Mon Mar 30
By Mike Baker, The Associated Press
{CARTHAGE, N.C. - Authorities worked Monday to unravel the mystery of why a 45-year-old painter tore through a North Carolina nursing home on a terrifying shooting rampage that left eight dead, releasing few details but saying it wasn't a "random act of violence."
One possible clue: the gunman's estranged wife works at Pinelake Health and Rehab and was there when authorities say Robert Stewart stormed in and killed seven residents - most in their late 80s - and a nurse who cared for them.
"We're certainly looking into the fact that it may be domestic-related," said Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie.
Moore County prosecutor Maureen Krueger said detectives were still gathering information on what could have set off Stewart.
"The information on motive is incomplete at this time," she said, adding: "This was not a random act of violence. There is only one suspect and he is in custody."
McKenzie said Monday he believed the couple were recently separated, but acknowledged he didn't yet know many more details about her. A neighbour said Stewart's estranged wife is a certified nurse assistant at the nursing home named Wanda Luck, and public records indicate she shared an address with Stewart in Carthage.
"His (estranged) wife was there at the time the shooting was going on," McKenzie said.
Several telephone numbers for Luck or her family were disconnected. A knock at the door was unanswered at Luck's address.
"This is a horrible tragedy," said Mark Barnett, the neighbour. "This is something that's just unthinkable. I can't even imagine what she's going through."
Another ex-wife of Stewart's, Sue Griffin, told reporters Sunday she had not had contact with him since they divorced in 2001, but said he had been recently reaching out to family members, telling them he had cancer and was preparing for a long trip and to "go away."
"He did have some violent tendencies from time to time," Griffin said. "I wouldn't put it past him. I hate to say it, but it is true."
Authorities said the attack began around 10 a.m. Sunday, when Stewart arrived at the nursing home and care centre for patients with Alzheimer's disease and started firing.
McKenzie said he was armed with more than one weapon, and witnesses said he was shooting a "deer gun." Police recovered a camouflage-coloured rifle or shotgun from the home's parking lot, where at least two cars had their windows shattered, apparently by gunfire.
The shooting rampage was ended by Officer Justin Garner, 25, who entered the nursing home alone as he responded to a 911 call. McKenzie said Garner, a training officer with more than four years on the Carthage force and a past winner of the department's officer of the year award, knew he was headed into a perilous situation, but didn't wait for back-up or a SWAT team to arrive.
"If that's not heroism, I don't know what is," McKenzie said
"He had to go to all the way through the facility to encounter this individual," McKenzie said. "It would be hard for me to believe he didn't (hear gunfire)."
Stewart wounded Garner three times in the leg as they traded gunfire in a hallway of the 110-bed facility, McKenzie said. The single shot Garner fired from his .40-calibre service pistol hit Stewart in the chest.
"Whether he realizes it now, he will hopefully realize someday how many lives he has saved," McKenzie said, adding: "A lot more lives would have been lost, I honestly feel, had he not done what he did. For certain."
McKenzie said Stewart made his initial court appearance during an arraignment hearing Monday morning. He is facing eight counts of first-degree murder and a charge of felony assault of a law enforcement officer.
The lawyer appointed Monday to represent Stewart, John Megerian from Asheboro, declined comment, saying he hadn't yet talked with his client. McKenzie said the district attorney planned to present the case to a grand jury next month.
McKenzie was unaware of any criminal activity in Stewart's past, and records in Moore County show the only charges on his record stem from a drunken-driving case in 1988. He was involved in a few minor civil complaints, including a 2002 order that he surrender $1,103 after a woman complained his painting business failed at repainting some wrought iron furniture.
Detectives were working at the state medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill on Monday to recover evidence, and search warrants police executed in the hours after the shooting were sealed. Court records said Stewart was transferred from the custody of the Moore County Sheriff to the state Department of Correction, because he has a gunshot wound.
Authorities identified the victims as Pinelake residents Tessie Garner, 88; Lillian Dunn, 89; Jessie Musser, 88; Bessie Hendrick, 78; John Goldston, 78; Margaret Johnson, 89; Louise Decker, 98; and nurse Jerry Avent, whose age wasn't immediately available.
Musser had lived at Pinelake for only six weeks, said his son-in-law, Jim Foster, 47, of Aberdeen. He said the man had Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and was blind, deaf and confined to a wheelchair. Foster said the family was now trying to figure out how to tell Musser's wife, who has dementia and lives at the same facility, that her husband is dead.
"She was upset that they didn't bring him to see her yesterday," Foster said. "I don't know how we're going to break it to her. You got a clue?"
Sunday's rampage in North Carolina's Sandhills region, about 100 kilometres southwest of Raleigh, happened just weeks after a man killed 10 people, including his mother and several other relatives, in the worst mass shooting in Alabama's history on March 10. On March 11, a teen killed 12 people at his former high school in Germany.}
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090330/world/nursing_home_shooting
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On the Net: Pinelake Health and Rehab: http://www.peakresourcesinc.com/nursing/pinelake.html
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The Toilet Chef
No matter how good some foods taste it all turns to shit in the end.
March 26, 2009
"Toilet sausage chef causes prison unit evacuation
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLALLAM BAY, Wash. -- An inmate's attempt to heat up sausages in his toilet went up in smoke when the cooking fire forced a unit evacuation at a Washington prison. Clallam Bay Corrections Center spokeswoman Denise Larson says 130 inmates were evacuated to a dining hall when smoke was spotted coming from a sewer vent pipe Wednesday evening.
She says the smoke was traced to the inmate's cell and he admitted to trying to heat up snack sausage bought from a prison store in the stainless steel toilet. The inmate's identity has not been released.
The toilet chef has been placed in segregation pending discipline at the prison on Washington's Olympic Peninsula."
-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8424128,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090326/odd-sausage-toilet-fire,
http://idle.slashdot.org/story/09/03/27/1453245/toilet-sausage-chef-causes-prison-unit-evacuation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8424128,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090326/odd-sausage-toilet-fire,
http://idle.slashdot.org/story/09/03/27/1453245/toilet-sausage-chef-causes-prison-unit-evacuation
Prison means living constantly just a few feet away from a stinky steel toilet. So many people end up in a cell because they have turned other peoples lives to shit.
http://www.professortoilet.com/toilet-humor
There is something about eating a big bowl of chili & eventually realizing that you will have to blast the bowl.
http://multiverseextra.blogspot.ca/2012/12/modern-toilet-restaurant.html
http://symbolic-resonance.blogspot.ca/2013/03/shit-science.html
http://www.professortoilet.com/toilet-humor
There is something about eating a big bowl of chili & eventually realizing that you will have to blast the bowl.
http://multiverseextra.blogspot.ca/2012/12/modern-toilet-restaurant.html
http://symbolic-resonance.blogspot.ca/2013/03/shit-science.html
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Man survived in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Japan man proves he survived both atomic_bombs
Wed Mar 25, 10:32 AM
{TOKYO (AFP) - Japan has certified a 93-year-old man as the first known survivor of both US atomic bombings in World War II, in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima when an American plane dropped an atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. He survived with serious burns and returned to his hometown of Nagasaki, where the second bomb was dropped three days later.
Yamaguchi had already been certified a "hibakusha" or radiation survivor of the Nagasaki bombing but was officially confirmed this week as having lived through Hiroshima too.
"I just wanted to clarify the horror only a double atomic bomb survivor could understand," Yamaguchi told reporters. "I hope to hand over the horror of atomic bombs and the importance of peace to our next generations."}
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090325/world/japan_us_wwii_nuclear_survivor
Wed Mar 25, 10:32 AM
{TOKYO (AFP) - Japan has certified a 93-year-old man as the first known survivor of both US atomic bombings in World War II, in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima when an American plane dropped an atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. He survived with serious burns and returned to his hometown of Nagasaki, where the second bomb was dropped three days later.
Yamaguchi had already been certified a "hibakusha" or radiation survivor of the Nagasaki bombing but was officially confirmed this week as having lived through Hiroshima too.
"I just wanted to clarify the horror only a double atomic bomb survivor could understand," Yamaguchi told reporters. "I hope to hand over the horror of atomic bombs and the importance of peace to our next generations."}
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090325/world/japan_us_wwii_nuclear_survivor
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Exxon Valdez
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez-
Oil plagues Sound 20 years after Exxon Valdez
Future risk assessments must look at longer impacts, recovery council says
Future risk assessments must look at longer impacts, recovery council says
msnbc.com
updated 1:18 a.m. PT, Tues., March. 24, 2009
{Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil in Alaska's Prince William Sound, oil persists in the region and, in some places, "is nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after the spill," according to the council overseeing restoration efforts.
"This Exxon Valdez oil is decreasing at a rate of 0-4 percent per year," the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council stated in a report marking Tuesday's 20th anniversary of the worst oil spill in U.S. waters. "At this rate, the remaining oil will take decades and possibly centuries to disappear entirely."
The council's findings come two decades after the March 24, 1989 disaster, when the single-hulled Exxon tanker hit a reef, emptying its contents into Alaskan waters. The spill contaminated more than 1,200 miles of shoreline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine animals.
Captain convicted of misdemeanorThe council, made up of three state and three federal appointees, was created to administer the $900 million that Exxon paid to settle lawsuits filed after the accident, which also resulted in criminal charges against the ship's captain, Joseph Hazelwood.
Hazelwood, was accused but then acquitted on a charge of being drunk at the time. He was, however, convicted of negligent discharge of oil, a misdemeanor, and sentenced to a $50,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service.
In the weeks and months following the spill, thousands of people tried to clean up the contamination. But two decades later, oil persists and is estimated to total around 20,000 gallons, according to the council. One of the lessons learned is that a spill's impacts can last a long time in a habitat with calm, cold waters like Prince William Sound, the council said.
"Following the oil and its impacts over the past 20 years has changed our understanding of the long-term damage from an oil spill," the council stated. "We know that risk assessment for future spills must consider what the total damages will be over a longer period of time, rather than only the acute damages in the days and weeks following a spill."
"One of the most stunning revelations" from studies over the last decade, the council said, "is that Exxon Valdez oil persists in the environment and, in places, is nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after the spill."
As a result, some sea otter populations as well as bird species have been slow to recover. Overall, some 200,000 seabirds and 4,000 otters were thought to have died from the contamination.
Oil found 450 miles awayMoreover, surveys "have documented lingering oil also on the Kenai Peninsula and the Katmai coast, over 450 miles away," according to the council.
"This Exxon Valdez oil is decreasing at a rate of 0-4 percent per year," the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council stated in a report marking Tuesday's 20th anniversary of the worst oil spill in U.S. waters. "At this rate, the remaining oil will take decades and possibly centuries to disappear entirely."
The council's findings come two decades after the March 24, 1989 disaster, when the single-hulled Exxon tanker hit a reef, emptying its contents into Alaskan waters. The spill contaminated more than 1,200 miles of shoreline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine animals.
Captain convicted of misdemeanorThe council, made up of three state and three federal appointees, was created to administer the $900 million that Exxon paid to settle lawsuits filed after the accident, which also resulted in criminal charges against the ship's captain, Joseph Hazelwood.
Hazelwood, was accused but then acquitted on a charge of being drunk at the time. He was, however, convicted of negligent discharge of oil, a misdemeanor, and sentenced to a $50,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service.
In the weeks and months following the spill, thousands of people tried to clean up the contamination. But two decades later, oil persists and is estimated to total around 20,000 gallons, according to the council. One of the lessons learned is that a spill's impacts can last a long time in a habitat with calm, cold waters like Prince William Sound, the council said.
"Following the oil and its impacts over the past 20 years has changed our understanding of the long-term damage from an oil spill," the council stated. "We know that risk assessment for future spills must consider what the total damages will be over a longer period of time, rather than only the acute damages in the days and weeks following a spill."
"One of the most stunning revelations" from studies over the last decade, the council said, "is that Exxon Valdez oil persists in the environment and, in places, is nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after the spill."
As a result, some sea otter populations as well as bird species have been slow to recover. Overall, some 200,000 seabirds and 4,000 otters were thought to have died from the contamination.
Oil found 450 miles awayMoreover, surveys "have documented lingering oil also on the Kenai Peninsula and the Katmai coast, over 450 miles away," according to the council.
None of that was expected "at the time of the spill or even ten years later," it added. "In 1999, beaches in the sound appeared clean on the surface. Some subsurface oil had been reported in a few places, but it was expected to decrease over time and most importantly, to have lost its toxicity due to weathering. A few species were not recovering at the expected rate in some areas, but continuing exposure to oil was not suspected as the primary cause."
It turns out that oil often got trapped in semi-enclosed bays for weeks, going up and down with the tide and some of it being pulled down into the sediment below the seabed.
"The cleanup efforts and natural processes, particularly in the winter, cleaned the oil out of the top 2-3 inches, where oxygen and water can flow," the council said, "but did little to affect the large patches of oil farther below the surface."}http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29838444/wid/18298287/?GT1=45002
It turns out that oil often got trapped in semi-enclosed bays for weeks, going up and down with the tide and some of it being pulled down into the sediment below the seabed.
"The cleanup efforts and natural processes, particularly in the winter, cleaned the oil out of the top 2-3 inches, where oxygen and water can flow," the council said, "but did little to affect the large patches of oil farther below the surface."}http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29838444/wid/18298287/?GT1=45002
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Friday, March 20, 2009
Sony Ericsson warning stuns ailing mobile sector
Fri Mar 20, 8:34 AM
By Tarmo Virki, European technology correspondent
{HELSINKI (Reuters) - Sony Ericsson sparked fresh fear of crumbling consumer demand on Friday when the world's No 4 handset maker said it would sell barely half of the phones it sold last quarter.
Shares across the wireless sector dropped sharply on the news -- compounded by smaller rival Palm's overnight report of slumping quarterly sales -- and by 1229 GMT (8:29 a.m. EDT), Ericsson was down 8.7 percent and Nokia was down 5.5 percent.
Sony Ericsson said it expects to sell just 14 million phones in January-March, hit by weak demand and retailers cutting their inventories. Analysts polled by Reuters in January expected between 15.5 million to 21.8 million phones sold.
"Investors are questioning the whole market now, even though I think the issue for Sony Ericsson is more company specific," said Jari Honko, analyst with eQ Bank.
Overnight, U.S. rival Palm Inc reported a widening loss for the December-February quarter and said revenue sank 70 percent from a year ago.
The cellphone industry has entered its toughest year ever as consumers rein in spending and retailers try to clear inventories of unsold phones after bleak Christmas sales.
"The market, overall, continues to be very challenging," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.
Fears over the future of the mobile market also sent shares in chipmakers sharply lower, with Infineon down 6.6 percent and STMicro 5 percent lower.
VERY WEAK QUARTER
Sony Ericsson said it expected to make a pretax loss of 340-390 million euros ($459 million-$526 million) in the quarter as it heads into a second year of losses.
"It's a real catastrophe. Those are very big losses and they are probably losing a lot of market share," said Greger Johansson, from analyst firm Redeye.
"It's obvious that the volumes are much lower than the market had thought. And first and foremost, the losses are much, much bigger," he said.
Sony Ericsson, the no. 4 global handset maker after Nokia, Samsung and LG, said it expects gross margins to decline both year-on-year and sequentially.
"What is happening now is that everyone will be forced to cut their forecasts for Sony Ericsson and Ericsson," said analyst Hakan Wranne from Swedbank.
Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight said Sony Ericsson was suffering most from the weak portfolio and the challenging market conditions it faces in European markets.
"With competition intensifying it is going to be a tough task to regain momentum until new products appear and economic conditions improve," Wood said.
Sony Ericsson's success has been built on a strong offering of mid-range phones with high-quality cameras and music players, but this part of the cellphone market is seeing the sharpest fall this year as operators dole out subsidies to more expensive phones.
SMARTPHONES TO HOLD
Qualcomm, the world's largest cellphone chip maker, said on Friday it was seeing strong demand for higher-end smartphones in spite of the weak economy.
Analysts, on average, expect sales of feature-jammed smartphones to grow between 10 percent and 20 percent this year.
"Consumer demand for higher-end smartphones remains strong as the demand for wireless Internet, multimedia, and value-added services continues to grow," Jing Wang, a Qualcomm executive vice president, said in an e-mail to Reuters.
"While inventories have contracted, global 3G adoption is continuing to grow as subscribers migrate from second-generation to third-generation networks and manufacturers are shipping more 3G devices this year than last year," he said.
TSMC, which makes chips for Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, said on Friday it would end all unpaid leave for employees from April as orders have risen recently.
The move came after TSMC sharply raised its first-quarter sales and margin forecasts last week, due to rush orders from China, indicating a trend of falling sales that began six months ago had hit bottom.}
($1=.7412 Euro)
(Additional reporting by Baker Li in Taipei and Stockholm bureau; Editing by David Cowell and Simon Jessop)
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090320/tecnology/ctech_us_telecoms
By Tarmo Virki, European technology correspondent
{HELSINKI (Reuters) - Sony Ericsson sparked fresh fear of crumbling consumer demand on Friday when the world's No 4 handset maker said it would sell barely half of the phones it sold last quarter.
Shares across the wireless sector dropped sharply on the news -- compounded by smaller rival Palm's overnight report of slumping quarterly sales -- and by 1229 GMT (8:29 a.m. EDT), Ericsson was down 8.7 percent and Nokia was down 5.5 percent.
Sony Ericsson said it expects to sell just 14 million phones in January-March, hit by weak demand and retailers cutting their inventories. Analysts polled by Reuters in January expected between 15.5 million to 21.8 million phones sold.
"Investors are questioning the whole market now, even though I think the issue for Sony Ericsson is more company specific," said Jari Honko, analyst with eQ Bank.
Overnight, U.S. rival Palm Inc reported a widening loss for the December-February quarter and said revenue sank 70 percent from a year ago.
The cellphone industry has entered its toughest year ever as consumers rein in spending and retailers try to clear inventories of unsold phones after bleak Christmas sales.
"The market, overall, continues to be very challenging," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.
Fears over the future of the mobile market also sent shares in chipmakers sharply lower, with Infineon down 6.6 percent and STMicro 5 percent lower.
VERY WEAK QUARTER
Sony Ericsson said it expected to make a pretax loss of 340-390 million euros ($459 million-$526 million) in the quarter as it heads into a second year of losses.
"It's a real catastrophe. Those are very big losses and they are probably losing a lot of market share," said Greger Johansson, from analyst firm Redeye.
"It's obvious that the volumes are much lower than the market had thought. And first and foremost, the losses are much, much bigger," he said.
Sony Ericsson, the no. 4 global handset maker after Nokia, Samsung and LG, said it expects gross margins to decline both year-on-year and sequentially.
"What is happening now is that everyone will be forced to cut their forecasts for Sony Ericsson and Ericsson," said analyst Hakan Wranne from Swedbank.
Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight said Sony Ericsson was suffering most from the weak portfolio and the challenging market conditions it faces in European markets.
"With competition intensifying it is going to be a tough task to regain momentum until new products appear and economic conditions improve," Wood said.
Sony Ericsson's success has been built on a strong offering of mid-range phones with high-quality cameras and music players, but this part of the cellphone market is seeing the sharpest fall this year as operators dole out subsidies to more expensive phones.
SMARTPHONES TO HOLD
Qualcomm, the world's largest cellphone chip maker, said on Friday it was seeing strong demand for higher-end smartphones in spite of the weak economy.
Analysts, on average, expect sales of feature-jammed smartphones to grow between 10 percent and 20 percent this year.
"Consumer demand for higher-end smartphones remains strong as the demand for wireless Internet, multimedia, and value-added services continues to grow," Jing Wang, a Qualcomm executive vice president, said in an e-mail to Reuters.
"While inventories have contracted, global 3G adoption is continuing to grow as subscribers migrate from second-generation to third-generation networks and manufacturers are shipping more 3G devices this year than last year," he said.
TSMC, which makes chips for Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, said on Friday it would end all unpaid leave for employees from April as orders have risen recently.
The move came after TSMC sharply raised its first-quarter sales and margin forecasts last week, due to rush orders from China, indicating a trend of falling sales that began six months ago had hit bottom.}
($1=.7412 Euro)
(Additional reporting by Baker Li in Taipei and Stockholm bureau; Editing by David Cowell and Simon Jessop)
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090320/tecnology/ctech_us_telecoms
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
U2 in Their Own Words
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/26692262/u2_in_their_own_words
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March 1989
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/26268066
-
U2: Behind the Scenes
http://www.rollingstone.com/videos/video/26444329/u2_behind_the_scenes
-
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/u2
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U2 Biography
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/u2/biography
-
March 1989
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/26268066
-
U2: Behind the Scenes
http://www.rollingstone.com/videos/video/26444329/u2_behind_the_scenes
-
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/u2
-
U2 Biography
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/u2/biography
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Toronto researchers show they can find and erase fear memories in mice
Provided by: Canadian Press
Written by: Helen Branswell, Medical Reporter, THE CANADIAN PRESSMar. 12, 2009
{TORONTO - In a scientific development that seems ripped from the script of the 2004 movie "Eternal_Sunshine_of_the_Spotless_Mind," Toronto researchers have shown they can find and selectively erase fear memories from the brains of mice.
The research, which is exciting others in the field, is notable not just because the team managed to zap fear memories. The fact they found where the memories were stored in the first place is being hailed as a major accomplishment.
"This really then is a proof of principle that these are really the neurons that are involved in storing this kind of memory," said Dr. Michael Salter, head of the program in neurosciences and mental health at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, where the research team is based.
The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, was led by Sheena Josselyn and Paul Frankland, partners in research and in life. The couple just had a baby and were unavailable for interviews, though Josselyn - the senior author - described the work in an interview that was podcast by Science.
She and others were quick to say that it remains to be seen if the mice findings can be translated into therapies for people suffering from crippling fears provoked by traumatic memories or from post traumatic stress disorder.
"Now whether it works for other types of memory ... or whether it would work in another type of mammal - say a human - we don't know," Josselyn said in the Science podcast.
Josselyn and her team had earlier reported that neurons in the lateral amygdala that produce high levels of a protein called CREB seem to be activated when fears triggered by sounds are imprinted on the brains of mice. The amygdala is known to be involved in the processing and storage of emotion memory.
The work was done using a classic training technique in which a mouse in a chamber hears a sound which is followed by a weak shock that comes through the chamber floor. From then onward, every time the mouse hears the tone, it will assume a crouch position that mice in the wild use to try to hide from predators.
In this study, the scientists identified the neurons that were over producing CREB when the trained mice heard the tone, and zapped only those neurons using a diphtheria toxin. They then exposed the treated mice to the tone. The mice did not react, suggesting their memory linking it to fear of the shock was erased.
The scientist whose work in reconsolidating memory - a term which means in essence reworking a memory - inspired "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" said Josselyn's team has found "one of the Holy Grails" of memory work.
"The elegance in this one, which goes orders of magnitude beyond other studies, is that now they didn't do something that was global to all neurons in the lateral nucleus," said Karim Nader, a professor of neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal.
"They can kill only the neurons that they think express the memory. And it leaves all the other neurons intact."
In "Eternal_Sunshine_of_the_Spotless_Mind," ex-lovers played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet elect to have their memories of each other and their time together erased from their memories after their relationship sours. Despite the treatment, however, the two are drawn to each other and eventually reunite.
Nader said the work in mice could eventually help scientists figure out how to assist people in overcoming pathological fears caused by the memory of a traumatic event.
But much remains to be done before that could happen. For instance, the technique Josselyn's team used worked wonderfully in mice, but couldn't be used in people.
"In humans, one wouldn't want to kill these neurons. And certainly it's not feasible to do it by this technology because you're not going to inject diphtheria ... viruses (into people)," said Salter, who is Josselyn's department head but who was not involved in her work.
"So as a therapeutic strategy, this isn't going to be it. But the idea is then to use this as a step forward and then to go on to come up with strategies that could then be used."
Salter said it is conceivable that the storage system for fear-based memories that's at work in the mice brain is similar to the system by which fear memory is stored in human brains.
"Many of these biochemical pathways are conserved all the way from fruit flies up into humans," he said. "So I think that's the tack, is to try to find commonalities and take advantage of those commonalities."
Salter said in building on this and other work, scientists may figure out a way to manipulate fear memories so that excessive fear is toned down, but the memory itself is not erased.}
http://health.lifestyle.yahoo.ca/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=17500&channel_id=1008
View more brain health news
Written by: Helen Branswell, Medical Reporter, THE CANADIAN PRESSMar. 12, 2009
{TORONTO - In a scientific development that seems ripped from the script of the 2004 movie "Eternal_Sunshine_of_the_Spotless_Mind," Toronto researchers have shown they can find and selectively erase fear memories from the brains of mice.
The research, which is exciting others in the field, is notable not just because the team managed to zap fear memories. The fact they found where the memories were stored in the first place is being hailed as a major accomplishment.
"This really then is a proof of principle that these are really the neurons that are involved in storing this kind of memory," said Dr. Michael Salter, head of the program in neurosciences and mental health at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, where the research team is based.
The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, was led by Sheena Josselyn and Paul Frankland, partners in research and in life. The couple just had a baby and were unavailable for interviews, though Josselyn - the senior author - described the work in an interview that was podcast by Science.
She and others were quick to say that it remains to be seen if the mice findings can be translated into therapies for people suffering from crippling fears provoked by traumatic memories or from post traumatic stress disorder.
"Now whether it works for other types of memory ... or whether it would work in another type of mammal - say a human - we don't know," Josselyn said in the Science podcast.
Josselyn and her team had earlier reported that neurons in the lateral amygdala that produce high levels of a protein called CREB seem to be activated when fears triggered by sounds are imprinted on the brains of mice. The amygdala is known to be involved in the processing and storage of emotion memory.
The work was done using a classic training technique in which a mouse in a chamber hears a sound which is followed by a weak shock that comes through the chamber floor. From then onward, every time the mouse hears the tone, it will assume a crouch position that mice in the wild use to try to hide from predators.
In this study, the scientists identified the neurons that were over producing CREB when the trained mice heard the tone, and zapped only those neurons using a diphtheria toxin. They then exposed the treated mice to the tone. The mice did not react, suggesting their memory linking it to fear of the shock was erased.
The scientist whose work in reconsolidating memory - a term which means in essence reworking a memory - inspired "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" said Josselyn's team has found "one of the Holy Grails" of memory work.
"The elegance in this one, which goes orders of magnitude beyond other studies, is that now they didn't do something that was global to all neurons in the lateral nucleus," said Karim Nader, a professor of neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal.
"They can kill only the neurons that they think express the memory. And it leaves all the other neurons intact."
In "Eternal_Sunshine_of_the_Spotless_Mind," ex-lovers played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet elect to have their memories of each other and their time together erased from their memories after their relationship sours. Despite the treatment, however, the two are drawn to each other and eventually reunite.
Nader said the work in mice could eventually help scientists figure out how to assist people in overcoming pathological fears caused by the memory of a traumatic event.
But much remains to be done before that could happen. For instance, the technique Josselyn's team used worked wonderfully in mice, but couldn't be used in people.
"In humans, one wouldn't want to kill these neurons. And certainly it's not feasible to do it by this technology because you're not going to inject diphtheria ... viruses (into people)," said Salter, who is Josselyn's department head but who was not involved in her work.
"So as a therapeutic strategy, this isn't going to be it. But the idea is then to use this as a step forward and then to go on to come up with strategies that could then be used."
Salter said it is conceivable that the storage system for fear-based memories that's at work in the mice brain is similar to the system by which fear memory is stored in human brains.
"Many of these biochemical pathways are conserved all the way from fruit flies up into humans," he said. "So I think that's the tack, is to try to find commonalities and take advantage of those commonalities."
Salter said in building on this and other work, scientists may figure out a way to manipulate fear memories so that excessive fear is toned down, but the memory itself is not erased.}
http://health.lifestyle.yahoo.ca/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=17500&channel_id=1008
View more brain health news
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
MADNESS ON A BUS?
Greyhound bus beheading verdict
The Canadian Press
March 4, 2009
{WINNIPEG — A judge was to decide Thursday whether a man diagnosed by both Crown and defence doctors as mentally ill was criminally responsible when he beheaded a Greyhound bus passenger.
Vince Li's case wrapped up in a Winnipeg courtroom Wednesday morning after testimony from a psychiatrist testifying for the defence and final arguments from both sides.
Dr. Jonathan Rootenberg echoed earlier testimony from a Crown psychiatrist who said Mr. Li, 40, heard the voice of God telling him to kill Tim McLean or risk being killed himself.
“The attack was sudden and came as Mr. Li caught a glimpse of the sunlight and heard God's voice telling him that McLean was a threat,” Dr. Rootenberg testified. “The voice said, 'Do it now ... If you don't, he's going to kill you.”'
Dr. Rootenberg said Mr. Li was psychotic and unable to know that stabbing and beheading Mr. McLean, 22, was wrong.
“It wasn't his hands doing that,” he said. “It was God's hands and God doing that through him.”
He said Mr. Li suffers from schizophrenia and was not criminally responsible for the gruesome killing.
Mr. Li has admitted that he killed Mr. McLean and then defiled his body, but has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.
An agreed statement of facts read out in court Tuesday detailed how Mr. Li attacked Mr. McLean “for no apparent reason” and ignored other horrified passengers as he repeatedly stabbed the young man, who unsuccessfully fought for his life.
When the bus pulled over near Portage la Prairie, Man., Mr. Li was engrossed with stabbing and mutilating Mr. McLean's body. Passengers fled the bus and stood outside.
It was then that Mr. Li tried numerous times to leave the bus. But he was locked inside and, according to the statement, returned to Mr. McLean's body and methodically carved it up further.
Police said Mr. McLean's body parts were found throughout the bus in plastic bags, although part of his heart and both eyes were never found and were presumed eaten by Mr. Li.
The victim's ear, nose and tongue were found in Mr. Li's pocket.
Mr. Li tried to escape from the bus through a window and was taken into custody.
After that, blood smeared on his face from the attack, he politely apologized to police and pleaded with officers to take his life.
Crown psychiatrist, Dr. Stanley Yaren, testified that Mr. Li cut Mr. McLean's body up because he believed that killing him wasn't enough — that Mr. McLean would come back to life and exact revenge.}
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090304.wbustrialover0304/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20090304.wbustrialover0304
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http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Man_decapitated_on_Greyhound_bus_in_Manitoba
The Canadian Press
March 4, 2009
{WINNIPEG — A judge was to decide Thursday whether a man diagnosed by both Crown and defence doctors as mentally ill was criminally responsible when he beheaded a Greyhound bus passenger.
Vince Li's case wrapped up in a Winnipeg courtroom Wednesday morning after testimony from a psychiatrist testifying for the defence and final arguments from both sides.
Dr. Jonathan Rootenberg echoed earlier testimony from a Crown psychiatrist who said Mr. Li, 40, heard the voice of God telling him to kill Tim McLean or risk being killed himself.
“The attack was sudden and came as Mr. Li caught a glimpse of the sunlight and heard God's voice telling him that McLean was a threat,” Dr. Rootenberg testified. “The voice said, 'Do it now ... If you don't, he's going to kill you.”'
Dr. Rootenberg said Mr. Li was psychotic and unable to know that stabbing and beheading Mr. McLean, 22, was wrong.
“It wasn't his hands doing that,” he said. “It was God's hands and God doing that through him.”
He said Mr. Li suffers from schizophrenia and was not criminally responsible for the gruesome killing.
Mr. Li has admitted that he killed Mr. McLean and then defiled his body, but has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.
An agreed statement of facts read out in court Tuesday detailed how Mr. Li attacked Mr. McLean “for no apparent reason” and ignored other horrified passengers as he repeatedly stabbed the young man, who unsuccessfully fought for his life.
When the bus pulled over near Portage la Prairie, Man., Mr. Li was engrossed with stabbing and mutilating Mr. McLean's body. Passengers fled the bus and stood outside.
It was then that Mr. Li tried numerous times to leave the bus. But he was locked inside and, according to the statement, returned to Mr. McLean's body and methodically carved it up further.
Police said Mr. McLean's body parts were found throughout the bus in plastic bags, although part of his heart and both eyes were never found and were presumed eaten by Mr. Li.
The victim's ear, nose and tongue were found in Mr. Li's pocket.
Mr. Li tried to escape from the bus through a window and was taken into custody.
After that, blood smeared on his face from the attack, he politely apologized to police and pleaded with officers to take his life.
Crown psychiatrist, Dr. Stanley Yaren, testified that Mr. Li cut Mr. McLean's body up because he believed that killing him wasn't enough — that Mr. McLean would come back to life and exact revenge.}
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090304.wbustrialover0304/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20090304.wbustrialover0304
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http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Man_decapitated_on_Greyhound_bus_in_Manitoba
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