that healthy food should be uncompromising when it comes to flavor. They creatively explore the world of natural, whole foods, leaving no stone unturned in their quest to create mouth watering, flavor packed, whole food meals. Through stories, photos, recipes and their online show Beyond The Peel TV, they're on a mission to help you eat healthy and enjoy every last bite in the process.

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A year ago I saw this idea to use portobello mushrooms as a burger bun as a gluten free way to enjoy a good ol? beef burger. So I decided to try it. I was amazed at how well it actually works. It was super juicy and surprisingly satisfying. I also recently saw a great idea in a?Denis?Cotter?cookbook?to use thick slices of eggplant as an interesting burger bun option. So I decide to mash those two ideas together. As it turns out it ? it's great!

I love this whole ?thinking outside the box??thing. Mushrooms as bread? Crazy right??Until you?ve tried it of course!

Everything goes in the oven at 450 degrees F. on one cookie sheet. Twenty minutes later the burgers are quickly assembled and dinner is ready. Serve it with your favorite salad and voil?, a healthy alternative to typical barbecue night. And if you?re not an eggplant fan, no big deal. You can still use this concept with whatever filling you like.

Now I?m thinking about eggs benedict with a portobello mushroom instead of that tired old English muffin. I?ve also seen these bad boys of the mushroom world used as the base for a pizza. Such a fabulous idea. Really there are so many possibilities. Fried egg sandwich, tuna melt sandwich ? the list goes on.

Just so we?re clear, I?m talking about a grilled or cooked portobello mushroom. I don?t want you trying this with a raw mushroom. That wouldn?t be as tasty.

Try this idea with:

• Roasted peppers and brie
• Grilled zucchini, feta and olive tapenade
• Your favorite burger patty: veggie, fish, beef, or lamb
• Mashed avocado, cilantro, and sliced tomato
• Gooey melted buffalo mozzarella, tomato, and fresh basil

Note: In the photos I used one baby eggplant. Use three mini slices of roasted eggplant per person. One baby eggplant?serves two?people. Cut eggplant spice recipe in half if only roasting one baby eggplant.

Portobello and cumin spiced eggplant burgers

Makes 4 burgers

8 portobello mushroom caps

1 large eggplant

Olive oil

Eggplant spice (see below)

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce?or a very flavorful sauce of your choice like roasted tomato jam or chutney

1. Set the oven to 450 degrees F. Using a paper towel, wipe clean the mushroom caps. Remove the stem.?Brush?the mushroom caps on both sides with olive oil and season the underside with salt and pepper. Set them on a baking sheet with tops facing down.

2. Slice the eggplant into 3/4-inch to 1-inch slices.?Brush?the eggplant slices with olive oil and toss them with the spice mixture and place them on a cookie sheet.

3. Bake the mushrooms and eggplant for 20 minutes, flipping the eggplant halfway through.

4. To assemble, top 4 portobello mushroom caps with 1 to 2 slices of roasted eggplant, roasted red pepper jam, and fresh cilantro. Cover with second mushroom cap and serve. Bring a big napkin. These are juicy.

*Alternately, this can be done on the grill. The mushroom caps only take about 8 minutes per side. Eggplant will be approximately the same.

Eggplant spice

For each large eggplant:

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix the 3 seasonings together and toss with eggplant before roasting.

Additional topping suggestions:

• Guacamole or Avocado Aioli
• Salsa and cheddar
• Grilled Haloumi and Mint Pesto
• A whole roasted pepper (seeds and skin removed) and feta

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of food bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by The Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own and they are responsible for the content of their blogs and their recipes. All readers are free to make ingredient substitutions to satisfy their dietary preferences, including not using wine (or substituting cooking wine) when a recipe calls for it. To contact us about a blogger, click here.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/WOWJP46Nejg/Meatless-Monday-Portobello-and-cumin-spiced-eggplant-burgers

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Rotation-resistant rootworms owe their success to gut microbes

June 24, 2013 ? Researchers say they now know what allows some Western corn rootworms to survive crop rotation, a farming practice that once effectively managed the rootworm pests. The answer to the decades-long mystery of rotation-resistant rootworms lies -- in large part -- in the rootworm gut, the team reports.

The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Differences in the relative abundance of certain bacterial species in the rootworm gut help the adult rootworm beetles feed on soybean leaves and tolerate the plant's defenses a little better, the researchers report. This boost in digestive finesse allows rotation-resistant beetles to survive long enough to lay their eggs in soybean fields. Their larvae emerge the following spring and feast on the roots of newly planted corn.

"These insects, they have only one generation per year," said University of Illinois entomology department senior scientist Manfredo Seufferheld, who led the study. "And yet within a period of about 20 years in Illinois they became resistant to crop rotation. What allowed this insect to adapt so fast? These bacteria, perhaps."

Controlling rootworms is an expensive concern faced by all Midwest corn growers, said study co-author Joseph Spencer, an insect behaviorist at the Illinois Natural History Survey (part of the Prairie Research Institute at the U. of I.). Yield losses, the use of insecticides and corn hybrids engineered to express rootworm-killing toxins in their tissues cost U.S. growers at least $1 billion a year.

In a 2012 study, Seufferheld, Spencer and their colleagues reported that rotation-resistant rootworm beetles were better able than their nonresistant counterparts to tolerate the defensive chemicals produced in soybeans leaves. This allowed the beetles to feed more and survive longer on soybean plants. The researchers found that levels of key digestive enzymes differed significantly between the rotation-resistant and nonresistant rootworms, but differences in the expression of the genes encoding these enzymes did not fully explain the rotation-resistant beetles' advantage. Seufferheld and his colleagues thought that microbes in the rootworms' guts might be helping them better tolerate life in a soybean field.

To test this hypothesis, graduate student Chia-Ching Chu analyzed the population of microbes living in the guts of rootworm beetles collected from seven sites across the Midwest. Some of these sites (including Piper City, Ill.) are hot spots of rotation-resistance and others (in Nebraska and northwest Missouri, for example) lack evidence of rotation-resistant rootworms.

Chu found significant and consistent differences in the relative abundance of various types of bacteria in the guts of rotation-resistant and nonresistant rootworms (see graphic). These differences corresponded to differing activity levels of digestive enzymes in their guts and to their ability to tolerate soybean plant defenses.

The researchers found other parallels between the composition of gut microbes and the life history of the rootworms. The beetles' gut microbial structure corresponded to the insects' level of activity (rotation-resistant rootworms are usually more active), and also paralleled -- in a graduated fashion -- the plant diversity of the landscapes they inhabited. (Rotation-resistant rootworms are most abundant in regions where rotated corn and soybean fields are the dominant components of the agricultural landscape.)

To determine whether the microbes were in fact giving the rotation-resistant beetles an advantage, the researchers dosed the beetles with antibiotics. Low-level exposure to antibiotics had no effect on any of the beetles, but at higher doses the rotation-resistant beetles' survival time on soybean leaves fell to that of the nonresistant beetles. Antibiotics also lowered the activity of digestive enzymes in the rotation-resistant beetles' guts to that of their nonresistant counterparts.

The message of the research, Seufferheld said, is that the gut microbes are not just passive residents of the rootworm gut.

"They are very active players in the adaptation of the insect," he said. "The microbial community acts as a versatile multicellular organ."

"It's not just the rootworm that we have to worry about," Spencer said. "There's really this whole conspiracy between the rootworm and its co-conspirators in the gut that can respond fairly quickly, relatively speaking, to the assaults that they face."

The research team also included former postdoctoral researcher Jorge Zavala (now a professor at the University of Buenos Aires) and graduate student Matias Curzi.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/slJG9FABJYI/130624152603.htm

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South Africa leader: Mandela 'asleep' during visit

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? South Africa's president on Monday said a critically ill Nelson Mandela was "asleep" when he visited the 94-year-old at the hospital, and he urged the country to pray for Mandela, describing him as the "father of democracy" who made extraordinary sacrifices on behalf of his people.

President Jacob Zuma told dozens of foreign and South African journalists that doctors are doing everything possible to help the former president feel comfortable on his 17th day in a Pretoria hospital, but refused to give details of Mandela's condition, saying: "I'm not a doctor." The briefing came a day after the government said Mandela's condition had deteriorated and was now critical.

Monday's press gathering highlighted the tension between the government's reluctance to share more information about Mandela on the basis of doctor-patient confidentiality, and media appeals for thorough updates on a figure of global interest. The government's belated acknowledgement that an ambulance carrying Mandela to the hospital on June 8 broke down has fueled the debate about transparency versus the right to privacy.

Zuma's briefing was also an indicator of the extent to which reports on Mandela's health sometimes overshadow the business of the state. Under questioning, Zuma said President Barack Obama would go ahead with a visit to South Africa, despite concerns about Mandela's health.

"President Obama is visiting South Africa," Zuma said. "I don't think you stop a visit because somebody's sick."

Obama, who arrives in Africa this week, is due to visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.

White House spokesman Jay Carney wouldn't speculate about how Mandela's health would impact Obama's upcoming visit to South Africa, saying only that the U.S. president "continues to look forward to his trip."

"The president obviously has long seen Nelson Mandela as one of his personal heroes, and I think he's not alone in that in this country and around the world," Carney said.

Zuma, who in the past has given an overly sunny view of Mandela's health, briefly spoke of his visit Sunday night to Mandela in the hospital in the capital. That visit was mentioned in a presidential statement on the same night that said Mandela, previously described as being in serious but stable condition, had lapsed into critical condition within the previous 24 hours.

"It was late, he was already asleep," Zuma said. "And we then had a bit of a discussion with the doctors as well as his wife, Graca Machel, and we left."

The president said South Africans should accept that Mandela is old, and he urged people to pray for their former leader.

"Madiba is critical in the hospital, and this is the father of democracy. This is the man who fought and sacrificed his life to stay in prison, the longest-serving prisoner in South Africa," Zuma said, using Mandela's clan name.

Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president after the end of apartheid in 1994, was hospitalized for what the government said was a recurring lung infection. This is his fourth hospitalization since December.

Mandela was jailed for 27 years under white racist rule and was released 23 years ago, in 1990. He then played a leading role in steering the divided country from the apartheid era to an all-race democracy. As a result of his sacrifice and peacemaking efforts, he is seen by many around the world as a symbol of reconciliation.

"Nelson Mandela, for me, is like my father," Alex Siake, a South African, said in Pretoria. "Every day, I just pray that he can recover quickly and be among us again."

The Democratic Alliance, South Africa's main opposition party, said in a statement that the news that Mandela was in critical condition came "as a blow to all South Africans."

Zuma referred to the transfer of Mandela from an ambulance with engine trouble to another ambulance on the night he was taken to the hospital in Pretoria.

"Nobody can predict whether the car is going to break down or not," he said. But he said he was pleased because seven doctors, including specialists, in the convoy "made all the contingencies before leaving" and Mandela's health was therefore not affected.

Asked why none of Mandela's doctors had been made available for a news briefing, presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said an arrangement had been made in consultation with Mandela's family whereby information would be provided through a "single source in an authoritative way."

"We've come to that arrangement on the basis that we need to respect the privacy of the family, we need to adhere to doctor-patient confidentiality," he said.

"You can be assured that what we are saying is based on agreement with the doctors," Maharaj said. Doctors approve the text of announcements on Mandela's health, and believe some media reporting has transgressed professional ethics, he said.

Monday also marked the 18th anniversary of Mandela's appearance at the 1995 Rugby World Cup final in Johannesburg, a day still enshrined as a hugely significant moment for South Africa.

In a move crucial in unifying sections of a previously fractured society, Mandela wore a green and gold Springboks rugby jersey at the June 24 final in Johannesburg and brought all South Africans together in support of their national team ? once an all-white bastion of the apartheid regime and hated by blacks.

Mandela shook hands with and patted the shoulder of the Springboks' captain, Francois Pienaar, after South Africa won a tense final against New Zealand, underlining the new president's dedication to reconciliation.

___

Associated Press writer Julie Pace in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africa-leader-mandela-asleep-during-visit-164903201.html

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Andrew Shaw Screams 'F--k Yeah' While Hoisting Stanley Cup (VIDEO)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins scores past Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks in the first period during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Tyler Seguin #19, Daniel Paille #20, and Johnny Boychuk #55 of the Boston Bruins talk during a timeout in the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Chicago Blackhawks in the first period during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins makes a save in the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Andrew Shaw #65 of the Chicago Blackhawks lies on the ice following a play in the first period against the Boston Bruins during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins scores a goal in the first period against goalie Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Johnny Boychuk #55 of the Boston Bruins and Viktor Stalberg #25 of the Chicago Blackhawks fight for the puck in the first period during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks stands in goal after losing his stick in the first period against the Boston Bruins during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins celebrates with teammate Daniel Paille #20 after scoring a goal in the first period against Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins scores a goal in the first period against Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins scores a goal in the first period against Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins scores a goal in the first period against Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins celebrates after he scored a first period goal against goalie Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Goalie Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks gives up a first period goal to Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Jonathan Toews #19 of the Chicago Blackhawks celebrates with teammate Patrick Kane #88 after Toews scored a goal in the second period against Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Andrew Shaw #65 of the Chicago Blackhawks lays on the ice after being hit in the face with a puck by the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Tyler Seguin #19 of the Boston Bruins looks to pass the puck in the first period against Niklas Hjalmarsson #4 of the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Goalie Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks reaches to make a save as Tyler Seguin #19 of the Boston Bruins is up ended in front of the net in the first period in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Goalie Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks gives up a first period goal to Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Goalie Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks gives up a first period goal to Chris Kelly #23 of the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Jonathan Toews #19 celebrates with teammate Patrick Kane #88 of the Chicago Blackhawks after scoring a goal in the second period against the Boston Bruins during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Viktor Stalberg #25 of the Chicago Blackhawks and Tyler Seguin #19 of the Boston Bruins fight for the puck in the second period during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Carl Soderberg #34 of the Boston Bruins dives on the ice in the second period against the Chicago Blackhawks during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Jonathan Toews #19 of the Chicago Blackhawks celebrates after scoring a goal in the second period against Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Torey Krug #47 of the Boston Bruins and Brandon Saad #20 of the Chicago Blackhawks fight for the puck along the boards in the second period during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Carl Soderberg, Johnny Oduya

Boston Bruins center Carl Soderberg (34), of Sweden, and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya (27), of Sweden, fight for position along the boards during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013 in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Johnny Oduya, Daniel Paille

Boston Bruins left wing Daniel Paille (20) checks Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya (27), of Sweden, during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013 in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Johnny Oduya, Daniel Paille

Boston Bruins left wing Daniel Paille (20) checks Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya (27), of Sweden, during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013 in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Brad Marchand, Corey Crawford

Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) pokes the puck away from Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane

Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) celebrates his goal with right wing Patrick Kane (88) during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals against the Boston Bruins, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Tuukka Rask

Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, of Finland, checks the scoreboard after giving up a goal by Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: A general view of TD Garden as the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks drop the puck to begin the first period during Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Corey Crawford, Johnny Oduya, Daniel Paille

Boston Bruins left wing Daniel Paille (20) ties up Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya (27), of Sweden, in front of Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane

Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) celebrates his goal with right wing Patrick Kane (88) during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals against the Boston Bruins, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Michal Rozsival

Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews, left, celebrates his goal against the Boston Bruins with right wing Patrick Kane, center, and defenseman Michal Rozsival (32), of the Czech Republic, during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Tuukka Rask, Jonathan Toews

A goal by Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews hits the net behind Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40), of Finland, during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Johnny Oduya, Chris Kelly, Tyler Seguin

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya (27), of Sweden, Boston Bruins centers Chris Kelly (23), and Tyler Seguin (19) fight for position in front of Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Harry How, Pool)

Chris Kelly, Corey Crawford

Boston Bruins center Chris Kelly, left, scores past Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Harry How, Pool)

Andrew Shaw, Corey Crawford

Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford, left, watches at Chicago Blackhawks center Andrew Shaw (65) skates to the bench after taking a puck to the face against the Boston Bruins during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013 in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Corey Crawford, Chris Kelly

Boston Bruins center Chris Kelly (23) scores past Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50)during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Johnny Boychuk, Duncan Keith

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith (2) checks Boston Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk (55) during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013 in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Jonathan Toews, Corey Crawford, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chris Kelly

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson (4), of Sweden, and Boston Bruins center Chris Kelly (23) go down between Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford, left, and Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews, right, during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013 in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Tuukka Rask, Michal Handzus , Patrice Bergeron

Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37) and Chicago Blackhawks center Michal Handzus (26), of Slovakia, fight for the puck in front of Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40), of Finland, during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013 in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Johnny Oduya, Shawn Thornton

Boston Bruins right wing Shawn Thornton (22) and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya (27), of Sweden, scrap for the puck during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Andrew Shaw

Chicago Blackhawks center Andrew Shaw lays on the ice after taking a puck to the face against the Boston Bruins during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Chris Kelly

Boston Bruins center Chris Kelly (23) celebrates his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Steve Montador, Wes McCauley

Referee Wes McCauley checks on Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals against the Boston Bruins, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Tyler Seguin, Johnny Oduya, Corey Crawford

Boston Bruins center Tyler Seguin (19) and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya (27), of Sweden, careen into Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Chris Kelly

Boston Bruins center Chris Kelly (23) celebrates his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks with teammates on the bench during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013 in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Corey Crawford, Chris Kelly

Boston Bruins center Chris Kelly (23) celebrates his goal past Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Boston. Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith (2) skates past. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Andrew Ference, Patrick Sharp

Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference (21) and Chicago Blackhawks center Patrick Sharp (10) fight for position as the puck passes during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Monday, June 24, 2013 in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/andrew-shaw-fuck-stanley-cup-video-profanity_n_3493845.html

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Berlusconi faces verdict in sex-for-hire trial

MILAN (AP) ? A Milan court was considering Silvio Berlusconi's fate in his sex-for-hire trial Monday, with the former Italian premier risking an end to his two-decade political career and a prison term if found guilty.

Berlusconi, 76, is charged with paying an underage Moroccan teen for sex and then trying to cover it up with phone calls to Milan police officials when she was picked up for alleged theft. Berlusconi and the woman deny having had sex with each other.

Prosecutors are seeking a six-year jail term and a lifetime ban from politics for Berlusconi. Even if he is convicted, there are two more levels of appeal before the sentence would become final. The process can take months.

Berlusconi holds no official post in the current Italian government, but remains influential in the uneasy cross-party coalition that emerged after inconclusive February elections.

The charges against the billionaire media mogul stem from his infamous "bunga bunga" parties in 2010 at his mansion near Milan, where he wined and dined beautiful young women while he was premier. He says the dinner parties were elegant soirees; prosecutors say they were sex-fueled parties that women were paid to attend.

Neither Berlusconi nor the woman at the center of the case, Karima el-Mahroug, better known by her nickname Ruby, have testified in this trial. El-Mahroug was called by the defense but failed to show on a couple of occasions, delaying the trial. Berlusconi's team eventually dropped her from the witness list.

El-Mahroug did testify in the separate trial of three Berlusconi aides charged with procuring prostitutes for the parties. She told that court that Berlusconi's disco featured aspiring showgirls dressed as sexy nuns and nurses performing striptease acts, and that one woman even dressed up as President Barack Obama.

Berlusconi was not in court on Monday as the three female judges began deliberating his fate at 9:45 a.m. Outside the courthouse a few people held signs supporting prosecutors, including one reading: "Justice, Legality and Dignity." A pair of Berlusconi supporters was also there.

Asked if Berlusconi was optimistic, defense attorney Piero Longo said outside the courthouse that he was a "realist." Longo turned sarcastic when asked if the Milan courts were biased against his client: "No, Berlusconi has always been treated with great kindness and care in Milan. Having a trial in Milan for Berlusconi is a privilege."

Berlusconi frequently has railed against Milan prosecutors and judges, accusing them of mounting politically motivated cases against him.

El-Mahroug, now 20, said in the other trial that she attended about a half-dozen parties at Berlusconi's villa, and that after each, Berlusconi handed her an envelope with up to 3,000 euros ($3,900). She said she later received 30,000 euros cash from the then-premier paid through an intermediary ? money that she told Berlusconi she wanted to use to open a beauty salon, despite having no formal training.

She was 17 at the time of the alleged encounters but passed herself off as being 24. She also claimed she was related to then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Berlusconi's lawyers argued that he ? thinking el-Mahroug was indeed Mubarak's niece ? called police after she was detained in a bid to avoid a diplomatic incident.

El-Mahroug denied that Berlusconi had ever given her 5 million euros ($6.43 million). She said she told acquaintances and even her father that she was going to receive such a large sum "as a boast," but that it was a lie to make her seem more important.

The verdict garnered intense international media attention with half a dozen TV satellite trucks taking positions outside the courthouse. The verdict comes on the heels of Berlusconi's tax-fraud conviction, which along with a four-year prison sentence and five-year ban on public office, have been upheld on a first appeal.

The tax-fraud case is heading to Italy's highest court for a final appeal after Berlusconi's defense failed to derail it last week at the constitutional court.

Berlusconi, who has been tried numerous times relating to his business dealings, has been convicted in other cases at the trial level. But those convictions have always either been overturned on appeal or the statute of limitations ran out before Italy's high court could have its say.

The sex-for-hire case is the first involving his personal conduct.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/berlusconi-faces-verdict-sex-hire-trial-073149630.html

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Wildfire: Colo. town sees long evacuation

The sun sets through wildfire smoke Sunday, June 23, 2013, near Monte Vista, Colo. A large wildfire near a popular summer retreat in southern Colorado continues to be driven by winds and fueled by dead trees in a drought-stricken area, authorities said. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

The sun sets through wildfire smoke Sunday, June 23, 2013, near Monte Vista, Colo. A large wildfire near a popular summer retreat in southern Colorado continues to be driven by winds and fueled by dead trees in a drought-stricken area, authorities said. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Colorado State Patrol officer Jessie Bartunek talks to a motorist at a checkpoint near South Fork, Colo., Sunday, June 23, 2013. A large wildfire near a popular summer retreat in southern Colorado continues to be driven by winds and fueled by dead trees in a drought-stricken area, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Wildfire smoke blankets a ridge Sunday, June 23, 2013, near Alpine, Colo. A large wildfire near a popular summer retreat in southern Colorado continues to be driven by winds and fueled by dead trees in a drought-stricken area, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Colorado State Patrol officer Jessie Bartunek talks to a motorist as he stands at a checkpoint near South Fork, Colo., Sunday, June 23, 2013. A large wildfire near a popular summer retreat in southern Colorado continues to be driven by winds and fueled by dead trees in a drought-stricken area, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A horse grazes as smoke rises from a wildfire on Sunday, June 23, 2013, near Alpine, Colo. A large wildfire near a popular summer retreat in southern Colorado continues to be driven by winds and fueled by dead trees in a drought-stricken area, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

DEL NORTE, Colo. (AP) ? Tourists and business owners forced to flee a popular summer retreat in the southwestern Colorado mountains resigned themselves to a long wait as fire officials declined to speculate when they might be able to reign in an unprecedented and erratic blaze raging through the Rio Grande National Forest.

The fire more than doubled in size over the weekend, growing to an estimated 114 miles by Sunday night, authorities said.

And heavy winds fanning drought-stricken, beetle-killed forest showed no signs of relenting before Tuesday, fire officials said.

"They just said they had no idea how long it would be before we could back in South Fork," said Mike Duffy, who owns the South Fork Lodge.

Duffy said he and his wife, Mary, were able to get their personal possessions before fleeing fast-advancing flames that officials on Friday feared would overtake the town. But with the fire still within three miles of South Fork, they are worried about the long-term impact of a prolong evacuation and news reports about the massive blaze threatening the tourism-dependent town.

Summer visitors include many retirees from Texas and Oklahoma who come to the mountains to flee the heat.

"Here we are the 23rd of June. We had to tell people not to come because we are not there," Duffy said. "I just don't how much more of an affect it will have. Everyone's bottom line is going to get tagged by this. ... You still have to pay your property taxes whether you make money or not."

The town has 400 permanent residents, but South Fork Mayor Kenneth Brooke estimates that between 1,000 to 1,500 people were in town when the evacuation was ordered . More than 600 firefighters were battling the blaze, and more are coming every day.

As of Sunday night, officials said they knew of no structures lost and their efforts remained focused on protecting South Fork, the Wolf Creek ski area and homes along Highway 149 as the newest arm of the fire crept through beetle kill toward the historic mining town of Creede.

Creede, near the headwaters of the Rio Grande River, was the last silver boom town in Colorado before the industry went bust in the late 1800s. It has since dwindled in population, making way for a thriving tourist industry that relies on the town's colorful past. The town also is known for such characters as Robert Ford, who ran a tent saloon there and was best known for shooting and killing outlaw Jesse James in Missouri in 1882.

Pete Blume, a commander with the Rocky Mountain Type 1 Incident Command Team, said the wildfire is the worst ever known to hit the Rio Grande National Forest.

"It's not typical to have these kinds of fires here," said Blume. But he said the 30 to 40 mile-an-hour winds, beetle-killed trees and drought are "also not the norm."

Tim Foley, a fire behavior expert with the same incident command as Blume, said beetles have killed most of the forest's hundreds of thousands of acres of mature spruce.

Elsewhere in Colorado, about a dozen fires also continued to burn. Firefighters were making progress on a 19-square-mile wildfire near Walsenburg in southern Colorado. The fire was 10 percent contained.

And a wildfire in foothills about 30 miles southwest of Denver was expected to be fully contained Sunday evening. That fire burned 511 acres and forced 100 people to leave their homes.

In the Rio Grande forest, firefighters are hoping for a break in the high winds as well as the anticipated July monsoons to help them fight back the flames. They also want to reduce the number of new spot fires being sparked by wind-whipped ashes.

Until then, Blume said, "with that much beetle kill and drought we could have every resource in the country here and still not put in a containment line."

Pressed during a media briefing for an estimate on when evacuees might be able to return to South Fork, he said "we are probably looking at five days to a week."

Still, he said, portions of the blaze will likely burn all summer, with full extinguishment probably not coming until "late in the year."

Evacuees, meantime, tried to make the best of it.

Leilani and Ralph Harden, a retired couple from Victoria, Texas, were waiting it out with their RV in a parking lot adjacent to the roadblock, which allowed only firefighters and others with official business through.

"We are just sitting here watching the show," said Leilani Harden said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-24-Colorado%20Wildfires/id-22b29560a2b04ceeb195721f1f39728f

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Brian Shaw gets first crack at head coaching job

DENVER (AP) ? At long last, Brian Shaw is getting his first chance to coach an NBA team.

The former guard for the Los Angeles Lakers and Phil Jackson pupil has agreed to succeed George Karl as coach of the Denver Nuggets, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Monday night because the deal hadn't been officially announced.

Still, it was the buzz of the basketball world.

"I think the Nuggets are going to benefit from his tenure," Jackson tweeted.

"So great to see Brian Shaw rewarded with this long overdue opportunity," Pacers coach Frank Vogel told The AP in a text. "Congrats to Brian and the Nuggets. Denver just got one of the best head coaches this league will see for years to come."

The Denver Post first announced the agreement with Shaw, the Indiana Pacers assistant who told the newspaper he's been "prepared by the best of the best" for his first NBA head coaching job, adding "I feel like I've waited and paid my dues."

Shaw is a longtime assistant who has interviewed about a dozen times for head coaching positions but kept coming up short until Monday.

He beat out Lionel Hollins, the former Memphis Grizzlies coach.

The Nuggets called a news conference for Tuesday afternoon, where team president Josh Kroenke and newly hired general manager Tim Connelly will introduce their new coach.

Shaw replaces Karl, who was ousted June 6 just weeks after winning the league's Coach of the Year award.

Shaw inherits a young team loaded with talent that won a franchise-record 57 games but lost Danilo Gallinari to a knee injury down the stretch and bowed out in the first round of the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years.

Gallinari recently underwent surgery and is expected back in December.

The Nuggets have been a state of flux all summer after they were knocked off by the Golden State Warriors in six games in the first round of the playoffs.

First, Masai Ujiri, who engineered the win-win trade of Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks, left the Nuggets' front office for the GM job in Toronto. Ujiri was the league's Executive of the Year.

Less than a week later, Kroenke fired Karl.

Ujiri's right-hand man, Pete D'Allesandro, then took the Sacramento Kings' GM job and took Denver executive Mike Bratz with him.

Also, the Nuggets' top perimeter defender, Andre Iguodala, decided to opt out of the final year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent, although he could return to Denver on a five-year deal while the most he could get elsewhere is a four-year contract.

Shaw, 47, owns five NBA championship rings as a player and assistant coach. A first-round draft pick by the Boston Celtics in 1988, Shaw played for eight teams in his 14 NBA seasons.

As Vogel's top assistant, Shaw drew praise for his work with rising star Paul George last season. The Pacers forward was an All-Star and helped lead Indiana to the Eastern Conference finals, where they took the eventual champion Miami Heat to seven games.

Although he has deep roots with the triangle offense that Jackson featured with the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers, Shaw told the Denver Post he won't use that system with the Nuggets, who thrived in a fast-paced, free-flowing system under Karl.

Shaw played at St. Mary's and UC Santa Barbara before an NBA career that lasted from 1988 to 2003. He was a member of the Lakers' three championship teams in the early 2000s and Jackson hired him as an assistant after he retired.

He won two more titles with L.A. as an assistant coach and when Jackson retired from the Lakers in 2011, Kobe Bryant voiced his support for Shaw becoming Jackson's successor, but he was passed over for that promotion.

___

AP Sports Writer Michael Marot contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-25-Nuggets-Shaw/id-99dc82f44795436f9348085ada429f19

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Reading DNA, backward and forward: Biologists reveal how cells control the direction in which the genome is read

June 24, 2013 ? MIT biologists have discovered a mechanism that allows cells to read their own DNA in the correct direction and prevents them from copying most of the so-called "junk DNA" that makes up long stretches of our genome.

Only about 15 percent of the human genome consists of protein-coding genes, but in recent years scientists have found that a surprising amount of the junk, or intergenic DNA, does get copied into RNA -- the molecule that carries DNA's messages to the rest of the cell.

Scientists have been trying to figure out just what this RNA might be doing, if anything. In 2008, MIT researchers led by Institute Professor Phillip Sharp discovered that much of this RNA is generated through a process called divergent expression, through which cells read their DNA in both directions moving away from a given starting point.

In a new paper appearing in Nature on June 23, Sharp and colleagues describe how cells initiate but then halt the copying of RNA in the upstream, or non-protein-coding direction, while allowing it to continue in the direction in which genes are correctly read. The finding helps to explain the existence of many recently discovered types of short strands of RNA whose function is unknown.

"This is part of an RNA revolution where we're seeing different RNAs and new RNAs that we hadn't suspected were present in cells, and trying to understand what role they have in the health of the cell or the viability of the cell," says Sharp, who is a member of MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. "It gives us a whole new appreciation of the balance of the fundamental processes that allow cells to function."

Graduate students Albert Almada and Xuebing Wu are the lead authors of the paper. Christopher Burge, a professor of biology and biological engineering, and undergraduate Andrea Kriz are also authors.

Choosing direction

DNA, which is housed within the nucleus of cells, controls cellular activity by coding for the production of RNAs and proteins. To exert this control, the genetic information encoded by DNA must first be copied, or transcribed, into messenger RNA (mRNA).

When the DNA double helix unwinds to reveal its genetic messages, RNA transcription can proceed in either direction. To initiate this copying, an enzyme called RNA polymerase latches on to the DNA at a spot known as the promoter. The RNA polymerase then moves along the strand, building the mRNA chain as it goes.

When the RNA polymerase reaches a stop signal at the end of a gene, it halts transcription and adds to the mRNA a sequence of bases known as a poly-A tail, which consists of a long string of the genetic base adenine. This process, known as polyadenylation, helps to prepare the mRNA molecule to be exported from the cell's nucleus.

By sequencing the mRNA transcripts of mouse embryonic stem cells, the researchers discovered that polyadenylation also plays a major role in halting the transcription of upstream, noncoding DNA sequences. They found that these regions have a high density of signal sequences for polyadenylation, which prompts enzymes to chop up the RNA before it gets very long. Stretches of DNA that code for genes have a low density of these signal sequences.

The researchers also found another factor that influences whether transcription is allowed to continue. It has been recently shown that when a cellular factor known as U1 snRNP binds to RNA, polyadenylation is suppressed. The new MIT study found that genes have a higher concentration of binding sites for U1 snRNP than noncoding sequences, allowing gene transcription to continue uninterrupted.

A widespread phenomenon

The function of all of this upstream noncoding RNA is still a subject of much investigation. "That transcriptional process could produce an RNA that has some function, or it could be a product of the nature of the biochemical reaction. This will be debated for a long time," Sharp says.

His lab is now exploring the relationship between this transcription process and the observation of large numbers of so-called long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). He plans to investigate the mechanisms that control the synthesis of such RNAs and try to determine their functions.

"Once you see some data like this, it raises many more questions to be investigated, which I'm hoping will lead us to deeper insights into how our cells carry out their normal functions and how they change in malignancy," Sharp says.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/vK48xKSPdxQ/130624141412.htm

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