Y Combinator-Backed SimplyInsured Wants To Help Small ...

For small businesses, buying and managing health insurance is a ?pain in the buns,? to quote my new favorite ad. Not only are its complicated terms, lack of transparency, slow quoting and on-boarding process and paper trail a pain in your buns, but health insurance can be a massive pain in your wallet, to boot. Hidden costs are everywhere.

Y Combinator-backed SimplyInsured is launching today with a solution. Founders Vivek Shah and George Huo, who were also both early employees at YC startup Cardpool (which sold to Blackhawk Network in late 2011), have built a simple, online health insurance manager and quote engine for small businesses, which aims to explain in plain English what is or isn?t working about your current plan and help you identify hidden costs and cost-savings.

SimplyInsured analyzes thousands of insurance policies in an attempt to find small business owners the best coverage, price and value for their unique needs, in turn, handling all the forms and paperwork automatically and paperlessly that help you get a new plan up and running quickly. Of course, if the concept behind SimplyInsured sounds at all familiar, that?s because the startup shares a similar mission with another recently-launched Y Combinator company, Zenefits, which we covered last week.

Sure, that makes for a potentially awkward situation for Y Combinator and for both startups, and, honestly, it?s surprising that this doesn?t happen more often. YC founder Paul Graham says of the situation:

We?ve had this happen before, though not to this degree in the same batch. Companies evolve, so unless you dictate their ideas to them there is always some chance that two companies you fund will compete. E.g. Google and Apple have become competitors, and few would have expected that. But while this is an awkward situation, we have procedures for dealing with it, and we know from office hours that they ended up in the same spot by evolution and not because one copied the other.

While there is most definitely overlap, both startups have taken it in stride thus far, welcome the competition and the opportunity to learn from the success (or slip-ups) of the other, as they set out to build differentiated health insurance managers. When asked to describe how SimplyInsured is looking to set itself apart from its fellow Y Combinator startup, Huo and Shah say that they?ve opted to approach health insurance from the consumer?s perspective ? in other words, the driving questions they want to help small businesses answer are, for example, what medical issues are you worried about and how much will they cost?

Rather than offering a one-stop shop for managing a wide range of employee benefits (as Zenefits has sought out to do), the startup?s software estimates the cost of having a baby or going to the emergency room, the particular procedures and scenarios, which the founders believe are ignored by the majority of health insurance brokers. By providing deep comparisons ? not just premiums and maximums ? SimplyInsured wants to eliminate the fear (and FUD) around the hidden costs inherent to health insurance purchasing, while actively guiding companies to the best, personalized coverage and plan(s).

Of course, Zenefits and SimplyInsured are not the only startups tackling this long-standing problem, nor are they the only ones looking to bring the process online. Both Cake Health and Simplee share similar mission statements (to a degree), but the SimplyInsured co-founders are of the mindset that Cake Health and Simplee are targeting the latter half of the problem. That is to say: The startups help individuals and small businesses save money once they?re already struggling with bloated, cost-heavy plans.

While downstream cost-savings is a valuable service in and of itself ? and one that SimplyInsured offers at launch ? the company is also looking to help its customers save money during the purchasing process, Shah tells us, which he believes will lead to a larger net savings (and lower bills) down the line.

Differentiation aside, how does SimplyInsured work, you ask? Essentially, the startup?s service works in three steps. First, SimplyInsured helps small businesses find and identify the plan that best fits their particular needs. Traditionally, this process requires business owners or founders to set up in-person meetings or calls with insurance brokers and, while this provides the security blanket of being able to talk to intermediaries face-to-face, it?s inefficient and takes time.

Instead, SimplyInsured has opted to bring this online and automate the process, developing algorithms that surface relevant information based on a company?s needs, while offering a greater degree of price transparency ? or at least that?s the idea. Essentially, it?s similar to the difference one experiences in booking flights by calling a travel agent versus using Hipmunk or Kayak.

Next, once the right plan is identified, the service automates the on-boarding process (like Zenefits) to help streamline how companies sign up and activate each of their employees. Usually, this involves a lot of paperwork, faxing and brokers driving to your offices with a stack of forms to sign. Again, like Zenefits, the startup is making this process completely paper-free, allowing businesses to complete the process online in 10 minutes, rather than two weeks.

Lastly, SimplyInsured attempts to simplify the ongoing administration of the plan through a one-click on-boarding process and by making it easy for companies or employees to switch plans at any point in the future.

Once Obamacare (or the PPACA) goes fully into effect in 2014, there is an expectation that the new state health insurance exchanges will create increased competition among insurers for the average small business customer. The Act requires insurers to offer an online product and also reduces the overall commission brokers can claim from small business clients. Under previous legislature, these commissions were already reduced to seven percent, and while this means increased competition for fewer dollars, the co-founders expect that many traditional, offline brokers will struggle to make the transition and may not survive.

In the post-Obamacare world, Shah says, only the low-cost providers will be able to survive, which means there could be a big reduction in the number of agents in the U.S., which now number around 400K. Built in the new era of the 7-percent-commissions mandate and with a process that is online from the get-go, SimplyInsured (and Zenefits as well) believe they?ll be well-positioned to weather the changes, even if commissions are reduced further. For an online business like SimplyInsured, the margins work in their favor.

The founders tell us that early users of the platform (they currently have several dozen clients) have found they?ve been able to make savings in the range of $500-$1,000 per person on their health insurance, which, if they?re able to maintain an average on the higher end of that spectrum, will put them in a good place. And it will be a boon for small businesses in particular, who tend to be the ones hit hardest by health insurance costs.

Going forward, SimplyInsured plans to integrate with payroll services (something Zenefits already offers) to be able to further automate the process of employee deductions for insurance. The founders also believe that, in focusing on individuals, they can help business owners root out the specific issues they have with their plans (or will need coverage for), and can help them find increased savings.

In building their algorithms, the team found that there are tons of hidden costs in the terms of each specific injury, and, because hospitals don?t share the prices for treatment, this requires them to essentially go through the whole plan step by step. The startup has written its algorithms to automate this process, reading insurance plans one-by-one and step-by-step to tell users what they will be paying if, say they break their leg, under the terms of each plan, allowing them to easily compare the candidates. (You can see the results/examples of that comparative analysis in the images embedded above.)

This is really the key and the biggest value-add that SimplyInsured provides over its competitors; the ability to drill down into each part of a potential plan and compare them to others adds a whole new level of transparency to the process.

And, in the end, because there really isn?t a primary, go-to online insurance platform today that?s well known and widely used, both Zenefits and SimplyInsured stand to benefit handsomely from this dearth of transparency if they play their cards right. Plus, this is a big enough problem that affects enough businesses, that there is plenty of room for both to build sustainable businesses. Of course, that?s easier said than done.

For more on SimplyInsured, find them at home here.

SimplyInsured allows you to estimate your real Out-of-Pocket costs when purchasing health insurance. We turn the 100+ costs/benefits in health insurance into one, simple, easy-to-compare price.

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/27/y-combinator-backed-simplyinsured-wants-to-help-small-businesses-take-the-pain-out-of-health-insurance/

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How to Prevent Running Blisters

Getting blisters on a run is the most annoying of injuries. They hurt. They can keep you sidelined when you're trying to train. They heal slowly. Worst of all: They're not even cool enough to brag about. So let's see how we can prevent them from happening in the first place.[jump} More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/LiL7Tpbm_dc/how-to-prevent-running-blisters

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Researchers identify genetic variation behind acute myeloid leukemia treatment success

Researchers identify genetic variation behind acute myeloid leukemia treatment success

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Researchers from the College of Pharmacy and Medical School working within the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, have partnered to identify genetic variations that may help signal which acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients will benefit or not benefit from one of the newest antileukemic agents.

Their study is published today in Clinical Cancer Research.

In the latest study, U of M researchers evaluated how inherited genetic polymorphisms in CD33, a protein that naturally occurs in most leukemia cells, could affect clinical outcomes of patients treated with an existing chemotherapy drug, gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO), an immuno-conjugate between anti-CD33 antibody and a cytotoxin known as calicheamicin, which binds to CD33 on leukemic cells. As GO is internalized by leukemia cells, the cytotoxin is released, causing DNA damage and generating leukemic cell death.

In recent clinical trials GO has been shown to induce remission and improve survival in subset of patients with AML, however there is wide inter-patient variation in response.

Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D., and colleagues identified and evaluated three genetic variations of CD33 in two groups of patients with pediatric AML ? one group that received the drug GO, and one group that did not. They found that specific genetic variation in CD33 that significantly affected the clinical outcome of AML patients who received GO based chemotherapy.

"Understanding how genetics play a role in how drugs work is extremely useful, particularly for a drug like GO which has shown a very heterogeneous response in AML patients," said Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D., the study's lead author and a researcher who holds appointments in both the College of Pharmacy and the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota. "Our latest findings lead us to believe that genetic variation in CD33 influences how AML patients' leukemic cell responds to GO."

AML is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, and is the second most common form of leukemia in children. Though the most common type of treatment for AML is chemotherapy, Lamba says the disease remains hard to treat and newer, more effective therapies are needed.

"The overall goal of our study was to use genetic data to predict beneficial or adverse response to a specific drug, thus opening up opportunities to use this information for drug optimization to achieve maximum therapeutic efficacy and minimum toxicity. Our hope is that our research could serve as a marker of prognostic significance for clinicians to select the therapy that has the greatest odds of being effective for individual patients based on their CD33 genotype."

###

University of Minnesota Academic Health Center: http://www.ahc.umn.edu/

Thanks to University of Minnesota Academic Health 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/127037/Researchers_identify_genetic_variation_behind_acute_myeloid_leukemia_treatment_success

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Pope, in final message, says he's a simple pilgrim

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) ? Benedict XVI greeted the faithful for the last time as pope on Thursday, telling tearful well-wishers that he is beginning the final stage of his life as "simply a pilgrim," hours before he becomes the first pontiff in 600 years to resign.

The pope's journey into retirement began with an emotion-drenched sendoff from the Vatican, with Swiss Guards in full regalia standing in attention and prelates kneeling to kiss the papal ring ? Benedict's closest aide weeping by his side.

Bells tolled as the pope left the Vatican by helicopter and circled St. Peter's Square, where banners reading "Thank You" were held up skyward for him to see. The bells tolled anew as he arrived in Castel Gandolfo, whose central piazza was jammed with people eager to catch the last glimpse of Benedict as pope.

His arms raised, the aging Benedict appeared at the balcony of the palazzo where he will spend the first few months of his retirement. The crowds cheering wildly, he said he was happy to be "surrounded by the beauty of creation" on this unique day.

As of 8 p.m., he said to applause, he would no longer be pope.

"I am simply a pilgrim beginning the last leg of his pilgrimage on this Earth," Benedict said, as well-wishers wiped tears from their eyes.

Benedict, 85, reached out to the wider world electronically, sending a final tweet from his Twitter account, (at)Pontifex, shortly before his departure from the Vatican: "Thank you for your love and support. May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives."

The day began with Benedict's final audience with his cardinals, where he pledged his "unconditional reverence and obedience" to his successor, a poignant and powerful message to close out his eight-year pontificate.

In an unexpected address inside the Vatican's frescoed Clementine Hall, the pope appeared to be trying to defuse concerns about his future role and the possible conflicts arising from the peculiar situation of having both a reigning pope and a retired one.

Benedict also gave a final set of instructions to the "princes" of the church who will elect his successor, urging them to be united as they huddle to choose the 266th leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

"May the College of Cardinals work like an orchestra, where diversity ? an expression of the universal church ? always works toward a higher and harmonious agreement," he said.

It was seen as a clear reference to the deep internal divisions that have come to the fore in recent months following the leaks of sensitive Vatican documents that exposed power struggles and allegations of corruption inside the Vatican.

The audience inside the Apostolic Palace was as unique as Benedict's decision to quit, with the pope, wearing his crimson velvet cape and using a cane, bidding farewell to his closest advisers and the cardinals themselves bowing to kiss his fisherman's ring for the last time.

Some seemed to choke up at that moment, and a few lingered on to chat with the pope for as long as they could. But the scene seemed otherwise almost normal, with cardinals chatting on the sidelines waiting their turn to say goodbye.

Benedict said he would pray for the cardinals in coming days as they discuss the issues facing the church, the qualities needed in a new pope, and as they prepare to enter into the secret conclave to elect him.

"Among you is also the future pope, whom I today promise my unconditional reverence and obedience," Benedict told the cardinals.

Benedict's decision to live at the Vatican in retirement, be called "emeritus pope" and "Your Holiness" and wear the white cassock associated with the papacy has deepened concerns about the shadow he might cast over the next papacy.

But Benedict has tried to address those worries over the past two weeks, saying that once retired he would be "hidden from the world" and living a life of prayer.

In his final speech in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, he said he wasn't returning to private life exactly, but rather to a new form of service to the church through prayer.

And on Thursday he went even further with his own public pledge of obedience to the new pontiff.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope's pledge was in keeping with this effort to "explain how he intends to live this unprecedented situation of an emeritus pope."

"He has no intention of interfering in the position or the decisions or the activity of his successor," Lombardi said. "But as every member of the church, he says fully that he recognizes the authority of the supreme pastor of the church who will be elected to succeed him."

The issue of papal obedience is important for Benedict. In his last legal document, he made new provisions for cardinals to make a formal, public pledge of obedience to the new pope at his installation Mass, in addition to the private one they traditionally make inside the Sistine Chapel immediately after he is elected.

Benedict's resignation will be a moment of quiet theater.

At 8 p.m. sharp, the Swiss Guards standing at attention at Castel Gandolfo will go into the palazzo and shut the doors behind them and go off duty, their service protecting the head of the Catholic Church over ? for now.

Lombardi said the guards would change into civilian clothes and return to the Vatican barracks Thursday night. They will continue to guard the entrances of Vatican City and the pope's palace, "even if he's not there," said Cpl. Urs Breitenmoser, a Swiss Guard spokesman.

And on Monday, the cardinals are expected to begin meeting to set the date for the conclave.

Benedict's decision has been met for the most part with praise and understanding. Cardinals, Vatican officials and ordinary Catholics have rallied around him in acknowledgment of his frail state and the church's need for a strong leader.

But Sydney Cardinal George Pell has caused a stir by openly saying the resignation has been "slightly destabilizing" for the church.

In an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp., Pell noted that Benedict himself had acknowledged the shift in tradition; Benedict said Wednesday that he appreciated his decision was not only serious but "a novelty" for the church.

Pell also said the church was in sore need of a strong manager ? comments echoed by several cardinals who have noted the 30-year reign of two popes who paid scant attention to the internal governance of the church.

The Vatican tried to downplay Pell's comments, saying it wouldn't respond to individual cardinals and urging the media not to take advantage of churchmen who, it said, aren't necessarily media savvy.

___

Winfield reported from Vatican City.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-final-message-says-hes-simple-pilgrim-165621318.html

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FDA halts Amgen study after teen patient death

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Federal health regulators have halted Amgen's studies of its drug Sensipar after the death of a 14-year-old patient in a company trial.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it is still gathering information about the death, but has shut down all studies of the drug in children.

Sensipar is approved in adults to treat over-activity of the parathyroid gland, which can lead to brittle bones, kidney stones and abdominal pain. It has been used since 2004 to treat symptoms of chronic kidney disease and parathyroid cancer.

Amgen Inc. had been studying the drug to see whether it works in children.

The Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based company said in a statement that it "is working as rapidly as possible to understand the circumstances of what happened."

The FDA said on its website that it is unclear whether Amgen's drug had a role in the patient's death, but it is reminding doctors to prescribe it carefully.

The drug is known to lower calcium levels, sometimes to a dangerous extent.

The agency says doctors should monitor patients' calcium levels monthly to make sure they don't fall to dangerous levels. Signs of a calcium deficiency include muscle cramping, convulsions and burning or prickling sensations.

The most common side effects of the drug in adults include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Amgen reported annual sales of $800 million for Sensipar in 2011, its most recent full-year financial report.

Company shares fell 7 cents to $89.48 in afternoon trading Tuesday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-26-US-Amgen-Drug-Trial-Death/id-8243bad9f67440a7afb974cd2adb30bb

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NASCAR Fans to Sue for Damages from Nationwide Crash

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/nascar-fans-to-sue-for-damages-from-nationwide-crash/

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Weary of crises, Americans tune out budget cut talk

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is pulling out all the stops to warn just what could happen if automatic budget cuts kick in. Americans are reacting with a collective yawn.

They know the shtick: Obama raises the alarm, Democrats and Republicans accuse each other of holding a deal hostage, there's a lot of yelling on cable news, and then finally, when everyone has made their points, a deal is struck and the day is saved.

Maybe not this time. Two days before $85 billion in cuts are set to hit federal programs with all the precision of a wrecking ball, there are no signs that the White House and Republicans in Congress are even negotiating. Both sides appear quietly resigned to the prospect that this is one bullet we just may not dodge.

Still, for all the grim predictions, Americans seem to be flipping the channel to something a little less, well, boring. They wonder, haven't we been here before?

It's like deja vu, says Patrick Naylon, who runs an audiovisual firm in San Francisco: "The same stuff, over and over again."

Texas native Corby Biddle, 53, isn't losing sleep over the cuts. No way the government will let vital services collapse, he said as he visited tourist attractions this week in downtown Atlanta.

"It will get resolved. They will kick the can down the road," Biddle said.

Usually, that's exactly what happens. Even the cuts behind the current panic were originally supposed to kick in on Jan. 1 ? part of the fiscal-cliff combo of spending cuts and tax hikes that economists warned could nudge the nation back into recession. For all the high drama, lawmakers finally acted on New Year's Day, compromising on taxes and punting the spending cuts to March 1.

And the blunt instrument known as the "sequester" that's set to deliver the cuts? That too was the progeny of another moment of government-by-brinksmanship, a concession that in 2011 made possible the grand bargain that saved the U.S. from a first-ever default on its debt.

Even if the current cuts go through, the impact won't be immediate. Federal workers would be notified next week that they will have to take up to a day every week off without pay, but the furloughs won't start for a month due to notification requirements. That will give negotiators some breathing room to keep working on a deal.

But you can only cry wolf so many times before people just stop paying attention.

"I know you guys must get tired of it," Obama told a crowd in Virginia on Tuesday. "Didn't we just solve this thing? Now we've got another thing coming up?"

Three out of 4 Americans say they aren't following the spending cuts issue very closely, according to a Pew Research Center poll released this week. It's a significant drop from the nearly 4 in 10 who in December said they were closely following the fiscal-cliff debate.

Public data from Google's search engine shows that at its peak in December, the search term "fiscal cliff" was about 10 times as popular as "sequestration" has been in recent days. Even "debt ceiling," not a huge thriller for the web-surfing crowd, maxed out in July 2011 at about three times the searches the sequester is now getting.

"We're now approaching the next alleged deadline of doom. And voters, having been told previously that the world might end, found it did not in the past and are becoming more skeptical that it will in the future," said Peter Brown of the nonpartisan Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

And let's face it: When it comes to policy issues that can really put an audience to sleep, "sequestration" is right up there with filibuster reform, chained CPI and carried interest.

For all the angst about layoffs, furloughs and slashes to government contracts, the markets don't seem to be rattled, either. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, after falling below 13,000 at the height of the fiscal cliff debacle, has been buoyant ever since, spending the last month hovering just below 14,000.

"I shrug my shoulders because I don't believe any of those severe cuts will go through," said Karen Jensen, a retired hospital administrator who stopped to talk in New York's Times Square. "Life goes on as it has before."

But if the Obama administration hasn't managed to convince Americans these spending cuts could be the real deal, it's not for lack of trying.

Each day the cuts grow nearer sees a new dire warning from the White House about another government function that will take a hit if they go into effect ? what White House chief of staff Denis McDonough has called a "devastating list of horribles." Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned Monday that her agency will be forced to furlough 5,000 border patrol agents. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said 70,000 preschool kids could be removed from Head Start. Fewer air traffic controllers could mean 90-minute delays or longer in major cities, and visiting hours at all 398 national parks are likely to be cut, the administration has said.

The White House has circulated 51 reports ? one for each state, plus the District of Columbia ? localizing the effects of the cuts. On Tuesday, Obama took his cautionary tale to a shipbuilding site in Newport News, Va., calling attention to how the cuts could impede the military. The White House says in Virginia alone, about 90,000 civilians working for the Defense Department would be furloughed, for a nearly $650 million reduction in gross pay.

"The president needs to stop campaigning, stop trying to scare the American people, stop trying to scare the states," Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana said Monday after governors from both parties met with Obama behind closed doors. "Now's the time to cut spending. It can be done without jeopardizing the economy. It can be done without jeopardizing critical services."

The age-old Republican desire for a scaled-back federal government makes it clear why, on the one hand, the GOP isn't scrambling to avert the cuts ? especially when Obama insists on more tax revenues in any deal to turn them off. On the other hand, Obama is banking on polls that show if the cuts go through, Republicans are likely to bear most of the blame.

Both parties agree that if you're going to cut spending, an indiscriminate mechanism like the sequester is the wrong way to do it. After all, the whole point of the endeavor was to set in motion ramifications so unbearable that lawmakers would be forced to come together and hash out a better plan before the deadline.

Count James Ford of Louisville, Ky., among those still holding out hope.

"They'll come up with something to keep the thing going," he said. "They always do."

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Martin in Atlanta, Jake Pearson in New York and Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wary-crises-americans-tune-budget-cut-talk-080137738--finance.html

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Cell discovery could hold key to causes of inherited diseases

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Fresh insights into the protective seal that surrounds the DNA of our cells could help develop treatments for inherited muscle, brain, bone and skin disorders.

Researchers have discovered that the proteins within this coating -- known as the nuclear envelope -- vary greatly between cells in different organs of the body.

This variation means that certain disease causing proteins will interact with the proteins in the protective seal to cause illness in some organs, but not others.

Until now scientists had thought that all proteins within the nuclear envelope were the same in every type of organ.

In particular the finding may provide insights into a rare muscle disease, Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy.

This condition causes muscle wastage and heart problems, affects only muscles, even though it is caused by a defect in a nuclear envelope protein found in every cell in the body.

Scientists say that the envelope proteins they have identified as being specific to muscle may interact with the defective nuclear envelope protein that causes Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, to give rise to the disease.

In a similar way, this may help to explain other heritable diseases that only affect certain parts of the body despite the defective proteins being present in every cell. The study also identified nuclear envelope proteins specific to liver and blood.

Some of these also interact with proteins in all cells that are responsible for other nuclear envelope diseases, ranging from brain and fat to skin diseases, and so may help explain why things go wrong.

Dr Eric Schirmer, of the University of Edinburgh's Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, who led the study, said: "Nobody could have imagined what we found. The fact that most proteins in the nuclear envelope would be specific for certain tissue types is a very exciting development. This may finally enable us to understand this ever-growing spectrum of inherited diseases as well as new aspects of tissue-specific gene regulation."

The findings build on previous research that showed proteins in the nuclear envelope are linked to more than 20 heritable diseases.

The study, which was supported by the Wellcome Trust and conducted in collaboration with the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, is published in the journal Nucleus.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Edinburgh, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Nadia Korfali, Gavin S. Wilkie, Selene K. Swanson, Vlastimil Srsen, Jose de las Heras, Dzmitry G. Batrakou, Poonam Malik, Nikolaj Zuleger, Alastair R.W. Kerr, Laurence Florens, Eric C. Schirmer. The nuclear envelope proteome differs notably between tissues. Nucleus, 2012; 3 (6): 24 DOI: 10.4161/nucl.22257

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/r8kNvxe1h04/130226113830.htm

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Britain's top Catholic cleric resigns, won't elect new pope

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric resigned on Monday following allegations he behaved in an inappropriate way with priests, and said he would not take part in the election of Pope Benedict's replacement.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien said he had tendered his resignation some months ago, ahead of his 75th birthday in March and because he was suffering from "indifferent health".

The Vatican said the pope, who steps down on Thursday, had accepted O'Brien's resignation as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh.

O'Brien, an outspoken opponent of gay marriage, has been reported to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behavior stretching back 30 years, according to Britain's Observer newspaper.

The cardinal, who last week advocated allowing Catholic priests to marry as many found it difficult to cope with celibacy, rejected the allegations and was seeking legal advice, his spokesman said.1

"Looking back over my years of ministry: For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologize to all whom I have offended," O'Brien said in a statement, which made no reference to the recent allegations.

He said he would not attend the election next month of a new pope, saying: "I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me - but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor."

The Observer, which gave little detail on the claims, said three priests and a former priest, from a Scottish diocese, had complained over incidents dating back to 1980.

One said the cardinal formed an "inappropriate relationship" with him while another complained of unwanted behavior by O'Brien after a late-night drinking session.

Last year, O'Brien's comments labeling gay marriage a "grotesque subversion" landed him with a "Bigot of the Year" award from British gay rights group Stonewall.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden; editing by Maria Golovnina and Jon Boyle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-most-senior-roman-catholic-cleric-resigns-112040627.html

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Skeptical Syrian opposition to attend Rome talks

BERLIN (AP) ? Skeptical Syrian opposition leaders agreed Monday to attend an international conference in Rome after first threatening to boycott the session that was to be the centerpiece of Secretary of State John Kerry's his first overseas mission in his new job.

Opposition leaders had protested what they see as inaction by other nations in the face of violence from Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

Kerry not only made a public plea at a joint news conference Monday with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, he also called Moaz Khatib, leader of the Syrian Opposition Council, "to encourage him to come to Rome," a senior U.S. official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, described the conversation as "good" but declined to offer more detail.

Spokesman Walid al-Bunni said the council had decided to send a delegation to Rome after all.

Al-Bunni told Al-Arabiya TV the decision was made based on guarantees al-Khatib heard from western diplomats that the conference would be different and that the opposition would receive real commitments this time. "We will go and we will see if the promises are different this time," he said.

After speaking with Khatib, Kerry flew to Berlin from London, the first stop of his first trip as secretary of state ? a hectic nine-country dash through Europe and the Middle East.

Kerry had also dispatched his top Syrian envoy to Cairo in hopes of convincing opposition leaders that their participation is critical to addressing questions from potential donors and securing additional aid from the United States and Europe.

"We are determined that the Syrian opposition is not going to be dangling in the wind, wondering where the support is, if it is coming," Kerry told reporters in London after meeting British Prime Minister David Cameron and Hague. "We are not going to let the Syrian opposition not have its ability to have its voice properly heard in this process."

For his part, Hague said the violence in Syria, especially recent scud missile attacks on the city of Aleppo, was unacceptable and that the west's current position could not be sustained while an "appalling injustice" is being done to Syrian citizens.

"In the face of such murder and threat of instability, our policy cannot stay static as the weeks go by," Hague told reporters, standing beside Kerry. "We must significantly increase support for the Syrian opposition. We are preparing to do just that."

Kerry agreed.

"We are not coming to Rome simply to talk, we are coming to Rome to talk about next steps," Kerry said, adding that he was sympathetic to opposition complaints that they were not getting the support they need to defend themselves against the Assad regime or oust him from power.

"I am very sensitive to that frustration," recalling that as a U.S. senator he was one of several who pushed the administration to consider military aid to the Syrian opposition.

"But I am the new secretary of state ... and the president of the United States has sent me here and sent me to this series of meetings and in Rome because he is concerned about the course of events.

"This moment is ripe for us to be considering what more we can do," he said, adding that if the opposition wants results, "join us" in Rome.

Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Monday the Assad regime was ready to hold talks with opposition leaders, the first time that a high-ranking Syrian official has stated publicly that the government would meet with the opposition. Al-Moallem made his comments after meeting in Moscow with Russian officials.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said Moallem's remarks appeared positive but expressed caution about the seriousness of the offer.

"I don't know their motivations, other than to say they continue to rain down horrific attacks on their own people," Ventrell told reporters. "So that speaks pretty loudly and clearly."

If the Assad regime is serious, he said, it should inform the U.N. peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi of its readiness for talks. Ventrell said the Assad regime hasn't yet done that.

Obama administration officials have debated whether the U.S. should arm the rebels, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey having said they urged such a course of action. The White House has been unwilling to do so for fears the weapons could end up in the wrong hands. Currently, the U.S. provides only non-lethal support and humanitarian aid.

The United Nations says at least 70,000 people have been killed in Syria's 2-year civil war, which began as an uprising against Assad's regime.

Kerry said the Syrian people "deserve better" than the violence currently gripping their country as he stood alongside Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague.

___

Associated Press writers Cassandra Vinograd in London and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/skeptical-syrian-opposition-attend-rome-talks-204353433.html

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Triple H takes to Twitter and Tout to blast Brock Lesnar after bloody brawl

Triple H is taking social media by storm with his actions inside and outside the ring.

After sending shockwaves throughout the WWE Universe with his brutal beatdown on Brock Lesnar, The Game delivered his first tweet from his official Twitter account, then promptly taunted Brock with a bold message sent via Tout.

"The ass-kicker is back," an intense Triple H proclaimed in the Tout. "Now the question is: Are you just gonna stand around and bleed? Or are you gonna do something about it?"

The King of Kings seems hell-bent on picking his familiar rival apart both physically and mentally after Lesnar stalked a recovering Mr. McMahon during the WWE Chairman's fight with Paul Heyman to kick off Raw. Lesnar required 18 staples to close the wound on his head suffered in a vicious attack at the hands of the furious Cerebral Assassin.

Now, Triple H has put the heat on Brock through his initial ventures into Twitter and Tout. Does The Game have any other verbal barbs planned for Lesnar in the aftermath of their staggering brawl? And what will The Anomaly say ? or do ? to settle the score as The Road to WrestleMania heats up?

By the looks of it, these two warriors are only getting started.

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Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2013-02-25/triple-h-twitter-tout-blasts-brock-lesnar-after-brawl

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