Leaked Google Nexus 7 images and video show newer, sleeker iPad mini competitor

Apple wasn't the first small-sized tablet on the market but it's iPad mini has been far and away the most successful to date, so it's no surprise Google wants to get back into the game with a new, improved Nexus 7. Rumors of just such a sequel device have been circulating for a while now, but our sibling site has now gotten their hands on the first pictures and video of what just might be the next Nexus 7. Phil Nickinson from Android Central:

The specs slapped onto this little lost tablet include the expected 7-inch LCD display and, new this time around, a pair of cameras. There's a 1.2-megapixel shooter from LITEONMOBILE on the front, and 5-megapixel camera by Chicony on the back. The rear camera appears to be situated in the same corner as the 3.5mm headphone jack. The listed motherboard points to Qualcomm's APQ8064 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor.

I still have the original Nexus 7 and haven't used it in months. It just wasn't very good. The aspect ratio was awkward for portrait use and it took way too long to get pervasive landscape support. It also suffered from a bunch of weird battery issues. However, since then the iPad mini has proven there's huge volume and huge money to be made in the small tablet market, and Google's proven nothing if not that they're a persistent, intelligent, and adaptive competitor.

Sadly, the aspect ratio doesn't look to have been improved here, but everything else looks much, much better. Combine it with the latest version of Android, and a super-low price, and it could be hugely attractive to the non-Apple market.

And let's face it, the tablet market is still desperate for great, non-Apple products. I'll be getting one, of course, and here's hoping Google nails it. Check out the video and additional images via the link below, and then come back and tell me - will this be a seriously competitive small sized tablet?

Source: Android Central

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/KIsUQvQLoFA/story01.htm

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Female in Motion: Family Reunion

I arrived home this afternoon from a family reunion in Burlington, Iowa. Nestled on a hill overlooking the mighty Mississippi River, this picturesque village was full of historic homes and shady, green parks. We had a blast getting to know each other again after three years apart.

At the picnic held in Dankwardt Park, I presented my cousin, Becca Ballew McDermott, with custody of our family's tangerine talisman, Orange Fuzzy Ballew. He will have fun on her Iowa farm with Becca, her husband and four adorable kids.

We took a historic home tour, golfed, swam, played card games, watched fireworks, ate a bunch and just generally partied for two days straight. It doesn't really matter what we did...we reconnected. And that is what families should.

You can't pick your family, but I sure was blessed with the greatest bunch of folks to love.

***

Female in Motion Exercise Update: I did three disco aerobic workouts and my family dragged me all over Iowa this week. Ha! Actually, I feel pretty great!

***

Notable Quote:

Psalm 128:1-6 (KJV)
¹ Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.
² For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
³ Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
⁴ Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
⁵ The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
⁶ Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.

Source: http://fim-carol.blogspot.com/2013/07/family-reunion.html

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This Plywood Chair Is Super-Stylish--and Affordable

This stylish chair may look super-classy?but don't be fooled: it's actually made from humble plywood.

It comes flat-pack style, its panels made from CNC-cut birch plywood all held together by hex screws. Named Jari?which literally means a place for a person or a thing?the design is apparently inspired by the growing number of single dwellings in South Korea.

Shown off at the Design & Art Fair 2013 in Seoul, there's currently no word on how much it will cost exactly?but expect it to be affordable. [MetaFaux via Design Boom]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-plywood-chair-is-super-stylish-and-affordable-699343399

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Vatican bank director, deputy resign amid scandal

ROME (AP) ? The director of the embattled Vatican bank and his deputy resigned Monday following the latest developments in a broadening finance scandal that has already landed one Vatican monsignor in prison and added urgency to Pope Francis' reform efforts.

The Vatican said in a statement that Paolo Cipriani and his deputy, Massimo Tulli, stepped down "in the best interest of the institute and the Holy See."

Cipriani, along with the bank's then-president, was placed under investigation by Rome prosecutors in 2010 for alleged violations of Italy's anti-money-laundering norms after financial police seized 23 million euro ($30 million) from a Vatican account at a Rome bank. Neither has been charged and the money was eventually ordered released.

But the bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works, or IOR, has remained under the glare of prosecutors and now Francis amid fresh concerns it has been used as an offshore tax haven.

Last week, a Vatican accountant was arrested as part of Rome prosecutors' broadening investigation into the IOR. Monsignor Nunzio Scarano is accused of corruption and slander in connection with a plot to smuggle 20 million euro ($26 million) into Italy from Switzerland without reporting it to customs officials.

Scarano, dubbed "Don 500" by the Italian media because of his purported favorite euro banknote, acknowledged under questioning Monday that his behavior was wrong but that he was only trying to help out friends, attorney Silverio Sica told The Associated Press.

According to wiretapped phone conversations, Scarano was in touch regularly with both Cipriani and Tulli to get the required bank approval to move large amounts of cash into and out of his IOR accounts. Scarano had two such accounts: a personal one and one called "Fondo Anziani" to receive charitable donations for projects to help the elderly, prosecutors say.

In addition to his Rome arrest, Scarano is also under investigation in the southern city of Salerno for alleged money-laundering stemming from a 560,000 euro cash withdrawal he made from his IOR charity account in 2009. Sica, the attorney, has said Scarano arranged complicated transactions with dozens of other people and eventually used the money to pay off a mortgage.

The group of five cardinals overseeing the IOR accepted the resignations of Cipriani and Tulli and tapped the IOR's current president, German financier and aristocrat Ernst von Freyberg, to serve as interim director, a Vatican statement said.

Von Freyberg, who was named IOR president in February following the clamorous ouster last year of Italian banker Ettore Gotti Tedeschi for incompetence, thanked Cipriani and Tulli for their years of work and said much progress has been made in recent years to bring greater transparency to the Vatican's finances.

"While we are grateful for what has been achieved, it is clear today that we need new leadership to increase the pace of this transformation process," von Freyberg said in a statement.

Italian banker Rolando Marranci was named as acting deputy and another banking expert, Antonio Montaresi, has been brought into a new position as chief risk officer to help ensure the IOR complies with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism norms. Both belong to the Promontory Group, an expert in the field of anti-money laundering which has been retained by the IOR to help it comply with international norms.

The IOR's board has begun the process of finding a permanent director and deputy director, the statement said.

The Vatican bank was founded in 1942 by Pope Pius XII to manage assets destined for religious or charitable works. Located in a tower just inside the gates of Vatican City, it isn't open to the public ? only to Vatican employees, religious orders and diplomats accredited to the Holy See.

Last week, Francis announced a commission of inquiry into the bank's activities and legal status to ensure it is in "harmony" with the Catholic Church's mission. It's part of his overall reform effort of the Vatican bureaucracy, mandated by the cardinals who elected him pope in March.

The reason for concern about the IOR is well-founded: The bank has long been the source of some of the greatest scandals of the Holy See, famously implicated in a scandal over the collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano in the 1980s, in one of Italy's largest fraud cases.

Roberto Calvi, the head of Banco Ambrosiano, was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982 in circumstances that still remain mysterious.

Banco Ambrosiano collapsed following the disappearance of $1.3 billion in loans the bank had made to several dummy companies in Latin America. The Vatican had provided letters of credit for the loans.

While denying any wrongdoing, the Vatican bank agreed to pay $250 million to Ambrosiano's creditors.

The late Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, an American prelate who headed the Vatican bank at the time, was charged as an accessory to fraudulent bankruptcy in the scandal, but Italy's Constitutional Court eventually backed the Vatican in ruling that under Vatican-Italian treaties Marcinkus had immunity from Italian prosecution. Marcinkus long asserted his innocence and died in 2006.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/vatican-bank-director-deputy-resign-amid-scandal-182224080.html

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Trapped in Transit: Orwellian Moscow airport hotel

SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT (AP) ? "An interesting route, Mr. Phillips," says the airport transit desk employee. "This activity makes for suspicion."

It was the start of an Orwellian adventure in which I deliberately got myself sequestered in the hopes of finding Edward Snowden at Moscow's main airport.

The experience leaves me feeling that if the NSA leaker is indeed in the transit zone of the airport, as President Vladimir Putin claims, he may already have a taste of what it's like to be in prison.

Snowden is possibly holed up in the wing of an airport hotel reserved for travelers in transit who don't have visas to enter Russia. The Novotel's main building, located outside the airport, has a plush lobby with a fountain, a trendy bar and luxury shops. One wing, however, lies within the airport's transit zone ? a kind of international limbo that is not officially Russian territory.

And that's where Snowden, whose U.S. passport has been revoked, may be hiding.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: Eastern Europe News Director Ian Phillips flew from his home base of Prague in the Czech Republic to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport with the goal of getting to the bottom of the mystery of fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden. What followed was a surreal 21 hours.

___

The woman at the transit desk raises an eyebrow and stares at my flight itinerary, which includes a 21-hour layover in Moscow before a connection to Ukraine. "Why would ANYONE stay here in transit for so long? There are so many earlier connections you could have taken. This is strange behavior."

After a nearly two-hour wait inside the terminal, a bus picks me up ? only me ? from the transit area. We drive slowly across the tarmac, through a barrier, past electronic gates covered in barbed wire and security cameras.

The main part of the Novotel is out of bounds. My allotted wing feels like a lockup: You are obliged to stay in your room, except for brief walks along the corridor. Three cameras track your movements along the hallway and beam the images back to a multiscreen monitor. It's comforting to see a sign instructing me that, in case of an emergency, the locks on heavily fortified doors leading to the elevators will open.

When I try to leave my room, the guard outside springs to his feet. I ask him why room service isn't responding and if there's any other way to get food. He growls: "Extension 70!" I rile him by asking about the Wi-Fi, which isn't working: "Extension 75!" he snarls.

"Don't worry, Mr. Phillips," the transit desk employee had said. "We have all your details and information. We will come and get you from your room at 6 p.m. on Friday, one hour before your connecting flight."

Now it's midnight, and I'm getting edgy. I feel trapped inside my airless room, whose double windows are tightly sealed. And the room is extortionate: It costs $300 a night, with a surcharge of 50 percent slapped on because I will be staying past noon.

("Can't I just wait in the lobby after midday?" I asked the receptionist at check-in. "Of course not," she retorted. "You have no visa. You will stay until you are picked up.")

I look out the window. If Snowden is here and has the same view, he can see the approach to the departures terminal at the airport. A large billboard shows a red 4x4 vehicle driving along an ocean road. A parking lot below is filled with vehicles. A man in green overalls is watering a patch of parched grass. Vehicles whizz in and out of the airport.

A maid has just brought a tea bag. She puts a tick against the room number on the three-page document on her trolley. On it, there are no guest names, only numbers ? and departure dates. A quick look suggests there are perhaps a few dozen people staying here. A couple of rooms on my floor have tell-tale signs of occupancy ? food trays lying outside from the night before.

But no sign of Snowden.

The guard allows me to stretch my legs in the corridor. The signs on the wall rub things in. Under a pretty picture of the Moscow skyline and Red Square, a message reads: "Should you wish to see the full range of facilities offered by our hotel during your next stay, we strongly recommend you to get a visa before flying to Moscow."

A fleeting glimpse of a possible change of scene: a set of guidelines posted on the wall say I can go out for a smoke!

Rule No. 6: "It is possible to go and smoke one time per hour for 5 minutes in the beginning of each hour escorted by security service."

I don't smoke, but this would be a way to escape this floor. But when I ask him to take me down, the security guard scoffs. "No!" he says flatly.

I call the front desk. "You need a visa to go outside and smoke, Mr. Phillips" the receptionist says.

If he's here, Snowden has access to a few international TV stations. He also has a fair amount of options with room service ? the only source of food in this wing. But after almost a week, he might be getting bored. And he'd need a credit card or a lot of Russian cash. A selection:

Buffalo mozzarella and pesto dressing starter? 720 rubles (about $20).

Ribeye steak: 1,500 rubles (about $50).

Bottle of Brunello di Montalcino red wine: 5,280 rubles ($165).

A miniature bottle of Hennessy XO cognac: 2,420 rubles ($80).

I've called all the 37 rooms on my floor in hopes of reaching Snowden. No reply except for when I get my security guard.

The floor above? A similarly futile attempt.

I only reach a handful of tired and irritated Russians who growl "Da? Da? Da?" ? "Yes? Yes? Yes?"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trapped-transit-orwellian-moscow-airport-hotel-152338275.html

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Arison to step down as Carnival chief | News | Breaking Travel News

Carnival Corporation has announced its plan to split the roles of chairman and chief executive officer.?

Present incumbent Micky Arison will continue to serve as chairman of the company, while Arnold Donald, a highly experienced and respected business leader, who has served on the company?s board for the past 12 years, will assume the chief executive role from July 3rd.?

Arison became chief executive in 1979.?

At that time the company was privately held and operated three cruise ships under one brand, generating $44 million in revenues and carrying approximately 160,000 passengers a year.?

By 1987, Carnival Cruise Lines had become the world?s largest cruise operator and Arison took the company public.

Working in partnership with current vice chairman and chief operating officer Howard Frank, Arison led the company through an aggressive expansion that included the acquisition of several iconic cruise brands, including Holland America Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard and Seabourn.?

In 2003, a merger between Carnival Corporation and P&O Princess Cruises plc ? comprised of Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK), P&O Cruises (Australia), and German cruise brand AIDA ? was completed, creating the first global cruise operator and one of the largest leisure travel companies in the world.?

In addition, the company undertook an ambitious schedule of new ship introductions. Under Arison?s leadership, Carnival Corporation & plc has grown to more than 100 ships, carrying ten million passengers a year and generating more than $15 billion in annual revenues.

In his role as chairman, Arison will continue to provide board level oversight for the company and will remain the company?s largest shareholder.

Donald will lead the executive team, initially focusing on achieving the company?s long-term strategic goals while working directly with the operating brand executives.?

Frank will continue to serve in his current role as vice chairman and chief operating officer of the company, supporting Donald in working with the corporate level executive team.?

The move has received unanimous approval from the company?s nominating and governance committee as well as the full board of directors.?

?I have been discussing this with the board for some time now and feel the timing is right to align our company with corporate governance best practices and turn over the reins after 34 years as chief executive,? said Arison.?

?Arnold is an exceptional professional with extensive experience in organizational leadership who will bring a fresh perspective to the company.

?I have come to value and rely on his judgment and insight during the 12 years he has served on the company?s board and I am very confident in his ability to move the organization forward,? Arison added.

?As chairman, I will still be working closely with Arnold to ensure a great future for all our stakeholders.?

Source: http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/arison-to-step-down-as-carnival-chief/

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Blue Jays win 11th straight, beat Orioles 13-5

TORONTO (AP) ? These are the Toronto Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion expected after a busy offseason.

Encarnacion homered and drove in four runs, Josh Johnson earned his first win of the season and the Blue Jays matched a team record by winning their 11th straight game Sunday, finishing a three-game sweep of Baltimore with a 13-5 win.

The Blue Jays have gone 28-15 since May 2, when they were a season-worst 10-21. They've won 15 of their past 18, outscoring their opponents 102-52 in that span.

"I've been waiting for this since the season started," Encarnacion said. "I believe in this team so I knew things had to change, things had to become good for us. That's the way right now and we enjoy it, enjoy the moment. I'm not surprised by this. I know this team is good and I know we can do it."

Toronto has swept three consecutive series for the first time since 1998, the last time they won 11 straight. The Blue Jays also won 11 consecutive games in 1987.

"Everybody is doing their job, everybody is pitching in," Johnson said. "It's been impressive."

Playing before a sellout crowd of 45,214, Toronto became the first team since Detroit in 2011 to win 11 straight.

"We're feeling pretty good about ourselves," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We shut down a really good team over there."

The Blue Jays, who begin a three-game series at Tampa Bay on Monday, have not lost since a 10-6 defeat at the Chicago White Sox on June 10.

"A lot of guys have been in a good rhythm at the same time, which is kind of what we didn't have to start the season," catcher J.P. Arencibia said.

Ryan Flaherty hit two homers but Baltimore lost for the fifth time in eight games and allowed a season high in runs.

"We ran into a good team and came up short," Flaherty said.

Johnson (1-2) was winless in his first seven starts with Toronto, receiving just 13 total runs of support and losing twice. That changed Sunday, as the Blue Jays helped the right-hander with an early offensive barrage, scoring nine times in the first three innings.

Johnson allowed four runs and seven hits in six-plus innings, walked one and struck out five. He's 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in four starts since missing 31 games with a right triceps injury, and has struck out 25 batters in his past 25 1-3 innings.

"It's not an easy lineup to face regardless of the score," Gibbons said. "That's another good outing for him. That's one win. Getting on the board so you've got something to show for it always makes you feel good."

Aaron Loup, Juan Perez and Dustin McGowan each worked one inning.

Flaherty hit a two-run shot off Johnson in the seventh and a solo homer off McGowan in the ninth for his first career multihomer game. He has five home runs this season.

With first base open, the Blue Jays intentionally walked Orioles slugger Chris Davis to load the bases for Matt Wieters in the first, but Johnson got Wieters to foul out.

"Every time you turn on the highlights he's doing some damage somewhere," Gibbons said of Davis. "We've seen plenty of that. That's key, getting out of that first inning without any runs."

Arencibia was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom half to drive in the game's first run.

The Blue Jays used small ball and the long ball to score three more in the second. Emilio Bonifacio led off with a bunt single over the head of Baltimore starter Freddy Garcia, stole second and went to third on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on Melky Cabrera's sacrifice fly. Jose Bautista walked and Encarnacion followed with a first-pitch homer to left.

Toronto blew it open with a five-run, bat-around third. Maicer Izturis and Bonifacio chased Garcia with back-to-back RBI doubles, bringing left-hander T.J. McFarland out of the bullpen. One out later, Cabrera singled home a run, Bautista walked and Encarnacion hit a two-run double.

Baltimore broke through against Johnson in the fifth, when Manny Machado led off with his ML-leading 34th double and scored on a double by Nick Markakis. Markakis went to third on Adam Jones' grounder and scored when Davis reached on Bonifacio's fielding error. Davis was credited with an RBI.

Flaherty's two-run homer made it 9-4 but Toronto answered with four in the bottom half. Colby Rasmus led off with a homer against McFarland, his 14th, and Bautista hit a bases-loaded double off Pedro Strop.

Garcia (3-5) had won his previous two outings in Toronto but lost for the third time in four starts. He allowed a season-worst seven runs and seven hits in 2 1-3 innings, his shortest start of the year.

"I made some good pitches and they just hit them," Garcia said. "Right now everything is going good for them. It's part of the game. You can't do anything about it."

Machado thought he'd fouled Johnson's strike three pitch into the dirt when he struck out in the first. After plate ump Doug Eddings checked the ball and upheld the call, Orioles manager Buck Showalter came out to see the ball for himself.

NOTES: Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos told MLB Network Radio that SS Jose Reyes (left ankle) will play one more rehab game at Triple-A Buffalo on Monday, then will likely join Double-A New Hampshire when Buffalo goes on the road. Anthopoulos said Reyes might not rejoin the Blue Jays until Thursday in Boston. ... Arencibia had three hits and scored twice. ... Blue Jays cleanup hitter Adam Lind has base hits in each of his past seven first inning at-bats, including two home runs. ... Toronto RHP Kyle Drabek (elbow surgery) allowed two runs and five hits in 2 1-3 innings in his first rehab start at Class-A Dunedin on Saturday. Drabek struck out two, walked none and allowed a home run.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blue-jays-win-11th-straight-beat-orioles-13-215927230.html

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Stunt performer, pilot killed in Ohio air show crash

By Eric M. Johnson

(Reuters) - A woman performing a wing-walking stunt and her pilot were killed on Saturday when their biplane crashed and burst into flames while doing acrobatics at an air show in Ohio, organizers of the event said.

Jane Wicker and her pilot were killed when their Boeing Stearman, nicknamed "Aurora," crashed around 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) at the Vectren Dayton Air Show in Dayton, organizers said.

Wicker and her male pilot, who has not yet been identified, appeared to be executing a stunt in which Wicker sits on the wing as the plane flips.

Once inverted, the vintage aircraft suddenly lost altitude and struck the ground.

"There was a significant explosion. There was smoke and fire. The announcers had the kids look away," said Michael Emoff, chairman of the 39th annual show. "The weather was fine. Clearly something went wrong."

No one was injured in the crash, organizers said.

Emoff said that "fairly aggressive acrobatic acts" are common at the show, which has been the scene of at least one other fatal crash. In 2007 a pilot failed to pull out of a loop fast enough and smashed into the ground, he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and local authorities were investigating the crash.

Lynn Lunsford, an FAA spokesman, said an investigation into the cause of the crash could take several months to a year to complete.

John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows, a trade group, said such crashes are becoming less common but still happen twice per year on average.

The show will resume on Sunday, organizers said.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Scott Malone and Xavier Briand)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stunt-performer-pilot-killed-ohio-air-show-crash-193604849.html

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Supreme Court says law can?t dictate anti-AIDS groups? speech (Washington Post)

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Facebook: We can now say more on user surveillance (The Arizona Republic)

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This Russian Mobile SAM Site Could Be a Serious Ace Up Syria's Sleeve

Coalition airstrikes helped turn the tides of the Libyan revolution in favor of the rebels; why not do the same in Syria? Because the Syrian government may or may not have just taken possession of one of the most frightening anti-aircraft batteries ever devised, that's why.

The Russian-made S-300 long-range SAM (surface-to-air) system, known as the Grumble to NATO forces, has been produced by the government-owned Almaz Corporation since 1979. It consists of truck-mounted mobile launch platforms with a set of self-contained anti-ballistic missiles and is designed to intercept aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. It does this phenomenally well. The latest iteration of the S-300, the S-300PMU2 (Gargoyle) is capable of setting up in under five minutes, tracking up to 100 incoming projectiles, and engaging six targets simultaneously.

The Russian government introduced the Gargoyle in 1997 to compete against the American Patriot ABM system. It can launch a half dozen missiles simultaneously, regardless of the target's altitude, and have shown themselves more than capable against the F-16, F-15, F-18, and F-22?notching a kill ratio between .8 and .93 versus aircraft and 0.8 to 0.98 against Tomahawk missiles at a range of 70 kilometers. That is, there's at least an 80 percent chance you're going down if you find yourself in the S-300's sights. What's more, the battery is protected against standoff distance (very long range) guided weapons as electronic countermeasures.

So why does this matter? Because of the reputed sale of the system to Syria as seen in the manufacturer's 2011 annual report mentioning a $105 million Syrian missile contract which has since been pulled from public record. Both the Assad regime and Moscow remain tight-lipped on the matter.

?The deal is strictly between Moscow and Damascus?which is to say, it?s all in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin,? Eremenko told Defence Update, ?all attempts to ban arms sales to Syria via the UN Security Council have been blocked by Russia. Of course, there is behind-the-scenes haggling and arm-twisting, but that?s unofficial.?

?The missile batteries would give Syrian President Bashar al-Assad?s regime a powerful weapon against foreign air strikes? said Alexey Eremenko from the Russian news agency Novosti, ?one of the options being bounced around as a form of international intervention?and could fracture the fragile accord on Syria reached last week between Moscow and Washington, which hope to get the warring sides to negotiate.?

And if that burgeoning peace accord does break and the international community attempts a Libya-style aerial intervention, the S-300 would be quite able to target and eliminate targets outside of Syria as well. This could effectively create a no-fly zone for coalition aircraft. Israel is reportedly so concerned over the potential presence of these platforms in Syria that it purchased several F-35 Lightning II fighters to counter.

Things could really get out of hand in Syria really quickly. Hold on to your butts.

[Defence Update - Army Recognition - Wikipedia - AUS Air Power - Top Image: EllsworthSK, diagram: AUS Air Power]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-russian-mobile-sam-site-could-be-a-serious-ace-up-508972259

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GOP official: ?Institutional barriers? remain for Republican women seeking office

(The Washington Post)

The Republican Party is actively working to recruit more women to run for public office, but they still face "institutional barriers" to getting involved in GOP politics at the ground level, Republican State Leadership Committee President Chris Jankowski said on Monday.

As part of the RSLC's Right Women Right Now project, the organization, which specializes in recruiting and electing Republicans to local offices like state legislatures and attorneys general, provides resources to female candidates to help navigate the candidacy process and helps them overcome what he described as a Republican "old boy network" that undervalues women with public ambitions.

"Sometimes our party does not value them as much," Jankowski told reporters at a morning briefing at the RSLC headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Monday. "They are a great asset as candidates. They bring a different approach to campaigning. We obviously need more women to enter public office and get on that escalator to higher office so that our leadership reflects stronger women in the Republican Party."

The campaign to recruit women is part of the party's Future Majority Caucus project, a nationwide effort to train and nurture promising female and minority candidates. The group spent $5 million on the project in the past cycle. As a service to new candidates, the organization provides access to a ready-made website that offers a fundraising platform, social media expertise, voter outreach tools and training on how to navigate the candidacy application process in each state.

Women, Jankowski said, can face unique hurdles in breaking into Republican circles.

"It's safe to say that they are institutional barriers where we've met with candidates, women who felt like they weren't part of the old boy network," he said, describing what can be a daunting process for someone at the entry level who hasn't run for office before or been involved in local politics. "It can be a bit of a male-dominated club at that level, and it's important that they feel welcome and they're given the same resources, and we're doing it."

Jankowski said the RSLC plans to roll out a new platform of goals for the project at the group's summit in Austin, Texas, next week.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/gop-official-still-institutional-barriers-republican-women-running-205021143.html

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Report: 23 Hezbollah members killed in Syria

In this Saturday, May 18, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Qusair Lens which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrians inspecting the rubble of damaged buildings due to government airstrikes, in Qusair, Homs province, Syria. The town of Qusair has been besieged for weeks by regime troops and pro-government gunmen backed by the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. The siege is part of a withering offensives forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have been pushing in recent weeks to regain control of the towns and villages along the Lebanese frontier. (AP Photo/Qusair Lens)

In this Saturday, May 18, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Qusair Lens which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrians inspecting the rubble of damaged buildings due to government airstrikes, in Qusair, Homs province, Syria. The town of Qusair has been besieged for weeks by regime troops and pro-government gunmen backed by the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. The siege is part of a withering offensives forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have been pushing in recent weeks to regain control of the towns and villages along the Lebanese frontier. (AP Photo/Qusair Lens)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian government forces pushed deeper into a strategic opposition-held town near the Lebanese border Monday, battling rebels in fierce street fighting, Syrian state-media said. An activist group said at least 23 elite fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group fighting alongside regime troops have been killed in the clashes.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the country's civil war, said that in addition to the deaths more than 100 Hezbollah members have been wounded in the fighting around the town of Qusair. If confirmed, the casualties would be a significant blow to the Shiite group, which has come under harsh criticism at home in Lebanon for its involvement in Syria's civil war.

A staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah is heavily invested in the survival of the Damascus regime and is known to have sent fighters to aid government forces. The Lebanese group's growing role in the civil war next door also points to the deeply sectarian nature of the conflict in Syria, in which a rebellion driven by the country's Sunni majority seeks to overthrow a regime dominated by the president's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

The Observatory, which relies on a wide network of activists in the ground in Syria, cited "sources close to the militant group" for the death toll but declined to reveal their identity. It said at least 50 Syrian rebels were also killed in the battle for Qusair on Sunday, including two opposition commanders.

For weeks, fighting has raged around Qusair, a town in the central province of Homs that has been under rebel control since early last year.

The intensity of the fighting reflects the importance that both sides attach to the area. In the regime's calculations, Qusair lies along a strategic land corridor linking Damascus with the Mediterranean coast, the Alawite heartland. For the rebels, overwhelmingly Sunni Qusair has served as a conduit for shipments of weapons and supplies smuggled from Lebanon to opposition fighters inside Syria.

On Sunday, the regime launched an offensive to regain control of Qusair, with Hezbollah's elite fighters pushing into the town from the east and south, an opposition figure said.

He said Hezbollah troops took control of the main square and the municipal building in the center of the city in a few hours. By the end of the day Sunday, they pushed out rebel units, including the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, from most of Qusair, he added Monday on condition of anonymity, for fear of retaliation by both sides.

He said fighting was focused in the northern part of the town on Monday.

The account matched that of Syria's state news media, which said President Bashar Assad's troops took control of most of Qusair on Monday. State-run TV said forces restored stability to the entire eastern front of the town, killing scores of terrorists there.

Residents on the Lebanese side of the border just across from Qusair reported seeing more than 30 plumes of smoke billowing from inside Syria and hearing the heavy thud of artillery and airstrikes late into the night Sunday and on Monday morning.

"Nobody could sleep last night from the sounds of battle," said Ali Jaafar, deputy mayor of the Lebanese border town of Hermel, adding that residents did not send children to school Monday for fear of fighting spilling over into Lebanon.

Before Sunday's offensive, Qusair had been ringed by regime troops and fighters from the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, an Assad ally, for several weeks.

Lebanese security officials confirmed at least four funerals were being held Monday morning for Hezbollah fighters or their supporters killed in Syria. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

Army units "restored security and stability" to most of the city on Monday and killed "many terrorists," the majority of them foreign fighters who have been fighting alongside opposition forces, the state news agency said. The military also destroyed rebel hideouts and seized "large amounts of weapons and ammunition," it said, adding that government troops are fighting pockets of resistance in several districts of Qusair Monday.

The Syrian regime claims there is no civil war in the country but that the army is fighting foreign-backed terrorists trying to topple Assad's government.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011.

At least 1.5 million Syrian who fled civil war have sought shelter in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, while millions more have been displaced inside Syria and are in urgent need of basic aid, according to the United Nations.

An international aid organization, Oxfam, appealed for more funds to help Syrian refugees, saying warmer weather will increase health risks due to lack of shelter, water and basic sanitation in Lebanon and Jordan.

The Britain-based group said in a statement Monday that diarrhea and skin infections have already been noted among refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The two countries host the bulk of 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

Oxfam said it needs $53 million dollars to improve access to water and proper sanitation for Syrian refugees. So far the aid group has received $10.6 million dollars.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-20-Syria/id-9779cc0bd253404096416b291eb9d8fa

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Individuals who drink heavily and smoke may show 'early aging' of the brain

May 18, 2013 ? Treatment for alcohol use disorders works best if the patient actively understands and incorporates the interventions provided in the clinic. Multiple factors can influence both the type and degree of neurocognitive abnormalities found during early abstinence, including chronic cigarette smoking and increasing age. A new study is the first to look at the interactive effects of smoking status and age on neurocognition in treatment-seeking alcohol dependent (AD) individuals. Findings show that AD individuals who currently smoke show more problems with memory, ability to think quickly and efficiently, and problem-solving skills than those who don't smoke, effects which seem to become exacerbated with age.

Results will be published in the October 2013 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

"Several factors -- nutrition, exercise, comorbid medical conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, psychiatric conditions such as depressive disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder, and genetic predispositions -- may also influence cognitive functioning during early abstinence," explained Timothy C. Durazzo, assistant professor in the department of radiology and biomedical imaging at the University of California San Francisco, and corresponding author for the study. "We focused on the effects of chronic cigarette smoking and increasing age on cognition because previous research suggested that each has independent, adverse affects on multiple aspects of cognition and brain biology in people with and without alcohol use disorders. This previous research also indicated that the adverse effects of smoking on the brain accumulate over time. Therefore, we predicted that AD, active chronic smokers would show the greatest decline in cognitive abilities with increasing age."

"The independent and interactive effects of smoking and other drug use on cognitive functioning among individuals with AD are largely unknown," added Alecia Dager, associate research scientist in the department of psychiatry at Yale University. "This is problematic because many heavy drinkers also smoke. Furthermore, in treatment programs for alcoholism, the issue of smoking may be largely ignored. This study provides evidence of greater cognitive difficulties in alcoholics who also smoke, which could offer important insights for treatment programs. First, individuals with AD who also smoke may have more difficulty remembering, integrating, and implementing treatment strategies. Second, there are clear benefits for thinking skills as a result of quitting both substances."

Durazzo and his colleagues compared the neurocognitive functioning of four groups of participants, all between the ages of 26 and 71 years of age: never-smoking healthy individuals or "controls" (n=39); and one-month abstinent, treatment-seeking AD individuals, who were never-smokers (n = 30), former-smokers (n = 21) and active-smokers (n = 68). Evaluated cognitive abilities included cognitive efficiency, executive functions, fine motor skills, general intelligence, learning and memory, processing speed, visuospatial functions, and working memory.

"We found that, at one month of abstinence, actively smoking AD [individuals] had greater-than-normal age effects on measures of learning, memory, processing speed, reasoning and problem-solving, and fine motor skills," said Durazzo. "AD never-smokers and former-smokers showed equivalent changes on all measures with increasing age as the never-smoking controls. These results indicate the combination of alcohol dependence and active chronic smoking was related to an abnormal decline in multiple cognitive functions with increasing age."

"These results indicate the combined effects of these drugs are especially harmful and become even more apparent in older age," said Dager. "In general, people show cognitive decline in older age. However, it seems that years of combined alcohol and cigarette use exacerbate this process, contributing to an even greater decline in thinking skills in later years."

Durazzo agreed. "Chronic cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and increasing age are all associated with increased oxidative damage to brain tissue," he said. "Oxidative damage results from increased levels of free radicals and other compounds that directly injure neurons and other cells that make up the brain. Cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption expose the brain to a tremendous amount of free radicals. We hypothesize that chronic, long-term exposure to cigarette smoke and excessive alcohol consumption interacts with the normal aging process to produce greater neurocognitive decline in the active-smoking AD group."

Cigarette smoking is a "modifiable health risk" that is directly associated with at least 440,000 deaths every year in the United States, Durazzo noted. "Chronic smoking, and to a lesser extent, alcohol use disorders are also associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease," he said. "So, the combination of these modifiable health risks may place an individual at even greater risk for development of Alzheimer's disease. Given the above, in conjunction with the findings from our cognitive and neuroimaging research, we completely support programs that routinely offer smoking cessation programs to all individuals seeking treatment for alcohol/substance abuse disorders."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/Q3I076uEwns/130518153444.htm

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Ex-Valve Engineers' Crazy AR Glasses Put Tiny Projectors On Your Face

Want some more tech to put on your face? Neither full-on goggles like the Oculus Rift nor slender no-AR-yet specs like Google's Glass, CastAR takes a whole different approach to modified-reality tech by slapping tiny projectors on your face, and The Verge got to take a peek.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_3gnSs7CaO8/ex-valve-engineers-crazy-ar-glasses-put-tiny-projector-508540690

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Powerball jackpot could go higher than $600 million

By Karen Brooks

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The Powerball jackpot Saturday night could exceed the $600 million figure being advertised, possibly rivaling the largest lottery payoff in U.S. history, a Texas Lottery official said on Saturday.

"Oftentimes, the advertised amount is lower than what the actual jackpot ends up being," said Kelly Cripe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Lottery. "It's entirely possible this $600 million jackpot will end up being a bigger jackpot."

Chances of winning the Powerball on Saturday were one in 175 million, Cripe said, but that did not deter people from buying up tickets at staggering rates. California was selling $1 million in tickets every hour on Saturday, said Donna Cordova, a spokeswoman for the California Lottery, which has only been selling Powerball tickets since April 8.

Texas Lottery officials reported $1.2 million in hourly sales between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. local time, with ticket sales for the Saturday draw topping $18.4 million.

The ticket sale rate on Saturday was nearly double Friday's rate, Cripe said, and a jump of some 686 percent over last Saturday.

The Powerball lottery, which has not had a winner in two months, is offered in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

A Powerball lottery record was set in November with a $587.5 million jackpot that topped the $550 million figure that was advertised, thanks to last-minute sales.

The largest jackpot in U.S. history was the $656 million in the Mega Millions lottery in March 2012. That prize was split between winners in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois.

If Saturday's Powerball drawing yields no winner, all records will be shattered as the jackpot for Wednesday's drawing would go to $925 million.

Many Americans were playing the "if I win" game ahead of Saturday's drawing.

"If I win, I'm going to spend a lot of it on liquor, women and gambling," said Austin lawyer Donald Dickson. "I'll likely squander the rest of it."

In New York City, talent acquisition agent Michelle Amici was more philanthropic.

"Not sure that I'd buy anything," she said. "Rather, I'd attempt to quench my wanderlust by traveling the world. I'd also donate a large portion to education reform."

Lottery players such as Austin marketing professional Becky Arreaga was not discouraged by the long odds.

"As long as the odds are 1 in anything, I'm in," said Arreaga, a partner at Mercury Mambo marketing firm. "I truly believe I could be the one."

"It's only a couple bucks for a small daydream," said Russell Williams, 35, a salesman in Austin, Texas.

Bonnie Carreno of El Paso, Texas, rarely plays but was taking a chance on this one. "I only ever buy a ticket when I see the amazing numbers in the headlines," she said.

The $2 tickets allow players pick five numbers from 1 to 59, and a Powerball number from 1 to 35. The numbers will be drawn Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EDT (0259 GMT on Sunday) in Tallahassee, Florida.

(Reporting by Karen Brooks; Editing by Greg McCune, Doina Chiacu and Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/powerball-jackpot-could-higher-600-million-161816661.html

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How to make money online ? The Punch - Nigeria's Most Widely ...

May 18, 2013 by Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr. (CFA) (ask@cfagbata.com @cfagbata) 1 Comment

Chekwuemeka Fred-Agbata
| credits: File copy

With the growing popularity of the Internet, one question that has been central to most of the messages I have received via Short Message Service and emails is: How to make money online? Truth is, making money online has become a hot topic globally. In line with this trend, therefore, the Ministry of Communications Technology has recently inaugurated the Naijacloud project with the primary objective of creating awareness about online work opportunities and creating job opportunities for millions of unemployed Nigerian youths.

This has simply given credence to the fact that even the Nigerian Government is eager to provide online jobs for its citizens. My experience in making money online dates back to 2006, and since then, I have learnt a lot and have been involved in various kinds of online business ventures. I will mention a few of them to serve as a guide where relevant.

I am 100 per cent certain that you can make money online. In fact, the number of Nigerians making money online is on the increase. However, you must realise that making money online is as difficult as making money in the real world. Part of the challenges is that we turn to the Internet with a pre-conceived notion that we will make it big in no time. This is more like the ?yahoo- yahoo? mindset.

Here are some of the online money-making opportunities available to you:

? Take your business online

When people ask me about making money online, I simply ask them if they already had a business. If the answer is yes, I advise them to go online. This is one of the fastest ways to make money online. Taking your business online is nothing other than developing a simple website with e-Commerce capabilities such that a potential client can visit and place orders for your products or services.

? Sell a product or offer a service

This is closely related to the first point discussed above. You can never make money online if you do not have a product or service that someone, somewhere is willing to pay for. So, create a new product and take it online. How about your services? That too can be unbundled and offered cheaply online. For instance,? it may be wise as a legal practitioner to break down the services you offer and place on your? website so as to attract Small and Medium Enterprises that usually regard legal services as something only big businesses can afford. One of the key secrets with making money online is to do everything within your power to price your product as competitive as possible with the aim of making it affordable and accessible to a larger percentage of clients.

? Start a blog

One of the goals of the ICT Clinic page is to help you start and run a successful blog using one of the world?s most popular blogging software ? WordPress. For me, the decision to start a professional blog some four years ago has helped tremendously. Besides the little money I make from advertisements on my blog, there is also the opportunity to make money as an affiliate of other products or services.? Most importantly, owning a blog has helped me win big offline consulting gigs and speaking opportunities that I might ordinarily not have been properly positioned for.

? Online freelancing

An increasing number of Nigerians (I know a few) have jumped on the online freelancing bandwagon and they are truly making ends meet.

Online freelancing is huge at the moment and countries like India is a testimony to that fact. It is possible to make money online by providing services online. A number of service-based professionals will readily find someone online willing to pay for their services once they are convinced of the value.

? Forex trading

A number of people have got their fingers burnt in forex trading, including yours truly, but this is not to say that it does not work. I think what has happened to the majority of people who must have had some sort of negative experiences is the fact that we allowed greed to take control. I have a highly contended friend who still makes money from forex, but a number of forex gurus will consider him a ?mugu? if they hear he is satisfied with the little he makes.

Disclaimer: I am not in any way stating that any of these are sure-proof, but they might be worth looking into as a means of making profit from your Internet presence. The most important piece of advice is for you to get involved in something you love and have fun doing it.

More Stories in ICT Clinic

Source: http://www.punchng.com/business/ict-clinic/how-to-make-money-online/

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Around the Web?

It’s Friday! Celebrate making it through the work week with these clickable links: Rachel Zoe: My husband and I are not above diaper duty — SheKnows PHOTO: A life-size Barbie dream house opens its doors in Berlin — ABC News Mom stirs up controversy when she pulls out a potty for her training toddler — […]

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/On4b7ThklaA/

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Opinion: Scandal about donors, not tax (CNN)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306594407?client_source=feed&format=rss

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What Online Scams Would Look Like If They Were Real People

When we see Nigerian princes or weird links or invasive people who want to much personal information pop up in our e-mail inbox, we immediately know that they're scams. It's part of the Internet. But what if it was a part of real life too? It would be absolutely terrifying to see online scams and viruses as people.

Hapstance Films created the short 'The Inbox' and even when you think you're clear of all scams and viruses, one will always sneak right in. [Hapstance Films]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/what-online-scams-would-look-like-if-they-were-real-peo-508003494

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Did Diddy sign on with 'Downton Abbey'?

TV

Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

11 hours ago

Sean "Diddy" Combs pulled a nice promo prank on his over 8-million Twitter followers Wednesday when he tweeted, "MY BIG NEWS: So happy to announce that Im a series regular on DOWNTON ABBEY-my favorite show+i'll be debuting a sneak peek tonight 12am PST!"

The Twitterverse, naturally, went nuts. "Downton Abbey" did recently announce the casting of its first recurring black actor (that would be actor Gary Carr) -- but for a few minutes there it seemed they might be expanding the diversity of the cast.

Alas, 'tis not so. Not officially so, anyway.

"It's not true," PBS spokeswoman Carrie Johnson told Reuters in an email.

(Note: Video is R-rated for language.)

But all was revealed, as promised, at midnight: It's a Funny or Die viral video (or at least one they hope will go viral), and it is pretty darn funny. Combs starts out the clip sitting behind a desk and calling the show "Downtown Abbey" repeatedly, before finally correcting himself, and saying he's actually the first black cast member of the show, having been there all along.

Then, with some clever editing techniques, he turns up in clips from earlier "Abbey" episodes, announcing himself as "Lord Wolcott, the new owner of Downtown Abbey."

After a few exchanges with the regular cast members, "Wolcott" generously says, "Everybody just go on like I'm not here," which of course they do. Later on when Thomas makes a move on him, he rejects him firmly -- admitting he already loves Sybil and Mary and Mrs. Patmore ... among others. But then he seems to have second thoughts: He does love Thomas. "I love everybody!"

But power quickly goes to his head: "I am Lord of this godforsaken manor and all who oppose me will perish!"

Make sure to check out all of the antics in the video!

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/sean-diddy-combs-joins-downton-abbey-cast-sort-1C9948164

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Brain rewires itself after damage or injury, life scientists discover

May 15, 2013 ? When the brain's primary "learning center" is damaged, complex new neural circuits arise to compensate for the lost function, say life scientists from UCLA and Australia who have pinpointed the regions of the brain involved in creating those alternate pathways -- often far from the damaged site.

The research, conducted by UCLA's Michael Fanselow and Moriel Zelikowsky in collaboration with Bryce Vissel, a group leader of the neuroscience research program at Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, appears this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers found that parts of the prefrontal cortex take over when the hippocampus, the brain's key center of learning and memory formation, is disabled. Their breakthrough discovery, the first demonstration of such neural-circuit plasticity, could potentially help scientists develop new treatments for Alzheimer's disease, stroke and other conditions involving damage to the brain.

For the study, Fanselow and Zelikowsky conducted laboratory experiments with rats showing that the rodents were able to learn new tasks even after damage to the hippocampus. While the rats needed more training than they would have normally, they nonetheless learned from their experiences -- a surprising finding.

"I expect that the brain probably has to be trained through experience," said Fanselow, a professor of psychology and member of the UCLA Brain Research Institute, who was the study's senior author. "In this case, we gave animals a problem to solve."

After discovering the rats could, in fact, learn to solve problems, Zelikowsky, a graduate student in Fanselow's laboratory, traveled to Australia, where she worked with Vissel to analyze the anatomy of the changes that had taken place in the rats' brains. Their analysis identified significant functional changes in two specific regions of the prefrontal cortex.

"Interestingly, previous studies had shown that these prefrontal cortex regions also light up in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, suggesting that similar compensatory circuits develop in people," Vissel said. "While it's probable that the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers are already compensating for damage, this discovery has significant potential for extending that compensation and improving the lives of many."

The hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped structure where memories are formed in the brain, plays critical roles in processing, storing and recalling information. The hippocampus is highly susceptible to damage through stroke or lack of oxygen and is critically inolved in Alzheimer's disease, Fanselow said.

"Until now, we've been trying to figure out how to stimulate repair within the hippocampus," he said. "Now we can see other structures stepping in and whole new brain circuits coming into being."

Zelikowsky said she found it interesting that sub-regions in the prefrontal cortex compensated in different ways, with one sub-region -- the infralimbic cortex -- silencing its activity and another sub-region -- the prelimbic cortex -- increasing its activity.

"If we're going to harness this kind of plasticity to help stroke victims or people with Alzheimer's," she said, "we first have to understand exactly how to differentially enhance and silence function, either behaviorally or pharmacologically. It's clearly important not to enhance all areas. The brain works by silencing and activating different populations of neurons. To form memories, you have to filter out what's important and what's not."

Complex behavior always involves multiple parts of the brain communicating with one another, with one region's message affecting how another region will respond, Fanselow noted. These molecular changes produce our memories, feelings and actions.

"The brain is heavily interconnected -- you can get from any neuron in the brain to any other neuron via about six synaptic connections," he said. "So there are many alternate pathways the brain can use, but it normally doesn't use them unless it's forced to. Once we understand how the brain makes these decisions, then we're in a position to encourage pathways to take over when they need to, especially in the case of brain damage.

"Behavior creates molecular changes in the brain; if we know the molecular changes we want to bring about, then we can try to facilitate those changes to occur through behavior and drug therapy," he added. I think that's the best alternative we have. Future treatments are not going to be all behavioral or all pharmacological, but a combination of both."

Fanselow and Vissel have worked closely over the last several years. For more information on Fanselow's research, visit the Fanselow Lab website. For more on the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, visit their website.

The research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (grant MH 62122), part of the National Institutes of Health, and by the National Science Foundation (EAPSI award 0914307 to Zelikowsky).

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/zf5suuh91UU/130515165027.htm

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