AACR honors Hagop Kantarjian for outstanding clinical research

Public release date: 8-Apr-2013
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Contact: Scott Merville
smerville@mdanderson.org
713-792-0661
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

MD Anderson Leukemia chair excels as clinical investigator, mentor and leader

WASHINGTON, D.C. Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., chair and professor in The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's Department of Leukemia, will be honored for clinical research excellence at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, April 6-10.

Kantarjian will receive the 18th Annual AACR Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research from the American Association for Cancer Research Tuesday. His award is one of six given to MD Anderson faculty at the annual meeting.

"As a highly accomplished individual investigator and the leader of a renowned department, Dr. Kantarjian's impact on the survival and well-being of leukemia patients is felt around the world," said Waun Ki Hong, M.D., head of MD Anderson's Division of Cancer Medicine and vice provost for clinical research. "He has earned this honor through years of dedicated effort."

Kantarjian's lecture, "Leukemia Research and Progress A Look Back at the Future," will be at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, April 9, in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

"I am truly honored and humbled to be in the company of great men and women who, by their dedication to clinical research, have made seminal discoveries that have led to seismic changes in our understanding of cancer biology and therapeutics," Kantarjian said.

As a clinician and clinical researcher, Kantarjian has contributed to multiple improvements in the treatment of leukemia patients, including the development and testing of:

• First- and second-generation BCR-ABL inhibitors, revolutionary new drugs for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Since the approval of Gleevec in 2001, these new treatments have raised the five-year survival rate of CML patients from 50 percent to 90 percent.
• Combination therapies for acute lymphocytic leukemia that became standard of care and the single agent clofarabine, approved for ALL in 2005.
• The epigenetic drug decitabine for myelodysplastic syndromes, potentially lethal blood malignancies that also can advance to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), approved for MDS in 2006.
• FDA approval of ruxolitinib for myelofibrosis, an incurable and eventually lethal scarring of the bone marrow, the first approved treatment for the disease and the first to target the JAK2 protein. All clinical trials for the drug were led at MD Anderson.

"As with many individual awards, this honor reflects the efforts and accomplishments of MD Anderson's Department of Leukemia, which includes outstanding investigators across the full spectrum of leukemia," Kantarjian said.

Kantarjian has mentored many internationally recognized experts in the field, Hong said, many of whom are in the Department of Leukemia.

Overall during the past 12 years the department has been instrumental in discovering new, more effective combination treatments and in U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of new drugs for CML (5), MDS and AML, ALL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and myelofibrosis.

Two of the eight programs chosen for MD Anderson's Moon Shots Program are from the department. One addresses chronic lymphocytic leukemia and the other myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia. The program is an unprecedented effort to accelerate the pace of converting scientific discoveries into clinical advances to reduce cancer deaths.

Kantarjian is also the Kelcie Margaret Kana Research Chair and associate vice president for global academic programs at MD Anderson. He received his medical degree from The American University of Beirut in Lebanon and then completed a fellowship at MD Anderson and joined the faculty in 1983. He has received numerous accolades, including the Outstanding Service to Mankind Award from the Leukemia Society of America.

Kantarjian, a member of the AACR since 1985, was on the editorial board of Clinical Cancer Research and serves on the boards of several other scientific journals, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology. He is also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Hematology and the American Society for Clinical Oncology, where he serves on the board of directors. Kantarjian has authored or co-authored more than 1,000 peer-reviewed medical publications.

###

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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.

Public release date: 8-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Scott Merville
smerville@mdanderson.org
713-792-0661
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

MD Anderson Leukemia chair excels as clinical investigator, mentor and leader

WASHINGTON, D.C. Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., chair and professor in The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's Department of Leukemia, will be honored for clinical research excellence at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, April 6-10.

Kantarjian will receive the 18th Annual AACR Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research from the American Association for Cancer Research Tuesday. His award is one of six given to MD Anderson faculty at the annual meeting.

"As a highly accomplished individual investigator and the leader of a renowned department, Dr. Kantarjian's impact on the survival and well-being of leukemia patients is felt around the world," said Waun Ki Hong, M.D., head of MD Anderson's Division of Cancer Medicine and vice provost for clinical research. "He has earned this honor through years of dedicated effort."

Kantarjian's lecture, "Leukemia Research and Progress A Look Back at the Future," will be at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, April 9, in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

"I am truly honored and humbled to be in the company of great men and women who, by their dedication to clinical research, have made seminal discoveries that have led to seismic changes in our understanding of cancer biology and therapeutics," Kantarjian said.

As a clinician and clinical researcher, Kantarjian has contributed to multiple improvements in the treatment of leukemia patients, including the development and testing of:

• First- and second-generation BCR-ABL inhibitors, revolutionary new drugs for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Since the approval of Gleevec in 2001, these new treatments have raised the five-year survival rate of CML patients from 50 percent to 90 percent.
• Combination therapies for acute lymphocytic leukemia that became standard of care and the single agent clofarabine, approved for ALL in 2005.
• The epigenetic drug decitabine for myelodysplastic syndromes, potentially lethal blood malignancies that also can advance to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), approved for MDS in 2006.
• FDA approval of ruxolitinib for myelofibrosis, an incurable and eventually lethal scarring of the bone marrow, the first approved treatment for the disease and the first to target the JAK2 protein. All clinical trials for the drug were led at MD Anderson.

"As with many individual awards, this honor reflects the efforts and accomplishments of MD Anderson's Department of Leukemia, which includes outstanding investigators across the full spectrum of leukemia," Kantarjian said.

Kantarjian has mentored many internationally recognized experts in the field, Hong said, many of whom are in the Department of Leukemia.

Overall during the past 12 years the department has been instrumental in discovering new, more effective combination treatments and in U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of new drugs for CML (5), MDS and AML, ALL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and myelofibrosis.

Two of the eight programs chosen for MD Anderson's Moon Shots Program are from the department. One addresses chronic lymphocytic leukemia and the other myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia. The program is an unprecedented effort to accelerate the pace of converting scientific discoveries into clinical advances to reduce cancer deaths.

Kantarjian is also the Kelcie Margaret Kana Research Chair and associate vice president for global academic programs at MD Anderson. He received his medical degree from The American University of Beirut in Lebanon and then completed a fellowship at MD Anderson and joined the faculty in 1983. He has received numerous accolades, including the Outstanding Service to Mankind Award from the Leukemia Society of America.

Kantarjian, a member of the AACR since 1985, was on the editorial board of Clinical Cancer Research and serves on the boards of several other scientific journals, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology. He is also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Hematology and the American Society for Clinical Oncology, where he serves on the board of directors. Kantarjian has authored or co-authored more than 1,000 peer-reviewed medical publications.

###

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/uotm-ahh040813.php

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Roger Ebert remembered as acclaimed film critic

Chaz Ebert, center, wife of film critic Roger Ebert leaves Holy Name Cathedral after his funeral in Chicago, April 8, 2013. The Pulitzer Prize-winning movie reviewer died Thursday, April 4 at age 70 after a long battle with cancer. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chaz Ebert, center, wife of film critic Roger Ebert leaves Holy Name Cathedral after his funeral in Chicago, April 8, 2013. The Pulitzer Prize-winning movie reviewer died Thursday, April 4 at age 70 after a long battle with cancer. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Pallbearers carry the casket of film critic Roger Ebert before his funeral at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, Monday, April 8, 2013. Ebert died Thursday, April 4, 2013, at age 70 after a long battle with cancer. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Pallbearers carry the casket of film critic Roger Ebert after his funeral at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, April 8, 2013. The Pulitzer Prize-winning movie reviewer died Thursday, April 4 at age 70 after a long battle with cancer. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chaz Ebert, wife of film critic Roger Ebert leaves Holy Name Cathedral after his funeral in Chicago, Monday, April 8, 2013. The Pulitzer Prize winning movie reviewer died Thursday, April 4 at age 70 after a long battle with cancer. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Mourners leave Holy Name Cathedral after film critic Roger Ebert's funeral in Chicago, April 8, 2013. The Pulitzer Prize winning movie reviewer died Thursday, April 4 at age 70 after a long battle with cancer. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

CHICAGO (AP) ? Roger Ebert, one of the nation's most influential film critics who used newspapers, television and social media to take readers into theaters and even into his own life, was laid to rest Monday with praise from political leaders, family and people he'd never met but who chose movies based on the direction of his thumb.

"He didn't just dominate his profession, he defined it," said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a brief eulogy to hundreds of mourners who gathered at Holy Name Cathedral just blocks from where Ebert spent more than 40 years as the film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. Ebert died last Thursday at the age of 70 after a yearslong battle with cancer.

It was Ebert who told readers which films to see and needed to see and which ones they should stay away from, Emanuel said, remembering the influence Ebert had on movie goers through his newspaper reviews and the immensely popular television show he hosted with fellow critic Gene Siskel during which they would issue thumbs-up or thumbs-down assessments.

"Roger spent a lot of time sitting through bad movies so we didn't have to," joked the mayor.

In a 90-minute funeral Mass, speakers took turns talking about how Ebert spent his career communicating his ideas about movies, social issues, the newspaper business and finally the health problems that left him unable to speak.

"He realized that connecting to people was the main reason we're all here and that's what his life was all about," said Sonia Evans, his stepdaughter, her voice choking with emotion.

That realization, she and other speakers said, helped explain Ebert's fascination with outlets such as Twitter and his blog that he took to just two days before he died to tell readers he was taking a "leave of presence."

"Roger was 24-7 before anybody thought of that term," said John Barron, Ebert's former boss at the Sun-Times, who said Ebert was among the first to recognize the changing media landscape as well as the first in the office to use a computer or send emails.

Ebert was also a champion for the little guy, as over the years he weighed more and more on social issues and other topics that had nothing to do with film.

Gov. Pat Quinn spoke as much, if not more, about Ebert's "passion for social justice" and the fact that he was a "union man," as he did about Ebert as a film critic.

Ebert's widow, Chaz, who received a standing ovation as she made her way to the lectern to speak, expanded on that devotion.

"It didn't matter to him your race, creed, color," she said. "He had a big enough heart to accept and love all."

That was the message of Jonathan Jackson, who, after relating comments from his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, told the crowded church why Ebert's early support for the films of Spike Lee and other black filmmakers was so important.

"He respected what we had to say about ourselves," said Jackson, who pointed to Ebert's glowing review of Spike Lee's 'Do The Right Thing' in the late 1980s. "It was not his story but he understood the value of an important film was authenticity and not the fact that it depicted your interests."

As when other Chicago icons such as former Cubs great Ron Santo died, fans of Ebert flocked to the church to pay tribute to someone they saw as one of their own: a Chicago guy. Fans said they liked it that Ebert never left the city for Los Angeles or New York, and that he remained a newspaper writer until the end. Some clapped when Barron ended his remarks with a story about how Ebert kept his word to stay at the paper.

And they liked it that he didn't hide after surgeons had to remove portions of his jaw.

"He let himself be the face of cancer and that illness," said Peggy Callahan, a 67-year-old retired teacher. "He did that and he kept doing that."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-04-08-Ebert-Funeral/id-8af45ee4fd0e489fa766e1808b30fad1

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Device keeps human liver alive outside body

Apr. 7, 2013 ? In a world first, a donated human liver has been 'kept alive' outside a human being and then successfully transplanted into a patient in need of a new liver.

So far the procedure has been performed on two patients on the liver transplant waiting list and both are making excellent recoveries.

Currently transplantation depends on preserving donor organs by putting them 'on ice' -- cooling them to slow their metabolism. But this often leads to organs becoming damaged.

The technology, developed at Oxford University and now being trialled at the liver transplant centre at King's College Hospital as part of a controlled clinical investigation, could preserve a functioning liver outside the body for 24 hours. A donated human liver connected to the device is raised to body temperature and oxygenated red blood cells are circulated through its capillaries. Once on the machine, a liver functions normally just as it would inside a human body, regaining its colour and producing bile.

The results from the first two transplants, carried out at King's College Hospital in February 2013, suggest that the device could be useful for all patients needing liver transplants. Based on pre-clinical data, the new device could also enable the preservation of livers which would otherwise be discarded as unfit for transplantation -- potentially as much as doubling the number of organs available for transplant and prolonging the maximum period of organ preservation to 24 hours.

'These first clinical cases confirm that we can support human livers outside the body, keep them alive and functioning on our machine and then, hours later, successfully transplant them into a patient,' said Professor Constantin Coussios of Oxford University's Department of Engineering Science, one of the machine's inventors and Technical Director of OrganOx, the University spin-out created to bring the device from bench to bedside.

'The device is the very first completely automated liver perfusion device of its kind: the organ is perfused with oxygenated red blood cells at normal body temperature, just as it would be inside the body, and can for example be observed making bile, which makes it an extraordinary feat of engineering.

'It was astounding to see an initially cold grey liver flushing with colour once hooked up to our machine and performing as it would within the body. What was even more amazing was to see the same liver transplanted into a patient who is now walking around.'

Professor Nigel Heaton, Consultant Liver Transplant Surgeon and Director of Transplant Surgery at King's College Hospital, said: 'Despite all the advances in modern medicine, the fundamentals of liver transplantation have not changed in decades. This is why the device is so exciting. If we can introduce technology like this into everyday practice, it could be a real, bona fide game changer for transplantation as we know it. Buying the surgeon extra time extends the options open to our patients, many of whom would otherwise die waiting for an organ to become available.'

Mr Wayel Jassem, Consultant Liver Transplant Surgeon at King's College Hospital, who performed both transplant operations, said: 'There is always huge pressure to get a donated liver to the right person within a very short space of time. For the first time, we now have a device that is designed specifically to give us extra time to test the liver, to help maximise the chances of the recipient having a successful outcome. This technology has the potential to be hugely significant, and could make more livers available for transplant, and in turn save lives.'

'Whilst for these two transplants we only needed to keep the livers alive for up to 10 hours, in other experiments we have shown we can preserve a functioning liver and monitor its function outside the body for periods up to 24 hours.Dr Jens Brockman, now a transplant surgeon in Zurich, who carried out pre-clinical studies in Oxford of successfully re-transplanted organs using this technology, said: 'The future of clinical liver transplantation depends upon whether we can find ways to transplant less-than-perfect organs reliably. It is not good enough to say that the results of transplantation are improving if we are only treating half the patients who need transplants. This technology will greatly expand the criteria for organ donation for liver transplantation and increase the number of patients that can be treated.'

Ian Christie, 62, the first person to receive a transplanted liver kept alive on the device, said: 'In May 2012, I was told I had cirrhosis of the liver and without a transplant I had an estimated 12-18 months to live. I was placed on the waiting list but I was told there was about 12-18 months to wait for a liver of my type. I was very worried it was cutting it a bit too fine and I wouldn't get a transplant.

'The waiting is horrible. Sometimes I would forget about the transplant but then I would catch sight of the bag in the corner of the room that I had packed ready to go and then I would remember. You're waiting for the phone to ring, wondering "Are they ever going to call me? Are they ever going to call me?."

'I took part in the trial because I just think it's the right thing to do. If the device can help more people in my situation in the future, it's my duty to help. I trusted that the doctors wouldn't go ahead with it unless they were absolutely sure so I knew there wasn't a risk to my transplant.

'Three days after the surgery, Mr Jassam from King's and the professors from Oxford arrived in my room with absolutely beaming smiles. They look like they are normally quite serious gentlemen so I knew it was a good sign to see them so pleased.

'I feel better than I've felt for 10-15 years, even allowing for the pain and wound that's got to heal. I'm getting better and better day by day. I just feel so alive!

'It's so easy to get carried away and become euphoric, but things can still go wrong, so I'm trying to keep my feet on the ground and take it day by day.'

Professor Coussios and Professor Peter Friend, of Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences and Director of the Oxford Transplant Centre, and colleagues have been researching the technology since 1994.

Professor Peter Friend said: 'Transplant surgery is a victim of its own success with far more people needing transplants than there are donor organs available. This device has the potential to change that situation radically. By enabling us to transplant many organs that are unusable with current techniques, this technology could bring benefit to a large number of patients awaiting transplants, many of whom currently die whilst still waiting.

'At present, organ transplantation depends upon cooling the organ to ice temperature to slow down its metabolism, but this does not stop it deteriorating and, if the organ is already damaged in some way, perhaps by being deprived of oxygen, then the combined effect can be disastrous. Many potential donor organs are declined as being unsuitable for this reason.

'This new technique allows us to assess how well an organ is working before having to decide whether to commit a patient to the operation. So this technology promises to quality-assure organs which would otherwise be discarded. This would increase the number of transplants without increasing the risks. It will make a real difference to what happens to patients on the waiting list without requiring any change in current donation practices.'

In 2008 the spin-out company OrganOx was formed, through the University's technology transfer firm Isis Innovation, in order to commercialise the Oxford research. OrganOx, headed by CEO Dr Les Russell, developed the device for these first clinical trials.

'In Europe and the US, around 13,000 liver transplants are undertaken each year,' said OrganOx CEO Dr Les Russell. 'However, there is a combined waiting list of around 30,000 patients and up to 25 per cent of these patients die whilst awaiting transplantation. Meanwhile, over 2000 livers are discarded annually because they are either damaged by oxygen deprivation or do not survive cold preservation due to elevated intracellular fat'.

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FINALS WATCH: Clean game, Advantage Michigan

ATLANTA (AP) ? Around the Final Four and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of everything surrounding the games.

___

CLEAN GAME

If it seems like this game is going faster than the first semifinal that's because there is more of a flow to it. It probably won't turn into the foul-fest that slowed down the Louisville-Wichita State matchup.

Michigan doesn't foul much, and the Wolverines don't draw very many fouls either. At the end of the first half with Michigan leading 36-25 only eight fouls have been called.

Louisville and Wichita State combined for a total of 43 fouls.

On offense, Michigan is getting contributions from its bench. Caris LeVert ? who at one point looked like he might redshirt the season ? has made a couple 3-pointers. He had 11 3-pointers all season before the national semifinal.

Spike Albrecht has also hit one from beyond the arc.

? Noah Trister ? http://twitter.com/@noahtrister

___

MICHIGAN TIMEOUT

A reminder of an infamous moment in Michigan basketball history can be seen near the court.

There's a sign that says "TIME OUTS LEFT" with the No. 5 on it. Hard to tell if the tone is a mocking one or if it's just a Michigan fan trying to be helpful. There is a block "M'' on the message.

Former Michigan star Chris Webber called a timeout in the last seconds of the 1993 championship game against North Carolina ? but the Wolverines didn't have any left. The play resulted in technical fouls against Michigan and the Tar Heels went on to win 77-71.

? Noah Trister

___

ADVANTAGE MICHIGAN?

Michigan fans are making their presence felt, but it isn't helping the Wolverines find their shooting touch.

This is a road game for Syracuse. The Orange are well-represented but they're outnumbered by Michigan fans. And the Wolverines faithful are loud.

Michigan seems to want to shoot over the top of the Syracuse zone. After five minutes, the Wolverines started just 1 of 6 shooting from behind the arc.

? John Affleck ? http://twitter.com/@affleckap

___

SYRACUSE vs. MICHIGAN

Louisville's got next.

Now, Syracuse and Michigan are playing to see which other team gets to stay on the court.

The Wolverines and Orange have tipped off the second half of the Final Four doubleheader at the Georgia Dome.

The winner between the No. 4 seeds will play Louisville, which rallied from a 12-point deficit to defeat Wichita State 72-68.

?Eddie Pells ? http://twitter.com/@epells

___

AIRCRAFT CARRIER vs. GEORGIA DOME

Syracuse forward James Southerland downplays the difficulties of shooting at the Georgia Dome.

"It can't be worse than a ship," Southerland said after practicing at the dome in preparation for the Final Four.

The Orange play their home games in the smaller Carrier Dome but opened the season against San Diego State in a game played on an aircraft carrier.

Mr. Southerland is about to find out which is tougher.

? Eddie Pells

___

MICHAEL JORDAN

The Final Four isn't the first time the Georgia Dome has held a massive crowd by basketball standards.

On March 27, 1998, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls played the Atlanta Hawks in the Georgia Dome as the Hawks' new Philips Arena was being built. The allure of seeing Jordan's last visit to Atlanta with the Bulls attracted a crowd of 62,046 ? the largest in NBA history.

Jordan, now owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, came back to Atlanta in his two seasons with the Washington Wizards.

? Charles Odum ? http://twitter.com/@CharlesOdum

___

LOUISVILLE ADVANCES

Louisville is moving on to the national championship game.

Barely.

Russ Smith scored 21 points, Luke Hancock added 20 off the bench and the Cardinals rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half to beat Wichita State 72-68.

The Cardinals move on to face either Michigan or Syracuse in Monday night's title game. Those teams will tip off in about a half hour at the Georgia Dome.

For the Shockers, a surprising run through the NCAA tournament is over.

Injured Louisville guard watched the game from the bench, his broken leg propped in a chair. He couldn't even watch in the closing seconds, covering his eyes with his No. 5 jersey. But he was celebrating at the buzzer.

? Paul Newberry ? http://twitter.com/@pnewberry1963

___

HANCOCK SHINES

Luke Hancock led Louisville to the brink of a spot in the national championship game.

Hancock came off the bench to score 20 points, pushing the Cardinals to a 72-68 lead win over Wichita State.

? Paul Newberry

___

WARE FACTOR

Can the Louisville story get any better?

Walk-on has swished back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Cardinals within 47-41 of Wichita State in the Final Four.

Henderson is getting more playing time because of the gruesome injury to Kevin Ware.

Now, the fill-in is coming up big for the Cardinals, who have battled back and lead 60-58 with 3:50 to play.

? Paul Newberry

___

FRESHMAN SHINES

Freshman Ron Baker is coming up big in the Final Four.

The Wichita State guard leads the Shockers with 11 points and five rebounds, a big reason the ninth-seeded team from Kansas has a 38-31 lead with just under 16 minutes remaining.

Baker has already made three shots from beyond the arc, and he's helping the Shockers cope with Louisville's suffocating press.

Louisville star Russ Smith leads all scorers with 12 points.

? Paul Newberry

___

HOLDING ONTO THE BALL

Louisville has forced at least 11 turnovers in every game this season. So far, the Cardinals have forced just four against Wichita State.

The Shockers have not been too rattled by the press and have stayed out of trouble in the halfcourt. They also have seven offensive rebounds.

Usually it's Louisville that creates all those extra opportunities. Not yet.

? Noah Trister

___

NOT INTIMIDATED

Say this about the Shockers: They aren't intimidated by mighty Louisville.

No. 9 seed Wichita State, trying to become the lowest-seeded team to win a national title, is holding its own against the top overall seed in the first game of the Final Four.

The Shockers lead the Cardinals 26-25 despite shooting just 30 percent from the field. Wichita State is putting its experience to good use against Louisville's touted press. The Shockers have only four turnovers, compared to seven for the Cardinals.

? Paul Newberry

___

THE BIG SLOW DOWN

Wichita State wanted to make the Final Four a knock-down, drag-out fight, and so far it's working. The blue-collar team has done a fairly good job the first half of breaking Louisville's press, and that's turned the game into a half-court blood-and-guts tussle.

Literally, in the case of Carl Hall.

The Shockers' high-energy forward spent an entire timeout with a wad of cotton stuck up his nostril after getting a bloody nose during one flurry under the basket.

? Dave Skretta ? http://twitter.com/@APdaveskretta

___

SHOCKING START

Top overall seed Louisville began like it was trying a little too hard to win one for Kevin Ware.

With the injured guard watching from the bench, the Cardinals got off to a dreadful start at the Final Four. They trailed Wichita State 8-0 at the first television timeout, turning it over twice and going 0-for-4 at the foul line.

? Paul Newberry

___

'GREAT TO BE HOME'

A broken leg couldn't keep Kevin Ware from sharing the Final Four experience with his Louisville teammates.

There was a loud cheer Saturday when Ware, wearing his No. 5 jersey and supported by crutches, followed his teammates onto the floor before the NCAA semifinal against Wichita State. Ware sat in a chair by the Louisville bench and propped up his surgically repaired right leg on a stack of towels situated on another chair.

Ware's right tibia snapped and broke through his skin in Sunday's Midwest Regional win over Duke. He had surgery Sunday night, was released two days later and on Wednesday flew with the team to Atlanta.

Ware said before the game he feels "great" and added "Obviously, it's great to be home."

Ware signed with Louisville from Rockdale County High School, about 30 miles east of Atlanta.

Louisville players paid tribute to Ware, No. 5, as they wore T-shirts over their jerseys in pregame warmups with the words "''Ri5e to the Occasion."

? Charles Odum ? http://twitter.com/@CharlesOdum

___

FIRST OUT

Wichita State was the first team to hit the floor at the Final Four on Saturday.

The Shockers slowly walked onto the elevated court of the Georgia Dome more than 60 minutes before their scheduled tip-off against Louisville in the first national semifinal.

Even though they'd had a couple practices in the cavernous football stadium, they still spent a minute staring up at the ceiling, the row upon row of seats and the video screens at each end, almost as if the No. 9 seed was seeing everything for the first time.

Once the balls were finally released by the NCAA, they began their warm-ups in earnest.

Louisville, which played in the Superdome in New Orleans in last year's Final Four, came out about 20 minutes later. The Cardinals wore their suddenly familiar "Ri5e" shirts meant to honor teammate Kevin Ware, who broke his leg in the regional finals against Duke.

? Dave Skretta

___

SHOCKER TRIFECTA

When top-seeded Gonzaga played Wichita State during the first week in Salt Lake City, the game plan revolved around stopping Malcolm Armstead and the Bulldogs succeeded. Armstead scored only eight points. Only problem: Ron Baker and Clhcombined for eight 3-pointers and 32 points. Coach Gregg Marshall said even he wasn't expecting that good a shooting night from his team.

Message to Louisville: There's more than one player to stop on the Shockers.

Message to Shockers: To pull another one, against a team like this, might be best if all those guys ? Armstead, Baker and Early ? are having good nights.

? Eddie Pells

___

THINGS TO KEEP AN EYE ON

The Final Four tips off Saturday night and Steve Kerr has a few ideas on how to improve college basketball games.

"I could go on for a while," said Kerr, who played 15 seasons in the NBA and was the general manager of the Phoenix Suns from 2007-10. He went to the Final Four with Arizona in 1988 and is working his third straight national semifinals as an analyst for Turner/CBS.

A few of his ideas to watch during the Final Four:

? Eliminate timeouts after made shots. "It just makes the game so choppy."

? Cut out the mandatory media timeouts ? under 16, 12, 8 and 4 minutes on the game clock? if a team calls one just before the scheduled timeout." I understand that you've got to sell advertising, but there's plenty of time for advertising because there's enough timeouts already."

? Don't restart the 10-second backcourt count just because a team called a timeout.

? Change the interpretation of the charge/block so it's geared toward the offensive player. "We've got to make the game more pleasing to watch and more fluid."

? John Marshall ? http://twitter.com/@ jmarshallap

___

WARE 'EM OUT

There continues to be major focus on injured Louisville guard Kevin Ware.

Spotted at an apparel tent outside the Georgia Dome: A red T-shirt saying "WARE 'em out for Kevin."

Ware's compound leg fracture in last Sunday's regional final was probably the tournament's most gruesome moment, but the Cardinals have rallied around him at the Final Four. Louisville faces underdog Wichita State in Saturday night's semifinals.

? Noah Trister ? http://twitter.com/@noahtrister

___

FINAL FOUR FEVER

Spring weather arrived Saturday before Louisville and Wichita State tipped off the Final Four inside the Georgia Dome.

And some 100,000 fans descended on downtown Atlanta in the sunny, 70-degree weather? an estimated 20,000 packed Olympic Centennial Park to enjoy the free festivities and about 70,000 inside the arena.

? Charles Odum

___

NCAA Finals Watch follows the Final Four games and all the activities surrounding the event as seen by journalists from The Associated Press from across Atlanta. It will be updated throughout the day with breaking news and other items of interest. Follow AP reporters on Twitter where available.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/finals-watch-clean-game-advantage-michigan-021839301--spt.html

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New instructions on use of ?Islamist? by AP | Strange Bedfellows ...

The Associated Press Stylebook, a secular Bible for America?s editors,? is taking a new, careful approach toward the term ?Islamist? and Holy Quran.

The AP, earlier this week, barred use of the phrase ?illegal immigrant? and required the a person?s status in the United States be spelled out in news stories.

Now, it has responded to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who complained that the term ?Islamist?, as previously defined, was being used to stereotype Muslims as radicals and jihadist (holy war) advocates. The previous definition of Islamist was:? ?A supporter of government in accord with the laws of Islam (and) who view the Quran as a political model.?

The new Stylebook definition of Islamist:? ?An advocate or supporter of a political movement that favors reordering government and society in accordance with laws prescribed by Islam.?? It adds:

?Do not use as a synonym for Islamic fighters, militants, extremists, or radicals who may or may not be Islamists.? Where possible, be specific and use the name of militant affiliations, al-Qaida-linked, Hezbollah, Taliban, etc.? Those who view the Quran as a political podel encompass a wide range of Muslims, from mainstream politicians to militants, known as jihadi.?

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement:

?We believe this revision is a step in the right direction and will result in fewer negative generalizations in coverage of issues related to Islam and Muslims.?

Source: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/04/05/new-instructions-on-use-of-islamist-by-ap/

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Arrrrrgh - there be booty buried somewhere in this Google Treasure Map

The end of YouTube is just the start of Google's April Fool's Day 2013 fun. Up next we've got Google Treasure Maps. It's, ummm, Google Maps done up treasure-map style, having been scanned from William "Captain" Kidd's lost maps. 

There're are more than a few easter eggs in this one, and the whole thing is one big puzzle. The San Francisco Bay Area is a good place to start, but they're spread out globally as well. 

Explains Google:

When Dr. Marco Meniketti, an independent archaeologist, confirmed that this was Captain Kidd’s 315 year-old map, we were very excited. However, as seen in the video, the map contains a variety of encrypted symbols and is not readily decipherable. We need your help to decipher these symbols and find Captain Kidd’s treasures; therefore we’ve decided to digitize the map and make it accessible to everyone.

Just head to Google Maps on the desktop (doesn't look like there's a mobile end; Google shows something in the video, but, well, watch the rest of the video) and start scouting around.

We've got the Google Treasure Map video after the break. Have fun!

Source: Google Lat Long blog

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/n92AKuLrAfE/story01.htm

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Doctor Who: The Bells Of? Oh, I Give Up - Mindless Ones

I usually try to say something interesting about the episodes of New Doctor Who I review here. Even if I don?t like it, I try to find some reason to say *why* I don?t like it. I at least engage enough with it to try to see what it?s trying to do.

But if Steven Moffat won?t try, then why should I?

It?s a shame, because everyone else on the programme is clearly trying. Matt Smith is an astonishingly good actor. Jenna-Louise Coleman is perfectly capable of pulling the ?quirky? face that?s the sum total of what she?s asked to do in the story. The effects people are clearly working hard.

But Moffat? Moffat is someone who clearly *can* write. He?s not as good as his reputation suggests, mind, but he can pull together a script that makes some kind of sense. I?ve seen it.

Yet this?

They?re ?hacking? people and ?uploading? them. How? ?Wi-fi?.

Words have meanings. Writers, of all people, should be aware of this. If you make something up, say ?their minds are being controlled because of quartronic energy?, then OK, fine, we?ll go with that. We don?t know what quartronic energy is, so maybe it can do that.

We know what wi-fi is, though. Everyone knows it *doesn?t* do that ? even if you show a shot of someone typing *really* fast.

That?s not to say that I expect Doctor Who to be technologically accurate ? while I winced at the scene where the Doctor says ?I?ve hacked their base operating system, but I can?t find their geographic location?, that?s because I?m someone who just spent five years working as a software engineer and now works for a firm of computer security consultants. It?s annoying that they?d get that kind of thing wrong, but no more so than, say, when Robert Holmes used to confuse the terms ?galaxy?, ?solar system? and ?universe?. I just expect that the writers at least make a tiny bit of an effort to sound plausible. ?They?re uploading everyone?s mind (and also mind-controlling everyone in London, and also controlling all the power and the planes) because of wi-fi? just isn?t trying.

And this lack of trying is evident throughout the script, from Moffat?s reuse of his tired trope of having a character speaking out of a screen they?re trapped in, to the random sexist joke thrown in for no good reason at the beginning, to the fact that the villain of the story turns out to be the Great Intelligence. The Great Intelligence was a villain from two stories from the late 1960s, both of which have been wiped, so nobody under about the age of fifty has ever seen them. His modus operandi was also different in those stories (and much better ? he had robot Yeti that lived in the London Underground and shot webs), and the only reason I can see for having the Great Intelligence in the story at all is to make a couple of dozen nerds say ?Ah, I see what he?s done. The Great Intelligence was in The Web Of Fear, and this is a story about the World Wide Web. I am clever.?

The epitome of this comes in the scene where the Doctor suddenly reveals that his motorbike has antigravity, and drives it up the Shard (which is, for the 54,466,900 people in Britain who, like myself, don?t live in London and pay rapt attention to everything that goes on in that most omphaloskeptic of cities, a new building there and thus absolutely fascinating).

People have been referring to this sort of thing, wrongly, as a deus ex machina. I don?t think that?s quite the correct term. Rather, I think it?s sort of an inverse Chekov?s gun. Normally, if you?re an actual writer, one who?s bothered about such trifling things as coherence, if you wanted the Doctor to have an antigravity motorbike, you?d set it up in some way, perhaps by having a scene at the beginning where the Doctor is riding his antigravity motorbike.

Then, when at the end he uses an antigravity motorbike, it would seem like something that was a logical consequence of events leading up to that point, rather than, as it does, like something improvised by a six-year-old playing with action figures:

?My man says that the Doctor can?t come in and he?s bigger than the Doctor so he wins.?
?Oh yeah? Well? the Doctor?s got a flying spacebike, so he just flies up there and *he* wins!?

The worst thing about this is that there?s a scene earlier in the story where he?s talking to Clara and the dialogue goes something like:

?I fixed your quadricycle?
?What??
?All those quadricycle bits you had lying around. I put them back together.?
?We didn?t have any quadricycle bits.?
??I invented the quadricycle!?

Well, firstly, of course, quadricycles have existed for over a hundred years (we?re back to the words meaning things thing again, aren?t we?) but secondly, replace ?quadricycle? with ?anti-gravity bike? in that exchange, and what happens? The joke works ? possibly even better than it did. It certainly does the same job as a character exchange.

But it also then means that later when the Doctor starts riding up the Shard, instead of just being something Moffat pulled out of his arse that doesn?t make any sense, it becomes a clever call-back to something that we originally thought was just an offhand joke. The script becomes tighter, the plot becomes more coherent, and you?ve made a piece of dialogue do double-duty.

Now, I thought of that straight away. I am not a professional screenwriter. Steven Moffat has been writing TV shows for over twenty years. Had he bothered even to read over what he?d typed out without thinking, just to give it the same kind of basic checks I give one of these blog posts, before having a huge crew of technicians, directors, actors, musicians and so on work on this thing and broadcasting it to an audience of millions, he would have thought of that too.

Clearly, though, it doesn?t matter. The Hugo nominations were announced today. In the short-form dramatic category, three of the five nominations were Steven Moffat Doctor Who scripts.

Clearly this is what the people want. Clearly this is somehow considered ?good?.

At this point, I?m only watching this programme because I?ve agreed to write these posts for Mindless Ones. I think that once this series is over, I won?t ever watch it again.

It couldn?t get any worse, could it?

Oh, wait?

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Source: http://mindlessones.com/2013/03/31/doctor-who-the-bells-of-oh-i-give-up/

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