Thursday, February 28, 2013

Nemo helps anemone partner breath by fanning with his fins

Nemo helps anemone partner breath by fanning with his fins [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
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Contact: Nicola Stead
nicola.stead@biologists.com
44-012-234-25525
The Company of Biologists

Setting up home in the stinging tentacles of a sea anemone might seem like a risky option, but anemonefish also known as clownfish and popularised in the movie Finding Nemo are perfectly content in their unlikely abode. Fending off peckish anemone predators in return for refuge, plucky clownfish have achieved a satisfactory arrangement with their deadly partners. Yet Joe Szczebak from Auburn University, USA, wondered whether there might be more to the unconventional collaboration than met the eye. According to Szczebak, coral reefs are awash with oxygen during the day, but levels can plummet overnight when photosynthesis has ceased. Adding that some damselfish waft oxygen-rich water over corals at night to supplement their oxygen supply, Szczebak wondered whether clownfish might have struck a similar deal with their anemone hosts. 'There had been almost no research done on the clownfishanemone mutualism at night', explains Szczebak. He and his Master's thesis advisor, Nanette Chadwick, publish their discovery that clownfish fan their anemone hosts to supplement the anemone's meagre nocturnal oxygen supply in The Journal of Experimental Biology at http://jeb.biologists.org.

Szczebak and Chadwick travelled to Fuad Al-Horani's physiology lab at the Marine Science Station in Aqaba, Jordan, and went SCUBA diving in the Red Sea to find the diminutive fish and their anemone partners. Then the team isolated each fish from its anemone and measured their individual oxygen consumption rates before reuniting the partners. They discovered that the fish and anemone consumed 1.4 times more oxygen when they were together than when they were apart. Something was happening when the fish and its anemone were together to increase their oxygen consumption, but Szczebak wasn't sure what.

Having successfully returned the fish to their Red Sea home before flying back to the United States, Szczebak repeated the experiments with Ray Henry's help in Chadwick's Auburn lab. However, this time he tried an additional test. Separating the clownfish from its anemone with plastic mesh so that the clownfish could still see its partner and they could smell each other Szczebak remeasured their oxygen consumption, but it was still lower than when they were in contact. 'There was something about the physical contact between them that was the source of the increase', says Szczebak.

Spending long nights filming the clownfish as they nestled in amongst their anemone's tentacles, Szczebak realised that the fish were much more active than had been thought previously. He frequently saw the fish fanning the anemone with their rapidly weaving fins and the fish often burrowed deep into their host, sometimes making a 180deg turn deep within the mass of tentacles to open up the collapsed anemone and apparently circulate water through it. However, when Szczebak measured the oxygen consumption of isolated anemones as he flowed water through them at speeds ranging from 0.5 to 8.0cm/s, their oxygen consumption never increased by as much as it did when paired with a clownfish, suggesting that the clownfish also contribute the partnership's increased oxygen consumption.

'I think that I have found foundational evidence that, like similar symbioses on coral reefs, anemonefish may actively modulate flow conditions surrounding their host to benefit them under low oxygen scenarios', says Szczebak. He adds that Chadwick's group is continuing to investigate whether the fish indulge in their nocturnal antics purely to supplement the anemone's oxygen supply or for an as-yet-undetermined reason with the additional benefit of improved circulation.

###

IF REPORTING ON THIS STORY, PLEASE MENTION THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AS THE SOURCE AND, IF REPORTING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A LINK TO: http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/6/970.abstract

REFERENCE: Szczebak, J. T., Henry, R. P., Al-Horani, F. A. and Chadwick, N. E. (2013). Anemonefish oxygenate their anemone hosts at night. J. Exp. Biol. 216, 970-976.

This article is posted on this site to give advance access to other authorised media who may wish to report on this story. Full attribution is required, and if reporting online a link to jeb.biologists.com is also required. The story posted here is COPYRIGHTED. Therefore advance permission is required before any and every reproduction of each article in full. PLEASE CONTACT permissions@biologists.com

THIS ARTICLE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDNESDAY, 27 February 2013, 18:00 HRS EST (23:00 HRS GMT)


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Nemo helps anemone partner breath by fanning with his fins [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Nicola Stead
nicola.stead@biologists.com
44-012-234-25525
The Company of Biologists

Setting up home in the stinging tentacles of a sea anemone might seem like a risky option, but anemonefish also known as clownfish and popularised in the movie Finding Nemo are perfectly content in their unlikely abode. Fending off peckish anemone predators in return for refuge, plucky clownfish have achieved a satisfactory arrangement with their deadly partners. Yet Joe Szczebak from Auburn University, USA, wondered whether there might be more to the unconventional collaboration than met the eye. According to Szczebak, coral reefs are awash with oxygen during the day, but levels can plummet overnight when photosynthesis has ceased. Adding that some damselfish waft oxygen-rich water over corals at night to supplement their oxygen supply, Szczebak wondered whether clownfish might have struck a similar deal with their anemone hosts. 'There had been almost no research done on the clownfishanemone mutualism at night', explains Szczebak. He and his Master's thesis advisor, Nanette Chadwick, publish their discovery that clownfish fan their anemone hosts to supplement the anemone's meagre nocturnal oxygen supply in The Journal of Experimental Biology at http://jeb.biologists.org.

Szczebak and Chadwick travelled to Fuad Al-Horani's physiology lab at the Marine Science Station in Aqaba, Jordan, and went SCUBA diving in the Red Sea to find the diminutive fish and their anemone partners. Then the team isolated each fish from its anemone and measured their individual oxygen consumption rates before reuniting the partners. They discovered that the fish and anemone consumed 1.4 times more oxygen when they were together than when they were apart. Something was happening when the fish and its anemone were together to increase their oxygen consumption, but Szczebak wasn't sure what.

Having successfully returned the fish to their Red Sea home before flying back to the United States, Szczebak repeated the experiments with Ray Henry's help in Chadwick's Auburn lab. However, this time he tried an additional test. Separating the clownfish from its anemone with plastic mesh so that the clownfish could still see its partner and they could smell each other Szczebak remeasured their oxygen consumption, but it was still lower than when they were in contact. 'There was something about the physical contact between them that was the source of the increase', says Szczebak.

Spending long nights filming the clownfish as they nestled in amongst their anemone's tentacles, Szczebak realised that the fish were much more active than had been thought previously. He frequently saw the fish fanning the anemone with their rapidly weaving fins and the fish often burrowed deep into their host, sometimes making a 180deg turn deep within the mass of tentacles to open up the collapsed anemone and apparently circulate water through it. However, when Szczebak measured the oxygen consumption of isolated anemones as he flowed water through them at speeds ranging from 0.5 to 8.0cm/s, their oxygen consumption never increased by as much as it did when paired with a clownfish, suggesting that the clownfish also contribute the partnership's increased oxygen consumption.

'I think that I have found foundational evidence that, like similar symbioses on coral reefs, anemonefish may actively modulate flow conditions surrounding their host to benefit them under low oxygen scenarios', says Szczebak. He adds that Chadwick's group is continuing to investigate whether the fish indulge in their nocturnal antics purely to supplement the anemone's oxygen supply or for an as-yet-undetermined reason with the additional benefit of improved circulation.

###

IF REPORTING ON THIS STORY, PLEASE MENTION THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AS THE SOURCE AND, IF REPORTING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A LINK TO: http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/6/970.abstract

REFERENCE: Szczebak, J. T., Henry, R. P., Al-Horani, F. A. and Chadwick, N. E. (2013). Anemonefish oxygenate their anemone hosts at night. J. Exp. Biol. 216, 970-976.

This article is posted on this site to give advance access to other authorised media who may wish to report on this story. Full attribution is required, and if reporting online a link to jeb.biologists.com is also required. The story posted here is COPYRIGHTED. Therefore advance permission is required before any and every reproduction of each article in full. PLEASE CONTACT permissions@biologists.com

THIS ARTICLE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDNESDAY, 27 February 2013, 18:00 HRS EST (23:00 HRS GMT)


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/tcob-nha022113.php

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McCreary County Toddler Suffers Life-Ending Injury In North ...

An unthinkable tragedy in North Carolina has hit close to home, as an eight-month-old is brain dead following an accident in the bathtub, and as his McCreary County family prepares to bury little Grant Torkleson, members of the community are rallying to help in any way they can.

Torkleson's McCreary County grandfather, Randy Stevens, will remember him as one of the happiest babies you ever met in your life. "Every time you saw the kid he was either smiling or laughing," said Stevens.

The toddler's life came to a screeching halt Friday. His mother, Ashley Torkleson, who now lives with her family on a military base in North Carolina, was giving her two kids a bath, when Grant fell and drowned. Doctors say he suffered an aneurysm that may have been triggered by pneumonia. When he fell the mother turned from whatever she was doing and he was laying face down. She grabbed him and she immediately started doing CPR and called 911.

Grant remained on life support for several days, until a final test Thursday showed Frant was brain dead and would not survive.

In the meantime, the McCreary County Christian Center has stepped into action. The center is accepting donations for the family to help pay for travel expenses and funeral costs.

To learn more about Grant and how you can help the family, you can log on to their Facebook page called Team Grant by clicking here.

Source: http://www.lex18.com/news/mccreary-county-toddler-suffers-life-ending-injury-in-north-carolina/

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Source: http://www.hellofour.com/blog/49441/seo-business-in-india-low-cost-simply-out-there-and-highly-capable/

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Security Musings ? Blog Archive ? Why are Metrics Important?

At the RSA Conference today, I attended an excellent panel discussion titled Y U NO HAZ METRICS? The speakers were David Mortman, Jack Jones, Alex Hutton, and Caroline Wong, and the panel was was moderated by John Johnson. The panel discussed risk management more than they discussed specific metrics, which was slightly different than what I expected. However, the panel surpassed my expectations.

A commenter towards the end of the session made an analogy which I thought was a good one. He said that risk management is like risotto. It has three basic ingredients, and you put them together and adjust the balance until it tastes good to you. In other words, no two risottos (or risk management programs) will ever be exactly the same. The commenter then brought up this follow-up concern: that we as an industry don?t even have an agreed-upon list of standard ingredients for our risk management risotto.

There are different risk management frameworks, which use and rely on different ingredients. However I think that Alex Hutton said it well:


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Metrics are a critical part of a risk management system. Without metrics, it is impossible to tell whether the mitigation techniques and controls are working. In today?s world, you have an infinite number of threats and concerns to be worried about, and a fixed amount of time, money, and energy that can be spent. Without metrics, how can you determine where to spend that time, money, and energy? And how can you justify that the time, money, and energy was spent in the right place when you are served with a lawsuit because of a breach?

The last and possibly most important takeaway I?ll provide is this: useful metrics must relate to business value. Typically, risk management systems include metrics such as percentage of systems that are fully patched or amount of time it takes to apply a patch. These on their own are not useful metrics to a risk management system. They are only useful if they are tied back to things that are important to the business. So consider instead that the business impact of unpatched systems is that you could have a virus outbreak, and spend days restoring systems and handling the PR nightmare you?ve created. Or consider the business impact of having your e-commerce site down for three hours while you deploy patches.

This talk filled up and is being offered again today at 4:30 as an encore session here at the conference, so if you missed it, go check it out!

Tags: #rsac, RSA Conference

Source: http://securitymusings.com/article/3918/why-are-metrics-important

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Pistorius representatives name substance found

FILE - In this photo taken Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 Olympic athlete, Oscar Pistorius, in court in Pretoria, South Africa, for his bail hearing charged with the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Even if Pistorius is acquitted of murder, firearms and legal experts in South Africa believe that, by his own account, the star violated basic gun-handling regulations by shooting into a closed door without knowing who was behind it, exposing himself to the lesser but still serious charge of culpable homicide. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

FILE - In this photo taken Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 Olympic athlete, Oscar Pistorius, in court in Pretoria, South Africa, for his bail hearing charged with the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Even if Pistorius is acquitted of murder, firearms and legal experts in South Africa believe that, by his own account, the star violated basic gun-handling regulations by shooting into a closed door without knowing who was behind it, exposing himself to the lesser but still serious charge of culpable homicide. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

FILE - in this photo taken Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius stands in the dock during his bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa. Even if Pistorius is acquitted of murder, firearms and legal experts in South Africa believe that, by his own account, the star violated basic gun-handling regulations by shooting into a closed door without knowing who was behind it, exposing himself to the lesser but still serious charge of culpable homicide. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe-File)

FILE - In this photo taken Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius stands in the dock during his bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa. Even if Pistorius is acquitted of murder, firearms and legal experts in South Africa believe that, by his own account, the star violated basic gun-handling regulations by shooting into a closed door without knowing who was behind it, exposing himself to the lesser but still serious charge of culpable homicide. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe-File)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? The substance found in Oscar Pistorius' bedroom after the shooting death of his girlfriend was identified by his representatives Wednesday as Testis compositum ? an herbal remedy they said is used for "muscle recovery." A product by that name also is sold as a sexual enhancer.

Testis compositum is marketed by some online retailers in both oral and injectable forms as a testosterone booster and sexual performance aid that contains the testicles, heart and embryo of pigs, among other ingredients. Some online retailers also say it can be used to treat fatigue.

At the Paralympian's bail hearing last week in the shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp, police said they found needles in Pistorius' bedroom along with the substance, which a detective initially named in court as testosterone. Prosecutors later withdrew that statement identifying the substance and said it had been sent for lab tests and couldn't be named until those tests were completed.

Pistorius spokeswoman Lunice Johnston said in an email to The Associated Press that the athlete's lawyers had confirmed that the substance is Testis compositum.

In the email, Johnston wrote that the product was being used "in aid of muscle recovery." She did not say whether the substance was the same as the product that is sold as a sex enhancer.

In court, Pistorius defense lawyer Barry Roux said the substance was not banned by sports authorities.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said its science department had already been made aware of the substance and that it wasn't banned.

"It would appear to be a homeopathic treatment, and these treatments are not prohibited by the list," WADA said in a statement to the AP.

Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the International Olympic Committee's medical commission, told the AP he had not heard of the product but that it sounded like "a real cocktail, all pointing in the same direction, namely having something to do with testosterone."

"This sounds to me like something that needs to be analyzed in order to make sure what it is," Ljungqvist said in a phone interview. "You cannot ban something simply on claims and names. It needs to be looked into. Even saying that it is testosterone boosting, it could contain some precursors. It needs to have some analysis."

Pieter Van Der Merwe, director of South Africa's Doping Control Laboratory in Bloemfontein, declined to comment on whether a sample from Pistorius had been sent to that laboratory for testing.

Pistorius was charged with premeditated murder in the Valentine's Day shooting death of Steenkamp. He says he shot her by accident after mistaking her for an intruder in his home. Prosecutors allege he intended to kill her.

Police took Pistorius for a medical examination when he was arrested on Feb. 14, which included blood-alcohol tests, they said. The substance found in his bedroom was also being tested by police, who haven't released results.

Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic champion, underwent two doping tests in London last year around the Paralympics, the International Paralympic Committee has said. He tested negative for any banned substances in both tests in August and September.

A product called Testis compositum is made by Biologische Heilmittel Heel GmbH, based in Baden-Baden, Germany. The company website says it is one of the world's leading makers of homeopathic combination medications.

A U.S. subsidiary, Heel USA Inc., advertises the product in tablet form only and spokeswoman Joan Sullivan said she didn't know if injectable versions are sold in other countries. Heel USA's website says the product provides temporary relief for men's "sexual weakness" and lack of stamina.

The U.S.-sold tablets contain 23 ingredients, including pig testicles, pig heart, pig embryo and pig adrenal gland, cortisone, ginseng and other botanicals. It also contains several minerals, according to a list Sullivan provided.

Charles Yesalis, a Penn State professor emeritus and expert on steroid use in sports, said animal steroids likely wouldn't have an athletic performance-enhancing effect unless taken in huge quantities. Even so, he said many elite athletes would be wary of using such supplements because they can be laced with banned substances and few would want to risk it.

The company website listed a South African subsidiary as ModHomCo (Pty) Ltd., based in Centurion, near Pretoria. That company couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner in Chicago and AP Sports Writer Stephen Wilson in London contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-27-Pistorius-Substance/id-6be8962d36c245019353bd11230b2264

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Infrared digital holography allows firefighters to see through flames, image moving people

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Firefighters put their lives on the line in some of the most dangerous conditions on Earth. One of their greatest challenges, however, is seeing through thick veils of smoke and walls of flame to find people in need of rescue. A team of Italian researchers has developed a new imaging technique that uses infrared (IR) digital holography to peer through chaotic conflagrations and capture potentially lifesaving and otherwise hidden details.

The team describes its breakthrough results and their applications in a paper published February 26 in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express.

Firefighters can see through smoke using current IR camera technology. However, such instruments are blinded by the intense infrared radiation emitted by flames, which overwhelm the sensitive detectors and limit their use in the field. By employing a specialized lens-free technique, the researchers have created a system that is able to cope with the flood of radiation from an environment filled with flames as well as smoke.

"IR cameras cannot 'see' objects or humans behind flames because of the need for a zoom lens that concentrates the rays on the sensor to form the image," says Pietro Ferraro of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) Istituto Nazionale di Ottica in Italy. By eliminating the need for the zoom lens, the new technique avoids this drawback.

"It became clear to us that we had in our hands a technology that could be exploited by emergency responders and firefighters at a fire scene to see through smoke without being blinded by flames, a limitation of existing technology," Ferraro says. "Perhaps most importantly, we demonstrated for the first time that a holographic recording of a live person can be achieved even while the body is moving."

Holography is a means of producing a 3-D image of an object. To create a hologram, such as those typically seen on credit cards, a laser beam is split into two (an object beam and a reference beam). The object beam is shone onto the object being imaged. When the reflected object beam and the reference beam are recombined, they create an interference pattern that encodes the 3-D image.

In the researchers' new imaging system, a beam of infrared laser light is widely dispersed throughout a room. Unlike visible light, which cannot penetrate thick smoke and flames, the IR rays pass through largely unhindered. The IR light does, however, reflect off of any objects or people in the room, and the information carried by this reflected light is recorded by a holographic imager. It is then decoded to reveal the objects beyond the smoke and flames. The result is a live, 3-D movie of the room and its contents.

The next step in moving this technology to the field is to develop a portable tripod-based system that houses both the laser source and the IR camera. The systems may also be suitable for fixed installation inside buildings or tunnels. In addition, the team is exploring other applications, most notably in the biomedical field for non-destructive testing of large aerospace composite structures.

"Besides life-saving applications in fire and rescue, the potential to record dynamic scenes of a human body could have a variety of other biomedical uses including studying or monitoring breathing, cardiac beat detection and analysis, or measurement of body deformation due to various stresses during exercise," Ferraro says. "We are excited to further develop this technology and realize its application for saving and improving human life."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Optical Society of America.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. M. Locatelli, E. Pugliese, M. Paturzo, V. Bianco, A. Finizio, A. Pelagotti, P. Poggi, L. Miccio, R. Meucci, P. Ferraro. Imaging live humans through smoke and flames using far-infrared digital holography. Optics Express, 2013; 21 (5): 5379 DOI: 10.1364/OE.21.005379

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/bXDcFd2sAks/130226101454.htm

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Cell scaffolding protein fascin-1 is hijacked by cancer

Feb. 22, 2013 ? A protein involved in the internal cell scaffold is associated with increased risk of metastasis and mortality in a range of common cancers finds a meta-analysis published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine.

The protein, fascin-1, is involved in bundling together the actin filaments which form the internal scaffolding of a cell and are involved in cell movement. Though it is absent, or only present at a low level in normal epithelial cells, several small studies have shown fascin-1 to be increased in many carcinomas, but its role in metastasis and mortality risk has been uncertain.

Researchers from the University of Bristol combined and reanalysed data from 26 studies looking at five different types of carcinomas. The meta-analysis showed that increased fascin-1 was associated with increased risk of mortality in breast, colorectal and esophageal carcinomas but not in gastric or lung carcinoma. It was also associated with disease progression in breast and colorectal carcinoma, but not lung carcinoma. It was associated with local and distant metastasis in colorectal and gastric carcinomas but there was no involvement of fascin-1 in metastasis of esophageal carcinomas.

These results show that the picture is not simple and that different types of cancer are affected in different ways. The story of fascin-1 not only provides a biomarker and potential avenue for research into anti-cancer therapy but also demonstrates the complexity of cancer.

Josephine Adams and Richard Martin who led this study said, "Our results show that fascin-1 is associated with several types of human carcinomas. The results will help focus further research into fascin-1 as a marker and potential target for cancer therapy to the most relevant types of carcinomas."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Vanessa Y Tan, Sarah J Lewis, Josephine C Adams and Richard M Martin. Association of fascin-1 with mortality, disease progression and metastasis in carcinomas: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medicine, 2013 (in press) [link]

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/NNO8Aq881R0/130225201820.htm

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Qualcomm announces Gobi chipset with LTE Advanced and Carrier ...

Qualcomm

Android Central at Mobile World Congress

Qualcomm, well known for both its radio chipsetsand processors, is announcing today that its latest Gobi chipsets -- the MDM9225 and MDM9625 -- are capable of LTEAdvanced and Carrier Aggregation for higher data speeds. Carrier Aggregation (which isn't what you'd think) is a technology that allows the LTE radio in a device to pull down data across multiple bands of spectrum. This means that a device could simultaneously receive data over two (or more) different frequencies, combining it to give data speeds similar to what it would be over a larger chunk of a single frequency. For example, if a carrier has deployed 10MHz of spectrum in one frequency and 10MHz in another, the chip could combine those two and give users the same experience as if the carrier had deployed 20MHz of continuous spectrum in one band.

This is some nerdy radio stuff, but the end result is very important. There's a lot of spectrum out there, but it's not always allocated to each operator in the most efficient way. As networks transition between older 3G technologies and LTE, the spectrum may not be allocated in complete 20MHz blocks for use by a single network. These new Qualcomm chips let devices connect to these disjointed bands simultaneously.

These new MDM9x25 chips are manufactured using a 28nm (nanometer) process, and offer LTEAdvanced with downlink speeds up to 150mbpson top of extensive 2G and 3G (includingDC-HSPA+)support all in one chip. The process has already been shown off inside of a Sierra Wireless mobile hotspot, and Qualcomm says that OEM partners began sampling the chips in November of last year to make it into consumer products in late 2013.

Qualcomm Technologies Announces First 4G LTE Advanced Embedded Connectivity Platform for Mobile Computing Products

-- Newest Addition to Gobi Embedded Platform Increases LTE Data Speeds up to 150Mbps, Supports Carrier Aggregation, Provides Additional LTE Bands Worldwide --

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), today announced the industry's first 4G LTE Advanced embedded data connectivity platform for mobile computing devices, including thin form factor laptops, tablets and convertibles. The technology, based on Qualcomm Technologies' Gobi chipsets -- the MDM9225 and MDM9625 -- is the first embedded, mobile computing solution to support LTE carrier aggregation and LTE Category 4 with peak data rates of up to 150Mbps.

The introduction marks the arrival of Qualcomm Technologies' third-generation 4G LTE embedded chip, extends Qualcomm Technologies' modem technology leadership in mobile computing, and promises to deliver the fastest 3G and 4G LTE connections worldwide, while offering the broadest multi-region coverage via a single SKU solution. PC OEM customers can now select from a broad ecosystem of embedded module vendors that support a range of Gobi chipsets, from 3G solutions with speeds up to 42Mbps to cutting-edge 4G LTE Advanced. Coupled with new and innovative pay-as-you-go, no contract data plans, these products enable thinner, lighter and better connected mobile computing devices running leading operating systems such as iOS, Android, Windows 8 and Windows RT, and support a variety of modules for thin form factors, including PCI Express Mini Card, PCI Express M.2, and Land Grid Array. The Gobi MDM9x25 embedded platform also includes an embedded GPS receiver with GLONASS support for enhanced asset tracking, turn-by-turn navigation and other location-based services. Additionally, the Qualcomm RF360 Front End solution, providing expanded active band support integral to Qualcomm Technologies' single SKU LTE World Mode solution will also be included.

"Our broad portfolio of Gobi chipsets -- including 3G 42Mbps, 4G LTE and 4G LTE Advanced -- features industry-leading LTE multiband support for seamless connections to the fastest networks worldwide," said Cristiano Amon, executive vice president of Qualcomm Technologies and co-president of Qualcomm Mobile Computing. "This latest addition can be easily implemented across enterprise, SMB and consumer industries allowing end users to download and stream rich HD content, access enterprise applications, share large files quickly and connect virtually wherever they are in the world."

Qualcomm Gobi MDM9x25 chipsets began sampling to module vendors last November and will enable commercial device launches in the second half of this calendar year.

"Fujitsu's mobile computing portfolio is adapting to meet the changing needs of today's workers. In addition to new and innovative form factors, connectivity is increasingly important, which is why we rely on Qualcomm Technologies' Gobi technology," said Akira Nagahara, senior vice president, Personal Systems Business Unit, Fujitsu Ltd. "Gobi modems enable us to offer the fastest LTE connections our customers demand across a range of devices, including the latest Fujitsu hybrid tablets and convertible laptops."

"Qualcomm Gobi embedded mobile broadband connectivity is a compelling solution for users of our ThinkPad laptops, further enhancing wireless access options to offer connection virtually anywhere" said Dilip Bhatia, vice president and general manager, ThinkPad, Lenovo. "As the leading worldwide commercial notebook vendor, we're devoted to continually improving our products and thrilled to be bringing our customers even faster LTE connections thanks to Qualcomm Gobi's newest connectivity platform."

"Integrating Qualcomm Gobi technology into our industry-leading family of Toughbook mobile computers provides tremendous flexibility to our multi-carrier, multi-national customers by dramatically simplifying the ordering process and delivering an all-in-one solution for fast and reliable connectivity worldwide," said Victoria Obenshain, vice president, wireless, for Panasonic. "Today's global business environment demands flexible connection options and the ability to access the fastest 3G or 4G network regardless of your location."

"Huawei mobile broadband modules and data cards featuring Qualcomm Gobi technology are enabling business and consumer applications around the globe," said Steven Lau, vice president of mobile broadband product line, Huawei Device Company. "With the Qualcomm Gobi embedded platform now supporting LTE Advanced, we'll be able to offer our customers even faster and more versatile connectivity options worldwide."

"Fast and reliable 4G LTE connectivity is more important than ever as we expand our product portfolio to include embedded computing solutions," said Dr. Junhong Du, chairman, Longcheer. "As a Qualcomm Technologies customer, we count on Qualcomm Gobi technology to deliver our module customers the industry's best and most advanced mobile broadband connections worldwide."

"We congratulate Qualcomm Technologies with this first-to-market launch," said Rob Hadley, chief marketing officer, Novatel Wireless. "The latest Qualcomm Gobi platform with LTE Advanced and carrier aggregation supports the evolution of mobile broadband solutions delivering advanced technology and very fast connectivity. The latest Gobi 9x25 platform will enhance our ability to bring the most advanced mobile broadband devices to the market and deliver the experience to connect seamlessly, anywhere, any time."

"Sierra Wireless is committed to offering its customers leading-edge wireless technologies to support the best possible performance for their devices and applications," said Dan Schieler, senior vice president, mobile computing, for Sierra Wireless. "Working with Qualcomm Gobi technology enables us to offer the fastest LTE mobile broadband speeds with higher data rates and support for carrier aggregation to improve performance as network operators move to LTE Advanced networks."

"The need for faster and more versatile mobile broadband connectivity has never been greater and we're excited to be working with Qualcomm Technologies to provide LTE Advanced support in the next-generation of USB modems, embedded modules, and mobile hot spots from ZTE," said Ding Ning, vice president, ZTE Corporation. "Business travelers and consumers alike will benefit from the consistently fast and reliable data feeds these products will deliver on Gobi technology."


Via: Qualcomm announces Gobi chipset with LTE Advanced and Carrier Aggregation

Source: http://stupid-area.blogspot.com/2013/02/qualcomm-announces-gobi-chipset-with.html

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Judge refuses to toss gay Calif. veteran's lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A lawsuit brought by a lesbian Army veteran and her wife over the denial of disability benefits can move forward over the objections of the Department of Justice, a federal judge in California ruled Monday.

U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall refused to dismiss Tracey Cooper-Harris' challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and to two other laws that make same-sex spouses of military veterans ineligible for benefits available to straight spouses. Marshall did not explain her reasoning in court, but said she would issue a written ruling at a later date.

The Justice Department under President Obama has refused to defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, and argued that the U.S. Supreme Court should strike it down as unconstitutional when it hears arguments in another lawsuit next month.

But the department had asked for Cooper-Harris' case to be tossed out on the grounds that veterans' claims can only be heard by an administrative Board of Veterans' Appeals.

Cooper-Harris suffers from multiple sclerosis and receives disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. She and her wife, Maggie Cooper-Harris, got married in California during the brief period in 2008 when same-sex unions were legal in the state.

Citing the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the government from recognizing same-sex marriages, and veterans' benefits laws that define a spouse as a person of the opposite sex, the VA denied the couple's application for additional money and benefits that married veterans are entitled to receive.

In the case of the couple, they would receive about $150 more a month in disability payments, and Maggie Cooper-Harris would be eligible for about $1,200 a month in survivor's benefits if her wife died, said Southern Poverty Law Center deputy legal director Christine Sun, who is representing the couple.

Even though the Supreme Court is set to examine the Defense of Marriage Act, the justices could end up issuing a narrow decision that does not settle the question of whether the act is constitutional, in which case it would remain important for Cooper-Harris' case to remain active, Sun said. Marshall has scheduled the next hearing for April 1.

"The significance of the court's ruling today is it vindicates the right of Tracie and Maggie Cooper-Harris to go forward to have their day in court," she said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-refuses-toss-gay-calif-veterans-lawsuit-020426943.html

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Monday, February 25, 2013

MC Hammer arrested, claims racial profiling

By Us Weekly

Don't hurt Hammer! Beloved rapper and entertainer MC Hammer was arrested in Dublin, Calif. on Saturday (Feb. 23) for obstructing and resisting a police officer, but claimed via Twitter that he was a victim of racial profiling.?

DublinPD/ Splash News/Newscom

U Cant Touch This hit-maker MC Hammer has been arrested for allegedly obstructing resisting an officer in Dublin, Calif.

Shortly after his release from the Santa Rita Jail, the "U Can't Touch This" rapper, 50, tweeted his take on the incident.?

PHOTOS: Celebrity mugshots

"Chubby elvis looking dude was tapping on my car window, I rolled down the window and he said 'Are you on parole or probation?'" said the performer and preacher (real name: Stanley Kirk Burrell). "While I was handing him my ID he reached in my car and tried to pull me out the car but forgot he was on a steady donut diet," he continued.

PHOTOS: Stars in court

According to TMZ, the Dublin Police Department has yet to release a statement about the arrest. It was comical to me until he pulled out his guns, blew his whistle and yelled for help (MallCop) !!! But make no mistake he's dangerous ..only thing more dangerous than a scared man with a gun, is a scared man with an agenda, a gun and a badge. I was citied for obstruction."

PHOTOS: 90s stars then and now

Added Hammer, who is also a tech entrepreneur: "You have to know me to understand I was laughing when he was grunting and pulling on me .. I had just left the weight room ..I will now answer his question, contrary to his personal beliefs, all people of color are not on parole or probation fat boy !!!"

Related content:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/02/24/17077832-mc-hammer-arrested-for-obstructing-resisting-police-officer?lite

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OPTiM's Optia Android screensharing and remote control app hands-on

OPTiM's Optia Android screensharing handson

For anybody who has had to support a friend or loved one through an emotional cellphone crisis, rejoice: your savior in the form of OPTiM's Optia smartphone-to-smartphone remote control has arrived. The premise here is that using a friend based system with invites users can add contacts to the app -- think parents, grandparents -- on their Android handset then simply ask for help or offer to help that friend. The recipient clicks yes, and the remote control session begins.

OPTiM's man at the booth, Taiga, took us through the entire process from adding somebody to your set then connecting and finally controlling the phone. The entire ordeal was fairly quick and smooth considering the congestion of the halls here at Mobile World Congress. We'd bet over WiFi or even LTE the experience would be nothing but smoother. Control of the session gives the helper completes access including home button, back, settings and so forth. Scrolling across screens and apps works exactly as it would on your own device, albeit slower -- but even on a poor cellular connection performance is very good. This is a must have app for anybody that regularly helps others or needs help themselves. The best bit? It is currently completely $free on the Play store. Video tour of it all in action is just below the break.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/aqGxnEY69io/

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Former Canada Ambassador Feels Slighted By Argo

Ken Taylor, the former Canadian Ambassador in Iran says he feels slighted by Argo, the movie nominated for a best picture Oscar. The former ambassador protected Americans in Iran at a huge risk to both he and other members of the embassy staff during the hostage crisis in Iran druing 1979. Taylor said it would reflect poorly on Ben Affleck the film?s director, if he does not say something about the role of Canada, if the film wins the Academy Award.

Taylor also said he felt slighted by the film since it makes his country look as if it was a just an observer to the heroics of the CIA in rescuing six citizens from the U.S., who had been caught up in the hostage crisis.

The former ambassador does not believe Affleck will say anything, but he hopes Affleck will if he is awarded the Oscar.

Taylor kept six Americans hidden inside the Canadian embassy in Tehran and helped to facilitate their escape through obtaining plane tickets and fake passports. In the U.S. and Canada, he was a hero afterwards. However, in the movie his role during the crisis helping the six Americans was minimized.

On Friday in a prepared statement, Affleck said he thought the issue regarding Ambassador Taylor was resolved. He said he admires Taylor for what he did in rescuing the Americans. Affleck said Taylor was a hero. He also said he had been asked by Taylor to narrate a film Taylor was featured in.

Former President Jimmy Carter also said that the movie distorted the amount of input the Canadians had in the planning of the escape. Carter said that 90% of the myriad of contributions for the escape were made by the Canadians, while the film made it look almost entirely the CIA.

Source: http://www.jagsreport.com/2013/02/former-canada-ambassador-feels-slighted-by-argo/

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Tabasco company CEO Paul McIlhenny dies at age 68

(Reuters) - Paul McIlhenny, the chairman and chief executive of the Louisiana company that makes Tabasco brand pepper sauce, has died at age 68, the McIlhenny Co said on Sunday.

McIlhenny died on Saturday, the family-owned company said in a news release that described him as "a true bon vivant" whose passions included hunting, fishing, wine-tasting and game cooking.

He was a sixth-generation member of the McIlhenny family to live on Avery Island in the southern Louisiana bayou, and a fourth-generation member to produce pepper sauces sold worldwide under the Tabasco brand.

The McIlhenny company was founded in 1868 on Avery Island. It supplies hot sauce to the U.S. presidential plane Air Force One and to Britain's royal family, the Times-Picayune newspaper said on its website.

Paul McIlhenny joined the company in 1967 and directly oversaw the production of its sauces for 13 years, expanding both its line of spicy sauces and the array of aprons, neckties and other merchandise bearing the familiar red-and-green Tabasco logo.

He spent much of his time in New Orleans and in 2006 he reigned as Rex, the first King of Carnival during Mardi Gras celebrations after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

"All of McIlhenny Company and the McIlhenny and Avery families are deeply saddened by this news," said Tony Simmons, president of McIlhenny Co and fifth-generation McIlhenny family member. "We will clearly miss Paul's devoted leadership but will more sorely feel the loss of his acumen, his charm and his irrepressible sense of humor."

(Reporting by Jane Sutton; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tabasco-company-ceo-paul-mcilhenny-dies-age-68-163846875--finance.html

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US scrambles to salvage Syrian opposition talks

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to London in his inaugural official trip as Secretary on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Pool, Jacquelyn Martin)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to London in his inaugural official trip as Secretary on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Pool, Jacquelyn Martin)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to London in his inaugural official trip as Secretary on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Pool, Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013 file photo, Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the State Department in Washington. Kerry will make his first overseas trip next week to Europe and the Middle East, but is skipping Israel because that country's government isn't fully formed after recent elections. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

LONDON (AP) ? The U.S. is frantically trying to salvage a Syrian opposition conference set for this coming week that John Kerry plans to attend during his first official overseas trip as U.S. secretary of state.

A senior Obama administration official said Sunday that Kerry has sent his top Syrian envoy to Cairo in hopes of convincing opposition leaders that the Rome conference will be critical to securing additional aid from the United States and Europe.

Some members of the sharply divided Syrian Opposition Council are threatening to boycott Wednesday's meeting.

According to the official, U.S. envoy Robert Ford will say that the conference is a chance for foes of Syrian President Bashar Assad to make their case for new and enhanced aid, and especially to America's new chief diplomat.

The official was not authorized to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

If the meeting with Kerry were to be postponed, the official said the delay would hurt chances for short-term boosts or shifts in Syria policy.

The U.S. is concerned that the same kind of infighting that doomed the Syrian National Council may be hindering the SOC.

In addition to Ford's trip to Cairo, the top U.S. diplomat for the Mideast, Beth Jones, planned to head to Rome on Monday to add her voice to the argument.

Kerry is on a self-described "listening tour" of Europe and the Mideast, chiefly focused on ending the crisis in Syria.

The former Democratic senator from Massachusetts has said he is bringing new ideas to increase the pressure on Assad to leave power and make way for a democratic transition. Violence in Syria has killed at least 70,000 people.

Kerry has not elaborated on those plans, but there is internal debate in the Obama administration about stepping up aid to the rebels, perhaps to include lethal military assistance.

In London, his first stop, Kerry was expected to be asked by the British about the administration's views on Britain's dispute with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. London is looking to Washington to support a referendum next month on the islands' future. Residents are expected to vote widely in favor of remaining part of Britain.

Senior officials traveling with Kerry would not discuss possible outcomes or the vote, and the U.S. position remains that it is up to Britain and Argentina to work out a resolution. Argentina claims the islands as the Islas Malvinas.

Britain asserted control of the South Atlantic islands by placing a naval garrison there in 1833. Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 after Argentina invaded the islands. More than 900 people died, most of them Argentines.

Kerry's nine-nation, 10-day trip will also take him to America's traditional European allies of Germany, France and Italy, along with Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

In addition to Syria, he will focus on conflicts in Mali and Afghanistan, and on Iran's nuclear program.

In Germany, Kerry will discuss trans-Atlantic issues with German youth in Berlin, where he spent time as a child as the son of an American diplomat posted to the divided Cold War city. He also will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the German capital.

In Paris, Kerry plans to discuss France's intervention in Mali.

Despite the numerous Middle East stops. Kerry will not travel to Israel or the Palestinian territories. He will wait to visit them when he accompanies Obama there in March.

___

Online:

Trip details: http://www.state.gov/secretary/travel/2013/205086.htm

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-24-Kerry/id-c53bae9fe30c48f4a36f04888eee2809

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Gov't already downsizing amid GOP demands for cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republicans and other fiscal conservatives keep insisting on more federal austerity and a smaller government. Without much fanfare or acknowledgement, they've already gotten much of both.

Spending by federal, state and local governments on payrolls, equipment, buildings, teachers, emergency workers, defense programs and other core governmental functions has been shrinking steadily since the deep 2007-2009 recession and as the anemic recovery continues.

This recent shrinkage has largely been obscured by an increase in spending on benefit payments to individuals under "entitlement" programs, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans benefits. Retiring baby boomers are driving much of this increase.

Another round of huge cuts ? known in Washington parlance as the "sequester" ? will hit beginning March 1, potentially meaning layoffs for hundreds of thousands of federal workers unless Congress and President Barack Obama can strike a deficit-reduction deal to avert them.

With the deadline only a week off, Obama and Republicans who control the House are far apart over how to resolve the deadlock. While last-minute budget deals are frequent in Washington, neither side is optimistic of reaching one this time.

Even as the private sector has been slowly adding jobs, governments have been shedding them, holding down overall employment gains and keeping the jobless rate close to 8 percent, compared with normal non-recessionary levels of 5 to 6 percent that have prevailed since the 1950s.

"It's a massive drag on the economy. We lost three-quarter million public-sector jobs in the recovery," said economist Heidi Shierholz of the labor-friendly Economic Policy Institute. "We're still losing government jobs, although the pace has slowed. But we haven't turned around yet."

A larger-than-usual decline in federal spending, notably on defense programs, helped push the economy into negative territory in the final three months of 2012. Economic growth, meanwhile, has been inching along at a weak 1-2 percent ? not enough to significantly further drive down the national unemployment rate, which now stands at 7.9 percent.

Although federal spending is projected to decline from 22.8 percent of the gross domestic product recorded last year to 21.5 percent by 2017, it still will exceed the 40-year-average of 21.0 percent, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Spending peaked at 25.2 percent of GDP in 2009.

The budget office also said the economy is roughly 5.5 percent smaller than it would have been had there been no recession.

The Defense Department already has made deep spending cuts, and outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said 800,000 civilian Pentagon employees were notified this week they likely are to be placed on periods of unpaid leave due to lawmakers' failure to act.

The recent downsizing in government is most pronounced at the state and local levels. Most states have constitutional or statutory requirements for balanced budgets.

That means nearly all states are prohibited from running budget deficits, while the federal government is not.

Not only can the federal government run deficits, but it can print money ? through actions by the Federal Reserve ? something states are prohibited from doing.

Those calling for a smaller government mostly don't take notice of the wave of recent cutbacks. Their clarion call remains Ronald Reagan's mantra: Government doesn't solve problems, it is the problem.

"This spending issue is the biggest issue that threatens our future," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, says. "When are we going to get serious about our long-term spending problem?"

And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, delivering the GOP response to Obama's State of the Union address, said "a major cause of our recent downturn was a housing crisis created by reckless government policies."

Soaring recent government deficits are partially a side effect of the worst recession since the 1930s, which took a huge bite out of tax revenues at the same time spending increased on recession-fighting programs like unemployment compensation and stimulus measures under both Presidents George W. Bush and Obama.

"The problem going forward is one of demographics and rising health care. It is the baby boom generation retiring," said Alice Rivlin, a White House budget director under President Bill Clinton. "It's the fact that everybody is living longer."

Republicans argue that entitlement programs should be on the cutting board as well as other government programs. Democrats generally have been more protective of them, although the president and many congressional Democrats acknowledge some paring of these popular programs is in order.

The federal budget deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 is estimated to be $845 billion ? the first time it's dropped below $1 trillion in five years. But it's on track to rise again as more and more baby boomers retire and qualify for federal benefits and as interest payments on the national debt keep going up.

The national debt first inched past $1 trillion early in the Reagan administration and has grown in leaps and bounds ever since through both Democratic and Republican presidencies. It now stands at $16.6 trillion and is on a path toward soon becoming unsustainable, both parties agree.

Unchecked, entitlement payments will add roughly $700 billion to the debt over the next four years.

For now, though, "the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression," top White House economic adviser Alan Krueger says.

Under the sequester law, roughly $85 billion in federal spending would be slashed in the remaining seven months of this fiscal year and a total of $1.2 trillion in cuts over 10 years.

While entitlement programs and uniformed military personnel would be exempt, the rest of the government would be hit with indiscriminate across-the-board cuts.

Obama wants government deficits trimmed through a mix of selective spending cuts and new tax revenues, mostly by ending deductions and tax credits frequently claimed by the wealthiest Americans.

Republicans oppose any new taxes, even if for closing loopholes rather than increasing rates.

The looming spending cuts were first scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1. But they were postponed to March 1 as part of year-end "fiscal cliff" negotiations that also raised tax rates on affluent Americans. Republicans insist that's enough tax increasing for now.

___

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/govt-downsizes-amid-gop-demands-more-cuts-082500640--politics.html

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World premiere of muscle and nerve controlled arm prosthesis

Feb. 22, 2013 ? Electrodes have been permanently implanted in nerves and muscles of an amputee to directly control an arm prosthesis, for the first time. The result allows natural control of an advanced robotic prosthesis, similarly to the motions of a natural limb.

A surgical team led by Dr Rickard Br?nemark, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, has carried out the first operation of its kind, where neuromuscular electrodes have been permanently implanted in an amputee. The operation was possible thanks to new advanced technology developed by Max Ortiz Catalan, supervised by Rickard Br?nemark at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Bo H?kansson at Chalmers University of Technology.

"The new technology is a major breakthrough that has many advantages over current technology, which provides very limited functionality to patients with missing limbs," says Rickard Br?nemark.

Big challenges There have been two major issues on the advancement of robotic prostheses:

1) how to firmly attach an artificial limb to the human body;

2) how to intuitively and efficiently control the prosthesis in order to be truly useful and regain lost functionality.

"This technology solves both these problems by combining a bone anchored prosthesis with implanted electrodes," said Rickard Br?nemark, who along with his team has developed a pioneering implant system called Opra, Osseointegrated Prostheses for the Rehabilitation of Amputees.

A titanium screw, so-called osseointegrated implant, is used to anchor the prosthesis directly to the stump, which provides many advantages over a traditionally used socket prosthesis.

"It allows complete degree of motion for the patient, fewer skin related problems and a more natural feeling that the prosthesis is part of the body. Overall, it brings better quality of life to people who are amputees," says Rickard Br?nemark.

How it works Presently, robotic prostheses rely on electrodes over the skin to pick up the muscles electrical activity to drive few actions by the prosthesis. The problem with this approach is that normally only two functions are regained out of the tens of different movements an able-body is capable of. By using implanted electrodes, more signals can be retrieved, and therefore control of more movements is possible. Furthermore, it is also possible to provide the patient with natural perception, or "feeling," through neural stimulation.

"We believe that implanted electrodes, together with a long-term stable human-machine interface provided by the osseointegrated implant, is a breakthrough that will pave the way for a new era in limb replacement," says Rickard Br?nemark.

The patient The first patient has recently been treated with this technology, and the first tests gave excellent results. The patient, a previous user of a robotic hand, reported major difficulties in operating that device in cold and hot environments and interference from shoulder muscles. These issues have now disappeared, thanks to the new system, and the patient has now reported that almost no effort is required to generate control signals. Moreover, tests have shown that more movements may be performed in a coordinated way, and that several movements can be performed simultaneously.

"The next step will be to test electrical stimulation of nerves to see if the patient can sense environmental stimuli, that is, get an artificial sensation. The ultimate goal is to make a more natural way to replace a lost limb, to improve the quality of life for people with amputations," says Rickard Br?nemark.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Chalmers University of Technology.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/ugKr2bCg3Ew/130222075730.htm

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Parents talking about their own drug use to children could be detrimental

Feb. 22, 2013 ? Parents know that one day they will have to talk to their children about drug use. The hardest part is to decide whether or not talking about ones own drug use will be useful in communicating an antidrug message. Recent research, published in the journal Human Communication Research, found that children whose parents did not disclose drug use, but delivered a strong antidrug message, were more likely to exhibit antidrug attitudes.

Jennifer A. Kam, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Ashley V. Middleton, MSO Health Information Management, published in Human Communication Research their findings from surveys of 253 Latino and 308 European American students from the sixth through eighth grades. The students reported on the conversations that they have had with their parents about alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. Kam and Middleton were interested in determining how certain types of messages were related to the students' substance-use perceptions, and in turn, behaviors.

Past research found that teens reported that they would be less likely to use drugs if their parents told them about their own past drug use. In Kam and Middleton's study, however, Latino and European American children who reported that their parents talked about the negative consequences, or regret, over their own past substance use were actually less likely to report anti-substance-use perceptions. This finding means that when parents share their past stories of substance use, even when there is a learning lesson, such messages may have unintended consequences for early adolescent children.

Kam and Middleton's study identifies specific messages that parents can relay to their children about alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana that may encourage anti-substance-use perceptions, and in turn, discourage actual substance use. For example, parents may talk to their kids about the negative consequences of using substances, how to avoid substances, that they disapprove of substance use, the family rules against substance use, and stories about others who have gotten in trouble from using substances.

"Parents may want to reconsider whether they should talk to their kids about times when they used substances in the past and not volunteer such information, Kam said. "Of course, it is important to remember this study is one of the first to examine the associations between parents' references to their own past substance use and their adolescent children's subsequent perceptions and behaviors."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by International Communication Association, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Jennifer A. Kam, Ashley V. Middleton. The Associations Between Parents' References to Their Own Past Substance Use and Youth's Substance-Use Beliefs and Behaviors: A Comparison of Latino and European American Youth. Human Communication Research, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/hcre.12001

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/child_development/~3/fpA8tU5i6Hw/130222083127.htm

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PlayStation 4: Sony seeks head start over Microsoft

Reuters

Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group...

Sony will launch its next-generation PlayStation this year, hoping it will get a much-needed head start over the next version of Microsoft?s Xbox

Sony Corp said it will launch its next-generation PlayStation this year, hoping its first video game console in seven years will give it a much-needed head start over the next version of Microsoft?s Xbox and help revive its stumbling electronics business.

The new console will have a revamped interface, let users stream and play video games hosted on servers, and allow users to play while downloading titles as well as share videos with friends. Its new controller, dubbed DualShock 4, will have a touchpad and a camera that can sense the depth of the environment in front of it.

Sony, which only displayed the controller but not the console, said on Wednesday the PlayStation 4 would be available for the year-end holiday season and flagged games from the likes of Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Activision Blizzard Inc, whose top executives also attended the glitzy launch event.

It did not disclose pricing or an exact launch date.

Sony?s announcement comes amid industry speculation that Microsoft Corp is set to unveil the successor to its Xbox 360 later this summer. The current Xbox 360 beats the seven-year-old PlayStation 3?s online network with features such as voice commands on interactive gaming and better connectivity to smartphones and tablets.

But all video game console makers are grappling with the onslaught of mobile devices into their turf.

Tablets and smartphones built by rivals such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd already account for around 10 percent of the $80 billion gaming market. Those mobile devices, analysts predict, will within a few years be as powerful as the current slew of game-only consoles.

?It looks good and had a lot of great games but the industry is different now,? Billy Pidgeon, an analyst at Inside Network Research, said of the new PlayStation.

?It?ll be a slow burn and not heavy uptake right away.?

MIGRATION TO MOBILE

Console makers will also have to tackle flagging video game hardware and software sales, which research firm NPD group says have dropped consistently every month over the last year as users migrate to free game content on mobile devices.

PlayStation 4 will have an app on Android and Apple mobile devices that connects to console games and can act as a second screen, Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said in an interview.

?Playstation 4 ? really connects every device in the office and the smartphone and the tablet out there in the world,? Tretton said.

The console, which has been in development for the last five years, will have 8 GB of memory and will instantly stream game content from the console to Sony?s handheld PlayStation Vita through a feature called ?Remote Play,? the company said.

?What Sony is banking on is the ease of the use of this system,? Greg Miller, PlayStation executive editor at video game site IGN.com, said.

After six years, Sony PlayStation sales are just shy of Xbox?s 67 million installed base and well behind the 100 million Wii consoles sold by Nintendo Co Ltd, according to analysts.

Tretton said it would be a big undertaking to manufacture and distribute the console in Sony?s four major markets by the end of the year, adding that it would be a ?phased rollout? that starts before the end of the year.

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia predicted Sony would probably get a couple of million units of the PlayStation 4 out by the 2013 holiday season and 7 million or 8 million out a year later.

Sony also announced a strategic partnership with video game publisher Activision Blizzard to take its Diablo III game to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 consoles.

Activision?s upcoming sci-fi shooter game ?Destiny? in development by its Bungie Studio will also be available on PlayStation consoles.

(Editing by Gary Hill, Bernard Orr and Edwina Gibbs)

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Appconomy launches mobile app platform for Chinese ecommerce merchants

Appconomy has announced a Cloud Commerce Platform, called Zhangyingbao in Chinese, that provides merchants on Taobao, Alibaba?s popular C2C ecommerce marketplace, with a service for making custom mobile apps for their storefronts.

The startup, which is dual-headquartered in Shanghai, China and Austin, US, has been testing the service since late last year, already helping more than 2,000 merchants create apps.

Appconomy CEO Brian Magierski views the new platform as a solution to the problem that online retailers have with forming lasting relationships with their customers.

?The Zhangyingbao service, through the merchant-specific mobile apps it generates, offers a robust solution to the problem, providing merchants a unique, convenient option that saves on advertising costs, enhances their shop?s popularity, and builds strong relations with their customers via in-app notifications and other communications,? he said.

 Appconomy launches mobile app platform for Chinese ecommerce merchants

Zhangyingbao was built ?in a matter of weeks? with the help of Neusoft, which provided integration and support services.

Taobao, roughly the equivalent to eBay in the States, is huge in China. It has played a significant part in the development of the country?s overall ecommerce ecosystem. Taobao and Alibaba?s B2C Tmall site had a combined sales volume of over $157 billion (RMB 1 trillion) last year.

Appconomy wrapped up a $16 million Series A funding round late last year. The company has also developed a mobile rewards program for Chinese retailers and merchants that consolidates their promotions into a single app.

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