Since we launched Featured Fifty Fiction and then Featured Fifty Fine Arts we have had enormous success uncovering abundantly talented people who have shared their work with us. That got me thinking. If there are so many talented writers, artists and photographers out there, might there not be talented poets as well? At Huff/Post50 we believe there are.
Therefore, we invite all poets to submit their work. Please email your poems to 50poetry@huffingtonpost.com and put "50 poetry" in the subject line. In addition, please include a paragraph or so telling us a bit about you and your poem. We will begin featuring the best submissions next week.
The rules: You must be 50 or older to participate. You can submit only one poem per year. Please send your original poem, that has never been published elsewhere, to 50poetry@huffingtonpost.com.
I can't wait to see what is out there that the world will soon get a chance to read.
In the ongoing battle against piracy, Disney and Sony have made a bold step: they're both testing an on-demand service (in, um, South Korea) which allows people to rent movies and stream them in their own homes while they're still playing in theaters.
AT&T this morning officially announced the LG Optimus G Pro. It'll be available starting May 10 for $199 on contract. Preorders kick off May 3 online. (Looks like what we heard a few weeks back about a May 10 AT&T launch was right on the money.)
We're no stranger to the Optimus G Pro, having enjoyed the Korean version for a couple months now after its unveiling at Mobile World Congress. It's surprisingly svelte for a 5.5-inch device, and the 1080p IPS display is downright gorgeous. It's plenty snappy, too, with a Snapdragon 600 processor cranking along at 1.7 GHz. The 13MP rear camera proved to be decent enough as well.
AT&T's version is sporting 32GB of total storage (actual available storage will be less, of course), and you can slap up to a 64GB microSD card in there for good measure.
AT&T's Optimus G Pro also will have that "Value Pack" update that brings features such as dual-video recording and that eye-tracking stuff the kids are crazy about these days.
FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Michael McDonald gathers mail to load into his truck before making his delivery run in the East Atlanta neighborhood, in Atlanta. The U.S. Postal Service says it will delay plans to cut Saturday mail delivery because Congress isn't allowing the change. The Postal Service said in February that it planned to cut back in August to five-day-a-week deliveries for everything except packages, as a way to hold down losses. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Michael McDonald gathers mail to load into his truck before making his delivery run in the East Atlanta neighborhood, in Atlanta. The U.S. Postal Service says it will delay plans to cut Saturday mail delivery because Congress isn't allowing the change. The Postal Service said in February that it planned to cut back in August to five-day-a-week deliveries for everything except packages, as a way to hold down losses. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2014 file photo, U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Jamesa Euler, delivers mail in the rain in the Cabbagetown neighborhood, in Atlanta. The U.S. Postal Service says it will delay plans to cut Saturday mail delivery because Congress isn't allowing the change. The Postal Service said in February that it planned to cut back in August to five-day-a-week deliveries for everything except packages, as a way to hold down losses. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Charts show postal delivery addresses and mail volume since
FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Jamesa Euler, delivers mail in the Cabbagetown neighborhood of Atlanta. The U.S. Postal Service delivers mail to 11 million more homes, offices and other addresses than it did a decade ago, even as the amount of mail that people in the United States receive has dropped sharply. That combination may be financially dicey, some analysts say. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Jamesa Euler, turns down the flag on a mailbox while delivering mail in the Cabbagetown of Atlanta. The U.S. Postal Service delivers mail to 11 million more homes, offices and other addresses than it did a decade ago, even as the amount of mail that people in the United States receive has dropped sharply. That combination may be financially dicey, some analysts say. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The beleaguered U.S. Postal Service backed down from its cost-saving plan to eliminate Saturday mail delivery, acknowledging that Congress barred a move that supporters said was essential to addressing the agency's dire financial condition.
Despite the retreat, the governing board said Wednesday that it's not possible for the Postal Service to meet its goals for reduced spending without altering the delivery schedule. Delaying "responsible changes," the board said, only makes it more likely that the Postal Service "may become a burden" to taxpayers.
The Postal Service said in February that it planned to switch to five-day-a-week deliveries beginning in August for everything except packages as a way to hold down losses.
But that announcement was a gamble. The agency essentially was asking Congress to drop from spending legislation the longtime ban on five-day-only delivery. Congress did not do that when it passed a spending measure last month.
"By including restrictive language ... Congress has prohibited implementation of a new national delivery schedule for mail and package," the postal Board of Governors said in a statement Wednesday.
The board said it was disappointed by the congressional action, but would not disregard the law. It directed the Postal Service to delay putting in place the new delivery schedule until Congress passes legislation that gives the agency "the authority to implement a financially appropriate and responsible delivery schedule."
The board made the decision in a closed meeting Tuesday.
Officials said that to restore the service to long-term financial stability, the agency must have the flexibility to reduce costs and come up with new revenues.
"It is not possible for the Postal Service to meet significant cost reduction goals without changing its delivery schedule ? any rational analysis of our current financial condition and business options leads to this conclusion," the board statement said.
An independent agency, the service gets no tax dollars for its day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control. It lost nearly $16 billion last year ? $11.1 billion of that due to a 2006 law Congress passed forcing it to pay into future retiree health benefits, something no other agency does.
"Given these extreme circumstances and the worsening financial condition of the Postal Service, the board has directed management to seek a reopening of negotiations with the postal unions and consultations with management associations to lower total workforce costs, and to take administrative actions necessary to reduce costs," according to the statement. It offered no giving further details.
It said the board also asked management to look at further options to raise revenues, including a rate increase.
The Postal Service already is executing a major restructuring throughout its retail, delivery and mail processing operations. Since 2006, it has reduced annual costs by approximately $15 billion, cut its workforce by 193,000 or 28 percent, and consolidated more than 200 mail processing locations.
GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of California, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he was disappointed in the change of plans announced Wednesday and noted that polls show a majority of people support the reduced delivery schedule.
"This reversal significantly undercuts the credibility of Postal officials who have told Congress that they were prepared defy political pressure and make difficult but necessary cuts," Issa said in a statement.
"Despite some assertions, it's quite clear that special interest lobbying and intense political pressure played a much greater role in the Postal Service's change of heart than any real or perceived barrier to implementing what had been announced."
Sen. Tom Carper, a leader on postal issues, said he hoped Congress would pass new legislation to address the agency's problems.
"Even though today's decision by the Postal Service's Board of Governors delays its controversial proposal, the urgent need for the administration and Congress to work together to save the Postal Service by making hard decisions and tackling controversial issues like Saturday delivery remains," Carper, D-Del., said in a statement.
Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages, and it repeatedly but unsuccessfully has appealed to Congress to approve the move.
The idea to cut mail but keep six-day package delivery played up the agency's strong point. It's package service is growing as more people buy things online, while the volume of letters sent has slumped with increased use of email and other internet services.
The Senate last year passed a bill that would have stopped the postal service from eliminating Saturday service for at least two years and required it to try two years of aggressive cost cutting instead. The House didn't pass a bill.
Apr. 10, 2013 ? A Kiel based research group has discovered nano-crystals at the interface between two liquids.
Not all liquids are mixable. Researchers from the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics of Kiel University (CAU) have investigated chemical processes with atomic resolution at the interface between two such liquids and have made an exciting discovery. During an experiment carried out at Germany's largest accelerator centre DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) in Hamburg, they observed the formation of an ordered crystal of exactly five atomic layers between the two liquids, which acts as a foundation for growing even bigger crystals. The experiment was performed in cooperation with scientists from Israel, the USA, and DESY. The results have just been published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They may result in new semiconductor and nano-particle production processes.
Everyone knows that oil and water do not mix. However, how the interface between two immiscible liquids behaves on an atomic scale is almost completely unknown up to now as it cannot be investigated at this level by most modern surface science methods. Solving this final piece of the puzzle is the aim of the team of Dr. Bridget Murphy and Professor Olaf Magnussen from the Physics Department at Kiel University. To do this the scientists use the brilliant X-rays at DESY's ring accelerator PETRA III. There the LISA diffracometer (Liquid Interfaces Scattering Apparatus), an instrument developed by the physicists from Kiel, deflects the highly focussed X-ray beam onto the liquid sample. "LISA was custom designed for investigating interfaces in liquids because here important chemical processes take place" explains Bridget Murphy, who was responsible for building up this instrument in the last few years.
In their latest work the researchers wanted to find out, for the first time, what exactly occurs during chemical growth at liquid interfaces. They investigated mercury in a salt solution containing fluorine, bromine and lead ions and obtained an astonishing result: although the molecules in both liquids were disordered, a nanometre thin layer, that is a ten thousandth of the width of a human hair, with crystalline order formed at their interface. "Our X-ray data show that this layer consists of an atomic layer of fluorine between two layers of lead and bromine," explains team member Annika Elsen, who just received her doctorate for this work. "Subsequently, larger crystals grow perfectly aligned on top of this nano-layer crystal."
The atomic order that develops at such disordered liquid interfaces is not only of fundamental interest for science. In fact, in the last few years, a range of chemical processes for producing materials and nano-particles has employed growth at liquid interfaces. For example, two years ago American scientists at the University of Michigan developed a similar process for manufacturing semiconductor germanium with an extremely energy efficient method from its oxide. Further developments of such processes could help to reduce the high energy costs in the production of solar cells. In order to achieve this the details of these processes, a better understanding on the atomic scale is required. The work of the Kiel scientists is a first step in this direction.
Kiel University, a research university in north Germany, has a proven international expertise in nano-science. Experiments with synchrotron radiation make an important contribution to this field. In a series of research consortia, funded by the ministry for education and research (Bundesministerium f?r Bildung und Forschung) Kiel scientists design and develop new methods and instruments.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Christian-Albrechts-Universitaet zu Kiel.
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Journal Reference:
A. Elsen, S. Festersen, B. Runge, C. T. Koops, B. M. Ocko, M. Deutsch, O. H. Seeck, B. M. Murphy, O. M. Magnussen. In situ X-ray studies of adlayer-induced crystal nucleation at the liquid-liquid interface. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1301800110
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Ireland's press regulations, which include an ombudsman and a council of publishers, public citizens, and journalists, are less restrictive than the proposed British version.
By Jason Walsh,?Correspondent / March 27, 2013
A man collects a copy of a newspaper at a newsstand in London, Oct. 2010. Could Ireland's model of an official Press Council and ombudsman work in Britain?
Ian West/AP/File
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With the British government moving ahead on a new media regulator and the UK press in revolt against, some in the country wonder if their neighbors to the west could offer a solution. Could Ireland's model of an official Press Council and ombudsman work in Britain?
Skip to next paragraph Jason Walsh
Ireland Correspondent
Jason Walsh has been the Monitor's Ireland correspondent since 2009, dividing his time primarily between Belfast, Northern Ireland and?Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. During that time he has reported on stumbling blocks in the peace process, the dissident republican threat,?pro-British unionist riots, demands for abortion legislation and Ireland's economic crash.
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Set up by the newspaper industry in response to a government threat to introduce privacy legislation, the 13-member Press Council includes representatives of publishers, members of the public (the appointments are publicly advertised), and one from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), the leading journalists' union in Britain and Ireland.
Publications that are members, including all of the national newspapers, agree to be bound by its code of conduct, and to recognize the decisions of the council and ombudsman. Membership in the council is not mandatory, but publications that are members are generally subject to lesser damages in the event of successful court actions against them, as a result of the council and ombudsman being "recognized in statute."
The ombudsman, currently?John Horgan, a former Labor party politician and journalism professor, adjudicates on complaints from subjects of newspaper stories, and if agreement cannot be found between all parties involved, he can make a ruling or refer the complaint to the Press Council for a final decision.
Seamus Dooley, the Irish secretary of the NUJ, says regulation has not been proscriptive.
The Press Council's code of conduct is more carrot than stick, and starts with a full-throated defense of a free press, saying: "The freedom to publish is vital to the right of the people to be informed. This freedom includes the right of a newspaper to publish what it?considers to be news, without fear or favour, and the right to comment upon it."
It goes on, however, to detail what the Press Council sees as the correct way for publications to operate, although the tone is more aspirational than condemnatory. For example, retractions must be printed in a prominent place and ordinary members of the public are entitled to privacy.
"We're quite happy with the way it's going," says retired business journalist Martin Fitzpatrick, NUJ's appointee to the Irish Press Council. "We've never had a hugely contentious press. There is a degree of timidity, and you could fault them for not foreseeing the onset of the financial crisis, but that's not down to regulation."
The high opinion of press regulation is not universally held, however, even in the NUJ's Irish ranks.
"[British] newspapers did horrible things, but they also uncovered horrible things that were done. The effect of regulation will not be the protection of people who, through no fault of their own, find themselves at the center of press attention, it will be the protection of the rich and powerful," says Gerard Cunningham, chairman of the NUJ's freelance branch in Ireland.
(Could Ireland's regulation work in Britain? British papers rebel as UK press regulation moves closer to reality)
Mr. Cunningham, who formerly worked in the US, says the culture of the British press is, for demonstrable reasons, comparable to other countries only in very general terms.
"This is about all about competition," he says. "Maybe The New York Times and, to a lesser extent, The Christian Science Monitor have a national reach, but they're not really competing against a regional metro daily," he says.
This situation with each US metro market having a dominant player is in stark contrast with Britain, where 11 national dailies, a clutch of regional newspapers, a few specialist titles, and an independent national Scottish press all slug it out for the same pound.
"The British market is intensely competitive and they try to break every story. They really do publish and be damned," says Cunningham.
In contrast, a staggering 19 daily papers are available on the newsstands nationwide in Ireland, though nine of these are rarely read imports from the US and UK and three more are regional titles from Northern Ireland. Of the seven popular national newspapers in Ireland, two tabloids are "Celtified" editions of British newspapers and two more are hybrids of British and Irish material. All four are members of the Press Council, though their British equivalents object to press regulation.
Having a regulated press hasn't stopped the Irish government from indicating it may seek further powers, though. In February 2012, the publication by the Irish Daily Star of candid photographs of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, prompted Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter to consider enacting new, stricter privacy legislation. The government has yet to do so, however.
Get six of Disney's previously 99 cent apps, for free
Six of Disney's apps went on sale today in the Play Store. Previously coming in at 99 cents each, all six can now be downloaded for free. This includes one live wallpaper andfive games:
It's interesting that some of these apps already have free versions in the Play Store, and Disney chose to also offer their 99 cent counterparts for free. We don't know how long these apps will stay in the Play Store as free downloads, or if more will be added to the list, so download them now if any of these interest you or your kids. Temple Run has always been very popular, and Wreck-It Ralph was previously chosen as an App of the Week. Feel free to hit the comments with your own picks and recommendations.
LAS VEGAS (AP) ? A top executive with the owner of the Fox broadcast network threatened Monday to convert the network to a subscription channel on cable or satellite TV if Internet startup Aereo Inc. continues to "steal" Fox's over-the-air signal and sell it to consumers without paying for rights.
Although anyone with an antenna can pick up a station's signals for free, cable and satellite companies typically pay stations and networks for the right to distribute their programming to subscribers. Industrywide, those retransmission fees add up to billions of dollars every year. Aereo says it's not subject to those fees.
News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey said that not being paid by Aereo jeopardizes the economics of broadcast TV, which benefits from both retransmission fees and advertising.
"This is not an ideal path we look to pursue, but we can't sit idly by and let an entity steal our signal," Carey said at the annual gathering of broadcasters, called NAB Show, in Las Vegas. "If we can't do a fair deal, we could take the whole network to a subscription model."
Fox owns 27 TV stations that thrive on the signal of Fox or its sister network, MyNetworkTV. Carey didn't explain how they might be affected by his proposal.
His remarks came a week after a federal appeals court said Aereo could continue its service despite a legal challenge by broadcasters. Aereo takes broadcast signals for free from the air with thousands of little antennas, recodes them for Internet use and feeds that to subscribers' computers, tablets and smartphones. Plans start at $8 a month, which is much cheaper than a cable package, though the service is mostly limited to broadcast channels.
Broadcasters argue that Aereo is engaged in copyright infringement by retransmitting the signals without permission and payments. But in a 2-1 ruling, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York accepted Aereo's position that the individual antennas meant that Aereo wasn't retransmitting signals, but allowing its subscribers to do what they already could at home with their own antenna and video recorder.
Aereo's service had been limited to New York City when it debuted early last year. The Barry Diller-backed company expanded this year to the New York City suburbs, including New Jersey and parts of Connecticut. It plans to expand to Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington and 18 other U.S. markets this spring.
Analyst Todd Juenger of Bernstein Research speculated in a research note in January on what would make broadcast networks transition to a pay TV model.
Such a system would result in the loss of local news programs, broadcast personalities and advertising, which are all made possible by local TV stations. But a pay TV system could be better for network owners such as Fox if services like Aereo were to thrive, because it would cut off technology that siphons away customers from pay TV operators, he wrote.
News Corp.'s stock rose 77 cents, or 2.5 percent, to close Monday at $31.41.
A $200,000 ticket for a trip to space may be in actor Tom Cruise's future. The mega-star says he just might sign up for a real-life launch on a private spaceship, according to media reports.
The 50-year-old Cruise said he was interested in a spaceflight during the Moscow premiere for his new science fiction film "Oblivion."
"I'm going to let a couple of other people test it out first but it would be great," the "Top Gun" star said, according to the U.K. newspaper The Sun. "I was always hoping when I was a kid that we would be travelling to different planets by now."
A few private companies, such as Mojave, Calif.-based Virgin Galactic, are working to develop spaceships capable of carrying people on quick trips to the edge of space. For the price of a ticket, customers will fly to space without making a full orbit around Earth. The trip will give them an experience of weightlessness for a few minutes and a view of Earth from above.
If Cruise signs up, he won't be the first celebrity to do so. Actor Ashton Kutcher has already paid a deposit to Virgin Galactic for his ticket, becoming the company's 500th confirmed customer in March of last year. And actress Kate Winslet was reportedly given a free ticket to space by Virgin Galactic's billionaire founder Sir Richard Branson in thanks for saving his mother from a fire.
Cruise stars in "Oblivion" as a drone repairmen on a post-apocalyptic Earth that's been nearly destroyed by an alien invasion.
The actor said he was open to the idea that aliens exist in real life, and not just science fiction.
"I don't think you can actually count it out," he said, according to the Sun. "It might be a little arrogant to think we were the only ones in all the galaxies throughout the universe ? but I've never met one!"
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown said on Saturday he was aiming for a big win as he sets off for China to pitch the Golden state's wine, produce and technology and open a trade office in Shanghai.
Chinese consumers have "hundreds of billions in savings," Brown told Reuters in an interview, saying he was determined to persuade at least some of them to spend it by purchasing goods from California and investing in the state's businesses.
The foreign trade and investment office would be California's first such effort in China since 2004, when the state abruptly shut down such operations in a dozen countries.
At the time, California was deep in a budget crisis brought on by the dot-com bust of the early 2000s. Then-Governor Gray Davis closed the offices to save the state $6 million a year.
The new trade office, Brown said, would not be publicly funded.
"This one is going to be paid for privately and operated privately," he said. "It's going to be shaped by business."
Brown is bringing about 75 business leaders with him on the trip, along with numerous members of his staff and his wife, businesswoman and attorney Anne Gust Brown. He plans to make stops in a number of cities during the six-day tour, including Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
The tour is the second stage in the governor's efforts to develop commercial ties with China. Last year, Chinese leader Xi Jimping, then China's vice president and now its president, visited California. The two leaders discussed setting up a joint task force on commercial development.
Brown said he looked forward to seeing the tremendous changes that have taken place in China since the last time he visited, during his first stint as California's governor, in 1977.
"I can see Chinese manufacturing here," Brown said. "How we pull that off with all our regulations and tax issues I don't know. But I take a very individual view."
He's less interested, Brown said, of looking into concerns about conditions or other issues with factories that are actually in China. He's looking to convince the Chinese to send their money here.
"I'm not looking to find cheap factories to make goods to sell back to California - I'm looking to sell them," Brown said. "I want their surplus to go into building California goods, and I want their surplus to go into building factories and other investments in California."
All drivers in the state of Oklahoma are required to maintain their insurance coverage from the minimum level that required by the state. The state of Oklahoma requires in minimum level of coverage rate; $25,000 for bodily injury per individual, $50,000 for all injury involves, and $25,000 for property that damage caused by accident. Besides that all driver require to carry the proof wherever they want to go all times. You can get additional fees if can?t bring it, and thus it?ll be better for you to consider some law including for getting cheap rate.
There are some ways actually that able to be done for getting cheap rate of auto insurance in Oklahoma. You may choose another coverage like collision and comprehensive coverage that regarded as expensive. It?ll be a problem actually, if you know the way to get the cheap and finding also tips for reducing premium.
It?ll be effective if you can compare low car insurance quotes in Oklahoma instantly online. There are some providers of auto insurance quotes provider that available offer their service online. You can access it on the line of internet network by using your private computer. There are some quotes actually that available for you for reducing premium after signed with certain company. It?s time for you to save time by using these auto insurance quotes providers.
Rates usually become a good and common comparison that usually considered by most people for finding the best choice. It?s also including about the rate of auto insurance coverage; despite they choose coverage which regarded is expensive but when we know the ways, we can get reduce premium by some specific action. It?ll be important to be done, especially in Oklahoma most of auto insurance are challenge.
Arthur, 2012 (color photograph) An in depth portrait documenting photographer Arthur Tress. Tress has spent his career taking provocative photos in many off-limit situations. Recording Arthur Tress as he finds himself in odd situations is a study and homage to an intriguing man and great photographer. >>About Jeffrey Braverman
Saturday’s LogicBUY Deal is the?2013 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TF1 waterproof digital camera with bundle for?$198.00. ?Features: 16.1MP 1/2.3″ Super HAD CCD sensor 2.7″ LCD monitor 4x Optical Zoom Water, shock, freeze, and dustproof HD 720p Video at 30fps SteadyShot image stabilization Bundle includes:?deluxe carrying case, 4GB micro SD memory card, and cleaning kit $208 – $10 [...]
The judge gave the government 30 days to make the morning-after pill available over the counter, without age restrictions. The order is likely to spark a new round of debate over the drug.
By Warren Richey,?Staff writer / April 5, 2013
This undated image made available by Teva Women's Health shows the packaging for their Plan B One-Step tablet, one of the brands known as the 'morning-after pill.' In a rebuke of the Obama administration, a federal judge ruled Friday that age restrictions on over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill are 'arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable' and must end within 30 days.
Teva Women's Health/AP
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A federal judge has ordered the Obama administration to allow over-the-counter sales of emergency contraceptive pills without any age restrictions, a move likely to spark a new round of debate over the drug.
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Senior US District Judge Edward Korman issued the order late Thursday in a 59-page opinion in which he blasted officials of both the Bush and Obama administrations for allowing political considerations to undercut scientific evidence that would have long ago made the drug, known as Plan B or the morning-after pill, available to American women, teens, and girls as young as 11.
?This case is not about the potential misuse of Plan B by 11-year-olds. These emergency contraceptives would be among the safest drugs sold over-the-counter, [and] the number of 11-year-olds using these drugs is likely to be [minuscule],? Judge Korman said.
?The invocation of the adverse effect of Plan B on 11-year-olds is an excuse to deprive the overwhelming majority of women of their right to obtain contraceptives without unjustified and burdensome restrictions,? the judge said.
Reproductive-rights groups immediately hailed the decision as long overdue.
?Judge Korman?s ruling is an affirmation that policy can and should be driven by facts and by public health,? Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a statement. ?For years, women have had to jump through hoops because officials in Washington played politics with our health.?
?This ruling is good policy, good science, and good sense,? added Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Conservative groups were critical of the opinion and urged an appeal.
?Even [Health and Human Services] Secretary Kathleen Sebelius saw the dangers of this logic. Since when have we placed politics over the health and well-being of our kids,? asked Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America.
?This harmful ruling should be appealed, and we are confident it will be overturned,? she said.
?Teen girls need parents, not unfettered access to abortion-inducing drugs,? said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the antiabortion group Susan B. Anthony List. ?Judge Korman?s decision is reckless and denies girls the protection that comes along with the involvement of parents and doctors.?
Korman, a Reagan nominee, has presided over the Plan B litigation for years. In 2009, he ordered the Food and Drug Administration to expand availability of the drug without prescription to 17-year-olds.
The plaintiffs in the case had long argued that the emergency contraceptive drug was safe and effective according to the FDA?s own studies and should be available without prescription regardless of age.
In an unusually candid admission by a federal judge, Korman said he rejected the plaintiffs? argument in a 2009 decision, even though he?d concluded that the FDA had ?bowed to political pressure emanating from the [Bush] White House and departed from agency policy.?
Contact: Bachtler, Barbara bachtler@mdc-berlin.de 49-309-406-3896 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Researchers of the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) and the Leibniz Institute of Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now detected a substance that can prevent the accumulation of fluid in body tissue and thus edema formation. The results of Dr. Jana Bogum (MDC/FMP) from the MDC research group led by Professor Walter Rosenthal and PD Dr. Enno Klumann could be important in the future for the treatment of excessive fluid retention in patients with chronic heart failure. Using a novel approach, the researchers have also discovered a new molecular mechanism controlling water homeostasis in the kidneys (Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, doi:10.1681/ASN.2012030295)*.
Every day around 1 500 liters of blood flow through the kidneys. Of this total volume, the kidneys initially filter 180 liters of primary urine, which they concentrate to two liters and then excrete as the final urine. A key regulatory step of the concentration mechanism is the release of the hormone AVP (arginine-vasopressin) from the brain. This hormone triggers a multi-step signaling cascade in the kidneys which affects water channels (aquaporins) and in particular aquaporin-2. "The water channels, specifically aquaporin-2, and their redistribution play a key role in the regulation of the water balance," said Dr. Klumann.
AVP, which is released from the brain upon thirst, induces aquaporin-2 located in the renal collecting duct principal cells to redistribute from the cell interior to the plasma membrane. The renal cells can then filter out the water from the primary urine flowing past the membrane via aquaporin-2. Dr. Klumann explained: "To keep the renal cell from bursting and the body from dehydrating, the water is directed back via another group of water channels, aquaporin 3 and 4, into the bloodstream and body tissue. In contrast to aquaporin-2, these water channels are located in another domain of the plasma membrane in the renal principal cells and stay there permanently." Once the thirst is quenched, the levels of the hormone AVP are reduced and aquaporin-2 is shuttled back into the interior of the renal cell until it is needed again.
However, if the AVP level is too high, as is the case in patients with chronic heart failure, aquaporin-2 remains permanently in the plasma membrane of the renal principal cell and directs the water continuously from the primary urine into the renal collecting duct principal cells. These cells funnel the excess water into the body tissue. "This process contributes to edema," Dr. Klumann said.
Discovery of how translocation of water channels can be inhibited
How can aquaporin-2 be prevented from settling permanently in the plasma membrane and thus triggering diseases or making them worse? Using a new research approach, the scientists were able to identify an inhibitor which prevents the translocation of the water channel aquaporin-2 into the cell membrane. At the same time they discovered a new regulatory mechanism of water homeostasis at the molecular level.
The researchers used "small molecules", low molecular weight organic compounds, which penetrate well into cells. They tested 17 700 such substances in renal cells and ultimately filtered out a substance that blocks the redistribution of aquaporin-2 to the plasma membrane. The substance (4-acetyldiphyllin) prevents phosphorylation, an important biological and regulatory activation step. In particular, the compound prevents a phosphorylation reaction that is catalyzed by a protein termed protein kinase A. This protein is activated in the signaling cascade that is triggered by AVP in the renal principal cells. In the presence of 4-acetyldiphillin protein kinase A cannot add a phosphate group to aquaporin-2, with the result that the water channels can no longer redistribute to the plasma membrane.
The new research findings may not only be of interest for the treatment of edema but also for the treatment of depression. Here, by contrast, medical researchers are seeking a way to shuttle aquaporin-2 to the plasma membrane of the renal principal cell, because lithium, which is often used to treat depression, prevents aquaporin-2 from redistributing to the plasma membrane, thus causing diabetes insipidus. If AVP is not released from the brain, or if the receptor for AVP in the renal cell is defective, this likewise results in diabetes insipidus, as Professor Rosenthal discovered several years ago. The affected individuals excrete 20 liters of urine every day. A similar effect, but not quite as drastic, is caused by alcohol. Drinking lots of beer causes the body to excrete large amounts of urine. The reason alcohol prevents the brain from releasing the hormone AVP and thus prevents the redistribution of aquaporin-2 to the plasma membrane.
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*Small molecule screening to reveal mechanisms underlying aquaporin-2 trafficking
Jana Bogum1,2,3, Dorte Faust1, Kerstin Zuhlke1,2, Jenny Eichhorst2, Marie C. Moutty1,2, Jens Furkert2, Adeeb Eldahshan1, Martin Neuenschwander2, Jens Peter von Kries2, Burkhard Wiesner2, Christiane Trimpert4, Peter M.T. Deen4, Giovanna Valenti5, Walter Rosenthal1,6 and Enno Klussmann1
1Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
3Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Freie Universitt Berlin, Germany
4Department of Physiology, RUNMC Nijmegen, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
5Department of General and Environmental Physiology, University of Bari, Italy
6Charit University Medicine Berlin, Germany
A scheme and a photo can be downloaded from the Internet at:
http://www.mdc-berlin.de/en/index.html
Contact:
Barbara Bachtler
Press Department
Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch
in the Helmholtz Association
Robert-Rssle-Strae 10
13125 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 96
Fax: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 33
e-mail: presse@mdc-berlin.de
http://www.mdc-berlin.de/
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Contact: Bachtler, Barbara bachtler@mdc-berlin.de 49-309-406-3896 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Researchers of the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) and the Leibniz Institute of Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now detected a substance that can prevent the accumulation of fluid in body tissue and thus edema formation. The results of Dr. Jana Bogum (MDC/FMP) from the MDC research group led by Professor Walter Rosenthal and PD Dr. Enno Klumann could be important in the future for the treatment of excessive fluid retention in patients with chronic heart failure. Using a novel approach, the researchers have also discovered a new molecular mechanism controlling water homeostasis in the kidneys (Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, doi:10.1681/ASN.2012030295)*.
Every day around 1 500 liters of blood flow through the kidneys. Of this total volume, the kidneys initially filter 180 liters of primary urine, which they concentrate to two liters and then excrete as the final urine. A key regulatory step of the concentration mechanism is the release of the hormone AVP (arginine-vasopressin) from the brain. This hormone triggers a multi-step signaling cascade in the kidneys which affects water channels (aquaporins) and in particular aquaporin-2. "The water channels, specifically aquaporin-2, and their redistribution play a key role in the regulation of the water balance," said Dr. Klumann.
AVP, which is released from the brain upon thirst, induces aquaporin-2 located in the renal collecting duct principal cells to redistribute from the cell interior to the plasma membrane. The renal cells can then filter out the water from the primary urine flowing past the membrane via aquaporin-2. Dr. Klumann explained: "To keep the renal cell from bursting and the body from dehydrating, the water is directed back via another group of water channels, aquaporin 3 and 4, into the bloodstream and body tissue. In contrast to aquaporin-2, these water channels are located in another domain of the plasma membrane in the renal principal cells and stay there permanently." Once the thirst is quenched, the levels of the hormone AVP are reduced and aquaporin-2 is shuttled back into the interior of the renal cell until it is needed again.
However, if the AVP level is too high, as is the case in patients with chronic heart failure, aquaporin-2 remains permanently in the plasma membrane of the renal principal cell and directs the water continuously from the primary urine into the renal collecting duct principal cells. These cells funnel the excess water into the body tissue. "This process contributes to edema," Dr. Klumann said.
Discovery of how translocation of water channels can be inhibited
How can aquaporin-2 be prevented from settling permanently in the plasma membrane and thus triggering diseases or making them worse? Using a new research approach, the scientists were able to identify an inhibitor which prevents the translocation of the water channel aquaporin-2 into the cell membrane. At the same time they discovered a new regulatory mechanism of water homeostasis at the molecular level.
The researchers used "small molecules", low molecular weight organic compounds, which penetrate well into cells. They tested 17 700 such substances in renal cells and ultimately filtered out a substance that blocks the redistribution of aquaporin-2 to the plasma membrane. The substance (4-acetyldiphyllin) prevents phosphorylation, an important biological and regulatory activation step. In particular, the compound prevents a phosphorylation reaction that is catalyzed by a protein termed protein kinase A. This protein is activated in the signaling cascade that is triggered by AVP in the renal principal cells. In the presence of 4-acetyldiphillin protein kinase A cannot add a phosphate group to aquaporin-2, with the result that the water channels can no longer redistribute to the plasma membrane.
The new research findings may not only be of interest for the treatment of edema but also for the treatment of depression. Here, by contrast, medical researchers are seeking a way to shuttle aquaporin-2 to the plasma membrane of the renal principal cell, because lithium, which is often used to treat depression, prevents aquaporin-2 from redistributing to the plasma membrane, thus causing diabetes insipidus. If AVP is not released from the brain, or if the receptor for AVP in the renal cell is defective, this likewise results in diabetes insipidus, as Professor Rosenthal discovered several years ago. The affected individuals excrete 20 liters of urine every day. A similar effect, but not quite as drastic, is caused by alcohol. Drinking lots of beer causes the body to excrete large amounts of urine. The reason alcohol prevents the brain from releasing the hormone AVP and thus prevents the redistribution of aquaporin-2 to the plasma membrane.
###
*Small molecule screening to reveal mechanisms underlying aquaporin-2 trafficking
Jana Bogum1,2,3, Dorte Faust1, Kerstin Zuhlke1,2, Jenny Eichhorst2, Marie C. Moutty1,2, Jens Furkert2, Adeeb Eldahshan1, Martin Neuenschwander2, Jens Peter von Kries2, Burkhard Wiesner2, Christiane Trimpert4, Peter M.T. Deen4, Giovanna Valenti5, Walter Rosenthal1,6 and Enno Klussmann1
1Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
3Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Freie Universitt Berlin, Germany
4Department of Physiology, RUNMC Nijmegen, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
5Department of General and Environmental Physiology, University of Bari, Italy
6Charit University Medicine Berlin, Germany
A scheme and a photo can be downloaded from the Internet at:
http://www.mdc-berlin.de/en/index.html
Contact:
Barbara Bachtler
Press Department
Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch
in the Helmholtz Association
Robert-Rssle-Strae 10
13125 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 96
Fax: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 33
e-mail: presse@mdc-berlin.de
http://www.mdc-berlin.de/
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
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Public release date: 5-Apr-2013
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