Dazzling Twitter debut sends stock soaring 73 pct

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Twitter went on sale to the public for the first time Thursday, instantly leaping more than 70 percent above their offering price in a dazzling debut that exceeded even Wall Street's lofty hopes.

By the closing bell, the social network that reinvented global communication in 140-character bursts was valued at $31 billion — nearly as much as Yahoo Inc., an Internet icon from another era, and just below Kraft Foods, the grocery conglomerate founded more than a century ago.

The stock's sizzling performance seemed to affirm the bright prospects for Internet companies, especially those focused on mobile users. And it could invite more entrepreneurs to consider IPOs, which lost their luster after Facebook's first appearance on the Nasdaq was marred by glitches.

In Silicon Valley, the IPO produced another crop of millionaires and billionaires, some of whom are sure to fund a new generation of startups.

Twitter, which has never turned a profit in the seven years since it was founded, worked hard to temper expectations ahead of the IPO, but all that was swiftly forgotten when the market opened.

Still, most analysts don't expect the company to be profitable until 2015. Investors will be watching closely to see whether Twitter was worth the premium price.

Thursday's stock surge was "really not as important as you might think," said Kevin Landis, a portfolio manager with Firsthand Funds, which owns shares in Twitter. "What really matters is where the stock is going to be in six months, 12 months."

The most anticipated initial public offering of the year was carefully orchestrated to avoid the dysfunction that surrounded Facebook's IPO.

Trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "TWTR," shares opened at $45.10, 73 percent above their initial offering price.

In the first few hours, the stock jumped as high as $50.09. Most of those gains held throughout the day, with Twitter closing at $44.90, despite a broader market decline.

The narrow price range indicated that people felt it was "pretty fairly priced," said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade.

The price spike "clearly shows that demand exceeds the supply of shares," said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter.

Earlier in the day, Twitter gave a few users rather than executives the opportunity to ring the NYSE's opening bell. The users included actor Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation"; Vivienne Harr, a 9-year-old girl who ran a lemonade stand for a year to raise money to end child slavery; and Cheryl Fiandaca of the Boston Police Department.

Twitter raised $1.8 billion Wednesday night when it sold 70 million shares to select investors for $26 each. But the huge first-day pop left some analysts wondering whether the company could have raised more. Had Twitter priced the stock at $30, for instance, the company would have taken away $2.1 billion. At $35, it would have reaped nearly $2.5 billion. That's a lot for a company that's never made a profit and had revenue of just $317 million last year.

If the price stays this high, or goes even higher, shareholders will no doubt be happy. But the money that they might make from any stock sale doesn't go to the company.

Named after the sound of a chirping bird, Twitter's origins date back to 2005, when creators Noah Glass and Evan Williams were trying to get people to sign up for Odeo, a podcasting service they created. Odeo didn't make it.

By early 2006, Glass and fellow Odeo programmer Jack Dorsey began work on a new project: teaming with co-worker Christopher "Biz" Stone on a way to corral text messages typically sent over a phone.

It was Glass who came up with the original name Twttr. The two vowels were added later. The first tweets were sent on March 21, 2006.

By 2007, Twitter was incorporated with Dorsey as the original CEO and Williams as chairman. Dorsey and Williams would eventually swap roles. Both remain major shareholders, though neither runs the company. Glass, meanwhile, was effectively erased from Twitter's history, writes New York Times reporter Nick Bilton in "Hatching Twitter: A true story of money, power, friendship, and betrayal."

Since those early days, the site has attracted world leaders, religious figures and celebrities, along with CEOs, businesses and countless marketers and self-promoters.

The company avoided the trouble that plagued Facebook's high-profile debut, which suffered technical glitches that had lasting consequences. On that first day, Facebook closed just 23 cents above its $38 IPO price and later fell much lower. The stock needed more than a year to climb back above $38.

The Securities and Exchange Commission later fined Nasdaq $10 million, the largest fine ever levied against an exchange.

Those problems likely led Twitter to the NYSE.

At its IPO price, Twitter was valued at roughly 28 times its projected 2013 revenue — $650 million based on its current growth rate. In comparison, Facebook trades at about 16 times its projected 2013 revenue, according to analyst forecasts from FactSet.

Google Inc. meanwhile, is trading at about 7 times its net revenue, the figure Wall Street follows that excludes ad commissions.

Research firm Outsell Inc. puts Twitter's fundamental value at about half of the IPO price, said analyst Ken Doctor. That figure is based on factors such as revenue and revenue growth.

"That's not unusual," Doctor said. "Especially for tech companies. You are betting on a big future."

As a newly public company, one of Twitter's biggest challenges will be to generate more revenue outside the U.S.

More than three-quarters of Twitter's 232 million users are outside the U.S. But only 26 percent of Twitter's revenue comes from abroad. The company has said that it plans to hire more sales representatives in countries such as Australia, Brazil and Ireland.

Twitter shares entered a declining market. Wall Street had its worst day since August as traders worried that the Federal Reserve could cut back on its economic stimulus.

Investors grew concerned about a surprisingly strong report on U.S. economic growth in the third quarter, which led many to believe the Fed could start pulling back as soon as next month, earlier than many anticipated.

After 33 record-high closes this year, an increasing number of investors believe the stock market has become frothy and is ready for a pullback.

___

AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco and AP Markets Writer Ken Sweet in New York contributed to this story.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dazzling-twitter-debut-sends-stock-soaring-73-pct-222550230--finance.html
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Lowlives Once Again Congregating on Silk Road

Those who troll the dark recesses of the Internet with drugs, murder and sexual perversion on their minds can once again patronize one of their favorite cesspools -- Silk Road. Though the marketplace for mainly illicit goods and services was shut down by the FBI a month ago and the alleged "Dread Pirate Roberts" running it was arrested, it's back in business again.

The notorious Silk Road website is back in business a month after federal authorities seized it and arrested its alleged proprietor.

The FBI shut it down following a two-and-a-half year investigation, claiming that it served as an underground marketplace for people to trade in contraband materials including narcotics, weapons and false documents -- and even to arrange murders for hire. The site promised anonymity by putting several security measures in place and accepting payment only in Bitcoins.

This time around, Silk Road is reassuring its possibly apprehensive customers that security is a main priority and warning about possible delays as it gets back on its feet.

Guilty as Charged?

Silk Road's resurrection came while its alleged owner and operator, Ross Ulbricht, was in custody following his arrest last month, which coincided with the site's seizure. Ulbricht is thought to be the person behind the "Dread Pirate Roberts" persona. However, someone claiming that identity announced Silk Road's "rise from the ashes" on Wednesday.

Ulbricht has denied the charges against him -- which include conspiracy to traffic in narcotics, solicit murder and launder money -- and has gained some supporters along the way. There is a crowdfunding site dedicated to Ulbricht that encourages supporters to donate Bitcoins to help him with legal fees.

Unless evidence is found that Ulbricht was able to help orchestrate the re-emergence of Silk Road while behind bars and prosecutors are able to include that in the charges, the site's resurrection will have no official legal ramifications for him, said Mark Rasch, attorney and expert on cybersecurity and Internet law.

Unofficially, though, Silk Road's speedy recovery could weigh heavily on anyone involved with the case, Rasch noted. It could further incense his prosecutors, reinforcing their determination to convict an alleged public face of illegal online activity.

On the other hand, it could help to rally supporters or even sway jury members into believing Silk Road's swift resurrection is proof that Ulbricht was not masterminding the operation.

"Assuming he denies being responsible but the prosecutors think otherwise, they can try to show that he is this person who is continuing to promote illegal activity and that he lacks contrition," Rasch told TechNewsWorld.

"It could also go the other way and show that Silk Road was something that was beyond his knowledge or ability to control," he pointed out.

Never-Ending Cycle

It will be some time before the Ulbricht's fate is determined, but one thing is already clear: The job of regulators trying to shut down such sites is never done, said Rasch.

"Shutting down these sites is like a game of Whac-A-Mole," he remarked. "Regulators are trying to take the incentive out of running these sites, making the costs so high ... that they'll stop doing it. They're infiltrating organizations and networks, going after the people who set up the sites and the people who buy and sell things on it."

Digital currencies may force the issue, suggested Peter Brill, attorney at Brill Legal Group.

"Efficient solutions to the self-regulation of these markets will become an expanding area of focus, as the rise of Bitcoin and similar currencies become the target of regulators worldwide," he told TechNewsWorld.

Still, last month's widely publicized shutdown of Silk Road may have deterred a few traders, and Ulbricht's arrest may cause others who might be thinking of setting up an online black market to think twice, said Rasch.

"The thing about these sites is that in order to be effective, they have to be publicly accessible and visible, and the people who are buying from them have to believe that they are safe and won't get in trouble," he noted. "These busts make them think twice about that. You can't end crime, but you can try to manage it, and that's what's going on here."

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/79378.html
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‘Winter’s Tale’ Trailer (Video): Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Russell Crowe in a Mythic New York

See the first trailer for Akiva Goldsman’s ‘Winter’s Tale,’ starring Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly and Will Smith, in a fantastical, supernatural and romantic epic. The highly anticipated screen adaptation was written, directed and co-produced by Akiva Goldsman who won an Oscar for his screenplay for ‘A Beautiful Mind.’ He makes his directorial debut with the upcoming movie which is based on the critically acclaimed literary novel of the same title by Mark Helprin which was published in 1983. ‘Winter’s Tale’ is a story told on a grand scale in a New York City of an imagined past, the early 20th century, and present day; a world similar to our own but strikingly different. It is mythic, fantastical, with time travel accepted as a given, as is a character who happens to be a white horse who acts as a protector and guardian angel. It’s quite surprising that it has taken more than thirty years for this epic tale to reach the silver screen. The bare bones of the narrative — which from the trailer seems to be the means by which the 700+ pages of the novel’s gorgeously descriptive prose has been distilled into a [...]Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/Vo_qlzQZ0OQ/
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Arafat's mysterious death becomes a whodunit

FILE - In this May 31, 2002 file photo, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat pauses during the weekly Muslim Friday prayers in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Al-Jazeera is reporting that a team of Swiss scientists has found moderate evidence that longtime Palestinian leader Arafat died of poisoning. The Arab satellite channel published a copy of what it said was the scientists' report on its website on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

FILE - In this May 31, 2002 file photo, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat pauses during the weekly Muslim Friday prayers in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Al-Jazeera is reporting that a team of Swiss scientists has found moderate evidence that longtime Palestinian leader Arafat died of poisoning. The Arab satellite channel published a copy of what it said was the scientists' report on its website on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

Swiss professor Francois Bochud, left, director of the Chuv Radiophysics Institute, IRA, and Swiss professor Patrice Mangin, right, director of the University Center of Legal Medicine in Lausanne, CURML, speak on a forensics report concerning the late President Yasser Arafat during a press conference at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, CHUV, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thurday, Nov. 7, 2013. Swiss, French and Russian teams took samples of the remains after exhuming Arafat's body in Ramallah, and submitted results to the Palestinian Authority on Nov. 5. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)

Swiss professor Francois Bochud, left, director of the Chuv Radiophysics Institute, IRA, and Swiss professor Patrice Mangin, right, director of the University Center of Legal Medicine in Lausanne, CURML, pose with a forensics report concerning the late President Yasser Arafat during a press conference on of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, CHUV, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thurday, Nov. 7, 2013. Swiss, French and Russian teams took samples of the remains after exhuming Arafat's body in Ramallah, and submitted results to the Palestinian Authority on Nov. 5. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)

A forensics report concerning the late President Yasser Arafat is presented during a press conference of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, CHUV, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thurday, Nov. 7, 2013. Swiss, French and Russian teams took samples of the remains after exhuming Arafat's body in Ramallah, and submitted results to the Palestinian Authority on Nov. 5. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)

Palestinian Hanadi Kharma, paints a mural depicting the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Nablus, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Swiss scientists have found evidence suggesting Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with a radioactive substance, a TV station reported on Wednesday, prompting new allegations by his widow that the Palestinian leader was the victim of a "shocking" crime. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Yasser Arafat's mysterious 2004 death turned into a whodunit Thursday after Swiss scientists who examined his remains said the Palestinian leader was probably poisoned with radioactive polonium.

Yet hard proof remains elusive, and nine years on, tracking down anyone who might have slipped minuscule amounts of the lethal substance into Arafat's food or drink could be difficult.

A new investigation could also prove embarrassing — and not just for Israel, which the Palestinians have long accused of poisoning their leader and which has denied any role.

The Palestinians themselves could come under renewed scrutiny, since Arafat was holed up in his Israeli-besieged West Bank compound in the months before his death, surrounded by advisers, staff and bodyguards.

Arafat died at a French military hospital on Nov. 11, 2004, at age 75, a month after suddenly falling violently ill at his compound. At the time, French doctors said he died of a stroke and had a blood-clotting problem, but records were inconclusive about what caused that condition.

The Swiss scientists said that they found elevated traces of polonium-210 and lead in Arafat's remains that could not have occurred naturally, and that the timeframe of Arafat's illness and death was consistent with poisoning from ingesting polonium.

"Our results reasonably support the poisoning theory," Francois Bochud, director of Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics, which carried out the investigation, said at a news conference.

Bochud and Patrice Mangin, director of the Lausanne University Hospital's forensics center, said they tested and ruled out innocent explanations, such as accidental poisoning.

"I think we can eliminate this possibility because, as you can imagine, you cannot find polonium everywhere. It's a very rare toxic substance," Mangin told The Associated Press.

Palestinian officials, including Arafat's successor, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, had no comment on the substance of the report but promised a continued investigation.

The findings are certain to revive Palestinian allegations against Israel, a nuclear power. Polonium can be a byproduct of the chemical processing of uranium, but usually is made artificially in a nuclear reactor or a particle accelerator.

Arafat's widow, Suha, called on the Palestinian leadership to seek justice for her husband, saying, "It's clear this is a crime."

Speaking by phone from the Qatari capital Doha, she did not mention Israel but argued that only countries with nuclear capabilities have access to polonium.

Israel has repeatedly denied a role in Arafat's death and did so again Thursday. Paul Hirschson, a Foreign Ministry official, dismissed the claim as "hogwash."

"We couldn't be bothered to" kill him, Hirschson said. "If anyone remembers the political reality at the time, Arafat was completely isolated. His own people were barely speaking to him. There's no logical reason for Israel to have wanted to do something like this."

In his final years, Arafat was being accused by Israel and the U.S. of condoning and even encouraging Palestinian attacks against Israelis instead of working for a peace deal. In late 2004, Israeli tanks no longer surrounded his compound, but Arafat was afraid to leave for fear of not being allowed to return.

Shortly after his death, the Palestinians launched their own investigation, questioning dozens of people in Arafat's compound, including staff, bodyguards and officials, but no suspects emerged.

Security around Arafat was easily breached toward the end of his life. Aides have described him as impulsive, unable to resist tasting gifts of chocolate or trying out medicines brought by visitors from abroad.

The investigation was dormant until the satellite TV station Al-Jazeera persuaded Arafat's widow last year to hand over a bag with her husband's underwear, headscarves and other belongings. After finding traces of polonium in biological stains on the clothing, investigators dug up his grave in his Ramallah compound earlier this year to take bone and soil samples.

Investigators noted Thursday that they could not account for the chain of custody of the items that were in the bag, leaving open the possibility of tampering.

However, the latest findings are largely based on Arafat's remains and burial soil, and in this case, tampering appears highly improbable, Bochud said.

"I think this can really be ruled out because it was really difficult to access the body," he said. "When we opened the tomb, we were all together."

Polonium-210 is the same substance that killed KGB agent-turned-Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

"It's quite difficult to understand why (Arafat) might have had any polonium, if he was just in his headquarters in Ramallah," said Alastair Hay, a professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds who was not involved in the investigation.

"He wasn't somebody who was moving in and out of atomic energy plants or dealing with radioactive isotopes."

___

John Heilprin reported from Lausanne, Switzerland. Associated Press writers Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem and Lori Hinnant in Paris and AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-11-07-Arafat's%20Death/id-b9f661e6e8964bfdaa3e6520d9adf400
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Amazing video reveals what it's like to be able to see The Matrix

Math, it's so boring. Said everyone anytime anyone ever asked them to do basic arithmetic. But it doesn't have to be! Yann Pineill & Nicolas Lefaucheux of Parachutes.tv has dispelled the notion that math is boring by making it look beautiful. Yes, beautiful. And a little bit like seeing The Matrix.

Read more...

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Kerry heading to Geneva in sign of Iran progress

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif waits for the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva Switzerland, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Six world powers are dangling the prospect of easing some sanctions against Iran if Tehran agrees to curb work that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Talks resume Thursday between Iran and the six _ The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. (AP Photo/Keystone, Martial Trezzini)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif waits for the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva Switzerland, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Six world powers are dangling the prospect of easing some sanctions against Iran if Tehran agrees to curb work that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Talks resume Thursday between Iran and the six _ The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. (AP Photo/Keystone, Martial Trezzini)

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman arrives prior to the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva Switzerland, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Six world powers are dangling the prospect of easing some sanctions against Iran if Tehran agrees to curb work that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Talks resume Thursday between Iran and the six _ The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. (AP Photo/Keystone, Martial Trezzini)

A general view shows participants before the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva Switzerland, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Six world powers are dangling the prospect of easing some sanctions against Iran if Tehran agrees to curb work that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Talks resume Thursday between Iran and the six _ The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. (AP Photo/Keystone, Martial Trezzini)

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, left, speaks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, right, during a photo opportunity prior the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva Switzerland, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Six world powers are dangling the prospect of easing some sanctions against Iran if Tehran agrees to curb work that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Talks resume Thursday between Iran and the six _ The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. (AP Photo/Keystone, Martial Trezzini)

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, right, walks next to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, left, during a photo opportunity prior to the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva Switzerland, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Six world powers are dangling the prospect of easing some sanctions against Iran if Tehran agrees to curb work that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Talks resume Thursday between Iran and the six _ The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. (AP Photo/Keystone, Martial Trezzini)

GENEVA (AP) — Iran's chief nuclear negotiator signaled progress at talks with six world powers Thursday on a deal to cap some of his country's atomic programs in exchange for limited relief from sanctions stifling Iran's economy, saying the six had accepted Tehran's proposals on how to proceed.

U.S. officials said Secretary of State John Kerry will fly to Geneva on Friday to participate in the negotiations — a last-minute decision that suggests a deal could be imminent.

A senior State Department official traveling with Kerry in Amman, Jordan, said the secretary would come to Geneva "to help narrow differences in negotiations." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information about the Geneva visit.

Even if an agreement is reached, it would only be the start of a long process to reduce Iran's potential nuclear threat, with no guarantee of ultimate success.

Still, a limited accord would mark a breakthrough after nearly a decade of mostly inconclusive talks focused on limiting, if not eliminating, Iranian atomic programs that could be turned from producing energy into making weapons.

Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araghchi, told Iranian state TV that the six — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — "clearly said that they accept the proposed framework by Iran." He later told CNN that he thinks negotiators at the table are now "ready to start drafting" an accord that outlines specific steps to be taken.

Though Araghchi described the negotiations as "very difficult," he told Iranian state TV that he expected agreement on details by Friday, the last scheduled round of the current talks.

The upbeat comments suggested that negotiators in Geneva were moving from broad discussions over a nuclear deal to details meant to limit Tehran's ability to make atomic weapons. In return, Iran would start getting relief from sanctions that have hit its economy hard.

U.S. officials said Kerry will travel to the Geneva talks after a brief stop in Israel, where he will hold a third meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has spoken out against any limited deal that would allow the Iranians sanctions relief.

In Geneva, Kerry is expected to meet Friday with the European Union's top diplomat, Catherine Ashton, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the schedule.

The talks are primarily focused on the size and output of Iran's enrichment program, which can create both reactor fuel and weapons-grade material suitable for a nuclear bomb. Iran insists it is pursuing only nuclear energy, medical treatments and research, but the United States and its allies fear that Iran could turn this material into the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

International negotiators representing the six powers declined to comment on Araghchi's statement. Bur White House spokesman Jay Carney elaborated on what the U.S. calls a "first step" of a strategy meant to ultimately contain Iran's ability to use its nuclear program to make weapons.

An initial agreement would "address Iran's most advanced nuclear activities; increase transparency so Iran will not be able to use the cover of talks to advance its program; and create time and space as we negotiate a comprehensive agreement," Carney told reporters in Washington.

The six would consider "limited, targeted and reversible relief that does not affect our core sanctions," he said, alluding to penalties crippling Tehran's oil exports. If Iran reneges, said Carney, "the temporary, modest relief would be terminated, and we would be in a position to ratchet up the pressure even further by adding new sanctions."

He described any temporary, initial relief of sanctions as likely "more financial rather than technical." Diplomats have previously said initial sanction rollbacks could free Iranian funds in overseas accounts and allow trade in gold and petrochemicals.

Warily watching from the sidelines, Israel warned against a partial agreement that foresees lifting sanctions now instead of waiting for a rigorous final accord that eliminates any possibility of Iran making nuclear weapons.

At a meeting with U.S. legislators in Jerusalem, Netanyahu spoke of "the deal of the century for Iran." While divulging no details, he said the proposed first step at Geneva "will relieve all the (sanctions) pressure inside Iran."

The last round of talks three weeks ago reached agreement on a framework of possible discussion points, and the two sides kicked off Thursday's round focused on getting to that first step.

Thursday's meeting ended about an hour after it began, followed by bilateral meetings, including one between the U.S and Iranian delegations. EU spokesman Michael Mann said the talks were "making progress."

Before the morning round, Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, met with the EU's Ashton, who is convening the meeting. Asked afterward about the chances of agreement on initial steps this week, Zarif told reporters: "If everyone tries their best, we may have one."

After nearly a decade of deadlock, Iran seems more amenable to making concessions to the six countries. Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, has indicated he could cut back on the nuclear program in exchange for an easing of sanctions.

Despite the seemingly calmer political backdrop, issues remain.

Iranian hardliners want a meaningful — and quick — reduction of the sanctions in exchange for any concessions, while some U.S. lawmakers want significant rollbacks in Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for any loosening of actions.

_____

Associated Press Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report. AP writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington and Nasser Karimi in Tehran also contributed.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-11-07-Iran-Nuclear%20Talks/id-3fbaf564e75946f599a3d08c6827c588
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Surgeons Discover Quirky Knee Ligament All Over Again

An anatomical drawing shows the ligaments on the outside surface of the knee. The anterolateral ligament connects the thigh bone to the shinbone.

Courtesy of University Hospitals Leuven

An anatomical drawing shows the ligaments on the outside surface of the knee. The anterolateral ligament connects the thigh bone to the shinbone.

Courtesy of University Hospitals Leuven

About 150 years ago, a prestigious surgeon in Paris found a new body part while dissecting cadavers. He described the structure as a pearly, "fibrous band" on the outside of the bones in the knee.

That sure sounds like a ligament. But nobody really gave it much thought. And poof! Over the next hundred years or so, the body part was pretty much forgotten.

Then in the 1970s, the mysterious band of tissue reappeared in the medical literature every now and then. It went by several names. No one was really sure what the heck it was doing or even could tell with certainty which bones it connected.

Until now.

Orthopedic surgeons in Belgium have hunted down the enigmatic structure in cadavers. And what do you know — the good Parisian doctor was right.

There is an overlooked ligament in the knee. And it might be important for keeping your knee from twisting and turning, especially after an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL.

Dr. Johan Bellemans and his team at the University Hospital Leuven described the ligament a few months ago in the Journal of Anatomy. They named it the anterolateral ligament, or ALL, and they offered the first clear data on what it's function is.

"It's eye-opening and provocative work," says Scott Rodeo, the chief of orthopedic surgery at the Hospital For Special Surgery in New York City. He wasn't involved in the study, but he saw Bellemans' team present the work at a conference.

"We've known for years that there was a hardened, fibrous tissue in this location," he tells Shots. "And that this area of tissue plays some role. So it's not such a dramatic discovery but kind of a rediscovery — or a refocusing of attention."

Knee deep: Here's what the mysterious ligament looks like inside a cadaver. The anterolateral ligament, or ALL, connects the thigh bone to the shinbone on the outside of the knee.

Courtesy of the University Hospitals Leuven

Knee deep: Here's what the mysterious ligament looks like inside a cadaver. The anterolateral ligament, or ALL, connects the thigh bone to the shinbone on the outside of the knee.

Courtesy of the University Hospitals Leuven

The ALL is about the length of a small thumb. The band connects the thigh bone to the shinbone on the outside of the leg. The ligament probably helps to keep the knee from rotating inward, the researchers suggest.

Damage to the ALL may be one reason why some people don't bounce back after ACL surgery. About 9 in 10 people who have their ACL repaired can return to sports with no problems at all, Rodeo says. But for some, the knee still isn't quite right. It buckles abnormally or gives way during sports.

"The ALL may have a role in small percentage of patients with persistent problems after the reconstruction of their ACL," Rodeo says. "We need to learn more about its function and pay more attention to it."

Even after ACL surgery is successful, Rodeo says, about half of people develop arthritis in the knee 15 years later.

"The next frontier in knee surgery is preventing arthritis," he says. "Should we start to focus on this ligamet? Maybe."

Update at 4:46 p.m. ET:

Bellemans, the lead surgeon on the study, tells Shots that about 80 percent of his patients with ACL tears also have an injury in the ALL.

Over the past few years, he and his team have been repairing the ligament when they fix an ACL. But it's too soon to say whether the extra treatment raises the success rate of the surgery.

So why have doctors overlooked the the ligament for decades?

"It's not so easy to find," Bellemans says. "If you ask even the most experienced surgeon to look for the ALL, they wouldn't find it. It's in an area that we don't usually see during surgery."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/07/243710560/surgeons-discover-quirky-knee-ligament-all-over-again?ft=1&f=1001
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News and information shows explore JFK anniversary

NEW YORK (AP) — "Don't let it be forgot," goes the plaintive song from "Camelot."

It won't be, at least not on TV, where the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination and the end of an era posthumously christened Camelot, is being remembered this month.

More than a dozen new documentary and information specials are among the crop of TV commemorations pegged to this half-century mark of a weekend when, as viewers will be reminded again and again, everything changed.

For anyone who has watched JFK anniversary programming at previous milestones (for instance, there were more than a dozen such shows in 2003), the categories will be familiar.

There are the tick-tock shows, tracking the final hours of Kennedy and/or his alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald:

— "The Final Hours" (National Geographic Channel, Friday at 8 p.m. EST) boasts firsthand accounts of Kennedy's trip to Dallas, narrated by actor Bill Paxton, a native Texan who as a child was on hand to see Kennedy and is captured in a photo of a crowd watching the president speak.

— "'Secrets of the Dead': JFK: One PM Central Standard Time" (PBS, Nov. 13 at 10 p.m. EST) is one of the odder specials on tap. It's no less a valentine to CBS anchor Walter Cronkite than to Kennedy, as it tries to draw parallels between the two men while portraying Cronkite, and how he led CBS' coverage, as the journalist-in-chief of the American press corps.

— "As It Happened: John F. Kennedy 50 Years" (CBS, Nov. 16 at 9 p.m. EST) is anchored by Bob Schieffer, who covered the story in Dallas that weekend.

— "The Day Kennedy Died" (Smithsonian Channel, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. EST).

— "JFK: The Lost Tapes" (Discovery, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. EST) supplements the tragic sequence of events with newly released audio recordings from Air Force One and remastered on-the-scene audio from the Dallas Police Department and other sources.

— "Lee Harvey Oswald: 48 Hours to Live" (History, Nov. 22 at 10 p.m. EST).

— "Capturing Oswald" (Military Channel, Nov. 12 at 10 p.m. EST) pays methodical tribute to Dallas police for their swift arrest of Oswald, arguably glossing over Oswald's murder two days later while in the department's custody. This special is co-produced by Kate Griendling, the granddaughter of Jim Leavelle, who was the white-hatted detective handcuffed to Oswald when Jack Ruby shot him.

Another category of JFK coverage inevitably dwells on the questions that persist surrounding the assassination:

— "JFK: The Smoking Gun" (Reelz, repeating throughout November) is based on the work of retired Australian police Detective Colin McLaren and the book "Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK" by Bonar Menninger. It proposes that a Secret Service agent in the motorcade accidentally fired one of the bullets that struck Kennedy.

— "Fox News Reporting: 50 Years of Questions: The JFK Assassination" (Fox News Channel, Saturday at 9 p.m. EST), anchored by Bill Hemmer, takes a look at the controversy still haunting the FBI investigation, the autopsy report and the Warren Commission's findings.

— "NOVA: Cold Case" (PBS, Nov. 13 at 9 p.m. EST) applies modern forensics to the lingering mysteries of the assassination.

— "The Assassination of JFK (1963)" (CNN, Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. EST) is part of "The Sixties," an upcoming 10-part documentary series co-produced with Tom Hanks. This first edition will explore the key conclusions of the Warren Commission.

Further investigations into the Kennedy presidency are offered by these programs:

— "JFK: A President Betrayed" (available on DirecTV on Demand starting Nov. 14) reveals how Kennedy halted a proposed pre-emptive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union that had been planned for 1963.

— "Kennedy's Suicide Bomber" (Smithsonian Channel, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. EST) tells the story of a would-be assassin who targeted the president-elect a month before he was sworn into office.

Numerous portraits of the fallen president have come before, and for this anniversary there's yet another:

— "American Experience: JFK" (PBS, Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 at 9 p.m. EST) is a four-hour, two-part special that promises "a fresh assessment of the man" from his childhood through death.

And finally, the public is heard from, both then and now:

— "Letters to Jackie" (TLC, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. EST) invites a roster of celebrities to read a few of the 800,000 condolence letters sent to first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and her family in the two months following the killing.

— "JFK Assassination: The Definitive Guide" (History, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. EST) offers polling results of thousands of Americans to reveal what they do and don't believe today regarding the shooting and who was responsible (in the process uncovering what the network says are 311 distinctly different conspiracy theories).

— "Where Were You?" (NBC, Nov. 22 at 9 p.m. EST), anchored by Tom Brokaw, combines archival footage with first-person accounts of those (including famous Americans and ordinary citizens) who lived through it.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore@ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier.

• Arts & Entertainment
• Lee Harvey Oswald
• JFK Assassination

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/news-information-shows-explore-jfk-anniversary-142448824.html
Category: Dumb and Dumber 2   9 news  

Players divided regarding Dolphins' Martin

Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin talks to the media during a news conference after practice at the Dolphins training center in Davie, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. NFL officials launched an investigation to try and determine who knew what and when about the troubled relationship between offensive lineman Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin talks to the media during a news conference after practice at the Dolphins training center in Davie, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. NFL officials launched an investigation to try and determine who knew what and when about the troubled relationship between offensive lineman Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland, left, stands with head trainer Kevin O'Neill, right, during the NFL football team's practice Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, in Davie, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — In a culture that fosters conflict, Jonathan Martin sought to avoid it.

Upset by treatment he considered abusive, the Miami Dolphins tackle let the situation fester for months before leaving the team last week. Martin's agent then complained to the Dolphins, who suspended guard Richie Incognito.

The NFL is investigating whether Incognito harassed or bullied Martin, and whether their teammates and the organization mishandled the matter.

But pro football is a macho world, and some players believe Martin should have responded more firmly.

"Is Incognito wrong? Absolutely. He's 100 percent wrong," New York Giants safety Antrel Rolle said. "No individual should have to go through that, especially in their workplace.

"But at the same time, Jonathan Martin is a 6-4, 320-pound man. I mean, at some point and time you need to stand your ground as an individual. Am I saying go attack, go fight him? No. I think we all understand we can stand our ground without anything being physical."

Dolphins players have robustly defended Incognito, long considered among the NFL's dirtiest players. He's now a notorious national villain, but teammates praise his leadership and loyalty.

They've been less passionate in their support of Martin, saying he and Incognito behaved like best friends.

"They did a lot of stuff together," tackle Tyson Clabo said. "So if he had a problem with the way he was treating him, he had a funny way of showing it."

Martin is with his family in California to undergo counseling for emotional issues.

A senior partner in a New York law firm was appointed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to investigate possible misconduct and prepare a report. DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, said Thursday that he continues to be in touch with those involved.

"The NFLPA has taken steps to ensure that every one of our affected members is represented," Smith said in a statement. "It is our duty as a union to learn the full facts, protect the interests of players involved and hold management accountable to the highest standards of fairness and transparency."

Martin is the son of Harvard graduates, and his great grandfather graduated from the school in 1924. Martin attended Stanford, where he majored in the classics and protected Andrew Luck's blind side.

Martin was taken by the Dolphins in the second round of the 2012 draft. But while he has been a starter since the first game of his rookie season, he developed a reputation in the NFL for lacking toughness.

That impression might have been reinforced by the way he handled his issues with Incognito, current and former teammates acknowledge.

"A lot of people might look at Jonathan Martin and think that he's soft because he stepped away from the game, and say, 'Why don't you just fight him?'" said Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin, who played with Martin at Stanford. "Well, if you look at it with common sense and being logical, what options did Jonathan Martin have?

"He could fight Richie Incognito. He could go and tell on the players, which we know in the football locker room doesn't go over too well. Or he could remove himself from the situation and let the proper channels take care of itself. And I think he made the intelligent, smart choice without putting himself or Richie Incognito's physical abilities in danger."

Incognito's harassment of Martin included text messages that were racist and threatening, two people familiar with the situation have told The Associated Press. Incognito is white, while Martin is biracial.

Two other people familiar with the situation have said Martin talked of quitting football earlier in his pro career before leaving the Dolphins. One person said Martin considered giving up the sport because of the way he was being treated by other offensive linemen on the team. The person added that Martin now wants to continue his football career.

___

AP Sports Writers Tim Booth in Seattle and Tom Canavan in East Rutherford, N.J., contributed to this report.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

___

Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-11-07-Dolphins%20Turmoil/id-5a2b89b9600346d7b746ffea8ad2587d
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Biography Of Director Bob Fosse Razzles, Dazzles And Delights

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

On September 23rd, 1987, opening night of a Sweet Charity revival in Washington D.C., Bob Fosse and his ex-wife and collaborator Gwen Verdon gave the cast a final pep-talk, then left the National Theater to get a bite to eat. They turned right, and about a block away, unknown to the gathering audience, or the cast, Fosse collapsed on the sidewalk. Newspapers the next morning said he died at 7:23 PM.

I was inside that theater. I later calculated what was happening at 7:23. It was a quintessential Fosse moment: a stage-wide bar rising from the floor, a line of dance hall hostesses draping themselves over it, bait for big spenders. Here you can listen to him stage the movie version a few years later.

I had seen a lot of Fosse shows by that time — Damn Yankees, Pippin, Dancin', Chicago — and I had read enough about him to know what was autobiographical in his movie, All That Jazz.

So I cracked open Sam Wasson's 700-page biography figuring I knew the score. Hell, knew the score and the steps: those artfully slumped shoulders, knocked knees, and pigeon-toes. The bowler hats and black vests worn without shirts, like the one Liza Minnelli sported in the number that introduced her in Cabaret on screen, leading a chorus that kneeled and stomped and sprawled, and used hard-backed chairs for everything but sitting.

But I didn't know the details Sam Wasson gets at about how Fosse taught choreography that often made dancers seem all elbows and knees. First to Gwen Verdon, who was his muse before she was his wife, and then, with her help, to the dancers in all his shows.

In one dance the chorus girls all had to extend a foot while leaning back and shooting their arms down at their sides. Fosse gave them an image to help them see exactly how he wanted it: "Ladies," he said, "it's like a man is holding out a fur coat for you and you have to drop your arms in."

"Other directors" writes Wasson, "might give their dancers images for every scene. Bob... had one for just about every step. These were the lines the dancers' bodies had to speak."

That, I submit, is lovely writing, as is his description of Cabaret as a film "about the bejeweling of horror [that] coruscated with Fosse's private sequins." You can lift samples just like those from virtually every page of this book.

You'll also learn how the director's dark stage imagery mirrored his own life — the wife and girlfriends he cheated on, the down-and-dirty burlesque houses he grew up in, the amphetamines that kept him going, and the barbiturates that calmed him when he lost confidence in his own "razzle-dazzle."

Wasson pictures him as harder on himself than he was on his dancers. In one year, he won a directing triple crown for which no one else had ever even been nominated — An Emmy for Liza With A Z, An Oscar for Cabaret, and a Tony for Pippin. And his reaction was utter depression. But out of that depression came Chicago...a musical vaudeville that looked great at the Tony Awards in 1976.

The revival is about to enter its 14th year on Broadway.

Sam Wasson's book, Fosse, is filled with the kind of inside detail that comes of substantial research, and vivid descriptions that turn the research into a sort of movie in your head. All the way from little Bobby Fosse's elementary school disappointment when the spotlight faded on him, right through to the moment when Gwen Verdon, the love of his life, cradled Fosse's head on her lap on a DC sidewalk just blocks from an audience he was at that very moment, razzle-dazzling to beat the band.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/11/07/243726400/biography-of-director-bob-fosse-razzles-dazzles-and-delights?ft=1&f=1032
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Potential for added medical benefits uncovered for widely used breast cancer drug

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-Nov-2013

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Contact: Catherine Kolf
ckolf@jhmi.edu
443-287-2251
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Lab tests show it protects cells from UV radiation, inflammation and oxidative damage

Exemestane, a synthetic steroid drug widely prescribed to fight breast cancers that thrive on estrogens, not only inhibits the production of the hormone, but also appears to protect cells throughout the body against damage induced by UV radiation, inflammation and other assaults, according to results of research by Johns Hopkins scientists.

A summary of the research, performed on a variety of different animal and human cells, was published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Nov. 4, and suggests that exemestane's effectiveness against breast cancer could be due to more than its ability to halt estrogen production, the scientists say. The study's results further imply that the drug, a so-called aromatase (estrogen synthesis) inhibitor, could potentially be prescribed more widely, including to men, as a way to counteract the wear and tear on cells that often leads to chronic diseases.

"Cells already have their own elaborate protective mechanisms, and in many cases they are 'idling.' The right drugs and foods can turn them on to full capacity," says Paul Talalay, M.D., the John Jacob Abel Distinguished Service Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "In our cell studies, we found that exemestane does exactly that," he adds.

Talalay explains that cells are constantly under assault from a wide range of potentially lethal agents. UV radiation from the sun can cause errors in DNA sequences; reactive oxygen species a class of unstable, oxygen-containing chemicals that are a natural byproduct of cellular functioning can build up and cause damage to DNA and proteins; and ongoing inflammation can damage many essential cell functions.

To withstand the pressures against them, cells have evolved various mechanisms for protecting themselves. One involves turning on genes that produce a "SWAT team" of proteins, he notes, collectively called the phase 2 response. In normal cells, this response is not fully active. In previous work, the Talalay group found that sulforaphane, a chemical found in broccoli and other vegetables, can ramp up the phase 2 response and help protect cells from the constant wear and tear that they experience.

"Looking at the chemical structure of exemestane, I realized that it was similar to sulforaphane, and I wondered if it too could boost cells' phase 2 protective responses," says Talalay.

To demonstrate that exemestane revs up the phase 2 response, Hua Liu, a research associate in Talalay's laboratory, tested exemestane's effects on various types of cells, including liver tumor and skin cells from a mouse, human cells from the eye's retina, and rat heart cells. As expected, the addition of exemestane elevated the activity of typical protective phase 2 response enzymes in all of the cells tested, a result similar to the effects of adding sulforaphane.

Exemestane was also effective in reducing the amount of reactive oxygen species in human retinal cells, where they are thought to contribute to age-related macular degeneration. It was also able to protect rat heart cells from similar damage.

To test the drug's ability to protect skin cells from UV-induced damage, Liu treated mouse skin cells with exemestane a day before subjecting them to UV radiation and, again, exemestane was able to protect the cells significantly, Liu and Talalay say.

Assessing exemestane's ability to protect cells from inflammation produced a surprise, Talalay notes. In all the other tests, Liu and Talalay had tried not only exemestane but also a mixture of exemestane and sulforaphane. They generally found that the two had an additive effect, suggesting that they both worked in a similar way and were more or less interchangeable. However, when mouse immune cells were exposed to both exemestane and sulforaphane, the two together were much more potent and at lower doses than either chemical alone.

"Our research showed unexpectedly that exemestane has multiple actions, which suggests that a wider use of exemestane should be considered if clinical tests confirm our cellular studies," says Talalay. "Of course, even if clinical tests confirm what we saw in cells, exemestane may not be appropriate for everyone. It's already advocated as a preventive measure for high-risk breast cancer populations, but it may also be valuable in preventing other noncancerous chronic diseases."

Talalay notes that the drug is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and taken by tens of thousands of women, with minimal side effects.

###

This work was supported by grants from the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Foundation and from Murakami Noen.

On the Web:

Link to article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1318247110

Talalay Lab: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/pharmacology_molecular_sciences/faculty/bios/talalay.html

Media Contacts: Catherine Kolf; 443-287-2251; ckolf@jhmi.edu

Vanessa McMains; 410-502-9410; vmcmain1@jhmi.edu

Shawna Williams; 410-955-8236; shawna@jhmi.edu

---

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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.

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-Nov-2013

[


| E-mail

]


Share

Contact: Catherine Kolf
ckolf@jhmi.edu
443-287-2251
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Lab tests show it protects cells from UV radiation, inflammation and oxidative damage

Exemestane, a synthetic steroid drug widely prescribed to fight breast cancers that thrive on estrogens, not only inhibits the production of the hormone, but also appears to protect cells throughout the body against damage induced by UV radiation, inflammation and other assaults, according to results of research by Johns Hopkins scientists.

A summary of the research, performed on a variety of different animal and human cells, was published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Nov. 4, and suggests that exemestane's effectiveness against breast cancer could be due to more than its ability to halt estrogen production, the scientists say. The study's results further imply that the drug, a so-called aromatase (estrogen synthesis) inhibitor, could potentially be prescribed more widely, including to men, as a way to counteract the wear and tear on cells that often leads to chronic diseases.

"Cells already have their own elaborate protective mechanisms, and in many cases they are 'idling.' The right drugs and foods can turn them on to full capacity," says Paul Talalay, M.D., the John Jacob Abel Distinguished Service Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "In our cell studies, we found that exemestane does exactly that," he adds.

Talalay explains that cells are constantly under assault from a wide range of potentially lethal agents. UV radiation from the sun can cause errors in DNA sequences; reactive oxygen species a class of unstable, oxygen-containing chemicals that are a natural byproduct of cellular functioning can build up and cause damage to DNA and proteins; and ongoing inflammation can damage many essential cell functions.

To withstand the pressures against them, cells have evolved various mechanisms for protecting themselves. One involves turning on genes that produce a "SWAT team" of proteins, he notes, collectively called the phase 2 response. In normal cells, this response is not fully active. In previous work, the Talalay group found that sulforaphane, a chemical found in broccoli and other vegetables, can ramp up the phase 2 response and help protect cells from the constant wear and tear that they experience.

"Looking at the chemical structure of exemestane, I realized that it was similar to sulforaphane, and I wondered if it too could boost cells' phase 2 protective responses," says Talalay.

To demonstrate that exemestane revs up the phase 2 response, Hua Liu, a research associate in Talalay's laboratory, tested exemestane's effects on various types of cells, including liver tumor and skin cells from a mouse, human cells from the eye's retina, and rat heart cells. As expected, the addition of exemestane elevated the activity of typical protective phase 2 response enzymes in all of the cells tested, a result similar to the effects of adding sulforaphane.

Exemestane was also effective in reducing the amount of reactive oxygen species in human retinal cells, where they are thought to contribute to age-related macular degeneration. It was also able to protect rat heart cells from similar damage.

To test the drug's ability to protect skin cells from UV-induced damage, Liu treated mouse skin cells with exemestane a day before subjecting them to UV radiation and, again, exemestane was able to protect the cells significantly, Liu and Talalay say.

Assessing exemestane's ability to protect cells from inflammation produced a surprise, Talalay notes. In all the other tests, Liu and Talalay had tried not only exemestane but also a mixture of exemestane and sulforaphane. They generally found that the two had an additive effect, suggesting that they both worked in a similar way and were more or less interchangeable. However, when mouse immune cells were exposed to both exemestane and sulforaphane, the two together were much more potent and at lower doses than either chemical alone.

"Our research showed unexpectedly that exemestane has multiple actions, which suggests that a wider use of exemestane should be considered if clinical tests confirm our cellular studies," says Talalay. "Of course, even if clinical tests confirm what we saw in cells, exemestane may not be appropriate for everyone. It's already advocated as a preventive measure for high-risk breast cancer populations, but it may also be valuable in preventing other noncancerous chronic diseases."

Talalay notes that the drug is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and taken by tens of thousands of women, with minimal side effects.

###

This work was supported by grants from the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Foundation and from Murakami Noen.

On the Web:

Link to article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1318247110

Talalay Lab: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/pharmacology_molecular_sciences/faculty/bios/talalay.html

Media Contacts: Catherine Kolf; 443-287-2251; ckolf@jhmi.edu

Vanessa McMains; 410-502-9410; vmcmain1@jhmi.edu

Shawna Williams; 410-955-8236; shawna@jhmi.edu

---

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-11/jhm-pfa110713.php
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TWITTER IPO LIVE: Contrasts near Twitter HQ

Specialist Glenn Carell, who will handle the Twitter IPO, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Twitter set a price of $26 per share for its initial public offering on Wednesday evening and will begin trading Thursday under the ticker symbol "TWTR" in the most highly anticipated IPO since Facebook's 2012 debut. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Glenn Carell, who will handle the Twitter IPO, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Twitter set a price of $26 per share for its initial public offering on Wednesday evening and will begin trading Thursday under the ticker symbol "TWTR" in the most highly anticipated IPO since Facebook's 2012 debut. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Twitter Chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey, co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams and, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo pose for a group photo after their company's IPO began trading, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. If Twitter's bankers and executives were hoping for a surge on the day of the stock's public debut, they got it. The stock opened at $45.10 a share on its first day of trading, 73 percent above its initial offering price. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, Chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey, and co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone, front row left to right, applaud as they watch the the New York Stock Exchange opening bell rung, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. If Twitter's bankers and executives were hoping for a surge on the day of the stock's public debut, they got it. The stock opened at $45.10 a share on its first day of trading, 73 percent above its initial offering price. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, center, and Mike Gupta, chief financial officer of Twitter, wait for shares to begin trading during the IPO, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. If Twitter's bankers and executives were hoping for a surge on the day of the stock's public debut, they got it. The stock opened at $45.10 a share on its first day of trading, 73 percent above its initial offering price. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Twitter signage is draped on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013 in New York. Twitter set a price of $26 per share for its initial public offering on Wednesday evening and will begin trading Thursday under the ticker symbol "TWTR" in the most highly anticipated IPO since Facebook's 2012 debut. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter had a strong public stock debut Thursday in the most highly anticipated initial public offering since Facebook's last year. That doesn't mean the people in the neighborhood near Twitter's headquarters are doing well.

Twitter is trading under the ticker symbol "TWTR." Twitter's stock opened at $45.10, or 73 percent above its $26 IPO price. The opening price values Twitter at more than $31 billion based on its outstanding stock, options and restricted stock that'll be available after the IPO. Expect some changes throughout the day, though: It has traded as high as $50.09 and is now at $48.21.

The high price comes despite the fact that Twitter has never turned a profit in seven years of existence. Revenue has been growing, but the company is also investing heavily in more data centers and hiring more employees.

Here's a running account of Twitter's first day of trading, presented in reverse chronological order. All times are EST.

___

— 3:05 p.m.: AP's @liedtkesfc explores the neighborhood outside @Twitter HQ and sees contrasts.

The San Francisco neighborhood outside Twitter's headquarters provides a forlorn contrast to the suddenly rich people working inside the building.

These are among the meaner streets in downtown San Francisco, long populated with the destitute who have no place to live and the miscreants who resort to crime to make ends meet. In hopes of cleaning the area up, the city of San Francisco gave Twitter local tax breaks on employee stock options to help persuade the company to move into the neighborhood two years ago.

But times are still tough here. Scruffy-looking people gathered against the wall of a post office across the street from Twitter's headquarters. Four of them had just spent the night in a homeless shelter. All of them said that they wished that they owned Twitter stock, yet they maintained that they didn't really envy Twitter employees becoming wealthier as the stock soared Thursday.

There was a clump of litter just a few feet away. Amid the empty coffee cups, cigarette butts and empty liquor bottles, there were two scratch-off games for the California lottery that had been discarded because they didn't pay off. #LandofBrokenDreams

— Michael Liedtke, San Francisco, @liedtkesfc

___

— 2:50 p.m.: In Asia, @Twitter has competition from local companies, reports AP's @YKLeeAP

Led by Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and India, Asia was the fastest growing region for Twitter in summer 2010, according to Semiocast, a Paris-based social media research company. But growth has slowed in South Korea and Japan, a red flag for Twitter as both countries are wealthy and have high rates of mobile device usage — now the predominant way Twitter is accessed.

New mobile applications from companies such as South Korea's Kakao Corp. and Japan's Line Corp., have experienced explosive growth, making them potent competitors for eyeballs and advertising.

Why are people leaving Twitter or spending less time on it?

Too open. Too crowded. Too difficult.

"In South Korea and Japan, open type social networking services like Twitter and Facebook are losing steam," said Justin Lee, an analyst of mobile messengers and games at BNP Paribas. "Closed social networking services where messages are shared among a small group of people will become more popular."

Twitter remains blocked from China's vast market but another giant, India, is open to Twitter. It has amassed 27 million users there, according to Semiocast. Yet Twitter acknowledged in IPO filings that low use of smartphones in emerging markets such as India could hamper the ability of advertisers to deliver compelling advertisements and hurt its earnings potential.

International users accounted for about three quarters of Twitter's members but only a quarter of revenue in the first nine months of this year. About 25 percent of Twitter's 232 million active users are in Asia.

— Youkyung Lee, Seoul, South Korea, @YKLeeAP

___

— 2:30 p.m.: @Twitter now among the most valuable media companies, notes AP's @rnakashi

Like Twitter, the other large media companies in the country rely to some extent on advertising revenue. As of mid-afternoon, Twitter's value is nearly $33 billion, after including options and restricted stock that'll be available after the IPO.

The market value of other media companies: CBS Corp., $34.7 billion; Discovery Communications Inc., $30 billion; Viacom Inc., $38.8 billion; The Walt Disney Co., $120 billion; Time Warner Inc. $60.3 billion.

— Ryan Nakashima, Los Angeles, @rnakashi

___

— 2:10 p.m.: @NYSEEuronext has congratulated @Twitter "on a successful #NYSEIPO! We're excited to be your partner."

___

— 1:55 p.m.: Looking back at Twitter's IPO price, here are some quick facts from @Dealogic

Twitter priced its IPO at $26, raising $1.82 billion. If the offering's underwriters fully exercise their option to buy more shares, the IPO's value will rise to $2.09 billion. That would make it the second-largest Internet IPO by an American company on record, following Facebook Inc.'s $16 billion, but beating Google Inc.'s $1.92 billion.

The research firm Dealogic says Twitter's IPO is set to be the third-largest U.S.-listed IPO so far this year, behind Plains GP Holdings at $2.9 billion and Zoetis' $2.6 billion.

Including Twitter, U.S.-listed tech industry IPOs have raised $7.8 billion through 41 deals so far this year. That's down from $20.5 billion generated by 35 deals during the same period of 2012, though Facebook accounted for $16 billion of the 2012 total.

Tech companies tend to post bigger first-day jumps than the overall market. The average one-day jump for tech industry IPOs this year is 35 percent, compared with an average gain of 17 percent for 2013 IPOs overall. Twitter's stock opened at 73 percent above the IPO price.

— Bree Fowler, New York, @APBreeFowler

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— 1:40 p.m.: @Twitter soars while drop in overall market pulls down rest of Internet cos.

Twitter shares are flying high, but other Internet companies are having a tough time getting off the ground.

While Twitter's debut likely helped send shares of Facebook Inc. down, the overall tech industry also took a hit as the markets pulled back from record levels on worries that the Federal Reserve could soon start curtailing its economic stimulus program.

Facebook shares fell $1.07, or 2.2 percent, to $48.05 after dropping as low as $47.41 earlier in the day. Other Internet companies such as LinkedIn Corp., AOL Inc., Google Inc., Pandora Media Inc. and Zillow Inc. all posted small to moderate losses.

— Bree Fowler, New York, @APBreeFowler

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— 1:20 p.m.: Will Twitter's stock keep going up? There is risk of Twitter burnout. #TwitterHaters

There's plenty of evidence online about the celebrities who tire of Twitter. The long list of Twitter quitters includes everyone from Alec Baldwin to Miley Cyrus to "Lost" co-creator Damon Lindelof, though some eventually return.

Some get overwhelmed by followers spewing hatred. Others get addicted to interacting with huge fan bases and need to pull away. Even non-celebrity users complain of the amount of time spent posting and replying and vow to close accounts to get on with their lives.

With its public stock debut, the company has been selling potential investors on the idea that its user base of 232 million will continue to grow along with the 500 million tweets that are sent each day. The company's revenue depends on ads it inserts into the stream of messages.

But Wall Street could lose its big bet on social media if prolific tweeters lose their voice.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/user-burnout-could-threaten-twitters-prosperity

— Ryan Nakashima, Los Angeles, @rnakashi

___

— 1:05 p.m.: Twitter chairman @jack makes reference to first tweet in Vine video post

About two hours ago, Twitter chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted this: "just setting up our $twtr —https://vine.co/v/hI1nP3vQOBI" The link is to video on Twitter's Vine app, showing traders shouting on NYSE trading floor.

The tweet, of course, is a reference to the world's first tweet, which was sent by Dorsey on March 21, 2006, and read "just setting up my twttr." Dorsey uses "$twtr" in Thursday's post in a reference to the stock's ticker symbol. Putting a dollar sign before it is a common way to refer to stocks on Twitter.

— Barbara Ortutay, New York, @BarbaraOrtutay

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— 12:50 p.m.: @Twitter is trading very heavily in its first day on @NYSE.

About 82 million shares of Twitter have exchanged hands already. To put that in perspective, Twitter only sold 70 million shares in its IPO. One way to think about it, every share issued in Twitter's IPO has been traded more than once, and the session isn't half over yet.

Of course, not every investor who got shares of Twitter at the $26 IPO price is selling Thursday. Many large institutional investors are buy-and-hold firms. If every investor had sold at the debut, the stock would not have opened at 73 percent above the IPO price.

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 12:35 p.m.: @TDAmeritrade official says stock debut is flawless

"It's gone on pretty flawlessly," says JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at online brokerage TD Ameritrade.

For one, he says, the broader market's downturn isn't affecting Twitter much. Trading is also tight, rather than volatile, which indicates that people feel like it was "pretty fairly priced," he says.

— Barbara Ortutay, New York, @BarbaraOrtutay

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— 12:15 p.m.: Learn more about @vivienneharr, @sirpatstew and @bostonpolice official who rang @NYSEEuronext opening bell

Crediting its success to its users, Twitter gave the honor of ringing Thursday's opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to three high-profile tweeters: a child activist, a legendary British actor and a Boston Police official.

Nine-year-old Vivienne Harr used a lemonade stand to raise more than $100,000 to support efforts to eliminate child slavery around the world. Her pink lemonade, along with a ginger-infused version, is now being bottled and sold online. A portion of the profits is donated to groups that work toward ending child slavery. More than 22,000 people follow @vivienneharr on Twitter.

Patrick Stewart is known both for his Twitter presence and his stage and screen careers. His highest profile roles have included Captain Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and Professor Charles Xavier in the "X-Men" movies. About 722,000 people follow @sirpatstew. Stewart tweeted a picture of himself on Halloween dressed as a lobster in a bathtub. It was retweeted nearly 39,000 times.

Cheryl Fiandaca has been chief of public information for the Boston Police Department since July 2012. Fiandaca spearheaded the department's social media efforts, and her department used Twitter to get information to the public in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. More than 266,000 people follow @bostonpolice.

Bree Fowler, New York, @APBreeFowler

___

— 11:55 a.m.: @Wedbush analyst @MichaelPachter says high debut price suggests #TwitterIPO was managed well.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter says the surge "clearly shows that demand exceeds supply of shares."

"It's impossible to know what the real value is," he says.

Still, he acknowledges that the price is "pretty high" and not something he was expecting.

— Barbara Ortutay, New York, @BarbaraOrtutay

___

— 11:45 a.m.: It's #BusinessAsUsual at @Twitter headquarters, though employees seem happy.

Although Twitter's fortunes are already soaring on Wall Street, there haven't been any audible whoops of joy emanating from the company's San Francisco headquarters yet. But almost every employee walking in and out of the building is grinning.

Twitter seems to know that it needs to accelerate its revenue growth to support its lofty stock price. A few employees just came out to usher in a group of advertising agency representatives. #TheNewReality

--Michael Liedtke, San Francisco, @liedtkesfc

___

— 11:30 a.m.: @Barclays official in charge of stock debut speaks with AP's @KenSweet, admits being "a little nervous."

It was the biggest IPO of the year for Glenn Carell, the Barclays Capital official in charge of Twitter's stock debut. He has been doing it for 21 years and says, "I was a little nervous, but it went well."

Twitter hired Barclays to be its "designated market maker," which supervises the trading of a company's stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The IPO process itself was managed by three other investment banks.

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 11:05 a.m.: RT @KenSweet: Twitter took a long time to open due to the deal size. Goldman also likes to take its time.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase are the three investment banks in charge of Twitter's IPO.

After debuting at $45.10, the stock is now trading at $47.85, or 84 percent above the IPO price.

___

— 10:55 a.m.: AP's @BarbaraOrtutay notes that the $31 billion value puts Twitter in the ballpark of Yum Brands and Deere & Co.

It's also slightly below State Street Corp.

___

— 10:53 a.m.: The opening price values Twitter at $31.3 billion.

To calculate its value, the AP is using 694.8 million shares that Twitter is expected to have outstanding after the IPO, counting restricted shares and stock options it plans to issue to employees. At the $26 IPO price, the value was more than $18 billion.

___

— 10:51 a.m.: Twitter stock opens at $45.10, 73 percent above IPO price

___

— 10:50 a.m.: Range is now $45 to $45.25, or up to 74 percent above IPO price. Very close to debut.

RT @KenSweet: They're closing the book.

___

— 10:45 a.m. AP's @KenSweet says current bid is $45.25. The debut is near in #TwitterIPO.

___

— 10:40 a.m.: Patrick Stewart tweets on #Ring of opening bell as Twitter trade debut imminent.

RT @SirPatStew: Honored to join @ev @jack @biz @dickc & the @Twitter team at their historic IPO this morning. #Ring! pic.twitter.com/XaJpYW2kIh

___

— 10:35 a.m.: It's getting close to Twitter's stock debut. First indication for opening price is even narrower: $45.50-$46.50.

The high end would be 79 percent above its IPO price.

___

— 10:30 a.m.: AP's @KenSweet now says opening price narrowed: $45-$47.

He reports: "This is a good sign. Could mean we're finding the right price. Progress."

___

— 10:20 a.m.: AP's @KenSweet says opening price is expected even higher: $43-$47.

The range for first indication means Twitter could start trading at up to 81 percent above its IPO price.

___

— 10:15 a.m.: RT @KenSweet: I've heard some traders mention that this may not open until 1030, maybe 11. But things are changing rapidly.

___

— 10:10 a.m.: AP market reporter @KenSweet explains the role @Barclays has in #TwitterIPO.

Trading for Twitter's stock is under the supervision of Barclays Capital. Twitter hired the bank to be its "designated market maker." A DMM supervises the trading of a company's stock. He or she is an experienced trader in charge of ensuring that buying and selling go smoothly. If trading becomes volatile, the DMM can step in and buy shares using his or her firm's own money.

DMMs are especially important the day a company goes public, because the DMM coordinates between Twitter, the company's investment banks and NYSE's floor traders to get a stock trading. If technical problems arise, the NYSE uses DMMs to bypass electronic trading systems, allowing humans to trade a company's stock. That is not possible on all-electronic stock exchanges such as the Nasdaq, which had technical problems during Facebook's IPO last year.

Barclays' role as Twitter's DMM does not mean it is in charge of the entire IPO process. That role falls to Twitter's investment banks: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/twitter-picks-barclays-coordinate-ipo-trading

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 10 a.m.: #TwitterIPO first indication for opening price: $42-46.

That means Twitter could start trading at up to 77 percent above its IPO price. Trading is to begin soon as representatives from Barclays continue negotiations to find the right price.

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 9:50 a.m.: With the #Ring of the #NYSEBell past, what will happen? @KenSweet reports.

Traders gather around Twitter's booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. At Twitter's post, the company's "designated market maker" starts taking orders from the traders, who are representing dozens of firms and hundreds of investors.

The goal of the DMM, who used to be known as the NYSE's specialists, is to figure out what is the best price to start trading Twitter's shares.

Due to massive investor and media interest in Twitter, the actual negotiation over what are the right price for Twitter's now-public shares will take some time. It could take as little as 20 minutes, or it could take an hour. The NYSE wants to avoid the trading debacle that Nasdaq faced with last year's Facebook's IPO, so it's going to be careful.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/going-public-how-twitters-ipo-will-work

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 9:40 a.m.: The market is open at @nyse, though Twitter's stock won't trade right away.

RT @NYSEEuronext: #RING! Markets OPEN. #NYSEBell has rung, now begins #TwitterIPO price discovery. Wait for it . pic.twitter.com/gPxGgB6QWa

The opening bid is $35, reports AP's @KenSweet. It's the first indication of where the stock will open later in the morning.

As the NYSE's opening bell was rung, the graphic below displayed the hashtag #Ring!

Who rang the bell?

RT @NYSEEuronext: @Twitter owes success to its users, so gives #NYSEBell to @SirPatrickStew, @VivienneHarr & @Bostonpolice #TwitterIPO pic.twitter.com/fAprlGV8Vs

— Bree Fowler, New York, @APBreeFowler

__

— 9:25 a.m.: What's being said on Twitter? IPO is the 10th most popular trending topic in the U.S.

IPO is behind Thanksgiving, Texas, NFL and #throwbackthursday.

Worldwide, it doesn't make into the Top 10. Nobel Prize-winning author Albert Camus does. It's his birthday, after all.

— Barbara Ortutay, New York, @BarbaraOrtutay

___

— 9:05 a.m.: RT @KenSweet: Floor trader Kenneth Polcari thinks twitter's $26 share price is pretty fair. Doesn't expect it to double on the open.

___

— 8:50 a.m.: Busy morning at @nyse trading floor, reports AP's @KenSweet

RT @KenSweet: Orders for Twitter have been coming in since 8 am, floor trader Jonathan Corpina tells me. Very busy.

RT @KenSweet: Corpina expects a smooth opening. The NYSE does IPOs all the time, he says. The difference here is volume and media attention.

RT @KenSweet: Traders use these handheld wireless computers to send orders. Paper orders ended a long time ago: pic.twitter.com/bwz8UK4xcB

___

— 8:40 a.m.: Why Twitter went to @nyse. Pressure is on with opening bell less than an hour away. #lessonsfromFB

Twitter chose to go public on the NYSE over the all-electronic Nasdaq. One of the reasons why Twitter likely chose the NYSE over the Nasdaq has to do with problems Facebook faced with its Nasdaq-listed IPO last year. A glitch in Nasdaq's trading software led to trading delays and order failures on Facebook's first day of trading.

The NYSE isn't taking any chances with Twitter. The exchange tested its trading software on Oct. 26 to prepare for Twitter's debut. If the NYSE faces technical problems with its ordering software, the exchange can switch over the traditional human-based stock trading that dominated Wall Street for decades.

RT @KenSweet: NYSE traders and execs are really playing up the human element to this IPO. It's a shot across the bow at the Nasdaq.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/twitter-list-new-york-stock-exchange

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 8:20 a.m.: AP markets reporter @KenSweet says media outnumber traders 5:1 @nyse trading floor

It's a media madhouse. But it's still more than an hour before the opening bell, so more traders should be coming. Expect a big crowd.

RT @KenSweet: The NYSE is decorated head to toe. with twitter logos. They went big here to promote: pic.twitter.com/pnwRQ9e6QG

___

— 8 a.m.: After #TwitterIPO pricing, market debut comes Thursday.

It should come as no surprise that Twitter used Twitter to announce its public stock debut.

It began with a tweet on Sept. 12: The 7-year-old company posted on its official Twitter account that it has "confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO." Details about offering emerged after the IPO documents were released publicly later.

On Oct. 24, Twitter set its IPO price target at $17 to $20 per share. It raised that to $23 and $25 per share, signaling an enthusiastic response from prospective investors. The actual price on Wednesday night was even higher, at $26. That bodes well for the company's stock when trading begins.

Twitter also took to Twitter to announce that price: https://twitter.com/twitter/status/398235511254298624/photo/1

The company is offering 70 million shares in the IPO, plus an option to buy another 10.5 million. If all shares are sold, the IPO will raise $2.09 billion, making it the biggest IPO for an Internet company since Facebook raised $16 billion last year.

Of course, Facebook made its debut with high hopes, only to see its stock fall below the IPO price by the second day of trading. Twitter has valued itself at just a fraction of Facebook and sought to cool expectations in the months and weeks leading up to the offering.

— Barbara Ortutay, New York, @BarbaraOrtutay

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-11-07-Twitter%20IPO-Running/id-5f87c41248124d44bef6ca50e8343dab
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