IUPUI physicist collaborates in new study of the cell's 'shredder'
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
25-Oct-2013
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Contact: Cindy Fox Aisen caisen@iupui.edu 317-843-2276 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Science
INDIANAPOLIS -- Steve Press, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics in the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, collaborates as the theorist of a new University of California-Berkeley study that provides novel insight into how proteins function in cells.
This collaborative study focuses on a bacterial ClpXP protease, a large protein complex resembling similar complexes in human cells. "It has a function within the cell similar to that of the shredder in an office," Press says. Proteins enter the molecular machine to be chopped up. Just as our office shredders function differently depending on what type of media is inserted for destruction (paper, a CD or a plastic card), this cellular shredder is just as flexible. This study finds that ClpXP operates differently for different segments of a single protein.
"This cellular level shredder is different from other molecular motors we know about in biology. It operates at a constant RPM [revolutions per minute] but has different gears," said Press. "The molecular motor revolves in an orderly way but the amount of protein it shreds differs over one revolution displaying an evolutionary strategy for dealing with complicated material it needs to shred."
ClpXP is involved in DNA damage repair, gene expression and protein quality control.
"The ClpXP protease functions as a motor with constant "rpm" but different "gears""
is published in the Oct. 24 issue of the journal Cell.
###
Authors are Maya Sen, Rodrigo A. Maillard, Kristofor Nyquist, Piere Rodriguez-Aliaga, Steve Press, Andreas Martin, and Carlos Bustamante. All authors other than Press are affiliated with UC Berkeley. Bustamante is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. The work was supported in part by the Searle Scholars Program (A.M.), NIH grant R01-GM094497-01A1 (A.M.), NIH grant R01-GM0325543 (C.B.), the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 (C.B.),and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (C.B.).
Press, a statistical physicist, joined the IUPUI faculty earlier this year.
The School of Science at IUPUI is committed to excellence in teaching, research and service in the biological, physical, behavioral and mathematical sciences. The school is dedicated to being a leading resource for interdisciplinary research and science education in support of Indiana's effort to expand and diversify its economy. For more information, visit science.iupui.edu.
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IUPUI physicist collaborates in new study of the cell's 'shredder'
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
25-Oct-2013
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Contact: Cindy Fox Aisen caisen@iupui.edu 317-843-2276 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Science
INDIANAPOLIS -- Steve Press, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics in the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, collaborates as the theorist of a new University of California-Berkeley study that provides novel insight into how proteins function in cells.
This collaborative study focuses on a bacterial ClpXP protease, a large protein complex resembling similar complexes in human cells. "It has a function within the cell similar to that of the shredder in an office," Press says. Proteins enter the molecular machine to be chopped up. Just as our office shredders function differently depending on what type of media is inserted for destruction (paper, a CD or a plastic card), this cellular shredder is just as flexible. This study finds that ClpXP operates differently for different segments of a single protein.
"This cellular level shredder is different from other molecular motors we know about in biology. It operates at a constant RPM [revolutions per minute] but has different gears," said Press. "The molecular motor revolves in an orderly way but the amount of protein it shreds differs over one revolution displaying an evolutionary strategy for dealing with complicated material it needs to shred."
ClpXP is involved in DNA damage repair, gene expression and protein quality control.
"The ClpXP protease functions as a motor with constant "rpm" but different "gears""
is published in the Oct. 24 issue of the journal Cell.
###
Authors are Maya Sen, Rodrigo A. Maillard, Kristofor Nyquist, Piere Rodriguez-Aliaga, Steve Press, Andreas Martin, and Carlos Bustamante. All authors other than Press are affiliated with UC Berkeley. Bustamante is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. The work was supported in part by the Searle Scholars Program (A.M.), NIH grant R01-GM094497-01A1 (A.M.), NIH grant R01-GM0325543 (C.B.), the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 (C.B.),and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (C.B.).
Press, a statistical physicist, joined the IUPUI faculty earlier this year.
The School of Science at IUPUI is committed to excellence in teaching, research and service in the biological, physical, behavioral and mathematical sciences. The school is dedicated to being a leading resource for interdisciplinary research and science education in support of Indiana's effort to expand and diversify its economy. For more information, visit science.iupui.edu.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
MILFORD, Conn. — Houses ripped in half. Neighborhoods submerged in floodwaters. Power lines snapped like twigs. National Guard troops patrolling shore communities in Humvees. Residents kayaking flooded city streets to reach stores for supplies, only to find them closed. A half-million homes without power, some for weeks or more.
It didn't get as much media attention as New York and New Jersey, but Connecticut — those states' smaller New England neighbor — was pounded by Superstorm Sandy. State officials say the storm killed five people and damaged more than 38,000 homes.
A year later, some parts of Connecticut are still recovering. And many victims trying to rebuild are navigating an increasingly stressful entanglement of insurance forms, relief applications and bureaucratic red tape.
A home left leveled by Hurricane Sandy in Fairfield, Conn., in 2012. (Dylan Stableford/Yahoo News)
"It makes you want to give up — there's a lot of confusion and misguidance," said Paola Goren, a graphic designer who lives in Milford, on Long Island Sound. It's one of the Connecticut cities hit hardest by Sandy — and one still reeling from Tropical Storm Irene the year before.
Goren spent months without heat, hot water or electricity after Sandy's storm surge flooded her 1928 Point Beach home. Now, she says, she's been inundated with paperwork — from insurance to federal and state aid — while trying to cover the mounting costs of rebuilding. She is just one of more than 12,000 Connecticut residents to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for federal disaster assistance.
According to FEMA, more than $283 million on federal disaster assistance, loans and insurance claims were paid to Connecticut during the six months following Sandy. In August, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced an additional $71.8 million in aid from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development was on the way.
But some storm victims, like Joe Mirmina, say they've yet to see any of it.
Mirmina's three-story Milford home was flooded with five feet of water during Sandy. A city damage assessment concluded more than 50 percent of his home was damaged, triggering a federal requirement under the National Flood Insurance Program to elevate the house as part of the renovation. But Mirmina was denied bank and small-business loans, and FEMA aid has yet to materialize.
Mirmina, who paid $50,000 to rebuild after Irene, says he has enough in loans and savings to fix his home. But the cost of elevating it — at least $100,000, with federal guidelines limited to covering just $30,000 of that figure — is prohibitive.
"How is it that the government — whether it be city, state or federal — can force us to elevate our house at our expense to save the government money?" Mirmina asked.
Click image for RELATED SLIDESHOW: Hurricane Sandy Recovery from above. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
According to city officials, approximately 250 homes in Milford need to be raised. An additional 450 were near that threshold.
"We want to rebuild," said Mirmina, who's lived in his Milford home with his wife for 28 years. "But we can't afford to do it, and we can't walk away."
Displaced, Mirmina and his wife are now living in the home of his father, who had been ill and passed away after Sandy.
Laurie Robinson, a Milford Public Works employee who rode out the storm for two days in a second-floor addition on her 1953 cape-style home, is in a similar position. Waiting for financial assistance to rebuild, she's been living in a camper in the driveway of her home for the past year.
"I call it my studio apartment," Robinson said of the trailer, adding that she plans to use the aid she's received from the Salvation Army and Red Cross to winterize it.
Adding insult to injury, many of the same towns hit by Sandy were smacked anew in February by a blizzard that dumped more than three feet of snow in Connecticut, including 38 inches in Milford. Four Connecticut deaths were blamed on the winter storm.
In May, Goren launched a Facebook group — Storm Victims Unite — to organize and support fellow Sandy victims in Milford. It has about 100 members.
"The residents are really frustrated, and we can't blame them," Bill Richards, Milford's recovery coordinator, told the Wall Street Journal in July.
In Fairfield, another hard-hit coastal community, officials say about two dozen homes remain vacated. State Rep. Brenda Kupchick of Fairfield is fed up with the delays.
Click on image for RELATED SLIDESHOW: A ghost town on Staten Island. (Photo by Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
"FEMA is a disaster," Kupchick told Yahoo News. "The program doesn't work. The process is completely insane. People get frustrated and give up. It shouldn't be this convoluted."
Kupchick says she has tried to get information for her constituents from federal officials, but to no avail.
"It's almost impossible to find out anything," Kupchick said.
Officials at FEMA and HUD did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Goren has had a similar experience at the city level.
"Every story they give us is different," she said. "It's basically a free-for-all."
"Ten months of frustration,” Milford Mayor Ben Blake said last month at a public forum on the recovery effort. “I understand the tensions."
Blake blamed, in part, "the alphabet soup that is the federal government assistance process."
And the frustration has reached Capitol Hill. "Many Irene and Sandy victims were, and are, out of their homes for over a year, which demonstrates the process is not fast enough," Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro said in an email to Yahoo News. "Connecticut residents are resilient, but no one should have to deal with this kind of uncertainty.”
Part of the reason Connecticut is often overlooked when it comes to Sandy might be because of the state's strong initial response.
"We didn't have sewage systems overrun, we didn't have subway systems overrun, we didn't have tunnels overrun, people drowning in their own homes," Malloy said in comparison to New York and New Jersey two weeks after the storm.
The other part might be the timing of the disaster. Two days after the nationally televised 12/12/12 concert benefiting Sandy victims, Connecticut became synonymous with an incomparable tragedy: the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
In Nepal, villagers' land uses help people and tigers, study finds
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
21-Oct-2013
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Contact: Melissa Andreychek mandreychek@sesync.org 412-680-1277 University of Maryland
Annapolis, Md Hopeful signs that humans and tigers can coexist are emerging in rural Nepal, where the government has committed to doubling populations of the critically endangered big cat by 2022. A new study by conservation scientist Neil Carter provides evidence that when Nepalese villagers are empowered to make some local land management decisions, the resulting landscape changes can benefit both people and tigers.
Few wildlife species face more potential conflicts with humankind than tigers, which require large areas for hunting and raising their young, and inhabit some of the most densely populated regions of the world. Tiger populations have plummeted, from an estimated 100,000 worldwide at the beginning of the 20th century to perhaps as few as 3,000 remaining in the wild.
Carter studies the interactions between humans and tigers in Nepal's Chitwan National Park and its environs. In the latest research, Carter and his colleagues showed that in areas near the national park border where local people were permitted to harvest some of the natural resources they needed, such as timber and grass, the amount of tigers' preferred type of habitat increased. Within the park, where local resource harvests are prohibited, the amount of highly suitable habitat for tigers declined - perhaps due to illegal harvests.
A scientific paper based on the research, which Carter led while working on his doctoral degree at Michigan State University, was published online October 18 in the journal Ecosphere. He is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) at the University of Maryland.
Chitwan National Park was established in 1973 to protect tigers and other keystones of the area's biodiversity, but it has had significant costs for people living in the area. Residents depend on the forest for wood as fuel and building material, and rely on local grasses to thatch roofs and feed their livestock. The policies governing the park are top-down, with little input from residents, Carter said. Recognizing the potential for resource conflicts, in 1996 the Nepalese government added a buffer zone next to the park, where people have more access to the forest's resources and more say in its management.
"Many animals have their ranges extending outside of protected areas," Carter said. "They don't know and they don't care where the border signs are. So areas outside protected areas are important as well."
To find out how the creation and management of the buffer zones affected tigers, the researchers used camera traps motion-sensitive cameras mounted along animal trails that snapped photos of 17 different adult tigers at sites inside the park and in the buffer zone.
They also used satellite imagery to develop detailed maps of the local land cover, including forests, grasslands, and bare ground. By superimposing their photographic evidence of tiger movements onto the land cover maps, the researchers showed that tigers have a distinct preference for grasslands near water, which flow unbroken into nearby swaths of forest or grassy cover. That's probably because the grasslands and water attract animals for tigers to prey on, the grasses conceal them while they hunt, and the connected patches of habitat accommodate the big cats' need for relatively large home territories.
The researchers used satellite photos taken between 1989 and 2009 to track changes in land cover inside and outside the park, and compare it to the habitat that tigers prefer. Throughout that 20-year span, the park offered more habitat suitable for tigers than the buffer lands did. But the amount of good tiger habitat in the park declined between 1999 and 2009.
Meanwhile tiger habitat outside the park took a turn for the better. From 1989 to 1999, tiger habitat suitability outside the park was relatively constant. But from 1999 to 2009, the suitability of tiger habitat increased in the area between human settlements and the park boundary. The tiger habitat gains happened after the buffer zone was created and local people gained some control over land uses outside the park, the researchers noted.
"In Nepal, we're finding that there is this middle ground where you can have people using the land and still not only keep land from degrading, but can improve habitat quality," said Carter. "Policies in Chitwan's buffer zone, such as prohibiting livestock from freely grazing in the forests and community-based forest management, improved habitat quality."
In July 2013, the Nepalese government announced the nation's tiger population had jumped 63% in four years, with an estimated 198 tigers now living in the wild many of them in and around Chitwan National Park. The government cited habitat improvements and a decline in poaching as possible reasons for the apparent population increase.
"Park managers are doing a tremendous job of conserving tigers and their habitat in the face of relentless pressure from the human population," agreed Carter, who has worked in the area since 2008. By helping to meet villagers' urgent need for basic resources, the buffer zones make park managers' daunting task more achievable, he said.
As Nepal and other countries work to pull tigers back from the brink of extinction, the study "provides a relatively straightforward way to measure how humans affect endangered animals' habitat across space and through time," said Carter. "The next step is to model how tiger habitat and human livelihood strategies will interact and change in the future under different conservation policy scenarios. I'm working closely with computation staff to develop this complex model."
###
Carter's co-authors included Jianguo Liu, director of Michigan State University's Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability; Michigan State University faculty members Andrs Via and Henry Campa; Bhim Gurung of the Nepal Tiger Trust in Chitwan; and Jhamak Karki of Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
The National Science Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund, NASA's Earth and Space Science program, and Michigan State University's AgBioResearch funded the research.
The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Centerfunded through a National Science Foundation grant to the University of Marylandis an Annapolis, MD-based research center dedicated to solving complex problems at the intersection of human and natural systems. For more information, visit http://www.sesync.org.
Media contacts:
Melissa Andreychek, SESYNC
412-680-1277
Heather Dewar, UMD
301-405-9267
Dowload a copy of the research paper at http://www.esajournals.org/doi/full/10.1890/ES13-00191.1
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
In Nepal, villagers' land uses help people and tigers, study finds
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
21-Oct-2013
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Contact: Melissa Andreychek mandreychek@sesync.org 412-680-1277 University of Maryland
Annapolis, Md Hopeful signs that humans and tigers can coexist are emerging in rural Nepal, where the government has committed to doubling populations of the critically endangered big cat by 2022. A new study by conservation scientist Neil Carter provides evidence that when Nepalese villagers are empowered to make some local land management decisions, the resulting landscape changes can benefit both people and tigers.
Few wildlife species face more potential conflicts with humankind than tigers, which require large areas for hunting and raising their young, and inhabit some of the most densely populated regions of the world. Tiger populations have plummeted, from an estimated 100,000 worldwide at the beginning of the 20th century to perhaps as few as 3,000 remaining in the wild.
Carter studies the interactions between humans and tigers in Nepal's Chitwan National Park and its environs. In the latest research, Carter and his colleagues showed that in areas near the national park border where local people were permitted to harvest some of the natural resources they needed, such as timber and grass, the amount of tigers' preferred type of habitat increased. Within the park, where local resource harvests are prohibited, the amount of highly suitable habitat for tigers declined - perhaps due to illegal harvests.
A scientific paper based on the research, which Carter led while working on his doctoral degree at Michigan State University, was published online October 18 in the journal Ecosphere. He is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) at the University of Maryland.
Chitwan National Park was established in 1973 to protect tigers and other keystones of the area's biodiversity, but it has had significant costs for people living in the area. Residents depend on the forest for wood as fuel and building material, and rely on local grasses to thatch roofs and feed their livestock. The policies governing the park are top-down, with little input from residents, Carter said. Recognizing the potential for resource conflicts, in 1996 the Nepalese government added a buffer zone next to the park, where people have more access to the forest's resources and more say in its management.
"Many animals have their ranges extending outside of protected areas," Carter said. "They don't know and they don't care where the border signs are. So areas outside protected areas are important as well."
To find out how the creation and management of the buffer zones affected tigers, the researchers used camera traps motion-sensitive cameras mounted along animal trails that snapped photos of 17 different adult tigers at sites inside the park and in the buffer zone.
They also used satellite imagery to develop detailed maps of the local land cover, including forests, grasslands, and bare ground. By superimposing their photographic evidence of tiger movements onto the land cover maps, the researchers showed that tigers have a distinct preference for grasslands near water, which flow unbroken into nearby swaths of forest or grassy cover. That's probably because the grasslands and water attract animals for tigers to prey on, the grasses conceal them while they hunt, and the connected patches of habitat accommodate the big cats' need for relatively large home territories.
The researchers used satellite photos taken between 1989 and 2009 to track changes in land cover inside and outside the park, and compare it to the habitat that tigers prefer. Throughout that 20-year span, the park offered more habitat suitable for tigers than the buffer lands did. But the amount of good tiger habitat in the park declined between 1999 and 2009.
Meanwhile tiger habitat outside the park took a turn for the better. From 1989 to 1999, tiger habitat suitability outside the park was relatively constant. But from 1999 to 2009, the suitability of tiger habitat increased in the area between human settlements and the park boundary. The tiger habitat gains happened after the buffer zone was created and local people gained some control over land uses outside the park, the researchers noted.
"In Nepal, we're finding that there is this middle ground where you can have people using the land and still not only keep land from degrading, but can improve habitat quality," said Carter. "Policies in Chitwan's buffer zone, such as prohibiting livestock from freely grazing in the forests and community-based forest management, improved habitat quality."
In July 2013, the Nepalese government announced the nation's tiger population had jumped 63% in four years, with an estimated 198 tigers now living in the wild many of them in and around Chitwan National Park. The government cited habitat improvements and a decline in poaching as possible reasons for the apparent population increase.
"Park managers are doing a tremendous job of conserving tigers and their habitat in the face of relentless pressure from the human population," agreed Carter, who has worked in the area since 2008. By helping to meet villagers' urgent need for basic resources, the buffer zones make park managers' daunting task more achievable, he said.
As Nepal and other countries work to pull tigers back from the brink of extinction, the study "provides a relatively straightforward way to measure how humans affect endangered animals' habitat across space and through time," said Carter. "The next step is to model how tiger habitat and human livelihood strategies will interact and change in the future under different conservation policy scenarios. I'm working closely with computation staff to develop this complex model."
###
Carter's co-authors included Jianguo Liu, director of Michigan State University's Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability; Michigan State University faculty members Andrs Via and Henry Campa; Bhim Gurung of the Nepal Tiger Trust in Chitwan; and Jhamak Karki of Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
The National Science Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund, NASA's Earth and Space Science program, and Michigan State University's AgBioResearch funded the research.
The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Centerfunded through a National Science Foundation grant to the University of Marylandis an Annapolis, MD-based research center dedicated to solving complex problems at the intersection of human and natural systems. For more information, visit http://www.sesync.org.
Media contacts:
Melissa Andreychek, SESYNC
412-680-1277
Heather Dewar, UMD
301-405-9267
Dowload a copy of the research paper at http://www.esajournals.org/doi/full/10.1890/ES13-00191.1
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| 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.
My original iPad has seen better days. Its screen is all marred, scratches and dents adorn its back shell, and iOS 5 -- yep, you read that right -- creaks along on its outmoded internals. It's time for an upgrade. If you're in the same boat as me, take heart: You don't have to be stuck with a tattered slab of aluminum and glass after you upgrade.
Lots of services allow you to sell back your old iPad in exchange for cash or store credit -- or at least unload it on someone else who will dispose of it or recycle it for you. Here's what you need to know about four popular gadget-buyback services, and how much they'll give you for that "ancient" 18-month-old iPad you can't bear to use anymore.
Amazon Amazon will take back your old iPad in return for an Amazon gift card through its electronics trade-in program. To use it, visit Amazon.com, and click Shop by Department in the upper-left corner of the page. Click Electronics & Computers, and select Trade In Electronics.
From there, you can search for the iPad model that you have by typing its description into the search field (for example, "iPad 2 32GB Wi-Fi"). This step can be a somewhat tedious endeavor -- Amazon's search function isn't the most precise -- but once you find your iPad model, click the yellow Trade In button. Once you do, Amazon will ask you to log in with your account. Sign in, and Amazon will ask you to specify the condition of your iPad and then step you through the trade-in process.
Amazon does not take back broken or severely damaged iPads, so make sure your slightly mangled tablet meets the eligibility levels: To see what each criterion means, simply mouse over it and Amazon will give you a full description.
If you want cash instead of an Amazon gift card, you can always sell your iPad through Amazon. This approach requires you to register as a seller with Amazon, which may be a hassle, but it does mean that you can set your own price for your iPad.
Best Buy Much like Amazon, Best Buy will take back your old iPad through BestBuyTradeIn.com in return for a Best Buy gift card.
The process is reasonably straightforward: Scroll down and select Apple under the Tablets & E-Readers heading, and either search for your iPad model or choose it from the list. Once you find your model, select it, and Best Buy will give you an estimate of how much it's worth, based on its condition. After you click the Add to Cart button, Best Buy will walk you through the process of determining your iPad's condition and sending it in for your store credit.
If your iPad is too damaged for you to get anything for it, Best Buy will offer to recycle it, so at least it won't clutter up your desk anymore.
Gazelle If you're looking for a site that's dedicated to buying back used electronics, Gazelle is for you. In addition to iPads and other tablets, it will buy back smartphones, iPods, and Mac laptops and desktops.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets edged higher on Thursday, boosted by signs of growth in China's manufacturing sector, while rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep its stimulus efforts in place for months kept U.S. Treasuries yields near three-month lows.
Wall Street opened higher a day after the S&P 500 index broke a four-session winning streak as investors grappled with a host of corporate earnings and muddled economic data.
The low Treasuries yields kept the dollar pressured while helping the euro as the Fed's easy monetary policy outweighed weaker euro zone data. The euro was up 0.3 percent at $1.3816, having earlier hit $1.3824, its strongest level since November 2011, while the dollar fell broadly, hitting a near nine-month low of 79.081 against a basket of currencies.
Fed policy is seen as very data dependant, though economic indicators over the coming month are likely to be skewed by the effects of the government shutdown. That could limit insight on the actual state of the economy and to what degree the shutdown and the fight over raising the debt ceiling harmed growth.
"What we've been seeing since the government shutdown and debt ceiling was resolved is a desire to jump back into Treasuries," said Jason Rogan, managing director in Treasuries trading at Guggenheim Partners in New York.
"Most market participants are of the mind that the Fed is on hold for the foreseeable future."
Treasuries have rallied since data on Tuesday showed employers added fewer jobs than expected in September, stroking fears the economy was slowing, even before the government's 16-day shutdown.
However, on Thursday the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 6/32, its yield at 2.5052 percent.
Data showed activity in China's vast factory sector reached a seven-month high this month, easing concerns about a slowdown in Chinese exports, which would point to weakening global demand.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 87.50 points, or 0.57 percent, at 15,500.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.83 points, or 0.28 percent, at 1,751.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 20.37 points, or 0.52 percent, at 3,927.44.
European shares recovered their poise, climbing back toward five-year highs thanks to strong corporate results and the encouraging manufacturing data from top metals consumer China.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.4 percent at 1,284.89, recovering from the previous session's fall and climbing back toward Tuesday's five-year highs of 1,291.93.
MSCI's world equity index added 0.2 percent, slightly retracing losses of 0.6 percent on Wednesday, when markets were rocked by fears that a spike in Chinese short-term rates could hurt growth.
The U.S. manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose at its slowest pace in a year this month and factory output contracted for the first time since late 2009. The survey was conducted partly during the 16-day U.S. government shutdown, which economists expect will slow overall U.S. growth slightly in the last three months of 2013.
Markit's PMI index for the 17-nation euro area showed business activity eased slightly in October after a pick-up in September, though it confirmed that the region's economic recovery was taking root.
MIXED EARNINGS
U.S. corporate earnings continue to pour in, with 47 S&P 500 components expected to report on Thursday, including Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc after the close of trading.
"The earnings picture was not supposed to be that great this quarter and in fact we are seeing that. The thing that is disappointing is top-line revenue, and those are not good signs," said Keith Bliss, senior vice-president at Cuttone & Co in New York.
"So what is going to drive the market from that point is going to be Washington policy and Fed policy."
In commodities trading, gold was the biggest mover, up 0.4 percent to $1,336.50 an ounce, nearing a four-week high as the outlook for an unchanged Fed policy heightened concerns about inflation risk.
"Postponement of tapering means higher liquidity in the market, probably higher inflation risks in the longer term," Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg said. "That's likely to lead to higher interest in gold."
Brent crude futures slipped 0.5 percent to near $107 a barrel as rising supplies of crude oil in the United States drove prices toward a two-month low, while U.S. crude fell for a fourth straight session to its lowest since June. But the selling was not as heavy as in the previous session.
Brent crude oil was down 49 cents to $107.31 a barrel while the U.S. crude oil benchmark, also known as West Texas Intermediate or WTI, shed 47 cents to $96.49 a barrel.
Copper edged down to its lowest in more than a week as concerns about the current tight credit conditions in China and its impact on demand offset the brighter growth outlook.
(Additional reporting by Jan Harvey and Jessica Mortimer in London; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Andrew Slavitt, group executive vice president for Optum/QSSI, right, pauses while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013, before the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing with contractors that built the federal government's health care websites. The contractors responsible for building the troubled Healthcare.gov website say it was the government's responsibility _ not theirs _ to test it and make sure it worked. At left is Cheryl Campbell, Senior vice president of CGI Federal. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Andrew Slavitt, group executive vice president for Optum/QSSI, right, pauses while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013, before the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing with contractors that built the federal government's health care websites. The contractors responsible for building the troubled Healthcare.gov website say it was the government's responsibility _ not theirs _ to test it and make sure it worked. At left is Cheryl Campbell, Senior vice president of CGI Federal. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Vice President Joe Biden applauds as President Barack Obama speaks about immigration reform, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. The president said now that the partial government shutdown is over, Republicans and Democrats should be able to work together to fix what he called "a broken immigration system." (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2010 file photo, a Saudi woman smokes tobacco from a waterpipe as her friend looks at her cell phone in a coffee shop in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It’s been a little more than two years since the last time women in Saudi Arabia campaigned for the right to drive. Since then, the monarchy has made incremental but key reforms, and activists hope that has readied the nation for greater change as they call for women to get behind the wheel in a new campaign Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013. Ultraconservatives are pushing back with protests, threats and even a cleric’s warning that driving a car damages a woman’s ovaries. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:
1. WHERE THE HEALTH CARE WEBSITE WENT WRONG
Contractors say the site's problems trace back to insufficient testing and late changes government officials made.
2. SOME DEMOCRATS SEEK DELAY IN HEALTH CARE LAW
Six Senate Democrats propose delaying the March 31 deadline for applying for coverage and a seventh is co-authoring a bill to postpone the $95 penalty.
3. MERKEL SAYS SPYING ALLEGATIONS HAVE HARMED TIES WITH US
"We need trust among allies and partners," the German leader says. "Such trust now has to be built anew."
4. PORTUGUAL REOPENS THE MADELEINE MCCANN CASE
Prosecutors say new evidence has emerged more than six years after the British girl vanished.
5. WHY ACTIVISTS ARE PUSHING SAUDI WOMEN TO GET BEHIND THE WHEEL
They hope recent reforms made by the monarchy have readied the deeply conservative nation for change.
6. FDA RECOMMENDING LIMITS ON MOST-PRESCRIBED PAINKILLERS
In a big shift, the agency says hydrocodone-containing drugs should be subject to the same restrictions as other narcotics like oxycodone and morphine.
7. WHAT LAW OBAMA WANTS PASSED BY YEAR'S END
The president renews his call for Congress to approve a comprehensive immigration bill.
8. TWITTER SETS $17 TO $20 PER SHARE RANGE FOR IPO
The social networking company says it could raise as much as $1.6 billion in the offering.
9. BAND FROM ASSASSIN'S HAND DRAWS BIG BUCKS
Lee Harvey Oswald's gold wedding ring sells for $108K at auction of JFK items as 50th anniversary of president's shooting approaches.
10. A YEAR BEFORE EXPANDED REPLAY, WORLD SERIES UMPS REVERSE CALL
The overturned call steams the Cards and Red Sox — and gives fans a taste of exactly what they might be missing next year.
Contact: John Delaney jdelaney@wcs.org 718-220-3275 Wildlife Conservation Society
Conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of St. Andrews warn that Uganda's African lionsa mainstay of the country's tourism industry and a symbol of Africaare on the verge of disappearing from the country's national parks.
According to the results of a recent survey, African lions in Uganda have decreased by more than 30 percent over the past 10 years in some areas of the country, mostly the result of poisoning by local cattle herders, retaliations for livestock predation, and other human-related conflicts. The downward trend in lion numbers has conservationists concerned about the species' long-term chances in the country, often described as the "Pearl of Africa" for its natural wonders.
The study appears in the latest edition of the journal Oryx. The authors include: Edward Okot Omoya, Tutilo Mudumba, Paul Mulondo, and Andrew J. Plumptre from WCS and Stephen T. Buckland of the University of St. Andrews.
"African lions are a vital component of these ecosystems," said WCS conservationist Edward Okot Omoya, the lead author of the study. "They play an important role in disease control of antelopes and buffalo by killing the sick animals."
The paper describes the results of a "lure count" analysis survey to estimate the density and population distribution of lions and spotted hyenas in Uganda's three major conservation areas, conducted by researchers between November 2008 and November 2009. The researchers used a buffalo calf distress call (broadcast via speakers mounted on a vehicle roof rack) to attract both medium and large carnivores to the "call stations" as a means of calculating a current population estimate for the study locations. Previous survey methods used to count lions have included counting roars, identifying individual cats, and mark-recapture methods, but the methods are time-consuming and expensive.
Overall, the call station surveys attracted a total of 66 lions, 176 spotted hyenas, and seven leopards. The broadcasts also attracted a host of smaller predators, including side-striped jackals, black-backed jackals, white-tailed mongooses, and large spotted genets.
Using the data of animals observed, the analysis generated an estimated lion population of 408 animals in the three main strongholds for lions in Uganda, nearly two hundred fewer lions than estimates made in 2000-2002 (a statistical decrease of more than 30 percent). In Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area, estimated lion numbers have decreased from 206 to 144 over the past decade (a 30 percent drop). In Murchison Falls Conservation Area, the team estimates a nearly 60 percent drop (from 324 to 132 lions in the past decade). Only in Kidepo Valley National Park did the researchers detect an increase in estimated lion numbers (climbing from 58 to 132).
"Lions are the species tourists most want to see in Uganda's savannas according to research by WCS. Surveys of tourists have shown that they would be 50% less likely to visit the parks in Uganda if they couldn't see lions, and if they did visit they would want to pay less for the experience. As an industry that generates more foreign currency in the country than any other business this could have significant consequences for Uganda" reported Dr. Andrew Plumptre, WCS's Director for the Albertine Rift.
The study also represents the first survey of hyena numbers from these areas, generating a population estimate of 324 hyenas (the researchers suspectbut cannot prove hyenas to be in decline as well).
"Conservation areas such as Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls, which formerly contained the highest biomass of mammals on Earth, depend on the delicate balance between predators and prey," said Dr. James Deutsch, Executive Director of WCS's Africa Program. "Their loss would permanently alter two of Africa's great ecosystems."
The crisis in lion conservation in Uganda reflects the status of the species across Africa, where lion populations have dropped by 30 percent over the past two decades as a result of illegal killing and the loss of both habitat and prey. The most recent estimate of Africa's total lion population is approximately 32,000 animals. A group study led by WCS estimated that 42 percent of major lion populations are in decline. The species is nearly extinct in West and Central Africa. The species is listed as "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature but there is a current proposal to list the species as "Endangered" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act because of the continuing global declines.
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The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo exhibits African lions in its African Plains habitat, a naturalistic exhibit space that exhibits both predator and prey species separated only by moats. The Bronx Zoo's lions are part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a breeding cooperative administered by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums designed to enhance the genetic viability and diversity of animal populations in accredited zoos.
WCS is grateful to Panthera and the U.S. Agency for International Development for the training and funding support provided to make this research possible.
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King of beasts losing ground in Uganda's paradise
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
24-Oct-2013
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Contact: John Delaney jdelaney@wcs.org 718-220-3275 Wildlife Conservation Society
Conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of St. Andrews warn that Uganda's African lionsa mainstay of the country's tourism industry and a symbol of Africaare on the verge of disappearing from the country's national parks.
According to the results of a recent survey, African lions in Uganda have decreased by more than 30 percent over the past 10 years in some areas of the country, mostly the result of poisoning by local cattle herders, retaliations for livestock predation, and other human-related conflicts. The downward trend in lion numbers has conservationists concerned about the species' long-term chances in the country, often described as the "Pearl of Africa" for its natural wonders.
The study appears in the latest edition of the journal Oryx. The authors include: Edward Okot Omoya, Tutilo Mudumba, Paul Mulondo, and Andrew J. Plumptre from WCS and Stephen T. Buckland of the University of St. Andrews.
"African lions are a vital component of these ecosystems," said WCS conservationist Edward Okot Omoya, the lead author of the study. "They play an important role in disease control of antelopes and buffalo by killing the sick animals."
The paper describes the results of a "lure count" analysis survey to estimate the density and population distribution of lions and spotted hyenas in Uganda's three major conservation areas, conducted by researchers between November 2008 and November 2009. The researchers used a buffalo calf distress call (broadcast via speakers mounted on a vehicle roof rack) to attract both medium and large carnivores to the "call stations" as a means of calculating a current population estimate for the study locations. Previous survey methods used to count lions have included counting roars, identifying individual cats, and mark-recapture methods, but the methods are time-consuming and expensive.
Overall, the call station surveys attracted a total of 66 lions, 176 spotted hyenas, and seven leopards. The broadcasts also attracted a host of smaller predators, including side-striped jackals, black-backed jackals, white-tailed mongooses, and large spotted genets.
Using the data of animals observed, the analysis generated an estimated lion population of 408 animals in the three main strongholds for lions in Uganda, nearly two hundred fewer lions than estimates made in 2000-2002 (a statistical decrease of more than 30 percent). In Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area, estimated lion numbers have decreased from 206 to 144 over the past decade (a 30 percent drop). In Murchison Falls Conservation Area, the team estimates a nearly 60 percent drop (from 324 to 132 lions in the past decade). Only in Kidepo Valley National Park did the researchers detect an increase in estimated lion numbers (climbing from 58 to 132).
"Lions are the species tourists most want to see in Uganda's savannas according to research by WCS. Surveys of tourists have shown that they would be 50% less likely to visit the parks in Uganda if they couldn't see lions, and if they did visit they would want to pay less for the experience. As an industry that generates more foreign currency in the country than any other business this could have significant consequences for Uganda" reported Dr. Andrew Plumptre, WCS's Director for the Albertine Rift.
The study also represents the first survey of hyena numbers from these areas, generating a population estimate of 324 hyenas (the researchers suspectbut cannot prove hyenas to be in decline as well).
"Conservation areas such as Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls, which formerly contained the highest biomass of mammals on Earth, depend on the delicate balance between predators and prey," said Dr. James Deutsch, Executive Director of WCS's Africa Program. "Their loss would permanently alter two of Africa's great ecosystems."
The crisis in lion conservation in Uganda reflects the status of the species across Africa, where lion populations have dropped by 30 percent over the past two decades as a result of illegal killing and the loss of both habitat and prey. The most recent estimate of Africa's total lion population is approximately 32,000 animals. A group study led by WCS estimated that 42 percent of major lion populations are in decline. The species is nearly extinct in West and Central Africa. The species is listed as "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature but there is a current proposal to list the species as "Endangered" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act because of the continuing global declines.
###
The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo exhibits African lions in its African Plains habitat, a naturalistic exhibit space that exhibits both predator and prey species separated only by moats. The Bronx Zoo's lions are part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a breeding cooperative administered by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums designed to enhance the genetic viability and diversity of animal populations in accredited zoos.
WCS is grateful to Panthera and the U.S. Agency for International Development for the training and funding support provided to make this research possible.
[
| 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.
(Reuters) - Twitter hired NBC News digital executive Vivian Schiller as the head of news after months of speculation since the social media platform posted a job listing for the position last spring.
"Excited to join @Twitter as Head of News in January. Leaving @NBCNews at year's end. Grateful to my beloved colleagues for 2+ great years," Schiller tweeted on Thursday.
Schiller has been considered the front runner for the role meant to be a liaison between Twitter and news organizations. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Many news organizations use Twitter to reach readers who are increasingly using social media platforms to consume news.
Schiller has an extensive background as an executive in charge of digital news. At NBC News, she served as senior vice president and chief digital officer. Prior to that, she was the CEO of National Public Radio. She left NPR in 2011 after a series of controversies including an NPR fundraising executive who slammed conservatives.
Schiller was also an executive at the New York Times Co, leading day-to-day operations of the newspaper's website.
Twitter also announced on Thursday that it is seeking to raise up to $10.9 billion in its hotly anticipated initial public offering.
(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York; editing by Matthew Lewis)
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah (left), and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, walk to the Senate floor on Oct. 16 to vote on a bill to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government.
Evan Vucci/AP
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah (left), and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, walk to the Senate floor on Oct. 16 to vote on a bill to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government.
Evan Vucci/AP
Two Tea Party-backed, defund-Obamacare-or-we'll-shut-down-the-government Senate leaders. Two very different outcomes.
Ted Cruz, who became the public face of the shutdown strategy with his 21-hour talkfest on the Senate floor, has gone back to Texas a conquering hero. He even got an eight-minute standing ovation at a San Antonio event over the weekend, and his not-quite-acknowledged 2016 presidential bid has only gathered momentum.
But Mike Lee, who actually circulated the letter demanding that the president's health care law be left out of any new government spending bill? Well, he's decided to avoid a lot of public events back in Utah for the time being.
It turns out there are many Republicans in Utah who think the shutdown was a bad idea, in part because the resulting closure of national parks cost the state's tourism industry money. Others are uncomfortable with the sharp and uncompromising ideological edge. The ill feelings could add steam to efforts to change the nominating process there to eliminate the party convention that currently has so much sway. It was the convention in 2010 where Lee and another challenger ousted incumbent Republican Robert Bennett. Lee then went on to win the subsequent primary.
If that convention is eliminated in favor of a stand-alone primary, it would diminish the influence of a small group of the most conservative activists and empower the broader, and more mainstream, conservative GOP electorate.
There's one bit of good news in this for Lee: His re-election cycle is still three years off.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, U.S. airmen dropped the nuclear bombs Little Boy and Fat Man on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On April 26, 1986, the number four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine exploded.
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