US has no plan to experiment new political system in Afghanistan

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Washington, Jan 8 : The US has no plan to change the political system in Afghanistan or divide the country, US ambassador Ryan Crocker said, three days after President Karzai said his country was not a lab for foreigners to experiment new political system once a while.

Ambassador Crocker called it only rumours and said such an effort by Washington would "dishonour the sacrifice of more than 1,800 American service members who have died in the cause of a unified Afghanistan, governed by its Constitution."

Earlier this month, four members of the US congress met with some key Afghan opposition leaders in Berlin and they came up with a statement calling for a decentralised political system in Afghanistan.

"This centralised power has led to massive corruption, disenfranchisement of a large segment of the Afghan people, obstacles to economic development, massive abuses of power, increasing political instability, poor governance, and a vast undermining of law and order," the members of US Congress had said after the 9 January meeting in the German capital.

Opposition leaders Ahmad Zia Massoud, Amrullah Saleh, Mohammad Mohaqeq and Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum had attended the meeting, organised by Aspen Institute.

They had also called for a national dialogue on a revised constitution in Afghanistan.

President Karzai, speaking in the Parliament, condemned such efforts, saying that Afghanistan was not a laboratory for foreigners for such experiments.

Speaking at the Government Media and Information Centre (GMIC), Crocker said "rumours that the United States has a plan to divide Afghanistan or change its form of government are, frankly speaking, lies".

"Simply put, the United States is committed to supporting the efforts of the central government, to build a strong, secure, democratic, and unified Afghanistan. We have no other aim or goal," Crocker said, addressing government spokesperson and some journalists.

Crocker also said his government supports an Afghan-to-Afghan peace talks with the Taliban, adding that it was an "absurd rumour" that the United States was seeking a secret deal with the Taliban.

"For a peace process to succeed, Afghans must talk to Afghans. The President also spoke of Afghan government contacts with representatives of Hezb-e-Islami. This is another example of an Afghan-led process that we are pleased to support," Crocker said.

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In Afghanistan, worried mother of sextuplets gets help

Mazar-e Sharif, Jan 8 : The dismayed mother of six newborn Afghan babies won't be relaxing anytime soon, but she will get some comfort to go with her bundles of joy.

First-time mother Sara Gul expressed joy upon giving birth to sextuplets in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif on January 24. But the impoverished 23-year-old was clearly daunted by the prospect of having to care for three girls and three boys.

During an interview at the hospital on the day of her delivery, Gul said she and her husband, Shukrullah, already struggle to make ends meet on his meager income. With six more mouths to feed, she said she was hoping for financial assistance from local authorities.

The administration of the Mazar-e Sharif hospital where she gave birth provided 6,000 afghanis ($120) to Gul, while the governor 's office of Balkh Province promised to provide $1,000 for the family.

Upon learning that she was pregnant with six children, Gul and her 27-year-old husband made some big life changes.

They moved from their home village to Mazar-e Sharif in hope that Shukrallah could find work.

Gul said the couple's extreme poverty also caused her to consider terminating her pregnancy.

"I wasn't happy with [being pregnant with multiple babies] and I tried to induce a miscarriage, but it didn't work," she said. "I took medicines, I jumped from walls, but nothing happened."

As the due date neared, Gul's fears remained.

"We are very poor. I wasn't sure if there would be doctors on hand when we needed them, and we don't have much to eat," she said.

So far, so good.

Malalai, an obstetrician in her hospital, said that while the sextuplets were born prematurely and are being kept in incubators, they are in good health.

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In Afghanistan, it’s dog-fight-dog world

Kabul, Jan 8: Just north of Kabul, on the edge of the mountains, around 1,000 people recently gathered in the cold for a dog fight. The crowd was basically all men, of all ages, even babies, sharing in a tradition that has been going on for hundreds of years.

Dog fights are popular all over the country, and in some cases gambling is involved. In this particular case, we were told there was no gambling taking place, although I’m not sure that was true.

The dog fight is led by an old man, the fight master, who stands with a stick. He rules the show and is very powerful and very confident. The crowds gather in a series of circles, and no one steps out of line. Only the dog owners and their dogs are allowed to enter the circle.

At the start of the fight, there is a green cloth between the dogs so they cannot see each other. The dogs are held by their owners without leashes. Then the cloth is dropped, and the dogs run towards each other and start the fight.

Contrary to common belief, the goal is not for the dogs to kill one another. The winner is the dog that best controls the other – usually by holding on to the skin that surrounds the dogs’ necks – which is decided by the old man. And once he has made his pronouncement, the fighting stops immediately.

I know that the notion of dog-fighting is very controversial. I understand this view – I have had dogs, and love these animals. But at the same time, the dogs do not die and the owners do not want their animals to get hurt.

In fact, the dog owners are very protective of their animals. After all, owning a fighting dog is an expensive proposition for an Afghan. One dog owner told us that the prices for a fighting dog start at $500 and go as high as $10,000 – a lot of money anywhere, but particularly in Afghanistan. The owners seemed to care for their dogs and treated them with respect.

That said, Afghans tend not to be concerned about cruelty to animals. Taking care of their fighting dogs is more about protecting a valuable asset.

After the fights were over, the elderly fight master told us that he has been going to fights since he was a 10-year-old, attending at first with his father. This is a part of Afghan tradition, a way of life and a bit of excitement, the day of rest here.

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Missing Ga. boys located in Texas, father held

Atlanta, Jan 8 : Police said two young boys from Georgia who were reported missing this week were found safe in Texas and their father is in custody and facing charges.

Brothers Ben and Henry Cleary — ages 9 and 7 — were visiting with their father, Daniel Cleary, of Roswell, and were supposed to return home. An Amber Alert was issued.

Roswell Police Lt. James H. McGee said that the 46-year-old Daniel Cleary was taken into custody in Austin, Texas.

"We have recovered the kids," McGee said. "They were with him and they were OK."

Austin police said a citizen had recognized the boys from the alert and notified police at 5:11 p.m. CDT that they were at a hotel.

Officers "observed the suspect and the two boys, and recovered the two boys and took the suspect into custody," Austin police Lt. James Nisula.

The children's mother, Theresa Nash, spoke to the boys by phone and was on the way to get them.

She told FOX 5 Atlanta they were "battling each other on their IPads and planning Henry's birthday party."

Nash had told WGCL-TV in Atlanta she was concerned because Daniel Cleary had purchased a firearm about a month ago, was under stress and drinking.

Police said they did not know if Daniel Cleary was in possession of a firearm when he was taken into custody.

McGee said authorities will arrange for Daniel Cleary's extradition to Georgia. He faces a charge of interstate interference with custody, a felony. McGee said police will discuss with prosecutors whether other charges will be brought.

Police had released surveillance footage showing the two missing boys at a Walmart in Tennessee on Dec. 23 and 24 with their father. Though initial reports were that the Walmart was in Jackson, McGee said it was in fact in Chattanooga.

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LV police suspect casino worker killed young girl

Las Vegas, Jan 8 : Police suspect that a casino worker killed a 10-year-girl before going to a Las Vegas resort and allegedly slashing the face of a co-worker with razor blades.

The search for Jade Morris ended when officials confirmed that it was her body that was found a day earlier in an undeveloped housing tract.

The Clark County coroner's office said she died of multiple stab wounds. Jade was last seen Dec. 21 with family friend Brenda Stokes Wilson, who picked her up to go Christmas shopping.

Wilson, 50, returned the car she had borrowed for the outing to a friend two hours later. Jade never came back. Investigators later found blood on the driver's door and steering wheel of the 2007 Saab sedan.

Later that night, Wilson was wrestled to the ground with razors in each hand after allegedly slashing the face of a female co-worker at the Bellagio casino.

A judge raised her bail from $60,000 to $600,000 after she was identified as the prime suspect in the child's killing.

"It's no secret the defendant is the suspect in the murder of 10-year-old Jade Morris," prosecutor Robert Daskas told Senior Clark County District Court Judge Joseph Bonaventure at the hearing.

Later, Las Vegas police homicide Capt. Chris Jones said investigators were still moving forward.

"As soon as we get all the evidence in that we need, we'll book her on the murder charges," he said.

Wilson has been jailed since the 21st on felony battery with a weapon, burglary and mayhem charges that could get her decades in prison.

Police said she offered no help in the search for the missing girl. Murder and kidnapping charges could get her life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

Las Vegas police responding to a 911 call found a girl's body in unkempt brush near palm trees in a small traffic circle about 10 miles from the downtown Las Vegas outlet mall where Stokes was to have taken the girl shopping.

Jones called the slaying "unfathomable."

"Even having our jobs, we still can't wrap our heads around this," he said. "A lot of people think that just because of our positions we can understand it, but we can't."

In court, Wilson stood flanked by eight police officers as her lawyer, Tony Liker, clutching a Bible and a copy of the charging documents, asked the judge to postpone arraignment until to give him time to meet with Wilson.

Wilson, who had been identified by police and prosecutors as Brenda Stokes, told the judge that her full name was Brenda Stokes Wilson.

Jade's father, Philip Morris, was removed from court by armed court officers after shouting questions about his daughter's whereabouts to Wilson. He did not attend the hearing.

The two dated for several years, and Jade had a long and trusting relationship with Wilson, according to the girl's grandfather, Philip Tucker.

Tucker said Philip Morris lived in Billings, Mont., and worked at a Flying J truck stop for more than a year. He would stay with Wilson when he visited Las Vegas, Tucker said.

Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the slaying. But Tucker said Wilson appeared to believe that the face-slashing victim had become romantically involved with Philip Morris.

Wilson picked up Jade for their shopping expedition around 5 p.m. Later, she got a ride with a friend to the Bellagio. She allegedly attacked her co-worker, Joyce Rhone, at around 9:30 p.m.

Rhone, 44, was hospitalized with deep cuts on her face, including one from her ear to the edge of her mouth.

Wilson told investigators that she visited her doctor last week, seeking to be admitted to a hospital "due to feeling like she wanted to hurt someone."

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5 children, 1 adult die in Mississippi wreck

Jackson, Jan 8 : Five young siblings and one adult died when a sport utility vehicle went off an eastern Mississippi road and plunged into a rain-swollen creek, authorities said.

Neshoba County Sheriff Tommy Waddell said the victims appear to have drowned after their Dodge Durango left a county road 20 miles southeast of Philadelphia.

Deputy County Coroner Marshall Prince identified the five children who died as 9-year-old Dasyanna John, 8-year-old Duane John, 7-year-old Bobby John, 4-year-old Quinton John, and 18-month-old Kekaimeas John. Family friend Diane Chickaway, 37, also died. The sheriff said all were members of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and lived in the Pearl River community east of Philadelphia, where the tribe operates a large casino complex.

The father of the children, Dewayne John, escaped the vehicle and remains hospitalized for hypothermia and water inhalation. The children's mother, Deanna Jim, and Chickaway's husband, Dale Chickaway, also survived. The group was traveling to Conehatta, another Choctaw community, with Dewayne John driving. Waddell said he has been tested to see if he was under the influence of alcohol, though he said official results aren't in. If officials decide to file charges, Waddell said they probably wouldn't act.

It appears none of the nine occupants of the vehicle were wearing seat belts or were in child restraints, the sheriff said.

"It's always sad to hear of the death of a tribal member, but today our tribe experienced a great tragedy with the loss of six beautiful Choctaw souls. I cannot begin to imagine what the friends, relatives and loved ones are feeling," Tribal Chief Phyliss J. Anderson said in a statement. "There are no words that can express our sincere condolences to such a horrific accident. I join many of you in the outpouring display of love and support shown to the families during this difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them."

The crash happened on County Road 107, in a rural area near the Neshoba-Newton county line. Heavy rains have deluged the area in recent days, raising the water level of what Waddell described as a normally small creek. The SUV ran off the left side of the road into the creek near the Kitchner community.

The sheriff said it wasn't raining and there was no ice on the road. "This accident is not weather related at all," he said.

Divers from the Philadelphia fire department had to be called to find the submerged vehicle. Prince said the vehicle was pulled from the water after 3 a.m. In addition to the 30 emergency workers, about 20 Choctaw tribal members gathered at the site, he said.

"It looked like he has just run off the road and went into the water," Prince said. "It was deep and swift. The vehicle was completely submerged."

Waddell said the bodies have been sent to Jackson for autopsies. The Mississippi Highway Patrol will reconstruct the accident to learn more.

Tribal spokeswoman Misty Dreifuss said funeral arrangements would likely be made. She said the children are expected to be buried together. Dreifuss said word of the deaths spread quickly through the 10,000-member tribe and that members "definitely have been hit pretty hard."

Waddell said that he can't recall a deadlier accident in the county in his 26 years of law enforcement.

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Venezuela sees 2012 inflation at 19.9 percent, below target

Caracas, Jan 8 : Venezuelan inflation reached 19.9 percent in 2012, the central bank said in a preliminary estimate, beating its official target thanks to strict price controls that business leaders say are unsustainable in the long term.

The government of President Hugo Chavez has capped prices for a wide range of consumer goods, helping contain inflation that has traditionally been the highest in Latin America. The 2012 target had been between 22 and 25 percent.

But inflation is seen accelerating in 2013 because Venezuela is expected to devalue the bolivar currency after heavy campaign spending this year that helped ensure Chavez's re-election.

Devaluing eases fiscal pressure on the government by providing more bolivars for each dollar of crude exports, but also pushes up the cost of importing basic consumer goods that are not produced in the oil-dependent country.

In late 2011, when prices rose 27.6 percent, the government began extended a system of controls that now regulate prices of products ranging from deodorant to meat while fixing profit margins.

This helped keep prices in check in an election year despite heavy government spending on welfare programs ranging from construction of homes for the poor to monthly cash stipends for single mothers.

But business leaders say the controls have kept prices artificially low, and that inflation is likely to bounce back.

Authorities released preliminary estimates showing the country's economy grew 5.5 percent in 2012, with the construction sector among the fastest-growing thanks to a state homebuilding program.

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Argentina asks U.S. court to block payouts for debt holdouts

New York, Jan 8 : Argentina is urging a U.S. appeals court to reverse an order requiring the country to pay $1.33 billion to creditors who did not participate in its two debt restructurings, a legal case that could have huge ramifications for global debt markets.

Lawyers for Argentina's government said in court papers filed that a trial judge was "wrong to ignore the chorus of voices" who opposed his November order on payments to so-called "holdout" creditors.

Those payments, to a court-controlled escrow account, would threaten the service of $24 billion in restructured debt, Argentina's lawyers wrote in papers filed in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.

"There is no authority permitting a U.S. court to order a sovereign to bring its immune assets into the United States in order to 'turn over' or distribute them to its creditors," lawyers for the Argentine government said in the 69-page filing.

The appeals court is expected to decide next year whether to force Argentina to pay the $1.33 billion to investors in the defaulted debt. The decision could have broad impact on the ability of governments to raise money by selling bonds and on strained countries' response to economic crises.

The case stems from Argentina's $100 billion sovereign debt default 11 years ago. Argentina is trying to avoid paying the holdout creditors, who refused to take part in massive debt restructurings in 2005 and 2010.

About 92 percent of the bonds were restructured, giving holders between 25 cents and 29 cents on the dollar.

But the holdouts, led by Elliot Management Corp affiliate NML Capital Ltd and the Aurelius Capital Management funds, demanded to be paid in full. Argentina calls the holdouts "vultures" and has resisted.

In the papers filed, Argentina said it is willing to resolve the litigation by reopening the restructuring offer, a move that would require legislative permission but that would likely be rejected by plaintiffs.

"The executive is prepared to once again present to Congress a proposal that definitively treats all holdout creditors on the same terms as participants in the Republic's 2010 exchange offer," the filing says.

"The Republic has already made two debt restructuring offers that plaintiffs chose to reject. It cannot present a proposal that treats holdout creditors better than exchange bondholders."

In a separate court filing, lawyers for holders of restructured bonds said that holdouts should not be offered better terms than "innocent" bondholders who took part in the swaps. The restructured bondholders include funds managed by Gramercy Financial Group LLC and BlackRock Inc (BLK), according to the court papers from the group.

The case has run for years in U.S. courts. Oral arguments before the 2nd Circuit on the appeal are set for February 27, 2013.

A decision against Argentina would deal a setback to President Cristina Fernandez, who is trying to avert the fallout of a potential technical default on tens of billions of dollars of debt.

In a statement, an NML spokesman said Argentina was well placed to compensate the holdouts, citing its "more than $43 billion in foreign currency reserves" and billions more in other resources.

"Today's filing by the Republic once again demonstrates Argentina's irrational persistence in evading its contractual obligations and the orders of U.S. courts," said Peter Truell, a spokesman for NML.

There was no immediate reaction comment from Argentina.

Also, the U.S. government filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Argentina's bid for the appeals court to reconsider its October ruling that found Argentina had improperly discriminated against bondholders who did not participate in the debt swaps.

The U.S. government said countries needed leverage to garner broad creditor support for a restructuring. It cited the recent debt exchange in Greece as an example of a situation in which holdouts can threaten orderly bond restructurings.

Following the appeals court's October decision, U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan on November 21 commanded Argentina to put the payments for the holdouts into escrow by December 15.

But on November 28, the 2nd Circuit gave Argentina a reprieve, saying it did not need to make the escrow payment for now.

The battle has even extended to the 2-1/2 month seizure of the Argentine naval vessel ARA Libertad in Ghana at the request of NML. The boat was freed on December 19 following a ruling by an international admiralty tribunal.

In its court papers, Argentina said that if Griesa's orders were allowed to stand, "we may very well see the end of such restructurings and enter an era where debt crises are irresolvable. This will increase litigation, not reduce it."

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'Powerful postures' may trump title and rank

Islamabad, Jan 8 : Show enthusiasm, ask questions and bring copies of a resume. These are just a handful of the most common interview tips for job seekers, but a person's posture may also be a deciding factor for whether they land a coveted position -- even when the person on the other side of the desk is in a more powerful role.

According to new research from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, posture plays an important role in determining whether people act as though they are really in charge. The research finds that "posture expansiveness," or positioning oneself in a way that opens up the body and takes up space, activates a sense of power that produces behavioral changes in a person independent of their actual rank or hierarchical role in an organization.

More importantly, these new findings demonstrate that posture may be more significant to a person's psychological manifestations of power than their title or rank alone. Led by Kellogg School of Management professor Adam Galinsky and Kellogg PhD candidate Li Huang, along with Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Deborah Gruenfeld and Stanford PhD candidate Lucia Guillory, this research is the first to directly compare the effect on behavior of having a high-power role versus being in a high-power posture. The paper is titled "Powerful Postures Versus Powerful Roles: Which Is the Proximate Correlate of Thought and Behavior?" and appears in the January 2011 issue of Psychological Science.

Although not anticipated by the researchers, they consistently found across three studies that posture mattered more than hierarchical role -- it had a strong effect in making a person think and act in a more powerful way. In an interview situation, for example, an interviewee's posture will not only convey confidence and leadership but the person will actually think and act more powerfully. "Going into the research we figured role would make a big difference, but shockingly the effect of posture dominated the effect of role in each and every study," Huang noted.

"The December 5, 2005 cover of the New Yorker is a classic example for how indicative posture can be in determining whether people act as though they are in charge," said Galinsky, the Morris and Alice Kaplan Professor of Ethics and Decisions in Management. "The image depicts the power relationships between former President George W. Bush -- shown with an apron, feather duster, and a slouched, constricted posture -- while former Vice President Dick Cheney has both arms expansively extended across the back of a sofa, his legs sprawled across a coffee table. When hierarchical role and physical posture diverge like this, posture seems to be more important in determining how people act and think."

To test their theory, Galinsky, Huang and co-authors conducted three experiments to explore the effects of body posture versus role on power-related behaviors. The first two experiments demonstrated that when individuals were placed in high- or low-power roles while adopting expansive (i.e. open) or constricted (i.e. closed) body postures, only posture activated power-related behaviors. In the expansive posture condition, participants were asked to place one arm on the armrest of a chair and the other arm on the back of a nearby chair; they were also told to cross their legs so the ankle of one leg rested on the thigh of the other leg and stretched beyond the leg of the chair. Conversely, in the constricted posture condition, participants were asked to place their hands under their thighs, drop their shoulders and place their legs together.

During various tasks such as a word completion exercise and a blackjack game, participants with open body postures were thinking about more power-related words and generally took more action than those with closed body postures. Although people in a high-power role reported feeling more powerful than did those in a low-power role, the manipulation of role power had little effect on action. These findings demonstrate that role and posture independently affect participants' sense of power, but posture is more responsible for activating power-related behaviors.

In a third experiment, the researchers demonstrated that posture also has a greater effect on action than recalling an experience of being in a high- or low-power role. Participants verbally recorded a time when they were in a high- or low-powered position while adopting either expansive or constricted body postures, and were then asked whether they would take action in three different scenarios. Participants in the expansive body posture condition took action more often than those with constricted postures, regardless of whether they recalled a time of being in a high- or low-powered role.

According to Galinsky, the role of powerful postures is important for those seeking new jobs in 2011. "With 1.9 million new jobs on the horizon this year, our research suggests that your posture may be quite literally the way to put your best foot forward in a job interview," said Galinsky.

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Daimler CEO wants Mercedes to regain top spot by 2020: paper

Frankfurt, Jan 8: Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche hopes to return the automaker to the top spot in the premium car market ahead of Audi and BMWby 2020, he said in an interview with a German paper.

"I am confident that we will be ahead of our rivals by 2020 at the latest," he told Boersen-Zeitung in an interview published.

He said he hoped to reach that target during his time in office. Zetsche's contract currently runs until December 2013 but is expected to be extended by three years in February.

Daimler has already promised 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion)in cost cuts at the Mercedes-Benz division by the end of 2014 after warning in October that it would miss its operating profit target this year by 1 billion euros.

Zetsche told the paper Mercedes had failed to keep up with its rivals in the compact car market and in China.

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Blood test for Alzheimer's disease?

Islamabad, Jan 8 : Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute, have developed a novel technology that is able to detect the presence of immune molecules specific to Alzheimer's disease in patients' blood samples.

While still preliminary, the findings offer clear proof that this breakthrough technology could be used in the development of biomarkers for a range of human diseases.


Traditionally, antigens -- a substance such as a protein from a virus or bacteria that stimulates an immune response -- have been necessary for the discovery of antibody biomarkers. There has previously been no way to identify an antibody (a type of targeted immune molecule) without first knowing the antigen that triggers its production. The new study, however, challenges conventional wisdom and uses synthetic molecules rather than antigens to successfully detect signs of disease in patients' blood samples.

These synthetic compounds have many advantages -- they can be modified easily and can be produced quickly in relatively large amounts at lower cost.

"Dr. Kodadek has conceived of a new approach for identifying antibody biomarkers of human disease that bypasses the conventional, but difficult, step of identifying the natural antigens or antigen mimics," said James M. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, who helps oversee the NIH Common Fund's Pioneer Award Program. "The results in the paper suggest great potential for using this approach to rapidly develop diagnostic biomarkers for a variety of significant human diseases. Such boldness to challenge conventional paradigms to achieve important scientific advances is a hallmark of the NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program, which supported much of this research."

"This study essentially puts an end to the notion that the only way to pull a potentially useful antibody from blood samples is with a specific antigen," said Kodadek. "Because the antigen identification problem has proven to be so difficult, we decided to take it out of the equation."

A Focus on the Immune System

To test the concept, Kodadek and his colleagues used comparative screening of combinatorial libraries of synthetic molecules -- peptoids -- against serum samples obtained from mice with a multiple-sclerosis-like condition or healthy controls. Those synthetic molecules that retained more immunoglobulin (IgG), a major type of antibody, from the blood samples of the diseased animals were identified as potential agents for capturing diagnostically useful molecules. This worked well.

The team next turned to serum samples from six Alzheimer's patients, six healthy individuals, and six Parkinson's disease patients. Three peptoids were identified that captured at least three-fold higher levels of IgG antibodies from all six of the Alzheimer's patients than any of the control or Parkinson's patients. The results showed that two of the peptoids bind the same IgG antibodies; a third binds different antibodies, resulting in at least two candidate biomarkers for the disease.

"We use these peptoids as a lure to capture the IgG antibodies," Kodadek said. "Some of these synthetic molecules recognize the antigen-binding sites of disease-specific antibodies well enough to pull them from blood samples, although they almost certainly don't bind as well as the native antigens. This ability should make it possible to short circuit the discovery of the natural antigens."


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Perception of our heartbeat influences our body image

Islamabad, Jan 8 : A new study, led by Dr Manos Tsakiris from Royal Holloway, University of London, suggests that the way we experience the internal state of our body may also influence how we perceive our body from the outside, as for example in the mirror.

Psychologists measured how good people are at feeling their body from within by asking them to count their heartbeats over a few minutes. They then measured how good people are at perceiving their own body-image from the outside by using a procedure that tricks them into feeling that a fake, rubber hand is their own hand.

Looking at a rubber hand being touched at the same time as one's own unseen hand creates the illusion that the rubber hand is part of one's body. The less accurate people were in monitoring their heartbeat, the more they were influenced by the illusion. The study shows for first time that there may be a strong link between how we experience our body from within and how we perceive it from the outside.

Dr Manos Tsakiris from the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway says: "We perceive our own bodies in many different ways. We can look at our bodies, feel touch on our bodies, and also feel our body from within, such as when we experience our hearts racing or butterflies in our stomachs. It seems that a stable perception of the body from the outside, what is known as "body image," is partly based on our ability to accurately perceive our body from within, such as our heartbeat."

The study, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, UK, is important as it may shed new light into pathologies of body-perception; exploring how certain people feel about or perceive the internal states of their body may help us understand why they perceive their body-image in distorted ways such as those who suffer from anorexia or body dysmorphia.

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