Telomere length influences cancer cell differentiation

June 27, 2013 ? Researchers from the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research in Tokyo have discovered that forced elongation of telomeres (extensions on the end of chromosomes) promotes the differentiation of cancer cells, probably reducing malignancy, which is strongly associated with a loss of cell differentiation. They report their findings in a manuscript published online ahead of print, in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology.

"Cancer cells may maintain short telomeres to maintain their undifferentiated state," says Hiroyuki Seimiya, a researcher on the study.

Telomeres are protective extensions on the ends of chromosomes, which shorten as cells age, like an hourglass running down. They protect the end of the chromosome from deterioration or from fusion with neighboring chromosomes.Without telomeres chromosomes would progressively lose genetic information as cells divide and replicate.

Cancer cells have shorter telomeres compared to healthy cells, but they guard their immortality by maintaining these telomeres' length.

In the study, the forced elongation of cancer cells' telomeres suppressed a number of genes and proteins that appear to be involved in tumor malignancy, according to the report. For example, one of these factors, N-cadherin, is involved in prostate cancer metastasis.

Based on their results, the investigators now propose that telomeres also modulate the behavior of cells by controlling gene expression, by as yet unknown mechanisms, says Seimiya. His research, he says, may ultimately lead to new types of treatments for cancer.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Society for Microbiology.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. K. Hirashima, T. Migita, S. Sato, Y. Muramatsu, Y. Ishikawa, H. Seimiya. Telomere length influences cancer cell differentiation in vivo. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2013; DOI: 10.1128/MCB.00136-13

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/t9a7MYExC-A/130627190657.htm

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Brother MFC-9340CDW

The Brother MFC-9340CDW is the most full featured of Brother's three new laser-class (LED-based) multifunction printers (MFPs). It includes all the features of the Brother MFC-9330CDW and Brother MFC-9130CW, and like them, it has a 35-page automatic document feeder (ADF) for copying, scanning, and faxing multipage documents unattended. But it's the only one whose ADF is duplexing, able to scan both sides of a two-sided document?on a single pass, no less.

Features
The MFC-9340CDW can print, copy, scan, and fax. It lets you fax either from your computer (PC Fax), or standalone faxing from the MFP's touch-sensitive keypad without needing to be connected to a computer. As an LED printer, the MFC-9340CDW uses LEDs as a light source instead of lasers. LED printers are typically smaller than the equivalent laser printer; and this model is reasonably compact at 16.1 by 16.1 by 19.0 inches (HWD) and weighs 51.8 pounds.

This two-toned (off-white and black) MFP is boxy except for a swept-back front panel, which includes a 3.7-inch color touch screen. The backlit numerical keypad to the right of the touch screen only appears when you press Fax or other functions that require data entry. The only physical button is the start/stop button. A front-facing port lets you print JPEG and PDF files from (and scan files to) a USB thumb drive.

Paper capacity is 250 sheets, plus a one-page manual feed slot, with no additional paper options. It has an automatic duplexer for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper.

The MFC-9340CDW connects to a PC via a USB cable, or to a network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It also supports Wi-Fi Direct, which enables direct printing between compatible devices without needing to go through a WiFi network. It supports mobile printing via Apple AirPrint, Brother iPrint&Scan (which allows you to print from or scan to an Apple, Android, or Windows Phone mobile device as well as Kindle Fire), Google Cloud Print, and Cortado WorkPlace. I tested it over an Ethernet connection with the drivers installed on a computer running Windows Vista.

Printing Speed
The MFC-9340CDW printed out our business applications suite (as timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software) at 5.8 effective pages per minute (ppm), a reasonable speed considering its 23 page per minute rated speed for both color and monochrome printing, which should be about its print speed when printing text only. (Our test suite includes text pages, graphics pages, and pages combining text and graphics.) Its tested speed was a bit lower than the Brother MFC-9330CDW (6.8 ppm), also rated at 23 pages per minute, and the Brother MFC-9130CW (6.5 ppm), despite its rating of only 19 ppm.

The Editors' Choice Dell 2155cn, rated at 24 ppm for both color and black output, tested at 5.9 ppm, while the Canon Color imageClass MF8580Cdw, rated at 21 pages per minute for simplex printing and 10 ppm for duplex, tested at 4.9 ppm in its default duplex mode, and 6 ppm in ad-hoc testing using simplex mode.

Output Quality
Overall output quality was a touch below par. The MFC-9340CDW's text quality was typical of laser-class printers, which is to say it's very good. It's suitable for any business uses short of those requiring very small fonts.

Graphics quality was on the low side of average for a color laser. Though colors were generally bold and well saturated, some darker backgrounds looked slightly faded or blotchy. I noticed traces of banding (a regular pattern of faint striations) in many of the illustrations. The printer had some trouble maintaining distinctions between similar shades of colors, with little differentiation between them. Graphics are suitable for basic PowerPoint handouts, though perhaps not to clients you're seeking to impress.

Photo quality was slightly sub-par for a laser-class printer. Several prints showed mild tinting. Dithering (graininess) was evident in a few of the prints, and there was a loss of detail in some bright areas.

The Editors' Choice Dell 2155cn provides good speed and better output quality than the MFC-9340CDW, though it only supports simplex scanning and lacks an auto-duplexer as well. The Canon Color imageClass MF8580Cdw has both of those items?and an even larger-capacity (50-sheet) duplexing ADF, plus better output quality than the MFC-9340 (though not the 2155cn).

The addition of a duplexing ADF makes the Brother MFC-9340CDW stand out among the three recently launched Brother MFPs. Its speed and output quality are solid if unspectacular, and it has a good feature set and range of connectivity choices. It's best for a small or home office that does mostly text printing but has occasional need for color for casual or in-house use.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/v8Nh0Ki2FVc/0,2817,2420931,00.asp

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Colorado theater gunman to be tethered to courtroom floor for trial

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - A Colorado judge ruled on Thursday that accused theater gunman James Holmes will tethered to the courtroom floor by a cable for security reasons during his murder trial, but denied a defense request to sequester the jury.

Holmes is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from a shooting rampage last July that killed 12 moviegoers during a midnight screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" at a suburban Denver cinema.

Fifty-eight other people in the audience were wounded by gunfire and a dozen others suffered other injuries in the ensuing pandemonium.

Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty against Holmes, 25, if he is convicted.

The California native and former University of Colorado graduate student of neuroscience has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Holmes' public defenders have argued that allowing jurors to see their client handcuffed and shackled, as he has been in all of his court appearances so far, would unfairly prejudice them against the accused gunman.

Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour Jr. agreed, but said Holmes poses a security risk and that public safety requires that he be restrained during the proceedings.

Holmes will wear a harness under his street clothes with a cable bolting him to the courtroom floor, the judge said.

The cable will be visible to jurors, Samour said, but should be indistinguishable from computer cords emanating from the defense table.

In a separate ruling, the judge denied a defense motion requesting that jurors be sequestered during the trial, which is scheduled to start in February 2014 and is expected to last for about four months.

Jury sequestration is "an extremely rare procedure," the judge said, noting that it would be expensive and impractical to keep jurors sealed off from the outside world for the duration of the trial.

Defense lawyers can renew the request later if issues arise that warrant another look, Samour said.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colorado-theater-gunman-tethered-courtroom-floor-trial-025823725.html

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Gandolfini funeral draws family, fans, stars in NY

Celebs

Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

10 hours ago

Family, friends and fans of James Gandolfini gathered in New York Thursday for a final remembrance of the actor known for his role as the tough-guy mob boss on "The Sopranos." Co-stars from that series -- usually recognized for their stoicism -- embraced one another with trembling lips and sorrowful faces as they entered the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.

Gandolfini, 51, died of a heart attack in Rome on June 19. His 90-minute funeral was led by The Very Reverend Dr. James A Kowalski. Gandolfini?s wife, Deborah Lin Gandolfini, provided the first of four remembrances. In brief but emotional remarks, she spoke tearfully of her late husband as a great father to his children, 13-year-old Michael and 9-month-old Liliana. She called him an ?honest, kind and loving man? who ?ironically, was extremely private.?

Andrew Burton / Getty Images

The casket carrying James Gandolfini is carried out after his funeral at The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York on Thursday.

Two close friends of Gandolfini?s spoke next: Thomas Richardson and Susan Aston. Richardson talked of being in Rome with Gandolfini, lighting a candle in a cathedral and praying at the statue of St. Francis. ?Jim grew each and every day because he was open,? said Richardson, who added that with Gandolfini, ?every day was an adventure.?

Aston was not just a friend; she had worked with Gandolfini for decades. On ?The Sopranos? she served as his dialogue coach. She remembered the two of them working together in the 1980s and recalled how Gandolfini once shored up her courage before going onstage by saying, ?What?s the worst that can happen? We suck??

At one point, she dropped yet another nickname for the actor, referring to him as ?Buck.?

David Chase, creator and executive producer of ?The Sopranos,? wrapped up the remembrances with his own, which took the form of a letter. ?Dear Jimmy,? he began, then addressed the eulogy directly to the late actor. He said he wanted to get some laughs, that?s what all the advice he heard said he should do, but ?I?m too sad and full of despair.?

Nonetheless, Chase?s remembrance did elicit some laughs, particularly when he said he was ?scared? to speak at the service, and considered running away for four days, a reference to the time Gandolfini vanished from production on ?Sopranos? early in the show?s run.

He spoke of working with Gandolfini, who took his role to heart. One scene they filmed involved the actor slamming a refrigerator door in irritation repeatedly, even though the script didn?t specifically call for him to do that -- he ultimately broke the refrigerator. ?This role, this role, the places it takes me to,? Chase said the actor muttered about that event.

Later, Chase noted, ?Sometimes you tried too hard. The refrigerator is one example."

D Dipasupil / Getty Images

David Chase, center, creator of "The Sopranos," attends Thursday's funeral.

But Chase revealed much about how he saw Gandolfini and the character of Tony Soprano with an anecdote that also came from the show. It was a hot day of filming, and he caught Gandolfini sitting in a lawn chair in black socks and shoes, pants rolled up, a wet handkerchief on his head to help him stay cool. Chase said he saw that and ?was filled with love, because I knew I was in the right place.? He said that was precisely what his own relatives used to do on a hot day, working in construction (?What is it about Italians and concrete,? quipped Chase) in New Jersey. ?I was so proud of our heritage,? he said, choking up.

Chase also recalled a time when Gandolfini told him, "I just want to be a man."

"The paradox with you I always felt was I was seeing a young boy, because you are boyish. ... That is why you were an amazing actor, that child inside,? Chase said.

He ended his ?letter? by relating a scene they never shot, but one he had mapped out: Tony Soprano is stranded in the Meadowlands with nothing in his pockets except some change, no crew around him, and has to board a bus to get home like everyone else. The idea was the episode would end with Tony?s face on the bus as Joan Osborne?s ?What if God Was One of Us? played (and its lines ?what if God was one of us/just a slob like one of us/just a stranger on the bus/trying to make His way home?), as the credits rolled.

Chase then ended his speech with the same letter format: ?Love, David.?

Among others who attended the service were Gandolfini's ?Sopranos? co-stars Edie Falco, Dominic Chianese, Joe Pantoliano, Aida Turturro and Julianna Margulies. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was also in attendance.

Gandolfini was also remembered Wednesday at a private, invitation-only wake held in Park Ridge, N.J. Gandolfini?s wife and daughter were among the first to arrive, according to the New York Daily News.

"It's a nightmare for the whole family," Bob Price, whose wife is a Gandolfini cousin, told the paper. "It's a horrible, horrible thing. Everybody is just devastated."

Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images

Actress Edie Falco, right, best known as Carmela Soprano in "The Sopranos," arrives at the church.

Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images

Actor Dominic Chianese, left, who played Uncle Junior in "The Sopranos."

Julio Cortez / AP

Actor Joe Pantoliano, who starred as Ralph Cifaretto on "The Sopranos."

Richard Drew / AP

Actor Steve Schirripa, who played Bobby Baccalieri on "The Sopranos."

Mike Coppola / Getty Images

Actress Jamie Lynn Sigler, who starred as Tony Soprano's daughter, Meadow.

Richard Drew / AP

Michael Gandolfini, left, the 13-year-old son of James Gandolfini, who was vacationing with his father when he died.

Mike Coppola / Getty Images

Actors Steve Buscemi, left, star of HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," embraces actor Michael Imperioli, who played Christopher Moltisanti on "The Sopranos."

Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images

Actress Lorraine Bracco, right, best known for her role as Dr. Jennifer Melfi on "The Sopranos."

Julio Cortez / AP

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie paid his respects to a Jersey icon.

Richard Drew / AP

Actress Julianna Margulies and actor Chris Noth attended the services. Margulies played Julianna Skiff on "The Sopranos."

Richard Drew / AP

Actor Vincent Pastore, left, who played Salvatore Bonpensiero, and actress Aida Turturro, who played Janice Soprano.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/james-gandolfini-funeral-draws-family-fans-stars-new-york-6C10468612

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U.S. Dems Urge DOJ to Recognize Legal Marijuana in Washington State

Seven congressional Democrats from Washington are pressing the U.S. Department of Justice to honor the state?s new recreational-marijuana law ? the delegation?s first collective public statement on the issue.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder released Tuesday, the Democrats urged quick action by the agency to assure pot users and sellers they won?t be ?penalized by the federal government for activities legal under state law.?

Initiative 502, which was approved by 56 percent of voters last November, legalizes possession of small amounts of pot by adults. But marijuana for any use, recreational or medical, remains illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act

Source: http://www.governing.com/news/state/US-Dems-Urge-DOJ-to-Recognize-Legal-Marijuana-in-Washington-State.html

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High blood pressure among blacks and young adults is focus of $11 million stroke prevention project

Public release date: 19-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jeffrey Norris
jeff.norris@ucsf.edu
415-502-6397
University of California - San Francisco

A new $11 million grant to Kaiser Permanente Northern California and UC San Francisco will support a multifaceted research program aimed at lowering stroke risk among black populations and younger stroke victims by targeting high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.

"Hypertension is much more common in blacks than in whites and is less likely to be controlled. Despite dramatic improvements in blood pressure control among Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California over the past decade, there is currently a 5 percent disparity between our black and white members," said Stephen Sidney, MD, MPH, director of research clinics with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.

Sidney is director of the new Stroke Prevention/Intervention Research Program, awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and principal investigator for Kaiser Permanente Northern California. "The goal of the first study in this research program is to decrease the disparity by 4 percent over one year," Sidney said.

"Hypertension is on the rise in the United States, despite the fact that we know what causes it, and we know how to treat it," said UCSF's Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital. Bibbins-Domingo is principal investigator of the research program for UCSF and lead investigator for two of the program's four main components.

In the United States, blacks are twice as likely as whites to experience a first stroke; blacks are also more likely to die as a result of a stroke.

Younger adults are also a major focus of the new grant. Recent studies suggest that strokes among younger adults are becoming more common, due to an increase in risk factors such as high blood pressure.

Adolescents increasingly are affected by high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. "We want to discover how these risk factors increase future stroke risk in different populations," Bibbins-Domingo said.

The new stroke research program includes the following components:

• Clinical study to close hypertension disparity: "Shake, Rattle & Roll" is a pragmatic, clustered randomized clinical trial led by Mai N. Nguyen-Huynh, MD, MAS, of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The goal is to collaborate with black patients at Kaiser Permanente's Oakland Medical Center to close the disparity in blood pressure control rates between black and white members. Each primary-care physician is randomly assigned to provide all black patients with either: 1) usual care; 2) enhanced monitoring of blood pressure management; or 3) a culturally tailored healthy lifestyle and diet coaching intervention.
• Observational study to quantify stroke risk factors: Heather Fullerton, MD, pediatric stroke neurologist at UCSF, will lead an observational study among patients to better quantify disparities in stroke risk factors in young adulthood over time. Fullerton aims to identify unrecognized factors that may contribute to stroke risk and disparities in young adults.
• Modeling of stroke-risk trends: Bibbins-Domingo will lead studies using a computer simulation of stroke and heart disease in U.S. populations the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Policy Model to predict the national impact of stroke risk trends on stroke incidence and health disparities. With S. Claiborne Johnston, MD, PhD, UCSF stroke neurologist, they will use this model to estimate the impacts that the blood-pressure-control intervention first tested at Kaiser Permanente would have if implemented nationwide.
• Training future researchers: Bibbins-Domingo will lead efforts to expand training in the study of health disparities at UCSF. She will coordinate efforts to identify trainees interested in stroke and cardiovascular disease prevention and health disparities and foster collaborations between these trainees and other investigators in the research program. This work will also focus on increasing the numbers of under-represented minority trainees engaged in these efforts.

The grant to Kaiser Permanente and UCSF to reduce hypertension is one of four awarded nationwide to target stroke, to be funded with up to $40 million over five years.

"These research efforts will give us the traction we need to control the greatest modifiable stroke risk factor," said Walter J. Koroshetz, MD, deputy director of NINDS, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

###

About UCSF

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. For more information, visit http://www.ucsf.edu.

About the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research

The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes and disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and society at large. It seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being, and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, DOR's 550-plus staff is working on more than 250 epidemiological and health services research projects. For more information, visit http://www.dor.kaiser.org.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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: 19-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jeffrey Norris
jeff.norris@ucsf.edu
415-502-6397
University of California - San Francisco

A new $11 million grant to Kaiser Permanente Northern California and UC San Francisco will support a multifaceted research program aimed at lowering stroke risk among black populations and younger stroke victims by targeting high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.

"Hypertension is much more common in blacks than in whites and is less likely to be controlled. Despite dramatic improvements in blood pressure control among Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California over the past decade, there is currently a 5 percent disparity between our black and white members," said Stephen Sidney, MD, MPH, director of research clinics with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.

Sidney is director of the new Stroke Prevention/Intervention Research Program, awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and principal investigator for Kaiser Permanente Northern California. "The goal of the first study in this research program is to decrease the disparity by 4 percent over one year," Sidney said.

"Hypertension is on the rise in the United States, despite the fact that we know what causes it, and we know how to treat it," said UCSF's Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital. Bibbins-Domingo is principal investigator of the research program for UCSF and lead investigator for two of the program's four main components.

In the United States, blacks are twice as likely as whites to experience a first stroke; blacks are also more likely to die as a result of a stroke.

Younger adults are also a major focus of the new grant. Recent studies suggest that strokes among younger adults are becoming more common, due to an increase in risk factors such as high blood pressure.

Adolescents increasingly are affected by high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. "We want to discover how these risk factors increase future stroke risk in different populations," Bibbins-Domingo said.

The new stroke research program includes the following components:

• Clinical study to close hypertension disparity: "Shake, Rattle & Roll" is a pragmatic, clustered randomized clinical trial led by Mai N. Nguyen-Huynh, MD, MAS, of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The goal is to collaborate with black patients at Kaiser Permanente's Oakland Medical Center to close the disparity in blood pressure control rates between black and white members. Each primary-care physician is randomly assigned to provide all black patients with either: 1) usual care; 2) enhanced monitoring of blood pressure management; or 3) a culturally tailored healthy lifestyle and diet coaching intervention.
• Observational study to quantify stroke risk factors: Heather Fullerton, MD, pediatric stroke neurologist at UCSF, will lead an observational study among patients to better quantify disparities in stroke risk factors in young adulthood over time. Fullerton aims to identify unrecognized factors that may contribute to stroke risk and disparities in young adults.
• Modeling of stroke-risk trends: Bibbins-Domingo will lead studies using a computer simulation of stroke and heart disease in U.S. populations the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Policy Model to predict the national impact of stroke risk trends on stroke incidence and health disparities. With S. Claiborne Johnston, MD, PhD, UCSF stroke neurologist, they will use this model to estimate the impacts that the blood-pressure-control intervention first tested at Kaiser Permanente would have if implemented nationwide.
• Training future researchers: Bibbins-Domingo will lead efforts to expand training in the study of health disparities at UCSF. She will coordinate efforts to identify trainees interested in stroke and cardiovascular disease prevention and health disparities and foster collaborations between these trainees and other investigators in the research program. This work will also focus on increasing the numbers of under-represented minority trainees engaged in these efforts.

The grant to Kaiser Permanente and UCSF to reduce hypertension is one of four awarded nationwide to target stroke, to be funded with up to $40 million over five years.

"These research efforts will give us the traction we need to control the greatest modifiable stroke risk factor," said Walter J. Koroshetz, MD, deputy director of NINDS, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

###

About UCSF

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. For more information, visit http://www.ucsf.edu.

About the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research

The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes and disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and society at large. It seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being, and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, DOR's 550-plus staff is working on more than 250 epidemiological and health services research projects. For more information, visit http://www.dor.kaiser.org.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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/2013-06/uoc--hbp061913.php

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Yahoo rejects fears hackers will exploit old user IDs

By Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc on Wednesday downplayed concerns that its plans to recycle inactive user IDs could leave users exposed to hackers, saying only 7 percent of those IDs are tied to actual Yahoo email accounts.

The Internet company, which announced last week it would release user IDs that have been inactive for more than 12 months so that other people can claim them, was pressed to defend the plan after critics warned that hackers who take control of inactive accounts could also assume the identities of the accounts' previous owners.

Yahoo hopes the plan will spark fresh interest in its Web products like Mail, where users prefer individualized user IDs often derived from common names. But criticism of the plan comes at a time when fears over the security of personal information on the Internet have been heightened by revelations of massive U.S. government snooping and international online crime.

Yahoo stressed that it has put in place various safeguards, such as coordinating with other major Web companies including Google Inc and Amazon Inc to minimize the risk of identity theft.

The possibility of identity theft is "something we are aware of and we've gone through a bunch of different steps to mitigate that concern," said Dylan Casey, a senior director for consumer platforms. "We put a lot of thought, a lot of resources dedicated to this project."

Critics say hackers could claim inactive accounts for identity theft. If a Yahoo email is associated with a Google account, for instance, an identity thief with access to the Yahoo email account could use it to reset the Google account password and assume control.

Mat Honan, a Wired magazine writer who has previously written about being the victim of a devastating hacker attack, on Wednesday slammed Yahoo's plan as a "spectacularly bad idea."

"This is going to lead to a social engineering gold rush come mid-July," Honan wrote, referring to hacker tactic of obtaining passwords by deceiving people rather than cracking codes.

But Casey said that the vast majority of inactive accounts were more limited, used for services such as Yahoo's Fantasy Sports that are not tied to an email address and therefore not susceptible to identity theft.

Yahoo will also unsubscribe its inactive email accounts from mailing lists so that their new owners will not receive unwanted mail, Casey said.

"Can I tell you with 100 percent certainty that it's absolutely impossible for anything to happen? No. But we're going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that nothing bad happens to our users," Casey said.

Since the company announced its plans on June 12, users have 30 days to claim their inactive accounts before they are released, Yahoo said.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/yahoo-rejects-fears-hackers-exploit-old-user-ids-004851758.html

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