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Source: http://pheedo.msnbc.msn.com/id/18424736/device/rss
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Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
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.
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Monday, May 20, 2013
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.
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Sunday, May 19, 2013
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
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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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Saturday, May 18, 2013
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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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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Friday, May 17, 2013
Did Diddy sign on with 'Downton Abbey'?
TV 
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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Saudi health workers sickened by SARS-like virus
NEW YORK (AP) ? A deadly new respiratory virus related to SARS has apparently spread from patients to health care workers in eastern Saudi Arabia, health officials said Wednesday.
The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia told world health officials that two health care workers became ill this month after being exposed to patients with the virus. One is critically ill.
Since September 2012, the World Health Organization has been informed of 40 confirmed cases of the virus, and 20 of the patients have died. The deaths occurred in Britain, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.
Experts have suggested calling the new virus MERS, for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, but officials have not signed off on that yet.
Experts are watching carefully for signs that the deadly virus can spread from person-to-person. Health officials say the virus has likely already spread between people in some circumstances, including hospital patients in France.
The new virus has caused severe respiratory disease in patients, some of them needing mechanical ventilators to help them breathe.
One of the Saudi health care workers is a 45-year-old man who is in critical condition. The other is a 43-year-old woman in stable condition. No other details about their jobs or where they work were released. Health workers were previously infected in a cluster in Jordan, though that was before the new coronavirus had been identified and before any special measures were taken to prevent its spread. That is not the case in Saudi Arabia and officials worry any new spread to health workers could suggest the virus is becoming more transmissible to people.
The new virus has been compared to SARS, an unusual pneumonia that first surfaced in China in late 2002 and erupted into a deadly international outbreak in early 2003. Spread of the virus in hospitals was a key development in the epidemic.
Ultimately, more than 8,000 cases were reported in about 30 countries, including eight people in the United States. The global tally included 774 deaths.
The SARS outbreak was declared contained by the summer of 2003, thanks to such measures as quarantines, hospital isolation of suspected cases, travel restrictions and the screening of airline passengers.
The WHO is currently not recommending any travel restrictions or special screening at airports or border crossings. Officials worry it will flare into an outbreak as big or worse. The new virus and SARS are both coronaviruses, a germ family that includes some cold viruses.
The new virus is distinct from SARS, but health officials worry it has potential to flare into a SARS-like international outbreak. But many questions remain about how it is spread, where it originated, and how deadly it truly is.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-health-workers-sickened-sars-virus-220220325.html
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Senator: Obama should apologize for IRS targeting
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republicans said Sunday that the Internal Revenue Service's heightened scrutiny of conservative political groups was "chilling" and further eroded public trust in government.
Lawmakers said President Barack Obama personally should apologize for targeting tea party organizations and they challenged the tax agency's blaming of low-level workers.
"I just don't buy that this was a couple of rogue IRS employees," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "After all, groups with 'progressive' in their names were not targeted similarly."
If it were just a small number of employees, she said, "then you would think that the high-level IRS supervisors would have rushed to make this public, fired the employees involved, apologized to the American people and informed Congress. None of that happened in a timely way."
The IRS said Friday that it was sorry for what it called the "inappropriate" targeting of the conservative groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware.
But according to a draft of a watchdog's report obtained Saturday by The Associated Press that seemingly contradicts public statements by the IRS commissioner, senior IRS officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011.
The Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration is expected to release the results of a nearly yearlong investigation in the coming week.
Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, said last week that the practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias.
But on June 29, 2011, Lerner learned at a meeting that groups were being targeted, according to the watchdog's report. At the meeting, she was told that groups with "Tea Party," ''Patriot" or "9/12 Project" in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny, the report says.
The 9/12 Project is a group started by conservative TV personality Glenn Beck.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said "the conclusion that the IRS came to is that they did have agents who were engaged in intimidation of political groups is as dangerous a problem the government can have."
He added, "This should send a chill up your spine. ... I don't know where it stops or who is involved."
Congressional Republicans already are conducting several investigations and asked for more.
"This mea culpa is not an honest one," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
After the AP report Saturday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said that if the inspector general "finds that there were any rules broken or that conduct of government officials did not meet the standards required of them, the president expects that swift and appropriate steps will be taken to address any misconduct."
Collins said the revelations about the nation's tax agency only contribute to "the profound district that the American people have in government. It is absolutely chilling that the IRS was singling out conservative groups for extra review."
She said she was disappointed that Obama "hasn't personally condemned this." The president, Collins said, "needs to make crystal clear that this is totally unacceptable."
Lerner said that about 300 groups were singled out for additional review, with about one-quarter scrutinized because they had "tea party" or "patriot" somewhere in their applications.
Lerner said 150 of the cases have been closed and no group had its tax-exempt status revoked, though some withdrew their applications.
Collins appeared on CNN's "State of the Union," Rogers was on "Fox News Sunday" and Issa spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senator-obama-apologize-irs-targeting-133006535.html
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Monday, May 13, 2013
Best Sellers: Science Bookshelf ? Top-Selling Nonfiction Titles
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Top-selling nonfiction titles based on the sciences.
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Relief in Newtown over plan to replace school at site of massacre
By Richard Weizel
NEWTOWN, Connecticut (Reuters) - The day after a task force unanimously recommended razing and rebuilding Sandy Hook Elementary School, residents expressed relief tinged with sadness on Saturday in the small New England town that became a focal point of the national debate on gun control.
No one seemed more relieved by the decision than Dina Latimer, who lives near the road that leads to the school where a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six educators on December 14 in one of the worst mass murders in U.S. history.
"It was a nightmare when it happened and it's been once for us ever since," said Latimer, the mother of a 14-year-old boy who once attended the school and a 2-year-old daughter who will be enrolled there in a few years.
Latimer said the international media coverage of the killings has led a daily onslaught of onlookers drawn to the school, which is now blocked off with orange police cones.
"There's constant noise and we even had to put up no-parking signs to keep people off our property," she said.
A 28-member task force of elected town officials decided late Friday night to demolish the 56-year-old school and build a new one on the same site.
Latimer said people come to pray, take photos, or just see the intersection of River Road and Dickenson Drive that is also the site of the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire Company, which played a major role in responding to the shooting rampage.
Nearby, where a large Sandy Hook School sign once stood directing people to the school, a makeshift memorial continues to be replenished. People place flowers, teddy bears and paper angels under what remains of the sign - just a white pole surrounded by overgrown bushes.
"Tour buses even come and all the people get off and take pictures," Latimer said.
"I'm very happy they're going build a new school," she said. "I would never consider sending my daughter to the old school where such a horrible thing happened. But it would have been even better if they rebuilt it somewhere else.
"We're still thinking about moving because this tragedy will never be forgotten," she said.
Some residents do not want people to forget the day that Adam Lanza, 20, a former Sandy Hook student, killed his mother in their home and then opened fire at the school and not stopping until he killed himself.
Lanza's spree set off calls for tighter gun laws but legislation requiring expanded background checks for gun purchases died in the Senate this spring.
Emma Canfield, 22, a lifelong Newtown resident, said she was so upset by the mass murder that she wanted to do something "so people would remember the victims."
Canfield, who also supports the school being rebuilt, painted a memorial of slogans, such as "20 Angels, 6 Heroes," and "Love Is Louder than Violence" on a vacant storefront below her apartment at 26 Botsford Hill Road that includes 26 stars for each of the victims.
"The day it happened knew I had to do something," Canfield said. "I wanted people driving by to see something to keep our community united."
The school, which has been closed since the killings, would be reconstructed at an estimated cost of $57 million over 17 to 21 months.
Meanwhile, Sandy Hook's 450 students in kindergarten through fourth grade will remain at Chalk Hill School in the neighboring town of Monroe, where classes were relocated following the massacre.
In other school shootings in recent U.S. history, including after the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, towns decided to demolish parts of the school rather than build new facilities.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Bill Trott)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/relief-newtown-over-plan-replace-school-massacre-023733921.html
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Weight Loss News Headlines - Yahoo! News
By Dorene Internicola NEW YORK (Reuters) - America's ageing population is posing special challenges, fitness experts say, because it is difficult to design effective workout routines for people with such a wide range of abilities. For one 70-year-old, the goal may be to run a marathon, for another it's getting out of a??
Source: http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/weightloss
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Sunday, May 12, 2013
40 dead in Turkey car bombings near Syria
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ? Two car bombs exploded in a Turkish town near the border with Syria on Saturday, killing around 40 people and wounding 100 others, officials said. Turkey's deputy prime minister said Syria's intelligence and military were "the usual suspects" behind the bombings, but said authorities were still investigating the attacks.
The blasts, which were 15 minutes apart, raised fears that Syria's brutal civil war violence was crossing into its neighbor.
One of the car bombs exploded outside the city hall while the other went off outside the post office in the town of Reyhanli, a main hub for Syrian refugees and rebel activity in Turkey's Hatay province, just across the border. Images showed people frantically carrying victims through the rubble-strewn streets to safety.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said about 40 people were killed and 100 others wounded in the blasts and linked them to Syria. There was no immediate information on the identities or nationalities of the victims.
"We know that the Syrian refugees have become a target of the Syrian regime," he said. "Reyhanli was not chosen by coincidence."
"Our thoughts are that their mukhabarat (Syrian intelligence agency) and armed organizations are the usual suspects in planning and the carrying out of such devilish plans," he said.
Arinc said Turkey would "do whatever is necessary" if proven that Syria is behind the attack.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier also raised the possibility that the bombings may be related to Turkey's peace talks with Kurdish rebels meant to end a nearly 30-year-old conflict.
Syrian mortar rounds have fallen over the border before, but if the explosion turns out to be linked to Syria it would be by far the biggest death toll in Turkey related to its neighbor's civil war.
Syria shares a more than 500-mile border with Turkey, which has been a crucial supporter of the Syrian rebel cause. Ankara has allowed its territory to be used as a logistics base and staging center for Syrian insurgents.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed from Berlin that Turkey would act.
"Those who for whatever reason attempt to bring the external chaos into our country will get a response," he said.
The main Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, condemned the "terrorist attacks" in Reyhanli, saying it stands together with the "Turkish government and the friendly Turkish people."
The coalition sees "these heinous terrorist acts as an attempt to take revenge on the Turkish people and punish them for their honorable support for the Syrian people," it said.
Reyhanli is a center for aid and alleged weapon trafficking between Turkey and Syria, as well as for Syrian rebel activity. Apart from refugees living in camps, many Syrians escaping the civil war have also rented houses in the town.
The explosions came days before Erdogan is scheduled to travel to the U.S. for talks, which are expected to be dominated by the situation in Syria.
"This ... will increase the pressure on the U.S. president next week to do something to show support to Turkey when Erdogan visits him in Washington," said Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute. "Washington will be forced to take a more pro-active position on Syria, at least in rhetoric, whether or not there is appetite for such a position here."
Abdullah, a Reyhanli resident, told The Associated Press he heard two strong explosions at about 1 p.m. "The bombs were very powerful," he said by telephone.
The frontier area has seen heavy fighting between rebels and the Syrian regime. In February, a car bomb exploded at a border crossing with Turkey in Syria's Idlib province, killing 14. Turkey's interior minister has blamed Syria's intelligence agencies and its army for involvement.
Four Syrians and a Turk are in custody in connection with the Feb. 11 attack at the Bab al-Hawa frontier post. No one has claimed responsibility, but a Syrian opposition faction accused the Syrian government of the bombing, saying it narrowly missed 13 leaders of the group.
In that bombing, most of the victims were Syrians who had been waiting in an area straddling the frontier for processing to enter Turkey.
Tensions flared between the Syrian regime and Turkey after shells fired from Syria landed on the Turkish side, prompting Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S. to send two batteries of Patriot air defense missiles each to protect their NATO ally.
___
Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/40-dead-turkey-car-bombings-near-syria-151312069.html
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Panel: Tear down Sandy Hook, rebuild
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? Newtown parents Steven Uhde and Peter Barresi didn't want the town to abandon the elementary school property where 20 first-graders and six educators were killed in December and build a new school elsewhere, saying that would be like letting the gunman win.
So they were glad Friday night when a task force of 28 local elected officials voted unanimously for a plan calling for tearing down Sandy Hook Elementary School and constructing a new building on the same property.
The plan approved by the Sandy Hook School Building Task Force now goes to the local school board and ultimately will have to be approved by residents at a referendum.
If all goes well, officials said construction could begin in the spring of next year and the new building could open in January 2016.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/newtown-panel-tear-down-sandy-hook-rebuild-015514858.html
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Why Do My Brake Warning Lights Keep Coming On?
This sounds to me like a case where the hardware that makes the truck stop is just fine (master cylinder, brake lines, calipers, pistons, pads, and rotors), and the problem lies in the sensors used to trigger the antilock braking system. All brake systems default to manual function when something goes haywire with the electronic enhancements, which is why the brakes seem to work just fine. Slam on the brakes hard and I bet they lock up, which is not what should happen.
The likely culprit is one of the ABS wheel-speed sensors, a pinky-size part that detects the teeth of the tone ring. The tone ring looks like a gear and hooks to the axle hub; the wheel-speed sensor "sees" the teeth and can determine how fast the wheel is moving. If the sensor is dirty, out of alignment, broken, or not putting out enough electrical signal, the computer can't determine what that wheel is doing, so it puts up the warning light. A scan tool might even tell you which sensor is acting up. You might need to remove the caliper and rotor to access the sensors to inspect and clean each one, so it's going to be an afternoon job.
If you find anything amiss, such as a broken or worn wire harness or sensor, replace without trying to salvage things. Put everything back and remove the positive battery cable for a half-hour to reset the computer. Drive around and see if the warning comes back. If it does, consider taking the truck to a reputable brake shop. It might sting the pocketbook a bit, but so will failing to stop fast enough in an emergency.
Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair-questions/abs-ghosts-15456222?src=rss
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Saturday, May 11, 2013
From Deep in West Texas, a Gathering to Consider the Universe
[unable to retrieve full-text content]In its 34th year, the Texas Star Party drew more than 500 amateur astronomers from across the United States and Canada to gaze together into the vast open skies.
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Friday, May 10, 2013
IMF: Egypt's financial situation deteriorating
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that Egypt's financial situation is deteriorating and the lending agency won't move ahead with a $4.8 billion loan until receiving updated economic information and reform plans from President Mohammed Morsi's government.
Negotiations have dragged on for more than a year for the crucial funding, which is expected to usher in unpopular austerity measures. But by building confidence, the money could open the door for more loans and investment.
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters that the agency was working with Egypt to ensure that the loan package would successfully address "rising fiscal and balance of payment imbalances" and lead to broad economic growth.
Strains in Egypt's economy include a widening budget deficit and shrinking foreign currency reserves.
The 2011 uprising that toppled Egypt's longtime autocratic ruler, Hosni Mubarak, dealt a blow to foreign investment and tourism, a main revenue source. Neither has recovered, with investors and tourists still scared away by unrest and political turmoil.
Egypt's budget deficit has surpassed 10 percent of gross domestic product. The finance minister has said the draft spending plan for the budget year beginning in July projects a deficit of $28.5 billion, which is about $1.7 billion more than this year.
With revenues down, the government is burning through its foreign currency reserves, which have fallen to just $14.4 billion, less than half of pre-uprising levels.
Much of the foreign reserves have gone to propping up the value of the local currency and importing fuel and wheat for the country's subsidy system. Egypt's poor rely on the subsidies for cheap fuel and food, but the assistance sucks up large portions of the budget.
The IMF loan has been delayed by months of negotiations over how Egypt will reduce the huge subsidies. The harsh austerity measures lack broad political and social consensus in the highly polarized country where nearly half of more than 85 million people live near or below the poverty line of $2 a day.
One of the difficulties in pinning down the loan package has been the flux in economic conditions amid political turmoil over the drawn-out period of discussions.
Rice said the IMF has not discussed or scheduled any future mission to Egypt as discussions have to take into account evolving economic conditions and the agency needs new economic data and the government's reform plans.
He also alluded to the political upheaval that has roiled Egypt, saying there needs to be broad consensus surrounding reforms the IMF deems critical.
"We stand ready to support a homegrown program that addresses the economic and financial challenges that Egypt is facing, that is socially balanced and has broad ownership so that it can restore confidence," Rice said.
Egypt's Islamist government, dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood group, has taken some limited steps toward economic reform. But some economists say it is postponing extensive reforms until after upcoming parliamentary elections to avoid austerity measures that could hurt Morsi's Brotherhood at the polls.
The problem is that no date has been set for elections, and they won't be held until the fall at the earliest.
Egypt has just finished a Cabinet reshuffle and one of the prominent changes was an overhaul of the government's economic team in an apparent bid to spur negotiations with the IMF.
Egypt and the IMF were close to a deal in December, but Morsi quickly rescinded planned tax increase and other measures in the face of public outcry. A burst of deadly street protests further set back the economy, forcing the IMF and Egypt to revise the economic forecasts that frame the deal.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/imf-egypts-financial-situation-deteriorating-192843128.html
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Huawei W1, the company's first Windows Phone 8 device, comes to the US in prepaid form
Huawei and the United States government may have their differences, but here's something we can all agree on: Walmart's going to sell whatever it darn well pleases. Including, mind you, Huawei's first Windows Phone 8 smartphone. The W1 -- which has made inroads in multiple markets already -- is heading to Yankee soil, with shipments expected to begin "this month" at Walmart.com and at select Walmart stores. For those in need of a refresher, it'll pack a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, a 4-inch IPS touchpanel, 1.7GB of user-available internal storage (expandable to 32GB via microSD card), a 5 megapixel rear camera (with a 0.3MP shooter on the front) and the latest iteration of Microsoft's mobile OS. Strangely, Huawei nor Walmart are saying what the damage will be, but it'll reportedly be priced "competitively" on a prepaid, no-contract plan.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Windows Phone Blog, Huawei
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/39K8aUPQXHs/
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