mealymouthed bowel: February 2013

Zoe Saldana Geeks Out About 'Star Trek Into Darkness' And 'Avatar 2'

On the red carpet at the Oscars, MTV News' Josh Horowitz couldn't help but totally geek out with Zoe Saldana about her two sci-fi franchises, J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" and James Cameron's "Avatar," both of which are expecting sequels in the near to relatively near future. But first thing's first, "Star Trek Into Darkness." What's [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/02/27/zoe-saldana-star-trek-avatar-2/

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Video: Cardinal Wuerl: Next pope must ?keep us focused?

>> is one of the 115 cardinals who will elect the next pope. good morning. good to see you.

>> good morning. good to be with you.

>> you were in the pope's final audience this morning. some of the cardinals looked emotional, even teary. were you one of them?

>> i was. it was such a powerful moment. this is the first time ever we've had a pope in this context say good-bye. and to see the thousands and thousands of people, but also to hear him speak, what this moment means. it was a very emotional moment.

>> congregation of cardinals will start to meet perhaps late this week, early next week. have there been discussions, informal, among the cardinals about who may be the next pope?

>> most of the cardinals are just arriving now. i would suspect in the next days there will be conversation but a lot of the conversation is just getting to know better some of the other cardinals . not all the cardinals have an opportunity to come regularly to rome for meetings. so a big part of these congregations is simply getting to know your brother cardinal.

>> we just saw a piece that talked about some of the scandals and controversy the church has faced. i won't rattle them off again but do you feel finding somebody that can restore credibility to the institution is an urgent matter in electing the next pope?

>> i think the recoveryriding thing is going to be to maintain the continuity of this focus on the mission of the church , the spiritual ministry of the church . that always will involve taking care of any problems that have arisen. i think we will go into the conclave. the cardinals will go into the conclave, looking for someone who will keep us focused.

>> do you think the spiritual mission of the church , the work of the church , has been undermined by some of these scandals?

>> the church and its workings are always going to suffer when we members, the human members of the church , do not live up to the fullness of the gospel. that's part of the history of the church . when christ created the church , divine and human, failures were built into the church . the important thing is to move beyond those. right what was wrong and move into the future.

>> we've been talking about the unprecedented nature of this kind of abdication. we haven't seen it in 600 years. not totally unprecedented. do you agree with the decision? do you worry at all about the precedence that it sets?

>> going into the future, we now have a new model. it's possible for a pope simply to say -- not just intellectually, but now practically, i can't do this anymore. so i think the holy father has opened up a whole new chapter in the life of the church . but what was so beautiful about this was the way pope benedict simply said, i don't have the energy to do what i know needs to be done. and i think we all know going into the future, the work of the pope, the next pope is going to have to be the work of moving the whole church rapidly into this very modern age .

>> i have ten seconds left. if you had to choose brilliant manager, brilliant evangelist, which would you put a premium on?

>> i would always choose the evangelist, the person who can

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50970062/

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BPA may affect the developing brain by disrupting gene regulation

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Environmental exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a widespread chemical found in plastics and resins, may suppress a gene vital to nerve cell function and to the development of the central nervous system, according to a study led by researchers at Duke Medicine.

The researchers published their findings - which were observed in cortical neurons of mice, rats and humans - in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Feb. 25, 2013.

"Our study found that BPA may impair the development of the central nervous system, and raises the question as to whether exposure could predispose animals and humans to neurodevelopmental disorders," said lead author Wolfgang Liedtke, M.D., PhD, associate professor of medicine/neurology and neurobiology at Duke.

BPA, a molecule that mimics estrogen and interferes with the body's endocrine system, can be found in a wide variety of manufactured products, including thermal printer paper, some plastic water bottles and the lining of metal cans. The chemical can be ingested if it seeps into the contents of food and beverage containers.

Research in animals has raised concerns that exposure to BPA may cause health problems such as behavioral issues, endocrine and reproductive disorders, obesity, cancer and immune system disorders. Some studies suggest that infants and young children may be the most vulnerable to the effects of BPA, which led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of the chemical in baby bottles and cups in July 2012.

While BPA has been shown to affect the developing nervous system, little is understood as to how this occurs. The research team developed a series of experiments in rodent and human nerve cells to learn how BPA induces changes that disrupt gene regulation.

During early development of neurons, high levels of chloride are present in the cells. These levels drop as neurons mature, thanks to a chloride transporter protein called KCC2, which churns chloride ions out of the cells. If the level of chloride within neurons remains elevated, it can damage neural circuits and compromise a developing nerve cell's ability to migrate to its proper position in the brain.

Exposing neurons to minute amounts of BPA alters the chloride levels inside the cells by somehow shutting down the Kcc2 gene, which makes the KCC2 protein, thereby delaying the removal of chloride from neurons.

MECP2, another protein important for normal brain function, was found to be a possible culprit behind this change. When exposed to BPA, MECP2 is more abundant and binds to the Kcc2 gene at a higher rate, which might help to shut it down. This could contribute to problems in the developing brain due to a delay in chloride being removed.

These findings raise the question of whether BPA could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as Rett syndrome, a severe autism spectrum disorder that is only found in girls and is characterized by mutations in the gene that produces MECP2.

While both male and female neurons were affected by BPA in the studies, female neurons were more susceptible to the chemical's toxicity. Further research will dig deeper into the sex-specific effects of BPA exposure and whether certain sex hormone receptors are involved in BPA's effect on KCC2.

"Our findings improve our understanding of how environmental exposure to BPA can affect the regulation of the Kcc2 gene. However, we expect future studies to focus on what targets aside from Kcc2 are affected by BPA," Liedtke said. "This is a chapter in an ongoing story."

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Duke University Medical Center: http://www.dukemednews.org

Thanks to Duke University Medical Center for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127014/BPA_may_affect_the_developing_brain_by_disrupting_gene_regulation

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Leap Motion Controller starts shipping May 13th, hits Best Buy on the 19th

If you were still thinking that the Leap Motion Controller was going to turn into vaporware, it looks like you were wrong. Just less than a year after the company first made waves with its tiny gesture recognizing box, a finished product is getting ready to ship. Those that pre-ordered should receive their shipping notices starting May 13th. If you weren't willing to commit to the device before hand, you'll still be able to snatch one up at Best Buy on May 19th for $80. Or, if you're so inclined, you can continue to use your mouse to play Cut the Rope on your desktop... your choice we suppose.

Filed under: Peripherals

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/27/leap-motion-controller-starts-shipping-may-13th/

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Indigo is a cloud-based, cross-platform personal assistant for Android and Windows Phone 8 (hands-on)

The idea of a personal assistant needs no introduction: you already know Siri, and those of you fortunate to own a Jelly Bean handset (or at least a hacked ICS one) have the privilege of using Google Now So there's very little we haven't seen here. And yet, we were inclined to take a look at Indigo, a new personal assistant for Android and Windows Phone 8 that launched yesterday, and will be available as a free download in the coming weeks. Meet us past the break to find out why.

Gallery: Indigo personal assistant hands-on