Anti-austerity protests moved to Belgium on Thursday as around 30,000 people voiced their anger over cuts to the public sector.
The Belgian government ? like so many in Europe ? is desperate to rein in its budget deficit.
Protesters marching through Brussels called for higher purchasing power as average incomes continue to be squeezed.
Unions say despite the cuts, the government can still afford to provide better social conditions for workers.
?This is our action today to say to the government ?enough is enough?,? said one worker.
Another protester added: ?The people who are here are asking for proper, honest and well paid jobs. All the workers say is: ?no to discrimination?.?
In solidarity with the protesters, Belgium?s main broadcaster delayed its news programmes this morning.
Rallies also took place in other Belgian cities including Liege where workers from the ArcelorMittal steel factory are on strike against cuts to the workforce.
More about: Austerity, Belgium, Protests in Belgium
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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN:?Over 22,000 participants are expected to descend onto Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar ?Ali Saifuddien this coming Saturday, each playing their respective roles in what is expected to be a grand spectacle staged to mark the 29th National Day celebrations, Borneo Bulletin reported.
This year sees an increase in the number of participants, with figures from previous years standing at some 20,000.
To ensure the whole parade runs smoothly, members of the public and participants are advised to follow instructions from authorities.
The details of this year?s National Day parade were revealed yesterday during a press conference by Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid bin Hj Mohd Jaafar in his capacity as co-secretary of the National Committee for Brunei Darussalam?s 29th National Day Celebration 2013.
Also present at the press conference were Senior Supt Hj Azahari bin Hj Awang Besar, the Director of Traffic Control and Investigation Department under Royal Brunei Police Force; Pengiran Dr Hidop bin Pengiran Hj Samsuddin, Assistant Senior Chief of Adat Istiadat Negara; Hj Muhd Esa bin Hj Ibrahim, Assistant Director of Land Transport Department; and Azman bin Hj Abd Rahim, Acting Assistant Director of Information Department.
This year?s National Day celebration carries the theme ?Negaraku Brunei Darussalam?.
Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid explained, ?The theme stresses on the sentiments of citizens towards the country, that Brunei Darussalam is my country; and a sense of belonging toward the country that includes the leader, the government, the constitution, law culture, heritage and philosophy.?
It is our responsibility as citizens to be loyal to the king, to practise a religious way of life, preserve the nation?s heritage and culture, to protect and preserve the sovereignty, respect the constitution, comply with the law, preserve political stability increase economic development, increase the social standard of the people, maintain pride and image, practise and embrace the national philosophy, maintain peace and prosperity as well as unity and harmony.
The theme invites all citizens of the country regardless of age, rank, nationality and religion to collectively carry out the responsibility in ensuring the country is always peaceful, prosperous and safe, as well as in maintaining a MIB and Zikir Nation, he added.
With regard to the February 23 parade, he revealed, ?His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam is scheduled to arrive at 8.15am with members of the royal family.?
He later went on to remind students to be sure they have their breakfast and to consume enough fluids on the day.
Meanwhile, there will be three emergency camps located at Dermaga Diraja Bandar Seri Begawan, Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Complex and PGGMB buildings.
Members of the public are invited to join in the celebrations.
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FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2012 file photo, a Stanford University student walks in front of Hoover Tower on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, Calif. Stanford University became the first school to raise $1 billion in a single year, according to an annual college fundraising report released Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 that shows that elite institutions continue to grab a disproportionate share of donor dollars. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2012 file photo, a Stanford University student walks in front of Hoover Tower on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, Calif. Stanford University became the first school to raise $1 billion in a single year, according to an annual college fundraising report released Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 that shows that elite institutions continue to grab a disproportionate share of donor dollars. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Stanford University has set a new record for college fundraising, becoming the first school to collect more than $1 billion in a single year, according to a report released Wednesday.
For the eighth straight year, Stanford ranked first in the Council for Aid to Education's annual college fundraising survey, which shows that elite institutions continue to grab a disproportionate share of donor dollars.
In the 2012 fiscal year, roughly 3,500 U.S. colleges and universities raised $31 billion, 2.3 percent more than the previous year. The record was set in 2008 when schools took in $31.6 billion before fundraising dropped during the height of the financial crisis.
"We're climbing out of the doldrums," said survey director Ann Kaplan. "We haven't returned to the high point of 2008, but we're approaching it. I think you can say that about a lot of industries."
Topping the list was Stanford at $1.035 billion, followed by Harvard University at $650 million, Yale University at $544 million, the University of Southern California at $492 million and Columbia University at $490 million.
The top 10 fundraising colleges collected $5.3 billion, or 17 percent, of the $31 billion, even though they represent only 0.3 percent of the 3,500 accredited, nonprofit schools included in the survey.
Stanford benefited from a surge in donations at the end of its multi-year Stanford Challenge fundraising campaign, which netted $6.2 billion. It also benefited from the successful launch of a $1 billion campaign for its medical school and hospitals.
The 10-campus University of California system raised $1.56 billion, which doesn't include money collected by its individual campuses. UC Berkeley was the leading fundraiser among all public universities, taking in $405 million.
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford's alumni list includes the founders of major tech companies like Yahoo Inc. who have given to the school in recent years.
Stanford raised 46 percent more in its 2012 fiscal year than the $709 million it collected in 2011 and surpassed its previous record of $911 million set in 2006. The $1.035 billion haul is equal to nearly $56,000 for each of its roughly 18,500 undergraduate and graduate students, though much of the money will be used for research and construction.
By contrast, San Jose State University, a public college 20 miles away, raised $14 million, which is equal to $450 for each of its 31,000 students.
Stanford received donations from nearly 79,000 donors, including $100 million of a $150 million gift from Silicon Valley investor Robert King and his wife Dorothy to establish the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies.
"We are in awe and remain humbled by this kind of response. It was a remarkable showing of generosity," said Martin Shell, Stanford's vice president for development. "Higher education for most people represents hope for a better future, and donors want to invest in that."
Making a FaceTime call from your iPad or iPod touch is a little different than making a FaceTime call on iPhone. Since the iPhone is always connected to a cellular network, FaceTime is simply built into the Phone app. On the iPad and iPod touch, you'll need to be connected to a WiFi network. Once that's taken care of, you can get started with making FaceTime calls to other iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac users.
Here's how...
Launch the FaceTime app from the Home screen of your iPad or iPod touch.
On the right hand side, you'll see the list of contacts that you have in your Address Book. Tap on the one you'd like to make a FaceTime call to.
You'll now see that person's Contact Card. You can select either their phone number or email. Remember they must have a FaceTime capable device as well or the session will fail.
The FaceTime call will now initiate.
When the person on the other side accepts the video call you'll see your iPad or iPod touch say Connecting. After this, you should be able to communicate freely. That's all there is to it.
New drug combination could prevent head and neck cancer in high-risk patientsPublic release date: 19-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jeremy Moore jeremy.moore@aacr.org 215-446-7109 American Association for Cancer Research
PHILADELPHIA A new drug combination shows promise in reducing the risk for patients with advanced oral precancerous lesions to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The results of the study, which included preclinical and clinical analyses, were published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is the most common type of head and neck cancer," said Dong Moon Shin, M.D., professor of hematology, medical oncology and otolaryngology at Emory University School of Medicine, and director of the Cancer Chemoprevention Program at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. "The survival rate for patients with SCCHN is very poor. An effective prevention approach is desperately needed, especially since we can identify patients who are at extremely high risk: those with advanced oral precancerous lesions."
Based on prior research suggesting a role for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in promoting SCCHN, Shin and colleagues believed combining an EGFR inhibitor and a COX-2 inhibitor could provide an effective chemopreventive approach.
They found that the combination of the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib and the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib was more effective for inhibiting the growth of human SCCHN cell lines compared with either drug alone. In addition, treating mice with the drug combination prior to transplanting them with human SCCHN cells more effectively suppressed cancer cell growth than did pretreating the mice with either drug alone.
Based on these preclinical analyses, Shin and colleagues initiated a phase I chemoprevention trial. Eleven patients with advanced oral precancerous lesions were assigned to treatment with erlotinib and celecoxib. Tissue samples from the patients were obtained and evaluated pathologically at three, six and 12 months after therapy initiation. Biopsies at baseline and follow-up were available for seven patients.
Pathologic examination of the biopsies indicated that three of the seven patients had a complete pathologic response; that is, there was no longer evidence of the precancerous lesions in the follow-up biopsy sample. Among the other patients, two had a partial pathologic response and two had progressive disease.
"Finding that this drug combination caused some advanced premalignant lesions to completely disappear was great news," said Shin. "Advanced premalignant lesions rarely regress, so our data are proof-of-principle that a combination chemopreventive strategy with molecularly targeted agents is possible."
Several patients dropped out of the trial because of severe adverse side effects, according to Shin. "Prevention is not achieved through short-term treatment," he said. "So, we need to investigate the safety and toxicity of this combination further before planning a large-scale trial. We are also looking to combination therapies using less toxic or nontoxic agents, such as natural compounds."
###
Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org
About the American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 17,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of team science and individual grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.
For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
New drug combination could prevent head and neck cancer in high-risk patientsPublic release date: 19-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jeremy Moore jeremy.moore@aacr.org 215-446-7109 American Association for Cancer Research
PHILADELPHIA A new drug combination shows promise in reducing the risk for patients with advanced oral precancerous lesions to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The results of the study, which included preclinical and clinical analyses, were published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is the most common type of head and neck cancer," said Dong Moon Shin, M.D., professor of hematology, medical oncology and otolaryngology at Emory University School of Medicine, and director of the Cancer Chemoprevention Program at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. "The survival rate for patients with SCCHN is very poor. An effective prevention approach is desperately needed, especially since we can identify patients who are at extremely high risk: those with advanced oral precancerous lesions."
Based on prior research suggesting a role for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in promoting SCCHN, Shin and colleagues believed combining an EGFR inhibitor and a COX-2 inhibitor could provide an effective chemopreventive approach.
They found that the combination of the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib and the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib was more effective for inhibiting the growth of human SCCHN cell lines compared with either drug alone. In addition, treating mice with the drug combination prior to transplanting them with human SCCHN cells more effectively suppressed cancer cell growth than did pretreating the mice with either drug alone.
Based on these preclinical analyses, Shin and colleagues initiated a phase I chemoprevention trial. Eleven patients with advanced oral precancerous lesions were assigned to treatment with erlotinib and celecoxib. Tissue samples from the patients were obtained and evaluated pathologically at three, six and 12 months after therapy initiation. Biopsies at baseline and follow-up were available for seven patients.
Pathologic examination of the biopsies indicated that three of the seven patients had a complete pathologic response; that is, there was no longer evidence of the precancerous lesions in the follow-up biopsy sample. Among the other patients, two had a partial pathologic response and two had progressive disease.
"Finding that this drug combination caused some advanced premalignant lesions to completely disappear was great news," said Shin. "Advanced premalignant lesions rarely regress, so our data are proof-of-principle that a combination chemopreventive strategy with molecularly targeted agents is possible."
Several patients dropped out of the trial because of severe adverse side effects, according to Shin. "Prevention is not achieved through short-term treatment," he said. "So, we need to investigate the safety and toxicity of this combination further before planning a large-scale trial. We are also looking to combination therapies using less toxic or nontoxic agents, such as natural compounds."
###
Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org
About the American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 17,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of team science and individual grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.
For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
Feb. 19, 2013 ? Models of the human brain, patterned on engineering control theory, may some day help researchers control such neurological diseases as epilepsy, Parkinson's and migraines, according to a Penn State researcher who is using mathematical models of neuron networks from which more complex brain models emerge.
"The dual concepts of observability and controlability have been considered one of the most important developments in mathematics of the 20th century," said Steven J. Schiff, the Brush Chair Professor of Engineering and director of the Penn State Center for Neural Engineering. "Observability and controlability theorems essentially state that if you can observe and reconstruct a system's variables, you may be able to optimally control it. Incredibly, these theoretical concepts have been largely absent in the observation and control of complex biological systems."
Those engineering concepts were originally designed for simple linear phenomena, but were later revised to apply to non-linear systems. Such things as robotic navigation, automated aircraft landings, climate models and the human brain all require non-linear models and methods.
"If you want to observe anything that is at all complicated -- having more than one part -- in nature, you typically only observe one of the parts or a small subset of the many parts," said Schiff, who is also professor of neurosurgery, engineering science and mechanics, and physics, and a faculty member of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. "The best way of doing that is make a model. Not a replica, but a mathematical representation that uses strategies to reconstruct from measurements of one part to the many that we cannot observe."
This type of model-based observability makes it possible today to create weather predictions of unprecedented accuracy and to automatically land an airliner without pilot intervention.
"Brains are much harder than the weather," said Schiff. "In comparison, the weather is a breeze."
There are seven equations that govern weather, but the number of equations for the brain is uncountable, according to Schiff. One of the problems with modeling the brain is that neural networks in the brain are not connected from neighbor to neighbor. Too many pathways exist.
"We make and we have been making models of the brain's networks for 60 years," Schiff said at the recent annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston. "We do that for small pieces of the brain. How retina takes in an image and how the brain decodes that image, or how we generate simple movements are examples of how we try now to embody the equations of motion of those limited pieces. But we never used the control engineer's trick of fusing those models with our measurements from the brain. This is the key -- a good model will synchronize with the system it is coupled to."
Schiff is looking for the models that represent the parts of the brain he is studying. He looks at the model to see if it can simulate what he observed and if he can fuse the model with the real system. He and his colleagues, with support from the National Institutes of Health, are exploring a wide range of control strategies for epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and migraines.
To do this with brain networks, researchers often have to measure from only one or a few nodes of the system and seek to reconstruct the rest.
"We need to simplify, and then ask, how far into that network can we reconstruct?" asks Schiff. "How far can we control?"
Using group theory, Schiff is trying to answer these questions. Group theory tests whether the inputs onto these nodes can be swapped. If a regular swap of the nodes ends up with the same network, then this is a symmetry of the network. Such symmetries underlie powerful ways to simplify models that represent the underlying structure within brain networks. The brain is full of such symmetries as neurons hook themselves up in rings and star patterns.
"But 10 billion neurons produce a number of possible networks that no one wants to think about," said Schiff. "Luckily, in the brain, internet or power grid we can begin to take symmetries into account. We don't need to go and specify all the particulars about how things are connected, but take advantage of the underlying symmetries in those networks and produce representative networks."
In essence, complicated networks can be boiled down to the simpler networks that represent what the complicated ones do. Brain symmetry permits synchrony to arise, and this is critical since synchronies are so important to both the normal and abnormal function of brain networks.
Recording from just one electrode from the brain is very limiting. Researchers and clinicians now use arrays of 100 or more electrodes to study epilepsy, but technology will soon provide the capability of deploying a 1,000 or more electrodes that, when fused with models, will enable us to reconstruct activity more deeply into the nervous system. "The pathologies of epilepsy or Parkinson's disease, we think are very 'simple,' compared with many more complex activities we perform in our brains, " said Schiff. "If they have more synchrony than normal they might produce really good reconstructions when fused with models."
These simplified models are important not just for these specific diseases, but because a fidelity model of the brain, one that models everything in detail, would be impossible to create. In addition, such large-scale models would be very inaccurate if used in such a control-engineering framework. If Parkinson's disease, epilepsy or migraines can be modeled more simply and still be accurate, then other brain pathologies or functions might also be modeled and controlled with simplified models.
The mechanism underneath migraine headaches is a very slow wave that propagates through the brain cortex. Schiff is using these engineering principles to model this wave. He and his colleagues are using these principles to do real time control of this wave phenomenon in brain.
"It is a very exciting time as we see the results of fusing these engineering and mathematical principles with observing and treating the brain," said Schiff who is the author of Neural Control Engineering: The Emerging Intersection between Control Theory and Neuroscience (MIT Press, 2012).
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Japan is in the forefront of the news with ridiculous statements such as the sinking yen is a "Byproduct, Not a Focus" of its foreign trade policy. I have a simple question "Even if that statement is believable, what difference does it make?"
The answer is none. Regardless, statements from Japanese politicians are not believable in the first place. That helps explain the following Bloomberg headline G-20 Takes Harder Line on Currencies.
Two days of talks between G-20 finance ministers and central bankers ended in Moscow yesterday with a pledge not to ?target our exchange rates for competitive purposes,? according to a statement. That?s stronger than their position three months ago and leaves Japanese officials under pressure to stop publicly giving guidance on their currency?s value.
With the yen near its lowest level against the dollar since 2010, policy makers are attempting to soothe concern that some countries are trying to weaken exchange rates to spur growth through exports. The risk is a 1930s-style spiral of devaluations and protectionism if other countries retaliate to safeguard their own economies.
?Politically-motivated devaluations can?t sustainably improve competitiveness; they don?t solve structural problems and they set off reactions,? Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said yesterday. ?The clear language in the communiqu? underlines this unity and will allow the debate in the future to take place with a less excited tone.?
Japanese officials in Moscow denied driving down their currency, arguing its fall was a byproduct -- not a focus -- of their effort to revive the world?s third-largest economy.
Japanese officials aren?t alone in accepting a cheaper currency as good for growth.
Bank of England policy maker Martin Weale said in a speech yesterday that although U.K. central bankers don?t ?target the exchange rate,? there is reason to tolerate any inflation resulting from the pound?s six-year decline.
Not all G-20 policy makers want a weaker currency. Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said in a Feb. 13 interview that ?the exchange rate of the euro is broadly in line with fundamentals? and ?you cannot really say that the euro is seriously overvalued.?
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Public release date: 19-Feb-2013
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