Rights group: Egypt must tackle legacy of abuse

FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 file photo, Egyptian army soldiers, background, arrest a woman protester during clashes near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, Egypt. Amnesty International warned Tuesday that the practice of impunity for Egyptian police and military continued even after regime change and Hosni Mubarak?s ouster, and urged the country?s newly elected leader to deal with this "bloody legacy" by bringing to justice those responsible for killing, maiming and abusing protesters. (AP Photo/Ahmed Ali, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 file photo, Egyptian army soldiers, background, arrest a woman protester during clashes near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, Egypt. Amnesty International warned Tuesday that the practice of impunity for Egyptian police and military continued even after regime change and Hosni Mubarak?s ouster, and urged the country?s newly elected leader to deal with this "bloody legacy" by bringing to justice those responsible for killing, maiming and abusing protesters. (AP Photo/Ahmed Ali, File)

FILE - In this Friday, May 4, 2012 file photo, a protester, right, waves a stick at Egyptian soldiers during clashes outside the Ministry of Defense in Cairo, Egypt. Amnesty International warned Tuesday that the practice of impunity for Egyptian police and military continued even after regime change and Hosni Mubarak?s ouster, and urged the country?s newly elected leader to deal with this "bloody legacy" by bringing to justice those responsible for killing, maiming and abusing protesters. (AP Photo/Ahmed Gomaa, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012 file photo, Egyptian protesters run during clashes with riot police, background, outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt. Amnesty International warned Tuesday that the practice of impunity for Egyptian police and military continued even after regime change and Hosni Mubarak?s ouster, and urged the country?s newly elected leader to deal with this "bloody legacy" by bringing to justice those responsible for killing, maiming and abusing protesters. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 file photo, Egyptian army soldiers arrest a woman protester during clashes with military police near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square. Amnesty International warned Tuesday that the practice of impunity for Egyptian police and military continued even after regime change and Hosni Mubarak?s ouster, and urged the country?s newly elected leader to deal with this "bloody legacy" by bringing to justice those responsible for killing, maiming and abusing protesters. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011 file photo, Two army soldiers run after Egyptian Coptic demonstrators by a burning civilian vehicle during cashes with Egyptian Army soldiers following a Copts demonstration in Cairo, Egypt. Amnesty International warned Tuesday that the practice of impunity for Egyptian police and military continued even after regime change and Hosni Mubarak?s ouster, and urged the country?s newly elected leader to deal with this "bloody legacy" by bringing to justice those responsible for killing, maiming and abusing protesters. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

CAIRO (AP) ? Amnesty International on Tuesday took Egypt's new president to task for failing to address the "bloody legacy" of abuses by security forces committed under military rule after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, which continue even after the establishment of the country's first freely elected government.

The rights group urged President Mohammed Morsi to hold the military accountable for the killing, torture and sexual abuse of protesters during the 18 months when the generals held power after Mubarak's February 2011 ouster.

It also said Morsi should rein in police forces, which it said still use excessive force to deal with protests and have tortured detainees. It called for the government to allow U.N. experts to investigate and assess how to deal with the problems.

"Unless there is a clear political will to confront this and to provide the families of the victims with truth and justice, things are not going to change," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director for Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Program, told The Associated Press.

"For the moment, police officers, soldiers are confident that they can commit violations with impunity without ever having to answer for any of their acts," she said.

Two extensive reports released by the London-based human rights group in Cairo on Tuesday detailed cases of rights abuses by the army and police, focusing on six separate incidents of crackdowns on protests that killed at least 120 people. Amnesty said thousands of protesters were injured or maimed ? with documented cases of loss of eyesight ? during the crackdowns, and that detainees were tortured in custody.

Most of the crackdowns took place during the post-Mubarak period of rule by a council of generals, during which soldiers had a major role in keeping security inside the country. The military has largely backed down from that role ever since Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, was inaugurated at the end of June as the new president

But Morsi's failure to seek accountability from the police and military for those abuses has only fueled a culture of impunity that is allowing violations to continue, Amnesty warned. One of the Amnesty documented cases of violent crackdown by the police against protesters took place after Morsi came to power in August, in which one was killed.

Officials in Morsi's office did not respond to requests by The Associated Press for comment on the report.

Karim Ennarah, a researcher with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights who spoke at a news conference by Amnesty on Tuesday, said it appeared that police abuses are getting worse in the three months since Morsi came to power.

He cited the deaths of two people last month in the town of Meit Ghamr, outside Cairo. One was tortured in a police station, including being beaten in the head by a rifle butt, and then died before getting to a hospital. The second person was then killed when police opened fire with live ammunition on a crowd angered by the first man's death.

"The police is acting as if it is an armed gang. It lost control and is trying to regain it by resorting to excessive force," Ennarah said.

In its reports, Amnesty said the country's new leadership must "tackle the bloody legacy of official abuse and guarantee that no one is above the law in Egypt."

Security abuse and flagrant human rights violations were among the sparks that ignited the uprising against Mubarak. Thousands took to the streets initially to protest a young man's brutal death by police beating in 2010.

After Mubarak's regime was ousted in the popular uprising and the army took over, protesters increasingly denounced the military for its excessive use of force, for targeting women protesters, beatings and sexual abuse ? including the notorious "virginity tests" that female detainees were forced to go through after being taken into custody by soldiers.

Amnesty noted that at least 12,000 civilians, mainly protesters, have been tried before military tribunals while only three soldiers and a military doctor have faced a military court over abuse of authority. And only one security officer was brought to trial for killing and injuring protesters in one of the six documented cases.

"The only thing we have done (since the uprising) is lose our sons. That's it," said Mary Daniel, the sister of a protester killed last year during a military crackdown on rally. "We have gone from bad to worse."

Amnesty said the army's response to protests was "disproportionate," citing cases when live ammunition was fired as demonstrators lobbed stones or firebombs at the troops. It also cited incidents of army vehicles running down groups of protesters, in one case killing several demonstrators.

Amnesty quoted one protester, Wael Saber Bshay, whose brother was crushed by a military armored personnel carrier during an Oct. 9, 2011 protest that killed 27 people, mostly Coptic Christians.

"We were in a state of shock that the army, which is supposed to protect us ... attacked us," Bshay told Amnesty. "If we were in a state of war with an enemy, I don't think this would have happened."

The Amnesty report also documented that Egypt continued to receive deliveries of small arms and equipment from abroad, including from its largest supplier the United States, despite the violent crackdowns.

In one case, the report said, a U.S. shipment believed to contain tear gas was dispatched to Egypt on Oct. 13, 2011, just days after the protest by the Christians was crushed. Another shipment from the U.S. arrived days after a November protest in which nearly 50 people were killed, Amnesty reported.

The group said authorities should allow visits by the U.N.'s special rapporteur on torture and the U.N. working group on arbitrary detention and torture, whose requests for visits were ignored by the Mubarak regime.

For abuses to halt, those responsible must be brought to trial before an independent, civilian court, said Suzanne Nossel, the executive director of Amnesty International USA.

"If President Morsi truly wants to reform Egypt, he must establish the principle that no one can be above the law, including the army and the security services," Nossel said. "Without accountability by the army and security forces who are responsible for decades of human rights violations, justice for victims will remain elusive."

Amnesty said it has yet to receive a response from Morsi for a memorandum it had sent to him on the day he was sworn in, in which it details how Egypt can address the history of human rights and open a new page.

"This is disappointing," said Sahraoui.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-02-ML-Egypt-Amnesty/id-40e62965a36d4c5f83994cc9863f6206

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Sony: We are still considering Windows RT, but optimum timing is also key

In the Q&A session at today's Sony VAIO event in Tokyo, a spokesperson expressed that while his company has yet to officially give Windows RT a whirl, it is still under consideration for future VAIO products. The rep added that he believes there's an optimum timing for picking up this ARM-friendly version of Windows 8, but he didn't elaborate further. Perhaps Sony's just getting all too comfortable with Android.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Sony

Sony: We are still considering Windows RT, but optimum timing is also key originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 04:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Engadget Japanese  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/unCwBd_RKpc/

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Proposed Space Boat Could Explore Lakes On Saturn's Moon Titan

While rovers are ideal for exploring Mars, a boat is best for Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Scientists are proposing a new mission to explore this alluring world that would send a floating probe to land in a lake on Titan.

Titan, the largest of the more than 60 natural satellites of Saturn, is covered in seas, lakes and rivers of methane, and hosts a thick atmosphere, making it one of the most Earth-like bodies in the solar system. Smaller than Earth but wider than Mercury, Titan is in many ways more like a planet than a moon.

Scientists don't know if life might be possible on Titan. Some think it's too cold, as average temperatures are a chilly minus 289 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 178 degrees Celsius). Yet others say the insulating atmosphere and plentiful liquids, not to mention a possible subsurface ocean, could be hospitable to microbial organisms.

That's part of the reason researchers are so eager to explore the world, which has been imaged in recent years by NASA's Cassini mission, and was even studied by the accompanying European Space Agency Huygens probe, which plunged through Titan's atmosphere and touched down on land in January 2005, transmitting a few hours of data before it went quiet. [Amazing Photos of Titan]

Huygens confirmed that lakes, rivers and seas of liquid hydrocarbons abound on Titan. Now scientists want to send a follow-up mission to explore them.

That's where the Titan Lake In-situ Sampling Propelled Explorer (TALISE) comes in. The proposed mission would land a boat, propelled by wheels, paddles or screws, to float around Ligeia Mare, the largest lake on the moon, located near Titan's north pole. After splashing down, TALISE would make its way to the coast over the course of a trip lasting six months to a year.

"The main innovation in TALISE is the propulsion system," Igone Urdampilleta of Spain-based private engineering firm SENER, a member of the TALISE team, said in a statement. "This allows the probe to move, under control, from the landing site in the lake, to the closest shore. The displacement capability would achieve the obtaining of liquid and solid samples from several scientific interesting locations on Titan's surface such as the landing place, along the route towards the shore and finally at the shoreline."?

TALISE is a joint project of SENER and the Centro de Astrobiolog?a in Madrid, Spain. The concept is in its beginning stages, but scientists presented the proposal on Sept. 27 at the European Planetary Science Congress in Madrid.

Follow SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook?&?Google+.?

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/proposed-space-boat-could-explore-lakes-saturns-moon-140559141.html

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The genetics of white finger disease

Monday, October 1, 2012

Vibration-induced white finger disease (VWF) is caused by continued use of vibrating hand held machinery (high frequency vibration >50 Hz), and affects tens of thousands of people. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Clinical Epigenetics finds that people with a genetic polymorphism (A2191G) in sirtuin1 (SIRT1), a protein involved in the regulation of endothelial NOS (eNOS), are more likely to suffer from vibration-induced white finger disease.

VWF (also known as hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS)) is a secondary form of Raynaud's disease involving the blood vessels and nerves of arms, fingers and hands. Affected fingers feel stiff and cold and loose sensation for the duration of the attack, which can be very painful. Loss of sensation can make it difficult to carry out manual activities. Initially attacks are triggered by cold temperatures but as the disease progresses attacks can occur at any time.

Little is known about what causes the restriction in blood flow, however researchers from Germany investigated the role of SIRT 1 by looking at polymorphisms (naturally occurring variations in DNA sequence) in people affected by VWF.

SIRT1 regulates activation of other genes by controlling how tightly DNA is wound in the nucleus. Tightly wound DNA cannot be 'read' and consequently cannot be used to make new protein. SIRT1 is known to regulate vasodilation by targeting eNOS, a nitric oxide synthase within the cells lining the inside of blood vessels, which regulates smooth muscle contraction, and hence the diameter of the vessel, and the amount of blood that can flow through it.

Of 113 polymorphisms tested, in the gene coding for SIRT1, only four actually affected the protein, the rest were non-coding or false positives. Of these four, only one was different between people with VWF and unaffected controls. A single nucleotide at position 2191 can either be an A or a G. In the unaffected population 99.7% had the A, but amongst the patients with VWF, almost a third had the G.

Dr Susanne Voelter-Mahlknecht from the University of Tuebingen, who led this study, explained, "While this does not mean that only people with the G version of the gene for SIRT1 will get VWF, it can be used to identify a set of people who would be at risk of VWF if they used vibrating hand held tools. Testing for this variant before starting to work with vibrating machinery could prevent years of pain and disability."

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BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/123997/The_genetics_of_white_finger_disease

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Neon wedding inspiration

28 Sep

Y?all know that neon doesn?t have to go away now that it?s not summer anymore, right? In fact, we?re hoping this cute and simple shoot by Engaged & Inspired?sparks some ideas. We know fall weddings and parties are perfect for bringing in romantic deep tones, but how fun would it be to add pops of?neon to your table, invitations and decor?

Sarah Seven dresses all around, yes!

Check back in a jiff for our Friday Bits + Pieces!

photographer: Kelly Stonelake?/ dresses: Sarah Seven?/ design + crafting: Engaged & Inspired?/ florals: Engaged & Inspired?/ makeup: Oo La La Makeup?/ desserts: Sweet Luna Desserts?/ venue: Private Estate

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Source: http://www.100layercake.com/blog/2012/09/28/neon-wedding-inspiration/

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New insights on control of pituitary hormone outside of brain has implications for breast cancer

ScienceDaily (Sep. 30, 2012) ? The hormone prolactin is produced by the pituitary gland in the brain and then travels via the bloodstream to cells throughout the body, where it exerts multiple reproductive and metabolic effects, most notably on the breast where it is the master regulator of lactation. In recent years researchers have found that prolactin is also produced by some tissues outside the brain, however little is known about the functions of extra-pituitary prolactin or how its production is regulated in these tissues.

Now, the laboratory of Lewis A. Chodosh, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Cancer Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, reports in Genes & Development that activation of the PI3K-Akt oncogenic signaling pathway in the mammary glands of mice rapidly induces cells in the breast itself to produce prolactin. This, in turn, triggers Stat5 activation, mammary epithelial differentiation and milk production in virgin mice within a matter of hours.

"Remarkably, these changes occur in the absence of any of the complex hormonal changes or developmental programs that normally accompany pregnancy" explains Chodosh.

Consistent with a physiological role for prolactin outside of the brain, the Penn team found that mice bearing mutant Akt genes fail to activate Stat5 or initiate lactation when they give birth due to an inability to synthesize and secrete prolactin in the mammary gland, despite normal levels of circulating prolactin in the blood.

These findings provide the first demonstration that the synthesis and secretion of mammary gland prolactin is regulated by PI3K-Akt signaling and identify a physiological function for extra-pituitary prolactin during a critical developmental stage that is essential for the survival of mammalian offspring.

What's more, prolactin has long been thought to play a role in human breast cancer, however this has typically been assumed to be due to circulating prolactin produced by the pituitary. Since the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway is commonly activated in human cancers, this new finding suggests the important possibility that prolactin produced by the breast itself may play a role in breast cancer. In fact, mammary prolactin has been detected in some human breast cancers. As such, investigators have proposed that prolactin produced by the mammary gland -- rather than by the pituitary -- may play a direct role in the development of breast cancer, for example by providing pro-growth or pro-survival signals to cancer cells in the breast. Accordingly, anti-cancer drugs aimed at blocking the effects of prolactin are currently under development.

"Since the PI3K-Akt pathway is one of the most commonly activated oncogenic pathways in human cancer, its identification as an upstream regulator of prolactin production in the mammary gland has intriguing potential implications for understanding the pathology of human breast cancer and as well as improving its treatment," notes Chodosh.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/zRv2aaDsLpk/120930173720.htm

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Like Zillow on Facebook & Enter to Win a $350,000 New Home ...

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Check out the FAQs or Official Rules for complete details. The sweepstakes runs from October 1, 2012 at 12:00 P.M. ET to October 31, 2012 at 11:59:59 P.M. ET.

(i) The winning sweepstakes entry will be given a choice of a $350,000 credit to purchase a new home in a participating Pulte Homes community or a $350,000 cash option.

(ii) Entries valid from legal residents in the contiguous United States. The sweepstakes is open to all eligible legal residents of US/DC, excluding NJ, RI, PR.

(iii) Judging will be based on the overall aesthetic of the board (34 percent), creativity of the pins and descriptions (33 percent) and representation of all parts of the home (i.e., interior and exterior pins) (33 percent). See Official Rules for complete details. Must be registered for the ?I Want a New Home!? Sweepstakes to be eligible to win the $5,000 bonus cash.

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Source: http://www.zillow.com/blog/2012-10-01/like-zillow-on-facebook-enter-to-win-a-350000-new-home/

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