Sprint's other prepaid provider finally gets Apple's latest smartphones. It's both the latest and one of the last carriers to offer the two devices.
Apple's iPhone 5C.
(Credit: CNET)
Apple's iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C are finally making their way to Boost Mobile.
Boost, a unit of Sprint, said Monday that Apple's latest smartphones will be available on November 8. It's both the latest and one of the last carriers to offer the two phones.
Apple typically pushes its new iPhones to the large big-box retailers and national wireless carriers before expanding the distribution to partners focused on prepayment customers. Virgin Mobile, Sprint's other prepaid business, got the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C last month. A smaller number of users purchase the iPhone prepaid because customers are required to pay the higher unsubsidized price.
Boost declined to provide its prices for the iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C.
Contact: Rachel Steinhardt rsteinhardt@licr.org 212-450-1582 Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
A study of how cancer cells get energy and raw materials for growth from glucose opens doors to new therapies
October 21, 2013, New York, NY Ludwig researchers have elucidated a key mechanism by which cancer cells change how they metabolize glucose to generate the energy and raw materials required to sustain runaway growth.
Published online in Cell Metabolism, the Ludwig Cancer Research study also reveals how the aggressive brain cancer glioblastoma harnesses the mechanism to resist targeted therapies that should disrupt this capabilityknown as the Warburg effectand suggests how such resistance might be overcome. In detailing the molecular circuitry of the phenomenon, the researchers uncover several possible targets for new drugs that might disrupt cancer cell metabolism to destroy tumors.
"Cancer and other fast-growing cells extract energy from glucose using a process that ordinarily kicks in only when oxygen is in short supply," explains Ludwig scientist Paul Mischel, MD, who is based at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. "This allows them to thread the needle: they get the energy they need from glucose but also retain the carbon-based building blocks for molecules like lipids, proteins and DNA, which dividing cells need in large quantities."
Until recently, relatively little was known about the biochemical circuits that induce this vital metabolic shift in cancer cells. Earlier this year, however, Mischel and his colleagues published a study describing how an aberrant growth signal found in many glioblastomas is channeled to induce the Warburg effect. That signaling cascade, which involves the key proteins PI3 kinase (PI3K), Akt and mTORC1, culminates in the activation of a transcription factora controller of gene expressionnamed c-Myc. "In many cancer cells," says Mischel, "c-Myc seems to be a lever that links growth signaling pathways with the machinery that controls the uptake and use of nutrients."
In the current study, Mischel, who did the research in collaboration with Ludwig researchers Kenta Masui, MD, PhD and Web Cavenee, PhD, both also at UC San Diego, identifies a second interacting biochemical cascade that is independent of the PI3K-Akt-mTORC1 signal and uses distinct biochemical circuits and an unusual mechanism to turn on c-Myc. This pathway, Mischel and his colleagues report, depends on signals from a protein complex named mTORC2. The researchers show that when mTORC2 is switched on, it silences two other transcription factors, FoxO1 and FoxO3, which would otherwise suppress the activation of c-Myc in the nucleus of the cell. Further, they learned that the silencing of the FoxOs occurs through a chemical modificationknown as acetylationa process that has not been well understood.
The study has significant implications for cancer therapy. "Many drugs have recently been devised to block PI3K-Akt-mTORC1 signaling," explains Mischel. "What we show is that when you use those drugs, you will probably drive the acetylation of the FoxOs through mTORC2, and inadvertently fuel the Warburg effect. In other words, this new pathway is likely to be responsible for resistance to those drugs. Our data suggest that to disrupt the Warburg effect and kill cancer cells, you have to develop therapies that target both signaling pathways. That's the main clinical ramification of this finding."
Mischel and his colleagues find that glioblastomas that rely predominantly on the mTORC2-mediated pathway tend to have the worse prognosis. Further, their studies suggest that lung cancer cells, too, use this pathway to induce the Warburg effect.
"Increasingly," says Mischel, "we're using glioblastoma as a system to understand a variety of other cancers and, in fact, this finding has broader relevance because the signaling pathways identified here are conserved across cancer types." Different cancers, he explains, are fueled by different types of mutations to growth factor receptors, but the signals these mutated receptors transmit tend to converge on a subset of signaling proteins.
"Our identification of the key moleculesand novel signaling mechanismsinvolved in this pathway, has opened up a landscape rich in possible targets for novel cancer drugs," says Mischel. His laboratory, he says, is now working with other Ludwig researchers to identify small drug-like molecules that might disrupt key steps of the mTORC2-mediated pathway.
###
About Ludwig Cancer Research
Ludwig Cancer Research is an international collaborative network of acclaimed scientists with a 40-year legacy of pioneering cancer discoveries. Ludwig combines basic research with the ability to translate its discoveries and conduct clinical trials to accelerate the development of new cancer diagnostics and therapies. Since 1971, Ludwig has invested more than $1.6 billion in life-changing cancer research through the not-for-profit Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the six U.S.-based Ludwig Centers. http://www.ludwigcancerresearch.org
Paul Mischel is a member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and is based at the University of California, San Diego. Lead author Kenta Masui is a post-doctoral fellow in the Mischel lab. Web Cavenee is the director of Ludwig San Diego.
For further information please contact Rachel Steinhardt, rsteinhardt@licr.org or +1-212-450-1582.
[
| 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.
Targeting cancer's sweet tooth
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
21-Oct-2013
[
| E-mail
]
Share
Contact: Rachel Steinhardt rsteinhardt@licr.org 212-450-1582 Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
A study of how cancer cells get energy and raw materials for growth from glucose opens doors to new therapies
October 21, 2013, New York, NY Ludwig researchers have elucidated a key mechanism by which cancer cells change how they metabolize glucose to generate the energy and raw materials required to sustain runaway growth.
Published online in Cell Metabolism, the Ludwig Cancer Research study also reveals how the aggressive brain cancer glioblastoma harnesses the mechanism to resist targeted therapies that should disrupt this capabilityknown as the Warburg effectand suggests how such resistance might be overcome. In detailing the molecular circuitry of the phenomenon, the researchers uncover several possible targets for new drugs that might disrupt cancer cell metabolism to destroy tumors.
"Cancer and other fast-growing cells extract energy from glucose using a process that ordinarily kicks in only when oxygen is in short supply," explains Ludwig scientist Paul Mischel, MD, who is based at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. "This allows them to thread the needle: they get the energy they need from glucose but also retain the carbon-based building blocks for molecules like lipids, proteins and DNA, which dividing cells need in large quantities."
Until recently, relatively little was known about the biochemical circuits that induce this vital metabolic shift in cancer cells. Earlier this year, however, Mischel and his colleagues published a study describing how an aberrant growth signal found in many glioblastomas is channeled to induce the Warburg effect. That signaling cascade, which involves the key proteins PI3 kinase (PI3K), Akt and mTORC1, culminates in the activation of a transcription factora controller of gene expressionnamed c-Myc. "In many cancer cells," says Mischel, "c-Myc seems to be a lever that links growth signaling pathways with the machinery that controls the uptake and use of nutrients."
In the current study, Mischel, who did the research in collaboration with Ludwig researchers Kenta Masui, MD, PhD and Web Cavenee, PhD, both also at UC San Diego, identifies a second interacting biochemical cascade that is independent of the PI3K-Akt-mTORC1 signal and uses distinct biochemical circuits and an unusual mechanism to turn on c-Myc. This pathway, Mischel and his colleagues report, depends on signals from a protein complex named mTORC2. The researchers show that when mTORC2 is switched on, it silences two other transcription factors, FoxO1 and FoxO3, which would otherwise suppress the activation of c-Myc in the nucleus of the cell. Further, they learned that the silencing of the FoxOs occurs through a chemical modificationknown as acetylationa process that has not been well understood.
The study has significant implications for cancer therapy. "Many drugs have recently been devised to block PI3K-Akt-mTORC1 signaling," explains Mischel. "What we show is that when you use those drugs, you will probably drive the acetylation of the FoxOs through mTORC2, and inadvertently fuel the Warburg effect. In other words, this new pathway is likely to be responsible for resistance to those drugs. Our data suggest that to disrupt the Warburg effect and kill cancer cells, you have to develop therapies that target both signaling pathways. That's the main clinical ramification of this finding."
Mischel and his colleagues find that glioblastomas that rely predominantly on the mTORC2-mediated pathway tend to have the worse prognosis. Further, their studies suggest that lung cancer cells, too, use this pathway to induce the Warburg effect.
"Increasingly," says Mischel, "we're using glioblastoma as a system to understand a variety of other cancers and, in fact, this finding has broader relevance because the signaling pathways identified here are conserved across cancer types." Different cancers, he explains, are fueled by different types of mutations to growth factor receptors, but the signals these mutated receptors transmit tend to converge on a subset of signaling proteins.
"Our identification of the key moleculesand novel signaling mechanismsinvolved in this pathway, has opened up a landscape rich in possible targets for novel cancer drugs," says Mischel. His laboratory, he says, is now working with other Ludwig researchers to identify small drug-like molecules that might disrupt key steps of the mTORC2-mediated pathway.
###
About Ludwig Cancer Research
Ludwig Cancer Research is an international collaborative network of acclaimed scientists with a 40-year legacy of pioneering cancer discoveries. Ludwig combines basic research with the ability to translate its discoveries and conduct clinical trials to accelerate the development of new cancer diagnostics and therapies. Since 1971, Ludwig has invested more than $1.6 billion in life-changing cancer research through the not-for-profit Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the six U.S.-based Ludwig Centers. http://www.ludwigcancerresearch.org
Paul Mischel is a member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and is based at the University of California, San Diego. Lead author Kenta Masui is a post-doctoral fellow in the Mischel lab. Web Cavenee is the director of Ludwig San Diego.
For further information please contact Rachel Steinhardt, rsteinhardt@licr.org or +1-212-450-1582.
[
| 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.
Meteorologist Eric Holthaus has made his career monitoring the Earth's climate, and he's alarmed at what he sees. After reading a new, bleak international report on climate change, Holthaus has decided one important way to reduce his carbon footprint is to give up airplane travel for good.
Eric Holthaus has made a career out of monitoring the Earth's climate. But lately, the meteorologist hasn't been liking what he sees.
Earlier this month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a bleak report assessing the effects of carbon emissions on the Earth's climate. After reading the IPCC report, Holthaus vowed to dramatically reduce his own carbon footprint by giving up airplane travel for good. He joined me in the studio to talk about this decision and why he's making it now.
ERIC HOLTHAUS: It struck me that morning, the morning the report came out. If I'm talking about the weather and I'm writing about the weather every day, I need to kind of put my money where my mouth is. Scientists are now more confident about the fact that humans are changing the climate than they are that smoking causes cancer. So I brought that down to my level, the human level, and say, what does that mean for me?
And when I plugged in my lifestyle into a carbon footprint calculator, I was kind of shocked to know that flying was about 50 percent of my emissions. So I thought I need to do something big here. And I decided to not fly again.
RATH: So, Eric, I mean, I'm sure this has occurred to you, but there's obviously a big problem, which is that most people aren't going to have the same reaction as you. Most people aren't going to even have read the IPCC report. So if it's just a handful of people like you that are changing behavior, how are we going to fix this problem?
HOLTHAUS: You know, that is a very good point. We don't all have to give up flying. For a lot of people, it may be something else. For example, an animal-intensive diet uses more carbon emissions because you have to have food for the animals and then the animals become food themselves. So it may be cutting back on meat one day a week, or it may be carpooling to work, doing something that makes sense to you. And to me, it makes sense to put the climate ahead of flying.
RATH: Is jet fuel particularly inefficient or particularly bad? So if I were to say travel from Los Angeles to Washington, if I were to drive and burn (unintelligible) of gasoline versus flying across the country, is one especially worse than the other?
HOLTHAUS: Flying from San Francisco to New York is about the same as driving a Hummer the entire way. If you had four people in the Hummer and drove cross country, then you would be four times more efficient than flying.
RATH: Well, I think for a lot of people, it almost feels kind of impossible. I mean, I would say even for myself, looking at my life the way it is, I can't imagine not having air travel. So what do you do? I mean, have you - do you just travel less? How have you adjusted?
HOLTHAUS: Yeah. I think that's going to be a lot of it is just traveling less. Flying in a plane always felt a little bit unnatural to me. It's just a miracle to me that you can go 800 miles an hour and cross a continent in the span of a morning. I really honestly feel like these past 100 years are kind of a special time in human history, that we have been able to do those things.
Right now, we are learning the cost of those technologies. And in order to have a healthy climate, in order to have a healthy planet, we will have to make smarter decisions.
RATH: Eric Holthaus is a meteorologist, and he has decided to stop flying in order to reduce his carbon footprint. Eric, thank you so much.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
A woman gestures as residents gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013. Police officials said the Friday night blast took place in the capital's eastern Mashtal neighborhood. Violence in Iraq has escalated sharply since April, 2013 following a deadly crackdown by security forces on a camp for Sunni protesters in the northern town of Hawija. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A woman gestures as residents gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013. Police officials said the Friday night blast took place in the capital's eastern Mashtal neighborhood. Violence in Iraq has escalated sharply since April, 2013 following a deadly crackdown by security forces on a camp for Sunni protesters in the northern town of Hawija. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A woman inspects the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013. Police officials said the Friday night blast took place in the capital's eastern Mashtal neighborhood. Violence in Iraq has escalated sharply since April, 2013 following a deadly crackdown by security forces on a camp for Sunni protesters in the northern town of Hawija. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide bomber slammed his explosive-laden car Sunday night into a busy cafe in Iraq's capital, part of a day of violence across the country that killed 45 people, authorities said.
The bombing at the cafe in Baghdad's primarily Shiite Amil neighborhood happened as it was full of customers. The cafe and a nearby juice shop is a favorite hang out in the neighborhood for young people, who filled the area at the time of the explosions.
The blast killed 35 people and wounded 45, Iraqi officials said.
Violence has been on the rise in Iraq following a deadly crackdown by security forces on a Sunni protest camp in the northern town of Hawijah in April. At least 385 have died in attacks in Iraq so far this month, according to an Associated Press count.
In a village north of Baghdad, a car bomb targeted a police officer's house, killing his father, brother and five nephews, officials said. Six others were wounded in the blast, which happened when the officer was not at home.
Security forces meanwhile foiled an attack on the local council of the western town of Rawah by five would-be suicide bombers disguised in police uniforms, said Muthana Ismail, head of the local security committee.
Ismail said two attackers were shot while the rest blew up themselves up outside. Two police officers and an official were killed, while 20 people were wounded, he said.
Rawha is about 330 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday's attacks, though car bombings and gun assaults are favorite tactics of al-Qaida's local branch. It frequently targets Shiites, whom it considers heretics, and those seen as closely allied to the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
Hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures for all attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.
___
Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin and Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.
Audie Cornish talks with Michael Dimock, director of the Pew Research Center for People and the Press about the Pew poll that came out Wednesday on the Tea Party and their stance on the shut down, debt ceiling, and a Tuesday poll looking at the broader GOP on the same issues.
Politicians and pollsters alike are watching to see how all this plays out. The Pew Research Center has just finished a poll to gauge the effect the shutdown and the debt ceiling debate have had on the Tea Party's image.
And joining us is Michael Dimock, director of Pew. Welcome back, Michael.
MICHAEL DIMOCK: Thanks for having me.
CORNISH: So, before we get into the numbers, just give us a snapshot of what you would consider your average Tea Party conservative. Who are they?
DIMOCK: Well, you know, the Tea Party membership is hard to define. There's no card that you get when you join the Tea Party. So we have typically just asked people at the end of our polls, just in general, do you agree with the Tea Party, disagree with the Tea Party, or don't you have an opinion either way. And what we find is about 4-in-10 Republican say they agree with the Tea Party.
These people tend to be a little more educated, a little higher income, a little whiter than nonwhite - although the Republican Party doesn't have a lot of nonwhites to start with. And their attitudes about how to approach politics and the issues of the day are very different.
CORNISH: So, Michael Dimock, the Pew has also looked at how people are viewing the debt ceiling. And in a separate poll, you asked whether people even think raising the debt ceiling is essential. How to Tea Party numbers compare there?
DIMOCK: Yeah. I mean the majority of Tea Partiers years don't think the debt ceiling needs to be raised tomorrow. Not only does it not need to be raised tomorrow, it doesn't need to be raised at all in the view of the majority of Tea Party Republicans. They really see this as a threat to America's fiscal soundness. They don't want to see increased spending and they're willing to really go to the mat on this.
CORNISH: But how does that compare to, say, independents or Republicans more broadly?
DIMOCK: Right. Right. I mean about half of independents told us that it's essential to deal with the debt ceiling by tomorrow, and only a quarter think that it doesn't need to be raised at all. Among Democrats, two-thirds say we've got to deal with this tomorrow. And very few think that this is just a non-issue the way most Tea Partiers do.
CORNISH: One of the most interesting numbers that came up is that among Tea Party Republicans, three-quarters, 76 percent, say their members of Congress should vote against a bill that they think is in the best interest of the country if a majority of the people they represent are against it. Help us make sense of that.
DIMOCK: Yeah. Well, one characteristic of Tea Partiers is they have a sort of populist view. They really want members to listen to their constituents very directly. And even if a member thinks it's in the best interest of the country to do one thing, but the constituents want the other thing, 75 percent of Tea Partiers say: You've got to listen to your constituents even in that circumstance. And I think that's what we're seeing today.
CORNISH: So what does that mean for their favorability numbers? What have you seen in terms of how the Tea Party is viewed over time?
DIMOCK: We've seen a drop in favorable opinions of the Tea Party just within the last few months. In June, 37 percent said they had a favorable impression generally of the Tea Party. That's down to 30 percent - it's the lowest that we've measured. We're seeing the unfavorable opinions of the Tea Party even reaching 49 percent - the highest that we've measured.
CORNISH: And to put this all in context, one thing you ask people is whether or not the Tea Party is part of the GOP. Tell us the answer to there and what it says about what's going on with Republicans generally.
DIMOCK: The answer is there is no answer. People don't know what the Tea Party is. Even among folks who agree with the Tea Party, 41 percent say it's part of the Republican Party; 52 percent say it's separate and independent from the Republican Party. There's not really a consensus about what the Tea Party is, whether it's kind of an outside groups trying to steer policy, or whether it's working within the Republican Party itself.
CORNISH: Michael Dimock, he's director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Michael, thank you.
DIMOCK: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
CORNISH: You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
Windows 8.1 day rolls along, and, while I assume that you have already updated if you were a Windows 8 user, Microsoft is continuing to speak out about its new software. The company has again taken to Reddit to answer questions from its community.
The full discussion is here, but since you are busy, below are the best pieces from the session. Answers are verbatim, questions are edited as needed from the original thread.
Q: Does Microsoft plan on building the Windows equivalent of NewsStand or iBooks for Windows? It would be nice to not rely on Kindle and others, and instead be able to purchase books with my Microsoft account.
Microsoft: Definitely on the radar and something we’re working on! [Source]
Q: Can we expect Windows 8.2 next October? Will Microsoft release yearly updates?
Microsoft: Hi there, our goal is to continue to deliver updates on a regular basis to respond to customer feedback and improve and enrich the Windows experience. [Source]
Q: What about users of the Enterprise build of Windows 8? Where is our new code?
Microsoft: Good news – Enterprise will be available today for SA customers. An eval edition will go up on TechNet today as well. [Source]
Q: Why did you guys take out Flickr and Facebook integration in Photos application in Windows 8.1?
Microsoft: In Windows 8, we needed to provide a way for folks to view their photos on other services knowing there would be few (if any) apps in the store at launch that would do so. Now there are many apps in the store that offer ways to view photos on other services and just released today is the Facebook app from Facebook. The Facebook app offers great ways to view and engage socially with photos on Facebook. We welcome Flickr to do the same. In addition, the People app still offers the ability to socially engage with your friends and even your own photos. [Source]
Q: Tell us something about Windows 8.1 we don’t know.
Microsoft: The work never stops – we’ve been working on 8.1 since right after we shipped 8 last year – we’ve been making improvements right up until recently. [Source]
Windows 8.1 is out, and from the smoke signals I am currently monitoring, it’s doing well in its first day of general availability in terms of activity and use. We’ll have market share data soon enough, but for now, it appears that Microsoft is having at least a passable launch day for its new code.