Guyana voters choose between 3 parties in election (AP)

GEORGETOWN, Guyana ? A ruling party in power for nearly two decades faced off in national elections Monday against a raft of opposition parties that accused the government of rampant corruption and mismanagement.

There was no obvious front-runner in the race, with no independent opinion polls before the vote. Polling stations closed Monday evening, and official results were not expected until Wednesday.

Nearly half a million people were eligible to cast ballots for president and 65 parliament seats in Guyana, a small country on South America's northern shoulder whose economy depends on the export of commodities such as gold, bauxite, sugar, rice, shrimp and timber.

Seeking a fifth consecutive term in office, the ruling People's Progressive Party generally draws support from descendants of migrants from the Indian subcontinent. It was pitted against an opposition coalition led by a retired army commander and a party led by a local lawyer.

All were vying to dominate parliament and replace President Bharrat Jagdeo, who is leaving office because he has served the two-term maximum set by Guyana's constitution.

Donald Ramotar, a 61-year-old economist, was the governing party's presidential candidate. He pledged to continue Jagdeo's policies by safeguarding vital mining and agricultural sectors and improving education in Guyana, an Idaho-sized nation of roughly 780,000 people bordering the Caribbean, Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname.

After voting, Ramotar said he was confident of another victory by the People's Progressive Party, which held 36 of 65 seats in the last parliament.

"We have been able to demonstrate that we don't discriminate in our government policies and the resources of the country have been distributed to every single region very fairly," Ramotar told reporters. "We will win bigger this time."

The Partnership For National Unity coalition, led by retired army commander David Granger, accused the government of racial discrimination, allying with drug traffickers and turning a blind eye to corruption. He vowed to set up a national unity government if he won the presidency.

"I look forward to establishing a government which could represent all of the interests of our people," Granger said.

During the campaign, opposition candidates tried to gain mileage with long-standing allegations that Jagdeo has coddled drug traffickers. Jagdeo's government dismissed the allegations as empty political sloganeering.

There is no evidence that drugs are being produced in Guyana, but it is considered a transshipment point, especially for Colombian cocaine bound for the U.S. and Europe. The drugs are dropped by air to people on the ground in the jungle-covered interior, where there is scant police presence.

The Alliance For Change party led by 50-year-old attorney Khemraj Ramjattan, was widely expected to play spoiler in various districts, siphoning votes and attention from its two bigger rivals.

"We have to change this system of indecent governance and eliminate the rising tide of corruption in the country," Ramjattan said after voting.

After polling stations closed Monday evening, both opposition parties charged there were incidents of multiple voting in government strongholds and complained about scuffles outside some voting centers.

Steve Surujbally, chairman of the elections commission, said his agency was looking into several allegations from the opposition but he described them as "very, very, tiny" incidents that would not mar the elections.

"It did not go too badly, but we had some really stupid and nonsensical episodes that we are sorting out," Surujbally said.

Gordon Shirley, head of observers from the Organization of American States, said turnout appeared very high. By the early afternoon, more than half of the 476,000 eligible voters had cast their ballots, he said.

Petal Straughn, a 47-year-old school teacher, said she supported the Partnership For National Unity because she thinks Guyana desperately needs a change.

"I want (a government) that cares for the people, not one which cares about filling its own pockets and fleecing taxpayers," she said as her 21-year-old daughter, Coressa Henry, nodded in agreement.

Sukdeo Singh, a 61-year-old carpenter, said he was voting for continuity.

"I think basically everything is OK in the country," he said. "There is some bad but you can never get all good, never, so I stayed with the PPP."

Besides international observers from the Organization of American States, poll monitors also were sent by the Commonwealth and the 15-nation Caribbean Community.

(This version CORRECTS opposition party leader's name to Ramjattan instead of Ramjatta.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_guyana_elections

grace potter ryan mathews the band perry faith hill cma awards 2011 cma awards 2011 western black rhino

World's central banks act to ease market strains (AP)

FRANKFURT, Germany ? The central banks of the wealthiest countries, trying to prevent a debt crisis in Europe from exploding into a global panic, swept in Wednesday to shore up the world financial system by making it easier for banks to borrow American dollars.

Stock markets around the world roared their approval. The Dow Jones industrial average shot up more than 400 points. The stock market rose more than 5 percent in Germany and more than 4 percent in France.

The action represented the most extraordinary coordinated effort by the central banks since they cut interest rates together in October 2008, at the depths of the financial crisis.

While it should ease borrowing for banks, it does little to solve the underlying problem of mountains of government debt in Europe, leaving markets still waiting for a permanent fix. European leaders gather next week for a summit on the debt crisis.

The European Central Bank, which has been reluctant to intervene to stop the growing crisis on its own continent, was joined in the decision by the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the central banks of Canada, Japan and Switzerland.

"The purpose of these actions is to ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity," the central banks said in a joint statement.

And China, which has the largest economy in the world after the European Union and the United States, reduced the amount of money its banks are required to hold in reserve, another attempt to free up cash for lending.

The display of worldwide coordination was meant to restore confidence in the global financial system and to demonstrate that central banks will do what they can to prevent a repeat of 2008.

That fall, fear settled in after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, a storied American investment house. That caused banks around the world to severely restrict lending to each other. The credit freeze triggered panic among investors, which resulted in a meltdown of stock markets.

On Oct. 8, 2008, the ECB and central banks in the United States, England, China, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland cut interest rates together after a series of high-stakes phone calls.

The Dow fell that day, during the worst of the financial meltdown. But that action, like Wednesday's, was a signal from the central banks to the financial markets that they would be players, not spectators.

Three years later, investors have been nervously watching Europe to see whether they should take the same approach and dump stocks. World stock markets have been unusually volatile since last summer.

The European crisis, which six months ago seemed focused on the relatively small economy of Greece, has since metastasized. It now threatens the existence of the euro, the common currency used by 17 countries in Europe.

But beyond that, the crisis has the potential to wreak worldwide economic havoc. Fear in financial markets could cause lending to dry up, both from banks to businesses and consumers and from banks to each other.

There have been early signs, particularly in Europe, that it is becoming more difficult to borrow money ? especially as U.S. money market funds scale back their lending to banks in the euro nations because of perceived risk from the debt crisis.

European banks cut business loans by 16 percent in the third quarter. And no one knows how much European banks will lose on their massive holdings of bonds of heavily indebted countries. Until the damage is clear, banks are reluctant to lend.

Banks are also being pressed by European govermments to increase their buffers against possible losses. That helps stabilize the banking system but reduces the amount of money available to lend to businesses.

"European banks are having trouble borrowing in general, including in dollars," said Joseph Gagnon, a former Fed ofifcial and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "The Fed did the Europeans a favor."

The joint effort will make it less expensive for banks around the world to borrow dollars if they need them. Loans made in U.S. dollars are important because dollars are the No. 1 currency for international trade.

Under the agreement, the central banks are reducing by half a percentage point ? to about 0.6 percent ? the rate they charge banks for short-term dollar loans. The lower rate is designed to get credit flowing again.

In May 2010, as the European debt crisis started to bite, the Federal Reserve agreed to swap dollars for foreign currencies held by other leading central banks. The foreign central banks could then lend dollars to their banks.

The Fed had run a similar program from December 2007, when world financial markets were weakening because of fear about subprime mortgages, until February 2010. It had run other programs before, but much smaller.

This time, the agreement was supposed to expire Aug. 1, 2012. Wednesday's announcement extends it six months, until Feb. 1, 2013.

"It shows that policymakers are on the case," said Roberto Perli, managing director at the International Strategy & Investment Group, an investment firm. He said it has symbolic value even if it does not have a big impact on credit markets.

If it works, the rates on dollar loans will drop, and stock and bond markets will calm down. The banks' action is not a direct fix for the debt crisis in Europe, but it shows that the banks are able to take coordinated action to ease credit.

The decision to cut the interest charged on the dollar swaps was taken by the Federal Reserve following a video conference meeting held by Fed officials on Monday morning.

The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy-setting panel, approved the decision on a 9-1 vote. The president of the Fed's regional bank in Richmond, Va., voted no.

In New York, the stock market jumped at the opening bell and added to its gains throughout the morning.

The Dow was up 438 points at its highest, or more than 3 percent. Holding those gains would give the Dow its best day since Aug. 11. Wednesday's advance also swung the Dow from a loss for the year to a gain.

The high for the day also put the Dow within six points of 12,000. It has not closed at that level since Nov. 15.

Stocks closed 5 percent higher in Germany, 4.2 percent in France and 3.2 percent in Britain. European stocks had posted big gains earlier this week because investors saw hope that countries would settle on an attempted fix for the European debt crisis.

Stock markets in Asia finished lower for the day. They closed before the Fed and other central banks announced their joint action. The statement came out at 8 a.m., in the middle of the European trading day and hour and a half before the market opened in New York.

Borrowing costs for countries across Europe fell, an encouraging sign. The yield on benchmark 10-year national bonds fell 0.25 percentage points in Belgium, 0.2 points in Spain, 0.13 points in France and 0.06 points in Germany.

The yield on 10-year Italian bonds fell 0.06 points to 7.03 percent. The 7 percent level is significant because it is considered the point at which a country's borrowing costs become unsustainable. Yields above 7 percent forced Ireland, Portugal and Greece to seek bailouts.

In the U.S., the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.09 percent from 2 percent late Tuesday. That is a sign that investors are willing to take money out of assets considered super-safe, such as U.S. government debt, and invest it in riskier assets like stocks. It is also a sign of increased confidence in the U.S. economy.

An out-of-control crisis in Europe would come just as the United States economy is beginning to pick up after it faltered in the spring and summer. It grew at an annual rate of 2 percent in July, August and September, the strongest since late last year.

It will take more than that to bring down unemployment in the U.S., which has been stuck at about 9 percent for more than two years, but the U.S. has added jobs for 13 months in a row. The government's next read on unemployment comes out Friday.

In Europe, countries like Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy overspent for years and racked up annual budget deficits that have left them with backbreaking debt. Italy alone owes euro1.9 trillion, or 120 percent of what its economy produces in a year.

The ECB has extended unlimited amounts of short-term credit to banks, but has balked at expanding a limited program to support the borrowing of troubled countries by buying their bonds on the secondary market.

To go along with the monetary union created by the euro, European leaders have explored creating a fiscal union ? giving a central authority control over the budgets of sovereign nations.

One reason the ECB has resisted major action so far: It worries that bailing out free-spending countries would only encourage them to do it again, a concept known as moral hazard.

The ECB has also worried that injecting too much money into the European economy would trigger inflation. Its single mandate is price stability. By contrast, the Fed has a dual mandate ? price stability and encouraging employment. Unemployment is above 20 percent in some European countries. If the ECB had employment as a mandate, it could use that as a reason to buy government bonds.

The coordinated action was a demonstration of how interconnected the world financial system is, and that the debt loads of countries like Italy and Greece are everyone else's problem, too.

Germany's economy depends heavily on exports, and if the euro collapses, weaker countries in Europe would be left with their own devalued currencies. If that happened, or if economic output collapsed, they couldn't buy as many German goods.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, the United States depends on Europe for 20 percent of its own exports. And if the debt crisis pulls Europe into a recession, that would drag down the U.S. economy just when it may be beginning to turn around.

Standard & Poor's, the credit rating agency, lowered its rating at least one notch Tuesday for the four largest banks in the U.S. ? Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

S&P was the agency that stripped the United States government of its top-notch rating last summer, when Congress was gridlocked over whether to raise the federal government's borrowing limit.

And China, one of the only places in the world where the economy is growing quickly, needs the U.S. and Europe both to stay healthy. Growth in Chinese exports has declined from 36 percent in March compared with the year before to 16 percent in October.

China will reduce the amount of money that its commercial lenders must hold in reserve by 0.5 percentage points of their deposits. It was the first easing of Chinese monetary policy in three years.

___

Wiseman reported from Washington. AP Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger contributed from Washington.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111130/ap_on_bi_ge/central_banks

tilt do a barrel roll. florida state football florida state football fsu football fsu football do a barrelroll

PFT: Blame Lions organization for Suh, Dungy says

AP

Almost 12 weeks of the 2011 season are in the books, and there are only so many things we know.

The Packers are good.? The Colts are bad.? And Ndamukong Suh is in trouble.

For the 30 other teams and 1,700 other players, who knows what?s going on?? Let?s try to make sense of some of it via 10 of the story lines coming out of Sunday?s (and one of Thursday?s) games.

1.? Texans need a proven veteran.

It?s pretty clear that the Texans have decided not to flirt with Brett Favre for the stretch run.? But that doesn?t mean it makes sense to go with T.J. Yates, Kellen Clemens, and possibly Brodie Croyle at quarterback.

While that three-headed monster could be enough to fend off the pesky Titans for the AFC South crown, it won?t be enough to advance in a playoff field featuring the likes of the Patriots, Ravens, and Steelers.

And so the Texans need a proven veteran with playoff experience.? Whether that?s Favre or Jeff Garcia or even Jeff George, the playoff-bound Texans will be a bunch of wide-eyed kids on their first trip to the amusement park, and they?d benefit from someone who has ridden a roller coaster once or twice.

Even Daunte Culpepper would be a better option than Yates, Clemens, and Croyle.? After all, Culpepper has played in four playoff games, winning two and losing two.

Texans fans defended the decision to give the keys to Leinart by pointing out the low-risk passing game, the chains-moving running game, and the brick-wall defense.? But that same reasoning applies to a veteran quarterback, too.

In the Texans offense, no quarterback will be expected to do all that much.? A veteran with playoff experience will be far better suited to do what needs to be done, when it counts the most.

2.? McNabb should pull an Orton.

After the Bears lost quarterback Jay Cutler to a broken thumb, Kyle Orton asked for, and received, his walking papers from the Broncos.? So with the Texans needing a quarterback, why isn?t Vikings backup Donovan McNabb doing the same thing?

He claims he still can play, and he believes he shouldn?t have been benched.? McNabb therefore should request his release and hope that he slides down to the Texans on the waiver priority list.

Even if he doesn?t, any chance to play is better than holding a clipboard for a 2-9 team.? If McNabb is holding out any hope of getting a starting job in 2012, he?d benefit from being on the field in the 2011 postseason.

Until then, his failure to even make a play to get out of Minnesota should prompt legitimate speculation about his actual desire to compete.

3.? High praise for A.J. Green.

Receivers taken in the first round of the draft often underwhelm at the NFL level.? Bengals rookie receiver A.J. Green provides the latest exception to that rule.

He?s Randy Moss without the attitude, making great catches via a long body and uncanny ball skills that leave players like 2010 first-round pick Joe Haden helpless when trying to stop him.

Green?s three-catch, 110-yard performance against Cleveland included a 51-yard play that set up the game-winning field goal.? After the 7-4 Bengals reversed a two-game losing streak by beating the Browns, Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis gave Green the ultimate endorsement.

?He?s the best first-round draft pick I?ve ever been around,? Marvin Lewis said, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. ?He continues to amaze me, every day.?

How big of a deal is that?? In 1996, Marvin Lewis worked in Baltimore, where the Ravens picked up tackle Jonathan Ogden and linebacker Ray Lewis in the first round of the draft.

Both are headed for Canton.? In Marvin?s assessment, Green already is on the trajectory.

And Marvin is right.

4.? Chris Johnson saves his job.

The bad news for Titans tailback Chris Johnson after a 23-carry, 190-yard performance against the Bucs?? He still doesn?t have the explosiveness he displayed during the first three years of his career.

The good news?? He?ll get the chance to find it in 2012.

Although the Titans retain the ability to avoid most of the supposedly guaranteed money contained in Johnson?s new contract by cutting him after the season, Johnson has done enough to persuade the Titans to stick with him.? With the benefit of a full offseason program and training camp and preseason, Johnson could rediscover the quality that puts him a step ahead of all running backs not named Adrian Peterson.

It may not happen, but the Titans surely won?t risk that it will happen with another team.

5.? The Tebowmania effect.

Lost in the impact that Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow has on his teammates is the impact he possibly has on his opponents.? (And, no, I?m not referring to the entirely different kind of Tebowing in which Chargers kicker Nick Novak engaged on Sunday.)

Despite the obsession that some have with statistics, football remains the unique product of 22 moving parts, fueled more by intangibles than metrics, especially where the metrics tend to balance each other out.? If 11 of the players possess genuine confidence in their skills, they can perform better than the sum of their parts.? And if they lack confidence, the opposite can occur.

That?s the other side of the Tebowmania effect.? The Broncos now believe that they can keep games close and find a way to win ? and teams like the Chargers believe that the Broncos will keep games close and find a way to win.

With each passing week, the team that Tebow plays will have to overcome his uncanny ability to overcome.? And that factor is far more dangerous than a rocket arm or a sub-4.4 40-yard dash or the ability to bench press 225 pounds up to 225 times.

Objectively, there was no reason that the Broncos should have beaten the Chargers in San Diego on Sunday.? The home team had lost five games in a row, the head coach occupies one of the hottest seats in all of football, and the Chargers on paper seem to be the better team.

But the Tebowmania effect allowed Denver to keep it close ? and to find a way to win.? Unless and until someone breaks that spell, the Broncos will remain a serious threat not only to make the playoffs but also to do some serious damage once they get there.

6.? ?Fire Andy,? and then what?

The pitchforks and torches, which have been taken out and then put away and then taken out again and then put away again, are once again out.? And this time they?re likely staying out for the rest of the season.

With the 4-7 Eagles needing to run the table and hope for plenty of help, what happens if (when) they fail to qualify for the postseason?? The home crowd has begun chanting ?Fire Andy!,? an indignity that hasn?t been loudly foisted upon anyone in the NFL since Matt Millen left Detroit for good.? Given that the Eagles went ?all in? for 2011, with president Joe Banner telling PFT Live that the line between success and failure resides at winning the Super Bowl, common sense suggests that failing to succeed means walking away from the table, not getting another stack of chips with which to go ?all in? again.

So what happens if Reid gets fired?? Does owner Jeffrey Lurie believe he can find someone as good, and hopefully better, than Reid?

Then there?s the issue of the front office.? With Reid supposedly still in charge, Banner and G.M. Howie Roseman could be vulnerable if Lurie tries to hire someone like Bill Cowher, who would want to have the same power that Reid has enjoyed, along with the ability to hire a new set of lieutenants.

It becomes a complex and risky exercise for Lurie, making the status quo safer, and thus more likely.? Even though things haven?t gotten better under Reid lately, they could get a lot worse.

7.? Lame-duck reluctance could result in plenty of vacancies.

Through nearly 12 full weeks of the 2011 season, no teams have fired their head coaches.? Once the 2011 season ends, at least six coaches will slide into the spotlight, for one very important reason.

For coaches whose contracts expire after the 2012 season, teams must decide whether to extend the contracts, to allow them to coach as lame ducks next year, or to move on and/or move out.

That dynamic applies to at least a half-dozen men:? Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo, Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris, Chiefs coach Todd Haley, Colts coach Jim Caldwell, Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio, and Giants coach Tom Coughlin.? Five of the six lost on Sunday, and the last one could lose on Monday night at New Orleans.

Over the past four weeks, those teams have generated a combined record of 5-20.? Apart from the Giants, none are in serious contention for the postseason.

So when Black Monday (not to be confused with Black Friday) arrives the morning after New Year?s Day, pay close attention to those six teams.? Assuming that none of them decide before then to make a change.

8.? Niners are still in great shape.

It would be easy to assume that the 49ers? bubble has burst, via a 10-point loss in Baltimore on Thanksgiving night.

It would be easy.? But it also would be incorrect.

Look at the schedule and the standings.? The 9-2 Niners still play four games ? four games ? against NFC West teams.? And they play the hapless Rams not once, but twice.

Even if the 49ers lose to the visiting Steelers in San Fran on Monday, December 19, the 49ers easily should get to 13-3, which would be enough to secure the second seed in the NFC.

Yes, at some point they may face another defense that could chase Alex Smith all over the field.? But that may not happen unless they face the Bears in the postseason ? or until the 49ers take on the the Ravens again, not in Baltimore but at a neutral site in February.

Either way, the 49ers will continue to be a significant factor down the stretch.? If anything, that loss knocks them toward the edge of the radar screen in the short term, which is probably where coach Jim Harbaugh would prefer to be anyway.

9.? The DeSean dilemma.

Regardless of whether Andy Reid stays or goes, the Eagles have a significant personnel issue on the horizon:? What should they do with receiver DeSean Jackson?

He?ll be a free agent after the season.? In recent weeks, Jackson has been deactivated after missing a meeting, flagged for a taunting penalty that wiped out a 50-yard gain (thanks to a bizarre quirk in the rules), and benched in the fourth quarter of Sunday?s latest loss, following another key drop.

Once presumed the Eagles would use the franchise tag in the hopes of signing Jackson to a long-term deal, the team may now opt to make a change.? But that doesn?t mean they?ll let him walk away.? Instead, look for the Eagles to apply the franchise tag (which will cost $9.5 million in cap space), to make him available in trade, to search for a replacement via free agency or the draft, and possibly to rescind the franchise tender if they can?t move him ? and if they can find another guy to return punts and run ?go? routes.

The risk of that approach comes from Jackson signing the franchise tender, which would guarantee him a base salary of $9.5 million in 2012; it equates to more than 15.8 times his $600,000 base salary in 2011.? And that would be Jackson?s smartest move, if he?s tagged.? Otherwise, the Eagles could end up removing the franchise tender later in the offseason (like they previously did to Jeremiah Trotter and Corey Simon), making Jackson an unrestricted free agent well after the vast majority of the unrestricted free agency money has flowed.

For that reason alone, the Eagles possibly could decide not to apply the franchise tag at all, something that would be more likely to happen if owner Jeffrey Lurie decides to clean house.

10.? ?Bowe doesn?t know football.?

Last night?s far-closer-than-expected game between the Steelers and Chiefs included a late effort by the Chiefs to drive for the winning touchdown.? Unthinkable given Kansas City?s recent inability to score offensive touchdowns but not impossible given Pittsburgh?s recent history of giving up big drives late, the Chiefs made it interesting.

Until receiver Dwayne Bowe blew it.

With the Chiefs facing first and 15 from the Pittsburgh 37, Bowe shot down the field, throwing his hand in the air ? the universal football gesture that means, ?I?m going deep.?

But then, right after Bowe called for a long throw, he broke to the post.? Tyler Palko already had launched toward where Bowe would have been.? And it landed where a Steelers defender was.

Making things worse for the Chiefs, and for Bowe, was a half-hearted (hoof-hearted) effort to catch the ball.? Bowe jumped but he didn?t extend, possibly wary of a rib-breaking blow to the midsection.

Bowe?s effort, or lack thereof, drew harsh criticism from NBC?s Cris Collinsworth, a former receiver who has the experience and the knowledge to justify criticism of a current player at the position.? And for a guy like Bowe, who?ll be heading to free agency after the season, a better try needs to be made in those situations.

It?s not as if a victory last night would have propelled the Chiefs back into the race for the AFC West crown or a wild-card berth, but it could have.? The loss instead dropped Kansas City to 4-7, making it difficult if not impossible for the Chiefs to qualify for the postseason and/or for coach Todd Haley to keep his job.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/28/tony-dungy-lions-coaches-bear-some-blame-for-suh/related/

big 12 last minute halloween costumes rum diary klipsch image s4 chris bosh world series october 28 2011

Body rebuilding: Researchers regenerate muscle in mice

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A team of scientists from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and CellThera, a private company located in WPI's Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, have regenerated functional muscle tissue in mice, opening the door for a new clinical therapy to treat people who suffer major muscle trauma.

The team used a novel protocol to coax mature human muscle cells into a stem cell-like state and grew those reprogrammed cells on biopolymer microthreads. The threads were placed in a wound created by surgically removing a large section of leg muscle from a mouse. Over time, the threads and cells restored near-normal function to the muscle, as reported in the paper "Restoration of Skeletal Muscle Defects with Adult Human Cells Delivered on Fibrin Microthreads," published in the current issue of the journal Tissue Engineering. Surprisingly, the microthreads, which were used simply as a scaffold to support the reprogrammed human cells, actually seemed to accelerate the regeneration process by recruiting progenitor mouse muscle cells, suggesting that they alone could become a therapeutic tool for treating major muscle trauma.

"We are pleased with the progress of this work, and frankly we were surprised by the level of muscle regeneration that was achieved," said Raymond Page, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at WPI, chief scientific officer at CellThera, and corresponding author on the paper.

The current study is part of a multi-year program funded, in part, by grants from the National Institutes of Health and DARPA, the advanced research program of the U.S Department of Defense, to support the development of new technologies and therapies for people who suffer serious wounds and limb loss.

Mammalian skeletal muscles are able to repair small injuries caused by excessive exertion or minor trauma by recruiting muscle progenitor cells, which have not fully developed into muscle fibers, to the site of injury to rebuild the muscle. With major injuries, however, the body's first priority is to stop the bleeding, so scar tissue forms quickly at the wound site and overrides any muscle repair.

In the current study, the WPI/CellThera team combined two novel technologies to try to prevent scar formation and prompt muscle re-growth. The first was a method they had developed previously for reprogramming mature human skin cells without employing viruses or extra genes (Cloning, Stem Cells. 2009 Jul 21). The reprogrammed cells express stem cell genes and multiply in great numbers, but don't differentiate into specific tissues. The second was the use of biopolymer microthreads as a scaffold to support the cells. Developed by George Pins, associate professor of biomedical engineering at WPI, the threads--about the thickness of a human hair--are made of fibrin, a protein that helps blood clot.

Researchers removed a portion of the tibialis anterior leg muscle in several mice (the muscle was chosen because injury to it affects the foot's range of motion but doesn't prevent the mice from walking). In some mice, the injuries were left to heal on their own. In others, the wound was filled with bundles of microthreads seeded with reprogrammed human muscle cells. The untreated mice developed significant scarring at the injury site, with no restoration of muscle function. In sharp contrast, the mice that received the reprogrammed cells grew new muscle fibers and developed very little scarring.

Tests done 10 weeks after implantation showed that the regenerated tibialis anterior muscle functioned with nearly as much strength as an uninjured muscle. The scientists expected that most of the regenerated muscle would be composed of human cells, since the implanted cells were from human muscle. Surprisingly, most of the new muscle fibers were made of mouse cells. The team theorized that the fibrin microthreads, which in their composition and shape are similar to muscle fibers, may encourage resident mouse progenitor cells to migrate into the wound and begin restoring the tissue (they may also forestall the natural inflammatory response that leads to scarring after a major injury).

This surprise finding suggests that fibrin microthreads alone could be used to treat major muscle trauma while research on enhancing regeneration with reprogrammed human cells continues. "The contribution of the fibrin microthreads alone to wound healing should not be understated," the authors wrote. "While this clearly points to room for improving cell delivery techniques, it suggests that fibrin microthreads alone have tremendous potential for reducing fibrosis and remodeling large muscle injuries. Future studies will address, more completely, the capability of microthreads alone and determine, at what point, a combinational cell therapy is required for full functional tissue restoration."

###

Worcester Polytechnic Institute: http://www.wpi.edu

Thanks to Worcester Polytechnic Institute for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 89 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115545/Body_rebuilding__Researchers_regenerate_muscle_in_mice

lana turner bcs standings bcs standings donald glover julio cesar chavez jr jason segel turducken

9 Movie Women Who Saved Christmas

 Santa Claus, Frosty -- men get a lot of credit in Hollywood for bringing us Christmas cheer. But let's not forget the role women play in holiday films. Here, nine women who help make the season bright.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/9-movie-women-who-saved-christmas/1-b-70264?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3A9-movie-women-who-saved-christmas-70264

chris carpenter chris carpenter the brothers grimm the brothers grimm penn state football weather boston grimm fairy tales

Birdman Boasts Of YMCMB 'Family Atmosphere' In 'Y.U. Mad' Video

'We're unified,' Birdman tells MTV News of clip featuring Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne.
By Rob Markman

Nicki Minaj, Birdman and Lil Wayne on the set of "Y.U. Mad"
Photo: MTV News

Birdman has every reason to smile, and in his latest video, for "Y.U. Mad," the #1 Stunna puts his diamond-encrusted grill on full display. Not only is his YMCMB record label the biggest rap label of the year thanks to high-profile releases from Lil Wayne and Drake, but the camaraderie displayed in his new clip, which premiered on MTV2 on Sunday, is very real — both on and off camera.

"We like this with each other on an everyday basis. It's just fortunate that it's a video and they get to see it in that way," Birdman told MTV News from his trailer on set of the "Y.U. Mad" video shoot in Miami back in October. "It's a family atmosphere, and we talk a lot and we work a lot, and when it comes down to the music, we do it together, we're unified. It's what Lil Wayne and Birdman and Young Money, Cash Money all about — working as a team."

The proof is in the Gil Green-directed video off Birdman's upcoming solo LP Bigga Than Life. Nicki Minaj sets things off, in character as "The Female Weezy." Dressed in a white wifebeater, camouflage pants, skater sneakers and a blond dreadlocked wig, Nicki embodies Lil Wayne's persona as she prances on the screen rapping her verse.

It wouldn't be a Birdman video if the #1 Stunna didn't flaunt his wealth. In one scene, Baby rides around M-I-A in a white convertible Mercedes Maybach, in another he sits with YMCMB execs Mack Maine and Cortez Bryant at a long dining table littered with vodka bottles and exuberant amounts of cash.

Still, it's the ear-to-ear grins that make "Y.U. Mad" stand out from previous Birdman videos like "Fire Flame" and "Always Strapped." Wayne may have had the most fun on set, rocking a high-top, red fur hat, colorful shorts and a backpack containing his skateboard.

The song was originally something that Nicki was working on but then gave to Birdman in order to keep it in the family. From the first listen, the Cash Money CEO was in love with what is now his latest single. "I liked it from the start," he said. "Working with Nicki is just special anyway. It was something she gave me and I felt good about it so we rocked with it." And apparently they had a blast doing it.

Related Artists

• Birdman
• Lil Wayne
• Nicki Minaj

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674996/birdman-y-u-mad-music-video.jhtml

penn state riot state college pa wilson ramos kidnapped mcqueary mike mcqueary joe paterno fired joe paterno fired

Receding floods reveal crocs lurking in Bangkok

In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011, residents carry a crocodile on their shoulders after they caught and killed the reptile at a flooded residential area in Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Murky floodwaters are receding from Bangkok's inundated outskirts to reveal some scary swamp dwellers who moved in while flooded residents were moving out, including crocodiles and some of the world's most poisonous snakes. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011, residents carry a crocodile on their shoulders after they caught and killed the reptile at a flooded residential area in Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Murky floodwaters are receding from Bangkok's inundated outskirts to reveal some scary swamp dwellers who moved in while flooded residents were moving out, including crocodiles and some of the world's most poisonous snakes. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011, residents carry a crocodile on their shoulders after they caught and killed the reptile at a flooded residential area in Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Murky floodwaters are receding from Bangkok's inundated outskirts to reveal some scary swamp dwellers who moved in while flooded residents were moving out, including crocodiles and some of the world's most poisonous snakes. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011, a dead crocodile is put on a boat and tow through a flooded road in Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Murky floodwaters are receding from Bangkok's inundated outskirts to reveal some scary swamp dwellers who moved in while flooded residents were moving out, including crocodiles and some of the world's most poisonous snakes. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011, residents ride on top a crocodile on the boat after they caught and killed the reptile at a flooded residential area in Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Murky floodwaters are receding from Bangkok's inundated outskirts to reveal some scary swamp dwellers who moved in while flooded residents were moving out, including crocodiles and some of the world's most poisonous snakes. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) ? Murky floodwaters are receding from Bangkok's inundated outskirts to reveal some scary swamp dwellers who moved in while flooded residents were moving out ? including crocodiles and some of the world's most poisonous snakes.

Special teams from the Thai Fishery Department have responded to numerous reports of reptilian menaces, like the 3-foot-long (meter-long) croc that Anchalee Wannawet saw sitting next to the outhouse one morning, its toothy jaw wide open.

"I ran away, and it ran into there," the 23-year-old said, pointing toward the reedy swamp behind the construction site where she works in Bangkok's northern Sai Mai district. "I haven't dared to go the bathroom since. I'm peeing in a can."

Thailand has long been a center for the breeding, exporting and trafficking of exotic animals, especially crocodiles. Farmed both legally and illegally, crocs are popular because of the value they fetch for their meat, bones and especially their skins, used to make luxury bags and accessories.

This year's record monsoon rains, which prompted Thailand's worst flooding in a half century and killed more than 600 people, also swamped some of the country's estimated 3,000 crocodile farms. Many of the reptiles escaped ? though probably not as many as residents think they are seeing around the city.

"We get a lot of reports at the Fishery Department, but only about 5 to 10 percent of them turn out to be true," said Praphan Lipayakun, a fishery department official, adding that many false reports end up being large monitor lizards, which are generally shy and harmless.

"We even get reports of people being bitten, but when we follow up, we can't get in touch with the supposed patient, or when contacted, the doctor that treated the wound says that it in no way resembled a crocodile bite."

Still, officials and volunteer veterinarians have confirmed many flood-affected animals on the loose or in distress ? and not only reptiles.

A team of volunteer veterinarians rescued scores of animals ? from deer and Capuchin monkeys to lions, tigers and bears ? from the yards and homes of Thailand's rich.

"Most of the ones we found in the Bangkok area are privately owned, and a lot of them are for fun or for pleasure ? like a farm or some exotic species in the house," said Nantarika Chansue, president of the Zoo and Wildlife Veterinary Society of Thailand and a member of the team of volunteers.

"Some of the owners left home already and left the animals in the cage as the water rose. Some of them have illegal animals and are afraid of being prosecuted, so they are afraid to tell us and just leave them there."

Some of the rescued animals had had to be treated for respiratory diseases from inhaling disease-infested floodwaters, Nantarika said.

Calls about snakes have spiked from the usual two per day to about 10, said Sompob Sridaranop, a snake rescue expert from the Thai Marine Department. Most residents report pythons ? but occasionally the calls are about highly venomous cobras and pit vipers, he said.

"A lot of snakes are coming out now because they, too, are flooded. Their homes are usually under houses, or in pipes, but they can't sleep in the water, so they are escaping," he said.

In Nakhon Sawan province, north of Bangkok, Anan Dirath said his family found about 10 nonpoisonous snakes in the house since the waters receded, while his neighbors found cobras, which they caught and sold for their meat.

In Bangkok's Sai Mai district, not far from where Anchalee spotted the crocodile, a large zoo called Safari World was flooded, endangering primates, giraffes, dolphins and other exotic animals in captivity. At the height of the flooding, zoo official Litti Kewkacha said staff were piling up earth, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to stay higher than the flood levels.

Crocodile farms were not so successful at keeping their wards safe in captivity.

Since the floods began in July, the Fishery Department's crocodile teams have captured 10 that have escaped and found their way into residential areas in Bangkok and suburbs just to the north. Some have been easy catches: Residents had closed them into fenced yards.

Then there are those like the one Anchalee saw, lurking in areas that are boxed in, but large, and with plenty of vegetation for cover. That one proved a special challenge for the crocodile chasers.

"These are its footprints. It's around here," Praphan said under a mid-afternoon sun.

As the team toured the area's perimeter by boat, 42-year-old crocodile zoo performer and volunteer Chalaew Busamrong concurred that the trapped animal must be a crocodile.

"It has been floating around here a long time," Chalaew said. "It can't find its way out. If it were a monitor lizard, it would have found its way out by now."

The team decided that the area was too wide and wild to try to close in on the beast, so they baited their giant-sized hooks with raw chicken carcasses. It's a tactic with an often-inconclusive result, because if local residents find a trapped crocodile, they're likely to grab it and sell it.

"We've left bait before in other areas, but because crocodiles are so valuable, we're never sure if they are captured or not," Praphan said.

As they attached the wires to nearby trees in the swamp and prepared to head home, they heard a heavy movement in the reeds. The team stiffened, fell quiet, and backed away, hoping the crocodile might move forward.

Suspecting the crocodile might be hungry enough to take the bait, Chalaew decided to stay the night.

Nearby, construction workers slept uneasily, but there were no sounds of frantic splashing, as had been hoped. As the sun rose, the chicken carcasses remained untouched.

One week later, the area remained flooded. Neighbors told Anchalee that they shot and killed two crocodiles a few streets away.

"I don't know if it's true or not, but that's what they say," she said by phone. "We haven't seen it since, and the chicken has all fallen off into the water. We only hear the dogs howling."

___

Associated Press writer Pailin Wedel contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-27-AS-Thailand-Crocs-on-the-Loose/id-a48566174ad141d4934cfa8533fde717

stanford oregon joe paterno velasquez vs dos santos velasquez vs dos santos manny pacquiao vs. juan manuel marquez manny pacquiao vs. juan manuel marquez cain velasquez vs dos santos

Nigeria: Breakaway Biafra leader Ojukwu dies at 78 (AP)

LAGOS, Nigeria ? Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu passionately believed his homeland in eastern Nigeria deserved to be its own country, a new nation free of the borders imposed by foreigners as colonialism lifted across Africa in the 1960s.

That hopefulness, seen in the rising-sun flag of the Republic of Biafra, descended into hellish reality as Nigeria's many ethnic groups fought over whether to remain unified during a bloody three-year civil war that killed 1 million people.

Instead of pan-African pride, it brought the first television images of starving African children with stick-like arms into homes around the world. And even today, the oil-rich nation still violently struggles with its identity.

Ojukwu, a millionaire's son who became the military leader of the breakaway republic, died in a London hospital Saturday after a protracted illness following a stroke. He was 78.

Maja Umeh, a spokesman for Nigeria's Anambra state, confirmed Ojukwu's death Saturday. Anambra state, in the heart of what used to be the breakaway republic, had provided financial support for Ojukwu during his hospital stay, Umeh said.

In a statement Saturday, President Goodluck Jonathan praised Ojukwu for his "immense love for his people, justice, equity and fairness which forced him into the leading role he played in the Nigerian civil war."

"His commitment to reconciliation and the full reintegration of his people into a united and progressive Nigeria in the aftermath of the war will ensure that he is remembered forever as one of the great personalities of his time who stood out easily as a brave, courageous, fearless, erudite and charismatic leader," the statement read.

Leaders said the war's end would leave "No Victor, No Vanquished." However, that claim has yet to be fulfilled as ethnic and religious tensions still threaten Nigeria's unity more than 40 years later.

Ojukwu's rise coincided with the fall of Nigeria's First Republic, formed after Nigeria, a nation split between a predominantly Muslim north and a largely Christian south, gained its independence from Britain in 1960.

A 1966 coup led primarily by army officers from the Igbo ethnic group from Nigeria's southeast shot and killed Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a northerner, as well as the premier of northern Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello.

The coup failed, but the country still fell under military control. Northerners, angry about the death of its leaders, attacked Igbos living there. As many as 10,000 people died in resulting riots. Many Igbos fled back to Nigeria's southeast, their traditional home.

Ojukwu, then 33, served as the military governor for the southeast. The son of a knighted millionaire, Ojukwu studied history at Oxford and attended a military officer school in Britain. In 1967, he declared the region ? including part of the oil-rich Niger Delta ? as the Republic of Biafra. The new republic used the name of the Atlantic Ocean bay to its south, its flag a rising sun set against a black, green and red background.

The announcement sparked 31 months of fierce fighting between the breakaway republic and Nigeria. Under Gen. Yakubu "Jack" Gowon, Nigeria adopted the slogan "to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done" and moved to reclaim a region vital to the country's finances.

Despite several pushes by Biafran troops, Nigerian forces slowly strangled Biafra into submission. Caught in the middle were Igbo refugees increasingly pushed back as the front lines fell. The region, long reliant on other regions of Nigeria for food, saw massive food shortages despite international aid.

The enduring images, seen on television and in photographs, show starving Biafran children with distended stomachs and stick-like arms. Many died as hunger became a weapon wielded by both sides.

"Was starvation a legitimate weapon of war?" wrote English journalist John de St. Jorre after the conflict. "The hard-liners in Nigeria and Biafra thought that it was, the former regarding it as a valid means of reducing the enemy's capacity to resist, as method as old as war itself, and the latter seeing it as a way of internationalizing the conflict."

The images fed into Ojukwu's warnings that to see Biafra fall would see the end of the Igbo people.

"The crime of genocide has not only been threatened but fulfilled. The only reason any of us are alive today is because we have our rifles," Ojukwu told journalists in 1968. "Otherwise the massacre would be complete. It would be suicidal for us to lay down our arms at this stage."

That final massacre never came. Ojukwu and trusted aides escaped Biafra by airplane on Jan. 11, 1970. Biafra collapsed shortly after. Gowon himself broke the cycle of revenge in a speech in which said there was "no victor, no vanquished." He also pardoned those who had participated in the rebellion.

Ojukwu spent 13 years in exile, coming home after he was unconditionally pardoned in 1982. He returned to politics, but lost a race for a senate seat. Authorities sent him to a maximum-security prison for a year when Nigeria suffered yet another of the military coups that punctuated life after independence.

He later wrote his memoirs and lived the quiet life of an elder statesman until he unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Olusegun Obasanjo for the presidency in 2003. Obasanjo served as a colonel in the Biafran war and gave the final statement on rebel-controlled radio announcing the conflict's end.

Despite the long and costly civil war, Nigeria remains torn by internal conflict. Tens of thousands have died in riots pitting Christians against Muslims in a country of more than 160 million people. Militant groups attack foreign oil firms in the oil-rich Niger Delta while criminal gangs kidnap the middle class. Poverty continues to grind the country.

The Igbos, meanwhile, continue to suffer political isolation in the country. While an Igbo man recently became one of the country's top military officers, others say they've been locked out of higher office over lingering mistrust from the war.

Some in the former breakaway region still hold out hope for their own voice, even their own country despite the cataclysmic losses.

As did Ojukwu himself.

"Biafra," Ojukwu told journalists in 2006, "is always an alternative."

___

Associated Press writer Katharine Houreld in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_af/af_obit_ojukwu

weather houston weather houston small business saturday small business saturday ndamukong suh ndamukong suh hank baskett

6 players killed in Togolese team bus crash

By EBOW GODWIN

updated 6:13 p.m. ET Nov. 26, 2011

LOME, Togo - At least six topflight Togolese soccer players were killed and another 28 people critically injured on Saturday after a bus carrying their team plunged into a ravine and caught fire.

In a statement read on national television, the Togo government said President Faure Gnassingbe had ordered that those injured from the Etoile Filante club be taken to the military wing of the Lome Central Hospital to receive urgent medical attention.

A delegation, led by sports minister Christophe Tchao, traveled to the accident site with an ambulance to evacuate the injured.

The accident happened near the city of Atakpame, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Lome, as Etoile Filante was on its way to Togo's second largest city of Sokode for Sunday's league game against Semassi.

A tire is believed to have burst, causing the bus to topple over and plunge down a ravine. Some of the victims reportedly burnt to death. Eyewitness accounts said the bus flipped over several times as it crashed into the ravine.

"We do not know how we managed to get out of the accident," said one of the survivors, goalkeeper Mama Souleyman.

Images on Togo national television showed the smoldering wreckage of the bus, which was almost completely burnt to ashes.

Lome-based Etoile Filante is a seven-time Togo national league champion and was runner-up in Africa's continental club competition in 1968.

Last year, two Togo national team officials were killed and several players hurt after a gun attack on the team's bus as it traveled to the African Cup of Nations tournament in Angola.

In 2007, Togo sports minister Richard Attipoe was among 22 people who died when a helicopter carrying Togolese soccer fans and officials crashed in Sierra Leone after an African Cup qualifying match.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

advertisement

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45446882/ns/sports-soccer/

wisconsin badgers football easter island dallas weather badgers badgers the killing fields the killing fields

3 American students arrested in Cairo leave Egypt (AP)

CAIRO ? Three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo caught flights out of Egypt early Saturday, according to an airport official and an attorney for one of the trio.

The three were arrested on the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square last Sunday. Officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters. On Thursday, a court ordered them released. All three were studying at the American University in Cairo.

Luke Gates, 21, and Derrik Sweeney, 19, left the Egyptian capital Saturday on separate flights to Frankfurt, Germany, an airport official in Cairo said. Gregory Porter, 19, also left the country, his attorney said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

Attorney Theodore Simon, who represents Porter, a student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said police escorted the three students to the Cairo airport Friday. Simon later said his client was on a flight.

"I am pleased and thankful to report that Gregory Porter is in the air. He has departed Egyptian airspace and is on his way home," Simon said, though he declined to say when Porter was expected back in the U.S.

Simon said he and Porter's mother both spoke by phone with the student, who is from the Philadelphia suburb of Glenside.

"He clearly conveyed to me ... that he was OK," Simon told The Associated Press.

Gates is a student at Indiana University. It wasn't clear when he was expected back in the U.S.

Joy Sweeney told the AP her son, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Mo., would fly from Frankfurt to Washington, then on to St. Louis. She said family will meet him when he arrives late Saturday.

"I am ecstatic," Sweeney said Friday. "I can't wait for him to get home tomorrow night. I can't believe he's actually going to get on a plane. It is so wonderful."

Sweeney said she had talked with her son Friday afternoon and "he seemed jubilant."

"He thought he was going to be able to go back to his dorm room and get his stuff," she said. "We said, `No, no, don't get your stuff, we just want you here.'"

The university will ship his belongings home, she said.

Sweeney had earlier said she did not prepare a Thanksgiving celebration this week because the idea seemed "absolutely irrelevant" while her son still was being held.

"I'm getting ready to head out and buy turkey and stuffing and all the good fixings so that we can make a good Thanksgiving dinner," she said Friday.

___

Associated Press writers Sandy Kozel in Washington; Kathy Matheson and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; and Dana Fields in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_us/us_egypt_american_students

thurston moore the island the island mcdonalds beating dreamcatcher georgia tech big east expansion