Dan Bylsma has never coached hockey at the international level. The Pittsburgh Penguins coach does, however, know how to win while juggling a roster dotted with superstars.
That was good enough for USA Hockey to select Bylsma as coach of the U.S. Olympic men's hockey team at the 2014 Winter Olympics on Saturday, hoping the free-flowing style he teaches translates well to the wider rinks that await in Sochi, Russia in February.
The 42-year-old Michigan native didn't hide from the glaring hole in his resume moments after being introduced. When asked how he was going to build on his limited experience in international coaching, Bylsma quickly offered a correction.
"I don't have any experience," Bylsma said with a laugh. "So 'very little' is wrong."
The next eight months should take care of that as the U.S. vies for its first gold medal since the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980.
The U.S. won silver in 2002 at Salt Lake City and was runner-up to Canada in Vancouver three years ago, losing 3-2 in overtime when Penguins star Sidney Crosby beat U.S. goaltender Ryan Miller 7:40 into the extra session.
Bylsma, who won the 2009 Stanley Cup with Crosby, was watching the game from a restaurant when he saw his captain take a pass from Jarome Iginla and race in on Miller to produce one of the most iconic moments in the history of the sport.
"I got off of my chair because I had a pretty good notion he was going to put that home for the win," Bylsma said.
NHL officials will meet with the players' association, the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation in New York on Monday to iron out an agreement allowing the league's top players to compete in Sochi.
Once approved, Bylsma will have to find a way to slow down Crosby and 2012 NHL MVP Evgeni Malkin, who is expected to play for his native Russia.
"I'm also a little bit concerned (Crosby) knows me as a coach, my strengths and my weaknesses he's going to bring that to the attention of the Canadian team," Bylsma said.
Nashville Predators general manager David Poile, who will serve in the same capacity for Sochi, called Bylsma "one of the very best coaches in the league."
Bylsma played nine years as a defensive-minded forward for the Los Angeles and Anaheim from 1995-2004 before moving into coaching. He replaced Michel Therrien as Penguins' coach in February 2009 and guided Pittsburgh to the third championship in franchise history.
He won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL Coach of the Year in 2011 and helped the Penguins post the best record in the Eastern Conference during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. Pittsburgh advanced to the conference finals before being swept by the Boston Bruins. The Penguins rewarded Bylsma with a two-year contract extension through 2017 a week after their season ended.
The process of building the Olympic team will begin with an orientation camp in Washington D.C. in late August.
Poile expects the core of the team that won silver in Vancouver to return but allowed changes need to be made. The U.S. has historically struggled in Olympic competition overseas. The last time the U.S. team medaled at an Olympics outside of North America came in 1972 when it won silver in Sapporo, Japan and hasn't medaled at an Olympics in Europe since 1956.
"We can't be the same type of team because we haven't had success over there," Poile said.
Bylsma's system should help. The Penguins are regularly among the highest scoring teams in the NHL thanks in part to a talented core and a style of play that focuses on puck control and pressure. It's made Pittsburgh one of the most feared teams in the league. Now Bylsma hopes to do the same in the Olympics.
"We have one goal in Sochi," Bylsma said, "and that's to go over there and win gold."
Back in May, it was revealed that Google had hired legendary game designer Noah Falstein to head up what looked like a gaming division at the company. At the time, many thought Google was just getting into game development, but it looks like the company has much higher aspirations.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is working on its own Android-powered game console. It?s not known if Falstein is involved with the development of the hardware, but it?s a good bet that he is. He?s also probably helping Google make some games to launch with the hardware.
The Android-powered game console is nothing new. Devices like the Ouya and GameStick are attempting to change the definition of the games console into something that?s cheap and approachable for developers and gamers alike. A Google games console probably wouldn?t change that, but it could possibly feature better hardware and better discoverability via Google Play.
Aside from the games console, Google is reportedly still working on that rumored smartwatch. Sony is taking another stab at the smartwatch this year, and other competitors, including Apple, are rumored to be working on their own as well. It remains to be seen if Google is waiting for Apple and other competitors to reveal their hands, or if it will just release a smartwatch to see what happens.
Finally, the ill-fated Nexus Q is also reportedly getting a second chance. The media streaming device was revealed at last year?s Google I/O, but was met with a nearly universal ?meh.? The response in turn led to Google never actually releasing it except to those who pre-ordered the device. There have already been rumors of a successor found in FCC filings, but we haven?t heard anything official from Google as of yet. Still, it wouldn?t be surprising to see Google create a new Nexus Q that?s more like a Google TV device.
So, when can we expect to see these devices? It?s reported that Google is hard at work on all three devices, but may only release one of them this fall. My personal bet is on the Nexus Q successor. A Google TV Nexus device would probably do better this holiday season than a game console, especially in light of the impending launch of the Xbox One and PS4.
Game of Thrones' and Lego fans rejoice: the Warden of the North, Arya, the Mother of Dragons?sadly with only one baby dragon?John Snow andTyrion Lannister can be allyours in precious minifig form for $70, a price that will feel something between the Red Wedding and Theon Greyjoy's torture to your credit card.
According to the manufacturer on Etsy, "they are being made in very limited numbers and won't be available long!" They say that all these minifigs have been designed by their house artist and custom pad printed?which means they are high quality. Pad printing is the same printing method Lego uses.
These are not Lego?GoT is so bloody it would never be an official line?or Game of Thrones' official products.
They are not the first Game of Thrones' minifigs either?Lego expert Sam Beattie made his own characters last year. Sam's minifigs are not as faithful to the originals as the ones for sale, but they are are really good, as you can see here:
The Starks
The Lannisters
The Baratheon Brothers
The Small Council
The Clegane Brothers
Jorah, Daenerys and Drogo
Sansa, Bran, Hodor (Hodor!) and Rickon Stark
If you have Game of Thrones' withdrawal syndrome you can go to this Lego site fully dedicated to Game of Thrones. Or just do like me and read the Wikipedia entries to know everything that's going to happen because you are too impatient to wait or read the books.
Apple recently made a small change to the Purchased tab in the App Store on the iPad, allowing users to view their purchased apps not just chronologically, but alphabetically.
Select any given letter from the left-hand side of the Purchased tab to find the results you're looking for. Tap the clock above the letter "A" in order to switch back to a chronological view of all of your apps. Viewing items alphabetically still allows you to see both all of your apps, or just those that are not on your iPad.
The old way was a huge pain, the new way much better. Let's hope this is the kind of thing Apple keeps improving.
CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi came to office promising to be a president for all Egyptians. A year into his term, the divisions deepened by his rule have pitched the nation into crisis.
As Mursi's opponents mobilise for protests aimed at toppling him, the Muslim Brotherhood man shows no sign of flinching. Instead, he is digging in, backed by Islamist allies determined to shield Mursi from what they see as an attempted coup.
That he should battle on regardless, fending off a storm of criticism which he says is personally hurtful, reflects Mursi's approach during a year in which his efforts have been obstructed by political unrest, resistance from vested interests within the state and failures by a government that seems to lack vision.
As hopes for consensus have faded, Mursi has ploughed on regardless, casting his opponents as spoilers who have rejected his attempts at outreach. His allies, meanwhile, have been whittled down to Islamists at the extreme religious right.
Addressing his supporters on Wednesday, Mursi said the conflict threatened "our nascent democratic experience and threatens to put the whole nation in a state of paralysis and chaos". In a pattern seen before, he offered concessions, but these were dismissed as too little by the opposition.
"I say to the opposition: the road to change is clear," he said, alluding to elections won by the Islamists to date.
A determined man of action to his supporters and a would-be despot to his opponents, Mursi, 61, is a civil engineer and university lecturer with a doctorate from the United States. He was raised in a rural village a two-hour drive north of Cairo.
He was thrust into the presidential race when the Brotherhood's first-choice candidate was disqualified. Dismissed at first as the "spare tyre", he has grown into his role, appearing ever more confident in his public addresses.
Leaning over the podium and digressing from his written remarks during a nearly three-hour speech late on Wednesday, Mursi sought to appeal to ordinary people with a folksy style that departed from stiffer habits that were often mocked.
"He knows his primary audience is not opposition supporters or secular-minded urbanites," said Yasser El-Shimy, Egypt analyst with the International Crisis Group.
When he took office, the extent of his authority was thrown into doubt by the role of Hosni Mubarak-era generals who had established themselves as a rival source of authority.
Yet the novice president stunned observers in August when he sacked Mubarak's veteran defence minister, a move that drew grudging respect from some critics, even in the liberal camp.
FAILING TO REACH OUT
In his first weeks in office, visits to China and Iran set a new tone for Egypt's foreign policy. He also preserved Egypt's role as a vital Middle East actor by helping broker an end to a short war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
The ceasefire declared from Cairo in the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reassured the West that Islamist rule did not mean a dramatic shift in a regional order underpinned by Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
But no sooner had Mursi helped settle one international conflict than he set off another at home by issuing a decree that infuriated opponents and triggered days of lethal violence.
The decree allowed the Islamists to complete a constitution free of the risk of legal challenges. Mursi then put the controversial text to referendum, ignoring protests from non-Islamists who said it did not reflect Egypt's diversity.
The opposition condemned Mursi's constitutional decree as a power grab with echoes of the Mubarak era. The Brotherhood billed it as a pre-emptive move against a plot by old regime loyalists to obstruct the political transition.
Mursi and the Brotherhood won, but not without cost. The episode deepened the political divide, burying hopes for the consensus needed to embark on reforms to tackle an economic crisis that has sent the currency to record lows.
Talks with the International Monetary Fund on a $4.8 billion loan vital to restoring investor confidence stumbled as Mursi balked at politically-sensitive terms such as tax increases.
Even the Brotherhood spoke out publicly against Mursi's prime minister, the independent technocrat Hisham Kandil.
The government's commitment to democracy was thrown into question by laws criticised for restricting civil society and the right to protest. The United States and Europe - major donors - both expressed concern.
Critics have depicted Mursi as a puppet of the Islamist movement that launched him to power - a claim rejected by the presidency and the Brotherhood. But ex-members of the presidential staff have cited the group's interference as their reason for quitting.
"Dr Mohamed Mursi unfortunately does not have transparency, clarity in dealing with the Egyptian people," said Mohamed Habib, a former deputy leader of the Brotherhood who quit the group in 2011.
As his circle of friends tightens to groups such al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, a once-armed jihadist movement, Mursi will likely find it even harder to convince critics that he can be a president for all Egyptians and not just a party man.
"The relationship with the Egyptian people was the main shortcoming this year: the transformation from being a movement to a national political force," said a Western diplomat.
"The main mistake was the inability to speak to the nation and to engage the Egyptians into this new democratic project."
BEIJING (AP) ? An American boss detained nearly a week by his company's Chinese workers left the Beijing factory Thursday after he and a labor representative said the two sides reached agreement in a pay dispute.
Chip Starnes, who said he was "saddened" by the experience, told The Associated Press a deal was reached overnight to pay the scores of workers who had demanded severance packages similar to ones given to laid-off co-workers in a phased-out division, even though the company said the remaining workers weren't being laid off.
Remaining workers at the medical supply plant in Huairou district, on the outskirts of Beijing, had said they believed the entire factory was shutting down, that the company owed unpaid salary and that they saw equipment being packed and itemized for shipping to India.
Starnes said the workers' demands were unjustified. Neither he nor district labor official Chu Lixiang gave details of the agreed compensation. Chu said all the workers would be terminated, and Starnes said some of them would be rehired later.
"It has been resolved to each side's satisfaction," Chu told reporters at a conference room at the plant in late morning. She said they had been sorting out paperwork until 5 a.m. and that 97 workers had signed settlement agreements.
Starnes, a co-owner of Florida-based Specialty Medical Supplies, had quietly departed the factory grounds by the time Chu spoke, returning to his hotel in Beijing.
"Yes!! Out and back at hotel," Starnes wrote in a text message. "Showered... 9 pounds lost during the ordeal!!!!!!"
Police in Huairou district had made no moves to halt the labor action but guarded the plant and said they were guaranteeing Starnes' safety while local labor officials brokered negotiations.
It is not rare in China for managers to be held by workers demanding back pay or other benefits, often from their Chinese owners. Police are reluctant to intervene, as they consider it a business dispute, and local officials typically are eager to see the matter resolved in the way least likely to fuel unrest.
The labor action reflected growing uneasiness among workers about their jobs amid China's slowing economic growth and the sense that growing labor costs make the country less attractive for some foreign-owned factories.
About 80 workers had started blocking all exits starting last Friday, and Starnes had spoken to reporters in recent days through the barred window of his factory office.
Earlier Thursday, he said in a telephone interview that he had been forced to give in to what he considered unjustified demands. He summed up the past several days as "humiliating, embarrassing." At the beginning of his captivity, workers had deprived him of sleep by shining bright lights and banging on windows of his office, he said.
"We have transferred our funds from the U.S.," he said. "I am basically free to go when the funds hit the account here of the company."
Starnes told the AP he planned to get back to business, and even rehire some of the workers who had been holding him. "We're going to take Thursday off to let the dust settle, and we're going to be rehiring a lot of the previous workers on new contracts as of Friday," he said.
Starnes previously said the company had been winding down its plastics division, with plans to move it to Mumbai. When he arrived in Beijing last week to lay off the last 30 people, workers in other divisions started demanding similar severance packages.
VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Francis is signaling he will sign off on the reform process of the Legion of Christ religious order, which was disgraced by revelations its founder was a pedophile.
In a letter made public Wednesday, Francis confirmed the order would convene a general assembly in early 2014 to elect new leadership and approve a revised set of constitutions.
He said these would be "fundamental steps in the path towards authentic and profound renewal."
Then-Pope Benedict XVI took over the Legion in 2010 after a Vatican investigation determined its founder led a double life: The late Rev. Marcial Maciel sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children.
Benedict ordered a wholesale reform of the order after finding serious problems with its culture. Many priests disillusioned with the reform have left.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Google is subject to EU privacy law but is not obliged to delete sensitive information from its search index, an adviser to the highest European Union court said, in a case that tests whether people can erase harmful content from the Web.
The adviser's opinion vindicates the internet search giant's position that it cannot erase legal content from the Web even if it is harmful to an individual. But the opinion also rejected the view of many internet firms that they are not bound by EU privacy law.
"Requesting search engine service providers to suppress legitimate and legal information that has entered the public domain would entail an interference with the freedom of expression," the court said in a statement communicating Advocate General Niilo Jaaskinen's opinion.
Jaaskinen said that while internet firms operating in the European Union must adhere to national data protection legislation, that did not oblige them to remove personal content produced by others.
"Search engine service providers are not responsible, on the basis of the Data Protection Directive, for personal data appearing on web pages they process," the statement said.
A final judgment on the case is expected before the end of the year. Judges in the European Court of Justice are not bound by the advocate general's opinion, but follow such recommendations in the majority of cases.
The opinion follows a complaint by a Spanish man that an auction notice of his home after it was repossessed infringes his privacy and should be deleted from Google's search results.
It is just one of 180 similar cases in Spain to have content deleted from Google searches. Those cases are on hold pending the EU court's decision.
The original auction notice was published in a Spanish newspaper, which said it was under a legal obligation to publish the notice.
Google welcomed the advocate general's opinion, saying it supported the company's view that deleting such content amounted to censorship.
"This is a good opinion for free expression," Google's Bill Echikson said in an emailed statement.
But Internet companies may be disappointed at the opinion that they should follow EU privacy law even if the data is handled outside the European Union. Many internet firms maintain that handling data outside the 27-member bloc puts them beyond the reach of EU privacy law.
The advocate general disagreed and said that even the presence of an ads business which is fundamental to the business model of companies such as Google means they should follow EU law. If that view is upheld by the ECJ judges it could put search firms under even more pressure to protect the data of privacy hungry Europeans.
Google faces fines in both Spain and France if it does not change its privacy policy, which allows it to collect and combine personal data across its services such as email and Youtube.
(Reporting By Claire Davenport; editing by Rex Merrifield)
June 25, 2013 ? Researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute and Agilent Laboratories have found that Prader-Willi syndrome -- a genetic disorder best known for causing an insatiable appetite that can lead to morbid obesity -- is associated with the loss of non-coding RNAs, resulting in the dysregulation of circadian and metabolic genes, accelerated energy expenditure and metabolic differences during sleep.
The research was led by Janine LaSalle, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology who is affiliated with the MIND Institute. It is published online in Human Molecular Genetics.
"Prader-Willi syndrome children do not sleep as well at night and have daytime sleepiness," LaSalle said. "Parents have to lock up their pantries because the kids are rummaging for food in the middle of the night, even breaking into their neighbors' houses to eat."
The study found that these behaviors are rooted in the loss of a long non-coding RNA that functions to balance energy expenditure in the brain during sleep. The finding could have a profound effect on how clinicians treat children with Prader-Willi, as well as point the way to new, innovative therapies, LaSalle said.
The leading cause of morbid obesity among children in the United States, Prader-Willi involves a complex, and sometimes contradictory, array of symptoms. Shortly after birth children with Prader-Willi experience failure to thrive. Yet after they begin to feed themselves, they have difficulty sleeping and insatiable appetites that lead to obesity if their diets are not carefully monitored.
The current study was conducted in a mouse model of Prader-Willi syndrome. It found that mice engineered with the loss of a long non-coding RNA showed altered energy use and metabolic differences during sleep.
Prader-Willi has been traced to a specific region on chromosome 15 (SNORD116), which produces RNAs that regulate gene expression, rather than coding for proteins. When functioning normally, SNORD116 produces small nucleolar (sno) RNAs and a long non-coding RNA (116HG), as well as a third non-coding RNA implicated in a related disorder, Angelman syndrome. The 116HG long non-coding RNA forms a cloud inside neuronal nuclei that associates with proteins and genes regulating diurnal metabolism in the brain, LaSalle said.
"We thought the cloud would be activating transcription, but in fact it was doing the opposite," she said. "Most of the genes were dampened by the cloud. This long non-coding RNA was acting as a decoy, pulling the active transcription factors away from genes and keeping them from being expressed."
As a result, losing snoRNAs and 116HG causes a chain reaction, eliminating the RNA cloud and allowing circadian and metabolic genes to get turned on during sleep periods, when they should be dampened down. This underlies a complex cycle in which the RNA cloud grew during sleep periods (daytime for nocturnal mice), turning down genes associated with energy use, and receded during waking periods, allowing these genes to be expressed. Mice without the 116HG gene lacked the benefit of this neuronal cloud, causing greater energy expenditure during sleep.
The researchers said that the work provides a clearer picture of why children with Prader-Willi syndrome can't sleep or feel satiated and may change therapeutic approaches. For example, many such children have been treated with growth hormone because of short stature, but this actually may boost other aspects of the disease.
"People had thought the kids weren't sleeping at night because of the sleep apnea caused by obesity," said LaSalle. "What this study shows is that the diurnal metabolism is central to the disorder, and that the obesity may be as a result of that. If you can work with that, you could improve therapies, for example figuring out the best times to administer medications."
The study's other study authors include Weston T. Powell, Rochelle L. Coulson, Florence K. Crary, Spencer S. Wong, Robert A. Ach and Dag H. Yasui, all of UC Davis, and Peter Tsang and N. Alice Yamada of Agilent Laboratories.
The work was funded by National Institutes of Health grants F31NS073164 and 1R01NS076263 and the Prader-Willi Foundation.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) ? Bases loaded with two outs. Bottom of the ninth inning in a one-run game. The greatest closer in baseball history facing one of the best hitters of his generation.
An average Sunday afternoon game swiftly turned into a memorable moment, and Mariano Rivera made it even better for the Yankees when he struck out Albert Pujols to close out New York's skid-snapping win.
Rivera fanned Pujols on three pitches to end the Angels' five-run rally in the ninth, and the Yankees stopped their five-game losing streak with a wild 6-5 victory over Los Angeles.
"The moment doesn't really get to him," Travis Hafner said of Rivera, baseball's career saves leader. "As long as he's got the lead, you feel he's going to find a way to get the win."
Rivera would have enjoyed his 632nd save a bit more if he hadn't caused much of the drama himself in the park where he made his major league debut in 1995 and earned his first save a year later.
CC Sabathia pitched five-hit ball into the ninth and Hafner hit a three-run homer off Jered Weaver, but the Yankees barely got enough from Rivera. New York's famed closer gave up three hits and a walk, but still got his 24th save in dramatic fashion.
"That's what everybody comes and pays for," said Lyle Overbay, who had an RBI double. "That was a little closer than we thought, but I didn't sense a lot of panic."
Jayson Nix also drove in a run during a five-run third inning for the Yankees, who salvaged the finale of their 10-game road trip by battering Weaver (1-3) early and hanging on by their fingernails late.
Sabathia (7-5) struck out six and walked three, but tired in the ninth, leaving with two runners on. After reliever David Robertson left with a 6-1 lead, Rivera gave up Erick Aybar's RBI groundout, Alberto Callaspo's two-run single and Peter Bourjos' RBI single.
Rivera then walked Mike Trout to load the bases before getting Pujols.
"That was a great rally and a lot of fun to be a part of," said Mark Trumbo, who drove in the Angels' first run in the ninth. "You know the odds are heavily stacked against you, especially with a guy like CC out there. That's exactly what we wanted to see. It was very, very close, and that's about all you can hope for against a guy like Mariano Rivera. Maybe one more blooped (hit) and we win this ballgame."
Former Angels outfielder Vernon Wells drove in what turned out to be the decisive run with a sacrifice fly off Jerome Williams in the eighth.
Despite the finish, Sabathia decisively won the matchup of both clubs' top starters. Weaver gave up seven hits and four walks over six innings for the Angels, who had won three straight.
Los Angeles managed just four singles off Sabathia until the crazy ninth.
Sabathia left after Trout's leadoff double and a walk to Pujols. Trumbo then got an RBI with a line drive that hit Robertson and bounced into right field for a single. Robertson stayed in the game, but loaded the bases with a one-out walk to pinch-hitter J.B. Shuck.
That created an unlikely save opportunity with a five-run lead for Rivera, but the 43-year-old wasn't sharp. Aybar and Callaspo drove in runs before pinch-hitter Brad Hawpe delivered his first major league hit in two years.
Bourjos then singled home Callaspo to trim New York's lead to one run. Trout drew a walk to load the bases for Pujols, but the Angels' $240 million man couldn't connect.
"We really executed well in the ninth inning and had some good at-bats," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "There was some good situational hitting and some guys off the bench did a good job. Unfortunately, we couldn't get that tying run across. Rivera made some tough pitches to Albert at the end and closed the door, but our guys were upbeat the whole game."
New York is without injured regulars Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Kevin Youkilis, but got offense from less likely sources in the series finale. Nix had three hits, while Hafner's two-out shot ended his 0-for-23 skid for the Yankees, who hadn't scored more than four runs in eight straight games before doing it in the third inning alone at Angel Stadium.
Weaver struck out six, but repeatedly found trouble in his fourth start since returning from a 45-game stint on the disabled list. A 20-game winner last season, the Angels' longtime ace is winless in his last three starts.
Weaver had two outs and two strikes on Hafner before the veteran hit his 11th homer. Hafner had just five hits in his previous 53 at-bats before connecting against Weaver, including a 2-for-27 start to the road trip.
"I didn't really accomplish anything that I try to accomplish through the course of a game," Weaver said. "Walks were bad, first-pitch strikes were bad, and I obviously didn't get deep in the game. It's just one of those games where I found myself battling the whole game."
NOTES: Teixeira got a cortisone shot in his injured right wrist and will be re-evaluated next week, but manager Joe Girardi said the tendon sheath around his wrist is just inflamed, not torn again. Teixeira left Saturday's game in the fourth inning and returned to New York for examination on his wrist, which kept him out for the first 53 games of the season. ... Ichiro Suzuki stole another base, giving him three steals in two games. The Japanese star had just six stolen bases all season before the weekend. ... Josh Hamilton got a day off for the Angels, not even pinch-hitting in the ninth.
Are you having troubling pain in your back, or maybe your legs? Have you tried everything short of surgery, but still can't seem to get rid of the pain? Maybe you need to try getting a massage. In the following article, you'll find more information about how you can use massages to treat your pain.
If you decide to get a massage in the comfort of your own home, take a hot shower first. The hot water will help relax your muscles through the penetrating heat. This will ensure that your massage is more comfortable and any aches or pains are eliminated before the start.
Hydrate yourself after receiving a massage. Your muscles will release a lot of toxins while they are massaged, and you might experience stress if you do not purify your body from these toxins. Drink a lot of water before and after your massage and be very careful about your hydration if you get massages regularly.
Petrissage is the best way to relieve stress and make pain disappear. This method requires you to use your fingertips and your thumb. Grab hold of a muscle and squeeze it for a few seconds before moving on to a different area. Go over the same areas several times until the pain disappears.
Are you prone to muscle cramps either brought on by physical activity or sometimes nothing at all? These can be very painful, especially when they are in your calf. Massages can help to prevent your muscles from cramping up by promoting blood flow. You can also massage the area as soon as you feel it beginning to cramp up for some quick relief.
The light and gentle massage technique is often referred to as Swedish. It helps increase circulation and relax your partner. This type of massage is also excellent for athletes who have muscle fatigue. You must be careful with this type of massage and listen to your partner. They could have injuries and if the massage is painful, you need to stop.
Consider massaging your body prior to exercising and immediately afterwards too. Massaging prior to working out helps raise blood flow into all of your muscles. And after a workout, a quick massage helps your muscles recover a lot quicker. It's definitely worth the extra five minutes before and after exercise!
Properly clean your feet before full body massages. You never know what type of bacteria or fungus is residing there, and the massage therapist can inadvertently transfer that to other parts of your body. You can benefit tremendously by doing this.
When massaging someone, open your fingers up so that you can be more precise with the area that you massage. This helps to loosen up the muscles and is also a great technique if you are planning on giving a deep tissue massage. After you massage this way, close your hands back up and use your palms.
Take a few minutes to relax after a massage. After a massage, your body's muscles are very relaxed. Getting up too quickly may cause issues. You may feel nauseous if you stand up promptly after a massage. Allow yourself to sit up for a few minutes to readjust. After this, you can stand.
You can give yourself a hand massage by using a pencil with an eraser. Use the pencil eraser to press into the fleshy areas of your hand, paying particular attention to the thumb pad. Move the eraser in a circular motion around your hand maximizing the pressure if it is necessary.
Finding the right therapist is very important when it comes to massages. You do not want to visit an inexperienced or inept therapist who may cause you more harm than good. Ask friends or family if they know of a good one in your area or look on the Internet for reviews.
Before and after you exercise, you should give your body a good massage. Before you exercise, use your fists in a pummeling motion to stimulate blood flow to your arms and legs. After you exercise, rub your muscles with your fist or palm. Move along your heart's direction. This helps to speed up your recovery and aids in waste removal.
If you are thinking about finding a massage therapist, ask your doctor for a recommendation. Often, your doctor will be able to refer you to an excellent professional from their years of experience in dealing with health problems. You might also ask a trainer at your gym to refer you to an excellent massage therapist.
Talk openly with your therapist when having a massage. Let them know right away about any injuries or problem areas that you want them to either avoid or focus on. If something does not feel right, feel free to speak up. Your goal is to relax, so don't keep quiet about discomfort.
When you are getting a massage, try to be as punctual as possible. Arriving late will only cause you stress and will not put your body in an optimal position for a massage. Try to get there at least ten minutes early so you can scope out the area and reduce the chances of losing your appointment.
Don't lie on a spa intake form! It is important that you list any medical issues or injuries you have experienced. This not only protects the spa from liability if you end up sick after the massage, but it allows them to determine exactly how the massage should be conducted for your health and safety.
You do not have to get totally naked during a massage if you do not feel comfortable with that. You can strip down to your undergarments and have the masseuse cover you up with a towel. This way you can get your entire body massaged without feeling the least bit awkward.
Don't forget that you are boss during a massage and if something isn't to your liking, mention it. A lot of masseuses tend to talk too much or get carried away with the amount of pressure they apply. This scenario isn't any different than a server getting your meal right in the restaurant! Always politely state your preferences.
As you can see from this article, massage can be a viable solution for treating pain. Many people will attest to the benefits of a good massage, so why not get the benefits for yourself? Remember what you've read in the article and try a massage for yourself. You'll be surprised at the results.
The ceremony kicking off the Newtown, Conn., bus tour on gun control. (William Holt/Yahoo News)
Six months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, victims? families, elected officials and faith leaders gathered in Newtown, Conn., for the launch of a nationwide bus tour to step up the pressure on politicians for stronger gun-control laws and to commemorate those who were killed.
At the pretour ceremony on Friday morning, crowds gathered in front of Newtown?s Edmond Town Hall. There, a ticker counted the number of people killed by gun violence since the Sandy Hook shootings that claimed the lives of 20 students and six educators. When the ceremony commenced, that number was 6,003.
?Over 6,000 have been killed by guns in six months alone,? said Steve Barton, a survivor of the July 2012 shootings in Aurora, Colo., and a speaker at Friday?s ceremony. ?More than 3,000 will be killed while this bus is on the road if we don?t do anything.?
Barton, who works with the nonprofit advocacy group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, also said, ?Today?s a day of remembrance. Not just for the victims of Newtown, but for the 33 people who are killed every day by gun violence.?
Officially titled ?No More Names: The National Drive to Reduce Gun Violence,? the bus tour was organized by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which was co-founded in 2006 by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
The 100-day tour will eventually travel through 25 states. While going cross-country, gun violence survivors and their family will press members of Congress to take another look at gun-control legislation and to reconsider April?s failed gun-control legislation in the Senate.
That legislation, called the Manchin-Toomey bill?named after its sponsors, Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa.?would have extended background checks to all commercial gun purchases in the U.S. It failed 54-46 on April 17.
Among those present at Friday?s ceremony was Jillian Soto, whose older sister Victoria was one of the teachers killed at Sandy Hook.
?We wanted to do something about this issue, so that she wouldn?t have died for no reason,? said Soto of her sister. ?We threw ourselves into the fight.?
Click image to see more photos. (Getty Images)
After the failure of the Manchin-Toomey bill, Soto said she ?started to feel discouraged. ? But we?d had the conversation. That?s something we conquered, just to get there.?
Soto, who described the National Rifle Association and other gun rights organizations as ?bullies,? said she would be joining the bus tour whenever she could manage. Of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, she said, ?It?s an honor to know that you have this amazing group of people who aren?t willing to let people forget.?
While the morning was marked by somberness and grief, there was nevertheless a sense of resolve about getting gun-control legislation back into the Senate.
Gilles Rousseau, the father of slain teacher Lauren Rousseau, said he was there ?to help with the cause. ? It?s not asking for much, but that?s what we?re trying to do."
The same sense of mission was present when Carlee Soto spoke to the crowd. Carlee, the younger sister of Victoria and Jillian, asked the people gathered for a 26-second moment of silence at the start of the ceremony ?to join with the 26 who have fallen.?
On Wednesday, the Soto sisters met with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C., to discuss efforts in the push for new gun-control legislation.
?We went to Washington, D.C., to fight for our loved ones and fight for everyone else who?s been killed by gun violence,? said Carlee after the ceremony. ?President Obama told us yesterday that this might not come in a week, next month or even a year. But he?s going to keep fighting and so are we.?
According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released just weeks before the Manchin-Toomey vote, 90 percent of Americans support expanded background checks on gun purchases.
?This is about common sense,? said First Selectman Ed Edelson of Southbury, a community just across the Housatonic River from Sandy Hook. ?The Constitution is not a suicide pact.?
The bus tour will first head north to Concord, N.H., and Augusta, Maine. Locations in other states will be announced during the week of the stop.
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) ? A Tunisian court convicted on Thursday a rap artist for insulting police with a song calling them dogs and sentenced him to two years in prison, his lawyer said.
The verdict comes as Tunisia's justice system is under increasing scrutiny after a series of controversial decisions, including sentencing women's rights activists to four months in prison for demonstrating topless while releasing suspects in last year's attack on the U.S. Embassy.
Lawyer Ghazi Mrabet described the sentence as overly severe and said he would appeal the verdict against his client Alaa Yacoub, 24, known by his rapper name Weld El 15, or "Son of 15."
Yacoub's song "Boulicia Kleb," or "the police are dogs," was released on YouTube.
He was originally tried and convicted in absentia for inciting violence against officials and insulting police back in March. He turned himself in and was retried, but given the same two-year sentence.
His supporters were outraged by the verdict and struggled with police outside the courtroom. Four people, including a journalist, another rapper and two friends of the artist were arrested, according to Mrabet.
Yacoub's case is remarkably similar to that of Moroccan rapper Mouad Belghouat, who last year served a year in prison for insulting police with his song "Dogs of the State."
Tunisia under former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was a police state in which security forces were widely reviled.
Tunisians overthrew the government in January 2011 in an uprising that sparked off pro-democracy movements around the region.
Police are still widely mistrusted even under a new elected government.
One of the most effective ways to spread the word about a business or its events is to setup a blog. People have gotten it into their heads that it?s a tedious and complicated endeavor that takes both skills and know-how. But that isn?t exactly the case in today?s mod-based online environment. Today you can setup a business marketing blog in 40 minutes or less, if you have the dedication and inspiration to do so. The benefits will come back ten-fold if you just have a little patience.
There are many types of blogging platforms you can choose from. One of the most popular ones is of course WordPress. Even WordPress comes with a couple of options, and that is probably why the platform has become such a success. If you don?t want to self-host your WordPress blog, you can just sign up for a hosted one at WordPress.com. It?s as easy as signing up for a Facebook or a Twitter account. When you?re done, you will have the option to customize your new business marketing blog in whatever way you want. It?s much like what you would do if you were to self-host your business marketing blog.
Having a business marketing blog is vital in today?s highly Internet-based society. Don?t put it off any longer, make an impact today! In order to streamline your effort, I have found an infographic called The 40-Minute Business Blog, which is presented to us by Kathy Robinson. It?s a straightforward guide on how you can setup your business marketing blog in a jiffy.
It will take you through the process step by step, and by the end of it, you will have both the blog, a blog post, and a way to share your new content outlet with everyone you know or whoever is following you. You will find that once you have your blog all setup, you will start receiving a whole lot more traffic and conversions than you ever thought possible. Now all that remains is for you to keep your marketing blog active by constantly interacting through it. Keep adding content and make sure you promote it, and you will have a focal point for your followers and fans to always stay up to date with what?s going on in your company.
Kathy Robinson?s 40-Minute Business Marketing Blog
This week on TechCrunch TV's Ask A VC show, we have Canaan Partners Maha Ibrahim and Lightbank partner Paul Lee in the studio. As you may remember, you can submit questions for our guests either in the comments or here and we?ll ask them during the show. Ibrahim invests in cloud, social gaming and digital media companies for Canaan. Her past investments include PicksPal (acquired by Liberty Media), Kabam, and Koolbit. She's also been investing in enterprise companies, including Virsto (acquired by VMware), XDN (acquired by Fortinet) and SenSage (acquired by KEYW Corporation), provider of log management and security information management systems.
Transcendental Meditation positively impacts student graduation rates, new research showsPublic release date: 10-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ken Chawkin kchawkin@mum.edu 641-470-1314 Maharishi University of Management
A new study published in the June 2013 issue of the journal Education (Vol. 133, No. 4)* shows practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique was associated with higher graduation rates, compared to controls.
Higher graduation rates affect not only the academic and personal life of the individual students, but also society as a whole. Graduation (versus dropping out) from high school translates into higher earning potential, less crime and incarceration, and less dependence on government assistance programs.
The most recent data shows that only 69 percent of students graduate from our nation's schools. Over the next decade it is estimated that more than 12 million students will drop out of school, resulting in an estimated loss to the nation of nearly $3 trillion.
"While there are bright spots in public education today, urban schools on the whole tend to suffer from a range of factors which contribute to poor student academic performance and low graduation rates," according to lead author, Robert D. Colbert, Ph.D., associate professor, and director of Neag School of Education's Diversity Council at University of Connecticut. "Students need to be provided with value-added educational programs that can provide opportunities for school success. Our study investigated one such program, Transcendental Meditation, which appears to hold tremendous promise for enriching the lives of our nation's students."
Analysis of school records at an East Coast urban high school was conducted with all 235 students enrolled during their senior year to determine on-time graduation. Findings showed a 15% higher graduation rate for the entire meditating group compared to non-meditating controls, after taking into account student grade point average. Subgroup analysis further indicated a 25% difference in graduation rates when considering only the low academic performing students in both groups.
According to Sanford Nidich, Ed.D, co-author and professor of education at Maharishi University of Management, "These results are the first to show that the Transcendental Meditation program can have a positive impact on student graduation rates. The largest effect was found in the most academically challenged students. Recently published research on increased academic achievement and reduced psychological stress in urban school students may provide possible mechanisms for the higher graduation rates found in this study."
Findings also showed significant differences for dropout rates and college acceptance. Meditating students were less apt to dropout from school, or enter prison, and were more likely to be accepted to post-secondary institutions. Future studies are being planned.
###
Research was funded by the David Lynch Foundation.
*Colbert, R.D. And Nidich, S. (2013). Effect of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Graduation, College Acceptance and Dropout Rates for Students Attending an Urban Public High School. Education, 133 (4), 495-501.
High School Graduation Rates
Among developed countries, the U.S. ranks eighteenth in high school graduation rates (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2007).
The most recent data from Diplomas Count 2010 shows that only 69 percent of the students in 2007 graduated from our nation's schools. At its peak in 1969, the national graduation rate was 77 percent.
Further, a racial and ethnic gap exists, with only 46 percent of African American, 44 percent of Latino, and 49 percent of Native American students earning a diploma.
About the Transcendental Meditation technique
The Transcendental Meditation technique is a simple, natural, effortless procedure practiced 20 minutes twice each day while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. Extensive peer-reviewed research studies have found that TM reduces stress and anxiety, improves learning ability, and promotes wellness for mind and body.
The TM technique is available in the USA through Maharishi Foundation USA, a federally recognized non-profit educational organization. Through partnerships with other non-profit organizations and foundations, full TM scholarships have been given to more than 250,000 at-risk children, veterans suffering from PTSD, homeless people, and others.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Transcendental Meditation positively impacts student graduation rates, new research showsPublic release date: 10-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ken Chawkin kchawkin@mum.edu 641-470-1314 Maharishi University of Management
A new study published in the June 2013 issue of the journal Education (Vol. 133, No. 4)* shows practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique was associated with higher graduation rates, compared to controls.
Higher graduation rates affect not only the academic and personal life of the individual students, but also society as a whole. Graduation (versus dropping out) from high school translates into higher earning potential, less crime and incarceration, and less dependence on government assistance programs.
The most recent data shows that only 69 percent of students graduate from our nation's schools. Over the next decade it is estimated that more than 12 million students will drop out of school, resulting in an estimated loss to the nation of nearly $3 trillion.
"While there are bright spots in public education today, urban schools on the whole tend to suffer from a range of factors which contribute to poor student academic performance and low graduation rates," according to lead author, Robert D. Colbert, Ph.D., associate professor, and director of Neag School of Education's Diversity Council at University of Connecticut. "Students need to be provided with value-added educational programs that can provide opportunities for school success. Our study investigated one such program, Transcendental Meditation, which appears to hold tremendous promise for enriching the lives of our nation's students."
Analysis of school records at an East Coast urban high school was conducted with all 235 students enrolled during their senior year to determine on-time graduation. Findings showed a 15% higher graduation rate for the entire meditating group compared to non-meditating controls, after taking into account student grade point average. Subgroup analysis further indicated a 25% difference in graduation rates when considering only the low academic performing students in both groups.
According to Sanford Nidich, Ed.D, co-author and professor of education at Maharishi University of Management, "These results are the first to show that the Transcendental Meditation program can have a positive impact on student graduation rates. The largest effect was found in the most academically challenged students. Recently published research on increased academic achievement and reduced psychological stress in urban school students may provide possible mechanisms for the higher graduation rates found in this study."
Findings also showed significant differences for dropout rates and college acceptance. Meditating students were less apt to dropout from school, or enter prison, and were more likely to be accepted to post-secondary institutions. Future studies are being planned.
###
Research was funded by the David Lynch Foundation.
*Colbert, R.D. And Nidich, S. (2013). Effect of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Graduation, College Acceptance and Dropout Rates for Students Attending an Urban Public High School. Education, 133 (4), 495-501.
High School Graduation Rates
Among developed countries, the U.S. ranks eighteenth in high school graduation rates (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2007).
The most recent data from Diplomas Count 2010 shows that only 69 percent of the students in 2007 graduated from our nation's schools. At its peak in 1969, the national graduation rate was 77 percent.
Further, a racial and ethnic gap exists, with only 46 percent of African American, 44 percent of Latino, and 49 percent of Native American students earning a diploma.
About the Transcendental Meditation technique
The Transcendental Meditation technique is a simple, natural, effortless procedure practiced 20 minutes twice each day while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. Extensive peer-reviewed research studies have found that TM reduces stress and anxiety, improves learning ability, and promotes wellness for mind and body.
The TM technique is available in the USA through Maharishi Foundation USA, a federally recognized non-profit educational organization. Through partnerships with other non-profit organizations and foundations, full TM scholarships have been given to more than 250,000 at-risk children, veterans suffering from PTSD, homeless people, and others.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Adobe teased us with a Photoshop Lightroom 5 beta at the start of the spring, and it's closing out the season by releasing the finished goods. Mac- and Windows-based shutterbugs can download the completed image management app today, either at no extra charge through a Creative Cloud subscription or $149 for a stand-alone version ($79 for an upgrade). Buyers get the same core updates no matter how much they spend, including an Advanced Healing Brush for removing objects and Smart Previews that let travelers leave their original files at home. When Lightroom is free to try for a month, it likely won't hurt to grab a copy at the source link -- especially if your photo collection is growing out of hand.
Flowering at the right agePublic release date: 10-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: George Coupland coupland@mpiz.mpg.de 49-221-506-2206 Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Alpine rock cress uses a ribonucleic acid to measure its age and tell when it's the right time to flower
This news release is available in German.
Perennial plants flower only when they have reached a certain age and been subjected to the cold. These two circumstances prevent the plant from starting to flower during winter. George Coupland and his fellow scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne have now discovered that the Alpine rock cress determines its age based on the quantity of a short ribonucleic acid.
Perennial plants carefully balance periods of growth and flowering to ensure that they can live for many years. They do not flower when they are still too young and small or produce flowers on all their side shoots. Also, they do not flower out of season and they continue to grow after flowering. In temperate regions they do not produce flowers during winter but only after exposure to a long cold period. This dependency on a cold stimulus is called vernalisation. George Coupland, Sara Bergonzi, Maria Albani and other scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research have now identified the molecular signals used by the perennial Alpine rock cress (Arabis alpina) to register its age and to realise that it has been exposed to vernalisation. Only when the right age has been reached and the chill has had its effect can flowers begin to form.
The Alpine rock cress measures its age based on the concentration of a short ribonucleic acid known as miR156. A purely regulatory nucleic acid, miR156 works like an hourglass. Just as the sand trickles through an hourglass and indicates the amount of time elapsed, so the concentration of ribonucleic acid in the Alpine rock cress decreases from week to week enabling the plant to measure its age. When the ribonucleic acid reaches its lowest level, the plant is old enough for flowers to form when it is also exposed to vernalisation.
"Under normal conditions, this point is reached five to six weeks after germination," says George Coupland. "We can alter the time of flowering and the effect of vernalisation simply by manipulating the miR156 concentration." If the Alpine rock cress produces a particularly large amount of miR156 as a result of a genetic trick, it does not flower at the usual time. The surplus of miR156 caused by this over production acts as a brake on a group of proteins which induce flower formation. If the genetic trick makes the plant produce less miR156 than usual, flower formation happens sooner: the Alpine rock cress is sensitive to vernalisation a mere three weeks after germination. Consequently, the ribonucleic acid is the most important timing mechanism for flower formation in the Alpine rock cress. Only when it has reached its lowest point can vernalisation take effect and cause flowers to form.
In the closely related model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, an annual, the effect of the ribonucleic acid is less pronounced. If the weather conditions are very good, it also flowers in the presence of a fairly large quantity of miR156. Only when the weather is poor for an extended period does it rely on its age and put flower formation off until the ribonucleic acid concentration has reached its lowest level. "This ensures that Arabidopsis even flowers in a grey and cold summer," explains Coupland. As an annual, the plant is compelled to accelerate its life cycle and to achieve flowering age as quickly as possible and thereby form seeds. The concentration of miR156 is simply overridden in favourable weather conditions. Perennial plants, by contrast, are governed strictly by age and vernalisation.
The reason why not all side shoots of the Alpine rock cress flower at once is also explained by miR156. These shoots form one after the other and are therefore not all the same age as the main shoot which flowers first. The miR156 concentration needs to decline in each side shoot individually for it to be sensitive to vernalisation and form a flower. These different ages within the plant are what make some shoot axes flower each year and others only flower the following season, after the winter.
So how does the Alpine rock cress respond to vernalisation? This was another issue Coupland and his fellow scientists studied. They were able to demonstrate that this occurs independently of miR156. The effect of the cold stimulus causes another protein which acts as a brake on flower formation to disappear during winter. This protein has the somewhat cryptic name PEP1. It blocks an important flowering gene. The gene can only be read when PEP1 has disappeared in the winter chill.
And what is the practical benefit of this research? "It enables us to manipulate the concentration of miR156 to make plants flower when they are younger. This could make them quicker to breed," says Coupland. "For instance when cultivating new varieties of cabbage, such as cauliflower, white cabbage or curly kale. All of these members of the cabbage family also go through a long phase of juvenility and this can greatly delay experiments needed to breed new varieties."
###
Original publication:
Sara Bergonzi, Maria C Albani, Emiel Ver Loren van Themaat, Karl JV Nordstrm, Rhenhou Wang, Kobinian Schneeberger, Perry D. Moerland und George Coupland
Mechanisms of age-dependent response to winter temperature in perennial flowering of Arabis alpina
Science, May 31, 2013; 340: 1094-1097
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Flowering at the right agePublic release date: 10-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: George Coupland coupland@mpiz.mpg.de 49-221-506-2206 Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Alpine rock cress uses a ribonucleic acid to measure its age and tell when it's the right time to flower
This news release is available in German.
Perennial plants flower only when they have reached a certain age and been subjected to the cold. These two circumstances prevent the plant from starting to flower during winter. George Coupland and his fellow scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne have now discovered that the Alpine rock cress determines its age based on the quantity of a short ribonucleic acid.
Perennial plants carefully balance periods of growth and flowering to ensure that they can live for many years. They do not flower when they are still too young and small or produce flowers on all their side shoots. Also, they do not flower out of season and they continue to grow after flowering. In temperate regions they do not produce flowers during winter but only after exposure to a long cold period. This dependency on a cold stimulus is called vernalisation. George Coupland, Sara Bergonzi, Maria Albani and other scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research have now identified the molecular signals used by the perennial Alpine rock cress (Arabis alpina) to register its age and to realise that it has been exposed to vernalisation. Only when the right age has been reached and the chill has had its effect can flowers begin to form.
The Alpine rock cress measures its age based on the concentration of a short ribonucleic acid known as miR156. A purely regulatory nucleic acid, miR156 works like an hourglass. Just as the sand trickles through an hourglass and indicates the amount of time elapsed, so the concentration of ribonucleic acid in the Alpine rock cress decreases from week to week enabling the plant to measure its age. When the ribonucleic acid reaches its lowest level, the plant is old enough for flowers to form when it is also exposed to vernalisation.
"Under normal conditions, this point is reached five to six weeks after germination," says George Coupland. "We can alter the time of flowering and the effect of vernalisation simply by manipulating the miR156 concentration." If the Alpine rock cress produces a particularly large amount of miR156 as a result of a genetic trick, it does not flower at the usual time. The surplus of miR156 caused by this over production acts as a brake on a group of proteins which induce flower formation. If the genetic trick makes the plant produce less miR156 than usual, flower formation happens sooner: the Alpine rock cress is sensitive to vernalisation a mere three weeks after germination. Consequently, the ribonucleic acid is the most important timing mechanism for flower formation in the Alpine rock cress. Only when it has reached its lowest point can vernalisation take effect and cause flowers to form.
In the closely related model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, an annual, the effect of the ribonucleic acid is less pronounced. If the weather conditions are very good, it also flowers in the presence of a fairly large quantity of miR156. Only when the weather is poor for an extended period does it rely on its age and put flower formation off until the ribonucleic acid concentration has reached its lowest level. "This ensures that Arabidopsis even flowers in a grey and cold summer," explains Coupland. As an annual, the plant is compelled to accelerate its life cycle and to achieve flowering age as quickly as possible and thereby form seeds. The concentration of miR156 is simply overridden in favourable weather conditions. Perennial plants, by contrast, are governed strictly by age and vernalisation.
The reason why not all side shoots of the Alpine rock cress flower at once is also explained by miR156. These shoots form one after the other and are therefore not all the same age as the main shoot which flowers first. The miR156 concentration needs to decline in each side shoot individually for it to be sensitive to vernalisation and form a flower. These different ages within the plant are what make some shoot axes flower each year and others only flower the following season, after the winter.
So how does the Alpine rock cress respond to vernalisation? This was another issue Coupland and his fellow scientists studied. They were able to demonstrate that this occurs independently of miR156. The effect of the cold stimulus causes another protein which acts as a brake on flower formation to disappear during winter. This protein has the somewhat cryptic name PEP1. It blocks an important flowering gene. The gene can only be read when PEP1 has disappeared in the winter chill.
And what is the practical benefit of this research? "It enables us to manipulate the concentration of miR156 to make plants flower when they are younger. This could make them quicker to breed," says Coupland. "For instance when cultivating new varieties of cabbage, such as cauliflower, white cabbage or curly kale. All of these members of the cabbage family also go through a long phase of juvenility and this can greatly delay experiments needed to breed new varieties."
###
Original publication:
Sara Bergonzi, Maria C Albani, Emiel Ver Loren van Themaat, Karl JV Nordstrm, Rhenhou Wang, Kobinian Schneeberger, Perry D. Moerland und George Coupland
Mechanisms of age-dependent response to winter temperature in perennial flowering of Arabis alpina
Science, May 31, 2013; 340: 1094-1097
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
This week on TechCrunch TV's Ask A VC show, we have Canaan Partners ![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 10-Jun-2013
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