Tigers take to the night - for peaceful coexistence with humans

In an ideal ecosystem, each species has its own niche ? a different ?job description?: what it does, what it eats, where it sleeps, and more.

But world is often not an ideal place. In many instances, two species may live in the same spot, yet overlap in some of their roles or needs. They may both compete for the same tree-holes or caves for dwelling, or they may eat the same food. It is not necessary for the two species to be aggressive toward each other, but it is likely that one of the species will be more efficient in gaining the resource than the other.

What is the ?loser? to do?

Schematic of possible human+tiger distribution in the Chitan National Park in Nepal

One solution is to move elsewhere. This is called spatial displacement or spatial niche partitioning in ecological jargon. For example, the less competitive species can move some miles down the road, where the more efficient competitor does not live. The place may not be as good ? less food and shelter, for example, but it is good enough for individuals to survive and breed, and for the population to persist for a long period of time.

Perhaps the only place to go is up ? up the slope of the mountain to higher elevation. There may be stronger winds, colder winters, less vegetation to hide in from predators, and less food, but again, it may be good enough for the population to survive. If this persists for a substantial amount of time, natural selection has the opportunity to introduce new adaptations for the new environment, even to the point of evolving a new species, sufficiently different from other populations of the same species that remains in other places.

In some cases, there is nowhere to go. The two species may inhabit an island. This is often the way an invasive species drives a local island species to extinction. Or you may remember the high school experiment in which you placed colonies of two bacterial species in a petri dish, watching as one colony uses the food better, grows faster, and finally completely kills off the other species.

If there is nowhere to go in space, there is a possibility to go somewhere in time. This is called temporal displacement or temporal niche partitioning. The two species remain in the same place, but divvy up the day (or year). The more efficient (or aggressive) species keeps doing what it?s always been doing. But the less efficient species embarks on a new time regime.

There have been a number of observed instances of this. The best documented one is the case of two closely related species of spiny mice inhabiting the ?Evolution Canyon? in Israel. The common spiny mouse (A. cahirinus) is, like most rodents, night-active (nocturnal). The other species, the golden spiny mouse (A. russatus) is actively foraging during the day (diurnal), which is unusual for a rodent. When brought into the laboratory and isolated, monitoring of the circadian rhythms of activity showed that both species are inherently nocturnal. The golden spiny mouse forages during the day as a purely behavioral adaptation ? its genetics drives it to eat at night, but its environment (including the presence of smells of the other species) dictates eating during the day.

Furthermore, as this situation has persisted for long periods of time, the golden spiny mice have evolved changes in their eyes, adapting them better for a diurnal mode of life. The genes and developmental pathways underlying the development of the eyes apparently contained more useful variation that natural selection could act upon than the underlying biological clock which is still ?stuck? in its ancestral condition. This is not optimal ? it would be presumably be better if all of the animal?s biochemical, metabolic, physiological and behavioral functions switched to the daytime regimen, but it is also obviously ?good enough? for the species to survive and thrive.

Tiger caught on a camera trap in Nepal. Photo: Government of Nepal.

Today, a new paper in Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences (not online yet ? PNAS is legendary for being late at actually publishing their papers at the time embargo lifts, but check the link later) introduces another interesting example of temporal niche partitioning ? and this time it is relevant both for conservation purposes and for human safety.

Researchers from Nepal, in collaboration with Neil Carter and colleagues at the Michigan State University, East Lansing, observed that Chitan National Park in Nepal, one of the 28 world?s tiger reserves large enough to support 25 or more breeding females, has a healthy population of tigers. Yet, the Park is also full of humans, and the interactions between humans and tigers are relatively rare.

Their hypothesis was that tigers and humans may use the space of the large park differently, each species limiting its activities to particular areas of the park. Humans in the park include locals who forage, hunt and collect wood in the park, a growing number of tourists, and the military units which traverse the park in jeeps to ensure safety and prevent poaching. The two species compete for some of the same resources ? mainly space, but to some extent also food. The two species are also afraid of each other and would tend to avoid meeting each other if possible.

To test this, the researchers installed motion-sensitive cameras inside the park as well as just outside of it. What they discovered was that the two species completely overlapped in space, using the same roads and trails. But, humans remained strictly diurnal animals, confounding their activities to the daylight hours and generally avoiding the darkness. On the other hand, tigers, which are normally day-active animals, switched to the night. They triggered the same cameras in the same places, but mainly at times when humans were not around ? during the night.

While being interesting in its own right, as well as a potential model for future research, this study also has practical consequences. It shows that temporal niche partitioning is a strategy that can be employed by tigers, at least as a ?good enough? strategy that can allow the tiger population to survive and thrive over long periods of time. This means that humans and tigers can coexist and use exactly the same spaces. The finding makes it easier to politically ?sell?, set up, fund and run protection areas for tigers as there may be no need to displace the resident humans as long as there is sufficient guard against poaching.

?

Reference:

Neil H. Carter, Binoj K. Shrestha, Jhamak B. Karki, Narendra Man Babu Pradhan and Jianguo Liu. Coexistence between wildlife and humans at fine spatial scales, PNAS, September 4, 2012

Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2012 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tigers-night-peaceful-coexistence-humans-150100864.html

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NY court weighs if lap dance is tax-exempt art

This Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012 photo shows Nite Moves Gentlemen?s club in Latham, N.Y., Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012. The New York strip club says its nude lap dances are an art form and should be exempt from state taxes. The state tax department and an appeals court disagree and want the Nite Moves club in Albany to pay $124,000. New York's highest court hears the arguments Wednesday. Tax officials say sales taxes are owed on so-called "couch sales," where patrons pay for private or lap dances. Nite Moves claims the dances are exempt under state tax law as "live dramatic or musical arts performances." The exemption also applies to theater or ballet. (AP Photo/The Albany Times Union, Michael P. Farrell) TROY, SCHENECTADY; SARATOGA SPRINGS; ALBANY OUT

This Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012 photo shows Nite Moves Gentlemen?s club in Latham, N.Y., Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012. The New York strip club says its nude lap dances are an art form and should be exempt from state taxes. The state tax department and an appeals court disagree and want the Nite Moves club in Albany to pay $124,000. New York's highest court hears the arguments Wednesday. Tax officials say sales taxes are owed on so-called "couch sales," where patrons pay for private or lap dances. Nite Moves claims the dances are exempt under state tax law as "live dramatic or musical arts performances." The exemption also applies to theater or ballet. (AP Photo/The Albany Times Union, Michael P. Farrell) TROY, SCHENECTADY; SARATOGA SPRINGS; ALBANY OUT

This Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012 photo shows Nite Moves Gentlemen?s club in Latham, N.Y., Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012. The New York strip club says its nude lap dances are an art form and should be exempt from state taxes. The state tax department and an appeals court disagree and want the Nite Moves club in Albany to pay $124,000. New York's highest court hears the arguments Wednesday. Tax officials say sales taxes are owed on so-called "couch sales," where patrons pay for private or lap dances. Nite Moves claims the dances are exempt under state tax law as "live dramatic or musical arts performances." The exemption also applies to theater or ballet. (AP Photo/The Albany Times Union, Michael P. Farrell) TROY, SCHENECTADY; SARATOGA SPRINGS; ALBANY OUT)

(AP) ? No one would confuse the Nite Moves strip club with the Bolshoi Ballet, but what the lap dancers do there is art and entitled to the same tax exemption other performances enjoy, a lawyer argued in what was surely one of the racier tax cases ever to go before New York's highest court.

W. Andrew McCullough, an attorney for the suburban Albany strip joint, told the Court of Appeals on Wednesday that admission fees and lap dances at the club should be freed of state sales taxes under an exemption that applies to "dramatic or musical arts performances."

He said that lap dancing is an art form and that, in any case, the state is not qualified to make such determinations, and that making such distinctions would be a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of expression.

A lawyer for the state rejected that analysis, and authorities are demanding about $400,000 in back taxes from the club.

A ruling is expected next month, with possible consequences for the estimated 150 to 200 adult nightclubs in the state.

During Wednesday's arguments from the club's lawyer, a skeptical Judge Eugene Pigott Jr. said the women are hired untrained and simply "do what they do."

"We need to get past the idea that somehow this is the Bolshoi," Pigott said.

McCullough acknowledged that, but added: "What we're saying is the state of New York doesn't get to be a dance critic."

He presented testimony from a cultural anthropologist who visited the club and concluded that the exotic dancing there qualifies as an art form.

Robert Goldfarb, an attorney for the state, said that nobody would visit the club if the dancers didn't remove their clothes. He also argued that the exemption applies to "choreographed" performances, and what the Nite Moves dancers do doesn't qualify.

At least three members of the seven-judge panel questioned the notion that a performance must be choreographed to be considered artistic. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman suggested "creative artists in particular" often improvise.

Attorney Bradley Shafer filed a brief on behalf of the Hustler club in New York City in support of Nite Moves and said he has a similar case pending.

While Nite Moves does not serve alcohol, Shafer said the ruling in this case could still affect strip clubs like his client that have liquor licenses. He said there are somewhat similar cases pending in Pennsylvania, Texas and Nevada.

Last year, the Texas Supreme Court said the state could slap a $5 fee on strip club customers, rejecting arguments that the so-called pole tax on nude dancing interferes with the First Amendment right to freedom of expression.

A private lap dance goes for $20 for three minutes at Nite Moves, a windowless building with a small stage and a pole.

"It's definitely a form of art," a dancer said Wednesday afternoon at Nite Moves, where there was only one customer. She declined to give her name, saying she has another, unrelated job. "Some girls are up there practicing for hours when nobody's in here."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-09-06-Lap%20Dance-Taxes/id-2b1a507de5d649a9bd213d496d1fca27

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Deal of the Day ? 14? Dell Inspiron 14z slim Core i3 Aluminum Laptop with Free Adobe Elements 9 Bundle

Wednesday’s LogicBUY Deal is the 14″ Dell Inspiron 14z slim Core i3 Aluminum Laptop bundled with Adobe Elements 9 for $429.99.? Configurable as desired.? Features: 4GB RAM 500GB 5400RPM hard drive SRS Premium Sound HD Bluetooth 3.0 2 USB 3.0 ports and mini Display Port 90-day Premium Phone Support Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/09/05/deal-of-the-day-14-dell-inspiron-14z-slim-core-i3-aluminum-laptop-with-free-adobe-elements-9-bundle/

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Audition Tips | THS - Film Project Management Software



Film Management Application ?

Audition Tips

Keep calm

If you want to be cast for the role you are auditioning for then it is important to keep calm.? As an actor it is your job to entertain the audience.? It is your job to make the audience feel comfortable and to pull them into the story you are a part of.? If you are nervous, it will show in your body language and the audience will pick up on this.? Not only do you risk distracting the audience from the intended message but you also risk not getting the role in the first place.

Unfortunately, constantly worrying about not performing well because of being nervous only makes you more nervous, so how does one break the cycle of negative thought and just learn how to control their emotions.? This is, after all, supposed to be what actors do best, right?? It is human nature to feel nervous. After all, there is a lot at stake.? You are only one of potentially several other candidates vying for a particular role.? Naturally, then, you want to do your best.? So it?s ok to realize the pressure.? Just don?t let it get to you.? The following are a few techniques that will help you to perform well under pressure.

Exercise

Exercise is a great stress reliever and can help you remain calm and feel great long after your workout.? Exercise releases endorphins, which are your brain?s feel-good neurotransmitters.? It?s hard to feel nervous when you are still buzzing from a hard workout.? There are many forms of exercise and pretty much any kind will do the job but don?t kid yourself into thinking you can just stretch for a few minutes and reap the benefits.? In order to get the most out of exercise, plan on pushing yourself past your comfort level.

Meditation

Meditation can help you remain calm and relaxed whenever you want.? By meditating, you learn how to focus your attention, which helps eliminate all the nervous self-talk that might otherwise keep you from performing best at your audition.? There are many types of meditation and you should try several until you find the one that works for you.? One simple form of meditation includes conscious breathing.? Focus all your attention on breathing smoothly.

Breathe in through your nose while counting to four.? Then exhale through your nose while counting to four.? Repeat this several times.? Focus on relaxing your diaphragm and on breathing as smoothly as possible.? Another simple meditation technique involves mentally scanning your body, from head to toe, relaxing each part as you go.? Start at the top of your head and imagine standing under a warm showerhead.? Feel the soothing water trickle down your body and completely let go of any tension you feel as you go down to your toes.

Hypnosis and NLP

Learning hypnosis and NLP can help you think positively, reinforcing your relaxation and keeping negative self-talk from sabotaging your performance.? Those who practice hypnosis believe that it allows them to bypass their mind?s critical filter and to change their thinking patterns at a subconscious level so they can begin to automatically think positive thoughts while under pressure.? The purpose is to be able to go to the audition and genuinely think, ?I know I?m going to nail it.? I feel so relaxed!? instead of ?I hope I don?t blow it.? Oh no, I feel so nervous!?

Be yourself

Even though you are auditioning to become a character that is not you, it is important to be able to effortlessly tell your story.? To do this you should be able to integrate the character into your already existing personality.? Don?t force yourself into a role that feels unnatural.? Rather, find a way to play the character using your natural strengths.? The more natural you feel in acting as the character, the more natural it will appear to both your casting director and to the audience watching.

Be spontaneous

Great acting is not about memorizing and being able to say your lines.?? It is about playing your character so that everything you are experiencing is as if for the first time.? You are in the moment.? You are not simply waiting for your co-actor to finish her line so you can say yours.? You are listening and processing what she says as if it was the first time you heard her say it so that you can naturally respond.? Remember, acting is about feeling and conveying an emotion and not about just about what you say.

Don?t over do it

Acting is about always improving yourself and making sure that you are at your best.? There is always something you can improve on and it?s easy to get carried away with taking classes, practicing, exercising, etc.? Just don?t forget why you are doing all that you do.? Hopefully, it?s because you love acting.? You don?t want to burn out so try and maintain some balance in your life.? If you begin to feel unbalanced then take a step back for a moment or reach out to someone who can help you to figure out how to get back on track.

Conclusion

In order to be a great actor you have to be at your best when it counts the most.? All of this pressure can take its toll on a person and the camera can always pick up on what someone is really feeling.? It?s important to take care of yourself and to learn valuable skills that can help you to control your emotions when you need to perform well.? Exercise and meditation can help you to control the physiological response to stressful situations and hypnosis and NLP can keep you thinking positively under pressure.

Being yourself takes a lot of pressure off your back and gives you a chance to use your strengths to your advantage in making a character your own. Also, remember that acting means immersing yourself in the moment.? Have fun, and be spontaneous.? Lastly, remember not to over do it.? Too much exercise, meditation, or acting practice can be just as bad as too little if it causes you to lose focus on what is important to both your character and yourself.? You love acting and you want to do your best.? This is understandable.? Just remember that the best way to handle pressure is to transform the pressure into something positive.

Film Management Application ?

Source: http://trueherostudio.com/producer-blog/audition-tips

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Microsoft, Georgia schools launch tech curriculum

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia high school students soon will have access to a new range of technology training as part of a new partnership between the state Department of Education and computer giant Microsoft.

State Superintendent John Barge said Wednesday that Georgia would become the sixth state to offer the Microsoft IT Academy. The online training program offers students and teachers training from basic use of Microsoft programs like Excel and PowerPoint to more complex tasks like programming.

The Academy is available immediately for any of Georgia's 643 public high schools. About 200 schools already have expressed interest in the program.

The state Board of Education has allocated $618,000 for the program this year. A Department of Education spokeswoman said the courses, resources and training from Microsoft are worth about $23 million annually.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/19465295/microsoft-georgia-schools-launch-tech-curriculum

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Genes just part of the story, DNA project finds

According to recently released research papers, genes are only a very small piece of what makes the body work. Much more important is the stuff in between the genes ? stuff once dismissed as "junk DNA." NBC's Robert Bazell reports.

University of Washington

Dr. John A. Stamatoyannopolous, associate professor of genome sciences, in his lab. Stamatoyannopolous worked on the giant ENCODE project that is re-defining human biology.

By Robert Bazell and Maggie Fox, NBC News

In what many scientists say is a revolution in biology, a giant new project is rewriting our understanding?not only of?what causes diseases or what makes our eyes a certain color, but what makes us human. And it turns out scientists have been looking in the wrong place for a very long time.

The bounty of new discoveries, released in a batch of 40 research papers on Wednesday, shows the stretches of DNA that we call genes are only a very small piece of what makes the body work. Much more important is the stuff in between the genes ? stuff once dismissed as ?junk DNA?. It turns out that junk DNA is what is in control, they report in the series of papers in the journals Nature, Science and elsewhere.

?This has opened up whole new galaxies.?It?s like having a bigger telescope,? says Dr. Bruce Stillman, president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which played a major role in the work.?

Scientists already knew in 2003, as they finished the giant Human Genome Project, that they did not have the understanding they had hoped for. ?It turned out that humans had just a measly 22,000 genes ? fewer than some animals and far fewer even than a plant such as rice. How could something as complex and advanced as a human be boiled down into something so simple?

?We understood precious little about the processes that turns genes on and off. In short we had more questions than answers about how the human genome works,? said Dr. Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, which conducted the study.

The next phase of work, called ENCODE for Encyclopedia of DNA Elements, shows there?s nothing simple about it. As many as 40 million different switches are controlling these genes, turning them on and off in complex and subtle ways.

?The genome is loaded with gene controlling switches. There are literally millions of these,? Dr. John Stamatoyannopoulos of the University of Washington, who worked on the studies, told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, calls the findings ?awesome and elegant.?

?This is the first truly comprehensive view, of how the three billion letter instruction book for human biology actually carries out its work, across many tissues and over the course of development,? he told NBC News in an interview.

Stanford University genomic expert Michael Snyder says it looks like gene mutations -- the changes in DNA sequences that we associate with causing diseases -- may only affect rare diseases. Common diseases, like heart disease, cancer, and allergy, are probably controlled elsewhere. ?We think that most of the changes that affect disease don?t lie in the genes themselves, but the switches,? Snyder says.

So treating these common diseases may lie in trying to affect the switches. ?The pharmaceutical industry has largely given up on genomics and the genome in favor of older approaches,? said Stamatoyannopoulos. These new findings may reinvigorate new drug research, he said. ?Now we have a huge amount of genetic data about human disease that we can actually put to work to find the right kind of genes and proteins to target,? he said.

This new data will also help doctors diagnose disease in the first place, predict which treatments will work best for patients, and monitor their progress. It ?points the way to studies to determine the causes of hundreds of diseases including??all kinds of cancer, Alzheimer?s disease, schizophrenia, heart disease, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.? It also may lead to a better understanding of how our genetics determine such non-disease factors as height, weight and expected life span.

Not only that, it also can help explain why humans and chimpanzees share 98 percent or more of our genes, yet are so different.

"Genes occupy only a tiny fraction of the genome, and most efforts to map the genetic causes of disease were frustrated by signals that pointed away from genes. Now we know that these efforts were not in vain, and that the signals were in fact pointing to the genome's 'operating system' -- the instructions for which are hidden in millions of locations around the genome," said Stamatoyannopoulos. "The findings provide a new lens through which to view the role of genetics and genome function in disease."

Another surprising finding was that the regulatory circuitry blueprints could be used to pinpoint cell types that play a role in specific diseases -- without requiring any prior knowledge about how the disease worked. For example, DNA changes associated with Crohn's disease (a common type of inflammatory bowel disease) are concentrated in the switches controlling two types of immune cells.

Researchers can use this same method to identify cell types not previously known to play a role in a particular disease, expanding our understanding of the disease process and potentially leading to new therapies.

"We now have a parts list of what makes us human," says Mark Gerstein of Yale university, who worked on the project. "What we are doing is figuring out the wiring diagram of how it all works."

The findings rewrite biology 101 for most of us.? Each gene, we were taught, provided the code for a single protein. The proteins were the building blocks of cells, and the products made by the cells, from compounds called growth factors to signal-carrying chemicals. An intermediary genetic structure called RNA carried this information. ENCODE shows this is not quite so straightforward, that RNA generates the 40 million switches that can affect how and when many things happen within the cells.

?This is another grand chapter in the ongoing and historic research story that is unraveling the details about how life works, and how disease occurs,? Collins said.

More in Vitals:

Source: http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/05/13683358-new-human-dna-project-shows-genes-are-just-a-small-part-of-the-story?lite

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Chrysler Sees Double-Digit August Sales - Automotive Digest

Chrysler Sees Double-Digit August Sales

chrysler_groupllc_6_10_2009-8_44_am.jpg

Chrysler Group LLC - September 4, 2012

Chrysler Group LLC had a huge August sales run, the best August sales since 2007, includ?ing the FIAT, Chrysler and Jeep brands pro?duc?ing record-setting monthly sales.

Find out which mod?els came through for Chrysler last?month.

Chrysler Group LLC today reported U.S. sales of 148,472 units, a 14 per?cent increase com?pared with sales in August 2011 (130,120 units), and the group?s best August sales since?2007.

The Chrysler, Jeep?, Dodge, Ram Truck and Fiat brands each recorded year-over-year sales gains in August com?pared with the same month a year ago. The Fiat brand?s 34 per?cent increase was the largest sales gain of any Chrysler Group brand for the month. August marked Chrysler Group?s 29th con?sec?u?tive month of year-over-year sales?gains.

Source: http://automotivedigest.com/2012/09/chrysler-sees-double-digit-august-sales/

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AngelList Launches Docs To Help Startups Sign And Close Seed Rounds Online With Low Legal Fees

angellistThere's no doubt that AngelList has evolved into an incredibly powerful (and disruptive) platform in the investing world. The hybrid social network, communication and crowdsourcing platform allows startups to access investors, and has also become a resource for investors looking to boost dealflow and connect with other investors. But while the network has been able to connect investors with startups, there hasn't been a way to facilitate the actual transaction online. Today, AngelList is debuting Docs, which lets seed-stage startups close their round online. It consists of a standard term sheet, automatically generated closing documents, and tools to manage the process including electronic signatures, managing wire information, generating PDFs, and more. As CEO and co-founder Naval Ravikant tells me, when he and co-founder Babak Nivi started VentureHacks a few years ago, their goal was to educate companies on how to negotiate venture term sheets. AngelList eventually resulted from this, and actually helped startups make connections to investors. The next step is actually facilitating these deals. One challenge for startups, says Ravikant, is dealing with large legal fees.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/OwpVKP6cP10/

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Investing in Cell Therapy | Aastrom Biosciences

Dear Friends of Aastrom,

Discovering, developing and launching new medicines is a challenging enterprise, often requiring more than a decade of pre-clinical and clinical research and an investment in the tens? or hundreds of millions of dollars.? And the harsh reality is that only about one in ten drugs that reach clinical stage development eventually win FDA approval.? Despite these long odds, the biotechnology industry has continued to flourish, even though many traditional sources of capital, such as venture firms, are shrinking and new sources of capital are needed.? What does all this mean for the future of cell therapy and companies like Aastrom that are focusing on promising but complex cell therapies?

Many of the risks inherent in drug discovery and development are magnified in cell therapy because the field is relatively young, the science behind it is still emerging and few cell-therapy products have been approved.? However, with each clinical and regulatory success, the therapeutic potential of cell therapy becomes more apparent and investor sentiment improves.? As a result of recent progress, interest in regenerative medicine is now growing steadily, the number of cell-therapy clinical studies is increasing and capital is flowing toward a few companies with the most promising and late-stage development programs.

Aastrom has benefited from these trends and emerged as a leader in cell therapy because we have focused on compelling applications of our proprietary technology in terms of medical need, clinical rationale and commercial opportunity.? This has been supported by extensive research into the underlying causes of chronic cardiovascular diseases, the activities of the cells we administer, rigorous development of clinical protocols to ensure high-quality study results and conservative market analysis to support investment in our programs.? It has also required a commitment to transparency and candor about our business ? both in terms of the status of our programs and the results of our research.

As investors get to know our company and industry better, we hope they will evaluate carefully the information we and other companies report, especially related to clinical results.? To paraphrase a famous advertising slogan, ?an educated investor is our best customer.?

Here?s my advice on how to be an educated investor in cell therapy:

  • Learn the differences among open-label, compassionate-use and fully controlled clinical studies ? not all clinical trials are designed to the same standards and goals.
  • Follow the data ? are preclinical and clinical study results presented in well-regarded, peer-reviewed publications and scientific meetings, or only in companies? press releases?? When data are not presented in peer-reviewed settings, it can be difficult to assess progress in both preclinical and clinical research.
  • Focus on companies with experienced scientists and managers with track records of success in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries ? is the team solid, with the full range of experience necessary to bring a product to market?
  • Study the balance sheet ? well-capitalized companies have usually earned the support of smart, diligent investors.

Finally, make sure you understand the company?s strategy for getting its product approved.? Is it built on anecdotal data from small clinical trials or robust evidence of safety and efficacy from large well-controlled studies?? Are there precedents for its clinical and regulatory strategy?? Are qualified independent medical experts advising the company?? As the former CEO of a leading biotechnology company once said, ?The longest route to approval is a short cut.?? Educated investors understand that there are no short cuts in developing innovative new therapies and there are no shortcuts to successful investing in cell therapy.

?

Source: http://www.aastrom.com/blog/investing-in-cell-therapy/

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