Te'o doing tough balancing act at NFL combine

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Manti Te'o walked into a crowded room of reporters Saturday, took a breath and settled in for 15 minutes of NFL scouting combine history.

Again, the former Notre Dame linebacker explained how he had been duped into an Internet romance he had with a girlfriend he never met. He did his best to turn the page on an embarrassing chapter by talking football. This time, he even got to see it play out on live television 12 yards away ? where three muted flat-screen monitors were in direct view of Te'o.

He answered every question with thoughtful deliberation and tried to provide clarity on a hoax that turned one of the nation's most inspirational college football players into the butt of national jokes.

"I cared for somebody. That's what I was taught to do ever since I was young. Somebody needs help, you help them out," Te'o said.

Later he added: "People doubted me because I took a while to come out. From our point of view, we wanted to let everything come out first, and then let my side come out. The way we did it, I thought, worked best for me."

Te'o's news conference was the most anticipated event of the NFL's second-biggest offseason weekend, which brought the makeshift media room inside Lucas Oil Stadium to a virtual standstill ? twice.

The too-good-to-be-true story began with Te'o's incredible performances after learning his grandmother and what he believed was his girlfriend had died within hours of one another in September. Te'o said it inspired him to play his best football all season, and it was so compelling that it helped turn Te'o into a Heisman Trophy contender as he was leading the Fighting Irish to an undefeated regular season and into the national championship game.

On Dec. 26, Te'o notified Notre Dame officials that he had received a call from his supposedly dead girlfriend's phone three weeks earlier.

The school investigated and on Jan. 16 ? after Deadspin.com broke the story of the fake girlfriend ? athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced at a news conference that Te'o had been duped. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, 22, later said he created the online persona of Lennay Kekua, a nonexistent woman who Te'o said he fell in love with despite never meeting her in person.

Since then, Te'o had only done a few one-on-one interviews.

On Saturday all that changed as many of the 800 credentialed media members surrounded the podium in rows that went eight deep. Te'o wore a tie-died red-and-black workout shirt.

"It's pretty crazy," said Te'o, who has played most of his games on national television and was one of the most recognizable college players last season. "I've been in front of a few cameras before, but never as many as this."

Only two scenes from the combine over the past 15 years could even compare to what Te'o had to contend with Saturday.

The first came in 2004 when former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett was allowed to participate in the combine after a court ruled he should be allowed to enter the draft after finishing high school only two years earlier. That decision was later reversed.

The other time was 2010, when Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national champion Tim Tebow stepped to the podium in Indianapolis and everyone, including those listening to Packers coach Mike McCarthy, sprinted to the opposite end of the room for Tebow.

This was different.

When word leaked Te'o would speak at about noon, reporters immediately surrounded the podium. Over the next 25 minutes, rumors circulated that in a rare and possibly unprecedented move, Te'o's agent would speak from the podium. That did not happen. There also was speculation that Te'o might deliver an opening statement like the then-injured Michael Crabtree did in 2009 and Cam Newton did two years later. That did not happen, either, though Te'o did make a closing statement in which he thanked his family, friends and fans for standing by him during this tumultuous month.

"It's definitely embarrassing. You walk into grocery stores and people give you double takes to see if they're staring at you," he said before explaining he's moved on. "If I was embarrassed, I wouldn't be able to stand in front of you."

The only thing that really matters in Indy, though, is what team officials think. Te'o said in the two formal interviews he's had, with Green Bay and Houston, they have asked about the hoax. He has another 18 interviews left.

Will it hurt his draft position?

Former NFL executive Bill Polian, architect of four Super Bowl teams in Buffalo and two in Indianapolis, has been adamant that it won't, and coaches and general managers seem to agree.

Most say they are more concerned with the red flags of other players -- drug use, alcohol abuse, academic woes and even criminal allegations -- than they are with Te'o's tale.

"Somebody that's not truthful, that's big, to me. I'm a big fan of the 'Judge Judy' show. And when you lie in Judge Judy's courtroom, it's over. Your credibility is completely lost. You have no chance of winning that case," San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh said Friday. "I learned that from her. It's very powerful, and true. Because if somebody does lie to you, how can you ever trust anything they ever say after that?"

Two questions later, he was asked whether that meant the reigning NFC champs would avoid Te'o in April's draft.

"No. I wouldn't say that," Harbaugh said.

Te'o and the general public weren't the only ones watching the interview session Saturday.

Team officials are taking notes, too.

"Honestly, it's a distraction. If he can handle that distraction and still be able to perform on the football field, I really don't think it makes that much of a difference," Carolina coach Ron Rivera said before Te'o spoke. "We'll talk about it, we'll find out about it. The bottom line is, is he a good person and can he play football?"

On the field, Te'o's is one of the top linebackers available.

Last season, he won the Maxwell Award, Bednarik Award, Butkus Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award and Walter Camp national player of the year and finished second in balloting for the Trophy.

But there are concerns. Te'o was asked if the undercurrent of the hoax explained his poor play in Notre Dame's BCS championship game loss to Alabama. He has said it didn't.

"They want to be able to trust their players. You don't want to invest in somebody you can't trust," Te'o said. "With everybody here, they're just trying to get to know you as a person and as a football player, and I understand where they're coming from."

But the hardest part has been seeing the impact it's had on those around him.

In a phone call, Te'o said his sister explained how the family had to sneak into its own house because of the people parked in the front yard, and he also said he empathized with the chaos it has caused Tuiasosopo's family. He said he has no plans to sue, either.

Instead, Te'o just wants to forget about the hoax and focus on football.

"I've learned first, just to be honest in everything you do, from the big things to the small things. To keep your circle very small and to really understand who's in your corner and who's not," he said. "Going off of the season my team and I had, there were a lot of people in our corner, and then when Jan. 16th happened, there was a lot of people in the other corner. I've just learned to appreciate the people that I have that are with me."

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Te-o-doing-tough-balancing-act-at-NFL-combine-4302820.php

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Woodward Misses The Mark (talking-points-memo)

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U.S. to operate 26 state health exchanges with little local help

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Tuesday that it will operate federal online health insurance marketplaces in 26 of the 50 U.S. states with little or no input from local state officials.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that a total of 24 states, including six with Republican governors, plus the District of Columbia, are on track to run their own marketplaces, known as healthcare exchanges, or to do so in partnership with the federal government.

The new tally, which follows a February 15 deadline for states to request a federal partnership exchange, underscores the logistical challenge facing the administration as it moves to set up federal marketplaces less than eight months before the October 1 opening of plan enrollment.

"No matter where a qualified consumer lives, he or she will have access to coverage through a marketplace," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a government blog post.

She also emphasized that states which have not opted for a state-run or federal partnership exchange will still be able to apply to run their own in future years.

The exchanges, which are being set up under President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare reform law, will offer federally subsidized private health insurance to working families that qualify for assistance. An estimated 26 million people, many of them now uninsured, are expected to obtain coverage through a healthcare exchange over the next 10 years.

But the exchange plan, like other provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, has met with resistance from states, mainly those with Republican leadership.

An administration plan to expand the Medicaid program for the poor to another 12 million people also faces stiff Republican opposition among states.

HHS said on Tuesday that it received new applications for federal partnership exchanges from Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire and West Virginia. Three other states - Delaware, Illinois and Arkansas - already have partnership exchanges in the works.

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are moving to operate their own online marketplaces, while Utah is asking the government to certify its existing exchange for small groups.

Partnership exchanges allow state officials to have a role in qualifying insurance plans, determining beneficiary eligibility or both.

In contrast, the 26 states that have opted not to operate their own exchanges or partner with Washington would have little to do with the operations, which could come to dominate local health insurance markets in coming years.

Some of those states, including Ohio, have signaled an interest in preserving their role in local markets, particularly in the area of plan management.

Sebelius offered no details, but said: "Several other states have suggested their own approaches to contributing toward plan management in their marketplace in 2014."

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-operate-26-state-health-exchanges-little-local-212610912.html

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At 80, Yoko Ono sees a world full of new activism

By Reuters

Half a lifetime ago, artist Yoko Ono lay in an Amsterdam hotel bed with husband John Lennon, staging a week-long "bed-in" for peace and feeling they were very alone in their activism.?

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Reuters

Today, Ono, whose own energy for campaigning has never tired, sees a world full of activists, maintaining her energy and faith in humanity.?

"When John and I did the bed-in, not many people were with us. But now there are so many activists, I don't know anyone who is not an activist," she told Reuters in an interview in Berlin on Monday, her 80th birthday.

"Even the corporations - John always used to say the corporations need to be with us... Corporations now say 10-20 percent of their profits will go to such and such charity. They have to do that almost for people to feel good about it."

The late Beatle and Ono's 1969 bed-in to protest against the Vietnam war was repeated in Montreal, Canada. Press attention was huge, but much of it was mocking.

Ono, who gave a sell-out concert in Berlin on Sunday alongside their son Sean Lennon which closed with the anthem "Give peace a chance", said it was still critical to stand up for peace despite new conflicts in the intervening decades.

"I don't want to be drowning in sadness. I think we have to stand and up and change the world," she said.

The artist, born to a wealthy Japanese family in Tokyo in 1933, has recently become a passionate opponent of fracking, a controversial procedure which has sharply lifted energy output in the United States but which critics fear pollutes drinking water deep underground and could increase earthquake risks.

"Fracking is an incredible risk to the human race, I don't know why they even thought of doing it," she said.

Ono, whose birthday is being marked by a major retrospective of her work in Frankfurt, said she feels she is becoming freer in her art.

"My attitude has changed... I'm allowing things to happen in a way I hadn't planned before," she said.

Asked about her feelings on becoming an octogenarian, she said: "I'm surprised. It is a miracle in a sense that I am 80, I am proud about it. Not everybody gets there."

Related content:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/02/18/17009167-at-80-yoko-ono-sees-a-world-full-of-new-activism?lite

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Amelia Island Concours: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed...

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... and in the case of Lamborghini, something blue.

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Fighting for attention at this year's Amelia Island Concours amidst a Ford GT40 reunion and a smattering of Harry Miller's innovative race cars will be a 50th anniversary celebration of that famously irascible Italian manufacturer, Lamborghini, along with two bookends with which to commemorate Lambo's half century: a rare Miura Roadster which first debuted at the 1968 Brussels auto show, and the origami-like Aventador LP700-4 Roadster, which recently enjoyed its press coming out party at Miami-Homestead Speedway.

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Sure, the open-air V12-powered duo couldn't be further apart technologically. But Lamborghini symbolically linked the new car to the old by making the Aventador's launch color inspired by the same shade of blue, which Lamborghini calls Azurro Thetis. Will the blue-hued beasts enable the Sant'Agata Bolognese-based carmaker to stand out in a sea of crimson Ferraris, silver Porsches, and who-knows what else will be trucked to the tony automotive gathering??

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There's only one way to find out, and we'll be on hand the weekend of March 9th to let you know how that goes.

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Source: AmeliaConcours.org

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/lamborghini-roadsters-to-appear-at-amelia-island-concours?src=rss

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Ed Sheeran 'Pretty Much Finished' With Next Album

Singer updates MTV News on his sophomore album, coming in 2014, and his plans to move to Nashville.
By Christina Garibaldi

Ed Sheeran
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702193/ed-sheeran-sophomore-album.jhtml

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Pathway controlling cell growth revealed

Feb. 18, 2013 ? A Melbourne-based research team has discovered a genetic defect that can halt cell growth and force cells into a death-evading survival state.

The finding has revealed an important mechanism controlling the growth of rapidly-dividing cells that may ultimately lead to the development of new treatments for diseases including cancer.

The discovery was made by Associate Professor Joan Heath, Dr Yeliz Boglev and colleagues at the Melbourne-Parkville Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Dr Kate Hannan, Associate Professor Rick Pearson and Associate Professor Ross Hannon at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, also contributed to the work, which was published in the journal PLOS Genetics this month.

Associate Professor Heath, a Ludwig Institute Member who recently transferred her research group to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, said the discovery was made while studying zebrafish embryos that harbour genetic mutations which prevent rapid cell growth during organ development. "Zebrafish embryos provide us with a great laboratory model for these studies because they are transparent, an attribute that allows us to track the growth of rapidly developing organs in live animals under a simple microscope. Moreover, the genes controlling growth and proliferation of developing tissues are essentially identical in zebrafish and humans, and are known to be frequently commandeered by cancer cells."

"We discovered that a mutation in a relatively under-studied gene called pwp2h leads to the faulty assembly of ribosomes, the 'protein factories' of cells, and stops cells from dividing," she said. "What was intriguing was that cells under stress from ribosome failure did not die. Instead, the cells switched on a survival mechanism called autophagy and began obtaining nutrients by digesting their own intracellular components."

Ribosomes are large molecular machines in cells that manufacture proteins, and are critical for cell growth and division. Currently, there is great interest in developing therapeutics to block ribosome production, as a strategy to prevent cancer cells from dividing.

"Our research could have implications for this type of cancer treatment," Associate Professor Heath said. "We showed that when ribosome assembly is disrupted, cells stop growing as desired, but to our surprise they enter a survival state. An anti-cancer treatment that inadvertently promotes the survival of cancer cells through autophagy is clearly not desirable. However, our findings in zebrafish show that if ribosome assembly is blocked and, at the same time, autophagy is inhibited, cells die rapidly. It is possible that a combination of inhibitors that block ribosome function and autophagy could provide an effective anti-cancer treatment," she said.

Associate Professor Heath's group is continuing its research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, examining other genetic mutations in zebrafish that disrupt cell growth and division. "We are keen to enhance our approach by applying existing research technologies at the institute," she said. "We have identified a number of cellular processes that rapidly dividing cells -- including cancer cells -- depend on, and the next stage is to test whether they could provide new targets for anti-cancer therapy."

The research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Victorian Government.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Yeliz Boglev, Andrew P. Badrock, Andrew J. Trotter, Qian Du, Elsbeth J. Richardson, Adam C. Parslow, Sebastian J. Markmiller, Nathan E. Hall, Tanya A. de Jong-Curtain, Annie Y. Ng, Heather Verkade, Elke A. Ober, Holly A. Field, Donghun Shin, Chong H. Shin, Katherine M. Hannan, Ross D. Hannan, Richard B. Pearson, Seok-Hyung Kim, Kevin C. Ess, Graham J. Lieschke, Didier Y. R. Stainier, Joan K. Heath. Autophagy Induction Is a Tor- and Tp53-Independent Cell Survival Response in a Zebrafish Model of Disrupted Ribosome Biogenesis. PLOS Genetics, 07 Feb 2013 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.100327

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/IRXx0LH_DEQ/130218092713.htm

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FIU baseball outruns Stony Brook to complete season-opening series sweep

By DAVID J. NEAL The Miami Herald

A hot pitching duel on a chilly day at FIU Baseball Stadium was decided by baserunning. FIU knew when to go. Stony Brook didn?t know when to stop.

So FIU got the run it needed for a three-game series sweep of a 2012 College World Series participant, and Stony Brook left with a fading memory of what home plate looked like from the scoring side.

After the Sea Wolves scored four runs in the first four innings of the first game, FIU zeroed them out over the series? last 23 innings.

?A lot of that, yes, is our pitching staff, but also them coming from up north,? FIU coach Turtle Thomas said. ?It snowed three feet a week ago. You?ve got to get out and get your game at-bats. Like us. That?s why the game ended in about 2 hours 35 minutes [actually 2:33] because neither one of us hit the ball [Sunday].?

Combining for the shutout were junior starter Mike Franco, working on a 45-pitch count while being 10 months removed from Tommy John surgery; Alex Seibold, a freshman from Plantation American Heritage; junior Mitchell Davis, reprising his two innings of middle relief from Saturday?s second game; and senior closer Michael Gomez, who took care of the ninth again.

Franco got the win. In acknowledgement of his remarkable progress in recovering, the entire team left the dugout to greet Franco after his 2?2/3 innings, during which he allowed one hit, struck out four and got his fastball up to 94 mph.

?Everything was coming together little by little,? Franco said. ?I can honestly say I felt better this first game than I have [in] the intrasquad games. So that?s a good sign.?

FIU scored the only run of the game in the first innnig. Sophomore Julius Gaines ? who was 3 for 4 Sunday and 7 for 10 in the series ? singled and went to third on Nathan Burns? single. Josh Anderson?s blooper to right brought Gaines in for the winning run.

The closest Stony Brook came to tying produced a moment as comical as it was critical.

With two out in the fourth and Stony Brook?s Cole Peragine on first, Steven Goldstein ripped a drive inside the first base line and into the right field corner outside the foul line. Peragine rounded third and looked to be an 85-foot sprint from tying the game, but got held up by the third base coach as Burns retrieved the ball. Goldstein, obviously expecting Peragine to be sent home, continued steaming toward third.

Suddenly, there were too many Sea Wolves around third as the ball arrived. Peragine tried to make a belated break for the plate only to be tagged out by Anderson. Anderson actually missed the tag the first time, realized his error after he and Peragine had slowed, then tagged Peragine out.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/18/3240371/fiu-baseball-outruns-stony-brook.html

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'Bionic proteins': Nano-machines recreate protein activities

Feb. 15, 2013 ? Physicists of the University of Vienna together with researchers from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna developed nano-machines which recreate principal activities of proteins. They present the first versatile and modular example of a fully artificial protein-mimetic model system, thanks to the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC), a high performance computing infrastructure. These "bionic proteins" could play an important role in innovating pharmaceutical research.

Proteins are the fundamental building blocks of all living organism we currently know. Because of the large number and complexity of bio-molecular processes they are capable of, proteins are often referred to as "molecular machines." Take for instance the proteins in your muscles: At each contraction stimulated by the brain, an uncountable number of proteins change their structures to create the collective motion of the contraction. This extraordinary process is performed by molecules which have a size of only about a nanometer, a billionth of a meter.

Muscle contraction is just one of the numerous activities of proteins: There are proteins that transport cargo in the cells, proteins that construct other proteins, there are even cages in which proteins that "mis-behave" can be trapped for correction, and the list goes on and on. "Imitating these astonishing bio-mechanical properties of proteins and transferring them to a fully artificial system is our long term objective," says Ivan Coluzza from the Faculty of Physics of the University of Vienna, who works on this project together with colleagues of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna.

Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC)

In a recent paper in Physical Review Letters, the team presented the first example of a fully artificial bio-mimetic model system capable of spontaneously self-knotting into a target structure. Using computer simulations, they reverse engineered proteins by focusing on the key elements that give them the ability to execute the program written in the genetic code. The computationally very intensive simulations have been made possible by access to the powerful Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC), a high performance computing infrastructure operated jointly by the University of Vienna, the Vienna University of Technology and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna.

Artificial proteins in the laboratory

The team now works on realizing such artificial proteins in the laboratory using specially functionalized nanoparticles. The particles will then be connected into chains following the sequence determined by the computer simulations, such that the artificial proteins fold into the desired shapes. Such knotted nanostructures could be used as new stable drug delivery vehicles and as enzyme-like, but more stable, catalysts.

This project was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) within the SFB "Vienna Computational Materials Laboratory" (ViCoM).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Vienna.

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Journal Reference:

1. Ivan Coluzza, Peter D. J. van Oostrum, Barbara Capone, Erik Reimhult, Christoph Dellago. Sequence Controlled Self-Knotting Colloidal Patchy Polymers. Physical Review Letters, 2013; 110 (7) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.075501

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/irK00fWGxvo/130217084908.htm

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Media has a collective tantrum ... over golf

If only there had been as much outrage over, say, Iraq ...

In case you missed it while you were busy having a life, the White House Correspondents Association?a.k.a. the media?have their ugly plaid knickers in a knot:

The White House Correspondents Association expressed "extreme frustration" with the Obama administration Sunday for refusing press access to President Barack Obama's golf weekend ? including an appearance by golf legend Tiger Woods.

"Speaking on behalf of the White House Correspondents Association, I can say a broad cross section of our members from print, radio, online and TV have today expressed extreme frustration to me about having absolutely no access to the President of the United States this entire weekend," said Fox News correspondent Ed Henry, the organization's president. "There is a very simple but important principle we will continue to fight for today and in the days ahead: transparency."

It's nice to see that the media?that slept through the lead-up to the war in Iraq, that cheerfully pretended the tea party was a grassroots uprising, that breathlessly reported on birth certificates and death panels, all while pretending that the Republican party hadn't spent the last four years obstructing any and all legislation put forward by President Obama?are finally fighting for a principle. Because knowing that the president three-putted on nine will allow us all to sleep better at night.

Originally posted to Barbara Morrill on Mon Feb 18, 2013 at 05:55 AM PST.

Also republished by Daily Kos.

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Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/Bqtpo78CIkE/-Media-has-a-collective-tantrum-over-golf

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Mexico's Pemex evacuates hospital unit after short circuit

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's state-owned Pemex oil monopoly evacuated a unit of its Cadereyta hospital in the eastern state of Nuevo Leon after a short circuit in ceiling wiring produced smoke, the company said on Saturday night, adding there were no injuries.

The incident "was controlled without major damage," Pemex said in a tweet. In a statement shortly afterward, the company said the short circuit occurred just before 7 p.m. local time and firefighters evacuated 10 patients and 36 hospital workers.

Late last month, an explosion in Pemex's Mexico City headquarters killed at least 37 people. Authorities have said the blast was likely caused by a gas leak, but they are still investigating.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mexicos-pemex-evacuates-hospital-unit-suspected-arson-034955890--finance.html

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Rubio Raises $100,000 Off Water Bottle

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Michael Jordan never played against LeBron James but that has not stopped the two from going one-on-one over how to determine greatness on the basketball court. Jordan, widely hailed as the best player of all-time and who turns 50 on Sunday, believes it is all about championship rings, while James, 28, thinks that view is a little too simplistic. The debate has been the chief talking point of reporters and players in the run-up to the National Basketball Association's (NBA) All-Star game in Houston on Sunday. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rubio-raises-100-000-off-water-bottle-234123237--abc-news-politics.html

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Bribe scandal hits India?s defense modernization

Allegations of corruption in the purchase of 12 Italian helicopters are threatening India?s desperately needed multibillion-dollar modernization of its defense forces.
The CEO of the Italian defense and aerospace company Finmeccanica, Giuseppe Orsi, was held in Milan this week on charges of bribing Indian officials to secure a $ 750 million deal in 2010 to sell the AW-101 medium-lift helicopters.
In response, India ordered a federal probe into the charges and put payments on hold. The Defense Ministry also deferred discussions this week on another contract to buy 197 light utility helicopters, fueling fears that the controversy may paralyze the government?s already painfully slow decision-making process. Defense Minister A.K. Antony said Wednesday that if the probe reveals proof of graft, the Italian company and its Britain-based subsidiary ?are liable for criminal actions; they are liable to be prosecuted; the company is liable to be blacklisted.?
?We are not bothered about who the companies are, how strong they are, how influential they are,? Antony said. ?Nobody will be spared.? In a statement Friday, the Defense Ministry said it has notified the Finmeccanica subsidiary, AgustaWestland, that it is seeking to cancel the contract. The company was asked to reply to the notice in seven days.
Defense analysts said the dramatic revelations of bribery that are being splashed across Indian newspapers every day ? and the probe they have prompted ? may cast a shadow over India?s ambitious plans to replace its aging military arsenal. Those plans made the country the world?s largest arms importer last year. The bribes were allegedly offered to officials as high as the former air force chief. The case has reminded many Indians of another defense corruption scandal in the 1980s, which helped bring down a government and pushed back many key defense purchase decisions. A similar delay, they now warn, may threaten India?s security at a time when its lumbering military needs to urgently transform itself into a leaner and more lethal force to face potential threats from neighbors such as China and Pakistan.
?The unfortunate fallout of the current helicopter controversy is that decisions will get stalled, people will play safe and not take any decisions at all, and that will affect our defense modernization and preparedness adversely,? said Mrinal Suman, a retired army major general who instructs foreign defense manufacturers on Indian weapons procurement policies. ?The modernization of our armed forces is already lagging behind by 15 years. About half of the weapons and equipment in India?s armed forces are obsolete.?
In 2011, V.K. Singh, then chief of the Indian army, said the army?s major combat weapons were in an ?alarming? state, making India unfit for war.
India in recent years has embarked on plans to upgrade its Soviet-era arsenal with new fighter aircraft, antitank missiles, maritime patrol aircraft, infantry combat vehicles, helicopters, assault rifles and submarines ? a shopping list worth about $ 100 billion over more than a decade. US companies hope to corner a predominant share of this market in the coming years. Defense trade between the United States and India has generated nearly $ 8 billion since 2005, coinciding with a new era of closer ties between the two nations.
But each defense purchase takes an average of eight to 10 years, frustrating many foreign vendors.
?Overcautious officers delay the process by looping in and marking defense acquisition files to every senior [official], just to avoid taking individual responsibility for their decisions,? said an industry observer familiar with the process.
The reason for such nervousness, analysts said, is the bruising aftermath of a defense corruption scandal in 1989, in which Indian officials were accused of receiving bribes from the Swedish company Bofors in return for a contract to buy howitzers. The scandal cost the then-ruling Congress party dearly in elections that year.

Source: http://www.arabnews.com/node/442098

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Wrestling president quits after Olympic omission

PHUKET, Thailand -- The president of the international wrestling federation has quit in the wake of the IOC's decision to remove the sport from the 2020 Olympics.

Raphael Martinetti's resignation was announced Saturday at the FILA executive committee meeting in Phuket. The Swiss had been in the position since 2002.

On Tuesday, the executive board of the International Olympic Committee dumped wrestling from its guaranteed berth in future Summer games, forcing the sport to compete for a spot on the program.

U.S.A. Wrestling executive director Rich Bender said Martinetti's departure "provides international wrestling with an opportunity to change and improve," giving the sport a chance "to create a fresh new relationship" with the IOC.

Wrestling will still be on the program at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/16/3237758/wrestling-president-quits-after.html

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China's income gap solution: Too little, too late?

Communist Party leader Xi Jinping

By Minxin Pei

FORTUNE -- Few would disagree that reducing China's disturbingly high level of income inequality is one of the most difficult but critical challenges facing the nation's new leadership, headed by Xi Jinping.

Both official figures and scholarly estimates paint a worrisome picture of unprecedented income and wealth disparity that will likely grow worse in the future. ?Official data on income inequality released recently (the Chinese government has refused to release such official data for years) shows that the core measure of income inequality -- the Gini coefficient -- peaked in 2008 and has since fallen slightly (to around 0.47 -- the higher the number, the wider the income disparity). But this piece of good news has been met with disbelief, if not ridicule, since independent analysis shows no such trend. A more recent survey conducted by a joint Chinese-American research team based on surveys of several thousand households concludes that China's Gini coefficient is 0.61, considerably higher than the official figure (only South Africa, with a Gini coefficient of 0.63, has a higher level of income inequality than China).

Even if we accept the official data, the news is hardly encouraging. High income inequality usually portends social unrest and long-term poor economic performance.? In China's case, what should make the members of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) stay awake at night is the combination of the high level of inequality, the rate of its increase, and how these trends fly in the face of the party's nominally egalitarian ideology.

The steep cost of wealth disparity

Generally speaking, societies with huge income and wealth disparities display more symptoms of social distress and political instability. But societies in which such disparities have risen rapidly in a short period of time fare even worse. China is a prime example. In the late 1970s, the Gini coefficient in China was under 0.30. In the last three decades, it has increased more than 50% (if we use the official data). For a country ruled by a party that pays lip service to communist egalitarianism, rising income inequality poses an existential political threat. It will allow an ambitious political entrepreneur to rally disgruntled segments of society through appeals to populism, as the disgraced former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai effectively did between 2009 and 2011.

MORE: How China's lonely bachelors are helping its economy grow

Obviously aware of the threat posed to its long-term survival, the CCP has vowed repeatedly that it would adopt reforms to reduce inequality. Its latest pledge is an official blueprint jointly drawn up by three key ministries -- the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The State Council, China's cabinet, has endorsed the document, a small but important first step in China's complicated policy-making process (only the CCP Central Committee's decision can give the final word).

The reaction to this document, titled "On Deepening the Reform of the System of Income Distribution," has been mixed. On the one hand, the mere fact that such a document was released suggests that the issue of income inequality has risen to the top of the new leadership's policy agenda -- certainly a welcome development in itself. The document also reflects clear-headed thinking on addressing inequality income at a more systemic level -- by both leveling the playing field (equality of opportunity) and redistributing income through policy (equality of outcome).

Among some of the policy measures mentioned in the document, the most notable ones are those that would reform non-salary income of government officials and executives at state-owned enterprises (at the moment, such income is huge but concealed), monitor the income and investment of officials and their families, and crack down on illegal income through corruption.

On the other hand, the document has been criticized for being too vague. It may have set broad policy guidelines, but it lacks the specific measures to convince a skeptical public that such measures will actually be adopted.? To be sure, one may expect China's new leadership to bolster public confidence by providing more detailed policies later. But given the Chinese government's sad record of promising much but delivering little in its previous efforts to reduce income inequality, the CCP has to overcome its lack of political credibility on this issue. The most effective measures to address China's income disparities will unavoidably hurt the interests of China's elite, so ordinary Chinese people doubt they can "negotiate with a tiger for its skin."

Will China's elite go along with change?

Well-designed policies can address some of the principal drivers of income inequality in China, such as the urban-rural divide, the premium on education, technological change, social mobility, and access to business opportunities, government services, and taxation policy. Reforming the household registration system (called Hukou in Chinese) and broadening rural residents' access to social services would be a start.

However, the most politically challenging reforms would require the ruling elite and their families to surrender lucrative privileges and enormous wealth. In the current hybrid economic system in China, political elites control the allocation and disposal of economic resources and state-owned assets, allowing them to monetize their political power almost effortlessly. Such monetization can take the form of corruption, but in most cases, it takes place within a gray legal zone.

MORE: If you could put China's problems in a bottle?

For instance, employees and executives in monopolistic state-owned enterprises have much higher real income than their counterparts in the private sector, mainly because they enjoy many hidden subsidies. Government officials are given, as legal perks, apartments for a fraction of their market value. They have lavish entertainment budgets and unrestricted use of official vehicles for personal purposes. ?They receive high-quality healthcare for free and enjoy generous retirement pensions.

But such privileges pale in comparison with how these officials and their families can turn their political power into opportunities to amass private wealth. These well-connected individuals can acquire state-controlled assets, such as land, mines, and companies, at prices substantially below market, and then flip them quickly for windfall profits -- all in pro forma compliance with official procedures. This form of crony capitalism has produced a new Chinese kleptocracy.

Addressing such inequality would benefit ordinary Chinese citizens, and the privileged and the powerful would have to foot the bill. Achieving such a feat is difficult but possible in democracies as less well-off voters far outnumber plutocrats. In autocratic regimes, however, ruling elites rarely initiative such efforts.

For China, the challenge of reducing income inequality, like other socioeconomic challenges, would require transparency, openness, limits on political power, and popular empowerment. For the CCP, such requirements will quickly endanger its political monopoly. So unless and until the CCP can convince the Chinese people that it values China's national well-being above its own survival and privileges, nobody should take its promises seriously.

Minxin Pei is the Tom and Margot Pritzker '72 Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College and a non-resident senior fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_news_international/~3/wV7xGHXN-to/

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Pianist Dang Thai Son To Hold Recital Concert, Master Classes At Park University

Pianist Dang Thai Son To Hold Recital Concert, Master Classes At Park University

By Brad Biles - February 15, 2013 - 7:10 am
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NEWS RELEASE

Internationally acclaimed pianist Dang Thai Son, who propelled to the forefront of the music world in 1980 with his gold medal winning performance at the 10th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, will perform a recital concert on Saturday, March 2, at Park University's Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, starting at 7:30 p.m. The concert is a part of the University's International Center for Music 2012-13 Concert Series.

Admission to the concert is $15 for the general public; $10 for senior citizens (age 60 and older); and $5 for children (age 12 and under). Park University students, faculty and staff are admitted free with their Park ID. The concert will feature Dang performing pieces composed by Claude Debussy, Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann.

In addition to the concert, Dang will also hold a series of master classes in the Chapel. These master classes will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 27, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m., and on Thursday, Feb. 28, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. The master classes are free and open to the public.

Considered "a genuine artist" by the renowned violinist and conductor Isaac Stern, Dang's approachable, affable musicality has led to collaborations with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zuckerman and Mstislav Rostropovich, as well as appearances with groups such as the St. Petersburg (Russia) and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras. In 2003, the Yamaha Music Media Corp. published a biography of Dang, A Pianist Loved by Chopin: The Dang Thai Son Story. Recent concert engagements include the complete Beethoven piano concerti with the New Japan Philharmonic and the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous concerts dedicated to?Debussy in celebration of the composer's 150th birthday. (For a complete biography on Dang, visit www.dangthaison.net

.)

The next concert in the ICM's 2012-13 Concert Series will be on Saturday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, featuring a violin recital by Daniel Veis, visiting professor of music at Park. Veis is widely recognized as the finest cellist from the Czech Republic. He won first prize at the 1976 Prague Spring International Competition and the silver medal at the prestigious 1978 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow.

The International Center for Music at Park University was established to foster the exchange of master teacher/performers, renowned young musicians and programs from countries across the globe. The education of emerging musicians is at the philosophical core of the Center's mission and the quality of that training crucial to great artistry. The focus of the Center is on piano and strings performance. For more information about the International Center for Music, visit www.park.edu/icm.

Please note: Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel has restricted physical access. Park University wants to make available to everyone access to all programs and activities conducted in this building. Requests for physical access accommodations should be addressed in a timely manner to Park University's director of campus safety at (816) 584-6226. Park University will make all reasonable modifications to ensure that individuals with physical challenges have an equal opportunity to enjoy all programs and activities.

Source: http://news.park.edu/pub/news_002293.shtml

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LA Lakers owner Jerry Buss hospitalized with cancer -report

As the stricken?Carnival Triumph?is towed back to port in Mobile, Ala., the 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members stranded aboard are understandably restless. They?ve been stuck on board the ship since Sunday morning, when a fire in the ship?s engine room knocked out its propulsion system, leaving it stranded in the Gulf of Mexico.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/la-lakers-owner-jerry-buss-hospitalized-cancer-report-223807643--nba.html

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New York City is committing heavily to EVs. Mayor Bloomberg proposes 20 percent...

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4th of July

Twitter plucks ad man from Google to be research director

In a sign of Twitter?s ever-growing advertising ambitions, the company has hired Jeffrey Graham, a Googler and former New York Times executive, to run its ad research operations.

AdAge reported the news Friday morning. Twitter?s head of revenue, Adam Bain, announced it in a tweet:

While Twitter already has a huge and sophisticated ad operation, the value it provides remains unclear to many brands and marketers. On Black Friday, for instance, a study reported that Twitter ads led to almost zero direct sales; Twitter?s value may considerably higher, however, if marketers consider other metrics like data or brand-awareness.

In his new job, it will likely fall to Graham to explain such distinctions. As AdAge notes, Twitter is forecast to take in over $500 million in revenue this year but will need a more finely-hewn product pitch to get to a billion. Graham is not a regular Twitter user (before today, his last one was in January about cats) but Friday morning he tweeted news of his hire and suggested the company?s acquisition of analytics firm Blue Fin will be a key part of its strategy:

Graham?s background is in agencies and, from 2007 to 2009, as a director of customer insight at the New York Times; in the latter position, he advised the publication on ad research and metrics. Most recently, he was head of ad research at Google but is joining a growing tide of people migrating to Twitter.

Source: http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/twitter-plucks-ad-man-from-google-to-be-research-director/

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Teen killed in protests on Bahrain revolt anniversary

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahraini security forces killed a teenager and injured dozens more protesters on Thursday, an opposition website said, during clashes on the second anniversary of an uprising to demand democratic reforms in the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state.

Several hundred demonstrators, mostly youths from largely Shi'ite villages, blocked roads around the capital Manama and hurled stones and fire bombs at police, who responded with birdshot and tear gas, witnesses said.

Security forces confirmed they had fired warning shots at the crowds and one young man had been killed in the protests, which began in the early morning and lasted almost all day.

The Interior Ministry said a security official was killed in a "terrorist attack" using what it said was an inflammable projectile, according to a statement on its Twitter account.

The clashes were the most violent in recent months and could mar talks that began on Sunday between mostly Shi'ite Muslim opposition groups and the Sunni-dominated government to try to end political deadlock in Bahrain, which is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

Bahrain has seen almost daily demonstrations in the run-up to the anniversary of the revolt, which has put the kingdom on the front line of a region-wide tussle for influence between Shi'ite Muslim Iran and Sunni Arab states such as Saudi Arabia.

Mass protests that erupted in February 2011 at the height of the Arab Spring were crushed, but small demonstrations demanding greater rights for Bahrain's Shi'ite majority and an end to the absolute power of the Sunni ruling family have continued.

Bahrain's chief of public security, Brigadier-General Tariq Al Hassan, said police had fired warning shots on Thursday to disperse a crowd that had attacked them with fire bombs, stones and iron rods, injuring several, some seriously.

"Officers discharged birdshot to defend themselves. At least one rioter was injured in the process. A short time later, a young man was pronounced dead at Salmaniya Medical Center," he said in a statement.

He said several members of the force involved in the incident were being investigated to determine the circumstances of the death.

The main opposition group Wefaq named the youth was Ali Ahmed Ibrahim al-Jazeeri, a 16-year-old Shi'ite, and said he had been killed in the village of Diya, near Manama.

"DOZENS" HURT

It said dozens of others had been hurt, some seriously, and posted pictures of casualties, including a photograph of the dead youth with bandages on his abdomen.

Wefaq said there had also been a confrontation on Sitra island, south of Manama.

"Large numbers of armored vehicles, police cars and buses, convoys of military vehicles and troops deployed in the areas ... to face the peaceful protests demanding freedom and democracy," it said.

The state news agency BNA said masked people had forced a number of schools to close down and chained their doors shut to prevent students and staff getting in.

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said news of the protester's death was "disquieting".

"We call on all parties to exercise restraint, avoid provocations, and reject violence, especially during the demonstrations today," he said.

An international inquiry commission said in a November 2011 report that 35 people had died during Bahrain's uprising. The dead were mainly protesters but included five security personnel and seven foreigners. The report said five people had died from torture. The opposition puts the death toll at more than 80.

Bahrain's opposition and government resumed reconciliation talks on Sunday for the first time since July 2011.

Officials said delegates had agreed at Wednesday's session on some ground rules for the talks, including the role of government representatives and mechanisms for implementing any agreement, paving the way for further sessions next week.

(Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Jon Hemming and Sophie Hares)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/teen-killed-protests-bahrain-revolt-anniversary-074011352.html

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U.S. Embassy Denies Intervening in Mexico Cabinet Choice

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Source: www.nytimes.com --- Friday, February 15, 2013
The embassy disputed a New York Times article, saying that the United States ambassador did not discuss potential appointments with Mexican officials. ...

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/world/americas/us-embassy-denies-intervening-in-mexico-cabinet-choice.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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T-Mobile still offering the Nexus 4 on contract for just $49, sale ends Monday

We're not really recommending that you agree to a two-year contract with an operator for a Nexus 4. But if you just have to have one, and if you just have to have one for about one-fourth the cost of the base 8GB model, T-Mobile still has them on sale over the weekend for $49. That's with a new two-year agreement, it's available online only through Monday.

Source: T-Mobile; Thanks, Aric!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/eS1o-VZqF_k/story01.htm

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Weary passengers disembark crippled Carnival ship in Alabama

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - Thousands of relieved passengers poured ashore from a stinking cruise ship on Friday after five days adrift in the Gulf of Mexico with overflowing toilets and stench filled cabins.

Exhausted passengers lined the ship's decks, waving towels and flashlights, cheering and singing "Sweet Home Alabama" as tug-boats pulled the stricken Carnival Triumph into the port of Mobile, Alabama.

Some travelers kissed the ground when they walked off, others disembarked wearing the ship's white bath robes, part souvenir and part protection against a chilly night.

With only one working elevator, it took several hours to get the more than 4,200 people off the ship, Carnival said. Passengers were greeted dockside with warm food, blankets and cell phones to call family and friends.

About 100 buses waited to carry passengers on a seven-hour bus ride to Galveston, Texas, while others buses departed for shorter rides to New Orleans, as well as hotels in Mobile, before eventually flying home.

The end of the saga, documented live on U.S. cable news stations, was another public relations disaster for cruise giant Carnival Corp. Last year, its Costa Concordia luxury liner grounded off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people.

Carnival officials said the Triumph, which entered service in 1999, would be towed to a Mobile repair facility for damage assessment.

The 893-foot (272-metre) vessel was returning to Galveston from Cozumel, Mexico on the third day of a four-day cruise when an engine-room fire knocked out power and plumbing across most of the ship on Sunday.

Passengers described a gut-wrenching stench on parts of the ship and complained to relatives and media by cellphone that toilets and drainpipes overflowed, soaking many cabins and interior passages in raw sewage.

"The stench was awful," said Robin Chandler, a 50-year-old from Dallas who spent her birthday on the ship. "A lot of people were crying and freaking out."

Jacob Combs, an Austin, Texas-based sales executive with a healthcare and hospice company, praised the ship's crew.

"Just imagine the filth," said Combs, 30. "People were doing crazy things and going to the bathroom in sinks and showers. It was inhuman. The stewards would go in and clean it all up. They were constantly cleaning," he said.

APOLOGY

Facing criticism over the company's response, Carnival Cruise Lines Chief Executive Gerry Cahill boarded the ship to personally apologize to passengers.

"I know the conditions on board were very poor," he told reporters, sounding shaken in a brief media appearance before he boarded the ship. "I know it was difficult. I want to apologize for subjecting our guests to that," he said.

"We pride ourselves with providing our guests with a great vacation experience and clearly we failed in this particular case," Cahill added.

Operated by Carnival Cruise Lines, the flagship brand of Carnival Corp, the ship left Galveston a week ago carrying 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew. It was supposed to return on Monday.

Some passengers said conditions deteriorated rapidly on the Triumph earlier in the week, saying people were getting sick and passengers had been told to use plastic "biohazard" bags as makeshift toilets.

"It wasn't a vacation anymore it was like survival mode. Eat what you can. Snack when you can. It was awful," said passenger Tammy Garcia.

Smoke from the engine fire was so thick that passengers on the lower decks in the rear of the ship had to be permanently evacuated and slept the rest of the voyage on the decks under sheets, passengers said.

COMPENSATION OFFER

Some passengers said they tried to pass the time playing cards and organizing Bible study groups and scavenger hunts for the children on board the ship.

Cahill has issued several apologies and Carnival, the world's largest cruise company, said passengers will be reimbursed in full plus transportation expenses, a future cruise credit equal to the amount paid for this voyage, plus a payment of $500 a person to help compensate them.

Chandler, the passenger, scoffed at the compensation offer. "There are lost wages, I've got a baby sitter at home and I had to take off work," she said.

Some passengers said conditions improved on Thursday after a generator was delivered to the ship, providing power for a grill to cook hot food. Passengers said toilets began flushing again on Thursday and the ship served steaks and lobster - a relief after a steady diet of cold sandwiches of cucumber and cheese.

Carnival Corp Chairman and CEO Micky Arison was criticized in January last year for failing to travel to Italy and take personal charge of the Costa Concordia crisis. The tragedy unleashed numerous lawsuits against his company.

He has not publicly commented on the Triumph incident.

"I think they really are trying to do the right thing, but I don't think they have been able to communicate it effectively," said Marcia Horowitz, an executive who handles crisis management at Rubenstein Associates, a New York-based PR firm.

Carnival Corp shares closed down 11 cents at $37.35 in trading on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Triumph is a Bahamian-flagged vessel and the Bahamas Maritime Authority will be the primary agency investigating the cause of its engine room fire.

Earlier this month, Carnival repaired an electrical problem on one of the Triumph's alternators. The company said there was no evidence of any connection between the repair and the fire.

For all the passengers' grievances, they will likely find it difficult to sue the cruise operator for any damages, legal analysts said. Over the years, the cruise industry has put in place a legal structure that shields operators from big-money lawsuits.

(Additional reporting by David Adams, Writing by Tom Brown and Kevin Gray; Editing by David Adams and Jon Boyle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/crippled-carnival-cruise-ship-limps-alabama-002802892--finance.html

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The significance and robustness of a plasma free amino acid (PFAA) profile-based multiplex function for detecting lung cancer

Research article

Masato Shingyoji, Toshihiko Iizasa, Masahiko Higashiyama, Fumio Imamura, Nobuhiro Saruki, Akira Imaizumi, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Takashi Daimon, Osamu Tochikubo, Toru Mitsushima, Minoru Yamakado and Hideki Kimura

For all author emails, please log on.

BMC Cancer 2013, 13:77?doi:10.1186/1471-2407-13-77

Published: 15 February 2013

Abstract (provisional)

Background

We have recently reported on the changes in plasma free amino acid (PFAA) profiles in lung cancer patients and the efficacy of a PFAA-based, multivariate discrimination index for the early detection of lung cancer. In this study, we aimed to verify the usefulness and robustness of PFAA profiling for detecting lung cancer using new test samples.

Methods

Plasma samples were collected from 171 lung cancer patients and 3849 controls without apparent cancer. PFAA levels were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)--electrospray ionization (ESI)--mass spectrometry (MS).

Results

High reproducibility was observed for both the change in the PFAA profiles in the lung cancer patients and the discriminating performance for lung cancer patients compared to previously reported results. Furthermore, multivariate discriminating functions obtained in previous studies clearly distinguished the lung cancer patients from the controls based on the area under the receiver-operator characteristics curve (AUC of ROC = 0.731 ~ 0.806), strongly suggesting the robustness of the methodology for clinical use. Moreover, the results suggested that the combinatorial use of this classifier and tumor markers improves the clinical performance of tumor markers.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that PFAA profiling, which involves a relatively simple plasma assay and imposes a low physical burden on subjects, has great potential for improving early detection of lung cancer.

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.

Source: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/13/77

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