Black flies may have a purpose after all

ScienceDaily (Apr. 9, 2012) ? Black flies drink blood and spread disease such as river blindness-creating misery with their presence. A University of Georgia study, however, proves that the pesky insects can be useful.

Don Champagne, an entomology professor with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, discovered a way to use the black fly's blood-sucking tactics for medical advancement. The results of his research were published in the journal PLoS One.

"In order to feed on blood, these insects have to contend with our natural defense agents against blood loss-like clotting," Champagne said. "Many insects use salivary injections packed with proteins to inhibit the enzymes in our bodies from reacting the way they normally would to injury."

In order for insects to earn a blood meal, they have to override the human body's battery of defenses. Most of these insects have anticoagulants to fight off clotting, inhibitors to stop clumping of platelets and vasodilators to speed up blood flow at the bite site.

"As it turns out, there are also a lot of things in saliva that modulate the immune response like inflammatory responses and downstream immune responses," he said.

A few years ago, Champagne worked on a study transcribing the messenger RNA that codes for proteins found in the salivary secretions of the black fly. He found two proteins that looked like they could hinder clotting. Champagne determined that one of these inhibits the clotting cascade by blocking factor Xa. Clotting factors exist in the blood in an inactive state, waiting to be called into action. Because these factors work like dominos, if factor X fails to be turned on (converted to Xa) the rest of the responses stay inactivate.

"We were able to show that the salivary protein targets Xa and is a good inhibitor of clotting," he said about his recent research. "But, it is an even better inhibitor of some enzymes involved in very early immune response-elastase and cathepsin G."

These enzymes are able to kill bacteria, and they help drive the inflammatory response.

"We were expecting these to be anticoagulants, that wasn't a surprise," he said. "But, we were surprised to learn that the protein affected all of these other responses."

This discovery made the protein attractive as a potential drug target, possibly one to treat patients recovering from heart attacks.

"Inflammation is a major source of tissue damage associated with vascular injuries," he said. "The idea of a single factor that could both inhibit clotting and inhibit damaging inflammation responses at the same time is pretty novel and interesting."

Studying black flies is easier at UGA than anywhere else, because UGA has the only black fly colony in the world. The flies in the lab aren't the same ones that transmit the debilitating river blindness disease, but the unique resource enables important research about the transmission of river blindness.

"We are not rearing black fly vectors; they are not being infected with the parasite that causes river blindness; and there is no risk to the public," he said.

What they are doing is learning more about how the disease is transmitted and how to possibly stop it.

"A lot of blood feeders also vector diseases," Champagne said. "When they are playing all of these tricks on the host in order for them to get a good blood meal, they change the conditions at the point where these pathogens go into the skin. Those changes often favor the pathogen. In an environment where normal wounding responses and defenses are inhibited, the pathogen can go in and say 'oh, look at that-the door is wide open."

Black flies vector river blindness while drinking their blood meal. A threat in sub-Saharan Africa, river blindness is a parasitic disease caused by a nematode infection. It's not caused by nematodes themselves. A symbiont that the nematode releases when it dies triggers an inflammatory response that causes changes in the skin and chronic inflammation. Eventually, the symbionts migrate through the eyes, causing the cornea and lens to cloud and leave infected people blind.

"These salivary factors change the environment for the parasite so it's conceivable that knowing about this protein would allow us to target it in some way, maybe by vaccinating against it, and that would likely make it less favorable for the transmission of river blindness," he said.

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Story Source:

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

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Hitoshi Tsujimoto, Michail Kotsyfakis, Ivo M. B. Francischetti, Jai Hoon Eum, Michael R. Strand, Donald E. Champagne. Simukunin from the Salivary Glands of the Black Fly Simulium vittatum Inhibits Enzymes That Regulate Clotting and Inflammatory Responses. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (2): e29964 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029964

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

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

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N.Korea readies longer range rocket; Japan, S.Korea wary

By Max Duncan and Jack Kim

CHOLSAN, North Korea/SEOUL | Mon Apr 9, 2012 5:00am BST

CHOLSAN, North Korea/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has readied a rocket for a launch from a forested valley in its remote northwest this week that will showcase the reclusive state's ability to fire a missile with the capacity to hit the continental United States.

Pyongyang says the rocket, to be launched this week, will only carry a weather satellite, but South Korea and the United States say it is a test of a ballistic missile. And although the risk of it veering off course is low, guidance remains its weakest point.

In a rare move, reporters were taken to the new Sohae launch station, close to the border with China, where work was in progress to ready the 30-metre high Unha-3 rocket and its satellite.

The three-stage rocket was on the launch platform, indicating the launch will go ahead on plan between April 12-16.

"Supreme Commander Kim Jong-un made a very bold decision, that is why you are allowed to be this close to the launch site," site director Jang Myong Jin told visiting foreign journalists on Sunday.

North Korea announced plans to launch the satellite-bearing rocket to coincide with the 100th birthday celebrations of its founder, Kim Il-sung, a move that will help cement the prestige of his grandson Kim Jong-un, who took power in December.

The second stage booster is planned to separate in the seas to the west of the Philippines, about 3,000 km (1,860 miles) from the launch site, and experts say that represents the first possible landfall for the rocket if things go wrong.

If North Korea does achieve a successful separation of the third stage - something it says it achieved in 2009, but most experts say failed to put a previous satellite into orbit - that would show it had improved its technology and the capacity to produce a missile that could carry an intercontinental nuclear warhead.

Pyongyang has also shifted its launch site, and the new, more sophisticated site on the west of the Korean peninsula reduces the risk of debris falling on Japan, which was overflown in a previous test-launch of a missile.

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Graphics on North Korea's rocket and missiles

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This launch will take the rocket down the west coast of the Korean peninsula. Japan, which fears a repeat of a 2009 firing over its territory, has put its missile batteries on alert to shoot the rocket down.

"They have come pretty far on the question of range, but they still need a lot to resolve in the precision technology needed for (warhead) re-entry and guidance," a South Korean military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

The Unha-3 is likely the same three-stage liquid-fuelled ballistic missile the North fired in 2009 over Japan which eventually splashed down after a 3,800 km flight, military experts in South Korea said.

The new rocket is believed to have a design range of more than 6,700 km (4,160 miles), and can carry a payload of up to 1,000 kg.

At its closest point, Alaska in the United States is about 5,000 km from North Korea.

The launch will be the first at the Sohae rocket station, construction of which began in 2007. It is a large, sophisticated facility with specialised assembly and transport, according to analysis from military specialist consultancy IHS Jane's Defense Weekly.

LITTLE RISK

While most international observers doubt that the Unha-2 rocket launched in 2009 managed to put a satellite into orbit, few experts believe there is a high risk the Unha-3 will land on a densely populated urban area.

The biggest risks are a massive failure of the guidance system that could send the rocket north over China, the North's main political and economic backer, or the destruct mechanism not functioning if it does veer off course, said Markus Schiller from Schmucker Technologie in Munich, an expert on North Korean missile systems.

"There always is a residual risk, of course, that several things might go wrong and lead to unforeseen disaster ... but this risk is very low, actually approaching zero," Schiller said in an emailed response to questions.

"It is far more likely that the rocket itself fails and blows apart."

The launch site is located 50 km (30 miles) from North Korea's border with China.

"The worst case scenario is it strays into China or South Korea if the rocket goes out of control," said an expert on rocket technology at a South Korean state-run research institute, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

While North Korea's 23 million people live in poverty and many are at risk of malnutrition, the prestige of developing rocket technology and nuclear weapons capacity is the most important issue for Pyongyang, which sees it as a deterrent against invasion.

The North is believed to have stockpiled enough fissile material to manufacture up to 10 nuclear bombs and South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Sunday it was preparing for a third nuclear test.

Government officials in South Korea have calculated the North is spending $19 million on this launch.

"I believe North Korea is developing many technologies simultaneously - technologies on rocket that can deliver nuclear warheads, materials that can cope with high temperature when re-entering the atmosphere and on the minituarisation of nuclear bombs," said the South Korean rocket expert.

(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by David Chance and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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The advantages of Plumbers | Home Improvement made Simple ...

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Business Ethics and Judaism: A Matter of Principle

From giant corporations, banks, Wall Street and accounting firms to governments and non-profits, how America conducts business has been called into question during the current economic crisis. Greed, ambition and poor regulation have been raised as culprits by talking heads on TV, newspaper and online. Ethics ? the lack of, has been raised less often.

JBN asked five experts for their view of ethics as it relates to business.

Longtime legal scholar Alan Dershowitz, holder of Harvard?s Felix Frankfurter professorship, teaches a course on legal ethics that covers several professions.

?One has to make a distinction between personal morality and ethics. Ethics are determined by the rules of a profession,? said Dershowitz. ?Every profession has it,? he said pointing to journalism and business. ?You come across something, but you can?t disclose your source. In business, a fiduciary obligation to stock holders may be inconsistent with personal morality.?

According to Dershowitz, choices are not easy. ?I teach a class about conflict. The choices are not between good, better and best. Often, they?re between bad, worse and worst,? he said.

However, he thinks business ethics are improving. ?They?re getting better because there?s more public scrutiny. Journalists are reporting more on business?.. the more sunlight, the better,? he said, ?Business can no longer operate in utter secrecy.?

When asked how evolving Internet technology may impact ethics, Dershowitz pointed to issues of intellectual property theft and of public right to know, but said, ?It?s cutting edge.? (Dershowitz is on the case of Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, which leaked diplomatic cables.) Referencing both issues he added the caveats: ?Old answers do not apply? and ?There is no simple solution.?

In his ?Successful Entrepreneurship? class, Kellogg?s Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship founder Lloyd Shefsky, has students discuss such questions as ethical obligations during a session he calls, ?The Right Thing?Ethics for Entrepreneurs.?

The session discusses an entrepreneur?s responsibility to board of directors, shareholders, customers, bankers, employees, the community and professionals like accountants and lawyers.

Shefsky would like to see more school-business partnerships for developing programs to cover today?s issues. ?I believe that B-Schools must attract big employers of MBAs to get involved with the schools and include faculty and students to create a meaningful program,? he said.

Asked about ethic trends, he said, ?The only trend I see is a recurring pattern of increased talk when someone big is caught, followed by an ebbing until the next time.?

As to ethical issues facing small business owners today, Shefsky said, ?Tight capital leads to pressures that often result in ethical problems, including attempts to reduce costs, ignoring contractual obligations, misstatements of facts, etc.?

He listed the most frequent excuses for wrong-doing as:

* What I?m doing is something the Board would approve anyway????????????????????????????????????????????????????? * This is just temporary; I?ll fix it later?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????* I?ve given the company so much; I deserve this.?

Shefsky tells his students that ethics is something they should have already learned from parents and clergy. JBN asked Shefsky, past president and over 30-year member and director of the America-Israel Chamber of Commerce, what he thinks Judaism teaches about business ethics?

He said: ?1.The concept that one should avoid even the appearance of wrong-doing is a great warning system. 2.?The concept that each individual is responsible not only for his/her own reputation, but also for that of the Jewish people. 3. Charitable thinking is good. However, the concept regarding charity can create conflicts with fiduciary duties to shareholders.?

Hedy Ratner, co-founder/co-president of the Chicago-based Women?s Business Development Center was asked about ethic policies that small businesses should follow in lieu of those applied to public companies and the professions.

?There are no ethics rules for small businesses, but there are moral principles of life you must consider as a business owner,? said Ratner. She emphasizes building trust between business and customers and between owner and employees, whether business is good or bad.

Ratner warned there are many ways to betray one?s principles by exploiting customers or employees. She urged small business owners to set an example of ethical behavior for employees. ?You don?t want an employee saying, ?this isn?t the company I thought it was.??

Having an ethics policy is good business, according to Ratner. ?Let employees know you have it and that you?re living it,? she said. ?Build trust with customers so they know they can trust you to give the best price and best service.?

She also emphasized the ethics of meeting obligations even during economic downturns. ?Instead of arbitrarily cutting salaries, talk to your employees. Explain business is not good, so let?s work together for a solution. When you negotiate, you get more concessions. When you impose, you lose,? she said.

?Being respectful and treating others with respect is part of behaving ethically.?

David I Jacobson, founder of Chicago Jewish Funerals and board member of several Jewish organizations, said that for some people, a funeral home sends up red flags. But he believes any business whose owner is ethical will have a good reputation.

?Ethics are pretty cut and dried. The Torah says you must behave in the right way. You must do the right thing all the time,? said Jacobson.

?I make sure my employees are taken care of. They?re the face of my business. If you devote your life to a company, you have to take care of your employees,? he said.

He also felt strongly about obligations, trust and respect. ?If you promise something, you better deliver what you promise and even more. We never take a short cut.?

As a guide, he suggested: treat a client like you would your family. People pay a fair price expecting that everything is right,? said Jacobson. ?There are cheaper ways of doing things. That?s not our way. It?s not good business.?

As an example, Jacobson said he parted ways with a huge insurance company because they cut staff he thought were necessary for personal contact and service.

?They fired their ground people, so I fired them. They offered incentives to stay with them. I didn?t accept because I didn?t want to work with the corporate office. You have to do the right thing,? he said.

Rabbi Karen Kedar, senior rabbi of B?nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim, Deerfield, edited the finance and ethics issue of the CCAR Journal (The Reform Jewish Quarterly of the Central Conference of Reform Rabbis) published spring 2010.

In her Journal introduction, ?Jewish Perspectives on Finances and the Marketplace,? Rabbi Kedar referred to the impact the economic crisis has on families and business. ?It seems that the rules have changed; banks aren?t behaving like banks; performance, ambition, and intelligence are irrelevant to job security. What was affordable in previous years is now out of sight,? she said.

She encouraged a review of attitudes toward wealth. ?Nobody stands at your grave and reads the details of your portfolio. Life is judged by giving, loving, faith, and the ability to rebalance when we?ve lost our focus.?

Rabbi Kedar explained the impetus for the journal?s issue as ?back to basics during a historic moment when ethical issues regarding money, finances, and business dealings are in question in our country, and indeed in the global marketplace.?

However, she cited an important reference from Shabbat 31a. ?It?s a powerful piece from the Talmud,? she said. ?May you live 120 years, but when you die, G-d asks you six questions. The first is ? were you honest in business??

Rabbi Kedar explained why honesty in business was first. ?The ethical order of money is the basis for everything,? she said. ?According to the Talmud, if you don?t have a society based on ethical behavior, than you have no foundation for any relationship.?

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Sony To Cut 10,000 More Jobs

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 4/9/2012

Tokyo - Sony is planning to reduce its workforce by 6 percent, or about 10,000 jobs, as new CEO Kazuo Hirai takes action in the wake of the company's fourth straight projected loss, according to a Nikkei news report.

About 5,000 of the job cuts are expected to come from a reorganization of operations producing chemicals and small- and medium-sized panels, according to the report.

Hirai had previously stated that "painful" steps would be necessary to turn the company around.

Hirai is scheduled to hold a press conference on the management plan, April 12.

Valued at $200 billion as recently as September 2000, Sony is now estimated to be worth just $20 billion, compared with $591 billion for Apple and $170 billion of Samsung, according to Bloomberg.

In February, Sony predicted a loss of $2.7 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31. A fourth consecutive annual loss would be a first for the company since it listed in 1958.

Hirai, who has put himself in direct charge of the company's flagging TV business, divested much of its holdings in an LCD panel plant co-owned by Samsung as a cost-saving measure.

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Separate The Infected Fish From All The Healthy Fish And Place It ...

Separate The Infected Fish From All The Healthy Fish And Place It On A Different Tank And There You Can Add The Antibiotics For Treatment

An aquarium full of fish is a fun way to experience taking care of your own pets. Fish watching is fun and a very interesting experience so you can share that experience with your guests who?d want to watch them swim around inside the tank. Taking care of your fish in your aquarium is an easy thing to learn because it?s actually very simple. Managing your fish tank properly is the best way to prevent wasting your efforts and hard earned money so you have to do it right. Setting up your aquarium yourself is not as easy as you expect it to be because if you do it wrong, the fish will not live long in it. Fish will be excreting inside the fish bowl or aquarium they live in. Fish manure inside the aquarium will degrade into toxic ammonia in just several hours. Ammonia is a known toxin for fishes and it can kill them. The actual nitrogen cycle is important to come to be effectively executed before you start putting fish in your own aquarium. Many fish will die when the ammonia level in the aquarium is high as the fish excretes in the water. Mother Nature naturally converts the ammonia into nitrates in the nitrogen cycle steps thus tropical fish thrive. Nitrite is the final conversion of ammonia and this is what is desired for aquariums. An aquarium nitrogen test kit is the best way to accurately detect the level of nitrogen and it?s best to buy one for your own aquarium.

It?s very important for an aquarium owner to buy the right test kits for their detection of ammonia to be accurate. To keep your water nitrogen levels low, you can manipulate the nitrogen cycle or change part of the water yourself. The nitrogen level of the water can be controlled but if you want this to be effective you need to be patient as this takes some time. It takes 2 weeks to 2 months to properly cycle the nitrogen in the water. A fish tank without fish can already be processed for nitrogen cycle as this is already possible. Decomposition of food in the fish tank leads to the ammonia release. The water in the aquarium must be tested regularly for its nitrate levels and to keep it clean by changing parts of water regularly. Freshwater fish tanks should not be directly added with chlorinated water as the chlorine chemical can kill some bacteria that are beneficial for the fish. Tap water must first be aerated for hours before you add it to your fish tank. If you add antibiotics to your fish tank, it will not just kill the bad bacteria but also the beneficial ones. To use antibiotics for the infected fish, take them out first and put them in a different fish tank. A good and properly cared for fish tank will be a great place for fishes as they are going to live long. Do not feed your fish too much as this will make the water poisonous. If the fish tank?s water becomes cloudy then it is the right time to change the water.

Tags: nitrogen cycle, nitrogen cycle diagram

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Online Communications Training Options | Public Speaking Coaching

Technology plays a big role in the way individuals communicate. Communication can take place through the Internet, radio, television, and the written word. Students can earn a variety of online degrees in communication to teach them how to use these different forms of technology to deliver a message.

A communications professional has the responsibility and challenge of not only creating a message but also delivering that message. This concept can be applied to any business or organization that needs information presented to their consumers. A successfully delivered message is essential no matter what professional industry a communications professional works for. Prospective students can choose from a number of specific degree concentrations that will prepare them for their responsibilities in the workplace. The curriculum of study is broad and will allow a degree holding individual to work in a variety of settings and industries.

Students will train in many of the same areas as students who major in public relations, advertising, and journalism.

Coursework focuses on print, broadcast, and new media. The path taken by a communications major opens many doors for students to fully create and present the intricate flow of information through a variety of mediums. Professionals use all their knowledge gained through schooling and apply it to the communication of the organization they work for. Students will learn how to correctly communicate information internally to employees and externally to another professional, the media, and the public.

Online training for communications is available from an associate?s degree to a master?s degree. Schooling gives students the appropriate amount of information and knowledge required to successfully fulfill degree requirements.

Training through an associate?s degree will lay a basic foundation in liberal arts and sciences to establish critical thinking and communications skills. The goal is to prepare students to enter basic communications jobs or help them determine if gaining a higher degree is needed to reach their career goals.

A bachelor?s degree in communications can be taken as a degree in itself. Students that decide to take this path will be able to tailor their education using specialized concentrations that include online education in journalism, business communication, and technical communication. Courses will prepare students by allowing them to utilize the written word and technology to disseminate information through their chosen field. Training will adequately teach students how to use their schooling to create and deliver messages to a specific audience using multiple presentation platforms. A master?s degree program online will have students studying how to implement communication techniques. Issues studied will include online courses in management, intercultural communication, leadership, and business. Acquired skills gained will include negotiation, dispute resolution, and cultural diversity.

Students enrolled in accredited online communications schools learn how to communicate and use technology to accomplish their work. Accredited degree programs are designed to further a student?s ability to work inside the profession. Students should step closer to their desired career by enhancing their skills inside the classroom.

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Copyright 2010 ? All rights reserved by PETAP.org.

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