Roxane Vezina Canadian Hippocrates Health Institute Guest (French) – Video


Roxane Vezina Canadian Hippocrates Health Institute Guest (French)
Located on a lush 50 acre campus in West Palm Beach, Florida, Hippocrates Health Institute is the leader in the field of natural and alternative health care. For over 60 years, we have dedicated...

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Roxane Vezina Canadian Hippocrates Health Institute Guest (French) - Video

Health Care REIT Series J Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock Ex-Dividend Reminder

On 3/31/15, Health Care REIT Inc.'s 6.50% Series J Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (Symbol: HCN.PRJ) will trade ex-dividend, for its quarterly dividend of $0.4062, payable on 4/15/15. As a percentage of HCN.PRJ's recent share price of $27.02, this dividend works out to approximately 1.50%, so look for shares of HCN.PRJ to trade 1.50% lower - all else being equal - when HCN.PRJ shares open for trading on 3/31/15. On an annualized basis, the current yield is approximately 6.06%, which compares to an average yield of 6.96% in the "Real Estate" preferred stock category, according to Preferred Stock Channel . The chart below shows the one year performance of HCN.PRJ shares, versus HCN:

Click here to learn which S.A.F.E. dividend stocks also have preferred shares that should be on your radar screen

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

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Health Care REIT Series J Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock Ex-Dividend Reminder

Health Care Sector Update for 03/27/2015: CNAT,BMRN,OHRP

Top Health Care Stocks

JNJ +0.45%

PZE +0.97%

MRK +0.82%

ABT +0.55%

AMGN +1.38%

Health care stocks were broadly higher today with the NYSE Health Care Sector Index jumping almost 0.8% and shares of health care companies in the S&P 500 rising 0.9% as a group.

In company news, Conatus Pharmaceuticals ( CNAT ) extended gains Friday after the biotech company said Thursday that its emricasan drug candidate met its primary goal of reducing three biomarkers signaling liver damage during Phase II testing in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

The double-blind, placebo-controlled trial enrolled 38 patients receiving either 25 milligrams of emricasan or a placebo twice daily. According to the company, 30% of the patients in emricasan arm demonstrated declines in the three enzymes compared with just a 4% drop in the placebo arm.

The drug also was safe and well tolerated during the latest trial, with no dose-limiting toxicities and no drug-related serious adverse events observed. CNAT plans to present detailed trial results at the International Liver Congress beginning April 22 in Vienna, Austria.

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Health Care Sector Update for 03/27/2015: CNAT,BMRN,OHRP

In A Genetic Portrait Of A Nation, A Map Of The Future

Its the most complete genetic map of an entire country yet completed and it could show clues of what medicine could look like in the coming age of big data.

Researchers working at DeCode Genetics, a unit of the drug company Amgen, have sequenced the genomes of 2,636 Icelanders and used genealogical records and more spotty genetic data to calculate the likely genetics of 101,584 more. Because DeCode has anonymized access to patient medical records, the company could then look for relationships between the genetic variants and disease and they found a new genetic variant that increases the risk of Alzheimers, as well as confiming suspected variants that raise the risk of diabetes and one that causes atrial fibrillation, a heart condition. The results are published in three scientific papers in the journal Nature.

Its certainly an impressive tour de force, says George Yancopoulos, the Chief Scientific Officer of Amgen rival Regeneron. This is certainly establishing a benchmark for all of us and showing the value of this type of analysis, in particular in the Icelandic population.

Regeneron is creating its own database of sequencing data with Pennsylvanias Geisinger Health Systems. The United Kingdom has embarked on a 100,000 Genomes Project. And President Obama has proposed linking together lots of ongoing sequencing projects into a database of 1 million volunteers. The DeCode experiment, started 18 years ago during the dot-com boom, is our first look at the kind of data that these gargantuan efforts could produce.

Some important basic science questions were answered. For instance, a lot of effort is put into figuring out when the most recent common male ancestor of all people has lived, an area of research that could be important for understanding of diseases linked to the (male) Y chromosome. But Amgen bought DeCode, and its access to Icelands population for $415 million two years ago. It didnt spend that kind of coin to find out about the mutation rate on the Y chromosome.

The hope has always been that these kinds of genetic data would lead to new drugs. And DeCode provides a series of huge leads. Scientists frequently try to figure out what genes do by knocking them out (that is, breaking them) in mice. Doing the same experiment in humans would be, of course, highly unethical.

Except that some people are born with naturally dysfunctional copies of some genes. And these can be clues to drugs. Theres even a great example: having a dysfunctional version of a gene called PCSK9 results in lower cholesterol levels and rates of heart disease. There are even people with two broken copies of the gene, including an aerobics instructor in Dallas who has levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol, of 14 milligrams per deciliter, compared to normal levels of more than 100 mg/dL.

Both Amgen and Regeneron have drugs (evolocumab and alirocumab) that block PCSK9 that will soon hit the market, in what is expected to be one of the most heated drug launches in years. Drug company executives hope that more genetic data would mean finding more genes like PCSK9 that could be useful drug targets.

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In A Genetic Portrait Of A Nation, A Map Of The Future

Photosynthesis hack is needed to feed the world by 2050

Using high-performance computing and genetic engineering to boost the photosynthetic efficiency of plants offers the best hope of increasing crop yields enough to feed a planet expected to have 9.5 billion people on it by 2050, researchers report in the journal Cell.

There has never been a better time to try this, said University of Illinois plant biology professor Stephen P. Long, who wrote the report with colleagues from Illinois and the CAS-MPG Partner Institute of Computational Biology in Shanghai.

"We now know every step in the processes that drive photosynthesis in C3 crop plants such as soybeans and C4 plants such as maize," Long said. "We have unprecedented computational resources that allow us to model every stage of photosynthesis and determine where the bottlenecks are, and advances in genetic engineering will help us augment or circumvent those steps that impede efficiency."

Substantial progress has already been made in the lab and in computer models of photosynthesis, Long said.

"Our lab and others have put a gene from cyanobacteria into crop plants and found that it boosts the photosynthetic rate by 30 percent," he said.

Photosynthetic microbes offer other clues to improving photosynthesis in plants, the researchers report. For example, some bacteria and algae contain pigments that utilize more of the solar spectrum than plant pigments do. If added to plants, those pigments could bolster the plants' access to solar energy.

Some scientists are trying to engineer C4 photosynthesis in C3 plants, but this means altering plant anatomy, changing the expression of many genes and inserting new genes from C4 plants, Long said.

"Another, possibly simpler approach is to add to the C3 chloroplast the system used by blue-green algae," he said. This would increase the activity of Rubisco, an enzyme that catalyzes a vital step of the conversion of atmospheric carbon dioxide into plant biomass. Computer models suggest adding this system would increase photosynthesis as much as 60 percent, Long said.

Computer analyses of the way plant leaves intercept sunlight have revealed other ways to improve photosynthesis. Many plants intercept too much light in their topmost leaves and too little in lower leaves; this probably allows them to outcompete their neighbors, but in a farmer's field such competition is counterproductive, Long said.

Studies headed by U. of I. plant biology professor Donald Ort aim to make plants' upper leaves lighter, allowing more sunlight to penetrate to the light-starved lower leaves. Computer modeling of photosynthesis also shows researchers where the traffic jams occur -- the steps that slow the process down and reduce efficiency.

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Photosynthesis hack is needed to feed the world by 2050

Report: Photosynthesis hack needed to feed the world by 2050

IMAGE:This photo shows University of Illinois field trials of various photosynthesis hacks. view more

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Using high-performance computing and genetic engineering to boost the photosynthetic efficiency of plants offers the best hope of increasing crop yields enough to feed a planet expected to have 9.5 billion people on it by 2050, researchers report in the journal Cell.

There has never been a better time to try this, said University of Illinois plant biology professor Stephen P. Long, who wrote the report with colleagues from Illinois and the CAS-MPG Partner Institute of Computational Biology in Shanghai.

"We now know every step in the processes that drive photosynthesis in C3 crop plants such as soybeans and C4 plants such as maize," Long said. "We have unprecedented computational resources that allow us to model every stage of photosynthesis and determine where the bottlenecks are, and advances in genetic engineering will help us augment or circumvent those steps that impede efficiency."

Substantial progress has already been made in the lab and in computer models of photosynthesis, Long said.

"Our lab and others have put a gene from cyanobacteria into crop plants and found that it boosts the photosynthetic rate by 30 percent," he said.

Photosynthetic microbes offer other clues to improving photosynthesis in plants, the researchers report. For example, some bacteria and algae contain pigments that utilize more of the solar spectrum than plant pigments do. If added to plants, those pigments could bolster the plants' access to solar energy.

Some scientists are trying to engineer C4 photosynthesis in C3 plants, but this means altering plant anatomy, changing the expression of many genes and inserting new genes from C4 plants, Long said.

"Another, possibly simpler approach is to add to the C3 chloroplast the system used by blue-green algae," he said. This would increase the activity of Rubisco, an enzyme that catalyzes a vital step of the conversion of atmospheric carbon dioxide into plant biomass. Computer models suggest adding this system would increase photosynthesis as much as 60 percent, Long said.

Computer analyses of the way plant leaves intercept sunlight have revealed other ways to improve photosynthesis. Many plants intercept too much light in their topmost leaves and too little in lower leaves; this probably allows them to outcompete their neighbors, but in a farmer's field such competition is counterproductive, Long said.

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Report: Photosynthesis hack needed to feed the world by 2050

Africa Today – Can Economic Freedom Fighters be voice of the voiceless? (P.2) – Video


Africa Today - Can Economic Freedom Fighters be voice of the voiceless? (P.2)
Part 1:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU4yW_EhGec Part 2:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOUvlRgjrqI Economic inequality remains an unresolved problem in the black continent, but is the ...

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Africa Today - Can Economic Freedom Fighters be voice of the voiceless? (P.2) - Video

Businesses fear costly backlash from Indiana's religious freedom law

At the Corner Wine Bar and Wellington Pub in Broad Ripple, the menu board outside proclaimed service for everyone.

Its a slogan that began popping up across Indiana on Thursday, in doorways, on windows and other spots, in response to Gov. Mike Pence's signing of Indianas hot-button religious freedom law.

The Broad Ripple restaurant and pub also posted the slogan in Facebook posts that were quickly greeted with multiple likes, its general manager Ashley Daubenspeck said.

The slogans meaning, she explained: We dont discriminate, and we are happy to serve anybody.

Hours after Pence signed the measure, dozens of calls by reporters to Central Indiana businesses couldnt find one willing to admit it planned to use the new law to discriminate against some customers for religious reasons.

That was the fear expressed most often by opponents of the measure, including gay rights groups and others.

Most businesses contacted Thursday insisted they had no desire to discriminate against any of their customers. For many, the law brought a new worry: that it will spawn a backlash of negative public reaction that will discourage tourists from coming to the state and some residents from spending money for certain services.

One scenario sketched out by opponents of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was that the law would give wedding-related businesses the legal right to refuse to serve same-sex weddings. In 2014, an Indianapolis cake shop thats now closed did just that. Years earlier, an Indianapolis bakery wouldnt sell its baked goods to a gay customer.

But several businesses in the wedding industry didnt see the new law causing a rise in such practices.

Taylors Bakery of Indianapolis and Fishers, one the oldest bakeries in the state, said it has made many wedding and commitment cakes for gay couples, and plans to continue.

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Businesses fear costly backlash from Indiana's religious freedom law