NEW DELHI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged fast-growing India to work with Washington to tackle climate change and develop green technologies, on the eve of talks on trade and regional security.
Emerging economies like India have resisted pressure in global climate talks to commit to targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in a dispute with rich nations over whose industries should bear the brunt of the cuts.
But Kerry, on a seven-nation tour in the Middle East and Asia, said on Sunday failing to act would undermine growth and hurt the poorest the most.
The day before he was due to take part in the fourth annual US-India Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi, he urged India to work with the United States to negotiate a global treaty on curbing global warming.
"We should work constructively side-by-side in the UN climate negotiations. I am convinced we can move toward a global agreement ... that is sensitive to and respectful of the diversity of national circumstances," he said in a speech.
"The health of our planet and the irreversible climate challenge speeding toward us, crying out for a global solution, is the place to begin this conversation," Kerry added.
Cooperation on developing clean technologies would also spur economic growth and create jobs, he added.
"As we look forward, India and the United States, with our traditions of innovation and technology, are particularly well-positioned and ready to roll up our sleeves and take advantage of this opportunity," he said.
"If we do this right, it won't hurt our economies - it will grow them," he said, noting that new energy markets were worth $6 trillion.
Over the years, the United States and India have expanded cooperation on clean energy through the US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy, or PACE, mobilizing more than $1.7 billion to finance clean energy initiatives.
Kerry's talks with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders on Monday are expected to focus on increasing opportunities for business and trade.
In recent weeks, U.S. business groups have increased their calls for the Obama administration to press India to change policies they say threaten American exports, jobs and innovation.
In a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama earlier this month, U.S. lawmakers said Indian policymakers and courts had taken a series of actions designed to block imports by forcing local production of a wide range of manufactured goods.
Monday's talks will also hone in on regional security issues, including the drawdown of NATO troops and an election in Afghanistan next year together with political transitions in Pakistan and Iran.
(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - For Rafael Nadal to bridge a 7,000-point gap with Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings looks like a tall order, even for a player of his qualities, yet he could still threaten the Serb's hopes of ending 2013 as world No.1. With the French Open looming large on the horizon, Nadal is back in the claycourt groove as he continues his comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him for seven months. ...
I love watching video and listening to podcasts and books on my iPad. It’s so much more portable and useful than my MacBooks have been over the years (which is to say it doesn’t have a hinge and require me to figure out what to do with that keyboard while watching!) The constant drawback to [...]
Well, that was quick. Bre Pettis just started delivering South By Southwest's opening remarks and may well have taken the wraps off the biggest news of the show. Of course, we'll still have to hang out in Austin for a few more days just to, you know, totally make sure, but this really does feel like a doozy. As the MakerBot CEO puts it, "It's a natural progression for us to create a product that makes 3D printing even easier" -- but, let's be honest, few of those who don't have a vested interesting in moving some 3D printers are running around calling the whole process particularly "easy." And while consumer-facing devices like the Replicator, CubeX, Solidoodle, et al. have gone a ways toward making the technology more accessible for laypeople, there's still a fundamental breakdown: the creation of models to be printed.
The maker community has helped on that front, as well, with MakerBot's Thingiverse serving as an unparalleled resource for 3D images, meaning that, once your printer's all set up and calibrated, you can download and print to your hearts delight -- but what if, say, you want to print up something that some kindly soul hasn't designed for you? You could learn a CAD program -- or you could invest in an industrial 3D scanner. The latter option has lead to something of a land rush of companies and individuals looking to break things wide open with an affordable, consumer-facing offering. And while MakerBot still seems a ways away from the final product, the company used SXSW as a platform to unveil a prototype of its MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner.
Discovery of 'executioner' protein opens door to new options for stroke ALS, spinal cord injuryPublic release date: 4-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Wendy Sarubbi wendy.sarubbi@ucf.edu 407-266-1418 University of Central Florida
Oxidative stress turns a protein that normally protects healthy cells into their executioner, according to a study released today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
Alvaro Estevez, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine, led the multi-university team that made the discovery, which could eventually help scientists develop new therapies to combat a host of conditions from stroke to Lou Gehrig's disease
Researchers have long known that oxidative stress damages cells and results in neurodegeneration, inflammation and aging. It was commonly believed that oxidation made a "crude," demolition-like attack on cells, causing them to crumble like a building in an earthquake, Estevez said. However, the latest findings show that oxidation results in a much more targeted attack to specific parts of the cell. Oxidative stress damages a specific "chaperone" cell protein called Hsp90. It plays a role in up to 200 different cell functions. But when a form of oxidative stress called tyrosine nitration modifies that protein, it turns into the cell "executioner" shutting it down.
"The concept that a protein that is normally protective and indispensable for cell survival and growth can turn into a killing machine, and just because of one specific oxidative modification, is amazing," said Maria C. Franco, a postdoctoral associate at UCF's Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. She co-wrote the study. "Considering that this modified protein is present in a vast number of pathologies, it gives us hopes on finding new therapeutics approaches for several different diseases."
For example, researchers could devise a drug that stroke patients could take at the onset of their symptoms to prevent more healthy cells from dying, thus limiting the damage of the stroke. Because oxidation is linked to inflammation, researchers believe tyrosine nitration could also be related to other health problems including heart disease, cancer, aging and chronic pain.
"These are very exciting results and could begin a major shift in medicine," said Joseph Beckman, from Oregon State University Environmental Health Sciences Center, a collaborator on the study. "Preventing this process of tyrosine nitration may protect against a wide range of degenerative diseases."
"Most people think of things like heart disease, cancer, aging, liver disease, even the damage from spinal injury as completely different medical issues," Beckman said. "To the extent they can often be traced back to inflammatory processes that are caused by oxidative attack and cellular damage, they can be more similar than different. It could be possible to develop therapies with value against many seemingly different health problems."
###
Other contributors to the study include: Nicklaus A. Sparrow from UCF, Yaozu Ye from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Christian A. Refakis, Jessica L. Feldman and Audrey L. Stokes from Franklin and Marshall College, Manuela Basso and Thong C. Ma from the Burke Medical Research Institute, Raquel M. Melero Fernndez de Mera from Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Noel Y. Calingasan, Mahmoud Kiaei and M. Flint Beal from Weill Cornell Medical College, Timothy W. Rhoads, and Ryan Mehl from Oregon State University and Martin Grumet from Rutgers State University of New Jersey
The National Institutes of Health, the Burke Medical Research Institute, the ALS Association and other agencies financially supported this study.
Estevez joined the UCF College of Medicine in 2010. Previously he worked as a postdoctoral investigator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and then as an assistant professor. In 2005 Estevez joined the Burke Cornell Medical Research Institute a part of the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. Estevez has several degrees including a doctorate in philosophy, biology and cell biology from the Instituto Clemente Estable in Montevideo Uruguay.
50 Years of Achievement: The University of Central Florida, the nation's second-largest university with nearly 60,000 students, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2013. UCF has grown in size, quality, diversity and reputation, and today the university offers more than 200 degree programs at its main campus in Orlando and more than a dozen other locations. Known as America's leading partnership university, UCF is an economic engine attracting and supporting industries vital to the region's success now and into the future. For more information, visit http://today.ucf.edu.
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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.
Discovery of 'executioner' protein opens door to new options for stroke ALS, spinal cord injuryPublic release date: 4-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Wendy Sarubbi wendy.sarubbi@ucf.edu 407-266-1418 University of Central Florida
Oxidative stress turns a protein that normally protects healthy cells into their executioner, according to a study released today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
Alvaro Estevez, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine, led the multi-university team that made the discovery, which could eventually help scientists develop new therapies to combat a host of conditions from stroke to Lou Gehrig's disease
Researchers have long known that oxidative stress damages cells and results in neurodegeneration, inflammation and aging. It was commonly believed that oxidation made a "crude," demolition-like attack on cells, causing them to crumble like a building in an earthquake, Estevez said. However, the latest findings show that oxidation results in a much more targeted attack to specific parts of the cell. Oxidative stress damages a specific "chaperone" cell protein called Hsp90. It plays a role in up to 200 different cell functions. But when a form of oxidative stress called tyrosine nitration modifies that protein, it turns into the cell "executioner" shutting it down.
"The concept that a protein that is normally protective and indispensable for cell survival and growth can turn into a killing machine, and just because of one specific oxidative modification, is amazing," said Maria C. Franco, a postdoctoral associate at UCF's Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. She co-wrote the study. "Considering that this modified protein is present in a vast number of pathologies, it gives us hopes on finding new therapeutics approaches for several different diseases."
For example, researchers could devise a drug that stroke patients could take at the onset of their symptoms to prevent more healthy cells from dying, thus limiting the damage of the stroke. Because oxidation is linked to inflammation, researchers believe tyrosine nitration could also be related to other health problems including heart disease, cancer, aging and chronic pain.
"These are very exciting results and could begin a major shift in medicine," said Joseph Beckman, from Oregon State University Environmental Health Sciences Center, a collaborator on the study. "Preventing this process of tyrosine nitration may protect against a wide range of degenerative diseases."
"Most people think of things like heart disease, cancer, aging, liver disease, even the damage from spinal injury as completely different medical issues," Beckman said. "To the extent they can often be traced back to inflammatory processes that are caused by oxidative attack and cellular damage, they can be more similar than different. It could be possible to develop therapies with value against many seemingly different health problems."
###
Other contributors to the study include: Nicklaus A. Sparrow from UCF, Yaozu Ye from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Christian A. Refakis, Jessica L. Feldman and Audrey L. Stokes from Franklin and Marshall College, Manuela Basso and Thong C. Ma from the Burke Medical Research Institute, Raquel M. Melero Fernndez de Mera from Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Noel Y. Calingasan, Mahmoud Kiaei and M. Flint Beal from Weill Cornell Medical College, Timothy W. Rhoads, and Ryan Mehl from Oregon State University and Martin Grumet from Rutgers State University of New Jersey
The National Institutes of Health, the Burke Medical Research Institute, the ALS Association and other agencies financially supported this study.
Estevez joined the UCF College of Medicine in 2010. Previously he worked as a postdoctoral investigator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and then as an assistant professor. In 2005 Estevez joined the Burke Cornell Medical Research Institute a part of the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. Estevez has several degrees including a doctorate in philosophy, biology and cell biology from the Instituto Clemente Estable in Montevideo Uruguay.
50 Years of Achievement: The University of Central Florida, the nation's second-largest university with nearly 60,000 students, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2013. UCF has grown in size, quality, diversity and reputation, and today the university offers more than 200 degree programs at its main campus in Orlando and more than a dozen other locations. Known as America's leading partnership university, UCF is an economic engine attracting and supporting industries vital to the region's success now and into the future. For more information, visit http://today.ucf.edu.
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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.
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Let's face it. Sometimes, reading about personal finance can make for some pretty dry reading. Annual fee this, interest rate that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Are you still awake? So, in an attempt to spice things up a little bit, I decided to start a series on MPFJ called,?Credit Card Boxing. In each match, two credit cards (of the same general category of credit card) will be compared side by side in an attempt to determine which reigns supreme over the other. When applicable, the winner from the previous match will advance to compete in the next round. In this, the 2nd match of the series, we're comparing?two general purpose credit cards. In the left corner, we have weighing in at a hefty 5.23 g (weighed in the scale in my lab), my favorite credit card that I use for almost all of my purchases, the?Chase Freedom Visa Card. If you missed the first MPFJ credit card boxing match last Saturday, this card beat out the new Discover it Card (although it was a close match). ? In the right corner,?we have weighing in at a respectable 5.07 g, the?Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard. I haven't personally tried out this card yet, so I was curious to learn a little more about it. Shown below is a screenshot from?CreditCards.com?(the first place I go for looking up information on credit cards) listing all of the pertinent details for the?Chase Freedom Visa Card.
Chase Freedom Visa?Pluses
There is no annual fee.
A very nice $100 bonus for signing up.
5% cash back in rotating categories every quarter. From personal experience, I can tell you that these categories are actually quite useful. They are not highly specific like with some cards. For example, right now, they are doing 5% cash back for gas stations. I think pretty much anyone can relate to the benefits of getting cash back for gas purchases. They have also done grocery stores in the past, although discount stores like WalMart, Sam's, and Costco do not qualify for this.
1% cash back on all other purchases.
Chase Freedom Visa?Minuses
Requires excellent credit history, which can be a deal breaker for some folks.?
3% transaction fee for all transactions completed in a foreign currency. This can add up quickly if you plan on using this credit card whilst traveling!?
And, shown below is a table listing out all of the pertinent details for the?Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard. You can also click here to view the card's Terms and Conditions as well.?
Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard?Pluses
No annual fee - always a nice thing!
Get a 5000 point / $50 statement credit after your first purchase upon getting the card.?
A nice perk, but not quite as good as the $100 you get upon opening a Chase Freedom Card mentioned above.?
As stated below, this card uses the sometimes-hard-to-understand points system of rewards. In my opinion, if all cards could just stick to stating their perks in percentages, it sure would reduce a lot of headaches!
You earn?2 points?per $1 on gas, grocery, and utility?purchases.
On all other purchases, you earn 1 point per $1 spent.
What do these cash back rewards mean in plain English? Good question, because I am not sure without doing a little mental math!?
Luckily, they tell us in the table below that in this card's rewards scoring, 5000 points = $50 USD.?
What this means is that you get 2% cash back for gas, grocery, and utility purchases and 1% cash back for all other purchases.
Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard?Minuses
3% transaction fee for all transactions completed in a foreign currency (same as Chase Freedom Card above).
Requires excellent credit history, which can be a deal breaker for some folks.?
Although I honestly wouldn't be ashamed of having either of these cards, I would have to say that for my money,?the winner here is the Chase Freedom Visa Card.?? What made me lean towards this one was because by offering 5% cash back in rotating categories throughout the year, the Chase Freedom Visa Card offers higher potential cash savings from my purchases vs. the 1% or 2% cash back program offered by Barclaycard Rewards. This is especially true if you couple the use of the Chase Freedom Visa Card with a gas-specific rewards card like the Chase BP Visa. How about you all? Do you think the Chase Freedom Visa or?Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard?sounds like a better deal? Do you personally carry either of these cards? Share your experiences by commenting below!
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Public release date: 4-Mar-2013
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