White House 'encouraged' by immigration progress

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House says it is "encouraged" by recent progress on efforts to overhaul immigration.

White House spokesman Jay Carney cited positive comments from a bipartisan cast of senators over the weekend. He would not comment on cautionary remarks from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a key participant in the Senate negotiations.

A proposal being assembled by a bipartisan group of eight senators would provide a new class of worker visas for low-skilled workers, secure the border, crack down on employers, improve legal immigration and create a 13-year pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants already here. Labor and business leaders have agreed on a framework for the plan.

Carney said the work by the senators reflects President Barack Obama's principles for changing immigration law. He added, "The process continues and is not finished."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-01-Obama-Immigration/id-0cae9cd804dc434ba610f0d3ee2db891

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MLB openers feature Strasburg, rivalries, AL vs NL

The Kansas City Royals have been absent from the playoffs since the day Billy Butler was born. They've barely had a winning season in the last two decades. They've often lost 100 games in a year.

And yet, buoyed by the best record in spring training, hope abounds ? for the Royals, for most everybody putting on a big league uniform.

"There's no reason we shouldn't be better," said Butler, the Royals' All-Star slugger. "How much better that is? I'm not a mind reader. I'm not a projector."

Ah, opening day.

The hot dogs taste better, the boxscores mean more and most every team thinks it's just a break or two away from reaching the World Series.

A dozen games were set for Monday across the majors. Star pitchers Justin Verlander, Stephen Strasburg and Adam Wainwright try to get off to great starts, old rivalries are renewed at Yankee Stadium and Dodger Stadium, and a quirky interleague schedule unfolds.

No snow is in the forecast for any ballpark on April Fools' Day, but freezing temperatures are expected at Target Field in Minnesota when Verlander and the AL champion Tigers take on the Twins.

"It's going to be cold but I've pitched in that kind of weather before," Verlander said. "I don't think about it. It's always cold in Detroit on opening day."

The season started Sunday night in Houston when the Astros, who shifted from the National League to the American League during the winter, beat the Texas Rangers 8-2. Astros righty Bud Norris threw a called strike to Ian Kinsler to begin the year, and Houston's Jose Altuve singled for the first hit.

Long the site of baseball's traditional opener, Cincinnati was going to have a new look Monday. That's when Josh Hamilton and his new Los Angeles Angels teammates visit Cincinnati in the first interleague matchup this season.

The Astros' move left 15 teams in each league, meaning an AL vs. NL matchup most every day this season.

"It is very strange," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

On both coasts, there was a very familiar look ? Red Sox-Yankees and Giants-Dodgers.

Mariano Rivera was set for his final opening day when the banged-up Yankees hosted Boston. The New York closer is among several big names who missed most or even all of last year ? Troy Tulowitzki, Victor Martinez and John Lackey are in that group.

Injured stars Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira won't be in pinstripes for the first pitch.

"It's still the Yankees, it's still going to be a good lineup," Boston starter Jon Lester said Sunday. "They're missing a few of their big guys but anybody that fills in for them, it's like what I said, they're going to put professional at-bats together and still ? it's not going to be a walk in the park."

No easy decisions, either, for Boston manager John Farrell, one of six new skippers in the majors this year.

At Dodger Stadium, Matt Cain starts for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants when they play Los Angeles in the century-old rivalry.

It will mark the 64th season at the microphone for Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. Heck, Tigers manager Jim Leyland seems like a mere pup by comparison, now starting his 50th year in pro ball.

All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez is sidelined for the Dodgers. Around the majors, third basemen Chase Headley of San Diego, David Freese of St. Louis and Brett Lawrie of Toronto will begin the season on the disabled list.

Mets third baseman David Wright plans to be in the lineup at Citi Field to take on San Diego. He hurt his ribcage at the World Baseball Classic.

"I feel good physically," Wright said. "It would have been nice to have maybe a few more at-bats toward the end, but I didn't have that luxury."

On Tuesday, there are two more openers ? Baltimore at Tampa Bay, and Cleveland at revamped Toronto.

All 30 teams will pay tribute to the 20 children and six adults killed last December at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Players, managers, coaches and umpires will wear a memorial patch through Tuesday that includes the seal of Newtown, a black ribbon and 26 stars, and there will be a moment of silence at each stadium.

Seven weeks after teams broke out the bats and balls, players seemed ready to get going.

"I'm really prepared. Well, finally spring training is over, it was a long one," Seattle ace Felix Hernandez said Sunday, a day before his start in Oakland.

"It's another season. We're a different team. It's always special, opening day, not for me but for all the guys," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mlb-openers-feature-strasburg-rivalries-al-vs-nl-211358296--mlb.html

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Nothing fishy about it: Fish oil can boost the immune system

Apr. 1, 2013 ? Fish oil rich in DHA and EPA is widely believed to help prevent disease by reducing inflammation, but until now, scientists were not entirely sure about its immune enhancing effects. A new report appearing in the April 2013 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, helps provide clarity on this by showing that DHA-rich fish oil enhances B cell activity, a white blood cell, challenging the notion that fish oil is only immunosuppressive. This discovery is important as it shows that fish oil does not necessarily reduce the overall immune response to lower inflammation, possibly opening the doors for the use of fish oil among those with compromised immune systems.

"Fish oil may have immune enhancing properties that could benefit immunocompromised individuals," said Jenifer Fenton, Ph.D., M.P.H., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

To make this discovery, researchers used two groups of mice. One group was fed a control diet, and the other was fed a diet supplemented with DHA-rich fish oil for five weeks. B cells were harvested from several tissues and then stimulated in culture. Researchers then looked for markers of B cell activation on the cell surface, B cell membrane changes, and B cell cytokine production. They found that DHA-enriched fish oil enhanced B cell activation and select antibody production, which may actually aid immune responses associated with pathogen clearance, while possibly dampening the totality of the inflammatory response.

"This work confirms similar findings on fish oil and B cells from our lab, and moves us one step closer to understanding the immune enhancing properties of EPA and DHA," said S. Raza Shaikh, Ph.D., a researcher also involved in the work from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at East Carolina University.

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Journal Reference:

1. E. A. Gurzell, H. Teague, M. Harris, J. Clinthorne, S. R. Shaikh, J. I. Fenton. DHA-enriched fish oil targets B cell lipid microdomains and enhances ex vivo and in vivo B cell function. Journal of Leukocyte Biology, 2012; 93 (4): 463 DOI: 10.1189/jlb.0812394

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/5_7lPVX69Fg/130401111545.htm

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Early COPD diagnosis possible with nuclear medicine

Apr. 1, 2013 ? In vivo ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) imaging can detect early changes to the lung caused by cigarette smoke exposure and provides a noninvasive method for studying lung dysfunction in preclinical models, according to research published in the April issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. These measures have the potential to be applied clinically to study and diagnose the early stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

COPD is a slow-progressing, debilitating lung disease which is commonly caused by cigarette smoking. Defining characteristics of COPD include chronic inflammation, increased mucus production, small-airway fibrosis and airspace enlargement. Many people with COPD, however, go undiagnosed until their disease has reached a more symptomatic stage and irreversible damage has occurred.

"Better diagnostic tools are needed to detect early changes in smokers to prevent further lung dysfunction and provide patients with individualized treatment regimens," said N. Renee Labiris, PhD, one of the authors of the study "Detection of Lung Dysfunction Using Ventilation and Perfusion SPECT in a Mouse Model of Chronic Cigarette Smoke Exposure." "Our preclinical study suggests that not only can V/Q imaging detect early and small changes in lung pathology, the type of V/Q mismatching could provide insight into the underlying pathologies, which current measures of lung function are unable to do."

In the study, groups of mice were exposed to cigarette smoke for 50 minutes twice daily, five days a week, for either eight or 24 weeks. Age-matched control groups of mice were also included in the study for comparison. After the final cigarette smoke exposure, V/Q single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was performed, followed by a computed tomography (CT) scan. Histologic lung sections were then collected and a semiautomated quantitative analysis of airspace enlargement was applied to whole histology slices.

Upon analysis, functional impairment was noted in the lungs due to increased inflammation and airspace enlargement. This functional impairment, measured with SPECT V/Q imaging, identified COPD characteristics before CT was able to detect structural changes in the lungs. In addition V/Q mismatching progressively increased during cigarette smoke exposure in micecompared to age-matched control mice and offered insight into the underlying pathology causing COPD.

"V/Q imaging is a common nuclear medicine technique, and SPECT/CT systems are increasingly used in clinical practice," noted Labiris. "As such, the technology examined in this study can be carried out in both preclinical and clinical settings, enabling researchers to translate preclinical investigations of disease, associated functional abnormalities and future drug targets into an improved understanding and management of the disease in patients."

Authors of the article "Detection of Lung Dysfunction Using Ventilation and Perfusion SPECT in a Mouse Model of Chronic Cigarette Smoke Exposure"include Brian N. Jobse, Departments of Medicine and Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health at St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Rod G. Rhem and Iris Q. Wang, Department of Medicine, Division of Respirology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; William B. Counter and N. Ren?e Labiris, Department of Medicine, Division of Respirology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health at St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; and Martin R. St?mpfli, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster Immunology Research Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health at St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

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Journal Reference:

1. B. N. Jobse, R. G. Rhem, I. Q. Wang, W. B. Counter, M. R. Stampfli, N. R. Labiris. Detection of Lung Dysfunction Using Ventilation and Perfusion SPECT in a Mouse Model of Chronic Cigarette Smoke Exposure. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2013; 54 (4): 616 DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.112.111419

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/O3rZmgTl_xs/130401111549.htm

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New models predict drastically greener Arctic in coming decades

Mar. 31, 2013 ? New research predicts that rising temperatures will lead to a massive "greening," or increase in plant cover, in the Arctic. In a paper published on March 31 in Nature Climate Change, scientists reveal new models projecting that wooded areas in the Arctic could increase by as much as 50 percent over the next few decades. The researchers also show that this dramatic greening will accelerate climate warming at a rate greater than previously expected.

"Such widespread redistribution of Arctic vegetation would have impacts that reverberate through the global ecosystem," said Richard Pearson, lead author on the paper and a research scientist at the American Museum of Natural History's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation.

Plant growth in Arctic ecosystems has increased over the past few decades, a trend that coincides with increases in temperatures, which are rising at about twice the global rate. The research team -- which includes scientists from the Museum, AT&T Labs-Research, Woods Hole Research Center, Colgate University, Cornell University, and the University of York -- used climate scenarios for the 2050s to explore how this trend is likely to continue in the future. The scientists developed models that statistically predict the types of plants that could grow under certain temperatures and precipitation. Although it comes with some uncertainty, this type of modeling is a robust way to study the Arctic because the harsh climate limits the range of plants that can grow, making this system simpler to model compared to other regions such as the tropics.

The models reveal the potential for massive redistribution of vegetation across the Arctic under future climate, with about half of all vegetation switching to a different class and a massive increase in tree cover. What might this look like? In Siberia, for instance, trees could grow hundreds of miles north of the present tree line.

"These impacts would extend far beyond the Arctic region," Pearson said. "For example, some species of birds seasonally migrate from lower latitudes and rely on finding particular polar habitats, such as open space for ground-nesting."

In addition, the researchers investigated the multiple climate change feedbacks that greening would produce. They found that a phenomenon called the albedo effect, based on the reflectivity of Earth's surface, would have the greatest impact on the Arctic's climate. When the sun hits snow, most of the radiation is reflected back to space. But when it hits an area that's "dark," or covered in trees or shrubs, more sunlight is absorbed in the area and temperature increases. This has a positive feedback to climate warming: the more vegetation there is, the more warming will occur.

"By incorporating observed relationships between plants and albedo, we show that vegetation distribution shifts will result in an overall positive feedback to climate that is likely to cause greater warming than has previously been predicted," said co-author Scott Goetz, of the Woods Hole Research Center.

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation, grants IPY 0732948, IPY 0732954, and Expeditions 0832782. Other authors involved in this study include Steven Phillips (AT&T Labs-Research), Michael Loranty (Woods Hole Research Center and Colgate University), Pieter Beck (Woods Hole Research Center), Theodoros Damoulas (Cornell University), and Sarah Knight (American Museum of Natural History and University of York).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Museum of Natural History, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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Journal Reference:

1. Richard G. Pearson, Steven J. Phillips, Michael M. Loranty, Pieter S. A. Beck, Theodoros Damoulas, Sarah J. Knight, Scott J. Goetz. Shifts in Arctic vegetation and associated feedbacks under climate change. Nature Climate Change, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1858

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/_-wyLznOOuE/130331165603.htm

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Nev. crash kills 5 in Calif. family; teen arrested

Five members of a Southern California family were killed Saturday when their van was rear-ended by an 18-year-old driver who was later arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, authorities said.

The dead were among seven family members who were in the van, authorities said. The other two ? the 40-year-old female driver and a 15-year-old boy ? were hospitalized in critical condition.

Jean Soriano of California was booked into the Clark County Detention Center after he was treated and released at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Loy Hixson said.

The crash happened at about 3 a.m. on Interstate 15 near the Utah line. Soriano's sport utility vehicle struck the van from behind, causing both vehicles to spin out of control and roll near Mesquite, some 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, investigators said.

A 23-year-old passenger in Soriano's SUV was treated at the hospital and released.

Authorities believe Soriano was returning from a visit with family in Utah to his home in California at the time of the wreck, Hixson said. They didn't immediately release his hometown or the names or hometowns of the victims.

Beer bottles were found in the SUV, Hixson said, and troopers performed a blood-alcohol test on Soriano at the hospital. The results won't be known for a couple of weeks, he said.

Hixson said only two of the seven people in the van were wearing seatbelts. The five who were not buckled in were ejected, but one survived.

"Unfortunately, so many in the van weren't wearing seatbelts, and some might have survived had they been wearing them," Hixson said. "We see it so many times where people can survive simply by having a seatbelt on."

The van was carrying a couple, their children and some aunts and uncles, he said. Killed were three men in their 40s, a teenage female and an adult female.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nev-crash-kills-5-calif-family-teen-arrested-022253861.html

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Pope appeals for end to Korea tensions in first Easter message

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, appearing before more than 250,000 people for his first Easter Sunday address, called for world peace, respect for the environment and a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

In his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message, he also appealed for a resumption of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, an end to the civil war in Syria and political solutions to conflicts in several African countries.

The former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, who has made defense of nature an early hallmark of his pontificate, also condemned the "iniquitous exploitation of natural resources" and urged everyone to be "guardians" of creation.

Francis delivered his message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica - the same spot from where he first appeared to the world as pope after his election on March 13 - to a crowd estimated by the Vatican at more than 250,000.

"Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow," he said, speaking in Italian.

North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea. Tensions have been high since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered a third nuclear weapons test in February, breaching U.N. sanctions and ignoring warnings from North Korea's sole major ally, China, not to do so.

People thronged the open jeep that carried Pope Francis around at the end of a Mass. He stopped to accept a jersey with his "Bergoglio" name on it from fans of an Argentine football club and to comfort a handicapped man.

Francis, who has brought a more simple and personal style to the papacy, said the message of Easter is that faith can help people transform their lives by letting "those desert places in our hearts bloom".

GUARDIANS OF CREATION

"How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to cross?! Above all, the desert within, when we have no love for God or neighbor, when we fail to realize that we are guardians of all that the creator has given us and continues to give us," he said.

Earlier, at a Mass in a square bedecked by more than 40,000 plants and flowers, he wore relatively simple white vestments, as opposed to his predecessor Benedict, who preferred elaborate robes.

The huge crowd spilled out of St. Peter's Square and into surrounding streets. They included many who had come to see a pope counted on to rehabilitate a Church marred by scandals to do with sexual abuse of children and allegations of corruption.

"It's a new pope and new beginning," said Tina Hughes, 67, who came to Rome with her family from Nottingham, England to see the pope. "I think he brings something special. He connects with people. I feel good about him."

Francis, who took his name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, who is revered as a symbol of austerity and the importance of respecting nature, said the world was "divided by greed looking for easy gain". He condemned human trafficking and violence linked to drug trafficking.

Easter Sunday, the day Christians believe Jesus was resurrected from the dead three days after his crucifixion, was the culmination of four hectic days of activity for the pope, during which he instituted several novelties.

On Holy Thursday, two women were included among the 12 people whose feet he washed and kissed during a traditional ceremony that had previously been open only to men.

Francis again showed on Sunday that he would carry out his papal duties his own way. The Vatican had prepared a list of brief Easter greetings for him in 65 languages - identical to those read by his predecessors - but he decided not read them, and spoke only in Italian.

Instead of moving into regal papal apartments, he is still living in the Vatican guesthouse where he stayed during the conclave that elected him as the first non-European pope in 1,300 years.

(Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-appeals-peace-end-korea-tensions-easter-message-102404763.html

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