When Megatron builds a bridge between three worlds and finds himself as the thrall to a new master can the heroes of Marvel and DC Earth unite and stop the war that is to come?
Megatron found himself a new and powerful ally. A god like despot named...Darkseid. The two met along with Megatron's master, an ancient and evil member of our race known only as... The Fallen. During this encounter Darkseid demanded the Decepticon's submission to his will. The Fallen refused and was utterly destroyed. With a single blast of his Omega Beams Darkseid obliterated The Fallen, a momentousness task and one that earned Megatron's loyalty and submission along with all under his command. Now with the Decepticons under new leadership they seek the domination of the world, every world.
Starting your own online business could be a great way to generate an extra income. However, many people don?t know how to get started with it. You might be wondering the same thing. You can learn some Affiliate marketing basics, as well as a few more advanced tricks by reading this article.
TIP! Including some samples or some discount coupons with the product you ship is a good idea. Just make sure the samples and coupons somehow tie into the product you shipped.
You could also bundle the merchandise with similar products and sell it at a discounted price. You should always state your policies in clear, accessible language so as not to misrepresent yourself.
TIP! Try to use words like ?fast? when marketing your products and services. Since many people place more value on time than money, be clear about what you do in a quick manner.
Make it your personal responsibility to resolve customer complaints. Hiring others to deal with complaints can be tempting, but they?re always best handled internally. If a customer emails you with a complaint, personally respond with a constructive solution to the problem.
TIP! Always stay on top of what your internet marketing competition is doing. Whatever your niche, there is always going to be competition.
It?s a simple equation: more subscribers equals more money. Testing out different versions of your site can be achieved through split testing, where one page is served to half your audience and another to everyone else. Then you choose the best one based on new subscriptions.
TIP! When it comes to products that customers need to periodically replenish, a good way to keep them returning is to offer them a small discount for repeat purchases. Offer them a plan where if they agree to sign up for a subscription to receive additional supplies periodically, they will receive a small amount off the normal single unit price.
Whatever claims you make in your website advertizing, make sure you can back it up with facts. It?s common for people to not trust advertising copy. The inclusion of studies, testimonials, references or guarantees increases your credibility and makes it more likely that a sale will result. Statements without evidence to back them up will not cause people to take your product seriously.
TIP! You should consider phrases like special or limited edition for use on your site. Owning exclusive items are all the rage and people are more likely to purchase products from you if they feel what they are receiving is special or limited in number.
TIP! Make a page on some of the social networking sites. Be careful you never send spam to someone because that is something you can get into legal trouble over.
Viral videos can be an enormous help for generating traffic. Creating a video that is successful to the magnitude that viral videos are can take quite a bit of creativity. However, when done correctly, this technique can result in a huge number of visitors and sales.
TIP! Mobile marketing should also be considered. You can send out text alerts to your visitors when you have sales going or when you need to announce a new product.
Show testimonials and comments from your customers on your site. People enjoy reading what others have written about any product they are considering. It also eases their mind when they see positive comments about your products, which makes it more likely that they will purchase something from you.
TIP! Typically, the average consumer will not believe everything that you say in advertisements. That?s a legacy of years of misleading advertising that people have been exposed to.
Is there a service you can offer your customers free of charge? People will visit just to take advantage of the free offer and they may stick around for a while if the site catches their eye. A good incentive for a finance web site is a free calculator for tax returns.
TIP! Try to have fun and enjoy Internet marketing, as this will give you a better chance for success. If you find that you are very good at this, than you may want to consider making it a career, but at first it should be more for fun than profit.
One way to build your list of contacts is to set up a squeeze page. This encourages your site visitors to offer up their email address. You can even give them an incentive to sign up like a coupon or promotional item to get them to fill out contact information. This provides them with something free and you can add them without any issues to your own list.
TIP! Make your website interesting and beautifully designed. Your website will become the main showpiece of the Internet marketing campaign you build.
Use a signature on every email you send out, whether it is business related or not. In many ways, your e-mail signature is like a business card, so write a memorable signature that you would be happy to share with everyone on the Internet. Utilizing your web address in regular correspondence will allow others to stumble upon your business and potentially sent it to others.
TIP! E-commerce is noted for its intense competitive nature between vendors; small businesses are particularly affected by this. Look at your competitors prices.
Offering several different payment options for customers will lead to more sales. Not everyone has credit cards or even a bank account, so offering another option can help increase your sales.
TIP! Modify your content and headlines on a regular basis, and see how doing so impacts traffic and purchases. When you?ve found what works best, be consistent in approach.
You should have a URL that can be recognized. Try to use your brand or your business name as your site?s name. Use an URL that will be easy to remember for your customers. They will be more likely to visit your website if they can remember it.
TIP! Know your audience, and what kinds of things they want in a website. When you have a target audience in mind, deciding on content becomes much simpler.
Offer electronic freebies that have branding that includes your site, and then submit it to sites that list free items. If you have an e-book, give it to free e-book websites. There are a ton of websites that have things for free, articles for free, e-books for free, etc., these are places you want to submit to!
TIP! Keep the use of Flash and AJAX to a minimum. Flashy graphics may look attractive and catch the visitor?s eye, but it will not make you more visible to search engines.
Now you have a greater understanding about what needs to be done in Affiliate marketing; you may already have goals in mind. Target some achievable short and long-term goals for your business. Keep on learning and trying new ideas so that you can realize your dream of Web marketing.
TIP! It is important to find the correct niche when you are marketing an Internet business. A fan of Star Wars memorabilia will have little interest in buying classic baseball cards.
Lytro has long discussed plans to add 3D image capabilities into their Lytro Viewer software, but little has actually been put forth into the public spotlight. Engadget Chinese, however, got a sneak peek at the new Lytro Viewer software from a company spokesperson in Hong Kong. More »
ROSWELL, New Mexico (Reuters) - An Austrian daredevil lifted off on Sunday in an attempt to make his delayed skydive from a balloon flying 23 miles above the planet and breaking the sound barrier.
Cheers broke out as the craft carrying Felix Baumgartner took flight at 9:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. EDT/1530 GMT). An enormous balloon rose into the air, pulling after it an 11-by-8-foot (3.3-by-2.4 meter) fiberglass and acrylic capsule.
His mother wept as she watched the launch, which had been scrapped several times during the previous week by high winds.
"We practiced a lot and now it's paying off," Baumgartner radioed from the rising capsule to his contact on the ground, project adviser Joe Kittinger, holder of a 19-mile high altitude parachute jump record that Baumgartner hopes to smash.
Checking through an equipment list from his seat in the pressurized capsule, Baumgartner, 43, expressed concern that his astronaut-like helmet was not heating properly.
"This is very serious, Joe," said Baumgartner as the capsule, designed to remain at 55 degrees Fahrenheit ascended in skies where temperatures were expected to plunge below -91.8 F (-67.8 C), according to the project's website. "Sometimes it's getting foggy when I exhale. ... I do not feel heat."
Baumgartner's ascent into the stratosphere should take 2 1/2 to three hours. The descent should last just 15 to 20 minutes, more than half of it beneath the relative safety of his parachute's canopy.
The 30 million-cubic-foot (850,000-cubic-metre) plastic balloon, is about one-tenth the thickness of a Ziploc bag, or roughly as thin as a dry cleaner bag.
Baumgartner aims to break a high altitude parachute jump record set in 1960 when Kittinger, 84, now a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, jumped from a balloon flying 102,800 feet and fell for 4 minutes and 36 seconds before opening his parachute. Baumgartner hopes to top that with a jump from 120,000 feet and freefall for 5 minutes and 35 seconds.
There is so little air in the upper reaches of the atmosphere that after about 30 seconds of freefall, Baumgartner should be moving faster than the speed of sound, which is roughly 690 mph at that altitude.
Among the risks Baumgartner faces is the chance that his supersonic body will trigger shock waves that could collide with the force of an explosion. But Baumgartner's medical team doesn't believe this situation is very likely because the air in the stratosphere would be too thin to carry the waves.
Baumgartner would stay supersonic for about a minute before hitting a thicker part of the atmosphere, slowing his fall.
No human has broken the sound barrier during freefall, at least not intentionally. On January 25, 1966, Bill Weaver, a U.S. test pilot aboard an SR-71 Blackbird aircraft, was ejected from his damaged plane at Mach 3.18 - more than three times faster than the speed of sound - and survived.
"It goes to show there are still challenges to overcome and you should never lose sight of trying to achieve them," Baumgartner said in an interview posted on the project's website.
Energy drink manufacturer Red Bull is sponsoring the skydive. The firm declined to disclose how much the project or its advertising campaign would cost.
RISKY BUSINESS
Besides breaking several records, including highest-altitude freefall, longest freefall and highest manned balloon flight, Baumgartner and his team hope the jump will help engineers working on spacesuits for NASA and the budding commercial space tourism industry.
One company, Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Richard Branson's London-based Virgin Group, expects to begin passenger suborbital spaceflights in late 2013 or 2014. SpaceShipTwo, the first of Virgin's planned fleet, is undergoing testing in Mojave, California, and is expected to make its first foray beyond the atmosphere before the end of the year.
When Baumgartner jumps from a capsule beneath the balloon, the position of his body will be crucial, since there is no air in which he can reposition himself. If he falls in a way that puts him into a rapid spin, Baumgartner could pass out and damage his eyes, brain and cardiovascular system.
Baumgartner's safety gear includes a custom spacesuit to protect him from the low pressure and the extreme cold.
Temperatures are expected to be as low as about minus-70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 57 degrees Celsius). The near-vacuum puts him at risk of ebullism, a potentially lethal condition in which fluids in the body turn to gas - literally blood boiling. Severe lung damage could occur within minutes.
Red Bull plans to broadcast the jump live on its website, but has built in a 20-second delay in case there is an accident.
(Additional reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Doina Chiacu)
Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, right, and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel speak before their meeting at the Maximos mansion in Athens, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. Amid draconian security measures and a mass protest, German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived Tuesday for her first visit to Greece since the eurozone crisis began there three years ago. Her five-hour stop is seen by the Greek government as a historic boost for the country's future in Europe, but by protesters as a harbinger of more austerity and hardship. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, Pool)
Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, right, and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel speak before their meeting at the Maximos mansion in Athens, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. Amid draconian security measures and a mass protest, German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived Tuesday for her first visit to Greece since the eurozone crisis began there three years ago. Her five-hour stop is seen by the Greek government as a historic boost for the country's future in Europe, but by protesters as a harbinger of more austerity and hardship. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, Pool)
Demonstrator display a banner that reads " NO to the 4th Reich" prior to an protest in Athens on Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012. German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes her first visit to Greece since the eurozone crisis began here three years ago. Her five-hour stop is seen by the government as a historic boost for the country's future in Europe's shared currency, but by protesters as a harbinger of more austerity and hardship. More than 7,000 police will be on hand, cordoning off parks and other sections of central Athens, to keep demonstrators away from the German leader who is due to arrive Tuesday in the Greek capital for talks with conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Civilians are detained as precaution by riot police prior to an protest in Athens on Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012. German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes her first visit to Greece since the eurozone crisis began here three years ago. Her five-hour stop is seen by the government as a historic boost for the country's future in Europe's shared currency, but by protesters as a harbinger of more austerity and hardship. More than 7,000 police will be on hand, cordoning off parks and other sections of central Athens, to keep demonstrators away from the German leader who is due to arrive Tuesday in the Greek capital for talks with conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis)
Demonstrator holds an anti-Merkel banner prior to a protest in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens on Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012. German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes her first visit to Greece since the eurozone crisis began three years ago. Her five-hour stop is seen by the government as a historic boost for the country's future in Europe's shared currency, but by protesters as a harbinger of more austerity and hardship. More than 7,000 police will be on hand, cordoning off parks and other sections of central Athens, to keep demonstrators away from the German leader who is due to arrive Tuesday in the Greek capital for talks with conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Demonstrator holds a banner with an image of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and present German Chancellor Angela Merkel with a swastika and a slogan that reads " the Germans are coming back" prior to an protest in Athens on Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012. German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes her first visit to Greece since the eurozone crisis began here three years ago. Her five-hour stop is seen by the government as a historic boost for the country's future in Europe's shared currency, but by protesters as a harbinger of more austerity and hardship. More than 7,000 police will be on hand, cordoning off parks and other sections of central Athens, to keep demonstrators away from the German leader who is due to arrive today in the Greek capital for talks with conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? German leader Angela Merkel arrived amid draconian security measures and a mass protest in Athens Tuesday for her first visit to Greece since the eurozone crisis began there three years ago. Her five-hour stop is seen by the Greek government as a much-needed boost for the country's future in Europe ? but protesters view it as a harbinger of further austerity and hardship.
A few dozen protesters broke away from the peaceful rally and threw rocks and flares at riot police, who responded with pepper spray and stun grenades, in clashes that remain relatively minor.
More than 7,000 police were on hand in Athens, cordoning off parks and other sections of city to keep demonstrators away from the German leader, who will hold talks with conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
As a helicopter buzzed overhead, thousands of protesters, chanting "History is written by the disobedient" gathered in front of Greek parliament. One group of demonstrators burned a Swastika and threw it onto a police barrier.
"I have no doubt that (Merkel) has good intentions, and wants to help, but that won't solve Europe's problem," retired teacher Irini Kourdaki said.
Merkel will meet with Samaras and was also due to hold talks with President Karolos Papoulias before flying back out of the country.
At least 40 people were detained for questioning as police, even in unrestricted areas, stopped and searched pedestrians. Stiff security measures include a ban on public gatherings outside the German Embassy and other parts of central Athens as well as within 100 meters (330 feet) of her motorcade route from the airport.
The demonstrators included a group of special forces reservists, in uniform, who chanted "Merkel out of Greece" in time to their march.
"All the Greek people must rally together to rid the country of all those who oppress and humiliate us," Navy Seal reservist Giorgos Drakopoulos said.
Many of Europe's leading politicians have avoided official travel to Greece and the risk of a hostile reception, as the debt-saddled country struggled to keep up with commitments needed to guarantee rescue loan payments and long-term euro membership.
But Merkel, heading Europe's largest bailout contributor, accepted Samaras' invitation to Athens despite failure by his government so far to conclude a massive new austerity package.
Greece has depended on bailouts from Europe and the International Monetary Fund since May 2010. To get the loans, it has implemented a series of deep budget cuts and tax hikes, while increasing retirement ages and facilitating private sector layoffs.
However, Athens must pass further austerity measures worth ?13.5 billion ($17.5 billion) over the next two years to qualify for its next rescue loan payment ? without which the government will run out of cash next month. New cuts are set to further reduce pensions and salaries and increasing the retirement age by two years, to 67.
Debt monitors from the EU, IMF and European Central Bank, known as the "troika", will deliver a report within coming weeks on whether Greece should receive its next bailout payment, without which it will go bankrupt.
After months of tough rhetoric, the German chancellor could be using her visit to prepare her own voters for a more tolerant approach toward Greece ahead of federal elections next year, according to Jason Manolopoulos, author of the 2011 book on Europe's financial crisis "Greece's Odious Debt."
"Given how some other members of the (eurozone) core ? Austria, Holland, Finland ? had made some very harsh comments ... I think it does send a message to Greece," Manolopoulos said of Merkel's visit.
"But I think it's also important, if not more important, for German domestic consumption."
Economist Martin Koehring, from the Economist Intelligence Unit, said Merkel wanted to underscore her commitment to keeping Greece in the 17-member eurozone, and make a gesture of support to Samaras' coalition government, in power since late June.
He added: "Mrs Merkel's visit is ... also likely to stress that, in addition to solidarity from its EU partners, the pressure to implement fiscal austerity and structural reforms will not be eased."
Adaptable button mushroom serves up genes critical to managing the planet's carbon storesPublic release date: 8-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Gilbert degilbert@lbl.gov 925-296-5643 DOE/Joint Genome Institute
The button mushroom occupies a prominent place in our diet and in the grocery store where it boasts a tasty multibillion-dollar niche, while in nature, Agaricus bisporus is known to decay leaf matter on the forest floor. Now, owing to an international collaboration of two dozen institutions led by the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), the full repertoire of A. bisporus genes has been determined. In particular, new work shows how its genes are actually deployed not only in leaf decay but also wood decay and in the development of fruiting bodies (the above ground part of the mushroom harvested for food). The work also suggests how such processes have major implications for forest carbon management. The analysis of the inner workings of the world's most cultivated mushroom was published online the week of October 8 in the journal, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"Our hypothesis was that metabolic strategies and niche adaptations of Agaricus might not be present in the white-rot and brown-rot wood-decomposing fungi," said senior author Francis Martin, Head of the 'ARBRE' Lab of Excellence at INRA, Nancy, France.
"Compared to genomes of these fungi, that we previously characterized, the Agaricus genome surprisingly has shown many similarities in gene composition," added Igor Grigoriev, the study's senior co-author and leader of the DOE JGI Fungal Program, "At the same time, our data also supported the view that Agaricus fits neither brown-rot nor white-rot classifications and that its adaptation to growing in a leaf-litter humic-rich environment is not typical of classic wood-degrading fungi."
The ancient Romans used the word "humus" to designate soil and compost, the complex natural interaction of organic compounds from plant cell wall residues. Humus contributes the chemicals that drive the decomposition process through substances like humic acid that serve as a complement to fertilizer, adding organic matter to deficient soils and contributing to overall plant health to foster root vitality and stimulate the growth of beneficial microbial communities in the soil.
Agaricus is the ideal mushroom to study for adaptation and growth in humic-rich environments, noted Grigoriev and his co-authors. They surveyed the genomes and the transcriptomesthe subset of genes expressed under particular conditions of two A. bisporus lines, a commercial strain and related wild variety. This analysis of Agaricus turned up several families of well-known sugar-degrading enzymes similar to the repertoire found in wood-decaying fungi. However, the enzymes in Agaricus such as heme-thiolate peroxidases and etherases predominate in the presence of humus-rich soil habitats, suggesting a higher ability to metabolize complex mixtures of derivatives of lignin and other polymers.
"The ability to use proteins prevalent in soil confers an advantage to Agaricus over other fungal scavengers," said Martin. "To our knowledge, Agaricus had not been shown in nature to decompose wood," said Martin. "Yet, we now see how Agaricus has adapted to growing in this ecological niche. Our understanding of the carbon cycling role of Agaricus in ecosystems is a prerequisite to modeling and optimizing carbon management for sustainable forests."
Unlike brown-rot and white-rot fungi, A. bisporus is a very poor competitor on fresh non-degraded plant wastes like wood but competes well on partially decomposed litter on forest floors and grassland soils rich in humic substrates. The comparative analysis also revealed a dozen other genes that are dialed up during mushroom formation. "Key master switches may be manipulated to control fruiting body formationthe mechanisms triggering the complex cascade that leads from undifferentiated mycelia, the mass of branching, thread-like fingers, to the button mushrooms most commonly consumed" said Martin.
"Comparative genomics of fungi just got more interesting because the contributions of Emmanuelle Morin at INRA and the 42 co-authors, many of them at the JGI, that led to analysis of the Agaricus genome," said John Taylor, Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of California, Berkeley and member of the DOE JGI Fungal Advisory Committee. "The most exciting discovery may be the expansion of these heme-thiolate peroxidases, the versatile catalysts that have an important industrial applications and seemingly allow Agaricus to live in humus, the lignin-rich residue of plants that pervade compost." Such industrial applications include the breakdown of lignin-derived compounds in novel biorefineries to obtain novel high value chemicals.
Taylor further considered the implications of the findings as applied to climate trends. "If the peroxidases do degrade humus, there could be serious effects on the sequestration of soil carbon as soil warms."
Martin pointed out that additional value will be accrued by making the gene map of Agaricus publically available: for identifying pathogen resistance traits and for highlighting wild germplasm collections benefiting the multi-billion dollar industry producing the button mushroom. "The genome sequence will expedite mushroom breeding for improved agronomic characteristics," he said.
The DOE JGI is among leading worldwide contributors of fungal genomes to the public databases, having sequenced over 150 fungal genomes, providing a vital computational infrastructure for such large-scale comparative analyses. The Agaricus genome, originally proposed by Mike Challen, while at the University of Warwick, now at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, UK., was sequenced under the auspices of the DOE JGI's Community Sequencing Program (CSP), supported by DOE's Office of Science. The CSP was launched in 2004 to provide the scientific community at large with access to unparalleled capabilities in massive-throughput sequencing, computational analysis and other genomic resources for projects of relevance to DOE missions in alternative energy production, global carbon cycling, and biogeochemistry. Sequencing projects are chosen based on scientific meritjudged through independent peer review.
###
The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, supported by the DOE Office of Science, is committed to advancing genomics in support of DOE missions related to clean energy generation and environmental characterization and cleanup. DOE JGI, headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., provides integrated high-throughput sequencing and computational analysis that enable systems-based scientific approaches to these challenges. Follow @doe_jgi on Twitter.
DOE's Office of Science is the largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
[ | 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.
Adaptable button mushroom serves up genes critical to managing the planet's carbon storesPublic release date: 8-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Gilbert degilbert@lbl.gov 925-296-5643 DOE/Joint Genome Institute
The button mushroom occupies a prominent place in our diet and in the grocery store where it boasts a tasty multibillion-dollar niche, while in nature, Agaricus bisporus is known to decay leaf matter on the forest floor. Now, owing to an international collaboration of two dozen institutions led by the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), the full repertoire of A. bisporus genes has been determined. In particular, new work shows how its genes are actually deployed not only in leaf decay but also wood decay and in the development of fruiting bodies (the above ground part of the mushroom harvested for food). The work also suggests how such processes have major implications for forest carbon management. The analysis of the inner workings of the world's most cultivated mushroom was published online the week of October 8 in the journal, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"Our hypothesis was that metabolic strategies and niche adaptations of Agaricus might not be present in the white-rot and brown-rot wood-decomposing fungi," said senior author Francis Martin, Head of the 'ARBRE' Lab of Excellence at INRA, Nancy, France.
"Compared to genomes of these fungi, that we previously characterized, the Agaricus genome surprisingly has shown many similarities in gene composition," added Igor Grigoriev, the study's senior co-author and leader of the DOE JGI Fungal Program, "At the same time, our data also supported the view that Agaricus fits neither brown-rot nor white-rot classifications and that its adaptation to growing in a leaf-litter humic-rich environment is not typical of classic wood-degrading fungi."
The ancient Romans used the word "humus" to designate soil and compost, the complex natural interaction of organic compounds from plant cell wall residues. Humus contributes the chemicals that drive the decomposition process through substances like humic acid that serve as a complement to fertilizer, adding organic matter to deficient soils and contributing to overall plant health to foster root vitality and stimulate the growth of beneficial microbial communities in the soil.
Agaricus is the ideal mushroom to study for adaptation and growth in humic-rich environments, noted Grigoriev and his co-authors. They surveyed the genomes and the transcriptomesthe subset of genes expressed under particular conditions of two A. bisporus lines, a commercial strain and related wild variety. This analysis of Agaricus turned up several families of well-known sugar-degrading enzymes similar to the repertoire found in wood-decaying fungi. However, the enzymes in Agaricus such as heme-thiolate peroxidases and etherases predominate in the presence of humus-rich soil habitats, suggesting a higher ability to metabolize complex mixtures of derivatives of lignin and other polymers.
"The ability to use proteins prevalent in soil confers an advantage to Agaricus over other fungal scavengers," said Martin. "To our knowledge, Agaricus had not been shown in nature to decompose wood," said Martin. "Yet, we now see how Agaricus has adapted to growing in this ecological niche. Our understanding of the carbon cycling role of Agaricus in ecosystems is a prerequisite to modeling and optimizing carbon management for sustainable forests."
Unlike brown-rot and white-rot fungi, A. bisporus is a very poor competitor on fresh non-degraded plant wastes like wood but competes well on partially decomposed litter on forest floors and grassland soils rich in humic substrates. The comparative analysis also revealed a dozen other genes that are dialed up during mushroom formation. "Key master switches may be manipulated to control fruiting body formationthe mechanisms triggering the complex cascade that leads from undifferentiated mycelia, the mass of branching, thread-like fingers, to the button mushrooms most commonly consumed" said Martin.
"Comparative genomics of fungi just got more interesting because the contributions of Emmanuelle Morin at INRA and the 42 co-authors, many of them at the JGI, that led to analysis of the Agaricus genome," said John Taylor, Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of California, Berkeley and member of the DOE JGI Fungal Advisory Committee. "The most exciting discovery may be the expansion of these heme-thiolate peroxidases, the versatile catalysts that have an important industrial applications and seemingly allow Agaricus to live in humus, the lignin-rich residue of plants that pervade compost." Such industrial applications include the breakdown of lignin-derived compounds in novel biorefineries to obtain novel high value chemicals.
Taylor further considered the implications of the findings as applied to climate trends. "If the peroxidases do degrade humus, there could be serious effects on the sequestration of soil carbon as soil warms."
Martin pointed out that additional value will be accrued by making the gene map of Agaricus publically available: for identifying pathogen resistance traits and for highlighting wild germplasm collections benefiting the multi-billion dollar industry producing the button mushroom. "The genome sequence will expedite mushroom breeding for improved agronomic characteristics," he said.
The DOE JGI is among leading worldwide contributors of fungal genomes to the public databases, having sequenced over 150 fungal genomes, providing a vital computational infrastructure for such large-scale comparative analyses. The Agaricus genome, originally proposed by Mike Challen, while at the University of Warwick, now at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, UK., was sequenced under the auspices of the DOE JGI's Community Sequencing Program (CSP), supported by DOE's Office of Science. The CSP was launched in 2004 to provide the scientific community at large with access to unparalleled capabilities in massive-throughput sequencing, computational analysis and other genomic resources for projects of relevance to DOE missions in alternative energy production, global carbon cycling, and biogeochemistry. Sequencing projects are chosen based on scientific meritjudged through independent peer review.
###
The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, supported by the DOE Office of Science, is committed to advancing genomics in support of DOE missions related to clean energy generation and environmental characterization and cleanup. DOE JGI, headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., provides integrated high-throughput sequencing and computational analysis that enable systems-based scientific approaches to these challenges. Follow @doe_jgi on Twitter.
DOE's Office of Science is the largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
[ | 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.
BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, on the eve of his sentencing for molesting children, on Monday denied he committed the "alleged disgusting acts" and said his wife has been his only sex partner.
Sandusky, 68, in a taped statement carried by Penn State's student radio station, said he was wrongly convicted of 45 counts of child sex abuse, crimes for which he could spend the rest of his life behind bars after his sentencing on Tuesday in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
"Why didn't we have a fair opportunity to prepare for trial? Why have so many people suffered as a result of false allegations?" Sandusky said in the statement that his lawyer verified was from the former assistant coach.
"What's the purpose? Maybe (the case) will help others; some vulnerable children who could be abused, might not be because of all the publicity."
He added, "In my heart, I know I did not do these alleged disgusting acts. My wife has been my only sex partner. That was after marriage."
Judge John Cleland could sentence Sandusky to hundreds of years in prison at a hearing in the same courthouse where the former coach was convicted in June of sexually abusing 10 boys.
"Anything over 20 years is a life sentence. We're anticipating that," said Sandusky's attorney Joe Amendola, who is preparing an appeal contending the defense did not have enough time to prepare for the high-profile case.
Sandusky, in isolation at the Centre County Correctional Facility, was "amazingly upbeat" and working on what he will say in court, the attorney said on Monday.
"I anticipate that he'll say he's innocent. He doesn't feel we had enough to prepare his defense," he said.
Sandusky and his wife, Dottie, "feel the media was against them from the beginning and they didn't get a fair shake," he added.
Sandusky's case jolted the world of college athletics, where Penn State football reigned for decades under legendary coach Joe Paterno. On grounds that they failed to act on what they knew about Sandusky's behavior, Paterno was fired, as was university President Graham Spanier. Paterno died in January of lung cancer at age 85.
The judge held an 80-minute briefing with attorneys on Monday to make final preparations for the sentencing hearing.
Chief prosecutor Joe McGettigan, speaking to reporters, said as many as six victims could speak against Sandusky at the hearing.
"We're confident that the judge will impose the appropriate sentence."
Sandusky, once defensive coordinator for Penn State's powerhouse football team, was convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse.
He did not take the stand at his trial. He has maintained he did not abuse the boys, whom he met through The Second Mile, a charity he founded for at-risk youth.
Only Sandusky will speak on his behalf, Amendola said.
"Dottie and the five children are solidly behind Jerry," he said. A sixth child, Matt, said after the trial that his father had abused him. All of Sandusky's children were adopted.
MAINTAINING HIS INNOCENCE
Sandusky is being held in isolation for his protection although he has asked several times unsuccessfully to be placed with the jail's general population, his attorney said.
"He wants everybody to know that he maintains his innocence," he said.
David Clohessy, head of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests known as SNAP, said he felt Sandusky was unrepentant and belonged in prison.
"We believe he'll be attracted to kids until the day he dies," he said.
Ahead of sentencing, Pennsylvania's Sexual Offenders Assessment Board will report to Cleland on its evaluation of whether Sandusky is a sexually violent predator. The designation would put him under reporting requirements if he were to be released from prison on probation.
Sandusky's abuse of the boys ranged over 15 years, from fondling to anal and oral sex, including a rape in a football shower in 2001.
Daniel Filler, a law professor at Philadelphia's Drexel University, said the judge likely would focus on the severity of the crimes and Sandusky's background, both good and bad.
"What would normally be a defendant's strongest argument for leniency - a lifetime of good works - may be used to justify a harsh sentence for Sandusky because he betrayed the trust of the kids he served," Filler wrote in an email.
(Additional reporting by Dave Warner; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Paul Thomasch and Cynthia Osterman)
TOKYO (Reuters) - The IMF said the global economic slowdown is worsening as it cut its growth forecasts for the second time since April and warned U.S. and European policymakers that failure to fix their economic ills would prolong the slump.
Global growth in advanced economies is too weak to bring down unemployment and what little momentum exists is coming primarily from central banks, the International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook, released ahead of its twice-yearly meeting, which will be held in Tokyo later this week.
"A key issue is whether the global economy is just hitting another bout of turbulence in what was always expected to be a slow and bumpy recovery or whether the current slowdown has a more lasting component," it said.
"The answer depends on whether European and U.S. policymakers deal proactively with their major short-term economic challenges."
Ahead of the Tokyo meeting, policymakers have flagged the U.S. "fiscal cliff" -- government spending cuts and tax raises due to take affect early in 2013 -- and resolving the euro area's debt crisis as the top issues facing the global economy.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday that reforms in Europe "could take years to bear fruit".
"In these periods of time, where people were very worried about the risk of collapse in Europe, you saw an impact on financial markets and confidence that was very, very substantial," he told a meeting of Indian and U.S. business leaders in New Delhi. "Europe still has a very hard road ahead of them."
His comments echoed those of Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who last week said Europe's debt crisis was "a clear and present danger".
The IMF forecast in its latest health check on the world economy that global output in 2012 would grow just 3.3 percent, down from a July estimate of 3.5 percent.
That would make this the slowest year of growth since 2009 when the world was struggling to pull out of the global financial crisis. It predicted only a modest pickup next year to 3.6 percent, below its July estimate of 3.9 percent.
It projected U.S. growth would be a little more than 2 percent this year and next, but forecast a contraction in the euro area this year by 0.4 percent and modest growth in 2013 of 0.2 percent.
Emerging markets are still expected to grow four times as fast as advanced economies, but the IMF took a sharp knife to its estimates for India and Brazil, with the latter now seen growing slower than the United States this year.
It also cut its expectations for China in 2012 and 2013 but warned against being overly pessimistic about the prospects of these economies, which were major engines of growth in the global financial crisis.
"Let me be clear. We do not see these developments as signs of a hard landing in any of these countries," IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said at a briefing, referring to China, India and Brazil.
MORE AT WORK
The IMF said "familiar" forces were dragging down advanced economy growth: fiscal consolidation and a still-weak financial system, the same problems that have plagued the world since the global financial crisis exploded in 2008.
"More seems to be at work, however, than these mechanical forces - namely, a general feeling of uncertainty," Blanchard said in a commentary on the forecasts.
Measures of risk and uncertainty, such as the VIX volatility gauge in the United States, remain at low levels, Blanchard pointed out, which makes it difficult to assess the nature of the uncertainty.
"Worries about the ability of European policymakers to control the euro crisis and worries about the failure to date of U.S. policymakers to agree on a fiscal plan surely play an important role, but one that is hard to nail down," Blanchard said.
Geithner, who was speaking at an India-U.S. business forum in New Delhi, said he was "relatively confident" that Washington can manage its fiscal challenges.
"Now we're growing close to potential but if you look through those factors, it's a little more encouraging than you might think," he said. "We are now in a much stronger position than what is true for any other major developed economy."
Concerns about the health of the global economy and corporate earnings prospects have weighed on financial markets. World shares as measured by the MSCI world equity index <.miwd00000pus> fell 0.7 percent on Monday. The index was flat in Asia on Tuesday.
S&P 500 earnings for the third quarter are forecast to have fallen more than 2 percent from the year-earlier period, which would be the first decline in three years, Thomson Reuters data shows.
The IMF said financial conditions are likely to remain "very fragile" over the near term because repairing euro zone problems will take time and there are concerns about how the U.S. economy will cope with the expected spending cuts and tax increases.
The "urgent policy priorities" for the United States should include avoiding the fiscal cliff, which the IMF said at the extreme would amount to a fiscal withdrawal of more than 4 percent of GDP in 2013, and economic growth would stall.
"Both sides of the political isle (should) signal that they are willing to compromise and that they're willing to get this done ... that could help lower the level of uncertainty that is affecting U.S. investors and consumers," IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton told Reuters in an interview on Monday.
Resolving the euro area crisis would require progress in adopting and implementing the various measures discussed, including banking and fiscal union, the IMF report said.
"If the complex puzzle can be rapidly completed, one can reasonably hope that the worst might be behind us," Blanchard said.
Euro zone finance ministers on Monday unveiled the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a 500 billion euro rescue mechanism for lending to distressed economies in the 17-country bloc.
But perhaps the biggest contagion risk for the region is Spain, which a British finance ministry source suggested will be the top issue for finance ministers in Tokyo.
"We have always been very clear that the euro zone needs to take significant action," the source said.
The euro zone has already set aside 100 billion euros for Spain to recapitalize its banks but financial markets believe a government bailout will follow in coming weeks or months.
(Additional reporting by Anna Yukhananov in TOKYO, David Milliken in LONDON and Manoj Kumar and Rajesh Kumar Singh in NEW DELHI; Editing by Neil Fullick, Alex Richardson and Ron Popeski)
(This story corrects quote by Geithner in 7th paragraph)
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday stressed on stronger India-US ties to prevent offshore tax evasion and maintained that stronger economic growth and investment are India?s largest challenges.
? I also believe India US relations are much better now than they were three to four years ago,? said Geithner.? Absence of drama between the two countries implies strengthening of relations, he added.
He, however, believes that India?s reform measures will surely boost sentiment and encourage FII inflows into the country.
Reforms by government of India are very promising and have been welcomed around the world, Geithner reiterated, referring to India?s decision to open foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail and allowing foreign carriers to invest in India?s airlines.
Reuters
Earlier in the day, he met with? Finance Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi to discuss ways to improve economic ties between the two countries.
The meeting came amid a flurry of new Indian government initiatives to attract foreign investment, improve the business climate and reignite the nation?s declining economic growth.
US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was also participating in the meeting, where officials were expected to discuss US concerns about the pace of financial reforms in India and Indian concerns about increasing difficulties in getting US visas for IT professionals.
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Yemen's president said Saturday that he personally approves every U.S. drone strike in his country and described the remotely piloted aircraft as a technical marvel that has helped reverse al-Qaeda's gains.
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi also provided new details about the monitoring of counterterrorism missions from a joint operations center in Yemen that he said is staffed by military and intelligence personnel from the United States, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Hadi's comments mark the first time he has publicly acknowledged his direct role in a campaign of strikes by U.S. drones and conventional aircraft targeting an al-Qaeda franchise that is seen as the most potent terrorist threat to the United States.
"Every operation, before taking place, they take permission from the president," Hadi said. Praising the accuracy of the remotely operated aircraft, he added, "The drone technologically is more advanced than the human brain."
The U.S. Joint Special Operations Command and the CIA have carried out 33 airstrikes in Yemen this year, compared with 10 in 2011, according to the Long War Journal website, which tracks drone attacks.
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Public release date: 8-Oct-2012
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