You'd expect a dish with two small but mighty ocean fish to be salty, but pasta with canned sardines and anchovies really piles in on.
There is sodium in nearly every ingredient, including the imported Colavita whole-wheat pasta I sometimes use.
The first way to cut salt in the recipe is to stop salting the water used for boiling the pasta.
In the past, I'd pump up the flavor by dumping? sardines and anchovies and all their oil into the sauce, but now I drain the cans and add extra-virgin olive oil, which has no sodium.
A 2-ounce can of anchovies has 860 milligrams of sodium or 36% of the recommended daily intake of 2,400 milligrams.?
The anchovies dissolve completely, but give the sauce a hearty, non-fishy flavor.
A 4-ounce-plus can of the Moroccan sardines I use has 603 milligrams of sodium.
But the only way to avoid more sodium in the sauce is to make it yourself.
Today, I looked at the labels of a dozen bottled pasta sauces at the Hackensack ShopRite, and typically saw more than 300, 400 or even 500 milligrams of sodium listed for a serving size of one-half cup.
I found the lowest salt content in Chef Mario Batali's Tomato Basil pasta sauce -- only 180 mg per half cup -- but other Mario Batali sauces have a lot more sodium. When I serve pasta with sardines and anchovies, I like to add grated Pecorino Romano, a sheep's milk cheese, so that's another source of sodium. Not using salt in the pasta water and draining the cans of fish are good first steps, but I think I have to go further. I could cut the amount of sardines -- to two cans from three or four per pound of pasta -- as well as use less bottled sauce and more extra-virgin olive oil. I could also stop adding anchovies, but the sauce wouldn't be as robust. I can skip the grated cheese.
And I can console myself about the high sodium content of the dish by always drinking a glass or two of red wine with it. At least that would be good for my heart.
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- A jury on Friday recommended death for an arsonist convicted of murdering five men who died of heart attacks during a wildfire that ripped through Southern California nearly a decade ago.
The murder charges against Rickie Lee Fowler, 31, signaled a tough standard for arson cases in a region plagued by wildfires that sometimes claim the lives of firefighters and civilians.
The Old Fire scorched 91,000 acres and destroyed 1,000 buildings while burning for nine days. The men died after their homes burned or as they tried to evacuate.
Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith ordered Fowler to return to court Nov. 16 for sentencing. The judge can either accept the jury's recommendation or sentence Fowler to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Fowler, who wore a pinstriped shirt, spoke briefly with his attorney after the recommendation was read. He was handcuffed and led down a hall by bailiffs.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos welcomed the verdict after the fire devastated neighborhoods, destroying people's lives and cherished personal property such as photos, albums and letters that can never be replaced.
"Hopefully this does bring some justice to the victims," Ramos said.
Jurors declined to speak with reporters outside the courtroom.
Defense attorney Michael Belter said he spoke with members of the jury after the hearing and was told they had gone back and forth on whether to recommend death or a life sentence.
"We still take the position that if one is not involved with the intentional killing of somebody, the death penalty would not be warranted," Belter said, adding that he plans to file a motion for a new trial.
The decision to recommend the death penalty for a crime tangential to the arson appeared to be unprecedented, according to a legal expert.
"I've never heard of a case like this," said Loyola Law School professor Stan Goldman. "This issue is going to keep the California Supreme Court busy for quite a while."
He said a key consideration would be whether it was foreseeable to Fowler that five men would die of heart attacks when he set the fire.
"The real question is whether we should be executing people when the deaths were not an easily foreseeable consequence of the criminal act," Goldman said.
He cited a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision reversing the death sentence of a man charged with aiding and abetting a murder. The court held that the sentence should not apply to someone who didn't kill, attempt or intend to kill the victim.
The district attorney declined to discuss the death recommendation in detail because he expects the issue to be raised on appeal.
Fowler was convicted in August of arson and five counts of first-degree murder for setting the massive wind-blown blaze that ravaged the hills east of Los Angeles in 2003.
Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and former federal prosecutor, said that in charging Fowler with murder for setting the fire, prosecutors applied the same reasoning as they do when charging bank robbers for murder after tellers die of heart attacks. However, she acknowledged that people might not see a link between setting a wildfire and suffering a heart attack.
"Usually in arson, people die of smoke inhalation, or being ? God forbid ? burned to death. This is not the ordinary way people die in these situations," she said.
Levenson said the prosecution ran little risk in trying to get the death penalty for Fowler because doing so enabled them to cull a more conservative jury pool.
Robert Bulloch, supervising deputy district attorney, said he doesn't believe the manner of death made a difference in this case.
"Whether they were shot in a liquor store, in the course of a robbery or they were run over while somebody was trying to get away, the fact of the matter is that these lives were directly lost as a result of Rickie Fowler's actions," said Bulloch, who prosecuted the case.
Fowler became a suspect in the wildfire after witnesses reported seeing a passenger in a white van tossing burning objects into dry brush in the foothills above San Bernardino. Acting on a phone tip, investigators interviewed Fowler several months after the fire but didn't have enough evidence to file charges until six years later.
Fowler was serving time for burglary when he was charged with starting the blaze ? one of many fires that raged simultaneously throughout Southern California. While in prison awaiting trial, he was convicted of sodomizing an inmate and sentenced to three terms of 25 years to life.
Prosecutors argued at trial that Fowler lit the fire out of rage after he was thrown out of a house where his family was staying. They painted a picture of Fowler as a sadistic felon who raped, robbed and tortured people throughout his life.
Defense attorneys said Fowler never acknowledged starting the fire and suffered a horrific childhood with methamphetamine-addicted parents and a neighbor who molested him.
Prosecutors said Fowler gave authorities a note in 2008 acknowledging he was there when the fire began. The following year, he told reporters he had been badgered into making a confession.
___
AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.
Huntington? disease, which killed folk singer Woody Guthrie, seems to put into overdrive the main chemical that turns on brain cells, ultimately leading to their death.
The normal function of the neurotransmitter glutamate, the chemical overproduced in Huntington?s, is also intimately involved with learning.
Researchers from Ruhr University and the University of Dortmund in Germany have been intrigued by the question of whether the neurodegeneration initiated by glutamate in this genetic disorder is all bad. Is it simply? burning out brain circuits? Or might an excess of the chemical also help presymptomatic carriers of the Huntington?s gene or even patients with the disease itself,? learn some things faster or better?
?Neurotransmission causes cell death but we know from the vast amount of literature that learning processes very much depend on glutamate neurotransmission; so there may be two effects of one and the same process,? says Christian Beste of Ruhr University. ?On the one hand this process may lead to neurodegeneration. But on the other hand, it may augment a cognitive process that depends on glutamate transmission.?
Beste is the lead author on a paper published this month in Current Biology that found that those who have the genetic mutation for Huntington?s but who have yet to develop inevitable symptoms of the disease perform better on a learning task than a control group that lacks the mutation. The 29 Huntington?s gene carriers learned to detect twice as fast as the 45 controls a change in brightness of a small bar as its orientation on a computer screen altered. In fact, the Huntington?s carriers with the most pronounced mutations?the number of repetitions of a short DNA segment determines how early disease onset occurs?logged the best performance.
But doesn?t the cognitive benefit disappear as the disease develops and patients develop symptoms such as jerking movements, dementia and hallucinations? Actually, maybe not. In a 2008 study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the two university teams found that 13 Huntington?s patients actually performed better in detecting? whether a tone was long or short than 25 healthy controls, half of whom had the mutation but had yet to experience any symptoms.? The paper forwarded a challenge to ?the view that late-stage neurodegeneration is necessarily related to a decline in cognitive abilities in Huntington?s disease. In contrast, selectively enhanced cognitive functioning can emerge with otherwise impaired cognitive functioning.?
These findings will probably not help patients with a diagnosis cope better with the disease, Beste says, but they may provide a way to determine whether a drug for Huntington?s is effective: performance on a psychological test or electroencephalograph may actually decline as the patient gets better. ?I don?t think this will be implemented in a rehabilitation program,? he comments ?But it may be useful as a readout for clinical trials where we are examining drug effects targeting the excitotoxicity problem in Huntington?s disease. A few trials targeting this excitotoxicity mechanism have not been very successful.? In part this lack of success may depend on lack of a? well-tuned readout measure; if we have a better readout measure, it may be possible to detect therapeutic effects.? Apart from any potential benefits in testing, the set of experiments provide new perspective on what happens in the brain as disease takes over and cells start to die.
In case you haven?t noticed, the craft spirits scene is booming in Chicago. Like, big time.
It began in 2004 with Lake Bluff?s North Shore Distillery, was followed up by Koval ? the first distillery within Chicago proper ? in 2008, and continued last year with the debut of FEW Spirits in Evanston.
But just as Andy Warhol once said: ?One?s company, two?s a crowd, and three?s a party.? And this party?s just getting started.
2012 has marked the start for three new area distilleries ? Letherbee, Quincy Street, and Tailwinds ? and, not uncoincidentally, it also marks the city?s first Craft Sprit Week.
Organized by North Shore, Koval and FEW, Craft Spirit Week Chicago is a collection of events around town focusing on the small batch work done here and elsewhere, and it brings together like-minded folks to celebrate everything scratch-produced. The festivities run next week ? October 1 -6, 2012 ? and feature interesting bar programs, spirit-driven dinners, and the Independent Spirits Expo.
?
The most-up-to-date details as well as times and prices (if applicable) can be found on the Craft Sprit Week Calendar of Events, but here?s a quick smattering of where the best drinks are to be had next week.
Tuesday, October 2 ? Spirit Specifics
During the day, ? Who needs work anyway? ? there are two major educational opportunities with a whiskey class at the Columbia Yacht Club and the first of a four-part ?Mezcal Master? class at Binny?s South Loop. Both are big bucks and require reservations. Space is limited.
More up my alley, however, are the chances for hands-on learning happening later in the evening. Simultaneous cocktail and spirit tastings are popping up all around town with either no, or small covers. Serious whiskey aficionados can hit up Jerry?s in Wicker Park or Delilah?s for spirit samples, but those looking for something a little more out of the ordinary might want to check out Evolution Wines & Spirits in Bucktown ? which is featuring unusual rums from Great Lakes, Old Sugar, Barrel House and Seven Fathoms ? or Fountainhead ? which is featuring a program on aperitifs and digestifs with Koval. And for those looking for fun over erudition, The Whistler is hosting a ?Left Coast v. Third Coast? gin cocktail smackdown. As much as a love the stuff from St. George and Anchor, I?ve got to root for hometowners Letherbee.
Finally, for the late-night set, the evening ends with a cocktail competition at Watershed titled ?Bring the Weird.? Your guess is as good as mine, but the downstairs space has never left me disappointed.
Wednesday, October 3 ? Independent Spirits Expo
Wednesday marks the second time the Indie Spirits Expo has come to Chicago and the event has greatly expanded since last year. Running from 5:00-9:30 pm at the Carmichael?s Steakhouse Warehouse in the West Loop, this bazaar offers meet-and-greets and samples from nearly 100 craft distilleries. VIP and regular admission tickets are still available at $75 and $55.
If four and a half hours of booze isn?t enough ? or if you don?t want to drop the dime for the main event ? a free afterparty runs all night at Delilah?s.
?Thursday and Friday, October 4-5 ? Spirit Dinners
On the third day, the bible tells us, God created food to soak up the alcohol. Or so I think I heard in Sunday school.
Regardless, eats are getting paired with spirits on Thursday at a Fountainhead/FEW dinner and a Big Jones/North Shore dinner, with oysters and absinthe being paired later at the newly opened Savoy.
North Shore returns for another dinner at 2 Sparrows on Friday.
Saturday, October 6 ? Distillery Tours
Finally, Craft Spirit Week Chicago ends quite fittingly with a peek behind the scenes at the DIY drive being so many of these outfits. Most of Chicagoland?s distilleries will be open for tours as well as both Journeyman and Great Lakes nearby in Michigan. Swing by to see how your favorite hooch is born.
For more information, check out the Craft Spirit Week Chicago website or check their Facebook page for the latest updates.
?David McCowan
It is not far away.? Chicago Craft Beer Week is making its return on May 19th, as a number of organizations and bars are sponsoring beer related-events across a number...
The craft beer market in Chicago has simply exploded.? Local breweries are popping up like dandelions on your lawn in the springtime.? Out of town craft brews have staged a...
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Home > Business > Marc Benezra of leading Miami Law firm Discusses the Basic Steps behind Property Foreclosure
Miami, FL September 25, 2012 ? Marc Benezra discusses various steps involved in legal property foreclosure with the prime motive of creating a complete understanding among people on foreclosure. This leading real estate firm successfully represents their clients in various types of financial issues.
According to Benezra, the process begins with a notice from the court regarding the nonpayment of loan amount. This first step, completed by the lender, warns the debtor of the upcoming foreclosure.
The leading Miami lawyer comments, ?All individuals have the right to represent themselves in the court. When the letter is received, it is the debtor?s responsibility to contact the right lawyer who can do an effective job of representing in the court. For individuals who find themselves trapped in these unfortunate situations, Marc Ben-ezra PA can offer quick assistance with our vast experience in handling legal foreclosure issues. We have come across many cases which become a lost cause within the legal system, mainly due to poor selection of Lawyer.?
He added that after the initial letter, the lender sends a Lis Pendens notice which diminishes the rights of the owner to the property. ?The lawyer should send a response to the notice within 20 days. This crucial action plays a key role in the progression of the case?.
If the notice is unanswered, the default judgment of foreclosure will fall against the property owner. Following this judgment, a hearing occurs in which the owner and lawyer represent the case to the court. If the reasons are not a valid, the property will proceed to be auctioned. On the date that the judge has specified, the property will come under public auction at the country courthouse. The amount that the property is auctioned for will be used to settle the loan. ?Generally, foreclosed property auction will unload many financial burdens on the debtors. Choosing a reputable, experienced attorney will reduce this burden. With the many practiced lawyers in our firm, we make it possible for clients to benefit from foreclosure procedures,? he conluded.
About the Benezera Katz PA,
Benezera Katz PA is a leading Miami Based law firm, founded by Marc Benezra who is a reputable, prestigious real estate lawyer rendering effective solutions to clients in various legal financial situations. To know more about Benezera Katz PA visit?http://www.marcbenezra.net/
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Wilbur Smith Law Firm Specializes in Many Different Areas of Law
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Some months ago I joined an RV club called Harvest Hosts. ?For a mere $35 per year I could stay for the night at one of the hundreds of wineries, u-pick-it farms or specialty farms that are also members. ?It is merely a place to park, there are no hookups, and it is necessary to call ahead because there is very limited space for parking. ?I had not had the opportunity to stay at one until recently while traveling to visit cousins outside of Atlanta so I checked the list and found this lovely spot on a rainy afternoon....
The Desert Mountain Alpaca Ranch
The road in was not far from the main thoroughfare, ?and not bad, even though it was raining when I arrived.
Curious heads were watching me from the barn as I parked...
and a cacophony of barking sounds told me these occupants were well guarded. The owner of the ranch, Janice Buttitta came out to greet me and I learned that she and her husband, Tom, had recently moved their charming herd (what do you call a group of alpacas?) ?plus 6 or more dogs from Arizona.
The beautiful animals were very curious and not the least bit afraid of this new visitor in their midst.
Janice's mother, Nellie Diaz, is also a willing participant in the care and upkeep of the Alpacas.
? They are remarkably beautiful with the softest fur imaginable and just look at those eyelashes!
Janice knew the names and personalities of each and every one of her charges.
They are sheered in the spring right before the heat of the summer and then they have the time to regrow the fur for the winter.
If their fur is this thick in only 5 months just imagine the thickness in another 7 months. ?It is then turned into yarn and made into sweaters, caps, rugs and much more. ?The animals are also bred and the offspring are sold to other potential alpaca farmers.
?. As I was strolling among the animals, Janice warned me when I started to get near the pile of 'Alpaca Beans' above. ?"That's their bathroom!" she warned.
??I looked around and noticed that the yard was remarkably clean except for two or three piles like the one shown above. "They all use the same few spots for defecating," Janice explained. ?"As a result they are some of the cleanest farm animals you will ever find."
Well, Nellie might not agree completely. ?I found her shoveling up the bathroom piles the next morning--and it was raining again! ?I guess there had to be a downside to this idyllic life after all.
I now consider my $35 membership fee in Harvest Hosts to be a real bargain--I would never have had this experience without them.
Android: Apple's Passbook app for managing loyalty cards, coupons, tickets and more looks cool, but it's only available, as you'd expect, on Apple devices running iOS 6. PassWallet for Android, however, does everything Passbook does and ports Passbook digital items into your Android device.
Passbook for iOS 6 stores its mobile wallet items as .pkpass files. PassWallett for Android detects these files and imports them automatically from your email messages and websites you visit. This means you can organize digital coupons, travel and event tickets, loyalty cards and the like from services such as Fandango, Ticketmaster, and Walgreens.
The app has been out for a while, but we're not placing any bets on Apple letting it last very much longer once it becomes aware of the app. Still, you can grab PassWallet now from the link below and get Passbook functionality on your Android.
James T. Farrell, the creator of Studs Lonigan, is often thought of as a crude, dogged, naturalist writer; it's refreshing to hear the author speaking, in this recording from 1952, of what truly obsesses him: literature.
Speaking on the French Broadcasting System, Farrell?summarizes a speech he gave at the recent Masterpieces of the 20th Century Festival in Paris. Exemplifying the conference's CIA-sponsored anti-Communist theme, Farrell?states that the best condition for writing is "freedom."?
?Interestingly, he does not champion the Modernist concept of the writer as an individual isolated or alienated from the public as a whole. On the contrary, "the writer works out what comes and goes in the minds of other people." Even when at odds with the culture or the society, he is, in fact, experiencing what many others feel as well. "Thus the alienated poet does give expression to common feelings." He speaks of the revelation he had as a young man, working at a gas station, reading Sherwood Anderson's Tar, a semiautobiographical account of Anderson's Midwestern boyhood, and recognizing his own deep sense of bitterness and frustration, realizing that perhaps his emotions were important as well. For Farrell, "what literature, what culture does, is make life meaningful." Unlike some of the other speakers at the conference, Farrell is optimistic. He urges artists to keep up with the latest trends in science and technology. After taking the obligatory swipe at Russian totalitarianism, he states that "art and freedom will survive."
Farrell was born in Chicago in 1904. His parents were poor and the family large. At 3, he was sent to live with his grandparents. Farrell quickly immersed himself in the working class milieu of Chicago's South Side. In 1932 he published Young Lonigan, introducing readers to the protagonist of his trilogy, which would continue with The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan (1934) and Judgment Day (1935). These books, with their unflinching look at the unsavory side of capitalism and their frank treatment of sex, created an immediate sensation. Looking back, The New York Times reported:
The three books had an enormous impact on the literary world of the 1930s: H.L. Mencken called Farrell "the best living American novelist" and many readers and critics were deeply moved by what they saw as the absolute honesty and realism of his account of Studs' boyhood, degradation, and untimely death.??
Farrell's disdain for "fine writing" was in tune with a country grappling with the mass unemployment and political upheaval caused by the Depression. He seemed to be recording just the facts, the unvarnished truth, in a flat style that implied man was largely helpless in the face of forces and events beyond his control. Although this view of his work fit in well with its time, Farrell himself fought against such a simplistic interpretation. As the website eNotes points out:
These novels established him as a leading practitioner of American naturalism, but it was a label that limited the recognition of his artistic achievements. Farrell himself took issue with the view of his work as imitative and rigidly deterministic, stating, "I've never been the economic determinist that critics have made me. ?I have a functional conception of environment and character; I don't believe in environment over character or anything like that." The issue of Farrell's determinism has remained a central critical debate. Those who disagree with this narrow categorizing of Farrell point to his literary criticism wherein he asserts that literature is a liberating force, allowing one to escape the social forces that threaten individual integrity; in his literary manifestos, Farrell emphasizes free will and the capacity for freedom, ideas which his supporters argue are amply illustrated through the achievements of his writer-characters who are stimulated to success by these same restrictive forces.
One could argue that the very vehemence with which he protests this view of his work in manifestos and criticism rather than in the novels and short stories themselves is a tacit admission that it does have some basis in fact. It was certainly an aesthetic that did not wear well as readers looked for a more nuanced view of plot and character than they found in his many subsequent books. But Farrell could not change. As grimly industrious as one of his proletarian characters, he wrote 25 novels and 17 collections of short stories, none of which sold nearly as well as the Lonigan trilogy. Roger Ebert, writing a 1968 profile of him in The Chicago Sun-Times, quotes him as saying:
"I have a lot of work to do. I write 20 hours at a stretch; I hate sleep and I fight it. I've slept seven hours in the last three days. If it kills me, that doesn't matter. I've already gained more time than I'll lose." ? His sentences follow one another like bricks in a well-made row. His prose is simple and direct, powerful and blunt. He has no use for the facile style of authors like John Updike. "See," he said, "I like to write. I've never had writer's block so much as a day in my life. If I block for an hour, that's a long time. I know what I want to write; my problem is to find time to get it all down."
There's something admirable, as well as horrific, in this picture of Farrell pounding away at his typewriter as if he were a chain gang inmate swinging his sledge hammer at a towering mountain of stone. Largely forgotten, his achievement may well find renewed appreciation in the future, when economic conditions more closely resemble those at the time of its inception. For now, what shines through in this talk and in his oeuvre is an overwhelming dedication, the sense of a life truly given over to art.
Farrell died in 1979, at age 75.
?
Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton's annual philanthropic summit will attract the new leaders of Egypt and Libya plus this year's U.S. presidential candidates to a forum that once again competes for attention with the United Nations General Assembly.
Libya's new head of state, Mohammed Magarief, and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will appear at the eighth Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), which Clinton hosts in New York when many world leaders are in town for the annual U.N. meeting.
President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney were set to appear separately on Tuesday. Others on the bill include new Barclays PLC Chief Executive Antony Jenkins and Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, among other luminaries.
This year's theme, "Designing for Impact," will focus panel discussions on topics such as providing safe and reliable energy, sustainable tourism, promoting a greater role for women in civics, and "food security," or guaranteeing access to food in the face of extreme weather conditions as a result of climate change.
"We've always been in the business of inspiring concrete solutions," said Robert Harrison, the initiative's chief executive. He said the meeting would focus on "the how" of solving problems.
The idea for the summit came from Clinton's frustration while president from 1993 to 2001 at attending conferences that prompted no action. When the initiative began, corporations tended to show up and write checks to fund humanitarian programs. Now many see philanthropy in terms of investment opportunities.
"CGI is built on the spirit of non-partisan, cross-sector collaborations that drive action, and I'm proud that, since we began in 2005, CGI members have made more than 2,100 commitments that are already improving the lives of 400 million people all over the world," Clinton said in a statement.
Since the initiative started, more than 2,000 pledges have been made valued at more than $69 billion, and they have improved the lives of more than 400 million people in 180 countries, Clinton said.
If a company or individual fails to keep a pledge, they are not invited the following year.
Romney was due to offer remarks at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) on September 25, with Obama following at noon (1600 GMT).
The full agenda can be seen at www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/2012
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, left, looks on during the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, left, looks on during the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)
Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker (9) reacts in front of New England Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty after kicking the game-winning field goal in the final moments of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012. Baltimore won 31-30. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)
Miami Dolphins cornerback Richard Marshall (31) and New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes (10) engage each other as head linesman Greg Maxwell (67) and another official attempt to restrain them during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rhona Wise)
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White, left, argues with official Derra Ramsey during the first half of an NFL football game against the San Diego Chargers in San Diego, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) challenges the official after wide receiver Lance Moore (16) hit the pylon in the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012. After review the pass was ruled incomplete. (AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman)
Replacement officials are getting to Bill Belichick, too.
The New England Patriots coach grabbed the arm of an official as they were leaving the field Sunday night after rookie John Tucker's last-second field goal barely sneaked inside the right upright, giving Baltimore a 31-30 victory.
Belichick said he doesn't expect to be fined for making contact with the official, although that usually is NFL policy.
"I'm not going to comment about that. You saw the game," Belichick said in his postgame news conference. "What did we have, 30 penalties called in that game?"
Actually, it was 10 for 83 yards, fewer than the Ravens' 14 for 135 yards.
"It's our job to go out there and control what we can control," Belichick added. "That's what we're going to try to work on. Talk to the officials about the way they called the game. Talk to the league about the way they called it. I don't know. But we just have to go out there and try to play the best we can."
The kick was close, but replays clearly showed it was good.
Week 3 produced suspect calls during several games, even as the league and the locked out officials' union met.
Two people familiar with the talks said the sides held negotiations Sunday. It was uncertain whether progress was made in an attempt to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, or when further negotiations would take place.
The two people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the talks are not being made public.
The NFL locked out the officials in June after their contract expired. The league has been using replacement officials, and through three weeks of the regular season there has been much criticism over the way some games are being handled.
Particularly on Sunday.
Replacement officials admitted making two mistakes in Minnesota's victory over San Francisco, while a few other games included questionable calls that could have affected the outcomes.
Referee Ken Roan said he twice granted 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh video challenges after Harbaugh called timeout in the fourth quarter. Neither challenge should have been allowed once Harbaugh asked for time.
"What I told him was, 'Well you challenged it not knowing what the result of the play was going to be,'" Roan said. "So I granted him the challenge and we went and looked at it. That was wrong. I should not have."
Both mistakes happened in the span of six plays in Minnesota's 24-13 upset of the 49ers.
"My interpretation of it was that he could do that based upon the time factors and not knowing it was a challengeable play to begin with when he called timeout," Roan said. "If you don't have a timeout to lose, you can't make a challenge."
Earlier Sunday, the NFL players' union sent an open letter to team owners calling for an end to the lockout.
In the Lions-Titans and Bengals-Redskins games, officials marched off too much yardage on penalties.
Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch's helmet-to-helmet hit on Craig Stevens wound up as a 27-yard penalty in Tennessee's 44-41 overtime win. In OT, from the Titans 44, Jake Locker passed to Stevens over the middle for a 24-yard gain and Tulloch was flagged for the hit. Fourteen yards were added to the end of the play, which then was reviewed and overturned because the ball hit the ground.
However, the penalty still is enforced. Instead of 15 yards, officials marked it off from the Detroit 44 ? the wrong spot.
"As soon as the play was declared incomplete it becomes a first down and it becomes 15 yards from the play before," Lions coach Jim Schwartz said.
The Redskins were penalized 20 yards instead of 15 for unsportsmanlike conduct in the final seconds of their 38-31 loss.
Robert Griffin III spiked the ball to stop the clock with 7 seconds left. Then tight end Fred Davis was called for a 5-yard false start penalty.
According to Washington coach Mike Shanahan, at least one official indicated there would be a 10-second runoff, ending the game ? and the Bengals, led by coach Marvin Lewis, started walking onto the field. There shouldn't have been a runoff, though, because the clock had been stopped by the spike. The Redskins began arguing, and eventually the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called.
The officials never announced specifically who the call was against, just that the penalty would be added to the false start, a total of 20 yards. But they walked off 25 yards ? the official game play-by-play said 20 yards were enforced for the unsportsmanlike conduct.
That left the Redskins with a third-and-50.
"They threw the flag at us, and there was half of the (Bengals) team on the field," Shanahan said. "I was disappointed in that."
The players' union posted an open letter to team owners calling on them to end the lockout of the regular officials that began four months ago. The NFL used replacements in 2001 for one week before a new deal was reached.
This year, criticism from coaches and players has mounted for the replacements, who come from lower college levels or from other leagues such as Arena Football.
There have been numerous complaints by players and coaches ? certainly more than when the regular officials work ? and Sunday was no different. In one particularly embarrassing episode, an official was removed from working a New Orleans game last week because he posted photos of himself in Saints gear on Facebook.
Then there were more questionable decisions Sunday:
?At Nashville, with 16 seconds remaining in regulation, Detroit's Shaun Hill threw to Nate Burleson on the sideline and he then lost the ball. It looked to be a completion then a fumble because the side judge threw his beanie, but another official ruled an incomplete pass. Titans CB Alterraun Verner had grabbed the ball and started to run and there were questions why the replay booth didn't review it.
?Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo fumbled twice on plays in the third quarter that weren't initially ruled turnovers until challenged by Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano.
First, Romo was in the grasp of Gerald McCoy with his right arm extended, when he flicked the ball forward in what was initially ruled an incomplete pass. Officials watched the replay and determined the ball was loose when Romo tried to push it out, and called it a fumble recovered by Gary Gibson at the 19.
Later, Michael Bennett sacked Romo and knocked the ball loose, but officials quickly whistled the play dead and Romo down even as Eric Wright ran toward the end zone with the football.
After Schiano challenged, officials reversed it to a fumble recovered at the 31, and the Bucs failed to score.
"They blew it dead. But the refs are doing a great job," McCoy said. "A lot of people are complaining. We've got what we got. Everyone needs to accept it. They're trying their hardest. No ref wants to go out there and make a bad call."
?Raiders receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was taken to the hospital with a neck injury after a helmet-to-helmet hit from Steelers safety Ryan Mundy that was not penalized.
Heyward-Bey was running across the end zone early in the fourth quarter to catch a pass from Carson Palmer when Mundy launched his body and lowered his helmet into Heyward-Bey's facemask. Heyward-Bey's neck jerked violently and his head also crashed into the ground. The pass was incomplete.
"Once again, the refs missed it, like they always do," Oakland defensive tackle Tommy Kelly said.
?Dolphins tight end Anthony Fasano was ruled to have made a catch near the Jets' goal line and the call was held up after review, even though the ball touched the ground as he was tackled.
"Well, I think the fact that we have to talk about it after every game is something right there," Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway said. "I don't think in my seven-year career that I've had to do that ever. So that probably tells you the story right there."
___
AP Sports Writers Antonio Gonzalez, Josh Dubow, Jon Krawczynski, Teresa M. Walker, Stephen Hawkins, Howard Fendrich and Joseph White contributed to this story.
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - An armed man held a business owner hostage for several hours inside a Pittsburgh high-rise building on Friday, posting messages on Facebook during his standoff with police, before surrendering, officials said.
The suspect, identified as Klein Michael Thaxton, 22, released his hostage unharmed after holding him for about six hours, said Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper.
Police had been negotiating with Thaxton by telephone since he went into the 16th-floor office shortly after 8 a.m. and took business owner Charles Breitsman hostage, Harper said.
The suspect originally claimed to have a bomb and a gun but police said later they did not think he was carrying explosives.
The hostage is owner of CW Breitsman Associates, which handles company benefits and union pensions, but Thaxton did not have any known connection to the company and seemed to have chosen Breitsman at random, Harper said.
Thaxton did not disclose any motive to police, Harper said, but he posted several messages on Facebook during the standoff. He also posted what he said was his telephone number.
"i cant take it no more," he wrote in one Facebook message.
"this life im livn rite now i dnt want anymore ive lost everything and i aint getting it back," said another message.
After several hours, police had Facebook remove the page and it was no longer visible.
Harper said during the standoff that police were concerned that Thaxton wanted to end his life.
"He doesn't want help. He doesn't want to live," the police chief said shortly before Thaxton emerged from the office with his hands in the air.
Police spokeswoman Diane Richard said: "He is a sick young man."
Thaxton was taken into police custody, while his hostage was reunited with his family.
During the standoff, Thaxton's mother was taken inside the building to talk to her son, but she told police did not know his motive, Harper said.
As she left the building, she was visibly distraught.
"I just want him to get the help he needs," she said, refusing to give her name.
Thaxton had been calm and cooperative with police throughout the incident, Harper said.
Several people responded to Thaxton on Facebook saying they were praying for him and encouraging him to cooperate with police.
But others urged him to continue his standoff, Harper said. Police were monitoring those Facebook messages and those people could face criminal charges as accessories, he said.
On Facebook, Thaxton also wrote: "welln pops youll never have to worry about me again you'll nevr need to by me anything no need to ever waste ur hard earned money on me. i'll live n jail you dnt want me around anymore thats kool bye..."
Police said the suspect was believed to be ex-military, and Thaxton's mother confirmed that her son had served in the U.S. Army.
The situation was contained to the office and rest of the building was not evacuated, although police cordoned off several nearby streets.
(Additional reporting by Matthew Keys; Writing by Ellen Wulfhorst, editing by Jackie Frank)
Oh, it's on. Over the last year or so, ESPN has been experimenting with better ways to present and distribute its content on the Web and on mobile. Essentially, they realized (or at least I hope they did) that their user experience on their digital properties wasn't great and that others were sneaking up on and passing them -- their dominance in TV notwithstanding. Yesterday, they launched a new product in beta called SportsCenter Feed that offers sports fans a new way to consume ESPN's content.
'We're going to reinvent the guy. It's going to be a new Arnold,' director David Ayer tells MTV News about his upcoming Schwarzenegger thriller. By Josh Wigler, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
Tips from the journals of the American Society for MicrobiologyPublic release date: 19-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology
September 2012
New Insights Into How Certain Slow Progressers Control HIV Infection
People with a rare genetic trait who are infected with HIV progress more slowly to AIDS than others. But even within this group, there are wide variations in time to progression. A new study illustrates in detail how the immune system fights the virus in those subjects who progress more slowly. The research, which could prove useful to efforts to develop a vaccine against HIV, is published in the September Journal of Virology.
Absent antiretroviral therapy, most of those infected with HIV progress to AIDS within a decade. But 5-15 percent remain symptom free for years even without therapy. A portion of these people maintain high CD4+T immune cell counts, along with low levels of virus for several years. Many of these people possess the afore-mentioned rare genetic trait, the awkwardly-named HLA-B*5701 allele (an allele is one possible version of a gene), and their time of progression can range from around six years to well beyond ten years.
The researchers, led by Melissa M. Norstrom and Annika K. Karlsson of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and Marco Salemi of the University of Florida, Gainesville, studied evolution of HIV, and immune responses in six untreated HIV-infected patients carrying the protective genetic trait, following them from soon after infection, for seven years. In particular, they studied a set of molecules that are produced by immune cells called CD8+T cells, which are involved in combating viral infections.
"We found that subjects with lower risk of progressing to AIDS were characterized by a higher proportion of CD8+T cells that produced several of these molecules simultaneously," says Norstrom. They also found that in these patients, the virus evolved much more slowly. Further, viral mutations, which normally occur somewhat haphazardly during HIV infection, appeared to happen in a specific order, which the researchers postulate resulted from selective constraints exerted by the immune system.
"Understanding the mechanisms associated with slower progression to AIDS may ultimately provide new insights on how to cure HIV, or even how to develop a protective vaccine," says Salemi.
The research had a serendipitous origin, when Norstrom and Salemi met at a workshop on viral evolution, says Salemi. "The exciting discussions during that scientific meeting led to establishment of a successful multidisciplinary collaboration, which included experts in immunology and viral evolution, as well as with Dr. [Frederick M.] Hecht at the University of California, San Francisco, who provided samples from patients carrying this unique genetic trait."
(M.M. Norstrom, M. Buggert, J. Tauriainen, W. Hartogensis, M.C. Prosperi, M.A. Wallet, F.M. Hecht, M. Salemi, and A.C. Karlsson, 2012. Combination of immune and viral factors distinguishes low-risk versus high-risk HIV-1 disease progression in HLA-B*5701 Subjects. J. Virol. 86:9802-9816.)
Download a copy of the article at http://bit.ly/asmtip0912a
Researchers Map Molecular Details That Encourage H1N1 Transmission To Humans
The 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus appears to have required certain mutations in order to be transmitted to humans, according to a paper in the September Journal of Virology. The research could prove extremely valuable for efforts to predict human outbreaks.
The 2009 influenza pandemic was caused by a swine influenza virus that mutated in a way that made it transmissible among humans. The researchers, led by Hualan Chen of the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Harbin, China, have determined the probable details of the mutations that led to human transmission.
In this study, Chen, who is director of the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory at the Institute, and her collaborators have shown that two specific mutations in each of two proteins appear to be critical to transmission to, and among humans. One of those mutations, of a single amino acid in the virus' hemagglutinin protein, gives the virus the ability to bind to human receptors, and enables transmission in mammals via droplets of respiratory fluids.
That amino acid, in the 226th slot in the protein, is glutamine. The researchers showed its importance by causing a mutation from glutamine, the amino acid in that position seen in viruses from infected humans, to argenine, as seen in swine. Working in cell cultures, the researchers showed that the switch dampened the virus' ability to bind the human receptor, while boosting its ability to bind to the avian receptor. They showed further that the change rendered the virus non-transmissible via respiratory droplets in guinea pig models, and unable to replicate in the lungs of ferretsresults that suggest, but do not prove that the same may happen in humans.
Also in guinea pigs, changing an amino acid in the virus' PB2 protein abolished transmission in guinea pigs via respiratory droplets, while that change, plus another single amino acid change in the hemagglutinin protein, killed such transmission in ferrets.
It gets still more convoluted. The same amino acid in the PB2 protein that enables virus transmission via respiratory droplets, which is located at position 271 in that protein, can also encourage the afore-mentioned mutation in hemagglutinin position 226 to glutamine, which enables the virus to cleave to the human receptor.
The value of all this information, says Chen, is that it provides a means for predicting outbreaks of human-transmissible H1N1.
(Y. Zhang, Q. Zhang, Y. Gao, X. He, H. Kong, Y. Jiang, Y. Guan, X. Xia, Y. Shu, Y. Kawaoka, Z. Bu, and H. Chen, 2012. Key molecular factors in hemagglutinin and PB2 contribute to efficient transmission of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus. J. Virol. 86:9666-9674.)
Download a copy of the article at http://bit.ly/asmtip0912b
Probiotics to Decontaminate Your Gut?
Heavy metals and other toxins frequently contaminate food and water. The culprits read like a litany of bad actorslead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, chromiumbut their numbers run into the thousands. Microbes have long been enlisted for bioremediation, but they also have the potential to protect us from toxins, according to a minireview in the September Applied and Environmental Microbiology. "Beneficial bacteria are indeed capable of degrading pesticides and sequestering toxic chemicals," says coauthor Gregor Reid of the Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario.
Indeed, 40 to 60 percent of metals ingested by humans into the gastrointestinal (GI) tract do not breach the intestinal barrier, and host microbiota play an important role in preventing their entry, says coauthor Jeremy Burton, of Lawson. Lactobacilli are prominent denizens of the GI and vaginal tract, and are also frequently used in fermentation, says Burton. That raises the possibility of applying them to other foods to sweep harmful compounds from the gut, and even decontaminating environmental sites. "If the metal is trapped in or on a bacterial cell, it can pass harmlessly from the body via feces," he explains.
The concept grew out of Reid's group's interest in how lactobacilli can improve urogenital health in women. "We realized that lives could be improved by the relatively simple approach of using probiotics that pass through the gut and ascend to the vagina," says Reid. That led to development of several probiotic yogurts, one of which was transferred to local community kitchens in Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda, where it has been shown to help people infected with HIV who were malnourished and suffering from diarrhea.
"As large parts of the world, including Africa's Lake Victoria [the world's second largest freshwater lake by surface area], are contaminated by a host of toxic compounds, we thought it would be worth seeing if lactobacilli could counter the toxins," says Reid.
The researchers hope their minireview will spur discussion of these ideas, and further experimentation. "We are testing this theory in several studies, and would welcome collaborations to explore just how much of a detox effect can be achieved through microbes and food," says Burton.
(M. Monachese, J.P. Burton, and G. Reid, 2012. Bioremediation and tolerance of humans to heavy metals through microbial processes: a potential role for probiotics. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 78:6397-6404.)
Download a copy of the article at http://bit.ly/asmtip0912c
Wild Boars Are Reservoir of Hepatitis E Virus: High Prevalence Among Forestry Workers in Eastern France
Nearly one third of forestry workers in parts of eastern France are infected with Hepatitis E virus (HEV), according to a paper in the September Journal of Clinical Microbiology. Wild boars in the same region are also heavily infected. HEV is endemic in developing nations, but heretofore, HEV infection in industrialized nations has been most closely correlated with travel to developing nations.
The prevalence of HEV was found to be 14 percent among wild boar, about half that in pigs, says principal investigator Pierre Coursaget of the University of Tours, France. An earlier study found 12 percent prevalence among boar in The Netherlands. Among humans in the current study, the prevalence of anti-HEV antibodies increases with age, and varies with occupation and geographic location within eastern France. "The frequency of HEV infections in humans did not correlate with the number of pigs, locally, but there is good correlation with the number of car accidents due to wild boars," a surrogate for contact between humans and wild boars, says Coursaget.
HEV is transmitted orally and fecally, with mortality rates of 1-3 percent in the general population, rising to 20-25 percent among pregnant women. In developing countries, outbreaks appear to arise from fecally contaminated water supplies. In Japan, and in Europe, consumption of wild boar or liver is associated with a high risk of acquiring hepatitis E virus infection, according to the report. However, the fact that HEV is absent among children in France suggests that eating ham is safe. Coursaget says the immune system in healthy people generally eradicates the infection, and that it is not sexually transmitted.
Deer also are known to be infected with HEV, says Coursaget. "People in contact with HEV-infected animals or their environment must be aware of the possibility of HEV infection," he says. He is currently studying HEV infection in forestry workers, veterinarians, and pig farmers in different regions of France, in an effort to quantify risk factors. The current study also compared several antibody tests for HEV, with one, the HEV ELISA test, from MP Biologicals, proving superior to the other two.
(A. Carpentier, H. Chaussade, E. Rigaud, J. Rodriguez, C. Berthault, F. Boue, M. Tognon, A. Touze, N. Garcia-Bonnet, P. Choutet, and P. Coursaget, 2012. High hepatitis E virus seroprevalence in forestry workers and wild boars in France. J. Clin Microbiol. 50:2888-2893.)
Download a copy of the article at http://bit.ly/asmtip0912e
###
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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.
Tips from the journals of the American Society for MicrobiologyPublic release date: 19-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology
September 2012
New Insights Into How Certain Slow Progressers Control HIV Infection
People with a rare genetic trait who are infected with HIV progress more slowly to AIDS than others. But even within this group, there are wide variations in time to progression. A new study illustrates in detail how the immune system fights the virus in those subjects who progress more slowly. The research, which could prove useful to efforts to develop a vaccine against HIV, is published in the September Journal of Virology.
Absent antiretroviral therapy, most of those infected with HIV progress to AIDS within a decade. But 5-15 percent remain symptom free for years even without therapy. A portion of these people maintain high CD4+T immune cell counts, along with low levels of virus for several years. Many of these people possess the afore-mentioned rare genetic trait, the awkwardly-named HLA-B*5701 allele (an allele is one possible version of a gene), and their time of progression can range from around six years to well beyond ten years.
The researchers, led by Melissa M. Norstrom and Annika K. Karlsson of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and Marco Salemi of the University of Florida, Gainesville, studied evolution of HIV, and immune responses in six untreated HIV-infected patients carrying the protective genetic trait, following them from soon after infection, for seven years. In particular, they studied a set of molecules that are produced by immune cells called CD8+T cells, which are involved in combating viral infections.
"We found that subjects with lower risk of progressing to AIDS were characterized by a higher proportion of CD8+T cells that produced several of these molecules simultaneously," says Norstrom. They also found that in these patients, the virus evolved much more slowly. Further, viral mutations, which normally occur somewhat haphazardly during HIV infection, appeared to happen in a specific order, which the researchers postulate resulted from selective constraints exerted by the immune system.
"Understanding the mechanisms associated with slower progression to AIDS may ultimately provide new insights on how to cure HIV, or even how to develop a protective vaccine," says Salemi.
The research had a serendipitous origin, when Norstrom and Salemi met at a workshop on viral evolution, says Salemi. "The exciting discussions during that scientific meeting led to establishment of a successful multidisciplinary collaboration, which included experts in immunology and viral evolution, as well as with Dr. [Frederick M.] Hecht at the University of California, San Francisco, who provided samples from patients carrying this unique genetic trait."
(M.M. Norstrom, M. Buggert, J. Tauriainen, W. Hartogensis, M.C. Prosperi, M.A. Wallet, F.M. Hecht, M. Salemi, and A.C. Karlsson, 2012. Combination of immune and viral factors distinguishes low-risk versus high-risk HIV-1 disease progression in HLA-B*5701 Subjects. J. Virol. 86:9802-9816.)
Download a copy of the article at http://bit.ly/asmtip0912a
Researchers Map Molecular Details That Encourage H1N1 Transmission To Humans
The 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus appears to have required certain mutations in order to be transmitted to humans, according to a paper in the September Journal of Virology. The research could prove extremely valuable for efforts to predict human outbreaks.
The 2009 influenza pandemic was caused by a swine influenza virus that mutated in a way that made it transmissible among humans. The researchers, led by Hualan Chen of the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Harbin, China, have determined the probable details of the mutations that led to human transmission.
In this study, Chen, who is director of the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory at the Institute, and her collaborators have shown that two specific mutations in each of two proteins appear to be critical to transmission to, and among humans. One of those mutations, of a single amino acid in the virus' hemagglutinin protein, gives the virus the ability to bind to human receptors, and enables transmission in mammals via droplets of respiratory fluids.
That amino acid, in the 226th slot in the protein, is glutamine. The researchers showed its importance by causing a mutation from glutamine, the amino acid in that position seen in viruses from infected humans, to argenine, as seen in swine. Working in cell cultures, the researchers showed that the switch dampened the virus' ability to bind the human receptor, while boosting its ability to bind to the avian receptor. They showed further that the change rendered the virus non-transmissible via respiratory droplets in guinea pig models, and unable to replicate in the lungs of ferretsresults that suggest, but do not prove that the same may happen in humans.
Also in guinea pigs, changing an amino acid in the virus' PB2 protein abolished transmission in guinea pigs via respiratory droplets, while that change, plus another single amino acid change in the hemagglutinin protein, killed such transmission in ferrets.
It gets still more convoluted. The same amino acid in the PB2 protein that enables virus transmission via respiratory droplets, which is located at position 271 in that protein, can also encourage the afore-mentioned mutation in hemagglutinin position 226 to glutamine, which enables the virus to cleave to the human receptor.
The value of all this information, says Chen, is that it provides a means for predicting outbreaks of human-transmissible H1N1.
(Y. Zhang, Q. Zhang, Y. Gao, X. He, H. Kong, Y. Jiang, Y. Guan, X. Xia, Y. Shu, Y. Kawaoka, Z. Bu, and H. Chen, 2012. Key molecular factors in hemagglutinin and PB2 contribute to efficient transmission of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus. J. Virol. 86:9666-9674.)
Download a copy of the article at http://bit.ly/asmtip0912b
Probiotics to Decontaminate Your Gut?
Heavy metals and other toxins frequently contaminate food and water. The culprits read like a litany of bad actorslead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, chromiumbut their numbers run into the thousands. Microbes have long been enlisted for bioremediation, but they also have the potential to protect us from toxins, according to a minireview in the September Applied and Environmental Microbiology. "Beneficial bacteria are indeed capable of degrading pesticides and sequestering toxic chemicals," says coauthor Gregor Reid of the Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario.
Indeed, 40 to 60 percent of metals ingested by humans into the gastrointestinal (GI) tract do not breach the intestinal barrier, and host microbiota play an important role in preventing their entry, says coauthor Jeremy Burton, of Lawson. Lactobacilli are prominent denizens of the GI and vaginal tract, and are also frequently used in fermentation, says Burton. That raises the possibility of applying them to other foods to sweep harmful compounds from the gut, and even decontaminating environmental sites. "If the metal is trapped in or on a bacterial cell, it can pass harmlessly from the body via feces," he explains.
The concept grew out of Reid's group's interest in how lactobacilli can improve urogenital health in women. "We realized that lives could be improved by the relatively simple approach of using probiotics that pass through the gut and ascend to the vagina," says Reid. That led to development of several probiotic yogurts, one of which was transferred to local community kitchens in Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda, where it has been shown to help people infected with HIV who were malnourished and suffering from diarrhea.
"As large parts of the world, including Africa's Lake Victoria [the world's second largest freshwater lake by surface area], are contaminated by a host of toxic compounds, we thought it would be worth seeing if lactobacilli could counter the toxins," says Reid.
The researchers hope their minireview will spur discussion of these ideas, and further experimentation. "We are testing this theory in several studies, and would welcome collaborations to explore just how much of a detox effect can be achieved through microbes and food," says Burton.
(M. Monachese, J.P. Burton, and G. Reid, 2012. Bioremediation and tolerance of humans to heavy metals through microbial processes: a potential role for probiotics. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 78:6397-6404.)
Download a copy of the article at http://bit.ly/asmtip0912c
Wild Boars Are Reservoir of Hepatitis E Virus: High Prevalence Among Forestry Workers in Eastern France
Nearly one third of forestry workers in parts of eastern France are infected with Hepatitis E virus (HEV), according to a paper in the September Journal of Clinical Microbiology. Wild boars in the same region are also heavily infected. HEV is endemic in developing nations, but heretofore, HEV infection in industrialized nations has been most closely correlated with travel to developing nations.
The prevalence of HEV was found to be 14 percent among wild boar, about half that in pigs, says principal investigator Pierre Coursaget of the University of Tours, France. An earlier study found 12 percent prevalence among boar in The Netherlands. Among humans in the current study, the prevalence of anti-HEV antibodies increases with age, and varies with occupation and geographic location within eastern France. "The frequency of HEV infections in humans did not correlate with the number of pigs, locally, but there is good correlation with the number of car accidents due to wild boars," a surrogate for contact between humans and wild boars, says Coursaget.
HEV is transmitted orally and fecally, with mortality rates of 1-3 percent in the general population, rising to 20-25 percent among pregnant women. In developing countries, outbreaks appear to arise from fecally contaminated water supplies. In Japan, and in Europe, consumption of wild boar or liver is associated with a high risk of acquiring hepatitis E virus infection, according to the report. However, the fact that HEV is absent among children in France suggests that eating ham is safe. Coursaget says the immune system in healthy people generally eradicates the infection, and that it is not sexually transmitted.
Deer also are known to be infected with HEV, says Coursaget. "People in contact with HEV-infected animals or their environment must be aware of the possibility of HEV infection," he says. He is currently studying HEV infection in forestry workers, veterinarians, and pig farmers in different regions of France, in an effort to quantify risk factors. The current study also compared several antibody tests for HEV, with one, the HEV ELISA test, from MP Biologicals, proving superior to the other two.
(A. Carpentier, H. Chaussade, E. Rigaud, J. Rodriguez, C. Berthault, F. Boue, M. Tognon, A. Touze, N. Garcia-Bonnet, P. Choutet, and P. Coursaget, 2012. High hepatitis E virus seroprevalence in forestry workers and wild boars in France. J. Clin Microbiol. 50:2888-2893.)
Download a copy of the article at http://bit.ly/asmtip0912e
###
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Organized by North Shore, Koval and FEW, Craft Spirit Week Chicago is a collection of events around town focusing on the small batch work done here and elsewhere, and it brings together like-minded folks to celebrate everything scratch-produced. The festivities run next week ? October 1 -6, 2012 ? and feature interesting bar programs, spirit-driven dinners, and the Independent Spirits Expo.
More up my alley, however, are the chances for hands-on learning happening later in the evening. Simultaneous cocktail and spirit tastings are popping up all around town with either no, or small covers. Serious whiskey aficionados can hit up Jerry?s in Wicker Park or Delilah?s for spirit samples, but those looking for something a little more out of the ordinary might want to check out Evolution Wines & Spirits in Bucktown ? which is featuring unusual rums from Great Lakes, Old Sugar, Barrel House and Seven Fathoms ? or Fountainhead ? which is featuring a program on aperitifs and digestifs with Koval. And for those looking for fun over erudition, The Whistler is hosting a ?Left Coast v. Third Coast? gin cocktail smackdown. As much as a love the stuff from St. George and Anchor, I?ve got to root for hometowners Letherbee.
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Android: Apple's Passbook app for managing loyalty cards, coupons, tickets and more looks cool, but it's only available, as you'd expect, on Apple devices running iOS 6. PassWallet for Android, however, does everything Passbook does and ports Passbook digital items into your Android device. 
Oh, it's on. Over the last year or so, ESPN has been experimenting with better ways to present and distribute its content on the Web and on mobile. Essentially, they realized (or at least I hope they did) that their user experience on their digital properties wasn't great and that others were sneaking up on and passing them -- their dominance in TV notwithstanding. Yesterday, they launched a new product in beta called 
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Public release date: 19-Sep-2012
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