CHICAGO (AP) — Derrick Rose is in the starting lineup for the Chicago Bulls' home opener against the New York Knicks after missing Thursday's shootaround due to a sore neck.
Rose warmed up with black tape on either side of his neck, but opted not to talk to reporters. He was in his usual spot at point guard when the starting lineups were released.
It will be Rose's first meaningful home game since he injured his left knee in the 2012 playoffs.
Coach Tom Thibodeau said earlier that Rose has a sore neck and is a game-time decision. He also said the 2011 NBA MVP isn't sure how he got hurt.
Rose tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the 2012 playoff opener and missed all of last season. He had 12 points in Chicago's season-opening 107-95 loss at Miami on Tuesday night.
Rose missed an exhibition game in Brazil due to soreness in his left knee. But that was his only significant setback while preparing for this season.
Researchers discover how retinal neurons claim the best brain connections
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Paula Byron pbyron@vt.edu 540-526-2027 Virginia Tech
Discovery may shed light on brain disease, development of regenerative therapies
Real estate agents emphasize location, location, and once more for good measure location. It's the same in a developing brain, where billions of neurons vie for premium property to make connections. Neurons that stake out early claims often land the best value, even if they don't develop the property until later.
Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and the University of Louisville have discovered that during neurodevelopment, neurons from the brain's cerebral cortex extend axons to the edge of the part of the brain dedicated to processing visual signals but then stop. Instead of immediately making connections, the cortical neurons wait for two weeks while neurons from the retina connect to the brain.
Now, in a study to be published in the Nov. 14 issue of the journal Cell Reports, the scientists have discovered how. The retinal neurons stop their cortical cousins from grabbing prime real estate by controlling the abundance of a protein called aggrecan.
Understanding how aggrecan controls the formation of brain circuits could help scientists understand how to repair the injured brain or spinal cord after injury or disease.
"Usually when neuroscientists talk about repairing injured brains, they're thinking about putting neurons, axons, and synapses back in the right place," said Michael Fox, an associate professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and lead author of the study. "It may be that the most important synapses the ones that drive excitation need to get there first. By stalling out the other neurons, they can get the best spots. This study shows that when we think about repairing damaged neural networks, we need to consider more than just where connections need to be made. We also need to think about the timing of reinnervation."
The researchers genetically removed the retinal neurons, which allowed the cortical axons to move into the brain earlier than they normally would.
"We were interested in what environmental molecular cues allow the retinal neurons to control the growth of cortical neurons," said Fox, who is also an associate professor of biological sciences in Virginia Tech's College of Science. "After years of screening potential mechanisms, we found aggrecan."
Aggrecan is a protein that has been well studied in cartilage, bones, and the spinal cord, where it is abundant after injuries. According to Fox, aggrecan may be able to isolate damaged areas of the spinal cord to stop inflammation and prevent further destruction. The downside, however, is that aggrecan inhibits axonal growth, which prevents further repair from taking place.
"Axons see this environment and either stop growing or turn around and grow in the opposite direction," said Fox.
Although it is less studied in the developing brain, aggrecan appears in abundance there. In the new study, the researchers found that retinal neurons control aggrecan in a region that receives ascending signals from retinal cells as well as descending signals from the cerebral cortex.
Once the retinal neurons have made connections, they cause the release of enzymes that break down the aggrecan, allowing cortical neurons to move in.
Fox said it is interesting that the retinal axons can grow in this region of the developing brain, despite the high levels of aggrecan. He suspects that it may be because retinal neurons express a receptor integrin that cortical axons do not express.
###
The study, "A molecular mechanism regulating the timing of corticogeniculate innervation," is by Fox, Jianmin Su, a research assistant professor, and Carl Levy, an undergraduate from Suffolk, Va., all with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute; graduate student Justin Brooks and undergraduate Jessica Wang from Virginia Commonwealth University; and Tania Seabrook, a postdoctoral associate, and William Guido, a professor and the chair of the Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, both with the University of Louisville School of Medicine.
Written by Ken Kingery
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Researchers discover how retinal neurons claim the best brain connections
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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]
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Contact: Paula Byron pbyron@vt.edu 540-526-2027 Virginia Tech
Discovery may shed light on brain disease, development of regenerative therapies
Real estate agents emphasize location, location, and once more for good measure location. It's the same in a developing brain, where billions of neurons vie for premium property to make connections. Neurons that stake out early claims often land the best value, even if they don't develop the property until later.
Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and the University of Louisville have discovered that during neurodevelopment, neurons from the brain's cerebral cortex extend axons to the edge of the part of the brain dedicated to processing visual signals but then stop. Instead of immediately making connections, the cortical neurons wait for two weeks while neurons from the retina connect to the brain.
Now, in a study to be published in the Nov. 14 issue of the journal Cell Reports, the scientists have discovered how. The retinal neurons stop their cortical cousins from grabbing prime real estate by controlling the abundance of a protein called aggrecan.
Understanding how aggrecan controls the formation of brain circuits could help scientists understand how to repair the injured brain or spinal cord after injury or disease.
"Usually when neuroscientists talk about repairing injured brains, they're thinking about putting neurons, axons, and synapses back in the right place," said Michael Fox, an associate professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and lead author of the study. "It may be that the most important synapses the ones that drive excitation need to get there first. By stalling out the other neurons, they can get the best spots. This study shows that when we think about repairing damaged neural networks, we need to consider more than just where connections need to be made. We also need to think about the timing of reinnervation."
The researchers genetically removed the retinal neurons, which allowed the cortical axons to move into the brain earlier than they normally would.
"We were interested in what environmental molecular cues allow the retinal neurons to control the growth of cortical neurons," said Fox, who is also an associate professor of biological sciences in Virginia Tech's College of Science. "After years of screening potential mechanisms, we found aggrecan."
Aggrecan is a protein that has been well studied in cartilage, bones, and the spinal cord, where it is abundant after injuries. According to Fox, aggrecan may be able to isolate damaged areas of the spinal cord to stop inflammation and prevent further destruction. The downside, however, is that aggrecan inhibits axonal growth, which prevents further repair from taking place.
"Axons see this environment and either stop growing or turn around and grow in the opposite direction," said Fox.
Although it is less studied in the developing brain, aggrecan appears in abundance there. In the new study, the researchers found that retinal neurons control aggrecan in a region that receives ascending signals from retinal cells as well as descending signals from the cerebral cortex.
Once the retinal neurons have made connections, they cause the release of enzymes that break down the aggrecan, allowing cortical neurons to move in.
Fox said it is interesting that the retinal axons can grow in this region of the developing brain, despite the high levels of aggrecan. He suspects that it may be because retinal neurons express a receptor integrin that cortical axons do not express.
###
The study, "A molecular mechanism regulating the timing of corticogeniculate innervation," is by Fox, Jianmin Su, a research assistant professor, and Carl Levy, an undergraduate from Suffolk, Va., all with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute; graduate student Justin Brooks and undergraduate Jessica Wang from Virginia Commonwealth University; and Tania Seabrook, a postdoctoral associate, and William Guido, a professor and the chair of the Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, both with the University of Louisville School of Medicine.
Written by Ken Kingery
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New information revealed about SMS integration, statuses and sharing options
Google announced at an event this week that new features would be coming in the latest version of Hangouts, and now we have a better idea of when and specifically what we'll be getting. First up is SMS and MMS integration — Google says you'll be able to receive text messages in Hangouts, and you can even import existing conversations when you make the move. SMS support also extends to group texts and emoji support between Android and iPhone.
You will also be able to send animated GIFs in Hangouts, including Auto Awesome animated photos made through Google+. Even further, you can now set status indicators showing what device you're currently using, whether or not you're in a call and what your mood is (if you're into that kinda thing). You'll also be able to share your granular location on a map (shown above).
Google Cloud SQL now supports native MySQL connections, a move that is intended to make it easier to integrate third-party applications. With the support, native MySQL apps can be plugged into Cloud SQL, allowing the customer to leave system administration and management for Google.
Through MySQL Wire Protocol, the standard connection protocol for MySQL databases, Google maintains that CloudSQL allows for low latency connections from applications running on Google Compute Engine and Google App Engine. Customers can use popular tools such as MySQL Workbench, Toad and the MySQL command-line tool to manage Cloud SQL instances. It also supports standard drivers, such as Connector/J, Connector/ODBC, and Connector/NET.
The native connectivity also means that data can be replicated with control over managing and deploying cloud databases. For example, Google notes in its post that data can be replicated between Cloud SQL and on-premise databases — including Oracle, SQL Server, and DB2.
The support demonstrates how connectors like MySQL Wire Protocol will help create transparency between cloud services and any on-premise application. It’s a service that should attract those looking for the level of managed services that Google provides.
Google is starting to offer features that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has had for a few years. Google is starting to offer features that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has had for a few years. While Google launched the core of its CloudSQL service in June, AWS launched its MySQL service in 2009 and in 2012 began offering support for Oracle Database.
Then there is the pricing. According to the InfoQ blog, AWS RDS is “cheaper than corresponding Google Cloud SQL pay-per-hour options, but one needs to consider other costs such as data storage and transfer fees, etc.”
The luxurious "mountain villa" built atop a Beijing high-rise is being torn down. The $4 million penthouse was built by a Chinese health care entrepreneur named Zhang Lin on the roof of an existing apartment building earlier this year, much to the chagrin of its party-pooper occupants.
Hippocampal and thalamic neuronal metabolism in a putative rat model of schizophrenia
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
30-Oct-2013
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Contact: Meng Zhao eic@nrren.org 86-138-049-98773 Neural Regeneration Research
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neuregulin 1 (NRG1) are important genes and signaling pathways that are altered in schizophrenia. To date, no studies have reported magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a rat model of schi-zophrenia induced by early growth response protein 3 gene (Egr3) transfection. Prof. Guolin Ma and colleagues from China-Japan Friendship Hospital, China used multivoxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study neuronal metabolite content in rats transfected with the Egr3 gene as a putative model of schizophrenia. 3.0 T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of in vivo brain tissues showed metabolic abnormalities in hippocampal and thalamic neurons of growth response protein 3 transfected rats. These findings, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 26, 2013), provide imaging evidence that may be useful in the early diagnosis and pathogenesis of schizophrenia.
###
Article: " Hippocampal and thalamic neuronal metabolism in a putative rat model of schizophrenia," by Guolin Ma1, Tianbin Song2, Min Chen3, Yuan Fu3, Yong Xu4, Ensen Ma1, Wu Wang1,Jiang Du5, Ming Xionghuang6 (1 Department of Radiology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China; 2 Department of Radiology, Beijing Shunyi Hospital, Beijing 101300, China; 3 Department of Radiology, Beijing Hospital Affiliated to the Ministry of Public Health, Beijing 100730, China; 4 Department of Mental Health, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi Province, China; 5 Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA 92103-8226, USA; 6 Radiology Imaging Laboratory, Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA 92121, USA)
Ma GL, Song TB, Chen M, Fu Y, Xu Y, Ma ES, Wang W. Hippocampal and thalamic neuronal metabolism in a putative rat model of schizophrenia. Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(26):2415-2423.
Contact:
Meng Zhao
eic@nrren.org
86-138-049-98773
Neural Regeneration Research
http://www.nrronline.org/
Full text: http://www.sjzsyj.org/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=714
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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.
Hippocampal and thalamic neuronal metabolism in a putative rat model of schizophrenia
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
30-Oct-2013
[
| E-mail
]
Share
Contact: Meng Zhao eic@nrren.org 86-138-049-98773 Neural Regeneration Research
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neuregulin 1 (NRG1) are important genes and signaling pathways that are altered in schizophrenia. To date, no studies have reported magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a rat model of schi-zophrenia induced by early growth response protein 3 gene (Egr3) transfection. Prof. Guolin Ma and colleagues from China-Japan Friendship Hospital, China used multivoxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study neuronal metabolite content in rats transfected with the Egr3 gene as a putative model of schizophrenia. 3.0 T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of in vivo brain tissues showed metabolic abnormalities in hippocampal and thalamic neurons of growth response protein 3 transfected rats. These findings, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 26, 2013), provide imaging evidence that may be useful in the early diagnosis and pathogenesis of schizophrenia.
###
Article: " Hippocampal and thalamic neuronal metabolism in a putative rat model of schizophrenia," by Guolin Ma1, Tianbin Song2, Min Chen3, Yuan Fu3, Yong Xu4, Ensen Ma1, Wu Wang1,Jiang Du5, Ming Xionghuang6 (1 Department of Radiology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China; 2 Department of Radiology, Beijing Shunyi Hospital, Beijing 101300, China; 3 Department of Radiology, Beijing Hospital Affiliated to the Ministry of Public Health, Beijing 100730, China; 4 Department of Mental Health, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi Province, China; 5 Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA 92103-8226, USA; 6 Radiology Imaging Laboratory, Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA 92121, USA)
Ma GL, Song TB, Chen M, Fu Y, Xu Y, Ma ES, Wang W. Hippocampal and thalamic neuronal metabolism in a putative rat model of schizophrenia. Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(26):2415-2423.
Contact:
Meng Zhao
eic@nrren.org
86-138-049-98773
Neural Regeneration Research
http://www.nrronline.org/
Full text: http://www.sjzsyj.org/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=714
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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.
Washington (AFP) - US jobless claims fell for the third week in a row, as the impact of the government shutdown earlier in the month appeared to ease, Labor Department data showed Thursday.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell to 340,000 in the week ending October 26, a decrease of 10,000 from the prior week.
The figure was higher than expected as the labor market works through the disruption of the October 1-16 partial government shutdown that furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers, as well as technical problems that skewed the weekly data from some states.
Analysts on average had forecast new claims, a sign of the pace of layoffs, would fall to 335,000 last week.
"Claims are settling back down now that the federal government shutdown has passed and a bottleneck caused by a computer system upgrade in California delayed the processing of thousands of claims several weeks ago," said Marisa Di Natale of Moody's Analytics.
The four-week moving average, which helps to smooth week-over-week volatility, rose by 8,000 to 356,250. The average has moved higher for four weeks in a row.
According to data for the week ending October 19, claims from federal employees fell by 29,700 from the previous week.
"Though the federal government is open, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has delayed its planned release of the October jobs numbers by one week, until November 8. It is difficult to judge what that number might be from claims since they were distorted during October," Di Natale said.
New York City (AFP) - Attention wine lovers: savor every last sip, as researchers say there may be a global shortage looming.
Wine prices could shoot up because of a fall in production and growing thirst for wine among Chinese and Americans, Morgan Stanley research said in a report Wednesday.
World production peaked in 2004, with an excess of 600 million cases. But since then supply has fallen because of lower production capacity, slipping in 2012 to the lowest level in 40 years, the US bank said.
Production capacity has dropped particularly in Europe, where today it is 10 percent lower than in 2005, especially in France, the world's top producer, followed by Italy and Spain.
Plus, last year the weather was bad for wine makers.
At the same time, world demand is growing as newly affluent people in Russia, China and other emerging countries develop a taste for Bordeaux, Rioja and other wines.
The bottom line is that last year demand outstripped supply by 300 million cases, the study said.
And things will get worse as demand for exported wine will grow over the medium term.
Over the short term, stocks will fall as consumption will be dominated by vintages of years past.
But "as consumption turns to the 2012 vintage we expect the current production shortfall to culminate in a significant increase in export demand and higher prices for exports globally," the study said.
"Data suggests there may be insufficient supply to meet demand in coming years, as current vintages are released,” said the report.
Things will be particularly bad in Europe, which produces a lot of wine but also drinks a lot.
The French remain the world's leading wine drinkers, with consumption rising since 2010 after years of decline, as was the case elsewhere in Europe.
But Americans are drinking more and more of the stuff, the researchers said.
The United States is now the world's second largest wine consumer. It and China are fueling the rise in world consumption.
The global wine industry has grown for the past 30 years and now takes in revenue of $30 billion. A third of it stems from French wines, mainly because of higher prices for its better vintages.
Newer wine producing countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina now account for 30 percent of global wine exports, compared to just 3 percent in the early 1980s.
And they are in the best position to benefit from the gap between supply and demand and will be able to raise export prices, Morgan Stanley said.
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