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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Ca6L8Btb2bg/story01.htm
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Friday, December 16, 2011
iPhone Live, tonight at 9pm ET. Be there!
iPhone Live, the best darn iPhone podcast in the ‘verse, is coming your way tonight, so clear your schedule and get your snacks ready, because we want to chat with you! Special guest: Jon Fingas of Electronista Time: 9pm ET, 6pm PT, 2am BST. Place: http://www.tipb.com/live...
Riot shields could scatter crowds with 'wall of sound'
RIOT shields that project a wall of sound to disperse crowds will reduce violent clashes with police, according to a patent filed by defence firm Raytheon of Waltham, Massachusetts.
The device looks similar to existing riot shields, but it incorporates an acoustic horn that generates a pressure pulse. Police in the US already use acoustic devices for crowd control purposes that emit a loud, unpleasant noise.
The new shield described by Raytheon produces a low-frequency sound which resonates with the respiratory tract, making it hard to breathe. According to the patent, the intensity could be increased from causing discomfort to the point where targets become "temporarily incapacitated".
Acoustic devices haven't seen wide adoption because their range is limited to a few tens of metres. The patent gets around this by introducing a "cohort mode" in which many shields are wirelessly networked so their output covers a wide area, like Roman legionaries locking their shields together. One shield acts as a master which controls the others, so that the acoustic beams combine effectively.
Raytheon declined to comment on the work.
"We do not have sufficient technical detail yet to determine if there are any hidden medical implications," says Steve Wright of Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK. "These are always a concern because of the risk to sensitive bodily functions such as hearing, or even inducing panic attacks in asthmatics."
The biggest danger, he warns, is that the technology would be used for political control. "If authorities in Egypt or Syria had this, would they use it for dispersal or to shove crowds into potentially lethal harm's way?"
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Dinosaurs with killer claws yield new theory about evolution of flight
ScienceDaily (Dec. 14, 2011) ? New research from Montana State University's Museum of the Rockies has revealed how dinosaurs like Velociraptor and Deinonychus used their famous killer claws, leading to a new hypothesis on the evolution of flight in birds.
In a paper published Dec. 14 in PLoS ONE, MSU researchers Denver W. Fowler, Elizabeth A. Freedman, John B. Scannella and Robert E. Kambic (now at Brown University in Rhode Island), describe how comparing modern birds of prey helped develop a new behavior model for sickle-clawed carnivorous dinosaurs like Velociraptor.
"This study is a real game-changer," said lead author Fowler. "It completely overhauls our perception of these little predatory dinosaurs, changing the way we think about their ecology and evolution."
The study focuses on dromaeosaurids; a group of small predatory dinosaurs that include the famous Velociraptor and its larger relative, Deinonychus. Dromaeosaurids are closely related to birds, and are most famous for possessing an enlarged sickle-claw on digit two (inside toe) of the foot. Previous researchers suggested that this claw was used to slash at prey, or help climb up their hides, but the new study proposes a different behavior.
"Modern hawks and eagles possess a similar enlarged claw on their digit 2's, something that hadn't been noted before we published on it back in 2009," Fowler said. "We showed that the enlarged D-2 claws are used as anchors, latching into the prey, preventing their escape. We interpret the sickle claw of dromaeosaurids as having evolved to do the same thing: latching in, and holding on."
As in modern birds of prey, precise use of the claw is related to relative prey size.
"This strategy is only really needed for prey that are about the same size as the predator; large enough that they might struggle and escape from the feet," Fowler said. "Smaller prey are just squeezed to death, but with large prey all the predator can do is hold on and stop it from escaping, then basically just eat it alive. Dromaeosaurs lack any obvious adaptations for dispatching their victims, so just like hawks and eagles, they probably ate their prey alive too."
Other features of bird of prey feet gave clues as to the functional anatomy of their ancient relatives; toe proportions of dromaeosaurids seemed more suited for grasping than running, and the metatarsus (bones between the ankles and the toes) is more adapted for strength than speed.
"Unlike humans, most dinosaurs and birds only walk on their toes, so the metatarsus forms part of the leg itself," Fowler said. "A long metatarsus lets you take bigger strides to run faster; but in dromaeosaurids, the metatarsus is very short, which is odd."
Fowler thinks that this indicates that Velociraptor and its kin were adapted for a strategy other than simply running after prey.
"When we look at modern birds of prey, a relatively short metatarsus is one feature that gives the bird additional strength in its feet," Fowler continued. "Velociraptor and Deinonychus also have a very short, stout metatarsus, suggesting that they had great strength but wouldn't have been very fast runners."
The ecological implications become especially interesting when dromaeosaurids are contrasted with their closest relatives: a very similar group of small carnivorous dinosaurs called troodontids, Fowler said.
"Troodontids and dromaeosaurids started out looking very similar, but over about 60 million years they evolved in opposite directions, adapting to different niches," Fowler said. "Dromaeosaurids evolved towards stronger, slower feet; suggesting a stealthy ambush predatory strategy, adapted for relatively large prey. By contrast, troodontids evolved a longer metatarsus for speed and a more precise, but weaker grip, suggesting they were swift but probably took relatively smaller prey."
The study also has implications for the next closest relatives of troodontids and dromaeosaurids: birds. An important step in the origin of modern birds was the evolution of the perching foot.
"A grasping foot is present in the closest relatives of birds, but also in the earliest birds like Archaeopteryx," Fowler said. "We suggest that this originally evolved for predation, but would also have been available for use in perching. This is what we call 'exaptation:' a structure evolved originally for one purpose that can later be appropriated for a different use."
The new study proposes that a similar mechanism may be responsible for the evolution of flight.
"When a modern hawk has latched its enlarged claws into its prey, it can no longer use the feet for stabilization and positioning," Fowler said. "Instead the predator flaps its wings so that the prey stays underneath its feet, where it can be pinned down by the predator's bodyweight."
The researchers suggest that this 'stability flapping' uses less energy than flight, making it an intermediate flapping behavior that may be key to understanding how flight evolved.
"The predator's flapping just maintains its position, and does not need to be as powerful or vigorous as full flight would require. Get on top, stay on top; it's not trying to fly away," Fowler said. "We see fully formed wings in exquisitely preserved dromaeosaurid fossils, and from biomechanical studies we can show that they were also able to perform a rudimentary flapping stroke. Most researchers think that they weren't powerful enough to fly; we propose that the less demanding stability flapping would be a viable use for such a wing, and this behavior would be consistent with the unusual adaptations of the feet."
Another group of researchers has proposed that understanding flapping behaviors is key to understanding the evolution of flight, a view with which Fowler agrees.
"If we look at modern birds, we see flapping being used for all sorts of behaviors outside of flight. In our paper, we are formally proposing the 'flapping first' model: where flapping evolved for other behaviors first, and was only later exapted for flight by birds."
The researchers believe their new ideas will open multiple new lines of investigation into dinosaur paleobiology, and the evolution of novel anatomical structures.
"As with other research conducted at the Jack Horner paleo lab, we're looking at old paleontological questions with a fresh perspective, taking a different angle," Fowler said. "Just as you have to get beyond the idea that feet are used just for walking, so we are coming to realize that many unusual structures in modern animals originally evolved for quite different purposes. Revealing the selection pathways that mold and produce these structures helps us to better understand the major evolutionary transitions that shaped life on this planet."
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Journal Reference:
- Denver W. Fowler, Elizabeth A. Freedman, John B. Scannella, Robert E. Kambic. The Predatory Ecology of Deinonychus and the Origin of Flapping in Birds. PLoS ONE, 2011; 6 (12): e28964 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0028964
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111214171541.htm
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Wednesday, December 7, 2011
How will patients, families and doctors handle the coming flood of personalized genetic data?
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Public release date: 6-Dec-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: John Ascenzi
Ascenzi@email.chop.edu
267-426-6055
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia brings pediatric perspective to its role in large multicenter NHGRI grant
Sequencing the entire human genome took more than a decade before leaders of the Human Genome Project announced their completion of a rough draft in a 2000 White House ceremony. Finished in 2003, sequencing that first genome cost nearly $3 billion. Today, with advances in technology, an individual's whole genome can be sequenced in a few months for about $4,000.
But knowing just what to do with this knowledge has not kept pace with the gusher of genetic data. People can now have their own genome analyzedall 3 billion pairs of DNA letters per personoffering clues to their current and future risks of genetic diseases. But what will individuals do with this flood of information? Is some of it information that they prefer not to know? How will knowledge of a child's possible future risks affect the parents' decisions now?
These are just a few of the near-future issues being explored in a new four-year grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), the federal agency that sponsored the Human Genome Project. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is one of five U.S. centers, and the only one focusing on pediatrics, to receive a new four-year Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research Project award. Children's Hospital will receive $2.2 million per year for four years.
The NHGHI announced the grant today as part of an intensified focus on the medical applications of its flagship Genome Sequencing Program.
The grant recipients are forming a consortium to define social and ethical issues associated with clinical sequencing, and to propose guidelines on sharing, interpreting and using this genetic information. Much of the consortium's work will focus on guiding physicians and genetic counselors in interpreting data for families and patients.
"Currently, when gene analysis helps us arrive at a diagnosis of a child's disorder, we can then counsel a family, providing information about what to expect and what options may be available for therapy and medical intervention," said clinical geneticist Ian D. Krantz, M.D. "But among the thousands of gene variants in someone's genome, only a handful will be clinically significant or actionablelending themselves to doing something medicallywhile most will either not be actionable or will of unclear significance."
Krantz is the principal investigator (PI) of the project at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, along with co-PI Nancy B. Spinner, Ph.D., director of the Clinical Cytogenomics Laboratory at Children's Hospital. Both researchers also are faculty members at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, which is partnering with Children's Hospital on three projects comprising the grant.
In addition to pinpointing gene variations that are the likely causes of a condition for which a patient is being studied, say the researchers, whole-genome sequencing will also uncover so-called "incidental findings." These findings are gene variants not related to a current condition, but having a bearing on an individual's future health. "We will investigate which of these incidental findings should be disclosed to a patient's family," said Spinner. "This is a complex issue that will benefit from the insights and contributions of the multidisciplinary team we have assembled for this program."
The first project under the grant, Clinical Genomics Studies, is co-led by Krantz and Spinner, and will enroll four cohorts of children in these disease groups: bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment, nuclear encoded mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders, sudden cardiac arrest and intellectual disability. "Each of these groups of disorders cannot be easily diagnosed with a gene-by-gene approach, so experts from several disciplines will develop tools for sequencing the patients' whole genomes and then interpreting the vast amounts of data," said Krantz. "Not all the gene mutations we find will be clinically useful, and we will work with families to understand what information they desire, and how clinicians should present it."
Project 2, Sequencing, Analysis and Interpretation of Sequencing Data, is led by Peter White, Ph.D., director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Children's Hospital. "This project," said White, "aims to build a framework for systematically assessing the gene sequence data we collect, to integrate the data with medical care. We envision Children's Hospital as a working lab to combine genomic analysis with our clinicians' observations and diagnostic expertise to support physicians and families in their decision-making." Members of this project will develop tools and processes for delivering information directly into a patient's electronic health record in ways that are most informative for clinicians and families acting on this information.
Ethical and Psychological Implications of Genome Sequencing is the title of Project 3, led by principal investigator Barbara Bernhardt, M.S. C.G.C., a genetic counselor and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. She and her co-investigators will conduct focus groups, interviews and surveys with parents, adolescents and healthcare providers to understand the impact and outcomes of genetic testing in children. The researchers will address questions such as what people prefer to receive in genetic sequencing results, what are barriers to informed consent when many findings have uncertain implications, and how parents, patients and clinicians understand and use genomic results. Ultimately, the project scientists will make recommendations on the best ways to introduce genomic sequencing into pediatric practice.
"By the end of this decade, we anticipate that genomic sequencing will be ready to be offered for the diagnosis of pediatric disorders," said Krantz. He added, "Parents may elect to have sequencing done early in a child's life, and the child's disease risk will be assessed. Over the years, the child's medical information can be refreshed and reassessed. Our goal in this research is to help make that information-sharing process systematic, thoughtful and sensitive to the needs and desires of patients and families."
The four other centers receiving this NHGRI award are Baylor College of Medicine; Brigham and Women's Hospital; the University of Washington, Seattle; and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Together with Children's Hospital and Penn, they will form a Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research Consortium.
###
About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 516-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
[ | 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: 6-Dec-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: John Ascenzi
Ascenzi@email.chop.edu
267-426-6055
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia brings pediatric perspective to its role in large multicenter NHGRI grant
Sequencing the entire human genome took more than a decade before leaders of the Human Genome Project announced their completion of a rough draft in a 2000 White House ceremony. Finished in 2003, sequencing that first genome cost nearly $3 billion. Today, with advances in technology, an individual's whole genome can be sequenced in a few months for about $4,000.
But knowing just what to do with this knowledge has not kept pace with the gusher of genetic data. People can now have their own genome analyzedall 3 billion pairs of DNA letters per personoffering clues to their current and future risks of genetic diseases. But what will individuals do with this flood of information? Is some of it information that they prefer not to know? How will knowledge of a child's possible future risks affect the parents' decisions now?
These are just a few of the near-future issues being explored in a new four-year grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), the federal agency that sponsored the Human Genome Project. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is one of five U.S. centers, and the only one focusing on pediatrics, to receive a new four-year Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research Project award. Children's Hospital will receive $2.2 million per year for four years.
The NHGHI announced the grant today as part of an intensified focus on the medical applications of its flagship Genome Sequencing Program.
The grant recipients are forming a consortium to define social and ethical issues associated with clinical sequencing, and to propose guidelines on sharing, interpreting and using this genetic information. Much of the consortium's work will focus on guiding physicians and genetic counselors in interpreting data for families and patients.
"Currently, when gene analysis helps us arrive at a diagnosis of a child's disorder, we can then counsel a family, providing information about what to expect and what options may be available for therapy and medical intervention," said clinical geneticist Ian D. Krantz, M.D. "But among the thousands of gene variants in someone's genome, only a handful will be clinically significant or actionablelending themselves to doing something medicallywhile most will either not be actionable or will of unclear significance."
Krantz is the principal investigator (PI) of the project at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, along with co-PI Nancy B. Spinner, Ph.D., director of the Clinical Cytogenomics Laboratory at Children's Hospital. Both researchers also are faculty members at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, which is partnering with Children's Hospital on three projects comprising the grant.
In addition to pinpointing gene variations that are the likely causes of a condition for which a patient is being studied, say the researchers, whole-genome sequencing will also uncover so-called "incidental findings." These findings are gene variants not related to a current condition, but having a bearing on an individual's future health. "We will investigate which of these incidental findings should be disclosed to a patient's family," said Spinner. "This is a complex issue that will benefit from the insights and contributions of the multidisciplinary team we have assembled for this program."
The first project under the grant, Clinical Genomics Studies, is co-led by Krantz and Spinner, and will enroll four cohorts of children in these disease groups: bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment, nuclear encoded mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders, sudden cardiac arrest and intellectual disability. "Each of these groups of disorders cannot be easily diagnosed with a gene-by-gene approach, so experts from several disciplines will develop tools for sequencing the patients' whole genomes and then interpreting the vast amounts of data," said Krantz. "Not all the gene mutations we find will be clinically useful, and we will work with families to understand what information they desire, and how clinicians should present it."
Project 2, Sequencing, Analysis and Interpretation of Sequencing Data, is led by Peter White, Ph.D., director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Children's Hospital. "This project," said White, "aims to build a framework for systematically assessing the gene sequence data we collect, to integrate the data with medical care. We envision Children's Hospital as a working lab to combine genomic analysis with our clinicians' observations and diagnostic expertise to support physicians and families in their decision-making." Members of this project will develop tools and processes for delivering information directly into a patient's electronic health record in ways that are most informative for clinicians and families acting on this information.
Ethical and Psychological Implications of Genome Sequencing is the title of Project 3, led by principal investigator Barbara Bernhardt, M.S. C.G.C., a genetic counselor and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. She and her co-investigators will conduct focus groups, interviews and surveys with parents, adolescents and healthcare providers to understand the impact and outcomes of genetic testing in children. The researchers will address questions such as what people prefer to receive in genetic sequencing results, what are barriers to informed consent when many findings have uncertain implications, and how parents, patients and clinicians understand and use genomic results. Ultimately, the project scientists will make recommendations on the best ways to introduce genomic sequencing into pediatric practice.
"By the end of this decade, we anticipate that genomic sequencing will be ready to be offered for the diagnosis of pediatric disorders," said Krantz. He added, "Parents may elect to have sequencing done early in a child's life, and the child's disease risk will be assessed. Over the years, the child's medical information can be refreshed and reassessed. Our goal in this research is to help make that information-sharing process systematic, thoughtful and sensitive to the needs and desires of patients and families."
The four other centers receiving this NHGRI award are Baylor College of Medicine; Brigham and Women's Hospital; the University of Washington, Seattle; and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Together with Children's Hospital and Penn, they will form a Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research Consortium.
###
About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 516-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
[ | 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/2011-12/chop-hwp120611.php
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Sunday, December 4, 2011
Afghanistan says needs billions long after troops go (Reuters)
KABUL (Reuters) ? Afghanistan's international backers must not cut funding to Kabul to the degree that it forces the government to choose between spending less on security or development, the finance minister said on Saturday.
A World Bank study released last month said Afghanistan was likely to need around $7 billion a year from the international community to help pay its security and other bills long after foreign troops leave at the end of 2014.
"The World Bank's study makes a case for continued assistance," Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said, speaking from the German city of Bonn. "We have done our own analysis and our conclusion with regard to the fiscal gap is not too different from the World Bank's."
Asking Kabul to cut spending on security forces would risk allowing the Taliban-led insurgents to make a comeback, while if services such as health and education were reduced instead, that could indirectly bolster support for the insurgency.
"What they are saying is, these are not options that the Afghan government should be pushed into, we have to know the consequences of pushing the government into these choices," Zakhilwal told Reuters.
Without foreign help, Afghanistan would not be able to pay for its army and police after 2014, currently estimated as a 352,000-man force after the pullout.
"Post-2014, the current level of the security forces is not sustainable for Afghanistan because of the cost," he said. "In the longer term, (the size of) our security force will come down."
With an economic crisis gripping Europe, smaller budgets in the United States, and electorates weary of a decade-long war, Western politicians want to spend much less on Afghanistan, without letting the country descend into civil war.
Aid, which in 2011 was nearly $16 billion, will decline along with troop numbers as the West scales down its presence in Afghanistan. But the United States and its allies face a serious financial burden for many years after the official end of combat operations.
Without detailing levels of foreign assistance required, or the finance ministry's own budget projections, the minister said Afghanistan expected to bring in more revenue from mining projects, trade and transit, and more efficient collection of taxes.
On Monday, Bonn will host a major international conference about the future of Afghanistan.
"What we want to get out of this (conference) is strong, believable political statements from our partners (of) long-term support for development and security," Zakhilwal said.
"I do expect strong, believable statements of support."
Despite the presence of tens of thousands of Western forces in Afghanistan, the United Nations and other groups say violence is at its worst since U.S.-led Afghan forces toppled the Taliban from power in late 2001.
NATO-led forces say they have seen a decline over recent months in attacks launched by insurgents against their troops.
(Editing by Nick Macfie)
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Skating along no more, Republican Romney facing double-barreled threats from Gingrich, Obama (Star Tribune)
If You Don't Like the Names of These New Elements, Now's the Time to Complain [Science]
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Friday, December 2, 2011
George Michael 'improving,' say doctors
LONDON?? British singer George Michael's health is improving, doctors treating him in Vienna for pneumonia said in a statement Wednesday.
The 48-year-old former Wham! frontman was hospitalized in the Austrian capital and diagnosed with severe pneumonia, forcing him to cancel the remainder of his European tour.
Story: George Michael has pneumonia, cancels shows"The latest development in Mr. Michael's case ? which has evolved from a severe pneumococcal infection ? necessitated intensive care due to its severity and extension," said professors Gottfried Locker and Christoph Zielinski.
"We are happy to announce that Mr. Michael is improving steadily with an impressive regression of pneumonic symptoms and follows a steady rate of improvement as hoped.
"As we said previously, complete rest and peace and quiet are mandatory."
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The doctors also appeared to address speculation in the British tabloid press that Michael was suffering further, potentially serious health complications and that he was receiving state-of-the-art treatment during his stay at the Vienna General Hospital.
Story: Pop ladies of the '80s have still got the beat"There are no other health issues with regards to the patient other than the underlying pneumonic disorder, and no further measures had to be taken," they said.
"Michael is receiving precisely the same treatment as any ordinary patient in Austria would receive at the hospital for this disease."
The Grammy award-winning singer found fame in the 1980s with Wham! before going on to pursue a successful solo career. He has sold an estimated 100 million records and has a personal fortune estimated at 90 million pounds ($140 million).
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45489938/ns/today-entertainment/
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Biden's 2012 targets: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida (AP)
WASHINGTON ? A year from Election Day, Democrats are crafting a campaign strategy for Vice President Joe Biden that targets the big three political battlegrounds: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, states where Biden might be more of an asset to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign than the president himself.
The Biden plan underscores an uncomfortable reality for the Obama team. A shaky economy and sagging enthusiasm among Democrats could shrink the electoral map for Obama in 2012, forcing his campaign to depend on carrying the 67 electoral votes up for grabs in the three swing states.
Obama won all three states in 2008. But this time he faces challenges in each, particularly in Ohio and Florida, where voters elected Republican governors in the 2010 midterm elections.
The president sometimes struggles to connect with Ohio and Pennsylvania's white working-class voters, and Jewish voters who make up a core constituency for Florida Democrats and view him with skepticism.
Biden has built deep ties to both groups during his four decades in national politics, connections that could make a difference.
As a long-serving member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden cemented his reputation as an unyielding supporter of Israel, winning the respect of many in the Jewish community. And Biden's upbringing in a working class, Catholic family from Scranton, Pa., gives him a valuable political intangible: He empathizes with the struggles of blue-collar Americans because his family lived those struggles.
"Talking to blue-collar voters is perhaps his greatest attribute," said Dan Schnur, a Republican political analyst. "Obama provides the speeches, and Biden provides the blue-collar subtitles."
While Biden's campaign travel won't kick into high gear until next year, he's already been making stops in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida this fall, speaking at events focused on education, public safety and small businesses and raising campaign cash. Behind the scenes, he's working the phones with prominent Jewish groups and Catholic organizations in those states, a Democratic official said.
Biden is also targeting organized labor, speaking frequently with union leaders in Ohio ahead of last week's vote on a state law that would have curbed collective bargaining rights for public workers. Voters struck down the measure, and Biden traveled to Cleveland Tuesday to celebrate the victory with union members.
The Democratic official said the vice president will also be a frequent visitor to Iowa and New Hampshire in the coming weeks, seeking to steal some of the spotlight from the Republican presidential candidates blanketing those states ahead of the January caucus and primary.
And while Obama may have declared that he won't be commenting on the Republican presidential field until there's a nominee, Biden is following no such rules. He's calling out GOP candidates by name, and in true Biden style, he appears to be relishing in doing so.
During a speech last month to the Florida Democratic Convention, Biden singled out "Romney and Rick", criticizing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for saying the government should let the foreclosure crisis hit rock bottom, and hammering Texas Gov. Rick Perry's assertion that he would send U.S. troops into Mexico.
And he took on the full GOP field during an October fundraiser in New Hampshire, saying "There is no fundamental difference among all the Republican candidates."
Democratic officials said Biden will follow in the long-standing tradition of vice presidents playing the role of attack dog, allowing Obama to stay out of the fray and appear more focused on governing than campaigning.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal strategy. The Obama campaign has been reluctant to publically define Biden's role in the re-election bid this early in the run, though campaign manager Jim Messina did say the vice president would deliver an economic message to appeal for support.
"You'll see him in communities across the country next year laying out the choice we face: restoring economic security for the middle class or returning to the same policies that led to our economic challenges," Messina said.
Democrats say Biden will campaign for House candidates in swing states as the party tries to recapture some of the seats in Congress lost during the 2010 midterms.
And here again, the vice president's efforts in politically crucial Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida could be most important. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting 12 districts in those states that Obama and Biden carried in the 2008 presidential race but are represented by Republican representatives.
New York Rep. Steve Israel, who chairs the committee, said he believes Biden could be a "game-changer" in those districts.
"All he has to do is ask voters, has the Republican strategy of no worked for you?" Israel said.
Israel met with Obama and Biden at the White House earlier this month to discuss, among other things, their role in congressional campaigns. While Israel said he hopes Obama will actively campaign for Democratic House candidates, he said "the vice president has already volunteered."
___
Julie Pace can be reached at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.
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