Epigenetic changes shed light on biological mechanism of autism

Apr. 23, 2013 ? Scientists from King's College London have identified patterns of epigenetic changes involved in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by studying genetically identical twins who differ in autism traits.

The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, is the largest of its kind and may shed light on the biological mechanism by which environmental influences regulate the activity of certain genes and in turn contribute to the development of ASD and related behaviour traits.

ASD affects approximately 1 in 100 people in the UK and involves a spectrum of disorders which manifest themselves differently in different people. People with ASD have varying levels of impairment across three common areas: deficits in social interactions and understanding, repetitive behaviour and interests, and impairments in language and communication development.

Evidence from twin studies shows there is a strong genetic component to ASD and previous studies suggest that genes that direct brain development may be involved in the disorder. In approximately 70% of cases, when one identical twin has ASD, so does the other. However, in 30% of cases, identical twins differ for ASD. Because identical twins share the same genetic code, this suggests non-genetic, or epigenetic, factors may be involved.

Epigenetic changes affect the expression or activity of genes without changing the underlying DNA sequence -- they are believed to be one mechanism by which the environment can interact with the genome. Importantly, epigenetic changes are potentially reversible and may therefore provide targets for the development of new therapies.

The researchers studied an epigenetic mechanism called DNA methylation. DNA methylation acts to block the genetic sequences that drive gene expression, silencing gene activity. They examined DNA methylation at over 27,000 sites across the genome using samples taken from 50 identical twin pairs (100 individuals) from the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) funded Twins Early Development Study (TEDS): 34 pairs who differed for ASD or autism related behaviour traits, 5 pairs where both twins have ASD, and 11 healthy twin pairs.

Dr Chloe Wong, first author of the study from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, says: "We've identified distinctive patterns of DNA methylation associated with both autism diagnosis and related behaviour traits, and increasing severity of symptoms. Our findings give us an insight into the biological mechanism mediating the interaction between gene and environment in autism spectrum disorder."

DNA methylation at some genetic sites was consistently altered for all individuals with ASD, and differences at other sites were specific to certain symptom groups. The number of DNA methylation sites across the genome was also linked to the severity of autism symptoms suggesting a quantitative relationship between the two. Additionally, some of the differences in DNA methylation markers were located in genetic regions that previous research has associated with early brain development and ASD.

Professor Jonathan Mill, lead author of the paper from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry and the University of Exeter, says: "Research into the intersection between genetic and environmental influences is crucial because risky environmental conditions can sometimes be avoided or changed. Epigenetic changes are potentially reversible, so our next step is to embark on larger studies to see whether we can identify key epigenetic changes common to the majority of people with autism to help us develop possible therapeutic interventions."

Dr Alycia Halladay, Senior Director of Environmental and Clinical Sciences from Autism Speaks who funded the research, says: "This is the first large-scale study to take a whole genome approach to studying epigenetic influences in twins who are genetically identical but have different symptoms. These findings open the door to future discoveries in the role of epigenetics -- in addition to genetics -- in the development of autism symptoms."

The study was funded by Autism Speaks, Medical Research Council UK (MRC) and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD). The twins were selected from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) which is funded by the MRC with additional support from the US National Institutes of Health.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by King's College London.

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. C C Y Wong, E L Meaburn, A Ronald, T S Price, A R Jeffries, L C Schalkwyk, R Plomin, J Mill. Methylomic analysis of monozygotic twins discordant for autism spectrum disorder and related behavioural traits. Molecular Psychiatry, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/mp.2013.41

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/5SSPuYtQGZA/130423091113.htm

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Boston suspect's misspelled name tripped up FBI, senator says (cbsnews)

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The Asian monsoon is getting predictable

Public release date: 23-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mario Aguilera
scrippsnews@ucsd.edu
858-534-3624
University of California - San Diego

Researchers find strong correlation between summer monsoon and the climate pattern that preceded it

For much of Asia, the pace of life is tuned to rhythms of monsoons.

The summer rainy season is especially important for securing the water and food supplies for more than a billion people. Its variations can mean the difference between drought and flood. Now a Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego-led study reports on a crucial connection that could drastically improve the ability of forecasters to reliably predict the monsoon a few months in advance.

Yu Kosaka and Shang-Ping Xie from Scripps and colleagues from NOAA found that a winter appearance of the climate phenomenon called El Nio in the Pacific Ocean can leave its mark on monsoon formation in the Indian Ocean a full six months later. In between is an atmospheric phenomenon called the Pacific-Japan pattern that provides the teleconnection between the two ocean basins and further poleward to East Asia.

"It has long been a mystery that climate anomalies in the region correlate better with El Nio in the preceding winter than with the one developing in the concurrent summer," said Xie, a climate scientist and inaugural holder of the Scripps Roger Revelle Chair in Environmental Science. "The new paper shows that Indian Ocean temperature and atmospheric anomalies in the western Pacific are physically coupled, and their interactions amplify each other. We demonstrated that this new mode of coupled ocean-atmospheric anomalies is predictable a season ahead. Such predictions have tremendous benefits to society."

The National Science Foundation-funded study, "Origin of seasonal predictability for summer climate over the Northwestern Pacific," appears online on April 22 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Ngar-Cheung Lau and Gabriel Vecchi of NOAA are also co-authors.

El Nio is a climate phenomenon coupling the ocean and atmosphere that includes a shift in the distribution of warm water in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. El Nio years are characterized by unusual weather and storm activity globally.

The summer after a major El Nio features above-average sea-surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean. El Nio exerts its influence via the Pacific-Japan pattern, which can bring to East Asia cool, wet weather in the subsequent summer, while La Nia leads to dry, hot weather.

The violent storm activity associated with El Nio takes place in the eastern Pacific Ocean, but the chain of events the researchers describe ultimately ends up being detected in the western Pacific Ocean. Xie likened it to an echo effect, saying that El Nio serves to pull clouds and convection eastward toward the International Date Line, which means those clouds are not available over the western Pacific to keep ocean surface temperatures cool. It also weakens winds in the northern Indian Ocean and the effects of those weakened winds travel back eastward to the Pacific Ocean.

"The last sound El Nio makes is in the western Pacific Ocean," Kosaka said, "because the positive feedback between the Indian Ocean and Pacific-Japan pattern we found amplifies climate anomalies in this region."

The last echoes of El Nio have devastating consequences to the region.

Extremes in the East Asian summer monsoon have been behind some of the largest natural and economic disasters to hit the region in the last 20 years. The authors note that excessive rains and cool temperature in Japan in 1993 caused a widespread failure of that country's rice crop that opened it to imports from other countries. Dry monsoon phases led to widespread heat waves and drought in several East Asian countries in 2004.

Kosaka cautioned, however, that there is much more work to be done to make prediction of the Asian monsoon reliable. El Nio is just one factor; other regional patterns complicate the sequence that ultimately produces monsoon rains, Kosaka said.

But the paper does establish that El Nio influences the monsoon and describes the means by which it does so, she said.

###

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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: 23-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mario Aguilera
scrippsnews@ucsd.edu
858-534-3624
University of California - San Diego

Researchers find strong correlation between summer monsoon and the climate pattern that preceded it

For much of Asia, the pace of life is tuned to rhythms of monsoons.

The summer rainy season is especially important for securing the water and food supplies for more than a billion people. Its variations can mean the difference between drought and flood. Now a Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego-led study reports on a crucial connection that could drastically improve the ability of forecasters to reliably predict the monsoon a few months in advance.

Yu Kosaka and Shang-Ping Xie from Scripps and colleagues from NOAA found that a winter appearance of the climate phenomenon called El Nio in the Pacific Ocean can leave its mark on monsoon formation in the Indian Ocean a full six months later. In between is an atmospheric phenomenon called the Pacific-Japan pattern that provides the teleconnection between the two ocean basins and further poleward to East Asia.

"It has long been a mystery that climate anomalies in the region correlate better with El Nio in the preceding winter than with the one developing in the concurrent summer," said Xie, a climate scientist and inaugural holder of the Scripps Roger Revelle Chair in Environmental Science. "The new paper shows that Indian Ocean temperature and atmospheric anomalies in the western Pacific are physically coupled, and their interactions amplify each other. We demonstrated that this new mode of coupled ocean-atmospheric anomalies is predictable a season ahead. Such predictions have tremendous benefits to society."

The National Science Foundation-funded study, "Origin of seasonal predictability for summer climate over the Northwestern Pacific," appears online on April 22 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Ngar-Cheung Lau and Gabriel Vecchi of NOAA are also co-authors.

El Nio is a climate phenomenon coupling the ocean and atmosphere that includes a shift in the distribution of warm water in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. El Nio years are characterized by unusual weather and storm activity globally.

The summer after a major El Nio features above-average sea-surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean. El Nio exerts its influence via the Pacific-Japan pattern, which can bring to East Asia cool, wet weather in the subsequent summer, while La Nia leads to dry, hot weather.

The violent storm activity associated with El Nio takes place in the eastern Pacific Ocean, but the chain of events the researchers describe ultimately ends up being detected in the western Pacific Ocean. Xie likened it to an echo effect, saying that El Nio serves to pull clouds and convection eastward toward the International Date Line, which means those clouds are not available over the western Pacific to keep ocean surface temperatures cool. It also weakens winds in the northern Indian Ocean and the effects of those weakened winds travel back eastward to the Pacific Ocean.

"The last sound El Nio makes is in the western Pacific Ocean," Kosaka said, "because the positive feedback between the Indian Ocean and Pacific-Japan pattern we found amplifies climate anomalies in this region."

The last echoes of El Nio have devastating consequences to the region.

Extremes in the East Asian summer monsoon have been behind some of the largest natural and economic disasters to hit the region in the last 20 years. The authors note that excessive rains and cool temperature in Japan in 1993 caused a widespread failure of that country's rice crop that opened it to imports from other countries. Dry monsoon phases led to widespread heat waves and drought in several East Asian countries in 2004.

Kosaka cautioned, however, that there is much more work to be done to make prediction of the Asian monsoon reliable. El Nio is just one factor; other regional patterns complicate the sequence that ultimately produces monsoon rains, Kosaka said.

But the paper does establish that El Nio influences the monsoon and describes the means by which it does so, she said.

###

---

[ | 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/2013-04/uoc--tam042313.php

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'Breaking Bad,' 'Under the Dome' actor shows support for film ...

Submitted by Allyson Lorick on Mon, 04/22/2013 - 5:54pm.READ MORE:

WILMINGTON, NC (Twitter) -- As thousands gathered to take a stand for the state's film incentives Saturday, some famous actors filming in the Port City rallied support, too.

Dean Norris, known as Hank Schrader in AMC's series, "Breaking Bad," tweeted pictures and blurbs in support of the cause.

Norris, who's in town filming the upcoming TV series "Under the Dome," tweeted "NC film incentive rally! Downtown Wilmington," followed by a tweet that read, "Film = jobs," including a picture of himself at the event.

Area leaders and supporters at the rally say the film industry provides Wilmington with jobs and revenue, and they will continue to fight for the industry.

Click here to visit Norris' Twitter account.

Disclaimer: Comments posted on this, or any story are opinions of those people posting them, and not the views or opinions of WWAY NewsChannel 3, its management or employees. You can view our comment policy here.

?

Source: http://www.wwaytv3.com/2013/04/22/breaking-bad-under-the-dome-actor-shows-support-for-film-incentives-wilmington

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'American Psycho' musical to open in London

Kerry Hayes / AP

Christian Bale in the film "American Psycho."

By Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters

A musical based on Bret Easton Ellis's "American Psycho," the disturbing tale of a Wall Street banker turned sadistic serial killer, will have its world premiere in London in December.

A spokesman for London's Almeida Theatre said on Friday that the show would open on December 3 and run until January 25.

American playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, best known for his work on the U.S. television series "Glee," is producing the script and the show is directed by Briton Rupert Goold.

The music and lyrics will be produced by American singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik, who wrote the music for "Spring Awakening" but is best known for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing."

Easton Ellis's novel, published in 1991, is a satire about the 1980s yuppie boom and follows Wall Street investment banker Patrick Bateman, an obsessive materialist who by night commits murders -- or at least imagines he commits them -- while losing himself in drugs and prostitution.

On its release, "American Psycho" shocked readers with graphic content that included Bateman torturing a woman with a rat. In Australia the book was shrink-wrapped and could not be sold to anyone aged under 18.

The book was adapted into a film in 2000 starring Christian Bale, while a project to adapt the book into a musical for the United States was first announced in 2008.

Producer Jesse Singer said the team behind the musical had decided to move it to London where Goold is based and is associated with the Almeida Theatre and to try the show off-Broadway first.

Related content:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/04/21/17850221-american-psycho-musical-to-premiere-in-britain?lite

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Finally, Revis a Buc (almost)

Getty Images

With the NFL Draft approaching, we?re taking a team-by-team look at the needs of each club. Up next is the team with the No. 30 overall selection, the Atlanta Falcons. They have a total of 11 picks, and aren?t afraid to make bold moves, so their picking somewhere north of 30 is a real possibility.

Defensive end: There?s already noise about the Falcons wanting to move up in the order, and it makes sense that their target would be a pass-rusher.

John Abraham was still producing right up until the time they released him, and they have to find someone to replace that production other than Osi Umenyiora, who has not produced at the same consistent level. If they can get into the top half of the first round, they can find someone in the Abraham mold, before the run starts.

Cornerback: This would be the other drastic need that could be the target for a move-up. It seems like forever ago they were three-deep with excellent players. But with Brent Grimes gone to Miami and and Dunta Robinson released and resurfaced in KC, they?re down to Asante Samuel and a bunch of guys.

Linebacker: You could probably run down the list of defensive positions, and the Falcons could stand to upgrade. Sean Weatherspoon is quite good, but the rest of their linebacking corps is fairly ordinary.

Tackle: The thinking is the release of Tyson Clabo opened the door for Lamar Holmes to start at right tackle, and that could work. But they still need cover here, particularly if newly rich left tackle Sam Baker goes back to the 2011 version instead of the 2012 salary-push version.

Guard: The retirement of Todd McClure leaves a big hole, but they could slide 2012 second-rounder Peter Konz over from right guard. But that leaves another vacancy. They have some in-house candidates, but need depth here.

As good as they are, they?re not as well-covered as you?d think. They have nothing to speak of in terms of depth on defense. Heck, they don?t even have a full complement of starting-caliber players on that side of the ball.

But their offensive skill-position talent is so good, it might not matter. As long as Matt Ryan, Steven Jackson, Julio Jones, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez are together, the Falcons are going to be among the best in the NFC.

But until they get at least a little bit better on defense, it?s going to be hard for them to make the next step.

Their offseason efforts have focused on retaining their own, and making a few surgical signings of veterans who came looking for rings. Their team is good enough that 11 draft picks aren?t making their 53-man roster, so they might as well make some moves, and see if they can plug some starters in on defense.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/21/revis-deal-done-pending-physical/related/

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Interrogators wait to query wounded bomb suspect

Police officers stand near statues of former Boston Red Sox greats, from left, Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky and Dom DiMaggio during a baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Boston Red Sox, the first game held in the city following the Boston Marathon explosions, Saturday, April 20, 2013, in Boston. Police captured Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect, late Friday, after a wild car chase and gun battle earlier in the day left his older brother dead. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Police officers stand near statues of former Boston Red Sox greats, from left, Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky and Dom DiMaggio during a baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Boston Red Sox, the first game held in the city following the Boston Marathon explosions, Saturday, April 20, 2013, in Boston. Police captured Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect, late Friday, after a wild car chase and gun battle earlier in the day left his older brother dead. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

This Friday, April 19, 2013 image made available by the Massachusetts State Police shows 19-year-old Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, hiding inside a boat during a search for him in Watertown, Mass. He was pulled, wounded and bloody, from the boat parked in the backyard of a home in the Greater Boston area. (AP Photo/Massachusetts State Police)

An official wearing SWAT gear walks behind a fenced off area outside of Fenway Park during a baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Boston Red Sox, the first game held in the city following the Boston Marathon explosions, Saturday, April 20, 2013, in Boston. Police captured Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect, late Friday, after a wild car chase and gun battle earlier in the day left his older brother dead. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

This Friday, April 19, 2013 image made available by the Massachusetts State Police shows 19-year-old Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, hiding inside a boat during a search for him in Watertown, Mass. He was pulled, wounded and bloody, from the boat parked in the backyard of a home in the Greater Boston area. (AP Photo/Massachusetts State Police)

This Friday, April 19, 2013 image made available by the Massachusetts State Police shows a police vehicle probing the boat where 19-year-old Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was hiding in Watertown, Mass. He was pulled, wounded and bloody, from the boat parked in the backyard of a home in the Greater Boston area. (AP Photo/Massachusetts State Police)

BOSTON (AP) ? As the lone surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing lay hospitalized under heavy guard, the American Civil Liberties Union and a federal public defender raised concerns about investigators' plan to question 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev without reading him his Miranda rights.

What Tsarnaev will say and when are unclear ? he remained in serious condition and apparently in no shape for interrogation after being pulled bloody and wounded from a tarp-covered boat in a Watertown backyard. The capture came at the end of a tense Friday that began with his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, dying in a gunbattle with police.

U.S. officials said an elite interrogation team would question the Massachusetts college student without reading him his Miranda rights, something that is allowed on a limited basis when the public may be in immediate danger, such as instances in which bombs are planted and ready to go off.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said the legal exception applies only when there is a continued threat to public safety and is "not an open-ended exception" to the Miranda rule, which guarantees the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.

The federal public defender's office in Massachusetts said it has agreed to represent Tsarnaev once he is charged. Miriam Conrad, public defender for Massachusetts, said he should have a lawyer appointed as soon as possible because there are "serious issues regarding possible interrogation."

There was no immediate word on when Tsarnaev might be charged and what those charges would be. The twin bombings killed three people and wounded more than 180.

The most serious charge available to federal prosecutors would be the use of a weapon of mass destruction to kill people, which carries a possible death sentence. Massachusetts does not have the death penalty.

President Barack Obama said there are many unanswered questions about the bombing, including whether the Tsarnaev brothers ? ethnic Chechens from southern Russia who had been in the U.S. for about a decade and lived in the Boston area ? had help from others. The president urged people not to rush judgment about their motivations.

Gov. Deval Patrick said Saturday afternoon that Tsarnaev was in serious but stable condition and was probably unable to communicate. Tsarnaev was at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where 11 victims of the bombing were still being treated.

"I, and I think all of the law enforcement officials, are hoping for a host of reasons the suspect survives," the governor said after a ceremony at Fenway Park to honor the victims and survivors of the attack. "We have a million questions, and those questions need to be answered."

The all-day manhunt Friday brought the Boston area to a near standstill and put people on edge across the metropolitan area.

The break came around nightfall when a homeowner in Watertown saw blood on his boat, pulled back the tarp and saw a bloody Tsarnaev hiding inside, police said. After an exchange of gunfire, he was seized and taken away in an ambulance.

Raucous celebrations erupted in and around Boston, with chants of "USA! USA!" Residents flooded the streets in relief four days after the two pressure-cooker bombs packed with nails and other shrapnel went off.

Michael Spellman said he bought tickets to Saturday's Red Sox game at Fenway Park to help send a message to the bombers.

"They're not going to stop us from doing things we love to do," he said, sitting a few rows behind home plate. "We're not going to live in fear."

During the long night of violence leading up to the capture, the Tsarnaev brothers killed an MIT police officer, severely wounded another lawman and took part in a furious shootout and car chase in which they hurled explosives at police from a large homemade arsenal, authorities said.

Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau said one of the explosives was the same type used during the Boston Marathon attack, and authorities later recovered a pressure cooker lid that had embedded in a car down the street. He said the suspects also tossed two grenades before Tamerlan ran out of ammunition and police tackled him.

But while handcuffing him, officers had to dive out of the way as Dzhokhar drove the carjacked Mercedes at them, Deveau said. The SUV dragged Tamerlan's body down the block, he said. Police initially tracked the escaped suspect by a blood trail he left behind a house after abandoning the Mercedes, negotiating his surrender hours later in the boat.

Chechnya, where the Tsarnaev family has roots, has been the scene of two wars between Russian forces and separatists since 1994. That spawned an Islamic insurgency that has carried out deadly bombings in Russia and the region, although not in the West.

Investigators have not offered a motive for the Boston attack. But in interviews with officials and those who knew the Tsarnaevs, a picture has emerged of the older one as someone embittered toward the U.S., increasingly vehement in his Muslim faith and influential over his younger brother.

The Russian FSB intelligence service told the FBI in 2011 about information that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a follower of radical Islam, two law enforcement officials said Saturday.

According to an FBI news release, a foreign government said that Tamerlan Tsarnaev appeared to be strong believer and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the U.S. for travel to the Russian region to join unspecified underground groups.

The FBI did not name the foreign government, but the two officials said it was Russia. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the matter publicly.

The FBI said that in response, it interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev and relatives, and did not find any domestic or foreign terrorism activity. The bureau said it looked into such things as his telephone and online activity, his travels and his associations with others.

An uncle of the Tsarnaev brothers said he had a falling-out with Tamerlan over the man's increased commitment to Islam.

Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., said Tamerlan told him in a 2009 phone conversation that he had chosen "God's business" over work or school. Tsarni said he then contacted a family friend who told him Tsarnaev had been influenced by a recent convert to Islam.

Tsarni said his relationship with his nephew basically ended after that call.

As for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, "he's been absolutely wasted by his older brother. I mean, he used him. He used him for whatever he's done," Tsarni said.

Albrecht Ammon, a downstairs-apartment neighbor of Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Cambridge, said in an interview that the older brother had strong political views about the U.S. Ammon quoted Tsarnaev as saying that the U.S. uses the Bible as "an excuse for invading other countries."

Tamerlan Tsarnaev studied accounting as a part-time student at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston for three semesters from 2006 to 2008, the school said. He was married with a young daughter. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

As of Saturday, more than 50 victims of the bombing remained hospitalized, three in critical condition.

___

Associated Press writers Denise Lavoie and Steve Peoples in Boston; Michael Hill in Watertown, Mass.; Colleen Long in New York; Pete Yost in Washington; Eric Tucker in Montgomery Village, Md.; and AP Sports Writer Jimmy Golen in Boston contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-21-Boston%20Marathon-Explosions/id-8028ba9c29d34b72879f1d636ff6b6c7

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