WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boston's police commissioner said on Sunday that the Boston Marathon bombing suspects killed an MIT police officer and had more explosives that authorities believe they intended to use.
"Tragically, Officer Collier from the MIT police was murdered by these individuals as they started their rampage," Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said on "Fox News Sunday."
Sean Collier, 26, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police, was fatally shot on Thursday while sitting in his police cruiser as events began to unfold that led to the death of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and the apprehension of his brother Dzhokhar, 19, after a massive manhunt.
They were suspects in the bombing at the Boston Marathon on Monday that killed three people and injured 176.
"I just want to say on Officer Collier, I believe that he was attacked and his murder led to our apprehension of these individuals," Davis said. "Tragically, he paid with his life, but these individuals were out to kill other people."
Davis said the suspects had other explosives, which authorities have detonated. "We feel that they had plans to use those explosives, possibly on soft targets," he told the Fox program.
Asked if there were concerns about an ongoing threat, Davis said, "We are confident that these were the two actors, these were the two individuals that were carrying out this mission and they are either dead or arrested at this point."
He said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was in "serious but stable condition" in a Boston hospital and was "in no condition to be interrogated at this point in time."
(Reporting by Vicki Allen; Editing by Philip Barbara and Doina Chiacu)
Intensity modulated radiotherapy reduces side effects in patients with early breast cancerPublic release date: 21-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary Rice mary.rice@riceconseil.eu European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO)
Geneva, Switzerland: Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) gives better results than standard radiotherapy in patients with early breast cancer, according to results from a randomised trial presented today (Sunday) to the 2nd Forum of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO). IMRT is an advanced, high-precision form of radiotherapy that can deliver an even dose of radiation, thus reducing the cosmetic problems that can often occur after breast radiotherapy.
"We believe that this study, the largest prospective trial in the world to test breast IMRT against standard two-dimensional radiotherapy, will be practice-changing at an international level," said Dr Charlottes Coles, from Addenbrooke's Hospital Oncology Centre, Cambridge, UK. "Analysing the results five years after treatment, we saw significant benefits in patients who had received IMRT."
The researchers analysed the radiotherapy treatment plans of 1145 patients with early breast cancer who had previously had breast-conserving surgery. The plans were screened to see if they would produce an uneven radiation dose with standard two-dimensional radiotherapy (2DRT). A total of 71% of the plans fell into this category, and those patients were randomised between standard 2DRT and IMRT. The 29% of patients whose plans would not produce an uneven dose were treated with standard 2D RT, but still followed up within the trial.
One of the aims of external radiotherapy is to treat the target in this case the whole breast with an even dose distribution, i.e. within a range of 95% to 107% of the prescribed dose. Too low a dose can risk tumour recurrence, and too high a dose can cause undesirable side-effects such as skin changes.
"The problem with 2D breast radiotherapy is that the dose distribution is only recorded across the central part of the breast. Usually it meets the 95-107% constraints, but the shape of the breast changes, so if the same plan is looked at in 3D, then there may well be areas with overly high doses. By modulating the intensity of the radiation beam, IMRT can be used to correct for this and smooth out the dose," said Dr Coles.
The researchers set out to see whether the effect of using IMRT in those patients who would have received a dose greater than 107% to parts of their breast with 2DRT would translate into clinical benefit. IMRT planning uses results from scans to determine the dose intensity that will best treat the tumour, and therefore is more complex and time-consuming than 2DRT planning, so there was an important need to see a clear advantage to patients from the use of the procedure.
The only previous study looking at this was much smaller, and rather than picking out all patients with doses greater than 107% and randomising them, it only included women with larger breasts who are already known to be more likely to have regions of dose above the upper limit. "Our trial was more inclusive as all women were able to take part and we could quantify those who would receive an uneven dose," said Dr Coles.
"We saw that fewer patients in the IMRT group developed skin telangiectasia (dilated blood vessels near the surface of the skin), and the overall cosmetic effect in the breast was better," she said. Although there was no significant difference between the two groups in breast shrinkage, breast oedema, breast induration (hardening), and pigmentation changes, the benefits of using IMRT in these patients were clear.
The researchers intend to follow up their work by analysing the patients' questionnaires to see whether IMRT has an influence on quality of life. The trial has also contributed 1000 blood samples to the UK translational research study RAPPER (Radiogenomics: Assessment of Polymorphisms for Predicting the Effects of Radiotherapy), which aims to ultimately develop individualised radiotherapy plans based on the analysis of individual patients' genetics.
"Although IMRT is employed increasingly in breast cancer, its use is far from universal throughout the world. We hope that the evidence of benefit shown in our trial will encourage its greater use, resulting in improved patient access and, ultimately, improved outcomes for breast cancer patients," said Dr Coles.
President of ESTRO, Professor Vincenzo Valentini, a radiation oncologist at the Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, Rome, Italy, said: "This study not only shows a better outcome for the women treated with IMRT, but has an additional value in defining the selection criteria for providing treatment to those patients who will benefit from new frontline technologies. In the study design, the patients who could be treated satisfactorily by standard technology were not referred for IMRT, avoiding the use of a complex technique where it was not necessary. At a time when resources are limited, individualised medicine can help us offer new technology only to those patients who will have a tangible benefit from it."
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Abstract no: OC-0202, Symposium/ Breast at 08.45 hrs (CEST) on Sunday 21 April, Auditorium
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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.
Intensity modulated radiotherapy reduces side effects in patients with early breast cancerPublic release date: 21-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary Rice mary.rice@riceconseil.eu European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO)
Geneva, Switzerland: Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) gives better results than standard radiotherapy in patients with early breast cancer, according to results from a randomised trial presented today (Sunday) to the 2nd Forum of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO). IMRT is an advanced, high-precision form of radiotherapy that can deliver an even dose of radiation, thus reducing the cosmetic problems that can often occur after breast radiotherapy.
"We believe that this study, the largest prospective trial in the world to test breast IMRT against standard two-dimensional radiotherapy, will be practice-changing at an international level," said Dr Charlottes Coles, from Addenbrooke's Hospital Oncology Centre, Cambridge, UK. "Analysing the results five years after treatment, we saw significant benefits in patients who had received IMRT."
The researchers analysed the radiotherapy treatment plans of 1145 patients with early breast cancer who had previously had breast-conserving surgery. The plans were screened to see if they would produce an uneven radiation dose with standard two-dimensional radiotherapy (2DRT). A total of 71% of the plans fell into this category, and those patients were randomised between standard 2DRT and IMRT. The 29% of patients whose plans would not produce an uneven dose were treated with standard 2D RT, but still followed up within the trial.
One of the aims of external radiotherapy is to treat the target in this case the whole breast with an even dose distribution, i.e. within a range of 95% to 107% of the prescribed dose. Too low a dose can risk tumour recurrence, and too high a dose can cause undesirable side-effects such as skin changes.
"The problem with 2D breast radiotherapy is that the dose distribution is only recorded across the central part of the breast. Usually it meets the 95-107% constraints, but the shape of the breast changes, so if the same plan is looked at in 3D, then there may well be areas with overly high doses. By modulating the intensity of the radiation beam, IMRT can be used to correct for this and smooth out the dose," said Dr Coles.
The researchers set out to see whether the effect of using IMRT in those patients who would have received a dose greater than 107% to parts of their breast with 2DRT would translate into clinical benefit. IMRT planning uses results from scans to determine the dose intensity that will best treat the tumour, and therefore is more complex and time-consuming than 2DRT planning, so there was an important need to see a clear advantage to patients from the use of the procedure.
The only previous study looking at this was much smaller, and rather than picking out all patients with doses greater than 107% and randomising them, it only included women with larger breasts who are already known to be more likely to have regions of dose above the upper limit. "Our trial was more inclusive as all women were able to take part and we could quantify those who would receive an uneven dose," said Dr Coles.
"We saw that fewer patients in the IMRT group developed skin telangiectasia (dilated blood vessels near the surface of the skin), and the overall cosmetic effect in the breast was better," she said. Although there was no significant difference between the two groups in breast shrinkage, breast oedema, breast induration (hardening), and pigmentation changes, the benefits of using IMRT in these patients were clear.
The researchers intend to follow up their work by analysing the patients' questionnaires to see whether IMRT has an influence on quality of life. The trial has also contributed 1000 blood samples to the UK translational research study RAPPER (Radiogenomics: Assessment of Polymorphisms for Predicting the Effects of Radiotherapy), which aims to ultimately develop individualised radiotherapy plans based on the analysis of individual patients' genetics.
"Although IMRT is employed increasingly in breast cancer, its use is far from universal throughout the world. We hope that the evidence of benefit shown in our trial will encourage its greater use, resulting in improved patient access and, ultimately, improved outcomes for breast cancer patients," said Dr Coles.
President of ESTRO, Professor Vincenzo Valentini, a radiation oncologist at the Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, Rome, Italy, said: "This study not only shows a better outcome for the women treated with IMRT, but has an additional value in defining the selection criteria for providing treatment to those patients who will benefit from new frontline technologies. In the study design, the patients who could be treated satisfactorily by standard technology were not referred for IMRT, avoiding the use of a complex technique where it was not necessary. At a time when resources are limited, individualised medicine can help us offer new technology only to those patients who will have a tangible benefit from it."
###
Abstract no: OC-0202, Symposium/ Breast at 08.45 hrs (CEST) on Sunday 21 April, Auditorium
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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.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, left, shows U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the skyline of Istanbul before the start of a meeting on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey. Kerry is wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul with talks aimed at improving ties between Turkey and Israel and pushing ahead with Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, left, shows U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the skyline of Istanbul before the start of a meeting on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey. Kerry is wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul with talks aimed at improving ties between Turkey and Israel and pushing ahead with Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu point toward the Bosporus before a working lunch in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 21, 2013. Wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul, Kerry on Sunday sought to cement and speed up an improvement in relations between Turkey and Israel as well as explore new ways to relaunch Mideast peace efforts. President Barack Obama has made both issues foreign policy priorities for his second term and Kerry was pushing them in meetings with Abbas and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.(AP Photo/Hakan Goktepe, Pool)
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, third from left, meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, third from right, on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey. Kerry is wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul with talks aimed at improving ties between Turkey and Israel and pushing ahead with Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas leaves a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 21, 2013. Wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul, Kerry on Sunday sought to cement and speed up an improvement in relations between Turkey and Israel as well as explore new ways to relaunch Mideast peace efforts. President Barack Obama has made both issues foreign policy priorities for his second term and Kerry was pushing them in meetings with Abbas and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.(AP Photo)
ISTANBUL (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Turkey to speed up and cement an American-brokered rapprochement with Israel, and he explored with Palestinian officials new ways to relaunch Mideast peace efforts.
Kerry tried to advance those second-term foreign policy priorities for President Barack Obama in meetings with Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, and the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.
Kerry also said he had made it clear to the Turks that a planned trip to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his May 16 visit to the White House "would be better delayed and that it shouldn't take place at this point in time.
Both Israel and Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority is based in the West Bank, oppose the Gaza visit.
"We would like to see the parties begin with as little outside distraction as possible. So our sense is that it would be more helpful to wait for the right circumstances," said Kerry, who did not meet with Erdogan on this stop in Turkey.
On a trip to Israel last month, Obama secured a pledge from Turkish and Israeli leaders to normalize ties that broke down after a 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American.
But the rapprochement has been slow, fueling concerns that Turkey may be backsliding on its commitment.
Israeli and Turkish negotiators plan to meet this coming week to discuss Turkey's demand for compensation for victims of the flotilla.
U.S. officials hope the discussions will jumpstart the process of restoring full diplomatic relations and exchanging ambassadors between two countries that Washington sees as vital strategic partners in the volatile Middle East.
The raid sparked throughout outrage in Muslim-majority Turkey, making it politically difficult for Erdogan to bend to persistent U.S. appeals to improve relations with Israel.
In March, Obama extracted an apology for the raid from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that broke the stalemate.
Kerry said he understood the anger and frustration of those Turks who lost friends and family in the raid. The former Massachusetts senator said last week's Boston Marathon bombings made him acutely aware of the emotions involved.
"It affects the community, it affects the country. But going forward, you know, we have to find the best way to bring people together and undo these tensions and undo these stereotypes and try to make peace," he said.
Kerry said he had a "prolonged and constructive" discussion with Davutoglu, about "the importance of completing the task with respect to the renewal of relations between Turkey and Israel."
Kerry added that he believed Erdogan and Davutoglu "are deeply committed to fulfilling all of the obligations of that understanding."
U.S. officials are keen to see substantive process by the time Erdogan comes to Washington.
"We would like to see us get to a point where we are moving on improving the situation in Gaza, which was part of the agreement ... and where we are also completing the tasks of moving to full diplomatic relations between the countries, which would be very beneficial to everyone," he said.
With Abbas, Kerry discussed ways to improve the Palestinians' living conditions as a confidence-building measure to improve the atmosphere for a resumption of peace talks with Israel.
Kerry has said he fears there is only a two- or three-year window of opportunity to reach a deal on a two-state solution that would end the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict and wants to move as quickly as possible.
Kerry was in Istanbul primarily to attend an international conference on Syria that began on Saturday and stretched into early Sunday as participants debated how best to boost aid to rebels trying to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad's government.
He announced that the Obama administration would double its nonlethal assistance to the Syrian opposition with an additional $123 million in supplies that could include for the first time armored vehicles, body armor, night vision goggles and other defensive military supplies.
"I can't tell you how quickly it will change things on the ground," Kerry said Sunday. "I can promise you that as soon as I return to Washington, I am going to press as hard as I can" to get it to the opposition within a matter of weeks.
"This has to happen quickly, it has to have an impact," he added.
The additional aid, which brings total nonlethal U.S. assistance to the opposition to $250 million since the fighting began more than two years ago, "underscores the United States' firm support for a political solution to the crisis in Syria and for the opposition's advancement of an inclusive, tolerant vision for a post-Assad Syria," Kerry said.
The U.S. pledge was the only tangible, public offer of new international support at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the 11 main countries supporting the opposition and fell well short of what the opposition has been appealing for: weapons and direct military intervention to stop the violence that has killed more than 70,000 people.
The Syrian National Coalition is seeking drone strikes on sites from which the regime has fired missiles, the imposition of no-fly zones and protected humanitarian corridors to ensure the safety of civilians.
With the exception of the United States, none of the participants offered new assistance, although European nations are considering changes to an arms embargo that would allow weapons transfers to the Syrian opposition.
Kerry ended the day in Brussels, where he plans talks with European officials and was to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of a NATO-Russia Council meeting. He has said he has not given up on persuading Moscow to reverse its support for Assad.
Apr. 9, 2013 ? Scientists at The University of Manchester have found evidence of the genetic basis of the evolutionary arms-race between parasitoids and their aphid hosts.
The researchers studied the reaction of aphids when a parasitic wasp with genetic variation laid eggs in them. They found that different genotypes of the wasp affected where the aphids went to die, including whether they left the plant host entirely. The team also found an example of the emergence of a shared phenotype that was partly wasp and partly aphid.
Dr Mouhammad Shadi Khudr, a visiting scientist at the Faculty of Life Sciences, led the research: ?Natural selection on the aphid prey depends not only on aphid genes, but also on the genetics of the parasitic wasp. The indirect genetic effects underlying the relationship between natural enemies have been rarely shown, especially when they arise between species. Parasite-manipulation is endlessly fascinating, albeit with a somewhat ghoulish quality! This study sheds light on how genetic variation can influence that manipulation.?
The researchers began the study by breeding 13 males with 3 females of the wasp Aphidius ervi, through which a quantitative genetic design was created. The resulting offspring of full and half siblings provided a basis of genetic variation in the parasitic wasp to test how different individuals of the latter are associated with variation in the aphids? behaviour when aphids are prone to the wasps? manipulation. One genotype of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum was chosen. Since this species reproduces asexually by parthenogenesis, the resulting genetically identical individuals make up a specific type of colony known as ?clone?.
The team then introduced the wasps into 156 cages that contained a broad bean plant and an aphid colony. They then compared the behaviour of aphids in the presence and absence of the wasp by monitoring what the aphids did over the next ten days. Successful parasitism ends with the death of the aphid host which becomes a pale brownish remainder called a ?mummy?. Once the aphids had mummified, the location of each mummy was recorded according to its position on the plant and at other locations within the cage.?
Dr Khudr says: ?Our results confirm that parasitism by a parasitoid wasp can lead to behavioural modifications in an aphid host. The effect of the wasp fathers was significant on the distribution of the parasitised and non-parasitised aphids. There was also a notable effect of mothers indicating a maternal influence on the distribution of parasitised vs. non-parasitised aphids. This can reflect a fitness-difference between father families.?
As well as monitoring their behaviour whilst they were alive, the positions of the aphids? bodies once the new wasp has hatched also varied both on and off the plants. This variation was dependent on the wasp genotype. It?s this relationship between the wasp and its host which starts with parasitism and ends with predation that fascinates Dr Khudr.?
?What we?re witnessing on the broad bean plants is an evolutionary arms-race between two enemies where each one strives to cap each others? fitness. This can be observed through varying manipulative strategies applied by the parasitic wasps in order to subdue their hosts. The wasp has to ensure the aphid can be kept alive long enough to ensure it can mature. The parasitised aphid will on occasion commit suicide if it realises it has the wasp growing within it and by doing so it can save the rest of the colony from a subsequent attack. What we?ve been able to do in this study is to open the window on how the genetics of one species influence the behaviour and manipulation of another host species.?
The findings have been published in the Royal Society?s Biology Letters. Discussing the findings Dr Khudr says he was surprised by what the team recorded: ?We had expected some variation in the aphids? movement and behaviour but not to the extent that we witnessed. An organism?s phenotype (behaviour) can be the product of the genes expressed in another organism?
The next step is to carry out further research to establish if specific genes in the wasps can be linked to particular behaviours in the aphids. Dr Khudr hopes this type of information could increase our understanding of the importance of genetic diversity in ecosystem services, and lead to the development of better biological controls for aphid populations.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Manchester University.
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Journal Reference:
Mouhammad Shadi Khudr et al. Parasitoid wasps influence where aphids die via an interspecific indirect genetic effect. Biology Letters, 2013 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.1151
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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
BRUSSELS, April 8 (Reuters) - A French teenager who had hidden inside a garbage container was crushed to death inside a trash truck in Luxembourg on Saturday, police said. Garbage men only discovered the 17-year-old when he shouted out as they emptied the container into the back of the truck early on Saturday morning, but by then he was already in the grasp of the crushing mechanism. "He cried out, but it was already too late," a spokeswoman for Luxembourg police said on Monday. The young man, whose name was not released, died on the scene, in the city of Luxembourg. ...
This framegrabbed image provided by Baynews9 shows Joshua Michael Hakken being processed for booking into the Hillsbourgh County Jail early Wednesday morning April 10, 2013. The Florida couple accused of kidnapping their two young sons and fleeing by boat to Havana were handed over to the United States, and were booked into a Florida jail, officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Baynews9, Pool)
This framegrabbed image provided by Baynews9 shows Joshua Michael Hakken being processed for booking into the Hillsbourgh County Jail early Wednesday morning April 10, 2013. The Florida couple accused of kidnapping their two young sons and fleeing by boat to Havana were handed over to the United States, and were booked into a Florida jail, officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Baynews9, Pool)
This framegrabbed image provided by Baynews9 shows Sharyn Hakken being processed for booking into the Hillsbourgh County Jail early Wednesday morning April 10, 2013. The Florida couple accused of kidnapping their two young sons and fleeing by boat to Havana were handed over to the United States, and were booked into a Florida jail, officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Baynews9, Pool)
This photo combination made from undated images provided by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office shows 35-year-old Joshua Michael Hakken, left, and his wife, 34-year-old Sharyn Patricia Hakken. Cuba says it will turn over to the United States the Florida couple who allegedly kidnapped their own children from the mother?s parents and fled by boat to Havana. (AP Photo/Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office)
This undated image provided by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office shows two-year-old Chase Hakken. Authorities are searching for two young boys they believe were kidnapped by their father from their maternal grandparents' Florida home after their grandmother was tied up. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday night April 3, 2013 asked for the public's help in locating the boys, 4-year-old Cole Hakken and 2-year-old Chase Hakken. (AP Photo/Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office)
This undated image provided by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office shows four-year-old Cole Hakken. Authorities are searching for two young boys they believe were kidnapped by their father from their maternal grandparents' Florida home after their grandmother was tied up. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday night April 3, 2013 asked for the public's help in locating the boys, 4-year-old Cole Hakken and 2-year-old Chase Hakken. (AP Photo/Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office)
MIAMI (AP) ? A Florida couple accused of kidnapping their two young sons and fleeing by boat to Cuba were handed over to the United States and imprisoned and their children were returned to their maternal grandparents, who have official custody, authorities said Wednesday.
Joshua Michael Hakken and his wife, Sharyn, were being held at the Hillsborough County Jail on a number of charges including kidnapping, child neglect and interference with custody, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said on its website.
The couple are expected to make their first appearance Thursday in Hillsborough County Court, the sheriff's office said in a statement. It was not immediately known if either of the Hakkens has an attorney. The couple will not face federal charges, said David Couvertier, a spokesman for the FBI in Tampa.
U.S. authorities say Hakken kidnapped his sons, 4-year-old Cole and 2-year-old Chase, from his mother-in-law's house north of Tampa, Florida. The boys' grandparents were granted permanent custody of the boys last week.
"Our grandchildren are safe," the grandfather, Bob Hauser, told a news conference with the sheriff's office late Tuesday. "We had an opportunity to talk with them before they left Cuba."
Bob and his wife, Patricia Hauser, asked the news media to give them at least 24 hours alone with the boys, the sheriff's department said in a statement. They planned to make a public statement possibly by Thursday.
Cuba tipped the State Department off to the Hakkens' presence Sunday, and from that moment "diplomatic contact has been exchanged and a professional and constant communication has been maintained," Cuban Foreign Ministry official Johana Tablada said in a statement.
An AP reporter spotted the couple and the children beside their boat at the Hemingway Marina in Havana on Tuesday. A man who resembled photographs of Joshua Michael Hakken yelled out "Stop! Stay back!" as the reporter approached, but there was no outward sign of tension or distress between the family members.
The family showed no sign they knew a decision about their fate had been made. The four strolled by an outdoor restaurant as security officials kept reporters at a distance. The youngest child was seated in a stroller and the elder boy sat down on a curb.
The U.S. and Cuba share no extradition agreement and the island nation is also not a signatory of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an international treaty for governmental cooperation on such cases.
Cuba has harbored U.S. fugitives in the past, though most of those cases date back to the 1960s and '70s, when the island became a refuge for members of the Black Panthers and other militant groups. More recently, dozens of Cuban Medicare fraud fugitives in the U.S. have tried to escape prosecution by returning to the island.
But Cuba has also cooperated with U.S. authorities in returning several criminal fugitives in recent years, including Leonard B. Auerbach in 2008. Auerbach was wanted in California on federal charges of sexually abusing a Costa Rican girl and possessing child pornography. He was deported.
In 2011, U.S. marshals flew to Cuba and took custody of two U.S. suspects wanted in a New Jersey slaying.
Hakken lost custody of his sons last year after a drug possession arrest in Louisiana and later tried to take the children from a foster home at gunpoint, authorities said. A warrant had been issued for his arrest on two counts of kidnapping; interference with child custody; child neglect; false imprisonment and other charges.
Hakken entered his mother-in-law's Florida house last Wednesday, tied her up and fled with his sons, the sheriff's department has said. Federal, state and local authorities searched by air and sea for a boat Hakken had recently bought. The truck that Hakken, his wife and the boys had been traveling in was found Thursday, abandoned in Madeira Beach, Florida.
The family's flight to Cuba harkened back to the 1999 child custody case involving Elian Gonzalez, though unlike Gonzalez, the Hakkens had no apparent ties to the island.
In 1999, 5-year-old Gonzalez was found clinging to an inner tube off Florida after his mother and others drowned while fleeing Cuba toward American soil. The boy was taken to Miami to live with relatives, but his father in Cuba demanded the boy be sent back.
U.S. courts ultimately ruled Gonzalez should be sent back, though his Miami relatives refused to return him. In April 2000, U.S. federal agents raided the family's home and he was returned to Cuba soon after. He has since grown into a young man and joined a military academy.
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Associated Press writers Christine Armario, Curt Anderson and Kelli Kennedy in Miami; Kevin McGill in New Orleans; Paul Haven and Peter Orsi in Havana; and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
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Suzette Laboy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SuzetteLaboy
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum joined cellist Yo-Yo Ma on Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers Tuesday to increase funding for the arts in a year of deep federal budget cuts.
The rocker and classical musician played a jam session briefly together for a gathering of legislators and arts advocates from across the country who planned to visit congressional offices. They performed with bagpiper Cristina Pato and dancing star Lil Buck.
Sorum said his mother was a music teacher and that his high school classes in orchestra, jazz and marching band were critical in launching his career in music and in business. More recently he has started a charity to support arts education in Los Angeles.
This weekend, Guns N' Roses is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Sorum said he was excited to visit Washington first to press Congress for funding.
"This is the coolest thing I've done since Madison Square Garden, I've got to say. Slash is going to be really jealous," he said, referring to the lead guitarist from Guns N' Roses and now the group Velvet Revolver. "If I can navigate the music business, I'm going to have fun navigating Congress."
The group Americans for the Arts is pushing for funding to be restored to $155 million for both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Last year both agencies received about $146 million and lost about $7 million of that due to Congress' automatic budget cuts.
House Republican budget leaders have called for eliminating the two agencies altogether.
Still, Republican Rep. Leonard Lance of New Jersey joined advocates Tuesday, saying the arts benefit the entire nation.
Arts programs face a daunting budget environment. At $139 million now for the current fiscal year, the arts endowment has lost about $30 million in annual funding since 2010. It's an even bigger drop since the endowment's high point of $176 million in arts funding in 1992.
Ma has pressed for greater focus and funding for the arts in education, joining a White House initiative to help turn around failing schools with arts programs. He also called for including the arts with the educational emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math. Creativity connects the other subjects, Ma said, and helps students become self-motivated and innovative.
"It seems to me that many of the skills in terms of what children need in order to succeed are actually best modeled through the arts," Ma said.
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Americans for the Arts: http://www.artsusa.org/
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Follow Brett Zongker on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat
With the 2013 MTV Movie Awards less than a week away, MTV Movie Blog is shifting into full Movie Awards mode. In anticipation of the big night, every day this week, we'll be bringing you our five favorite moments from each of the five Movie of the Year nominees. VOTE FOR MOVIE OF THE YEAR [...]
By Mark Lamport-Stokes AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 8 (Reuters) - Steve Stricker could certainly do with a bit of Masters payback after giving his good friend Tiger Woods a valuable putting lesson during last month's WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami. Helped by Stricker's advice, Woods went on to triumph by two shots over his fellow American at Doral, then won the Arnold Palmer Invitational on his next start to cement his status as a hot favourite for this week's Masters at Augusta National. ...
AAA??Apr. 7, 2013?7:39 AM ET Egypt Christians mourn 4 dead in sectarian clashes AP
Tear gas fills downtown as protesters clash with security forces in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters outside the chief prosecutor's office Saturday in central Cairo who were pushing on the building's doors demanding he resign.(AP Photo/Mostafa Elshemy)
Tear gas fills downtown as protesters clash with security forces in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters outside the chief prosecutor's office Saturday in central Cairo who were pushing on the building's doors demanding he resign.(AP Photo/Mostafa Elshemy)
A protester throws away a tear gas canister fired by security forces in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters outside the chief prosecutor's office Saturday in central Cairo after they tried to push on the building's doors demanding he resign.(AP Photo/Virginie Nguyen Hoang)
Members of Egypt's April 6 Youth Movement shout anti-Muslim Brotherhood slogans and light flares during a rally in front of the prosecutor general's office in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Thousands of activists took to the streets Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of the founding of a leading opposition group, the April 6 Youth Movement, and to push a long list of demands on Morsi, including the formation of a more inclusive government amid a worsening economy.(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Egyptian Samir Mancy, 60, holds a red card with Arabic reading, "Morsi step down", during a rally in front of the general prosecutor's office in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Arabic on the hat reads, "I'm hungry." Thousands of activists took to the streets Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of the founding of a leading opposition group, the April 6 Youth Movement, and to push a long list of demands, including the formation of a more inclusive government amid a worsening economy. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Members of Egypt's April 6 Youth Movement shout anti-Muslim Brotherhood slogans during a rally in front of the prosecutor general's office in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Arabic reads, "people demand the regime to step down." Thousands of activists took to the streets Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of the founding of a leading opposition group, the April 6 Youth Movement, and to push a long list of demands, including the formation of a more inclusive government amid a worsening economy. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
CAIRO (AP) ? Hundreds of angry Egyptian Christians have gathered at the main Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo for the funeral of four fellow Christians killed in weekend clashes with Muslims.
A fifth person, a Muslim, died in the Saturday clashes in the town of Khosoos north of the capital Cairo.
Denouncing Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, the mourners on Sunday chanted "Leave!" and "This is our country, we will not leave."
Women in mourning black joined the chants, while clergymen sat silently before the service began.
Egypt's Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of the country's estimated 90 million people. They have long complained of discrimination by the state.
The presidency and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which Morsi hails, condemned the violence.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden says "NASA does not have a human lunar mission in its portfolio and we are not planning for one. We can only do so many things." More »
Apr. 5, 2013 ? Research aimed at developing ultrasonic microphones with insect-like sensitivity is to continue in the rainforests of Colombia and Ecuador.
Following the discovery of a previously unidentified hearing organ in the South American bushcrickets' ear, a scientist from the University of Lincoln (UK) will now study the role of this Auditory Vesicle in hearing sensitivity.
Dr Fernando Montealegre-Zapata, from the University's School of Life Sciences, aims to understand how bushcrickets or katydids pick up on ultrasonic frequencies in their natural environment. The insects communicate using the highest-pitched calls in nature (130-150 kHz), which are not detected by humans. The male produces sound by rubbing its wings to attract distant females.
He said: "This animal can detect ultrasonic signals even at long distances. The problem is that at such high frequencies the sound travels in very short wavelengths which get diffracted, meaning the sound gets weaker as more obstacles are in the dispersive path. However, the bushcricket's small ear is still able to detect this fading ultrasonic energy at long distances. I want to test how the bushcrickets manage to do that in a field environment. The fluid in the katydid 'cochlea', which I named the Auditory Vesicle, is the key element in the hearing process. We want to investigate why this is the case and the first step is testing its sensitivity in their natural environment and revealing the chemical composition."
In mammals, hearing relies on three stages: an eardrum collecting sound, a middle ear impedance converter and a cochlear frequency analyser. Dr Montealegre-Zapata recently demonstrated that the bushcricket's ear performs these steps in the hearing process, something previously unknown in insects.
The calls of the bushcricket are theoretically not suited for long-range attraction, as ultrasound suffers excess attenuation in rainforest environments. Therefore, the insect's ears must have evolved to achieve sufficient sensitivity at such frequencies.
Dr Montealegre-Zapata said: "I want to find out how these insects mitigate the effects of sound degradation and how the female ear is structurally and functionally organised to detect distant calling males. The small ear will be used as a biological microphone to detect the sensitivity and hearing range of the female. In the future we want to produce microphones that work like this."
The ears of these ultrasonic insects are extremely sensitive and have a clear size and sensitivity ratio advantage over equally responsive microphones.
In particular, condenser microphones (used in hearing research, plus the automotive and music industries) are expensive, mechanically fragile, susceptible to humidity and not very sensitive.
By constructing network analogues between mechanical (insect) and electrical (microphone) systems, this project can advance research into the design and construction of ultrasensitive microphones with unusual broad frequency responses.
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Home of Abraham: A sprawling structure, thought to be about 4,000 years old, probably served as an administrative center for Ur, around the time?Abraham?would have lived there before leaving for Canaan, according to the Bible.
By Sinan Salaheddin,?Associated Press / April 4, 2013
Manchester University professor Stuart Campbell shows excavation in progress at Tell Khaiber, Iraq. A British archaeologist says he and his colleagues have unearthed a huge, rare complex near the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq, home of the biblical Abraham. Stuart Campbell of Manchester University's Archaeology Department says it goes back about 4,000 years, around the time Abraham would have lived there. It's believed to be an administrative center for Ur.
Stuart Campbell/AP
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British archaeologists said Thursday they have unearthed a sprawling complex near the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq, home of the biblical?Abraham.
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The structure, thought to be about 4,000 years old, probably served as an administrative center for Ur, around the time?Abraham?would have lived there before leaving for Canaan, according to the Bible.
The compound is near the site of the partially reconstructed Ziggurat, or Sumerian temple, said Stuart Campbell of Manchester University's Archaeology Department, who led the dig.
"This is a breathtaking find," Campbell said, because of its unusually large size ? roughly the size of a football pitch, or about 80 meters (260 feet) on each side. The archaeologist said complexes of this size and age were rare.
"It appears that it is some sort of public building. It might be an administrative building, it might have religious connections or controlling goods to the city of Ur," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview from the U.K.
The complex of rooms around a large courtyard was found 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Ur, the last capital of the Sumerian royal dynasties whose civilization flourished 5,000 years ago.
Campbell said one of the artifacts they unearthed was a 9-centimeter (3.5-inch) clay plaque showing a worshipper wearing a long, fringed robe, approaching a sacred site.
Beyond artifacts, the site could reveal the environmental and economic conditions of the region through analysis of plant and animal remains, the archaeological team said in a statement.
The dig began last month when the six-member British team worked with four Iraqi archaeologists to dig in the Tell Khaiber in the southern province of Thi Qar, some 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Baghdad.
Decades of war and violence have kept international archaeologists away from Iraq, where significant archaeological sites as yet unexplored are located. Still, the dig showed that such collaborative missions could be possible in parts of Iraq that are relatively stable, like its Shiite-dominated south.
Campbell's team was the first British-led archaeological dig in southern Iraq since the 80s. It was also directed by Manchester University's Dr. Jane Moon and independent archaeologist Robert Killick.
"This has been an opportunity to get back to an area very close to our heart for a long time," Campbell said.
Iraq faces a broader problem of protecting its archaeological heritage. Its 12,000 registered archaeological sites are poorly guarded.
Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel production could revolutionize alternative energy marketPublic release date: 4-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Zeke Barlow bzeke@vt.edu 540-231-5417 Virginia Tech
New method is environmentally friendly and inexpensive
A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to bring a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel source to the world.
"Our new process could help end our dependence on fossil fuels," said Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering "Hydrogen is one of the most important biofuels of the future."
Zhang and his team have succeeded in using xylose, the most abundant simple plant sugar, to produce a large quantity of hydrogen that previously was attainable only in theory. Zhang's method can be performed using any source of biomass.
The discovery is a featured editor's choice in an online version of the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, International Edition.
This new environmentally friendly method of producing hydrogen utilizes renewable natural resources, releases almost no zero greenhouse gasses, and does not require costly or heavy metals. Previous methods to produce hydrogen are expensive and create greenhouse gases.
The U.S. Department of Energy says that hydrogen fuel has the potential to dramatically reduce reliance of fossil fuels and automobile manufactures are aggressively trying to develop vehicles that run on hydrogen fuel cells. Unlike gas-powered engines that spew out pollutants, the only byproduct of hydrogen fuel is water. Zhang's discovery opens the door to an inexpensive, renewable source of hydrogen.
Jonathan R. Mielenz, group leader of the bioscience and technology biosciences division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who is familiar with Zhang's work but not affiliated with this project, said this discovery has the potential to have a major impact on alternative energy production.
"The key to this exciting development is that Zhang is using the second most prevalent sugar in plants to produce this hydrogen," he said. "This amounts to a significant additional benefit to hydrogen production and it reduces the overall cost of producing hydrogen from biomass."
Mielenz said Zhang's process could find its way to the marketplace as quickly as three years if the technology is available. Zhang said when it does become commercially available, it has the possibility of making an enormous impact.
"The potential for profit and environmental benefits are why so many automobile, oil, and energy companies are working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as the transportation of the future," Zhang said. "Many people believe we will enter the hydrogen economy soon, with a market capacity of at least $1 trillion in the United States alone."
Obstacles to commercial production of hydrogen gas from biomass previously included the high cost of the processes used and the relatively low quantity of the end product.
But Zhang thinks he has found the answers to those problems.
For seven years, Zhang's team has been focused on finding non-traditional ways to produce high-yield hydrogen at low cost, specifically researching enzyme combinations, discovering novel enzymes, and engineering enzymes with desirable properties.
The team liberates the high-purity hydrogen under mild reaction conditions at 122 degree Fahrenheit and normal atmospheric pressure. The biocatalysts used to release the hydrogen are a group of enzymes artificially isolated from different microorganisms that thrive at extreme temperatures, some of which could grow at around the boiling point of water.
The researchers chose to use xylose, which comprises as much as 30 percent of plant cell walls. Despite its abundance, the use of xylose for releasing hydrogen has been limited. The natural or engineered microorganisms that most scientists use in their experiments cannot produce hydrogen in high yield because these microorganisms grow and reproduce instead of splitting water molecules to yield pure hydrogen.
To liberate the hydrogen, Virginia Tech scientists separated a number of enzymes from their native microorganisms to create a customized enzyme cocktail that does not occur in nature. The enzymes, when combined with xylose and a polyphosphate, liberate the unprecedentedly high volume of hydrogen from xylose, resulting in the production of about three times as much hydrogen as other hydrogen-producing microorganisms.
The energy stored in xylose splits water molecules, yielding high-purity hydrogen that can be directly utilized by proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Even more appealing, this reaction occurs at low temperatures, generating hydrogen energy that is greater than the chemical energy stored in xylose and the polyphosphate. This results in an energy efficiency of more than 100 percent a net energy gain. That means that low-temperature waste heat can be used to produce high-quality chemical energy hydrogen for the first time. Other processes that convert sugar into biofuels such as ethanol and butanol always have energy efficiencies of less than 100 percent, resulting in an energy penalty.
In his previous research, Zhang used enzymes to produce hydrogen from starch, but the reaction required a food source that made the process too costly for mass production.
The commercial market for hydrogen gas is now around $100 billion for hydrogen produced from natural gas, which is expensive to manufacture and generates a large amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Industry most often uses hydrogen to manufacture ammonia for fertilizers and to refine petrochemicals, but an inexpensive, plentiful green hydrogen source can rapidly change that market.
"It really doesn't make sense to use non-renewable natural resources to produce hydrogen," Zhang said. "We think this discovery is a game-changer in the world of alternative energy."
###
Support for the current research comes from the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. Additional resources were contributed by the Shell GameChanger Program, the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Biodesign and Bioprocessing Research Center, and the U.S. Department of Energy BioEnergy Science Center, along with the Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences, Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the Department of Energy. The lead author of the article, Julia S. Martin Del Campo, who works in Zhang's lab, received her Ph.D. grant from the Mexican Council of Science and Technology.
Nationally ranked among the top research institutions of its kind, Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences focuses on the science and business of living systems through learning, discovery, and engagement. The college's comprehensive curriculum gives more than 3,100 students in a dozen academic departments a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. Students learn from the world's leading agricultural scientists, who bring the latest science and technology into the classroom.
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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.
Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel production could revolutionize alternative energy marketPublic release date: 4-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Zeke Barlow bzeke@vt.edu 540-231-5417 Virginia Tech
New method is environmentally friendly and inexpensive
A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to bring a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel source to the world.
"Our new process could help end our dependence on fossil fuels," said Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering "Hydrogen is one of the most important biofuels of the future."
Zhang and his team have succeeded in using xylose, the most abundant simple plant sugar, to produce a large quantity of hydrogen that previously was attainable only in theory. Zhang's method can be performed using any source of biomass.
The discovery is a featured editor's choice in an online version of the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, International Edition.
This new environmentally friendly method of producing hydrogen utilizes renewable natural resources, releases almost no zero greenhouse gasses, and does not require costly or heavy metals. Previous methods to produce hydrogen are expensive and create greenhouse gases.
The U.S. Department of Energy says that hydrogen fuel has the potential to dramatically reduce reliance of fossil fuels and automobile manufactures are aggressively trying to develop vehicles that run on hydrogen fuel cells. Unlike gas-powered engines that spew out pollutants, the only byproduct of hydrogen fuel is water. Zhang's discovery opens the door to an inexpensive, renewable source of hydrogen.
Jonathan R. Mielenz, group leader of the bioscience and technology biosciences division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who is familiar with Zhang's work but not affiliated with this project, said this discovery has the potential to have a major impact on alternative energy production.
"The key to this exciting development is that Zhang is using the second most prevalent sugar in plants to produce this hydrogen," he said. "This amounts to a significant additional benefit to hydrogen production and it reduces the overall cost of producing hydrogen from biomass."
Mielenz said Zhang's process could find its way to the marketplace as quickly as three years if the technology is available. Zhang said when it does become commercially available, it has the possibility of making an enormous impact.
"The potential for profit and environmental benefits are why so many automobile, oil, and energy companies are working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as the transportation of the future," Zhang said. "Many people believe we will enter the hydrogen economy soon, with a market capacity of at least $1 trillion in the United States alone."
Obstacles to commercial production of hydrogen gas from biomass previously included the high cost of the processes used and the relatively low quantity of the end product.
But Zhang thinks he has found the answers to those problems.
For seven years, Zhang's team has been focused on finding non-traditional ways to produce high-yield hydrogen at low cost, specifically researching enzyme combinations, discovering novel enzymes, and engineering enzymes with desirable properties.
The team liberates the high-purity hydrogen under mild reaction conditions at 122 degree Fahrenheit and normal atmospheric pressure. The biocatalysts used to release the hydrogen are a group of enzymes artificially isolated from different microorganisms that thrive at extreme temperatures, some of which could grow at around the boiling point of water.
The researchers chose to use xylose, which comprises as much as 30 percent of plant cell walls. Despite its abundance, the use of xylose for releasing hydrogen has been limited. The natural or engineered microorganisms that most scientists use in their experiments cannot produce hydrogen in high yield because these microorganisms grow and reproduce instead of splitting water molecules to yield pure hydrogen.
To liberate the hydrogen, Virginia Tech scientists separated a number of enzymes from their native microorganisms to create a customized enzyme cocktail that does not occur in nature. The enzymes, when combined with xylose and a polyphosphate, liberate the unprecedentedly high volume of hydrogen from xylose, resulting in the production of about three times as much hydrogen as other hydrogen-producing microorganisms.
The energy stored in xylose splits water molecules, yielding high-purity hydrogen that can be directly utilized by proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Even more appealing, this reaction occurs at low temperatures, generating hydrogen energy that is greater than the chemical energy stored in xylose and the polyphosphate. This results in an energy efficiency of more than 100 percent a net energy gain. That means that low-temperature waste heat can be used to produce high-quality chemical energy hydrogen for the first time. Other processes that convert sugar into biofuels such as ethanol and butanol always have energy efficiencies of less than 100 percent, resulting in an energy penalty.
In his previous research, Zhang used enzymes to produce hydrogen from starch, but the reaction required a food source that made the process too costly for mass production.
The commercial market for hydrogen gas is now around $100 billion for hydrogen produced from natural gas, which is expensive to manufacture and generates a large amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Industry most often uses hydrogen to manufacture ammonia for fertilizers and to refine petrochemicals, but an inexpensive, plentiful green hydrogen source can rapidly change that market.
"It really doesn't make sense to use non-renewable natural resources to produce hydrogen," Zhang said. "We think this discovery is a game-changer in the world of alternative energy."
###
Support for the current research comes from the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. Additional resources were contributed by the Shell GameChanger Program, the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Biodesign and Bioprocessing Research Center, and the U.S. Department of Energy BioEnergy Science Center, along with the Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences, Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the Department of Energy. The lead author of the article, Julia S. Martin Del Campo, who works in Zhang's lab, received her Ph.D. grant from the Mexican Council of Science and Technology.
Nationally ranked among the top research institutions of its kind, Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences focuses on the science and business of living systems through learning, discovery, and engagement. The college's comprehensive curriculum gives more than 3,100 students in a dozen academic departments a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. Students learn from the world's leading agricultural scientists, who bring the latest science and technology into the classroom.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
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Public release date: 21-Apr-2013
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