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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Putting the brakes on Parkinson's

Apr. 22, 2013 ? The earliest signs of Parkinson's disease can be deceptively mild. The first thing that movie star Michael J. Fox noticed was twitching of the little finger of his left hand. For years, he made light of the apparently harmless tic. But such tremors typically spread, while muscles stiffen up and directed movements take longer to carry out. Research groups led by Armin Giese of LMU Munich and Christian Griesinger at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in G?ttingen have developed a chemical compound that slows down the onset and progression of Parkinson's disease in mice. The scientists hope that this approach will give them a way to treat the cause of Parkinson's and so arrest its progress.

The disease usually becomes manifest between the ages of 50 and 60, and results from the loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells in the substantia nigra, which is part of the midbrain. Under the microscope, the affected cells are seen to contain insoluble precipitates made up of a protein called alpha-synuclein. As an early step in the pathological cascade, this protein forms so-called oligomers, tiny aggregates consisting of small numbers of alpha-synuclein molecules, which are apparently highly neurotoxic. By the time the first overt symptoms appear in humans, more than half of the vulnerable cells have already been lost. Many researchers therefore focus on developing methods for early diagnosis of the condition. However, current therapies only alleviate symptoms, so the research teams led by Armin Giese and Christian Griesinger set out to address the underlying cause of nerve-cell death.

Together, the scientists have developed a substance which, in mouse models of the disease, reduces the rate of growth of the protein deposits and delays nerve cell degeneration to a yet unprecedented degree. As a consequence, mice treated with this agent remain disease-free for longer than non-medicated controls. "The most striking feature of the new compound is that it is the first that directly targets oligomers and interferes with their formation," explains Christian Griesinger, head of the Department of NMR-based Structural Biology and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. The discovery is the result of years of hard work. "Combining skills from a range of disciplines has been the key to our success. Biologists, chemists, clinicians, physicists, and veterinarians have all contributed to the development of the therapeutic compound," adds Armin Giese, who leads a research group at LMU's Center for Neuropathology and Prion Research.

Giese and his colleagues systematically tested 20,000 candidate substances for the ability to block formation of the protein deposits that are typical for the disease. The screen made use of an extremely sensitive laser-based assay developed by Giese years ago when he was working together with Nobel Laureate Manfred Eigen at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in G?ttingen. Some interesting lead compounds identified during the very first phase of the screening program served as starting point for further optimization. Ultimately, one substance proved to be particularly active. Andrei Leonov a chemist in Griesinger's team, finally succeeded in synthesizing a pharmaceutically promising derivative. This is well tolerated at dosage levels with significant therapeutic effects, can be administered with the food, and penetrates the blood-brain barrier, reaching high levels in the brain. The two teams have already applied for a patent on the compound which they called Anle138b -- an abbreviation of Andrei Leonov's first name and surname.

A complex series of experiments has provided encouraging indications that Anle138b could also be of therapeutic use in humans. These tests involved not only biochemical and structural investigations of Anle138b's mode of action but also employed several animal models of Parkinson's which are under study in Munich and in laboratories of the Excellence Cluster "Nanoscale Microscopy and Molecular Physiology of the Brain" in G?ttingen. Mice exposed to Anle138b were found to display better motor coordination than their untreated siblings. "We use a kind of fitness test to evaluate muscle coordination," Giese explains. "The mice are placed on a rotating rod and we measure how long the animals can keep their balance."

Generally speaking, the earlier the onset of treatment, the longer the animals remained disease free. What's more, the beneficial effects of Anle138b are not restricted to animals with Parkinson's disease. "Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is caused by toxic aggregates of the prion protein," Griesinger points out. "And here too, Anle138b effectively inhibits clumping and significantly increases survival times." These findings hint that Anle138b might also prevent the formation of insoluble deposits formed by other proteins, such as the tau protein that is associated with Alzheimer's disease. Further experiments will address this issue. Anle138b will therefore be a useful research tool in medicine, as it will enable scientists to study the process of oligomer formation in the test-tube and to determine how their assembly is inhibited. The researchers hope ultimately to gain new insights into the mechanisms into how neurodegenerative disorders develop.

The drugs so far available for treatment of Parkinson's disease only control its symptoms by enhancing the function of the surviving nerve cells in the substantia nigra. "With Anle138b, we may have the first representative of a new class of neuroprotective agents allowing to retard or even halt the progression of conditions such as Parkinson's or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease," Griesinger says. However, he warns that the findings in mice cannot immediately be applied to humans. The next step will be to carry out toxicity tests in non-rodent species. Only if these are successful will clinical trials in patients become a realistic possibility. As clinician Giese emphasizes: "To successfully establish a novel therapeutic agent for treatment of real patients is a laborious task that requires a lot of work as well as serendipity."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/9seAVv42u9I/130422111147.htm

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Feds delay policy to allow small knives on planes

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Airline passengers will have to leave their knives at home after all. And their bats and golf clubs.

A policy change scheduled to go into effect this week that would have allowed passengers to carry small knives, bats and other sports equipment onto airliners will be delayed, federal officials said Monday.

The delay is necessary to accommodate feedback from an advisory committee made up of aviation industry, consumer, and law enforcement officials, the Transportation Security Administration said in a brief statement. The statement said the delay is temporary, but gave no indication how long it might be.

TSA Administrator John Pistole proposed the policy change last month, saying it would free up the agency to concentrate on protecting against greater threats. TSA screeners confiscate about 2,000 small folding knives from passengers every day.

The proposal immediately drew fierce opposition from flight attendant unions and federal air marshals, who said the knives can be dangerous in the hands of the wrong passengers. Some airlines and members of Congress also urged TSA to reconsider its position.

The delay announced by TSA doesn't go far enough, a coalition of unions representing 90,000 flight attendants nationwide said Monday.

"All knives should be banned from planes permanently," the group said in a statement.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who opposed the policy, said TSA's decision is an admission "that permitting knives on planes is a bad idea." He also called for a permanent ban.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., another opponent, said he will continue to push TSA to drop the proposal entirely.

"People with radical ideas can use everyday objects to cause great harm," Markey said. "If there is an opportunity to decrease risks to Americans, we have a duty to protect our citizens and disallow knives from being taken onto planes."

The proposed policy would have permitted folding knives with blades that are 2.36 inches (6 centimeters) or less in length and are less than 1/2-inch (1-centimeter) wide. The policy was aimed at allowing passengers to carry pen knives, corkscrews with small blades and other small knives.

Passengers also would have been be allowed to bring onboard as part of their carry-on luggage novelty-sized baseball bats less than 24 inches long, toy plastic bats, billiard cues, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs, the agency said.

Security standards adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency, already call for passengers to be able to carry those items. Those standards are non-binding, but many countries follow them.

The proposal didn't affect box cutters, razor blades and knives that don't fold or that have molded grip handles, which are prohibited.

Passengers were prohibited from carrying the small knives onboard planes after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Some of the terrorists in those attacks used box cutters to intimidate passengers and airline crew members.

It's unlikely in these days of hardened cockpit doors and other preventative measures that the small folding knives could be used by terrorists to take over a plane, Pistole told Congress last month.

There has been a gradual easing of some of the security measures applied to passengers after the 9/11 attacks. In 2005, the TSA changed its policies to allow passengers to carry on airplanes small scissors, knitting needles, tweezers, nail clippers and up to four books of matches. The move came as the agency turned its focus toward keeping explosives off planes, because intelligence officials believed that was the greatest threat to commercial aviation.

And in September 2011, the TSA no longer required children 12 years old and under to remove their shoes at airport checkpoints. The agency recently issued new guidelines for travelers 75 and older so they can avoid removing shoes and light jackets when they go through airport security checkpoints.

___

Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-22-Knives%20on%20Planes/id-17e9cc9774654c4dac516e2da0041e34

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The Science Behind Why We Procrastinate

Some research says the best way to spark creativity is to walk away and that the best ideas come from those least-expected ?aha!? moments. So maybe procrastination isn?t such a bad thing after all. Or is time spent on those cat memes taking its toll? Can procrastinating ever be a source of productivity? Here's what the research has to say.

This is a guest post by Anna Codrea-Rado via Quartz.

Here?s the complete guide to procrastinating at work:

Clever People Procrastinate Smartly

The Creativity Research Journal studied the working habits of a particularly intelligent group of people, winners of the Intel Science Talent competition. They found the group procrastinated productively. Some used procrastination as a trigger for a helpful amount of stress needed to ignite positive action. Others saw it as a ?thought incubator." They put off making a decision because they wanted to fully process it before finding a solution.

The same study also found that the tasks the science competition winners were doing while avoiding work were helping in other areas of their life. They were procrastinating efficiently and taking care of other responsibilities. So don?t feel too guilty the next time you pause from that spreadsheet to pay your gas bill online.

Procrastination Isn?t Just Bad Time Management

Professor Joseph R. Ferrari of DePaul University writes extensively on procrastination and has found that procrastinators aren?t simply managing their time poorly. It?s a tactic deployed by those with vulnerable self-esteem and has a lot to do with perceived notions of time.

There are two types of procrastinators out there: those who delay making decisions, and those who delay taking action. Ferrari found that the decision-avoiders are dependent on others, relying on them to make their minds up for them. They?re more submissive and prefer to pass the buck to someone else whom they can blame them if it all goes wrong.

The task-avoiders, on the other hand, are generally characterized by low self-esteem; they make a decision but don?t follow up on it. Of course a lot of people fall into both categories, but the findings go some way in explaining the different ways people procrastinate.

Nature Versus Nurture

Though procrastination might seem merely a personality quirk, scientific opinion is divided as to whether it can be put down to nature, or is the product of a person?s environment.

According to Ferrari and further research from Oklahoma State University, factors like ?time perspective? affect someone?s likelihood to procrastinate. Time perspective is how people understand and interpret their past, present and future. For example, someone who focuses on the bad things in his past is more prone to bitterness and resentment. Although it?s possible to modify your time perspective, it?s thought to be rooted in personality and linked to procrastination.

Other research, though, has found that environment is also a contributing factor in procrastination. The American Psychological Association, for example, found that procrastination often starts at school, where a lack of rigor in curricula and not being punished for missed deadlines can breed time-wasting habits.

Procrastinators Hate Procrastinators

In one of his many studies into the behavioral habits of procrastinators, Ferrari found that they are hyper-critical of their fellow procrastinators. This is especially true of women. When asked to the evaluate the poor performance of a co-worker who has the same procrastinating tendencies and habits as themselves, workers were harsher on them than their non-procrastinating co-workers.

The Real Problem is "Flow"

That trance you can go into when finding yourself scrolling through cat memes or chatting an afternoon away has a name. It?s called ?flow." The concept was coined by psychologist Mih?ly Cs?kszentmih?lyi and was originally considered a good thing because it?s a state of deep engagement and absorption, as he abstractly explains in a Wired interview.

Andrew Thatcher and his colleagues at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa wanted to understand more about flow in relation to two other online behaviors: procrastination and problematic internet use. They were trying figure out to what extent too much time online was psychologically and socially harmful.

Unsurprisingly, they found a strong link between procrastination and problematic internet use, as they wrote in the Journal of Computers in Human Behavior. But they also found that when someone was in a state of flow while engaged in a non-work related activity, she was more likely to end up with problematic internet use.

In a way, then, this frames procrastination not as a time-wasting phenomenon, but more as a disconnect between intent and action. Flow is a desirable state to be in when you?re working, but you misdirect it at something else, like avoiding a boring task or the pressure of an assessment, you fall down a rabbit hole.

How To Spot a Procrastinator

A study by Ritu Gupta and colleagues in the journal Current Psychology suggests a way for employers to screen applicants for their procrastination tendencies. People who believe in some form of fate or pre-destination?in a hopeless, ?it?s out of my hands? kind of way?are more prone to procrastination, because such people tend to be more neurotic and anxious.

But more surprising, perhaps, is that the other main characteristic of the typical procrastinator is a relatively healthy life outlook. According to the study, people who have a glowing, nostalgic view of their past have a high tendency towards procrastination. This new finding (the study was conducted in 2012) runs opposite to previous research in the field, and scientists don?t yet have a concrete explanation for what seems rather counter-intutive.

Right, back to those cat memes.

The Complete Guide to Procrastinating at Work | Qz.com

Andrea Codrea-Rado covers management and design for Quartz. She is Columbia University's Tow Center digital media fellow. Follow her on Twitter @annacod.

Image via Getty/Maciej Laska.

Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email Tessa.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/2Iifu8G7tfI/the-complete-guide-to-procrastinating-at-work-477166257

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Best Place To Start A Blog | Content for Reprint

Author: Martie McCabe | Total views: 12 Comments: 0
Word Count: 780 Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2013 3:05 PM

The basic premise of Web marketing is to market your goods and services online. Newcomers may find it tricky to engage Website marketing, but lots of solid advice is available so you can begin your adventure into Internet promotion with safety and success.

Advertise your company on popular websites online. This can make a big difference for exposure. For the most bang for your buck, choose a page with plenty of traffic so that as many people as possible see your company name.

Are you looking for a way to improve your website marketing campaign? Use certain strategies to ensure your customers are aware that your site is secure. Include a privacy policy in the upper right hand corner of your page. These guarantees are a great way to gain the confidence of consumers that are iffy about shopping online. Furthermore, you have an obligation to protect your customers from fraud.

Do your research online for a comparison of different marketing techniques on the best place to start a blog. Check out online communities for business owners, start following marketing blogs, download free e-books, and check out free seminars.

In order to increase ad revenue, customize your site's banners and make them look less like advertisements. Try to make them appear like clickable links to get more content. Most people will not click banners when they see them, so this will entice them to.

Talk with other online retailers to see if any mutual arrangements can be made. This method is very efficient at linking many different markets, which will increase your sales. This strategy is proven effective by the ways that online booking agents bundle vacation packages. This idea is perfect for any company that has linked products that complement each other, but are not seen as competitors.

To boost your site traffic and optimize your site for search engines on how to start blogging, you absolutely must have unique, original and fresh content. This really helps websites that sell products that other websites offer. Traffic won't be generated because you won't rank high at all if you just copy other content. When you have unique and original product descriptions, your site will stand out in the search engines and lead you to higher rankings.

Ask well known and respected individuals in your niche to write articles or do interviews. Before you publish anything, be certain of getting permission. You don't want to suffer legal problems. After you have permission, write the articles from your interviews and submit to online directories. This can get you sales, credibility and more traffic.

Let your users post reviews. The real customer experiences will encourage new sales, and the new content will help drive traffic to your site.

Provide free gifts to go along with purchases of your services and/or products to help customers feel respected. Making customers feel good is often underrated among strategies for Affiliate marketing, so although including free gifts with orders may seem expensive, in the long run having repeat business and loyal customers will pay off.

One tip that everybody should follow is allowing users the option of buying items at wholesale or retail prices; depending on how much they decide to purchase. You will be able to make a profit with wholesale price selling, but this offers a great way to increase product sales.

A feedback box at the bottom of an ad copy can be implemented, allowing consumers to provide you with information as to why they chose not to purchase from you on that day. Their input is valuable because they will let you know if they weren't happy with your available products, your policies or if there was another problem they experienced.

If you have a knack for writing, try writing about your products and business and then submit your articles to websites and magazines. Include your website information along with all your business information. Urge them to give priority to publishing the articles you provide by giving them incentives and commissions.

Create a unique quality website and you will get more visitors. Post something unexpected, like an animated cartoon, a video presentation or a free offer to generate interest. Giving people items that they cannot find anywhere, but your site is a great way to market.

The tips you've just reviewed should give you an excellent idea of how to prepare your online marketing efforts. Effective Website marketing techniques allow your business to grow at a pace you are comfortable with.

Martie McCabe writes articles on internet marketing to help you succeed with how to use blog titles to start your own blog. Visit my blog at http://www.empowernetwork.com/10k/best-place-to-start-a-blog/ where you can find more articles and ideas on how to start an online business from home.

1: Article Marketing Strategy: Putting Together a "Class Schedule" For Your Article Topics

Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."

2: Why You Need To Build Multiple Streams of Income For Yourself

Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.

3: Understanding Online Business Success

Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.

4: What is Cyber Marketing And Why It Is So Important For The Success Of Your Website

Cyber marketing has now become an indispensable segment of e-commerce as well as the internet and World Wide Web related topics. Cyber marketing simply refers to a technique of attracting potential customers by advertising your products or services through such means as websites, emails, and banners.

5: The Best Way To Optimise Your Website SEO For Google Panda

If you want your SEO to work you now need to concentrate on appeasing Google Panda, and to do this you need to know what Google Panda's spiders/bots will be looking for. Find out here how to search engine optimise your website for the latest Google Panda algorithm, and achieve the success you deserve.

Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/internet-marketing/best-place-to-start-a-blog.htm

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Family Tree: Six Degrees of Grimes ? The FADER

Grimes lives out of a suitcase most days of the year, but being one of the most talked-about artists in music also makes you a full-time ambassador for your home town. Across musical collaborations with folks like Majical Cloudz and Doldrums and videos by directors like Evan Prosofsky and Emily Kai Bock, Claire Boucher has succeeded in channeling some of the spotlight back onto the particular pocket of the Montreal music community where she found her voice. Seeing as there are a lot of new names coming out of Canada right now, we thought it?d be a cool challenge to figure out how everyone?s connected, from Grimes to the sonically hybrid DIYers surrounding Montreal?s Arbutus Records, the weird music lynchpin that first realized Boucher was doing something special, and branching out from there. Somehow, the web extends as far as Mac DeMarco, Brooke Candy and tUnE-yArDs.

Source: http://www.thefader.com/2013/04/23/family-tree-six-degrees-of-grimes/

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Monday, April 22, 2013

How can I balance ADA with safety concerns? ? Business ...

Q. Can I consider safety when deciding whether to hire a disabled applicant or retain an employee with a disability?

A. An employer may require that an individual not pose a ?direct threat? to the health or safety of herself or others. The ADA regulations define direct threat as a ?significant risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of the individual or others that cannot be eliminated or reduced by reasonable accommodation.? ?

The individual must pose a significant risk, not just a slightly higher risk, based on objective evidence of the following factors:

Duration of the risk
Nature and severity of the potential harm
Likelihood that the potential harm will occur
Imminence of the potential harm.

If an individual poses a direct threat as a result of a disability, determine whether a reasonable accommodation would either eliminate the risk or reduce it to an acceptable level. If no accommodation would either eliminate or reduce the risk, you may refuse to hire an applicant or discharge an employee who poses a direct threat.

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We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.

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Syrian opposition warns Hezbollah to stay out

BEIRUT (AP) ? The Syrian opposition called on Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from the country immediately, as activists said regime troops supported by pro-government gunmen linked to the Lebanese Shiite militant group battled rebels Sunday for control of a string of villages near the Lebanon-Syria border.

The Syrian National Coalition ? the main Western-backed opposition group ? warned that Hezbollah involvement in Syria's civil war could lead to greater risks in the area, and urged the Lebanese government to "adopt the necessary measures to stop the aggression of Hezbollah" and to control the border to "prevent further risks and to protect civilians in the area."

The statement, posted on the Coalition's Facebook page, coincides with a surge in fighting around the contested town of Qusair in Syria's Homs province near the frontier with Lebanon. Over the past two weeks, the Syrian military, supported by pro-regime militia backed by Hezbollah, has pushed to regain control of the border area ? a strategic region because it links Damascus with the Mediterranean coastal enclave that is the heartland of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

It also points to the sectarian nature of the Syrian conflict, which pits a government dominated by the president's Alawite minority against a primarily Sunni Muslim rebellion, as well as fears that the civil war could drag in neighboring states.

The pro-regime gunmen are members of the Popular Committees, which were set up last year in Syria with Hezbollah's backing to protect Syrian villages inhabited by Lebanese Shiites, although rebels accuse the fighters of attacking opposition villages in the area and fighting alongside government forces.

While Hezbollah confirms backing the Popular Committees, it denies taking part in Syria's civil war.

The fighting along the border region has flared in recent weeks, and on Saturday?government forces captured the villages of Radwaniyeh and Tel al-Nabi Mando. On Sunday, regime forces shelled the villages of Abu Houri, Saqarigh, Nahriyeh and Ein al-Tanour in the Qusair region, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group. It said at least four rebels were killed in the fighting.

Syrian state television said the army was trying to "uproot all the terrorists from the area." The government, which denies it is facing a popular uprising, describes the revolt as a foreign-backed plot and calls those trying to topple it "terrorists."

Lebanon's state-run news agency reported two shells fired from Syria landed Sunday in the town of Hermel near the frontier with Syria, causing material damage but no casualties. A day earlier, two mortar rounds landed in the town for the first time, marking an escalation in violence along the already tense border.

Syria's 2-year-old conflict has repeatedly spilled over into neighboring states, while the violence at home has forced more than 1 million Syrians to escape their homeland to seek safety abroad. Most of the refugees have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, where they have put an immense burden on already cash-strapped governments to cope with huge influx.

In Jordan, police arrested eight Syrians on suspicion of inciting riots at the sprawling Zaatari refugee camp, according to a Jordanian security official who requested anonymity in line with regulations.

About 100 Syrian refugees threw stones at Jordanian police on Friday for preventing some of them from sneaking out of their desert camp. Ten police officers were injured, including two who remain in critical condition.

The security official said a military prosecutor was set to question the eight suspects later Sunday. If convicted, they face up to three years in jail.

The Zaatari camp houses 150,000 Syrian refugees, while another 350,000 Syrians have found shelter in Jordanian communities. Conditions in the overcrowded camp have worsened since it opened last July, and there have been several riots.

In Damascus, a senior Iranian lawmaker on Sunday expressed support for Assad, and said that what he called the U.S.-led battle to oust the Syrian leader had failed.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Iran's parliamentary?committee on national interest and?foreign policy, said Tehran is "happy that?the U.S., with its abilities and regional allies, has failed despite its efforts" to topple Assad.

"Today, they are the losers in the game, no doubt," Boroujerdi told Iranian state TV ahead of talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem.

Iran is Syria's chief regional ally.

Al-Moallem repeated the government line that Syria is the victim of a foreign conspiracy hatched by the United States in cooperation with Syria's neighbors. Damascus has previously rebuked Saudi Arabia and Qatar for financing arms purchases to the rebels, and Turkey and Jordan for allowing arms shipments.

The U.S. has long called for Assad to leave power, but for months did not play an active role in backing the rebellion. Recently, however, Washington has grown more assertive, helping cobble together the Syrian National Coalition late last year in the hopes that it could unite the deeply divided opposition and provide a conduit for aid to the rebels.

At an international conference on Saturday in Istanbul that brought together the opposition leadership and its chief international supporters, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the Obama administration would double its non-lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition with an additional $123 million in supplies. That could include for the first time armored vehicles, body armor, night vision goggles and other defensive military supplies, officials said.

The additional aid brings total non-lethal U.S. assistance to the opposition to $250 million since the fighting began more than two years ago. Washington has refused so far to provide weapons to Syria's rebels out of fears they could fall in the hands of extremists.

The U.S. pledge was the only tangible, public offer of new international support at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the 11 main countries supporting the opposition and fell well short of what the opposition has been appealing for: weapons and direct military intervention to stop the violence that has killed more than 70,000 people.

The Syrian National Coalition is seeking drone strikes on sites from which the regime has fired missiles, the imposition of no-fly zones and protected humanitarian corridors to ensure the safety of civilians.

___

Associated Press writers Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-opposition-warns-hezbollah-stay-162204111.html

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