BRUSSELS (AP) ? NATO will end Monday the seven-month bombing campaign that enabled Libyan rebels to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi's regime.
Spokesman Col. Roland Lavoie said NATO staff temporarily seconded to the headquarters in Naples, Italy, for the operation are being reassigned to regular duties. The alliance concluded its airstrikes soon after Gadhafi's capture and death on Oct. 20, but maintained regular air patrols over Libya.
The operations will end at midnight Libyan time (2300GMT), just days after the U.N. Security Council, which authorized the mission in March, decided to end all military action.
Allied air forces carried out 9,600 strike sorties in the past seven months, destroying about 5,900 military targets.
The mission has been hailed as a success by NATO's military and political leaders, who have argued that the bombing raids caused minimal loss of innocent lives while paralyzing Gadhafi's command and control networks and preventing his forces from carrying out reprisals against civilians.
NATO persevered during a months-long period of stalemate on the battlefields, when it appeared that Libya could become an Afghanistan-like quagmire.
"We have fully complied with the historic mandate of the United Nations," Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday. "(The operation) is one of the most successful in NATO history."
But the campaign caused deep strains within the alliance, with only eight of the 28 member states agreeing to participate in the bombing. Although allied aircraft enjoyed total air supremacy after Gadhafi's weak air defenses were incapacitated early on, it took more than seven months of daily airstrikes to finally defeat his demoralized forces.
Critics ? including Russia, China, the African Union, and other governments ? have argued that NATO misused the limited U.N. resolution imposing a no-fly zone and authorizing the protection of civilians as a pretext to promote regime change.
ST. LOUIS ? David Freese, the hometown boy made good, is the MVP of the World Series.
Down to their final strike in Game 6, the Cardinals' reluctant hero delivered a tying two-run triple in the ninth inning Thursday night. Freese then did one better: a leadoff homer in the 11th that gave St. Louis a dramatic win over the Rangers and forced the first Game 7 since 2002.
Freese, the NL championship series MVP, capped his memorable October with another strong performance Friday night, hitting a two-run double in the first inning to tie it 2-all.
Playing solid defense at third base and also drawing a pair of walks that helped lead to runs, Freese was again front and center in a 6-2 win that wrapped up the Cardinals' 11th championship.
"This means everything," Freese said.
When the final out was made, Freese threw his arms in the air and dashed for the mound, where he joined a happy scrum as confetti floated down from the upper reaches of Busch Stadium.
Freese batted .348 in the World Series, with seven RBIs, three doubles and one big homer. He's the fourth Cardinals player to win the MVP award, joining Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson in 1964 and '67, catcher Darrell Porter in 1982 and David Eckstein in their 2006 victory over Detroit.
"You learn from all these veterans about how to go about this game and I wouldn't be here without them," Freese said.
Freese could just as well be the MVP of the entire postseason.
The kid who grew up in a St. Louis suburb hit a three-run homer in Game 6 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Then came his stirring performance against the Texas Rangers in the Fall Classic.
Often lost in a high-scoring lineup that includes Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman, Freese left his impression on baseball's grandest stage out of necessity.
Holliday struggled most of the series before spraining his right wrist during Game 6, keeping him off the roster Friday. Pujols was intentionally walked whenever he was a threat.
That left the offense to Freese, who had given up on baseball after high school, spurning a scholarship offer from Missouri to simply be a college student. He even rebuffed the Tigers' coaches when they called midway through his first semester to find out whether he'd changed his mind.
It wasn't until about a year out of high school that the itch to play finally returned.
Freese gave in and enrolled at St. Louis Community College-Meremec, and his play there caught the attention of the coaching staff at South Alabama. Freese blossomed into the Padres' ninth-round draft pick in 2006, and a trade to the Cardinals eventually brought him home.
"If you wrote a story like that ? a guy gets traded, comes back to his hometown, he's a hero ? if you sent that in the script, it would get thrown back in your face," Commissioner Bud Selig opined before the start of Game 7.
This wasn't a perfect fairy tale, though. That would be too easy.
Freese needed season-ending surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right ankle last year, and he broke his left hand when he was hit by a pitch earlier this season. He was hit by another pitch in August and sustained a concussion.
Each time, he came back better than before.
He was at his best against Texas.
In the World Series opener, with the game tied in the sixth inning, Freese delivered a timely double. He alertly moved to third base on a wild pitch, allowing him to score easily for the eventual winning run on Allen Craig's single to right field.
Freese scored the Cardinals' only run in a 2-1 loss in Game 2, and then drove in a pair of runs in a 16-7 victory in Game 3 ? a performance that will be forever overshadowed by Pujols' three homers.
Nobody could overshadow Freese in Game 6.
After committing a critical error when an easy popup bounced out of his glove, Freese more than made up for it with his bat. Down to his final strike, his two-run triple in the ninth forced extra innings, and he joined Bill Mazeroski, Carlton Fisk, Kirby Puckett and Joe Carter as the only players to hit a game-winning homer in Game 6 or later of a Fall Classic.
That's pretty select company.
Much like the company he'll enjoy as MVP of the World Series.
MOSCOW ? A Russian cargo ship was launched successfully to the International Space Station on Sunday, clearing the way for the next manned mission and easing concerns about the station's future after a previous failed launch.
The unmanned Progress M-13M blasted off as scheduled at 2:11 p.m. Moscow time (1011 GMT; 6:11 a.m. EDT) from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said.
"It was a perfect launch," Lyndin told The Associated Press, adding the ship successfully reached a designated orbit and will dock at the station Wednesday. A new crew will be launched to the space outpost on Nov. 14, he said.
A Progress launch failure in August, which was blamed on an "accidental" manufacturing flaw, cast doubts about future missions to the station, because the upper stage of the Soyuz booster rocket carrying the cargo ship to orbit is similar to that used to launch astronauts.
The next Soyuz launches were delayed pending the outcome of the probe. NASA said the space station ? continuously manned for nearly 11 years ? will need to be abandoned temporarily if a new crew cannot be launched by mid-November.
NASA space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier congratulated Russia on the successful Progress launch.
"Pending the outcome of a series of flight readiness meetings in the coming weeks, this successful flight sets the stage for the next Soyuz launch, planned for mid-November," Gerstenmaier said in a statement. The station's crew, which has been reduced to three astronauts after the failed launch in August, will be restored to six in December when another trio of astronauts will be sent, he added.
The Russian spacecraft serve as the only link to the station after NASA retired the space shuttle in July.
Sundays' Progress mission was the second successful launch of a Soyuz booster rocket after the August mishap. Earlier this month, another Soyuz rocket launched the first two satellites of the European Union's Galileo navigation system from the Kourou launchpad in French Guiana. The launches followed inspections, which required the rocket engines to be sent back to manufacturers for close examination.
The August crash was the latest in a string of spectacular launch failures that have raised concerns about the condition of the nation's space industries. The Russian space agency said it will establish its own quality inspection teams at rocket factories to tighten oversight over production quality.
THURSDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Two aspirin a day may cut the risk of colon cancer by more than half in people who are predisposed to these types of tumors, new research suggests.
And two tablets of 300 milligrams each also cut the risk of other tumors related to Lynch syndrome, a major form of hereditary colon and other cancers, according to research published in the Oct. 28 online edition of The Lancet.
People with Lynch syndrome should talk to their doctors about taking daily aspirin, keeping in mind that aspirin does have side effects, including stomach ulcers, said the study authors.
Previous research has found that otherwise healthy people who take about 75 milligrams (mg) of aspirin a day reduced not only their risk of developing colon cancer but also their chances of dying from it.
But the one in 1,000 people who have Lynch syndrome, also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (or HNPCC), have a much higher risk of cancer than the general population: About half of people with these genetic abnormalities will go on to develop cancer in their 30s or 40s.
Earlier data from this trial showed no reduction in colon cancer among regular aspirin takers but that phase of the study only followed people for two years.
This part of the study, which was funded by a consortium of cancer organizations and Bayer Corporation, followed 861 carriers of Lynch syndrome for about four years.
The participants were randomized to take either 600 mg of aspirin (427 patients) in two tablets daily or a placebo (434 patients) for at least two years.
Participants were also randomized to receive a starch or a placebo. "There's evidence that people on high-carbohydrate diets have a lower incidence of colon cancer," said study lead author Dr. John Burn, professor of clinical genetics at Newcastle University in England, during a Thursday press conference.
"In people taking aspirin, there were 10 colorectal cancers versus 23 in the placebo group," Burn reported. "We reduced by 60 percent the number of colon cancers in people who actually took aspirin for two years."
The incidence of other forms of Lynch syndrome-related cancers was also reduced and the authors hope to see a reduction in non-Lynch syndrome-related cancers over the coming years.
Surprisingly, however, there was no difference in the number of polyps in the two groups, indicating that "there must be something [happening] early in the process," said Burn.
"One possibility is that [aspirin] might be enhancing programmed cell death or apoptosis in [certain] cells that will go on to become cancer," he added.
Also surprisingly, side effects from "what seems like a huge dose of aspirin," Burn said, were about equal: 11 in the treatment arm and nine in the placebo arm.
"Results of this study support aspirin use for people with Lynch syndrome, in addition to regular colonoscopies as recommended by their health care provider," said Eric Jacobs, strategic director of pharmacoepidemiology for the American Cancer Society. "However, aspirin use can have side effects and should be discussed with a health care provider."
Jacobs added that aspirin use is not presently recommended for cancer prevention alone "because even low-dose aspirin can increase the risk of serious stomach bleeding."
The next phase of the study will randomize people to receive differing doses of aspirin, from 75 mg to 600 mg, and follow them for five years.
If a lower dose proves also to be effective at lowering the incidence of colon cancer, that might reduce side effects even more, Burn said.
"This is a randomized, controlled trial so it's the best data by far you can get," said Dr. Richard Whelan, chief of colorectal surgery at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. "If you've been diagnosed with Lynch syndrome, you should talk to your doctor to make sure you're not at high risk for complications from aspirin such as a history of ulcers, gastritis, gastrointestinal problems," Whelan noted.
"If you are at risk, it may be possible to add preventive medicines to protect against ulcers and the like," he said. But the results "cannot be extrapolated to the general population," Whelan continued. "There the level of evidence is much lower."
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on colorectal cancer.
LONDON ? The Bishop of London says anti-capitalist demonstrators camped outside the city's iconic St. Paul's Cathedral have said they will likely move on.
Both the church and the local authority, the City of London Corporation, have launched legal action to seek to clear the scores of tents from a pedestrianized square and footpath outside the cathedral.
Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, held talks Sunday with demonstrators, who were inspired by New York's Occupy Wall Street movement.
He told Sky News television that the protesters had said "we shan't be here forever."
The church reopened Friday after being closed for a week on health and safety grounds, the first time the 300-year-old church had closed since German planes bombed the city during World War II.
The World Series trophy is seen before Game 6 of baseball's World Series, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, in St. Louis. The St. Louis Cardinals face the Texas Rangers in Game 7 on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
The World Series trophy is seen before Game 6 of baseball's World Series, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, in St. Louis. The St. Louis Cardinals face the Texas Rangers in Game 7 on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Fans make their way to Busch Stadium for Game 7 of baseball's World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Fans watch batting practice before Game 7 of baseball's World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Texas Rangers' Yorvit Torrealba kicks a baseball before Game 7 of baseball's World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington throws batting practice before Game 7 of baseball's World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Back and forth again.
Texas scored twice in the top of the first inning, only to have the Cardinals tie it right away on David Freese's two-run double to left-center in the bottom half.
What a run for Freese! Two-run triple Thursday night to tie it with two outs in the ninth inning, followed by his homer in the 11th to win it. All after the hometown kid (Freese grew up in a St. Louis suburb) was MVP of the NL championship series.
Yadier Molina flied out to the center field fence to end the inning, with Josh Hamilton making a nice catch to keep it tied at 2.
Hamilton and Michael Young had RBI doubles in the first off Chris Carpenter.
Rangers starter Matt Harrison got into trouble with consecutive two-out walks to Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman. C.J. Wilson already has begun warming in the bullpen.
___
It didn't take long for the Rangers to make a mistake. Ian Kinsler opened the game with a single, then was promptly picked off first base by strong-armed catcher Yadier Molina.
Not sure if Kinsler was trying to bluff a stolen base attempt and simply slipped, or if he was really going and felt as though he didn't get a good jump. Either way, he stopped and got caught in between and was picked off pretty easily.
Pained look on manager Ron Washington's face.
But that changed quickly. Elvis Andrus walked and Washington was undeterred, putting Andrus in motion on a hit-and-run. Hamilton ripped an RBI double past Pujols at first base and Young fisted a run-scoring double inside the right field line to make it 2-0 Texas.
That was all Carpenter allowed. He struck out Adrian Beltre and retired Nelson Cruz on a groundout.
___
Game 7 of the World Series. The most exciting night in baseball.
Except for last night, that is. What could possibly top that?
Following one of the most thrilling finishes in postseason history, the Rangers and Cardinals are back at it tonight, less than 20 hours after Freese's 11th-inning homer for St. Louis pushed the Series to the limit.
Truly, a Fall Classic.
Winner takes all tonight. First pitch is 8:05 p.m. EDT at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals seem to have everything on their side ? momentum, history and their No. 1 pitcher on the mound. After much debate about what manager Tony La Russa would do, Carpenter is set to start on three days' rest for the second time in his career.
The first time was Game 2 of the NL division series in Philadelphia, and that one didn't go very well. But the 36-year-old right-hander says he learned a few things about how to handle pitching on short rest.
The home team has won eight straight Game 7s in the World Series, a streak started by the Cardinals in 1982 against Milwaukee. This is the first time the Series has gone the distance since 2002, when the Angels beat San Francisco.
Harrison gets the ball for Texas. Let down by his defense, he was pulled in the fourth inning of a Game 3 defeat.
Twice, the Rangers were one strike away from their first World Series championship Thursday night. They couldn't nail it down.
Now, after such a painful defeat, can they possibly recover? The last team to win Game 7 of the World Series on the road was the Pittsburgh Pirates at Baltimore in 1979.
Almost lost in all the back-and-forth excitement Thursday night were injuries to several key players. Cruz strained his right groin and Mike Napoli twisted his left ankle, but both Rangers sluggers are in the Game 7 lineup.
Matt Holliday, however, was removed from the St. Louis roster with a bruised right wrist. Allen Craig starts in left field in place of Holliday.
La Russa also dropped slumping leadoff man Rafael Furcal to seventh in the lineup and Skip Schumaker to eighth. Second baseman Ryan Theriot is at the top of the order and Craig bats second in front of Pujols.
Holliday's absence might not be such a terrible thing for the Cardinals at this stage.
Sure, it shortens their lineup. He's a dangerous hitter and a legitimate All-Star. But he really struggled with his swing during the World Series (.158) and he hurt the Cardinals with his glove and on the bases in Game 6, too.
With Holliday out, Freese moves up to fifth in the lineup, perhaps providing better protection for Pujols and Berkman. Freese has been a clutch hitter throughout the postseason, never more so than Thursday night.
Speedy outfielder Adron Chambers, a rookie, replaced Holliday on the active roster. Fox sideline reporter Ken Rosenthal says Chambers was at a TGI Friday's with his girlfriend when he saw the scroll on television sayine he'd been added to the roster for Game 7. That's how he found out.
Clear skies at Busch Stadium. The temperature is 51 degrees, with a little light wind.
Discovery announced in Science represents 'new paradigm' in the way drugs can be manufacturedPublic release date: 27-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gabrielle DeMarco demarg@rpi.edu 518-276-6542 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, announce new method to build important heparin drug
Troy, N.Y. Robert Linhardt is working to forever change the way some of the most widely used drugs in the world are manufactured. Today, in the journal Science, he and his partner in the research, Jian Liu, have announced an important step toward making this a reality. The discovery appears in the October 28, 2011 edition of the journal Science in a paper titled "chemoenzymatic synthesis of homogeneous ultra-low molecular weight heparins."
Linhardt, the Ann and John H. Broadbent Jr. '59 Senior Constellation Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Jian Liu, a professor in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have discovered an entirely new process to manufacture ultra-low molecular weight heparin.
The research shows that the drug is identical in performance and safety to the current and successful anticoagulant fondaparinux, but is purer, faster, and less expensive to produce.
"This research represents an entirely new paradigm in drug manufacturing," Linhardt said. "With this discovery, we have successfully demonstrated that replacing the current model of drug production with a chemoenzymatic approach can greatly reduce the cost of drug development and manufacturing, while also increasing drug performance and safety, and reduce the possibility of outside drug contamination. It is our hope that this is the first step in the adoption of this method for the manufacture of many other drugs."
The new process uses chemicals and enzymes to reduce the number of steps in production of fondaparinux from approximately 50 steps down to just 10 to 12. In addition, it increases the yield from that process 500-fold compared to the current fondaparinux process, and could decrease the cost of manufacture by a similar amount, according to Linhardt.
Fondaparinux, which is sold as a name-brand drug and was also recently approved by the FDA as a generic drug, is a synthetic anticoagulant used to treat deep vein thrombosis, with over $500 million in annual sales. It is part of a much larger family of anticoagulant drugs known as heparins. But, unlike most heparin products, it is chemically synthesized from non-animal materials. All other heparin-based drugs currently on the market use materials from the intestines of pigs and lungs of cattle as source materials. Such animal materials are more likely to become contaminated, according to Linhardt.
"When we rely on animals, we open ourselves up for spreading viruses and prion diseases like mad cow disease through the use of these heparins," Linhardt said. "And because most of the raw material is imported, we often can't be sure of exactly what we are getting."
But, fondaparinux is extremely costly to produce, according to Linhardt. "The process to produce the drug involves many steps to purify the material and creates tons and tons of hazardous waste to dispose of," Linhardt said.
The new process developed by Linhardt and Liu greatly reduces the number of steps involved in the production of the drug. This reduces the amount of waste produced and the overall cost of producing the drug.
"Cost should no longer be a major factor in the use or production of this drug," Linhardt said.
The process uses sugars and enzymes that are identical to those found in the human body to build the drug piece by piece. The backbone of the material is first built sugar by sugar and then decorated with sulfate groups through the use of enzymes to control its structure and function in the body.
Linhardt and Liu have already begun testing the drug in animal models with successful results and think the drug could be quickly transferred to the market.
"Because the new drug is biologically identical in its performance to the already approved fondaparinux, the approval process for this new drug should work very similar to the approval process used for fondaparinux," Linhardt said. He also thinks that this combined chemical and enzymatic synthesis can be quickly brought to patients in need and adapted for the production of many other improved carbohydrate-containing drugs.
"During this study, we were able to quickly build multiple doses in a simple laboratory setting and feel that this is something than can be quickly and easy commercialized to reduce the cost of this drug and help to shift how pharmaceutical companies approach the synthesis of carbohydrate-containing drugs."
The finding is part of a much larger body of work occurring in the Linhardt lab to completely replace all types of heparin-based or other glycoprotein-based drugs with safer, low-cost, synthetic versions that do not rely on foreign, potentially contaminated animal sources. More information on this research can be found here, here, and here.
###
The research is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Linhardt and Liu were joined in the research by Yongmei Xu, Haoming Xu, Renpeng Liu, and Juliana Jing of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Sayaka Masuko of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and Majde Takieddin and Shaker Mousa of the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
[ | 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.
Discovery announced in Science represents 'new paradigm' in the way drugs can be manufacturedPublic release date: 27-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gabrielle DeMarco demarg@rpi.edu 518-276-6542 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, announce new method to build important heparin drug
Troy, N.Y. Robert Linhardt is working to forever change the way some of the most widely used drugs in the world are manufactured. Today, in the journal Science, he and his partner in the research, Jian Liu, have announced an important step toward making this a reality. The discovery appears in the October 28, 2011 edition of the journal Science in a paper titled "chemoenzymatic synthesis of homogeneous ultra-low molecular weight heparins."
Linhardt, the Ann and John H. Broadbent Jr. '59 Senior Constellation Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Jian Liu, a professor in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have discovered an entirely new process to manufacture ultra-low molecular weight heparin.
The research shows that the drug is identical in performance and safety to the current and successful anticoagulant fondaparinux, but is purer, faster, and less expensive to produce.
"This research represents an entirely new paradigm in drug manufacturing," Linhardt said. "With this discovery, we have successfully demonstrated that replacing the current model of drug production with a chemoenzymatic approach can greatly reduce the cost of drug development and manufacturing, while also increasing drug performance and safety, and reduce the possibility of outside drug contamination. It is our hope that this is the first step in the adoption of this method for the manufacture of many other drugs."
The new process uses chemicals and enzymes to reduce the number of steps in production of fondaparinux from approximately 50 steps down to just 10 to 12. In addition, it increases the yield from that process 500-fold compared to the current fondaparinux process, and could decrease the cost of manufacture by a similar amount, according to Linhardt.
Fondaparinux, which is sold as a name-brand drug and was also recently approved by the FDA as a generic drug, is a synthetic anticoagulant used to treat deep vein thrombosis, with over $500 million in annual sales. It is part of a much larger family of anticoagulant drugs known as heparins. But, unlike most heparin products, it is chemically synthesized from non-animal materials. All other heparin-based drugs currently on the market use materials from the intestines of pigs and lungs of cattle as source materials. Such animal materials are more likely to become contaminated, according to Linhardt.
"When we rely on animals, we open ourselves up for spreading viruses and prion diseases like mad cow disease through the use of these heparins," Linhardt said. "And because most of the raw material is imported, we often can't be sure of exactly what we are getting."
But, fondaparinux is extremely costly to produce, according to Linhardt. "The process to produce the drug involves many steps to purify the material and creates tons and tons of hazardous waste to dispose of," Linhardt said.
The new process developed by Linhardt and Liu greatly reduces the number of steps involved in the production of the drug. This reduces the amount of waste produced and the overall cost of producing the drug.
"Cost should no longer be a major factor in the use or production of this drug," Linhardt said.
The process uses sugars and enzymes that are identical to those found in the human body to build the drug piece by piece. The backbone of the material is first built sugar by sugar and then decorated with sulfate groups through the use of enzymes to control its structure and function in the body.
Linhardt and Liu have already begun testing the drug in animal models with successful results and think the drug could be quickly transferred to the market.
"Because the new drug is biologically identical in its performance to the already approved fondaparinux, the approval process for this new drug should work very similar to the approval process used for fondaparinux," Linhardt said. He also thinks that this combined chemical and enzymatic synthesis can be quickly brought to patients in need and adapted for the production of many other improved carbohydrate-containing drugs.
"During this study, we were able to quickly build multiple doses in a simple laboratory setting and feel that this is something than can be quickly and easy commercialized to reduce the cost of this drug and help to shift how pharmaceutical companies approach the synthesis of carbohydrate-containing drugs."
The finding is part of a much larger body of work occurring in the Linhardt lab to completely replace all types of heparin-based or other glycoprotein-based drugs with safer, low-cost, synthetic versions that do not rely on foreign, potentially contaminated animal sources. More information on this research can be found here, here, and here.
###
The research is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Linhardt and Liu were joined in the research by Yongmei Xu, Haoming Xu, Renpeng Liu, and Juliana Jing of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Sayaka Masuko of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and Majde Takieddin and Shaker Mousa of the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
[ | 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.
Oct. 30: Actor Dick Gautier is 74. Actor Ed Lauter is 73. Songwriter Eddie Holland is 72. Singer Grace Slick is 72. Singer Otis Williams of The Temptations is 70. Actor Henry Winkler is 66. Bassist Timothy B. Schmit of The Eagles (and Poco) is 64. Actor Harry Hamlin is 60. Actor Charles Martin Smith is 58. Country singer T. Graham Brown is 57. Actor Kevin Pollak is 54. Actor Michael Beach ("Soul Food," "Third Watch") is 48. Singer-guitarist Gavin Rossdale of Bush is 44. Actor Jack Plotnick ("Reno 911!") is 43. "Cash Cab" host Ben Bailey is 41. Actress Nia Long is 41. Country singer Kassidy Osborn of SHeDAISY is 35. Actor Matthew Morrison ("Glee") is 33. Actor Tequan Richmond ("Everybody Hates Chris") is 19.
Oct. 31: Folk singer Tom Paxton is 74. Actor Ron Rifkin ("Alias") is 72. Actress Sally Kirkland is 70. Actor David Ogden Stiers ("M.A.S.H.") is 69. Actress Deidre Hall ("Days of Our Lives") is 63. Director Peter Jackson ("Lord of the Rings") is 50. Drummer Larry Mullen of U2 is 50. Guitarist Johnny Marr of Modest Mouse (and The Smiths) is 48. Actor Dermot Mulroney is 48. Drummer Mikkey Dee of Motorhead is 48. Country singer Darryl Worley is 47. Actor Rob Schneider is 47. Actor Mike O'Malley ("Glee") is 46. Guitarist Adrock of the Beastie Boys is 45. Musician Adam Schelsinger of Fountains of Wayne is 44. Musician Rob Van Winkle (Vanilla Ice) is 43. Singer Linn Berggren of Ace of Base is 41. Actor Eddie Kaye Thomas ("American Pie") is 31. Guitarist Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance is 30. Singer-actress Willow Smith is 11.
Nov. 1: Country singer Bill Anderson is 74. Actress Barbara Bosson ("Murder One," "Hill Street Blues") is 72. Actor Robert Foxworth ("Falcon Crest") is 70. "Hustler" publisher Larry Flynt is 69. Actress Marcia Wallace is 69. Country singer Kinky Friedman is 67. Music producer David Foster is 62. Saxophonist Ronald Khalis Bell of Kool and the Gang is 60. Country singer-songwriter-producer Keith Stegall is 57. Singer Lyle Lovett is 54. Actress Rachel Ticotin is 53. Bassist Eddie MacDonald of The Alarm is 52. Singer Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers is 49. Singer-keyboardist Mags Furuholmen of A-ha is 49. Drummer Rick Allen of Def Leppard is 48. Country singer Big Kenny of Big and Rich is 48. Singer Sophie B. Hawkins is 47. Rapper Willie D of the Geto Boys is 45. Actress Toni Collette ("The United States of Tara," "Little Miss Sunshine") is 39. Actress Jenny McCarthy is 39. "American Idol" runner-up Bo Bice is 36. Actor Penn Badgely ("Gossip Girl") is 25. Actor-drummer Alex Wolff ("The Naked Brothers Band") is 14.
Nov. 2: Actress Anne Rutherford ("Gone With the Wind") is 94. Singer Earl "Speedo" Carroll of The Cadillacs and The Coasters is 74. Singer Jay Black (Jay and the Americans) is 73. Actress Stefanie Powers is 69. Keyboardist Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer is 67. Singer J.D. Souther is 66. Drummer Carter Beauford of the Dave Matthews Band is 54. Singer k.d. lang is 50. Bassist Bobby Dall of Poison is 48. Actress Lauren Velez ("Dexter") is 47. Actor David Schwimmer ("Friends") is 45. Singer Alvin Chea of Take 6 is 44. Bassist Fieldy of Korn is 42. Singer-guitarist John Hampson of Nine Days is 40. Rapper Nelly is 37. Rapper Prodigy of Mobb Deep is 37. Guitarist Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie is 36. Actor-singer Kendall Schmidt ("Big Time Rush") is 21.
Nov. 3: Actor-dancer Ken Berry ("Mayberry R.F.D.," "Mama's Family") is 78. Actor-radio personality Shadoe Stevens is 65. Singer Lulu is 63. Actress-comedian Roseanne Barr is 59. Actress Kathy Kinney ("The Drew Carey Show") is 58. Actress Kate Capshaw is 58. Comedian Dennis Miller is 58. Singer Adam Ant is 57. Actor Dolph Lundgren ("Rocky IV") is 54.
Nov. 4: Actress Doris Roberts ("Everybody Loves Raymond") is 81. Actress Loretta Swit ("M.A.S.H.") is 74. Singer Harry Elston of Friends of Distinction is 73. Singer Delbert McClinton is 71. Actress Markie Post is 61. Singer-guitarist Chris Difford of Squeeze is 57. Country singer Kim Forester of the Forester Sisters is 51. Actress Kathy Griffin is 51. Actor Ralph Macchio is 50. "Survivor" host Jeff Probst is 50. Actor Matthew McConaughey is 42. Rapper-producer Diddy (Sean Combs) is 42. Singer Shawn Rivera of Az Yet is 40.
Nov. 5: Actor Chris Robinson ("General Hospital") is 73. Actress Elke Summer is 71. Singer Art Garfunkel is 70. Actor-playwright Sam Shepard is 68. Singer Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits is 64. Actor Nestor Serrano ("24") is 56. Actor Robert Patrick ("The X-Files") is 53. Singer Bryan Adams is 52. Actress Tilda Swinton is 51. Actress-singer Andrea McArdle is 48. Actress Tatum O'Neal is 48. Singer Angelo Moore of Fishbone is 46. Actress Judy Reyes ("Scrubs") is 44. Keyboardist Mark Hunter of James is 43. Country singers Jennifer and Heather Kinley of The Kinleys are 41. Guitarist-keyboardist Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead is 40. Actor Corin Nemec ("Parker Lewis Can't Lose") is 40. Singer-guitarist Ryan Adams is 37. Guitarist Kevin Jonas of The Jonas Brothers is 24.
GENEVA ? An intensive round of talks between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear program has ended without a deal to resume formal negotiations, but top diplomats from both sides reported progress on the steps that will be needed to finally get there.
The U.S. special envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, told reporters just after the two-day talks wrapped up Tuesday that there had been progress without agreeing to a formal resumption of negotiations, either bilaterally or in the so-called six-party format that also includes China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
Nevertheless, he called it a useful meeting whose tone was "positive and generally constructive."
"There's a long history to this relationship and we have many differences, not all of which can be overcome quickly. I am confident that with continued effort on both sides, we can reach a reasonable basis of departure for formal negotiations for a return to the six-party process," Bosworth said outside the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
"We narrowed differences in terms of what has to be done before we can both agree to a resumption of the formal negotiations," he said.
In Washington, State Department officials said it could be weeks or months before North Korea responds to issues the U.S. raised during the Geneva talks.
U.S. diplomats want North Korea to adhere to a 2005 agreement requiring verifiable denuclearization in exchange for better relations with its Asian neighbors, an agreement that fell apart for reasons the two sides dispute. China, North Korea's closest ally, has urged Pyongyang to improve its strained ties with the United States and South Korea.
The North Korean delegation was headed by First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, who told reporters outside his country's U.N. mission that the two parties hope to meet again before the end of this year.
"Basically, according to our agreement from the first round of the high-level talks, we have focused our discussion on the confidence building measures to improve the North and the U.S. relationship," Kim said.
"During the process, there were series of big improvements, and there were also some parts we had differences in opinion," he said. "We decided to review those and solve them when we meet again."
Bosworth said the two sides would remain in touch through the "New York channel" ? North Korea's mission to the United Nations in New York ? since the two nations have no formal relations.
"We came to the conclusion that we will need more time and more discussion to reach agreement," said Bosworth, accompanied by Glyn Davies, the U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, who is taking over the negotiating in future talks. "So we will go back to capitals and consult further."
Beijing, too, wants to revive the stalled six-nation disarmament negotiations. North Korea walked out on the talks in 2009 ? and exploded a second nuclear-test device ? but now wants to re-engage. Last year, Pyongyang also was blamed for two military attacks on South Korea that heightened tensions on the peninsula.
Bosworth talked about a narrowing of differences during the two-day meeting, but provided no specifics.
The first day was held at the U.S. mission to the U.N.'s European headquarters in Geneva. On the second day Tuesday, the two sides met for a "working lunch" of a little more than an hour at the North Korean mission, on the opposite side of Lake Geneva, then talked for one hour more before breaking up.
After the first day of talks Monday, Bosworth also said the two sides were narrowing their differences. The start of Tuesday's closely watched talks was delayed without explanation.
Bosworth said the discussions also "touched on all issues" ? such as urgently needed food aid for the North, families long separated on the Korean peninsula and the remains of troops missing in action.
The U.N.'s top relief official, Valerie Amos, said Monday after visiting North Korea that it was "not appropriate" for the nuclear talks in Switzerland to extend to humanitarian assistance to the chronically hungry Asian country because that aid "must be kept separate from a political agenda."
The U.N. is urging countries to provide $218 million in emergency aid to North Korea.
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Follow John Heilprin at http://www.twitter.com/JohnHeilprin
FRANKFURT, Germany ? German automaker Daimler AG said net profit fell 16 percent in the third quarter to euro1.36 billion ($1.9 billion) as a troubled economy in Europe and model changeover costs held back earnings at its mainstay Mercedes-Benz division.
Company revenue rose 9 percent to euro26.4 billion ($36.8 billion) and the Mercedes division hit a record for unit sales in the quarter with 315,400 worldwide.
But the company pointed to growing headwinds from Europe's debt crisis and an increasingly unstable global economic environment.
For the company as a whole, revenue from Western Europe rose a bare 1 percent and fell by 2 percent in the United states.
"In Western Europe ... there is little sign of any significant growth impetus," the company said Thursday in the earnings report, citing the impact on confidence of the crisis over too much debt in some European countries.
Emerging markets are seeing slowing and more uneven growth as central banks in those countries raise interest rates to combat inflation, the company said. China's auto market continues to grow, but vehicle registrations fell in India and growth slowed in Brazil.
Earnings from Mercedes-Benz, measured before interest and taxes, fell 15 percent to euro1.11 billion due to "a number of factors with negative impact on earnings." Those included upcoming model changeovers, higher raw-material costs, and increases in research and development expenses.
CEO Dieter Zetsche, who also heads the Mercedes division, said the company remained on course and reaffirmed its profit target for the year, saying operating earnings would show a "very significant" increase over last year.
"Daimler operated very successfully also in the third quarter," Zetsche said in a statement. "All the divisions are pursuing their goals very consistently and are right on track."
The company missed estimates from analysts surveyed by Factset of euro1.40 billion, in part because it took a writedown of euro110 million ($153 million) for its investment in Renault and another, euro23 million ($32 million) charge for its investment in Russia's Kamaz because both companies' share prices have taken a sharp fall.
Analyst Max Warburton at Bernstein Research wrote that "these are solid results, but obviously slightly light versus consensus."
He said Mercedes profit margins were good at over 8 percent but after 10 percent in the first half, "they're not standout" ? especially as competitors BMW AG and VW's Audi run at double-digit margins.
Mercedes sold a record 337,200 vehicles globally in the quarter, but upcoming model changes in the B-Class and M-Class models held sales in Western Europe below last year's level, and sales in the U.S. came in 200 units under last year's level of 55,100. China showed strong growth, as that market passed the United States in unit sales with 56,000 vehicles, up from 39,200 the year before.
The company said the global economy was still growing but had entered "rough waters" marked by sudden swings on financial markets and concerns about high levels of government debt in the U.S. and the euro currency zone that were weighing on confidence. Europe's debt crisis and attempts to cut government spending in indebted countries "are an increasing burden on economic developments."
Eurozone leaders arrived at a deal early Thursday to reduce Greece's debt by having banks holding the country's bonds take larger losses, but spending reductions in Greece and other countries with high debts such as Ireland, Portugal, and Spain continue to weigh on those economies.
(This version CORRECTS writedown figures for Renault and Kamaz.)
LOS ANGELES ? Paramount Pictures' release of "Puss in Boots 3D" from Dreamworks Animation should easily claw its way to the top of the weekend box office chart with a $35 million debut.
The "Shrek 2" spinoff character was an obvious choice for his own movie, given the appeal and popularity of Puss as effectively voiced by actor Antonio Banderas. Also starring Salma Hayek and Zach Galifianakis, the PG-Rated film will be like catnip to family audiences looking for a fun romp at the multiplex.
"Paranormal Activity 3" from Paramount Pictures shocked everyone last weekend with its $52.57 million debut and it should scare up another $18 million to $20 million this Halloween weekend.
Fox's sci-fi thriller "In Time," starring newly-minted movie star Justin Timberlake, will likely open in third place with a gross in the low teens. Set in a world where people can pay to stop aging when they reach 25 years old, the film shows the unpleasant consequences of what happens when such an unnatural yet irresistible option is made available to the populace.
Debuting in fourth place with a likely $9 million to $12 million take will be a very inebriated Johnny Depp as Journalist Paul Kemp in Film District's adaptation of the Hunter S. Thompson novel "The Rum Diary." Written in 1961 but not published until 1998, the book was shepherded to the big screen by Depp, who previously appeared in another Thompson screen adaptation, 1998's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."
Paramount's "Footloose" will step into fifth place in its third weekend with a gross in the $7 million range after earning solid mid-week numbers.
___
Paul Dergarabedian is president of the Box Office Division of Hollywood.com and provides box office analysis for The Associated Press.
Libya, by contrast, has neither a sophisticated economy, nor an articulate population, nor any political experience whatsoever. There were no political parties under Qaddafi?not even fake, government-controlled political parties.?There was no media, or even reliable information, to speak of. Libyan journalists were the most heavily controlled in the Arab world, hardly anyone has Internet access, and there is no tradition of investigative reporting. During four decades in power, Qaddafi destroyed the army, the civil service,?and the educational system. The country produces nothing except oil, and none of the profits from that oil ever seem to have trickled down to anybody. Some 60 percent of the population works for the government, at very low salaries?a few hundred dollars a month. There is hardly any infrastructure, outside of a few roads. There is hardly any social life, since so many young people were too poor to marry. And even if there were social life, there wouldn?t be any public spaces to enjoy it: Trash is scattered along the undeveloped beaches, and old plastic bags blow across weed-clogged city parks.
A research team led by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered four new "ZIP codes" in their quest to map the vast blood vessel network of the human body.
The study, published online the week of Oct. 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, brings science one step closer to the goal of using the vascular system to personalize cancer therapy, as well as fight obesity, heart disease and other disorders. Researchers also found that some addresses are shared in vasculature across the board instead of always being organ-specific.
The study is part of ongoing research to identify specific and unique addresses, or ZIP codes, within the body's vascular system and use them to develop diagnostic, imaging and therapeutic strategies. Husband-and-wife research team Wadih Arap, M.D., Ph.D., and Renata Pasqualini, Ph.D., professors at the David H. Koch Center for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers at MD Anderson, pioneered the concept and were senior authors of the paper.
"By identifying vascular ZIP codes, we bring medicine closer to the ultimate goal of targeted therapies," Pasqualini said.
Innovative methods help investigation
This study supports the Arap-Pasqualini lab's ongoing research to show blood vessels are more than a uniform and ubiquitous "pipeline" that serves the circulatory system.
More than a decade ago, the group pioneered a screening technique that employs billions of viral particles, called phage, to discover, validate and use blood vessel diversity. The particles are packaged with small fragments of proteins called peptides that act as ligands. When injected into the body, they bind to specific receptors in the blood vessels and organs.
"This process is like a 'molecular mass mailing' to all addresses in the body," Arap said. "The peptides travel until they find a target and bind to it, then with our novel technology we recover and identify them. Knowing the characteristics of the peptides and where they attach can help us understand the vascular system's molecular makeup and develop therapies focusing on disease sites."
This new study was the first in which researchers evaluated the molecular repertoire of protein diversity in several patients, targeting multiple organs at once.
In three cancer patients, serial rounds of peptide collection were followed by biopsies from various tissues to determine where and how the peptides homed, which enabled the enrichment of targeting peptides for identifying ligand-receptors. After systemic delivery of a peptide library to the first patient, phage were recovered from organs, pooled and serially screened in two subsequent patients. Large-scale sequencing was then performed.
"This uncovered a new twist for the vascular map," Pasqualini said. "To this point, we had seen mainly addresses that were organ and tissue specific. Because of this synchronized method, we discovered some markers are vascular-associated at multiple sites."
Shared addresses surprise researchers
Analysis revealed four native ligand-receptors, three of which were previously unrecognized.
Two are shared among multiple tissues (integrin a4/annexin A4 and cathepsin B/apolipoprotein E3) and the other two have a restricted and specific distribution in normal tissue (prohibitin/annexin A2 in white fat tissue) or cancer (RAGE/leukocyte proteinase-3 in bone metastases).
The discovery of shared addresses especially intrigued researchers.
"No one knew about the novel aspect surrounding these particular proteins, and the fact that they can interact and come together to serve a common purpose," Pasqualini said. "There are likely to be many more."
A tissue-specific vascular-targeting system, comprising ANXA2 and prohibitin, was found as a ligand-receptor in human white adipose (fat) tissue vasculature. In earlier research, targeting of prohibitin with an apoptotic agent caused dramatic weight loss in obese rodents. The lab is applying to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a clinical trial for a new drug that will test this principle for weight loss in humans.
Moving the impact forward
This project establishes that large-scale study of the human vasculature can uncover many unidentified or unique molecular networks that can contribute to the treatment of many diseases.
"This endeavor and the applications of our findings are exciting," Arap said. "There are going to be many more receptors and many levels of diversity. We've just scratched the surface."
Translational applications, such as first-in-man clinical trials, have started within MD Anderson. The FDA has granted a safe-to-proceed status for the first vascular-targeted Investigational New Drug (IND). Three other drugs are in pre-IND stage, and several others are in pre-clinical laboratory phase.
"I believe these strategies to identify therapeutic targets on the vasculature are truly innovative both from a scientific and clinical perspective," said David Cheresh, Ph.D., associate director for Translational Research at the University of California, San Diego Cancer Center and noted authority on angiogenesis and cancer metastasis. "Identifying such targets will ultimately pave the way for the next generation of smart/targeted cancer therapies."
MD Anderson and some of its researchers, including Arap and Pasqualini, have equity positions in drug-development companies Alvos Therapeutics and Ablaris Therapeutics, which are subjected to certain restrictions under institutional policy. MD Anderson manages and monitors the terms of these arrangements in accordance with its conflict-of-interest policy.
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University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center: http://www.mdanderson.org
Thanks to University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center for this article.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The Obama administration is willing to work with Congress on a bill to address China currency and trade concerns but believes some provisions of pending legislation would violate international trade rules, a top U.S. Treasury official said on Tuesday.
"Aspects of pending legislation ... do raise concerns about consistency with our international obligations and we are discussing these issues with members," U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Lael Brainard told the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee.
The Obama administration believes any bill passed by Congress should meet the test of being "effective and consistent with our international obligations, and we are very willing to work with members of Congress on that front," Brainard said.
She declined to discuss what specific provisions of a bill passed by the Senate and another pending in the House of Representatives might violate World Trade Organization because of the prospect that the United States might ultimately have to defend the legislation against a challenge from China.
(Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Real Estate Investing In Sacramento County Is Easy!
I know a lot of Real Estate Investors in Sacramento. Not all of them are always making money. Many get hammered in the construction and several others simply overbuy. Many Beginning Investors make the huge mistake of holding out for the perfect offer. So why are some of my Investor friends more successful than others?
I know many Beginning Investors have initial problems acquiring funding for projects. Often times it?s this very struggle that prevents many would be investors from being involved. However once the funding is solved up comes the next issue. There is a fine line that needs to be walked. It?s important to turn the inventory and not actually hold properties. This is of course assuming you?re flipping.
We are a successful team of Real Estate Investors. We have been investing in Sacramento for the last 3 years with great success. Our track record is impressive and our purchasing investors are loyal. We have found that our products sell quickly. Here are a few tips that have helped carve our success.
1. Don?t fight construction. 2. Don?t be greedy. 3. Don?t under estimate how much work this is.
DON?T FIGHT CONSTRUCTION Most Real Estate Investors are not contractors. Most of the people I know who invest are certainly knowledgeable but far from experts in construction. This means that at the onset we are going to be relying on someones expertise. For most starting out this is where the dangerous stuff happens.
Construction costs are always on the rise. It seems no matter what the budget is initially, it changes. So how is a new investor to keep hold of this animal? Find people who are already running crews and hire them.
Yes believe it or not there are entire teams of people out there who do nothing but construction for property flippers. Eventually you will create your own team but in the beginning it?s important to get your costs in line. Working with an experienced team is a great way to quickly establish what your construction costs will be.
DON?T BE GREEDY. Sounds simple right? Simple isn?t always easy. Once the numbers start adding up it?s easy to get greedy?DON?T DO IT.
If everyone in the deal makes a fair profit then everyone returns for another. However if you screw your construction crews they will screw you back. If you start giving slimmer deals so you can make more up front then the investors will stop purchasing. If you don?t pay your people properly then someone else will.
Last year we did well north of 120 houses. It is impossible to do that type of volume and screw people. It?s vital that your system is built on honesty and is done so brick by brick. Please make sure all your partners are also honest and understand the value of opportunity cost.
This is a particularly sensitive one for me since I have seen other investors break this rule. I know a ton of greedy investors. However it?s important I know them since they are the ones who want my deals! An investor who isn?t somewhat greedy is an animal I have yet to find.
If you are a greedy investor that?s ok! Just don?t let that spill into the operations side of things IE.. not paying construction etc.. Whenever I bring this up everyone always goes ?yeah ,yeah, not me?. Yet I have seen it time and time again. I hear about it in the grapevine constantly. So and so didn?t pay on time, didn?t pay right, didn?t pay at all.
Last but not least. THIS IS A LOT OF WORK. The due diligence is where a lot of time is spent. Since this is early in the process it is the most frustrating part. It is always funner to work closer to the money!
However spending a lot of time making sure the investment is sound is the cornerstone of success. If you spend your time focused on making sure your investments are solid you will be successful. Remember it?s important we do everything we can to reduce risk. The time spent reducing risk will be rewarded with profit when the deals sell.
As usual there will be the naysayers and the critics. Make it a SmartFlip from the start.
Tagged as: beginning investing, house flipping, investing in sacramento, investment opportunity, real estate system
ZURICH (Reuters) ? Swiss bank UBS AG posted a better-than-expected third-quarter net profit Tuesday, with its core wealth management business performing well despite last month's trading scandal, although it warned of tough times ahead.
Managing money for wealthy clients held up well, with strong inflows to the bank's Americas unit, despite the rogue trades which came to light in mid-September and lost it 1.8 billion Swiss francs ($2 billion), UBS said.
Although net profit for the period fell 39 percent to 1.018 billion francs, it beat average analyst forecasts for 276 million, as big one-off gains UBS had flagged earlier this month offset the trading loss.
"The figures are better than expected, even though they massaged them somewhat. But the result is still good. Wealth management is going very well and I think that will be the direction they want to push the bank in," said one trader.
UBS shares were up 2 percent at 11.36 francs at 0847 GMT, compared with a flat European banking index.
Interim Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti, appointed after Oswald Gruebel quit over the trading loss, described the quarter as "very challenging for both the industry and the bank" and said the fourth quarter had started with "increased evidence of strain to the financial system."
In the absence of a resolution of the euro zone debt crisis and an improved U.S. economic outlook, "current market conditions and trading activity are unlikely to improve materially, potentially creating headwinds for growth in revenues and net new money," the bank said.
INVESTMENT BANK RESTRUCTURING
Ermotti said he was finalising plans to restructure the troubled UBS investment bank ahead of an investor day on November 17, but the broad strategy was already clear.
"Our goal is to continue to be the preeminent wealth management franchise in the world together with a very strong presence in Switzerland," he told a call for analysts.
"We want to have a strong, profitable, focused investment bank and asset management businesses to support this strategy."
Chief Financial Officer Tom Naratil said the bank would only give details next month of any possible new job cuts from the restructuring as well as details on when it plans to resume paying a dividend and how it will build its capital.
Naratil said an internal investigation into the trading scandal showed its controls had not been effective with shortcomings related to trading counterparties. He said the bank would take further disciplinary action if necessary.
Earlier this month, the bank accepted the resignation of the two co-head of global equities, Francois Gouws and Yassine Bouhara, over the unauthorised trades.
Kweku Adoboli, who is accused of running up the trades, made no application for bail last week and will appear for a plea and case management hearing next month.
The bank, which already said the scandal had not resulted in many clients withdrawing their money in the quarter, reported wealth management net inflows of 7.8 billion francs, down from 8.2 billion in the previous three months.
That included a better-than-expected 4 billion francs of net inflows in its Americas wealth management business, while the European offshore business reported net outflows due to pressure on Switzerland's tax haven status.
Naratil declined to comment on client trends in the current quarter after the trading loss.
"Wealth management has not blown out the light this quarter," said Kepler analyst Dirk Becker. "We will see how the trading incident might have further affected the group's reputation only in the coming quarters."
ACCOUNTING GAIN
Rival Deutsche Bank also reported forecast-beating third-quarter profits Tuesday, as retail banking and asset management offset a slump in investment banking, but similarly warned that the near term outlook was highly dependent on the resolution of the euro zone debt crisis.
UBS said a 1.765 billion franc gain on the value of its own debt and 722 million from the sale of treasury-related investments helped make up for the trading loss and 387 million francs of restructuring costs it booked in the quarter.
This accounting gain -- which occurs because the bank could profit from buying back its own bonds at lower levels -- also gave a big boost this quarter to profits at most U.S. banks.
However, UBS results also mirrored their U.S. peers in showing declining bond and stock revenues as sovereign debt worries spiraled in the three months to September.
The investment bank posted a pre-tax loss of 650 million francs as it said revenues fell across all business areas due to the difficult market conditions and the strong Swiss franc.
Its foreign exchange business performed well, with revenues more than doubling on volatility and good client flows.
Vontobel analyst Teresa Nielsen said even though investment bank revenues were weak, the cost base was reduced more than expected. "We see the Q3 results as being positive in a difficult quarter," she said.
Ermotti said a program announced in August to cut 3,500 jobs from the bank's some 66,000 staff was on track but said the bank would remain vigilant on costs, echoing similar comments from Deutsche Bank which Tuesday said tough market conditions could lead to more job cuts.
The bank also confirmed the reliability of its financial statements in its 2010 annual report, despite the trading scandal.
(Additional reporting by Caroline Copley and Rupert Pretterklieber; Editing by Sophie Walker and Alexander Smith)
Artificial intelligence researcher, John McCarthy, has died. He was 84.
The American scientist invented the computer language LISP.
It went on to become the programming language of choice for the AI community, and is still used today.
Professor McCarthy is also credited with coining the term "Artificial Intelligence" in 1955 when he detailed plans for the first Dartmouth conference. The brainstorming sessions helped focus early AI research.
Prof McCarthy's proposal for the event put forward the idea that "every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it".
The conference, which took place in the summer of 1956, brought together experts in language, sensory input, learning machines and other fields to discuss the potential of information technology.
Other AI experts describe it as a critical moment.
"John McCarthy was foundational in the creation of the discipline Artificial Intelligence," said Noel Sharkey, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Sheffield.
"His contribution in naming the subject and organising the Dartmouth conference still resonates today."
LISP
Prof McCarthy devised LISP at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which he detailed in an influential paper in 1960.
The computer language used symbolic expressions, rather than numbers, and was widely adopted by other researchers because it gave them the ability to be more creative.
"The invention of LISP was a landmark in AI, enabling AI programs to be easily read for the first time," said Prof David Bree, from the Turin-based Institute for Scientific Interchange.
"It remained the AI language, especially in North America, for many years and had no major competitor until Edinburgh developed Prolog."
Regrets
In 1971 Prof McCarthy was awarded the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery in recognition of his importance to the field.
He later admitted that the lecture he gave to mark the occasion was "over-ambitious", and he was unhappy with the way he had set out his new ideas about how commonsense knowledge could be coded into computer programs.
However, he revisted the topic in later lectures and went on to win the National Medal of Science in 1991.
After retiring in 2000, Prof McCarthy remained Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Stanford University, and maintained a website where he gathered his ideas about the future of robots, the sustainability of human progress and some of his science fiction writing.
"John McCarthy's main contribution to AI was his founding of the field of knowledge representation and reasoning, which was the main focus of his research over the last 50 years," said Prof Sharkey
"He believed that this was the best approach to developing intelligent machines and was disappointed by the way the field seemed to have turned into high speed search on very large databases."
Prof Sharkey added that Prof McCarthy wished he had called the discipline Computational Intelligence, rather than AI. However, he said he recognised his choice had probably attracted more people to the subject.
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Public release date: 27-Oct-2011
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