Are we "Livin" or just "Survivin"?

Are we "Livin" or just "Survivin"?

  8:07:00 PM    Science Lover

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Apoptosis is regulated by death domain (DD) and/or caspase recruitment domain (CARD) containing molecules and a caspase family of proteases. A novel CARD domain containing protein was recently identified and designated ARC for apoptosis repressor with CARD (1). For more details read out the article:The inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family protects cells from self-execution by blocking the relentless caspase death cascade. IAPs bind to and inhibit activated caspases through their BIR domains. Some IAPs such as Livin also contain a RING domain that has E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and promotes the degradation of Smac/DIABLO through ubiquitination. Since Smac/DIABLO promotes apoptosis by inhibiting IAP-caspase interactions, degradation of Smac/DIABLO allows IAPs to more effectively block caspase activity thereby promoting cell survival.In general, members of the IAP family are highly expressed in several types of cancer. However, Survivin, an IAP that lacks a RING domain, definitely stands out among the family for its clear association with cancer. Abundantly expressed during development but scarce in normal adult tissues, Survivin is upregulated during tumorigenesis and associated with chemotherapy resistance and poor patient survival.IAPs are fast emerging as targets for potential diagnostics and therapeutics. For example, patients suffering from diverse cancers develop antibodies against Livin suggesting that Livin may be a novel diagnostic or prognostic tumor marker. Additionally, preclinical studies indicate that down-regulation of Survivin can sensitize tumor cells to chemotherapy, thereby increasing apoptosis and overall treatment response.

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Vodafone prepares to battle Apple iPhone

Vodafone prepares to battle Apple iPhone

  8:43:00 PM    Science Lover

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With Apple claiming that the innovative iPhone has already reached the coveted 1 million unit sales point – less than three months since its June 29 launch – it’s safe to say that the touch-screen handset is already a storming success. Therefore, as the device’s European release looms, it’s perhaps unsurprising that network giant Vodafone is readying itself for war by spreading an impressive content offer before its customers.
With Apple apparently set to slip beneath the ‘exclusive carrier’ bed sheets with the O2 network for UK-based iPhone coverage, a rumour that could be officially confirmed before the close of the month, Vodafone has whipped the covers off a new deal that gifts users with music access for a mere £1.99 GBP per week, reports Channel 4 News.
Vodafone’s unlimited music download offer will certainly arrive as a boon for the network’s existing customers, though the Newbury-based company will likely be hoping the subsequent impact will attract a wealth of new users in the face of the considerable draw that O2 will revel in during the Christmas consumer rush.
For the £1.99 GBP per week charge, Vodafone customers will be given total access to any music held within the network, although widespread access for such a small amount will mean that track playback will be strictly limited to mobile phone handsets only. Users wishing to transplant music from their handsets to other digital devices will have to spend £0.99 GBP per song for the privilege.
Vodafone’s music downloads are to be delivered by Omnifone’s MusicStation via the Vodafone Live! Internet portal. More than 1 million songs will be made available from the likes of EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group, which are the world’s four biggest music publishers.
In other news, a Vodafone spokesperson has revealed that the company will introduce some 19 new handset devices in the build up to Christmas. These devices will include 2 new BlackBerry offerings along with 15 third-generation (3G) Internet phones from manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.

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Iphone software unlock finally in the wild

Iphone software unlock finally in the wild

  8:37:00 PM    Science Lover

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TODAY MARKS D-DAY for the legions of buyers keen to get their hands on an Iphone, but not so keen to sign up to two years of AT&T service - the day that the unlock hits the virtual shelves of retailers across the globe.
Iphone Sim Free, the company behind the unlock, has frustrated users over the past three weeks by demonstrating a software-based unlock - which doesn't require a user to take apart the Iphone - but then compounding delay after delay with bad communications and shadowy business practices.
However, the legions of Apple fanboys who have been taking them to task have, characteristically, changed themselves into fawning groupies as the software is distributed to Iphone users and has been proved to work in the 'real world'. The UK's very own Paul Taylor had the honour of being first man in line.
This means that any Joe can pick up an Iphone from an Apple store, run this software and plonk in a Vodafone or T-Mobile card with impunity - a kick in the teeth to the network which spent millions bending over backwards to meet Apple's specifications, not to mention the European networks still yet to launch.
The cost of the unlock - around $50 bought through a reseller - has angered those in the 'open hacking' community who have expected to see a free unlock developed by enthusiasts. They have promised to reverse engineer the Iphone Sim Free hack before the week is out and make it available for free.
Meanwhile, Apple claims to have sold its one millionth phone, keeping it on track for 10 million sales by the end of 2008.
With Iphone owners already a little 'touchy' about the new Ipod Touch, at least a carrier unlock is something to be happy about.

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Google News to Host Wire Service Stories

Google News to Host Wire Service Stories

  8:24:00 PM    Science Lover

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Articles from the AP, AFP, U.K. Press Association, and the Canadian Press will appear directly in Google News pages.

Google Inc. took another step Friday in its continued attempts to improve its relationships with wire services, when it announced a program to host full articles from news agencies on Google News pages.
Google News, a site in which Google aggregates links to articles published on news outlets' Web sites, is generally valued by publishers who make money from online advertising and as such benefit from the traffic Google News sends to their sites.
But Google News has been a tougher sell for wire services, which generally make money by licensing their content to newspapers and magazines, and not by attracting readers to their own Web sites.
Agence France Presse (AFP), one of the world's largest wire services, sued Google for alleged copyright infringement on the News site. Although never publicly acknowledged, it's widely believed that the Associated Press threatened to file a similar lawsuit.
Although Google maintains that running hyperlinked headlines, text snippets and thumbnail images from news outlets in Google News is protected by the fair use principle, it eventually settled with AFP and signed a licensing agreement with it, as well as with AP.
Friday's announcement appears to be the first concrete result of those licensing agreements, although the AP deal is now more than a year old. The AFP settlement and agreement were announced in April.
Now, if they want, people will be able to read the original articles from AP, AFP, the U.K. Press Association and the Canadian Press in Google News pages. Google also entered into licensing agreements with the U.K. and Canadian wire services.
Previously, because wire services' Web sites typically feature either a small sample or none of their stories, the way to read their articles was go to the sites of their syndication clients, such as newspapers.
The new feature unveiled Friday is called "duplicate detection," which lets Google News identify the original source of a story that may appear in tens or hundreds of news outlet Web sites. If the source story is from one of the four news service agencies that Google has licensing agreements with, Google will display the story on a page that it hosts.
But the feature will benefit all types of news outlets, not just wire services. For example, if a New York Times story gets syndicated, Google News will know that it originally came from this newspaper.
For such outlets that have their own public Web sites, "duplicate detection" will simply let users click over to their sites, which is the traditional Google News model.
Removing duplicated articles opens up more room on Google News, leading to a better user experience, said Josh Cohen, Google News business product manager.
"Our goal with what we're launching today is to provide the best experience for our users and help our partners get credit for their content," he said.
Asked whether the hosting of full articles on Google News will weaken the fair-use protection claim, Cohen said that it will not. "We respect copyright laws. When we go beyond fair use, we enter into licensing agreements," he said.
The "duplicate detection" feature is already operational on the site, he said.

SOURCE : PC WORLD

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