LONDON (AP) ? Britain's Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed a bid by a Pakistani man held without charge by the U.S. in Afghanistan to force U.K. authorities to secure his release.
Yunus Rahmatullah, 30, was captured by British forces in Iraq in 2004 and handed over to the Americans, who sent him to a prison at Bagram air base in Afghanistan.
Last year a lower court ordered Britain to seek Rahmatullah's release on the grounds that under international law it was responsible for his care and had the power to ask the U.S. to free him.
But the order ? known as a writ of habeas corpus ? was canceled after U.S. officials refused to cooperate.
Habeas corpus is an ancient legal principle ? Latin for "you have the body" ? requiring authorities to bring a prisoner before a court so it can judge the legality of the detention.
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that both the original order and the decision to scrap it had been legal.
The judges said Britain had been right to seek Rahmatullah's release, but it was clear U.S. authorities "felt they were holding Mr. Rahmatullah lawfully and were not willing to relinquish control of his detention to the U.K."
Jamie Beagent, a British lawyer representing Rahmatullah, said the ruling was a victory because the Supreme Court had backed his client's case in principle.
"Sadly, despite the fact that in international law Mr. Rahmatullah remains a British detainee and the United States does not consider him a security threat, our client remains in detention at Bagram," he said.
He said lawyers would continue to seek Rahmatullah's release on the basis that his detention violated the Geneva Conventions.
NEW YORK (AP) ? Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline with 80 mph winds Monday night and hurled an unprecedented 13-foot surge of seawater at New York City, flooding its tunnels, subway stations and the electrical system that powers Wall Street. At least 16 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm, which brought the presidential campaign to a halt a week before Election Day.
For New York City at least, Sandy was not the dayslong onslaught many had feared, and the wind and rain that sent water sloshing into Manhattan from three sides began dying down within hours.
Still, the power was out for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and an estimated 6.2 million people altogether across the East. The full extent of the storm's damage across the region was unclear, and unlikely to be known until daybreak.
Stock trading will be closed in the U.S. for a second day Tuesday ? the first time the New York Stock Exchange will be closed for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888, when a blizzard struck the city.
Heavy rain and further flooding remain major threats for the next couple of days as the storm makes its way into Pennsylvania and up into New York State. The center of the storm was just outside Philadelphia near midnight, and its winds were down to 75 mph, just barely hurricane strength.
"It was nerve-racking for a while, before the storm hit. Everything was rattling," said Don Schweikert, who owns a bed-and-breakfast in Cape May, N.J., near where Sandy roared ashore. "I don't see anything wrong, but I won't see everything until morning."
As the storm closed in, it converged with a cold-weather system that turned it into a superstorm, a monstrous hybrid consisting not only of rain and high wind but snow in West Virginia and other mountainous areas inland.
It smacked the boarded-up big cities of the Northeast corridor ? Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston ? with stinging rain and gusts of more than 85 mph.
Just before Sandy reached land, forecasters stripped it of hurricane status, but the distinction was purely technical, based on its shape and internal temperature. It still packed hurricane-force wind, and forecasters were careful to say it was still dangerous to the tens of millions in its path.
Sandy made landfall at 8 p.m. near Atlantic City, which was already mostly under water and saw an old, 50-foot piece of its world-famous Boardwalk washed away earlier in the day.
Authorities reported a record surge 13 feet high at the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan, from the storm and high tide combined.
In an attempt to lessen damage from saltwater to the subway system and the electrical network beneath the city's financial district, New York City's main utility cut power to about 6,500 customers in lower Manhattan. But a far wider swath of the city was hit with blackouts caused by flooding and transformer explosions.
About 670,000 customers were without power late Monday in the city and suburban Westchester County.
"This will be one for the record books," said John Miksad, senior vice president for electric operations at ConEdison. "This will be the largest storm-related outage in our history."
New York's transit agency said water surged into two major commuter tunnels, the Queens Midtown and the Brooklyn-Battery, and it cut power to some subway tunnels in lower Manhattan after water flowed into the stations and onto the tracks.
The subway system was shut down Sunday night, and the stock markets never opened Monday and are likely to be closed Tuesday as well. Schools were closed and Broadway theaters were dark.
"We knew that this was going to be a very dangerous storm, and the storm has met our expectations," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "This is a once-in-a-long-time storm."
More than 200 patients ? including 20 infants from neonatal intensive care ? were moved from New York University's Tisch Hospital after its power went out and a backup generator failed. The patients, some on respirators operating on battery power, were taken to other hospitals.
A construction crane atop a luxury high-rise collapsed in the high winds and dangled precariously 74 floors above the street. Forecasters said the wind at the top the building may have been close to 95 mph.
The facade of a four-story building in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood crumbled and collapsed, leaving the lights, couches, cabinets and desks inside visible from the street. No one was hurt.
As the storm approached the Northeast over the weekend, airlines canceled more than 12,000 flights in the region.
Storm damage was projected at $10 billion to $20 billion, meaning it could prove to be one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
Sixteen deaths were reported in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Some of the victims were killed by falling trees. At least one death was blamed on the storm in Canada.
President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney canceled their campaign appearances at the very height of the race, with just over a week to go before Election Day. The president pledged the government's help and made a direct plea from the White House to those in the storm's path.
"When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate," he said. "Don't delay, don't pause, don't question the instructions that are being given, because this is a powerful storm."
Sandy, which killed 69 people in the Caribbean before making its way up the Atlantic, began to hook left at midday toward the New Jersey coast.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said people were stranded in Atlantic City, which sits on a barrier island. He accused the mayor of allowing them to stay there. With the hurricane roaring through, Christie warned it was no longer safe for rescuers, and advised people who didn't evacuate the coast to "hunker down" until morning.
While the hurricane's 90 mph winds registered as only a Category 1 on a scale of five, it packed "astoundingly low" barometric pressure, giving it terrific energy to push water inland, said Kerry Emanuel, a professor of meteorology at MIT.
And the New York metropolitan area apparently got the worst of it, because it was on the dangerous northeastern wall of the storm.
"We are looking at the highest storm surges ever recorded" in the Northeast, said Jeff Masters, meteorology director for Weather Underground, a private forecasting service. "The energy of the storm surge is off the charts, basically."
Hours before landfall, there was graphic evidence of the storm's power.
Off North Carolina, a replica of the 18th-century sailing ship HMS Bounty that was built for the 1962 Marlon Brando movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" went down in the storm, and 14 crew members were rescued by helicopter from rubber lifeboats bobbing in 18-foot seas. Another crew member was found hours afterward but was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The captain was missing.
At Cape May, water sloshed over the seawall, and it punched through dunes in other seaside communities.
"When I think about how much water is already in the streets, and how much more is going to come with high tide tonight, this is going to be devastating," said Bob McDevitt, president of the main Atlantic City casino workers union. "I think this is going to be a really bad situation tonight."
In Maryland, at least 100 feet of a fishing pier at the beach resort of Ocean City was destroyed.
At least half a million people along the East Coast had been ordered to evacuate, including 375,000 from low-lying parts of New York City.
Sheila Gladden left her home in Philadelphia's flood-prone Eastwick neighborhood, which took on 5? feet of water during Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and headed for a hotel.
"I'm not going through this again," she said.
Those who stayed behind had few ways to get out.
Not only was the New York subway shut down, but the Holland Tunnel connecting New York to New Jersey was closed, as was a tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and several other spans were closed because of high winds.
___
Zezima reported from Atlantic City, N.J. AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report from Washington. Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed in Raleigh, N.C.; Jennifer Peltz and Tom Hays in New York, David Porter in Pompton Lakes, N.J.; Wayne Parry in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.; and David Dishneau in Delaware also contributed.
The American Heritage football team traveled to Louisiana this week and earned a 31-7 win over West Monroe High. This week, the Stallions are on the move in at least one national ranking.
Heritage Delray's win impressed pollsters at ESPN, who moved the Stallions up to the No. 17 spot in the network's Week 10 Power Rankings. A week ago, Heritage was ranked No. 22.
University School, which had its game canceled because of Sanday, pretty much saw its status unchanged.
Here's a look at how Florida is represented in this week's national polls:
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Bradenton Manatee remains in the top spot for another week, while University School remains No. 11 for another week.
ESPN 25 Power Rankings Manatee remains at No. 1, while American Heritage-Delray rises five spots to No. 17. University School remains No. 21.
PrepNation.com National Prep Poll Manatee still holds the top spot at No. 1, while University hangs on to its status at the No. 8 team.
USA Today Super 25 Of all the national rankings, USA Today still isn't sold on South Florida football. The state's lone teams in this ranking include Manatee at No. 1 and Orlando Dr. Phillips at No. 21.
Rivals 100 Bradenton Manatee remains No. 1, and the highest-ranked South Florida team is University School, which is hanging on to the No. 9 spot. Also ranked are Miami Central (No. 26), Booker T. Washington (No. 27), American Heritage Delray (No. 29, up from No. 35), Jacksonville First Coast (No. 50), Gainesville (No. 61), Tallahassee Lincoln (62), Cocoa (68), Tampa Plant (81) and Dr. Phillips (93).
>>good morning, everyone. i'm
savannah guthrie
, and it is an anxious morning for folks up and down the
east coast
. hurricane sandy strengthened over the night.
>>want to give you the information we know right now. sandy is a category 1 hrica th
wind speeds
of 85 miles per hour. it's located about 285 miles east of
cape hatteras
,
north carolina
. emergency officials in new
york city
and
washington
,
d.c.
had taking unprecedented actions to deal with this storm.
>>that's right. the
mass transit
systems shut down, schools cancelled. the
stock markets
are also closed. the first weather-related closure in 27 years, and just take a look at this nasa image from space. this is one massive hurricane. 800 miles wide which means its impact is going to be felt across a massive region for a very long time.
>>you forgot to mention one precaution. starbucks in new york and long island closed this morning. don't hear that very often. weather officials are calling this mind-boggling. sandy is on a
collision course
with two other
weather systems
that are only going to make it more dangerous. in just a couple of hours, those systems will cause sand toe make a
left turn
and head directly towards the
east coast
. if that's not enough, there's a
full moon
tonight which means higher than usual tides. combine that with the expected
storm surge
, and this is literally a
perfect storm
, and it could be of historic proportions.
>>and add to that the backdrop, of course, a presidential election just eight days away.
president obama
, governor romney forced to cancel some events and reschedule others. we just got word that the president has cancelled a planned event in florida this morning in order to get back to
washington
. they were worried
air force
one may not be able to land in deteriorating conditions.
>>we've got correspondents all up and down the
east coast
. let's start with
al roker
in point pleasant beach, new jersey. al, what can you tell us?
>> reporter: well, i can tell you, matt, that these dunes that i'm on were built for a storm in
1992
that had washed into the town and caused
massive damage
. these dunes are in damage of breaching.
high tide
is starting to come up over the dunes. this is a massive storm, as you mentioned, and it will get more intense. it's now over the
gulf stream
that's running parallel to the
east coast
. that is extremely warm water. we've seen pressure drops. the pressure is now down to 941 millibars, and it may strengthen even more. we expect more strengthening. take a look at a path of, first of all, sandy right now is 385 miles south southeast of new
york city
. 85-mile-per-hour winds. it's moving to the north at 15 miles per hour. eventually, as we look at the path, in the next few hours the
jet stream
that is dipping down to the south is going to force this to the left. this is unprecedented. most of the meteorologists i've spoken with and hurricane experts say they have,has not happened, and then it makes landfall sometime late tonight and early
tomorrow morning
and then meanders its way into interior sections of the northeast. here are the effects we're looking for. first of all, the
storm surge
. again, what you see behind me, this is indicative of what we're going to see. we're going to see a
storm surge
as y g from
ocean city
, maryland, through long island, about 4 to 8 feet, but on the other side of long island and connecticut is long island sound, because of the fetch of the winds, it will pile up the water even more. we're talking
storm surges
of up to 11 feet, and as you mentioned earlier because of an astronomical
high tide
because of a
full moon
it's going to be
even worse
. the wind is also going to be a big problem. predicted wind gusts of 50, 60 miles per hour stretching from
washington
,
d.c.
all the way up to boston later today. those winds will take down trees which in turn are completely still, a lot of placed laden with foliage. those are l take down
power lines
. we're expecting power outages, massive power outages from boston, back to buffalo and down to
washington
,
d.c.
the rain is going to be a big factor as well. we're talking about especially south of new
york city
, upwards of a foot or more of rain, but as you get to the north of that area, 7 to
12 inches
of rain generally. as if that isn't enough, because this system is pulling in cold air from canada, we have blizzard warnings in effect for parts of west virginiand
into the blue
rid mountains of virginia. we're looking at up to one to two feet of snow in some of the upper elevations. this, and we have high wind watches and warnings all across the great lakes with waves of 25 feet on the great lakes, so what we're talking about is a massive system that's going to affect the eastern third of the country. savannah?
With its year-round perfect Mediterranean climate the eastern point of the Costa del Sol is holiday heaven to thousands of tourists, and Nerja is a favourite for the most discerning of them. Nature seems possessive of this Spanish Eden and the beauty of its sun drenched, golden coastline and dazzling turquoise ocean is almost jealously protected by the Sierra Almijara mountain range, yet it shares its treasures freely with both locals and tourists. The villas to rent in Nerja are testimony to a respectful collaboration between nature and humanity to maintain the harmony of the region.
Magnificent villas mingle with mountainside flora and fauna like luxurious outcroppings that drink in the spectacular coastal scenery. The villas close to the warm, inviting beaches have the majesty of the mountains as a backdrop to the breath-taking Mediterranean view. Private swimming pools glisten like miniature versions of the brilliant blue, crystal clear waters of the ocean. Whether relaxing poolside with the sound of waves crashing in the distance or sunning oneself on one of Nerja's enviable beaches; the feeling of being isolated from the troubles of the outside world is palpable. Perhaps this is partly due to the fact that no plane, boat or train services run to this hugely popular village. Malaga Airport is approximately 20 miles away and the only way to get to Nerja from the airport is by road. This seeming disregard for contemporary travel is backed up by a disinterest in modernising the town with high-rise developments. Although tourism is now its lifeblood Nerja seems reluctant to shed the image of the drowsy little fishing village that it once was.
There is a large enough variety of villas to rent in Nerja to fit the requirements of all holiday makers whether a couple or a larger family. Arrangements can be made with the owner directly or with an agency. Some owners may also be amenable to the renting of a car along with the villa. Fresh fruit and vegetables as well as a wonderful selection of sea food and other meats are freely available at one of the local markets which makes a self-catering holiday a truly pleasurable experience. Shopping with the locals and trying one's hand at a few traditional recipes also makes it an authentically Spanish experience. Renting a villa is like being privy for a while to the Andalusian heartbeat. Most rental villas have beautifully appointed and well equipped kitchens, as well as wonderful dining facilities both indoors and outdoors. For those who prefer eating out Nerja has wonderful bars and restaurants, and there is sure to be one within walking distance.
With fascinating historical sites such as the Balc?n de Europa, the 17th century El Salvador church nearby and the amazing caves of Nerja walking will be an enjoyable part of the holiday. Strolling from your villa down to one of the renowned beaches such as Burriana provides ample opportunity to breathe in the strong Andalusian culture that permeates the town. Renting a villa here is a chance to get to know more about the strong cultural heritage that has made Spain such an historically formidable force.
HTML:Alyson Thomas is the owner of?Solserachers.When making a reservation for your villa or apartment for rent in Nerja,to book anerja rental?with Solsearchers is to book a Nerja's Holiday Rental Specialists.
Physicists describe how they have synthesized a new material that belongs to the iron-selenide class of superconductors, called LixFe2Se2(NH3)y, in a paper about to be published in EPJ B. The work was carried out by Ernst-Wilhelm Scheidt from the University of Augsburg and colleagues. This material displays promising superconducting transition temperatures of 44 Kelvins (K) at ambient pressure, thus improving upon traditional copper-based high-temperature superconductors.
The ultimate goal of scientists developing such materials is to reach superconducting characteristics at temperatures above that of liquid nitrogen (77K), which is the benchmark temperature to make them attractive for applications.
Until now, superconductors based on iron and arsenic discovered in 2008 worked at 56K. As recently as 2010 attempts to develop other materials replacing arsenic with selenium yielded iron-selenium materials with an intercalation of potassium, rubidium, cesium or thalium. These materials, belonging to the family of iron chalcogenide materials, reached a superconducting temperature of 32 K.
The authors have now used a chemical synthesis method to intercalate lithium atoms between layers of iron and selenium. Similar to the way a cocktail would generate an exciting new flavour, stirring all these ingredients for several hours in liquid ammonia produced exciting new superconducting properties. They found that these properties are controlled by electronic doping and expansion of the iron-selenium material's lattice structure, which is gained by intercalating the lithium-based electronic donor molecules.
Unlike previous attempts, the authors showed in this study that these materials can be successfully synthesised with a remarkable degree of purity. In addition, the fraction of the material that is superconductive was almost 80 percent, the highest reported for materials in the intercalated iron chalcogenides family.
Going one step further, the authors also showed that using sodium instead of lithium will further increase the superconducting temperature to 45.5 K.
###
E.-W. Scheidt, V.R. Hathwar, D. Schmitz, A. Dunbar, W. Scherer, F. Mayr, V. Tsurkan,J. Deisenhofer, and A. Loidl (2012), Superconductivity at Tc = 44 K in LixFe2Se2(NH3)y, European Physical Journal B 85: 279, DOI: 10.1140/epjb/e2012-30422-6
Springer: http://www.springer.com
Thanks to Springer 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.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama's iPod could pass for a voter outreach tool.
Interviewed Monday on Cincinnati radio station WIZF, Obama ran through his musical tastes, an eclectic and all-encompassing list of artists and tracks that reflect the varied coalition of voters he is seeking to attract.
Asked what was on the "presidential iPod," Obama replied that he had "a pretty good mix."
"I've got old school ? Stevie Wonder, James Brown. I've got Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan," he said.
There are also plenty of tracks that young voters might have downloaded to their own collections.
"And then I've got everything from Jay-Z, to Eminem, to the Fugees, to you name it. There's probably not a group that you play that I don't have on my iPod," Obama told the station's E.J. Greig.
For the voters whose tastes are more esoteric, "I've got some jazz ? John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Gil Scott-Heron," the president said, adding, "You've got to mix it up. It just depends on what mood I'm in."
No mention of The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, who has been campaigning for Obama.
Or country music. That vote tends to tilt to the other guy.
One of the most profitable occupations is Internet marketing. However, it must be done properly. The business opportunities that exist online are practically endless, but all have a common requirement of needing personal time invested. Since there are only so many hours in the day, the wise use of them is important. This article will give you a lot of advice on how to use your time in the best way when marketing your business.
Your marketing efforts can benefit from setting up a database for customer relationship management. It can help you see past successes and guide you in the ways that your business and marketing strategies should be going. Get in touch with your best customers; send them more shopping suggestions, coupons, limited offers and free samples.
Let customers be able to write ratings on your products and enable them the option to explain why these ratings were chosen. Having this sort of feedback on your page can not only give you ideas on how to improve your product or service, but also gives customers an overview of what they can expect from the product.
You need to figure what content would attract your target market to your site. Once you know who you are targeting, it should be easy for you to find the content that will entice them to visit your site over and over again.
Although it is good to have many social network profiles, make sure to give each one sufficient attention. A profile which is stagnant is perceived as spam.
Place keywords in your internal links. Once you get a visitor to your site, keeping them there becomes vital. If you use links to direct them to previous posts or other relevant information elsewhere on the site, you can keep them around much longer. Links can not only generate traffic, but can keep people interested in your products and services.
You should back up every claim you make about your niche. Be believable in your claims and try to demonstrate the benefits of what you are promoting with a video, so that customers can see for themselves. Make a video of yourself demonstrating your products or performing the services you advertise to convince your audience.
Provide a money back guarantee as part and parcel of any Internet marketing strategy that you use. Your customers will feel more confident about doing business with you when you offer such a guarantee. Customers will be more likely to trust you if you take all the risk out of their purchases.
As shown, Internet marketing should not overreach your available time. Strategize your approach, use your time efficiently and you will see success!
Mechanism found for destruction of key allergy-inducing complexes, Stanford researchers sayPublic release date: 28-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rosanne Spector manishma@stanford.edu 650-725-5374 Stanford University Medical Center
STANFORD, Calif. Researchers have learned how a man-made molecule destroys complexes that induce allergic responses a discovery that could lead to the development of highly potent, rapidly acting interventions for a host of acute allergic reactions.
The study, which will be published online Oct. 28 in Nature, was led by scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of Bern, Switzerland.
The new inhibitor disarms IgE antibodies, pivotal players in acute allergies, by detaching the antibody from its partner in crime, a molecule called FcR. (Other mechanisms lead to slower-developing allergic reactions.)
"It would be an incredible intervention if you could rapidly disconnect IgE antibodies in the midst of an acute allergic response," said Ted Jardetzky, PhD, professor of structural biology and senior investigator for the study. It turns out the inhibitor used by the team does just that.
A myriad of allergens, ranging from ragweed pollen to bee venom to peanuts, can set off IgE antibodies, resulting in allergic reactions within seconds. The new inhibitor destroys the complex that tethers IgE to the cells responsible for the reaction, called mast cells. Severing this connection would be the holy grail of IgE-targeted allergy treatment.
The first time a potential allergen enters the body, some people respond by making allergen-specific IgE antibodies. These antibodies stick around long after the initial allergen is cleared from the body. Most of the antibodies get snagged by IgE-specific receptors called FcRs, which are exposed on the surface of mast cells. The mast cells are then primed to react the next time a person encounters the allergen.
Dissociation of this IgE-FcR interaction is a sought-after goal of allergy treatment for a good reason: IgE-coated mast cells are grenades of histamine, and re-encountering the allergen is equivalent to pulling out the clip. When an allergen makes a return visit, it binds to the pre-loaded IgE on the mast cell surface, triggering the release of inflammatory mediators including histamine that promote the allergic response. As allergy sufferers are well aware, these nasty reactions can occur within a matter of seconds. In a severe allergic response, sudden anaphylactic shock and death can be the result.
The key to actively disabling the allergic response lies in the separation of IgE from the FcRs on the surface of mast cells. But separating these dangerous couples is a tall order because their interaction is extremely stable sensitizing the mast cells for weeks. Currently available treatment using omalizumab (an anti-IgE antibody sold under the trade name Xolair) can block new interactions between IgE and FcR, but it is not designed to pry the molecules apart once they've formed a bond on the surface of a mast cell. So Xolair can dampen the allergic response, but as stated on the product's website: "Xolair is not a rescue medicine and should not be used to treat sudden asthma attacks."
While simply blocking IgE binding is helpful for some allergy sufferers, when it comes to the rapid quenching of an acute allergic response, "what you'd really like to do is get rid of it," said Jardetzky. Along with scientists at the University of Bern, his team discovered that an engineered protein inhibitor called DARPin E2-79 stripped IgE from the mast cell receptor. Using this inhibitor, "an interaction that normally lasts for hours or days in terms of its stability is stripped off in a matter of seconds," said Jardetzky.
DARPin E2-79 is one of a family of engineered inhibitors containing protein-binding regions called ankryin repeats. While Jardetzky's group was using structural biology and biophysical approaches to probe the weak spots in the IgE-FcR interaction, scientists at the University of Bern were tinkering with DARPins that dampened IgE's disastrous effects. The collaboration of the two groups resulted in the characterization of DARPin E2-79, an inhibitor that goes beyond mere blockade to actively disassemble the IgE-FcR power couple.
Jardetzky's group solved E2-79'S structure and used this information to model its interaction with the IgE-FcR pair. Then, using sensitive biochemical techniques that detect step-by-step binding interactions between molecules, the teams were able to tease out the mechanism that the inhibitor uses to break the IgE-FcR bond.
The researchers found that E2-79 hastens the separation of the two molecules by taking advantage of a moment of weakness in the relationship between IgE and FcR. IgE maintains its interaction with FcR using two contact points, and occasionally one of these points releases while the other one keeps the pair together. Normally this brief looseness isn't enough to separate the couple, but E2-79 can swoop into the small space between them, effectively driving the couple apart.
While E2-79 is the first molecule to display these IgE stripping characteristics, Jardetzky hopes that this work will stimulate the discovery of smaller compounds capable of working even more efficiently. Drug developers generally expect large macromolecules like E2-79 to be less potent than small molecule inhibitors and unlikely to be able to disrupt complexes, so the fact that E2-79 worked so well was a surprise. Small molecules are more amenable to oral administration, and are easier and cheaper to manufacture than large macromolecules. "Now we're in the hunt for a small molecule that could have this kind of activity. That would be the real hit," said Jardetzky.
The discovery of E2-79's mechanism of IgE inhibition could lead to rapid discoveries from other labs as well. Now that scientists know what mechanism to look for, they may be inspired to dig back through freezers full of IgE inhibitors that were identified years ago, said Jardetzky. In the light of techniques described in this study, perhaps once-neglected inhibitors will show new promise in the treatment of allergic disease.
###
The study's primary authorship was shared between Beomkyu Kim, PhD, a Stanford graduate student, and Alexander Eggel, PhD, at the University of Bern. The other Stanford co-author is research assistant Svetlana Tarchevskaya.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Asthma Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation. Information about Stanford's Department of Structural Biology, which also supported the work, is available at http://structuralbio.stanford.edu/.
The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://mednews.stanford.edu. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. For information about all three, please visit http://stanfordmedicine.org/about/news.html.
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Mechanism found for destruction of key allergy-inducing complexes, Stanford researchers sayPublic release date: 28-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rosanne Spector manishma@stanford.edu 650-725-5374 Stanford University Medical Center
STANFORD, Calif. Researchers have learned how a man-made molecule destroys complexes that induce allergic responses a discovery that could lead to the development of highly potent, rapidly acting interventions for a host of acute allergic reactions.
The study, which will be published online Oct. 28 in Nature, was led by scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of Bern, Switzerland.
The new inhibitor disarms IgE antibodies, pivotal players in acute allergies, by detaching the antibody from its partner in crime, a molecule called FcR. (Other mechanisms lead to slower-developing allergic reactions.)
"It would be an incredible intervention if you could rapidly disconnect IgE antibodies in the midst of an acute allergic response," said Ted Jardetzky, PhD, professor of structural biology and senior investigator for the study. It turns out the inhibitor used by the team does just that.
A myriad of allergens, ranging from ragweed pollen to bee venom to peanuts, can set off IgE antibodies, resulting in allergic reactions within seconds. The new inhibitor destroys the complex that tethers IgE to the cells responsible for the reaction, called mast cells. Severing this connection would be the holy grail of IgE-targeted allergy treatment.
The first time a potential allergen enters the body, some people respond by making allergen-specific IgE antibodies. These antibodies stick around long after the initial allergen is cleared from the body. Most of the antibodies get snagged by IgE-specific receptors called FcRs, which are exposed on the surface of mast cells. The mast cells are then primed to react the next time a person encounters the allergen.
Dissociation of this IgE-FcR interaction is a sought-after goal of allergy treatment for a good reason: IgE-coated mast cells are grenades of histamine, and re-encountering the allergen is equivalent to pulling out the clip. When an allergen makes a return visit, it binds to the pre-loaded IgE on the mast cell surface, triggering the release of inflammatory mediators including histamine that promote the allergic response. As allergy sufferers are well aware, these nasty reactions can occur within a matter of seconds. In a severe allergic response, sudden anaphylactic shock and death can be the result.
The key to actively disabling the allergic response lies in the separation of IgE from the FcRs on the surface of mast cells. But separating these dangerous couples is a tall order because their interaction is extremely stable sensitizing the mast cells for weeks. Currently available treatment using omalizumab (an anti-IgE antibody sold under the trade name Xolair) can block new interactions between IgE and FcR, but it is not designed to pry the molecules apart once they've formed a bond on the surface of a mast cell. So Xolair can dampen the allergic response, but as stated on the product's website: "Xolair is not a rescue medicine and should not be used to treat sudden asthma attacks."
While simply blocking IgE binding is helpful for some allergy sufferers, when it comes to the rapid quenching of an acute allergic response, "what you'd really like to do is get rid of it," said Jardetzky. Along with scientists at the University of Bern, his team discovered that an engineered protein inhibitor called DARPin E2-79 stripped IgE from the mast cell receptor. Using this inhibitor, "an interaction that normally lasts for hours or days in terms of its stability is stripped off in a matter of seconds," said Jardetzky.
DARPin E2-79 is one of a family of engineered inhibitors containing protein-binding regions called ankryin repeats. While Jardetzky's group was using structural biology and biophysical approaches to probe the weak spots in the IgE-FcR interaction, scientists at the University of Bern were tinkering with DARPins that dampened IgE's disastrous effects. The collaboration of the two groups resulted in the characterization of DARPin E2-79, an inhibitor that goes beyond mere blockade to actively disassemble the IgE-FcR power couple.
Jardetzky's group solved E2-79'S structure and used this information to model its interaction with the IgE-FcR pair. Then, using sensitive biochemical techniques that detect step-by-step binding interactions between molecules, the teams were able to tease out the mechanism that the inhibitor uses to break the IgE-FcR bond.
The researchers found that E2-79 hastens the separation of the two molecules by taking advantage of a moment of weakness in the relationship between IgE and FcR. IgE maintains its interaction with FcR using two contact points, and occasionally one of these points releases while the other one keeps the pair together. Normally this brief looseness isn't enough to separate the couple, but E2-79 can swoop into the small space between them, effectively driving the couple apart.
While E2-79 is the first molecule to display these IgE stripping characteristics, Jardetzky hopes that this work will stimulate the discovery of smaller compounds capable of working even more efficiently. Drug developers generally expect large macromolecules like E2-79 to be less potent than small molecule inhibitors and unlikely to be able to disrupt complexes, so the fact that E2-79 worked so well was a surprise. Small molecules are more amenable to oral administration, and are easier and cheaper to manufacture than large macromolecules. "Now we're in the hunt for a small molecule that could have this kind of activity. That would be the real hit," said Jardetzky.
The discovery of E2-79's mechanism of IgE inhibition could lead to rapid discoveries from other labs as well. Now that scientists know what mechanism to look for, they may be inspired to dig back through freezers full of IgE inhibitors that were identified years ago, said Jardetzky. In the light of techniques described in this study, perhaps once-neglected inhibitors will show new promise in the treatment of allergic disease.
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The study's primary authorship was shared between Beomkyu Kim, PhD, a Stanford graduate student, and Alexander Eggel, PhD, at the University of Bern. The other Stanford co-author is research assistant Svetlana Tarchevskaya.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Asthma Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation. Information about Stanford's Department of Structural Biology, which also supported the work, is available at http://structuralbio.stanford.edu/.
The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://mednews.stanford.edu. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. For information about all three, please visit http://stanfordmedicine.org/about/news.html.
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia ? A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the west coast of Canada, but there were no reports of major damage. Residents in parts of British Columbia were evacuated, but the province appeared to escape the biggest quake in Canada since 1949 largely unscathed.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the powerful temblor hit the Queen Charlotte Islands just after 8 p.m. local time Saturday at a depth of about 3 miles (5 kilometers) and was centered 96 miles (155 kilometers) south of Masset, British Columbia. It was felt across a wide area in British Columbia, both on its Pacific islands and on the mainland.
"It looks like the damage and the risk are at a very low level," said Shirley Bond, British Columbia's minister responsible for emergency management said. "We're certainly grateful."
The National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas of British Columbia, southern Alaska and Hawaii, but later canceled it for the first two and downgraded it to an advisory for Hawaii.
Gerard Fryer, a senior geologist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, said the first waves hitting shore in Hawaii were smaller than expected.
Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said early Sunday that the Aloha State was lucky to avoid more severe surges after the powerful earthquake struck off the coast of Canada. Abercrombie said beaches and harbors are still closed statewide.
"We're very, very grateful that we can go home tonight counting our blessings," Abercrombie said.
The weather service also canceled a tsunami advisory for Oregon, leaving northern California as the only spot in North America still under a tsunami advisory.
Dennis Sinnott of the Canadian Institute of Ocean Science said a 69-centimeter (27 inch) wave was recorded off Langara Island on the northeast tip of Haida Gwaii, formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands. The islands are home to about 5,000 people, many of them members of the Haida aboriginal group. Another 55 centimeter (21 inch) wave hit Winter Harbour on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.
"It appears to be settling down," he said. "It does not mean we won't get another small wave coming through."
Canada's largest earthquake since 1700 was an 8.1 magnitude quake on August 22, 1949 off the coast of British Columbia, according to the Canadian government's Natural Resources website. It occurred on the Queen Charlotte Fault in what the department called Canada's equivalent of the San Andreas Fault ? the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates that runs underwater along the west coast of the Haida Gwaii.
In 1970 a 7.4 magnitude quake struck south of the Haida Gwaii.
The USGS said the temblor shook the waters around British Columbia and was followed by a 5.8 magnitude aftershock after several minutes. Several other aftershocks were reported.
The quake struck 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Sandspit, British Columbia, on the Haida Gwaii archipelago. People in coastal areas were advised to move to higher ground.
Urs Thomas, operator of the Golden Spruce hotel in Port Clements said there was no warning before everything began moving inside and outside the hotel. He said it lasted about three minutes.
"It was a pretty good shock," Thomas, 59, said. "I looked at my boat outside. It was rocking. Everything was moving. My truck was moving."
After the initial jolt, Thomas began to check the hotel.
"The fixtures and everything were still swinging," he said. "I had some picture frames coming down."
Lenore Lawrence, a resident of Queen Charlotte City on the Haida Gwaii, said the quake was "definitely scary," adding she wondered if "this could be the big one." She said the shaking lasted more than a minute. While several things fell off her mantle and broke, she said damage in her home was minimal.
Many on the B.C. mainland said the same.
"I was sitting at my desk on my computer and everything just started to move. It was maybe 20 seconds," said Joan Girbav, manager of Pacific Inn in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. "It's very scary. I've lived here all my life and I've never felt that."
Residents rushed out of their homes in Tofino, British Columbia on Vancouver Island when the tsunami sirens sounded, but they were allowed to return about two hours after the quake.
In Hawaii, the tsunami warning spurred residents to stock up on essentials at gas stations and grocery stores and sent tourists in beachside hotels to higher floors in their buildings. Bus service into Waikiki was cut off an hour before the first waves, and police in downtown Honolulu shut down a Halloween block party. In Kauai, three schools used as evacuation centers quickly filled to capacity.
Fryer said the largest wave in the first 45 minutes of the tsunami was measured in Maui at more than 5 feet (1.5 meters), about 2 feet (60 centimeters) higher than normal sea levels. No major damage was reported.
In Alaska, the wave or surge was recorded at 4 inches (10 centimeters), much smaller than forecast, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The quake was felt in Craig and other southeast Alaska communities, but Zidek said there were no immediate reports of damage.
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Associated Press writers Oskar Garcia in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
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With predictions of a potentially catastrophic storm hitting New Jersey, many residents probably will spend lot of time without any power this week.
The good news is unlike the past two storms that hammered the state, residents and local officials may have a better idea of where and when the lights will come back on, as a result of actions implemented by the four electric utilities.?
The bad news is that because of the severity of the storm, the president of Jersey Central Power & Light already has warned that some residents could be without electricity for up to 10 days, a situation state officials hoped would be avoided by the utilities adopting many of the 143 recommendations outlined by a consultant to improve response times when restoring service in major storms.
So while customers may be in the dark literally, there's less of a chance they'll be in the dark figuratively. That's because the utilities have stepped up communications to local officials and residents about restoration plans. That includes using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to alert customers about power outages via mobile phones.
Gov. Chris Christie said yesterday the administration also plans to hold phone conferences with local officials at least two or three times daily to give them the latest information on outages, road closures, and other storm-related issues.
Unfortunately, some of the recommendations outlined in the report, unveiled this past summer, have yet to be implemented. If and when they are, it could prove to be a lengthy, expensive process.
For instance, in the two major storms that caused the state to explore this issue, tens of thousands of customers lost power because 15 utility substations -- which convert electricity from high-voltage lines and deliver it to residents and businesses -- were flooded.
The report urged the agency to look at the utilities? plans to deal with the problem -- such as relocating substations, building floodwalls, or raising the height of the facilities. Some? permanent solutions have yet to be implemented.
At a briefing yesterday afternoon, Board of Public Utilities President Bob Hanna said the state?s four electric utilities are sandbagging their substations, including some that have never flooded in the past.
Public Service Electric & Gas, the state?s largest utility, has hooked up mobile substations in River Edge and New Milford, loading transformers on flatbed trailers to support electric load in the flood-prone areas, according to Karen Johnson, a spokeswoman for the utility.
The utilities are also recruiting extra crews, contractors, and utility personnel from as far away as San Diego to help restore power in the aftermath of the storm, Hanna said.
Not pulling in extra people was a major failing of the utilities in to past storms, according to the consultant?s report. During Hurricane Irene, none of the state?s four electric utilities got as much help as they requested from other regional power companies -- or got it quickly enough -- ?the report concluded.
But both Hanna and Christie warned of widespread and prolonged power outages.
Referring to Hurricane Irene, which left 1.9 million customers without power at some point, the governor said, ?This has the potential to be worse because it might linger.?? The weather forecasts predict heavy rain beginning yesterday evening and lasting up to 36 hours, Christie said.
Meteorologists agree. ?An extended period of wind gusts between 40 miles per hour and 60 mph is forecast for two days, which will take its toll on structures, trees, and power lines,?? predicted Alex Sosnowski, a senior meteorologist for AccuWeather.com.
Such wind gusts, Hanna warned could bring down transmission lines, an event that occurred in South Jersey earlier this year when a freak storm pounded the region. If so, tens of thousands of customers could lose power, he said.
Still, Hanna predicted an improved response.? ?The performance will be much better this time around,?? Hanna said.
Chris Eck, a spokesman for Jersey Central Power & Light, which came under the harshest criticism for its communication with customers and local officials in previous storms, said its customers will be better informed because of plans to use social media to inform. ?That?s one big plus,?? he said.
But how long customers might be out is still an unknown, he said. ?We just don?t know how severe the storm will be,?? Eck said. ?It could stay here for a couple of days with very high winds.??
There is no question the state is not underestimating the potential damage of the yet-to-arrive storm. The Christie administration has closed casinos in Atlantic City; ordered the evacuation of the Jersey Shore barrier islands; shut down NJ Transit; given state government today off; and strongly urged public schools to close.
?We can?t stop the storm,?? Christie said at an afternoon briefing on steps the administration is taking. ?We need to prepare for the worst here.??
In response to the previous storms, the state?s utilities have stepped up replacing infrastructure and accelerated tree-trimming to reduce power outages
PSE&G, for example, has spent $28 million in trimming trees away from power lines, a major cause of power outages, according to Johnson.
NJ Spotlight is an online news service providing insight and information on issues critical to New Jersey, with the aim of informing and engaging the state?s communities and businesses. Read more From New Jersey Spotlight.
Reince Priebus knows why the Republicans are going to win on election day. Elections, just like football, are decided by a campaign's ground game. Democrats?"are a fraction of where they were in 2008, and we?re far ahead of where we were in 2008. And our ground game is better than their ground game," Priebus said on State of the Union. "We?re going to do more voter contacts this year compared to all of 2008 and all of 2004 combined," he said. "We have an army on the ground." Priebus was so excited about their ground game that he actually sounded like a football coach while endorsing the campaign's grassroots efforts.?"We?ve built our campaign and organization for this very close race,"?he said. "And we are very confident where we are now and where we?re going to be on Nov 6." Maybe he can take over the Jets after Rex Ryan gets fired in two weeks.?
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Karl Rove said things are moving, slowly but surely, for Mitt Romney in the big swing states during his appearance on?Fox News Sunday.?Rove sees "movement toward Romney, but slow and [that's] simply because we're getting down to a very thin group of people left undecided." Rove said he's confident of the campaign's chances in Ohio because of their vaunted ground game. He said Romney had?"busted the metrics for the 2004 campaign," by knocking on over 2 million doors, and the decline in absentee ballots is hurting the Obama campaign.?
RELATED: O'Malley Says We're Not Better Off; Rahm Was Unimpressed
Meanwhile, Obama surrogate Stephanie Cutter isn't sweating the Republicans ramped up effort in Ohio, or a new poll showing the two candidates are tied in the state. "We feel pretty good about where we are on the ground there," Cutter said during her appearance on ABC's?This Week.?"In many cases, we are beating Mitt Romney three-to-one in the early vote," she said. "Our people are turning out, and they are turning out very in very high numbers. We feel very good about Ohio and we think we?re gonna win it." She also wasn't sweating the Des-Moines Register's Romney endorsement, their first Republican endorsement in forty years. "It was a little surprising to read that editorial because it didn?t seem to be based at all in reality, not just in the president?s record but in Mitt Romney?s record," Cutter said. "It says he?d reach across the aisle when he?d do the exact opposite... He?s never once stood up to the far extreme right wing."?
RELATED: Reince Lowers Expectations; Obama Reviews the Tape
If Ohio Gov. John Kasich was a betting man, he'd be calling his bookie right now and placing a bet for a Romney victory. He says he finally believes Romney is going to win his state. "I believe right now we are currently ahead, internals show us currently ahead," Kasich said on NBC's?Meet the Press. "I honestly think that Romney is going to carry Ohio, and you know I haven't been saying this. I now believe it is going to happen." Kasich pointed to Romney's first debate performance as a turning point for undecided voters in Ohio.?"It's going to be really close," Kasich said. "I do think we will know before the end of the night. I'm not sure it's going to be as close as everybody is saying."
RELATED: Reince Priebus Says Harry Reid Is a 'Dirty Liar'
Sen. Ron. Johnson thinks people in Wisconsin don't care enough about Mourdock's rape comments ?that it will have an effect on his chances next week.?"It's not even an issue here in Wisconsin," Johnson said on Fox News Sunday. "It doesn't even move the radar at all." He said only one person has asked him about Mourdock's rape comments. One! Voters care more about the White House's handling of the Benghazi attacks, according to Johnson.?Confirming this is the new Republican party talking point on embarrassing rape comment discussions, Priebus echoed that sentiment during his State of the Union appearance. "I don?t think any party has a monopoly on gaffes. Clearly people running for office misspeak and they make mistakes," Priebus said. "The reality is overwhelmingly the people out there are not talking about what Richard Mourdock said. They are talking about the economy and what happened in Benghazi." But, when Crowley brought up John Sununu's race remarks, he did admit the gaffes can be a distraction to the campaign. "I mean you want people to be disciplined," he said. "And if people misspeak, and for no apparent reason cause small brush fires on their own that?s a distraction."
Another person defending Richard Mourdock: Newt Gingrich. The former GOP Presidential hopeful used his appearance on This Week to try and clarify what Mourdock really meant when he said pregnancy caused by rape is "God's will." "If you listen to what Mourdock actually said, he said what every Catholic and every fundamentalist in the country believes: Life begins at conception,? Gingrich said. "But the radical on abortion is Obama who as a state senator voted three times in favor of allowing doctors to kills babies in the eight or ninth month that they were born, having survived late night abortion," he added, "and the Democratic Party platform, which says that you should pay with your tax money for late-term abortions."
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John McCain used his appearance on CBS's Face the Nation to continue deriding the President for his handling of the Benghazi consulate attacks.?"This tragedy turned into a debacle and massive cover-up or massive incompetence in Libya is having an impact on the voters because of their view of the commander in chief," McCain said.?"It is now the worst cover-up or incompetence I have ever observed in my life. ..." said McCain. "Somebody the other day said to me, 'Well, this is as bad as Watergate.' Nobody died in Watergate."
If you're looking for someone to try and guess how hurricane Sandy is going to affect the election, do not ask David Axelrod. He has no idea. CNN's?State of the Union?host Candy Crowley tried to get it out of him, but he wouldn't bite.?"Were most concerned about people. This storm could affect 50 million people," David Axelrod said. Axelrod did acknowledge that damage from the storm, if it ends up being as serious as they're predicting, could make it difficult for some people to get to the polls. ?"The best thing we can do is to focus on how we can help people, and hope it all clears out by next weekend," he said.
Last Updated on Friday, 26 October 2012 18:31 Written by Janela Buhain Carrera Friday, 26 October 2012 17:58
Guam News - Guam News
Guam - Family members of Joaquin Crisostomo are now seeking answers for the death of their loved one while he was admitted at the Guam Memorial Hospital. His son, Bernard Crisostomo says his father went into GMH with flu-like symptoms and came out about a week later dead with injuries to the right side of his body.
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It was a classic case of the flu. Bernard Crisostomo?s father, Joaquin Crisostomo had flu-like symptoms, feverish with yellow stool. Because of his age, at 67, Bernard called for an ambulance and his father was taken to GMH and admitted into the telemetry ward. He then spoke with an in-house physician, Dr. Jeffrey Cruz who told him that his father will be out within three days. That was on October 11. But what happened next still remains a mystery.
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"Two days later on October 13, I get a call from the nurse saying my father fell. And I said, 'Well how did he fall?' He just said he fell, he wouldn?t explain," says Bernard. "So he fell and from the fall he had an injury to the haed, which I have photographs of. His leg started swelling and before you knew it, his health just started declining every day we went in there."
After his father?s fall, Bernard was then given a series of excuses, none of which answered any of his questions, he says. First he was told by a staff nurse that his father had gout, which would explain the swelling on the right side of his body.
The nurse then later took back her statement and said he didn?t have gout and that they would run some test. But, Bernard says, until this day, he has never seen the results of those tests if they were ever performed.
"So I asked them, I said, 'Is his life threatened at this time because my family in Hawaii wants to come out. Is it life threatning?' They said, 'No it's not life threatning at this time,'" explains Bernard.
The next explanation for his father?s mysterious condition, Bernard says, is that his father was dying because of his dental health.
"The doctor said, "I think your dad is dying because of teeth.' Exact words from Dr. Jeffrey Cruz. 'I think your father is dying because of his teeth,'" Bernard says. "He said maybe there maybe a bacterial [infection] but he said it?s treatable [with] antibiotics. But he said that--he kept avoiding what was arising, he wouldn?t say anything about the leg and the head inuries."
Bernards adds: "He was alert and everything before the fall. After the fall he was kind of dazed and confused. The nurse asked him who my wife was and he said FBI."
Finally, eight days after his father fall, Joaquin Crisostomo died on October 21st. Lacking answers, Bernard then sought to find out how his father sustained the injuries, but more importantly, why he died.
But finding out what happened to his father, Bernard would soon find out, was an arduous task with the run-around he was given. Even as he prepared to fill out a request for an autopsy, a grieving Bernard alluded to being insulted in the way he was treated by the hospital staff.
"Sera Rios [hospital staffer] talked to me for a little bit and said okay, here?s the form, but she said, 'You know this is going to cost you $3,800.' Money is not the issue right now for me. The issue is, why did my father die? That?s all I would like to know. Right now, what was the cause of his death? Because it is unknown and the doc told me three days my dad would be out and now my dad is dead," says Bernard.
Meanwhile, GMH Administrator Joseph Verga acknowledged that he had received a complaint regarding Joaquin Crisostomo?s death. While Verga says he and all of GMH sympathize with the Crisostomo family, a hospital is a place where sick people go and untimely deaths do occur.
However, he notes that his death will be investigated just as any suspicious death is handled. For Bernard and his family, all they want is to know how and why their father died.
"And closure. Most of all is closure to my family. We shouldn?t have other families on our island go through pain and suffering like this on a human life. Especially a human life. I mean if it coudl've been prevented then let?s prevent it. Let?s not shy away from this problem," he adds.
Joaquin Crisostomo was 67 years old. He is survived by his 9 children.
LONDON (AP) -Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is set to spend two weeks on the sidelines with a recurring right calf injury.
Manager Roberto Di Matteo confirmed the injury on Friday.
Lampard won't be available for Chelsea's significant matches at home against Manchester United in the English Premier League and League Cup, as well as the visit of Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
The England international limped off the pitch after just 15 minutes in the midweek 2-1 loss at Shakhtar Donetsk. The match was Lampard's 100th in the Champions League.
The same injury kept him out of England's two World Cup qualifiers this month, and may influence his selection in Roy Hodgson's next squad for a friendly against Sweden on Nov. 14.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Public release date: 28-Oct-2012
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So while customers may be in the dark literally, there's less of a chance they'll be in the dark figuratively. That's because the utilities have stepped up communications to local officials and residents about restoration plans. That includes using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to alert customers about power outages via mobile phones.
