Monthly Archives: June 2012

Tenth annual biotechnology conference coming to UNC Charlotte

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Art Pappas and Mike Luther at 2010 Biotechnology Conference. Photo/Julie Fulton

The Charlotte Biotechnology Conference returns to UNC Charlotte for the tenth year. The conference, which will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, will be at the Barnhardt Student Activity Center (SAC).

The conference, hosted in conjunction with UNC Charlotte and the Charlotte Research Institute, allows people from all over the university area to learn about advancements and developments within biotechnology.

Clare Faggart, life sciences program manager for the Charlotte Research Institute, is the project manager for the Charlotte Biotechnology Conference. Ive been with Charlotte Research Institute for four years, and before that I worked with the biotech conference, so [I have been involved] for really six years, said Faggart. This is a conference that started at UNC Charlotte years ago. It actually matriculated out of the Office of Technology Transfer.

There are no other events such as this readily available for UNC Charlotte students and faculty to attend, says Faggart. Not in the Charlotte region. Not only is the event unique to the area, the specific event changes each year, and the agenda is already available online. Its ever constantly changing, you know, we always want to make it bigger and better and more interesting for our participants and our attendees. So it is always changing, hopefully all for the better, said Faggart. Theres lots going on.

This year, numerous panel discussions will be available for attendees of the conference to listen in on. These discussions include Biotechnology in the Charlotte Region Past, Present and Future; Biotechnology Start-up Funding Where to Find and How to Get It and A New Biology for the 21st Century. We do several panel sessions for biotech start-ups, anything that might be of interest to life science students, faculty, business partners of the university, community life science organizations and businesses and, of course, any other service provider in that area, said Faggart.

Speakers in these discussions come from the Hanmer Institute, the David H. Murdock Research Institute, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Silicon Valley Bank and numerous faculty members from UNC Charlotte, among other locations. The list goes on and on of incredible speakers we have, said Faggart.

The speaker delivering the keynote speech this year will be Leroy Hood. Hoods speech, titled Proactive P4 Medicine (Predictive, Preventive, Personalized and Participatory): The Science behind P4 Medicine and What It Can Do for You and for Society, will begin directly following the first break in the conference.

Faggart encourages those interested in biotechnology and life sciences attend the event. Everyone is invited to attend, she says, from UNC Charlotte faculty and students to local life science businesses. Its a pretty extraordinary opportunity for our UNC Charlotte students and faculty, said Faggart. Just simply for them to come and take an opportunity to hear world renowned speakers such as Dr. Hood.

Leroy Hood focuses his research on molecular immunology, biotechnology,and genomics. He assisted in founding the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle in 2000. He has co-written numerous textbooks on the subjects he specializes inand has won several awards.

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Tenth annual biotechnology conference coming to UNC Charlotte

Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc. : Cynapsus Therapeutics Has Article Published in Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

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TORONTO--(Marketwire -06/13/12)-

Cynapsus Therapeutics Has Article Published in Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Cynapsus Therapeutics (CTH.V) today announced that an article discussing its APL-130277 drug candidate will be published in the July 2012 Issue of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology. The article titled "Creating systemic oral transmucosal drug delivery strategies: Case study of APL-130277" was co-authored by Anthony Giovinazzo, President and CEO of Cynapsus, Nathan Bryson, Chief Scientific Officer of Cynapsus, and Timothy Tankosic, Managing Director of Aqua Partners, LLC.

The July 2012 issue of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology will be published on July 1, 2012 and distributed earlier at the BIO International Convention (http://convention.bio.org/) being held in Boston, MA, USA, from June 18 to 21, 2012.

The article broadly addresses the strategic application of systemic oral transmucosal (i.e., sublingual and buccal) drug delivery. The article also provides a specific discussion of the scientific, clinical and commercial considerations driving APL-130277, an easy-to-administer, fast-acting, oral reformulation of an approved drug, apomorphine, being developed to rescue Parkinson's patients from "off" episodes. The principal advantages the oral transmucosal route and APL-130277 include: circumvention of first-pass hepatic metabolism in the gut, rapid onset of action, easy access via the oral cavity, easy administration for patients with dysphagia, and a high level of patient acceptance.

The full text version of the article is available at http://commercialbiotechnology.com (Subscription Required), or by contacting Anthony Giovinazzo at ajg@cynapsus.ca.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

About Cynapsus Therapeutics

Cynapsus is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing an improved dosing formulation of an approved drug used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Over one million people in the United States and an estimated 5 million people globally suffer from Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disease that impacts motor activity, and its prevalence is increasing with the aging of the population. It is estimated that between 25 percent and 50 percent of patients experience off episodes in which they have impaired movement or speaking capabilities. Current medications only control the disease's symptoms, and most drugs become less effective over time as the disease progresses.

Cynapsus' lead drug candidate, APL-130277, is an easy-to-administer, fast-acting, oral reformulation of an approved drug, apomorphine, used to rescue patients from off episodes. Cynapsus is focused on rapidly maximizing the value of APL-130277 by completing pivotal studies in advance of a New Drug Application expected to be submitted in 2014. Cynapsus anticipates out-licensing to an appropriate pharmaceutical partner before such an application is submitted.

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Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc. : Cynapsus Therapeutics Has Article Published in Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

BIO Announces Dr. Michael Rosenblatt, Merck Chief Medical Officer, as Keynote Speaker for the BIO Convention in China

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WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) announced today that Michael Rosenblatt, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer for Merck, will deliver a keynote address at the BIO Convention in China, October 24-25, 2012, in Shanghai. The event expects to bring together global biotechnology executives, pharmaceutical companies and investment firms to meet and explore business opportunities within Chinas emerging biotech sector.

Dr. Michael Rosenblatts unique combination of academia, industry and global public health experience makes him distinctly qualified to highlight the opportunities and challenges associated with biopharma research and development in China and the West, said Alan Eisenberg, executive vice president of Emerging Companies and Business Development at BIO.

Dr. Rosenblatt will provide one of two keynote addresses by westerners. Governor Jon Huntsman, former U.S. Ambassador to China and Governor of Utah, will also provide a keynote address. Attendees will also hear keynote addresses from Chinese leaders, who will be announced at a later date.

Noted for his work in drug development, training of medical students, and major medical center leadership, Dr. Rosenblatt has served as dean of the Boston-based Tufts University School of Medicine; George R. Minot Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; and president of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). He was the Harvard faculty dean and senior vice president for academic programs at BIDMC. He was also director of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He returned to Merck in late 2009 as the companys first chief medical officer.

During my trips to China, Ive been struck by the energy, power and still-growing potential of that great nation. There is enormous opportunity to improve the health of millions of people in China through novel collaborations among industry, academia, government and others committed to contributing to the success of Chinas healthcare reform plan, Dr. Rosenblatt said.

Dr. Rosenblatt is engaged in Merck efforts now underway in China, including collaborations with academic medical centers in the areas of clinical research and medical education.

The BIO Convention in China will feature plenary sessions and workshops on health and regulatory issues, intellectual property, business development and vaccines, and global health. The conference will also feature company presentations, partnering meeting opportunities, and an Exhibition. The convention will include biopharmaceutical industry leaders from North America, Europe and Asia.

BIO brings to China more than 16 years of experience in organizing international conferences for the biotech industry, including the BIO International Convention, the worlds largest annual biotech conference. BIO is renowned for its successful business development, partnering and investor meetings in North America, Europe and Asia. Partnering at this conference will be powered by BIO One-on-One Partnering, an interactive environment to intelligently search, contact and schedule private meetings with potential partners and investors.

For more information on BIO China, please visit here.

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BIO Announces Dr. Michael Rosenblatt, Merck Chief Medical Officer, as Keynote Speaker for the BIO Convention in China

BIO to Release Intellectual Property Rights Report at 2012 BIO International Convention

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WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) will unveil findings from a report on the role of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in encouraging upstream R&D and downstream commercialization in biotechnology at the 2012 BIO International Convention in Boston, Mass.

The report, titled Taking Stock: the Gains of Global Biotechnology Research from IPRs, will bring together experts to discuss how IPRs have affected innovation and the development of new biotechnologies and whether they contribute to growth in partnerships and other models of collaboration between biotechnology R&D actors such as universities, small and medium sized entities (SMEs) and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Rachel Chu, Senior Consultant, Pugatch Consilium

About BIO

BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the worlds largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world. BIO produces BIOtechNOW,a multiblog platform and monthly newsletterthat aims to create an online biotech community where thethe industrycan connect to discuss the latest news. Subscribe to BIOtechNOW.

For more information: Visit http://www.bio.org Follow us on Twitter @IAmBiotech Join us on LinkedIn/MyBio Become a fan at facebook.com/IAmBiotech

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BIO to Release Intellectual Property Rights Report at 2012 BIO International Convention

Cynapsus Therapeutics has Article Published in Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 13, 2012) - Cynapsus Therapeutics (CTH.V) today announced that an article discussing its APL-130277 drug candidate will be published in the July 2012 Issue of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology. The article titled "Creating systemic oral transmucosal drug delivery strategies: Case study of APL-130277" was co-authored by Anthony Giovinazzo, President and CEO of Cynapsus, Nathan Bryson, Chief Scientific Officer of Cynapsus, and Timothy Tankosic, Managing Director of Aqua Partners, LLC.

The July 2012 issue of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology will be published on July 1, 2012 and distributed earlier at the BIO International Convention (http://convention.bio.org/) being held in Boston, MA, USA, from June 18 to 21, 2012.

The article broadly addresses the strategic application of systemic oral transmucosal (i.e., sublingual and buccal) drug delivery. The article also provides a specific discussion of the scientific, clinical and commercial considerations driving APL-130277, an easy-to-administer, fast-acting, oral reformulation of an approved drug, apomorphine, being developed to rescue Parkinson's patients from "off" episodes. The principal advantages the oral transmucosal route and APL-130277 include: circumvention of first-pass hepatic metabolism in the gut, rapid onset of action, easy access via the oral cavity, easy administration for patients with dysphagia, and a high level of patient acceptance.

The full text version of the article is available at http://commercialbiotechnology.com (Subscription Required), or by contacting Anthony Giovinazzo at ajg@cynapsus.ca.

About Cynapsus Therapeutics

Cynapsus is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing an improved dosing formulation of an approved drug used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Over one million people in the United States and an estimated 5 million people globally suffer from Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disease that impacts motor activity, and its prevalence is increasing with the aging of the population. It is estimated that between 25 percent and 50 percent of patients experience off episodes in which they have impaired movement or speaking capabilities. Current medications only control the disease's symptoms, and most drugs become less effective over time as the disease progresses.

Cynapsus' lead drug candidate, APL-130277, is an easy-to-administer, fast-acting, oral reformulation of an approved drug, apomorphine, used to rescue patients from off episodes. Cynapsus is focused on rapidly maximizing the value of APL-130277 by completing pivotal studies in advance of a New Drug Application expected to be submitted in 2014. Cynapsus anticipates out-licensing to an appropriate pharmaceutical partner before such an application is submitted.

More information about Cynapsus (CTH.V) is available at http://www.cynapsus.ca and at the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at http://www.sedar.com.

About The Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

The Journal of Commercial Biotechnology is the definitive international quarterly publication for bioscience business professionals. The Journal is designed specifically for those professionals who need to enhance their knowledge of biotechnology business strategy and management, improve and advance their product development or want to keep up-to-date with current issues and industry trends. Each issue publishes peer-reviewed, authoritative, cutting-edge articles written by the leading practitioners and researchers in the field, addressing topics such as Management, Policy, Finance, Law, Regulation and Bioethics.

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Cynapsus Therapeutics has Article Published in Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Development of infants at risk of hypoglycaemia – study

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Collaborative study looks at development of infants at risk of hypoglycaemia

Researchers from the University of Canterburys Bioengineering Mechatronics Programme are part of a large, collaborative project looking at the development of young children who were at risk of hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar, in their early neonatal period.

Director of the UC Mechatronics Programme, Professor Geoff Chase, says UC researchers are involved in the project because of their expertise with hyperglycaemia through the management of patients with high blood sugar at both the adult ICU at Christchurch Hospital and in extremely pre-term infants at Christchurch Womens NICU, as well as expertise in managing complex data and signals.

We model the major human physiological systems the metabolic system, the cardio-vascular system and pulmonary mechanics. We then use these models, with data in clinic, to provide better monitoring of something that cannot be measured directly with ease, or in diagnostics, or to guide treatment, he says.

The multi-disciplinary study, called CHYLD (Children with Hypoglycaemia and their Later Development), is based at The University of Auckland, led by Distinguished Professor Jane Harding from the Liggins Institute.

It was Professor Chases team that, several years ago, developed the Specialised Relative Insulin Nutrition Table (SPRINT), a laminated wheel-based system to control blood glucose levels and nutritional intakes in intensive care patients. Already proven to have saved 50 lives a year and $1m/year in costs at Christchurch Hospital, the system has now been improved and computerised.

We are very familiar with the continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) that are used in this study, says Professor Chase. These are tiny sensors which, when inserted under the skin, can sense subcutaneous glucose. To remove the need for invasive testing which was previously done by pinstick, CGMs were used to measure blood sugar concentrations of the newborn babies in the study at Waikato Hospital.

CGMs do need frequent calibration however, and can produce significant random noise. The way you calibrate the devices can change the data produced, and thus the results, so how this is done and the way that subsequent data is managed is something that best leverages engineering skills.

Hypoglycaemia in neonatal infants can cause brain damage, but currently it is not known which babies will be affected or what levels of blood sugar might trigger the damage.

The CHYLD study investigates the development of children from two neonatal studies. The first, BABIES, observed 100 newborns from the NICU at Waikato Hospital between December 2006 and February 2009. The second, Sugar Babies, recruited 514 babies between November 2008 and November 2010.

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Development of infants at risk of hypoglycaemia - study

Brainiac: The history and science of doping

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The return of the Olympics means that we'll get to enjoy some of those weird and delightful summer sports -- stuff like archery, handball, and synchronized swimming. Unfortunately, it also means the return of a thorny and frustrating subject: doping. In Run, Swim, Throw, Cheat, Chris Cooper, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Essex, provides an extraordinarily thorough account of the history and science of drugs in sports. We tend to think about doping in a relatively unsophisticated way, Cooper argues: It's bad, and we want to stop it. In fact, however, the science of doping is extraordinarily complex, and its history is nuanced and surprising. We need to understand doping better.

The first thing to grasp about doping, Cooper writes, is that, for most of history, no one's cared about it -- the idea of "doping" simply didn't exist. The ancient Greeks were entirely open about their use of nutritional and pharmaceutical aides: "Charmis of Sparta swore that dried figs led him to Olympic gold in 668 B.C.," Cooper writes, while the great Greek physician Galen "noted the positive benefits of eating herbs, mushrooms, and testicles." In 1904, runner Thomas Hicks won the St. Louis Olympic Marathon "on a combination of strychnine injections laced with brandy," and no one seemed to mind; in the inter-war years, scientists on both sides of the Atlantic openly and enthusiastically endorsed performance-enhancing drugs, including cocaine. In the 1930s, British soccer teams proudly boasted about the supplements they used: the Wolverhampton Wanderers, for example, "informed the media of their latest pharmaceutical tricks, publicizing their use of extracts of monkey glands in the newspaper the News of the World." Doping was banned at the Olympics in 1938, but still didn't have a real stigma -- professional athletes continued to use drugs.

For most of history, Cooper writes, "The debate, as far as we can judge, was about methods not morals. The view seemed to be that any way to obtain an edge was fine." Really, Cooper argues, it should come as no surprise that no one cared about doping: Ordinary people were enthusiastic about drugs in everyday life, too. In the 1940s and 50s, it was totally normal for a person to pop an amphetamine pill to boost his mood. It was only when society as a whole turned against drugs after the 1960s that doping in sports became a truly moral issue.

So we are still working out own attitudes toward doping, which are relatively recent -- and those attitudes must contend with the science of doping, which, Cooper shows, is equally double-edged. In the first place, it's hard to know what really works -- and, therefore, which offenses an athlete ought to be punished for. Clinical trials of performance-enhancing drugs, he points out, are of limited relevance to elite athletes, since they have bodies which differ in substantial ways from those of even very fit ordinary people. And, at the highest levels, elite athletes often possess built-in advantages which are 'unfair,' and which can be arranged on a spectrum along with pharmaceutical or nutritional advantages. Some athletes, for example, are "doped" by their genes -- like the Finnish skier Eero Mantyranta, who won seven Olympic medals, in part because he possessed a mutant gene which caused his body to over-produce EPO, a hormone which drives the production of red blood cells. EPO, as it happens, is also a performance-enhancing drug. Similarly, a small percentage of female athletes, Cooper points out, are born with hormonal profiles which give them unusual strength and speed. Above and beyond these issues, there's the fact of "technological doping" -- the benefits which an economically advanced home country can provide for an athlete-in-training.

Doping, in short, is complicated, and hard to talk about in a monolithic way. The only way to make sense of it is to think very carefully, on a case-by-case basis, about which sorts of interventions constitute effective, meaningful cheating. (Some doping interventions might in fact boil down to the placebo effect.) Unfortunately, our approach to doping is as inconsistent as our policy on recreational drugs. Caffeine, for example, has a demonstrable and substantial affect on athletic performance, and yet no one's outlawed it -- almost certainly because it's legal in civilian life. This suggests that many of our attitudes about doping may have little to do with sports. Instead, they proceed out of our moral concerns about drug use in general.

Cooper devotes most of the book to a fine-grained discussion of the science of doping, and shows that it's full of surprising wrinkles and exceptions. As a whole, his account suggests that we are not spending enough money and time to really understand the problem. Ultimately, he makes the case for a more empirical and pro-active approach to thinking about drugs in sports, driven by research. More research would help us anticipate new developments and concentrate on those doping practices which truly create unfairness. "We can no more 'win' a war on drugs in sport than we can 'win' a war on drugs in society," he concludes -- the best we can do is be informed, and to focus on increasing fairness, one case at a time.

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Brainiac: The history and science of doping

Novel biochemistry in Bovine immunodeficiency virus [erv]

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Many roads lead to Rome there is no one right way to solve an evolutionary hurdle. Viruses encounter the same evolutionary problems, but have evolved lots and lots and lots of different solutions to the exact same problems. Random chance of mutations + the bumbling blindness of natural selection (good enough is selected, not BEST!) means all that bumbling mess leads to different solutions. Some might work better than others, but they all work, and thats good enough.

Its easy to comprehend an RNA virus doing something differently than a very distantly related DNA virus. But differences exist between closely related viruses as well. We all know no-new-genes-no-new-functions Michael Behe and his Creationist BFFs hate the evolutionary capacity of new-genes-new-functions HIV-1. They have to hate its cousin Bovine immunodeficiency virus too:

The bovine immunodeficiency virus Rev protein: identification of novel nuclear import pathway and nuclear export signal among retroviral Rev/Rev-like proteins

There are lots of different ways to get a protein. Retroviruses operate like a sheet cake it makes one bit mRNA that gets cuts up into lots of little mRNAs as it leaves the nucleus, which go one to be translated into all the proteins the retrovirus needs.

But then how to you get a retroviral genome into the babby viruses? The retroviral genome is a big uncut piece of mRNA. If it always gets cut up when it leaves the nucleus, how can you ever get that big uncut RNA genome into new viruses?

Lentiviruses have an answer to this dilemma Regulator of Virion Expression, Rev.

Rev escorts the mRNA out of the nucleus, so it can be chopped up in different ways to get different retroviral proteins, or, prevent the RNA from being cut entirely so full genomes can be packaged into babby viruses.

And of course, its not just about Rev getting out of the nucleus with its RNA companion. It must also be able to get itself into the nucleus. Proteins like Rev are made in the cytoplasm on ribosomes it needs to perform a few tricks to get itself into the nucleus to pick up its RNA buddy.

So Rev does two things gets into the nucleus, gets out of the nucleus with RNA. Gets into the nucleus, gets out of the nucleus with RNA. Over and over.

You would think that Rev from HIV and Rev from BIV would look and behave in the same manner. Theyre the same protein from the same family of retrovirus (lentivirus) that accomplish the same function.

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Novel biochemistry in Bovine immunodeficiency virus [erv]

Grey's Anatomy Star Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart Talk Kids—and the Show's Finale Surprise

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Dane, 39, and Gayheart, 40, say Billie is finally warming up to little Georgina.

"Billie is being a great big sister now," Gayheart gushed to us at the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball in L.A.

"We've had a couple rough patches but she really adores her," she said. "She's really sweet. It's like her live baby doll."

That means Billie is getting more hands-on with mom and dad's baby duty.

"She helps change her diaper and give her food and put her bib on," Gayheart said, adding, "but sometimes she regresses and wants the pacifier for herself."

Meanwhile, Dane dished his thoughts about Grey's Anatomy's shocking season eight finale in which costar Chyler Leigh was surprisingly killed off.

"I wasn't [shocked] because I knew that Chyler wanted to spend some more time with her family," Dane said. "It's a tough schedule to keep up and she's been working on the show for five seasons. So I wasn't shocked. A little surprised but not shocked. We're going to miss her."

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Grey's Anatomy Star Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart Talk Kids—and the Show's Finale Surprise

Anatomy of an aftermath: Movie being planned about Melinda Elkins Dawson

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It probably is assumed by most people that Melinda Elkins Dawsons story had a definitive end.

In June of 1998, Dawsons mother, Judith Johnson of Barberton, was raped and murdered. A

6-year-old niece also was attacked and raped. Dawsons then-husband, Clarence Elkins, was charged with the crimes, based on the childs account to police.

After Clarence Elkins went to prison, Dawson took it upon herself to prove his innocence, an effort that took seven years.

Clarence Elkins eventually was able to surreptitiously acquire DNA evidence via a cigarette butt from Earl G. Mann, Johnsons former neighbor, who also happened to be imprisoned with Elkins. It matched DNA found at the crime scene. Mann eventually pleaded guilty.

After Elkins was exonerated and released from prison in 2006, he reached a $1.075 million settlement with the state. In 2010, the Elkins family settled a $5.25 million federal lawsuit against the Barberton Police Department. A suit against the Summit County Prosecutors Office was dismissed.

Dawsons life story recently was optioned by movie producer/screenwriter David Massar, who said a script is in development. Massar said he would like to shoot parts of the film in Barberton, Akron and the Magnolia area. The Elkinses were living outside of Magnolia in Carroll County when Clarence Elkins was arrested. The couple divorced in 2007.

TAX FIGHT

But these days, Dawson is fighting a different battle, this one with the Internal Revenue Service, which has informed her that she owes taxes on her share of the compensation money received from the federal suit.

We should not have to fight for something that was rightfully awarded to my sons, myself, and Clarence, she said. There needs to be an amendment to the federal tax law that will cover this subject, not only for my family but for the countless other families that will face this issue one day.

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Anatomy of an aftermath: Movie being planned about Melinda Elkins Dawson

Bye Bye Birdees Consulting Services, LLC Becomes Part of the Global Travel Organization

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Benicia, CA (PRWEB) June 13, 2012

Bye Bye Birdees Consulting Services,LLC , based in Benicia, CA , announced today that it has become a part of NEST (Network of Entrepreneurs Selling Travel), a travel organization that includes the most knowledgeable travel consultants and top travel suppliers in the world today.

The dedicated consultants at Bye Bye Birdees arrange travel experiences for both vacationers and business travelers that best fit their needs and budgets. They have strong relationships with the crme de la crme of travel suppliers, the companies that consumers most know and trust -- including cruise lines, tour operators, hotels, airlines and car rentals. And, they make personal recommendations drawing on their own travels.

Because Bye Bye Birdees belongs to the NEST group (and is affiliated with its international parent company American Marketing Group, Inc.), they have access to the finest vacation products around the world that are among the lowest prices in the marketplace. In addition, the agency can tap into a network of partners on virtually every continent that provides local travel knowledge, insights and in-country personal assistance.

Bye Bye Birdees is also perfectly positioned to help corporations better manage their global travel spend while providing them with unparalleled personal service in key markets worldwide. The agency offers business clientele a global preferred rate hotel program featuring over 96,000 negotiated hotel rates in 124 countries; a policy-compliant corporate self-booking tool; and a travel data consolidation tool to help control travel expenditures.

Juliet Vercelli of Bye Bye Birdees commented about why they chose to join NEST and the benefits to their customers: "At Bye Bye Birdees, we confidently meet the varied needs of all types of travelers, in part because our affiliation with NEST provides us with the relationships, resources, technology and opportunities that we, in turn, pass along to our clientele. Wherever in the world our clients want to go, we can get them there at price points that deliver great value. There are tremendous travel values available right now. So, the most important question is: where do you want to go next?"

Bye Bye Birdees Consulting Services, LLC was established February 4, 2010 featuring a small team of travel professionals. The company specializes in group travel specifically destination weddings, reunions and any major milestone in a destination. All members are tenured in world wide travel keeping abreast of the latest hotspot destinations. Education and Certifications are important to include up to date information on tour operators, destinations and upcoming travel interests such as Space Tourism, Honeymoons and Destination Weddings, and Sustainable Tourism.

"We're pleased to welcome Bye Bye Birdees Consulting Services, LLC to NEST," said Kathryn Mazza-Burney, President of NEST. "We're very selective in our process of identifying and inviting travel advisors to become part of our organization. They are among the very best travel consultants available today, and they are standing by ready to serve travelers with the personal touch that they expect and deserve. We encourage travelers to call the agency and take advantage of the incredible deals and unforgettable experiences they offer."

Contact: Juliet Vercelli 707-313-3113 Juliet(at)byebyebirdees(dot)com

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Bye Bye Birdees Consulting Services, LLC Becomes Part of the Global Travel Organization

Budapest, Hungary The Top European Bargain This Summer; London Crowned The Costliest For American Travelers

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NEWTON, Mass., June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site*, today announced TripIndex 2012 a cost comparison of accommodations and an evening out on the town for two people in popular tourist cities across the United States and throughout the world.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/49269-tripadvisor-tripindex-top-global-and-domestic-steals-and-splurges

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120613/MM22781)

(Logo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080902/TRIPADVISORLOGO)

The TripAdvisor TripIndex is based on the combined costs for two of a one-night stay in a four-star hotel, one cocktail per person, a two-course dinner with a bottle of wine, and round-trip taxi transportation (two journeys of two miles).

The costs listed apply to the upcoming summer months (June 1 August 31, 2012).

Global Travel Steals

Expensive Escapes

Southern Hospitality

For the second year, TripIndex reveals the Southern U.S. as the top region for travelers looking for domestic deals. The South features four of the top 10 most affordable U.S. destinations on the TripIndex: Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta and Orlando, all with total prices between $283 and $309.

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Budapest, Hungary The Top European Bargain This Summer; London Crowned The Costliest For American Travelers

Passports with Purpose Partners With Expedia.com for Annual Travel Bloggers Fundraiser

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BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwire -06/13/12)- Passports with Purpose (PwP) today announced that Expedia.com, the world's leading online travel agency, will join thousands of travel enthusiasts in the annual travel bloggers community fundraiser as the platinum sponsor. In its fifth year, Passports with Purpose co-founders Beth Whitman, Pam Mandel, Michelle Duffy and Debbie Dubrow will announce the 2012 beneficiary at the Expedia Summer Shindig party at the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) in Colorado on June 16 at 7:00 pm (MDT).

Each year Passports with Purpose has surpassed its fundraising goal through the support of sponsors, and a network of travel bloggers and individual donors, leading to the creation of two libraries in Zambia, a school in Cambodia and a village in India. The 2012 philanthropic effort will begin November 27, 2012 and end December 11, 2012 on http://www.PassportswithPurpose.org.

Expedia.com also supported Passports with Purpose as its official travel sponsor for co-founders Beth Whitman, Debbie Dubrow and Michelle Duffy for their visit to one of the two Room to Read libraries in Zambia.

"The bloggers behind Passports with Purpose are a perfect example of how travel can inspire us to find our passions and our purpose," said Joe Megibow, Vice President and General Manager, Expedia.com. "We're thrilled to be partnering with these bloggers to change another pocket of the world this year."

"We're delighted to have Expedia support Passports with Purpose this year. We feel that together, we can create strong momentum to make the 2012 fundraiser the most successful and broad-reaching effort to date," said Beth Whitman.

"This year, our relationship with Expedia allows us to expand our reach in ways we never thought we'd be able. Their global support gives us the opportunity to grow our audience in ways we couldn't have done on our own," said Pam Mandel. "A bigger audience means more participation, and more participation means that, working with causes we believe in, we can make an even bigger difference in the world. Passports with Purpose and Expedia share in the vision that travel has the power to change the world."

During the fundraiser, participating bloggers procure a prize, post about Passports with Purpose and the prize on their blog, and promote the fundraiser in social media and among their network of contacts. Past prizes included vacation packages, electronics and gear and amazing travel experiences. The Passports with Purpose website hosts a list of all the available prizes and donors make a tax-deductible donation. For each $10 donated, eligible donors will be entered to win a prize of their choice. After the fundraiser ends, a winner is randomly selected for each prize. All of the funds raised go to the chosen beneficiary.

About Passports with PurposeIn 2008, Debbie Dubrow, Michelle Duffy, Pam Mandel and Beth Whitman, the bloggers behind Delicious Baby, WanderMom, Nerd's Eye View and Wanderlust and Lipstick, respectively, began a travel-inspired initiative to raise money online. Passports with Purpose also filled the need to do long-lasting good for people in the places travelers visit by uniting an online community and leveraging the social media platforms of more than 100 travel bloggers around the world. PwP initiatives benefited Heifer International; the Passports School with American Assistance for Cambodia and a village in Tamil Nadu, India for 25 Dalit families with Land for Tillers' Freedom. In 2011, funds were raised to build two libraries in Zambia with Room to Read. For more information about Passports with Purpose visit, http://www.PassportswithPurpose.org, http://www.Facebook.com/PassportswithPurpose or http://www.Twitter.com/PassportPurpose.

About Expedia.comExpedia.com is the world's leading online travel site, helping millions of travelers per month easily plan and book travel. Expedia.com (http://www.expedia.com/ 1-800-EXPEDIA) aims to provide the latest technology and the widest selection of vacation packages, flights, hotels, resorts, rental cars, cruises and in-destination activities, attractions, and services. With the Expedia Best Price Guarantee, Expedia.com customers can get the best rates available online for all types of travel.

2012 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. Expedia, Expedia.com and the Airplane logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners. CST # 2029030-50

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Passports with Purpose Partners With Expedia.com for Annual Travel Bloggers Fundraiser

Super Computer for Sale – Video

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12-06-2012 19:45 Antec LANBOY air i7 2600k 3.4 (4.5 overclocked) Asus Sabertooth TUF edition P67 Motherboard 2x 590 GTX Quad Sli 3GB memory Cooler Master V10 TEC cooler 16 gb of corsair memory 1600 mhz and about 3.5 TB of hard drive space It sports a total of 1024 CUDA processing cores, 128 texture units, 96 ROP units, and 32 tessellation engines for making the most of one of the most sought-after DirectX 11 (DX11) features. The card's graphics clock runs at 607 MHz, its processor clock at 1215 MHz, and its memory clock at 3414 MHz. It's loaded with 3072MB of GDDR5 memory for the frame buffer, which operates over a 384-bit memory interface. CONTACT FOR MORE DETAILS AND HD PHOTOS.

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Super Computer for Sale - Video

Abunda to try stem cell therapy for mom

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MANILA, Philippines -- "The Buzz" host Boy Abunda is going to Europe this weekend with his mother, who is suffering from dementia and Alzeimers disease.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News on Tuesday afternoon, Abunda said he will bring his mother to Germany to try stem cell therapy.

"Ako ay pupunta sa Europe hindi para magbakasyon. Dadalhin ko po ang aking ina para magpagamot sa Germany. Ito po 'yung fresh stem cell therapy. Maganda 'yung dini-diretso na dahil napag-uusapan ito," Abunda said.

While Abunda is in Germany, Kris Aquino will take his place on ABS-CBN's entertainment talk show "The Buzz."

In the interview, Abunda also said he's proud of Aquino, who's now open to doing extreme adventures, while continuing to be a good mother to her two sons.

"Ang daming nagbago kay Kris. May mga bagay na hindi ko inakala na gagawin ni Kris like 'yung diving, zipline at marami pang iba. Natutuwa ako that she has become more open to many things. She has become more adventurous. She has retained being the doting mother that she is pero mas malalim ang halakhak niya ngayon sa buhay. She's just so joyful. Natutuwa ako habang pinapanood ko ang kanyang adventure sa 'KrisTV,'" Abunda said.

Abunda said he's also hoping to do a new project with Aquino.

"I'm hoping na someday ay muli kaming magtagpo sa isang palabas dahil marami ang humihiling na kami ay magsama sa isang palabas. Sigurado ako sa puso ko na kami ay gagawa at gagawa dahil magkadugtong ang aming pusod," he said.

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Abunda to try stem cell therapy for mom

New Applications in Drug Discovery Platforms to Fuel Advance of Stem Cells, Says Frost & Sullivan

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Ethical, Clinical and Commercial Issues to be Navigated before Full Potential of Stem Cell Therapies can be Unleashed

LONDON, June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Stem cells offer exciting potential in regenerative medicine, and are likely to be widely used by mid-2017. Pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies are showing increased interest in stem cell research.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.pharma.frost.com), Analysis of the Stem Cell Markets-Unlocking the New Era in Therapeutics, finds that the market will be driven by stem cell applications in drug discovery platforms and by successful academia commercial company partnership models.

"The high attrition rates of potential drug candidates has piqued the interest of pharmaceutical and biotech industries in stem cell use during the drug discovery phase," notes Frost & Sullivan Consulting Analyst Vinod Jyothikumar. "Previously, animal cell lines, tumours, or genetic transformation have been the traditional platform for testing drug candidates; however, these 'abnormal' cells have significantly contributed to a lack of translation into clinical studies."

Many academic institutes and research centres are collaborating with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in stem cell research. This will provide impetus to the emergence of novel cell-based therapies.

Key challenges to market development relate to reimbursement, ethics and the complexity of clinical trials.

Securing reimbursement for stem cell therapeutic products is expected to be critical for commercial success. However, stem cell therapies are likely to be expensive. Insurers, therefore, may be unwilling to pay for the treatment. At the same time, patients are unlikely to be able to afford these treatments.

"The use of embryonic stem cells raises a host of thorny ethical, legal, and social issues," adds Jyothikumar. "As a result, market prices for various products may be affected."

Moreover, many research institutes are adopting policies promoting the ethical use of human embryonic tissues. Such policies are hindering the overall research process for several companies working in collaboration with these institutes.

"In addition to apprehensions about how many products will actually make it through human-based clinical trials, companies are also worried about which financial model can be applied to stem cell therapies," cautions Jyothikumar. "Possibly low return on investment (ROI) is also resulting in pharmaceutical companies adopting a cautious approach to stem cell therapeutics."

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New Applications in Drug Discovery Platforms to Fuel Advance of Stem Cells, Says Frost & Sullivan

Scientists see new hope for restoring vision with stem cell help

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This is a human ES cell-derived optic cup generated in our self-organization culture (culture day 26). Bright green, neural retina; off green, pigment epithelium; blue, nuclei; red, active myosin (strong in the inner surface of pigment epithelium). Credit: Nakano et al. Cell Stem Cell Volume 10 Issue 6

Human-derived stem cells can spontaneously form the tissue that develops into the part of the eye that allows us to see, according to a study published by Cell Press in the 5th anniversary issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell. Transplantation of this 3D tissue in the future could help patients with visual impairments see clearly.

"This is an important milestone for a new generation of regenerative medicine," says senior study author Yoshiki Sasai of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology. "Our approach opens a new avenue to the use of human stem cell-derived complex tissues for therapy, as well as for other medical studies related to pathogenesis and drug discovery."

During development, light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye, called the retina, forms from a structure known as the optic cup. In the new study, this structure spontaneously emerged from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs)cells derived from human embryos that are capable of developing into a variety of tissuesthanks to the cell culture methods optimized by Sasai and his team.

The hESC-derived cells formed the correct 3D shape and the two layers of the optic cup, including a layer containing a large number of light-responsive cells called photoreceptors. Because retinal degeneration primarily results from damage to these cells, the hESC-derived tissue could be ideal transplantation material.

Beyond the clinical implications, the study will likely accelerate the acquisition of knowledge in the field of developmental biology. For instance, the hESC-derived optic cup is much larger than the optic cup that Sasai and collaborators previously derived from mouse embryonic stem cells, suggesting that these cells contain innate species-specific instructions for building this eye structure. "This study opens the door to understanding human-specific aspects of eye development that researchers were not able to investigate before," Sasai says.

The anniversary issue containing Sasai's study will be given to each delegate attending the 2012 ISSCR meeting in Yokohama, Japan. To highlight the ISSCR meeting and showcase the strong advances made by Japanese scientists in the stem cell field, the issue will also feature two other papers from Japanese authors, including the research groups of Akira Onishi and Jun Yamashita. In addition, the issue contains a series of reviews and perspectives from worldwide leaders in stem cell research.

More information: Nakano et al.: "Self-Formation of Optic Cups and Storable Stratified Neural Retina from Human ESCs." DOI 10.1016/j.stem.2012.05.009

Journal reference: Cell Stem Cell

Provided by Cell Press

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Scientists see new hope for restoring vision with stem cell help

Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center Delivers Flight Hardware For NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

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PALO ALTO, Calif., June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Engineers and scientists at the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Space Systems Advanced Technology Center (ATC) have completed delivery of key hardware subsystems for NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS). The delivery comprised four flight subsystems and one flight spare unit. The prime contractor Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) partnered with Lockheed Martin to develop and build the Hot Plasma Composition Analyzer (HPCA) as part of the MMS instrument suite.

When it launches in 2014, the MMS mission will provide unprecedented insights into a little-understood physical process at the heart of all space weather. This process, known as magnetic reconnection, sparks solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other phenomena that can imperil Earth-orbiting spacecraft and terrestrial power grids. High-resolution data from MMS will provide researchers much greater clarity into the mechanisms involved in magnetic reconnection and associated phenomena.

"Magnetic reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause is the mechanism by which magnetic fields in different regions in this case, from the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) carried by the solar wind, and the Earth's magnetic field change topology to open magnetospheric field lines. This connection allows energy and momentum to flow from the solar wind into the magnetosphere," said Dr. Karlheinz Trattner, Lockheed Martin ATC space plasma physicist, and co-investigator on MMS.

The MMS mission is a Solar Terrestrial Probes mission comprising four identically instrumented spacecraft that will use Earth's magnetosphere as a laboratory to study the microphysics of magnetic reconnection and two other fundamental plasma processes: energetic particle acceleration, and turbulence. These processes have implications for many space science research areas since they occur in all astrophysical plasma systems but can be studied in situ only in our solar system and most efficiently only in Earth's magnetosphere, where they control the dynamics of the geospace environment and play a significant role in space weather.

The four satellites of the MMS mission will be deployed in an orbit to skim the boundary layer between the magnetosphere and the interplanetary magnetic field where magnetic reconnection is known to exist.The MMS spacecraft are being developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland. GSFC is also responsible for the overall management of the MMS mission and mission operations.

The ATC is the research and development organization of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC) and creates the technology foundation for the company's business. In addition, the ATC conducts basic research into understanding and predicting space weather and the behavior of our Sun, including its impacts on Earth and climate. It has a five-decade-long heritage of spaceborne instruments.

LMSSC, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs and develops, tests, manufactures and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for national security and military, civil government and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; ballistic missiles; missile defense systems; and nanotechnology research and development.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 123,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.

Media Contact: Buddy Nelson, (510) 797-0349; e-mail, buddy.nelson@lmco.com

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Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center Delivers Flight Hardware For NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission