NEW YORK -- Ndamukong Suh will get his appeals hearing right away.
On Thursday afternoon, Suh will present his appeal of his two-game suspension for stomping Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith to Art Shell. The league handed out the suspension Tuesday, but Suh immediately appealed.
Shell is a joint appointee of the NFL and the players' association for such cases.
A person familiar with the process told The Associated Press on Wednesday about the hearing, which will be held by conference call. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL has not announced when the hearing will occur.
Suh stomped on Dietrich-Smith during Detroit's Thanksgiving Day loss to the Packers and was ejected. Should he lose the appeal, he will miss Sunday's game at New Orleans and the Lions' Dec. 11 home game against Minnesota.
Usually, a hearing is held within 10 days of the filing of an appeal. But the league has expedited Suh's high-profile case to give the Lions and the second-year player an answer before the Saints game.
If Suh, the 2010 Defensive Rookie of the Year and an All-Pro, loses the appeal, he can return to the Lions on Dec. 12 before a road game against Oakland. He is barred from practice and the team's facility while suspended.
Early last month, Suh requested and was granted a meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss his play after he drew several penalties and fines. Suh said he had a better understanding of the rules after that meeting.
On Sunday, with it becoming apparent he would be disciplined again, Suh called Goodell to apologize.
Against Green Bay on national TV, Suh lifted up his right knee and forcibly stepped on Dietrich-Smith's right arm during the third quarter of the Lions' 27-15 loss. Before the stomp, Suh shoved Dietrich-Smith's helmet toward the turf while separating himself from the Packers player on the ground.
He was penalized and ejected.
Asked about the incident after the game, Suh sounded defiant, insisting he didn't intentionally step on Dietrich-Smith. A day later, following criticism from the Lions, Suh apologized to his teammates, organization and fans ? not to Dietrich-Smith.
His actions prompted more criticism around the league, with some calling Suh the NFL's dirtiest player.
Suh can afford any fines ? he is making $40 million guaranteed with a chance to get paid as much as $68 million in a five-year contract he signed after Detroit drafted him No. 2 overall in 2010.
___
AP Sports Writers Noah Trister and Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this story.
MIAMI ? Say goodbye to the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, which was a study in contradictions: It spared the usual Southern targets while Irene paralyzed the Eastern seaboard and devastated parts of the Northeast with deadly flooding.
The season ended Wednesday as the sixth straight year without U.S. landfall of a major hurricane, yet Irene was one of the costliest storms in U.S. history and killed at least 47 people here and at least eight more in the Caribbean and Canada.
Irene was not considered a major hurricane because it did not have winds exceeding 111 mph, or Category 3, when it made landfall in North Carolina on Aug. 27.
"You would think the impacts would be somewhat light, but the damages caused by Irene will be up there in one of the top 30 or so storms," National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read said.
The season produced the third-highest number of tropical storms on record, with 19, but only a slightly higher-than-average number of hurricanes, with six.
Read said low pressure systems on the East coast and high pressure systems over the central U.S. created favorable steering currents that kept the storms mostly churning far out to sea.
Storms won't move into high pressure, clearing the way for an easy storm season for the U.S. Gulf Coast. An exception was Tropical Storm Lee, which formed off the Louisiana coast and drenched much of the eastern U.S.
"It was another very odd year," said Dr. Jeff Masters, Weather Underground's director of meteorology.
The rare combination of near-record ocean temperatures but unusually dry, stable air over the Atlantic was partially responsible for the unusually high count of named storms, Masters said.
Hurricane Ophelia was the strongest storm of the season, at one point strengthening to a Category 4 with 140 mph winds when it was just northeast of Bermuda. Ophelia hit southeastern Newfoundland, Canada, as a tropical storm, but caused little damage.
The last major hurricane to hit the U.S. was Wilma, which cut an unusually large swath of damage across Florida in 2005.
Irene caught many New England residents by surprise in late August, following a rare path as it brushed up the Eastern seaboard from North Carolina, across the Mid-Atlantic and near New York City, where meteorologists said they couldn't ever recall a direct hurricane hit.
Broadway shows were cancelled as New York officials ordered 370,000 people to leave their homes in low-lying areas and immobilized the nation's biggest subway system. Yet, the city sustained only high winds and heavy rains as a weakened Tropical Storm Irene churned up the coast.
Tropical Storm Irene was by far the most destructive event to hit Vermont in almost a century. Flooding from the storm, which dumped up to 11 inches of rain in some areas, killed six people, damaged or destroyed hundreds of miles of roads, scores of bridges, hundreds of homes and left hundreds of people homeless.
About a dozen communities were cut off by the storm for days, many without electricity or phone service and they had to be supplied by National Guard helicopters.
Three months after the storm, most of the roads and bridges have received at least temporary repairs, though two bridges remain closed. The final repair estimate for the roads could reach $250 million, which doesn't count damage to private property.
The state of Vermont's office complex in Waterbury was inundated, forcing the relocation of the offices of many of the people who worked there as well as the permanent closing of the State Hospital, forcing mental health officials to farm out patients needing the most intensive care.
More than 7,000 people asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance.
"(The severe flooding) was beyond what most people expected up there so we still have work to do on how to convey how serious the inland flooding events are from these tropical storms," Read said.
___
Associated Press Writer Wilson Ring contributed to this report from Vermont.
___
Online:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
Big boost to plant researchPublic release date: 29-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Melanie Bernds mbernds@danforthcenter.org 314-587-1647 Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
ST. LOUIS, MO, November 29, 2011 The four largest nonprofit plant science research institutions in the U.S. have joined forces to form the Association of Independent Plant Research Institutes (AIPI) in an effort to target plant science research to meet the profound challenges facing society in a more coordinated and rapid fashion.
Scientific leaders from the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (Cornell University), The Carnegie Institution for Science, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (St. Louis, MO) and The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation (Ardmore, OK) formed the AIPI to facilitate scientific discovery through intellectual and technical collaborations. The group will also disseminate research outcomes and provide a forum for discussion of approaches to the challenges facing agriculture.
Collectively, AIPI member institutions operate nearly 60 laboratories with more than 400 personnel. Each organization offers different but complementary technical expertise that ranges from measuring individual chemicals and proteins within plants to the ability to obtain three-dimensional images of plant structures and proteins in living tissue. In addition, state-of-the-art greenhouse and field resources allow science to mature beyond the laboratory and into tangible outcomes to benefit consumers and provide for tomorrow.
"Plants are some of the most highly complex organisms on the planet," said Jan Jaworksi, member, Danforth Plant Science Center. "AIPI researchers are dividing up the research into primary areas so that we can generate the most profound and useful discoveries."
"Plants and the many roles they play in our world are often taken for granted," said Richard Dixon, D. Phil., senior vice president at the Noble Foundation. "But as global populations increase from 7 to 9 billion people in the next few decades, and water and land resources decrease, we are going to ask more and more from plants to provide food, fuel and fiber."
In a recent meeting of researchers and scientists from member institutions, hosted by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, AIPI affirmed its initial research objectives in three core areas of plant science research:
The development of plants as sources of renewable energy. Grasses, grains, trees and algae are being developed as potential energy sources, including transportation fuels. AIPI scientists will research how to design and deploy plants to contribute to energy needs without depleting soil and water resources, and without competing with food production.
The improvement of plants' abilities to provide an unparalleled range of "ecosystem services" to the planet. Plants filter groundwater, reduce erosion, absorb carbon dioxide and generate oxygen. AIPI researchers want to improve these processes and help mankind use them in novel ways.
The continued development of sustainable agriculture practices. Plants underpin all agriculture, whether used as food for humans, as feed for animals or to produce fiber. Sustainable practices both decrease costs to farmers, and provide environmental and consumer benefits.
"Each of these institutions possesses skilled and dedicated researchers," said David Stern, president of Boyce Thomson Institute. Researchers at each institution have had tremendous success. Together, we will be even better. AIPI is a tool to allow our collective resources to respond faster to opportunities in an organized and collaborative manner. We will achieve more. And humanity will be the beneficiary."
To accomplish these objectives, AIPI scientists will coordinate projects that study plant growth, development, and chemistry; plant interactions with insects, fungi and bacteria; and metabolic processes, such as oil production and photosynthesis.
Coordinated deployment of the member institution's expertise will lead to a deeper understanding of how plants react to the environment and other organisms, and how they acquire and use nutrients, as well as revealing the genetic potential within plants.
"All of these capabilities can be harnessed, in the long term, to develop plants that resist disease, tolerate drought or nutrient-poor soils, produce healthier foods, or provide raw materials for energy," said Wolf B. Frommer, director of the Department of Plant Biology at the Carnegie Institution for Science. "With the challenges facing humanity in the next few generations, this research is critical to maintaining a supply of nutritious food, fiber and energy, in a manner that does not degrade the environment."
###
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research at the Danforth Center will feed the hungry and improve human health, preserve and renew the environment, and enhance the St. Louis region and Missouri as a world center for plant science. The Center's work is funded through competitive grants and contract revenue from many sources, including the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (Cornell University) was founded by William Boyce Thompson BTI in 1924 on the premise that basic plant research leads to real benefits for people. Many potential applications of BTI research are to improve crops by increasing yield or nutritional content, or decreasing the need for harmful fertilizers and pesticides. Other research could lead to inexpensive plant-made vaccines, or even shed light on the human immune system.
The Carnegie Institution for Science (carnegiescience.edu) is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science. The Department of Plant Biology is located on the Stanford Campus. Scientists here study the most basic problems of how plants function and grow.
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is an independent, nonprofit institute conducting plant science research, plant breeding and agricultural programs to enhance agricultural productivity, which influences agriculture regionally, nationally and internationally. The Noble Foundation also provides grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and health organizations.
[ | 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.
Big boost to plant researchPublic release date: 29-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Melanie Bernds mbernds@danforthcenter.org 314-587-1647 Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
ST. LOUIS, MO, November 29, 2011 The four largest nonprofit plant science research institutions in the U.S. have joined forces to form the Association of Independent Plant Research Institutes (AIPI) in an effort to target plant science research to meet the profound challenges facing society in a more coordinated and rapid fashion.
Scientific leaders from the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (Cornell University), The Carnegie Institution for Science, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (St. Louis, MO) and The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation (Ardmore, OK) formed the AIPI to facilitate scientific discovery through intellectual and technical collaborations. The group will also disseminate research outcomes and provide a forum for discussion of approaches to the challenges facing agriculture.
Collectively, AIPI member institutions operate nearly 60 laboratories with more than 400 personnel. Each organization offers different but complementary technical expertise that ranges from measuring individual chemicals and proteins within plants to the ability to obtain three-dimensional images of plant structures and proteins in living tissue. In addition, state-of-the-art greenhouse and field resources allow science to mature beyond the laboratory and into tangible outcomes to benefit consumers and provide for tomorrow.
"Plants are some of the most highly complex organisms on the planet," said Jan Jaworksi, member, Danforth Plant Science Center. "AIPI researchers are dividing up the research into primary areas so that we can generate the most profound and useful discoveries."
"Plants and the many roles they play in our world are often taken for granted," said Richard Dixon, D. Phil., senior vice president at the Noble Foundation. "But as global populations increase from 7 to 9 billion people in the next few decades, and water and land resources decrease, we are going to ask more and more from plants to provide food, fuel and fiber."
In a recent meeting of researchers and scientists from member institutions, hosted by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, AIPI affirmed its initial research objectives in three core areas of plant science research:
The development of plants as sources of renewable energy. Grasses, grains, trees and algae are being developed as potential energy sources, including transportation fuels. AIPI scientists will research how to design and deploy plants to contribute to energy needs without depleting soil and water resources, and without competing with food production.
The improvement of plants' abilities to provide an unparalleled range of "ecosystem services" to the planet. Plants filter groundwater, reduce erosion, absorb carbon dioxide and generate oxygen. AIPI researchers want to improve these processes and help mankind use them in novel ways.
The continued development of sustainable agriculture practices. Plants underpin all agriculture, whether used as food for humans, as feed for animals or to produce fiber. Sustainable practices both decrease costs to farmers, and provide environmental and consumer benefits.
"Each of these institutions possesses skilled and dedicated researchers," said David Stern, president of Boyce Thomson Institute. Researchers at each institution have had tremendous success. Together, we will be even better. AIPI is a tool to allow our collective resources to respond faster to opportunities in an organized and collaborative manner. We will achieve more. And humanity will be the beneficiary."
To accomplish these objectives, AIPI scientists will coordinate projects that study plant growth, development, and chemistry; plant interactions with insects, fungi and bacteria; and metabolic processes, such as oil production and photosynthesis.
Coordinated deployment of the member institution's expertise will lead to a deeper understanding of how plants react to the environment and other organisms, and how they acquire and use nutrients, as well as revealing the genetic potential within plants.
"All of these capabilities can be harnessed, in the long term, to develop plants that resist disease, tolerate drought or nutrient-poor soils, produce healthier foods, or provide raw materials for energy," said Wolf B. Frommer, director of the Department of Plant Biology at the Carnegie Institution for Science. "With the challenges facing humanity in the next few generations, this research is critical to maintaining a supply of nutritious food, fiber and energy, in a manner that does not degrade the environment."
###
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research at the Danforth Center will feed the hungry and improve human health, preserve and renew the environment, and enhance the St. Louis region and Missouri as a world center for plant science. The Center's work is funded through competitive grants and contract revenue from many sources, including the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (Cornell University) was founded by William Boyce Thompson BTI in 1924 on the premise that basic plant research leads to real benefits for people. Many potential applications of BTI research are to improve crops by increasing yield or nutritional content, or decreasing the need for harmful fertilizers and pesticides. Other research could lead to inexpensive plant-made vaccines, or even shed light on the human immune system.
The Carnegie Institution for Science (carnegiescience.edu) is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science. The Department of Plant Biology is located on the Stanford Campus. Scientists here study the most basic problems of how plants function and grow.
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is an independent, nonprofit institute conducting plant science research, plant breeding and agricultural programs to enhance agricultural productivity, which influences agriculture regionally, nationally and internationally. The Noble Foundation also provides grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and health organizations.
[ | 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.
This undated photo provided by Harvard University/Robert Shepherd shows a soft-bodied robot navigating, top to bottom, an obstacle course. Harvard researchers have built this flexible prototype robot that can crawl and move in a wavelike motion. Unlike rigid robots, soft robots can be used to squeeze into tight spaces. (AP Photo/Harvard University, Robert Shepherd)
This undated photo provided by Harvard University/Robert Shepherd shows a soft-bodied robot navigating, top to bottom, an obstacle course. Harvard researchers have built this flexible prototype robot that can crawl and move in a wavelike motion. Unlike rigid robots, soft robots can be used to squeeze into tight spaces. (AP Photo/Harvard University, Robert Shepherd)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Harvard scientists have built a new type of flexible robot that is limber enough to wiggle and worm through tight spaces.
It's the latest prototype in the growing field of soft-bodied robots. Researchers are increasingly drawing inspiration from nature to create machines that are more bendable and versatile than those made of metal.
The Harvard team, led by chemist George M. Whitesides, borrowed from squids, starfish and other animals without hard skeletons to fashion a small, four-legged rubber robot that calls to mind the clay animation character Gumby.
In recent years, scientists have been tinkering with squishy ? sometimes odd-looking ? robots designed to squeeze through hard-to-reach cracks after a disaster like an earthquake or navigate rough terrain in the battlefield.
"The unique ability for soft robots to deform allows them to go places that traditional rigid-body robots cannot," Matthew Walter, a roboticist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in an email.
A team from Tufts University earlier this year showed off a 4-inch caterpillar-shaped robot made of silicone rubber that can curl into a ball and propel itself forward.
The Harvard project, funded by the Pentagon's research arm, was described online Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The new robot, which took two months to construct, is 5 inches long. Its four legs can be separately controlled by pumping air into the limbs, either manually or via computer. This gives the robot a range of motions including crawling and slithering.
The researchers tested the robot's flexibility by having it squirm underneath a pane of glass just three-quarters of an inch from the surface.
Scientists maneuvered the robot through the tiny gap 15 times using a combination of movements. In most cases, it took less than a minute to get from side to side.
Researchers eventually want to improve the robot's speed, but were pleased that it did not break from constant inflation and deflation.
"It was tough enough to survive," said Harvard postdoctoral fellow Robert Shepherd, adding that the robot can traverse on a variety of surfaces including felt cloth, gravel, mud and even Jell-O.
There were drawbacks. The robot is tethered to an external power source and scientists need to find a way to integrate the source before it can be deployed in the real world.
"There are many challenges to actively moving soft robots and no easy solutions," Tufts neurobiologist Barry Trimmer, who worked on the caterpillar robot, said in an email.
Robotics researcher Carmel Majidi, who heads the Soft Machines Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, said the latest robot is innovative even as it builds on previous work.
"It's a simple concept, but they're getting lifelike biological motions," he said.
___
Online:
Journal: http://www.pnas.org
Whitesides lab: http://gmwgroup.harvard.edu
___
Follow Alicia Chang's coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia
As Gingrich was putting pressure on Romney, the Democratic National Committee piled on. In a widely played ad, it attacks Romney's flip-flops. There is almost no downside to the ad, which cost next to nothing. If Democrats can weaken Romney so he limps to victory, that makes him an easier opponent for Obama. If they help weaken Romney so he loses the primary and Gingrich wins, even better. As Rep. Barney Frank put it in his retirement press conference Monday, "I don't think I have lived a good enough life to be rewarded with Newt Gingrich being the Republican presidential nominee."
Julian Edelman isn?t just a wide receiver anymore.
Edelman, who?s listed at receiver but has been spending time in the Patriots? secondary this season, has to be considered a real defensive player now that he?s laid his first hard hit on an opposing quarterback. Edelman got a couple of good shots on Eagles quarterback Vince Young on Sunday, tackling Young on a running play and later planting Young into the turf just as Young released a pass.
After the game, Edelman said taking Young to the ground was a lot of fun, but he needs to be careful about it, what with all the NFL rules protecting offensive players.
?Yeah, any time we can get a rush on the quarterback and force him to get the ball out and have our guys make the play, it feels good. And we got off the field, so that play was good,? Edelman told the Boston Herald. ?It?s funny because with all the rules floating around with regards to quarterbacks, I wanted to hit him but do it right. I just did not want to get any kind of penalty and hit him in the right zone.?
Edelman played 16 snaps, primarily covering the slot receiver, as Patriots coach Bill Belichick continues to show (as he did with Troy Brown) that if you?ve got a guy who can play slot receiver, it?s not a stretch to teach him to cover the slot receiver, too. Belichick praised Edelman after the game in Philadelphia.
?Julian?s worked hard on that,? Belichick said. ?He?s had to keep up with what?s going on on offense and also in the kicking game, but he?s worked hard. He?s spent a lot of extra time with [Patriots defensive backs coach] Josh Boyer and kind of splitting time between meetings between offense and defense, and of course he does all the special teams stuff too. He?s worked hard and he?s really been a huge help for us.?
I WALK into the operating theatre feeling vulnerable in a draughty gown and surgical stockings. Two anaesthetists in green scrubs tell me to stash my belongings under the trolley and lie down. "Can we get you something to drink from the bar?" they joke, as one deftly slides a needle into my left hand.
I smile weakly and ask for a gin and tonic. None appears, of course, but I begin to feel light-headed, as if I really had just knocked back a stiff drink. I glance at the clock, which reads 10.10 am, and notice my hand is feeling cold. Then, nothing.
I have had two operations under general anaesthetic this year. On both occasions I awoke with no memory of what had passed between the feeling of mild wooziness and waking up in a different room. Both times I was told that the anaesthetic would make me feel drowsy, I would go to sleep, and when I woke up it would all be over.
What they didn't tell me was how the drugs would send me into the realms of oblivion. They couldn't. The truth is, no one knows.
The development of general anaesthesia has transformed surgery from a horrific ordeal into a gentle slumber. It is one of the commonest medical procedures in the world, yet we still don't know how the drugs work. Perhaps this isn't surprising: we still don't understand consciousness, so how can we comprehend its disappearance?
That is starting to change, however, with the development of new techniques for imaging the brain or recording its electrical activity during anaesthesia. "In the past five years there has been an explosion of studies, both in terms of consciousness, but also how anaesthetics might interrupt consciousness and what they teach us about it," says George Mashour, an anaesthetist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "We're at the dawn of a golden era."
Consciousness has long been one of the great mysteries of life, the universe and everything. It is something experienced by every one of us, yet we cannot even agree on how to define it. How does the small sac of jelly that is our brain take raw data about the world and transform it into the wondrous sensation of being alive? Even our increasingly sophisticated technology for peering inside the brain has, disappointingly, failed to reveal a structure that could be the seat of consciousness.
Altered consciousness doesn't only happen under a general anaesthetic of course - it occurs whenever we drop off to sleep, or if we are unlucky enough to be whacked on the head. But anaesthetics do allow neuroscientists to manipulate our consciousness safely, reversibly and with exquisite precision.
It was a Japanese surgeon who performed the first known surgery under anaesthetic, in 1804, using a mixture of potent herbs. In the west, the first operation under general anaesthetic took place at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846. A flask of sulphuric ether was held close to the patient's face until he fell unconscious.
Since then a slew of chemicals have been co-opted to serve as anaesthetics, some inhaled, like ether, and some injected. The people who gained expertise in administering these agents developed into their own medical specialty. Although long overshadowed by the surgeons who patch you up, the humble "gas man" does just as important a job, holding you in the twilight between life and death.
Consciousness may often be thought of as an all-or-nothing quality - either you're awake or you're not - but as I experienced, there are different levels of anaesthesia (see diagram). "The process of going into and out of general anaesthesia isn't like flipping a light switch," says Mashour. "It's more akin to a dimmer switch."
A typical subject first experiences a state similar to drunkenness, which they may or may not be able to recall later, before falling unconscious, which is usually defined as failing to move in response to commands. As they progress deeper into the twilight zone, they now fail to respond to even the penetration of a scalpel - which is the point of the exercise, after all - and at the deepest levels may need artificial help with breathing.
These days anaesthesia is usually started off with injection of a drug called propofol, which gives a rapid and smooth transition to unconsciousness, as happened with me. (This is also what Michael Jackson was allegedly using as a sleeping aid, with such unfortunate consequences.) Unless the operation is only meant to take a few minutes, an inhaled anaesthetic, such as isoflurane, is then usually added to give better minute-by-minute control of the depth of anaesthesia.
Lock and key
So what do we know about how anaesthetics work? Since they were first discovered, one of the big mysteries has been how the members of such a diverse group of chemicals can all result in the loss of consciousness. Other drugs work by binding to receptor molecules in the body, usually proteins, in a way that relies on the drug and receptor fitting snugly together like a key in a lock. Yet the long list of anaesthetic agents ranges from large complex molecules such as barbiturates or steroids, to the inert gas xenon, which exists as mere atoms. How could they all fit the same lock?
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PHILADELPHIA ? At least two of three American students arrested during protests in Cairo arrived back in the U.S. late Saturday, three days after an Egyptian court ordered their release.
The young men were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square last Sunday after officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.
Gregory Porter, 19, was greeted by his parents and other relatives Saturday evening when he landed at Philadelphia International Airport. Porter took no questions, but said he was thankful for the help he and the other American students received from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, administrators at the university they were attending, and attorneys in Egypt and the U.S.
"I'm just so thankful to be back, to be in Philadelphia right now," said Porter, who is from nearby Glenside, Pa., and attends Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Luke Gates, 21, arrived in the U.S. late Saturday and was expected back home in Indiana soon, Indiana University spokesman Mark Land said. Gates attends the university, and his parents have declined to talk with the media. Land said he spoke with Gates' father.
"He said he was doing very well and he was very excited to be on his way home," Land said. He added that Gates' parents are "really hopeful they can spend a little time with him without having to answer a lot of questions" in the media spotlight.
The third student, 19-year-old Derrik Sweeney, was expected to arrive in Missouri late Saturday night.
All three left the Egyptian capital Saturday morning on separate connecting flights to Frankfurt, Germany, an airport official in Cairo said. The three were studying at the American University in Cairo.
Protests have been going on near Cairo's central Tahrir Square since Nov. 19, in anticipation of the landmark parliamentary elections due to start Monday. On Friday, the crowd grew to more than 100,000 people, and thousands remained there Saturday.
Joy Sweeney told the AP that her son, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Mo., would fly from Frankfurt to Washington, then on to St. Louis. She said family will meet him when he arrives at the airport late Saturday.
"I am ecstatic," Sweeney said Friday. "I can't believe he's actually going to get on a plane. It is so wonderful."
Sweeney said she had talked with her son Friday afternoon and "he seemed jubilant."
"He thought he was going to be able to go back to his dorm room and get his stuff," she said. "We said, `No, no, don't get your stuff, we just want you here.'"
The university will ship his belongings home, she said.
Sweeney had earlier said she did not prepare a Thanksgiving celebration this week because the idea seemed "absolutely irrelevant" while her son still was being held.
"I'm getting ready to head out and buy turkey and stuffing and all the good fixings so that we can make a good Thanksgiving dinner," she said Friday.
___
Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Cairo; Sandy Kozel in Washington; Rick Callahan in Indianapolis; Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; Erin Gartner in Chicago; and Dana Fields in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.
BAGHDAD,?? A series of blasts struck an area west of Baghdad on Saturday where day laborers gather to find work, as well as a music and clothes market in the capital, killing at least 15 people, officials said.
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The second day of major attacks this week in Iraq underscored the challenges still facing the country's security forces as they approach a particularly fragile time. All American troops are scheduled to be out of Iraq in a matter of weeks, leaving Iraqi security forces with sole responsibility for securing the country.
The first two bombs exploded in the early morning in an area where day laborers wait for work in the mostly Sunni village of al-Zaidan, near the town of Abu Ghraib west of Baghdad. They killed seven people and wounded 11 others, the officials said.
Hours later, three bombs exploded near the kiosks of vendors selling CDs and military uniforms in central Baghdad's Bab al-Sharqi market district, killing eight people and wounding 19.
"I went outside my shop and saw people running in all directions trying to leave the market area. I saw several bodies and wounded people on the ground," said Mohammed Youssef, who owns a clothing shop in the area.
Iraqi military commanders ordered all the vendors selling products in the area to close their kiosks and move, in an attempt to clear out the area and make it harder for insurgents to hide bombs.
Health officials at Abu Ghraib's general hospital and at three hospitals in Baghdad confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Violence has ebbed across Iraq, but deadly bombings and shootings still occur almost daily as U.S. troops prepare to leave by the end of the year. Iraqi security officials maintain that they are fully prepared for the withdrawal, which is required under a 2008 security pact between the U.S. and Iraq.
On Thursday, three bombs struck the southern city of Basra, killing 19 people.
Earlier this week, the top U.S. general in Iraq, Lloyd Austin, said that there would likely be some "turbulence" after American troops depart, as insurgents try to strengthen their positions. But he did not think there would be a wholesale disintegration of security.
One key area of concern has been the ability of Iraqi security forces to gather intelligence on insurgent groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq after the American forces leave. The U.S. military has been instrumental in helping Iraqi security forces gather intelligence on various militant targets which Iraqi security forces then use to find and arrest them.
Predominantly Shiite Bab al-Sharqi until recently had been surrounded by blast walls, which were removed as a result of the improved security situation, said Qassim al-Moussawi, the military spokesman for Baghdad.
The bombers "try to prove their presence and hinder our efforts to remove all the concrete walls, but we will continue removing them and keeping control," he said.
Baghdad is crisscrossed with concrete blast walls that both reassure and frustrate residents. The walls helped reduce violence and protect areas such as markets or major buildings. But they also create huge traffic jams and hurt the economy.
The Iraqi security forces have been slowly removing the blast walls, but some people in the market area Saturday said they wanted them back.
"We have been expecting something bad in the market after the security forces removed the blast barriers a few days ago," said Youssef, the clothing shop owner.
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Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra and photographer Hadi Mizban contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Public release date: 29-Nov-2011
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