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Sen. Susan Collins of Maine joined astronauts, Olympians and activists on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s 2024 list of 100 influential women . U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald, file The BBC recognized Collins for her work on bipartisan legislation, her advocacy of women’s health and her co-authorship of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act, for which she has helped secure more than 10 years of additional funding. Collins thanked the BBC and the people of Maine for electing her to the Senate. “It is an honor to be selected for this list and to stand alongside so many incredible women who have dedicated their lives to service and combating the challenges facing women around the world,” she said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. Collins is one of seven American women to make the list. Also featured are astronaut Sunita Williams; reproductive rights advocate Amanda Zurawski; Iranian writer and translator Shahrnush Parsipur, who has lived in exile in the United States since 1994; actress Sharon Stone; Paralympic archer Tracy Otto; New York Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum; track and field runner Allyson Felix; and artificial intelligence expert Sneha Revanur. We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use . More information is found on our FAQs . You can modify your screen name here . Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve. Please sign into your Sun Journal account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe . Questions? Please see our FAQs . Your commenting screen name has been updated. Send questions/comments to the editors. « PreviousElectricity is the foundation of modern life; it enables every task during our waking hours and keeps us safe and comfortable while we sleep. Dairyland Power Cooperative was formed in 1941 to provide safe and reliable electricity to rural residents here in the Upper Midwest. Nearly 85 years later, Dairyland’s mission to power communities remains essentially the same, but how we do our job as a critical services provider is changing dramatically. Dairyland continues to walk the talk on reducing CO2. In the past decade, we have retired 579 megawatts of coal-fired generation; our coal footprint has been reduced by 60% since 1999. However, grid regulators, such as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, are sounding the alarm on complex reliability challenges resulting from power plant retirements. To ensure we are safe and reliable during the clean energy transition, Dairyland will continue to: System Operator Scott Brennan works in the new control room of Dairyland Power Cooperative in La Crosse in December 2023. Saskia Hatvany Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts Today, I would like to particularly focus on the potential of advanced nuclear energy to help America safely and effectively transition to a lower carbon economy. If we as a nation are serious about achieving carbon goals while maintaining a reliable and affordable grid, nuclear energy must be part of the conversation. Dairyland is exploring carbon-free power supply technologies, including small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear plants. SMRs have the potential for flexible, high-capacity, zero-carbon energy production. No matter what the weather, SMRs can power your life without leaving a carbon footprint. In addition, SMR facilities can bring family-supporting jobs and economic benefits to communities. But change doesn’t happen overnight. Now is the time to prepare for a pivot towards nuclear for energy transition success. How? By engaging with local communities, elected officials, industry and academic experts and anyone interested in dialogue about the future. Dairyland Electric Cooperative CEO Brent Ridge, right, speaks about the need for nuclear energy in the future as U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden listens Oct. 29. STEVE RUNDIO, River Valley News Group file photo In addition to advanced nuclear, Dairyland is interested in pumped storage hydro and long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies. Recently, Dairyland received a $28 million U.S. Department of Energy award to bring LDES projects to rural communities. The federal funding supports the development of three battery storage facilities in Wyeville, Wisconsin; Frentress Lake, Illinois; and Waukon, Iowa. It is a thrilling time to work in the energy sector, with emerging technologies and opportunities that will require new skillsets and innovative thinkers to propel the energy transition forward. Dairyland looks forward to collaborating with our members, communities and the next generation of visionaries to improve quality of life everywhere we serve. Brent Ridge
Scientists are focusing on the energy centers of cancer cells – in a literal sense – to damage these power sources and induce widespread death in cancer cells. In a recent study, researchers combined methods to administer gene therapy that disrupts energy using nanoparticles designed to specifically target only cancer cells. Tests indicated that the targeted treatment is successful at reducing glioblastoma brain tumors and aggressive breast cancer tumors in mice. The research team addressed a major hurdle by utilizing a cutting-edge technique to dismantle mitochondria – the energy centers of the cell – through a method that creates light-activated electrical currents within the cell. They named this innovative technology mLumiOpto. “We disrupt the membrane so mitochondria cannot work functionally to produce energy or work as a signaling hub. This causes programmed cell death followed by DNA damage – our investigations showed these two mechanisms are involved and kill the cancer cells,” said co-lead author Lufang Zhou, professor of biomedical engineering and surgery at The Ohio State University . “This is how the technology works by design.” Mitochondria play a crucial role as the powerhouses of cells, generating the energy necessary for cellular functions. For years, they have been seen as a promising target for anti-cancer therapies, yet their impermeable inner membrane has posed significant challenges. Five years ago, Zhou’s lab discovered a way to take advantage of a vulnerability in the inner membrane—an electrical charge difference that maintains its structure and ensures its proper functionality. “Previous attempts to use a pharmaceutical reagent against mitochondria-targeted specific pathways of activity in cancer cells,” he said. “Our approach targets mitochondria directly, using external genes to activate a process that kills cells. That’s an advantage, and we’ve shown we can get a very good result in killing different types of cancer cells.” Zhou’s previous cell experiments demonstrated that a protein capable of generating electric currents could cause a disruption in the mitochondrial inner membrane, and researchers utilized a laser to activate this light-sensitive protein. In this latest research, the team developed an internal light source, which is crucial for adapting the technology for clinical applications. The approach involves introducing genetic material for two types of molecules: a light-sensitive protein called CoChR that generates positively charged currents and an enzyme that emits bioluminescence. These components are encapsulated in a modified viral particle and delivered to cancer cells, leading to the production of the proteins as their genes are expressed within the mitochondria . A subsequent injection of a specific chemical activates the enzyme’s light, which in turn triggers CoChR, resulting in the collapse of the mitochondria. Another important aspect of this treatment is to make sure it does not affect healthy cells. Liu’s laboratory focuses on the development of targeted therapies for cancer. The basis for the delivery mechanism in this study is the well-researched adeno-associated virus (AAV), which is a minimally infectious virus designed to transport genes and facilitate their expression for therapeutic applications. To improve the system’s specificity for cancer, the team introduced a promoter protein that increases the expression of the CoChR and bioluminescent enzyme exclusively in cancer cells. Additionally, the researchers developed the AAV using human cells, encapsulating the gene-packed virus in a natural nanocarrier that mimics extracellular vesicles, which are commonly found in human blood and biological fluids. “This construction assures stability in the human body because this particle comes from a human cell line,” Liu said. Finally, the researchers developed and attached to the delivery particle a monoclonal antibody designed to seek out receptors on cancer cell surfaces. “This monoclonal antibody can identify a specific receptor, so it finds cancer cells and delivers our therapeutic genes. We used multiple tools to confirm this effect,” she said. “After constructing AAVs with a cancer-specific promoter and a cancer-targeting nanoparticle, we found this therapy is very powerful to treat multiple cancers.” Research conducted on mouse models demonstrated that the gene therapy approach significantly decreased tumor size when compared to untreated animals in two fast-growing, difficult-to-treat cancers: glioblastoma brain cancer and triple negative breast cancer. Besides reducing tumor size, the treatment also prolonged the survival of mice afflicted with glioblastomas. Imaging studies of the animals further verified that the gene therapy’s effects were confined to cancerous tissue and were not observable in normal tissues. The findings also implied that linking the monoclonal antibody provided the additional advantage of generating an immune response targeting cancer cells within the tumor microenvironment. The research team is exploring further potential therapeutic impacts of mLumiOpto for glioblastoma, triple-negative breast cancer, and other cancers. A provisional patent application for the technologies has been submitted by Ohio State. Journal reference:TradePulse Power Inflow Alert: Applovin (APP) Receives Alert After Dropping Early, Then Rises Over 20 Points
The 'perfect fit' Roman trousers in vast size range that are 'flattering' dressed up or downNo matter how much a financial system is fortified against scams, there is always a fraudster, a conman, or a swindler aiming to game that system. Financial crimes, a la white-collar crimes, are committed, interestingly, by those working closely with the system or those having the innate skill to justify the art through the framework of ‘fraud triangle’, that is in the terms of opportunity, incentive and rationalization. Scams, mainly the pecuniary ones, involve conduct of dishonest practices leading to perversion, depravity and debasement of the entire morals of the social fabric. Financial scandals, like any other scandal, have a story of their own and, of course, the denouement. The truth of the scandals appears to be a drama at times, and at times an enthralling thriller. Vijay Narayan Govind, in his book Fraudster Tales, promises to tell select 10 true stories of financial scams, spread across centuries and continents, and in his own words, “these frauds were significant enough at the time to send major ripples through the systems they challenged, with many of them serving as the catalyst for key legal and regulatory reforms.” The book introduces 10 swindlers, each with their own story of fraud in a separate chapter with a suitable story-title to it. In Govind’s fraudster tales, Hegestratos’s tale emerges as the ‘First Fraudster’, circa 300 BCE, in Athens. He, along with his crime partner Zenosthemis, working as ship merchants, planned to steal the cargos, sink the vessel, and con the vessel’s insurers of shipload of valuable goods through enforcement of the clauses of bottomry and respondentia contracts. However, the plans went awry due to the alert captain and crew members and Hegestratos jumped and drowned himself in the sea. Zenosthemis was arrested, tried and imprisoned in Athens for a long time. The author picks stories, random perhaps, from Athens and other countries, including India. Haridas Mundhra in the tale of ‘The Great Investor’ and Natwarlal in ‘The Master Manipulator’ are the two Indians figuring in the book. The Mundhra scandal, first of its kind in independent India, not only was embroiled with the stock markets and financial institutions but was an expose of the wicked nexus between political party, bureaucracy, ministers and business class, perhaps a prototype of ‘crony capitalism’. The conman Mudhra duped Life Insurance Company (LIC) by forging share certificates, using them as collateral for loans, and amassing huge loans to the tune of Rs 15.60 crore by the mid of 1957. It was Feroz Gandhi, the law maker, who brought this scam to public attention that led to nationalization of LIC, resignation of TT Krishnamachari – then finance minister, indictment of finance secretary and some senior LIC officials, and, of course, sentencing of Haridas Mundhra to 22 years in prison. In the Mithilesh Kumar alias Natwarlal’s case, the story, though intriguing, is simple. From forging signatures and withdrawing money from banks, he graduated to nefarious crimes such as decamping cash from merchants and siphoning off goods from the cargo areas while using more than 50 aliases. Natwarlal even sold, impersonating himself as government official, the Taj Mahal thrice, the Red Fort twice, and the Rashtrapati Bhawan and Parliament once. He had developed this shrewd art of escaping prison, and one heard him saying quite often that ‘no jail is enough to hold me for too long’. Then, there is a story of how an expert William Chaloner counterfeited coins, notes, and lottery tickets, in the 1600s, but finally got caught by Sir Issac Newton, and sent to gallows for he was guilty of multiple currency frauds. Hugh Cameron’s story is about his conspiracy to cheat Royal British Banks and its customers, eventually which led to the Bank’s collapse. However, in due course, it triggered major legislative reforms in the corporate governance systems in Britain. Oscar Hartzell, a brazen rook, in another story, swindled millions of dollars from investors in a popularly known Sir Francis Drake estate scam. Another story, rather smutty and historical, called the ‘necklace scandal’, involves one French noble woman Jeanne de valois as the key conspirator. It became one of the scandals that led to French Revolution. US major Enron bankruptcy, led by Kenneth Lay, and the Ponzi scheme by Charles Ponzi, the two white-collar financial crimes, rocked the financial systems in the US. The 10 tales are fun, and a riveting read and, in the tales, the readers would find themselves in the murky world of scandals. The criminals of the stories have two things in common, one they dreamt of becoming filthy rich in a trice, and when caught they tried to justify that all is done in good faith, and second, all of them are caught and punished, which the author seems to lay down as the moral of the book.