Facebook is rolling out the ability to send private messages with stickers -- cute, pre-made, sometimes animated images -- from its website. Facebook launched stickers on mobile in mid-April, but now the web chat smiley button reveals a basket leading to the sticker store where you add free sticker packs your repertoire. Stickers could keep Facebook users from straying to other messaging mediums.
A great place to talk about the camera on your Android phone, and share the great pictures you take with it
The new Android Central Photography forums are now open for business! Our Android phones are for more than calling and texting, and taking photos to share with friends and family is now a great reason to have one. Cameras are advancing, and while their probably never going to be as good as professional equipment, we've seen some awesome pictures snapped with the camera that's always in your pocket -- the smart phone.
All of us here at AC are big picture takers as well. We know what it's like to have questions, or want to talk about the best way to use our phone cameras, and of course share pictures. Part of being a blogger for a big site like AC means learning how to take the best pictures you can, and we're often out and about depending on our phone to get the shot. You guys deserve nothing less than our best. We can't wait to talk and share with you guys and gals!
One really great tool we've been working on is being able to embed your photosphere pictures right into your forums post. A whole lot of reading, a little bit of sweat and a cold bottle of refreshment or two later, and we have it up and running. In fact, we've got a dedicated forum designed for sharing them and we really want to see them all! There are full instructions with a video about how to post them, and it's a pretty easy affair.
So get your lenses wiped clean, grab your best pictures, and head into the forums to share with the world. We'll see you there!
Considering that basic projectors are fairly dated pieces of tech at this point, the number of people still putting them to ingenius, wildly creative use is almost baffling. And this recently released video from the band Travis is no exception. With nothing but their trusty projector and some likely hyperventilating, they were able to turn their own breath into the beautifully ethereal animations you see above.
Fishing in the sea of proteinsPublic release date: 2-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. Jessica Jacobs Jessica.Jacobs@rub.de 49-234-322-2197 Ruhr-University Bochum
Composition of splicing complex in chloroplasts identified for the first time
To convert a gene into a protein, a cell first crafts a blueprint out of RNA. One of the main players in this process has been identified by researchers led by Dr. Jessica Jacobs at the Ruhr-Universitt Bochum. The team "fished" a large complex of proteins and RNA, which is involved in the so-called splicing, from the chloroplasts of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This cuts non-coding regions out of the messenger RNA, which contains the protein blueprint. "For the first time, we have established the exact composition of an unknown splicing complex of the chloroplasts", says Jacobs. She reports with her colleagues from the Department of General and Molecular Botany and the Work Group for Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry in the journal "Molecular and Cellular Proteomics".
From gene to protein craftwork required
Genes, the bearers of genetic information, contain coding and non-coding regions. To convert a gene into a protein, enzymes first create a copy of the gene, the messenger RNA. A useful blueprint for a protein is only obtained, however, when enzymes cut the non-coding regions, called introns out of the messenger RNA. Scientists call this process splicing. Large complexes of RNA and proteins are responsible for the splicing.
Components of the splicing complex identified in chloroplasts
The RUB researchers examined the splicing of the gene psaA, which is found in chloroplasts. These cellular constituents of plants which carry out photosynthesis probably originated from formerly free-living cyanobacteria. According to the endosymbiotic theory, the cyanobacteria lived in symbiosis with the plants and were eventually integrated into their cells. Chloroplasts therefore have their own genetic material - a relic from the cyanobacterial genome. However, the chloroplasts are dependent on the communication with the cell nucleus in order to be functional. The Bochum team identified the components of the protein complex that splices the chloroplast gene psaA. In the splicing complex they found 23 different proteins that are encoded in the genome of the cell nucleus. "The protein complex discovered gives us an insight into the functioning of components involved in the communication between chloroplasts and the nucleus", says Jessica Jacobs.
How to fish a splicing complex
The team carried out its investigations on the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. "We used a protein bait to fish the splicing complex out of the chloroplasts", says Jacobs. Before starting the experiment, it was known that the protein Raa4 is involved in the splicing of the psaA gene. The many interaction partners of Raa4, however, were unknown. The RUB biologists genetically altered the alga in such a way that it produced a modified form of the protein Raa4 - with a tag, i.e. a kind of "fish hook". They isolated all the proteins of the cell and filtered them through a particular material, on which only Raa4 got caught on its fish hook along with all of its bound interaction partners. They determined the components of the splicing complex fished out with the aid of mass spectrometry. The researchers found a splicing complex with the same composition for various environmental conditions: in light, darkness, and in an oxygen-free environment.
###
Bibliographic record
J. Jacobs, C. Marx, V. Kock, O. Reifschneider, B. Frnzel, C. Krisp, D. Wolters, U. Kck (2013): Identification of a chloroplast ribonucleoprotein complex containing trans-splicing factors, intron RNA and novel components, Molecular and Cellular Proteomics DOI: 10.1074/mcp.M112.026583
Further information
Dr. Jessica Jacobs, Department of General and Molecular Botany, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at the Ruhr-Universitt, 44780 Bochum, Germany, Tel. +49/234/32-22197, E-mail: Jessica.Jacobs@rub.de
Editor: Dr. Julia Weiler
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Fishing in the sea of proteinsPublic release date: 2-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. Jessica Jacobs Jessica.Jacobs@rub.de 49-234-322-2197 Ruhr-University Bochum
Composition of splicing complex in chloroplasts identified for the first time
To convert a gene into a protein, a cell first crafts a blueprint out of RNA. One of the main players in this process has been identified by researchers led by Dr. Jessica Jacobs at the Ruhr-Universitt Bochum. The team "fished" a large complex of proteins and RNA, which is involved in the so-called splicing, from the chloroplasts of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This cuts non-coding regions out of the messenger RNA, which contains the protein blueprint. "For the first time, we have established the exact composition of an unknown splicing complex of the chloroplasts", says Jacobs. She reports with her colleagues from the Department of General and Molecular Botany and the Work Group for Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry in the journal "Molecular and Cellular Proteomics".
From gene to protein craftwork required
Genes, the bearers of genetic information, contain coding and non-coding regions. To convert a gene into a protein, enzymes first create a copy of the gene, the messenger RNA. A useful blueprint for a protein is only obtained, however, when enzymes cut the non-coding regions, called introns out of the messenger RNA. Scientists call this process splicing. Large complexes of RNA and proteins are responsible for the splicing.
Components of the splicing complex identified in chloroplasts
The RUB researchers examined the splicing of the gene psaA, which is found in chloroplasts. These cellular constituents of plants which carry out photosynthesis probably originated from formerly free-living cyanobacteria. According to the endosymbiotic theory, the cyanobacteria lived in symbiosis with the plants and were eventually integrated into their cells. Chloroplasts therefore have their own genetic material - a relic from the cyanobacterial genome. However, the chloroplasts are dependent on the communication with the cell nucleus in order to be functional. The Bochum team identified the components of the protein complex that splices the chloroplast gene psaA. In the splicing complex they found 23 different proteins that are encoded in the genome of the cell nucleus. "The protein complex discovered gives us an insight into the functioning of components involved in the communication between chloroplasts and the nucleus", says Jessica Jacobs.
How to fish a splicing complex
The team carried out its investigations on the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. "We used a protein bait to fish the splicing complex out of the chloroplasts", says Jacobs. Before starting the experiment, it was known that the protein Raa4 is involved in the splicing of the psaA gene. The many interaction partners of Raa4, however, were unknown. The RUB biologists genetically altered the alga in such a way that it produced a modified form of the protein Raa4 - with a tag, i.e. a kind of "fish hook". They isolated all the proteins of the cell and filtered them through a particular material, on which only Raa4 got caught on its fish hook along with all of its bound interaction partners. They determined the components of the splicing complex fished out with the aid of mass spectrometry. The researchers found a splicing complex with the same composition for various environmental conditions: in light, darkness, and in an oxygen-free environment.
###
Bibliographic record
J. Jacobs, C. Marx, V. Kock, O. Reifschneider, B. Frnzel, C. Krisp, D. Wolters, U. Kck (2013): Identification of a chloroplast ribonucleoprotein complex containing trans-splicing factors, intron RNA and novel components, Molecular and Cellular Proteomics DOI: 10.1074/mcp.M112.026583
Further information
Dr. Jessica Jacobs, Department of General and Molecular Botany, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at the Ruhr-Universitt, 44780 Bochum, Germany, Tel. +49/234/32-22197, E-mail: Jessica.Jacobs@rub.de
Editor: Dr. Julia Weiler
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
July 1, 2013 ? Simultaneously controlling your high blood pressure and high cholesterol may cut your risk for heart disease by half or more, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. Yet fewer than one in three people achieve this goal.
Researchers also found:
Prescribing medications to better manage blood pressure and cholesterol would greatly benefit people who are older, diabetic, have cardiovascular disease or are Hispanic or African-American.
Going to the doctor at least twice a year could help.
Undertreated high blood pressure and cholesterol affect millions of Americans -- posing a major public health threat, said Brent M. Egan, M.D., lead study author and a professor of medicine and pharmacology at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C.
"The reality is, we know more than enough to prevent 75 percent of heart disease and strokes, but we're not doing everything we could be doing or even doing it at a reasonable level," he said. "We've made some gradual improvements over the years, but there is still a lot of progress to be made."
High blood pressure affects about 33 percent of the U.S. adult population and doubles the risk for heart disease. About 32 million Americans have dangerously high total blood cholesterol levels of 240 mg/dL or higher. Previous research indicates that treating high blood pressure reduces the risk of heart disease by 25 percent and treating high cholesterol in hypertensive patients can lower the risk by more than 35 percent, researchers said.
The findings are based on data of more than 17,000 American adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys during in 1988-94, 1999-2004 and 2005-10. In addition to reviewing patients' blood pressure and cholesterol levels, researchers considered race, age, insurance status, whether patients smoked, had diabetes, had diagnosed heart disease and/or chronic kidney disease, and if they visited a doctor every year.
Cholesterol readings need closer attention, Egan said. "If patients' cholesterol tests show a good high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level, which is the healthy, protective cholesterol, then the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) number might get overlooked. Unfortunately, not all HDL is equally protective and some people with a normal HDL are at high risk. In those patients, there might be a false sense of assurance that cholesterol really isn't a problem. But LDL and non-HDL readings are the ones to really watch. Patients seeing their doctors for blood pressure treatment should ask about their LDL and non-HDL levels and make sure both are under control at the same time."
Oh, Franco, Franco, Franco. Just when we thought we'd found something to commend you for, you go?and do this. Yes, it was merely a week ago that we were surprised to find ourselves praising The Franco for his actually noble effort to crowd-source $500,000 for a three-film project. But now he's up and bailed on another auteur project, on which $500,000 had already been spent.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ? More than 5,000 anti-government protesters marched Sunday near the Maracana football stadium before a major international match, venting their anger about the billions of dollars the Brazilian government is spending on major sporting events rather than public services.
About a half hour before the match started, small clashes between police and some of the protesters who massed at security blockades broke out, with some protesters hurling rocks at authorities who responded with tear gas and shock grenades.
Though smaller in size, the march was the latest in a wave of protests that has spread across this continent-sized country in recent weeks. Many are calling the protest movement the biggest seen here in decades, with more than 1 million people having taken to the streets nationwide on just the night of June 20.
The demonstrations have dwindled in size and frequency in recent days as officials from all levels of government have scrambled to calm public anger with woeful public services and a heavy tax burden.
Still, the atmosphere was tense outside Maracana on Sunday. Some clusters of protesters tried to break through the security perimeter police set-up around the stadium, but were pushed back and not able to get past authorities.
Despite the smaller protests, demonstrator Eliane Milazzo, a 54-year-old high school teacher marching with her daughter and son-in-law, said the Brazilian people won't let their leaders off the hook and that the protests will go on.
"They've got to continue because the reasons people are out on the street are not going to go away overnight," she said. "I know I will continue to go to the streets and so will my family until we see real changes in our everyday lives."
President Dilma Rousseff has suffered the brunt of the political damage. The first national poll conducted after the protests ignited showed a steep drop in her approval rating and throws in doubt what had seemed an easy re-election next year.
Rousseff decided to not attend Sunday's final match of the Confederations Cup football tournament, which pits Brazil against Spain in what's seen as a warm-up for next year's World Cup to be hosted in Brazil.
Other top government officials and even football legend Pele are also skipping the match in a major embarrassment for a government that had hoped to use the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Rio to showcase Brazil's arrival as a global power.
"People are angry with Congress, angry with the terrible hospitals and worse schools," said Tania Nobrega, a 56-year-old psychologist protesting near Maracana in Rio. "But they don't want Dilma's head. People are sick of the status quo here, and that means they're fed up not only with the (ruling Workers Party) but also with all parties."
The demonstrations began earlier this month over a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fare in Sao Paulo before morphing into a nationwide movement denouncing a range of problems such as government corruption, poor education and health care.
The sudden outrage has bewildered the country's political class, which took several days to find their footing and respond to the demonstrations, both with words and action.
Several city and state governments reversed the hike on public transportation fares that sparked the first protests, but the demonstrators had moved well beyond that issue.
On June 21, Rousseff delivered a prerecorded prime time speech on TV that did little to calm the protests. She then convened a June 24 meeting with protest leaders and all the governors and mayors of capital cities, in which she announced $23 billion in new transportation investments. She also said she would import foreign doctors to work in underserved areas while promising a five-point plan to focus on public services and corruption.
The president is expected to deliver to Congress early this week her proposal for a national plebiscite letting citizens vote on political reforms.
The protests have mostly died down since the proposals were made.
The Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported Sunday that 490 protests had taken place in Brazil in the last three weeks, peaking at 150 on June 20, when violent clashes between protesters and police were seen in several cities.
Many demonstrators have said they had learned their mass actions could prompt a quick government response. They also said they anticipated other high-profile events they could use to speak out, including July's visit by Pope Francis, next year's World Cup, a presidential election a few months later and the Rio Olympics three years from now.
"I don't think the demonstrations will stop people from coming to the World Cup, but I hope they don't come," said Tatiana Poggi, a history professor at Sunday's protest near Maracana. "It's a way foreigners help us protest. Boycott the big event."
Brazilian officials were doing all they could to make sure Sunday's protests didn't interrupt the finals match, which would be watched by millions around the world.
Officials were mobilizing the biggest security operation yet seen for a football game in Brazil, with about 6,000 regular police and almost 500 police investigators patrolling the area around Maracana and a large contingent of elite federal troops also on patrol.
No clashes between protesters and police were reported a few hours before the match was set to begin, but demonstrators remained fierce in their anti-government chants.
"Here in Brazil we took too long to wake up to discover they spent billions on stadiums, but they say there's no money for hospitals, no supplies for doctors," said protester Mariela Simao. "They tried to take action to show the population they are doing something, but they could do more."
___
AP writers Stephen Wade in Rio de Janeiro and Bradley Brooks in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.
Facebook is rolling out the ability to send private messages with stickers -- cute, pre-made, sometimes animated images -- from its website. Facebook launched stickers on mobile in mid-April, but now the web chat smiley button reveals a basket leading to the sticker store where you add free sticker packs your repertoire. Stickers could keep Facebook users from straying to other messaging mediums.
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Public release date: 2-Jul-2013
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