All of the optimistic signs we?ve seen from BlackBerry over the past few months all but went up in smoke on Friday after it issued a disappointing earnings report that sent shares tumbling more than 25%, stripping billions from the company?s market value. The $84 million net loss on the quarter was certainly bad enough but the number that should truly scare BlackBerry executives was the 4 million subscribers it lost despite the fact that it had just launched new devices for the first time in over a year. To make matters worse, the 4 million lost subscribers cannot be dismissed as a fluke because it?s become a trend that has only accelerated over the past three quarters.
[More from BGR: Galaxy S4 takes the crown for fastest phone with best battery life]
To put things into perspective, consider that BlackBerry was still adding subscribers even during the dark days of mid-2012, when it was racking up quarterly losses in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars. But in its third fiscal quarter last year, the company?s subscriber base shrank by 1 million. In the next quarter the losses grew to 3 million and in the past quarter they swelled further to 4 million.
[More from BGR: BlueStacks unveils second Android game console before its first one even launches]
All told, then, BlackBerry has lost 8 million subscribers in the past three quarters. It goes without saying that this is not a sustainable trend if BlackBerry ever hopes to regain its status in the mobile world. The best-case scenario laid out by many analysts is that BlackBerry would evolve into a niche player that profitably delivered a small number of products to an adoring fan base that would never consider leaving the company for iOS or Android.
This scenario is predicated, however, on BlackBerry?s fan base either growing or at least remaining roughly the same size. The rapid loss in subscribers over the past 9 months suggests that a sizable portion of BlackBerry?s user base was itching to get out of its two-year service agreements for BlackBerry models they bought in the 2010-2011 timeframe and switch to other devices. What?s more, it doesn?t seem as though any of the company?s newest launches will draw in people who aren?t already BlackBerry diehards since both the Q10 and the Q5 were designed for smartphone users who don?t want to abandon physical keyboards.
So things look very grim for BlackBerry at the moment and investors will be looking for a big turnaround next quarter to stop the bleeding. Personally speaking, I hope that this happens because the company means so much to its millions of users and has been such an innovative force in the smartphone industry for so many years. But such a comeback will be impossible if it keeps posting awful quarters like this.
This is a legal wrestling match with creditors that uses basic contract law principles. When creditors lend credit card money, the contract includes an offer to lend money, the terms for using the money and an implied acceptance by the use of the card. These same three factors are about to be used against the lender; so when the client gets his next set of credit card statements, the minimum payment plus the forty three dollars and the bill is sent to the debt relief network. When the network passes along this minimum payment, deliberately late, included is a statement that says that on the cashing of the 2% check the new minimum payment is ten dollars a month and that no interest, no late fees and no negative reports on credit histories can be assigned to the consumer. It also says that the network will assume responsibility for all the debts and the cashing of the minimum payment check is acceptance of the new agreement. In addition, the cashing of the check also means acceptance that any late payment fees or any other demands will result in penalties to them of between five hundred and twenty five hundred dollars. With the forty three dollars, the debt relief network will continue to send about four months of ten dollar payments for that particular account.
Of course it's not hard to see the gigantic collision that's about to happen. Instead of agreeing to the contract, which the lenders always legally do by cashing the 2% check, they begin violating the terms by adding interest and tacking on late fees. Each lender occurrence of violating the agreement is costing the lender big penalties. The debt relief network will pay the debt at ten dollars a month for as long as the lender follows the agreement, but they never do. Within months the credit card company owes more in penalties than what it was owed on the original account. Then the network asks for relief of the debt or it will go after the lender for the penalties. God reminds us that there is an awful for our sin when the bible declares, "The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
It a lot of ways, the debt relief network plan is genius. And when it comes to getting back at lenders who have practiced high powered usury for years, a person wants to stand up and cheer. The incredible toll that year after year of debt can exact on individuals is staggering, including violence, health issues and divorce. But there are dilemmas for those who see this strategy as an unbiblical abandonment of responsibilities. Much of the discussion comes down to whether a person should be subjected to ungodly and anti-scriptural usury. The Old Testament would appear to limit the lender to no more than seven years of a business relationship with a borrower and the interest had to be fair and not punitive. If anyone would say with authority that this plan is right or wrong, the authority would have to come into question, for the quandary may be more about self-inflicted guilt than a definitive biblical answer.
The debt relief network does have some caveats to share with their potential customers. First, creditors may shower the former owner of the accounts with bill collectors. The network says it can get those stopped. The network also warns that the credit report will take a nose dive, a direct violation of the agreement that the creditor made with the relief agency. When the final agreement is reached between network and who are now their creditors, the erasure of all negative remarks and their effects will be completed.
Whether the decision is to use this debt relief network plan or to use credit counseling which is another possible abandoning of obligations, or to work three jobs to pare down the principle, each one has negative drawbacks. With recent days being filled with news of possible depression-like conditions on the horizon, the possibility of greed and power finally being addressed may become a reality. But the fact remains that those who have great riches will always have usurped power over the not so rich. If a person sees this strategy as the chance for the little guy to strike a blow for the whole gang, take time to really investigate the plan. Look for critics, search for legal loopholes and pray for guidance on this most interesting option for credit elimination.
If you're a high-end audio fan, you've probably heard of Cambridge Audio, the London-based firm that makes some of the best equipment in the business. The brand is currently undergoing some changes that involve targeting the growing number of users who are looking for wireless in-home and portable speaker solutions. Hence the new Minx line of devices, which borrows its name from Cambridge's affordable home theatre speaker range, but adds in goodies like AirPlay and Bluetooth.
It's probably not a huge stretch to say that Samsung's Galaxy S 4 running stock Android was the biggest surprise to come out of Google I/O last month. The handset -- officially called Samsung Galaxy S 4 Google Play edition -- is now on sale in the Play store for $649 alongside a special version of the HTC One. Spec-wise, the phone is identical to AT&T's 16GB model and supports the same bands (including LTE). It's powered by Qualcomm's 1.9GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor with 2GB or RAM and features a 5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, 13-megapixel camera with flash, removable 2600mAh Li-ion battery and microSD expansion. While we briefly handled the phone at I/O, it wasn't until yesterday that we got to spend some quality time with it. Hit the break for our first impressions and hands-on video.
HTC's bone-shaking BoomSound front facing speakers are making their way to Windows Phone later this year. The 8XT, which appears to be a slightly tweaked variant of last year's 8S, will launch on Sprint's 4G LTE network for $99.99 with a two-year contract -- after a $50 rebate card. Powered by a 1.4 GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor paired up with 1GB of RAM, we want to say the 8XT has the same 4.3 inch 720p screen as its older cousin, but the spec sheet in our hands merely says "crisp". The front of the phone has a 1.6-megapixel camera, while the rear has an 8-megapixel shooter. You'll also have to make do with 8GB of memory for your music, but microSD expansion means you can easily make room for more.
Update: We can now confirm the 8XT has a 800 x 480 pixel resolution screen.
All eyes are on Scotland in 2014 ? Following the success of Innovation Workshops in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, don?t miss the upcoming workshop in Dundee on 27th June.
Date:
Thu, 20 Jun 2013
Source:
2014 Food & Drink
All eyes are on Scotland in 2014 ? let?s show the world what we have to offer.
2014 will be an exceptional year for Scotland when it hosts the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and the second edition of Homecoming, a year long celebration of the country?s food & drink, culture, heritage and natural resources. This presents a fantastic opportunity for Scotland to show its superb larder to the world and for food and drink companies to take advantage of the business opportunities the year will bring.?
Up to 45,000 visitors are expected daily at the Ryder Cup event and 1 million tickets are up for grabs at the Games alone.?
It?s anticipated that visitors to Scotland in 2014 will spend almost ?33m on food & drink and Scottish Enterprise research shows that visitors want to taste traditional Scottish dishes, regional specialities and fresh, locally sourced produce during their time in the country.?
Could your business use this unique year to drive additional sales, engage new customers both at home and abroad, enhance your reputation and raise your profile?
Have you thought about developing new products or redesigning your packaging specifically with 2014 in mind? It could be as simple as changing the colour of your packaging or adding a Saltire. You may wish to develop an innovative new product that will appeal to visitors during 2014 but also in longer-term.?
If you?d like to grab the chance to develop new products or packaging that raise the profile of your business during 2014 and beyond, the 2014 Food & Drink Team would like to help you to achieve that goal.
How can we help?
Any food and drink business operating in Scotland is welcome to book a place at one of our free Innovation Workshops where leading industry experts will describe how to create and develop your ideas for new products or packaging aimed at the market opportunity in 2014 and beyond. These workshop sessions are an excellent way to explore how best to understand consumers? needs and desires for your product and how this translates into effective development of market-ready products or packaging. The workshops will also include topics on marketing and promotional activities to help you to maximise return on your investment. ?
Following the success of Innovation Workshops in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen,? don?t miss the upcoming workshop in Dundee on 27th June. ?Full details here including how to book. Places are limited so early booking is highly recommended.
The final workshop will be held in Inverness on 10th July ?full details and how to book here.?
Our experienced Innovation Specialists will also be on hand at the workshop events to discuss how Scottish Enterprise may be able to offer further advice or assistance to help your project achieve maximum success.?
Why Attend?
The workshop will focus on four key areas you need to be proficient in to develop your new products or packaging:
Customer Readiness? - Understanding more about consumers? trends and opportunities
Design Readiness - Using systematic tools to create and develop your ideas for new products or packaging. Developing and selecting the most viable ideas and matching customer needs with what is technically feasible (product, resources, timescales)..
Business Readiness ? Planning your business case to convert your idea into customer value and market opportunity to reach 2014 visitors both while they are in Scotland and when they return home.
Promotion Readiness ? Considering new promotion and packaging options to capture the opportunities offered by 2014. Looking at marketing via social media as a means of capitalising on events based opportunities.
You will leave the workshop with an individual action plan of practical steps needed to achieve and commercialise your new development idea.
Our experienced innovation specialists will also be on hand at the workshop events to help your project achieve maximum success.
However, if you have a project in mind but feel the workshop is not for you perhaps, or if you have a question about support for product innovation then please feel free to contact our innovation team directly using our Food and Drink 2014 innovation enquiry form. Both the Innovation Workshops and the Innovation Specialists service are free and open to food & drink companies of all shapes and sizes from anywhere in Scotland.
Routes to market:
Of course, creating a new product or packaging is just the first step. The 2014 Food & Drink Team we can help you tap into services which will assist you to market your new product or repackaged goods in 2014 and beyond.
An innovative marketing and PR programme will take place in the run up to and during 2014 to highlight the role of food & drink within the major events. In addition the 2014 Food & Drink team can help you access services to help you promote your products to key retail and foodservice markets.
Here are just 2 examples of a range of support available:
Scotland Food & Drink?s Access to Markets programme, for example, is designed to help food & drink companies grow their business across the UK, via activities such as Meet the Buyer events,?Scottish Development International are experts in supporting companies to reach international markets.?
Event Ready Producers is delivered by Scottish Enterprise to offer food and drink companies expert support to review their readiness to supply events and provides tailored advice on areas such as sales strategies, product and price propositions, marketing and service delivery. Up to 3.5 days business support is available to companies through this initiative. More information can be found here.
This programme forms part of a wider package of support by the 2014 Food & Drink team to help Scottish companies maximise the business opportunities arising from the 2014 events. ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
BERLIN (AP) ? President Barack Obama will renew his call to reduce the world's nuclear stockpiles during a speech in Berlin Wednesday.
A senior administration official says Obama will propose cutting the U.S. and Russian stockpiles by up to one-third. That would bring the total number of warheads in each country to about 1,000.
Obama is not expected to propose any timeline for achieving those cuts. He discussed nuclear non-proliferation with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting Monday on the sidelines of an international summit in Northern Ireland.
The official says Obama will also renew his call for Congress to ratify a stalled nuclear test ban treaty. The official insisted on anonymity in order to preview the issue before the president's speech.
I caved. Throughout WWDC 2013 I swore I wouldn't buy one of Apple's new, Haswell-based MacBook Airs. I was firmly committed to waiting for a Haswell-based 13-inch MacBook Pro instead -- which is pretty much the only realistic Retina MacBook Air for the near-future -- and I wasn't going to be tempted. But who're we kidding? Roughly the moment I got back to Montreal I went over to my local Apple Store and asked for the highest end 13-inch MacBook Air they had in inventory. And it turned out that was pretty much the highest end 13-inch MacBook Air configurable.
We're talking 1.7GHz dual core i7 proc with Intel HD 5000 graphics 8GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. The ports are the same as last year's -- 2x USB 3 and 1x Thunderbolt. Sadly, it's Thunderbolt 1 and not the new, fancy Thunderbolt 2, which kind of puts the damper on Retina Thunderbolt display support, and makes it standard size pixels all around. The only new addition is the second mic, which should hopefully help with sound input quality.
That's fine. The MacBook Air with it's claimed 12-hours of battery life isn't being aimed at the performance market. It's being aimed squarely at the heart of the persistence market. This is the MacBook for people who want to leave the house with nothing but a chuckling backward glance at their power supply, still plugged in next to their desk, as they leave the house for the day. This is for the airplane travelers and live bloggers, for coffee-shop hopping entrepreneurs and class-changing students.
It's not the MacBook for anyone even remotely needing a Pro. Hence the difference in names.
I've only had it for 24 hours, so aside from unboxing and setting up, I haven't had much of a chance to but the new 13-inch MacBook Air through its paces. I have remarked at how well the battery is doing so far, and how blazingly fast the SSD is. I'm also okay with the screen. The 11-inch has nowhere nearly enough pixels for Safari, Coda, Photoshop, or Final Cut Pro X -- the apps in which I live -- but 13 is fine. I feel about it much as I feel about the iPad mini. You can have screen density, lightness, or battery life, and you only get 2 out of the three. This is the compromise for people who want lightness and long battery life, and that'll be the perfect compromise for many, many people, at least for now.
I also picked up the new Airport Extreme Time Capsule, which is an 802.11ac router to go with Apple's first 802.11ac computer. I do expect that wireless technology to quickly propagate to other Macs, as well as the iPhone and iPad, so I'm eager to test it out. Look for that unboxing and first impressions post tomorrow.
Okay, that's it for now. Time to finish my set up and start my reviewing. Off to the coffee shop!
Stocks closed higher Tuesday as investors waited on word from Federal Reserve?Chairman Ben Bernanke. The central bank will discuss the fate of its economic stimulus program on Wednesday. Many say stocks are in a holding pattern until then.
By Christina Rexrode,?AP Business Writer / June 18, 2013
Trader Warren Meyers works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. The Federal Reserve has had an outsized effect on stocks in recent weeks.
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U.S.?stocks?moved higher Tuesday, helped by news of a pickup in home building and low inflation. But the Federal Reserve loomed large, with investors trying to guess what the central bank will say Wednesday about how long it plans to keep stimulus programs in place. For many, the market was in a holding pattern as investors waited for Wednesday's announcement.
The market's gains were steady and broad. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 12.77 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,651.81. All 10 of its sectors rose, led by industrial and telecommunications companies. The Russell 2000, an index of smaller companies, closed at a record high but fell just shy of the 1,000-point milestone.
Tuesday's wait-and-see vibe came from a familiar template. The Fed has had an outsized effect on the?stock?market in recent weeks, with the major indexes getting yanked back and forth as investors try to guess how long the central bank will keep supporting the U.S. economy.
Some investors say it's troubling that the market is relying more on the central bank for direction than economic fundamentals. The latest turning point was May 22, when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke startled markets by announcing that the central bank could soon pull back on its bond-buying program if the economy improves.
"Here we are again," said Gregg Fisher, founder and chief investment officer of Gerstein Fisher in New York. "We don't know what the actions will be. We're all trying to figure that out."
The Fed's role in the market has swelled since the 2008 financial crisis. The central bank, which traditionally has been best-known for helping set interest rates, has taken an increasingly bigger role in trying to amp up the economy. Its bond-buying program is meant to keep interest rates low, which can encourage borrowing and drive investors into the?stockmarket. The Fed's purchases have swollen its portfolio to $3.4 trillion, a four-fold increase since before the crisis.
"The game is different from what it used to be," said Mark Spellman, portfolio manager for Value Line Funds in New York. "It's not just, 'Is the Fed going to raise (its benchmark interest rate) up or down?'" It's 'Is the Fed going to keep buying $85 billion worth of bonds each month?'"
Analysts predicted that Bernanke would use his Wednesday news conference to cast a reassuring tone and make it clear that the Fed won't pull back on any of its programs until it's sure the economy can handle it. He's also likely to drop more hints about when the Fed could start trimming its stimulus programs. Some said that recent market volatility hasn't been caused by fear that the Fed will pull back on its stimulus programs ? most everyone expects that to happen eventually. It's more because investors don't want to be surprised when it does.
Brian Doe, wealth adviser at Gratus Capital in Atlanta, described the Fed's policy announcements as "the big wind" that could push the market around.
"Right now the wind is not blowing," Doe said. "We have this little calm where everybody can be optimistic."
The Commerce Department reported that the pace of new home building increased in May, helped by more buyers coming to the market and a scarcity of houses for sale. Investors described the report as good enough to send the market up, but not good enough to force the Fed to start thinking that the economy is fine and abruptly slash its stimulus efforts.
The Labor Department reported that U.S. consumer prices rose last month, but only slightly. That's also likely to influence the Fed's decisions. The Fed knows that its stimulus programs can lead to inflation. If inflation is in check, however, that gives the Fed more leeway to continue the programs.
In other trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 138.38 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,318.23. The Nasdaq composite index rose 30.05 points, or 0.9 percent, to 3,482.18.
The Russell 2000 rose 12.15 points, or 1.2 percent, to 999.99 ? the closest it has ever come to breaking 1,000.
Among?stocks?making big moves:
?Hormel Foods, the maker of Skippy peanut butter and Spam, slipped after the company said it expects lower profits for the year. The?stock?fell $1.46, or 3.6 percent, to $39.19.
?Signet Jewelers, which runs the Kay Jewelers and Jared brands, rose after announcing that it plans to buy back up to $350 million of its ownstock. Signet rose $1.94, or 2.9 percent, to $69.91.
?Newfield Exploration was up after a Stifel Nicolaus analyst boosted thestock?to "Buy" from "Hold." Shares of the oil and natural gas company rose 93 cents, or 4 percent, to $23.94.
Rust. It's the product of metal oxidation, which we interpret as everything from a ruined car to a highly sought antique patina. And for this week's Shooting Challenge, you'll capture the beauty (or horror) of rust.
AAA??Jun. 18, 2013?10:47 AM ET G-8 agrees plan to promote Syrian peace talks By SHAWN POGATCHNIKBy SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press??
G8 leaders from left, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy attend a working session during the G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Jewel Samad, Pool)
G8 leaders from left, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy attend a working session during the G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Jewel Samad, Pool)
G-8 leaders from left, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy walk prior to a group photo opportunity during the G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The final day of the G-8 summit of wealthy nations is ending with discussions on globe-trotting corporate tax dodgers, a lunch with leaders from Africa, and suspense over whether Russia and Western leaders can avoid diplomatic fireworks over their deadlock on Syria?s civil war. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, left, walk to a group photo opportunity during the G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The final day of the G-8 summit of wealthy nations is ending with discussions on globe-trotting corporate tax dodgers, a lunch with leaders from Africa, and suspense over whether Russia and Western leaders can avoid diplomatic fireworks over their deadlock on Syria?s civil war. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
G-8 leaders from left, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy pose during a group photo opportunity during the G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The final day of the G-8 summit of wealthy nations is ending with discussions on globe-trotting corporate tax dodgers, a lunch with leaders from Africa, and suspense over whether Russia and Western leaders can avoid diplomatic fireworks over their deadlock on Syria?s civil war. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
G8 leaders from left, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama attend a working session during the G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Yves Herman, Pool)
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) ? The leaders of major industrial nations including the U.S. and Russia say they are united in wanting a negotiated and peaceful end to the Syrian civil war that will produce a government "under a top leadership that inspires public confidence."
The declaration at the end of the two-day Group of Eight summit Tuesday seeks to narrow the ground between Russia and Western leaders on starting peace talks in Geneva that could end with the ouster of Bashar Assad from power.
Russia refused to back a declaration that made such a goal explicit.
Tuesday's G-8 declaration says participants in any peace talks must agree to expel al-Qaida-linked fighters from Syria. It also commits a further $1.5 billion in aid for Syrian refugees. It condemns human rights abuses committed by government forces and rebels alike.
The Angelo State University Small Business Development Center (SBDC) will host an educational seminar on Workers? Compensation this Wednesday, June 12, at the Business Resource Center, 69 N. Chadbourne St. The seminar, titled ?Basic Workers? Compensation for Medical Office Staff,? will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will be presented by a Regina Schwartz of the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers? Compensation (TDI-DWC).? Issues to be addressed include:
How Workers? Compensation works
Identifying a Workers? Compensation patient
Roles and responsibilities of health care providers, including preauthorization, treatment guidelines and pharmacy formulary
Billing and reimbursement policies and fee guidelines
Medical documentation
TDI-DWC required forms
Dispute resolution
Cost of the seminar is $50 per person and includes a light breakfast and lunch.? Attendees can earn six general insurance continuing education credits by presenting their insurance-related license number at the seminar.
Advance registration is required.? To register and pay online, go to www.sbdc.angelo.edu.? To register and pay by phone, call the SBDC at 325-942-2098. For more information, contact Jessica Lambert at 325-942-2098 or jessica.lambert@angelo.edu.
MIT and Wilson Center receive NSF grant to develop synthetic biology research agendaPublic release date: 10-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Aaron Lovell aaron.lovell@wilsoncenter.org 202-691-4320 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars/Science and Technology Innovation Program
Project aims to address ecological effects before problems materialize
WASHINGTON The MIT Center for International Studies and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars are collaborating on a $233,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help realize potential benefits and to address potential ecological effects of synthetic biology.
The grant is supported jointly by three units within NSF, the Division of Cellular and Molecular Biology, the Division of Environmental Biology, and the Engineering Directorate. The grant will fund development of an interdisciplinary research agenda to improve understanding of potential ecological effects of commercial uses of synthetic biology. The research agenda will be developed through consultations among synthetic biologists, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and environmental scientists. It will be based on workshops that focus on near- and medium-term applications of synthetic biology, with scenarios based on the intentional and unintentional release of engineered organisms.
This project will be conducted jointly by the Program on Emerging Technologies of the MIT Center for International Studies and the Synthetic Biology Project at the Wilson Center. It will build on four previous workshops that brought together a wide range of scientists, regulators, NGOs, companies, and other stakeholders to discuss possible ecological risks associated with synthetic biology products and to identify sources of uncertainty over risks. These workshops were funded jointly by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the NSF Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center. The project is expected to be completed in one year. A small board of advisors has been created to guide the design and execution of the workshops.
###
About the MIT Center for International Studies and the Program on Emerging Technologies
The Center for International Studies (CIS) aims to support and promote international research and education at MIT. The CIS Program on Emerging Technologies (PoET) seeks to improve responses to implications of emerging technologies. PoET was created with support of an NSF IGERT. Research has included retrospective studies on past emerging technologies led by Merritt Roe Smith, Larry McCray, and Daniel Hastings; and prospective studies on next generation internet (led by David D. Clark) and synthetic biology (led by Kenneth A. Oye).
For more information, visit: http://web.mit.edu/cis/
About the Synthetic Biology Project
The Synthetic Biology Project is an initiative of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Project aims to foster informed public and policy discourse concerning the advancement of synthetic biology.
For more information, visit: http://www.synbioproject.org
About The Wilson Center
The Wilson Center provides a strictly nonpartisan space for the worlds of policymaking and scholarship to interact. By conducting relevant and timely research and promoting dialogue from all perspectives, it works to address the critical current and emerging challenges confronting the United States and the world.
For more information, visit: http://www.wilsoncenter.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
MIT and Wilson Center receive NSF grant to develop synthetic biology research agendaPublic release date: 10-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Aaron Lovell aaron.lovell@wilsoncenter.org 202-691-4320 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars/Science and Technology Innovation Program
Project aims to address ecological effects before problems materialize
WASHINGTON The MIT Center for International Studies and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars are collaborating on a $233,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help realize potential benefits and to address potential ecological effects of synthetic biology.
The grant is supported jointly by three units within NSF, the Division of Cellular and Molecular Biology, the Division of Environmental Biology, and the Engineering Directorate. The grant will fund development of an interdisciplinary research agenda to improve understanding of potential ecological effects of commercial uses of synthetic biology. The research agenda will be developed through consultations among synthetic biologists, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and environmental scientists. It will be based on workshops that focus on near- and medium-term applications of synthetic biology, with scenarios based on the intentional and unintentional release of engineered organisms.
This project will be conducted jointly by the Program on Emerging Technologies of the MIT Center for International Studies and the Synthetic Biology Project at the Wilson Center. It will build on four previous workshops that brought together a wide range of scientists, regulators, NGOs, companies, and other stakeholders to discuss possible ecological risks associated with synthetic biology products and to identify sources of uncertainty over risks. These workshops were funded jointly by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the NSF Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center. The project is expected to be completed in one year. A small board of advisors has been created to guide the design and execution of the workshops.
###
About the MIT Center for International Studies and the Program on Emerging Technologies
The Center for International Studies (CIS) aims to support and promote international research and education at MIT. The CIS Program on Emerging Technologies (PoET) seeks to improve responses to implications of emerging technologies. PoET was created with support of an NSF IGERT. Research has included retrospective studies on past emerging technologies led by Merritt Roe Smith, Larry McCray, and Daniel Hastings; and prospective studies on next generation internet (led by David D. Clark) and synthetic biology (led by Kenneth A. Oye).
For more information, visit: http://web.mit.edu/cis/
About the Synthetic Biology Project
The Synthetic Biology Project is an initiative of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Project aims to foster informed public and policy discourse concerning the advancement of synthetic biology.
For more information, visit: http://www.synbioproject.org
About The Wilson Center
The Wilson Center provides a strictly nonpartisan space for the worlds of policymaking and scholarship to interact. By conducting relevant and timely research and promoting dialogue from all perspectives, it works to address the critical current and emerging challenges confronting the United States and the world.
For more information, visit: http://www.wilsoncenter.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Onetime Journey frontman Steve Perry has revealed that he recently was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer, and that he has undergone two surgeries to remove the cancer cells.
"They think they got it all," wrote the "Don't Stop Believin'" singer, who fronted Journey from 1977-87 and 1995-98, on his Fan Asylum personal blog last Thursday.
Perry, who included with the post a photo of himself and former MTV DJ Martha Quinn taken after the surgery (Quinn also tweeted a similar photo, below), said that the diagnosis came after a "routine mole" was removed from his face.
He said he believed "no other treatments were required."
But there was a second, more tragic aspect to the birthday post he sent to his fans.
Perry, 64, wrote of how he fell for a woman named Kellie Nash after seeing her during a 2011 edit session of Lifetime's breast cancer special "Five." Nash a psychologist who was undergoing cancer treatment, caught his eye with her smile and he asked his friend if she could connect the two of them.
But his friend warned Perry that Nash might not have long to live; she was in Stage 4 of the cancer. He emailed her anyway, and the two became a couple. "I never felt like this before," he wrote. "I had finally found her."
Nash died of her cancer in December 2012. "She helped me in so many ways," wrote Perry.
"She was so strong, so courageous and we really loved each other so very much," he wrote. "I've been trying to grieve and not run from this loss so for the last 5 months that's what I've been doing along with recalling everything being in Love with Kellie taught me."
A potential new target to thwart antibiotic resistancePublic release date: 10-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dan Ferber Dan.ferber@wyss.harvard.edu 617-432-8517 Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard
Viruses in gut confer antibiotic resistance to bacteria
Bacteria in the gut that are under attack by antibiotics have allies no one had anticipated, a team of Wyss Institute scientists has found. Gut viruses that usually commandeer the bacteria, it turns out, enable them to survive the antibiotic onslaught, most likely by handing them genes that help them withstand the drug.
What's more, the gut viruses, called bacteriophage or simply phage, deliver genes that help the bacteria to survive not just the antibiotic they've been exposed to, but other types of antibiotics as well, the scientists reported online June 9 in Nature. That suggests that phages in the gut may be partly responsible for the emergence of dangerous superbugs that withstand multiple antibiotics, and that drug targeting of phages could offer a potential new path to mitigate development of antibiotic resistance.
"The results mean that the antibiotic-resistance situation is even more troubling than we thought," said senior author Jim Collins, Ph.D., a pioneer of synthetic biology and Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, who is also the William F. Warren Distinguished Professor at Boston University, where he leads the Center of Synthetic Biology.
Today disease-causing bacteria have adapted to antibiotics faster than scientists can generate new drugs to kill them, creating a serious global public-health threat. Patients who are hospitalized with serious bacterial infections tend to have longer, more expensive hospital stays, and they are twice as likely to die as those infected with antibiotic-susceptible bacteria, according to the World Health Organization. In addition, because first-line drugs fail more often than before, more expensive therapies must be used, raising health-care costs.
In the past, Collins and other scientists have probed the ways gut bacteria adapt to antibiotics, but they've focused on the bacteria themselves. But Collins and Sheetal Modi, Ph.D., the lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow in Collins' laboratory and at the Wyss Institute, knew that phage were also abundant in the gut, and that they were adept at ferrying genes from one bacterium to another.
The researchers wondered whether treating mice with antibiotics led phage in the gut to pick up more drug-resistance genes, and if so, whether that made gut bacteria stronger.
They gave mice either ciprofloxacin or ampicillin two commonly prescribed antibiotics. After eight weeks, they harvested all the viruses in the mice's feces, and identified the viral genes present by comparing them with a large database of known genes.
They found that the phages from antibiotic-treated mice carried significantly higher numbers of bacterial drug-resistance genes than they would have carried by chance. What's more, phage from ampicillin-treated mice carried more genes that help bacteria fight off ampicillin and related penicillin-like drugs, while phage from ciprofloxacin-treated mice carried more genes that help them fight off ciprofloxacin and related drugs.
"When we treat mice with certain classes of drugs, we see enrichment of resistance genes to those drug classes," Modi said.
The phage did more than harbor drug-resistance genes. They could also transfer them back to gut bacteria a necessary step in conferring drug resistance. The researchers demonstrated this by isolating phage from either antibiotic-treated mice or untreated mice, then adding those phage to gut bacteria from untreated mice. Phage from ampicillin-treated mice tripled the amount of ampicillin resistance, while phage from ciprofloxacin-treated mice doubled the amount of ciprofloxacin resistance.
That was bad enough, but the scientists also found signs that the phage could do yet more to foster antibiotic resistance. That's because gut phage from mice treated with one drug carried high levels of genes that confer resistance to different drugs, which means that the phage could serve as backup when bacteria must find ways to withstand a variety of antibiotics.
"With antibiotic treatment, the microbiome has a means to protect itself by expanding the antibiotic resistance reservoir, enabling bugs to come back to be potentially stronger and more resistant than before," Collins said.
"Antibiotic resistance is as pressing a global health problem as they come, and to fight it, it's critical to understand it," said Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., Wyss Institute Founding Director. "Jim's novel findings offer a previously unknown way to approach this problem by targeting the phage that live in our intestine, rather than the pathogens themselves."
###
This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award Program, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. In addition to Collins and Modi, the research team included: Henry H. Lee, Ph.D., a former graduate student at Boston University who's currently at Harvard Medical School, and Catherine S. Spina, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate at Boston University and researcher at the Wyss Institute.
About the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University uses Nature's design principles to develop bioinspired materials and devices that will transform medicine and create a more sustainable world. Working as an alliance among Harvard's Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Arts & Sciences, and in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital Boston, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston University, and Tufts University, the Institute crosses disciplinary and institutional barriers to engage in high-risk research that leads to transformative technological breakthroughs. By emulating Nature's principles for self-organizing and self-regulating, Wyss researchers are developing innovative new engineering solutions for healthcare, energy, architecture, robotics, and manufacturing. These technologies are translated into commercial products and therapies through collaborations with clinical investigators, corporate alliances, and new start-ups.
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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.
A potential new target to thwart antibiotic resistancePublic release date: 10-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dan Ferber Dan.ferber@wyss.harvard.edu 617-432-8517 Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard
Viruses in gut confer antibiotic resistance to bacteria
Bacteria in the gut that are under attack by antibiotics have allies no one had anticipated, a team of Wyss Institute scientists has found. Gut viruses that usually commandeer the bacteria, it turns out, enable them to survive the antibiotic onslaught, most likely by handing them genes that help them withstand the drug.
What's more, the gut viruses, called bacteriophage or simply phage, deliver genes that help the bacteria to survive not just the antibiotic they've been exposed to, but other types of antibiotics as well, the scientists reported online June 9 in Nature. That suggests that phages in the gut may be partly responsible for the emergence of dangerous superbugs that withstand multiple antibiotics, and that drug targeting of phages could offer a potential new path to mitigate development of antibiotic resistance.
"The results mean that the antibiotic-resistance situation is even more troubling than we thought," said senior author Jim Collins, Ph.D., a pioneer of synthetic biology and Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, who is also the William F. Warren Distinguished Professor at Boston University, where he leads the Center of Synthetic Biology.
Today disease-causing bacteria have adapted to antibiotics faster than scientists can generate new drugs to kill them, creating a serious global public-health threat. Patients who are hospitalized with serious bacterial infections tend to have longer, more expensive hospital stays, and they are twice as likely to die as those infected with antibiotic-susceptible bacteria, according to the World Health Organization. In addition, because first-line drugs fail more often than before, more expensive therapies must be used, raising health-care costs.
In the past, Collins and other scientists have probed the ways gut bacteria adapt to antibiotics, but they've focused on the bacteria themselves. But Collins and Sheetal Modi, Ph.D., the lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow in Collins' laboratory and at the Wyss Institute, knew that phage were also abundant in the gut, and that they were adept at ferrying genes from one bacterium to another.
The researchers wondered whether treating mice with antibiotics led phage in the gut to pick up more drug-resistance genes, and if so, whether that made gut bacteria stronger.
They gave mice either ciprofloxacin or ampicillin two commonly prescribed antibiotics. After eight weeks, they harvested all the viruses in the mice's feces, and identified the viral genes present by comparing them with a large database of known genes.
They found that the phages from antibiotic-treated mice carried significantly higher numbers of bacterial drug-resistance genes than they would have carried by chance. What's more, phage from ampicillin-treated mice carried more genes that help bacteria fight off ampicillin and related penicillin-like drugs, while phage from ciprofloxacin-treated mice carried more genes that help them fight off ciprofloxacin and related drugs.
"When we treat mice with certain classes of drugs, we see enrichment of resistance genes to those drug classes," Modi said.
The phage did more than harbor drug-resistance genes. They could also transfer them back to gut bacteria a necessary step in conferring drug resistance. The researchers demonstrated this by isolating phage from either antibiotic-treated mice or untreated mice, then adding those phage to gut bacteria from untreated mice. Phage from ampicillin-treated mice tripled the amount of ampicillin resistance, while phage from ciprofloxacin-treated mice doubled the amount of ciprofloxacin resistance.
That was bad enough, but the scientists also found signs that the phage could do yet more to foster antibiotic resistance. That's because gut phage from mice treated with one drug carried high levels of genes that confer resistance to different drugs, which means that the phage could serve as backup when bacteria must find ways to withstand a variety of antibiotics.
"With antibiotic treatment, the microbiome has a means to protect itself by expanding the antibiotic resistance reservoir, enabling bugs to come back to be potentially stronger and more resistant than before," Collins said.
"Antibiotic resistance is as pressing a global health problem as they come, and to fight it, it's critical to understand it," said Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., Wyss Institute Founding Director. "Jim's novel findings offer a previously unknown way to approach this problem by targeting the phage that live in our intestine, rather than the pathogens themselves."
###
This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award Program, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. In addition to Collins and Modi, the research team included: Henry H. Lee, Ph.D., a former graduate student at Boston University who's currently at Harvard Medical School, and Catherine S. Spina, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate at Boston University and researcher at the Wyss Institute.
About the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University uses Nature's design principles to develop bioinspired materials and devices that will transform medicine and create a more sustainable world. Working as an alliance among Harvard's Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Arts & Sciences, and in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital Boston, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston University, and Tufts University, the Institute crosses disciplinary and institutional barriers to engage in high-risk research that leads to transformative technological breakthroughs. By emulating Nature's principles for self-organizing and self-regulating, Wyss researchers are developing innovative new engineering solutions for healthcare, energy, architecture, robotics, and manufacturing. These technologies are translated into commercial products and therapies through collaborations with clinical investigators, corporate alliances, and new start-ups.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
If you're a high-end audio fan, you've probably heard of Cambridge Audio, the London-based firm that makes some of the best equipment in the business. The brand is currently undergoing some changes that involve targeting the growing number of users who are looking for wireless in-home and portable speaker solutions. Hence the new Minx line of devices, which borrows its name from Cambridge's affordable home theatre speaker range, but adds in goodies like AirPlay and Bluetooth.
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Public release date: 10-Jun-2013
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