NEW YORK (AP) ? The Dow Jones industrial average is closing at another record high, driven by a surge in materials companies.
The Dow gained almost 60 points to 14,673 Tuesday, an increase of 0.4 percent. The Dow most recently set a record a week ago. It's up 12 percent this year.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose five points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 1,568. That's less than two points from the record high the index reached last week.
The Nasdaq rose 15, or 0.5 percent, to 3,237.
Materials stocks led the gains following a surge in prices for commodities like copper. Cliffs Natural Resources jumped 9 percent.
Three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was relatively light at 3.2 billion shares.
A 370-milion-year-old, primitive fish sported a weird pair of fins just below its anus, new research shows.
The strange appendages, detailed today (April 9) in the journal Biology Letters, were found on an ancient jawless fish called Euphanerops longaevus that lived around the time that jawless fishes like lampreys split off from jawed vertebrates, which include everything from sharks to humans.
"What's weird about this organism is that it had a paired anal fin. It's unique ? no other known fossil or modern fish is known to have that disposition," said study co-author Robert Sansom, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester in the U.K.
The findings suggest that early in primitive vertebrates' history, evolution experimented with a number of wacky body plans, only some of which survived, Sansom told LiveScience. [Image Gallery: The Freakiest Looking Fish]
Early fish
The Euphanerops fish were 3.9 inches (10 centimeters) long and looked somewhat like modern-day eels. The specimens were unearthed in a fossil bed in Miguasha, Quebec, decades ago, and were stored in collections in the National History Museum in London and the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Miguasha, in Quebec.
Previously, researchers weren't sure exactly what to make of the creatures' weird fins. Some thought the anal appendages might actually have been displaced from another part of the animal's body in the fossilization process.
Early body plan
The researchers weren't convinced of the displacement explanation. By comparing the 3D surfaces of the fossil under a microscope, the team concluded that the fin pair was actually located below the anus on the living creature. Though it's not clear exactly how the fins were used, the fins most likely helped the fish get around, Sansom said.
The fossil dates to a critical period of vertebrate evolution: Jawed and jawless vertebrates diverged roughly around this time. Eventually jawed fish developed paired fins (but not anal fins) that evolved to become arms and legs. In fact, the same genes code for shark fins and human limbs.
The discovery changes the view of how fishes were evolving at this time, Sansom said.
"Rather than gradual acquisition of complex characteristics, maybe there was a bit more experimentation and odd acquisitions," he said.
Specialized trait?
The finding of paired anal fins is "beautifully illustrated," said Michael Coates, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study.
"It might just be the first vestige, it might be some kind of precursor to generating paired fins" that are commonly seen throughout jawed vertebrates, Coates told LiveScience.
But it's also possible they were a specialized trait that only Euphanerops possessed, not reflective of the evolutionary history of jawed vertebrates as a whole, Coates said.
Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter @tiaghose.?Follow?LiveScience@livescience,Facebook?&Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LONDON (AP) ? She was hired to teach local police about British youth ? but it was 17-year-old Paris Brown who said she learned a lesson after her scandalous tweets about drugs, drinking and sex hit the tabloids.
The Twitter postings sparked a media furor, questions over why a teen would be named a crime official and calls for Brown's resignation. The latter she gave Tuesday, along with an apology, a week after her appointment to the 15,000-pound ($22,800) a year role as Britain's first youth crime commissioner.
Brown's brief stint in the job ended after British media on Saturday flagged tweets ? mostly posted before she was named to the position ? that saw the teen using gay slurs and racist terms.
"Been drinking since half 1 (sic) and riding baby walkers down the hall at work oh my god i have the best job ever haha," read one tweet. Another referenced a desire to make "hash brownies," while separate messages saw Brown describing herself as racist when intoxicated.
After resisting calls to quit, Brown said Tuesday she was giving up the gig, which was designed as a way to build bridges between young people and police in Kent county, southern England. The teen said the recent media attention would hamper her ability to perform the job.
She also insisted that she was not racist or homophobic, but had "fallen into the trap of behaving with bravado" on social networks.
"I accept that I have made comments on social networking sites which have offended many people," she said. "I am really sorry for any offense caused."
Along with disgust over her tweets, the initial revelations prompted questions over why a teen was named a crime czar in the first place.
"Is this foul-mouthed, self-obsessed Twitter teen really the future of British policing?" asked the Daily Mail.
"The lesson of the Paris Brown debacle is that teenagers should not be advising the police," the Daily Telegraph said, calling the appointment a "ridiculous stunt" that "backfired."
Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Ann Barnes ? who named Brown to the role ? called the teen's resignation a "very, very sad day."
When news of the offending tweets, which included references to prescription drugs and getting "oh so unattractively drunk," broke, Barnes said she did not condone the messages, but she also urged perspective given Brown's age.
On Tuesday, she praised Brown's "moral courage" in turning down "the job of a lifetime" and facing up to recent events.
Barnes insisted that the interview process for the role had been "very tough," involving a two-day process of testing skills and ideas. Brown was one of about 164 applicants for the job. Seven were shortlisted before interviewing with Barnes and with a peer group of young people.
"We used Kent Police's vetting procedures, which do not normally involve scrutiny of social networks for this grade of post," Barnes explained. "Hindsight is a great gift."
Barnes said that Brown will not receive any payment because she was not due to start work until July.
The role of youth crime commissioner for Kent will be advertised again this summer, Barnes added, saying she wanted to take time before re-starting the recruitment process and that there are "lessons to learn," especially around social media.
Apr. 9, 2013 ? How desirable women think their partners are to others can affect how much time and effort they invest in the relationship.
This is one of the findings of a study by Dr Chris Bale of the University of Huddersfield who will present his findings at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference in Harrogate today, Wednesday 10 April 2013.
The study sought to examine how different levels of self-esteem could affect women's behaviour towards their partners. For example women who feel less desirable than their partners may attempt to compensate for this by investing more in their relationships.
One hundred and ninety two women (aged 18 -- 60 years old) completed an online survey on self-esteem and relationship behaviour. Using a series of rating scales they reported how they felt about themselves, their current partner and the things that they did to maintain their relationship.
The results indicated that women who felt more desirable than to their partners had higher levels of self-esteem and engaged in less behaviour designed to maintain and enhance their relationships. However, women with lower levels of self-esteem reported putting more effort into activities designed to prevent their partner from becoming involved with someone else.
Chris explained: "These results represent women who feel that they have fewer desirable qualities than their partners attempting to make up for this imbalance by investing more time, effort and economic resources in their relationships.
"However the present research is preliminary and limited in that it surveyed only UK women. Further research should be conducted in a variety of cultures and it would also be interesting to see whether similar results are found in men."
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Here we go with another article to add to the untold thousands (maybe millions) that have the perfect plan for making money with your website. All you have to do is follow a few simple steps and, poof, here comes the money.
Rest assured this isn?t one of those articles. It?s true that your website can produce income through a variety of online means. Those can include selling a product or service in exchange for a commission payment?called affiliate marketing, placing ads on your site, or being paid to include links to other peoples? websites.
However, as you have read on our site before, a ?get rich quick? vibe seems to overarch all of these strategies. First, you need traffic and a lot of it. That will take a significant investment of time and money to pull off. Second, if you plan to market products, finding the right product that will produce revenue is about as easy as finding the next hot stock that will fund your children?s education.
Here?s what might be the most important point to understand. If your business is your website, these strategies are likely your revenue model. If you?re like most business owners, you use your website as a marketing tool.
The blunt truth is this: if you are not in the business of Internet marketing you do not, and probably should not, have time to pour the energy into your site that it would take to turn it into a profit machine. If you are a doctor, you should spend your time with patients. If you?re in the retail business, you should spend your time running your store, managing employees, and negotiating better terms with suppliers.
What do I do with my website?
You are still going to use your website to make money, but in a way that complements your business. Here?s how.
E-commerce?- If you want to sell products, go for it. It?s a great idea, but sell?your?products. You already know your products so why would you try to sell somebody else?s? In addition, your e-commerce site strengthens your bricks and mortar business because customers can receive advice and support form a live person in their community if they are local and via email or over the phone if they are not.
Take advantage of the fact that you are a small business by offering personalized service even online.
E-commerce is complicated and expensive to set up, right? It was a decade ago, but not anymore. Do you have a?PayPal account? You can set up a virtual store there. Even if your computer skills aren?t as advanced as you would like, you can figure it out. All you pay are the normal PayPal fees.
If you don?t like PayPal, there are plenty of ways to set up your store free. You only pay customary fees that come with one of your customers using a credit card.
Products and Giveaways -?You already know that contests drive traffic, but sometimes it?s not the right kind of traffic. You don?t want the person who makes it their job to enter every contest without purchasing anything or providing valuable market data.
That?s where your website can help. In order to enter your contest, they?re going to have to register. At the time, ask them to opt-in to your email list or take a survey. You can also offer special deals on your products or service. Coming to your site to register for your contest diminishes the annoyance factor that comes with unsolicited advertising.
There will be people who sign up for your contest who won?t be future customers, but some will and it doesn?t take many to make up for the time and expense of a contest or giveaway.
Communication?- If you think your site has to produce a direct profit in order to create a revenue stream, say goodbye to that theory. Remember the contest where you collected information and asked the entrants to opt-in to your email list? It?s time to put it to work. Use services like Constant Contact to create autoresponders, newsletters, and email blasts.
If you have a mobile business, ask for permission from your customers to text your location. (And, tie it in with a giveaway.)
Of course, traditional means of communication through a company blog, social media, videos, and images are still powerful tools for customer engagement.
Finally
Unless you base your business model on article marketing, pouring multiple hours per day into your website probably isn?t cost effective. If you have the goal of directly monetizing your website, hire somebody to take on that task.
You?ve grown your business because you?re an expert in that field. That?s the cornerstone of your revenue stream. Use your website to drive business to your company rather than committing the time and money it will take to build enough traffic to generate revenue from ads and affiliate products.
Editor's Note:?BusinessknowHow.com uses and recommends?Constant Contact. We are also a? Plantinum Solution Provider?and receive commissions for sales?from?Constant Contact.?If you need help with your email marketing,?let us know.
? 2013 Attard Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced, reprinted or redistributed without written permission from Attard Communications, Inc.
According to the Doha-based Aljazeera channel, Moroccans were among the group of anonymous hackers who conducted a massive cyber attack against Israeli website this weekend.
In addition to Moroccans, the anonymous group includes hackers from Tunisia, Kosovo, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Albania, Turkey and Indonesia, where most attacks came from, according to Aljazeera.
A number of government?s website was brought early on Sunday, such as the Israel?s Bureau of Statistics, Defense and Education Ministries, Israel Securities Authority, the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption.
In a video posted on YouTube on Sunday, the group of Anonymous said that, ?elite cyber-squadrons from around the world have decided to unite in solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israel as one entity to disrupt and erase Israel from cyberspace.?
?You have NOT stopped your endless human right violations. You have NOT stopped illegal settlements. You have NOT respected the ceasefire. You have shown that you do NOT respect international law,? it added.
But the Israeli government said it foiled the hackers? attempts to disrupt its websites, arguing that the hackers don?t have the skills to damage its online infrastructure.
? Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed
Trader Luigi Muccitelli, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, April 4, 2013. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Luigi Muccitelli, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, April 4, 2013. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks edged lower Monday as major U.S. companies prepared to start reporting first-quarter results.
Alcoa will release its results after the markets close Monday. The aluminum company will be the first member of the Dow Jones industrial average to unveil earnings for the quarter. Alcoa rose was unchanged at $8.24.
Analysts expect earnings for companies in the S&P 500 to rise by 0.6 percent from the first quarter of last year. Telecommunications and so-called consumer discretionary stocks are forecast to lead the growth, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. Consumer discretionary stocks include department store chains such as Macy's.
While expectations for the coming reporting period are low, investors will be studying the reports to gauge the outlook for the rest of the year, said Cam Albright, a director of asset allocation at Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors.
"That'll be a critical piece for the markets to digest," he said.
The Dow fell 43 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,521, in the first half-hour of trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined one point, or 0.1 percent, to 1,552.
Telecommunications and health-care stocks fell the most, down 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. Seven of the 10 industry groups in the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell.
The two industry groups have performed well this year, as investors have sought less risky stocks that pay good dividends. Healthcare companies are up almost 16 percent, making them the best performers in the S&P 500.
Lufkin Industries, an oilfield equipment maker, surged $24.15 to $88.07 after General Electric Co. agreed to buy the company for $3 billion. GE wants to bolster its oil and gas operations. Its stock edged 8 cents lower to $22.87.
Monday's stock market declines continued last week's fall. Stocks fell Friday after the government reported a slowdown in hiring that was far worse than economists had expected. The report capped a bad week: The S&P 500 logged its biggest weekly decline of the year as signs emerged that U.S. growth is starting to cool.
In other trading, the Nasdaq composite index dropped two points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,202 on Monday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.72 percent, after falling as low as 1.69 percent Friday, its lowest level of the year.
The benchmark rate has fallen in the past month as demand for low-risk assets increases.
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) ? Les Blank, an acclaimed documentary maker who focused his camera on cultural corners ranging from blues music, to garlic lovers, to shoe-eating artists, died Sunday at age 77, his son said.
Blank died at his home in Berkeley, Calif. nearly a year after being diagnosed with bladder cancer, Harrod Blank said.
Blank's 42 films earned him a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute.
"I think he's a national treasure," filmmaker Taylor Hackford, president of the Directors Guild of America, told the New York Times. "Although his films are not well known at the moment, they'll take their place"
The Florida-born Blank's early documentaries focused on musicians, including 1965's "Dizzy Gillespie" and "The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins," a portrait of the Texas bluesman that won Blank his first wide renown.
He shifted to food with documentaries like 1980's "Garlic is as Good as 10 Mothers," and 2007's "All in This Tea."
Blank was known for following his curiosity anywhere. No topic was too strange ? or too ordinary. His 1987 film "Gap-Toothed Women" was a series of interviews on the subject spurred by an old high school crush.
"If he was interested in gap-toothed women, he's going to make a film about it. If he wants to make a film about garlic because he loves to eat garlic, he's going to do it," said Harrod Blank, who is also a filmmaker.
But the subject that led to Blank's most memorable work was fellow filmmaker Werner Herzog.
In 1979's "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe," Blank chronicled Herzog's attempt to dine on his boot, the result of a lost bet.
And "Burden of Dreams," Blank's 1982 behind-the-scenes view of Herzog's disastrous filming of "Fitzcarraldo" in the Peruvian jungle, became a classic chronicle of artistic obsession.
"If I abandon this project, I would be a man without dreams," Blank films Herzog saying in the film. "I don't want to live like that,"
BEIJING (Reuters) - A strain of bird flu that has been found in humans for the first time in eastern China is not a cause for panic, the World Health Organization said on Monday, as the number of people infected rose to 21, with six deaths.
The WHO praised China for mobilizing resources nationwide to combat the H7N9 flu strain by culling tens of thousands of birds and monitoring hundreds of people close to those infected.
"So far, we really only have sporadic cases of a rare disease, and perhaps it will remain that way. So this is not a time for over-reaction or panic," said the WHO's representative to China, Michael O'Leary.
The head of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission Li Bin said on Sunday she was confident authorities could contain the virus.
"These are a relatively small number of serious cases with personal health, medical implications, but not at this stage known public health implications," O'Leary told reporters at a joint press briefing with the Chinese government.
But he warned that information on the virus was still incomplete.
"We really can't rely on information from other viruses. H7N9 is a new virus in humans and the pattern that it follows cannot be predicted by the patterns that we have from other influenza viruses," O'Leary said.
No cases have yet been reported outside of China, he said.
In total, 621 close contacts of the 21 people known to have been infected are being closely monitored and have yet to show symptoms of infection, the director of China's H7N9 prevention and control office, Liang Wannian, said.
"In recent years, there have been huge changes in our national epidemic system, especially our health emergency response ability," Liang said.
The bird flu outbreak has caused global concern and some Chinese internet users and newspapers have questioned why it took so long for the government to announce the new cases, especially as two of the victims fell ill in February.
Airline shares have fallen in Europe and in Hong Kong over fears that the new virus could be lead to an epidemic like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which emerged in China in 2002 and killed about 10 percent of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide.
Chinese authorities initially tried to cover up the outbreak of SARS.
In the H7N9 case, it has said it needed time to correctly identify the virus, with cases spread between Shanghai and eastern Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui provinces.
Other strains of bird flu, such as H5N1, have been circulating for many years and can be transmitted from bird to bird, and bird to human, but not generally from human to human.
@jelly You might have a point. For the first thing you listed. not sure if this is the reason, but I noticed that everyone at that particular office of the company were Caucasian, and I am a minority, so that theory might be valid.
And for the second thing you listed, all right, here's a quick rundown of the recent restructuring of the company. Its accounting department used to be located at its headquarters at a major city, but they decided to move a lot of their accounting functions overseas (the basic stuff that can be done with much cheaper labor), and then moved their accounting department, or what's left of it, to a small town (which is where I interviewed at). Also, for the position they were looking to fill, they were looking for either a recent graduate or someone who is in their last semester of school. If it's the former, then it'll be a full-time job for him/her, and if it's the latter, then it'll be a part-time job until he/she graduates, to which it becomes a full-time job.
Regardless, you are probably right. I may just have dodged a bullet. Honestly, career-wise, my current job at my current company is much better than the other position at the other company, it's just that there is something very personal that is very hard to do now that I didn't get the other job (I will explain if/when I pass all 4 sections of the CPA exam). But anyways, thanks for the words of encouragement man. Now off to study AUD.
7-year old Jack Hoffman has been fighting brain cancer for 2 years. He's a big fan of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The team has been helping Jack and his family through the ordeal. Yesterday, the team let him have the ball during a play. Jack ran 69 yards to score a touchdown. Excuse me, but there's some dust in my eyes.
We first noted it back in 2008: the possibility of using LED light bulbs for secure and directional wireless internet access. Well, the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute is claiming that speedy data rates of up 3Gbps have proven feasible in its labs. The boost comes from its latest enhancements, allowing the 180Mhz frequency to be used over the usual 30Mhz, which apparently leaves extra room for moving data. If you'll recall, that's a significant leap over the 800Mbps top speed it achieved back in 2011 mixing various light colors. While this IR-like take on wireless internet access gains steam, remember that it's more likely to be used in areas where WiFi radios cause interruptions (hospitals, trade shows like CES, etc.) -- rather than a strip of mini spot lights from IKEA for the casa. (We can dream, can't we?) FHHI plans to show off the new gear at FOE '13, but for now you'll find the full press release after the break.
Apr. 5, 2013 ? A new study found that higher levels of mercury exposure in young adults increased their risks for type 2 diabetes later in life by 65 percent. The study, led by Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington epidemiologist Ka He, is the first to establish the link between mercury and diabetes in humans.
The study paints a complicated nutritional picture because the main source of mercury in humans comes from the consumption of fish and shellfish, nearly all of which contain traces of mercury. Fish and shellfish also contain lean protein and other nutrients, such as magnesium and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, that make them important to a healthy diet.
In the study, published online early in the journal Diabetes Care, the people with the highest levels of mercury also appeared to have healthier lifestyles -- lower body mass indexes and smaller waist circumferences, more exercise -- than other study participants. They also ate more fish, which is a possible marker of healthy diet or higher social economic status. Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include being overweight.
The study, which involved 3,875 men and women, established the link between mercury levels and type 2 diabetes risk after controlling for lifestyle and other dietary factors such as magnesium and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which could counter the effects of the mercury.
These findings, said He, point to the importance of selecting fish known to have low levels of mercury, such as shrimp, salmon and catfish, and avoiding fish with higher levels, such as swordfish and shark. FDA and EPA guidelines for fish consumption highlight this, particularly for women who are pregnant or of childbearing age and for young children.
"It is likely that the overall health impact of fish consumption may reflect the interactions of nutrients and contaminants in fish. Thus, studying any of these nutrients and contaminants such as mercury should consider confounding from other components in fish," He and the authors wrote in the study. "In the current study, the association between mercury exposure and diabetes incidence was substantially strengthened after controlling for intake of LCn-3PUFAs (omega-3) and magnesium."
The study participants were recruited from Birmingham, Ala., Oakland, Calif., Chicago and Minneapolis,and then followed for 18 years as part of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. He, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, is principal investigator of the ancillary study, the CARDIA Trace Element Study, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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Journal Reference:
K. He, P. Xun, K. Liu, S. Morris, J. Reis, E. Guallar. Mercury Exposure in Young Adulthood and Incidence of Diabetes Later in Life: The CARDIA trace element study. Diabetes Care, 2013; DOI: 10.2337/dc12-1842
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
This photo released by the Carson City Sheriff's Office shows William McCune. A sheriff says a body believed to be that of Nevada's chief insurance examiner, McCune, was found Saturday April 6, 2013, in a river in Carson City, and four suspects were arrested in connection with his disappearance.
?
By Sofia Perpetua, NBCNews.com
The body of Nevada's missing chief insurance examiner was found wrapped in a blanket and bound with duct tape in a river in Carson City on Saturday. Four suspects in their 20s were arrested and charged with murder in connection to the case, according to the Carson City Sheriff?s Department.
Sheriff Deputies were called to the apartment of William McCune, 62, after he failed to board a flight with a co-worker and other employees on Thursday.
At the residence, where McCune lived alone, authorities found evidence of a bloody and violent struggle, but no sign of McCune or any signs of forced entry.
Four people were quickly arrested but any motive or relationship to the victim is still unknown, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong told The Associated Press. Furlong added that McCune?s death might be related to ?personal? matters and not be work-related.
The victim had no known family in Carson City but the police is trying to locate his relatives in another city.
All four of the suspects -- Michael Evans, 23; Anthony Elliot, 20; Raul Garcia, 22; and Makyla Blackmore, 20 -- were charged with murder.
Carson City Sheriff's Dept. / AP
Michael Paul Evans, Anthony Elliot
Evans was arrested in Carson City and the other three suspects were arrested on the Las Vegas strip on Saturday morning.
?This crime is very bizarre because of three reasons: the age difference between the suspects and the victim, the number of offenders and the fact that one of offenders is a woman,? Furlong told NBC News.
?The motive was theft and we believe at least two of the suspects knew the victim," he added.
An autopsy on the body is being performed by the Washoe County medical examiner?s office to confirm identification and rule on the cause of death.
It is not yet known what weapon or weapons were involved in the crime, authorities said.
The victim?s pick-up truck wasn?t found but its license plates were located on Friday night at a residence that suspect Evans frequented, Sheriff Furlong said.
McCune was working as a chief insurance examiner since December 2009, said the Nevada Division of Insurance spokesman Jake Sunderland to The Associated Press.
Carson City is the capital of Nevada and has a population of 50,000.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The stock market's robust rally was slowing even before Friday's jobs report, but the red flag sent up by the weak payrolls data makes the path to more gains less secure.
It means the bulls will have to look to earnings for a way to keep the rally going. The S&P 500 hit an all-time closing high on Tuesday, but lately defensive stocks have been leading the charge, and notable growth indexes are slipping.
This rotation has many thinking the long-awaited market correction is nigh. A 3 percent decline in the Russell 2000 index <.rut> this week seemed to be a confirmation of the trend.
"Momentum I think has been slowing a bit, and it would be interesting to see if this is just a one-session sell-off," said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston, about Friday's decline.
In the first quarter, the benchmark's healthcare index <.spxhc> added 15.2 percent and utilities <.splrcu> gained 11.8 percent, besting the broad S&P 500's 10 percent gain.
The transition into defensive stocks may respond to investors' taking into account the effect of higher payroll taxes this year and the $85 billion in government spending cuts that started to trickle at the beginning of the year.
The shift is "a rotation into sectors less affected by a short-term slowdown in the consumer," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago.
EARNINGS HOLD THE KEY
Earnings season starts in earnest next week, with the highlight coming from JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co on Friday. Details on Wells Fargo's earnings will be dissected for clues on the health of the housing market.
Overall, S&P 500 earnings are expected to have risen 1.5 percent last quarter, down from a 4.3 percent gain expected at the start of the year, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Investors "are really waiting for the earnings season on balance to disappoint," said Zaro.
Companies have caught up on the lowered expectations, and negative outlooks have been predominant ahead of earnings season. In fact, the negative-to-positive guidance ratio from S&P 500 companies is at its highest since the third quarter of 2001, according to Thomson Reuters data.
At 4.7, the ratio is the sixth-highest among 69 readings dating to 1996.
"Companies understand that since the economy is weak there's no reason to be a hero and give guidance you can't beat," said Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at the ConvergEx Group in New York.
F5 Networks was the latest and one of the most dramatic examples of lowered earnings expectations. The network equipment maker partly blamed lower government sales for its profit warning late on Thursday, which erased almost a fifth of its market value on Friday.
In past quarters, revenue beats have taken the focus off the bottom line as investors were expecting the stronger economy to translate into more sales, but that may not be the case this time around.
"At this point earnings are going to be perhaps more important than revenues only because we know Q1 was only a so-so quarter for the economy," said Colas.
"It's not going to be a surprise if revenues are a little bit light. Where we really have to make sure the numbers work is at the earnings level."
BUSY WEEK FOR THE FED
The Federal Reserve could be next week's wild card. Indications of renewed support for loose monetary policy - or the slightest hint in the direction of tightening - have triggered wild moves in the market.
The minutes of the March FOMC meeting are due on Wednesday and market participants will look for insight into the debate regarding the amount and duration of bond purchases the U.S. central bank is executing monthly.
The hawkish argument - a reduction of stimulus - was dented by Friday's job report, so any mention of it in the minutes may not trigger panic. But more than a dozen speeches by various Fed officers next week could stir things up.
The economic reports calendar is light except for consumer data. Retailers are expected to post a 1.9 percent rise in sales for last month, compared with a gain of 2.9 percent in March last year when same-store sales figures are published Thursday.
The Commerce Department posts its own retail sales figures on Friday, followed by the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey of consumers.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
Trent McNicol was an internationally respected swim coach with a passion for his job.
He took pride in motivating some 600 athletes over 19 years, more than half of them female, including big names like Pan American Games silver and bronze medallist Jen Beckberger.
But his life came crashing down last April when Durham police called him to their Oshawa station and charged him with sexual assault and sexual exploitation. The complainant was a girl who alleged the offences occurred when she was between 10 and 12, starting in 2005.
On Friday, Crown prosecutor Lori Anne Turner dropped the charges against the 43-year-old married father of two young women in the Oshawa courthouse, saying there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.
?To have it behind me is great,? McNicol said in an interview. ?But I now have to spend the next ? who knows? ? six months, 20 years, rebuilding what I once had.?
When he was charged, with no criminal record or previous allegations, McNicol was held for 24 hours and granted bail under conditions including avoiding places where children under 16 might gather. That meant parks ? and swimming pools.
He had to temporarily leave his family behind in Whitby and live in his native Brantford under the supervision of his father.
Durham police issued a news release with his photo, inviting other victims to come forward. None ever did.
The story was splashed all over the news.
McNicol lost his job of six years with the Whitby Dolphins Swim Club.
Swim Canada, Swim Ontario, the Coaching Association of Canada and the Canadian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association all summarily revoked his credentials.
Word in the tight international swimming world got out immediately. Within 10 hours he got calls from friends in Florida and England. Hundreds of colleagues, pupils and parents wrote offering their support, he said.
The stakes were devastatingly high.
If convicted, he faced two to four years in jail besides being labelled a sex offender for life, his lawyer, Daniel Brown, told him.
?He always steadfastly maintained his innocence even when the Crown attorney came forward with plea bargains with much reduced sentences,? Brown said. ?Those were outright rejected as they should have been.?
McNicol turned to renovating houses for a living.
As a coach, he had learned to be careful, and protect himself from situations where any such allegations could arise. This was baffling.
?It?s a roller coaster,? he said.
?You almost jokingly look around for a camera and say Allen Funt is going to pop out somewhere and say ?Smile, you?re on Candid Camera.? It just seems so surreal,? he said.
Watching his athletes succeed was McNicol?s passion. Now he?s not sure he even wants to coach again. If he does, he believes it will be an uphill battle getting back the respect he feels he?d earned.
When you Google his name, the charges come up.
?Although it?s done and over with, I get to carry this with me for the rest of my life. I wouldn?t wish this on my worst enemy,? he said.
Crown spokesman Brendan Crawley confirmed the charges were withdrawn Friday but refused detailed comment on the case.
?The Crown has a duty to assess the strength of a case throughout a prosecution, and is duty bound to withdraw charges if there is no reasonable prospect of conviction,? he wrote in an email.
The post-Arab Spring climate in the Middle East has accelerated a ?Christian exodus? from the region, says Hassan Mneimneh of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in a piece on RealClearWorld.com. He sees ?[t]he fate of the Christians in the Middle East? as ?inseparable from the region?s transformation into a viable, prosperous, and progressive home for all of its inhabitants.?
Christian populations in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, and the Palestinian territories have shrunk dramatically in recent years. In Syria, Christians face increased Islamic radicalization. In Egypt, they are being denied basic civic rights and protection. Even in Jordan, the Christian community eyes political and demographic developments within the kingdom warily.
RECOMMENDED: Think you know the Middle East? Take our geography quiz.
In response, Christians have emigrated from the region en masse. Some have sought alliances with other minorities, including the Alawites of the Assad regime in Syria and Hezbollah (Shiites) in Lebanon. And Mr. Mneimneh says efforts by Christian leaders in Lebanon to gain disproportionate political representation set a ?dangerous precedent.?
IS ONLINE ED HERE TO STAY?
Massive open online courses, also known as MOOCs, have drawn plenty of attention ? and hundreds of thousands of students. Several elite colleges have joined with companies such as Coursera, edX, and Udacity to offer free online courses, though not for credit, that can have tens of thousands of students at once.
Proponents laud the popular courses for ?democratizing? access to knowledge and for their potential to educate future innovators. Critics who worry about ?the McDonaldization of higher education? deplore a lack of accountability for plagiarism and cheating, and question the quality of the student experience.
What do the professors who create and teach the MOOCs say? According to a survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education, 79 percent believe the courses ?are worth the hype.? Steve Kolowich says the findings signal ?a change of heart that could indicate a bigger shake-up in the higher-education landscape.?
Nearly half of the professors said their MOOCs were as academically rigorous as their in-class versions. The majority (72 percent) felt successful students should be given credit at their institution. And an overwhelming majority believe free online courses will drive down the cost of college generally.
But a majority (55 percent) also said that MOOCs diverted time away from research and traditional teaching. And the average pass rate for their online courses (with a median enrollment of 30,000) was just 7.5 percent.
Professors cited a variety of motivations for teaching MOOCs, both altruistic and professional. But most saw online education as the inevitable wave of the future.
VISUALIZING DRONE STRIKES
According to a recent Gallup poll, 65 percent of Americans support US drone attacks on terrorists abroad, but less than half are closely following news on drones. That?s an awareness gap California media company Pitch Interactive seeks to bridge with its newly launched interactive Web visualization of the US drone strikes that have taken place in Pakistan since 2004. The animated visualization (drones.pitchinteractive.com) charts the chronology, frequency and volume, and victims of the attacks.
Using data primarily from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, New America Foundation, and ?Living Under Drones? (a Stanford/NYU report), Pitch groups victims into four categories: children, civilians, other (?a very grey area?), and high-profile targets, which represent just 1.5 percent of total victims. Civilians and children account for 22.8 percent.
Slate blogger Emma Roller says the data should be taken with a grain of salt. For perspective, she also notes that the Iraq Body Count project estimates 60 percent of those killed in Iraq since 2003 were civilians. And though Pitch says its aim is not ?to speak for or against [drones], but to inform,? Ms. Roller feels the group presents data ?in a way that fits nicely into the ?against? column.?
WHY JAPAN HAS A LOW CRIME RATE
In the French daily Le Monde, Phillipe Pons takes a critical look at the harsh conditions of Japanese prisons and high rates of capital punishment. The piece can be read in English (translated by Carolina Saracho) at Worldcrunch, a site that translates and edits content from top foreign-language outlets.
The article describes draconian prisons and a criminal-justice system in which those arrested can be held in detention for 23 days without being charged or having access to a lawyer and in which ?[a]lmost all convictions are obtained thanks to ?confessions.? ? During Prime Minister Shinzo Abe?s 2006-07 term in office, 10 people were hanged in less than a year.
But Japan also has the lowest incarceration and recidivism rates of developed nations. The government says Japan?s relatively low crime rate justifies the tough penalties. And polls show that the majority of Japanese support the death penalty. But criminologists debate ?the deterrent effect? and note other factors at play, such as strict gun laws. On balance, Mr. Pons worries that ?Public order comes at a high price in Japan ? the price of prisoner rights and the presumption of innocence.?
RECOMMENDED: Think you know the Middle East? Take our geography quiz.
A new Family Dollar store in St. Thomas Township is on schedule to open this summer. Company spokeswoman Bryn Winburn said an official opening date will be announced six to eight weeks prior to the opening.
The 8,300-square-foot store is under construction at 3835 Lincoln Way West, adjacent to Laurich Building Supply. Family Dollar will lease the property.
Winburn said a typical store employs eight to 10 people, and the company looks to hire from within the community. Hiring will also take place about six to eight weeks before the opening. Apply online at http://corporate.familydollar.com/pages/careers.aspx.
Family Dollar carries a mix of groceries, auto and hardware, clothing, health and beauty, home decor, household and pet products.
Winburn said the company's real estate team uses modeling software to determine locations for stores. Family Dollar also has locations at Southgate Shopping Center, Chambersburg, and in Fayetteville, Greencastle and McConnellsburg.
------
Marcus Rauhut can be reached at mrauhut@publicopinionnews.com and 262-4752, or follow him on Twitter @MarcusRauhutPO.
It's been a long time coming, but Verizon Wireless customers should soon have another high-end Windows Phone 8 device to lust after. After the handset was spotted both in both the FCC's and Verizon's systems, noted leaker @evleaks has come through yet again with a new image of the upcoming Nokia Lumia 928 (formerly known as the "Catwalk").
Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champ, was convicted of transporting a white woman across state lines for 'immoral purposes.'?
By Ramit Plushnick-Masti,?Associated Press / April 4, 2013
Lawmakers and fans are seeking a presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, the world's first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, imprisoned a century ago for his romantic relationships with white women. Lawmakers, family members, and fans ? even Mike Tyson, who inherited his title ? want his record expunged.
Undated publicity photo / AP
Enlarge
Fans and family of Jack Johnson, boxing's first black heavyweight champion, are turning to YouTube to convince President Barack Obama to posthumously pardon his 1913 conviction for accompanying a white woman across state lines.
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Jack Johnson, nicknamed the "Galveston Giant" after his Texas hometown, was at the center of racial tensions after winning the title in 1908. When he defended his title by defeating white boxer Jim Jeffries in 1910, dubbed the "Fight of the Century," the victory sparked deadly race riots across the county.
Three years later, Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury for violating a law that made it illegal to transport white women across state lines for "immoral purposes." He was sentenced to a year in prison.
His family and other supporters say he did nothing wrong and that the century-old conviction continues to tarnish Johnson's image. Lawmakers have asked for a pardon three times in the past decade, most recently in March, though none has been successful. The Justice Department has said its general policy is not to process posthumous pardon requests, and the White House declined to comment on the most recent congressional resolution.
So on Sunday, to mark what would have been Johnson's 135th birthday, his relatives and supporters gathered in Galveston to honor him and record a video to go straight to Obama.
Leon Phillips, president of the Galveston County Coalition for Justice, which helped spearhead the effort, told The Associated Press on Tuesday the video adds another layer of support.
"Not only is it coming from Congress, but it will be coming from the citizens of the United States if we can just get everyone to click on that like button," he said. "President Obama's father could have been convicted of the same thing because he was married to a white woman and they traveled all over the world and from state to state."
Johnson's great-great niece, Linda Haywood, said Johnson was "railroaded" by authorities.
"I didn't know the man was my uncle until I was 12 years old, that's how ashamed my family was of the fact that he went to prison. A pardon would erase the shame and the stigma and allow us to hold our heads up high because we know what a great man he was," Haywood said in the video.
"I'm asking President Obama as the first black, African-American president to give my uncle a pardon," she said. "A lot of times when he would come to his sister's house or his mother's house he had to sneak at night with his white girlfriend or his wife because of the times that they lived in."
Authorities first targeted Johnson's relationship with Lucille Cameron, who later became his wife, but she refused to cooperate. They then turned to his former mistress, a prostitute named Belle Schreiber, to testify that Johnson had paid her train fare from Pittsburgh to Chicago, for immoral purposes.
Johnson skipped bail and fled the country following his conviction, but in 1920 he agreed to return and serve his sentence.
So far, the YouTube video hasn't had too many hits. But Haywood and other relatives are determined to get a pardon to clear Johnson's name.
"The color of your skin should not determine who you, or how you, love," Haywood said in the video.
A*STAR scientist Alex Matter awarded prestigious Szent-Gyrgyi Prize for progress in cancerPublic release date: 4-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. Sarah Chang chang_kai_chen@a-star.edu.sg 656-826-6442 Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
National Foundation for Cancer Research honors Professor Alex Matter with esteemed award for groundbreaking cancer pill that gives leukaemia patients a new lease of life
1. Professor Alex Matter, Chief Executive Officer of A*STAR's Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), has been awarded the 8th Annual Szent-Gyrgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research by the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) for his contributions to the development of the first drug specifically targeting a molecular lesion in cancer.
2. Professor Matter is a pioneer of the world's first targeted cancer therapy, imatinib mesylate, also known as Glivec[1]. His discovery turned chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) from a deadly disease into one that can be treated with an oral pill with nearly 90% long-term survival rate, with little or no side-effects. Following Glivec's success in CML, it has been successfully applied to other malignant cancers. Professor Matter's groundbreaking research demonstrated that by specifically inhibiting the activity of key oncogenic cells, it is possible to counteract cancer at the molecular biology level.
3. Chairman of A*STAR's Biomedical Research Council (BMRC), Professor Sir George Radda said, "This award gives due recognition to Alex's significant work which revolutionised anti-cancer drug development and gave a boost to the fight against cancer globally. We are proud to have this luminary working hand-in-hand with us in A*STAR."
4. Professor Matter joined ETC in April 2009, bringing with him his expertise and experience in building bridges between academic research and clinical analysis. ETC now boasts a staff strength of around 80, many of whom are senior group leaders with industrial experience who are able to train young scientists in the rigour of drug discovery and development. Committed to nurturing the young scientists in this highly competitive field, Professor Matter said, "Young people need to be trained for successful and competitive drug discovery. We are training this young generation in drug discovery the way an industrial outfit works."
5. Chairman of A*STAR, Mr. Lim Chuan Poh said, "The phenomenal success of Glivec is a testament to the profound impact that Alex's work has on the approach of cancer drug development. He truly deserves this honour and I extend my heartiest congratulations to him. With his deep expertise in drug discovery, Alex's first-hand experience and in-depth knowledge will guide and mentor Singapore's next generation of scientists in the process of drug discovery and development to meet increasingly difficult healthcare challenges."
6. With a primary mission of translating early stage scientific discoveries into useful clinical applications, ETC is actively involved in collaborations with both public and private sector organisations. Under Professor Matter's leadership, ETC signed a license agreement with Tan Tock Seng Hospital and local company AITbiotech in May last year to market a made-in-Singapore H5N1 bird flu diagnostic kit[2]. The kit allows doctors to rapidly detect all existing strains in a single test with nearly 100% accuracy, within just a few hours.
7. Presently, ETC is working on pre-clinical drug candidates specifically for CML patients who have developed resistance to imatinib mesylate. Carried out in cooperation with Duke-NUS, the drug is expected to enter the clinical trial stage around middle of 2014.
8. Meanwhile, ETC is in the early stages of developing a flu vaccine with A*STAR's SIgN (Singapore Immunology Network), D3 (Drug Discovery and Development) [3], Duke-NUS, DSO and several private companies. By the middle of 2013, the consortium will be able to determine if it is ready for Phase I clinical trials for proof-of-concept in humans. If successful, this flu vaccine will play a critical role in national preparedness as it will ensure that Singaporeans will have access to the vaccine in times of a flu pandemic.
9. Professor Matter has lived in Singapore for the past nine-and-a-half years. Prior to joining ETC as Chief Executive Officer, Professor Matter was the director of the Novartis Institute of Tropical Disease (NITD) since 2004. The NITD is a public-private partnership between Novartis and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), dedicated to finding new medicines for infectious tropical disease, such as tuberculosis, malaria and dengue fever. In addition, Professor Matter is a member of the Board of Singapore's National Medical Research Council and sits on the Board of Curiox, an A*STAR start-up company.
10. The Szent-Gyrgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research was established by the National Foundation for Cancer Research in honour of its co-founder Dr. Albert Szent-Gyrgyi, who was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1937. Professor Matter is receiving the award at the Szent-Gyrgyi Prize Dinner and Award Ceremony today at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
###
Enclosed:
Annex A Biography of Professor Alex Matter, CEO of the Experimental Therapeutics Centre, A*STAR
For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Han Mui Ching
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Corporate Communications
DID: (65) 6826 6261
Email: Han_Mui_Ching@a-star.edu.sg
Dr. Sarah Chang
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Corporate Communications
DID: (65) 6826 6442
Email: chang_kai_chen@a-star.edu.sg
About the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC)
ETC was set up in 2006 to play an increasingly important role in translating early stage scientific discoveries into practical applications. From engaging in early stage drug discovery and development to developing innovative research tools for clinical analysis, as well as setting up public-private partnerships to facilitate the advancement of drug candidates, ETC augments Singapore's capabilities and resources in the drug discovery process. ETC's capabilities and resources are currently focused on oncology and infectious diseases. It also incubates new technologies for commercialisation and mentors young scientists for careers in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
For more information about ETC, visit http://www.etc.a-star.edu.sg.
About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is Singapore's lead public sector agency that fosters world-class scientific research and talent to drive economic growth and transform Singapore into a vibrant knowledge-based and innovation driven economy.
In line with its mission-oriented mandate, A*STAR spearheads research and development in fields that are essential to growing Singapore's manufacturing sector and catalysing new growth industries. A*STAR supports these economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry.
A*STAR oversees 20 biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering research entities, located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis as well as their vicinity. These two R&D hubs house a bustling and diverse community of local and international research scientists and engineers from A*STAR's research entities as well as a growing number of corporate laboratories.
For more information about A*STAR, please visit http://www.a-star.edu.sg
ANNEX A
About Alex Matter
Professor Alex Matter, M.D. is CEO of the Experimental Therapeutics Centre, A*STAR, Singapore, having spent five and a half years as Director of the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD), from October 2003 to February 2009. Prior to this role, Professor Matter was Global Head of Oncology Research for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Head of Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in Basel and Global Head of Translational Research. Professor Matter played an important role in the success of several anticancer drugs, including Gleevec/Glivec and more recently, Tasigna, building and leading the teams that discovered these and several other anticancer drugs as well as one HIV protease inhibitor (Reyataz) that is marketed by another company.
Professor Matter received his medical degree from the University of Basel. He also had fellowships at the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Academy for Medical Sciences. He has published more than 100 scientific articles and several book chapters in the area of oncology and hematology. He is emeritus Professor of the Medical Faculty of the University Basel and an Honorary Adjunct Professor of the Department of Pharmacology, YLL School of Medicine, NUS in Singapore. He is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, the National Medical Research Council in Singapore, and the Board of Curiox, a Singapore-based start up company. He is also a member of several Scientific Advisory Boards. He is an elected member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences.
Professor Matter is the recipient of the Life-time Achievement Award from IBC Life Sciences, the 13th Warren-Alpert prize and the AACRBruce F. Cain Memorial Award.
[3] The D3 platform (http://www.d3.a-star.edu.sg/) is a co-operative effort led by A*STAR's Experimental Therapeutic Centre (ETC), with funding contributions from Singapore's National Medical Research Council (NMRC) and National Research Foundation (NRF). It is aimed at bringing promising molecules into preclinical development and early phase clinical trials, including 'proof-of-concept' studies in man.
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A*STAR scientist Alex Matter awarded prestigious Szent-Gyrgyi Prize for progress in cancerPublic release date: 4-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. Sarah Chang chang_kai_chen@a-star.edu.sg 656-826-6442 Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
National Foundation for Cancer Research honors Professor Alex Matter with esteemed award for groundbreaking cancer pill that gives leukaemia patients a new lease of life
1. Professor Alex Matter, Chief Executive Officer of A*STAR's Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), has been awarded the 8th Annual Szent-Gyrgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research by the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) for his contributions to the development of the first drug specifically targeting a molecular lesion in cancer.
2. Professor Matter is a pioneer of the world's first targeted cancer therapy, imatinib mesylate, also known as Glivec[1]. His discovery turned chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) from a deadly disease into one that can be treated with an oral pill with nearly 90% long-term survival rate, with little or no side-effects. Following Glivec's success in CML, it has been successfully applied to other malignant cancers. Professor Matter's groundbreaking research demonstrated that by specifically inhibiting the activity of key oncogenic cells, it is possible to counteract cancer at the molecular biology level.
3. Chairman of A*STAR's Biomedical Research Council (BMRC), Professor Sir George Radda said, "This award gives due recognition to Alex's significant work which revolutionised anti-cancer drug development and gave a boost to the fight against cancer globally. We are proud to have this luminary working hand-in-hand with us in A*STAR."
4. Professor Matter joined ETC in April 2009, bringing with him his expertise and experience in building bridges between academic research and clinical analysis. ETC now boasts a staff strength of around 80, many of whom are senior group leaders with industrial experience who are able to train young scientists in the rigour of drug discovery and development. Committed to nurturing the young scientists in this highly competitive field, Professor Matter said, "Young people need to be trained for successful and competitive drug discovery. We are training this young generation in drug discovery the way an industrial outfit works."
5. Chairman of A*STAR, Mr. Lim Chuan Poh said, "The phenomenal success of Glivec is a testament to the profound impact that Alex's work has on the approach of cancer drug development. He truly deserves this honour and I extend my heartiest congratulations to him. With his deep expertise in drug discovery, Alex's first-hand experience and in-depth knowledge will guide and mentor Singapore's next generation of scientists in the process of drug discovery and development to meet increasingly difficult healthcare challenges."
6. With a primary mission of translating early stage scientific discoveries into useful clinical applications, ETC is actively involved in collaborations with both public and private sector organisations. Under Professor Matter's leadership, ETC signed a license agreement with Tan Tock Seng Hospital and local company AITbiotech in May last year to market a made-in-Singapore H5N1 bird flu diagnostic kit[2]. The kit allows doctors to rapidly detect all existing strains in a single test with nearly 100% accuracy, within just a few hours.
7. Presently, ETC is working on pre-clinical drug candidates specifically for CML patients who have developed resistance to imatinib mesylate. Carried out in cooperation with Duke-NUS, the drug is expected to enter the clinical trial stage around middle of 2014.
8. Meanwhile, ETC is in the early stages of developing a flu vaccine with A*STAR's SIgN (Singapore Immunology Network), D3 (Drug Discovery and Development) [3], Duke-NUS, DSO and several private companies. By the middle of 2013, the consortium will be able to determine if it is ready for Phase I clinical trials for proof-of-concept in humans. If successful, this flu vaccine will play a critical role in national preparedness as it will ensure that Singaporeans will have access to the vaccine in times of a flu pandemic.
9. Professor Matter has lived in Singapore for the past nine-and-a-half years. Prior to joining ETC as Chief Executive Officer, Professor Matter was the director of the Novartis Institute of Tropical Disease (NITD) since 2004. The NITD is a public-private partnership between Novartis and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), dedicated to finding new medicines for infectious tropical disease, such as tuberculosis, malaria and dengue fever. In addition, Professor Matter is a member of the Board of Singapore's National Medical Research Council and sits on the Board of Curiox, an A*STAR start-up company.
10. The Szent-Gyrgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research was established by the National Foundation for Cancer Research in honour of its co-founder Dr. Albert Szent-Gyrgyi, who was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1937. Professor Matter is receiving the award at the Szent-Gyrgyi Prize Dinner and Award Ceremony today at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
###
Enclosed:
Annex A Biography of Professor Alex Matter, CEO of the Experimental Therapeutics Centre, A*STAR
For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Han Mui Ching
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Corporate Communications
DID: (65) 6826 6261
Email: Han_Mui_Ching@a-star.edu.sg
Dr. Sarah Chang
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Corporate Communications
DID: (65) 6826 6442
Email: chang_kai_chen@a-star.edu.sg
About the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC)
ETC was set up in 2006 to play an increasingly important role in translating early stage scientific discoveries into practical applications. From engaging in early stage drug discovery and development to developing innovative research tools for clinical analysis, as well as setting up public-private partnerships to facilitate the advancement of drug candidates, ETC augments Singapore's capabilities and resources in the drug discovery process. ETC's capabilities and resources are currently focused on oncology and infectious diseases. It also incubates new technologies for commercialisation and mentors young scientists for careers in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
For more information about ETC, visit http://www.etc.a-star.edu.sg.
About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is Singapore's lead public sector agency that fosters world-class scientific research and talent to drive economic growth and transform Singapore into a vibrant knowledge-based and innovation driven economy.
In line with its mission-oriented mandate, A*STAR spearheads research and development in fields that are essential to growing Singapore's manufacturing sector and catalysing new growth industries. A*STAR supports these economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry.
A*STAR oversees 20 biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering research entities, located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis as well as their vicinity. These two R&D hubs house a bustling and diverse community of local and international research scientists and engineers from A*STAR's research entities as well as a growing number of corporate laboratories.
For more information about A*STAR, please visit http://www.a-star.edu.sg
ANNEX A
About Alex Matter
Professor Alex Matter, M.D. is CEO of the Experimental Therapeutics Centre, A*STAR, Singapore, having spent five and a half years as Director of the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD), from October 2003 to February 2009. Prior to this role, Professor Matter was Global Head of Oncology Research for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Head of Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in Basel and Global Head of Translational Research. Professor Matter played an important role in the success of several anticancer drugs, including Gleevec/Glivec and more recently, Tasigna, building and leading the teams that discovered these and several other anticancer drugs as well as one HIV protease inhibitor (Reyataz) that is marketed by another company.
Professor Matter received his medical degree from the University of Basel. He also had fellowships at the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Academy for Medical Sciences. He has published more than 100 scientific articles and several book chapters in the area of oncology and hematology. He is emeritus Professor of the Medical Faculty of the University Basel and an Honorary Adjunct Professor of the Department of Pharmacology, YLL School of Medicine, NUS in Singapore. He is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, the National Medical Research Council in Singapore, and the Board of Curiox, a Singapore-based start up company. He is also a member of several Scientific Advisory Boards. He is an elected member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences.
Professor Matter is the recipient of the Life-time Achievement Award from IBC Life Sciences, the 13th Warren-Alpert prize and the AACRBruce F. Cain Memorial Award.
[3] The D3 platform (http://www.d3.a-star.edu.sg/) is a co-operative effort led by A*STAR's Experimental Therapeutic Centre (ETC), with funding contributions from Singapore's National Medical Research Council (NMRC) and National Research Foundation (NRF). It is aimed at bringing promising molecules into preclinical development and early phase clinical trials, including 'proof-of-concept' studies in man.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
It's been a long time coming, but Verizon Wireless customers should soon have another high-end Windows Phone 8 device to lust after. After the handset was spotted both in both the FCC's and Verizon's systems, noted leaker ![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 4-Apr-2013
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