Trackable drug-filled nanoparticles: Potential weapon against cancer

Feb. 28, 2013 ? Tiny particles filled with a drug could be a new tool for treating cancer in the future. A new study published by Swedish scientists in Particle & Particle Systems Characterization shows how such nanoparticles can be combined to secure the effective delivery of cancer drugs to tumour cells -- and how they can be given properties to make them visible in MR scanners and thus rendered trackable.

The team, which consisted of scientists from Karolinska Institutet (KI) and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, and from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, developed so-called 'theranostic nanoparticles' by combining therapy and diagnostics in one and the same nano material.

"For this study, we produced theranostic nanoparticles able to make pinpoint deliveries of drug payloads to breast cancer cells," says Professor Eva Malmstr?m of the School of Chemical Science and Engineering at KTH. "They are also detectable in an MR scanner and can therefore be used diagnostically. The building blocks that we use are biodegradable and show no signs of toxicity."

The new study has resulted in a method of making such theranostic nanoparticles that spontaneously form themselves out of tailored macromolecules (polymers). The balance between hydrophilic (water attracting) and hydrophobic (water repelling) components are important to the successful outcome of this process, the latter being what makes it possible for the particles to be filled with the drug. A relatively high concentration of the naturally occurring isotope 19F (fluorine) makes the particles show up clearly in high-resolution MR tomograms, and by tracking the theranostic nanoparticles through the body, researchers can learn about how the drug is taken up by the tumour and how efficacious the treatment is.

The researchers filled the nanoparticles with the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin, which is used to treat cancer of the bladder, lungs, ovaries, and breast. They showed through experiments on cultivated cells that the particles, while harmless in themselves, are effective at killing cancer cells when loaded with the drug.

The next step is to develop the system to target brain tumours, pancreatic cancer and drug-resistant breast cancer tumours, which are currently difficult to treat effectively with chemotherapy.

"Adding targeting groups to the surface or by changing the size of or adding ionic groups to our nanoparticles will make it possible to increase the selective uptake of these particles in tumours," says Dr Andreas Nystr?m, Associate Professor in nanomedicine at the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center, part of Karolinska Institutet's Department of Neuroscience.

It is hoped that one day this research will lead to tailored chemotherapy treatments that specifically seek out tumour cells. In that the drug, which is toxic to the body, can be delivered more precisely to the tumour, the treatment can be made much more effective with greatly reduced side-effects.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Karolinska Institutet, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Christian Porsch, Yuning Zhang, ?sa ?stlund, Peter Damberg, Cosimo Ducani, Eva Malmstr?m, and Andreas M. Nystr?m. 19F-based Polymer Nanoparticles as Breast Cancer Theranostics. Particle & Particle Systems Characterization, 28 February 2013 DOI: 10.1002/ppsc.201300018

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/Yb6Iq-SCyv0/130228113440.htm

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Google+ sign-in coming to apps and web

Google announced today that it is rolling out Google+ sign-in support for both apps and the web, giving users one-click login to third party services with their G+ account. Technically called "application sign-in", this new feature will replicate what many are used to with plain old Google sign-in, but now with enhanced features that come along with Google+. Similarly to the way sites and apps can now authenticate you with your Facebook or Twitter accounts, Google+ will now be an option when visiting sites that have integrated the service.

You get all of the perks of having site credentials tied to your Google Account, as well as the improved sharing functions that come along with Google+. When sharing from an app that has the service integrated, people that see the post on Google+ will be able to directly act on the item you shared -- for example sharing a radio program from TuneIn Radio will give a direct "listen" button right in the post, or sharing a listing on Open Table will give a button to view the restaurant's menu. This is very similar to the way Google already integrates app installs and music purchases into Google+ posts.

Developers that use Google+ sign-in on the web will also be able to offer users their Android apps directly from their own website, with a pop-up "install" screen that looks identical to the one found on the Play Store. About a dozen different sites are on board with this initial launch of the new application sign-in, with more on the way. It will be interesting to see how many apps take advantage of the new Google+ sign-in option and sharing improvements.

Source: Google Developers Blog

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ERKSfMOf0k8/story01.htm

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Live Chat on Compulsive Hoarding -- Tuesday, February 26 at 4 P.M. EST

Join us for a live online chat with Randy Frost of Smith College and Lee Shuer on compulsive hoarding

By The Editors

Image: Flickr/buzzfarmers

Scientific American recently published an article about compulsive hoarding, which is defined as the excessive accumulation of stuff and the refusal to discard it, resulting in problematic clutter. This May, the new edition of psychiatry's standard guidebook (the DSM-5) will recognize compulsive hoarding as an official disorder, separate from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Research in the last ten years has shown that hoarding and OCD are distinct, changed the way psychologists think about hoarding, refuted popular assumptions about people with excessive clutter and informed new, promising treatments. Today at 4pm EST, Randy Frost of Smith College ? a leading expert on hoarding ? and Lee Shuer, who is currently decluttering his home in Massachusetts, join us for a live web chat.

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=007a9b51bcce538759c6c4d702c45869

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Powers hope for Iranian "feedback" on nuclear offer

ALMATY (Reuters) - World powers presented Iran with an updated offer during negotiations on its nuclear program in Almaty on Tuesday, and hope for "more detailed feedback" from the Iranian side when talks resume as scheduled on Wednesday, an EU spokesman said.

"We had a useful meeting today," Michael Mann, spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, told reporters after the first day of the talks.

"Hopefully the Iranians will be able to reflect overnight and will come back and view our proposal positively," he said, declining to give details of the powers' proposal.

Western officials have said it includes an offer to ease sanctions on trade in gold and other precious metals if Iran agrees to halt its most sensitive nuclear activity, which the West suspects has a military dimension - something Iran denies.

Mann said the proposal by the six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - had been discussed during Tuesday's talks, but he did not elaborate.

"The proposal was set out in a relatively clear fashion," he said. "The Iranians went away to consider our proposal (and) there were further discussions in the course of the afternoon and the evening ... the ball is in their court."

The talks in Kazakhstan were the first in eight months between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany - the "P5+1" - on a decade-old dispute that threatens to trigger another war in the Middle East.

Iran has used the time since the last meeting in June to further expand activity that the West suspects is aimed at enabling it to build a nuclear bomb, something that Israel has suggested it will prevent by force if diplomacy fails.

(Reporting by Justyna Pawlak, Yeganeh Torbati and Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/powers-hope-iranian-feedback-nuclear-offer-165849494.html

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Pain from the brain

Monday, February 25, 2013

Psychogenic diseases, formerly known as 'hysterical' illnesses, can have many severe symptoms such as painful cramps or paralysis but without any physical explanation. However, new research from the University of Cambridge and UCL (University College London) suggests that individuals with psychogenic disease, that is to say physical illness that stems from emotional or mental stresses, do have brains that function differently. The research was published today, 25 February, in the journal Brain.

Psychogenic diseases may look very similar to illnesses caused by damage to nerves, the brain or the muscles, or similar to genetic diseases of the nervous system. However, unlike organic diseases, psychogenic diseases do not have any apparent physical cause, making them difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to treat.

"The processes leading to these disorders are poorly understood, complex and highly variable. As a result, treatments are also complex, often lengthy and in many cases there is poor recovery. In order to improve treatment of these disorders, it is important to first understand the underlying mechanism," said Dr James Rowe from the University of Cambridge.

The study looked at people with either psychogenic or organic dystonia, as well as healthy people with no dystonia. Both types of dystonia caused painful and disabling muscle contractions affecting the leg. The organic patient group had a gene mutation (the DYT1 gene) that caused their dystonia. The psychogenic patients had the symptoms of dystonia but did not have any physical explanation for the disease, even after extensive investigations.

The scientists performed PET brain scans on the volunteers at UCL, to measure the blood flow and brain activity of both of the groups, and healthy volunteers. The participants were scanned with three different foot positions: resting, moving their foot, and holding their leg in a dystonic position. The electrical activity of the leg muscles was measured at the same time to determine which muscles were engaged during the scans.

The researchers found that the brain function of individuals with the psychogenic illness was not normal. The changes were, however, very different from the brains of individuals with the organic (genetic) disease.

Dr Anette Schrag, from UCL, said: "Finding abnormalities of brain function that are very different from those in the organic form of dystonia opens up a way for researchers to learn how psychological factors can, by changing brain function, lead to physical problems."

Dr Rowe added: "What struck me was just how very different the abnormal brain function was in patients with the genetic and the psychogenic dystonia. Even more striking was that the differences were there all the time, whether the patients were resting or trying to move."

Additionally, the researchers found that one part of the brain previously thought to indicate psychogenic disease is unreliable: abnormal activity of the prefrontal cortex was thought to be the hallmark of psychogenic diseases. In this study, the scientists showed that this abnormality is not unique to psychogenic disease, since activity was also present in the patients with the genetic cause of dystonia when they tried to move their foot.

Dr Arpan Mehta, from the University of Cambridge, said: "It is interesting that, despite the differences, both types of patient had one thing in common - a problem at the front of the brain. This area controls attention to our movements and although the abnormality is not unique to psychogenic dystonia, it is part of the problem."

This type of illness is very common. Dr Schrag said: "One in six patients that see a neurologist has a psychogenic illness. They are as ill as someone with organic disease, but with a different cause and different treatment needs. Understanding these disorders, diagnosing them early and finding the right treatment are all clearly very important. We are hopeful that these results might help doctors and patients understand the mechanism leading to this disorder, and guide better treatments."

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University of Cambridge: http://www.cam.ac.uk

Thanks to University of Cambridge for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127002/Pain_from_the_brain

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Source: http://culturapopulara.ro/?p=25384

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Italian turnout drops in key national election

A man casts his vote for the Italian Senate, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini)

A man casts his vote for the Italian Senate, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini)

Pier Luigi Bersani, right, leader of the Democratic Party, casts his ballot with his wife Daniela, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini)

Outgoing Premier Mario Monti prepares to vote, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

A woman casts her ballot for the Italian Lower Chamber, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini)

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano casts his ballot, in Rome, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Antonio Di Gennario, Italian Presidential press service, ho)

ROME (AP) ? Italians began voting for a second day Monday in a national election that will determine if they are prepared to stay the course of painful economic reform or send a message of discontinuity to the political class that led the country to the brink of disaster by rallying around a protest party.

Polls close at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT), ending two days of voting in an election being closely watched by Italy's eurozone partners as well as international investors trying to decide if they consider the eurozone's third-largest economy a good bet. The Italian treasury will sell up to ?3 billion in 12-month bonds, providing a glimpse of market sentiment in the last hours of voting, although no information on the election outcome will be available yet.

Turnout was 55 percent when polls closed Monday night, 7 percentage points below the turnout rate in the last national election in 2008 . Experts say a low turnout will hurt the mainstream parties. Usually around 80 percent of the 50 million eligible voters go to the polls.

Leading the electoral field is Pier Luigi Bersani, a former communist who drafted liberalization reforms under previous center-left governments and supported tough measures pushed by incumbent Premier Mario Monti. Silvio Berlusconi, who was forced from office in November 2011 by the debt crisis, has sought to close the gap by promising constituents to restore an unpopular tax ? a tactic that brought him within a hair's breadth of winning the 2006 election.

Monti, respected abroad for his measures that helped stave off Italy's debt crisis, has widely been blamed for financial suffering caused by austerity cuts and was trailing in fourth place.

The great unknown is comic-turned-political agitator Beppe Grillo, whose protest movement against the entrenched political class has gained in strength following a series of corporate scandals that only seemed to confirm the worst about Italy's establishment. If his self-styled political "tsunami," which was polling third, sweeps into Parliament with a big chunk of seats, Italy could be in store for a prolonged period of political confusion that would spook the markets.

Bersani's lead in opinion polls, around 33 percent to Berlusconi's 28, before a blackout on polls took effect 15 days ago would give him enough to control the lower house thanks to a widely contested electoral law that awards a premium to the leading party. But it will be more difficult for him to gain control also of the Senate, which is decided by regional votes with Lombardy, the nation's wealthiest state and longtime Berlusconi stronghold, playing a critical role.

Most analysts believe Bersani would seek an alliance with center-right Monti to secure a stable government, assuming parties gathered under Monti's centrist banner gain enough votes. While left-leaning Bersani has found much in common with Monti, much of his party's base is considerably further to the left and could rebel.

Given the uncertainty of possible alliances, a clear picture of prospects for a new Italian government could take days.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-25-Italy-Elections/id-824b888c88c745fcbdafbcfaab2f124c

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One corner of Manhattan still a ghost town months after Sandy

NEW YORK (AP) -- The historic cobblestone streets and 19th-century mercantile buildings near the water's edge in lower Manhattan are eerily deserted, a neighborhood silenced by Superstorm Sandy.

Just blocks from the tall-masted ships that rise above South Street Seaport, the windows of narrow brick apartment buildings are still crisscrossed with masking tape left by their owners before the storm. Store interiors are stripped down to plywood and wiring. Restaurants are chained shut, frozen in time, saddled with electrical systems that were ruined by several feet of salt water that raced up from the East River and through their front doors.

"People have no clue that this corner of Manhattan has been hit so badly," said Adam Weprin, manager of the Bridge Cafe, one of the city's oldest bars that sits on a quiet street near the seaport. "Right now, it's a ghost town and a construction site."

Nearly four months after the storm, roughly 85 percent of small businesses near the South Street Seaport are still boarded up. It could be months before some reopen, while others may never return. On Fulton Street, the wide tourist-friendly pedestrian walkway that comprises the seaport's main shopping district, not a single one of the major chain stores ? which include Coach, Ann Taylor and Brookstone ? has reopened.

Among local business owners, there is a pervasive sense that their plight has been ignored by the rest of the city. A state senator who represents the area estimates at least 1,000 jobs were lost in lower Manhattan ? 450 of them in the seaport neighborhood alone.

From its red wood-frame building in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Bridge Cafe has dealt with its share of changes over the last two centuries, including stints as a Civil War-era brothel and a bootlegging speakeasy during Prohibition. It has endured economic slumps, nor'easters and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But after the basement was flooded to the rafters and water destroyed the building's wood foundation, Weprin faced the prospect of shutting its doors for good.

"The neighborhood's been beaten," Weprin said. "You walk around here and it's like Chernobyl. At night, it's vacated."

The small businesses of the seaport were far less resilient than the neighboring skyscrapers that house many of lower Manhattan's large financial companies.

Some corporations were displaced for weeks after the storm, forced to relocate to temporary office space farther uptown while flood-damaged skyscrapers fixed their infrastructure and moved electrical systems to higher floors. Con Edison said 10 major buildings remained without power as of Feb. 13, most operating on emergency generators.

At 110 Wall St., a 27-story office tower that occupies a full block near the New York Stock Exchange, all leases were terminated because the building was so badly damaged by flooding. It remains empty while its management company comes up with a long-term plan for weathering future storms.

"How do we protect the lobby?" said William Rudin, the company's CEO. "How do we protect the retail spaces?"

Spotty phone and Internet service also hampered business activity after underground copper cables operated by Verizon, the area's largest network provider, were wrecked by flooding. By mid-February, Verizon said 10 percent of its customers still had little or no service.

It's unclear how many residents of lower Manhattan fled the neighborhood after Sandy. But 2 Gold St., a flood-damaged luxury residential skyscraper with nearly 1,000 residents, did not allow tenants to start moving back in until last week.

"These offices, these high-rise apartments, they need to be reoccupied," said Lee Holin, who owns Meade's Restaurant, which sits on the edge of the seaport a few blocks from Sandy-damaged skyscrapers on Water Street. "All of our customers who live there have not been here in a long time."

Meade's was only able to reopen thanks to a $25,000 grant that Holin received from the Downtown Alliance, a neighborhood association that has doled out 100 grants to small businesses totaling about $1.5 million.

The grant program was so popular that it was suspended two weeks after its debut in mid-November.

"We don't have a lot of traffic," said Nicole Osborne, who was tending the bar at Meade's on a weekday afternoon. "It's like we've been forgotten."

In the darkened window of Stella Manhattan Bistro, an Italian restaurant on Front Street, hung an American flag reminiscent of those displayed all over the city after Sept. 11. Alongside it, someone had posted a sign that said: "Thank you for all your support. Stay strong."

Most of the Front Street buildings had a geothermal heating and cooling system that was destroyed in the flood, said Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for the developer, The Durst Organization, Inc. The repairs, which include moving the mechanical systems to the roof, are expected to drag on for months.

"We hope that they will come back," Barowitz said of the shuttered businesses. "It's very challenging."

The future of the South Street Seaport is equally uncertain. Howard Hughes Corp, which controls the former 19th-century counting houses that are home to the retail chains, said it does not yet know which ? if any ? of the major retailers will come back. The hope is to have Fulton Street in working order again before Memorial Day, when the summer season kicks off and the seaport will desperately need an influx of visitors.

But in a case of unfortunate timing, Pier 17, the shopping mall housed inside a rustic wooden building on the pier, is slated to close for a long-planned renovation in June that will transform it into a modern glass-walled structure with a rooftop plaza. The impending renovation has only added to the misery of shop owners who lost so much revenue since the storm and haven't recouped their losses.

Milad Doos, an immigrant from Egypt, is planning to close his jewelry and collectibles store for good.

"Like you see, there's nobody," said Doos, who earned just $5 on a recent afternoon. "After the storm, this whole place has become dead place."

At the Bridge Cafe, most of the wood foundation will be gutted, sparing only two pillars and a wall behind the bar that are part of the original building. Repairs will cost around $400,000.

Weprin, who has no flood insurance, launched a fundraising page online to appeal for financial help from the restaurant's many loyal patrons. To his astonishment, many of them didn't even realize the place was closed.

That's because nobody has frequented the neighborhood for weeks.

"During the day, you have tourists who are coming to look at the carnage," Weprin said. "That's about it. Before Sandy, it was a neighborhood."

___

Associated Press Writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-seaport-ghost-town-months-074608566.html

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Israel closely watching what weapons are being sent to Syria?s rebels

JERUSALEM -- Israel is closely monitoring the kinds of weapons that are being sent to Syrian rebel groups, and it?s consulted with U.S. officials about which weapons they consider too sophisticated to be passed to the groups that are battling to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to Israeli officials with knowledge of the situation.

"Israel isn?t going to interfere and stop weapons shipments to the rebels at this point, but it wants to make sure it knows what they have," said an Israeli military official who agreed to discuss the matter with McClatchy only on the condition of anonymity because he wasn?t authorized to discuss it publicly.

Another military official who also asked not to be identified, for the same reason, acknowledged that Israel is concerned that the pressure to assist the rebels will result in weapons going to al Qaida-linked militants that have proved to be the anti-Assad forces? best fighters.

"On the one hand, there is a great deal of pressure on the Western world to bolster arms to moderate, what we call friendly, rebel groups so that they are on a level playing field with the groups that might be getting support from Islamist movements," this official told McClatchy. "On the other hand, once you send a weapon somewhere, you can?t control where it goes. The fear is that the same gun used to shoot a Syrian soldier will one day be used to shoot an Israeli soldier."

It?s long been known that Israel was monitoring the Assad regime?s internal movements of chemical and other sophisticated weapons out of concern that they might fall into the hands of al Qaida-linked rebels such as the Nusra Front or be passed to avowed enemies such as Lebanon?s Hezbollah, which has sent fighters to Syria to fight on Assad?s behalf. On Jan. 30, Israeli destroyed a convoy in Syria that sources said Israel feared was carrying anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah.

Until now, however, Israeli officials have been silent on their concerns about what weapons other nations might pass to the rebels. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who?s stressed that Israel won?t allow advanced weapons systems to move from Syria to militant groups in Lebanon, has stopped short of commenting on the flow of weapons into Syria.

The White House raised the possibility that weapons passed to the rebels might pose a threat to Israel two weeks ago in comments explaining why President Barack Obama had vetoed a plan, put forward sometime last year, to send military equipment to the rebels. The plan had the backing of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then-CIA director David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Panetta told a Senate committee Feb. 7.

Asked why the president had rejected a plan that his war Cabinet backed, White House spokesman Jay Carney offered the threat to Israel as one of the reasons.

?We don?t want any weapons to fall into the wrong hands and potentially further endanger the Syrian people, our ally Israel or the United States," Carney said. He later repeated the comment about danger to Israel, reinforcing that the concern had played a role in Obama?s decision.

Israel has been largely silent on its concerns about developments in Syria, and the second military officer said that was unlikely to change, especially about its concerns that weapons shipments to the rebels might be turned on Israel one day. He said officials worried that any public expression of concern would upset Israel?s efforts to improve relations with Turkey, one of the most vocal supporters of the anti-Assad forces. Many weapons shipments bound for the rebels are thought to cross into Syria from Turkey. Saudi Arabia and Qatar reportedly are the primary financiers of those shipments.

Source: http://www.modbee.com/2013/02/22/2589830/israel-closely-watching-what-weapons.html

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Stocks open higher following a two-day decline

Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street following a two-day decline.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 71 points to 13,952 shortly after the opening bell Friday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up eight at 1,510. The Nasdaq composite rose 18 to 3,149.

Markets are bouncing back after being spooked by a split among Federal Reserve officials over whether to push forward with economic stimulus programs or begin weaning the nation off of them.

Hewlett-Packard jumped 7 percent after the struggling computer maker reported results late Thursday that trumped the forecasts of financial analysts.

American International Group rose 4 percent. Its results also came in better than the market was expecting.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-open-higher-following-two-day-decline-144718810--finance.html

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Employees shed pounds in worksite-based weight loss intervention with behavioral counseling

Feb. 20, 2013 ? Workplace-based programs that include dietary advice coupled with behavioral counseling appear to be a promising approach for men and women with significant weight loss goals, based on the results of a pilot study conducted by researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University. Employees enrolled in the intervention arm of a randomized controlled trial lost on average, 18 pounds over a six-month period compared to a two pound weight gain in a control group.

The study results are published online ahead of print by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"Although previous research has focused on weight loss interventions based in office settings, those studies that we are aware of report modest weight loss over periods ranging from three months to two years. To the best of our knowledge, our approach is unique because of the inclusion of a strong behavioral component," says Senior Author Sai Krupa Das, Ph.D., a scientist in the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA at Tufts University. "Over the course of the intervention, a counselor with training in both nutrition and behavior modification met at first weekly and later bi-weekly with the participants as a group during their lunch hour. In these sessions, discussions focused on strategies for menu planning, portion control and managing hunger, as well as dealing with stress-related and emotional eating. The participants also received individual support in a weekly e-mail exchange with the counselor."

The weight loss component of the study enrolled men and women from four Boston area companies, all of whom had a body mass index (BMI) classifying them as overweight or obese. Eighty-four (84) men and women from two of the companies, one for-profit and one non-profit, completed the intervention. Thirty-four (34) employees from the other two companies served as the control group.

For six months, the employees enrolled in the intervention followed a reduced calorie diet, emphasizing low-glycemic and high fiber foods that are less likely to raise blood sugar. The participants were responsible for purchasing and preparing their own food. At the completion of the intervention, Das and colleagues observed substantial improvements in common markers for cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk. These included lower total cholesterol and glucose levels and lower blood pressure compared to the control group. Additionally, the intervention participants were given the option to enroll in a six-month, structured maintenance program. No significant weight re-gain was observed in the 40 participants who enrolled and stayed in the program.

"Based on our results, it seemed the weight loss intervention became embedded in the office culture and also helped the weight of people who were not enrolled in the program," said Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D., a co-author of the study and director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory. "We made an effort to reach employees who were not involved by producing a series of newsletters and holding monthly seminars on general health-related topics such as cardiovascular health, childhood nutrition and exercise."

"To gauge the impact of this parallel programming, we asked employees in all four worksites who did not participate in the weight loss intervention to provide us with a self report of their body weight and we saw an encouraging ripple effect," added Roberts, who is also the author of The "I" Diet book and program upon which the intervention is based, a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and an adjunct professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM). "Overweight and obese employees at the intervention sites lost up to three pounds while employees at the control sites gained up to two pounds."

The authors recommend future studies that include more worksites and longer post-intervention follow-up. "For example, the current study does not explain why the employees at the non-profit intervention site lost significantly less weight than the employees at the for-profit site," said Das, who is also an assistant professor at the Friedman School. "It would be valuable to know what exactly about the culture fostered the success, because offices are really wonderful settings for weight loss groups. Co-workers have established relationships, creating an automatic support system and level of comfort. There is also the benefit of not having to set aside as much additional time for weight management. It can be built right into the work day."

This study was supported by a pilot grant from the USDA HNRCA at Tufts University (pilot grant H15001-DAX023) and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) (grant T32 HL 069772).

Additional authors of this study include Taylor Salinardi, Ph.D., a 2012 graduate of the Friedman School; Payal Batra, Ph.D., and Lorien Urban, Ph.D., postdoctoral associates in the Energy Metabolism Laboratory; Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc. director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA at Tufts University and the Stanley N. Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy at the Friedman School; Anastassios G. Pittas, M.D., Co-Director of the Diabetes Center at Tufts Medical Center and associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) and Edward Saltzman, M.D., a scientist in the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA at Tufts University and an associate professor at the Friedman School and TUSM.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Tufts University, via Newswise.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Salinardi TC; Batra P; Roberts SB; Urban LE; Robinson LM; Pittas AG; Lichtenstein AH; Deckersbach T; Saltzman E; and Das SK. Lifestyle intervention reduces body weight and improves cardiometabolic risk factors in worksites. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, February 20, 2013 DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.112.046995

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/y1rB2zYITlA/130220163557.htm

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Video: Steve Case on immigration opportunity

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032608/vp/50897581#50897581

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Firm defiant over advertising signs - Stuff

Watchdog ruling to be challenged

AL WILLIAMS

A Timaru business will challenge a ruling that deems its advertising campaign offensive.

Independent Forklifts has earned a slap on the wrist from the Advertising Standards Authority for using a "sexualised and objectified" woman in scanty clothing on its vans.

The campaign features different women with a forklift in the background. The text reads: "You know you're not the first ... But does that really matter? Used Forklifts."

A complaint was upheld on the grounds the ad was offensive, saying it used inappropriate sexual appeal.

General manager Merv Dore disagrees and says he will appeal the decision.

"There is so much of that sort of thing around; we feel a bit victimised really."

He said the campaign had been running for three years without complaint.

"Half of our vans have got some sort of image on them; this is the first complaint in three years."

He said the imagery was acceptable, considering All Black Dan Carter appeared in his underwear in a Jockey campaign.

"The forklift industry is a male-dominated industry and an equal opportunity industry."

He said each van cost $1500 to signwrite and the signage would not be removed. ASA decisions are not legally enforceable. The self-governing agency can only ask that advertisements be withdrawn. Requests are usually complied with.

Two of the vans with the disputed theme operate out of Timaru, three out of Christchurch and one out of Nelson.

The complaint, by M Robertson, said it was "just offensive to see that women's bodies are used to sell a service that clearly targets men".

"It becomes a sort of attention-seeking behaviour that is in many ways detrimental to how all women are viewed," the authority was told.

The watchdog also said as the advert was on a vehicle, it would be highly visible to the general public, including children, rather than just its presumed target market of adult men. The Jockey ads were different as the product being sold was underwear.

The Advertising Code states products cannot be promoted through the use of exploitative or degrading sexual images, especially if the product is completely unrelated to such images.

- ? Fairfax NZ News

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Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/8327372/Firm-defiant-over-advertising-signs

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Justin Timberlake Premieres 'Mirrors' At The BRIT Awards

Timberlake treated the British audience to the first-ever performance of his brand new song on Wednesday night.
By James Montgomery

Justin Timberlake performs at the 2013 Brit Awards on Wednesday
Photo: Matt Kent/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702282/justin-timberlake-brit-awards-performance.jhtml

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'Good Day to Die Hard' debuts with $28.6M take

FILE - This publicity film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Bruce Willis as John McClane, left, Jai Courtney as his son Jack, center and Sebastian Koch as Komarov in a scene from "A Good Day to Die Hard." (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Frank Masi, File)

FILE - This publicity film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Bruce Willis as John McClane, left, Jai Courtney as his son Jack, center and Sebastian Koch as Komarov in a scene from "A Good Day to Die Hard." (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Frank Masi, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Bruce Willis' action sequel "A Good Day to Die Hard" hauled in $28.6 million to lead the box office over the long President's Day weekend.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "A Good Day to Die Hard," Fox, $28,640,657, 3,553 locations, $8,061 average, $36,879,773, one week.

2. "Identity Thief," Universal, $27,456,470, 3,165 locations, $8,675 average, $74,744,255, two weeks.

3. "Safe Haven," Relativity Media, $24,469,155, 3,223 locations, $7,592 average, $33,298,073, one week.

4. "Escape from Planet Earth," Weinstein Co., $21,101,976, 3,288 locations, $6,418 average, $21,101,976, one week.

5. "Warm Bodies," Lionsgate, $10,550,103, 2,897 locations, $3,642 average, $51,770,634, three weeks.

6. "Beautiful Creatures," Warner Bros., $8,945,261, 2,950 locations, $3,032 average, $11,487,578, one week.

7. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $7,413,756, 2,202 locations, $3,367 average, $99,788,228, 14 weeks.

8. "Side Effects," Open Road Films, $7,299,145, 2,605 locations, $2,802 average, $20,119,981, two weeks.

9. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," Paramount, $4,176,456, 2,103 locations, $1,986 average, $50,405,251, four weeks.

10. "Zero Dark Thirty," Sony, $3,602,315, 1,522 locations, $2,367 average, $88,530,983, nine weeks.

11. "Mama," Universal, $3,081,765, 1,648 locations, $1,870 average, $68,561,940, five weeks.

12. "Argo," Warner Bros., $2,625,357, 903 locations, $2,907 average, $127,288,409, 19 weeks.

13. "Life of Pi," Fox, $2,074,617, 647 locations, $3,207 average, $111,376,518, 13 weeks.

14. "Lincoln," Disney, $2,063,120, 1,007 locations, $2,049 average, $176,651,047, 15 weeks.

15. "Django Unchained," Weinstein Co., $1,857,164, 1,017 locations, $1,826 average, $157,350,147, eight weeks.

16. "Quartet," Weinstein Co., $1,624,647, 333 locations, $4,879 average, $7,200,664, six weeks.

17. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," Warner Bros., $1,276,940, 605 locations, $2,111 average, $300,161,285, 10 weeks.

18. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $1,102,070, 506 locations, $2,178 average, $185,835,929, 16 weeks.

19. "Les Miserables," Universal, $1,098,445, 676 locations, $1,625 average, $145,764,425, eight weeks.

20. "Amour," Sony Pictures Classics, $858,412, 306 locations, $2,805 average, $4,081,541, nine weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-02-19-Box%20Office/id-ac64cb1f515e4569935f19cf0ab583ff

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AT&T to Offer the New HTC One Android Smartphone with LTE

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Source: http://www.mobiletechreview.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Board=news&Number=44248

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Noodle restaurant planned for Union Street

Council news??>??Press Releases??>??Noodle restaurant planned for Union Street

Aberdeen city centre is in line for a new noodle bar restaurant.

Aberdeen City Council's Development Management Sub-committee unanimously approved the application for the property which previously housed the Jaeger store at the west end of Union Street.

The committee heard that the restaurant, which will also offer a take-away facility, will be open from 11am until 11pm, but would be busiest at lunchtime.

Source: http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/CouncilNews/ci_cns/pr_Noodle_150213.asp

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Ex-boyfriend: McCready left rehab too soon

FILE - In this undated file photo, country singer Mindy McCready performs in Nashville, Tenn. McCready, who hit the top of the country charts before personal problems sidetracked her career, died Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. She was 37. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

FILE - In this undated file photo, country singer Mindy McCready performs in Nashville, Tenn. McCready, who hit the top of the country charts before personal problems sidetracked her career, died Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. She was 37. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Yellow crime-scene tape blocks off the home of Mindy McCready in Heber Springs, Ark., on Monday, Feb. 18, 2013, the day after the country singer was found dead there Sunday in an apparent suicide. She was 37. (AP Photo/Jeannie Nuss)

Yellow crime-scene tape blocks off the home of Mindy McCready in Heber Springs, Ark., on Monday, Feb. 18, 2013. The country singer was found dead there Sunday in an apparent suicide. She was 37. (AP Photo/Jeannie Nuss)

Yellow crime-scene tape blocks off the front of a home in Heber Springs, Ark., where country singer Mindy McCready was found dead in an apparent suicide on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. She was 37. (AP Photo/Jeannie Nuss)

Yellow crime-scene tape blocks off the home of Mindy McCready in Heber Springs, Ark., on Monday, Feb. 18, 2013. The country singer was found dead there Sunday in an apparent suicide. She was 37. (AP Photo/Jeannie Nuss)

HEBER SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) ? Mindy McCready threatened suicide after losing custody of her sons earlier this month, yet she was allowed to leave a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program just days before she apparently killed herself at her Arkansas home, her ex-boyfriend said Monday.

Billy McKnight, who was in a long, stormy relationship with McCready and is the father of her oldest child, Zander, said the 37-year-old mother of two stayed in the substance abuse treatment center for about 18 hours before she was allowed to walk free.

McCready died Sunday at her home in Heber Springs, a vacation community about 65 miles north of Little Rock. She was found dead on the front porch, where her longtime boyfriend, musician David Wilson, died last month of a gunshot wound to the head. Authorities are investigating both deaths as suicides but haven't determined an official cause of death.

McKnight told The Associated Press during a phone interview from Tampa, Fla., that McCready and Wilson, the father of her youngest son, were recently engaged. He wondered how she was allowed to go free, given all the turmoil in her life.

"That was a big mistake on the part of whoever released her," McKnight said. "She was in a terrible state of mind. She doesn't perform any more. She wasn't working. She has two kids and her fiance was just killed. There's no way she should be out by herself in a lonely house with nothing but booze and pills. That was a really, really bad mistake, and the end result is tragic."

Arkansas courts were closed for the holiday Monday, so local case documents weren't immediately available.

Neighbors reported hearing two shots Sunday afternoon when they called the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office. Authorities found Wilson's dog dead next to McCready's body at the home, where yellow crime-scene tape looped through a grove of pine trees and around the one-story brick house Monday afternoon.

"Based on what we have found at the scene at this time, we do believe that she took the life of the dog that we are being told by family members belonged to Mr. Wilson before she took her own life," Sheriff Marty Moss said.

The sheriff said McCready's two sons were safe. McKnight said the boys remained in foster care, where they were at the time of their mother's death. McKnight said he was trying to get custody of his son, Zander, but that he was not privy to what was happening with her other son, Zayne, who was born last year.

McCready's sons were put in foster care and she was ordered into rehab earlier this month after McCready's father expressed concern. He told a judge his daughter had stopped taking care of her children and herself after Wilson's death, and that she was abusing alcohol and prescription drugs.

Moss said McCready's cause of death would be released soon, but that "all indicators" point to suicide. Her body has been sent to the state crime lab for autopsy.

For all the highs McCready had early in her career, thanks to the spunky anti-chauvinist hit "Guys Do It All The time," and her first album, "Ten Thousand Angels," which has sold more than 2 million copies, there were many more lows. She previously attempted suicide at least three times, and her fragile state of mindwas always a concern to family and friends. She acknowledged in a 2010 interview that her life was turbulent at times, sometimes self-inflicted.

Over the years her relationships often made the biggest headlines. McKnight was charged with attempted murder after being arrested for beating and choking her. She claimed to be in a long relationship with baseball great Roger Clemens that started when she was 15 and he was 28 and married, but Clemens denied the relationship. She was once engaged to actor Dean Cain.

She also was arrested several times on drug charges, probation violations and a misdemeanor assault charge against her mother.

But there was a period in her life where McCready thought she might be able to escape that pattern. She reluctantly joined the "Celebrity Rehab 3" cast with Dr. Drew Pinsky, and left the show believing she might be able to change.

"She was doing great," Bob Forrest, a chemical dependency counselor who frequently works with Pinsky and appeared on the show, told the AP on Monday. "She would go through these periods of three to six months where she didn't want to drink, didn't have an interest in drinking. And if she didn't drink, she didn't do drugs."

Just months after her appearance on the show in early 2010, McCready told the AP about the release of a new album, "I'm Still Here," her new love in Wilson and plans to reunite with her son, who was in her mother's custody at the time. But the progress seemed to unravel by late 2011. Her album debuted at No. 71 on the country albums chart and failed to gain significant radio airplay, and plans for a book and reality show failed to materialize.

She also was unable to immediately regain custody of Zander. McCready then took the boy from her mother, his legal guardian, and fled to Arkansas over what she said were child abuse fears. She was later found hiding in a home without permission.

McCready is the fifth participant in Pinsky's "Celebrity Rehab" shows to pass away since appearing on the show, and the third from Season 3. Pinsky has been criticized for the deaths and for showing such personal struggles on television.

In a statement, Pinsky said he had recently reached out to the singer after hearing about Wilson's death.

"She was devastated," Pinsky wrote. "Although she was fearful of stigma and ridicule she agreed with me that she needed to make her health and safety a priority. Unfortunately it seems that Mindy did not sustain her treatment."

___

AP writer Jeannie Nuss in Arkansas contributed to this report. Music Writer Chris Talbott wrote from Nashville, Tenn.

___

Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-02-18-McCready-Death/id-10852c000d9d4974b48146e2e3ffcefa

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BOJ's mandate is to keep prices stable at 2 percent: Japan PM Abe

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Source: www.ibtimes.com --- Sunday, February 17, 2013
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday the central bank's 2 percent inflation target aims not just to boost prices but to prevent them from rising well above that level. ...

Source: http://www.ibtimes.comhttp:0//www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/436202/20130218/bojs-mandate-is-to-keep-prices-stable-atpercent-japan-pm-abe.htm

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Articles and Web Contents: Cell Phone Accessories

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Source: http://articlesandwebcontents.blogspot.com/2013/02/cell-phone-accessories.html

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Sigma DP1 Merrill

The Sigma DP1 Merrill ($999 direct) is the latest iteration of the company's ground-breaking DP1, which, back in 2009, was?the first digital compact to squeeze a D-SLR sized APS-C image sensor into a pocketable body. The market is a bit more saturated now, with competing models like the Leica X2 and the full-frame Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100. The DP1 Merrill sets itself apart from the crowd with a wide-angle (28mm equivalent) lens and a Foveon image sensor, but it's a camera?that requires some work and patience to really appreciate. If you're a more casual shooter, you're better off with our Editors' Choice, the Sony RX100, a pocket shooter with a smaller, but top-notch, 1-inch image sensor, and a lower price.

Foveon Image Sensor, Design, and Features
Much like the Sigma SD1 Merrill, the DP1 uses a Foveon X3 image sensor. This design uses three layers to record information,?each one sensitive to a different color channel. Traditional digital cameras use a single-layer sensor with a Bayer overlay, which has grids of red, blue, and green pixels to create a color image. Each layer of the DP1's sensor boasts a 15.4-megapixel resolution?because of this, Sigma advertises it as a 46-megapixel camera, even though the resulting, printable images are limited to 15.4 megapixels in size.

The sensor design omits the low-pass filter, which is a trend on higher-end cameras. But because of its design, which by its nature omits the Bayer color-array filter, there's no danger of moir? entering into your shots. The downside to the unique design is that there's no support for the DP1's Raw format in Lightroom or similar software programs?you'll have to use Sigma's Raw software to process photos.

In terms of design, the DP1 is essentially a brick with a lens, measuring 2.6 by 4.8 by 2.5 inches, and weighing in at 12 ounces. It's not that far off in size and weight from the 2.7-by-4.9-by-2 inch, 11.2-ounce?Leica X2, which has a narrower 36mm-equivalent lens. The X2 supports an add-on EVF, which is an option that is not available on the DP1. There is a hot shoe directly above the lens, so using a fixed optical finder that matches its field of view and trusting its autofocus system is an option.

The lens is a 19mm focal length, which translates into 28mm in terms of full-frame photography. It has a maximum aperture of f/2.8. The field of view is the widest of all of the current fixed-lens compact cameras. (Sigma also makes a DP2 Merrill with a 46mm equivalent lens, and a DP3 Merrill with a 75mm, each with a maximum f/2.8 aperture.) If you're looking for zoom, look elsewhere, but for those of us who see the world in that focal length, the DP1 is a welcoming camera.

Pleasingly minimal, the camera's color scheme is flat black, with a metal chassis that is cool to the touch. Buttons are labeled in white?for shooting functions?and red?for playback functions. On top you'll find Power, Mode, a control wheel, and the shutter. The rear houses the Auto Exposure lock, a four-way controller with a center select button (the up direction lets you select the focus mode, the bottom the focus point), Play, a button to control the amount of information shown on the rear display, a Menu button, and the QS button.

The QS (Quick Set) button grants access to seven quick shooting controls. Press it once and you can adjust the ISO, Exposure Compensation, Drive Mode, and image format settings. Press it a second time and the menu switches to White Balance, image compression, color balance, and image format (in the same place as the first menu) settings. It's a well-designed interface, and lets you adjust settings without diving into the menu system.

The 3-inch rear display packs a 920k-dot resolution. It's sharp and gives you a good idea about the quality of the images you are capturing?although if you're shooting at higher ISO settings, the JPG previews that are displayed will look downright awful compared with the Raw files that the DP1 can capture.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/YvzozfartQY/0,2817,2415310,00.asp

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Unique Calls Reveal New Owl Species

A new species of owl has been found on an Indonesian island, identified by its unique birdsong. It had escaped scientific detection for so long partially because it looks very similar to a related species.

While on a field expedition in 2003, two members of a research team on opposite ends of the Indonesian island of Lombok independently realized that the owl's calls were unique, according to a PLOS ONE study published today (Feb. 13).

That's quite a coincidence, especially considering that ornithologists didn't think Lombok was home to a unique species of owl despite years of study in the region, said George Sangster, study co-author and a researcher with the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

The new species has been dubbed the Rinjani scops owl, with the scientific name Otus jolandae. It is locally common in the foothills of Mount Rinjani, a large volcano on Lombok, living at altitudes up to 4,430 feet (1,350 meters), according to the study.

"I did not expect to find a new species, and certainly not one that is this common," Sangster told OurAmazingPlanet. "It is a wake-up call for ornithologists: there is still much to learn, and new species can reveal themselves even if you are not looking for them, and in places where no one expected to find something new."

To verify that the species was unique, researchers played this new birdsong to a group of Moluccan scops owls, a related and more widespread species. They didn't respond to the calls. In the area where the unfamiliar songs were heard, however, local Lombok owls responded by whistling back and approaching the speaker the songs were played from, according to the study. A closer comparison of the new bird and the related species revealed subtle body differences ? Rinjani scops owls have slightly different coloration and are slightly smaller, the study noted. DNA analysis confirmed it was a new species, Sangster said.

Owls are nocturnal and they use songs to communicate and identify one another. When owls' songs are significantly different, it's a good sign that they may be a different species, Sangster said.

Based on field work, studies of museum specimens and previous research, the scientists think this owl is likely unique to Lombok. Residents of nearby islands were unfamiliar with recordings of the owl, the only exception being one man who ended up being an immigrant from Lombok, the study found.

The owls are known to locals as "burung pok," which is "an onomatopoeic name reflecting the song note of the bird, which may be transcribed as 'pok' or 'poook,'" the authors wrote in the study. [Listen to the owl's call.]

While there are more than 250 known species of owls worldwide, there are undoubtedly many species yet to be discovered, according to the study.

Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter?@OAPlanet. We're also on?Facebook?and Google+.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/unique-calls-reveal-owl-species-222358388.html

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EU exec says euro states can have more time to cut deficits

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone countries can have extra time to meet deficit-cutting goals if the growth outlook deteriorates, the EU's top economic official has told finance ministers, as data signaled the bloc is mired in recession.

Olli Rehn's comments, in a letter to European Union finance ministers dated Wednesday and posted on the Commission website, came just as France admitted it was likely to miss this year's deficit goal of 3 percent of GDP as its economy flounders.

It has been suggested the Commission may give countries such as France and Spain an extra year - until 2014 - to meet their deficit targets.

Data on Thursday showed both German and French GDP shrank more than expected in the last quarter of 2012, putting the euro zone economy on a shaky footing going into 20123.

The bloc as a whole slipped further into recession over the same period, contracting 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter after a 0.1 percent fall in GDP Q3, although economists expect growth to pick up towards the second half of this year. The fourth-quarter figure was worse than the -0.4 percent forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.

With many euro zone countries struggling to meet their nominal deficit targets, Rehn said it was more important to focus on structural deficits, which reflect the underlying shortfall not affected by the swings in the business cycle.

"If growth deteriorates unexpectedly, a country may receive extra time to correct its excessive deficit, provided it has delivered the agreed structural fiscal effort," Rehn said.

The European Commission is due to publish its latest economic forecasts on February 22, figures that member states will take into account when they send their deficit-reduction plans to Brussels.

Rehn, the EU's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, said the economic weakness was largely due to deleveraging after the build-up of private and public debt during the credit boom of the previous decade.

But he stressed that EU public debt had risen to 90 percent of GDP from 60 percent and that it was vital to bring this level down for sustainable growth.

"When public debt levels rise above 90 percent they tend to have a negative impact on economic dynamism which translates into low growth for many years," he said.

(Reporting by Vicky Buffery in Paris; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-exec-says-euro-states-more-time-cut-104630804--business.html

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Video: Will Obama Offer an Olive Branch?

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50789598/

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Pitt Swarms the Capitol, Sen. Costa Rallies the Troops

By Mark Nootbaar

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

University of Pittsburgh students, parents, faculty, and alumni gathered in Harrisburg Tuesday to lobby lawmakers for more funding for the university and to highlight the school?s success?stories.?

State Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny County) spoke to those gathered in the capitol rotunda for the annual ?Pitt Day at the State Capitol? and told them their efforts are key to making sure that state-related schools like Pitt can ?provide an adequate education for all of you at a reasonable?cost."

Costa is a member of the University?s Board of Trustees and is the parent of a Pitt alum.? ?The issue we have faced over the past several years as it relates to higher education funding has been very difficult,? said Costa. ?We have to convince my colleagues in the general assembly that we have to do?more.?

In his budget address last week, Gov. Corbett pledged not to cut funding to Pitt and the other state-related universities in the 2013-2014 state budget with the request that the schools do everything they can to keep tuition costs increases as small as possible.? Pitt?s state allocation is currently set at $136 million after being cut by 18% in?2011.

At the same event Costa praised the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics for the impact it has had on the operations of the commonwealth.? Costa said every year he sees interns from the program pass through the halls of the capitol and then watches as they land jobs in government and win elections in communities across the?state.

Source: http://wesa.fm/2013/02/12/pitt-swarms-capitol-sen-costa-rallies-troops

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