FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013 file photo, a woman shops at a Nordstrom store in Chicago. U.S. consumer prices were flat last month, the latest sign inflation is in check. That could give the Federal Reserve room to continue its efforts to stimulate growth. The consumer price index has risen 1.6 percent in the 12 months ending in January, the Labor Department said Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. That's down from a 2.9 percent pace a year ago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013 file photo, a woman shops at a Nordstrom store in Chicago. U.S. consumer prices were flat last month, the latest sign inflation is in check. That could give the Federal Reserve room to continue its efforts to stimulate growth. The consumer price index has risen 1.6 percent in the 12 months ending in January, the Labor Department said Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. That's down from a 2.9 percent pace a year ago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? U.S. consumer prices were flat in January from December for the second month in a row, the latest sign inflation is in check. That could give the Federal Reserve leeway to continue its efforts to stimulate growth.
The consumer price index has risen 1.6 percent in the 12 months ending in January, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's down from a 2.9 percent pace a year ago.
Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 0.3 percent in January. Core prices have risen 1.9 percent in the past year, below the Fed's inflation target. That's also down from the 2.3 percent pace in the same month a year ago.
The Fed is purchasing $85 billion in Treasurys and mortgage bonds each month in an effort to keep interest rates low. Last month, some Fed policymakers expressed concern the purchases could eventually cause inflation or disrupt bond markets, according to minutes of the Fed's Jan. 29-30 meeting released Wednesday.
But most private economists see little sign that prices are increasing at a troubling rate.
"As long as inflation readings remain relatively constrained and inflation expectations do not get out of control, the (Fed) has plenty of runway to continue its program," Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at brokerage BTIG, said in a note to clients.
Food prices were flat last month after rising for 10 straight months. And energy costs, which include gasoline, dropped 1.7 percent.
The relief at the pump ended in recent weeks, with prices rising steadily this month. Higher gas prices will likely push up measures of inflation in February, though economists expect overall price increases to stay mild.
Gas prices averaged $3.78 a gallon nationwide on Thursday, according to AAA. That's up 47 cents from just a month ago.
Some economists said the increase in core prices could continue, causing a slight pickup in inflation. Core prices rose by the most in 20 months. They increased largely because of big jumps in the cost of clothing, hotel costs, and air fares. The gains in clothing and hotel costs were the most in about 18 months.
But increases at that magnitude are unlikely to be repeated, said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.
"At a time when the Fed is becoming more concerned about the costs of its unconventional monetary policies, it is striking that the inflation outlook remains benign," Ashworth said.
If the Fed feared that prices were rising too fast, it might have to raise interest rates. The Fed has kept the benchmark interest rate it controls at nearly zero, a record low, for more than four years.
Low inflation leaves consumers with more money to spend, which benefits the economy.
Inflation slowed dramatically last year. Consumer prices rose only 1.7 percent in 2012, down from 3 percent in 2011.
With job gains and economic growth steady but modest, many businesses are reluctant to raise prices for fear of losing customers. That's helped keep inflation mild. Workers also aren't able to demand higher wages when growth is weak. That limits their ability to spend more.
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Crowdfunding Solar Schools In Britain?http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3606, 22 Feb 13, ?Schools in the UK wanting to go solar but that are strapped for cash are able to participate in a new crowdfunding service.
??As was the case in Australia, UK schools were previously able to benefit from generous government incentives to install solar; but most of that support has now dried up and the situation is preventing many schools from accessing solar power.
SolarSchools?provides resources, training and staff support to help schools raise funds for a solar array. Each school is also provided with a web page on the Solar Schools site to showcase their project and act as a rallying point for fundraising.
Each school?s page features a representation of solar panels and each solar panel is split up into tiles. Donors sponsor a cell with a ?5 donation. When a donation is made, the cell is replaced with an image or avatar representing the donor. Once the funding target is reached, construction of the solar array can begin.
?It?s a chance for pupils, parents, local businesses, former students and everyone else to do something good for their school, their community, and the whole world,? states the Solar Schools web site.
Last month, Barnes Primary School in Richmond was the first school to reach its funding target of ?10,000.
Solar Schools is run by 10:10, a grassroots movement seeking to inspire all sections of society to cut carbon emissions.
Solar power systems are a way for schools to take practical action to reduce emissions and electricity bills, while providing educational benefits for students in learning about renewable energy and environmental stewardship. Additionally,schools with solar panels?installed act as inspiration for students to enter into clean energy careers.
While Australia?s National Solar Schools Program (NSSP) is no longer accepting applications, given the substantial reduction in solar power equipment costs and increasing electricity prices; solar still provides a viable way for schools to reduce their running costs.
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February 22, 2013 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | decentralised, UK
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama meets with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. The Japanese prime minister is meeting President Barack Obama on Friday. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. The Japanese prime minister will meet with President Barack Obama on Friday. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. The Japanese prime minister will meet with President Barack Obama on Friday. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Signaling solidarity, President Barack Obama and Japan's new prime minister said Friday that North Korea's recent nuclear provocations would not be tolerated and pledged to seek strong action against the isolated nation.
Following an Oval Office meeting, Obama said he and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were united in their "determination to takes strong actions" in response to North Korea's nuclear test launch earlier this month.
Abe, speaking through a translator, said the two leaders have agreed to deal "resolutely" with North Korea.
"We just cannot tolerate the actions of North Korea, such as launching missiles and conducting nuclear tests," said Abe, adding that the two leaders also agreed to push for tougher U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea.
Other regional tensions in Asia served as the backdrop for Friday's meetings, most notably Japan's dispute with China over the Japanese-administered Senkaku islands.
The dispute flared after Tokyo nationalized some of the islands in September. China also claims the tiny islands, which it calls Diaoyu. It has stepped up patrols into what Japan considers its territorial waters, heightening concern that a conflict could be sparked. The tensions highlight the rivalry between China, the world's second-largest economy, and Japan, which is the third.
Tokyo accused China last month of locking weapons-guiding radar on a Japanese destroyer and a helicopter, in what it viewed as a dangerous escalation. Beijing accused Tokyo of fabricating the reports to smear China.
The U.S. has treaty obligations to help Japan in the event of a conflict, obligations Abe said were a stabilizing factor in ensuring peace and stability in the region. He pledged that Japan would continue to deal with the China dispute in a calm manner.
Abe is the latest in a revolving door of Japanese prime ministers, underscoring the Asian nation's prolonged economic malaise. He is the fifth prime minister since Obama took office.
Friday's meeting was an opportunity for the U.S. to gauge Tokyo's intent to join negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regionwide free trade pact being pushed by Washington. Abe held back from such a commitment, which is opposed by most of his party and Japan's small but politically powerful farming lobby, at least until after key elections in July for the upper house.
In a joint statement following the meeting, the two leaders agreed to continue their talks about Japan's "possible interest" in joining the trade pact, known as the TPP. But they agreed that concerns remained, particularly with respect to the automotive and insurance sectors.
The newly elected Japanese leader is a nationalist and a keen advocate of stronger relations with Washington, which have assumed more importance for Tokyo. It has locked horns in recent months with emerging power China over the control of unoccupied islands in the resource-rich seas between them.
Abe, who arrived Thursday afternoon and will depart early Saturday, had been anxious for the meeting since a convincing election victory in December returned him to power for his second stint as prime minister. He had resigned for health reasons in 2007 after serving for one year.
The U.S. partnership with Japan, which hosts about 50,000 American forces, is an enduring one and a cornerstone of Washington's Asia policy, but establishing a personal rapport between leaders has been difficult.
Abe's market-pleasing moves to stimulate Japan's economy ? dubbed 'Abenomics' ? have fueled hope of a recovery and were expected to be featured in a policy speech he was to deliver at a Washington think tank Friday after his meeting and working lunch with Obama at the White House.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? A Kenyan official says gunmen have opened fire at a mosque in Kenya's east, killing seven people.
Maalim Mohammed, the county commissioner of Kenya's Garissa county, said Thursday that about eight gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles shot at a mosque in the village of Malele near the Kenyan-Somali border.
Mohamed says the motive of the attack is not clear. The region has been a hotspot of attacks blamed on al-Qaida-linked militants from Somalia. Somalia's al-Shabab militants have vowed to carry out attacks on Kenyan soil in retaliation for Kenya's military push into Somalia in late 2011.
Thursday's attack comes less than two weeks before Kenya holds nationwide elections. There are fears al-Shabab-affiliated militants may try to disrupt the election with attacks.
Jimmy Fallon prepares the puppies for their Oscar picks.
By Ree Hines, TODAY contributor
Will "Zero Dark Thirty" nab top honors on Sunday night? Does "Lincoln" have the edge? Maybe "Argo" is the clear Oscar contender. Of course with "Django Unchained," Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," and "Silver Linings Playbook" all in the mix for best picture, as well as "Amour" and indie breakout "Beasts of the Southern Wild," it's just so hard to say.
So what should you do before laying down a bet in the office Oscar pool? Turn to the prediction pros, of course -- puppies!
Hot off the heels of their winning Super Bowl pick, Jimmy Fallon's favorite team of fluffy pups returned to "Late Night" Wednesday to make the call.
With nine shiny bowls of dog food to choose from, each tagged with the name of one nominated film, the pooches stormed the stage and ? well, they ate food from the several of the closest bowls in an attempt to fill up fast. Hey, first and foremost, they're dogs.
But fear not, their Kreskin skills kicked in eventually. A couple of furballs zeroed in on one bowl in particular and made it official: "Argo" is destined to win!
Or possibly not. They're only puppies after all.
Which movie do you think will win the Oscar for best picture? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
A lovely Family are looking for a nanny to come and look after their precious twin girls who are 3 years old on the 20th February 2013. Mum may be at home but may go into work later.
The hours needed are ?from?9:30am?to 4:30pm??In the afternoon. The family live in?Natwich,but the twin girls are?mildly?ill with an eye infection,?so a?caring?and?understanding?supper nanny is needed to help while mum either works from home or goes into the office.
At home you will be doing some?fun activities?like?baking?or?arts?and?crafts?and generally just?entertaining?the little girls, which?will help him on the way to recovery.
Salary will be ?8 per hour.
If you are available and would like to help this family please contact?Ebun?on?01892 222 450/0208 320 1435?or email me?ethomas@harmonyathome.co.uk. Job reference et116
Lil Wayne wasn't banned from All-Star Weekend, a league rep tells MTV News.
"Not true," NBA Senior VP Tim Frank told the Miami Herald in an email.
Still, that doesn't address whether or not Weezy slept with Chris Bosh's wife. A claim the rapper dubiously made while on stage at a Beats Audio event over the weekend.
"Let them niggas know I'm from the streets," he said. "Ain't no Twitter beef. Take it to the fucking streets, nigga. Fuck all them niggas. Fuck Lebron [James]. Fuck [Dwayne] Wade. Fuck Chris Bosh....And I fucked Chris Bosh's wife."
Wayne was reportedly booted from a Miami Heat game last week after making a gun gesture towards a fan, but reps from the team contend that the rapper left the game of his own volition.
This is all very interesting considering that Wayne -- along with Eminem, Drake and Kanye West -- appeared on "Forever," a posse cut from James' 2009 documentary More Than A Game.
Following that, however, Wayne felt slighted when James and Dwayne Wade ignored him at Heat home games. Then they squashed their beef... or something. And now they're at it again.
Watch "Lil Wayne Claims He's Been Intimate With Chris Bosh's Wife" Video
After becoming the world?s leading manufacturer of goods and largest emitter of carbon dioxide, China can add world?s leading consumer of mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) to its trophy case.
?By the end of February 2013, China will have 246 million devices compared to 230 million in the U.S.,? says mobile analytics company Flurry, which estimates that its survey covers more than 90% of the world?s ?smart devices.?
In January, the US and China were within one million devices of one another. Flurry is measuring what it calls ?active? devices, which means phones and tablets that are actually connecting to the internet, and not simply devices sold.
Despite the enormous size of the Chinese market, it is still the sixth-fastest growing market for tablets and smartphones, by Flurry?s estimate.
Even as this growth slows, its dizzying pace, and the relatively maturity of the US market for smartphones means that China will almost certainly remain a larger market for mobile devices than the US.
The hearing of an application to The Mining and Lands Commissioner of Ontario that commenced on Monday February 4th, was concluded last Thursday afternoon with the tribunal reserving its decision in order to review and consider the evidence and arguments put before it during the two-week hearing.
The application seeks an Order that the Minister of Natural Resources may grant an easement under the Public Lands Act for the construction of a road by a subsidiary of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. over mining claims recorded in the name of Canada Chrome Corporation ("CCC"), a subsidiary of KWG Resources Inc. CCC has refused to consent to the grant pursuant to section 51 of the Mining Act.
About KWG: KWG has a 30% interest in the Big Daddy chromite deposit and the right to earn 80% of the Black Horse chromite where resources are being defined in a drilling program this winter. KWG also owns 100% of Canada Chrome Corporation which has staked claims and conducted a $15 million surveying and soil testing program for the engineering and construction of a railroad to the Ring of Fire from Exton, Ontario.
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United States?(Texas) - Two veteran firefighters were killed while fighting a fire that destroyed a Knights of Columbus hall in Bryan, Texas, city officials said. Lt. Eric Wallace, 36, was pronounced dead at the scene of the three-alarm fire Friday night and Lt. Greg Pickard, 54, was pronounced dead Saturday at a hospital in Galveston, Bryan City Secretary Mary Lynn Stratta said.
Firefighters Ricky Mantey and Mitch Moran are being treated at a hospital for burns, WTAW-AM, College Station, Texas , reported. Stratta said they were listed in serious but stable condition.
Bryan Fire Chief Randy McGregor told reporters, "These four courageous individuals represent the best of the profession and are true heroes in every sense of the word."
Gov. Rick Perry authorized lowering flags in Texas to half staff.
The state fire marshal's office is investigating.
Stratta and Deputy Fire Marshal William Bouse said fire departments from across Texas have offered assistance to Bryan, including grief counseling for firefighters and volunteers who knew the victims, WTAW-AM said.
Wallace was a 13-year veteran of the department and Pickard had been with the department 32 years.
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TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) ? A delegation of U.S. lawmakers met with military officials in Mali's capital on Monday, and urged caution as the French-led military intervention to wrest back control of the country's north from the al-Qaida fighters entered its fifth week.
French President Francois Hollande unilaterally launched the intervention last month after the extremist groups began a push south. They later reached out to allies for logistical help. The United States is providing C-17 transport planes and in-air refueling, as well as help with intelligence gathering, but has ruled out sending troops.
The four lawmakers are led by Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee that oversees Africa issues. After meeting with French military officials as well as their Malian counterparts, Coons told The Associated Press by telephone: "My initial impression is that the French are very confident that their military intervention has been swift, decisive and effective in driving the jihadists completely out of towns in the north."
But he added: "My concern ... is that there are longstanding internal tensions in Mali that reflect development challenges, and political fractures and ethnic tension that may be dramatically worsened by how the French and their allies ... and the Malians conduct themselves in the field in the next few weeks."
Among the worrying signs are the recent back-to-back terrorist attacks in the newly-freed city of Gao in the north. Columns of French forces have had to double back to Gao to reinforce the town, even as a different unit of French troops continues to push northward. The suicide attacks, he said "suggest a level of jihadist militancy that doesn't reflect the confidence that I heard from the French ? that the jihadists are not from here, are not supported here, and have been driven away."
Over the weekend, French forces secured the small town of Bourem, located between Gao and Kidal. French and Chadian forces were also patrolling the city of Kidal, though it remains unclear if the northern administrative capital is secure. The roads connecting the towns remain unsafe, with repeated sightings of jihadist convoys as well as several fatal incidents involving landmines planted by the extremists.
Mali, a landlocked nation of nearly 15.8 million, has long been among the poorest in the world, but until last year, it was viewed as relatively stable despite the infiltration of its remote deserts by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. The extremists took advantage of a March 2012 coup in the capital in order to push into the main cities in the north, including Timbuktu, where residents are just now starting to fully regain the freedoms they lost during 10 months of Islamic rule.
The four person delegation also includes Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-GA, Rep. Karen Bass, D-CA, a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, and Rep. Terri Sewell, D-AL.
Feb. 17, 2013 ? To make fuel cells more economical, engineers want a fast and efficient iron-based molecule that splits hydrogen gas to make electricity. Online Feb. 17 at Nature Chemistry, researchers report such a catalyst. It is the first iron-based catalyst that converts hydrogen directly to electricity. The result moves chemists and engineers one step closer to widely affordable fuel cells.
"A drawback with today's fuel cells is that the platinum they use is more than a thousand times more expensive than iron," said chemist R. Morris Bullock, who leads the research at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
His team at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis has been developing catalysts that use cheaper metals such as nickel and iron. The one they report here can split hydrogen as fast as two molecules per second with an efficiency approaching those of commercial catalysts. The center is one of 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers established by the DOE Office of Science across the nation in 2009 to accelerate basic research in energy.
Fuel cells generate electricity out of a chemical fuel, usually hydrogen. The bond within a hydrogen molecule stores electricity, where two electrons connect two hydrogen atoms like a barbell.
Fuel cells use a platinum catalyst -- essentially a chunk of metal -- to crack a hydrogen molecule open like an egg: The electron whites run out and form a current that is electricity. Because platinum's chemical nature gives it the ability to do this, chemists can't simply replace the expensive metal with the cheaper iron or nickel. However, a molecule that exists in nature called a hydrogenase (high-dra-jin-ace) uses iron to split hydrogen.
Bullock and his PNNL colleagues, chemists Tianbiao "Leo" Liu and Dan DuBois, have taken inspiration for their iron-wielding catalyst from a hydrogenase. First Liu created several potential molecules for the team to test. Then, with the best-working molecule up to that point, they determined and tweaked the shape and the internal electronic forces to make additional improvements.
One of the tricks they needed the catalyst to do was to split hydrogen atoms into all of their parts. If a hydrogen atom is an egg, the positively charged proton that serves as the nucleus of the atom would be the yolk. And the electron, which orbits around the proton in a cloud, would be the white. The catalyst moves both the proton-yolks and electron-whites around in a controlled series of steps, sending the protons in one direction and the electrons to an electrode, where the electricity can be used to power things.
To do this, they need to split hydrogen molecules unevenly in an early step of the process. One hydrogen molecule is made up of two protons and two electrons, but the team needed the catalyst to tug away one proton first and send it away, where it is caught by a kind of molecule called a proton acceptor. In a real fuel cell, the acceptor would be oxygen.
Once the first proton with its electron-wooing force is gone, the electrode easily plucks off the first electron. Then another proton and electron are similarly removed, with both of the electrons being shuttled off to the electrode.
The team determined the shape and size of the catalyst and also tested different proton acceptors. With the iron in the middle, arms hanging like pendants around the edges draw out the protons. The best acceptors stole these drawn-off protons away quickly.
With their design down, the team measured how fast the catalyst split molecular hydrogen. It peaked at about two molecules per second, thousands of times faster than the closest, non-electricity making iron-based competitor. In addition, they determined its overpotential, which is a measure of how efficient the catalyst is. Coming in at 160 to 220 millivolts, the catalyst revealed itself to be similar in efficiency to most commercially available catalysts.
Now the team is figuring out the slow steps so they can make them faster, as well as determining the best conditions under which this catalyst performs.
This work was supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Science.
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Journal Reference:
Tianbiao Liu, Daniel L. DuBois, R. Morris Bullock. An iron complex with pendent amines as a molecular electrocatalyst for oxidation of hydrogen. Nature Chemistry, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1571
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I?m a fan of George Orwell. I think one of the most important pieces of writing in the English language, for example, is his set of rules for how to make the perfect cup of tea. In fact, I sometimes wonder whether people can really make a cup of tea, andtherefore participate in civilised society, without following those rules; I often ungraciously request that my friends read Orwell?s piece before I permit them to hand me a brew.
Because of this general affinity for Orwell?s work, it?s always with some sadness that I look over his prescriptions for what constitutes good writing. He distils these into six rules:
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
They cause me sadness because I know full well that I violate rules one through five fairly regularly ? a violation that I justify by appealing to rule six. I recognise that my own style of writing ? my modus scribendi ? is all-too-often characterised by florid and pleonastic writing. ? There you have it: twenty-one words in a sentence that would make Orwell spill his impeccably brewed tea all over his morning copy of Pravda. Clich?? Check. Aureate prose? Unquestionably. Prolixity? Naturally. Passive voice? Colour me checked. Argot? Affirmative. And yet, aside from being inelegantly constructed, I don?t see much of a problem with it. It conveys the point clearly, albeit pretentiously.
Ed Smith?s last column from the New Statesman argued that Orwell?s rules have been co-opted and deployed for precisely the nefarious purposes Orwell had hoped to prevent:
Orwell argues that ?the great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one?s real and one?s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words.?
I suspect the opposite is now true. When politicians or corporate front men have to bridge a gap between what they are saying and what they know to be true, their preferred technique is to convey authenticity by speaking with misleading simplicity. The ubiquitous injunction ?Let?s be clear?, followed by a list of five bogus bullet-points, is a much more common refuge than the Latinate diction and Byzantine sentence structure that Orwell deplored.
The argument seems plausible to me. Indeed, the Guardian has a lovely infographic that illustrates how SOTU speeches have adopted increasingly simpler vocabulary and syntax over time. You can decide for yourself whether this has accompanied more political duplicity, as Smith argues.
I enjoyed Smith?s post not just because I think the argument seems accurate. It?s because I?d like to think that in my own case, grandiloquent writing isn?t really the problem. Orwell?s concern was not with the choice of words (a stylistic concern); it was with the way words can be used to manipulate thoughts (a substantive concern). Hence, the dispositive sixth rule.
My take-away from Orwell?s writing rules, then, is that the sixth is the only true ?rule,? as it is the only one with substantive content ? not to write anything barbarous. The preceding five ?rules? aren?t really rules at all. They?re more like suggestions, and Orwell didn?t have much of a bee in his bonnet for those.
Oops ? a clich?. Damn that pesky first rule?
Tags: George Orwell
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Feb. 15, 2013 ? Doctors currently struggle to determine whether a breast tumor is likely to shift into an aggressive, life-threatening mode -- an issue with profound implications for treatment. Now a group from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified a mechanism through which mitochondria, the powerhouses of a cell, control tumor aggressiveness. Based on their findings, the team developed a simple treatment that inhibits cancer progression and prolongs life when tested in mice.
The research team, which describes its results February 15, 2013, in an article published online ahead of print by The Journal of Clinical Investigation, hopes to proceed quickly to human clinical trials to test this new approach using drugs already in use for other conditions.
Looking at Clues
The TSRI laboratory of Associate Professor Brunhilde H. Felding studies cancer, especially the mechanisms that control metastasis, the spread of cancer from its primary site to distant organs in the body.
Past research suggested that mutations affecting mitochondria, which are key to energy production in cells, strongly influence whether a tumor becomes aggressive. But the mechanism was not clear.
"We decided to investigate a specific protein complex, called mitochondrial complex I, that critically determines the energy output of cellular respiration," said the study's first author, Antonio F. Santidrian, a research associate in Felding's laboratory. To do this, the group teamed up with Akemi and Takao Yagi at TSRI, who are leading experts in complex I research. Using unique reagents from the Yagi group, the Felding team discovered that the balance of key metabolic cofactors processed by complex I -- specifically, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and NADH, the form it takes after accepting a key electron in the energy production cycle -- was disturbed in aggressive breast cancer cells.
Exciting Results
To find out if the balance of NAD+ and NADH was critical for tumor cell behavior, the team proceeded to insert a yeast gene into cancer cells that caused a shift toward more NAD+. To the scientists' amazement, this shift caused the tumor cells to become less aggressive.
"It was a really happy moment for me," said Santidrian. But the more exciting moments, he said, were yet to come.
To confirm and extend the initial findings, the team altered genes tied to NAD+ production. The resulting shift again showed that higher NADH levels meant more aggressive tumors, while increased NAD+ had the opposite effect.
The next logical step was to find a simple way to enhance the critical NAD+ level therapeutically. So the team explored what would happen if mice with breast cancer were fed water spiked with nicotinamide, a precursor for NAD+ production. The scientists found cancer development was dramatically slowed down, and the mice lived longer
"In animal models at various stages, we see that we can actually prevent progression of the disease," said Felding.
Next Steps
Now the group is working toward human trials to learn whether nicotinamide or other NAD+ precursors will have similarly impressive results in humans. Since NAD+ precursors are already used for other purposes, such as controlling cholesterol levels, achieving approval for human clinical trials should be simpler than is normally the case.
"It is not a totally new treatment that would need to be tested for toxicity and side effects like a new drug," said Felding. "And we already know the precursors can be easily ingested."
If manipulating the NAD+/NADH ratio in humans has the same effect as in mice, the results could be profound. Such treatment could benefit people at risk of developing aggressive breast cancer, offer complimentary treatment to chemo and radiation therapy to avoid disease recurrence, and maybe even provide a preventive treatment for women with a family history of breast cancer.
This research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01CA112287, R01CA170737, R01CA170140, UL1RR025774 and R01DK053244), the US Department of Defense (W81XWH-08-0468), the California Breast Cancer Research Program (17NB-0058, 16IB-0052, 12NB-0176 and 13NB-0180), and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, as well as a donation from Las Patronas.
In addition to Santidrian and Felding, authors of the paper, titled, "Mitochondrial Complex I activity and NAD+/NADH balance regulate breast cancer progression," were Akemi Matsuno-Yagi, Melissa Ritland, Byoung B. Seo, Sarah E. LeBoeuf, Laurie Gay, and Takao Yagi, all from TSRI.
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VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The conclave to choose Pope Benedict's successor could start earlier than expected, giving the Roman Catholic Church a new leader by mid March, the Vatican said on Saturday.
Less than two weeks away from a historic papal resignation, the Vatican also stressed again that the pope was not abandoning the Church in times of difficulties and urged the faithful to trust in God and in the next pope.
Five days after Benedict announced his resignation in Latin to a small group of cardinals, the Vatican was still in a state of spiritual and bureaucratic shock, groping for ways to deal with a situation without precedent for at least six centuries.
Some 117 cardinals under the age of 80 will be eligible to enter the secretive conclave to elect Benedict's successor. Church rules say the conclave has to start between 15-20 days after the papacy becomes vacant, which it will on February 28.
But since the Church is now dealing with an announced resignation and not a sudden death, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the Vatican would be "interpreting" the law to see if it could start earlier.
Cardinals around the world have already begun informal consultations by phone and email to construct a profile of the man they think would be best suited to lead the Church in a period of continuing crisis.
The Vatican appears to be aiming to have a new pope elected and then formally installed in a solemn ceremony before Palm Sunday on March 24 so he can preside at Holy Week services leading to Easter.
The 85-year-old Benedict was having as normal a Saturday as possible, considering that his remaining scheduled public appearances can now be counted on one hand.
The Vatican has been at pains to stress that the pope was leaving exclusively because of diminishing spiritual and physical forces and that the pontiff was certain it was the right thing to do and would not hurt the Church.
"Benedict is not abandoning us in times of difficulty," Lombardi said in his weekly editorial for Vatican Radio. "With confidence, he is inviting the Church to trust in the Spirit and in a new successor of St. Peter."
DETERIORATING HEALTH
Benedict's papacy was rocked by crises over sex abuse of children by priests in Europe and the United States, most of which preceded his time in office but came to light during it.
His reign also saw Muslim anger after he compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over his rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier. During a scandal over the Church's business dealings, his butler was convicted of leaking his private papers.
Meanwhile, new details emerged on Saturday about the state of Benedict's health in the months before his shock decision.
Peter Seewald, a German journalist who wrote a book with the pope in 2010 in which Benedict first floated the possibility of resigning, visited him again about 10 weeks ago and asked what else could be expected from his papacy.
According to excepts published in the German magazine Focus, the pope answered: "From me? Not much from me. I'm an old man and the strength is ebbing. I think what I've done is enough."
Asked if he was considering resigning, the pope said: "That depends on how much my physical strength will force me to that".
Seewald said he was alarmed about the pope's health.
"His hearing had deteriorated. He couldn't see with his left eye. His body had become so thin that the tailors had difficulty in keeping up with newly fitted clothes ... I'd never seen him so exhausted-looking, so worn down."
Keeping to his schedule, Benedict met a group of Italian bishops and Guatemala's president on Saturday morning and in the afternoon was receiving caretaker Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in a farewell audience.
Monti, a devout Catholic, is leading a centrist coalition in next week's elections but the Vatican says the farewell meeting has nothing to do with the vote.
On Sunday, the pope will hold his customary noon blessing from his window overlooking St Peter's Square before going into a previously scheduled, week-long Lenten spiritual retreat. He will emerge from that on Feb 23.
He will then say one more Sunday noon prayer on February 24, hold a final general audience on February 27. The next day he will take a helicopter to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, flying into the history books.
Vatican officials said he would stay there for the two months or so needed to restore the convent inside the Vatican where he will live out his remaining years.
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Additional reporting by Erik Kirschbaum, James Mackenzie and Tom Heneghan; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Contact: David Ruth david@rice.edu 713-348-6327 Rice University
Studies show particulate matter also has direct impact on heart attacks in Houston
BOSTON (Feb. 17, 2013) Researchers at Rice University in Houston have found a direct correlation between out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and levels of air pollution and ozone. Their work has prompted more CPR training in at-risk communities.
Rice statisticians Katherine Ensor and Loren Raun announced their findings today at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Boston.
Their research, based on a massive data set unique to Houston, is due to be published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
At the same AAAS symposium, Rice environmental engineer Daniel Cohan discussed how uncertainties in air-quality models might impact efforts to achieve anticipated new ozone standards by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Given that the American Lung Association has ranked Houston eighth in the United States for high-ozone days, the Rice researchers set out to see if there is a link between ambient ozone levels and cardiac arrest. Ensor is a professor and chair of Rice's Department of Statistics, and Raun is a research professor in Rice's Department of Statistics.
For the new study, the authors analyzed eight years' worth of data drawn from Houston's extensive network of air-quality monitors and more than 11,000 concurrent out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) logged by Houston Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
They found a positive correlation between OHCAs and exposure to both fine particulate matter (airborne particles smaller than 2.5 micrograms) and ozone.
The researchers found that a daily average increase in particulate matter of 6 micrograms per day over two days raised the risk of OHCA by 4.6 percent, with particular impact on those with pre-existing (and not necessarily cardiac-related) health conditions. Increases in ozone level were similar, but on a shorter timescale: Each increase of 20 parts per billion over one to three hours also increased OHCA risk, with a peak of 4.4 percent. Peak-time risks from both pollutants rose as high as 4.6 percent. Relative risks were higher for men, African-Americans and people over 65.
For the study, OHCA events were defined as cases where EMS personnel performed chest compressions. Ensor and Raun noted the patients died in more than 90 percent of the cases, which occurred more during the hot summer months (55 percent of total cases).
The researchers also looked at the effects of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide levels, none of which were found to impact the occurrence of OHCA.
The work is expected to help Houston EMS fine-tune its deployment of personnel and equipment and provide early warnings to health officials and the public when weather and/or incidents warrant an alert for high ozone levels in specific areas, Ensor said.
Co-author David Persse, Houston Fire Department EMS physician director and a public-health authority for the city, said it's long been thought by EMS workers that certain types of air pollution, including ozone, have significant negative effects on cardiac and respiratory health. "But this mathematically and scientifically validates what we know," he said.
Houston is already acting upon the results.
"The city has targeted educational resources to at-risk communities, where they're now doing intensive bystander CPR training," Raun said. Early intervention is seen as critical, as the chance of survival for a person suffering cardiac arrest drops 10 percent for every minute he or she is left unattended. She said statistics show one life is saved for every 26 to 36 people who receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation from a bystander.
Houston's effort is part of a range of interventions to mitigate the consequences of poor air quality days, though none are substitutes for the primary strategy of improving air quality, according to the city's Health and Human Services Department.
Cohan's talk focused on uncertainties in estimating the health benefits that will result from efforts to control ozone pollution. Ozone itself cannot be controlled, he said, as it forms from several precursors. Cohan's research has shown that reducing nitrogen oxide emissions is typically the most effective way to control summertime peak afternoon ozone, but may be less effective than hydrocarbon emission reductions at other times.
Ozone standards focus on peak conditions, but some epidemiological studies show that substantial health benefits can also result from reducing ozone at other times, he said. Thus, emission-control strategies aimed solely at achieving regulatory standards may not yield as great a health benefit as strategies that reduce ozone year-round. This research has important implications as states aim to attain national ozone standards. The standards are now set at 75 parts per billion (ppb), but the EPA is considering tightening them to a level in the 60-70 ppb range.
A 2012 study by Raun and Ensor published by Rice's Baker Institute for Public Policy determined that, overall, the current EPA standard for ozone serves its purpose, while the particulate standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter does not.
"The bottom-line goal is to save lives," Ensor said. "We'd like to contribute to a refined warning system for at-risk individuals. Blanket warnings about air quality may not be good enough.
"At the same time, we want to enhance our understanding of the health cost of pollution and celebrate its continuing reduction."
The Houston Endowment and city of Houston funded the study led by Ensor, Raun and Persse. Arturo Blanco, chief of the Bureau of Pollution Control and Prevention, Houston Department of Health and Human Services, supported the research.
###
This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews
Related Materials:
Uncertainties Influencing Health-Based Prioritization of Ozone Abatement Options: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es200165n
Association of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest with Exposure to Fine Particulate and Ozone Ambient Air Pollution from Case Crossover Analysis Results: Are the Standards Protective?: http://www.bakerinstitute.org/publications/HPF-pub-RaunEnsorParticulateExposure-101212.pdf
Meta-analysis of the association between short-term exposure to ambient ozone and respiratory hospital admissions: http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/6/2/024006
RICE CONTACTS:
David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu
Mike Williams
617-281-6854
mikewilliams@rice.edu
CITY OF HOUSTON CONTACT:
Kathy Barton
832-393-5045
kathy.barton@houstontx.gov
[ | 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.
Contact: David Ruth david@rice.edu 713-348-6327 Rice University
Studies show particulate matter also has direct impact on heart attacks in Houston
BOSTON (Feb. 17, 2013) Researchers at Rice University in Houston have found a direct correlation between out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and levels of air pollution and ozone. Their work has prompted more CPR training in at-risk communities.
Rice statisticians Katherine Ensor and Loren Raun announced their findings today at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Boston.
Their research, based on a massive data set unique to Houston, is due to be published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
At the same AAAS symposium, Rice environmental engineer Daniel Cohan discussed how uncertainties in air-quality models might impact efforts to achieve anticipated new ozone standards by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Given that the American Lung Association has ranked Houston eighth in the United States for high-ozone days, the Rice researchers set out to see if there is a link between ambient ozone levels and cardiac arrest. Ensor is a professor and chair of Rice's Department of Statistics, and Raun is a research professor in Rice's Department of Statistics.
For the new study, the authors analyzed eight years' worth of data drawn from Houston's extensive network of air-quality monitors and more than 11,000 concurrent out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) logged by Houston Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
They found a positive correlation between OHCAs and exposure to both fine particulate matter (airborne particles smaller than 2.5 micrograms) and ozone.
The researchers found that a daily average increase in particulate matter of 6 micrograms per day over two days raised the risk of OHCA by 4.6 percent, with particular impact on those with pre-existing (and not necessarily cardiac-related) health conditions. Increases in ozone level were similar, but on a shorter timescale: Each increase of 20 parts per billion over one to three hours also increased OHCA risk, with a peak of 4.4 percent. Peak-time risks from both pollutants rose as high as 4.6 percent. Relative risks were higher for men, African-Americans and people over 65.
For the study, OHCA events were defined as cases where EMS personnel performed chest compressions. Ensor and Raun noted the patients died in more than 90 percent of the cases, which occurred more during the hot summer months (55 percent of total cases).
The researchers also looked at the effects of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide levels, none of which were found to impact the occurrence of OHCA.
The work is expected to help Houston EMS fine-tune its deployment of personnel and equipment and provide early warnings to health officials and the public when weather and/or incidents warrant an alert for high ozone levels in specific areas, Ensor said.
Co-author David Persse, Houston Fire Department EMS physician director and a public-health authority for the city, said it's long been thought by EMS workers that certain types of air pollution, including ozone, have significant negative effects on cardiac and respiratory health. "But this mathematically and scientifically validates what we know," he said.
Houston is already acting upon the results.
"The city has targeted educational resources to at-risk communities, where they're now doing intensive bystander CPR training," Raun said. Early intervention is seen as critical, as the chance of survival for a person suffering cardiac arrest drops 10 percent for every minute he or she is left unattended. She said statistics show one life is saved for every 26 to 36 people who receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation from a bystander.
Houston's effort is part of a range of interventions to mitigate the consequences of poor air quality days, though none are substitutes for the primary strategy of improving air quality, according to the city's Health and Human Services Department.
Cohan's talk focused on uncertainties in estimating the health benefits that will result from efforts to control ozone pollution. Ozone itself cannot be controlled, he said, as it forms from several precursors. Cohan's research has shown that reducing nitrogen oxide emissions is typically the most effective way to control summertime peak afternoon ozone, but may be less effective than hydrocarbon emission reductions at other times.
Ozone standards focus on peak conditions, but some epidemiological studies show that substantial health benefits can also result from reducing ozone at other times, he said. Thus, emission-control strategies aimed solely at achieving regulatory standards may not yield as great a health benefit as strategies that reduce ozone year-round. This research has important implications as states aim to attain national ozone standards. The standards are now set at 75 parts per billion (ppb), but the EPA is considering tightening them to a level in the 60-70 ppb range.
A 2012 study by Raun and Ensor published by Rice's Baker Institute for Public Policy determined that, overall, the current EPA standard for ozone serves its purpose, while the particulate standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter does not.
"The bottom-line goal is to save lives," Ensor said. "We'd like to contribute to a refined warning system for at-risk individuals. Blanket warnings about air quality may not be good enough.
"At the same time, we want to enhance our understanding of the health cost of pollution and celebrate its continuing reduction."
The Houston Endowment and city of Houston funded the study led by Ensor, Raun and Persse. Arturo Blanco, chief of the Bureau of Pollution Control and Prevention, Houston Department of Health and Human Services, supported the research.
###
This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews
Related Materials:
Uncertainties Influencing Health-Based Prioritization of Ozone Abatement Options: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es200165n
Association of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest with Exposure to Fine Particulate and Ozone Ambient Air Pollution from Case Crossover Analysis Results: Are the Standards Protective?: http://www.bakerinstitute.org/publications/HPF-pub-RaunEnsorParticulateExposure-101212.pdf
Meta-analysis of the association between short-term exposure to ambient ozone and respiratory hospital admissions: http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/6/2/024006
RICE CONTACTS:
David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu
Mike Williams
617-281-6854
mikewilliams@rice.edu
CITY OF HOUSTON CONTACT:
Kathy Barton
832-393-5045
kathy.barton@houstontx.gov
[ | 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.
JERUSALEM (AP) ? Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers on Friday at several demonstrations in the West Bank held to support a prisoner observing an intermittent hunger strike to protest his incarceration.
The Israeli military said about 500 Palestinians threw rocks and rolled burning tires at soldiers who responded with tear gas during the main rally outside Ofer prison in the West Bank. The protesters called for the release of Samer Issawi, who has been on an on-again, off-again hunger strike for several months as he serves time for alleged terror activity.
Protests spread to several other West Bank flashpoints which turned violent as well. Palestinian medics said they treated dozens of people for tear gas inhalation and minor wounds sustained from rubber bullets. Two Israeli soldiers were lightly injured, the military said.
The prisoner issue is an emotional one for Palestinians after decades of conflict with Israel. Palestinians generally view them as heroes, regardless of the reason for their imprisonment ? even when their crimes have involved killing civilians. Last year hundreds of Palestinian prisoners used hunger strikes to seek concessions from Israel.
Issawi, 35, was initially released in 2011 in a prisoner exchange. One Israeli soldier was freed from captivity in Gaza in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom were convicted of being involved in suicide bombings and other deadly attacks.
Some prisoners, like Issawi, were released on condition of travel limits. Israeli Prison Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said he was arrested after he violated the terms of his release. She said he was arrested for "terror activity" and sentenced to 26 years, but released in the 2011 prisoner swap after serving only six years.
Issawi is under medical supervision and eats periodically, she said.
Issawi's sister, Shirin, said he has been on hunger strike for 206 days. She said he has only been drinking water since January. She said the prison takes her brother to an Israeli hospital for treatment.
The Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs, Issa Qaraqe, said Issawi began his fast in August and has been observing it intermittently.
Qaraqe said Issawi had lost 35 kilograms (about 77 pounds), has kidney pain and has lost feeling in parts of the right side of his body.
He said there are four prisoners on hunger strike.
Human rights groups have warned of their worsening health.
"If, God forbid, any prisoner dies of hunger strike inside the prison, the situation on the ground will deteriorate," Qaraqe said. "People won't stand for any prisoner to die of a hunger strike."
Mideast envoy Tony Blair issued a statement expressing concern for the prisoner's health. "This issue needs to be resolved quickly in order to avoid a tragic outcome which has the potential to destabilize the situation on the ground," he said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made an unannounced visit to a separate demonstration for prisoners near Ramallah. He said the prisoner issue would top his agenda in meetings with President Barack Obama, who is expected to visit the region next month.
Last year, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners won multiple concessions from Israel after going on hunger strikes ? some that lasted weeks.
Last week, a Gaza man who carried out the longest-ever hunger strike by a Palestinian prisoner returned home. Akram Rikhawi ended his 103-day hunger strike last July in exchange for Israel's pledged to release him five months earlier than his scheduled release in June.
Rikhawi, 40, served a nine-year sentence for transporting suicide bombers.
George Washington's 'presidential library' taking shape; expected to open in September
MOUNT VERNON, Va. - George Washington's 1796 farewell address contained a stern warning to the nation about partisan politics, or the "dangers of faction" in the language of the founding fathers.
So, when a bipartisan group of U.S. senators was looking last fall to reach agreement on a plan to address the country's budget and deficit woes, it seemed only natural that they went outside the Capital Beltway and met at Washington's Mount Vernon estate, in hopes of finding inspiration in Washington's shadow.
It's the kind of meeting that the keepers of Mount Vernon hope to promote as they work toward completion of a $47 million National Library for the Study of Mount Vernon. The estate was to announce Friday that the library, now under construction, will open Sept. 27.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., one of the members of the Gang of Eight who met at Mount Vernon in the fall, said it's an ideal place to meet and think about the long-term health of the republic.
"To be able to be in the quintessential American history site, and talk about where America is heading in the 21st century, is pretty cool," said Warner, who is sponsoring legislation to move the Presidents' Day holiday from the third Monday in February to Feb. 22, Washington's birth date. "I think we all understood the seriousness of what we were doing, but (being at Mount Vernon), boy, it sure did drive the point home."
The library will serve as a presidential library of sorts, with a few important distinctions from the dozen or so modern presidential libraries that operate under the auspices of the National Archives.
For starters, Mount Vernon has prided itself on never accepting government funding, and makes a point to emphasize that this library is not affiliated with the federal government, as modern presidential libraries are.
The planned library is not intended for visits by the general public. It is designed as a scholarly destination and a conference centre for groups that see a benefit from soaking in the estate's historical vibe. Mount Vernon, which draws about a million visitors a year, has extensive exhibits open for public view, including a museum, orientation and education centre that all opened in 2006, as well as the centerpiece mansion overlooking the Potomac River.
And the library is a project on a smaller scale than modern presidential libraries. Washington's library comes with a $47 million price tag, though Mount Vernon is raising $100 million to endow the ongoing operation of the library. Mount Vernon President Curt Viebranz says the estate has so far raised $93 million. Meanwhile, the George W. Bush Presidential Library, set to open May 1 in Dallas on the campus of Southern Methodist University, has a $250 million price tag and, at 225,000 square feet, is five times the size of the Mount Vernon library.
Lastly, modern presidential libraries, by law, inherit the documents and papers that presidents generated over the course of a term in office. Washington's papers scattered to the winds after his death and are considered some of the most valuable artifacts in American history. When documents and artifacts with a Washingtonian provenance make their way to auction, they fetch premium prices. Mount Vernon has been working in recent years to reacquire key papers when it can.
Washington himself had hoped to build a library to archive his personal papers, which he said with understatement "are voluminous and may be interesting."
Among the outstanding features of the library: a climate-controlled, oval-shaped vault that will house the estate's rare books ? basically the books that Washington himself owned and touched that the estate has been able to acquire.
Just 150 feet from the library proper is a 6,000-square-foot scholars' residence that will be home to seven researchers a year who will live there and study topics related to the founding father. The inaugural group of scholars, announced last month, includes researchers who plan to study Washington's role in shaping the Constitution, the plight of enemy prisoners in the Revolutionary War and Mount Vernon's role in sparking the historic preservation movement, among other topics.
Conference rooms that accommodate groups of 10 to 75 are built into the library, along with a leadership hall that will feature ultra high-definition video technology to allow the library to record seminars held there and make them available over the Internet.
Mount Vernon has a 200-seat auditorium, but it is ill-equipped for small and mid-size groups.
Viebranz said Mount Vernon's location, about 15 miles south of Washington, will appeal to conference organizers. It's close to the city and Washington Reagan National Airport, but just far enough out to feel like a getaway. And psychologically, it's worlds away from the us-vs.-them mentality that dominates the city named for the first president.
"It's hard for anyone to come here and not want to drop their gun belt at the door," he said.
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Public release date: 17-Feb-2013
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