Liver cancer survival time tripled by virus

The virus used in the vaccine that helped eradicate smallpox is now working its magic on liver cancer. A genetically engineered version of the vaccinia virus has trebled the average survival time of people with a severe form of liver cancer, with only mild, flu-like side effects.

Thirty people with hepatocellular carcinoma received three doses of the modified virus – code-named JX-594 – directly into their liver tumour over one month. Half the volunteers received a low dose of the virus, the other half a high dose. Members of the low and high-dose groups subsequently survived for, on average, 6.7 and 14.1 months respectively. By contrast, trials several years ago showed that sorafenib, the best existing medication for this cancer, prolonged life by only three months.

Two of the patients on the highest viral dose were still alive more than two years after the treatment. "It's a very substantial survival benefit," says Laurent Fischer, president of Jennerex, the company in San Francisco developing the treatment under the trade name Pexa-Vec.

Besides shrinking the primary tumour, the virus was able to spread to and shrink any secondary tumours outside the liver. "Some tumours disappeared completely, and most showed partial destruction on MRI scans," says David Kirn, head of the study at Jennerex. Moreover, the destruction was equally dramatic in the primary and secondary tumours.

"This clinical trial is an exciting step forward to help find a new way of treating cancers," says Alan Melcher of the University of Leeds, UK, who was not involved in the study. "It helps demonstrate the cancer-fighting potential of viruses, which have relatively few side effects compared with traditional chemo or radiotherapy," he says. "If it proves effective in larger trials, it could be available to patients within five years."

The fact that the virus appears able to spread to secondary tumours suggests that simply injecting the virus into the bloodstream may be effective. A trial to compare this treatment with injecting the virus directly into a tumour is under way.

Targeted at cancer

The virus has had a gene coding for an enzyme called thymidine kinase snipped out. The enzyme enables the virus to recognise and infect dividing cells. By removing the gene, the virus's developers have reduced the likelihood of healthy dividing cells being infected.

Instead, the virus exclusively attacks cancerous tissue, by targeting two genes that have increased activity in tumour cells. One genes is associated with an epidermal growth factor receptor, which stimulates the cancer to grow. The other is associated with a vascular endothelial growth factor, which enables the cancer to recruit its own blood supply. The virus reduces the activity of both genes, causing the infected cancer cell to wither and die.

What's more, the virus carries extra genes to prod the body's own immune system into action against the cancer. One produces granulocyte colony stimulating factor, a protein that encourages production of extra white blood cells at sites of infection. The other produces a protein not naturally found in humans, called Lac-Z, that earmarks infected cells for destruction.

Fischer says that to date, more than 200 people have received the virus, which has also shown promise against other types of cancer, including those of the kidney and skin. But he warns that not everyone sees a benefit. "We know why patients respond, but not why they don't," he says.

Journal reference: Nature Medicine, DOI: 10.1038/nm.3089

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Music stars ooze sex appeal on Grammys red carpet

LOS ANGELES - US television network CBS may have warned stars not to show too much skin on stage Sunday at the Grammys, but A-listers tested the limits on the red carpet in body-conscious, revealing gowns.

Jennifer Lopez, whose plunging barely-there green Versace gown at the 2000 Grammys provided a red carpet moment for the ages, pushed the dress code to the edge with a daring black dress that covered most -- but not all -- of her.

"They didn't say anything about leg!" she told presenter Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet ahead of the main event, her toned bare leg and shoulder on full display in her asymmetrical Anthony Vaccarello ensemble.

In an email leaked to media outlets, CBS warned those appearing on the Grammys stage to "please be sure that buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered."

"Thong type costumes are problematic. Please avoid exposing bare fleshy under curves of the buttocks and buttock crack," read the letter from CBS' Standards and Practices department to representatives of the stars.

The letter continued: "Bare sides or under curvature of the breasts is also problematic. Please avoid sheer see-through clothing that could possibly expose female breast nipples."

Katy Perry clearly did not get the memo, strutting her stuff in a skin-tight cleavage-baring mint green dress, saying she was inspired by the retro glam of Priscilla Presley's look in the 1970s.

Rihanna opted for a body-skimming sheer red dress by Azzedine Alaia, with bright red lips to match.

Pop princess Taylor Swift glittered in a winter white goddess gown from J. Mendel, complete with silver accents at the neck and bustline and a daring slit in the front.

In the opening performance of the night, Swift changed into a white ringmaster's costume with shorts and knee-high boots -- but no curves exposed.

Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, on the arm of singer-husband Keith Urban, wore a sleeveless gold Vera Wang gown, while one-time "American Idol" Carrie Underwood opted for a strapless black Roberto Cavalli with a sheer skirt.

Adele, the big winner at last year's Grammys with six trophies, left her usual basic black at home but followed the rules, opting for a bold red floral Valentino dress with long sleeves and a conservative knee-length hem.

- AFP/ir

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Almost famous: See celebs' early roles

By Henry Hanks, CNN

updated 5:05 PM EST, Thu February 7, 2013

Stars who started out like GoDaddy's geek

Jesse Heiman

Sylvester Stallone

John Travolta

Keanu Reeves

Courtney Cox

Matt LeBlanc

Tina Fey

Rainn Wilson

Megan Fox

Dean Winters

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Clive Davis Gala goes on year after Houston's death

A year after Whitney Houston's death, music executive Clive Davis remembered her in words -- and video.

Houston died last year at the age of 48 just hours before the annual Clive Davis Gala was set to start. On Saturday, Davis said his world continues "to be so shattered by her passing" and that Houston's death still feels "unreal."

At the gala, Davis played what he called a rare performance of Houston belting "All The Man That I Need" at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Houston's brother and sister-in-law, Gary and Pat Houston, attended the gala, where Davis thanked them "for being here tonight." He also called Houston the "greatest, greatest singer of our lifetime."

58 Photos

Grammy Awards 2013: Pre-parties

Dutch electronic artist Afrojack kicked off the performances with a DJ set, but it was Gladys Knight who got the crowd up out of their seats with a closing number featuring renditions of "Neither One of Us" and "Midnight Train to Georgia."

Usher, too, brought R&B flavor to the stage when he performed some of "Burn" and "Climax," which featured the acoustic guitar.

The pre-Grammy event also featured performances by Patti Smith, Scottish singer Emeli Sande, best new artist nominees the Lumineers, song of the year nominee Miguel, and Jennifer Hudson, who paid tribute to Knight and performed with the singing veteran.

The event was full of A-listers there to enjoy the live music: Johnny Depp, Quincy Jones, Sting, Joni Mitchell, Diddy, Miley Cyrus, Frank Ocean, Dave Grohl, Magic Johnson and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick were in attendance as well as Ne-Yo, Carly Rae Jepsen, Brandy, David Guetta, Babyface, Wiz Khalifa, Jordin Sparks, Tyra Banks and dozens of others.

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$1M Reward for Capture of Fugitive Ex-Cop Dorner

A $1 million reward was offered today for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, as authorities in Big Bear, Calif., scaled back their search for the disgruntled ex-cop, who is suspected in three revenge killings.

"This is the largest local reward ever offered, to our knowledge," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference today. "This is an act of domestic terrorism. This is a man who has targeted those that we entrust to protect the public. His actions cannot go unanswered."

The money for the reward was pooled by businesses, government, local law enforcement leaders and individual donors, Beck said.

PHOTOS: Former LAPD Officer Suspected in Shootings

The reward comes on the fourth day of a manhunt for Dorner, who has left Southern California on edge after he allegedly went on a killing spree last week to avenge his firing from the police force. Dorner outlined his grievances in a 6,000 word so-called "manifesto" and said he will keep killing until the truth is known about his case.

Dorner's threats have prompted the LAPD to provide more than 50 law enforcement families with security and surveillance detail, Beck said.

Authorities are chasing leads, however they declined to say where in order to not impede the investigation.

Dorner's burned-out truck was found Thursday near Big Bear Lake, a popular skiing destination located 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Irvine Police Department/AP Photo

Manhunt for Alleged Cop Killer Heads to California Mountains Watch Video

Christopher Dorner Search: Officials Search for Ex-officer in the Mountains Watch Video

Investigators found two AR-15 assault rifles in the burned-out truck Dorner abandoned, sources told ABC News.

The truck had a broken axle, which may be the reason he decided to set fire to it, the police sources said.

Full Coverage: Christopher Jordan Dorner

Officers have spent the past couple of days going door-to-door and searching vacant cabins. The manhunt was scaled back to 25 officers and one helicopter in the resort town today, according to the San Bernadino Sheriff's Office.

On Saturday, Beck announced he would reopen the investigation into Dorner's firing but said the decision was not made to "appease" the fugitive ex-cop.

"I feel we need to also publicly address Dorner's allegations regarding his termination of employment, and to do so I have directed our Professionals Standards Bureau and my Special Assistant for Constitutional Policing to completely review the Dorner complaint of 2007; To include a re-examination of all evidence and a re-interview of witnesses," Beck said. "We will also investigate any allegations made in his manifesto which were not included in his original complaint."

Dorner is suspected of killing Monica Quan and her fiancé Keith Lawrence last Sunday in their car in the parking lot of their Irvine, Calif., condominium complex. Both were struck with multiple gunshot wounds.

Quan's father, Randall Quan, was a retired captain with the LAPD and attorney who represented Dorner before a police review board that led to Dorner's dismissal from the force in 2008.

On Wednesday, after Dorner was identified as a suspect in the double murder, police believe he ambushed two Riverside police officers, killing one and wounding the other.

The next day, Randall Quan reported he received a taunting call from a man claiming to be Dorner who told him that he "should have done a better job of protecting his daughter," according to court documents documents.

Anyone with information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner is asked to call the LAPD task force at 213-486-6860.

ABC News' Dean Schabner, Jack Date, Pierre Thomas, Jason Ryan and Clayton Sandell contributed to this report.

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Sooty ships may be geoengineering by accident

GEOENGINEERING is being tested - albeit inadvertently - in the north Pacific. Soot from oil-burning ships is dumping about 1000 tonnes of soluble iron per year across 6 million square kilometres of ocean, new research has revealed.

Fertilising the world's oceans with iron has been controversially proposed as a way of sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to curb global warming. Some geoengineers claim releasing iron into the sea will stimulate plankton blooms, which absorb carbon, but ocean processes are complex and difficult to monitor in tests.

"Experiments suggest you change the population of algae, causing a shift from fish-dominated to jellyfish-dominated ecosystems," says Alex Baker of the University of East Anglia, UK. Such concerns led the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to impose a moratorium on geoengineering experiments in 2010.

The annual ship deposition is much larger, if less concentrated, than the iron released in field tests carried out before the moratorium was in place. Yet because ship emissions are not intended to alter ocean chemistry, they do not violate the moratorium, says Jim Thomas of the ETC Group, a think tank that consults for the CBD. "If you intentionally drove oil-burning ships back and forth as a geoengineering experiment, that would contravene it."

The new study, by Akinori Ito of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, is the first to quantify how shipping deposits iron in parts of the ocean normally deficient in it. Earlier models had assumed that only 1 to 2 per cent of the iron contained in aerosols, including shipping emissions, is soluble in seawater, so the remaining 98 to 99 percent would sink to the bottom without affecting ocean life. But Ito found that up to 80 per cent of the iron in shipping soot is soluble (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, doi.org/kdj). As this soot rapidly falls to the sea surface, it is likely to be fertilising the oceans.

In the high-latitude north Pacific - a region that is naturally iron-poor and therefore likely to be most affected by human deposits - ship emissions now account for 70 per cent of soluble iron from human activity, with the burning of biomass and coal accounting for the rest. Shipping's share will rise as traffic continues to grow and regulations restrict coal and biomass emissions.

Can we learn anything from this unintentional experiment? Baker thinks not. "The process isn't scientifically useful," he says, because the uncontrolled nature of the iron makes it difficult to draw meaningful comparisons.

The depositions are unlikely to be harmful at current levels, he says, but "given the uncertainties, I just don't know how much these iron emissions would have to increase before there was demonstrable harm to an ecosystem, or benefit in terms of carbon uptake, for that matter".

This article appeared in print under the headline "Ships inadvertently fertilise the oceans"

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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Golf: Snedeker, Hahn share lead at Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, California: Brandt Snedeker, runner-up to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the past two weeks, fired a four-under par 68 Saturday to share the lead after 54 holes at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Snedeker, a 32-year-old American who won last year's PGA playoff crown, stood alongside Korean-American PGA rookie James Hahn on 12-under 202 through three rounds in quest of a $1.15 million top prize at the $6.5 million event.

"It was a fun day. I played great start to finish," Snedeker said. "I had a couple hiccups in there but overall I played well. I've putted well the past two days. Left me a little bit today, but hopefully it will be back tomorrow."

Pros played alongside amateurs, many of them celebrities in entertainment and sports, over three courses during the first three rounds before the cut ahead of Sunday's finish at Pebble Beach.

Snedeker, playing at Pebble Beach, birdied the par-5 second and answered a bogey at the par-3 fifth by finishing the front nine with four birdies in a row.

"I hit my irons really close on the front," Snedeker said. "I had 6- to 8-footers for birdies on the front. On the back, I had birdie chances but couldn't convert them."

After a bogey at 10 and birdie at 11, Snedeker parred his way to the clubhouse.

"Only giving away one bogey coming in out here was a help," Snedeker said.

Hahn fired a bogey-free 66, six-under par, at Spyglass Hill to match Snedeker at the top.

Starting on the back nine, Hahn birdied the par-5 11th and 14th holes, added another at the par-4 17th and then closed the round with three birdies in a row to grab a share of the lead.

"My attitude (was great)," Hahn said. "I started off well, told myself I was going to give myself a lot of looks, 10 to 15 feet, and you have to make those putts."

Hahn, who played college golf at the nearby University of California, said that Sunday's round, the most important of his career to date, will be "just another day in the office for me. I'm just going to go out and have fun."

Hahn admitted he will feel the nerves, even with his brother serving as his caddie.

"Nervous means I care a lot," Hahn said. "I'm more excited than anything."

The 31-year-old, who was born in Seoul, did a "Gangnam-style" celebration dance last week after making a 20-foot, final-round birdie at Phoenix's rowdy 16th hole, adopting the moves that made Korean performer Psy a YouTube smash.

Hahn was saying he had pushed the bar high for a repeat dance show at Pebble Beach but said, "Maybe a winning putt on 18 might do a little something."

Hahn might have the chance to make one in the final group with Snedeker, who leads the US PGA Tour in scoring average and birdies but hopes not to settle for another second-best showing.

"I've got to take advantage of the opportunities I didn't today," Snedeker said. "In my view I saved them all up for tomorrow. You have to make those chances if you are going to win."

American Chris Kirk, whose lone PGA title came at the 2011 Viking Classic, fired a six-under 64 at the Monterey Peninsula Shore course to stand third, one stroke off the pace at 203.

Kirk, who began his third round on the back nine, birdied the par-5 12th to start a run of four birdies in five holes. He had back-to-back birdies at the second and third then answered a bogey at the par-3 seventh with a birdie at the par-3 ninth.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson slipped on wet rocks and fell on his rear at the 18th hole at Pebble Beach on his way to a triple-bogey 8 that dropped him out of contention.

"I got lucky, I didn't get hurt," Mickelson said. "To finish with a triple, it didn't feel great. It was a fun day to play golf. I just wish I could have played better. That triple really just took me out of it."

Leading scores after the third round of the US PGA Tour's $6.5 million Pebble Beach National Pro-Am:

202 - Brandt Snedeker 66-68-68, James Hahn 71-65-66

203 - Chris Kirk 71-68-64

204 - Patrick Reed 68-69-67

205 - Richard Lee 68-71-66

206 - Retief Goosen (RSA) 71-68-67, Robert Garrigus 71-69-66, Jason Day (AUS) 68-68-70, James Driscoll 72-67-67, Jimmy Walker 68-71-67

207 - Sean O'Hair 70-67-70, Luke Guthrie 68-70-69, Kevin Stadler 69-69-69, Webb Simpson 71-71-65, Ted Potter 67-67-73, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 71-66-70

208 - Charlie Wi (KOR) 70-70-68, Hunter Mahan 66-69-73, Alistair Presnell (AUS) 68-72-68, William McGirt 72-69-67, Matt Every 67-70-71, Kevin Na 68-72-68, Russell Knox (SCO) 64-73-71, Billy Horschel 70-71-67, Jordan Spieth
70-70-68, Patrick Cantlay 66-70-72

209 - Bill Lunde 71-70-68, Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 69-71-69, Scott Brown 72-68-69, John Merrick 68-67-74, Justin Hicks 71-68-70

- AFP/al

Read More..

Almost famous: See celebs' early roles

By Henry Hanks, CNN

updated 5:05 PM EST, Thu February 7, 2013

Stars who started out like GoDaddy's geek

Jesse Heiman

Sylvester Stallone

John Travolta

Keanu Reeves

Courtney Cox

Matt LeBlanc

Tina Fey

Rainn Wilson

Megan Fox

Dean Winters

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Slain Texas prosecutor remembered at memorial service

TERRELL, Texas A Texas prosecutor gunned down outside his courthouse office last month was remembered Saturday for his zealousness in pursuing tough cases, love of flying and ability to tell stories.

Hundreds turned out in a school auditorium to celebrate the life of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse during a 90-minute memorial service that included stories about the veteran prosecutor's tough and softer sides as well as vows to catch his killer.

Hasse, 57, was shot multiple times the morning of Jan. 31 while walking from his car in a parking lot about a block from the courthouse. The brazen crime has sparked an investigation that includes both local and federal authorities, many of whom attended the Saturday ceremony.

Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland described how Hasse, who wasn't married and had no children, never backed away from anything while often telling stories that brought laughter heard throughout the courthouse.

McLelland then turned to the effort to find Hasse's killer.

"He knows and I know there will be a reckoning," the DA said. "Too many people are focusing on that. That's not going to be a problem."

The slain prosecutor's brother, Paul Hasse, also mentioned the search for the gunman.

"You honor him by the massive effort you are making to find out who did this," he said.

Several speakers traced Hasse's career from his time as an assistant district attorney in Dallas in the 1980s to his decision three years ago to join the DA's office in Kaufman, 33 miles southeast of Dallas.

Dallas attorney Marcus Busch, who worked with Hasse in the Dallas DA's office, called Hasse "the consummate prosecutor," describing how he rose from handling cases in misdemeanor courts to being the chief of the unit charged with prosecuting organized crime. In one well-known instance, Hasse's "wicked and clever intellect" prompted him to take on a case of murder by arson that had previously been rejected, and he was able to gain a conviction, Busch said.

Busch also spoke of Hasse's love of flying and how he recovered from severe head injuries after the vintage World War II aircraft he was flying crashed in Virginia. Busch said he began taking flying lessons himself because of Hasse's passion for it.

Hasse left private practice to work as a prosecutor in Kaufman because "that's what his passion was," Busch said.

"I'd rather be in court trying a case with Mark than being in this room today," he said, stopping to gain his composure.

Cooke County DA Janice Warder, another former colleague from Hasse's Dallas days, recalled working with the prosecutor before computers put information at their fingertips. When questions would emerge from complicated autopsy reports or engineering documents, Hasse would have the answers, she said.

"Before there was Google, there was `Ask Mark,"' Warder said.

Above all else, Hasse was "ruthless when it came to fighting evil," she said.

Justin Lewis, an officer with the sheriff's department in Kaufman County who previously served as an investigator in the county DA's office, also spoke of how Hasse "enjoyed putting criminals in jail." Fighting to control his emotions, Lewis ended his remarks by saying the killer will be caught.

"Answers will eventually come," he said. "We must remain vigilant."

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After Blizzard, Northeast Begins to Dig Out

The Northeast began the arduous process of cleaning up after a fierce storm swept through the region leaving behind up to three feet of snow in some areas.

By early this morning, 650,000 homes and businesses were without power and at least five deaths were being blamed on the storm: three in Canada, one in New York and one in Connecticut, The Associated Press reported.

The storm dumped snow from New Jersey to Maine, affecting more than 25 million people, with more than two feet falling in areas of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. The Postal Service closed post offices and suspended mail delivery today in New England.

As the storm waned, officials in the hardest hit areas cautioned residents to remain indoors and off the roads to ease the clean-up.

Massachusetts was hard hit by the storm, with more than two feet of snow in Boston and even more in coastal areas. State police and national guard troops helped rescue more than 50 stranded motorists and even helped deliver a baby girl, according to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

Patrick enacted the first statewide driving ban since the 1978 blizzard, which left 27 inches of snow and killed dozens. The ban was to be lifted at 4 p.m. today, the governor said.

However, Patrick cautioned residents to act with extreme caution even after the ban is over.

"Stay inside and be patient," Patrick said.

In Massachusetts a boy reportedly died of carbon monoxide poisoning as he helped his father shovel snow on Saturday, according to ABCNews.com affiliate WCVB-TV in Boston.

For residents along the coast, the waning snowfall didn't mean the end of the storm. Storm surges along the Massachusetts coastline forced some residents out of their homes Saturday morning.

"We've got 20-foot waves crashing and flooding some homes," Bob Connors on Plum Island told WCVB. "We have power and heat and all that. We just have a very angry ocean. In my 33 years, I've never seen the seas this high."

Darren McCollester/Getty Images

Blizzard Shuts Down Parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts Watch Video

Blizzard 2013: Power Outages for Hundreds of Thousands of People Watch Video

Blizzard 2013: Northeast Transportation Network Shut Down Watch Video

FULL COVERAGE: Blizzard of 2013

In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy declared a state of emergency and closed all roads in the state. The state police responded to more than 1,600 calls over the last 24 hours and the governor called up an additional 270 National Guard members.

"If you're not an emergency personnel that's required to be somewhere, stay home," Malloy said.

Overnight, snow fell at a rate of up to five to six inches per hour in parts of Connecticut. In Milford, more than 38 inches of snow had fallen by this morning.

In Fairfield, Conn. firefighters and police officers on the day shift were unable to make it to work, so the overnight shift remained on duty.

PHOTOS: Blizzard Hits Northeast

The wind and snow started affecting the region during the Friday night commute.

In Cumberland, Maine, the conditions led to a 19-car pile-up and in New York, hundreds of commuters were stranded on the snowy Long Island Expressway. Police and firefighters were still working to free motorists early this morning.

"The biggest problem that we're having is that people are not staying on the main portion or the middle section of the roadway and veering to the shoulders, which are not plowed," said Lt. Daniel Meyer from the Suffolk County Police Highway Patrol.

In New York, authorities are digging out hundreds of cars that got stuck overnight on the Long Island Expressway.

Bob Griffith of Syosset, N.Y., said he tried leave early to escape the storm, but instead ended up stuck in the snow by the side of the road.

"I tried to play it smart in that I started early in the day, when it was raining," said Griffith. "But the weather beat us to the punch."

Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone said the snow had wreaked havoc on the roadways.

"I saw state plows stuck on the side of the road. I've never seen anything like this before," Bellone said.

However, some New York residents, who survived the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, were rattled by having to face another large and potentially dangerous storm system with hurricane force winds and flooding.

"How many storms of the century can you have in six months?" said Larry Racioppo, a resident of the hard hit Rockaway neighborhood in Queens, New York.

READ: Weather NYC: Blizzard Threatens Rockaways, Ravaged by Sandy

Snowfall Totals

In New York, a little more than 11 inches fell in the city.

By this morning, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said nearly all of the primary roads had been plowed and the department of sanitation anticipated that all roads would be plowed by the end of the day.

"It looks like we dodged a bullet, but keep in mind winter is not over," said Bloomberg.

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