CIEE, Council International Educational Exchange, a non-profit sponsor of high school exchange students is working with Richmond Animal League (RAL) to raise monies for their non-euthanizing organization that helps homeless cats and dogs.
CIEE has students from Brazil, S Korea, China, Thailand, Czech, Slovakia, Spain, Germany and more in Richmond and surrounding county high schools this school year.? Each student is encouraged to participate in volunteering.? The students agreed in unison that the homeless animals need a chance!? Whether a cat or dog,? the kids feel that saving their lives and providing hope is a must.
On Sunday, April 29th, at Washington Henry Elementary School's annual Earth Day Festival, the exchange students, their host siblings, host parents and friends will JUMP ROPE raising funds for RAL's animals.? Come and join the students in jumping, pledging as little or as much as you like knowing that with each jump, RAL will raise monies for their dogs and cats.
Contact Becky Bell, local coordinator for CIEE, to pledge or sign to jump on Sunday April 29th from 1-5 pm at 804-928-1948 or ccfc2355@msn.com
Visit www.ciee.org to learn more of hosting or welcoming a high school exchange student and visit www.RAL.org ?to learn more of supporting and/or adopting a pet.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) ? The Highway Patrol says a 6-year-old girl is dead and seven of her relatives are injured following a rollover crash on Interstate 80 in southwestern Wyoming.
Sgt. Stephen Townsend says Dynasty X. Barcenas of Plainfield, Ill., died following the crash around 3:30 a.m. Friday in Sweetwater County.
He says in a press release that a car driven by 24-year-old Daniel Rebarchek of Wheatland, Wyo., hit the rear end of an SUV carrying the child and eight of her relatives, and the vehicle went off the road and rolled over.
Townsend says everyone in the SUV except the driver ? 37-year-old Sourisack Sounthonevichith ? were ejected. The driver escaped injury but all others were taken to area hospitals, but the patrol had no word on conditions.
Townsend says Rebarcheck didn't stop and was arrested a couple hours later. He faces several charges including aggravated vehicular homicide.
Dynasty's family ? three adults and the rest children ? was en route from Illinois to California for a wedding. The patrol didn't further detail their relationships.
Contact: Aileen Sheehy press.office@sanger.ac.uk 44-122-349-6928 Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Whole genome analysis of Chlamydia trachomatis highlights risks with current method of tracking
In a study released today in Nature Genetics, researchers have found that Chlamydia has evolved more actively than was previously thought. Using whole genome sequencing the researchers show that the exchange of DNA between different strains of Chlamydia to form new strains is much more common than expected.
The team highlights that current clinical testing methods do not capture the variation between Chlamydia strains. Changes to the genome structure are not the aim of current diagnostics for Chlamydia. The researchers are working with hospitals to use their results to improve Chlamydia testing in terms of detecting variation between Chlamydia strains.
Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) both in the UK and globally, with approximately 100 million new cases worldwide each year. It is also the most common cause of infectious blindness, or trachoma, in the developing world. Relatively little is known about the evolution of the different strains of Chlamydia that are causing infection.
"Scientists recently discovered that if two Chlamydia strains co-infect the same person at the same time, they can swap DNA by a process called recombination." explains Dr Simon Harris, lead author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "This was originally thought only to affect a few 'hotspots' within the genome. We were very surprised to find recombination is far more widespread than previously thought."
The team found there appeared to be no barriers to the swapping of DNA when circumstances allow, even between bacterial strains associated with infecting different parts of the body.
"Despite this being the most important sexually transmitted infection in the world, until now it's clear that there are major gaps in our knowledge of the strains that are currently circulating, their evolution and natural history," says Professor Ian Clarke, senior author from the University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine.
Clinical diagnosis of Chlamydia infections simply returns a positive or negative result, providing no information about the nature of the infecting strain. This makes it impossible to determine whether a person who tests positive again after antibiotic treatment has picked up a second infection or if their treatment has failed. The significance of this is that although antibiotic resistant Chlamydia has never been seen in patients, it can occur in the laboratory. If resistance did occur in the general population, it would not be detected by current diagnostic procedures.
"Until now a person treated with antibiotics with a reoccurring infection of C. trachomatis was assumed to have been re-infected" says Dr Nicholas Thomson, senior author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "The current gaps in our understanding of the population makeup of Chlamydia limit our ability to implement health policies, because we do not fully understand how Chlamydia spreads within our population."
This study is not just important for the treatment of the sexually transmitted strains of Chlamydia but also for the treatment of African Chlamydia strains that can cause infectious blindness, or trachoma. The team sequenced strains of African Chlamydia and found that these strains are also using recombination to fool the human immune system.
"For many years various groups have observed co-circulating strains of Chlamydia causing trachoma. In our study we have shown that some strains appear to have swapped only their surface coat" says Dr Martin Holland from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. "This provides real clues as to how this bacterium is able to avoid the human immune system and cause disease"
This study shows that whole genome sequencing is the resolution required to understand in fine detail the spread of Chlamydia through a population. Scientists at the Sanger Institute are currently working with hospitals to bring this technology into the clinical setting. The challenge that researchers face is to provide enough DNA from routine samples to generate a whole genome sequence.
###
Notes to Editors
Publication Details
Harris et al 'Whole-genome analysis of diverse Chlamydia trachomatis strains identifies phylogenetic relationships masked by current clinical typing'
Published online on Nature Genetics 11 March 2012; DOI: 10.1038/ng.2214
Funding
This work was funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Participating Centres
A full list of participating centres can be found at the Nature Genetics website
Selected Websites
The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship across a wide range of subjects in engineering, science, social sciences, health and humanities. With over 23,000 students, around 5000 staff, and an annual turnover well in excess of 435 million, the University of Southampton is acknowledged as one of the country's top institutions for engineering, computer science and medicine. We combine academic excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research, supporting a culture that engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning. The University is also home to a number of world-leading research centers including the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the Web Science Trust and Doctoral training Centre, the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute and is a partner of the National Oceanography Centre at the Southampton waterfront campus.
http://www.soton.ac.uk
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public and global health, with 4000 students and more than 1300 staff working in over 100 countries. The School is one of the highest-rated research institutions in the UK, and was recently cited as one of the world's top universities for collaborative research. The School's mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice.
http://www.lshtm.ac.uk
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease.
http://www.sanger.ac.uk
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. We are independent of both political and commercial interests.
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk
Contact details
Don Powell Media Manager
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
Tel +44 (0)1223 496 928
Mobile +44 (0)7753 7753 97
Email press.office@sanger.ac.uk
[ | 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.
Contact: Aileen Sheehy press.office@sanger.ac.uk 44-122-349-6928 Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Whole genome analysis of Chlamydia trachomatis highlights risks with current method of tracking
In a study released today in Nature Genetics, researchers have found that Chlamydia has evolved more actively than was previously thought. Using whole genome sequencing the researchers show that the exchange of DNA between different strains of Chlamydia to form new strains is much more common than expected.
The team highlights that current clinical testing methods do not capture the variation between Chlamydia strains. Changes to the genome structure are not the aim of current diagnostics for Chlamydia. The researchers are working with hospitals to use their results to improve Chlamydia testing in terms of detecting variation between Chlamydia strains.
Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) both in the UK and globally, with approximately 100 million new cases worldwide each year. It is also the most common cause of infectious blindness, or trachoma, in the developing world. Relatively little is known about the evolution of the different strains of Chlamydia that are causing infection.
"Scientists recently discovered that if two Chlamydia strains co-infect the same person at the same time, they can swap DNA by a process called recombination." explains Dr Simon Harris, lead author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "This was originally thought only to affect a few 'hotspots' within the genome. We were very surprised to find recombination is far more widespread than previously thought."
The team found there appeared to be no barriers to the swapping of DNA when circumstances allow, even between bacterial strains associated with infecting different parts of the body.
"Despite this being the most important sexually transmitted infection in the world, until now it's clear that there are major gaps in our knowledge of the strains that are currently circulating, their evolution and natural history," says Professor Ian Clarke, senior author from the University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine.
Clinical diagnosis of Chlamydia infections simply returns a positive or negative result, providing no information about the nature of the infecting strain. This makes it impossible to determine whether a person who tests positive again after antibiotic treatment has picked up a second infection or if their treatment has failed. The significance of this is that although antibiotic resistant Chlamydia has never been seen in patients, it can occur in the laboratory. If resistance did occur in the general population, it would not be detected by current diagnostic procedures.
"Until now a person treated with antibiotics with a reoccurring infection of C. trachomatis was assumed to have been re-infected" says Dr Nicholas Thomson, senior author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "The current gaps in our understanding of the population makeup of Chlamydia limit our ability to implement health policies, because we do not fully understand how Chlamydia spreads within our population."
This study is not just important for the treatment of the sexually transmitted strains of Chlamydia but also for the treatment of African Chlamydia strains that can cause infectious blindness, or trachoma. The team sequenced strains of African Chlamydia and found that these strains are also using recombination to fool the human immune system.
"For many years various groups have observed co-circulating strains of Chlamydia causing trachoma. In our study we have shown that some strains appear to have swapped only their surface coat" says Dr Martin Holland from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. "This provides real clues as to how this bacterium is able to avoid the human immune system and cause disease"
This study shows that whole genome sequencing is the resolution required to understand in fine detail the spread of Chlamydia through a population. Scientists at the Sanger Institute are currently working with hospitals to bring this technology into the clinical setting. The challenge that researchers face is to provide enough DNA from routine samples to generate a whole genome sequence.
###
Notes to Editors
Publication Details
Harris et al 'Whole-genome analysis of diverse Chlamydia trachomatis strains identifies phylogenetic relationships masked by current clinical typing'
Published online on Nature Genetics 11 March 2012; DOI: 10.1038/ng.2214
Funding
This work was funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Participating Centres
A full list of participating centres can be found at the Nature Genetics website
Selected Websites
The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship across a wide range of subjects in engineering, science, social sciences, health and humanities. With over 23,000 students, around 5000 staff, and an annual turnover well in excess of 435 million, the University of Southampton is acknowledged as one of the country's top institutions for engineering, computer science and medicine. We combine academic excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research, supporting a culture that engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning. The University is also home to a number of world-leading research centers including the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the Web Science Trust and Doctoral training Centre, the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute and is a partner of the National Oceanography Centre at the Southampton waterfront campus.
http://www.soton.ac.uk
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public and global health, with 4000 students and more than 1300 staff working in over 100 countries. The School is one of the highest-rated research institutions in the UK, and was recently cited as one of the world's top universities for collaborative research. The School's mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice.
http://www.lshtm.ac.uk
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease.
http://www.sanger.ac.uk
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. We are independent of both political and commercial interests.
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk
Contact details
Don Powell Media Manager
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
Tel +44 (0)1223 496 928
Mobile +44 (0)7753 7753 97
Email press.office@sanger.ac.uk
[ | 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.
Sen. Chuck Grassley said today in an interview that Mitt Romney is ?almost sure? to win the Republican presidential nomination, based on his reading of the numbers.
He said even if two of Romney?s remaining three opponents were to drop out today, the survivor would have to win two-thirds of the delegates in the remaining states. He said he considers that ?impossible.?
However, Grassley still has not endorsed a candidate. He wasn?t prepared to talk about an endorsement today, a spokeswoman said. But Grassley did say he didn?t think it would be right for him to call for any candidate to drop out, considering he didn?t endorse anyone in the Iowa caucus campaign:
?I think it would be wrong for me to do that since I didn?t back anyone in the Iowa caucuses. Because, you know, the battles are in other states now and if I don?t have guts enough to take a stand among Iowa Republicans for a specific candidate and it looks to me like Romney?s in the lead, you know, how can I say to others they don?t have a right to run for president??
I?m not sure I follow his reasoning that withholding a caucus endorsement means he shouldn?t suggest an end to campaigns that he considers hopeless. Surely, there?s a difference between making a pick in a wide-open field and suggesting closure once you?ve judged it?s all but over. That line of thought may go further to explain why Grassley?s not in a big hurry to endorse anyone, although he hasn?t ruled it out.
The Republican senator said he doesn?t think a protracted nomination battle would hurt the eventual nominee, noting that he expects 90 percent of Republicans will support the party?s standard-bearer. ?I believe the battle?s where it always is, with the independents. I don?t think the independents will make up their mind until October,? he said.
He indicated that people may be reluctant to label Romney the presumptive nominee because of the experience of the campaign so far.? ?There have been so many surprises in the last twelve months, you know, so that?s why you?re reluctant to take those stands,? he said.
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Tags: 2012 president race, Barack obama, iowa politics, mitt romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul
We're caught in the middle between Microsoft and Apple announcements this week, but we'll try and make the best of it. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview has hit the streets and word is Media Center is present and accounted, so of course we have to take a look. Afterwards, we dig into the latest digital movie news and the least surprising lawsuit of the week. We've also got an interesting Android dongle and the much-anticipated arrival of the Indiana Jones movies on Blu-ray. Our final question this week: Is Ben the only person in America who still listens to the radio?
Get the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [RSS - AAC] Enhanced feed, subscribe to this with iTunes. [RSS - MP3] Add the Engadget HD Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace [MP3] Download the show (MP3).
Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)
Meet the new Apple TV. It's a lot like the Apple TVs of old in that it does not feature a traditional iOS interface centering around apps: it's still all about media and content consumption. The biggest update here comes in the form of support for higher resolution videos. The updated UI sports a 1080p interface, and movies can now be purchased from iTunes in that resolution as well.
Farm Credit Canada?s (FCC) Farm Safety Report Card showed that 85 per cent of Canadian producers understand the importance of maintaining farm safety ? to prevent financial loss due to incidents, protect their family members and to keep employees safe. Despite their good intentions, only one in ten producers has a written farm safety plan. The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) offers guidance in developing safety plans for their farms through the Plan ? Farm ? Safety campaign. The study surveyed farmers? perceptions of the current state of farm safety in Canada. The study also revealed that 34 per cent of Canadian producers want training in the basics of preparing a safety plan for their operations. The survey was conducted to support the three-year theme of the Canadian Agricultural Safety campaign, Plan ? Farm ? Safety. This year, emphasis is on "Safety" including assessment, improvement and further development of safety systems. Last year, the focus was on "Farm" including implementation, documentation and training. In 2010, the campaign promoted "Plan", featuring safety walkabouts and planning for safety. The yearlong ?Safety? campaign will be launched with Canadian Agricultural Safety Week (CASW), from March 11 to 17. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) deliver CASW in partnership with Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) through Growing Forward, a federal, provincial, territorial initiative. ?The Plan ? Farm ? Safety theme has been a catalyst in helping Canadian producers gain a better understanding and appreciation of the importance of safety as part of their overall business planning,? says Ron Bonnett, CFA President. ?By focusing on a particular aspect of farm safety plan development each year, producers have been able to go through the steps necessary to establish practical farm safety programs on their farms.? ?To help producers build and implement a written farm safety plan, CASA developed a new farm management tool called the Canada Farm Safe Plan,? says Marcel Hacault, Executive Director of CASA. ?This resource is flexible enough to be used by any sector in any province and can easily be customized to each producer?s specific operation.? ?Planning, implementing and assessing safety on the farm is an important part of every successful farm operation,? says R?mi Lemoine, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of FCC. ?As producers are more exposed to the value of risk management, it?s easier to make the connection between good safety practices and achieving their business goals.?
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Public release date: 11-Mar-2012
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Meet the new Apple TV. It's a lot like the Apple TVs of old in that it does not feature a traditional iOS interface centering around apps: it's still all about media and content consumption. The biggest update here comes in the form of support for higher resolution videos. The updated UI sports a 1080p interface, and movies can now be purchased from iTunes in that resolution as well.