Monthly Archives: October 2012

Special ed students love the new Connecticut Children's Medical Center School

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Tuesday, October 2, 2012 11:06 PM EDT

By Scott Whipple Staff Writer

When we came across 300 John Downey Drive [a former warehouse] we knew we had found the right home, she said.

Brown and other dignitaries helped celebrate Connecticut Childrens Medical Center School Tuesday on John Downey Drive during a special ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Walking through the doors of the new CCMC School, students, staff, parents and visitors have been awed by our expansive and modern state-ofthe-art facility, said Patricia Gerrity, CCMC School principal. Gerrity noted the newest technology in the classrooms, gymnasium and numerous resources for academic enhancement, emotional and behavioral growth.

Annalisa Russell-Smith | Staff Third grader Brianna Williams, left, speaking at the ribbon cutting for her new school, Connecticut Children's Medical Center School on John Downey Drive in New Britain Tuesday morning. At right is the school's principal, Patricia Gerrity.

That there were no stairs to tire you out, she said.

It was the cafeteria that impressed 10th-grader Hilson Mejias.

It was like awesome, he said. And the [school] colors are like a rainbow leading to a pot of gold.

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Special ed students love the new Connecticut Children's Medical Center School

REGION: UCR gets OK to open medical school

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After a long wait, UC Riverside has been cleared to open a four-year, independent medical school in August 2013, university officials said Tuesday.

Officials said they were told that they had received "preliminary accreditation" from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, a national accreditation body for medical schools in the U.S. and Canada.

The School of Medicine will begin recruiting for its inaugural fall 2013 class, according to a news release.

"This medical school is critically needed to address our region's physician shortage and stimulate the economy," university Chancellor Timothy P. White said in a written statement.

This was UCR's second try at getting the OK to open.

The School of Medicine sought accreditation in summer 2011, only to be denied because of the state's refusal to commit a regular stream of funding.

At that point, founding medical school Dean G. Richard Olds turned his attention to raising money from local donors.

After securing enough commitments, UCR submitted another application in April.

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REGION: UCR gets OK to open medical school

MCAT revisions bring change for medical school hopefuls

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Freshmen aspiring to be doctors may now have to plan their class schedules a little differently.

The Medical College Admission Test will undergo its fifth revision since it was first administered in 1928 then called the Scholastic Aptitude Test for Medical Students.

In spring 2015, when the new changes will take effect, medical school hopefuls will sit for six and a half hours to take MCAT2015 almost two hours longer than the current version. Each year, more than 85,000 students take the exam.

The test will still consist of four sections, but they have been redivided. It will now consist of Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems, Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems, Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior and Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.

The Writing Section will also be discontinued.

The current version of the test has been in use since 1991, and the new version is likely to be in place until 2030, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

The AAMC took into account all medical schools individual comments about the new MCAT, Perelman School of Medicine Senior Vice Dean for Education and professor Gail Morrison said. The new test will assume matriculating students have prior knowledge of biochemistry and statistics.

Familiarity with some concepts from social sciences will also be expected, Senior Associate Director of Career Services Peter Stokes said.

Clearly there is more to being a physician than being a good scientist, Stokes said. The AAMC has been looking at a variety of ways of finding applicants who are likely to bring other valuable skills, knowledge and experience to the profession.

Students who have taken psychology, cognitive neuroscience, statistics and epidemiology courses will now have use of this knowledge in medical school, Morrison said. The AAMC recognizes that these liberal arts courses will be helpful for students.

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MCAT revisions bring change for medical school hopefuls

Commission Approve Opening Of UC Riverside’s Medical School

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RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) There are only a handful of medical schools in California, and UC Riverside has just been added to the roster.

Officials have given preliminary approval to UCR medical schools proposed courses, which means the university can soon begin accepting applications, a campus spokesperson announced Tuesday.

This is momentous for Inland Southern California and for UC Riverside, UCR Chancellor Timothy P. White said.

This medical school is critically needed to address our regions physician shortage and stimulate the local economy, said White, who credited the Riverside communitys support in reaching this point.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education withheld accreditation approval in 2011 because Californias budget crisis would prohibit UCRs medical school from receiving sufficient funds.

The university has since secured millions in private donations, including $20 million from Riverside County, allowing plans for the medical school to move forward an endeavor that began in 2006.

Classes will be held in the new School of Medicine Research Building and the renovated School of Medicine Education Building, campus officials said.

Prospective students can begin submitting applications to the four-year program later this month when the medical school is added to the American Medical College Application Service.

This will be the sixth medical school added to the UC system, which hasnt inaugurated a new campus M.D. program since the 1960s.

(2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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Commission Approve Opening Of UC Riverside’s Medical School

Medical charter school opens doors to first students

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Medical charter school opens doors to first students

While jobs are in short supply in many industries, that's not the case in the medical field.

A new charter school in Lehigh County is now trying to address that need. The Medical Academy Charter School in Catasauqua is the first of its kind in the Lehigh Valley. It's goal is to better steer kids into the field of health care.

Between the algebra and history of the Jamestown settlement is an art class teaching students how drawing can turn to healing for the sick.

"This is an example of a Zen tangle art therapy method that psychotherapists may use to draw out emotions in patients," said teacher Carol Traynor.

The new school is using the promise of a career in health care to draw students in.

"This is where the jobs are going to be now and in the near future. It's ever growing," said Joanna Hughes, CEO and principal of the school, which opened in September to 9th and 10th graders.

The school, which will expand to 11th and 12th graders, infuses health care sciences into the general curriculum, Hughes said.

"We will provide the children with opportunities so that can be an x-ray tech or a phlebotomist or someone who works in the office doing billing," Hughes said.

Taylor Fullin, who wants to be anesthesiologist, transferred from Northampton Area High School.

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Medical charter school opens doors to first students

UC Riverside gets preliminary OK to open med school

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A national accrediting agency has approved UC Riversides plan to open a full medical school and to start enrolling future doctors next summer. It would be the sixth medical school in the University of California system and the first to open since the late 1960s.

Last year, the same panel rejected the proposal because it looked too risky after the state refused to fund the school. But UC Riverside officials have since secured enough other public and private financing for a program that they say will help ease a doctor shortage in the Inland Empire and improve public healthcare there.

Because we had tried and failed before, it is all the sweeter to have succeeded a year later, said UC Riverside medical school Dean G. Richard Olds, clearly pleased with the news.

The preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education allows UC Riverside to start recruiting students with the goal of enrolling 50 a year beginning next August, officials said. The agencys action was reported to be the first time in three decades that an American medical school was approved after previously having been denied.

Badly stung by last years rejection, Olds and other UC Riverside leaders campaigned for and won about $100 million in donations and pledges to support the school for 10 years. The donors included the UC system itself, Riverside County, the quasi-governmental Desert Healthcare District and affiliated hospitals.

ALSO:

TV shows creepy clown billboards disturb Childrens Hospital

L.A. council votes to repeal ban on medical marijuana dispensaries

--Larry Gordon

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UC Riverside gets preliminary OK to open med school

UC Riverside medical school clears hurdle

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A national accrediting agency has approved UC Riverside's long-embattled plan to open a full medical school and to start enrolling future doctors next summer, officials announced Tuesday. It would be the sixth medical school in the University of California system and the first to open since the late 1960s.

Last year, the same panel rejected the proposal because it looked too risky after the state refused to fund the school. But UC Riverside officials have since secured enough other public and private financing for a program that they say will help ease a doctor shortage in the Inland Empire and improve public healthcare there.

"Because we had tried and failed before, it is all the sweeter to have succeeded a year later," an elated UC Riverside medical school Dean G. Richard Olds said in a telephone interview.

The preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education allows UC Riverside to start recruiting students with the goal of enrolling 50 a year beginning next August, officials said. The agency's action was reported to be the first time in three decades that an American medical school was approved after previously having been denied.

Badly stung by last year's rejection, Olds and other UC Riverside leaders campaigned for and won about $100 million in donations and pledges to support a scaled-down school for 10 years. The donors included the UC system, Riverside County, the quasi-governmental Desert Healthcare District and affiliated hospitals.

However, Olds said the medical school will still need about $15 million a year in state general revenue funds if it is to expand and win full accreditation over the next six years.

Observers say that the state may find it hard to keep denying funding and to threaten the school's permanent future once the doors are open to students. Critics, however, contend that a new medical school is the kind of unnecessary expansionism that UC and the state can no longer afford while basic education programs have suffered large funding cuts and tuition has increased rapidly.

The school would be the only one in the UC system without its own hospital, an arrangement that vastly reduces costs through partnerships with local hospitals and clinics.

"This is a momentous decision for Inland Southern California and for UC Riverside," UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy P. White said in a statement. "This medical school is critically needed to address our region's physician shortage and stimulate the local economy."

Dan Hunt, the national agency's co-secretary, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Traditionally, the accrediting committee does not reveal details of the internal debate that may surround its decisions.

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UC Riverside medical school clears hurdle

Animals engineered with pinpoint accuracy

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A cow in New Zealand has been genetically modified to produce hypoallergenic milk.

AgResearch

Two genetically engineered farm animals reported today illustrate how far from Frankensteins stitched-together monster animal biotechnology has come. One of those animals, a cow, secretes milk that lacks an allergy-inducing protein because researchers accurately blocked its production using the technique of RNA interference1. And in pigs, scientists have used an enzyme called a TALEN2 to scramble a gene that would normally help remove cholesterol.

RNA interference (RNAi) and TALENs are more accurate at targeting the gene in question than are earlier genetic engineering techniques. For years, researchers tried to remove the allergy-inducing milk protein beta-lactoglobulin from cow's milk, which can cause diarrhea and vomiting in some toddlers. They tried replacing the gene encoding beta-lactoglobulin with a defective form, but this proved nearly impossible because the techniques available to introduce foreign genes into animal genomes were not precise, and misplaced genes failed to express themselves correctly.

In 2006, scientists at AgResearch in Hamilton, New Zealand began to experiment with molecules that interfere with the messenger RNA go-between that enables translation of a gene into protein. In mice, they discovered a short chunk of RNA, called a microRNA, that targeted beta-lactoglobulin messenger RNA directly to prevent its translation. They inserted DNA encoding a version of this microRNA into the genome to create genetically modified cow embryos that they hoped would grow into cows without the allergen in their milk. Out of 100 embryos, one calf yielded beta-globulin-free milk. This isnt a quick process, says Stefan Wagner, a molecular biologist at AgResearch. That's why it has taken so long to succeed in making an allergen-free cow, he says.

Wagner says that TALENs, which were not readily available when he began his research, might speed up the process, and that the team plans to use them to eliminate beta-lactoglobulin. RNAi cannot eliminate the protein completely because some messenger RNA slips past the blockade, but each TALEN targets a specific DNA sequence in the genome and cuts it. As the body repairs the break, mutations are often introduced that render the targeted gene non-functional. The TALEN technology is staggeringly easy, quick, and leaves no mark in the genome, says Bruce Whitelaw, a molecular biologist at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, who contributed to the work in pigs. In essence, we are just mimicking an evolutionary process with precise, man-made editors.

His team used TALENs to disrupt genes encoding low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors. Without these receptor proteins to remove cholesterol-containing LDLs from the blood, LDLs build-up and lead to atherosclerosis. Pigs with this condition may be reliable models of human atheroscelerosis in biomedical research.

The TALEN-modified pig is not the first model of human heart disease (see Model pigs face a messy path), but the technique makes genetic engineering less costly and more efficient. Id be exaggerating if I said that pigs and cows can now be thought of as big mice, but we are moving in that direction, says Heiner Niemann, a bioengineer at the Institute of Farm Animal Genetics in Neustadt, Germany.

The excitement surrounding these technological advances is bittersweet, however. Originally, engineered animals were produced with the aim of making food safer, healthier and more abundant. Yet despite years of investment, almost no animal has been approved by regulatory agencies around the world. Wagner says he has not tasted the milk from his special cow because hes not permitted to under New Zealand law. We must restrict our research to scientific analysis, he says. The current climate for animal biotech is not very good, and therefore, we are nowhere near getting this to the consumer."

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Animals engineered with pinpoint accuracy

Cellectis Publishes Results Paving the Way for New Therapeutic Approaches against Cancer and Genetic Diseases

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PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Regulatory News:

Cellectis (ALCLS.PA), the French genome engineering specialist, announces in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, one of the most respected scientific journals in the world, the publication of a new approach regarding the targeted modification of DNA2. The manuscript unmasks novel perspectives and broadens the scope of TALENsTM technology to new therapeutic approaches to fight against cancer and genetic diseases. Until now, TALENsTM, the molecular scissors created by Cellectis Group, were only able to target certain parts of the genome. A team of the Groups researchers, led by Julien Valton and Philippe Duchateau, was able to overcome this constraint, opening the way to a wider range of applications, especially in the therapeutic field.

This study, the first to be published on TALENsTM, was awarded by the selection committee of the JBC as Paper of the Week.

Since their identification in 2009, TALEs have quickly emerged as the new generation of DNA-binding domain with programmable specificity and have been successfully used to generate the molecular scissors known as TALENsTM. However, their sensitivity to methylation, a ubiquitous modification of DNA, represents a major bottleneck for their widespread utilization in the genome engineering and therapeutic fields. Using a combination of biochemical, structural and cellular approaches, the R&D department of Cellectis was able to identify the basis of such sensitivity and more importantly, to propose an efficient and universal method to overcome it.

These results are proof of the scientific creativity and quality of our research teams, as well as the power of our genome engineering tools. This new publication strengthens the relevance of our investment in TALEstechnology, and confirms our strategy within the therapeutic field, declared Andr Choulika, Chief Executive Officer of Cellectis Group.

2) Overcoming TALE DNA Binding Domain Sensitivity to Cytosine Methylation Julien Valton, Aurelie Dupuy, Fayza Daboussi, Severine Thomas, Alan Marechal, Rachel Macmaster, Kevin Melliand, Alexandre Juillerat and Philippe Duchateau J. Biol. Chem. jbc.C112.408864. First Published on September 26, 2012, doi:10.1074/jbc.C112.408864

About Cellectis

Founded in France in 1999, the Cellectis Group is based on a highly specific DNA engineering technology. Its application sectors are human health, agriculture and bio-energies. Co-created by Andr Choulika, its Chief Executive Officer, Cellectis is today one of the world leading companies in the field of genome engineering. The Group has a workforce of 230 employees working on 5 sites worldwide: Paris & Evry in France, Gothenburg in Sweden, St Paul (Minnesota) & Cambridge (Massachusetts) in the United States. Cellectis achieved in 2011 16M revenues and has signed more than 80 industrial agreements with pharmaceutical laboratories, agrochemical and biotechnology companies since its inception. AFM, Dupont, BASF, Bayer, Total, Limagrain, Novo Nordisk are some of the Groups clients and partners.

Since 2007, Cellectis has been listed on NYSE-Euronext Alternext market (ALCLS.PA) in Paris.

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Cellectis Publishes Results Paving the Way for New Therapeutic Approaches against Cancer and Genetic Diseases

The GM Barnyard

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Allergen-free cows milk and pigs with hardened arteries illustrate how the accuracy of genetic engineering has improved.

Two unsuspecting farm animals have helped to demonstrate the increasing accuracy of genetic engineering techniques. The first is a cow that produced hypoallergenic milk after researchers used RNA interference to block the production of an allergy-inducing protein, as reported this week (October 2) in PNAS. The second, reported in another paper in the same issue, is a pig that could be a model for atherosclerosis after researchers used an enzyme called a TALEN to silence a gene that helps to remove cholesterol.

Researchers have long struggled to remove cow milks allergy-inducing protein, beta-lactoglobulin, which can cause diarrhoea and vomiting in children. They were previously unable to introduce foreign genes precisely enough, however, so they could never quite successfully replace the gene that codes for beta-lactoglobulin with a defective form.

But scientists at AgResearch in Hamilton, New Zealand, worked with molecules that interfere with messenger RNA (mRNA), which helps translate genes into proteins. They found microRNA (miRNA) in mice that targeted beta-lactoglobulin mRNA, so they inserted DNA encoding a version of this miRNA into the genomes of cow embryos. Out of 100 embryos, one calf produced beta-globulin-free milk. This isnt a quick process, Stefan Wagner, a molecular biologist at AgResearch, told Nature. One problem is that RNA interference cant eliminate the protein completely because some mRNA slips through.

Another technique could speed up the process. TALENs are enzymes that target and cut out a specific DNA sequence from the genome. As the break is repaired, mutations are introduced that scramble the targeted gene, leaving it unable to function.

The TALEN technology is staggeringly easy, quick, and leaves no mark in the genome, researcher Bruce Whitelaw, told Nature. Whitelaw, a molecular biologist at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, UK, used TALENs to disrupt genes encoding low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors in pigs. Without those receptors, which remove LDL from the blood, Whitelaws pigs develop atherosclerotic arteries. Such pigs could be reliable models for biomedical researchers studying human atherosclerosis.

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The GM Barnyard

Researchers Discover Gene Defect Linked to Deafness

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MONDAY, Oct. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers who have identified a genetic mutation that causes deafness say that the findings could one day lead to the development of new treatments for those at risk for a certain type of hearing loss.

In their new study, scientists at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center reported that the gene is associated with hearing loss stemming from Usher syndrome type 1, a condition that also causes night-blindness and a loss of peripheral vision due to retinal degeneration, as well as some cases of hearing loss not associated with the syndrome ("non-syndromic deafness").

"In this study, researchers were able to pinpoint the gene which caused deafness in Usher syndrome type 1 as well as deafness that is not associated with the syndrome through the genetic analysis of 57 humans from Pakistan and Turkey," lead investigator Zubair Ahmed, an assistant professor of ophthalmology who conducts research at Cincinnati Children's, said in a university news release.

Ahmed explained that deafness in Usher syndrome type 1 and non-syndromic hearing loss has been linked with mutations affecting a protein, known as CIB2, which attaches to calcium inside a cell. "To date, mutations affecting CIB2 are the most common and prevalent genetic cause of non-syndromic hearing loss in Pakistan," Ahmed said. "However, we have also found another mutation of the protein that contributes to deafness in Turkish populations."

In animal studies, CIB2 has been found in the hair cells of the inner ear that respond to fluid motion and allow hearing and balance. CIB2 is also found in retinal photoreceptor cells, making vision possible, the researchers noted in the news release.

The new findings provide more insight into mechano-electrical transduction, or the process that enables the ear to convert mechanical energy -- or energy of motion -- into something the brain can recognize as sound, the researchers pointed out.

"With this knowledge, we are one step closer to understanding the mechanism of mechano-electrical transduction and possibly finding a genetic target to prevent non-syndromic deafness as well as that associated with Usher syndrome type 1," Ahmed concluded in the news release.

The study, which also involved researchers from the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Kentucky, was published in the Sept. 30 online edition of Nature Genetics.

It's estimated that 3 to 6 percent of deaf children and 3 to 6 percent of children who are hard-of-hearing have Usher syndrome. In the United States, roughly four out of every 100,000 babies have the syndrome.

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas

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Researchers Discover Gene Defect Linked to Deafness

Gene responsible for many spontaneous breast cancers identified

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ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2012) Cancerous tumors contain hundreds of mutations, and finding these mutations that result in uncontrollable cell growth is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. As difficult as this task is, it's exactly what a team of scientists from Cornell University, the University of North Carolina, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York have done for one type of breast cancer. In a report appearing in the journal Genetics, researchers show that mutations in a gene called NF1 are prevalent in more than one-fourth of all noninheritable or spontaneous breast cancers.

In mice, NF1 mutations are associated with hyper-activation of a known cancer-driving protein called Ras. While researchers have found earlier evidence that NF1 plays a role in other types of cancer, this latest finding implicates it in breast cancer. This suggests that the drugs that inhibit Ras activity might prove useful against breast cancers with NF1 mutations.

"As we enter the era of personalized medicine, genomic technologies will be able to determine the molecular causes of a woman's breast cancer," said John Schimenti, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Center for Vertebrate Genomics at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York. "Our results indicate that attention should be paid to NF1 status in breast cancer patients, and that drug treatment be adjusted accordingly both to reduce the cancer and to avoid less effective treatments."

To make this discovery, scientists analyzed the genome of mammary tumors that arise in a mouse strain prone to genetic instability -- whose activity closely resembles the activity in human breast cancer cells -- looking for common mutations that drive tumors. The gene NF1 was missing in 59 out of 60 tumors, with most missing both copies. NF1 is a suppressor of the oncogene Ras, and Ras activity was extremely elevated in these tumors as a consequence of the missing NF1 gene. Researchers then examined The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data, finding that NF1 was missing in more than 25 percent of all human breast cancers, and this was associated with a decrease in NF1 gene product levels, which in turn is known to increase Ras activity. "This research is compelling because it helps us understand why some breast cancers are more likely to respond to only certain types of treatment," said Mark Johnston, Editor-in-Chief of the journal GENETICS. "The findings reported in this article may guide clinicians to better treatments specific to the needs of each patient."

This study was supported by NIH training grants IT32HDO57854 and 5T32GM007617 that supported M.D.W.; Empire State Stem Cell Fund contract numbers C026442 and C024174 to J.C.S.; and C.M.P. and A.D.P. were supported by NCI Breast SPORE program (P50-CA58223-09A1), by U24-CA143848, and by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Genetics Society of America, via Newswise.

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

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Gene responsible for many spontaneous breast cancers identified

Gene behind many spontaneous breast cancers identified

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Washington, October 3 (ANI): A team of scientists has shown that mutations in a gene called NF1 are prevalent in more than one-fourth of all noninheritable or spontaneous breast cancers.

The team include scientists from Cornell University, the University of North Carolina, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

In mice, NF1 mutations are associated with hyper-activation of a known cancer-driving protein called Ras. While researchers have found earlier evidence that NF1 plays a role in other types of cancer, this latest finding implicates it in breast cancer.

This suggests that the drugs that inhibit Ras activity might prove useful against breast cancers with NF1 mutations.

"As we enter the era of personalized medicine, genomic technologies will be able to determine the molecular causes of a woman's breast cancer," said John Schimenti, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Center for Vertebrate Genomics at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York.

"Our results indicate that attention should be paid to NF1 status in breast cancer patients, and that drug treatment be adjusted accordingly both to reduce the cancer and to avoid less effective treatments," he added.

To make this discovery, scientists analyzed the genome of mammary tumors that arise in a mouse strain prone to genetic instability-whose activity closely resembles the activity in human breast cancer cells-looking for common mutations that drive tumors.

The gene NF1 was missing in 59 out of 60 tumors, with most missing both copies. NF1 is a suppressor of the oncogene Ras, and Ras activity was extremely elevated in these tumors as a consequence of the missing NF1 gene.

Researchers then examined The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data, finding that NF1 was missing in more than 25 percent of all human breast cancers, and this was associated with a decrease in NF1 gene product levels, which in turn is known to increase Ras activity.

The research was published in the journal GENETICS.(ANI)

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Gene behind many spontaneous breast cancers identified

Research and Markets: Solid-Phase Organic Syntheses. Solid-Phase Palladium Chemistry

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/256cfr/solidphase) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "Solid-Phase Organic Syntheses. Solid-Phase Palladium Chemistry" to their offering.

This series informs researchers of major accomplishments in solid-phase organic synthesis and provides actual experimental details and specific references. With this series, a reader will be able to sharpen hands-on skills by following the experimental procedures and refining understanding of the science by studying the chosen reactions. More importantly, this series guides readers in designing novel compound libraries, and may also inspire future breakthroughs.

This second volume focuses on palladium chemistry in solid-phase synthesis, and discusses: palladium catalysts and reactions, procedures for preparation and utilization, ligands, and linker reactions.

Key Topics Covered:

1. An Introduction to Solid-Phase Palladium Chemistry

2. Pd-Catalysed Solid-Phase Decoration of the 2(1H)-Pyrazinone Scaffold

3. One-Step Palladium and Phenylsilane Activated Amidation of Solid Supported Ally Esters

4. Solid-Phase Reactions of Polymer-Bound Arenesulfonates with Aryl Grignard Reagents

5. Fluorous Synthesis of 3-Aminoimidazo[1,2-A]-Pyridine/Pyrazine Library

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Research and Markets: Solid-Phase Organic Syntheses. Solid-Phase Palladium Chemistry

Heska Corporation Announces New Chemistry Analyzer

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LOVELAND, Colo., Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Heska Corporation (NASDAQ:HSKA; "Heska"), a leading provider of advanced diagnostic and specialty products to veterinarians, announced today the expansion of its diagnostic blood analyzer suite. With proven dry chemistry technology and faster time to results, Heska introduces the new Element DC Veterinary Chemistry Analyzer. The Element DC will be manufactured by FUJIFILM Corporation. Heska believes blood chemistry represents the largest in-clinic testing market.

"Heska has enhanced our diagnostic line-up with a faster, more efficient point-of-care analyzer," commented Michael McGinley, President and Chief Operating Officer of Heska. "Among other notable features, the Element DC provides high-efficiency throughput, and an enhanced user interface, yielding faster answers for clients and patients. Consistent with ourcommitment to offer the latest technology in fundamental areas of veterinary medicine, Heska is thrilled to offer this latest generation chemistry analyzer."

Ideally suited for progressive veterinary practitioners who value speed and accuracy, the new Element DC is now available.

About HeskaHeska Corporation (HSKA) sells advanced veterinary diagnostic and specialty products. Heska's state-of-the-art offerings to its customers include diagnostic and monitoring instruments and supplies, allergy testing and treatment, as well as single use point-of-care tests, vaccines and pharmaceuticals. The company's core focus is on the canine and feline markets where it strives to provide high value products and unparalleled customer support to veterinarians. For further information on Heska and its products, visit the company's website at http://www.heska.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis announcement contains forward-looking statements regarding Heska's future financial and operating results. These statements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. There are uncertainties regarding Heska's ability to successfully commercialize new products; uncertainties regarding the in-field performance of any new product, including the Element DC; competition, including new products competitors may introduce in the future; uncertainties related to Heska's market estimates; uncertainties regarding Heska's ability to gain market share in an economic manner; and the risks set forth in Heska's filings and future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those set forth in Heska's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2012.

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Heska Corporation Announces New Chemistry Analyzer

Lando & Anastasi, LLP Expands Litigation, Chemical/Materials, Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical, and Electrical/Computer …

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Lando and Anastasi, LLP (L&A) today announced that William Seymour, Ian Mullet, Mark Nickas, Jessica Colantonio, and Kenneth Thompson have joined the firm.

The Cambridge-based intellectual property law firm, one of the largest IP firms in New England, has continued its rapid growth. The L&A litigation, chemical and materials, biotechnology and pharmaceutical, and electrical and computer science practice areas are expanding to support strong business growth in 2012. The firms commitment to high quality counsel, responsive service, and value make it sought after by large companies and start-ups alike.

William Seymour is an Associate at L&A. He will focus his practice on patent and trademark litigation and counseling. Prior to joining L&A, he was an Associate at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, LLP in New York. Bill is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and is a member of the New York Bar.

Bill graduated from Boston University School of Law, where he was the Note Editor of the Journal of Science and Technology Law. He received a B.S. in Civil/Environmental Engineering and a B.A. in Political Science from Northeastern University.

We are excited that Bill has joined us, commented Craig Smith, a Litigation Partner at L&A. He brings just the right skills to complete our litigation team, and we are very pleased to be able to immediately integrate him into several or our ongoing matters.

Ian Mullet is an Associate at L&A, and focuses his practice on patent prosecution in the areas of chemical and materials science, as well as in counseling and litigation support in a variety of technologies. He was previously a Summer Associate at L&A.

Ian graduated from the University of New Hampshire School of Law, where he was the Associate Editor of IDEA: the Intellectual Property Law Review. He received an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas, and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Saint Johns College.

Peter Lando, the senior member of the Chemical and Materials Science Group, noted, We have been looking forward to welcoming Ian back to the firm since his summer associateship last year. He proved himself to be a motivated and insightful member of our team, and we are thrilled that he has joined us full-time this fall.

Mark Nickas is an Associate at L&A, and focuses his practice on patent prosecution, diligence and counseling in the biomedical and biotechnology fields, including microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, and molecular and cell biology. He was previously a Summer Associate at L&A, and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

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Lando & Anastasi, LLP Expands Litigation, Chemical/Materials, Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical, and Electrical/Computer ...

Research and Markets: Royalty Rates for Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, 8th Edition

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ddm5g7/royalty_rates_for) has announced the addition of the "Royalty Rates for Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, 8th Edition" report to their offering.

Royalty Rates for Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology features more real-deal royalty rates, license fees, and milestone payment benchmarks than any other publication.

The eighth edition of Royalty Rates for Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology contains hundreds of royalty rates and other financial compensation benchmarks that can be used to optimize the pricing of biotechnology and pharmaceutical innovations. You'll find updated and expanded information from past editions as well as an increased number of reported license agreements. This new edition and the transaction details have been collected from well-established sources over a period of 22 years of research.

Royalty Rates for Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology provides real-deal information for hundreds of transactions, including the technology licensed, royalty rates, license fees, and milestone payments. And it goes well beyond the rates to provide context for each deal analyzed. This unique resource is organized into two useful sections:

The first section covers the theory associated with deriving royalty rates. An overview of intellectual property value is included along with seven methods that can be employed to derive royalty rates: Simple Rules of Thumb, Industry Guidelines, Discounted Cash Flow Analysis, Risk-Adjusted Net Present Value Analysis, Infringement Damages Analysis, Comparable License Transactions, Investment Rate of Return Analysis, and the Relief-From-Royalty Method.

The second section of this one-of-a-kind report presents detailed financial information from real-world transactions. You'll find information on the parties involved in the transactions along with a description of the technology exchanged and all financial details that could be discovered.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ddm5g7/royalty_rates_for

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Research and Markets: Royalty Rates for Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, 8th Edition

'Grey's Anatomy' Season 9 Trailer: Sex, Marriage and Arizona's Road to Recovery (Video)

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The rescue is on.

While the Grey's Anatomy season nine premiere picked up 30 days after the plane crash that claimed the lives of Lexie (Chyler Leigh) and Mark (Eric Dane), Thursday's second episode will flash back to the site of the crash offering a glimpse into the traumatic events that will continue to plague Arizona, Cristina, Meredith and Derek.

A new spoiler-filled super trailer goes back to the woods and previews the doctors' rescue and their various roads to recovery. So who's getting steamy? Who could be engaged? And more importantly, will Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) ever return to the cheerful pediatrics surgeon she was before the crash? Here are eight teasers from the jam-packed season nine promo.

STORY: 'Grey's Anatomy's' Jessica Capshaw on Arizona's Heartbreaking Loss and What's Next

1. Arizona makes Callie (Sara Ramirez) promise not to let the doctors amputate her leg. It's a promise that Callie clearly was unable to keep, with her wife in a deep depression following the surgery that nearly claimed her life -- "she's crashing!" Alex (Justin Chambers) says in the promo. Meanwhile, Callie will turn to tough love and drags Arizona into the shower to snap her out of her depression.

2. Following their rescue, Cristina (Sandra Oh) is (predictably) in shock -- and unable to speak to her "person," Meredith -- or Owen (Kevin McKidd). As she recuperates from a hospital bed at Seattle Grace, she'll flash her temper for the new class of interns and shatter a window in the process.

3. Cristina will high-tail it out of Seattle, telling Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) that she's right about her running away from the emotional duress. "I am, I'm fleeing!" she tells her on her way out.

STORY: 'Grey's Anatomy' Premiere Recap: Dark, Twisty and Deadly

4. Cristina will find a way -- sans clothing! -- to move on from the events of the crash, sharing a steamy sex scene. Who it's with, meanwhile, is unclear.

5. Cristina it turns out isn't the only one getting her groove back as Meredith and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) won't have to deal with survivors' guilt for very long, sharing a sexy romp of their own.

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'Grey's Anatomy' Season 9 Trailer: Sex, Marriage and Arizona's Road to Recovery (Video)

5 Major Spoilers from the Grey’s Anatomy Season 9 Trailer

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Sandra Oh

Now that the fates of the Grey's Anatomy docs have been revealed, ABC has finally released the Season 9 trailer, which shows not only what's in store for this Thursday's episode which flashes back to when the docs were rescued from the plane crash but also from the forthcoming episodes... and boy, are these new scenes juicy!

We dissected the trailer, which you can watch below, in case you miss any of the five major spoilers:

Grey's Anatomy Scoop: Jessica Capshaw discusses Arizona's fate and what's next

1. Derek (Patrick Dempsey) returns to the scene of the crash. Not literally, but he does get to see the destroyed plane again.

2. Callie (Sara Ramirez) will do her best to take care of Arizona (Jessica Capshaw), but even that's not enough. We see that Arizona crashes while at Seattle Grace is that where she loses her leg?

3. Jackson (Jesse Williams) and April (Sarah Drew) are... getting married? Well, he asks her if she wants to get married, not to marry him, but she does respond with a kiss, so maybe wedding bells will be ringing soon?

Grey's Anatomy: Where were we and what's next?

4. Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) tries to convince Cristina (Sandra Oh) to stay in Seattle, but that clearly didn't work so well since the latter twisted sister is in Minnesota now. Still, Meredith appears to be fine, judging from the sexy times between her and Derek.

5. Cristina is catatonic following the crash, but it looks like things are on the up-and-up, considering we see her hooking up with someone but is it Owen (Kevin McKidd)?

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5 Major Spoilers from the Grey’s Anatomy Season 9 Trailer

2012 Nobel Prize Announcements Live Stream

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STOCKHOLM, October 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

You can watch the live stream of the 2012 Nobel Prize announcements as the news breaks onNobelprize.org, the official website of the Nobel Prize, with live coverage from official press conferences and exclusive interviews with experts, including alerts on social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

The 2012 Nobel Prize announcements within Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace and the Prize in Economic Sciences will be live streamed on Nobelprize.org. The first announcement, for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, is scheduled on Monday, 8 October 11:30 a.m. CET at the earliest (see the full timetable of announcements). http://bit.ly/SkccIy Exclusive content such as interviews with members of Nobel Committees explaining this year's awarded achievements will also be streamed live.

Background information about the 2012 Nobel Laureates, their Nobel Prize-awarded work and official press releases from the Nobel Prize-awarding institutions will be immediately posted.

Directly after the Nobel Laureates have heard the news, Nobelprize.org conducts a telephone interview with them, capturing the Laureates' first reactions about the news. Nobelprize.org visitors can post greetings or messages to the new Laureates directly on the website.

In addition to the live stream on Nobelprize.org, you can follow the news in several ways:

SocialMedia. Keep up with the latest news and join the conversation about the 2012 Nobel Prizes on the Nobelprize.org Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Nobelprize.org, or Twitter: @nobelprize_org, http://twitter.com/Nobelprize_org (#NobelPrize).

Smartphone App. Download the official Nobel Prize mobile application available on Android Apps on Google Play. http://bit.ly/QCq3qz

LiveVideoPlayer. Do you want to live-stream the Nobel Prize Announcements on your web site, blog or social networks? Get the easy-to-add code that will allow you to embed the live video player. http://bit.ly/Tw6wOu

About Nobelprize.org and Nobel Media AB

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2012 Nobel Prize Announcements Live Stream