Poison Nil: Snake and Scorpion Antivenoms Set for First Update in 60 Years

The National Autonomous University of Mexico has become a global leader in developing a new generation of treatments for bites from poisonous critters, some of which have cleared FDA hurdles

By Erik Vance

Alejandro Alag?n plays "yo-yo" with a male black widow spider outside his lab in Cuernavaca. The males, while just as venomous as the females, are far smaller and thus unable to puncture human skin. Image: Erik Vance

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On a dark night in the late '80s Alejandro Alag?n was working in his garden near Cuernavaca, Mexico, when he felt a sharp pain in his hand while moving a rock. He flipped the stone over and saw an especially poisonous scorpion squashed beneath it.

Another person might have headed immediately to the hospital. But Alag?n, a molecular biologist and antivenom researcher, happened to have just the right treatment at home. But he decided not to use it.

"I didn't want to use antivenom until the very end because, I said, 'well I keep talking about all these symptoms, I really need to know what's actually going on,'" he says. "I decided to wait. And I got really sick."

At first Alag?n started slurring his words as if inebriated to the point where he had to write notes to his soon-panicked wife. Then he started producing large amounts of "gastric juices" and throwing up to the point where he couldn't breathe between retches. "Then I said, 'this is the time for antivenom,'" he says. He injected himself with the milky liquid and 15 minutes later he could breathe easily again; 30 minutes later he had fully recovered.

That is the almost magical quality of antivenoms, such as the ones that Alag?n now designs through the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Soon after you take them the symptoms just evaporate. Over the past few years the university and Alag?n?who is a charming blend of doctor, chemistry nerd and bug lover?have become global leaders in developing a new generation of antivenoms for poisonous critters around the globe. Several of the new remedies are even clearing the high hurdles of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including a version of the scorpion cocktail he used on himself, which was approved by the FDA last year as well as a black widow drug that is in phase III clinical trials.

Foiling the black widow
In the U.S. black widow bites send about 2,500 people per year to the hospital. In Mexico that number is closer to 4,000. The bite itself is small and painless?so much so that many don't even know they've been bitten.

"The black widow spider is relatively aggressive compared to other spiders," says Susanne Spano, a doctor at the University of California, San Francisco?Fresno Department of Emergency Medicine, who sees an unusually large number of bites. "You don't really have to be doing anything to the spider and it will bite you."

What happens next is cripplingly painful stomach cramping that can last up to two days as the venom affects the connection between muscles and the nerves that control them. It's only deadly to the very old and young but is so painful, Spano says, that historically many doctors have mistaken it for a ruptured appendix.

Antivenom is essentially a molecule that hunts down toxic venom and chemically changes it to something that cannot interact with the body. "Imagine that you are throwing large balls of sticky glue at the venom, and it will only stick to the venom and not to the other stuff," says Eric Lavonas, with the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver.

Since the 1950s pharmaceutical company Merck had manufactured antivenom for black widow bites, but it has never been a big seller and causes very rare side effects, so in 2009 the firm limited distribution. In the '50s, as now, antivenom was made by injecting the target venom into animals that had powerful defenses?in this case a horse?and then harvesting and purifying their natural antibodies. In the case of black widows, the antibody is a Y-shaped molecule with a forked end that attaches to the venom. But the tail (the bottom of the Y) can interact with the human body and occasionally cause a negative reaction to the antivenom?in one case with a fatal result. Although such reactions are incredibly rare, many doctors preferred not to use Merck's aging recipe. Both Lavonas and Spano say they were trained not to use the black widow antivenom and to just treat the pain for a day or even two.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1827e75a10aa114790792112d22e755b

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With wife expecting, Stephan Bonnar ready to jump on private jet after UFC 153

Though Stephan Bonnar has UFC 153 and Anderson Silva on his mind, he has another concern when he's in Brazil this week. Bonnar's wife Andrea is pregnant and due at the end of the month. Since babies are born on their own schedule and not the UFC's, Bonnar has a contingency plan ready to go for the event Andrea goes into labor earlier than expected.

According to Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole, UFC president Dana White has offered to fly Bonnar back to his home in Las Vegas immediately after the fight with Silva in his private jet.

Bonnar took White up on his offer, but the Bonnars still have another plan in place, according to TMZ.

Andrea says Stephan?plans to video conference in to his wife's birth if he can't make it in time -- but she adds, "We're trying to avoid even thinking about that."

Their son's birth will be forever connected to Bonnar's last-minute fight with Silva. After featherweight champion Jose Aldo's injury threatened UFC 153, Bonnar stepped up to fight Silva, the middleweight champion and pound-for-pound king at light heavyweight.

There is a chance their son will be connected to Bonnar's most famous fight, as well. As Iole also mentioned, Stephan and Andrea are considering naming their son Griffin Bonnar in honor of the Bonnar-Forrest Griffin bout at the first "Ultimate Fighter" finale.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/wife-expecting-stephan-bonnar-ready-jump-private-jet-131411337--mma.html

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Earns schedule for makers of phones and tablets

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In shifting Syria conflict, Assad assumes command of forces

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The picture is deceptively normal. Posted on the Facebook page of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, it shows the first lady Asma, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, accompanying her daughter and three sons on their first day back at school.

Two of the boys wear camouflage shorts with khaki t-shirts and caps, in keeping with the spirit of a ruler under siege. Yet when she dropped off Hafez, the eldest, named after his strongman grandfather, only one other child had arrived in class because of rebel attacks in Damascus that morning.

More than 18 months into the battle for Syria, an estimated 30,000 people are dead and the country is disintegrating.

The rebels are outgunned by the government but can still strike at will, and Assad has assumed personal command of his forces, still convinced he can prevail militarily.

U.N. mediation efforts headed by Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi are adrift and there is no indication Western pressure on Assad will translate into real military support for Syria's rebel forces. Russia and Iran continue to back Damascus.

Supporters of Assad say the government has steadied its nerve after a wave of defections and rebel attacks on strategic government targets since the summer.

A Facebook picture of Assad dressed in military uniform sums up his transformation since a bomb attack in July killed his inner circle security leadership, including his brother-in-law and defense minister.

Recent visitors say the 47-year-old president has taken over day-to-day leadership. They speak of a self-confident, combative president convinced he will ultimately win the conflict through military means.

"He is no longer a president who depends on his team and directs through his aides. This is a fundamental change in Assad's thinking," said a pro-Syrian Lebanese politician with close ties to Assad. "Now he is involved in directing the battle."

The endgame may have changed too. "Nobody is now talking about the control of the regime over all of Syria, they talk about the ability of the regime to continue."

Until recently, the Lebanese politician said, people asked daily who would defect next. But for some time now there had been no significant military defections.

"The fighting nerve is steady. The Iranians and the Russians may have helped them. Their ability to manage daily and control the situation has improved."

The government has decided to focus its effort on essential areas - the capital Damascus, the second largest city of Aleppo, and the main highways and roads.

Other close observers of the conflict say Assad is deluded if he believes he can prevail.

"The problem is the regime lives in its own world. It is clear the people are rejecting this idea - the regime's narrative - that it is a secular regime set upon by extremists, a battle between good and evil and Bashar will one day be vindicated. Bashar is not the victim. He is the cause of the violence," said a Western diplomat.

DAILY KILLINGS

The conflict has spiraled into a civil war with almost daily massacres and sectarian killings which some observers say make Assad's fate almost irrelevant.

"Everybody is kind of hypnotized by the issue of whether Bashar is president or not, whether he is leaving or not," said one Arab official. "I fear the problem is much bigger than that. The problem is to see how Syria is going to survive, how the new Syria is going to be born."

The feuding among the opposition and its failure to unite under one command is one factor that has helped Assad to hold on. There is still no serious effort to unify the opposition.

Some rebel groups, made up of moderate liberals and Islamist zealots, have clashed with each other militarily, activists say. Their religious and ideological disagreement is displayed in the open on Islamist web sites with individuals trading insults.

"The opposition has got to grow up and get its act together and stop just reciting this mantra, Bashar must go, Bashar must go," the Arab official said. "There are other things they can do starting with some unity among them."

"One has got to gather all sorts of building blocks that are lying around and make of them a viable construction. It is terribly important to see how violence can be stopped. It is creating walls of hatred between neighbors. It is becoming more and more sectarian," he said.

The rebels have so far failed to sustain gains in the face of superior government firepower. They have lost many bases that they had won in the suburbs of Damascus and elsewhere. Frustrated, they seem to have switched tactics to suicide bombings and hit-and-run attacks.

"Militarily the regime is more relaxed but from a security position the country is falling apart," said the pro-Syrian politician."An explosion might happen anywhere, an assassination might happen, the situation is chaotic and out of control."

Having seen the country of 23 million become an arena in which foreign players are fighting proxy wars, mediators have come to the same conclusion - that the longer the conflict lasts the more Syria will become beyond rescue.

Talk of political reform - as demanded originally by peaceful protesters wanting greater freedom, democracy and an end to vested interests by an Alawite minority ruling a Sunni Muslim majority - have long ceased to be realistic.

Only an orderly transition can save Syria, they say.

"The solution will have to involve regime change not only the change of one man. The problem is how to engineer this momentous change in a country that is complicated and where fighting has further complicated things. This certainly cannot all happen overnight," the Arab official said.

A Western envoy familiar with Syria said U.N. envoy Brahimi was trying to find a formula.

"By virtue of what has happened, the destruction and the fighting - if you don't have a transitional government with a strong army, Syria will be lost for a long time," he said

Hopes for the Brahimi mission are dim given that arms and funds are still flowing to rebel groups, while Assad's forces are still getting Russian and Iranian support.

"The Russians and the Iranians are even more robust. They support them with funds and political support and technical expertise," said the Lebanese politician.

Despite a collapse in revenues, a halt in oil sales and tourism income, and a fall in the value of the national currency, the economy has so far avoided meltdown. But this may only be a temporary respite for a government spending heavily on its military campaign. Support from Iran, its own currency collapsing, cannot be relied on indefinitely and the Syrian government's capacity to withstand economic headwinds is diminishing.

"The following five or six months will be essential in the battle and not like the past four or five months that have passed. The Americans would have completed their election, the Russians will have evolved their position and the situation in Iran will have crystallized," the Lebanese politician said.

"Until now, the Arabs have not changed their position, the Americans don't want to be decisive and the Russians haven't seen one factor that makes them back track one iota from their position. For the Russians, the matter is bigger than a naval base in Tartous, they can secure it through negotiations, it is about their role in the region."

VIOLENCE AND CHAOS

For the average Syrian citizen, the primary preoccupation remains violence, insecurity and chaos.

In Damascus, shops open during the day but life grinds to a halt by late afternoon, residents say. The government and army have set up roadblocks. They carry out searches of neighborhoods, they storm houses and arrest activists.

There is a sense of despair among residents. Kidnapping on sectarian grounds and also for ransom is rife. In rebel-controlled areas devastated by government firepower, resentment simmers among people who believe the rebels have brought havoc.

Most analysts predict a long battle. The stakes are high for Assad and his two million Alawite community - an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam linked religiously and politically to Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah. Bashar cannot leave easily.

There are people tied to him, there are people who fought a battle with him, he cannot abandon them and wash his hands of them," the pro-Syrian politician said.

Observers say, Russia is unlikely to give up its ties to Syria and get out of the Mediterranean.

And Iran looks unlikely to abandon its strategic ally.

"It is not easy for the nerve centre, the leadership in Iran to abandon or leave Syria because when we say Iran is giving up Syria it means it is getting out of the regional power play which means it will lose a lot of its external influence," said the Lebanese politician.

Yet officials from countries aligned against Assad remain hopeful that there will be a trigger to bring him down.

Until then, regional and Western powers are working on measures that need to be in place for a time when Assad is gone to avoid a post-Saddam-style, anarchic power vacuum.

"There will be some event which causes the regime to fall. The fall of Damascus, a regime coup, or something else. I can't predict what the trigger will be but the regime will fall," said the Western diplomat.

(Additional reporting by Laila Bassam; Dominic Evans and Mariam Karouny; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Janet McBride)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shifting-syria-conflict-assad-assumes-command-forces-131915881.html

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Chrysler's Ram Truck introduces rugged new ad campaign

DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler will introduce on Friday a new set of television commercials to promote the rollout of its redesigned primary pickup truck, the Ram Truck 1500, which appears at U.S. dealerships this month.

The 2013 Ram 1500 is one of the most important vehicles in the Chrysler lineup. The new commercials previewed for reporters on Monday seek to entice loyal buyers of better-selling pickups from Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co to give the redesigned Ram 1500 a try.

Chrysler's new 1500 will have best-in-class fuel economy of 25 miles per gallon, and that feature is prominent in most of the TV spots shown to reporters.

The advertisements which will also be rolled out in print and online spots, feature the brand's tagline, "Guts. Glory. Ram," which is spoken in all of the U.S. spots by the voice of the Ram brand, rugged and gravely voiced movie star Sam Elliott.

Ram truck broke away from the Dodge brand after Italy's Fiat SpA took over management of the No. 3 U.S. automaker in 2009.

Fred Diaz, head of the Ram Truck brand and chief of all Chrysler brands in Mexico, said the separate identity for the trucks makes it easier for marketing to specific national and regional audiences.

Diaz said that the fact that the new 1500 is being introduced now gives Ram Truck a chance to gain more share from its GM and Ford pickup truck rivals as the newest truck on the market until GM's new Chevrolet Silverado launches sometime in the middle of next year.

About 17 percent of Ram Truck buyers are Hispanic, said Diaz, a fourth-generation Mexican-American who was raised in San Antonio.

Diaz introduced several Spanish-language commercials, which feature 17-time Latin Grammy winner Juanes. The spots feature the Spanish-language campaign "A Todo, Con Todo," which means "to everything, with everything."

"This particular audience buys a lot of pickup trucks," said Marissa Hunter, chief of Ram Truck advertising.

Hunter and Diaz said Chrysler is expanding its presence in Hispanic advertising across its brands, but Ram was leading the way.

Autodata Corp reported that through September in the U.S. pickup truck market, Chrysler was taking an 18.1 percent market share, compared to 39.3 percent for Ford's trucks and 34.8 percent for GM's trucks.

(Reporting By Bernie Woodall in Detroit; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chryslers-ram-truck-introduces-rugged-ad-campaign-190311123--finance.html

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Prenatal mercury exposure may be linked to risk of ADHD-related behaviors; Fish consumption may be linked to lower risk

ScienceDaily (Oct. 8, 2012) ? A study of children in the New Bedford, Mass., area suggests that low-level prenatal mercury exposure may be associated with a greater risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related behaviors and that fish consumption during pregnancy may be associated with a lower risk of these behaviors, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood and affects 8 percent to 12 percent of children worldwide, although its cause is not well understood. The developmental neurotoxicity of mercury is known, but the findings from epidemiological studies are inconsistent with some studies showing associations between mercury exposure and ADHD-related behaviors and others reporting null associations, according to the study background.

Nonoccupational methylmercury exposure comes primarily from eating fish, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have recommended pregnant women limit their total fish intake to no more than two, six-ounce servings per week. However, fish is also a source of nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to benefit brain development, potentially confounding mercury-related risk estimates, the study background also indicates.

Sharon K. Sagiv, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the Boston University School of Public Health, and colleagues analyzed data from the New Bedford birth cohort, a group of infants born between 1993 and 1998, to investigate the association of peripartum maternal hair mercury levels (n=421) and prenatal fish intake (n=515) with ADHD-related behaviors at age 8 years.

"In this population-based prospective cohort study, hair mercury levels were consistently associated with ADHD-related behaviors, including inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. We also found that higher prenatal fish consumption was protective for these behaviors," the authors comment.

Statistical analysis indicates mercury exposure appeared to be associated with inattention and impulsivity/hyperactivity and some outcomes had an apparent threshold with associations at 1 ?g/g (microgram/per gram) or greater of mercury. For example, at 1 ?g/g or greater, the adjusted risk ratios for mild/markedly atypical inattentive and impulsive/hyperactive behaviors were 1.4 and 1.7 respectively, according to the study results.

There also appeared to be a "protective" (lower risk) association for fish consumption of greater than two servings per week with ADHD-related behaviors, particularly impulsive/hyperactive behaviors (relative risk = 0.4), the study results show.

"In summary, these results suggest that prenatal mercury exposure is associated with a higher risk of ADHD-related behaviors, and fish consumption during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of these behaviors," the authors conclude. "Although a single estimate combining these beneficial vs. detrimental effects vis-?-vis fish intake is not possible with these data, these findings are consistent with a growing literature showing risk of mercury exposure and benefits of maternal consumption of fish on fetal brain development and are important for informing dietary recommendations for pregnant women."

Editorial: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder a Preventable Epidemic?

In an editorial, Bruce P. Lanphear, M.D., M.P.H., of Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, writes: "The study by Sagiv et al, which tested whether prenatal exposure to methyl mercury was associated with the development of ADHD-related behaviors, is an important and rigorously conducted prospective birth cohort study."

"What are the implications of the Sagiv et al study and other research on environmental contaminants and ADHD? First, we can take some comfort in recent legislation to reduce mercury contamination, at least from domestic sources. Second, these studies should spur our efforts to enhance the collection of data needed to calculate national estimates and trends in ADHD," Lanphear continues.

"Third, it is time to convene a national scientific advisory panel to evaluate environmental influences of ADHD and make recommendations about what can be done to prevent it. Fourth, this study and a flurry of new evidence linking environmental contaminants with ADHD reinforce the urgency of revising the regulatory framework for environmental contaminants and toxicants," Lanphear concludes.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by JAMA and Archives Journals.

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Journal References:

1. Sagiv SK, Thurston SW, Bellinger DC, Amarasiriwardena C, Korrick SA. Prenatal Exposure to Mercury and Fish Consumption During Pregnancy and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?Related Behavior in Children. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2012; DOI: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2012.1286
2. Lanphear BP. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Preventable Epidemic? Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2012; DOI: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2012.1900

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/mind_brain/child_development/~3/RflWf4HSO-w/121008161854.htm

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Papal pardon expected for butler after conviction

In this photo released by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, pope's butler Paolo Gabriele, center, flanked at right by his lawyer Cristiana Arru, leaves the Vatican tribunal, after the verdict, at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012. The pope's butler was convicted Saturday of stealing the pontiff's private documents and leaking them to a journalist, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

In this photo released by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, pope's butler Paolo Gabriele, center, flanked at right by his lawyer Cristiana Arru, leaves the Vatican tribunal, after the verdict, at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012. The pope's butler was convicted Saturday of stealing the pontiff's private documents and leaking them to a journalist, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

FILE -- In this photo taken Wednesday, May, 23, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI, flanked by his private secretary Georg Gaenswein, top left, and his butler Paolo Gabiele arrives at St. Peter's square at the Vatican for a general audience. A verdict in the case of the pope's butler accused of leaking papal documents may help close one of the most damaging scandals of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy. But even after Paolo Gabriele's fate is decided by a Vatican tribunal Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012 a core question will remain open: Did he really act alone in exposing the secrets of one of the most secretive institutions in the world? (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

In this photo released by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the pope's butler Paolo Gabriele, left, looks at his lawyer Cristiana Arru during the reading of the verdict in the Vatican tribunal, at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012. The pope's butler was convicted Saturday of stealing the pontiff's private documents and leaking them to a journalist, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

Vatican spokesman padre Federico Lombardi leaves after attending a press conference at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012. The pope's butler has insisted that he's no thief and that he leaked the pope's private correspondence to a journalist out of a 'visceral love' for the Catholic Church and its pope. Paolo Gabriele delivered a final statement to a Vatican tribunal on Saturday before its three judges began deliberating whether he is guilty of aggravated theft in the gravest Vatican security breach in memory. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

Vatican spokesman padre Federico Lombardi answers reporters questions at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012. The pope's butler has insisted that he's no thief and that he leaked the pope's private correspondence to a journalist out of a 'visceral love' for the Catholic Church and its pope. Paolo Gabriele delivered a final statement to a Vatican tribunal on Saturday before its three judges began deliberating whether he is guilty of aggravated theft in the gravest Vatican security breach in memory. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? A painful and damaging chapter in Pope Benedict XVI's papacy closed Saturday with the conviction of his former butler on charges he stole the pontiff's private letters and leaked them to a journalist. But questions remain as to whether anyone else was involved in the plot, and when the pope will pardon his once-trusted aide.

Paolo Gabriele, until recently affectionately dubbed "Paoletto" by his intimate pontifical family, stood stone-faced as Judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre read out the conviction and sentenced him to 18-months in prison for the gravest Vatican security breach in recent memory.

The decision, reached after just two hours of deliberations, capped a remarkable weeklong trial that saw the pope's closest adviser, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, and a half dozen Vatican police officers testify about a betrayal of the pope that exposed the unseemly side of the Catholic Church's governance.

The highest-profile case to come before a court that usually handles 30 cases of petty theft a year ended none too soon: On Sunday, Benedict opens a two-week synod, or meeting of the world's bishops, summoned to Rome to chart the church's future evangelization mission and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. By putting the embarrassing leaks scandal behind it, the Vatican has removed a major and unwelcome distraction.

Gabriele was accused of stealing the pope's private correspondence and passing it on to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, whose book revealed the intrigue, petty infighting and allegations of corruption and homosexual liaisons that plague the Vatican's secretive universe.

Gabriele has said he leaked the documents because he felt the pope wasn't being informed of the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican, and that exposing the problems publicly would put the church back on the right track.

In his final appeal to the court Saturday morning, Gabriele insisted he never intended to hurt the church or the pope.

"The thing I feel strongly in me is the conviction that I acted out of exclusive love, I would say visceral love, for the church of Christ and its visible head," Gabriele told the court in a steady voice. "I do not feel like a thief."

The sentence was reduced in half to 18 months from three years because of a series of mitigating circumstances, including that Gabriele had no previous record, had acknowledged that he had betrayed the pope and was convinced, "albeit erroneously," that he was doing the right thing, Dalla Torre said.

Gabriele's attorney, Cristiana Arru, said the sentence was "good, balanced" and said she was awaiting the judges' written reasoning before deciding whether to appeal.

Arru said Gabriele would return to his Vatican City apartment to begin serving his sentence. He has been held in house arrest there since July after spending his first two months in a Vatican detention room.

Gabriele was also ordered to pay court costs.

Nuzzi's book, "His Holiness: Pope Benedict XVI's Secret Papers" convulsed the Vatican for months and prompted an unprecedented response, with the pope naming a commission of cardinals to investigate the origin of the leaks alongside Vatican magistrates.

Nevertheless, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the possibility of a papal pardon was "concrete, likely" and that the pope would now study the court file and decide. He said there was no way to know when a papal pardon might be announced.

In something of a novelty in jurisprudence, the pope was both victim and supreme judge in this case. As an absolute monarch of the tiny Vatican City state, Benedict wields full executive, legislative and judicial power. He delegates that power, though, and Lombardi said the trial showed the complete independence of the Vatican judiciary.

In reading the sentence, however, in a courtroom decorated with a photograph of Benedict on the wall opposite the man who betrayed him, Dalla Torre began: "In the name of His Holiness Benedict XVI, gloriously reigning, the tribunal invoking the Holy Trinity pronounces the following sentence ..."

In her closing arguments, Arru insisted that only photocopies, not original documents, were taken from the Apostolic Palace, disputing testimony from the pope's secretary who said he saw original letters in the evidence seized from Gabriele's home.

She admitted Gabriele's gesture was "condemnable," but said it was a misappropriation of documents, not theft, and that as a result Gabriele should serve no time for the lesser crime. She also sharply criticized the Vatican for publicly releasing the indictment, since it included elements of Gabriele's psychiatric evaluation. She said the publication violated her client's dignity.

With the trial over, several questions still remain about the leaks, most importantly whether Gabriele acted alone.

In his testimony this week, Gabriele insisted "in the most absolute way" that he had no accomplices.

But in earlier statements to prosecutors, he named a half dozen people including cardinals and monsignors with whom he spoke and said he received "suggestions" from the general environment in which he lived. He even identified one layman as the source of a segment of Nuzzi's book detailing some conflicts of interest of some Vatican police officers.

But in his closing arguments, prosecutor Nicola Picardi said the investigation turned up no proof of any complicity in Gabriele's plot. "Suggestions aren't proof of the presence of accomplices," he said.

However, Nuzzi wasn't the only one to publish leaked Vatican material this year. Italian newspapers were filled with leaked Vatican memos earlier in the year, many of them concerning the Vatican's efforts to comply with international financial transparency norms. None of those leaks were mentioned in the trial, and based on the contents, they came from sources other than the papal apartment.

There is another suspect in the case: Claudio Sciarpelletti, a 48-year-old computer expert in the Vatican secretariat of state who is charged with aiding and abetting the crime. Police say they found an envelope in his desk that said "Personal P. Gabriele" on it, with documentation inside.

Sciarpelletti has said Gabriele gave him the envelope, and later, that someone identified in court documents as "W'' gave it to him to pass onto Gabriele.

Sciarpelletti's lawyer successfully got his case separated out at the start of Gabriele's trial. But attorney Gianluca Benedetti has said his client was innocent and that, regardless, there were no "reserved documents" in the envelope.

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Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-06-Vatican-Scandal/id-9355d0ac9c4e4f6bbdec4205f8591b1a

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