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mgo777 Viral image purporting to be Luigi Mangione's NYPD mugshot is fakeAutomation That Makes a Difference SUNRISE, Fla. , Nov. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- When it comes to diagnostic imaging, every second counts. That's why Bright Light Imaging has joined forces with Alpha Nodus to revolutionize how they handle prior authorizations. By adopting Gravity Auth , Alpha Nodus's powerful automation platform, Bright Light Imaging has eliminated the red tape slowing down their workflows. The result? Faster approvals, happier staff, and, most importantly, better care for their patients. Let's face it: Prior authorizations can be a headache. Mountains of paperwork, endless phone calls, and delays in patient care—sound familiar? For both Dr. Ramit and Resham Mendi , Medical Directors of Bright Light Imaging , this partnership has been nothing short of a revelation. "Gravity Auth has completely changed the game for us," they said. "It used to take hours—sometimes even days—to navigate the prior authorization process. Now, it's handled seamlessly, often in just minutes. We're getting results to our patients faster, and that's what really matters." The integration wasn't just efficient—it was a breeze. According to Kevin Nowaczyk , Bright Light Imaging's IT Director , "The process was so smooth, it honestly surprised me. Alpha Nodus's team walked us through every step, and we were up and running in no time. Now, we're seeing fewer errors, faster turnarounds, and less stress on our staff. It's a win all around." "Advanced Data Systems (ADS) is proud to have fully integrated our MedicsRIS with Alpha Nodus to provide advanced automated prior authorizations for our mutual client, Bright Light Imaging," said Steve Hamburg , ADS Director of RIS Sales and Development at Advanced Data Systems . " Alpha Nodus is an outstanding solution, and the positive feedback from Bright Light Imaging has been fantastic. This successful collaboration between our three organizations has resulted in better, faster care for patients, and that is what ultimately matters most." This kind of success is exactly why Alpha Nodus built Gravity Auth in the first place. Shamit Patel , CEO of Alpha Nodus , explained, "Bright Light Imaging isn't just a customer—they're an example of what's possible when technology meets ambition. Automation is about empowering people to do their best work, enhancing their capabilities and allowing them to focus on more meaningful tasks. With Gravity Auth, their team can focus on delivering exceptional care while the technology handles the rest. We are thrilled about this engagement. When we collaborate, patients win. Open interfaces and collaborations between organizations like ours and our partners are the key to achieving better, faster care for patients." How Automation Transforms Patient Care Think about it: In the high-stakes world of diagnostic imaging, delays can mean the difference between a quick diagnosis and prolonged uncertainty for patients. By automating the prior authorization process, Bright Light Imaging is removing barriers and ensuring patients get the care they need without unnecessary delays. What does that look like in practice? Imagine a busy morning with multiple urgent imaging requests. Instead of staff scrambling to collect documentation and spend hours on the phone with insurance companies, Gravity Auth steps in. It verifies eligibility, gathers clinical notes, and submits authorizations—all in real time. The team can breathe easier, knowing the system is working behind the scenes to keep everything moving smoothly. For Bright Light Imaging, this isn't just about efficiency. It's about staying ahead in a competitive industry and keeping their commitment to patient-first care. About Alpha Nodus Alpha Nodus specializes in creating smart, intuitive solutions for healthcare providers. Their flagship product, Gravity Auth, simplifies complex workflows, helping providers automate, accelerate, and amplify operations. To learn more, visit www.alphanodus.com . About Bright Light Imaging Bright Light Imaging is known for delivering state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging services with a human touch. By combining cutting-edge technology with a commitment to excellence, they continue to set the gold standard in patient care. Find out more at www.brightlightimaging.com . About Advanced Data Systems Since 1977, clients have relied on the ADS team and our intelligent automation solutions and services. The MedicsCloud Suite, and MedicsRIS for radiology, ADS's latest generation of rules driven financial, revenue cycle, practice management, clinical charting and reporting, and mobility/engagement platforms, are used by clients to produce maximized revenue and efficiency for their practices, groups, and enterprise networks. To learn more, visit https://www.adsc.com Media Contact: Alpha Nodus info@alphanodus.com 1-888-625-7420 View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bright-light-imaging-leverages-alpha-noduss-gravity-auth-enhanced-by-integration-with-adss-medicsris-to-streamline-patient-care-302313533.html SOURCE Alpha Nodus , Inc.

If you’re sitting on a pile of travel or credit card rewards with no immediate travel plans, donating them to a charity is an easy way to have a positive impact. And it's a popular way to give: In 2021, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members donated around 94 million miles to charities at an approximate cash value of $2.6 million, according to the airline. Beyond the social benefits, miles donations also qualify as activity on your loyalty account and can prevent the rest of your rewards from expiring . But if you’re in the habit of maximizing points and miles, you might also want to stretch the value of your charitable donations as far as possible. And by that measure, some methods of donating points and miles fall short. Here’s what to consider before donating your miles and points . Many loyalty programs make it easy to redeem your points and miles for a donation directly through their rewards portals. But some portals — especially those from airline and hotel programs — don’t publish the cash value a charity will receive for your miles or points. That means the charity may receive less value for your donation than you’d think, while also making it hard to compare the value of a donation with the value of other options for redeeming your points. Best Western Rewards is one of the few loyalty programs that publishes a cash value for charitable points donations. The charity will receive $2 for every 500 points you donate, for a point a value of 0.4 cent each. NerdWallet values Best Western points at 0.6 cent apiece, so you would receive 33% less value for your donation relative to using them for a hotel stay. Generally, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) doesn’t count points and miles as a source of income, so if you donate them, you can't deduct the cash value of your gift. This lack of favorable tax treatment for the consumer combined with the uncertain value you’ll often receive for miles and points donations should have you at least consider other avenues for your philanthropic endeavors. Keep in mind that this drawback only matters for taxpayers who itemize deductions on their income tax returns. If you're like most people and take the standard deduction instead of itemizing, you wouldn't be able to get a charitable tax deduction from any donation. Some rewards programs have a minimum donation amount for select charities. For example, you’d have to donate at least 2,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points for a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. That minimum amount makes it tougher to donate points that may be collecting dust in your loyalty account. To maximize the value of your donation, consider a charity that books travel directly with your miles or points rather than donating directly through your loyalty program's portal. For example, Miles4Migrants uses donated airline miles and credit card points to directly book award travel for refugees and asylum seekers. “Instead of maximizing points and miles to book a dream trip, we do it to help refugees reach safe new beginnings,” said Patrick Stouffer, partnerships manager at Miles4Migrants, in an email. Miles4Migrants has redeemed over 775 million donated miles in pursuit of their mission, with a cash value of over $17 million. That expertise allows them to get more value out of every donation. “Our team has the specialized knowledge necessary to stretch the value of every point or mile, ensuring donations go as far as possible,” Stouffer said. “Even if you aren’t able to reap any tax advantages of donating your points, at least you’ll know they made the largest possible impact.” Direct cash donations help avoid the downsides of donating miles and points. If you have a credit card that earns cash back , or if you earn cash rewards through a shopping portal like TopCashBack or Rakuten , consider cashing out and donating those rewards instead of your miles and points. With a cash donation, you’ll know the exact value a charity will receive from your donation and likely qualify for a potential itemized deduction on your taxes. Some rewards programs make this process simple and transparent. Travel rewards programs sometimes incentivize charitable giving by offering bonus points for your cash donations. For example, American Airlines offers 10 AAdvantage miles for every dollar members contribute to the charity Stand Up To Cancer. That extra incentive can be an individual boon for your charitable donation. Just be aware that any points or miles you receive from such promotions will reduce the tax deductibility of your contribution. American Airlines values those bonus miles you receive through donations at 3 cents each. So if you donate $100 and receive 1,000 AAdvantage miles, American values those miles at $30. You’ll receive a tax form declaring those rewards as $30 in income, giving you a qualifying tax deduction of $70. When you donate cash and receive bonus points, the charity still receives your full donation and you get a slug of points. While you'll have to pay taxes on those points, it can still be a big win for your future travel plans. More From NerdWallet Craig Joseph writes for NerdWallet. Email: cjoseph@nerdwallet.com . The article Should You Donate Your Points and Miles to Charity? originally appeared on NerdWallet.NEW YORK , Dec. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Halper Sadeh LLC, an investor rights law firm, is investigating the following companies for potential violations of the federal securities laws and/or breaches of fiduciary duties to shareholders relating to: Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCO)'s sale to Patient Square Capital for $31.35 in cash per share. If you are a Patterson shareholder, click here to learn more about your rights and options . NeuroMetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NURO)'s sale to electroCore, Inc. If you are a NeuroMetrix shareholder, click here to learn more about your legal rights and options . Penns Woods Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: PWOD)'s sale to Northwest Bancshares, Inc. for 2.385 shares of Northwest common stock for each share of Penns Woods common stock. If you are a Penns Woods shareholder, click here to learn more about your rights and options . Cara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CARA)'s merger with Tvardi Therapeutics, Inc. Upon completion of the proposed transaction, Cara shareholders are expected to own approximately 17.0% of the combined company. If you are a Cara shareholder, click here to learn more about your rights and options . Halper Sadeh LLC may seek increased consideration for shareholders, additional disclosures and information concerning the proposed transaction, or other relief and benefits on behalf of shareholders. We would handle the action on a contingent fee basis, whereby you would not be responsible for out-of-pocket payment of our legal fees or expenses. Shareholders are encouraged to contact the firm free of charge to discuss their legal rights and options. Please call Daniel Sadeh or Zachary Halper at (212) 763-0060 or email sadeh@halpersadeh.com or zhalper@halpersadeh.com . Halper Sadeh LLC represents investors all over the world who have fallen victim to securities fraud and corporate misconduct. Our attorneys have been instrumental in implementing corporate reforms and recovering millions of dollars on behalf of defrauded investors. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Halper Sadeh LLC Daniel Sadeh, Esq. Zachary Halper, Esq. (212) 763-0060 sadeh@halpersadeh.com zhalper@halpersadeh.com https://www.halpersadeh.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shareholder-investigation-halper-sadeh-llc-investigates-pdco-nuro-pwod-cara-on-behalf-of-shareholders-302338483.html SOURCE Halper Sadeh LLP

WASHINGTON — As president-elect Donald Trump rattles his closest neighbours with threats of tariffs, he is also firming up the team of loyalists to put his plans into action. Trump’s team to lead his trade agenda and the American economy include trade lawyers, former advisers and Wall Street executives who have all expressed favourable views of tariffs. “He’s choosing a lot of people who are going to be loyal to him and his ideas,” said Matthew Lebo, a specialist in U.S. politics at Western University in London, Ont. “And that probably will lead to a lot more volatility than even we saw in the first term.” On Tuesday evening, Trump picked Jamieson Greer to be U.S. trade representative. The president-elect said Greer played a key role in the first Trump administration imposing tariffs on China and negotiating the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. If confirmed, Greer will oversee the trade pact’s review in 2026. “Jamieson will focus the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on reining in the country’s massive trade deficit, defending American manufacturing, agriculture, and services, and opening up export markets everywhere,” Trump said in a statement. Greer was the chief of staff to former U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer as the trilateral agreement was being crafted to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was torn up last time Trump entered office. Greer’s nomination came the day after Trump said he will impose a 25 per cent import tariff on goods coming from Canada and Mexico. He has also announced an additional 10 per cent tariff on goods from China. Trump said the tariffs against Canada and Mexico would remain in place until both countries stop people and drugs, in particular fentanyl, from illegally crossing the border into the U.S. A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report suggested Trump’s previous pledge to impose a 10 per cent levy would take a $30-billion bite out of the Canadian economy. More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S. and trade comprises 60 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Some economists have warned across-the-board duties would cause inflation in the U.S., even though Trump campaigned on lowering costs for Americans. Greer was deeply involved in Trump’s original sweeping tariffs on China and subsequent negotiations on the U.S.-China Phase 1 trade agreement, online biographies say. In testimony about China’s trade agenda at a House trade subcommittee last year, Greer said he believes “good fences make good neighbours, and trade enforcement is an important part of establishing those fences.” On Tuesday, Trump also tapped Kevin Hassett to be the director of the White House National Economic Council. The role will be key in fulfilling Trump’s campaign promise to fix the U.S. economy. His announcement said Hassett will also “ensure that we have fair trade with countries that have taken advantage of the United States in the past.” Hassett served during the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and the president-elect has called him a “true friend.” The latest nominations round out an economic team that includes hedge fund executive Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary and Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, who was tapped for commerce secretary. If confirmed by the Senate, Lutnick would oversee a sprawling cabinet agency and Trump’s tariff agenda. He has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s tariff plans. In an CNBC interview in September he said tariffs are “an amazing tool for the president to use — we need to protect the American worker.” Lebo said as Trump prepares to return to office he is removing any person who could prove to be a guardrail or check on his power. “These are people aligned with Trump,” Lebo said. “More and more aligned with his campaign rhetoric.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2024. — With files from The Associated Press Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian PressOne night last month, near the end of the Chicago International Film Festival, a particularly long line of moviegoers snaked down Southport Avenue by the Music Box Theatre. The hot ticket? This fall’s hottest ticket, in fact, all over the international festival circuit? Well, it’s a 215-minute drama about a fictional Hungarian Jewish architect who emigrates to America in 1947 after surviving the Holocaust. The film’s title, “The Brutalist,” references several things, firstly a post-World War II design imperative made of stern concrete, steel, and a collision of poetry and functionality. Director and co-writer Brady Corbet, who wrote “The Brutalist” with his filmmaker wife, Mona Fastvold, explores brutalism in other forms as well, including love, envy, capitalist economics and how the promise of America eludes someone like the visionary architect László Tóth, played by Adrien Brody. Corbet, now 36 and a good bet for Oscar nominations this coming January, says his unfashionable sprawl of a picture, being distributed by A24, is also about the “strange relationship between artist and patron, and art and commerce.” It co-stars Felicity Jones as the visionary architect’s wife, Erzsébet, trapped in Eastern Europe after the war with their niece for an agonizingly long time. Guy Pearce portrays the imperious Philadelphia blueblood who hires Tóth, a near-invisible figure in his adopted country, to design a monumental public building known as the Institute in rural Pennsylvania. The project becomes an obsession, then a breaking point and then something else. Corbet’s project, which took the better part of a decade to come together after falling apart more than once, felt like that, too. Spanning five decades and filmed in Hungary and Italy, “The Brutalist” looks like a well-spent $50 million project. In actuality, it was made for a mere $10 million, with Corbet and cinematographer Lol Crawley shooting on film, largely in the VistaVision process. The filmmaker said at the Chicago festival screening: “Who woulda thunk that for screening after screening over the last couple of months, people stood in line around the block to get into a three-and-a-half-hour movie about a mid-century designer?” He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with Fastvold and their daughter. Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Q: Putting together an independent movie, keeping it on track, getting it made: not easy, as you told the Music Box audience last night. Money is inevitably going to be part of the story of “The Brutalist,” since you had only so much to make a far-flung historical epic. A: Yeah, that’s right. In relation to my earlier features, “The Childhood of a Leader” had a $3 million budget. The budget for “Vox Lux” was right around $10 million, same as “The Brutalist,” although the actual production budget for “Vox Lux” was about $4.5 million. Which is to say: All the money on top of that was going to all the wrong places. For a lot of reasons, when my wife and I finished the screenplay for “The Brutalist,” we ruled out scouting locations in Philadelphia or anywhere in the northeastern United States. We needed to (film) somewhere with a lot less red tape. My wife’s previous film, “The World to Come,” she made in Romania; we shot “Childhood of a Leader” in Hungary. For “The Brutalist” we initially landed on Poland, but this was early on in COVID and Poland shut its borders the week our crew was arriving for pre-production. When we finally got things up and running again with a different iteration of the cast (the original ensemble was to star Joel Edgerton, Marion Cotillard and Mark Rylance), after nine months, the movie fell apart again because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We couldn’t get any of the banks to cash-flow the tax credit (for location shooting in Poland). It’s completely stable now, but at that time the banks were nervous about whether the war would be contained to Ukraine or not. And then we finally got it up and running in Budapest, Hungary. Q: That’s a long time. A: Every filmmaker I know suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress (laughs). It sounds funny but it’s true. At every level. On the level of independent cinema, you’re just so damn poor. You’re not making any money, and yet from nose to tail, at minimum, a movie always takes a couple of years. With bigger projects, you might have a little more personal security but a lot less creative security with so many more cooks in the kitchen. Either route you choose, it can be an arduous and painful one. Whether you’re making a movie for a million dollars, or $10 million, or $100 million, it’s still “millions of dollars.” And if you’re concerned about the lives and livelihoods of the people working with you, it’s especially stressful. People are constantly calling you: “Is it happening? Are we starting? Should I take this other job or not?” And you have 250 people who need that answer from you. Every iteration of the project, I always thought we were really about to start in a week, two weeks. It’s just very challenging interpersonally. It’s an imposition for everyone in your life. And then there’s the imposition of screening a movie that’s three-and-a-half-hours long for film festivals, where it’s difficult to find that kind of real estate on the schedule. So essentially, making a movie means constantly apologizing. Q: At what point in your acting career did you take a strong interest in what was going on behind the camera? A: I was making short films when I was 11, 12 years old. The first thing I ever made more properly, I guess, was a short film I made when I was 18, “Protect You + Me,” shot by (cinematographer) Darius Khondji. It was supposed to be part of a triptych of films, and I went to Paris for the two films that followed it. And then all the financing fell through. But that first one screened at the London film festival, and won a prize at Sundance, and I was making music videos and other stuff by then. Q: You’ve written a lot of screenplays with your wife. How many? A: Probably 25. We work a lot for other people, too. I think we’ve done six together for our own projects. Sometimes I’ll start something at night and my wife will finish in the morning. Sometimes we work very closely together, talking and typing together. It’s always different. Right now I’m writing a lot on the road, and my wife is editing her film, which is a musical we wrote, “Ann Lee,” about the founder of the Shakers. I’m working on my next movie now, which spans a lot of time, like “The Brutalist,” with a lot of locations. And I need to make sure we can do it for not a lot of money, because it’s just not possible to have a lot of money and total autonomy. For me making a movie is like cooking. If everyone starts coming in and throwing a dash of this or that in the pot, it won’t work out. A continuity of vision is what I look for when I read a novel. Same with watching a film. A lot of stuff out there today, appropriately referred to as “content,” has more in common with a pair of Nikes than it does with narrative cinema. Q: Yeah, I can’t imagine a lot of Hollywood executives who’d sign off on “The Brutalist.” A: Well, even with our terrific producing team, I mean, everyone was up for a three-hour movie but we were sort of pushing it with three-and-a-half (laughs). I figured, worst-case scenario, it opens on a streamer. Not what I had in mind, but people watch stuff that’s eight, 12 hours long all the time. They get a cold, they watch four seasons of “Succession.” (A24 is releasing the film in theaters, gradually.) It was important for all of us to try to capture an entire century’s worth of thinking about design with “The Brutalist.” For me, making something means expressing a feeling I have about our history. I’ve described my films as poetic films about politics, that go to places politics alone cannot reach. It’s one thing to say something like “history repeats itself.” It’s another thing to make people see that, and feel it. I really want viewers to engage with the past, and the trauma of that history can be uncomfortable, or dusty, or dry. But if you can make it something vital, and tangible, the way great professors can do for their students, that’s my definition of success. “The Brutalist” opens in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 20. The Chicago release is Jan. 10, 2025. Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.🎤Town council votes to cut public time at mic 🎤Props banned, including flags, in decorum rule 🎤Ordinance follows months of meeting disruptions EDISON — Emotions ran high among dozens of critics at a Monday meeting, as the Edison Township Council adopted some new rules for public comments. One ordinance reduced the limit on public speaking time by two minutes, to a total of four minutes per person. There were two dissenting votes and an absent council member who has previously spoken against the proposal. A separate ordinance looked to codify "firm rules of decorum for conduct" at town council meetings. That conduct, already established by Edison Council President Nishith Patel, included a ban on any props from use by those at the podium. American flags and copies of the U.S. Constitution being lumped into “props” was of particular disgust from those who slammed the ordinance before a final vote. As the floor was opened up for public comment on the time restriction, the first speaker said the council should be ashamed of its proposal to “slash” the time that each member of the public is allowed to speak. He narrated that he was holding a printed copy of the ordinance, saying “I’m tearing it up and holding up the pieces, one third of it is gone,” before he picked up a bound copy of the Constitution. At that point, the council told him it counted as a prop and his remaining time would be forfeited. New Brunswick Today creator Charlie Kratovil also spoke against the proposed time limit, saying it was an abuse of power. Another critic of the time limit was the vice president of the Edison Board of Education. “We do have a right to speak, let the people speak,” Joseph Romano said, adding that their last board meeting ran over four hours long as 72 people spoke. Another female resident said that it was misguided for the council to try and “militantly control” public actions during meetings, due to a handful of disruptive individuals. Masked men at multiple meetings Disruptions have been caught at the recorded Edison Council meetings, going back for months, if not years. At the Oct. 9 meeting, at least two men wore Guy Fawkes or “Anonymous” style face masks, while a third often wore a full wrestler’s mask. A fourth man was dressed as a giant cannabis bong, cradling a baby doll dressed in a similar costume. Two of the men have a social media presence as “ Bongholeo and El Rampador ”, whose self-billed mission is in support of ”medical-cannabis and the disabled.” Their TikTok account includes repeat appearances at other municipal meetings in Sayreville and Lavalette, in addition to Edison. During his six minutes at the October meeting, the man dressed as a bong told the council they had failed miserably. He ended by singing until his time was up and he was escorted out by police officers. That unique collection of attendees was no accident, according to self-billed entrepreneur, Patrick Duff on his Instagram account. “People’s ability to freely speak is what keeps us from tyranny. The right to pray, say, and protest, must be protected, so sometimes we must push the boundaries with absurdity to act as the modern day court jester,” Duff said in an Oct. 10 post. He added the activists had turned out to support lifelong Edison resident, Christo Makropoulos. Past town controversy Makropoulos, who goes as Jersey Watcher on his own social media accounts, has been at the center of years of controversy in his hometown. He ran as an independent for mayor in 2021 but lost to Democrat Sam Joshi, the town's youngest and first South Asian mayor. Makropoulos, an Edison High School grad, then unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Edison Board of Education in fall 2022, on the “Protect the Children” platform. That same year, he was arrested after an amateur attempt to catch a child predator turned violent. Read More: Edison, NJ man arrested in bold child predator trapping fiasco By this January, his case had been dismissed and Makropoulos had become a frequent speaker at council meetings. He can be seen in videos posted from January , March, April and June , wearing a ski mask and going as "anonymous" while speaking at the podium. At the Monday meeting before a final vote on cutting back on public speaking time, Councilman Patel said the new rules were about having “better conversation.” Councilman Asaf Shmuel said most of those who had spoken that night had delivered their comments in under four minutes. Of the two opposing votes, Councilman Ajay Patil said that people were taking their time to express their feelings on any given issue and called the time limit “insane.” Councilman Richard Brescher said he agreed with the public members who had spoken against the limits. Brescher — who also lost to Joshi as an independent mayoral candidate in 2021 — said this was a repeat of history or “Jun Choi 2.0” — as the former mayor had also cut public speaking time to four minutes. Choi was Edison’s first Asian American mayor and previously the youngest mayor elected, serving for one term through 2010. Several public speakers at Monday's meeting said that while some might lack decorum or might not always be polite, the council should still hear them out and not move to restrict how individuals make their views heard. Video from the Oct. 6 Edison Town Council meeting, including costumed attendees, was shared to YouTube by New Brunswick Today: Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom How N.J. voted in the 2024 presidential election Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris won New Jersey's 14 Electoral College votes but her performance against Republican former President Donald Trump trailed President Biden's victory in 2020. Below is a county-by-county breakdown. Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5 Best elementary schools in New Jersey (2024) In November 2024, U.S. News & World Report released its list of the best elementary schools in New Jersey. Gallery Credit: Dino Flammia Best New Jersey Diners For Breakfast and Lunch Thank you to our New Jersey listeners for these recommendations. Gallery Credit: Bill Spadea

New technology points to unexpected uses for snoRNA November 22, 2024 University of Chicago Researchers recently developed a new approach for identifying new cellular RNA targets of snoRNAs. They uncovered thousands of previously unknown targets for snoRNAs in human cells and mouse brain tissues, including many that serve functions other than guiding rRNA modifications. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email Dynamic, reversible modifications of DNA and RNA regulate how genes are expressed and transcribed, which can influence cellular processes, disease development, and overall organismal health. Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are a common but overlooked group of guide RNA molecules that steer chemical modifications to cellular ribosomal RNA (rRNA) targets, like an usher showing someone to their seat in a theater. Researchers from the University of Chicago recently developed a new approach for identifying new cellular RNA targets of snoRNAs. They uncovered thousands of previously unknown targets for snoRNAs in human cells and mouse brain tissues, including many that serve functions other than guiding rRNA modifications. Some of the newly discovered interactions with messenger RNA (mRNA) facilitate protein secretion, an important cellular process that could be harnessed for potential therapeutics and biotechnology applications. "Once you see so many targets for these snoRNAs, you realize there's a lot more to be understood," said Chuan He, PhD, John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago and co-senior author of the paper. "We already see that they play a role in protein secretion, which has major implications for physiology, and it suggests a path forward to study hundreds of other snoRNAs." The paper, "SnoRNA-facilitated protein secretion revealed by transcriptome-wide snoRNA target identification," was published in November 2024 in the journal Cell. A molecular glue for protein secretion There are more than 1,000 known genes for encoding snoRNAs in the human genome, but scientists have only pinpointed the RNA targets for about 300 of them. These targets mostly involve guiding modifications for ribosomal RNA and small nuclear RNA involved in mRNA splicing. In the decades since snoRNAs were first discovered, researchers largely left the remaining 700 alone, assuming they performed similar functions. However, unlike other guide RNA molecules such as microRNAs that are all the same length, snoRNAs vary greatly in their length from 50-250 residues, suggesting that they can do many different things. Over the past 12 years, He's lab has developed several biochemical and sequencing techniques for studying transcription, DNA modifications, and RNA modifications. In the new study, He worked with co-senior author Tao Pan, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, to test a new tool called "snoKARR-seq" that links snoRNAs with their target binding RNAs. Bei Liu, PhD, a Chicago Fellow postdoctoral scholar who is co-mentored by He and Pan, led the project. "Chuan's lab developed this killer technology to look at exactly what RNA each snoRNA is interacting with at the transcriptome level," Pan said. "Now there's a lot of open space for understanding comprehensively what these 1,000 human genes [that encode snoRNAs] are doing." Most of the newly discovered snoRNA targets do not overlap with the known RNA modification sites, suggesting that snoRNAs may have a much broader function in cells. One unexpected discovery was that a snoRNA called SNORA73 interacts with mRNAs that encode secreted proteins and cell membrane proteins. Protein secretion is a fundamental biological process by which proteins are transported from a cell into the extracellular space, which is crucial for various functions, including communication between cells, immune responses, and digestion. The researchers saw that SNORA73 acts as a "molecular glue" between the mRNA and the protein synthesis machinery that helps facilitate this process. Further analysis of how SNORA73 binds with mRNA suggested that synthetic snoRNA sequences can be engineered to affect protein secretion. The researchers tested this hypothesis by tweaking a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter to interact with SNORA73 . GFPs are often introduced in cells to make them glow under certain conditions so scientists can see the effects of experiments. When the researchers expressed SNORA73 genes with the engineered GFP that can be secreted from cells, it increased protein secretion by 30 to 50% over controls. These experiments showed that they could make use of the snoRNA machinery to manipulate the secretion of a given protein, which could be useful for developing therapeutics. For example, if a human disease involves a deficiency of secreted proteins, then bioengineers could hijack the system to deliver artificial snoRNAs to increase secretion of that protein. 'The field is wide open' While the technology for synthesizing and delivering snoRNAs to the right locations isn't quite ready yet, both He and Pan feel confident those challenges can be solved since it builds upon previous advances in technology using other forms of RNA. They also believe that since snoRNAs are specific to cell types, they could have much more diverse functions -- and therapeutic possibilities -- elsewhere. "Think about neuronal cells, stem cells, or cancer cells. There are just so many cell types one can study. So, I think the field is wide open," He said. "Tao and I have been working together for more than 15 years, and it's a great showcase of collaboration between the Biological Sciences Division and Physical Sciences Division at UChicago. This paper is another example that this kind of collaboration leads to opening a new field of biology." Additional authors on the study include Tong Wu, Bernadette A. Miao, Fei Ji, Shun Liu, Pingluan Wang, Yutao Zhao, Yuhao Zhong, Arunkumar Sundaram, Tie-Bo Zeng, Marta Majcherska-Agrawal, and Robert J. Keenan from UChicago. Story Source: Materials provided by University of Chicago . Original written by Matt Wood. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Journal Reference : Cite This Page :At more than three hours, it stars Adrien Brody as an architect after World War II and was made on a shoestring budget after years of delays. 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