LONDON (AP) — Britain's Jim Crace and New Zealand's Eleanor Catton are the favorites to win the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday, among six contenders who include the first black African woman to be a finalist and a Zen Buddhist priest.
Bookmakers say Crace's village parable "Harvest" and Catton's sprawling gold-rush saga "The Luminaries" were leading the betting for the 50,000 pound ($80,000) award, followed by Colm Toibin's Bible-inspired novella "The Testament of Mary."
Crace, at 67, is the oldest writer in contention while Catton is the youngest at 28.
The other finalists are the Indian-American journey "The Lowland," by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri; the shantytown-set story "We Need New Names" by Zimbabwe's NoViolet Bulawayo; and the Pacific-crossing tale "A Tale for the Time Being" by Canada's Ruth Ozeki, who is also a Buddhist priest.
The Booker, which brings huge publicity and a sales boost for its winners, is closely followed by readers, booksellers and literary gamblers.
The diversity of the list makes this year's contest especially unpredictable. Crace and Toibin are both previous Booker finalists. The other four writers — all women — are first-time nominees.
The winner will be announced during a ceremony at London's medieval Guildhall, with Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, on hand to present the award.
Founded in 1969, the award is open to British, Irish and Commonwealth authors. That is about to change — beginning next year, Americans and other English-language writers will be able to enter as well.
There is already a strong American accent to this year's contest — Lahiri, Bulawayo, Toibin and Ozeki are all at least partly U.S.-based.
The rule change aims to expand the scope and prestige of the Booker, but some fear it may alter the delicate chemistry of the prize.
The award is officially named the Man Booker Prize after its sponsor, the financial services firm Man Group PLC.
___
Online: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/
Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless
Beyond antibiotics: 'PPMOs' offer new approach to bacterial infection, other diseases
Public release date: 15-Oct-2013 [
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Contact: Bruce Geller gellerb@orst.edu 541-737-1845 Oregon State University
CORVALLIS, Ore. Researchers at Oregon State University and other institutions today announced the successful use of a new type of antibacterial agent called a PPMO, which appears to function as well or better than an antibiotic, but may be more precise and also solve problems with antibiotic resistance.
In animal studies, one form of PPMO showed significant control of two strains of Acinetobacter, a group of bacteria of global concern that has caused significant mortality among military personnel serving in Middle East combat.
The new PPMOs offer a fundamentally different attack on bacterial infection, researchers say.
They specifically target the underlying genes of a bacterium, whereas conventional antibiotics just disrupt its cellular function and often have broader, unwanted impacts. As they are further developed, PPMOs should offer a completely different and more precise approach to managing bacterial infection, or conceptually almost any disease that has an underlying genetic component.
The findings were published today in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, by researchers from OSU, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Sarepta, Inc., a Corvallis, Ore., firm.
"The mechanism that PPMOs use to kill bacteria is revolutionary," said Bruce Geller, a professor of microbiology in the OSU College of Science and lead author on the study. "They can be synthesized to target almost any gene, and in that way avoid the development of antibiotic resistance and the negative impacts sometimes associated with broad-spectrum antibiotics.
"Molecular medicine," Geller said, "is the way of the future."
PPMO stands for a peptide-conjugated phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer a synthetic analog of DNA or RNA that has the ability to silence the expression of specific genes. Compared to conventional antibiotics, which are often found in nature, PPMOs are completely synthesized in the laboratory with a specific genetic target in mind.
In animal laboratory tests against A. baumannii, one of the most dangerous Acinetobacter strains, PPMOs were far more powerful than some conventional antibiotics like ampicillin, and comparable to the strongest antibiotics available today. They were also effective in cases where the bacteria were resistant to antibiotics.
PPMOs have not yet been tested in humans. However, their basic chemical structure, the PMO, has been extensively tested in humans and found safe. Although the addition of the peptide to the PPMO poses an uncertain risk of toxicity, the potency of PPMOs reduces the risk while greatly improving delivery of the PMOs into bacterial cells, Geller said.
Geller said research is being done with Acinetobacter in part because this pathogen has become a huge global problem, and is often spread in hospitals. It can cause respiratory infection, sepsis, and is a special concern to anyone whose immune system is compromised. Wounds in military battle conditions have led to numerous cases in veterans, and A. baumannii is now resistant to many antibiotics. "Urgent new approaches to therapeutics are needed," the scientists said in their report.
Continued research and eventually human clinical trials will be required before the new compounds are available for health care, the researchers said. This and continued studies have been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the other collaborators and the N.L. Tartar fund.
###
Editor's Note: A scanning electron microscope image of A. baumannii is available online (please provide image credit as indicated at web site): http://bit.ly/GztejR
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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.
Beyond antibiotics: 'PPMOs' offer new approach to bacterial infection, other diseases
Public release date: 15-Oct-2013 [
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Bruce Geller gellerb@orst.edu 541-737-1845 Oregon State University
CORVALLIS, Ore. Researchers at Oregon State University and other institutions today announced the successful use of a new type of antibacterial agent called a PPMO, which appears to function as well or better than an antibiotic, but may be more precise and also solve problems with antibiotic resistance.
In animal studies, one form of PPMO showed significant control of two strains of Acinetobacter, a group of bacteria of global concern that has caused significant mortality among military personnel serving in Middle East combat.
The new PPMOs offer a fundamentally different attack on bacterial infection, researchers say.
They specifically target the underlying genes of a bacterium, whereas conventional antibiotics just disrupt its cellular function and often have broader, unwanted impacts. As they are further developed, PPMOs should offer a completely different and more precise approach to managing bacterial infection, or conceptually almost any disease that has an underlying genetic component.
The findings were published today in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, by researchers from OSU, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Sarepta, Inc., a Corvallis, Ore., firm.
"The mechanism that PPMOs use to kill bacteria is revolutionary," said Bruce Geller, a professor of microbiology in the OSU College of Science and lead author on the study. "They can be synthesized to target almost any gene, and in that way avoid the development of antibiotic resistance and the negative impacts sometimes associated with broad-spectrum antibiotics.
"Molecular medicine," Geller said, "is the way of the future."
PPMO stands for a peptide-conjugated phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer a synthetic analog of DNA or RNA that has the ability to silence the expression of specific genes. Compared to conventional antibiotics, which are often found in nature, PPMOs are completely synthesized in the laboratory with a specific genetic target in mind.
In animal laboratory tests against A. baumannii, one of the most dangerous Acinetobacter strains, PPMOs were far more powerful than some conventional antibiotics like ampicillin, and comparable to the strongest antibiotics available today. They were also effective in cases where the bacteria were resistant to antibiotics.
PPMOs have not yet been tested in humans. However, their basic chemical structure, the PMO, has been extensively tested in humans and found safe. Although the addition of the peptide to the PPMO poses an uncertain risk of toxicity, the potency of PPMOs reduces the risk while greatly improving delivery of the PMOs into bacterial cells, Geller said.
Geller said research is being done with Acinetobacter in part because this pathogen has become a huge global problem, and is often spread in hospitals. It can cause respiratory infection, sepsis, and is a special concern to anyone whose immune system is compromised. Wounds in military battle conditions have led to numerous cases in veterans, and A. baumannii is now resistant to many antibiotics. "Urgent new approaches to therapeutics are needed," the scientists said in their report.
Continued research and eventually human clinical trials will be required before the new compounds are available for health care, the researchers said. This and continued studies have been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the other collaborators and the N.L. Tartar fund.
###
Editor's Note: A scanning electron microscope image of A. baumannii is available online (please provide image credit as indicated at web site): http://bit.ly/GztejR
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]
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.
LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in Royal Mail rocketed to a near 40 percent premium above their issue price in Friday's stock market debut, fuelling a debate about whether they had been priced too low in order to guarantee a successful privatisation.
The share price increase, which lifted the value of the near 500-year-old company to as much as 4.56 billion pounds in one of Britain's biggest state sell-offs for decades, came after criticism from the opposition Labour party that the government was short-changing taxpayers.
The stock hit an early high of 456 pence after the hugely oversubscribed sale of a majority stake, priced at 330p and generating 1.7 billion pounds for the government before fees and a possible "overallotment" option of extra shares which can be sold depending on demand.
By 1253 GMT the shares were trading at 440p.
Business Secretary Vince Cable denied the government had undervalued Royal Mail, whose red post boxes decorated with the Royal Crest are a feature of landscapes from Land's End in southwest England to John o'Groats in the far north of Scotland.
"You get an enormous amount of froth and speculation in the aftermath of a big initial public offering (IPO) of this kind," Cable told the BBC. "What matters is where the price eventually settles and ... that's what we're really interested in."
After receiving around 27 billion pounds worth of orders for the 1.7 billion worth of shares on offer, the government allocated 33 percent of the offering to members of the public, with the rest going to institutions such as pension funds.
Financial bookmaker IG said 102 million shares had changed hands in the first hour, almost a fifth of the total on offer. "Clearly there has been an awful lot of euphoria and maybe an element of hype ... so maybe people have got a bit carried away," said David Jones, IG's chief market strategist.
Brokerages including Hargreaves Lansdown reported the surge in demand meant some customers had problems accessing their accounts. A spokesman said Hargreaves had put six times the normal number of people on the dealing lines taking calls.
The appeal of the stock was boosted by a lucrative dividend promise, consisting of a final 2014 dividend totalling 133 million pounds, equating to a full-year payout of 200 million or an implied yield of 6.1 percent - attractive at a time when a regular UK savings account is yielding less than 3 percent.
LONG TERM
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which is holding a strike ballot over pay and job security, protested against the sale outside the London Stock Exchange. Around 30 gathered holding banners with slogans such as "The great Royal Mail robbery".
The government handed 10 percent of Royal Mail's shares to staff in the largest share giveaway of any major British privatisation, with just 368 of the 150,000 eligible UK-based workers declining to take up their free shares.
CWU General Secretary Billy Hayes said Friday's share price move showed the firm had been undervalued by a billion pounds. "It's outrageous what's happening today," he told Reuters.
Dominic Beck, a west-London based Royal Mail worker of 20 years, said he was concerned about the future of his job. "History shows us that when companies privatise, workforces deteriorate very rapidly," said Beck, who like other staff is required to hold his free shares for three years.
Simon Maughan, analyst at Olivetree Financial Group, estimated that on a forward EV/EBITDA (enterprise value to core earnings) basis, Royal Mail would be valued in line with the EU parcel and postal sector average of around 6.8 times, including peers such as Austrian Post, at about 460p per share.
Businesses are typically sold at a discount of 10 to 15 percent in IPOs to compensate investors for risking their money.
A person familiar with the matter said there were factors to consider in Royal Mail's valuation, including challenges such as the risk of strike action and its declining letters business, as well as the unusually large stake being sold in one go.
"When you look at the price at which you can sell 60 percent of a company that has never been listed before on one day, compared to the price you can trade a small parcel of shares in the market, clearly there is a massive discount," he said.
Royal Mail's public offering leaves the government with a 38 percent stake, but this could fall to 30 percent should it choose to exercise the overallotment option.
The shares, which could be eligible to join the FTSE 100 index of leading companies at its next review in December, are trading conditionally until October 15, meaning in theory if the sale was cancelled the trades would be void.
Only institutions - and those who ordered stock through a broker offering conditional trade - can so far sell, not those who bought through the official website or by post. It was not clear what proportion of private investors are excluded from selling until unconditional trade starts next week.
Goldman Sachs and UBS ran the sale, and were also joint bookrunners along with Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Lazard was financial advisor to the government.
(Additional reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by David Cowell and David Holmes)
30 Rock actor Keith Powell (aka Toofer) made it official this weekend after four blissful years with his visual artist GF Jill Knox.
The forever couple exchanged their vows on the Tribeca Rooftop in NYC in front of 200 guests which included co-star Katrina Bowden.
A source spilled:
"The vows were sweet, funny and full of tears."
Awww!
While guests feasted on sushi, a raw bar, charcuterie, baby lamb chops and a vodka bar, the lovebirds made their nuptials even more adorbzies when they danced their first dance to the tune of Elton John's Your Song.
Guess even the funniest of men can have some seriously precious moments!
Berlin-based MOOCs startup iversity, which last year began a pivot away from online learning collaboration tools with the aim of becoming the Coursera of Europe, is launching its first clutch of free online courses today. Initial student sign-ups have exceeded 100,000, with a 24-strong course curriculum.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/2G-qBmkNM7w/ Category: nytimesTeen Choice Awards
The Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, John Taschek, Keith Teare, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor — took out their devices and slapped them down on the table. By any measurement, the Context Wars are well under way. But neither Apple or particularly Google seem to realize what Twitter does — that notifications are the way to roll up both armies in the battle for user engagement. Twitter’s direct message lab is producing experiments in personalized notification of group swarming. Right now it looks very tentative and potentially too much of nothing. But the more companies and even political parties reform around these new dynamics of user cloud attention, the more likely a meaningful way forward out of the swamp of gerrymeandering gridlock. Yeah, we talked some shutdown too. @stevegillmor, @jtaschek, @scobleizer, @kevinmarks, @kteare Produced and directed by Tina Chase Gillmor @tinagillmor Live chat stream The Gillmor Gang on FacebookSource: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/HQk3Qiy0opk/ Related Topics: david wilsonUSA vs Costa Ricaall star game
Late last month, an epic Twitter feud erupted when Kanye West didn't take kindly to a parody of himself on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Not only did he rant his feelings on the social media site — spewing all sorts of unfriendlies toward Jimmy Kimmel — he even made MEMES in an effort to lash back at the tv host.
Jimmy responded in hilarious and charmingly confused ways of course, but the two were mature enough to hash it out on television Wednesday night. And that's when we learned even more about Yeezy than ever before, if you can imagine!!
And it was AWESOME!!!
Ch-ch-check out the full interview with part one (above) and parts two-four …AFTER THE JUMP!!!
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Berlin-based MOOCs startup iversity, which last year began a pivot away from online learning collaboration tools with the aim of becoming the Coursera of Europe, is launching its first clutch of free online courses today. Initial student sign-ups have exceeded 100,000, with a 24-strong course curriculum.Source: 
The Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, John Taschek, Keith Teare, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor — took out their devices and slapped them down on the table. By any measurement, the Context Wars are well under way. But neither Apple or particularly Google seem to realize what Twitter does — that notifications are the way to roll up both armies in the battle for user engagement. Twitter’s direct message lab is producing experiments in personalized notification of group swarming. Right now it looks very tentative and potentially too much of nothing. But the more companies and even political parties reform around these new dynamics of user cloud attention, the more likely a meaningful way forward out of the swamp of gerrymeandering gridlock. Yeah, we talked some shutdown too. @stevegillmor, @jtaschek, @scobleizer, @kevinmarks, @kteare Produced and directed by Tina Chase Gillmor @tinagillmor Live chat stream The Gillmor Gang on FacebookSource: